I sat back, staring into the blackness of the pipe. It was impossible to unlock the cuffs now. As far as I knew, there was nothing to pick them with and even if there was I had no clue how to pick a lock. If Merle did he probably couldn't do it one handed.
I rubbed my face, wishing I wasn't so useless. How else do you get cuffs off? I looked around and spotted the tool box. I rushed over to the tool box and scooped it up, grabbing the saw that had fallen out of it. I dropped it next to Merle and held the cuff's taut. I started sawing away at the chain. It didn't look like it was making any progress, but I didn't have any other ideas.
"Gimme that," Merle took the saw from my hands and tried it himself. If was going to work he was going to be the one to do it. He was much stronger than I was even with the rush of adrenaline. After ten minutes of sawing Merle growled and threw the saw to the ground. It bounced and landed at my feet.
"Grab the chain," Merle demanded. I held onto the chain as tightly as I could and planted my feet. He grabbed a hold with his free hand and we pulled as hard as we could. The pipe didn't so much as creak. After another long, futile attempt we both sat back and stared at his cuffed wrist, lost deep in thought.
By now we were both drenched in rainwater and sweat. My hands ached from the strain and Merle's wrist was raw and bleeding. We probably sat there for an hour before walkers started pounding on the door of the building. I stood up, staring at it with dread. The lock popped in just a few seconds and I was sure we were dead. The door caught on something. I squinted.
"He chained the door," I mumbled. "He chained the door. How are we supposed to get out?" I shouted and started bouncing on the balls of my feet. I looked down at Merle to see the saw in his free hand, the blade pressed against his wrist.
"Merle, no!" I reached for the blade, but his grip was firm.
"You wanna get outta here or not?" I stared at him, terrified. He looked so serious.
"Take off my belt," I let go of the saw, but hesitated. Regardless of the fact that we were in a life or death situation I still couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"Now, Lydia!" I shook myself, trying to rid myself of all unnecessary emotion.
I reached for his belt and fought with the large buckle. My hands trembled, but it didn't take as long as I expected to undo the belt. I yanked it from the loops in a hurry and tightened it around his arm. I looked from the blade against Merle's wrist to his very focused face.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked quietly. I could tell he was wound so tightly he could recoil at the slightest irritation.
"Ya got an extra shirt or somethin'?" He sounded calmer than I expected. I took my backpack off and fished around. My hand found a rolled up tank top. I handed it off to Merle and he shook it out before messily balling up part of it and shoving it in his mouth. He took one deep breath through his nose and then started sawing.
I covered my mouth and clenched my eyes closed for just a second. I made myself look. The sight wasn't so much the problem. It was the sound of tearing flesh and tendons that made me gag. Even with adrenaline I couldn't imagine how he could possibly be sawing his own hand off.
Merle's hand made a slapping sound as it fell from his wrist and landed in a pool of blood and water. He flopped down on his back, writhing, still screaming into my balled up shirt. Knowing something had to be done, I started looking around for any other way off this roof. Without saying anything I ran to the far end of the building. A few feet away from where I stopped was a fire escape.
When I got back to where Merle was laying he'd stopped screaming. He was staring up at the sky, clutching his arm, and breathing heavily.
"Get up! I found a fire escape. We have to go, now," I grabbed his upper arms and hauled him to a sitting position. "Come on, you have to help me," I knelt down and pulled his good arm over my shoulders. He managed to get too his feet easily enough, but leaned heavily on me as I hurried him across the roof. Getting down the stairs wasn't easy. They were slick from the rain and with most of Merle's weight on me it was very difficult to keep my footing. The biggest problem came when I realized a ladder led the rest of the way down to the alley.