Drifting

Chapter 4

"I'm fully aware it doesn't make sense," he said. "That's why I didn't want you to come with. If you want to go home, go home. But I need to get on that roof." He resumed pushing on the dumpster.

"You'll break your neck," she said.

"I know this is taking time," he grunted, his next shove managing to slide the dumpster across the icy alley part of the way. "I don't know how much time Christina has left. But she's screaming in my head and I'd have to be a monster to ignore it."

Lara looked at the mouth of the alley. If she hurried, most of their tracks would still be uncovered. She could easily follow them back to her neighborhood, back to her warm apartment, back to Jasper, back to solitude.

"I know how it sounds," he said, bracing his shoulder against the dumpster again and working it forward. "Just look at it out of context. I just told you I hear a woman screaming in my head. You're thinking, 'shit, this guy is off his meds.'"

"No," she denied, but it came out wilted and pathetic.

"Yes," he insisted, positioning the dumpster underneath the fire escape's raised ladder. "You're not the first, and trust me, I don't blame you. But if you aren't going to help me, just go home, Lara."

"I can't do that." Once she'd said it, she knew it was true. "You can't be out here by yourself."

"Okay, then. So let's do this." He moved to scramble on top of the ice-encrusted dumpster.

"Let me," she insisted, sliding the backpack from her back and rubbing her hands together, trying to generate warmth. "Spot me, though, okay?"

He threaded his fingers together and braced them on his knee. She put her small boot against his fingers and he hoisted her up onto the dumpster. She balanced on her hands and knees near the hinges, trying not to put her weight on the rubber lids, afraid they would buckle beneath her. After a few deep, frozen breaths, she found her center of balance and arched up, snagging the fire escape ladder with her gloved hands and yanking down. It wouldn't budge. She struggled with it a few moments before calling over her shoulder, "I have to put all my weight on it!"

"I'll catch you," he promised.

She swung out on the bottom rung like a trapeze artist. With a scream of rusted, frigid metal, the ladder folded down to street level. Lara nearly stuck the landing, but balked at the last moment, losing her balance. She crashed into Jesse, who folded her against himself as they thudded to the ground. Her cheek brushed his stubble.

"You okay?"

She nodded, hauling herself to her feet and shouldering the backpack again. They both removed their gloves and took the ladder rung by rung. The metal was painfully cold and slippery. Lara feared Jesse would slip and fall down on top of her, but they made it to the first landing that connected to the stairway that zig-zagged to each window. They ascended carefully, their steps echoing hollowly just beneath the ever-present howl of the wind.

The first window they passed was curtained, warm light seeping between the two fabric panels. As they snuck by, Lara risked a peek. A group of young men were heaped on a sagging couch, flailing around, throwing elbows, their fingers dancing over video game controllers. She could just make out their frenzied cries and the boom of the accompanying surround sound through the glass. Luckily, they were so absorbed in the game, there was no chance they'd notice two intruders skulking by the window.

The next storey up revealed something entirely different. The window into that apartment was open, the curtains fluttering in the stiff breeze. Jesse slowed his steps and peered inside for a few moments before calling out, "Is anyone here?"