Draw the men away from Cassia

"Hide behind there." You tell her pointing behind the square entryway where the stairs extend to the roof. "I'll draw them off, as soon as they follow me run down the stairs and hide." The pounding from the inside of the door is loosening the hinges visibly. But the girl is still at your side.

"How will I find you to thank you?" She asks, looking at you as though you were a hero of legend instead of a runaway **** with little if any chance of surviving this encounter.

"I will look for you in the first apartment, but don't wait there if it is dangerous. The gods will bring us together if we are meant to see each other again. Now Go!" To your relief she moves out of your sight. You move quickly to the edge of the building and stand there with the rope dangling over the edg. You must convince them that Cassia has escaped or they will search the roof for her.

You have seen men paired with women often, but the women were willing and there were not eight men to the one woman. You can only imagine how Cassia's body would be used over and over again. Even as the image of her body stretched spread eagle on the hard dirty rooftop starts to form in your mind the rooftop door crashes open.

You waste precious seconds pretending to hold the rope with all your might as you lower it down the last two feet in your hands. "Run!" You yell to an imaginary Cassia fleeing from the bottom of the building. Tossing the rope over the edge you swing yourself over the edge. The wall on this section is in better shape and the cracks between the blocks not as wide, but you have no time for caution you try to angle for the corner of the building as your feet and hands reach franticly for new footholds but despite taking several huge chances you have only climbed down just over a body length before the gang is peering over the edge of the roof at you.

A heavy club flies through the air and hits you on the wrist. Your fingers go numb for an instant, but then the lack of feeling is replaced by throbbing pain. You hear several men head back to the staircase and you listen for any sound that they have spotted Cassia. Hope springs in your heart, you have reached the corner of the building and the hand holds her are almost as good as on a ladder, more importantly there is no sign that the men have seen Cassia.

A large chunk of rock that hits you in the cheek reminds you of how precarious a position you are in. If the gang has men waiting for you on the ground, you are not going to make it. Ignoring the stream of verbal **** and rocks that crash about you as you climb you concentrate on getting to the ground.