Chapter 8 Emery #2
“I’m so sorry, Emmy. I’m just so worried about you. With everything going on, I’m not sure you’re thinking clearly,” Justin replied as his hand dropped to his side.
“I’m thinking just fine,” I replied coldly. “And if you touch me again, Nico will be the least of your worries. I’ll fucking cut your hands off.” Now he was trying to fucking gaslight me into thinking I was the crazy one?
I walked away from him, and this time he didn’t try to grab me. “Mami, we’ll get you and Papi up the fire escape first, and then pass the bags up to you.”
“I don’t like that boy,” Papi announced, keeping his voice low enough so he wasn’t overheard.
“Neither do I,” I replied. “Just ignore him.”
“I still don’t see why I need to leave my bike. We could carry it up with us,” Justin complained.
I rolled my eyes while everyone else ignored him. If the idiot wanted to try to carry his bicycle up the fire escape and across the rooftops, he was on his own.
A low whistle caught my attention, and I looked toward the sound to see Luis waving for the group to come to him. “This is the best one I’ve found,” he said when the group drew closer.
“Right, Mr. and Mrs. Rodrigues, you go up first,” Nico ordered as we all hovered at the mouth of the alley, watching the corner for the first sign of zombies. Papi climbed the ladder first, then turned to help Mami onto the platform. Once she was up, Luis passed the bags to them.
“Just leave them there and keep climbing. We’ll grab them on our way by,” Luis said.
“The bike could come in handy. I just need someone to help me carry it,” Justin said again. We all continued to ignore him as Liz went up the ladder next, with Darla and Lani waiting to climb up after her.
CRASH
I jumped at the sudden loud clanging sound, as did everyone else. I looked over to see Justin holding a crowbar near the dumpster. His hand was raised, ready to hit the dumpster again. “So you can hear,” Justin scoffed. “I wasn’t sure since nobody was listening to me.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Miguel growled. The sounds of feral growls reached our ears, and we all looked on in horror as the horde of zombies came around the corner like Justin had just rang the dinner bell. In a way, he had.
“Son of a bitch,” I hissed. “Everyone up the fire escape! Now!”
The alley we were in had metal gates screwed into the brick buildings on either side, so we quickly shut them. It wouldn’t hold the zombies back for long, but it might give us enough time to get away.
Nico stomped toward Justin angrily, and Justin cowered at his approach, holding the crowbar in both hands in front of his face in defense.
Nico ripped the crowbar from his hands. “Make sure Higgins gets up the fire escape, and then follow him up. Leave the fucking bike and be glad I’m letting you come with us still.
Make a fucking sound and I’ll break your fucking leg and leave you in the alley as zombie bait.
” Nico came back with the crowbar and jammed it into the gate to hold it closed.
As the zombies hit the gate, I saw the crowbar start to bow slightly.
No, it wasn’t going to hold them back for long.
“Em, get going,” Luis ordered.
“I can help!” I argued.
“Woman!” Nico yelled. “For once in your life, do as you are told and get that tight ass up the fucking fire escape, or I will put you over my knee later.”
I rolled my eyes at his threat but complied with their order—bossy assholes.
“Everyone spread out,” I said as I climbed onto the cramped platform.
They all moved further up the escape, leaving only me near the ladder.
I watched anxiously as Luis abandoned the gate first and scrambled up beside me.
Miguel was next, leaving Nico to try and hold the gate on his own.
“It’s not going to hold. Nico needs to get the fuck out of there,” I murmured.
“Come on, Nic!” Luis shouted.
Nico waited until Miguel reached the ladder to push away from the gate.
He had only made it five steps before it crashed open, and zombies spilled into the alley.
Miguel scrambled up the ladder and immediately flopped to his stomach and reached his hand down for Nico to grab.
When he reached the ladder, Nico jumped, clasping forearms with Miguel and then Luis as they helped pull him up the ladder and out of the hungry zombies’ grasp.
The fire escape began to shake as the zombies clawed at the ladder and each other in an attempt to reach us.
“We need to pull the ladder!” I shouted as I stood and kicked the release.
Usually, the ladder would have sprung up, but there were too many zombies holding on to it.
Together, the four of us pulled on the ladder, and after some struggle and a heart-stopping moment where Miguel almost tumbled off, we managed to get the ladder raised.
“That was close,” Miguel gasped as we all sat back to catch our breath.
“Too fucking close,” Nico growled. “I’m going to kill your boy toy if he does that again.”
“Again, he isn’t my boy toy. And if he pulls that again, I’ll kill him myself.
” I glared at Justin through the metal platform above, where he was watching and listening.
I’d like to say he looked properly ashamed at what he did, but he didn’t.
Instead he returned my gaze steadily, unphased by what had happened.
“What’s next, boss?” Luis asked Nico.
Nico glared up at Justin as well and it took him a few seconds to respond to Luis. “Come with me and let’s scout out the roof and make sure it’s safe before we bring everyone up. You two pull up the rear and make sure everyone gets up safely.”
We waited while Luis and Nico climbed the stairs to the top of the fire escape and disappeared over the roof’s edge. Time stretched as we waited for the all clear, and the longer they took, the more nervous I got. What if there was another horde on the roof?
“That Justin is going to be a bigger problem than I anticipated,” Miguel murmured.
I looked up to see Justin still watching me. “If he is, we’ll cut him loose,” I replied. If he was going to be a danger to the group, I wouldn’t let him continue with us. My parents’ lives were far more important to me than Justin’s.
Finally, Luis’s head popped over the edge. “Ok, one at a time. I’m not sure the fire escape will hold all the moving weight at once. Just take it nice and slow.”
“You heard him,” Miguel called out. “Leave the bags, Emery, and I will bring them up with us.” Mami went first, and as soon as she reached the top level, Papi moved to the level beneath her, and so on until everyone was well spread out or waiting for their turn to join the final ascent.
Miguel and I brought up the rear, leaving plenty of space between us and Justin so we didn’t put too much strain on the fire escape, with Miguel passing the bags up to me. Finally, we passed the bags to Luis and joined the group on the roof.
“Ok, everyone, take a break while we figure out our next move,” Nico said. He gestured for me, Luis, and Miguel to join him a short distance from the group. “I found a ladder that should stretch across the buildings.”
“How is that going to work?” I asked. “That’s going to be almost impossible for the older people to traverse.
That’s asking too much of them.” I loved my parents, and they were pretty fit and active for their age, but crossing a ladder between two buildings will be a challenge for me, let alone them.
And that wasn’t even taking into consideration Mr. Higgins, who was unsteady on his feet on solid ground.
“Maybe we can find a way to make it more stable,” Luis suggested. “Let’s look around and see what else is up here that we can use.”
We spread out, looking for anything that might help us bridge the gap between buildings.
I checked inside a shed on the roof and hit the jackpot.
“Hey guys! I found something!” They jogged over to me, and I pointed at the boards and rope I found.
“These would work, right? Tie a board to the ladder to give everyone a solid surface to walk across.”
Miguel studied the boards before choosing one. “Yeah, this should work well.” He took the board and rope, and we followed him back to the ladder. They worked together to get the board in place while I checked on the others and explained what we would be doing.
“Are you crazy?” Justin asked. “There is no fucking way that is going to work.”
“Yes, it will. It has to,” I replied.
“I can’t do that,” Liz said, eyes wide in panic. “I’m afraid of heights. There is no way I can do that. I just can’t.”
“Liz, Liz, calm down,” I said as I pulled her into a hug. “We’ll help you across. I’ll be on the other side, and you just keep your eyes on me and put one foot in front of the other. We aren’t going to leave you behind, I promise.”
“I can’t, Emery,” Liz cried. “I just can’t.”
“You can and you will,” I responded firmly.
“It’s ready,” Nico called.
“Ok, everyone, let’s go. We can all do this.” The guys were putting the ladder in place as we reached them.
“I’ll go first,” Miguel said.
“Be careful!”
Miguel looked back at me and winked. “I didn’t realize you cared, Princess.
” I blushed as he took the first step onto the ladder.
Nico and Luis held it tightly to stabilize it.
After the first cautious step, Miguel shot across the ladder.
He jumped to the roof on the other side and spun around with his hands in the air.
“And he stuck the landing! Easy peasy, just don’t look down. ”
“Ok. See, we can all do this. Mami, you first.” I needed to get my parents to safety, and then I could relax until the next crossing. I held my breath as Mami took the first step onto the bridge.
“Slow and steady, love,” Papi murmured.
“Don’t worry about me,” Mami replied calmly. “Worry about yourself. You’re the one with questionable balance.” Papi chuckled in response.
“Breathe, Em,” Nico whispered in my ear. Now that Miguel was on the other side, he and Luis were stabilizing the ladder, freeing Nico from the task. “She’s doing great.”
I nodded as I released the breath I was holding.
Everything was going to be ok. I felt eyes on me and looked away from Mami.
Everyone’s eyes were on her except Justin.
Justin was watching me and Nico with a look of disgust. He really was going to be a problem before too long—more of a problem than he’d already been.
At this rate, he’d be lucky to walk away with his life.
Miguel helped Mami off the ladder and gestured for Papi to start over next.
Again, I held my breath, but it wasn’t long before Nico trailed his fingers down my spine, causing me to gasp as tingles spread through my body at his touch.
I looked up at him in surprise, and he smirked without returning my gaze.
Papi made it across without incident, followed by Darla and Lani. Finally, it was Mr. Higgins’ turn. Nico and I helped him onto the wall and steadied him as he took his first step onto the ladder.
“Did I ever tell you what I used to do for a living?” Mr. Higgins asked.
“No, what?”
Without responding, he walked across the ladder with a level of agility I hadn’t expected from him.
He made it look easier than Miguel had. When he got to the other side, though, he needed help getting back down.
“I was a construction worker. I helped build the Twin Towers. I could cross beams smaller than this with my eyes closed.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in response. “Mr. Higgins is full of surprises, isn’t he?” I asked Nico.
“I’d say. Justin, your turn.” Justin looked like he was going to argue, but changed his mind with a huff as he climbed onto the wall and walked across the ladder with ease. Luis followed him over, leaving only Liz, Nico, and me on this side of the ladder.
“Liz, honey, are you ready to cross?” I asked.
Liz shook her head as she trembled. “No. I’ll go last. I’ll be ready then.”
“Ok, honey.” I looked at Nico and jerked my head toward the ladder, indicating he should go next.
Nico scoffed. “There isn’t a chance in hell that I’m leaving you on this roof, Princess. You may as well just go because this isn’t a fight you’re going to win.”
I didn’t bother arguing with him. It wasn’t worth it.
If I were going to die on a hill, it wouldn’t be this one.
I accepted his hand and climbed onto the edge of the roof.
I peeked over the edge to see just how high up I was.
Below, I could see the zombies were still milling around the alley.
Even if, by some miracle, I survived the fall, it wouldn’t matter.
The zombies would quickly finish the job.
“Eyes on me, Emery,” Miguel called softly as Nico released my hand and grabbed the ladder to steady it from our side.
I walked halfway onto the ladder and then turned back to Nico. “Hand me a bag.”
“Let me and Miguel worry about the bags,” Nico replied.
“Not a chance. It will be easier with someone in the middle, so start passing me bags.” This hill looked nice.
Apparently, it wasn’t a hill Nico wanted to die on because, with a scowl, he climbed onto the end of the ladder and had Liz hand him the first bag.
Miguel followed suit, and together the three of us moved all the bags to the next roof.
When I got to the other side, Nico tried to get Liz to go ahead of him, but she refused.
“Ok, Liz,” I said once Nico had crossed.
“It’s your turn, honey. Remember what I said, just keep your eyes on me and put one foot in front of the other.
You can do this!” Still shaking, Liz took a deep breath and climbed onto the wall.
“That’s it! We’ve got the ladder; it isn’t going anywhere.
So take your time, there is no need to rush. ”
“There’s a little bit of a need,” Justin said under his breath. “At this rate, we’ll never get to the evacuation shelter.”
“Justin, any time you want to split off from the group and get there on your own, you’re more than welcome to,” Luis said. “Otherwise, shut the fuck up.”
Each step Liz took started with a deep breath, but by the time she reached the halfway point, I could see she was beginning to fall apart again.
“Liz, you’re ok. You’re doing just fine. Halfway there, just keep taking one step at a time.”
Liz took another shaky step, teetering slightly.
She recovered, but it was enough to make her break eye contact with me, and for the first time, she looked down.
Liz let out a panicked squeak and crouched down, clinging to the ladder.
Unfortunately, that shifted her center of gravity, and before I could coach her into regaining control, she tipped sideways.
Her scream echoed through the alley as she plummeted to the ground.