“It’s crude, but it’ll do for a harness,” he said. “The belt’s strong. It’ll hold, trust me. Now I need to loop the rope between your legs, or your weight will end up dislocating both your shoulders. Here, wad my sweater up tight and put it between your legs, it’ll give you some padding; otherwise, that rope could get, well, really painful.”
Carrie, coughing and choking on the smoke, could do little but obey him. She balled up the sweater as tight as possible and gripped it between her thighs, while Jack looped the rope between her legs and then through the makeshift harness around her shoulders and tied a solid knot
“All right, we’re ready to go,” he said, picking up a thick doormat from outside one of the offices and draping it over the windowsill to prevent the rope fraying from friction against the metal window frame. He then looped the other end of the rope through one of the sturdy steel railings of the nearby maintenance stairway, giving himself a point of leverage. For extra security, he looped the rope around his waist and pulled it tight.
“This is crazy; this is totally crazy,” Carried whimpered. “I hate heights. I can’t even look out the window!”
“You have to climb out, Carrie,” Jack said calmly. “I know that it’s scary, but trust me, I know my knots, and you’re safe. I’ve got you. Please, no more talk … climb out and let me lower you down. If you don’t, we’re both going to burn to death up here.”
Carrie peeked out, and the vertigo of the twenty-floor drop seemed to suck her downward, pulling at her with a terrifying force. She couldn’t believe that she was about to climb out of this window and put her life in the hands of a middle-aged man and a flimsy length of nylon rope. The balcony she had to get to was slightly to the side, not directly below the window, so if anything went wrong, she would plummet a long way down to her death.
A billowing cloud of black smoke blasted her from the stairwell, and the flames down there roared with fresh hunger. As terrifying as it was, she knew she had to do this. Using her good arm, with her broken arm hanging limply from her side and shooting pain through her body each time she moved it, she gripped the window frame and slipped one leg through it.
“You can do this, Carrie!” Jack yelled from behind her. “I’ve got you. You’re safe! Just give two tugs on the rope when you’re on the balcony so I know I can come down!”
Carrie felt like she was about to throw up, and when she lifted her other leg onto the windowsill and sat on the ledge with her legs dangling over the twenty-floor drop, she wanted to scream or faint, or both. She forced herself to push her body off, though, and then the rope and Jack’s strength were the only things keeping her from plummeting a long way to her doom.
Carrie was a petite woman, but even so, she was a dead weight on the rope, and Jack had to use all of his strength to maintain his grip on the nylon. He fed it through his hands as quickly as he could without losing control and without making Carrie feel as if she were dropping rather than being lowered.
It was doubly difficult with the rapidly increasing heat from the spreading fire and the increased smoke’s intensity making breathing difficult even with the gas mask. Every one of Jack’s muscles felt as if it was being strained to breaking point, and after a minute of this, his whole body was starting to tremble. Carrie’s dead weight pulled with relentless persistence on the rope, and she still hadn’t reached the balcony. How, he thought grimly, would he be able to climb down himself if he were utterly exhausting himself now and burning through all of his strength and energy?
There was no point in entertaining such thoughts, and he forced this disquieting notion from his mind and concentrated on the task at hand. He pushed through the pain and exhaustion with thoughts of his wife and daughter; he’d do whatever was needed to get to them and to get them out of this place before things got really bad. And if he had to push through some pain and physical exhaustion, so be it.
Just as he was thinking that, he felt the rope slacken, and the weight on it abruptly vanished. For a few horrifying seconds, Jack wondered if his makeshift harness had broken, sending Carrie plummeting to her doom, but two sharp tugs on the rope dispelled those fears.
Jack was by no means in the clear, though. The flames had crept up the stairs and were rapidly heating the steel railing. If the flames got to the rope, or even if the metal got too hot, the rope would melt and possibly break while Jack was dangling on it, twenty floors up.
There was no time to worry about such things. Jack had to get on with the climb or die. He tied a hasty knot, securing the rope to the steel railing—which was already almost too hot to touch—and then ran over to the window. The view of the drop all the way down to the hard concrete below made his stomach lurch, but he pushed through the fear and climbed out onto the windowsill, gripping the rope tight. He’d done plenty of abseiling before, but this was the first time he was doing it without any safety equipment and at a far greater height than he’d ever repelled before.
“Come on, Jack, you can do this,” he muttered to himself. Then he turned around and backed out of the window, leaning back over the immense drop, with all his weight on the rope, supported only by the strength in his muscles and nothing else.
His heart was thundering in his temples and ears, and cold washes of fear were tearing through him, but he knew he had no option but to proceed. Now that he was out of the smoke and into the fresh air, he felt as if the mask on his face was a suffocating presence. He could barely breathe with it on. He couldn’t afford to let go of the rope with one hand to take it off, though, and simply had to bear it.
He eased down the side of the building as fast as he could, terrifyingly aware of the fact that the rope could snap at any second. He kept looking over his shoulder to see how far he had to go. Even though Jack felt like he was moving quickly, his progress seemed to be agonizingly slow, and the balcony barely looked any closer every time he looked down.
After descending a couple of yards, his muscles felt as if they were at breaking point, burning as fiercely as the flames above him, which, to his alarm, he saw roaring out of the window.
The rope would surely snap in a few short seconds. With icy terror surging through him, Jack abseiled down in great, bounding leaps, trying to close the distance to the balcony in the short time he had left.
Hope surged through him as he glanced over his shoulder and saw the balcony’s rail almost within reach.
And then the rope snapped.
8
“Miss!” the young man in the kayak yelled, paddling furiously to try to get to Kate before it was too late. “I saw what happened! Keep your head above the water! I’m coming!”
Kate could barely control her limbs; they were simply too numb, and the icy cold of the water felt as if it had zapped her every last drop of strength she possessed. She didn’t want to die, not here, not like this, and the thought of leaving Jack and Susan without a wife and mother made it feel like someone was tearing her heart to shreds inside her chest, but she couldn’t move. She could no longer tread water and stay afloat. It had simply become impossible, and the young man in the kayak may as well have been asking her to flap her arms and fly to safety.
“Help,” she managed to croak. Then, as she turned her head, she heard a familiar voice calling out to her from the shore.
“Mom!” Susan yelled.
It was enough to boost one last surge of strength through her veins. Kate kicked and struggled, trying to close the impossible distance between herself and the shore … but her limbs simply wouldn’t respond. It was as if her body had already died, and all that remained was her mind and a desperate but hopeless will to survive.
Then she slipped under the water.
This time, there seemed to be no chance of swimming up to the surface. Kate felt as if she were sinking like a stone, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t even retain what little air was in her lungs, and she involuntarily breathed out, and water came rushing into her airway.
Then, just as
all hope seemed lost, a hand latched onto her collar—a strong hand. She felt herself being pulled upward, and her head broke the surface of the water.
“Come on!” the young man in the kayak yelled. “You can do this! I can’t pull you out on my own but grab the kayak and hold on. I’ll paddle us to shore!”
Kate coughed out the water she’d swallowed and found new strength in her limbs—just enough to hold on to the side of the kayak as the young man picked up his paddle again and paddled furiously toward the shore. The sight of Susan on the riverbank shouting and waving gave Kate enough of a boost in strength to hold on, and soon enough, her feet touched the bottom.
As soon as they were in shallow enough water, the young man jumped out of the kayak into the water. He picked up Kate, who collapsed into his arms, and carried her out onto the muddy riverbank, where Susan was anxiously waiting.
“Mom!” Susan cried with tears from both relief and immense stress running down her cheeks.
“This is your mother?” the young man asked. He wore the kit of a local university’s rowing club. “I was training out there on the water and saw her car go right off the bridge into the water. Then I saw, I don’t know, missiles or rockets or something in the sky. What the hell is going on? It seems like the whole world has lost its mind!”
“There’s been some sort of terrorist attack,” Susan said, kneeling next to Kate. “It’s real bad. I don’t know any more than that. But, thank you, thank you so much for saving her life.”
“She’s not outta the woods yet,” the young man said. “That water is ice cold. We gotta get her into some dry clothes and warm her up. And we’d better call an ambulance.”
“There won’t be any ambulances or any doctors or hospitals,” Susan said. “We have to do this ourselves.”
“No ambulances? No hospitals? What?” he asked, looking confused.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Susan said. “Please, we have to help my mom.”
Kate could barely speak. The cold felt as if it had possessed her entire being, as if she were a disembodied mind somehow occupying a dead, cold body.
The young man nodded. “Okay, I know where we can take her. My gym’s just over there. They’ve got a sauna and some hot baths. My name’s Nick, by the way.”
“I’m Susan, and my mom’s name is Kate. There’s no electricity, and nothing electronic will work,” Susan said.
“Okay, but I’m guessing that this just happened like, half an hour ago?” Nick asked. “Because my phone and smartwatch were working when I got onto the river. The water in the baths will still be hot, even if all the electricity is out. It’ll take hours to cool down.”
“Okay, yeah, let’s go there,” Susan said. “And thank you again for saving her life.”
“What else could I have done?” Nick said with a smile. “Let her drown? Not on my watch. All right ma’am,” he said to Kate, who was shivering like a leaf in a gale while her jaw chattered madly, “we’re gonna get you into some nice hot water, warm you up, okay?”
Kate could barely even speak, so she just tried to nod. Nick picked her up, and he and Susan hurried up the bank and got onto the street. Nick marveled at the sight of thousands of abandoned cars and people either walking about aimlessly, with looks of fear and confusion on their faces, or running around like headless chickens in a complete panic.
“It’s like a … like a zombie movie or something,” he murmured. “I can’t believe this; it’s totally insane.”
“It’s gonna get worse,” Susan said. “A lot worse.”
She felt a lot safer now that she had this strapping young man by her side. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and quite good-looking. She pegged his age at perhaps eighteen or nineteen, so he was only two or three years older than herself.
They headed up a small street, and Susan soon saw a sign for a gym. A few hulking bodybuilders were standing outside, dressed in their gym gear, looking perplexed. They recognized Nick right away.
“What’s going on, little man?” a giant of a guy said to Nick—who, despite being over six feet tall and of a muscular build, did look small next to him.
“Hey, Damien. She fell into the river. We have to get her into the hot baths,” he answered.
“I meant with the whole ‘world seems to be ending’ thing, but sure,” the huge man said. “You know where they are. Ain’t no lights or power on in there, but there should be enough light coming in through the windows to find your way around. Should I call an ambulance or something?”
“There won’t be any ambulances, apparently,” Nick said. “But maybe get some of that whiskey I know you keep in your car, and if one of you could spare a protein shake or an energy bar, both of us could use some fuel right now.”
“Sure thing, little man,” the bodybuilder said.
Nick carried Kate into the gym, with Susan following anxiously behind them. They walked through the gloomy interior, past the deserted weights racks and exercise machines, and got to the gym's sauna area.
“We’d better get her out of these wet clothes,” Nick said. “I’ll leave that to you to do, just strip her down to her underwear and help her get into the water. There’s a little clothing store up front. I’ll get her some new, dry clothes; I’ll put ‘em on my tab. I need to have a soak and get into some dry clothes, too. I’m freezing my ass off! I’ve got plenty of clothes in my locker here, so I’ll go get ‘em.”
“Thank you, Nick,” Susan said. “You’ve done so much for us.”
Nick shrugged, smiling. “I’m sure you would have done the same for me,” he said, and then strolled casually out of the sauna area.
Susan helped Kate out of her clothes until she was in her underwear. Kate could barely move, and her entire body was shivering uncontrollably, her jaw chattering so intensely she thought her teeth might rattle out of their sockets. Once she slipped into the hot water, though, she immediately started to feel better.
Soon enough, Nick returned, dressed in swimming trunks, and he slid into the hot water, too, while Susan sat by the side of the hot pool.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Kate said. She was finally able to speak again, and although the intense cold continued to linger in her bones and her core, she was slowly beginning to feel as if life were returning to her numb muscles and aching joints.
Susan, Nick, and Kate chatted for a while, and the bodybuilders brought them some protein shakes and energy bars, which helped restore their strength. The biggest man handed Kate a hip flask of whiskey to get some warmth flowing inside her and calm her nerves.
After a while, the bodybuilders left, aside from the huge man, who was the gym’s owner. He said he’d lock the place up when Kate and Susan were ready to go.
They chatted with Nick for a while and found out he was a local university student and had come here on a rowing scholarship. He came from the West Coast, so all his family was there. When Susan explained to him in detail the full scope of what the EMP attack entailed for society in general, he was horrified. Doubly alarming was the fact that a superstorm was on the way. Nick’s residence was outside the city, and he took a bus in most days after class to come and train here on the river.
“I don’t know how I’m going to get back now,” he said, looking worried. “It’s twenty miles to my place.”
Susan was finding herself increasingly attracted to the handsome young athlete. “Why don’t you come with us?” she said. “We’re going past that way after we get our stuff from home.”
Kate realized the value of having a strong young man with them in these difficult times. “We could help each other out, Nick,” she said. “After saving my life, it’s the least we could do for you.”
“Sure,” he said. “I don’t know how else I’d get back, and the thought of heading out there on my own is … well, it’s a little scary.”
“Don’t worry, when we meet up with my dad, it’ll all be okay,” Susan said confidently. “He’s ready for a situation like this.”
She forced herself to banish such thoughts from her mind. She had to stay strong and determined and think positively; it was the only way to get through this.
They stayed in the hot water for a good while longer, until it got cool. Kate didn’t want to waste time, but she had to get her core temperature up after the water's terrible cold. Finally, when the hot tub became too cool to perform that function, she got out. Nick showed her where the women’s changing rooms were, and she got her wet underwear off and put the new gym clothes on. Even though she felt a little ridiculous dressed like an urban gym rat, she was grateful for the warm, dry clothes.
“All right,” she said, walking out of the changing area in her new clothes. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
That was the exact moment that gunfire erupted outside.
9
Instinct kicked in with ruthless force the moment Jack started to fall. As gravity yanked him viciously downward, he lunged desperately for the balcony railing, and his left hand slammed onto it. His terrifying descent was abruptly halted, but for how long? Panting with fear, with his arm, shoulder, and hand burning with terrible pain, he dangled from the balcony railing, with only what strength remained in his fingers standing between him and certain death twenty floors below.
He only had enough strength to hang on, not to pull his whole body up. This was not the end, though, for strong hands gripped his arm, grabbed his shirt, and then started hauling him upward.
“I got you, buddy, hang in there, I got you!”
Jack looked up and saw that it was a janitor who was pulling him up. He was an older man, heavyset and balding, with a kindly face creased with many laugh lines. As soon as he’d pulled Jack up high enough that he could get his right hand onto the railing, too, it became a lot easier, and before long, Jack was back on solid ground, safe and sound. Carrie was there, too, watching anxiously.
EMP Survival In A Powerless World | Book 22 | The Coldest Night Page 4