Apocalypsis 03 - Exodus

fence and reached down for the blanket, which was handed up to them by Gretchen and Peter. Their skinny arms trembled with the effort, but it was good enough to get the blanket to the waiting hands above.
    Getting the material up and over the wire was challenging. It kept catching on the razors and spikes, and took ages to remove, but eventually they got it over the worst of the offending mess. It managed to push the wire down a little with its weight, but not enough to flatten it. I was bummed because it made our job harder, but happy that the bad guys wouldn’t be able to get over any easier than us.
    Bodo and Bianca climbed down, both of them sweating and shaking so bad from muscle exhaustion they had to sit down.
    “I’m sorry. Dat was harder dan I thought it wouldt be. I think that da drugs are still in my body. I can’t stop shaking,” said Bodo, holding out his trembling hand for a few seconds before dropping it into his lap.
    “You’re just exhausted,” said Peter. “We all are, but you guys more than the rest of us. Just relax. Winky and Bryn can take it from here.”
    “Hey,” I complained. “Who voted we get to have our arms and leg slashed open?”
    “Good point,” said Ronald. “Winky’s already been hurt today. She shouldn’t have to go up there.”
    “I can go,” said Winky, her chin coming up a fraction.
    “No, he’s right,” I said bitterly, disgusted with my own whining but unable to stop from indulging in it. “Just sit down and let me get this over with.” I looked at everyone sitting around. “And what exactly am I supposed to do once I’m over? You’ll still be on the other side.”
    “Go find a key to open the gate,” said Peter. “Duh.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
    “Come on,” said Jamal, nudging me on the arm. “I’ll go with you.”
    I gave up complaining. I was just being a baby anyway. The heat and the rain and all that pedaling coming right on the heels of the fight, had taken too much of my patience out of me. I couldn’t even think straight. All I wanted to do was whine about my circumstances and go to sleep for about twelve, uninterrupted hours. With Bodo next to me.
    I walked up to the fence and put my hands on it, looking at Jamal standing right next to me. His face was just inches away. He had the longest, thickest eyelashes I’d ever seen before.
    “That is just so unfair,” I said, staring at him.
    “What? That you have to go first? Move out of the way, then, and I’ll go.”
    “No. That you have eyelashes that beautiful. They are so wasted on a guy.” I shook my head and began my upward climb.
    “If I had a dollar for every time a girl said that …”
    “… you’d have kindling for one fire,” finished his brother.
    “Oh, yeah. Right,” said Jamal.
    I reached the top but was soon stuck. The blanket was there, but I couldn’t get a grip on anything around it to get onto it. The wire bulged out over the top, and I couldn’t very well use it for leverage. I looked down at Peter. “What the heck am I supposed to do now? I can’t get over this friggin thing.”
    “Push on it,” suggested Ronald. “Make it flat in that spot right in front of you.”
    I sighed, reaching up to push on it gently, testing it for flexibility. It barely moved. “It’s not working,” I said.
    “Push harder, Bryn, and stop being a baby,” commanded Peter.
    I looked down at him and he was frowning at me. I pouted but went back to the pushing. I used a bit more force and it bounced a little. I climbed up a couple more inches and pushed again, this time getting it to move several inches. I took a deep breath. “Okay, fine. I’m gonna lean on this thing with my body and just … I don’t know … slide over the top. When I break my neck on the other side, you’re all gonna feel really bad you made me do this.”
    “Okay, good idea,” said Peter. “Good luck.”
    I shook my head at their complete lack of concern for my person. My conscience tried to prompt me that maybe it was their undying faith in my abilities to get stuff done that made them so unconcerned, but I ignored it. I was in full-on pity party mode and I refused to come out of it. At least for now.
    I took another step up and then another, leaning way out so my upper body wouldn’t yet touch the blanket. I needed to make sure enough of my torso would make contact with it, so it could actually push the wire all the way down.
    “What do you want me to do?” asked Jamal