She tried again, using more force this time to open it. With an ear-piercing shriek, all four blades popped into place. She gazed out over the gap and began to spin it like she had aboveground. Half a dozen rotations later, she released it, allowing the cord to unravel. It bypassed the post and clanged to the ground on the other side. Using both arms, Zahra pulled the hook to her left and worked behind the support. She put all her weight behind it and dug the blades in as deep as she could. Zahra relaxed and slowly rotated her bad arm, feeling injured muscles throb.
In the aura of her light, Zahra noticed that the wound was now bleeding worse. The more she exerted herself, the worse it was going to get.
And it was about to get much worse.
She stepped up to the edge of the gap and pointed her light straight down. The bottom was nowhere in sight. Zahra nervously swallowed and glanced up and down between the support post and the drop. She didn’t want to go through with it, but she didn’t have a choice. There was nothing behind her besides the pool.
She sat and gripped the cord tight. Slipping the palm-sized light into her mouth, she held it in place with her teeth. Zahra slowly lowered herself off the edge and dropped, trying her hardest to keep the swing to the other side slow and easy. It worked. Zahra gently swung across the opening in the earth, bracing the impact with her legs, using them as a natural suspension system.
The swing to the other side was a success, except now she was twenty-five feet beneath the ledge and only had one-and-a-half arms to use. The pain was excruciating… but dying would be worse. Zahra put every ounce of her strength into the sheer vertical ascent. The stone beneath her feet was impeccably smooth and would be no help. This would be an old-fashioned rope climb — like back in gym class.
Halfway up, Zahra’s labored breaths became bestial snarls. With five feet to go, Zahra’s inhuman growls transformed into tear-filled, muffled sobs. She openly wept with the flashlight pinned between her teeth, praying for the agony to subside. Blood freely ran down her arm, draining off her elbow into the void below. She pictured some demonic entity standing beneath her with its mouth open, relishing in her flavor.
She chuckled; glad she could retain her sense of humor even under duress.
Finally, she made it to the top, but she needed to make a choice. Reach the top with her good arm and use her injured appendage to support her weight or do the opposite. Either way, she’d have to put a lot of weight on her left arm.
“Come on, Zahra,” she said, mumbling through the flashlight, “you can do this.”
She came up with a third option — and just in time too!
Her grappling hook suddenly disengaged as a shrill beep rang out around her. The button release on her belt had obviously been damaged too. She caught herself with just her right hand and watched her beloved piece of gear disappear into the darkness. There, Zahra just dangled, unable to pull herself with just her one arm. The last leg of this excruciating ascent would require both arms. So, she bit down harder on her flashlight and slowly lifted the damaged limb. It wasn’t until she got as high as her shoulder that the movement made her cringe and flinch. But still, she continued, feeling her grip on the ledge wane.
Zahra kept her arm in tight to her body, climbing the wall with her fingers inch by inch. The higher it got, the worse the pain became. With one final push, the fingers of her left hand summited the wall. She wrapped her fingertips atop the ledge, feeling the muscles in her arms flex and shudder.
Taking a portion of her weight in her left arm, she slid her right hand forward and gripped the edge with her wrist. Then she lifted her head and slipped her chin atop the precipice. She flexed her chin downward and inched her right arm higher until she got the edge into the crook of her armpit. With renewed vigor, she brought her left arm up, happy that the particular motion didn’t cause her any additional pain. Now, she had both arms entirely atop the edge, as well as her head.
Zahra glanced up and saw that the other post was just inches from her head. She slid her right elbow across the ground and felt herself slip back into the void. Zahra lashed out and gripped the other post with her hand. She flexed her quadriceps and glutes, locking her right leg in place. With half of her body atop the ledge, she gave herself a moment and dangled her arm over the edge. The discomfort immediately began to subside with the lack of use.
