“You’re going to have to hold on tight.” I handed him a leg of the pants to grip with his one good hand while I held onto the other. We each pulled, testing the tension.
“Next time we are packing rope,” he said. “And I want to remind you that at this moment I have only two working limbs.”
“No one’s watching but me.”
“I’d like to, on occasion, impress you with my athleticism.”
“I’m impressed by a lot of things you do, but generally not your athleticism,” I said with a smile.
Scowling adorably, he tucked the bottle into his waistband and grabbed hold of my jeans, wrapping the end around his hand to get a better grip. He looked adorably awkward and surprisingly nervous as he scooted backward toward the edge of the building.
“It’s all right. I’ve got you,” I said.
“What are you benching these days?”
“210,” I said with some pride.
“All right, then, let’s do this.”
The denim was taut between us as I slowly lowered Cipher off the side of the building. He used his feet to scale down the cinderblock wall while keeping an eye on the ground below him. By the time I’d lowered him as far as I could, he had about a six-foot drop.
“Bend your knees when you land,” I reminded him.
“Roger.”
He let go, landing on both feet in a crouch, then stood and threw out his one good one arm like a gymnast.
“Bravo,” I called, then tossed him our bags, which he managed to catch with only one arm. I tied off the pants, which didn’t give me much leeway to climb down. My descent was quicker, and I would have made a Tarzan noise for effect if it weren’t for the ever-present threat of Rabids. The drop to the ground was a bit of a shock to my knees but otherwise fine. Once we were both safely on the ground, I retrieved his gun from one of the bags, and we did a sweep of the back of the building.
“All clear on my end. How about you?” Cipher asked.
“Yeah, all clear, but we probably shouldn’t hang around too long.”
“Agreed.” His eyes roved over me again.
“What?” I asked
“You’re practically naked. It’s distracting.”
“Still doing it for you?” I asked while flexing a little.
“One hundred percent.”
I hoped to take advantage of that later on, but for now, we needed to get home. We jogged over to the two dumpsters where Cipher had stashed the bike and I wheeled it out. Cipher pointed out the clutch and the brake, then told me how to get it started. I mounted the bike and planted my foot on the pedal, kickstarting it to life. The engine was more of a hum than a roar but still very satisfying. I took a couple turns around the parking lot to get my bearings while Cipher stood on guard with his gun in case any Rabids showed up. Thankfully, none did.
“Hop on,” I said to him once I’d gotten the hang of it. He mounted the bike, finding a ledge to rest the hooked end of his prosthesis while still holding onto his Glock. The bottle of booze he had tucked inside his sling.
“Here they come,” Cipher said, pointing to the sides of the building where the first few Rabids were rounding the corners.They were moving slower this morning, limping more so than lunging while trying to shield their eyes from the morning light, still on the move.
For a split-second the panic from last night returned, and I forgot what I was doing.
“Pull back on the clutch to accelerate, babe,” Cipher said to me softly, as calm and cool as ever. His hand rubbed against my sternum, centering me as I followed his instructions. The bike lurched into action. The Rabids, perhaps sensing our escape, picked up speed and trailed after us through the parking lot and down the road for a little while before giving up on their pursuit.
“Persistent fuckers,” Cipher said and took another long pull from the bottle.
This new adaptation meant we had to be ever-vigilant when we went outside our compound in the daytime, a whole new threat level to our daily tasks. It wasn’t fair. There was already so much stacked against us. I sensed from Cipher’s somber mood that he felt it too. No doubt there’d be a debrief later.
We set off towards home with the sun at our backs. I ignored the chill in the air as I concentrated on navigating the potholes and sudden shoots of greenery in the road. Cipher let me know when we needed to turn but otherwise he was quiet. We stopped once to take a piss, trading the gun back and forth while watching each others’ backs. When we were both finished, Cipher pulled out his radio to check in with the Assholes. We were out of range last night, so they were probably freaking out.
