Jump!

Story 3

Chapter 6: Tips and Tricks

By: FluttersIsAwesome

I looked at ‘er fo’ a minute. “A’ight, let’s get to it, babe.” I think my use of “babe” surprised ‘er a bit, but she took my hoof an’ I ran.

“Where’re we goin’ Jet?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see when we get there.” As we ran, I decided to help AJ along a bit by liftin’ ‘er up on ‘er hind legs, again. After a bit of stumblin’, she managed to stay steady.

“Jet, can ya slow down a bit? Ah ain’t used t’ this yet.”

“No prob, we’re here.”

Two large, iron doors stood before us as we walked up to the Market District. The place was walled off by huge, stone brick barricades, an’ the door was inaccessible from the outside.

“So Ah’m guessin’ the goal is t’ get in there?”

I nodded slowly. “This is the Market District of Lower Manehattan. It used to be the place where the few stores we had were located, but then disease came through.”

Applejack’s hoof made a loud tappin’ sound each time it met the stone wall. “Disease? What th’ hay happened?”

“We’re not sure. All we know is that a yet-to-be-named infection sprang up; I’ll bet what little money I got sayin’ it came from rats. The symptoms were undetectable ‘til it was too late; The one doctor we had told us that a rip in the walls of the stomach caused the vomitin’, an’ small holes in the uvula were to blame fo’ the blood that came up wit each cough. Let’s go, I’ll explain mo’ as we move ai’ght?”

---

“Ah guess. How’re we gonna get up there-“

“One sec, babe. We’re not ready yet.”

Ah raised my brow at him. “What else is there?” Ah figured it out once Ah saw Jet kneelin’ in front o’ the unzipped bag with two odd-lookin’ masks in his hands.

He tossed one t’ me as he put his own on. “Strap that over yo’ muzzle. It’s a rebreather that we always use these if we need to get in here. The air here still isn’t safe, so we gotta be careful, ai’ght?”

If it weren’t for Jet puttin’ his on first, Ah might not have figured out how t’ put it on ‘till he showed me. However, once Ah saw it on his face it was purty obvious. “Okay, now what?”

Outta nowhere, he tossed a blue armband similar t’ the one he was wearin’ at me. “Take off the striped one an’ put that one on. I’ll show you what to do.” Walkin’ over t’ me, Jet pushed on the side o’ his band n’ a hook came outta the bottom. “Some of the footholds on this wall aren’t in arm’s reach. You can use that to extend yo’ reach, an’ we also use ‘em to open custom locks we put on certain doors.”

“You’re gonna show me what t’ do, right?”

Ah guess he didn’t need t’ say anythin’. He was already on the wall, lookin’ at me. “To start, just do what ya did when we first started climbin’. You did ai’ght wit that, so you should be good.”

It took a minute, but Ah finally found the brick Jet pushed himself up with n’ followed suit. His path was purty straightforward ‘till he stopped me.

“Wait a minute, AJ. Stay right there an’ watch.” With a strong jump, Jet pulled himself up t’ the top o’ the wall usin’ the rain gutter. “An’ that’s how you use this hook.”

‘Twas easy enough t’ mimic him. With a swing o’ my arm coupled with my jump, the hook caught on the lip with no trouble t’all.

“Good job, babe. You ready to go in?”

He motioned t’ the bleak sight ahead. Buildin’s were crumblin’, roads were cracked, walls everywhere were black with scorch marks, trash littered the streets, n’ just lookin’ at the sight sent chills up my spine. The entire place was dark n’ grey with barely any light down below, but I began to descend anyway.

Jet held his hoof out. “Whoa, AJ, cool it. We don’t climb down this wall, we jump.”

“Jump?! Jet, there ain’t nowhere t’ jump to.”

A grin crossed my friend’s face as he back up t’ the end o’ the gutter. Ah heard but a small “thump” when he hit what Ah assumed was the ground; ‘twas too dark for me t’ see very far ahead.

“Go on, run an’ jump!”

“Whaddya mean? I can’t see anythin’!”

“Trust me, AJ, you got this!”

Ah felt the crash as Ah ended up slammin’ right into him, but he seemed unfazed.

“See, what’d I tell ya? Rule one of the city: keep yo’ friends close, but don’t make too many of ‘em.” As we stood up, he turned to a lower rooftop ahead, n’ that was when Ah realized we weren’t even on the ground yet. “Come on, I got rule two ready fo’ demonstration.”

The roof was a decent distance away, but Ah was startin’ t’ think Jet didn’t care about anythin’ concernin’ what the Specters called “parkour”. When he hit the roof, Ah saw him summersault once before standin’ up. “Rule number two: big jumps and side jumps require a roll to keep from hurtin’ yo’self. If you don’t, you could be in a world of hurt, brah.” Ah watched as he held one hoof in the air n’ moved the other from side t’ side in front of him. “This will be graded and put on your record, so don’t screw up.”

I had t’ laugh at his joke. Jet was makin’ such a serious matter seem like somethin’ outta some movie. However, I did as he said n’ pushed forward with my lower leg t’ roll after touchin’ down.

Ah heard a loud knockin’ sound comin’ from the two hooves tappin’ against one another. “Good job, AJ, good job! Yo’ making some good progress. You certainly catch on fast.”

“Well, Ah try my best.”

He nodded. “An’ I wouldn’t ask any mo’ of ya. However, you still got a long way to go. Bein’ able to do this is one thing, bein’ able to do it fluidly is another. Now, you ready fo’ the last bit of practice before we hit the ground?”

After a quick nod from me, Jet took off. Ah watched as he used the billboard on the front o’ the roof n’ jumped t’ the ground with ease.

“This trick is a bit harder, an’ it also requires a rollin’ land. You gotta make sure you’re on yo’ side when you’re headin’ to the ground, so be careful.”

‘Twon’t hard at all t’ pull off. It did take a few tries t’ actually stay on the billboard as Ah ran, but once Ah did, makin’ the jump was a piece o’ pie.

“Very nice, AJ, very nice. I think you’re gonna do well here.” As he began t’ walk down the road, he turned t’ me. “You comin’? I still got a story to tell.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: We Are Who We Are Estimated time remaining: 11 Minutes