Slime-Cycle (Humble Beginnings)

39. Hidden ruins

Stephanie grabbed hold of a ledge along the wall just as the elevator beneath her fell.

It plummeted into the darkness, dragging Mat down with it. Her husband, into the abyss that stretched down below her. She listened to the scraping and screeching get quieter, as the elevator got further, and further away.

"Fuck-" she choked out, gripping the small ledge with as much finger strength as she could muster. Would it have been better if she stayed in the elevator with Mat? At least then she wouldnt be dangling off the edge of a wall above a lethal fall.

No. She couldnt think about that now. She had to find a way out of this, there had to be a way out of this.

But how could she focus on anything when she just watched her husband get trapped in a falling elevator?? Even worse, she could still hear it falling far below her. Further and further down, it kept going.

Would Mat even survive?

She didnt want to think about it, because there was a high probability that he wouldnt.

"Shit. Okay-" Steph gasped, shutting her eyes and letting her head hang as she pushed her feet against the wall to maintain some kind of stability. She had to figure out some kind of plan, because the longer she panics, the sooner she loses her grip and falls to her death.

What could she do?

Well.. along the edges of the elevator shaft, she could see some kind of metal tracks or rails. Faint red industrial lights blinked across them, stretching as far as she could see below and above her. They must be what the elevator runs along, considering she couldnt see any elevator cables.

If she could make it over to them, maybe shed be able to climb her way back up to the tower. Sure, the scaffolding around it was small, and probably structurally un-sound, but it was at least better than holding onto a tiny rock ledge with her fingers.

Steph only had one problem, and that was there was no way to climb over. The ledge she was holding onto smoothed back into the wall about two feet before reaching the rails, so if she wanted to get across, she would have to jump.

Steph grit her teeth. Of course. It couldnt be so simple. She could do it, though. She had to.

She shuffled her fingers along the ledge an inch, adjusting her footing to find a more stable position, and glancing to her left at the scaffoling only a few feet away.

Steph gulped. "Okay.." she huffed, tensing up and calculating how she was going to jump. If she got this wrong, she'd plummit into the darkness below her. Hundreds of feet, probably, just free falling until she hit the ground.

She shook that thought out of her head and focused on making the jump. She could do it.

She tensed up, got her feet into a better position, and-

Paused, as the bag at her side shifted.

Stephanie stopped, freezing in place. Did.. her bag actually just move? Or did she imagine it?

It moved again, and she knew something was up.

"Hello..??" She called hesitantly, looking under her shoulder at the bag that shifted left and right. Something was moving inside it, and she was scared to find out what.

For a moment, whatever it was fluttered and squirmed about, but then it went still. Steph only had a moment to be concerned before the bags zipper began unzipping from the inside.

Steph flinched, watching in horror as something messily pulled the zipper open and began crawling its way out.

It was too dark to see what it was, but she could make out feathers. "What the-" she grit her teeth, trying to avoid the thing like the plague as it climbed out.