Chapter 26
“Take my hand,” Lara Stella said, reaching down.
She grabbed Mint and pulled her up over the edge of a steel beam.
The Lower Rind, dark and smoky, lay far, far below.
Lara Stella reached down and grabbed Graeme and pulled him up.
At the edge of the beam, they rested.
They had climbed several hundred feet, starting with a light pole, using the clogged fallen debris that piled all the way up to the Middle Rind.
They were on a street. Commercial district. Bars and nightclubs. All boarded up. Some of the buildings were on fire. The skyscrapers of the Middle Rind were silhouettes in the dusky sky. Some were crumbling.
Lara Stella looked down at the Lower Rind and sighed. Thank God she didn’t have to worry about being down there anymore. But at the same time her heart hurt for
