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  Sam didn’t raise the ladder to the height he would have preferred, but it was good enough. He stood very carefully on the end of the ladder as it neared the roof. The stairwell door burst open and Cillian watched as five deranged and bloody people ran a beeline at the man.

  Cillian gritted his teeth and silently urged the ladder to move faster. Come on, come on!

  At last, he could finally reach the man. Cillian wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled. The man gasped in surprise as he was swung out over the edge.

  “Move us away, Sam! Move us now!” Cillian shouted as loud as he could, but it was unnecessary. As soon as Cillian had laid hands on the guy, the ladder began swinging the other way. The motion, and Cillian’s momentum from pulling the man to him, caused them to topple over. They went over the edge.

  Amazingly, Cillian managed to wrap his legs around some ladder rungs and hook his feet through them. The man nearly slipped out of his grasp, but Cillian caught onto a strange harness around his waist. The stranger started screaming as his camera fell and hung by its wires. Out of the corner of his eye, Cillian saw two of the attackers leap over the edge at them. One came terrifyingly close, but both missed and fell to what Cillian assumed would be their deaths. He couldn’t see what the other three were doing.

  “Sir!” Cillian shouted at the man he held. “I need you to calm down and stop squirming!” He was making it difficult to hold on.

  The man’s terrified face looked up at him and nodded once, his brown hair hanging straight towards the ground.

  Why was the ladder still swinging?

  Cillian looked down at the control station. Sam was gone and he had left the lever up. Someone, probably whoever had scared off Sam, was now slowly climbing up the ladder after them.

  “Shit. Sir!”

  “Tobias!”

  “What?”

  “My name is Tobias.” The man, Tobias, patted his chest twice then let his arms hang again. His hands and face were going red from the blood collecting in them.

  “All right, Tobias, I need you to cut loose your camera.” Cillian was trying hard not to think about whoever was climbing up. Right now his biggest concerns were losing his grip and the ladder swinging completely around into the building again. At least the ladder’s current slant meant it couldn’t hit anything on the other side of the street.

  “With what?” Apparently, Tobias had no sharp objects with him.

  “I don’t know! Just get rid of it!” Cillian tried but he couldn’t pull Tobias up at his current weight. He didn’t even know if he could pull him up without the camera’s weight, but he had to try.

  Tobias first grabbed the strap of a bag he had on and threw it off over his head. The mostly empty duffel bag fluttered as it fell. He then reached down and grabbed all the wires between him and the camera. He started pulling and jerking at them. One by one, they popped out of the sockets in the camera. When the last one went, the heavy thing dropped to earth. Tobias seemed distressed by this, but then immensely relieved. Probably because it wasn’t him plummeting.

  “Okay, good!” Cillian was getting tired. Even without the camera, Tobias was still pretty heavy. “I need you to help me now! You have to try and climb over me, up onto the ladder!”

  Tobias frowned up at him from his upside down position, “Can you try and get me upright so I can reach you?”

  Cillian figured this Tobias guy didn’t have a fear of heights, but he probably would after his.

  With a supreme amount of effort, he switched his hands to be hooked through Tobias’s harness the other way, causing his legs to swing down and his head to swing up.

  “Thanks, man,” now being relatively face to face, they didn’t have to shout to hear each other. They probably didn’t need to shout to hear each other to begin with, but the situation seemed to call for it.

  “Don’t mention it,” Cillian grunted. “Just hurry the fuck up.”

  Tobias heaved himself up, using Cillian’s pants’ pockets as handholds. With a lot of effort, and a lot of cursing from Cillian, Tobias managed to get onto the ladder.

  “Now help me up!” Cillian shouted again. The building was getting uncomfortably closer.

  “Who’s that climbing up?” Tobias had looked down and noticed the person halfway up the ladder.

  “Probably no one good! Now help me!” Cillian tried to swing himself up using all the strength of his ab muscles.

  Tobias grabbed his arms. Soon they were both crammed upright on the narrow ladder. Tobias then hurriedly wrapped the wires still attached to him around his waist so that they wouldn’t dangle.

  “Start climbing down.” Cillian looked at the looming building. The three that hadn’t jumped after them were standing there, waiting for the ladder to come to them. “If I tell you to hold tight, do it.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Tobias started down the ladder. “This thing is steep.”

  The two men inched their way down the ladder, keeping a hard grip on the metal and stepping carefully.

  “Hold on tight!” Cillian gripped the ladder to him and Tobias did the same. The top of the ladder slammed into the side of the building, causing the whole thing to shudder and groan. The gears continued to try to swing it, but they only succeeded in pressing the ladder tighter against the brick wall. Cillian had been looking down when they hit. He watched as the person coming up the ladder was thrown to the side by the impact. Being lower, the shock wasn’t as bad as where the boys were, but it was still enough to tip him over the side. The climber grabbed the side of the ladder as he tipped over, desperate to keep holding on, but ultimately, failed and fell. He must have been badly injured by that fall, but Cillian could see him continue to squirm and then crawl under a car. Cillian made note of which car. At least it was one less thing to worry about on the ladder.

  “Shit!” Tobias was looking up past Cillian. He then started to scramble down the ladder at a much more dangerous pace.

  Cillian looked up and thought the same thing as Tobias’s expletive. The three on the roof were climbing onto the ladder after them. Cillian sped up his own pace. He knew these ladders better than Tobias and easily caught up. He was annoyed when he had to slow down to match him. He glanced back up at their pursuers.

  The first one on the ladder tried absurdly to walk down it. He immediately fell off to one side. Cillian decided not to watch that one fall. The second one was smarter and started climbing down. The third actually frightened Cillian. It crawled onto the ladder, head first. Scurrying quickly over the back of the other climber like a spider, it came after them. It was coming so fast.

  “Hurry up!” Cillian yelled down at Tobias. “Slide, damn it!”

  “What?” Tobias looked up. He saw the creeper crawling after them. “Oh hell.”

  “Like this.” Cillian positioned himself in a way that would allow him to slide down the ladder. “Less pressure equals a faster slide.”

  Tobias copied him. He didn’t use very much pressure and slid down far too fast, but, thankfully, they weren’t that far from the bottom. Still, he hit the platform with the controls hard and fell to one side, almost spilling right off the fire truck. Cillian landed quickly next to him.

  “Goddamn it, Sam.” Cillian quickly looked around for the cop but didn’t see him anywhere. If Sam didn’t have a kid, Cillian would have been tempted to hunt him down and kill him himself. He did see his pistol, however, lying in the street. At least he assumed it was Sam’s pistol.

  “Off the truck!” Cillian practically pushed Tobias off and followed quickly after him. The thing on the ladder was near the bottom now.

  He scrambled over to the pistol and grabbed it, already getting used to its weight. He swung around and pointed the muzzle at the creeper. When he pulled the trigger, a ping off the ladder let him know he missed. The creepy thing was on the truck now, running at him. He pulled the trigger again.

  Click.

  Cillian cursed as the fucking thing was out of ammo! The creature leapt off the top of
the truck at Cillian. All he could think to do was throw his arms up in front of his face.

  “Ahhhhh!” Just before the crawler landed on Cillian, it was smashed away to one side. Tobias stood over him with a fire axe, an animalistic cry escaping his throat. The creepy crawler was badly injured but tried to get up anyway. Tobias swung the axe down into its back. The axe thumped into the thing’s flesh, but the crawler continued to move. Tobias swung again.

  “The head!” Cillian suddenly remembered his gunshots. “Aim for the head!”

  Tobias swung the axe one more time, getting the creeper right in the skull. It stopped moving that time.

  Both men stood there panting for a moment.

  “Thanks,” Cillian finally said.

  “Just returning the favour I guess,” Tobias grinned at Cillian briefly.

  “Come on, we should get moving before its friend gets down here.” Cillian glanced back at the ladder where the other was still methodically making its way down.

  Tobias turned to follow him.

  “Bring the axe.” Cillian pointed to the body.

  “Oh, right.” Tobias pulled the axe out with a squelch. He looked at the body a moment longer. “I’ve never killed anyone before.”

  Cillian just remembered that it was in fact a person. He had been thinking of it as a thing, a monster even. He had been thinking of it as something akin to a spider, but, in reality, it was a man in a business suit.

  “Yeah, well, I hadn’t either until today.” He gestured to his bloodied jacket. “Now come on.” Cillian grabbed Tobias’s shoulder and pulled him away. They walked in the direction he had been heading in the fire truck. The hospital still seemed like a good idea and it was farther in that direction. Besides, his head felt worse. He stopped quickly at the driver side door and grabbed his firefighter’s gloves. Sam did have a good idea about protection. He also looked around the ground and found his helmet, putting that on as well. It would be hot, but it would be safer.

  While Cillian grabbed these things, Tobias unhooked the wires from himself and sifted through his camera’s wreckage. There also appeared to be a broken cell phone that Tobias frowned at. It must have fallen out of his pocket. Bits and pieces of the camera were smashed all over the place. Tobias picked out one piece in particular and pocketed it, then pulled the headphones off from around his neck and dropped them onto the street. Cillian walked over after retrieving his own gear, curious.

  “What’s that?” He gestured to the piece Tobias had pocketed.

  “The memory card.” Tobias patted the pocket. “Everything I filmed today is on there. Maybe I can make today mean something.”

  “Oh, I think it means something already. Hand me the axe.” Cillian held out his hand as they started making their way through the car pile.

  “No way.” Tobias clutched the axe to his chest.

  “It’s my axe,” Cillian frowned.

  “Not right now it’s not,” Tobias shook his head. “I thought about using it, so I get to keep it. Besides, you have your firefighter gear to protect you. I have just a thin T-shirt and cargoes.”

  He had a point. Cillian let it drop.

  “You still have the pistol?” Tobias asked a moment later.

  “Yeah.” Cillian patted his jacket pocket the same way Tobias had patted his pants.

  “Good,” Tobias nodded. “If we find some more ammo, it’ll come in handy.”

  Cillian Knight liked this guy. He wasn’t a wuss like Sam. He did wonder where Sam went though. Hopefully he found his kid wherever he was. “Hey, you got a cigarette by any chance?”

  3:

  Jessica

  Jessica maintained her calm, cool demeanor all the way to the bathroom. Once there, she locked herself in a stall and collapsed onto the toilet seat, her breathing shuddering and harsh. Tears welled in her eyes and threatened to spill over.

  She felt stupid. There was nothing to cry about.

  She fought to get her breathing under control and grabbed some toilet tissue to dab her eyes. Once she had composed herself, Jessica left the stall and stood in front of the mirror. At least she didn’t really have to worry about anyone coming in. It was Saturday and almost no one came in on Saturday. Except her, of course, when her boss needed her to.

  She couldn’t wait to get to Australia. She would have more work, of course, but she would have her own set of minions to assist her. She’d be at the top of the assistant food chain, and from there, she could probably shift into the big leagues. Become not an assistant, but one of the assisted.

  For now, though, it was still bring me my lunch, cancel this appointment, reschedule that appointment, make a new appointment, get the files from the office that I forgot, and cover my ass for me. Ever since her promotion, her boss had been squeezing every possible task out of Jessica that she could. The last month had been a hard one. It was also, however, the last month. Next week she’d be on a plane to Australia, to her new life.

  She thought about next week. She’d be getting on a plane and heading to the other side of the world on the same day she was originally supposed to walk down the aisle to marry Cillian Knight; to go from being Jessica Elizabeth Clay to Mrs. Cillian Lawrence Knight. Jessica Knight didn’t sound too bad…

  No, she wouldn’t think of him. She especially wouldn’t think about that day. That was done with, she was over it. It was best to forget all about him and move forward. She had been able to move forward before, she could do it again.

  Jessica straightened herself out in front of the mirror, admiring the way her trim body and long legs looked in her white blouse and maroon skirt. She fixed up her long, blond ponytail and retouched the make-up around her large and stellar blue eyes. The hair colour was fake, but the eye colour wasn’t. After one last dab of powder around her high cheekbones and thin nose, she left the bathroom. As she walked out the door, she reapplied lip-chap on her full lips, wondering if she perhaps used it too much.

  She made her way past the cubicles, past the break room and water cooler, to the enclosed offices. Linda, her boss, had told her to get some files, which she had first assumed were important documents of a sensitive nature. Alas, they were just lower management, process flow documents that the vice-president wanted to review. Jessica had the feeling that Linda had sent her on a fool’s errand.

  She entered the little office with the big window. This manager may not have very high standing, but the office did have a great view. Especially today. The charity concert for spinal research was being held in the park just across the street from the office tower. Jessica had noticed several workers and janitors hanging out near the windows on this side of the tower trying to get a free show. Some had even brought binoculars.

  Jessica walked over to the window now and looked down at the park. She had thought about going. Keystone was throwing the concert and she could have easily gotten tickets. She decided, in the end, not to go. Only the first few bands scheduled were ones that she liked. The rest were the kind that Cillian liked.

  There he was again, popping into her head. She hated that. It was probably because she spotted the corral of emergency vehicles lined up along one edge of the park. It was strange to see the park so full. She often ate her lunch there, and it was usually quiet and peaceful. Most of the park was just a big field, popular for picnics and dog walking, which was why the concert was thrown there. But there were a few stands of trees in the corners. Under one of them was where she had met Cillian on their first real date.

  Again, he invaded her mind.

  Jessica shook her head, trying to shake out any thoughts that might bring tears again. It was a good thing she was leaving this place soon. It would get rid of all these annoying reminders. She turned from the window to the desk. The files she wanted were not on the desk where Linda said they would be. With a sigh, Jessica started searching through the drawers.

  She probably should have felt bad going though this man’s personal stuff, but she didn’t. His things made him look like everyone
else here. Photos of his wife, son, and dog sitting on the desk. Stress ball in the top drawer. Cheesy award for some accomplishment that was completely unrelated to what he did here. She found a picture frame stashed away in the bottom drawer under some papers. Her curiosity got the better of her and she looked at the photo. It was a little baby in a hospital. The pink blanket and cap suggested it was a girl. Not his son then. Jessica wondered who she was. A little sister perhaps? Or maybe an illegitimate daughter from an illicit affair. Jessica hoped it wasn’t something too depressing, like a child that had died of SIDS or something.

  Jessica put the photo back, deciding to stick with the illegitimate daughter idea. Spicy gossip like that flew around these offices all the time, so it was easy to convince herself that’s what it was. She decided to ignore the personal items after that and focus solely on finding the needed documents.

  In the end, she found them inconveniently under the desk. Consisting of only a few sheets of paper stapled together, they had probably gotten blown off the desk and under it. Although Jessica wouldn’t put it past Linda to have somehow arranged for them to be there. She picked them up and put them in her bag next to her laptop. As she left the office, the concert got under way. The music was loud enough to be heard from across the street, especially the bass. She made out a song she liked and hummed along.

  As Jessica walked back into the area of cubicles, she noticed she wasn’t alone and stopped humming. Someone was sitting in a cheap lawn chair facing the wall of windows. He turned and waved as Jessica entered the space.

  “Hey, Jessica Clay!” It was Jack, another assistant of Linda and Jessica’s favourite co-worker. “What are you doing here?”

  “Linda wanted me to grab some files.” Jessica patted the laptop bag at her side.