Surfacing by Mark Magro

Author:Mark Magro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic
Publisher: North Star Editions
Published: 2017-05-24T18:19:40+00:00

Baltazar

With a jolt, the metal beneath my feet gave way. I fell back and caught sight of the darkness below, sliding toward it for a few terrifying seconds with increasing velocity. Before I fell off the crumbling structure completely, my crutch caught on something during my tumble. My shoulder exploded in pain, but my fingers held tight, leaving me suspended in air with my legs dangling over empty darkness.

My breath quickened and drowned out everything else. Dirt and dust fell into my eyes, making them burn. Discomfort and strain continued to dig into my shoulder as the momentum of the fall rocked me back and forth, but I didn’t lose my grip. I still had a chance.

In an effort to stop the motion, I threw my other hand up and gained a hold of my crutch. The extra support helped stabilize my sway, but I could feel the strain building within my muscles, my grip growing weaker by the second. I frantically looked about for something else to help me ascend the ramp, but there was nothing within reach. I was left with nothing to do but calculate what would give first, the tensile strength of my crutch under the pressure of the crumbling ramp or my muscles under my weakened physical strength.

My brain ran the numbers for both equations and, even with the most generous of estimates, both equaled I was screwed.

“Balt!” I finally heard over my breathing, my mind coming back from the equations. It was Zoe’s voice, quickly followed by Smith’s.

“Are you okay?”

I took a deep breath and felt the pain in my shoulders spread to my chest. I didn’t have enough breath to respond though, just hanging on was draining enough. I swayed about and tried unsuccessfully to pull myself up again, getting my elbows bent to about a forty-five degree angle before my strength gave out. I closed my eyes, feeling gravity pull me down, too exhausted to try again. I just wanted to stop the pain and let go. I wanted to be out of this cold lab forever. But then I heard her voice again.

“Balt?”

I opened my eyes and caught sight of a new piece of frayed metal above me that had slipped out from under a piece of rubble. Gathering as much air into my wheezing lungs as I could, I swayed with the momentum of the wreckage once more, waiting until the optimum point in my motion before letting go of the crutch with one hand and making a swipe at a plate above me. My fingers caught the sharp edge and I was able to throw my elbow over the flat piece of metal, the added leverage enough to ease the pain in my arms temporarily. I caught my breath for a second before letting go of the crutch with my other arm and making for the next higher piece, grunting as I went. My muscles throbbed with such pain that I thought they might burst like balloons, but I

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