I look across at Kaitlyn. “You okay?”
Her eyes are wide, staring with horrified disbelief at the burning wreck we were trapped in less than thirty seconds ago. She doesn’t answer me.
I reach for her arm again. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes. Look, we gotta move, but I need you to check my head first. I think I took a blow to it in the crash, and I’m a little spaced out. Kaitlyn? Kaitlyn, are you with me?”
She doesn’t react for a few moments, then she frowns. “What do you mean you’re a little…?” She turns to look at me and her eyes go wide again. “Oh my God!”
“What? Is it bad?”
“Is it bad? Adrian, it’s like you’re wearing a red mask! Let me look at you.”
She kneels up beside me and sits back on her legs, renewed focus and concern etched on her face. She puts her hands on either side of my head, forcing me to look down. I hear a gasp.
I roll my eyes. “What?”
“Uh… you’ve got a nasty-looking cut on your head.”
“Define nasty…”
“Well, it’s about two inches long, running down the center of your head. It’s pretty deep. You’ll need stitches. We should get you to a hospital.”
I shake my head, and a few drops of blood splash on her top. She glances down, then at me. I shrug. “Sorry. But no… no more hospitals. We deal with Pierce, and then we get to your neighbor to see if he can disable this thing in my neck. That’s got to be our priority. Especially now Lily’s…”
I let my words trail off. I’m not saying it out loud. If I do, it means I’m acknowledging it’s happened, and I’m not ready for that. Not yet. Before I start with all that, I have more important things to sort.
I put my left hand under my T-shirt and use it to wipe the blood from my face. I look down at it.
Man, that’s a lot of red…
I go to stand. I push myself vertical with one hand. I’m a little light-headed actually…
Whoa!
Kaitlyn jumps to her feet and puts a hand on my shoulder, propping me upright. “You’re losing a lot of blood, which is bad when you only woke up from surgery a couple hours ago. You’re far from a hundred percent, Adrian. Plus, you only have one useful hand… This isn’t a fight you’re going to win. We need to get out of here, get you patched up, and then, maybe, we think about this psychotic gang of hitmen you work for.”
I don’t know if this is the blood loss talking, but she’s making sense. Damn it. I hate it when people who aren’t me make a good point.
I let out a tired sigh. “Fine. Come on.”
We hadn’t gotten very far when the car blew up. We set off jogging again, with Kaitlyn leading me by the hand. After a minute or so, we’re well over halfway there. I risk a glance back at the road. No one’s following us, but the Suburbans have split up. Two have carried on along the slip road where we crashed, which will bring them through the security gates and into the construction site ahead. The other three have gone back the other way. They’re probably heading for the airport, thinking that’s where we’re trying to reach. They’ll want to be prepared for when we get there.
Well, I can’t go to the airport looking like this, so that’s irrelevant. The immediate problem is what’s waiting in front of us.
We reach the fence. It’s chain link, maybe ten feet high, with the last foot being four strips of barbed wire running horizontally along it.
I look at Kaitlyn. “You first.”
She shakes her head. “Adrian, I… I… I can’t climb it. I’m useless with heights. I—”
I shrug. “Me too.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“No, I really do hate heights. But this is about ten feet, if that.”
“Adrian, this is really high… And I was never any good at climbing as a kid…”
She’s scared, I get it. I’m trying to be sympathetic and understanding and patient, et cetera. But we don’t have time.
I let out a long, painful breath. “Look, about a month ago, I was pushed out of an airplane twenty thousand feet over Vietnam. I woke up in the back of it, already in the air. Two guys literally fastened a ’chute to me, opened the door, and threw me out. That I have a problem with. That was a height and a situation worth worrying about. This… really isn’t.”
She stares into my eyes for a long moment, reading me. I can see it in her expression, searching me for any hint that I’m bullshitting her. We all know she won’t find one.
“Are you… being serious?”
I nod. “That was The Order’s initiation, I guess.”
“And them throwing you from a plane didn’t make you think that maybe they’re not the kind of people you want to get involved with?”
I shrug. “It’s not like I had much choice. At that stage, they had just rescued me from my own execution. I figured I owed it to them to jump through a few hoops.”
“Adrian, has anyone ever told you that your life just… sucks?”
I smile. “Is that your professional opinion?”
“That’s my personal opinion. We don’t have time for my professional one.”
“Fair enough. Now get your ass over the fence. Please.”
She huffs at me and grabs hold of it. She finds her footing and slowly starts to climb. I can hear her grunting from the exertion.
“You’re doing great, Kaitlyn. Aim for the thick metal pole that separates each section of fence, okay? When you reach it, put one hand on it to brace yourself, and one foot on the top, underneath the bottom line of barbed wire.”
She glances down, which I can tell from her expression that she instantly regretted. “And then what?”
“Then you push with your hand and foot, swing your body out slightly, then vault over the top and drop down the other side.”
“What!”
“Land in a crouch and let yourself roll naturally to the side. You’ll be fine.”
“You couldn’t have mentioned that was the plan before I started climbing?”
I’m having to squint as I look up at her, because the sun’s shining right in my eyes. I shrug. “What difference would it have made? You’d still have to do it.”
She huffs again. “I hate you…”
I nod. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
She reaches the top and, to her credit, does exactly what I said. She lands a little awkwardly on the other side and sits in the dust and sand for a moment to compose herself. I wave at her through the fence. She gives me the finger.
I smile and grab the fence with my hand. I place one foot on it and…
Shit.
I only have one good hand.
I can’t climb up like this.
Shit!
“What’s the problem?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I can’t scale the fence with my arm in a cast.”
She sighs loudly. “And you didn’t think about this beforehand?”
“Nope.”
“So, now what?”
“I’m thinking…”
I walk along the length of the fence, searching for anything that might help, but I don’t really know what I’m looking for. I guess I’ll know it when I see it, but…
Hang on.
I crouch maybe a hundred yards from where Kaitlyn is. The section of fencing is slightly curled toward me in one corner. I slide the fingers of my left hand through the links and get a firm grip. I plant my feet as best I can in the dust, and I pull hard on it.
The fence moves a little, coming away from the post just a fraction.
The whole thing was most likely erected hurriedly when they first started building here. Each section of fencing is attached to the posts separately by cable ties. Where I’m pulling, it’s come free near the bottom. The pole is a little unstable, and the ties themselves look pretty weak.