The elevator made another loud groaning sound.
“Hurry up," I hissed at Alicia and she applied pressure to the hatch again.
The elevator shuddered and dropped an inch, my stomach swooping sickeningly.
"Get back on the ladder!” Coal hissed urgently as he moved back towards the maintenance ladder but the elevator groaned and dropped another few inches before he made it.
My knees buckled a little beneath me and my breath caught in my throat as I fought to keep my balance.
“Oh hell, I don't want to die like this," Laurie hissed as we all stood still, too terrified to do anything that might make the elevator drop any further.
The echoes of the elevator's groans sang in the empty space above us as my heart tried to break its way out of my chest.
"Just one step at a time." Coal gestured Alicia to move towards the ladder and she took a tentative step.
Her fingers brushed the metal rung just as the elevator gave out and with a massive metallic whine it plummeted downwards.
I screamed as my hair whipped up above my head and the thought of how long my body might lay at the bottom of an elevator shaft flashed though my mind.
There was a squealing sound as the brakes tried to work and we stopped as suddenly as we’d dropped. I staggered into a crouch and my fingertips brushed the metal beneath my feet. Alicia reached for the ladder again and hauled herself up onto it. We all started to creep across the roof after her. Alicia was climbing quickly to make space for the rest of us.
Just as Laurie took hold of the first rung, a high pitched squeal that set my teeth on edge broke the silence.
“No no no-" Alicia yelled but the rung had already snapped and she was falling backwards, off of the ladder and down towards us. Laurie twisted aside, away from the ladder as Alicia fell towards her and my breath caught as panic overwhelmed me.
There was an almighty crash as she hit the elevator, her arms wrapped protectively over her head, and a hollow thunk reverberated all around us.
We didn't move. None of us dared to even breathe as we waited for the inevitable to happen. The silence was pregnant with the promise of a quick death.
Alicia lowered her hands and looked up at us. "For a minute I thought we were all going to-"
A huge groan of breaking metal and the squeal of protesting brakes ripped through the air and the elevator plummeted again. I scrambled to keep my feet and my broken flashlight rolled into the side of my boot.
The elevator lurched sideways as one set of brakes gave and I fell to my knees. I slid backwards as the others rolled towards me too and the elevator lurched to a halt again.
A split second passed and we all glanced at each other before scrambling up the metal incline towards the maintenance ladder as quickly as possible.
Other than the hatch there was very little to grab hold of and my fingers scrabbled fruitlessly against the smooth metal roof as the rubber soles of my boots slipped beneath me.
A high pitched whining started to fill the shaft, quietly at first but growing louder and louder as something protested under the strain. It was loud enough to make my ears hurt and I wanted to stop and clap my hands over them.
Ker-thunk! With a rending heave, one of the cables snapped and whipped up away into the darkness of the shaft above us. The elevator lurched so that the opposite side was now lower and we all rolled that way. Ker-thunk! A cable on the other side snapped and flew up, out of sight. The elevator careened back again and we were flung in a heap of bodies.
Ker
-thunk, Ker-thunk! Again we were propelled back and forth. I hit my shoulder on the raised edge of the hatch and pain splintered through the limb.
There were only two cables left on each side. The elevator levelled out and I managed to get onto my hands and knees. The others had made it into similar positions and we all glanced at each other as we tried to figure out what to do next.
I let out a breath, making a lock of my dark brown hair flutter before my eyes.
Vibrations rumbled up through my knees and palms where they were pressed against the cold metal roof beneath me. I felt them in my elbows and hips and right through my spine.
Ker-thunk, Ker-thunk! The cables snapped, one in front of me and one behind. A whip of air passed by my face as the cables shot up into the darkness and the elevator plummeted beneath us.
It felt for half a moment as though I would be left behind and the elevator would disappear beneath me but then a swooping, sucking feeling filled my stomach and I knew I was falling.
Screams filled the air around me. One of them was mine. My hair was wrenched upwards and the air whipped around us as we plummeted down through the shaft.