Gabriele had been shot.
His body tottered in the moonlight, tipping until, unbalanced, he fell from the fifty-meter wall.
“Gabriele!”
Mathias reflexively reached out with his left hand. The other was wrapped in cloth, fastened around the taut wire. His legs were balanced on the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment fixed around Bernhardt’s waist.
The three of them had made their way back to the wall, scaled the exterior side, and begun to rappel down into Quinta itself. They had concealed themselves behind a cannon and gauged the interval between patrols. Having confirmed that the troops were far enough away, they’d finally commenced their descent. And yet…
They had been seen.
Mathias’ hand fell short of Gabriele.
“Hold on!” Bernhardt said, immediately letting the wires out at full speed.
The two of them entered free-fall. Bernhardt landed a powerful kick on the surface of the wall. Their bodies curved away from the structure and floated into empty space.
Mathias’ feet slipped from the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. His hand came away from the wire. He, too, started to plummet towards the ground, forty meters below.
Snapping his left hand back in, he formed a ring with his arms and locked them around the wire. It bit into the inside of his elbows, all but tearing the fabric. He ended up suspended from that one point, and pain seared through him as his skin chafed.
Bernhardt stretched out his arms. He caught Gabriele’s clothes in both hands and pulled him in. Then, somewhat awkwardly, he wrapped his legs around the man’s small frame, securing him.
The wire flexed, and the three of them swung back towards the wall in the manner of a pendulum.
In the ring made by Mathias’ arms, the wire danced madly. This time, it pressed against the upper part of his right arm. The one he’d broken.
He clenched his teeth against the pain but, unable to bear it, ended up screaming.
He had no time to prepare for the collision. Neither did Bern-hardt.
They crashed into the wall.
Mathias seemed to have hit his shoulders, hips, and back. The impact momentarily banished all five of his senses, but the pain came almost immediately afterwards, excruciating, joined by the sensation of his innards rising to his throat.
He was left hanging behind Bernhardt’s waist, his elbows hooked around the wire.
Above him Bernhardt’s arms had formed a ring, too, around Gabriele’s head, to lock him in place. The wounded man, still unconscious, was limp.
“Will he be okay?!”
“They got him in the shoulder. A mere flesh wound,” Bernhardt made light of it.
Indeed, the area between Gabriele’s left shoulder and elbow was stained dark red. He was still bleeding, and Mathias wanted to attend to the wound as soon as possible, but…
“It’s that man!”
“He escaped! He’s getting back in!”
“Get word to the captain!”
The group of soldiers shouting at one another above their heads had to be the ones who’d fired at Gabriele just a few moments earlier.
There was another volley of gunfire. The bullets grazed the air next to the hanging trio.
“Let’s get to the other side of the road. Grab the belt and let go of the wire. It’s going to get a little bumpy.”
“Okay.”
There was more gunfire. Two shots. Luckily, the bullets went farther astray.
The soldiers were likely unaccustomed to firing their guns. Granted, leaning out from a fifty-meter wall buffeted by strong winds and hitting a target that clung to the surface some ten meters down was no simple task. Perhaps it was an impossible one given the skill level of the rookies left to Quinta.
But it was too soon to relax.
A troop of them were looking up at them from the street directly below. It wouldn’t be long before the shooting started from there too.
“Pardon me.” Mathias hooked his legs around Bernhardt’s waist, pulled himself slightly away, and took hold of the belt connected to the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
“Fine. Now then…”
His arms locked around Gabriele’s body, Bernhardt brought his wrists as far to the left as they would go. He placed his fingers on one of the levers poking up from his waist.
The three bodies began to descend. As they did, Bernhardt adjusted the angle of the firing mechanism and shot a second wire diagonally downward. The anchor struck the roof of a three-storied building across the street next to the wall, audibly smashing into the tiles and jabbing deep into the surface. The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment had them suspended on two wires, one on either side.
“Time for a midair stroll.”
Even with Gabriele in his grip, Bernhardt continued his expert manipulation of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. He seemed to be maintaining a uniform velocity for both wires as one was reeled in and the other was released. As a result, instead of falling, they were gliding at an angle through the air, towards the rooftop.
Caught in the moonlight, their shadows landed on the street below. The soldiers ran over these, shouting to each other, and Mathias could make out what they were saying before long.
“Will we make it?”
“Watch you don’t bite your tongue!”
Heeding Bernhardt’s advice, Mathias clamped his mouth shut. The roof was approaching. When they were just a couple of meters off, it suddenly felt like they were floating. They’d entered free-fall.
“Seems the wall-side wire popped─”
They crashed into the tiles before Bernhardt could finish.
Amidst another surge of agony, Mathias realized he’d let go of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment’s belt. He started to roll and hurtle across the tiles with frightening speed. His aching body reeled from impact after impact.
The roof slanted down towards the road. Realizing that he was on his way to falling headfirst from a three-storied building, Mathias unconsciously spread out his limbs. His left elbow, then his hand, struck the surface of the roof. He suffered another unbearable streak of pain as his fingers banged off and leapt up from a tile.
He kept sliding, now on his back. Yet he’d managed to kill some of his momentum, and the rolling had stopped.
Bit by bit he slowed before finally coming to a halt. Struggling to shut the pain out of his mind, he cautiously raised his head. He was right next to the edge.
That was close…
He rolled over to lie prone on the tiles. He raised his head a second time, still wary, and found Bernhardt crouched where the anchor had struck the roof and looking his way.
“Stay there.”
Bernhardt let go of Gabriele and, unspooling the wire in gradual increments, began to approach Mathias. His clothes, or rags, were stained dark with Gabriele’s blood. He squatted down next to Mathias and glanced at his own waist.
“You should probably take hold.”
“Thank you.”
Mathias reached out and hooked his fingers on the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment’s belt. As Bernhardt set the wire to wind back in towards his original position, Mathias let himself be pulled by the arms in a half-crouch.
Somehow making it to Gabriele’s side, they surveyed their surroundings. Soldiers were running along the top of the wall, pointing down and shouting. There was a similar commotion coming from below. They had to get away, and as soon as possible.
“Can we use the rooftops?”
“At first, yes.”
Bernhardt grabbed Gabriele by his clothes and hauled him up. Once again he formed a circle with his arms and fed Gabriele’s head and shoulders through.
“Let me help.”
“No need to be polite, I’m stronger.” Bernhardt tugged his arms in, still cradling Gabriele, who was now bent at the waist. “They’ll be up here soon. The smart thing to do would be to get to street level before that happens.”
“Yes.”
“That way.”
Bernhardt motioned his jaw away from the wall. Then he set forth.
Mathias followed him from behind. It was difficult to keep his balance. His whole body was screaming, but he knew he had to put up with it.
“Time we headed down.”
Bernhardt turned a right angle and stopped at the edge of the roof. Between them and the next building was an alley some three meters wide.
“I can’t leap so far!”
“No need. Take hold of me.”
In the same manner as they had at the wall, they lowered themselves to the ground. There were footsteps and male voices, rather close by. Soldiers were already running through the alleys in search of them.
“I suggest we split.”
“And Gabriele? Will he be okay?”
“He’ll be coming around anytime now.”
Mathias doubted Bernhardt would say something like that just to set him at ease. If the man thought Gabriele was going to die, he would declare as much and coldly state that they were leaving the unlucky bastard behind.