I was going to have to ignore the pain if I was going to do this somehow, and I'm not talking about the rope burn that just burned the hell out of my right hand a moment ago. My body was exhausted, but I couldn't give up yet. I'd die down here from hunger or dehydration if my wounds didn't get my first. No, screw that. "I HAVE to do this" I told myself in more of a grunt than speech, quickly pulling on the rope with my right hand and lifting my body up higher, lifting my left hand up to the rope and grabbing hold of it. Both hands were gripping the rope, the left hand not so tightly as the right. I think I sat there for a good fourty-five seconds, just fighting the pain in my left arm and the urge not to let go. At this point, both my body and mind were begging me to simply let go. A whisper in the back of my head; "It's so easy, just let go and I promise this pain will all be over". You'd think it was the devil himself, trying to sway me with the simple sweet pleasure of being pain-free in exchange of being stuck down here. I looked up, and the elevator shaft seemed to stretch for miles. I knew that was just the sheer exhaustion of my mind playing tricks on me, but hell, climbing ten floors like this isn't easy. Might as well be a mile...
I wrapped the bottom of the rope around my arm and tied it, that way if my hand let go I wouldn't fall, though it would probably rip my arm right out of my shoulder, letting me experience a level of pain that would cripple anybodies will to live. After I made sure the rope was securely fastened along my arm and tied tightly around my elbow, I prepared myself to let my right hand go so I could position it higher on the rope, as is the elementary basics to climbing. I would be bringing the entire rope up with me along the way though, as the bottom was tied around my left arm. I clenched my left hand tightly around the rope, fingers digging in and waves of pain being sent along my neural pathways, and let go of the rope with my right hand and quickly grabbing a higher position on the rope with it. I had done it so fast I didn't even remember what had just happened a second ago, but that kind of speed was needed if I was to block out this pain. I did the same with my left hand, and again with my right, though it was always easier with my left hand as my right hand was able to handle holding the full weight of my body, while when I did so with my left hand it hurt like hell.
It began to get harder and harder. The speed I had climbed with my first lift was no longer there, and my left arm was hurting more and more each time I had to give it my full weight. Eventually though, dispite everything, foremost being pain and exhaustion, I reached the top. I kicked my leg out of the elevator shaft and unto the floor of the first level, and rolled myself out of the elevator shaft. There, I lie there on the floor just taking it easy, just resting, just breathing. For a moment I nearly fell asleep, until I realized my hungry furry friends were there to greet me.
