The catwalk groaned, and her world tilted again. Kara looked frantically around, the top of the conveyor belt too far from her. She didn’t have the strength to use the catwalk as makeshiftmonkey bars to get over to it, but the edge of the belt was directly below her, sloping out of the huge machine. If she could reach it, maybe—just maybe—she could avoid a deadly fall.
With a burst of energy, she shimmied down the broken catwalk, muscles straining, until she could drop onto the conveyor belt, now only six feet below. She hit it hard, sending shockwaves of pain clear through to her bones. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to roll down the belt, not off the side. She tumbled, slid, then hit the water-covered floor with a thud.
She gasped, her body screaming from the impact, but she pulled herself up out of the water and stood on shaking legs. The water reached her knees.
“Kara? Kara!” Matt shouted.
She couldn’t respond at first. She started to laugh and cry at the same time, tried to respond to Matt, but couldn’t quite catch her breath.
“Are you okay? Kara, dammit!”
“Yes!” she managed to shout. She waved her arms above her head in a sign that she was okay. She took a deep breath. “Nothing broken!”
“Go,” Matt called down to her. “Get help.”
“Like hell,” she said. “I’m not leaving here without you. Remember?” She looked up to where the catwalk was hanging down like a crooked ladder. “Can you use the catwalk as a slide? Shimmy down or something?”
She squinted to watch Matt. He was standing near where she’d jumped onto the catwalk. He wouldn’t be able to reach it now.
“Matt, check out the other catwalk, but be careful. Find a way to drop down. Please,” she added almost to herself.
Matt’s heart had skipped a beat or three when the catwalk partly collapsed, but now he had his breathing under control as he looked down at Kara standing knee-deep in the dark water. She was alive, that’s all that mattered. She had made it. Hewished she would leave, find a way out, but if their positions were reversed, he’d never leave without her.
“Give me a minute,” he called down.
She put two thumbs up, then climbed onto the conveyor belt and sat down.
Kara was alive, but that didn’t mean the danger was over. He looked at the catwalk she’d crossed; it was still shaking and ready to completely give way, plus it was swinging too far for him to reach. He couldn’t take the same path as she had—even if he could leap and grab onto the metal, he had at least seventy pounds on her. The catwalk would likely collapse as soon as he put his weight on it.
They’d mapped out the entire area last night, before it got dark. There were several catwalks, none that looked stable, and only one left that was close enough to access, if he jumped. And by jumping, he might force the entire structure to collapse.
But there was no other choice.
The catwalk was five feet away, attached to the wall, but with no railings to help him balance. He stared at the support bolts. They looked intact, but the catwalk Kara crossed had held until she was nearly to the middle.
This was the only way.
He swallowed hard, and headed to the far side of the control room.
“Matt?” Kara called up to him, her voice echoing in the cavernous room. “I told you last night that was too narrow.”
“No other option,” he shouted.
He pushed the desk up against the half wall, and brushed the broken safety glass away. He climbed up into the opening and heard Kara curse.
He wasn’t going to die today.
Careful but determined, he balanced on the thin ledge and used the last of his strength to leap over to the narrow catwalk.
He hit it hard. It creaked and groaned beneath him, but stayedattached to the wall. His legs dangled over, but his hands were curled around the rough, rusting metal.
He breathed deeply, held on tight.
“I’m okay,” he called down to Kara when he’d caught his breath.
“Go to the right about twenty feet,” Kara shouted. “There’s a ladder mounted to the wall. It’ll get you most of the way down, then you’ll drop about five feet.”
As she spoke, Matt felt the walkway sag. It was the only warning before the metal snapped and he fell. In the distance, he heard Kara scream, and for a split second Matt thought he was a dead man.
