But anything was better than waiting around for the welcoming party.
I returned the machete to its sheath and leapt into the air. My hand banged against the metal panel. It lifted an inch and slammed shut again.
As I dropped back to the floor, I looked up in frustration. The overhead panel was locked. I reached for my flashlight to take a closer look.
Light blazed from above. Squinting, I shielded my eyes.
What the hell…?
The phone rang.
I grabbed it without looking. “Can’t this wait? I’m a little busy in here.”
“Watch this.”
The elevator jerked again.
Then it started to rise.
Chase’s voice spat into my ear. “Now, you listen to me, asshole. That was your last…”
I hung up on him.
As I turned back to the overhead panel, I felt my stomach tying itself into knots. Obviously, the elevator car was hooked up to a backup power source somewhere. On the bright side, I was only rising at a quarter of the original speed.
But I was still rising.
I jumped up again, smashing my fist into the panel. Again, it only budged an inch. However, this time I managed to catch a glimpse of the lock’s position.
Grabbing my gun, I took aim at the panel.
As I prepared to fire, a brief vision of a bullet bouncing around inside the elevator crossed my mind. Pushing it away, I gritted my teeth.
No time for doubts.
I fired. The blast reverberated in the elevator as the lock exploded into smithereens. I steeled myself and waited for the telltale sound of bouncing metal. But silence followed. After a few seconds, I released my breath.
Wasting no time, I returned the gun to its holster. Then I bent down and jumped again. My fist crashed into the access panel. It flew out of the way, revealing a wide gap.
I landed back in the elevator car. Crouching low, I jumped again. My fingers wrapped around the sharp metallic edges of the hole. Wincing, I flexed my arms and slowly pulled myself up.
Moments later, I scrambled onto the roof of the elevator car. It quivered slightly and although it seemed secure, I couldn’t help but wonder when it received its last inspection.
I knelt next to the crosshead and took the opportunity to study the elevator shaft. Each corner contained two metal beams, which ran the length of the shaft. Thin metal fencing, interspersed with long blocks of wood, ran in a continuous loop behind the beams. Between two of the beams, I saw a substantial counterweight, slowly dropping to the ground.
My eyes followed a pair of thick hoist cables to a pulley positioned at the top of the shaft.
“I see him!”
A glint of light caught my eye as the unfamiliar voice rumbled down from above.
I heard a burst.
A breeze shot by my side.
Abruptly, a torrent of gunfire rained down upon me. I scrambled back to the hole and dropped head first into the elevator car.
The gunfire ceased but it didn’t matter.
I was screwed.
Completely, utterly screwed.
The elevator car was hauling me to my eventual grave and my long-shot attempt to escape had been thwarted. In frustration, I slammed my foot on the floor.
It moved.
Not much, but it still moved. I kneeled and studied the area. A thin patch of carpet covered the car’s entire floor. Taking out my machete, I began hacking away at it.
The blade quickly exposed a depressed compartment. Inside it, I saw a second access panel, locked with a small padlock. I fired my gun at the panel. Metal exploded as the bullet ripped through the lock and left a steaming hole in its wake. Leaning down, I unlatched the panel and opened it up.
Below, I saw a couple of cables vanishing into a deep, dark abyss.
Why can’t I just use the stairs like everyone else?
I sat and dangled my legs out of the elevator car. They wrapped around the cable and I carefully lowered myself into the shaft. Then I began to climb downward.
My frustration began to seep through as I worked my way down the cable. For every foot I descended, the elevator seemed to pull me another two feet into the air. I felt like a damn iceberg.
The elevator slammed to a halt. I snuck a glimpse upward. I’d managed to separate myself from the car. Unfortunately, I wasn’t out of shooting range.
Far from it.
I heard angry shouts. A few moments passed. Then a thin light poked through the car and into the dark shaft. It swept from one side to the other. As it fell onto me, it stopped.
Then it clicked off.
I looked at the gigantic counterweight, but it was too far away to reach. Shifting my gaze, I realized that the thin shaft offered nothing in the way of hiding spots or cover.
Bracing myself, I loosened my grip and slid down the cable. The metal strands sliced through my raw skin. My blood splattered all over the shaft.
Blocking out the pain, I peeked upward.
I saw no light.
I heard no gunfire.
See you later, suckers.
But the farther I slid, the more doubt I felt. The shaft was thin and wide open and I was climbing down the centermost cable. I might as well have been hiding in front of a bulls-eye.
A motor whirred to life and the cable jerked to the side. Caught by surprise, I halted for a split second. But to my horror, I continued to descend.
Chase wasn’t going to shoot me.
He was going to crush me.
Some people die having sex with a beautiful woman. But not me. I get to be smashed like a bug on the bottom of someone’s shoe.
I loosened my grip further. My hands stung as I dropped down the shaft. Soon they felt like they were on fire and I could almost smell the smoke wafting from the cable. But still, I felt the car bearing down on me. I was moving fast, but not fast enough.
As I slid down the cable, I kept my eyes glued to the bottom of the shaft. At first, I saw only darkness. But soon, the bottom appeared.
It looked like a mixture of metal blocks and rails. I slid down another few feet. Then with about ten feet to go, I released the cable.
Bending my knees on impact, I absorbed some of the blow. But the landing still jarred me to my core and my right leg began to throb uncontrollably. Shaking it off, I hobbled over to the elevator doors.
My hands stretched out, gripping their edges. I pulled with all my strength.
And they didn’t budge an inch.
As the whirring noise grew louder, I looked up. The elevator soared down at me at an incredible clip. My gaze shot to the open access panel. If I positioned myself under it, I could reenter the car and…
Metal slammed against metal.
And suddenly, the access panel was closed.
There was nowhere to hide. The elevator was freshly pressed to the rails, leaving just a few inches of room on all sides. I had no more than thirty seconds before it landed on top of me.
Thirty seconds until it crushed me.
Thirty seconds until I died.
I twisted back to the doors. My hand flew to my belt, extracting my machete. Rearing back, I stabbed it at the thin opening. It slid in a little bit but when I tried to maneuver it, the blade slipped out again.
I felt the elevator car looming above me.
Fifteen seconds until impact.
Balancing myself, I reared back again and stabbed my machete at the crack. This time, it neatly slid into the space.
I pulled hard and the doors opened an inch or two. Jamming my hand inside the space, I lifted myself onto a small platform.