The virgin & the bad boy (Gravity)

Chapter 59/The crossing

I walked to the edge and just kept moving on the internet of stuff conduit. I tested it with my weight and once I was sure it was strong enough I walked out on to the air between the buildings. My hand was shaking like a humming bird that had drank a can of Red Bull.

The essence of this kind of move is not to look down. I kept my eyes on the building in front of me. Suddenly my fear dropped away. I took a deep breath and walked confidently across the beam. The courthouse side was in a poor state of repair but I made it. I turned round and shouted to Io.

"Easy! see now you do it" I shouted.

"No, no I can't" said Io.

The conduit had felt wide enough for me. If it had been any wider it would have felt like walking along a plank.  As beams went this wasn't too bad. My stomach felt like I had been put into some industrial press but I got back up and walked back across from the courthouse to the other building.

"See" I said getting down from the edge of the parapet "no problem you give it a try."

Io looked doubtful.

"Its OK I' will hold your hand" I told her. I took her coat and tied it around her wrist. I tied the other side around my own. 

The bannging continued against the door. It was giving way. 

"If those men catch you they will throw you off any way" I said.  That was the idea of what they were threatening.

Io stepped up to the beam. I told her not to looked down and just look at the door on the far side. I got up behind her, she edged out along the conduit. This did not seem too difficult she kept going  both our arms were outstretched to balance . She moved cautiously along . I followed her this was going to work.  We went out and drifted over the space between both buildings. I could hear the drones moving towards us. The crowd below stop they have done I guess they were looking up. 

The tricky part of any high work like this isn't the middle when you are furthest away from both sides it's the end. At the end, your most confident but you are transitioning shifting your weight that's when you can lose your concentration and balance. Io continued and stood on to the beam on the building far side.

 I slipped  She was on the roof now and all I had to do was get off and join her. Something then hit my foot I guessed it was a delivery drone. I slipped off . For a second I was being held up by the coat I had tied to our writst. Io had fallen down and I held on to the coat for my dear life. Io's body was on the parapet edge of the roof and I was swinging holding on to the coat hand. My body hit the side of the courthouse knocking a lot of air out of me. I grabbed at with my other hand.

My feet were dangling in free space. The side of the building was quite smooth there were no handholds I could grab onto. The weight of my body had pulled Io down. The coat which which started to make tearing noises  was so long   I could not reach up to the edge of the parapet.

"SHIT!" I shouted.

It seemed like a fairly mundane last word. I held onto the coar with both hands. If only I could grab onto something. Then I heard the metal of the conduit Bang against the side of the building and then plan as it hit the ground. It was a long way down.

Everything was totally dire and then it suddenly got worse. Clearly the para parapet not designed to carry weight. I could hear the sound of cracking concrete. The part that I/O was leaning against suddenly came away. She fell into the gap. I closed my eyes as and bricks fell passed my head. I felt the dust and gravel pour on to me and slide off. It quickly stopped and I open my eyes to see the bricks shooting below from me and then seconds later colliding with the ground.

I looked up now Io was bent over in the gap.

"I'm slipping!" Io shouted at me.

She didn't need to tell me that her waist was already exposed. When she tried to grab the side of the parapet she just managed to dislodge another set of bricks. She was clearly coming over the edge with me. If we both held on we were clearly both going to die.

I remembered what it was like being on the other side.

"Io promise me your human," I said the coat was tearing. 

"Io is human," said Io.

"Then let me die, so one of us lives. Tell Dante I love him.  Remember me" I said and let go.

I know it sounds like a cliche but cliches are cliches for a reason. Time slowed down.

Io screamed. I knew that there was no way I would survive in this gravity. but that was okay. Io would live at least one of us would make it out and that would be enough. A smile had just begun form on my mouth when suddenly something hit my foot. I found my fall being broken by a flag poll below me. A better expert at Parkor could have landed on her feet balancing. Both my feet slipped either side of the poll. I tried to grab the poll as I fell but it was quite broad. I held on with all my might and ended up hanging from a flag on  the flag poll.

I was facing away from the building seeing the reflection of the shocked looking lanky girl in the glass of the building opposite. The poll wasn't designed to hold someone's weight and I could feel the bolts which were used to attach it to be building starting to come out. I started to go hand over hand backwards. I was hoping that I could get to the wall before the thing dropped.

Suddenly I felt something pulling me.

"I have you, " said Dante's voice. 

My hands slipped and I found my self being held my him by the scruff of my jacket. 

"What was that about loving me?" said Dante. 

Through an open window Dante held me me. He pulled me in. While the window could not open his arm was reaching through an one design for air it. There was a ledge below  my fee. Dante lowered me down to it. For some reason I let out a cry of triumph. I stood up. For some reason my first reaction to this apart from sheer blissful joy was to shout up to Io.

"You okay?" I asked.

I know it sounds absurd now. I'm standing with my back to a window, hundreds of feet above the ground but suddenly I'm somewhere familiar. I felt normal again.

"I'm okay" I heard Io shout.

All I could think was how please I was she had made it. 

That was all I needed. With practised ease I just pull myself up swung my legs onto the ledge and ended kneeling on it. It was wider than the conduit, and Felt like a massive red carpet.

"are you okay?" I heard Io's voice shout.

"Me? I'm terrific" I shouted back.

"Excuse me madam I will open the window get you in" said Kentro.

The window opened . Didn't care I felt completely safe out here. Suddenly there was a phone call. I recognised a familiar crackle and empty sound on my earrings.

"Scarlett bud I've got something very important to tell you yakwim" said the voice of my Mars friend Katz.

"Katz I'm a bit bizzy with a trial can I phone you back? bud" I said going back inside.

"No you cannot Scarlett." said Katz "look I think you should know it's John. Your mother caught him in bed with that blonde nurse. His spine has really grown enough to cheat on you bud, the spineless chaz is out of it. Your dad got him to call the whole wedding thing off. He's working up the courage to tell you himself. I know this must be devastating for you bud."

"You know I can live through it." I said. "look this must be costing you a huge amount talk later" 

There was a cough. 

I looked up to see I was in the courtroom.