Continue

"I give up," a woman shouted from the front. "I can't do it anymore."

Alex and everyone else looked toward the front at the woman.

She had given up? 

It was nearly evening time at the moment, and Alex turned back to look at the hourglass at the bottom of the stairs. It hadn't even been 8 hours yet. Was someone giving up already?

"This is the most I can go. Please help me!" the woman cried out from far in the front, at around 16000 steps. There were only 2 people ahead of her, and they too seemed very pained at the moment to continue on.

Alex wondered just how much weight they had to hold at those steps. Was it just too much for them? 

The ones before the woman turned back toward her, but they showed no sign of surprise at all. Just a look of understanding.