“So, which is it?” she asked, glancing at the expanding subterranean shoreline. “Door Number One,” she shifted her gaze over to the empty stares of hundreds of Anubian creations, “or Door Number Two?”
Baahir and Ali stepped over to her, sharing in a heartfelt, apologetic goodbye. The only one not participating in the farewell was Rabia. She was too busy staring at the wall separating the courtyard from the neighboring city.
“How about a third option?” She looked back and smiled.
Zahra didn’t see it at first.
Yes. The wall!
Then she bolted for it with Rabia right beside her.
“Come on!” she shouted. “Move your asses!”
Baahir and Ali leaped into motion, arriving at the divider wall just as the two women put their backs against the wall. They clasped hands. Zahra tipped her chin up.
“Ali, you’re up first. Baahir, you’re next.”
“Up there?” Baahir asked, backing up to give Ali room.
Ali stepped into the women’s hands and was launched up high enough to grip the top edge of the wall. The women then ducked lower and shoved up as hard as their tired bodies would let them. Finally, Ali pulled himself up the rest of the way and relieved Zahra and Rabia of his weight.
“Come on, brother…” Zahra said, gasping for air.
“Zahra, I—”
“Will die if you don’t listen to me.”
He glanced back at the advancing sea of red and orange and nodded. He lifted his right foot up and slipped it into the stirrup that was made up of two pairs of bleeding hands.
“Ready?” Zahra asked.
Rabia actually shook her head, getting an exhausted laugh out of Zahra. Nevertheless, the ladies heaved the lighter Baahir up. Ali reached down and promptly relieved them of Baahir’s weight and pulled him up the rest of the way. With picture-perfect synchronization, Zahra and Rabia slid down the wall and onto their butts.
“What’s this?”
They looked up and found Baahir staring down at them. “No time for that crap.” He knelt and reached a hand down to them. Ali mirrored him, offering a hand of his own.
“Go,” Zahra said. “I…” she swallowed what saliva she had, “I’ll be right behind you.”
Rabia gave her an unsure look, but she heeded Zahra’s request and stood. Zahra stood next and cupped her hands, placing her back flat against the wall.
“See you soon,” Zahra said, winking as Rabia stepped onto her improvised lift.
She grunted and pushed upward, allowing Rabia to get high enough for the sniper to step onto her shoulders. Then Baahir and Ali grasped Rabia’s wrists, and they pulled.
Now, the only one left was Zahra. She leaned against Door Number Three, beyond exhaustion, numb to the Damned’s breathy chorus. Within the glow of the molten rock, Zahra slowly slunk to the floor and closed her eyes.
Chapter 105
Zahra
“Dammit, Zahra, move!”
She snapped awake and popped up to her feet, drowsy and confused. The magma pool was gaining ground fast. She knew what she had to do, but was unsure if she had the strength to do it. She unclipped her hook, snapped it open, and tossed it up. It caught on the top of the wall, but that wasn’t the challenge.
The real question was whether Zahra had the upper body strength to climb, and if the grappling hook line was still strong enough after all it had been through.
Seeing as I don’t have a choice…
She gripped the nylon cord and cringed as she felt it dig into her bleeding hands. Both her palms and several of her fingers sported open, flowing wounds. The blood made it difficult for Zahra to hold onto the cord. She failed in her first attempt, but Zahra wasn’t a quitter. She clutched the cord again and gained some steam. Then, all of a sudden, she shot upward, yelping in surprise and pain. The trio of Baahir, Rabia, and Ali had each grabbed the hook and lifted it, aiding in Zahra’s attempt.
“Grab her!” Ali said, bracing himself. He was in the middle of the three of them and got into a stance much like a powerlifter attempting a heavy deadlift. He stuck his chest out and squatted slightly. Then, with a nod, he signaled the others to let go and help Zahra.
They did, diving chest-first onto the top of the divider wall. Zahra’s hands slipped off just as they secured her wrists. Ali placed the hook down, knelt, and beckoned Rabia to give him Zahra’s hand. The sniper acquiesced and allowed Ali to take the burden.
“Help Baahir.”
Rabia slinked around Ali, taking care not to fall off the three-foot-wide partition. Her leverage was better. Baahir had no leverage since he was flat on his stomach. She took Zahra’s hand, which got Baahir to his feet. The trio pulled one last time.
Zahra slipped her elbows over the edge and held herself in place long enough for one of them to grab her belt. Next, Zahra got her left knee up and was rolled atop the wall where she took a much-needed breather. They all needed one.
“Um… yeah… thanks.”
No one answered her. They just waved her off, each one of them huffing and puffing. Ali was favoring his left shoulder, which wasn’t good. A rotator cuff tear at a time like this would absolutely constitute as piss poor timing.
“You good?” Zahra asked, still on her back. Ali was bent at the waist, rotating the bad joint slowly. Something must have pinched and caused the man a good amount of pain. He sneered but didn’t whimper.
“I’m… fine.”
Rabia offered him some support and helped Ali to his feet. “You’ve always been a terrible liar,” she said. Then she gave Ali a soft kiss on the lips, “But I am happy to hear it.”
Zahra almost laughed from the look of surprise on Baahir’s face. She had been taken aback as well — apparently, there was much more to this woman than she had initially thought.
Chunks of the wall broke away, reminding Zahra of the imminent danger and urging all four of them to their feet. Zahra was at the front of the pack, pointing to something she had seen earlier. One of the buildings was close enough to the wall for them to jump.
“Come on,” she said, moving at a brisk pace.
They traveled to the left for sixty feet along the top where the main entrance into the courtyard vanished. Zahra skidded to a halt and watched dozens of the Damned tumble into the molten void.
Then, section by section, the foundation buckled and the entire wall fell. Its demise quickly followed them.
Zahra ran, keeping her hands out wide to balance over the shifting floor. The wall shook with every undulation.
They were nearly free.
And then more of the cavern’s back wall broke apart.
The pieces of massive stone hit the floor, and Zahra leaped onto a nearby rooftop. She landed and rolled to one knee. Baahir was next. Rabia and Ali jumped at the exact same time.
The wall disappeared just as their feet left it. Zahra scrambled to her feet and headed for the other end of the roof when it too fell away. The entire building was coming down beneath them. They were thrown off their feet. Zahra rode the collapsing structure and landed flat on her ass as it became more of a slide than a Tower of Terror-esque vertical drop.
They were all deposited onto a buckled road that was also wrenched to a steep angle. Zahra kept sliding, taking the legs out of a random Damned as she slid. He smacked his head on the hard ground, cracking his skull like an egg. Parasites spilled everywhere.
No one stuck around to see if he was dead. They all got up and ran, darting in and out of buildings of all sizes all while pointing themselves at the dilapidated stairway. This time, they stayed close, refusing to separate from one another. Zahra was armed with her grappling hook, swinging it around like an amateur Japanese kyoketsu-shoge fighter, and she did so with the hooks wide open.