Chapter 20
Asmita
I keep my face toward the fence and refuse to look at Jesse as I walk.
How dare he speak to me like I’m some idiot!
Clearly, I have made it this far and most of it on my own.
Where was he when I was trying to get out of San Francisco or getting attacked in the woods?
I made it through those situations; I can make it through this one.
It’s clear to me, when I do look back at him, that he’s having a rough time.
He’s sweating profusely and his face has taken on an ashen color.
He catches up to me, and I let him get a few steps in front of me.
I can see the back of his clothing, and it’s obvious to see that he’s lost a lot of blood.
His shirt is soaked through with sweat and blood and the darkest is over the spot of his wound.
We’ve made it to the fence and are now standing directly in front it. Jesse puts his hand up in the air to signal me to stop. He scans the length of the fence and then the height. He takes his backpack off of his back and opens it. He pulls out a shirt and hands it to me.
“What do I need this for?” I ask him, puzzled.
“I’m going to help you climb up first. When we get near the top, you’ll swing this up and lay it over the wire so your skin won’t get cut as we cross over it.
That wire looks razor sharp, so don’t let any of your skin come into contact with it.
If you do, you’ll be in the same boat as me with my back, and that’s the last thing we need. ”
I instantly feel guilty for my previous thoughts.
He’s just trying to look out for me, of course.
That’s all he’s tried to do since we met.
I don’t know why, but I instantly think the worst of him when really, when I think about it, he’s been nothing but kind to me.
When I’ve snapped at him, he’s tried his best to not retaliate but explain himself to me and his actions. I resolve to do better.
“What about you? I don’t want you to get in any worse shape” I smile weakly at him, trying to convey that I really am worried about the way he’s looking.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll use this,” he says as he holds up another shirt since the first is almost shredded.
“Good!” I tell him with a little too much enthusiasm. “I’m exhausted. Let’s get this party started.”
He looks at me a little funny, but once he gets his bag closed and on his shoulders again, we start to climb the fence.
It’s a chain link fence, but it’s got to be a minimum of twenty feet tall with another foot of wire curling at the top.
We take our time climbing up the fence. It sways some under our weight and our close proximity to each other.
As we climb, I have to keep repositioning my hands.
The heat from the sun is quickly making the metal too hot to touch.
I look down at the ground getting further away from us, and I can see heat waves rising off the road we walked down to get to the fence.
Jesse makes it to the barbed wire quicker than I do.
He holds on with both hands to the fence and waits for me to reach him.
He doesn’t complain once about his hands touching the hot metal.
I try to push myself faster up to him and succeed.
My feet are aching from trying to squeeze them into the chain link to steady myself, and my hands feel like I’ve juggled hot pans.
I can see that Jesse has already got his shirt over the wire, but he’s placed it on the wire in front of me so I can go over first. He reaches down and takes the shirt I have draped over my shoulder.
“Start climbing over the fence. Be very careful not to touch any of the wire that isn’t covered by the shirt,” he stresses to me.
“Why don’t you go ahead over first so I can see how it’s done?” I ask him.
He shakes his head to indicate no. “Because I don’t want to be on the other side if something happens and you fall back onto this side. I want to keep us on the same side of the fence,” he says, and his jaw tightens. This clearly isn’t up for discussion.
He’s concentrating to get the shirt to lay just right on the wires. I start making my way up the little area of the fence I have left before the wire. I don’t want to screw this up.
“You can do this Asmita. You’re stronger than you think.”
He’s trying to encourage me. I stare at him warily but continue to make my way up to the wire.
Once I’m at the wire, and have no room to move any further up or beside it without crossing it, I realize how big the loops are.
I’m instantly filled with fear that my skin is going to get ripped open.
He can sense my hesitation about not knowing what to do.
“Asmita, put your hands on the wire through the shirt. You have to touch it. Try to touch it with one hand and get your leg over. If you don’t press too hard with your hand it might not puncture through the shirt.”
“What! You never said that the wire was going to go through the shirt.”
“It’s not thick material. You’re going to feel some sensation even if it’s on your legs. Trust me, it’ll be better than the barbed wire touching your bare skin. Just go slowly if you have to, but don’t make contact with any of the wire not under the shirt.”
I touch the wire and in my mind I’m so on edge, I expect it to shock me.
I touch it, and I can feel the thickness of the wire through the shirt.
I’m able to get my leg up and over the wire, and I’m straddling the coils.
The next thing I know, my body’s momentum from swinging my leg up has made the fence sway.
I’ve lost my balance and grip. I try to correct my position and catch the fence with my bare hand.
It connects with the barbed wire. The movement instantly shoots pain up my left forearm and I’m screaming out in pain.
In the panic and pain, I lose my grip all together and begin to fall into the wire.
Before I know it, Jesse climbs up the rest of the fence and flings his shirt on the wire next to me.
He puts his upper body onto the shirt and uses his arms to help free me from the tangle of wire.
He doesn’t take the time to reassure me; he just gets me free from the wire.
“Can you keep climbing down?”
“Yes, I think so,” I tell him. “My hand is bleeding, but I can make it.”
I start to climb down, and Jesse does the same.
He makes it over the barbed wire and joins me on the fence.
He goes slowly with me and stays by my side as we climb down.
I’m much slower than him, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
My hand is throbbing, and the sun is just continuing to heat the fence up.
When I plant my feet on solid ground, I’m thrilled to be off the fence.
Jesse jumps off the fence with about five feet remaining. He has one of the shirts in his hands and begins ripping one side of it. He rips a long strip of fabric off. He takes my bleeding hand and gives it a look over.
“This is the best I’ve got at the moment,” he says to me as he holds up the strip. “Put your hand out, and I’ll wrap it.”
I hold my hand up and he begins wrapping the cloth strip around my hand.
It’ll help stop the bleeding, but my hand won’t be very useful.
If I’m not careful, it’ll get infected, and I’ll die.
I’ll need to get water over it and clean it once we find a place to make camp, if we make camp, that is.
We may just power through. I don’t know what to expect now that we’re over the fence and on the island.
We could see through the chain link fence and as far as the eye can see the land all around us.
Now, we’ll have to get past the hills and see what’s behind them.