Chapter 15 - The Showdown on the Crane
"You worthless fool!" Julian screamed as Knox fell, his grip slipping off the catwalk rail before plunging into the darkness below.
David charged up the iron stairs like a mountain lion, clearing three steps at a time. Seeing David rushing toward him, Julian swung his assault rifle around, firing a wild burst of full-auto fire.
Bullets chewed through the iron steps and metal girders, sending shower of red sparks into the dark air. David dived behind a heavy steel support pillar, drawing his service revolver from his coat.
"You can't win, David!" Julian yelled, backing toward the high crane hook suspended over the boiling runoff pit at the end of the catwalk. He grabbed Toby by his collar, dragging the young boy with him as a human shield.
"Julian! Put the gun down! It’s over!" David shouted, stepping out from behind the pillar, his revolver aimed precisely at Julian's head.
"One move and I blow his brains out!" Julian shrieked, pressing the hot barrel of his rifle against Toby’s temple.
Toby looked at David, his gray eyes shining with fierce intelligence. He reached his left hand into his blazer pocket, pulling out a small miniature EMP pulse unit he had assembled at school from spare radio parts.
"Uncle David! Jump!" Toby screamed.
Toby jammed the contacts of the small device directly into the exposed junction box of the giant industrial crane overhead.
A sudden blinding arc of blue electricity shot out from the box with a deafening crack. The giant four-ton iron crane hook suspended above them snapped free from its magnetic brake, plunging down toward the catwalk like a falling meteor.
The massive iron hook smashed through the catwalk platform between Julian and Toby with a catastrophic metal crunch. The catwalk collapsed downward in a shower of steel beams and twisted wire.
Julian lost his footing, screaming as he fell backward, dropping his rifle into the abyss. He managed to catch the broken edge of the metal railing with one hand, dangling helpless sixty feet above the concrete floor.
Toby fell toward the hole, but David leaped across the breaking platform, catching Toby by his coat collar with his left hand, pulling the boy up to safety onto the solid platform.
Toby hugged David’s neck tightly, weeping with relief. "Uncle David! You caught me!"
"I’ll always catch you, Toby," David said, holding the boy close.
Below them, hanging by his fingertips, Julian wept in absolute terror. "David! Help me! Save me! Please, brother! I don't want to die!"
David walked to the edge of the broken catwalk, looking down at his treacherous half-brother. For a brief second, David remembered their childhood together, playing on the green lawns of the estate before greed had rotted Julian's soul.
David reached down, extending his firm hand. "Take my hand, Julian."
Julian reached up, his slippery, soot-covered fingers touching David’s hand—but before he could grip it, the rusted catwalk support bracket snapped completely under his weight.
With a final, desperate scream that echoed through the empty steel mill, Julian fell into the dark runoff pit below.
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Silence fell over the steel mill, broken only by the rhythmic patter of rain against the corrugated tin roof. David pulled Toby tight against his chest, lifting the boy into his arms.
"It’s over, Toby," David whispered softly into the boy's hair. "It’s finally over."
