“Thank you,” Guan-yin said as he set her down.
“We’ll never make it to the tunnels,” Gray said.
No one argued, accepting his grim assessment. Fires raged fiercely below, roiling with smoke, continually fueled by whatever tumbled into them from above.
“Then where do we go?” Kowalski asked. “We’re still a good ten stories up, and I forgot my wings.”
Gray clapped him on the shoulder, appreciating the suggestion. “Then we’ll have to make our own.” He faced Zhuang. “Take us to the closest corner apartment.”
Ever the lieutenant, the swordsman obeyed without question. He rushed them into the inner labyrinth of the tower. In a few short turns, he reached a door and pointed.
Gray tested and found it locked. He backed a step and kicked his heel into the deadbolt. The aged wood frame offered little resistance, and the door ripped open.
“Inside!” he yelled. “I need bedsheets, clothing, laundry, anything we can tie together to make a rope.”
He left this chore to Kowalski and Guan-yin.
With Zhuang in tow, he hurried through the sliding doors to the outside. Like all the other balconies he had spotted from the street, this one had been turned into a steel cage, sealed from the outside with chain-link fencing.
“Help me,” Gray said and set about freeing a section from the balcony rails.
As they worked furiously, the tower rumbled and shook, slowly coming apart as it was eaten below by fire.
At last, Gray kicked a piece of fencing loose and sent it tumbling through the smoke to the street below.
“How’s it going with the rope?” he yelled into the apartment.
“We’ll never make something long enough to reach the ground!” Kowalski called back.
That wasn’t the plan.
Gray moved inside to check on their handiwork. He found the two had managed to knot together a length of about twenty yards. The tower gave a massive shake, helping him make his final decision.
“Good enough!”
Gray hauled one end outside and tied it to the balcony’s top rail. He tossed the rest of its length over the edge.
“What are you doing?” Kowalski asked.
Gray pointed to the open balconies of the building across the narrow street.
“You are stupid mad,” Kowalski said.
No one argued.
Looking down, Gray again wondered how the cement trucks had made it through such a tight squeeze of alleys to reach here. But at the moment, he silently thanked the Hong Kong city planners who allowed such dense construction in Kowloon.
Gray mounted the balcony rail and grabbed their makeshift rope. Holding his breath, he lowered himself down hand by hand. A few slips made his heart pound harder, but as he climbed, he silently eyeballed the distance to the neighboring building, judging the length of free rope he would need.
Once satisfied, he began to shift his weight, setting the rope to swinging. He ran his boots along the caged balconies, passing through thick smoke, burning his eyes. Within a few passes back and forth, his arc began to swing clear of the building, stretching toward its neighbor.
Not far enough.
Needing more distance, he ran faster across the balconies, extending the arc of each swing wider and wider. Smoke continued to choke his throat, growing ever thicker, making it harder to catch his breath.
But he dared not stop.
Finally, sweeping out over the street, the tips of his toes struck the far balcony. It was not enough to gain purchase, but the contact fired his determination. Swinging back again into the smoke, his feet sped across the rain-slick balconies.
C’mon . . .
“Pierce!” Kowalski yelled from the balcony. “Look below you!”
Gray searched under his legs as he ran. The end of his rope must have brushed through a hot patch at some point and caught fire. Flames chased up the rope toward him, trailing fiery cinders of cloth.
Oh, no . . .
This time, when he felt his momentum ebbing, he kicked hard off the last rail he could touch, trying to eke out a few more yards of swing, knowing this was his last chance.
Then back he fell.
Gravity dragged him across the surface of the fiery tower and out over the street. Bending at the waist, he kicked his legs up and stared through them. The balcony swooped toward him. Timing it as well as he could, he lifted his feet to clear the rail—then clamped his knees down and successfully hooked the top bar.
Relief swept through him.
In that moment of inattentiveness, he slipped and lost his hold. His legs slid along the bar until only his heels remained hooked to the rail. He hung there, knowing it couldn’t last.
Under him, flames swept up the rope.
Then hands suddenly grabbed his ankles.
He stared past his toes to see a man and woman, husband and wife, the owners of the apartment, gripping him, coming to his aid. They pulled him over the balcony’s rail to safety. Back on his feet, he stamped and slapped out the flames from the rope and tied its end to the top bar. All the while, the pair chattered to him in Cantonese, clearly scolding him at such a rash action, as if he had done it on some lark.
Once the rope bridge was secure—or as secure as he could make it—he called over to the others.
“One at a time! Hands and legs! Climb over!”
Guan-yin came first, moving swiftly like a gymnast, barely disturbing the bridge. She bowed her thanks to the couple, as Zhuang came next, his sword slung over his chest and hanging under him.
Kowalski followed last, fueled by a string of curses.
Apparently the gods were not happy with his profanity. Halfway across, the far end of the bridge frayed away and snapped, sending him plummeting toward the street.
Gray gulped, his belly pressed hard against the rail, not knowing what to do.
Luckily, Kowalski kept his massive meat hooks on the rope. As the slack ran out, the rope flung his bulk toward the façade below. He crashed headlong into a balcony three stories down, bowling into a group of onlookers gathered there.
Cries of shock echoed up.
“Are you okay?” Gray hollered, bending over the rail.
“Next time, you go last!” Kowalski bellowed back.
Gray turned to find Zhuang gently wrapping his mistress’s face in a crimson silk scarf, hiding her again from the world.
Once covered, she turned to Gray. “I owe you my life.”
“But many others lost theirs.”
She nodded at this, and they both soberly observed the aftermath of the attack. Across the way, the rusted mountain slowly succumbed to the fires, crumbling and crashing to ruin.
Behind them, Zhuang conversed rapidly on his phone, likely assessing the damage.