"Just imagine. Today is the last day of your life. You're holding a card with a trillion bucks on it. What would you spend it on?" I asked Nicky as we walked through the amusement park.
Hands in my jeans pockets. Sunglasses on my eyes. Gleaming in the bright evening rays. And there I was. Walking all cool.
"What trillion bucks are you talking about?! Wake up, Andrew," my friend waved his hand in front of my face. "Guys from the streets will never earn that much. You're still walking around in torn socks."
"I'm just asking hypothetically. And about the tears..." I smirked, remembering the hole with my big toe sticking out. "Don't worry. We'll get to Rotten, squeeze some compensation out of him, and I'll buy myself new socks. I'll buy you some too if you want."
Nicky left my offer unanswered, and my mood dropped a bit. Damn. Why did he have to remind me? These socks were like a toothache, always remembering them at the most inappropriate moment. No, after today's meeting I'll definitely buy several pairs.
Suddenly, the calm atmosphere was disrupted by a sharp metallic screech coming from the sky. Other visitors to the park immediately stopped and looked around.
What's happening? I pushed my sunglasses up to my forehead and stared toward the source of the noise. What I saw made me freeze in shock.
The rusty Ferris wheel had tilted, hanging in the sky. One of the metal supports had bent and threatened to collapse the giant structure at any moment.
After a few seconds of absolute silence, panic immediately broke out. Screams, shrieks. People scattered away from the possible crash site.
"Thank God no one's on it," a fat woman standing nearby assessed the situation. She took a drag on her cigarette and, without removing it from her mouth, continued. "It was shift change, and they hadn't let visitors on yet. Why do they run it empty anyway?"
Since it was empty, there was nothing to worry about. I kept walking.
Suddenly I heard a woman's cries.
"Oliver, Oliver!"
What Oliver is this? I looked at the wheel more carefully. A small child's head was sticking out from the highest cabin.
I glanced at the crying red-haired girl nearby. About twenty-five years old. Not bad looking, but completely stupid apparently. Who lets a small child go alone on such a scary ride? It's for adults.
I rushed to the wheel control booth. There an old woman was trying to restart the stopped attraction and pulling a lever covered in rust. But it wouldn't budge. Seemed stuck.
"Let me try, grandma!" I handed her my sunglasses, pushed her aside and pressed on the iron bar with all my strength.
Zero reaction. Didn't move a millimeter.
Damn it. I braced both feet against the control panel and hung with my whole body on the lever. It reluctantly gave way and began to tilt downward, making a terrible clanking sound.
Hold on, boy, we'll save you now! The wheel will work and you'll come down to your mommy.
Suddenly there was a crack. The lever broke in half, and I, losing my support, crashed onto my back. Damn, that hurt!
"What are you doing, you idiot?" the old woman yelled at me loudly. "You broke the switch!"
Damn, so the kid can't be saved that way. Later, granny, I'll fix your lever. I ran out of the booth.
Outside, the crowd of onlookers was still looking up. I overheard someone saying that emergency services were already on their way. They'll come and get the boy down. Hopefully soon.
From above came that disgusting screech again. It cut through my ears like metal. The huge metal structure tilted even more.
Oliver's mother began crying even harder, wringing her hands in helplessness.
If we just stand here and wait for emergency services, the boy might fall. Time is running out by the minute; at any moment the wheel could crash down.
I assessed the height. About ten floors.
"Hold this," I handed Nicky my windbreaker that I'd just taken off.
"Andrew, where are you going? You're not planning to climb up there? You'll break your neck," he said worriedly.
But I wasn't listening to my bro anymore and, skillfully grabbing onto the beams, started climbing up. There was nothing complicated about it. The main thing was to watch where you step and always hold onto something so you don't accidentally slip. It's quite a fall.
I had already climbed to the middle of the wheel. The wind was blowing much more noticeably here. I glanced down from the corner of my eye and immediately recoiled.
The height, like a mesmerizing abyss, instantly hypnotized me and made my head spin. No... Better not to look there, or I'll fall. They'll be scraping my body off the asphalt.
I looked up again and continued climbing, without sightseeing anymore. After a few minutes, I almost reached the kid. One last pull up, a muscle-up, and I was already in the right cabin.
"Hi Oliver," I smiled at him. "Not scared sitting here alone?"
"No, who are you?" asked the boy with wide-open eyes. Looked about seven, no more.
"I'm a friendly rescuer uncle, I'll take you to your mom now."
"To Lidia? She's not my mom, she's my sister."
"Sister, then sister. Come on, get on my back and hold tight while we go down. Can you do that?"
Oliver looked down, swallowed, and nodded decisively.
Great. I put the kid on my back, took off my belt from my jeans, and strapped him to me. Just in case. What if he couldn't hold on; this would be safer. Then I started climbing down the crossbars, the same way I had climbed up.
We were already at about the seventh floor level. Just a bit more and we'd be on the ground. Clinging to the iron beams, I carefully slid down the levels, getting closer and closer to the saving ground.
At that moment, the wheel started rattling again and tilted even more to the side. The kid and I on my back were jerked sharply.
My hands slipped from the crossbar in surprise.
"Ahhh!" came the boy's scream right in my ear.
At the last moment, I managed to grab onto a nearby beam and hang there, holding with one hand. Phew! From the corner of my eye, I caught what was happening below.
The crowd stood with bated breath. Oliver's sister, with eyes huge from fear, was watching us. Pale. She pressed her hands to her chest and whispered something. Praying, probably.
I swung a little and grabbed onto a nearby crossbar with my other hand.
"Don't worry, girl! We'll be there soon," I winked at Oliver's sister.
Beautiful creature. She definitely couldn't hear what I said, but she looked at me in surprise. I smiled with all my twenty-nine teeth and continued my descent.
After some time, we reached exactly the middle of the attraction, the place where the supports hold the wheel's axis.
I looked down. The height took my breath away, and my head was spinning again. Still about two minutes of descent. But the wheel, judging by how it was tilting, could collapse at any second.
Had to change the plan. I jumped onto the metal parapet below us.
"Holding on?" I checked with the kid just in case.
"Uh-huh," he replied, barely audible. From nervousness, he had almost completely lost his voice.
"Well, hold on even tighter then, we're going for a ride with the wind. Better than a roller coaster."
I stepped back a bit.
Exhale. With willpower, I drove all unnecessary thoughts from my head. I took a running start and...
"Yahooo!" I shouted with all my might while jumping.
For a fraction of a second, we hung in the air, and then I crashed into a vertical beam. I started to slip, but immediately wrapped my arms and legs around the support. Phew! Made it.
Gravity continued its work. We slid down the tube like firefighters. The long sleeves of my sweatshirt protected my skin, so I didn't feel any discomfort.
We rushed downward!
The air whistled in my ears, the kid screamed behind my back.
It's all right, Oliver! You'll tell everyone at school how Spider-Man saved you.
As we approached the ground, I slowed down a bit and then jumped down. I looked around.
The crowd looked at us in admiration. I puffed out my chest, spread my shoulders wider. It's rare to feel like a hero; usually, it's quite the opposite.
A girl's figure separated from the main mass of people and headed toward us. The redhead was running.
I also didn't hang around under the tilting attraction and went to meet her. About ten seconds later, we were standing in front of each other.
"Did you order a brother delivery?" I winked at the cutie.
I unbuckled my belt. Oliver immediately got off my back and ran to his sister. She, with tearful eyes, pressed him to her chest.
"Andrew! You're such a psycho! When our guys find out, no one will believe it," Nicky said excitedly, also coming a little closer. "Now let's go, we need to make it to the meeting with Rotten's gang."
"Wait, I still have one more thing to do here."
I approached Oliver's sister and smiled. The girl noticed me and released her brother from her embrace. Her gaze strangely swept over my figure, then embarrassedly fixed on the ground.
I looked at myself. My jeans were hanging down almost to my knees.
Damn! I had taken off my belt. In a hurry, I pulled my pants up to my waist and looked at Lidia again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't thank you at all. What should I call you?" she asked me, blushing a little.
"My name is Andrew. As a thank you, um... maybe you could give me your phone number?" I asked the girl. "How about going to the movies tomorrow evening?"
Oliver's sister blushed even more.
"Yes, of course, write it down. My number is eight nine..."
Suddenly the girl's voice was cut off by a metallic screech. Even louder than before. Oliver and his sister suddenly turned pale, staring behind my back.
I turned around. The huge iron structure was rapidly approaching us, growing in size.
Time seemed to slow down. Frightened people, Nicky shouting something, the beauty squeezing her eyes shut in fear...
I grabbed the frozen brother and sister and pushed them away from me with all my strength. Then I tried to jump after them.
Damn it!
My jeans slipped down again from the sudden movement. My legs got tangled in the pant legs, and I fell, hitting the ground with my face. Damn belt!
I managed to get up on all fours and see that Oliver and his sister had already been pulled out of the danger zone. Excellent.
Something hit me in the back of the head. The light in my eyes went out...