The River (Clemerva)

Chapter Twenty-Four: FUBAR

Pulse is fine, and he's still breathing normally.

She took another length of bedsheet from her pocket and used it to tie his wrists to a pipe on the wall, forcing him to stay lying down if he woke up.
On the other side of the glass were the controls to the gate.
Clem opened the door and stepped out onto the catwalk.
The control panel consisted of two electronic buttons, and two winches that connected to the large sheet metal gates.

Which button opens the gate?

She hovered her finger over them and swapped between the two, trying to decide.
The button on the right was her choice, and luckily, the corresponding winch began winding in and pulling the gate open.
The other winch seemed to be reversed.
She made an educated guess that it was for closing the gate, so she went to work sawing through the thick rope attached to it.
Her forearm burned from the repeated effort, but eventually she had cut through enough of the rope that if someone tried to close the gate, it would simply snap and be rendered useless.
Clementine retraced her steps, making her way to the stack of crates that the others were hiding behind.

"Alright, let's get onboard before they notice that the gate's open." Clem whispered.

They crept in a pack, arriving at where the enormous steamship was docked.
The only way on was a long gangplank, and it was only wide enough for them to board single file.
Now that she was closer, Clem also noticed the heavy ropes that ran from the deck of the ship and down to the dock rings.

"What?" Minnie asked, seeing her stopped.

"We aren't going anywhere with these tying us down." Clem said, taking out her knife.

She began slicing through the rope attached to the bow of the ship, but the tightly interwoven strands and the thickness of it made it slow going.
The group waited by the gangplank, heads on a swivel for anybody coming their way.
Finally Clem made it through the first rope and moved on to the second.
A flashlight beam clicked on, fanning the area around them. Luckily the other boats were obscuring them from view.

"Clem, hurry." Violet hissed.

"I know." Clem whisper-yelled back.

She cut through the second rope, the slack sliding off the dock and splashing into the water.
With her heart thundering in her chest, Clem went to work on the last  rope.
The flashlight was getting closer now, along with heavy footsteps.

"Clem, leave it, we need to go." Minnie said.

"No, I'm almost done, otherwise we'll be stuck here."

She sped up her cutting, the knife not even halfway through the rope yet.
The others were beginning to walk up the ramp while Brody and Violet waited with Minnie and Clem.
The guard was just around the corner now, walking rapidly towards them, he definitely knew something was wrong.

"We'll figure it out later." Minnie said sternly, tapping Clem's shoulder.

Clementine glanced over at the approaching light, then at the rope. There was no more time, she'd be caught if she kept it up.

"Fuck." She spat, standing up and heading for the gangplank.

Minnie led the way, followed by Clem, Violet and Brody at the rear.
When a light behind her cast harsh shadows to her front, her blood ran cold.