The Golden Age of Weird Fiction MEGAPACK ™, Vol. 5: David H. Keller by David H. Keller

Author:David H. Keller [Keller, David H.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: fantasy, horror, weird tales, pulp, science fiction
ISBN: 9781479406104
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Published: 2015-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Above the “J’s” were determined, desperate and dangerous men. They refused to obey the command and give way. The well-coordinated trio with their accessories made short work of these stubborn ones. Body after body of the greedy ones, less well-equipped as the “J’s”, hurtled down, crushing into the swarming, struggling mass below, bouncing occasionally from some of the climbing people, only to fall again, against more of them.

Now the “J’s” were laughing, for few were higher than they. The going was such faster now. They were two thousand feet, now three thousand feet high. Below them, what had been the roar of the equally greedy climbers diminished to a whisper. Only about ten climbers were yet to be passed. Another thousand feet lessened the number to less than five.

At this point it became noticeable that the tower was swaying, gently but persistently, in the wind. Another thousand feet and only one lone man was yet above them, and he only by a few rungs of the ladder. He turned, crazed with the height, dizzy from the swaying of the tower. He laughed down at the “J’s”, letting go with one hand to wave a cheery greeting to them.

Jim threw his knife and the man stopped laughing. Clasping his side with his other hand, he floated gently away from the ladder, blood trickled from between his clasped hands. He tumbled, over and over, over and over, a lust-crazed devil, falling to the earth a mile below. Now nothing remained between the three and ultimate victory. They had arrived so near the top of the tower that they could see the upper three ladders. Two of these separated at their base by about six feet, faced each other. At the top, a third, single ladder raised upward, its top lost in the clouds that drifted hazily over the tower.

They paused a moment to make their final plans. Far below them came the murmur of discouraged thousands, climbing like swarming bees on the lower rungs. Frequently an exhausted man, losing his grip, dropped shrieking, slithering against other weakened men, knocking them loose, or dragging them with him till they met a merciful death on the hard, parched earth. The nearest climber was three hundred feet below them, his face twisted with hopeless hatred, unable to climb higher, too exhausted to even try to descend.

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