Go down the ladder.

Looking again at the narrow cross-beam, it seemed barely wider than her foot. Trying to land on it seemed like a long shot, and if the plexiglass broke Jen wasn’t sure if she would fall all the way through or maybe just gouge her leg up. Suddenly the six foot dropped slightly safer.

She quickly returned to the ladder. Leaning one leg out, she placed her foot on a rung, then turned and grabbed the two hand rails atop the building. She lowered herself and found the next foothold, starting her descent.

Almost immediately the pain in Jen’s feet resumed, the steel rungs pressing hard into her bare soles. Varying where she stepped on the rungs wasn’t helping as much as it was before. Instead Jen tried to descend a little faster.

Soon she was passing by the tall evergreen tree. Taking a quick look around, there was still no one that she could see. No cars seemed to be occupied, and she couldn’t spot anyone walking around. As she was about to start climbing down again, she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Looking over, she noticed Eve’s car slowly pulling out of its parking spot.

I guess she’s already seen me, Jen thought.

Trying to clamber down faster, in part from the growing ache in her feet and in part hoping that Eve might pick her up from here rather than the other service exit, Jen soon reached the grating. She tugged at it with one foot, but as she suspected it wouldn’t budge.

Maybe I can lower myself a bit before I have to drop, she thought.

Upper body strength was never Jen’s strong suit, but anything she would do to reduce the distance she had to fall will be helpful. Without removing her feet from the lowest rung, Jen lowered herself into a crouching position. She then gripped a rung as tightly as she can with both hands and let one leg drop down, than the other. Her toes brushed against the grating as she eased herself down, and Jen knew that if she slid against the grating the whole way down it was bound to scrape her body a bit.

She moved a hand down a rung and slid further. The grating scratched against her thighs and hips, but she ignores it. Just as she’s about to move her other hand down, she feels her grip starting to fail. Thinking fast, Jen pushed away from the grating and let go.

Doing her best to brace herself for impact, Jen hit the ground harshly and fell over to her side. With a little tentative movement she could tell she wasn’t injured, just a few minor pains that would quickly fade. She got up from the ground, brushed the dirt from her side and looked around for Eve’s car.

Soon it came into view from around the corner of the mall and drove along the sidewalk. As it approached, Jen takes a second to look around. Still no signs of life. No one walking around, no cars driving. Once Eve got close, Jen stood up and dashed out from behind the bush.

She ran into the street in front of Eve’s car and turned towards the door. Eve hit the brakes, clearly not expecting Jen to dart in front of her, then hit the button to unlock the door. Jen immediately fell into the passenger seat, and was reaching in the back for her clothes before Eve had the chance to say anything.

“Imagine my surprise,” she said, laughing gleefully, “when I noticed you were on top of the roof! How on earth did you end up there?”

Pulling her clothes into her lap, Jen grabbed her bra and started pulling the straps up her arms. “Long story.”

“And let me guess,” Eve said in a fake pouty voice, “you don’t want to tell me about it.”

Jen says nothing. After a moment Eve giggled and pulled away from the curb, while Jen struggled to clasp her bra.