Andy McDermott - The Tomb Of Hercules

“What man?”

“You came here with a man. Where is he?”

“I don’t know.” That was true; she had completely lost sight of Chase.

The guard sidestepped an installation piece and came towards her. The other men followed a few paces behind, on the other side of the hanging artwork. “We do not want to hurt you, but Mr. Yuen has told us to use force if you do not cooperate. Where is the-”

A noise to one side-

The guards looked around as Chase leaped from a side room almost at ceiling height, having jumped from a table. His outstretched arms grabbed the rail from which the artwork hung as he slammed his feet against the metal sheet.

It rang like a gong, swinging upwards with the force of Chase’s weight behind it and sweeping two of the guards off the floor. One of them hit another installation piece, wrenching it from its hangings. It landed with an enormous bang, then toppled over and flattened him beneath it. The other man crashed against the wall so hard that he almost broke through it, embedded unmoving in the plasterboard beneath the expensive wallpaper.

Chase dropped to the ground, rolling to avoid the metal sheet as it swung back. Another startled guard there-he scythed up with his legs at the man’s knees. The guard pitched onto his back with a yelp. Chase was already up, fist driving a sledgehammer blow into his face. The man instantly went limp.

The remaining guard aimed his gun at Chase-

Sophia swept aside the front of her dress and delivered a hard kick up between the guard’s legs. The hefty platform toe of her shoe crunched into his crotch. He made a high-pitched keening noise, face contorted in agony, then dropped to the floor and curled up in a ball.

“I see you still know how to take care of yourself,” said Chase, kicking the other guards’ guns away.

She picked up the fallen weapon from the sobbing man at her feet. “Shanghai’s a tough town.”

“Come on.” He took her hand and pulled her after him, heading for the elevators.

They only got a few steps into the lobby before an alarm shrilled, red warning lights flashing. The display screen of the elevator flashed Mandarin characters. “The lift’s locked down!” Sophia gasped.

“They’ll already be on their way up the stairs,” said Chase grimly. Cut off, and the only remaining escape route led to an aircraft they couldn’t fly…

He turned and hurried back into the suite of offices. “We can’t get out down here!” Sophia protested.

“Then I’ll have to do some DIY.” He stopped at the fallen art piece, one end of which had bent upwards when it hit the floor. Chase looked down the hall to Yuen’s office at the end, the sloping windows…

“Give me a hand!” he ordered, grabbing one corner of the metal sheet and dragging it down the hall. Sophia obeyed, confused.

They passed the guard she’d kicked, who was showing signs of recovery. Sophia jabbed a spike heel between his legs. He curled up even tighter, tears streaming down his face.

“Stop enjoying yourself,” Chase told her. They pulled the metal sheet into the office. “And take off those bloody shoes!”

“What are you doing?” she asked as she tugged at the straps and kicked off her stilettos. “There isn’t a way out in here!”

Chase took the gun from her and fired several shots at the window, the glass exploding. “There is now!”

“What do you-” Realization crossed her face, followed a moment later by genuine fear. “Oh my God! Are you insane?”

“It’s been suggested.” He dragged the metal sheet to the window, a cold wind blowing through the shattered hole. Sophia didn’t move.

“We-we can go up to the helipad! You could pretend to take me hostage, demand a pilot-”

“They already know I came to rescue you, not kidnap you!” Chase leaned out of the window, looking down. The slope of the building’s side was at least seventy degrees to the vertical on the floor below, but it became shallower as it descended, almost horizontal at the bottom…

Sophia stared at him in horror. “Eddie, we’ll die!”

He dropped the installation piece so that its bent front end hung over the edge of the broken window, then held out his hand to her. “Have I ever let you die before?”

“No, but-”

“I’m not going to start now.” He offered his hand again, more forcefully. “Trust me.” Sophia hesitated, then took it.

Chase pulled her to him. “Okay, just hold on to me, and whatever happens, don’t let go.” He kicked the metal piece farther over the edge, its underside crunching on the broken glass.

Behind them, the doors to the lobby flew open. More guards.

Chase stepped onto the metal sheet and knelt down. Reluctantly, Sophia did the same, clinging to him. He grabbed the artwork’s bent corners and jerked forward, inching it over the edge, then turned his head to Sophia. Their cheeks touched. “Ready for a magic carpet ride?”

The guards burst into the room. “Don’t move!” someone shouted.

One last shove-

They tipped over the edge of the building and plunged downwards.

Sophia’s scream was lost in the wind as they shot down the glass wall, the installation piece a makeshift sled shrilling and rippling beneath them.

Chase held on to the raised metal corners with all his strength, feeling the edges cutting into his palms. He endured the pain-he had no choice, because if he let go then even the minuscule amount of control he had over the course of their descent would be lost.

Floors flashed past. Windows cracked and shattered in their wake as they skidded over them, a line of destruction gouged out of the face of the building. The wind blasted at Chase’s face. He had no idea how fast they were traveling, only that it was too fast and his escape plan was looking like a very bad mistake-

The curve of the wall shallowed, forty-five degrees, less, as they hurtled past the halfway point.

But they weren’t slowing.

The artificial lake at the bottom of the wall grew rapidly, a glowing swath of surreal colors. Getting closer, closer …

They shot off the end of the last floor and hit the water, still moving fast. The window imploded behind them. A huge plume of spray burst from the front of the sled as they aquaplaned across the surface.

Slowing rapidly, but the lakeshore was still rushing at them-

“Jump!” Chase roared, leaping off with Sophia still clinging to him. They landed on soft grass, rolling clear of their ride as one corner bit deeply into the turf and flipped the whole thing end over end in an eruption of soil.

“Bloody hell!” said Chase as he sat up, bruised but unbroken. “That was better than Disneyland!” He saw Sophia nearby and quickly went to her. “You okay?”

“I’ve been better,” she said groggily. Chase lifted her to her feet. She grunted in discomfort but didn’t cry out, which he took as a good sign.

He looked back at the Ycom building. The path they’d taken down the building was clearly visible, people gawping out through the broken glass on several floors. “We’ve got to get back to Mei’s taxi. Where’s the nearest entrance to the parking lot?”

Sophia raised a shaking hand. “That side-”

As if on cue, several men ran around the side of the building where she was pointing.

“Hellfire!” Chase grabbed her hand. “Okay, plan B.”

They hurried across an ornamental lawn. Busy roads ran along two of its edges. Chase made for the nearer one, looking first for unoccupied taxis and then, more pragmatically, for any vehicle they could commandeer.

The traffic was too dense, too slow moving. They wouldn’t be able to make much headway in a car. What he needed was a motorbike…