Page 84 of Marked By Him

I stumble beside him toward the balcony, already half out of it. Part of me wonders if I’m dreaming. If I’ve already lost consciousness and I’m imagining Jin rescuing me.

“Where…” I choke. The rush of fresh air somehow makes my lungs burn more.

“The only way off this balcony is this cable connected to the building next door,” he explains, dropping to a knee before me. He works efficiently, like he’s already plotted out our escape in meticulous detail in his head.

He starts winding nylon rope around my torso then looping it beneath my arms. It’s rough and frayed, probably used by him and his crew dozens of times to tie down bodies or something equally as violent in the Baekho Pa.

Now it seems to be our lifeline as he cinches it tight across my ribs. I’m securely tied in some kind of makeshift chest harness.

I open my mouth to ask what he’s doing, but then I see him withdraw a carabiner. He clips it through the front of the rope loop, then secures it to the thick cable stretched across his building and the building next door.

He’s rigging me tofly.

“Wait…” I gasp. “Jin… I can’t…”

“You have to.”

The rope around my chest will be the only thing keeping me suspended as I’m supposed to zip-line across that void between the buildings. As I hover five stories above the ground, escaping flames blazing higher and higher.

I shake my head as intense fear paralyzes me in place.

“I… I can’t.”

His hands cup my face and he draws my gaze to his. His boring into mine. “You have to, Tokki-ya. Right now. You go first. Cross the cable, then climb onto the balcony next door. I’ll follow.”

It distantly occurs to me that he wants me to go first because of the urgency of the situation.

He’s worried if I go second the building will collapse before I can, or I’ll freeze up and never force myself to do it.

My insides quake as he grabs my hand and then helps me climb over the balcony railing. I think I might vomit as I look down and see the ground several stories below.

“Don’t look down,” he snaps. “Just straight ahead. I’ll give you a push to get you going.”

“Jin…” I whine.

“GO! NOW!”

His hands shove hard at my back, giving me as much momentum as possible. My feet leave the balcony ledge and I start gliding across the wire. It happens so suddenly that I can’t even scream. I’m more concerned with making it to the other side.

It only takes a few seconds. But they’re the longest four or five seconds of my life.

My arms desperately grab at the railing of the balcony next door, and I clumsily hoist myself over onto the other side.

Jin’s already strapped himself into a makeshift harness. He’s climbed over his balcony and stands on the ledge.

The flames and smoke have grown so bad that thick plumes of it billow out the shattered balcony door. His apartment has been completely engulfed. He only has a matter of seconds.

“JIN!” I cry, practically hyperventilating. “HURRY!”

He launches himself off the balcony, speeding toward me. I step back in hopes of giving him more room, and then I hear it.

A sharp, deafeningsnap.

The cable connecting his building with this one has thinned out due to the heat. It couldn’t withstand the hellish rise in temperature and has snipped the cable just as he’s zipping across.

“JIN!”

The cable whips downward.

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