I listen carefully.
“…ian!”
Was that…?
“Kaitlyn?”
“Adrian!”
That’s her!
“Kaitlyn!” I grimace as I try to move, which sends a pain shooting across my back like a lightning strike. “Where are you?”
“I’m—”
Woah!
Shit!
I’m sliding backward uncontrollably because the floor’s just crumbled away! My arms are stretched up, my hands desperately searching for something to—
“Ugh! Fuck me…”
— get a hold of.
Ah!
Some of the thin, metal framework used to reinforce the concrete is sticking out in places. I went to grab one piece in particular, which is jagged and sharp but mistimed it. It sliced my palm open and is now sticking literally in my hand! I ignore how much it fucking hurts… and grasp it as tight as I can, because my legs aren’t resting on anything.
I close my eyes for a moment. This is one of those times where I know I really don’t want to know the answer, but I need to ask the question anyway.
I open my eyes and look down.
“Oh, shit!”
I look back up quickly and close my eyes again.
Yeah… there’s nothing below me except a three-story drop. That crumbling noise is getting louder. The building itself looks pretty old, and the blast must’ve damaged the structural integrity. The impact of the RPG has compromised the entire east wall of the office block, so the floors below are starting to disintegrate, too, like a domino effect.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but this is one of those rare moments where I’m finding that very hard to do. I hate heights. Like, seriously fucking detest them. Planes are okay. I can even handle jumping out of them, because I usually have a parachute on my back at the very least. But this… there’s no ’chute, there’s no safety net… just a big fucking drop. Three stories is probably about… what? Thirty feet? Maybe forty? That’s enough of a drop that I wouldn’t just fall — I’d plummet. And while that, in itself, might not kill me, it’d do some serious damage. But this isn’t a normal drop. Scattered thirty-to-forty feet below is a huge pile of burning rubble. Falling… plummeting onto that shit would definitely kill me.
My arm is getting tired, to the point where the only thing keeping me hanging on is the fact the metal piping is stapled to my hand! There’s nothing for my left hand to grab, and everything around me is crumbling and falling slowly away to the ground below.
I take another long breath, trying to block out the pain from my hand and my back… I ignore the fact I’m hanging out the side of a building, three stories up, surrounded by flames… I also ignore the fact that, right now, Lily is most likely looking on from whichever building she’s in, watching me through the sights of her sniper rifle. She could shoot me any moment and put me out of my misery. Or, assuming she’s a good enough shot, she could shoot my hand and make me fall to my death instead. That would suck.
I sigh.
I am so screwed right now.
I look down again, and immediately wish I hadn’t. This is fucking surreal. This morning, I woke up beside Lily nursing a hangover. And now, six hours later, I’m dangling above certain death because she’s trying to kill me.
I really can go from ‘normal’ to ‘fucked’ in the blink of an eye, can’t I…
“Adrian?”
I frown.
Huh?
I look up and see Pierce staring back at me. He leans over and lowers his arm.
“Adrian, gimme your hand!”
You don’t need to tell me twice!
I reach up…
Ah! Just short!
I shake my head. “I can’t reach you.”
He sighs. “Okay, hang on.” He disappears again.
I roll my eyes. “Hang on… Really?”
He reappears, leaning over farther than before. “Try now.”
My right hand feels as if it’s being ripped in two! I swing my body slightly from side to side, once… twice… and…
I throw my arm up and grab hold of his hand.
He grimaces from the effort. “Gotcha!”
He pulls me up as best he can, just far enough that it takes pressure off my other hand and allows me to find some footing. I manage to heave myself up the rest of the way, climbing up onto what’s left of the floor in Kaitlyn’s office. I roll over on my back and stare at the ceiling.
“Holy… shit…” I take a few deep breaths. “Thanks…”
I lift my head and look over at him. He’s lying on his front with his feet hooked around the legs of a small table. He’s wedged the table in one of the gaps that’s appeared in the floor. Risky move, but I’m grateful nonetheless.
We both struggle to our feet and quickly move out into the hall. The structure out here seems more stable, but I don’t want to hang around any longer than necessary. Kaitlyn is standing over by the stairwell with three of Pierce’s team.
Three?
I frown and look behind me.
Oh, crap…
Those legs I saw before are still attached, but the poor bastard has a pretty big hole in his chest. Looks as if something impaled him during the initial blast.
I turn to Pierce, who’s staring at the body. “I’m sorry, man.”
He shakes his head. “No time for that now. We need to get you out of here. Follow me.”
He pushes past us all and takes point, heading down the flight of stairs for the exit. Two of his team go next, with Kaitlyn just behind them and me just behind her. The final member of his team is bringing up the rear.
We make it to the first floor and dash out onto the sidewalk. We don’t stop until we’re across the street and around the corner. There’s a large crowd of people standing nearby, looking on with morbid fascination. Sirens are blaring in the distance and getting louder by the second, so the emergency services will be here any moment.
We keep moving until we’re far enough away from the building that we can safely stop to catch our breath. We all stand in a tight circle. Pierce looks hurt, but it’s not obvious where. He’s taking some deep breaths and seems to be managing. The rest of team looks mostly unscathed. Kaitlyn’s sitting on the edge of the curb, staring blankly at the ground. I know the onset of shock when I see it. I’ll give her a minute — she’s smart, and it’s her job to understand how the mind works. She’ll know what’s happening to her, so I’ll give her some time to process things before I say anything.
I look down at my right hand. Goddamn, it’s a mess! There’s a deep gash running horizontally across my palm. I try to clench my fist, but I can’t. It’s as if there’s something physically stopping my fingers from moving that close together.
“You need to get that looked at.”
I look over and see Pierce staring at my hand.
I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty bad, but there’s no time for that now. What’s our next move?”
He gestures down the street with his thumb. “Our SUV is parked down there. We have plenty of ammo and some spare guns in the trunk. You can take it and get the fuck outta the city. You need to re-group before you try taking Lily out.”
I shake my head. “I’m not running. Not my style. I know roughly where she is right now, so I’m gonna finish this before she causes any more damage. Unless… y’know, you wanna go and do it?”
Pierce smiles and shakes his head. “That’s not my job, it’s yours. My job is to keep you alive long enough to do yours, not do your job for you.”
“Fine.” I turn to nod at the building, which looks like it’s getting ready to completely collapse. “But right now, she’s desperate. She’s not thinking straight, which makes her all the more dangerous. I can handle myself, and shit like this… innocent people could die. I can’t allow that.”