Chapter Text
024 RADIATION POISONING – collapsed building, equipment failure, “I never knew daylight could be so violent”
Together, they jumped and the ground rushed up to meet them with terrifying speed.
They crashed into the angled roof at the same time. Caitlyn with a jolting impact that sent a shockwave rattling up her spine, while Vi hit hard on her knees, the force enough to bruise bone. The roof sent them both sliding, the steep angle of the roof offering no traction.
Caitlyn gritted her teeth, fighting to control her descent. Her boots scraped against the jagged tiles, desperate for purchase but finding none. She lowered her weight into the sharp tile edges which tore her clothes and drew blood, but she spread her stance wide, willing her body to hold against the inevitable slide.
Her gaze snapped to Vi, heart pounding as she silently willed her to do the same.
Vi cried out, pain cracking her voice. She reached desperately for anything to stop her descent, bloodied palms pressing against the tiles, but the moment she made contact, a surge of agony shot up her arms. She gasped, recoiling instinctively, curing her fingers protectively around the blistered flesh. Her knees slammed into the roof with a sickening crack, dislodging several tiles that scattered with a sharp clatter. They slid away under her, dragging her downward.
“Vi!” Caitlyn cried, desperate. They were too high, there was no way they would survive the fall unscathed. If they survived it at all.
Caitlyn jammed the toe of her boot into a crack between the tiles, anchoring herself in place. Lunging forward, she reached for Vi— her jacket, her belt, anything she could grab, but Vi managed to force her uninjured shoulder into the roof, forward and out of Caitlyn’s grasp. Caitlyn’s breath caught in her chest, a cry of relief slipping from her lips but it was not to last.
Above the frantic pounding of her pulse and ragged breaths, the shouts of C’s men grew louder. Caitlyn jerked her head up, following the noise. She looked up, as silhouetted figures looked down, leering over the rooftop edge. Their cries grew more urgent as they spotted the pair clinging to their precarious perch.
A thin-faced man raised a gun, the glint of steel flashing in the dim light. Caitlyn’s hand flew to her boot, slipping free the knife she kept there. She weighed her options, considered throwing it skyward but the muzzle shifted and she realised there was no time left to act.
“Down!” She shouted, pulling Vi toward the lower slope of the roof. They flattened themselves against the tiles as a bullet whizzed past, shattering the shingles near Caitlyn’s neck. Another shot rang out, but in the chaos she couldn’t track where it landed.
The bullet didn’t matter, not when Vi slipped again with a surprised grunt. Her boots snagged on the loose gutter clinging the rooftop. It groaned under her weight, barely holding. It was clear it was only a matter of time before the gutter fell, but all Vi could do was pray it would last long enough.
Loose tiles skittered off the edge, shattering once they reached the alley far below. Caitlyn imagined their bones splintering with a similar sound as they hit the ground, shattered limbs mangled and useless. At least until C’s men found them and finished the job.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Suddenly, the gutter trembled, then lurched as it slipped away from the roof. Panic flashed in Vi’s eyes as she glanced up at Caitlyn, before she slid uncontrollably toward the edge.
Caitlyn’s heart stopped as she lunged to catch her. The knife slipped from her grasp, clattering down the rooftiles, but her hands found Vi’s jacket. Clamping it with a desperation that sent pain lancing through her arms. She dug the heels of her boots into the rooftop, her knees bending awkwardly, tiles poking into her legs as she braced herself. Her knuckles turned white, muscles straining under the weight.
“Wherever you go, I’m coming with you!” Caitlyn shouted, her voice cracking with a desperate edge as though she feared Vi might let herself fall if it meant it would save her from the drop.
Vi let out a nervous laugh, feeling utterly helpless as Caitlyn visibly strained to keep her steady. Her burned hands throbbed, the unwrapped wounds bleeding into the open air. She tilted her head toward the ground below, but quickly shut her eyes when she saw the abyss stretching away beneath her dangling feet. She’d never been afraid of heights before.
They were so close to the next ledge. So close, and yet not close enough. “Yeah?” She called up nervously, her voice shaking. “Well, it’s all downhill from here, Cupcake.” Her lips trembled but the grin she flashed flickered through. Caitlyn couldn’t tell whether it made her want to laugh or cry.
Caitlyn nodded sharply, though Vi could not see her. Bullets rained around them, the sound sharp and terrifying. If Caitlyn could somehow swing Vi onto the ledge below, then perhaps they could both make it out of here. Adrenaline surged through her body as she shifted forward. The rooftiles beneath her gave way and both women were sent tumbling over the roof’s edge.
The forward momentum was dizzying. Vi slid into nothingness, her burned hands clutching at air as she began to fall. When Caitlyn reached the roof edge, she tried to swing Vi backwards towards the ledge by her jacket. Her body ached with the strain but she fought to alter Vi’s descent, swinging her back toward the ledge with a guttural roar.
She did not have time to see if she was successful before it was her turn to try and alter her own path. She reached up for the edge of the triangular roof and thrust her legs towards the ledge, desperate follow the path Vi took through the air.
She shrieked as she landed just shy of the ledge, breath knocked clean from her chest as her ribs collided with the edge. The world spun, her vision swimming. “Vi?” She called weakly, lifting her head to search as she coughed and scrambled up onto the roof weakly.
Pink hair caught her eye, motionless against the broken shingles. “Vi!” She hissed urgency cutting through her haze. She stole a second to glance up at the rooftop. Rooftiles continued to fall as bullets rained down upon the triangular roof, splintering them with shards of slate. At least they were both shielded from view. For the moment.
It was higher than Caitlyn had realised.
Gritting her teeth, Caitlyn crawled on hands and knees toward her partner. Dragging her injured leg across the shingled ledge. Her ribs screamed in protest and it took all she had to not scream along with it. She reached Vi’s side, and shook her shoulders desperate.
“Vi, get up. We’re almost there.” Her voice trembled but she held firm.
Vi’s eyes fluttered open for a brief second, confusion knitting her brow. Caitlyn grabbed Vi’s jacket and begun dragging her across the rooftop, forcing her to move despite the injury. She heard the fabric rip at the seams and willed it to hold. She willed for Vi to hold on.
“What’s happening.” Vi slurred, her body heavy and unresponsive. Another bullet whizzed past and her eyes sharpened with a jolt of awareness. “C,” she rasped, trying to push herself upright.
“No,” Caitlyn ordered, pushing Vi down as another shot rang out. More tiles cracked under the impact. The next bullet grazed Vi’s leg and Caitlyn quickly threw herself over her, shielding her body. She twisted towards the rooftop edge and murmured, “I’ve got you.” Into Vi’s neck before hauling them both off the edge.
Vi instinctively, clutched Caitlyn, recoiling as her burned arms met Caitlyn’s jacket.
Caitlyn wished for slow motion but the ground was relentless as it rushed up to meet them for the second time that day. Caityn twisted mid-air, trying to shield Vis body with her own as they crashed into the earth. She hit the ground hard, her side bursting with pain under the impact. Vi landed in her arms, cradled against her chest. The impact drove the air from their lungs. For long moment, neither of them moved, stunned and gasping for breath against the cold, unforgiving concrete.
“It worked.” Vi’s muttered in disbelief, staring up at the rooftop above them. They’d made it down 40 meters a little worse for wear but alive.
Caitlyn felt close to hysteria. “It was your plan!”
“Hey, you followed it.”
“Well, we’re not done yet.” Caitlyn replied, voice tight with urgency. She groaned as she pushed herself into a sitting position, gasping when white hot pain flared against her ribcage.
“Cupcake,” Vi groaned sympathetically, inhaling sharply. Her face was pale, expression pinched. “I’m—yeah, fuck. Yeah.” She groaned and tried to push herself up without her arms, voice faint and shaky.
Caitlyn helped her up, leaping to her feet as urgency propelled her the rest of the way. She pulled Vi up as carefully as she could and the pair stumbled into each other, Vi leaning heavily against Caitlyn.
Gunfire crackled again, closer this time. Bullets ricocheting off the ground, sending gravel and sparks flying. Caitlyn urged Vi forward. “Up ahead,” Caitlyn cried suddenly and they darted toward a narrow passageway squeezed between two crumbling walls.
Vi’s breath came in ragged gasps. “They’re behind us?” She craned her neck to look but Caitlyn blocked her view. “I—I’m slowing you down.” A violent shiver ripped through her bod and her teeth begun to chatter uncontrollably. The pain in her forearms had dulled, Vi knew that was not a good sign.
“We’ll lose them,” Caitlyn promised fiercely. “Just stick with me, Vi. I’m not leaving you behind.”
The narrow passageway was barely wide enough for them to fit, but Caitlyn tugged Vi through with desperate urgency. If they had struggled to get through, there was a good chance C’s men would have to follow them a different way.
Vi stumbled into her again, eyes fluttering closed and Caitlyn felt her heart pounding in her chest. She tightened her grip under Vi’s shoulder, struggling to keep her upright.
“It’s not much further, Vi. You’ve got to stay with me.”
“Mm, I am.” Vi’s response was barely a whisper. Her head lulled to the side, her laboured breathing a stark reminder that they didn’t have time to stop. Caitlyn wouldn’t be able to carry Vi on her own. She needed her to stay awake.