Save Me - Chapter 2

Save Me – Chapter 2

I woke up and it was still dark. I felt the building we were on shudder and creak. The roaring around me was deafening.

James reached out and clutched my arm before I could scream. He looked angry. He was scowling out at the darkness in the pink haze of the morning. “He pulled me close and said, “We are fine.”

As I watched transport trucks and full grown trees were washed around.

“Tsunami,” supplied James.

I stood up and started shaking. I was watching in horror as my whole life was being washed away. Was there any chance that anyone survived? My house was a small bungalow in a low lying area not far from the down town building we were perched on, but all I could see around us was water. Horrible brown churning water with so much stuff in it I didn’t dare examine any of it too closely.

The building beneath us shuddered with the strain of staying in one piece while huge unseen things smashed into it and the water pushed and pulled at it.

In less than a minute our building could have been pushed into the slurry and we could drown without anyone every noticing.

I couldn’t help it. I attached myself to James’ chest and buried my face in his shirt.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the disaster and I felt safer with my face buried in the warmth of this dangerous criminal.

“It’s almost over,” he said into my ear. “You can let go now.”

I let my shaky hand release their death-grip on his shirt. My tear streaked face leaving wet spots on the front.

“We have to get going.”

“What if it comes back?”

“Well, I see it like this. Right now the water is retreating. We head in the opposite direction and get as far as we can.”

“But we might die?”

“Yeah, and we’re gonna die if we stay up here. Look around, do you see anyone here to rescue you, Miley?” James pulled yet another cigarette from his nearly empty pack.

“Like it or not, it’s you and me. Either we start moving or we starve, die of dehydration or get caught in the next wave.”

I sat down and tried to steady my mind, I didn’t dare think too much about my family, friends or absolutely everything I’d every owned or known. I did look over the edge, James was right, the water level was sinking lower.

“S-so how do we get down?”

“We jump.”

“What?”

“We climb down as low as we can and we jump.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Fuck, you’re gonna do it if I have to throw you off!”

“Fuck you! Why do you give a shit anyways?” I shrieked back at him.

He thought about my response for a moment and his eyes got harder and darker, “You’re right, I don’t give a shit about you, Miley.”

With that, I watched as he tossed his cigarette butt over the edge and griping the side of the wall, he heaved himself over the edge.

I sat down and tried to ignore him, there was no way he was going to leave me here alone. As I waited I heard the sound of his feet scuttle across the edge of the windows and the rise of his voice as he cursed.

“Wait!” I said in a panic.

“You can’t leave me here alone!”

He ignored me.

“James!”

I leaned out over the edge to look down at him. His face was strained with the effort it took to hold on. He had lost his footing and was dangling from just his hands. His feet were scrambling without finding a place to rest.

“Arggg…”

“Wait, I can help!”

I pulled off the only thing I could think of that might help, my tights. I ripped off my leotard and shoes faster than I’d ever done before and wrapping my wrist around the foot of one leg, I stood there ready to brace myself against the ledge in my underwear and camisole.

James whole face was crimson from the strain of holding on.

“Grab the end,” I ordered.

James did. He grabbed the end of the other foot and managed to pull himself up enough to get his foot back on a solid ledge. I had sat down with my feet braced against the ledge, my hands white from the strain of holding onto the stocking.

It seemed like forever until James finally was able to toss his arm and a leg back over the ledge. He tumbled over it as I released my hold and scuttled backwards.

James leaned back over the edge and vomited.

I took the time to pull my leotard back on, but I felt as naked as though I was wearing a bathing suit in a snow storm.

Finally James wiped his mouth on the edge of his shirt and stared up at me.

“I guess this makes us about even.”

“I guess.”

He pulled off his jacket and removed a few items from its pockets before tossing it at me.

“Here, put this on. You won’t be getting much use out of those anymore.”

I looked at the stocking and they no longer looked like stockings. I put the jacket on gratefully. It was still warm.

“So, what’s your idea, kid?”

“Yeah, you’re idea really sucked.”

He closed his eyes and hid them for almost a whole minute in the palms of his hands. I got the feeling he was trying really hard not to lose it.

I looked around me and did my best to assess the situation.

“Well, from what I can see, the top two floors are still in one piece. Maybe we can go down to the next level and find a way to make a rope or something to get us to the ground without jumping. Maybe we can break a window or something to get in since we can’t get in from here on the roof.”

“Wow, you’re pretty smart for a ballerina. Let’s do it.”

We found a window we though was already cracked and James managed to tie a large piece of concrete to the other end of the stocking and we were able to smash the whole window open by repeatedly swinging the concrete into it.

“You go,” said James and while I he held the stocking in place. I used it to walk down the wall and landed on the jagged edge of the window sill. I sliced a small cut up my calf, but managed to get inside otherwise uninjured.

James swung in behind me.

A lot of the rooms were dangerously wrecked, but we managed to find a storage closet full of table cloths. I also was thrilled to find a stash of granola bars in a desk and a few unopened water bottles.

“Can’t we just stay here until someone comes?”

“Who’s coming?”

I swallowed deeply. “No one I guess.” James started ripping the cloth to make the rope we would need. I patched up my leg with what I could find and started to snoop around

I found a dusty bag, emptied the papers and filled it with whatever I could find that might be useful. A letter opener, the granola bars, water bottle and a men’s dress shirt. I could only find heeled shoes to replace my dance slippers, but left them where they lay in a heap under some woman’s desk. I didn’t think they would be much help.  I grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer and a small first aid kit.

James took one of the granola bars gratefully.

“Did you find anything else? Medication or cigarette’s maybe?”

“All that stuff is bad for you.”

“I was thinking it might be useful to trade for stuff, or in case one of us get’s sick and you don’t want to see me when I’m in the middle of a nic-fit. Find some stuff for shelter later too, it might rain or get cold.”

Rolling my eyes I rifled through the drawers again, finding headache medication and to one of James’ only smiles, a partial pack of cigarettes and a lighter. I also found a few garbage bags, a baseball cap, a hairbrush and lipstick.

“Here,” he said handing me the last table cloth. “The rope should be long enough without this one. Put it in your bag.”

We slid to the ground without a problem and started to pick our way through the rubble. It was eerily quiet, like all life had vanished except us. 

“Things will start to stink the hotter it gets out here, we need to move fast.”

I didn’t want to think about what he meant, it was already stinky, the puddles a toxic soup of mud and mess. My dance shoes where soaked through. I still wore James’ jacket and now the men’s dress shirt as we moved.

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think anyone else survived?”

“Not around here… but there are survivors.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to survive out here?”

“Sure, kid. I ain’t gonna let nothin’ hurt you.”

We walked in silence for a while.

“Hey,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for pulling me up.”

“No problem, James. You’re all I’ve got now, just promise not to leave me behind, okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“I’ve got nothing better to do anyways.”

It was a strange and not a terribly comforting response, but I wasn’t in a position to be picky about it. I got the feeling that if it ever came down to a choice to save me or himself, I wouldn’t be his first choice. I reached over and patted the place in the bag where I knew the letter opener was. I knew I was in a situation where I had to take care of myself and it scared me to death. 

Photo Source: http://www.dipity.com/tickr/Flickr_wears_ballet/