Page 55 of Death Match

“I got him,” I reassured her, pointing to his dark curls sticking out of my shirt. Little Zach giggled, seeming to be enjoying the free ride. Or maybe it was because he was pressed against my boobs? I didn’t know how babies worked.

Kay nodded once and started moving again.

During the climb, I only had to stop once to readjust my tank top and make sure Zach was still secure.

We went on in silence for quite some time. Within minutes, the ledge we’d been on disappeared from view, lost in the dense mist at the bottom of the ravine. The good thing was that haze seemed to lighten the closer to the top we got.

We had to be nearing the end of the bridge soon.

Hope fluttered in my chest. We were going to make it.

A few more steps and then there was a loud crack. Above me, Kay screamed as her body skated down the ropes.

“Kay!”

She grabbed for the nearest plank, managing to seize one as she fell. It stopped her abruptly, and her legs swung away from the cliff and bridge as she clutched the wood to her chest, her eyes squeezed shut.

As the two broken pieces of wood fell, I leaned right just in time to avoid being hit. With my insides twisted into knots, I watched them disappear into the rising mist.

For a few moments, I couldn’t even form thoughts. Terror gripped me, ceasing every one of my functions.

After peering up and seeing Kay was okay, just shaken, I let out a sigh in relief.

That was way too close.

“You okay up there?” I shouted up to her.

Between hard breaths, she said, “Yeah, just frazzled. But okay.”

With a trembling hand, she reached for the next plank, as if to prove her words to me, and the rung under her foot broke. She lost her grip.

Her screamed pierced me.

My hand shot out and snatched her as she fell. The sudden snap of her weight made the bridge jerk violently and pain exploded through every muscle in my arm.

Having her by only a few fingers, she stared up at me, eyes wild with fear. The slickness of the mist wasn’t helping our hold on each other either.

“Hold on!” I shouted.

To make matters even worse, against me, I could feel Zach slipping out of the top of my shirt.

It was at this moment that the truth of what was happening hit me. I wasn’t going to be able to save them both.

No. No. No. No.

This couldn’t be happening.

Staring down at my closest friend, the acceptance of what was happening appeared on her face. She gave me a weak smile.

“It’s okay, Jade,” she whispered. “You can let go.”

Even though I was shaking my head, her fingers were sliding out of my grip.

“No! I’m getting you both out of here. I’m—”

“Save Zach…” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “Can you do that for me? Save him.”

Just thinking about what she was considering made it hard to breathe. I couldn’t let her go. There was no way. But with every passing second, Zach glided dangerously close to popping out the top of my shirt and Kay’s fingers were loosening.

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