by J. N. Baker
“Just stay here and hold up the metal rainbow,” I mocked.
“Very funny.”
I unhooked my arm from the beam and twisted, shifting so that I hung from it sideways by my hands. “I need to get by you, Josh,” I said, already feeling out of breath.
Josh swung to the other side of the beam and I caught a glimpse of his contracting biceps as he struggled against the sheer weight of his muscular body. When he was situated, I shimmied around him. It was a tight squeeze. I counted every ripple on his abdominal wall as it brushed against my ribcage. The lack of personal space between us in those few seconds broke every rule in The Boundaries of Friendship handbook.
I shimmied on a good five feet before swinging my legs up and hooking my heels on either side of the beam, hanging like a sloth. As I tried to maintain my grip on the slick steel, I wished I were a sloth—at least then I’d have claws to hold with. I scooted upward one painstaking inch at a time. The top of the arch suddenly looked miles away.
One slip was all it took. I tumbled down, splashing into the water and plummeting deep into its murky depths. I struggled to get my foot unstuck from one of the golf course obstacles that was intended to capture balls but had instead captured me. I kicked wildly until my foot slipped free and I darted for the surface. I coughed up sour liquid when my head broke through the water.
“Shouldn’t this be easy for you?”
“Do I look like fucking Spiderman to you, Josh?”
He mumbled an apology.
“Again,” I growled as I swam for the beam, this time starting on the other side of Josh. I wasn’t sure I could handle any more rule breaking for one day.
I grabbed the bottom beam with wet palms and grunted as I pulled myself up. I cautiously planted my left foot on the lip of the bottom beam, standing slowly. I tightened my grip on the top beam as I set my other foot down. I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“There you go,” Josh encouraged. He already felt so far below me and I hadn’t even started the ascent to the top.
I shuffled my feet to the right, crossing hand over hand as I sidestepped up the beam. When I’d made it nearly fifteen feet, I broke out in a wide grin.
“It’s working!” I called down to him. “Come on up!”
I felt the steel tremble under my hands as Josh hoisted his body onto the beam, using the same technique I had. That’s when I heard it. The eerie sound of steel snapping. The arch swayed and teetered ever so slightly and we froze.
And then the second snap rang out like a gunshot in the dark.
“Dive!” I screamed as the entire arch broke loose.
We dove headfirst into the water as the steel chased after us. I swam as fast as I could, feeling the force of the arch as it rushed past me, the momentum shoving me forward and then pulling me back. When it crashed into the floor, the sound was like a bomb going off in my head. It reverberated through my body until I was disoriented in the dark waters, unsure what was up or down.
Strong hands grabbed me, hauling me to the surface. Josh slung me over his shoulder as he swam for the wall, grabbing on to anything he could get his hands around.
“Thanks,” I breathed. I scanned the dark room. “This way,” I ordered, slipping out of his arms and sliding along the wall toward another steel arch. We both clung to it, gasping for air.
“Please say you aren’t thinking about trying that again,” Josh panted.
“We have to try,” I said, pressing my forehead to the cold steel. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it either.
“Zoe…”
“I can do this,” I blurted, slapping the water. “We can do this.”
Words fell away from us, the only sound that of the rushing water and our ragged breaths. I scanned the ceiling once more, studying the metal arch, the way the steel cables held it in place, the hundreds of salt-eroded bolts.
“We have to split up,” I said finally.
“Are you crazy?”
“We have to,” I said again. “We have to climb from opposite ends, and from opposite sides. We need to balance the weight.”
I paused, waiting for him to argue. When he didn’t, I stared out into the darkness.
“I can see better than you can in here. I’ll swim over to the other side.” Josh’s hand fell to my shoulder and I placed mine on top of it. “You take the wall side of the beam. I’ll take the door side. I’ll tell you when to go.”
And with that, I pushed away from him, making my way across before I could chicken out. The feeling of being watched increased exponentially the farther I got from Josh and I found myself suddenly swimming faster. As I reached the center of the dome, something rough brushed against my thigh and I damn near shrieked.
“Zoe!” Josh bellowed and I heard the smacking of frantic strokes in the water behind me.
“No!” I yelled and the splashing stopped. Some Chosen I was. I needed to get my damn shit together. I took a deep breath. “I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’m fine, just stay over there. It’s probably just a shark,” I added under my breath, hoping I wasn’t about to be a case of mistaken identity. It wasn’t like I wouldn’t heal from an investigatory bite, but removing a limb was another story altogether.
I inched forward a bit slower, keeping my movements smooth as I moved through the dark water. What was it they always said on Shark Week—don’t act like prey? Something brushed against my leg again but, instead of the sandpaper skin of a shark, it felt scalier. I picked the pace back up.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally slammed into the wall on the far side of the dome, clinging desperately to the steel beam. “I made it,” I shouted through the darkness, anxious to be out of the water. “Climb on!”
I followed my own command, hoisting myself onto the beam, inching myself up until I stood on the lip of it. I hugged the steel to my body, grateful to be out of the water.
“I’m on,” Josh called back, his voiced strained with exhaustion.
Taking a deep breath, I pressed my forehead into the cold metal. We could do this. It was going to work. I shifted my sword farther behind me so it was out of my way. “Okay, one step at a time.”
Josh sidestepped to the left as I sidestepped to the right, both of us inching ourselves toward the middle peak—toward each other. The steel arch creaked beneath our weight but didn’t budge. Another sidestep. And another. And another until we were almost to the top. And then the arch shifted slightly.
I held my breath, locking eyes with Josh who was now fewer than ten feet away. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he stood frozen, one hand hovering over the top beam.
“Don’t move,” he hissed.
I could almost taste freedom. We were too close to fail now. I took another tentative step to Josh’s dismay. When the arch didn’t move farther, he took a breath and inched another small step as well. Before we knew it, we stood face to face in the center of the steel arch, our heads just under the skylight opening. Josh wrapped his arms around me, holding me against him through the steel. He rested his forehead to mine and let out the breath he’d been holding.
“Now what,” he whispered into my hair.
I looked up, taking in the skylights on the side of the raised section of the ceiling.
“I need to get on top of the beam,” I finally said. Josh nodded, keeping his hands on me as I carefully moved up the side of the arch until I was high enough to swing my leg over to straddle it. I braced my hands on the skylight to steady myself and opened my eyes, not realizing that I’d been squeezing them shut. I stared out through the glass, looking into the darkness beyond. I couldn’t help but wonder what hell awaited us on the other side.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I growled, swinging my fist at the only thing standing between us and escape. My knuckles throbbed as they connected with the glass, the thin skin splitting open. When I pulled back, I had only a small crack to show for my effort. I swung again. Nothing.
“Son of a bitch,” I
hissed, punching the thick glass until blood spiraled down my hand.
“What’s wrong?” Josh called up to me, cranking his head to try to see better.
“I can’t get the window to break,” I grumbled. What the hell was wrong with me? In the past six years, I had never felt so utterly weak. How much oxygen had I lost while under that water, how much energy had I exerted trying to reach the top? I felt like a cup turned upside down and left to dry. I coughed as dust from the nearby vents infiltrated my lungs.
“I’m going to come up behind you, Zo.” Josh was already on the move, swinging his long leg over the top beam and scooting forward until he was pressed firmly against me.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he shoved both of his hands between us, his knuckles raking over the small of my back, sending any heat left in my body rushing between my legs. Without answering, Josh lifted his shirt over his head and I watched over my shoulder as he carefully wrapped it around his hand, shielding his knuckles. I looked back to the skylight, attempting to distract myself with thoughts of what might be outside our temporary prison. It didn’t work.
As Josh’s left hand snaked around me to brace against the wall, his palm brushed along the side of my breast and I forgot to breathe. I thought I could feel the heat radiating from his face as something hard pressed into my ass. I told myself it was probably my sword. My very long, very hard sword. From the corner of my eye, I caught the slightest hint of a smile dancing on his lips. Josh was my friend, but he was still a man. Hell, and I was still a woman—one whose thoughts were traveling into forbidden territory. We needed to get the hell out of here.
Neither of us spoke as Josh swung back his right fist and threw it into the skylight. The crack widened, spiderwebbing out across the rectangular pane. He swung once more and the glass shattered around his hand.
“Go,” he huffed.
I grabbed the lip of the open skylight and used it to pull myself up until my feet stood on the top beam. I teetered slightly and Josh wrapped his long fingers around my upper thighs to steady me. Only the contact didn’t make me feel any more stable. I crawled through the skylight, rising to my feet on the uneven rooftop and sucking in a breath of “fresh” air. Josh slid forward on the beam and planted his hands on the opening of the skylight and the crack of the whip rang out.
I spun on my heels and caught his eye. All of time seemed to stand still. I dove for him as the steel arch broke loose beneath him, grabbing his forearms as his body slammed against the wall of the dome. I grunted at the weight, digging my fingers into his arms. He was starting to slip.
“Don’t let go,” I panted. His eyes were glued to mine. Where I expected to see fear, I saw only trust. In one massive surge, all my energy came rushing back to me. With the flick of a wrist, I yanked Josh free of the dome.
We collapsed on the roof of the arcade, panting. Jade’s shirt clung to my ribcage with each shallow breath I took. A string of lightning lit up the dark sky and the rain returned, pouring down on us mercilessly. Neither of us moved. Josh’s hand found mine, patting it absently. We lay there for what felt like hours, just breathing in the foul air around us, being pelted by the rain. What else was there to do in a city buried thirty feet under water?
Josh was the first to break the silence. “Do you think the others made it out alive, Zo?”
“Two of them,” I muttered. My negative comment was meant for my ears only. I was almost positive he hadn’t heard me. His heavy sigh said otherwise.
“Do you hear that?” I sat up, scanning the black sky in its entirety.
“Hear what?” He looked up and we listened for a moment.
I shook my head. “Nothing, I guess.”
And then it was back. The ravenous sounds of chopping circled overhead. I jumped to my feet as the helicopter passed through the thick clouds, a spotlight illuminating the rooftop.
“Hang tight,” the loudspeaker boomed, “we’re coming to get you. What the—”
A large black shadow swooped toward the helicopter and a crash sounded. The chopper spun violently as it plummeted from the clouds, blades cutting through the air as the pilot tried to regain control. It wasn’t going to make it.
“Get down!”
I flung myself on top of Josh, shielding him as the helicopter nosedived into the water, exploding upon impact. A muffled scream erupted from within the chopper for all of a second. Bits of fire and metal rained down on me. As quickly as it happened, it was over. The flames dulled to a mild roar and I rolled off Josh, blood leaching down my spine.
Josh sat up, wide eyes staring at the sinking aircraft. I rose to my feet, taking a step toward the edge of the roof. Another explosion sounded in the distance and a second helicopter fell from the sky.
Josh scrambled to his feet. “What are the odds of two helicopters crashing at the same time?”
I didn’t answer, turning my attention back to the sky. The large machines weren’t the only things soaring through the darkness. Long black figures claimed their territory. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was seeing things again.
“You see those, right?” I asked Josh as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky.
“Of course I do. What are those things?”
I reached for my blade, coiling my fingers around the hilt and unsheathing it. I widened my stance as the large black beast soared through the sky, coming straight toward me. The wingspan was beyond belief. I’d never felt so small.
“Zoe?” Josh took a step. I wasn’t sure if it was toward me or away from me.
“Don’t move.”
A scream pierced my ears as the beast shot out through the darkness. I stumbled back a step as it landed on the edge of the building, long talons gripping tightly to the crumbling rooftop. It was easily twenty times the size of the one I’d seen in the hotel parking lot and in the bathroom of my apartment—the building strained under the weight of its enormous body. Its long, spiked tail whipped behind it, lashing at the water. Leather wings extended out past either side of the building as it reared its head back and screeched. Rain spiraled down its jagged teeth as it locked its red eyes on me, steam rising from its nostrils.
Josh tripped over something behind me. The blood-red eyes shifted. The beast lunged for him.
“No!”
My sword sliced through the air. The beast howled as my blade carved into its elongated neck. I hacked at it again and again, cutting through the thick scales. The massive body flopped like a fish out of water, slipping over the edge and sinking like a rock to the bottom of the ocean. Josh gaped at the huge head still lying at his feet, black blood oozing from what was left of its neck.
“I told you not to move,” I mumbled, sheathing my weapon.
“What the hell was that?” he yelled once the shock wore off. “A fucking dragon?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, “but we need to get off this roof. We’re like sitting ducks up here and there will be more of those things.”
“More?” Josh croaked. He obviously couldn’t see the small army of them circling high above our heads. Lucky him.
I stepped up to the ledge, looking over my shoulder as Josh shimmied around the creature’s head. His wet jeans hung low on his waist, his oblique muscles pointing to a place that the handbook strictly forbade me from visiting. The soft ripples over his toned abdomen increased with each breath he took. I shook my head. Reality was calling—something about the end of the world. That was probably more important than Josh’s half-naked body. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice told me it wasn’t.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked once he’d reached my side.
“No, but what choice do we have?” I said, staring into the giant abyss below us. “It’s that or get eaten alive.”
Neither of us liked the thought of that. He gave a stiff nod.
I forced a smile, taking his hand in mine. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said.
“That’s my line,” Josh replied, giving my han
d a gentle squeeze.
“Looks like I’m borrowing it.”
We leapt feet first into the water, ghastly sounds traveling around us from the depths. I opened my eyes and looked down into the seemingly endless darkness. I began kicking my feet, trying to reach the surface. Josh was already there waiting for me, his back against the arcade wall.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” he replied, though not without apprehension.
As we swam side-by-side through the black waters that engulfed the city, I felt vulnerable. In the water wasn’t exactly the easiest place to whip out a sword and fight. And I still couldn’t shake the nagging feeling we were being watched, even out here. Suddenly, I regretted my decision to swim for safety. It was too late now. We pushed on.
We moved through the water for what seemed like hours. The shallower the water became, the more bodies that emerged. Some hung from the rubble, others floated face down in the salty ocean water. I held my breath for as long as I could. A repulsive odor filled the air, wreaking havoc on my heightened senses. I fought the intense urge to gag. Rotting flesh wasn’t exactly a pleasant scent.
Few survivors surfaced from the ruins. Very few. I counted them on my fingers—toes weren’t necessary. They watched with lifeless eyes as Josh and I floated by. Some of them didn’t look like they’d make it another five minutes. They probably wouldn’t.
The roar of an engine sent vibrations through the water.
“Josh! Josh, baby! Oh, my God!”
I knew that infuriating voice all too well. The distinct silhouette of a boat approached in the distance, slicing through the surface of the water. A slender figure swung her one good arm back and forth over her head in Josh’s and my direction. I didn’t doubt for a second who that arm belonged to. Was it too much to ask that she drown in the tsunami?
Wow, I really was a monster.
“It’s the others.” Josh breathed a sigh of relief. He swam toward the boat, his eyes glued to his beloved Barbie. It bothered me for no apparent reason. The bottle blonde jumped up and down, waving at Josh as if he couldn’t see her. The tiny vessel rocked with each heave of her body. Jade grabbed her by the back of her silky shirt and shoved her to the floorboards. I’d begun to miss Jade and her charming personality.
