Apocalypsis 04 - Haven

don’t think it can be any good.” I was huffing my breaths out with the effort of holding on. The bar I had a grip on was thin, and my knuckles were getting bruised being jammed in between it and the big door.
    “Me neither. It’s going to be awful.” She raised her voice. “Don’t worry, whoever’s in there! We’re going to get you out!”
    The moaning stopped.
    “What are we doing?” asked Paci. He was holding onto the corner of the back of the trailer for dear life, his knuckles white he was gripping the metal hinge so tightly.
    “I’m going up. Get ready to jump off this thing and punch the driver’s face off.”
    “I thought we were going to assume he was a good guy.”
    “That went out the window when I heard that scream.”
    “Who’s there?” came a voice from inside the trailer. It was someone half-talking and half-crying.
    “We’re friends. We’re going to get you out,” said Winky.
    I used my upper body strength to heft myself up about four feet, my feet scrabbling around until they both found the latch that held the doors closed. I balanced on my toes, my arms stretched out high above me, holding onto a bar that ran near the top of the trailer.
    “You have to stop the truck!” came the voice from inside. It was a girl. “Before we get there!”
    “Get where?” asked Winky.
    I lifted myself up again, shifting my feet to a small bracket that held the vertical bars upright on the back of the door. It was less than an inch of metal for my entire bodyweight, and the arch of my foot was cramping from the effort almost immediately.
    “To the exchange! To the exchange!”
    I’d heard enough. The fear alone in her voice told me that this truck had to stop and the driver had to be taken down. I lifted my foot almost up to my chest, searching for something to hook it on so I could get higher.
    “Be careful!” yelled Paci. And then I felt his hand on my lower foot. “I’m right here, below you! Use my hand if you need to!”
    “I’m good,” I grunted out. I could see the top of the trailer and was almost ready to grab it when the truck jerked especially hard.
    “Aahhh!” I screamed, as my foot slipped off the bracket and left me dangling free.
    I kicked for a few seconds, trying to get my body back against the trailer. My fingers were slipping and my back was on fire as my muscles strained to keep me from falling.
    I glanced over my shoulder and saw the pavement going by a lot faster than it had been before. The jerking had apparently been him shifting so he could increase his speed.
    “Dammit!” I was getting desperate, unable to get a foothold.
    Paci grabbed my ankle. “Step here! Push!”
    The warmth coming from his hand and up into my moccasin instantly gave me a small measure of peace. I can do this. Firm grip. Solid core. Pull-up motion. Go!
    I tensed my biceps and shoulder muscles, slowly drawing my entire body up towards my hands. I walked my feet up the trailer doors, ignoring the swaying of the truck and the jerking motions, letting them flow right through me. I was one with the machine. A flea on a dog’s back. No way was this canner asshole going to shake me loose. I wasn’t sure he was a canner, but it inspired me to concentrate, thinking of him that way.
    My right foot found another bracket. I lifted my left foot over my head so I was almost doing a split on the back of the trailer. Turning my toes around just a bit allowed me to hook them over the top.
    “Be careful, Bryn!” shouted Winky. “You’re going to fall!”
    No I’m not . I couldn’t say it out loud because I had to use every ounce of energy I had into getting my arm up to join my foot.
    Using the vertical bar and the top of the trailer as my leverage, I slowly pushed and pulled myself up. I walked my hands up the bar, gripping it with everything I had. My hands were trembling with the effort of not letting go.
    As my entire leg finally got over the top of the trailer and my arm joined it, I felt the danger lessening. I used my other hand that was still down on the back of the trailer to push the rest of my body up.
    Now I was lying on my stomach, balanced on the edge of the back of the truck, looking down at my friends.
    “What are you going to do?” said Winky, sounding a little desperate. I could see she had a good grip on the truck, but that didn’t stop all this dare-deviling from being scary as hell.
    “I’m going to crawl across the top of this trailer and get on the cab. As soon