The rescue was over. Manual 40 had done its job. But Lena knew she’d be rewriting it tomorrow—because next time, the chimney would be deeper, the rock sharper, and the one-inch margin for error even smaller.
Kai came down with the jacks. They worked in silence for 47 minutes, chipping divots into the wet walls for the jack feet. Every few minutes, a pebble skittered past Lena’s ear. The secondary seismic was coming. She could feel it in her molars. Vertical Rescue Manual 40
She slid her arm into the gap. The rock bit into her wrist. Her fingers found Thorne’s cold, pulpy thigh. She found the artery. She looped the strap. She pulled. The rescue was over
She smiled. Then she collapsed beside him, her arm still threaded through the cage, her fingers still pressed to his pulse. Kai came down with the jacks