It was dark by the time the two headed out. Clyde drove into the city of the old textile district. It was full of old, abandoned building and factories. Remnants of a by-gone era where production and manufacturing ruled the land; and made-goods were the prime commodity, not services.

The building were city block wide each, with old brick architecture. Some were ten stories tall and looked like institutes fit for the military, or army of workers. The windows, opaque by dust, sheltered the inside of the buildings to the world.

They were cathedrals of production now forgotten in time. The area was not completely desolate though. Even in the ruins life thrives for those who can find value in the remains. Small pop and mom business abound and subsisted along the decaying behemoths. Scrap metal yards, tire shops, oil change and other small business served the nearby communities; working out of their shanty-like building of corrugated metal roofs, hand painted wooded signs, or with the business name spray painted directly on the walls.

The streets were empty by the time Clyde and David arrived at this location. Only the street lights shone. The dying traffic, of the normally heavy traffic streets, gave way to an eerie sensation of space, and solitude that left those remaining feeling exposed in the dark.

Clyde drove deep into the darkness of this modern day mountain range, and hid in an alley between two of the building.

"You could not have picked a creepier place to go romp in the night," said David uneasy as he was unfamiliar with the area.

"Relax, if anybody tries to take you, just whistle. I'll rescue you," said Clyde reaching back to retrieve a bag.

"I can't whistle," said David observing his surroundings.

Even in the dark, or especially in the dark, paranoia abounds.

"You can't whistle? What kind of Mexican are you?" said Clyde in jest.

"I'm not. I'm American," replied David as many people erroneously labeled him, especially in the military.

"Then here, use these. You should have no problem using those," said Clyde as he threw David a walkie talkie.

Clyde helped David put on the armor and they walked out into the alley.

"Okay, now try walking around. Maybe run a little," said Clyde to David.

The armor was still a bit loose, so moving around with it was clumsy, and the juggling of the shifting plates made noise, and threw off David's balance as he tried to run.

"Not very graceful, and so much for the element of surprise," said David.

"Well you're just full of comments today aren't ya?" said Clyde.

"Anything useful at least?" he asked David.

"I like the color," said David.

"Right. So I'll tighten some of these things here," said Clyde as he looked over the suit and made some notes.

"So am I just going to walk around like a ghetto-Michelin man?" asked David jumping around with the suit like a kid does with an oversized garment.

"Hold still. Geez you're worse than a little kid," said Clyde who went back to the van.

"Here!" said Clyde throwing a shiruken, a ninja throwing star, at David's chest that stuck with a thud.

"Nice! Very mature," replied David as he removed it from his chest.

"Ha-ha! I always wanted to do that," said Clyde.

"Look, you scuffed it," commented David examining the spot.

"Is this actually going to stop a bullet? This thing just wedged itself in it," replied David.

"Yes, it'll do fine. Worked the night I saved your butt," said Clyde.

"You're just not going to drop that are you?" said David.

"Nope!" replied Clyde who handed a large heavy coat to David.

"It's got a hood so you can cover that coconut head of yours," instructed Clyde.

"It's all dusty, and dirty. Really? It's got all sorts for stains on it," reproached David examining the garment.

"You gotta pass as a homeless or someone who will be walking at night with all this bulk on. Sorry, no Dolce, or Calvin Klein. And not a trench coat. I don't want you looking like a pedophile or something," said Clyde.

"So you came up with a dirty coat?" said David as he put it on with Clyde's help.

"It's not even touching you, so don't complain. It's not like the urine is fresh on it," said Clyde.

"Yuck!" said David writhing in the coat.

"Hahaha! Relax, it's a joke. Man you are sensitive," said David.

"Fine now what?" asked David.

"Now the fun stuff," said Clyde smiling.

He picked up the heavy bag he had placed earlier and pulled out a small compressor, a long rope, a battery pack with a motor, and a modified shoot gun with a grappling hook at the end.

"What is all of that?" asked David.

"It's going to be your climbing gear," said Clyde.

"You know there are perfectly good military hooks available don't you?" said David.

"Yes, but none of them can carry the weight you have on and reel you in. Also, this give you more than enough textile rope to repel," said Clyde.

"Are you nuts? How am I supposed to carry all of that?" said David.

"I don't know," replied Clyde.

"I thought you said to trust you," said David.

"Well, I'm still trying to figure that one out. I'll get it don't worry. Besides, it's just a trial run. One step at a time son," said Clyde and begun to set the whole contraption up.

"OK so when you are ready, aim at the top of the building but aim to hit it. The probe has to go into the wall. So don't aim to catch on something. Try to hit it square on the face of the building," instructed Clyde.

The hum of the motor started as David took aim with the modified shot-gun that held the odd looking hook at the end.

"What is this?" asked David as he tapped the end of the spear.

"Don't do that!" said Clyde quickly stopping David.

"When you are ready," said Clyde.

David got ready in a shooting stance, took aim at the top of the four story section and fired the gun which was vibrating on his hands due to the compressed air. A powerful jolt rocked David back and a loud gust of air excited the muzzle.

"Swooosh!"

The line was feeding off the same muzzle as David and Clyde looked on in amazement as the projectile kept climbing and climbing. Suddenly, BANG! A quick, loud bang and a flash lit up on the area where the spear hit the face of the wall.

"What the?!" said David in shock, concerned about calling attention to themselves. Also, he had no idea what he just fired.

"What was that?" he asked Clyde.

"Explosive tip," said Clyde.

"Excuse me? You just had me fire a grenade and you didn't tell me?" said David shocked.

"It's not a grenade. It's just a small explosive to drive the anchor in the wall," said Clyde casually.

"That's a grenade! I throw something, it goes bang, that's a grenade," said David.

"It's not a grenade," continued Clyde.

"Well, go on now. Don't just stand there. Test it," said Clyde urging David on.

"What am I supposed to do now?" asked David.

"Pull it hard. See if it did catch," said Clyde.

David tugged on the wire lightly.

"Come on man! Do it hard!" insisted Clyde.

"Hold on! I don't want to throw a chunk of concrete down on us or worse, one of your exploding things on me," said David still stuck on the subject.

"Please! Look like this," said Clyde as now both pulled on the line and hung from it.

"See! It's good," said Clyde in triumph.

"Ok, ok I got it!" said David pulling Clyde away from the gun.

"So now what?" asked David.

"You up for a ride?" asked Clyde.

David agreed feeling more secure of the line.

"Let's do it," said Clyde flipping a couple of things on the gun and connecting it to the motor which was on a strap that David would have to carry on him.

"This is huge! This is, in no way, practical at all," said David.

"Well, it's just a prototype. Besides you are not going to be climbing up and down buildings all the time," said Clyde realizing the time and effort needed to put everything together.

"Just need to know what works and what need to be worked on for now," said Clyde.

"Fine. Let's try it then," said David realizing that trial and error was a necessity of the developmental stage.

Clyde turned on a switch and David heard the motor going.

"This is too heavy. Is the line going to take it?" asked David.

"It's a thousand pound rated line. Should do fine," said Clyde.

"OK, when you are ready press the trigger again. Now this will not pull you up all fast. It'll climb slowly and you'll have to use your legs at the wall to assist," said Clyde.

"Like repelling," said David familiar with the concept.

"Yes, only you are going up," said Clyde.

David pulled on the trigger and the motor started going. He could feel the line tighten and it started to pull on him.

"OK this is good," said David as he walked up to the wall and cautiously put one foot up. This was the moment of truth.

David leaned on the wall and placed his other foot on the wall. All of his weight including batteries, motor, and armor were completely carried by the lie and the anchor at the tip of the wall. Just like a new born giraffe learning how to walk, David too struggled and precariously made his way up the wall. Excited and accelerated that the device seemed to be working, both Clyde and David let out cries of success.

"Yeah baby! That's the stuff!" said Clyde.

"Woah! It's actually working!" said David slowly walking up the wall.

He was almost up to the second story when the anchor at the top started to wiggle in its footing. David did not notice and kept on climbing, intending to go to the top. Suddenly the anchor dislodged and David with all of his gear came crashing down.

"Shit!" yelled out David feeling the force of gravity reclaim him.

"David!" yelled out Clyde as he could only watch him plummet backwards in a loud crash on the hard cement.

Clyde, panic stricken, ran to David who laid motionless.

"David, David! Are you OK!? Oh God please don't be dead!" said Clyde pulling of the batteries and motor from the grappling hook assembly. As he did, David moved and moaned.

"Ugh. That kind of hurt," said David as he remained motionless.

"Thank god! You gave me a scare," said Clyde.

"Well, at least we know it can survive a second story fall ha-ha," said David struggling.

"I'm glad you find this funny. You could have been crushed," said Clyde feeling guilty of the accident.

"Comes with the territory I guess," continued David.

"Now come on. Help me get up. I feel like a turtle on its back," said David struggling to get back up.

Clyde helped David get to his feet and was ready to pack it up for the night when David asked,

"You got another one of those anchors?"

"Yes, I do. What for? You are not thinking of going up again are you?" said Clyde in disbelief, having the first attempt fail the way it did.

"Why not? I was so close. It was working well," said David with the exuberance of a young man who has the energy to push through failures with vigor.

"Until it didn't. Then your head bounced of the sidewalk like a basketball," said Clyde who was opposed to the idea of trying more runs that night.

"No. We can do it. I was too close to the building the first time. The angle was off. I can get it in better. It can work," said David convinced now.

Clyde still had his reservations.

"No. I think it's too much. I should go back and work on it some more," said Clyde.

"On what? You don't know either what worked well, or what needs to be refined yet. We need more testing. Come on, I trust your work, you should too," egged on David for Clyde to give it one more go.

Clyde was just as curious as David and having someone push him and encourage him on his venture gave him more confidence; but he also had to keep a cool head and not let himself get carried away. Still, he too believed the last attempt was very close and David's eagerness to push on inspired him.

"Ok, just one more time. But that's it. Work, or fail that's it for tonight," said Clyde.

"You got it!" said David.

==================================================================

Hey, hey you awesome luminary you!!! 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you are having a wonderful day!! 

Sooooo what do you think?? Are we having fun yet David?? Seriously what is going on in that coconut of yours??? I bet Clyde is getting too old for this shhhhh!!!! :D 

Please tune in next week to follow the fantastic journeys of Captain Dubious and Private Peanut!! 

Feel free to leave a comment and hit that star at the top of the page. It gives out candy!! ;) 

Forever, 

Rog.