Page 117 of Intrepid

I gripped tight to the steel bar beside me and pulled myself to the first step. Wind lashed my face, stealing my breath, and I hauled forward another step. And another. Keeping my focus on Ty, who stood clutching the wall of the cage, watching my every move.

My robe flew up, exposing my underwear, as a gust of cold air blasted across my already prickled skin.

I took another step. And another.

My foot slipped, and I clutched the bar. “Ah, shit!”

“Sera!” Ty called out, helpless to do anything.

The ground below me sent a wave of dizziness to my head, and the world spun around me while I clutched the pole, the trembles weakening my muscles.

“Sh-sh-shit!” Everything around me wouldn’t stop spinning, and I feared opening my eyes again.

“Sera, you can do this! The key is right in front of you! Bend your knees slowly!”

Even halfway closer than before, Ty’s hollering seemed distant. Or maybe it was the pressure in my skull closing off my eardrums.

I shook my head, keeping my eyes clinched shut. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”

“Bend your knees! Slowly.” The calm in his voice carried across on the suddenly stagnant air. It sounded so out of place, would’ve been almost comical, if not for the fact that I’d never been so fucking terrified in my life.

My breaths turned to pants, and I mentally willed myself to deepen them. Breathe, Sera.

Arm wrapped around the jib’s railing, I lowered my body to a crouch, gaze glue on Ty in the cage, who’d die a gruesome death if I couldn’t pull my shit together.

Bent to a crouch, I sputtered a breath and dared a downward glance. My hand hovered right above that goddamn key, and to the right of my hand, twenty, or so, stories of black nothingness to the cement.

Nausea gurgled in my gut, as I lifted my gaze, and swiped up the key, nearly dropping it when my robe fluttered again.

“Oh, f-f-fuck!” My body juddered, and I curled my fingers around the metal and dragged myself to my feet.

“You got this, baby! Turn around. Walk slowly.”

A creak from behind steeled my muscles. The jib lurched and rattled with the breeze. I clung to the railing and craned my head back. The cable looked to be thinning with every second.

And it pissed me off. So much so, I ground my teeth and made a determined walk, hand over hand, foot over foot, until I stepped back onto the cab’s narrow deck.

I’d celebrate that shit later with a big fat tub of ice cream and a warm bath. Right then, I needed to get Ty out of the air.

Two joysticks sat at either side of a chair, reminding me of the retro Battlezone game I once saw at Dave & Buster’s. If I had to guess, one controlled left and right, the other up and down, and I really didn’t give a damn at that moment which was which. I just wanted to get that cage moving. Plopping down into the chair, I fired up the crane and felt for the one that moved side to side, which happened to be the left control. I only tapped it at first, and it clicked. Another tap, it clicked again. I laid on the left joystick, elated when the jib cut through the night sky to the right. Floodlights along the arm and a blinking red light at the end of the jib provided some guidance and perspective. In seconds, the arm swung over the roof of the tower, and I let go of the controller, horrified to see it kept swinging.

“Oh, shit!”

Three quarters of the way across the roof, I tapped it left, and it rolled to a stop over the other edge of the building. Like those stupid claw machines at the grocery store where you have to deposit half your life savings to save one piece-of-crap stuffed animal. My stomach burned with the anxiety of possibly dropping my prize before the claw reached the safety zone.

Small taps to the joystick brought it swinging the other way, the cage dangling about a hundred feet over the roof. With the other controller, I lowered it over what looked to be halfway across the building.

A snap crackled through the air, and I watched in horror as the red light at the end of the arm bounced and the cage fell onto the rooftop.

“Ty!” I jolted to my feet, hands plastered to the window in front of me, but I couldn’t see him clearly behind the roof access, or into the darkness where he’d fallen. Clambering out of the cab, I climbed back down the crane, the too-big drop only niggling my gut as I descended the ladder.

Boots back on the ground, I booked it inside the building, my heart feeling as if it might explode inside my chest. Air burned with every swallow, until I gasped on the heavy thickness radiating across my ribs. Queasiness churned in my stomach with every floor I climbed, my nerves so frayed with fear and adrenaline, I was surprised I could keep moving. I tugged the phone from my pocket, and popped the flashlight again, letting it lead the way.

Halfway to the top, I paused on the landing to catch my breath. I’d have handed over an ovary for a bottle of water right then, but I continued on, the sting in my legs and the heavy soles of my boots weakening my muscles with every ascending step.

A figure stood at the top of the next level, clutching his arm, gun held loosely in his wounded hand, and I skidded to a halt. I raised the flashlight just enough to see Ty’s bruised, but handsome, face staring back at me.

My body trembled with the urge to go to him, the yearning to wrap my arms around him drawing tears to my eyes. A wheeze of laughter flew from my mouth, cut short by the sniffles I fought to hide.