Glancing back, I saw that Jack had reached the racking. He sniffed loudly, then turned his face in the direction I’d gone. (In the back of my mind, I realized that my comparison to a human bloodhound was a lot more accurate than I’d intended.)
Apparently not wanting to chase me across the roof indefinitely, Jack then did something completely unexpected. Reaching up, he grabbed the metal racking – and then pulled the whole thing down!
Chapter 91
The network of solar panels didn’t actually fall all at once. It was comprised of numerous interconnected sections, only one of which Jack had yanked down. However, that was enough to make the entire thing collapse. (It was easiest to imagine the solar sections like a line of trees in the forest that are tied together. Cut down the first tree, and as it falls it will pull down the next tree, which will pull down the next, and so on.)
As I watched the solar panels starting to topple, filling the air with metallic creaks and groans (as well as a shower of electrical sparks), my instinctive response had been to phase. Then, upon recalling that I no longer had that ability, I did the next best thing – I ran.
The goal, of course, was pretty simple: to get clear of the area likely to get smashed by the falling solar panels. I understood that, like a tree falling in the forest, the bottom part of the racking – the segment that was nearest the roof surface – would hit first; then, as it toppled over, the top portion would strike last. I had judged the height of the solar panel framework to be about forty feet. Thus, running from the side where the solar panels were located towards the center of the roof, I needed to clear a little less than fifteen yards in order to reach safety.
All of this flitted through my head in an instant as I ran. My footfalls were hard and loud in my opinion, but I doubted they could be heard over the metal framework that was collapsing all around me. (Assuming, of course, that Jack had told the truth about not having super-hearing, but I didn’t waste time checking to see if I’d drawn his attention.)
Also, while forty feet wasn’t particularly far to run, it felt like it was taking too long to cover that distance. Obviously, I had been spoiled to a certain extent by my particular power set, and perhaps didn’t fully appreciate what “normal” people went through on a day-to-day basis. Nevertheless, despite moving at what felt like a snail’s pace, there was no doubt that I was going to be okay. And then I skidded.
In essence, I was about two-thirds of the way to a point I had mentally marked as “safety” when my right foot came down on something loose – like gravel – and slid out from under me. I went down painfully, bruising my tailbone and cracking my elbow on the roof as well. That said, I didn’t have time to nurse any injuries, as evidenced by the grating of metal-on-metal that seemed to be coming from all directions. Ignoring the pain, I scrambled to my feet and took off running again. Much to my surprise (and in spite of the tumble I’d just taken), it still looked like I was going to make it.
That’s when someone bludgeoned me from behind and everything went black.
*****
I came to lying on my back, surrounded by a fair amount of dark, broken glass. My head was throbbing violently, and there was a queer pressure bearing down on my waist. There was also dust in the air, and somewhere nearby I could hear an unusual metal banging – like a couple of guys facing off with iron quarterstaffs.
For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Reaching a hand behind me, I gingerly touched the back of my head. I flinched at the contact, noting that there was a bump rising on my scalp. At the same time, I immediately remembered everything that had happened.
Apparently I had been premature in my assessment of how close I’d been to safety. From all indications, a piece of the solar panel rack had given me a love tap on the noggin as I ran. (Thankfully, it only appeared to have knocked me out for a few seconds.) Even worse, the odd pressure on my waist seemed to be coming from the fallen structure. In short, while it wasn’t crushing me, I did seem to be effectively pinned.
The metallic banging noise sounded again, seemingly coming from the area where I’d last seen Jack. As I peered in that direction, the wind began to clear out the dust (which I assume had billowed up after the solar panels fell). A moment later, I saw him.
Jack still didn’t have eyes, which wasn’t surprising since he was obviously trying to avoid any conditioned response to my looking like Gray. As I watched, he gave his head a quick shake, causing a number of dark glass shards to fall out of his hair. Of course – when he had yanked the solar panels down, he had pulled them down on himself. Naturally, a falling wall of steel and glass is nothing when you have super strength, and he had apparently come through unscathed.
He was currently standing next to what had been the top of the solar panel array. In one hand, he held a length of metal piping that he’d presumably taken from the solar panel racking. Keeping the far end of it low to the
