Andy grunted a little under the weight of the girl as she clambered onto his back, locking his elbows around her knees as he hoisted her up in a piggyback fashion. He could remember climbing onto Simon's back once or twice when they were goof balling, and perhaps even further back onto his mother. But this was the first piggyback ride he had ever given to another person. A strange thought for a stranger situation, he noted. He looked down at the fiery coals, swallowing nervously. He was about to take that first step when the girl on his back suddenly made some noise, turning around to see a girl his age, maybe a year or two younger, enter the room. He craned his neck so he could read the young girl's lips as she spoke, to understand what she was saying better. She asked him what his name was, and he thought long and hard about how he could answer this. Well... It had been a while since his first attempt at speech, maybe he could push out those two syllables that would make out his name?
"Aaaanhiiii."
Nope. Now he just looked like an idiot, making an unintelligible noise in front of two girls he didn't know. He felt a hot flush work its way up on his face as he dug into his jean pocket, pulling out the pencil and pad of paper as best he could. He wrote his name down in big letters, "ANDY", before tearing off the page and handing it to the girl, replacing the pad and pencil in his pocket. It only struck him later that he might have just handed latin letters to someone born before the invention of the latin language, but for now, he wanted to cross the coals and hope the burning pain of his feet would outweigh the burning embarrassment of his face.
He took his first step out onto the hot coals, and almost lost his balance from pain right then and there. He wobbled and hissed out through his teeth, but somehow managed to keep both himself and the girl from spilling into the coals. God almighty, did they burn! He could taste the smell of burning meat, and came to the nauseous realization that it was the smell of his own feet. He took a second step, then a third, his feet being pushed into the coals harder due to the extra weight on his back. It was hot and hard to breathe, the very air felt like a slow-cook oven, and he began to sweat like his body was attempting to put out the coals. Still, he pressed forwards. He had to get to the other end, if the fellow from before could do it, then so could he.
He didn't think it could get worse until the first strand of barbed wire. At first, he tried to gingerly step over them and duck under, not eager to face the wrath of their sharp caltrops. But eventually, the barbed wire became much too thick to maneuver without injury, and soon became impossible to pass. Andy knew the girl on his back would be taking the brunt to the barbed wires from above, but he couldn't maneuver as deftly as the fellow before with his extra cargo. And he absolutely could not set her down on the hot floor. And so, after a moment's deliberation, he made his decision. He locked the girls ankles around his waist, and motioned for her to lower her head. Then, with both fists, he grabbed handfulls of barbed wire, and began to shove, bend and twist them out of his way. He stomped down on the ones below, sending embers up from the coal. It was slow going, and only did further to shred his hands, legs, arms, feet. And the stray barb still came at him, catching his clothes, his cheek, leaving a long bloody cut to prove "Hey! I was here!"
But eventually, he stomped down the wire to the point that it was now a razor filled carpet over the embers, and he was glad to no longer cook. He never became accustomed to the pain, and each stab, cut, slash, poke, they all hurt as much as the first. But his cuts would heal, he trusted that. It was probably the only way he had been able to press on through the pain. He continued forwards, bending, twisting, and stomping the wire under he dare not look at his hands, knowing they were a pulverized mess. By the time he finally reached the end of the hallway, he was on the border of collapsing. In fact, he did, falling to his knees on the cool marble, trembling and wheezing. He squeezed his eyes shut, curling into a ball as he waited for his wounds to heal. If he had to look at them, he might just lose whatever he had for lunch. But at least the girl was alright. He cracked an eye open, giving her a shaky smile. She hadn't escaped the barbed wire unharmed. In fact, being on top, she probably took the worst of it, unknowingly protecting his head and back. A mutually beneficial arrangement, he thought. He had saved her from the coals, and she stopped him from being completely skinned by razors. He closed his eye, pressing his head against the ground. He resolved to never eat barbecue again.
