The Salvation

Chapter 36

|Craig|

When Craig opened the door to the uppermost office of The Black Tower, a beep went off beneath him. Craig looked down at his feet to see a red laser, his foot directly impeding the lasers path. Craig stepped out of it cautiously and the laser beeped again. Craig looked around curiously at the office, stepping over the laser. The office had shattered windows, a torn grey lounge and a broken lacquered oak desk. On the edge of the largest broken window were two thick chains, hanging over the side to hold something up. Craig gripped his AK-47 tightly as he walked forward, watching for any of Callus' surprises.

Craig stepped forward and leaned over the ledge of The Black Tower and peered down all the levels. The distance between the ground and Craig was terrifying, greater than the bridge separating the two parts of the city, the ground below taunting and daring him to jump.

Two men were seemingly wrestling down the bottom on the bridge, but Craig couldn't identify them. One was a figure all in black and the other in what Craig guessed were regular clothes. Is that Andrew? Craig looked closer, but the distance between the men and Craig was too great for him to see them clearly.

Craig looked at his feet, seeing the chain barely latched to the ground beneath him, hanging on like a leaf to a branch. It was bulky and heavy, and it clearly wasn't being held up sufficiently. Craig followed the chain down the side of The Black Tower with his eyes. Twenty metres down from where it was latched at Craig's feet, he seen what it was holding up... Jane barely hung onto the chain desperately, her wrists clasped to the heavy links.

"Jane!" Craig shouted in horror, dropping to his hands and knees. At his touch, the latches to the chain snapped like sticks and the chain slid away. Craig grabbed one end of the chain with his hands and held it, stopping it from falling to the ground with Jane attached. It was immensely heavy, the thick metal links attached to a woman like hanging dumbbells. "Jane, hang on!" Craig shouted down desperately.

"Craig?!" Jane shouted up frantically as she spun around, connected to the chain.

Craig winced as the weight of the chain pulled him off his knees and onto his stomach. Craig stretched his legs to the other end of the window and anchored himself up with his feet. "Stop fighting it Jane! Stay still or I'll drop you!" Craig shouted commands down to his partner. "Gah!" Craig felt the muscles in his arm strain. It's... Too... Heavy... Craig peered down at Jane, who looked up at him with scared eyes. "You need to hang on! Andrew and Venelope will find us soon enough!" Craig tried to comfort his partner, or himself. He wasn't certain.

"Craig... There's something I need to tell you..." Jane yelled, her voice breaking with fear. "That man... He didn't take me..."

Craig frowned, the chain pulling him down towards the edge of The Black Tower. "What do you mean?!"

"It was me, I went to him..." Jane confessed. What? She did this to herself? "I told him about Glade and Andrew... He- He promised me that he'd help Mike with his legs, help him walk properly..." Jane began to sob. Half of Craig's mind wanted him to drop her and just be done with it. But his heart ached as much as his arms and he couldn't convince himself to let her fall. "I'm sorry Craig... He tricked me..."

"It's- It's..." What is it Craig? Craig groaned as the chain slid another inch from his hand. "It's gonna be okay!" Craig called down the only words he could think of.

"I did it for us... I did it for Mike..." Jane continued to attempt an explanation.

Craig hurt gunshots down below, and peered over the edge to see the two men joined by a dog and a woman. The man in the black was on the ground, the other three standing over him. Andrew, Venelope and Shale... But who's the other man? Craig let the chain slip another inch, but caught it quickly. Craig winced again as the weight of the chain pulled him further down, now both his arms hanging over the edge. A car appeared below him, charging and opening fire. It looked like Andrew got Venelope and Shale to cover when the car stopped and soldiers opened fire again. A man in a suit took the man in black and shoved him in the car. Callus...

"Craig... What's gonna happen to us...?" Jane asked worriedly from down below.

Craig groaned as his arms began to lose their strength. "We're gonna be fine!" Craig called out.

BANG!

The gunshot fired from the car below, completely missing Jane... And hitting Craig in his right bicep. Craig cried out in pain and reached over to grasp his arm, letting go of the chain. Then he realised what happened. He heard her scream as she fell and a clap like thunder when she hit the ground. The pain coming from the fleshy hole in Craig's arm was nothing in comparison to the pain in his chest when he looked down the tower.

She's gone... I let her go... Craig wanted to cry, but nothing would happen. His heart felt as if it were being pounded with a sledgehammer repeatedly. I let her go...