No time to think, I flail, instinctively, trying to grab onto something, anything. As I round the corner My feet lose grip, because there is nothing to grip onto. The ground opens up into a massive crater, with what appears to be an unexploded bomb in the center.
I try desperately to take a hold of something, swinging like a falling cat, and bang. My left hand grips. A piece of outcropped metal, it stings, and wrenches my arm, but I can just about hold on. I find myself swinging in the breeze, with nothing else to cling to, and a drop hundreds of feet below.
I hear a crashing sound nearby, as this great monstrosity charges after me. He calls for my blood, stamping closer.
He comes crashing around the edge of the building, eyes only on me. I can see the bloodlust in his eyes, swinging that huge blade around. His mighty mouth is drooling, dripping with a thirst to eat, which involves me. As he focuses on me, his eyes light up, surprise and glee that he appears to have caught me.
Just one more, two more steps, keep looking at me...
Too late, he sees the cavernous gap below, but too late to stop himself. His huge bulk drives him over, and now he flails around like a giant bird, trying to catch onto something.
My heart leaps as this creature, knowing what is coming leaps out towards me, trying to take me down with him.
'Come on humaaaaaan, let's die together.' It shouts, like some monstrous cross between a cage fighter and a bull, all muscles and brawn.
I panic, lifting my legs away, holding onto the metal strut for dear life, pulling myself up. This great yellow hand tries to grab at me, like some fairyland giant, only it is no fantasy.
It misses, cursing as it does, before dropping away into the pit. I watch as it falls, wondering if due to its immense size it might just land easily, on its feet and then begin running back up the edge to get me.
The trickling sense of fear that washes over me is proven false, as I hear an almighty crash. It hits into metal girders down below, shattering what is left of the fallen building within the pit. The beast gives out an almighty cry, painful, but wrapped in shadows so far below I cannot see anything.
I allow myself the relief of belief that it is dead. Common sense tells me so, but still, there may be more of them, and worst of all, I am still hanging here, with no means to get back to safe ground. I had to leap like the thing did to gain a hold onto anything, and it is too far back, and higher up now to get safe. The drop below is sheer, and into darkness. I realize what small luck I do have that this thing didn't detonate the bomb below.
Could it be nuclear? If it had set that off I might have gone along with everything else around here. An entire town engulfed in flames and radiation. One thing, it does give me an indication of what might have happened to the world. Did we do it? Did we finally go to war, dropping all these bombs, wiping most of humanity out? Stupid, stupid humans.
I feel my hand losing its grip. I change over, but either hand it stings, cutting into my skin. I look around desperately, trying to see anything to help. It is too far, nothing to grab to, nothing to give me hope. Any second and I will fall.
I close my eyes, and try to remember the past. I remember a face, a young woman, but I cannot recall her name. Names elude me, even my own.
Any moment now and none of this will matter.
'Hey, stranger, here.' A voice calls, and I know the sound of it. I open my eyes, struggle to clear my vision, and I cannot believe what I see at the edge of the cliff.
Macready. That name screams out at me as I look at the woman on the edge of the abyss. She is waving her arms at me, her face pull of panic. Macready the voice rings again in my mind.
I hold into the piece of metal with both hands now, feeling the throbbing as my grips diminishes. My eyes clear, and I see something crazy, Judy is standing there. She has followed me, tears in her eyes. I wonder if she thinks I might have just done this for some fun.
'Hold on, I'll get something.' She shouts, turning to run away.
I can't help but see the humour in it, she says that, turns away and when she gets back sees I'm gone and wonders if she is hallucinating.
I wait, as best I can, I have no choice.
Miracle! It's not rope, but a length of cable. She beckons to me to grab it. Hold on I think, I will just grab it as I fall away into nothing. I release one hands, she swings it out, stronger than I thought. It hits me on the chest, dropping down.
I grab it! Fine, but what next?
'It's tied the other end, just hold it tight and let go.' She shouts. I know what she means, but I know she hasn't thought it through.
I wrap the cable around my hand and arm as best I can, and look at her, eye to eye as I let go. She screams as I drop like a stone. I fall, but the cable drags me to the abyss wall, and I know what is coming.
I crash into the bare rock with a thud almost knocking myself out. I feel dazed and sick, it is all I can do to just hang on.
Moving up, slowly, I feel myself being pulled up, inches at a time. I hear her struggling, doing her best for me, crying.
I shake myself out of this lethargy. I pull with one hand on the rock besides me, lifting and helping as I can. Finally, with one last surge of effort, I spill over, back onto the tarmac, panting and breathing raucously.
I lay there looking up at the blazing blue sky, and then her face leaning over me. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but she does enough crying for us both.
Finally I sit up a little, and look at her pale skin. Her deep hazel eyes, and her ragged but beautiful hair.
'Hi, my name is Macready.' I say, and she stops crying, breaking out into a joyful smile, full of laughter...
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