Over the Edge

Wednesday has come around again and I’m happy to present this week’s flash fiction.

The rope burned wrapped around my hands, and the roof’s steel edge dug painfully into my wrists. “Can we hurry this up!” I kicked out again trying to reach the wall, but it remained tantalizingly out of reach.

A blast. A grunt. And something striking the rope I dangled from was the quick response. The longer response was a body tumbling off the roof, past me, and into the gully below. Johnny appeared bending over the rood and reached down to me.

I unwound one hand and closed it around his wrist. My heart thumped hard until I got my foot on the edge of the roof and scrambled over. “Gaaaaah.” I doubled over as my shoulders burned with the sudden release of tension.

Johnny held out his hand, and I grasped it. He hauled me upright. “Sorry, tussles take the time they take.”

I opened my mouth to responded, but a loud explosion of steam cut me off. Johnny and I both looked back toward the edge of the roof. A patrol boat puffed its way into view, its railings lined with guards.

“So much for quiet.” I said pulling my pistols from my hostlers.

Johnny mirrored my movement, and I caught his grin. “Like you’d want it another way.”

I want to say the hitch in my breathing was from the quickly closing fight but knew I couldn’t say it weren’t that look. That damnably endearing look. Help me but I loved his eagerness. “Shut up and fight.”

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Be sure to check out the other Wednesday Words authors’ take on the prompt.