My mouth drops in horror as I see the raging inferno a foot from where I am standing.
We both begin to cough violently as the wind blows the black smoke in our direction. It covers the beautiful orange, pink sky.
I take a huge step backward and put my hands up as I start to feel the heat under my feet.
Suddenly, I feel a gun on my backside. My eyes begin to pool at the thought of having to cross that steel bridge.
What if it falls with us on it?!
I turn and look at Max in shock. He does look a little nervous. However, there is more determination on his face than anything else.
I hesitate but walk up the steps.
Once I'm at the top I begin to hyperventilate.
I was never afraid of heights until now.
Another explosion rocks the entire building!
I scream and close my eyes!
Max and I don't fall in due to the integrity of what we are crossing. The heat underneath our feet starts to grow hotter.
I take a step forward, holding onto the rail, and suddenly realize I can't move. Fear has completely taken over me. Max jams the gun into my side causing me to wince.
"Walk!"
"I can't! I can't! Please!" I yell holding tightly to both sides of the rail. I try moving my feet again but still, they don't respond.
"If you don't cross, we will die!" Max yells.
He then shoves me so hard that I fall. My knees and hands touch the steel floor. The steel underneath me is so hot that I yell in pain and immediately stand. Praying and crying does not sway Max.
I place one foot in front of the other and begin to walk slowly. I close my eyes, not wanting to look down.
"Samantha!"
My heart soars and I open my eyes. Max and I turn when we hear Ryder call for me.
"Ryder!" I yell, reaching for him.
The female guard jumps from behind him, swinging a four by four. Ryder steps back and punches her in the face. The guard throws her hands to her face, nursing a bloody nose, and drops the four by four.
He then grabs her by the back of the collar and walks a couple of feet to the edge, all while she struggles. He then throws her off the side of the building, not breaking a sweat.
Ryder turns to us, holding his bleeding wound. He looks like he's having a hard time breathing but has determination written all over his face.
My heart falls! He's badly hurt. I can see it.
"Your boyfriend looks hurt. I don't think he's going to make it," Max laughs in my ear.
Suddenly a black helicopter flies above us, causing my hair to sway. I look up at it in horror.
Agitated, Max throws his arm around my waist, lifts me up, and finishes the walk to the other side of the catwalk. All while I yell and kick.
When we reach the other side he puts me down. He grabs me by my hand as we make our way down the stairs. He then guides me to a landing pad.
I turn and see that Ryder is slowly climbing the stairs of the catwalk.
Another explosion rocks underneath us. Ryder never wavers. He continues his climb.
The helicopter lands a few feet away from where Max and I are standing. The winds from the blades have my hair flying all over the place.
Max puts the gun to my head, again, and pushes me forward. I am terrified Ryder will not make it before the helicopter lifts off.
As I look one final time, Ryder is walking across the catwalk. He is stumbling but still looks determined to get to me.
Max bends over as the blades continue to spin and slides the helicopter door open. He gets in.
"Let's go!" He yells taking a seat.
He continues to point the gun at me. I do as I'm told and climb in. Max grabs my arm tightly. He tells the pilot to go.
No! I say to myself. I can't let him take off! This is my fight! Ryder fought my battle but it's time for me to end this war! I have to stop Max once and for all!
Ryder begins limping quickly to us. He is now walking down the steps.
He makes it all the way down and starts to stagger towards us. Ryder bends over and holds his wound. There's fresh blood oozing down his shirt and pants. He looks ghostly pale.
There's a rope on the ground and it has been tied to a separate catwalk. Ryder walks to it and grabs it. He then looks at me as he began to tie it around his waist. He winces in pain as he tightens it.
I know what I have to do!
The helicopter starts to hover.
"Fucking moron is going to burn alive! All because he wants to rescue you," Max yells as he laughs and sits back in the seat, still holding onto my arm.
I slowly reach for one of LeAnn's knives.
I had put in the jacket earlier.
The helicopter hovers about two feet from the roof and is slowly moving away. I look to Ryder.
This is it!
I see him gather the last remaining of his strength. He starts to run towards us with the rope tied around his torso.
The helicopter continues to pull away when I take the knife and cut Max on his wrist, making him drop the gun.
"Fuck!" He yells.
I then grab the pilot's head, pull it back, and stab him in the throat. The pilot immediately reaches for his neck and the helicopter starts veering erratically up and down.
"No!" Max jumps up to grab the steering column and veers away from the building.
"Samantha!" Ryder yells.
I look out of the helicopter. At the exact moment, Ryder is about to dive off the building. I turn one last time and look at Max.
"Noooo!" Max yells as he tries to grab me.
I hold my breath as I jump from the helicopter, reaching for Ryder. Ryder then throws something towards the top of the helicopter.
I scream as I reach for him. Closing my eyes, he catches me and holds tightly.
I hang onto Ryder as my life depends on it. His grip on me suddenly loosens a little, as he yells in pain. We slam onto the side of the building wall.
I look towards Max. He's sitting in the pilot seat trying to steer it. There is a sudden explosion near the blades. Two of the blades go flying in either direction.
Max tries to get control of the helicopter and swears the entire time. It flies left then right and goes up, above us, and crashes on top of the building.
A small explosion follows.
I sigh in relief. Ryder's grip on me loosens more. I look at him and smile, but my smile soon fades when I see how ghostly pale he is and his head has gone limp. I let go of him and hold onto the rope instead.
"I'm here, baby," I say to him. I am terrified he'll die hanging here. "I'm going to climb up! Hold on!"
Ryder weakly nods; his eyes open and then shuts.
I begin to climb. The climb isn't that far at all. And it helps that there are a ton of bricks sticking out that I can grab onto. I tell Ryder and he tries to imitate.
Once we're on the roof Ryder doesn't bother getting up. I remove the rope and check his wound. He is losing so much blood.
"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly.
Tears are sliding down my face. Ryder weakly smiles at me. He runs his fingers down my cheek and neck.
"I am now."
We are about to stand when we hear Max yelling. I wipe my tears and stand. I slowly begin to walk up to helicopter wreckage, which is where the catwalk is.
"Sam, where are you going?" Ryder asks weakly. He begins to cough. I ignore him.
On the floor, a couple of feet from me is the gun Max had.
It must've fallen from the helicopter before it crashed.
I pick it up and examine it. Max coughs and yells. I inch closer. I can feel the heat from the fire.
The helicopter is at an angle, ready to fall into the fiery inferno below it. The only thing holding it in place is the thick rope that is tied to the catwalk railing. The rope is caught on the piece that the helicopter blades attach too.
Max is sitting on the pilot's seat, pinned. He's bleeding from his head and mouth. I can't see the pilot.
When Max sees me he does a double-take.
"Seriously!" He chuckles.
He tries to push back against the dashboard. "What will it take to end you, princess?" He asks menacingly and then begins to cough violently.
"When I get out of here, for sport, I will hunt you all down. Do you hear me?! Each and everyone one of you!"
He then scoffs and looks away trying to push against the dashboard again. "Don't think for a minute I will let you live happily ever after!"
I remove the hair tie from my hair and sigh. "No, Maxwell. You won't." I look at the gun and then back at Max. I aimed it at him.
"You don't have the balls, Samantha! What are you going to do?! Shoot me? Please!"
I do not notice Ryder is standing next to me until he speaks.
"I promised you one of us would bring you to the edge of death and then kill you," Ryder says to Max.
He gently puts his hand on my shoulder, suddenly remembering the words Ryder used when he first kidnapped me.
"Don't be afraid," I say to Max unemotional and aim the gun at the rope. "I'm here to kill you."
A look of pure horror on Max's face, when he sees what I am about to do.
I pull the trigger.
The rope breaks away and the helicopter slowly starts to flip backward. I close my eyes as Max screams.
Once it's at an angle, it falls. Right into the massive fire that is engulfing the warehouse, causing another explosion underneath our feet.
I feel relief as I wipe my face. This nightmare is finally over!
Looking down, I notice that I still have on my engagement and wedding ring. I stare at my hand in disgust as I take them off and throw them into the fire below.
I turn to Ryder and help him back to the ledge, as the police and fire trucks come into view.