Conquest of the Victorian Era ( The Open Novella Contest)

Chapter Twenty Five- So much more

Thadeus pulled the trigger- sending the blast straight towards me. The impact hit the chain I had been holding, breaking it. One side of the beam I had been standing on dropped and I slid down, reaching for a hold to prevent from falling all the way off.

"Ivy!" Aries shouted towards me.

Gun fire echoed inside the warehouse.

I wasn't sure where the bullets were coming from and where they were headed.

I clung to the end of the beam, trying to pull myself back up on top of it, but not being able to get a grip on anything.

I looked down to where Thadeus had been standing. He had quickly rushed around towards the bow of the ship to escape the gunfire, and was now heading towards a wooded stair case that lead down to the ground and away from the boat. Dominick and Cliff, however, stayed close to Rhys and Violet, shooting up blindly into the rafters above them. The other men who were caught with Layton began to fight against Thadeus' men as more came clambering out of the door that lead down and into the ship. With all the distraction, I noticed George and how quickly he had gotten down to the boat, helping Layton up and carrying him around the corner, out of sight.

"Ivy," Aries leaned over from the other side of the beam trying to reach me without bumping the beam and causing me to fall off. "Ivy, I'll be able to reach you but I need you to climb up a bit higher!"

A shot rang out right past him, and he ducked down, then began shooting off his own revolver down towards the ship.

I heard another shot pass me and hugged the beam in order to avoid the fire that was coming at me. I could only guess that I wasn't being hit due to the swinging of the beam.

Feeling along the side of the beam, I eventually got a hold onto some bolts and holes, and pulled myself up higher. I climbed, pulling my weight up and finally placing my feet on top of the bolts. I inched my way up slowly, trying not to let the gunfire distract me. I was close to the top when I had to stop. The bolts had run out, and I couldn't reach high enough to get to the top ones near Aries.

"Aries!" I yelled, trying to get his attention.

Still crouched, he glanced over the edge at me, then fired off some more shots before throwing the empty revolver to the side and reaching down to take my out stretched arm.

Aries leaned forward, taking quick grip of my wrist.

"Ivy, let go!" he said.

Just as I carried out what Aries said, I heard a shot, then felt him jolt. I looked towards his face then saw a flicker of pain run over it. I looked down towards the boat, seeing Cliff smirking up at the shot he'd just made, and readying himself for another. I looked back towards Aries, seeing blood start to come through his shirt up near the top of his arm that was holding onto my wrist.

I could feel his grip slipping, until my hand completely let go of his.

Quickly, he threw his whole upper body over the rafter, grabbing onto me with his other hand.

He used his entire ounce of strength to pull me up and over the rafter.

We both landed, staying close to the ledge flooring to avoid more shots. My breathing was heavy, but Aries wasn't even fazed. He stood straight up, grabbed his Sentaurius Pistol, and shot down at Cliff, forcing him to take cover.

"Aries, your arm..." I breathed out.

"It's fine, are you okay?"

I did a quick check of myself, rubbing my shoulder after it had been pulled. "Yes. Fine."