Chapter Two: The Closer to Defeat, the Stronger I Become

On the sideline, Mara watched her tablet. Lin’s sprint velocity rose and fell in a pattern that no fatigue curve could explain. It looked like an invisible switch. With two minutes and three seconds left, Eli found the tight end for a touchdown. 31–24. The Storm had no timeouts. They attempted an onside kick. The football bounced between the legs of an Empire blocker, and a backup safety in blue fell on it. For the first time, the visiting section drowned out the home crowd. The Storm had the ball back with one minute and forty-two seconds remaining. Lin had thirteen catches for 179 yards. For a reserve whose career total had been zero, the numbers looked like a broken video game. But something felt wrong.