The rabbit looked up at Sung-Il, then at the brake handle. It rose on its hind legs and stretched both paws toward it. The handle was far too high.
"Go back," Sung-Il repeated. "You don’t have the height for this."
Six-Ears jumped. Missed. Landed with three ears folded over its eyes.
Beside him, the courier man pressed harder on the handle. Sung-Il bent his knees and leaned down with him. The brake slowed the wheel, but it still turned, letting the gate creep lower across the entrance.
Six-Ears shook its ears free. Then it pressed its head against Sung-Il’s calf and pushed. Its little hind feet slid backward. It stopped, planted them more firmly, and tried again.
It made absolutely no difference.
Sung-Il stared down at the determined yellow ball trying to hold him up.
"Fine. Push."
He looked back at the entrance. Lani lay beneath the gate, close to the overturned cart. Lyra knelt beside her, facing into the yard. She had moved the grain sack off the girl’s leg, but one shoe was still caught beneath its edge.
"I’m taking your shoe off," Lyra told her. "Then we’re going back toward the pie stall. Hold my shoulder."
Lani reached for her. Lyra bent lower to loosen the fastening.
Renn returned with the iron bar. He tried to push it through the wheel, but the hole moved past before he could fit the end into place.
"I need it stopped!"
"So do we!"
The handle jerked beneath Sung-Il’s hands. His palms burned, and the warmth in his stomach was nearly gone. He forced his weight down again.
Across the entrance, the gate touched Lyra’s back.
She ducked, pulling Lani close. There was no longer enough space for her to stand with the girl in her arms.
"Sung-Il! I need you to hold it higher!"
He stared at her.
There was a perfectly good reason he was standing beside the gate instead of underneath it.
"I can’t lift it from here!"
"Come beside me! Just high enough for us to crawl out!"
He looked at the iron rail above her shoulders. Then at his bandaged hands.
No. Absolutely not. He had already helped. People had seen him helping. Surely there was a limit to how much helping one injured man could be expected to perform. The source of this chapter is novelping(.)com.
Renn handed the bar to his partner and returned to the brake.
"I’ll take your place," he said. "The weights are still helping us. You only need to give her a little room."
"A little room beneath a very large gate."
The courier man added, "Go man, I’ll push even more; you can help her. The kid is very scared. Don’t worry about the gate; we won’t let you be crushed."
"Very encouraging, Sir," Sung-Il said internally
Lyra tried to pull Lani toward the court. The iron pressed her lower, stopping her. Lani began crying harder.
Sung-Il shut his eyes for half a second.
"Damn it."
Renn took his grip on the handle beside the courier man. Sung-Il let go, hurried to the entrance, and crouched beside Lyra.
She was on her hands and knees now, her back toward him. As he looked for space beside her, his gaze caught on her backside.
A window began to form.
[RECTUM ANALYSIS]
[ANALYZING...]
"Not now!"
"What?" Lyra asked.
"Nothing. Keep your head down."
He shook his head, dismissed the window, and looked at the gate instead.
The bottom rail ran across the width of the entrance. Sung-Il put both hands beneath it beside Lyra and pushed upward. It moved barely an inch.
He crouched lower, got his shoulder under the iron, and tried again. Behind him, Renn and the courier man kept the brake pressed down. The gate was still heavy, but it wasn’t falling freely.
Warmth spread into his legs. He drew on it harder, trying to keep his knees from folding.
[LESSER IRON GUT ACTIVE]
[STAMINA RESERVE: CRITICAL]
"Fine. Be critical later."
He straightened a little. The rail lifted off Lyra’s back. Find the original chapter at g.com.
"Now. Take her."
Lyra worked the shoe off Lani’s heel. She left it beneath the sack, gathered the girl against her chest, and crawled backward toward the court.
Sung-Il could see them moving out beside him. Lyra’s knees cleared the gate. Then Lani’s bare foot passed beneath the rail.
The pie seller hurried forward and took the girl. Lyra scrambled after her.
They were out.
Good. His turn.
Sung-Il tried to lower himself and crawl backward. The gate came down with him. He stopped when the iron pressed his shoulder toward his knees.
No. That was not how this was supposed to work.
He pushed up again, but his legs had started shaking. To get out, he needed to lower his head beneath the rail. To do that, someone else had to hold it above him.
"Someone take this."
His voice came out much quieter than he intended.
He tried again.
"Someone take the gate!"
Lyra turned back at once. She caught the bottom rail beside him and pulled upward. It barely moved.
He wished he had stayed at the handle. He wished he had kept walking when Lyra asked. He would even accept another day of fence work.
The last warmth left his stomach.
His knees bent.
He was going to be crushed. After getting both of them out, he was going to die beside a shoe, that was the end of it.
"Should I eat dirt to fill the iron gut reserve?" Sung-Il thought while trying to eat dirt
He was too tired to do anything at that moment
Six-Ears seized the back of his shirt and pulled.
"Not enough," he gasped. "Good effort."
Sung-Il Kook realized, "I am cooked. Why am I joking at this point? I had a chance at life again. I should have just— Anyway, Six-Ears, get out of here. You know Six-Ears? When I arrived here, I thought you were a mythical being in disguise for my support. That’s how it is usually, but it was nice knowing you and thank—"