Darkness: Chapter 17 - Patience

The pain was numbing. It did not strike, nor did it surge up his shoulder any more. It simply was, present and persistent. He decided in the end, that something was broken, or more likely fractured there. He could move his left arm, but each time it held his weight and that of his load, the pain got slightly worse.

Rely on your right, save your strength, focus on the goal.

The climb was a complex business, memorising each possible route literally from the ground up. Three angles of ascent had ended in dead ends half way up, but the fourth and final one had kept going far beyond the others. It had taken days with a meticulous process of elimination to discover every hand-hold, grip, ledge and obstacle. There had been two garbage drops since he started, at his guess that meant four days had passed. The short glimpses of light no matter how much they blinded him, also gave short glimpses of what was above, revealing opportunities.

Right now, he was latched to the side of a flat, vertical rock-face. He could guess how far he had yet to go, or how far he could fall, but it was easier to simply assume it was a long way in both directions. Bound around him he bore a wound length of leather rope, intertwined with smaller loops and various ‘tools’ he had made. As he had ascended, the tools were gradually used up. Some broke, some remained in hand holds just in case, some occasionally could be re-used.

Slow, and steady. Don’t put your weight on what you don’t trust
His left hand was searching the space above him, groping the cold stone surface. There was a grip to his upper left, but it felt too far and an over-extension was dangerous.

Switch arms.

His placed his left on the curve of stone he had grappled himself too, then lent out to his right to search and hope. The pain in his left arm was subdued, for now, his feet held his weight atop the lip of rock he stood upon.

The rock-face curved there, on the right.  From knee-height upwards he ran his hand over the surface until his fingers found purchase in a small hollow. It was head sized, but grew larger inside. It would make Ideal footing as well as a suitable grip, allowing him to continue the upward advance.

The small one, as a wedge.

He slipped his right hand back, easy not to place too much weight on his left for fear for falling. With gentle, searching hands he ran his fingers atop the selection of bones looped through the ropes wound around his torso. Each was a different size and shape, fit for various purposes. He at last came to the one he sought, a femur, Smaller than the others, but the largest of that body.

When that dreaded bow is strung...

He swallowed with his parched, dry throat. It was a chore to eat, and drink. Raising his right arm back up he searched for the hole once more, then neatly slid the bone in. Turning it from vertical to horizontal it became something to hold on to, aided by gravity and wedged in by force.

Test it, trust its reliability before you trust it.

Tensing his grip around the bone, he pulled on it one, twice and a third time. It did not budge, shake or bend. Solid and reliable, it would take his weight. He would place his weight onto it, and would trust in its strength to hold him.

Breathe in...

He stood on the tips of his sore, bare toes, raised his left hand and let his body swing right. He stopped dead centre below it, dangling with nothing beneath and safe only by the grip of one hand.

Next one, and hope it goes up this time.

He raised his left hand tentatively. The pain was numbing but tolerable, and thus he  began to search...