The Paladin Prophecy

#61: IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE THE RIGHT WAY, DO IT YOURSELF.

“If you want something done the right way, do it yourself,” said Will.

He threw open his bedroom window. It was only two o’clock, but it looked like twilight. The temperature had fallen drastically. Will looked down at the three-story drop. Snow continued to fall, piling up around the base of the building.

“We can’t help Brooke without you, Ajay,” said Will. “What’s it going to be?”

When he heard it phrased so bluntly, Ajay put some starch into his full five feet. “You have my unqualified support. Even if it kills or severely injures me.”

“Get your coat,” Will said, and then asked him to bring along a few other pieces of equipment.

Will put on his winter gear and pocketed Dave’s sunglasses. Nick ran in with two jump ropes, which he knotted together. Will and Nick secured one end of the rope to a leg of Will’s bed and dropped the other out the window. Ajay ran back in, pulling on his coat and carrying a small knapsack.

“Here, we can use these,” said Ajay, passing out his homemade walkie-talkies. He handed the blue electric brass knuckles to Nick. “These are for you. Push the button with your thumbs to activate the charge, which should be strong enough to take down a Cape buffalo.”

“Awesome.”

Nick slipped them into his pocket, took two steps back, then launched into a swan dive out the window. He tucked in midair and somersaulted twice. Will and Ajay rushed to the window and saw Nick land in the snowpack, roll, and hop to his feet.

“Why did he even bother getting rope?” asked Ajay.

“For us,” said Will. “After you.”

Will anchored their end. Ajay grabbed the rope and lowered himself down. When Ajay reached the end of the rope, Nick signaled him to let go. He splashed into a snowdrift. Will rappelled halfway down, untied the second rope from the first, pushed away from the building, and jumped toward Nick and Ajay. They sprawled into another deep drift, scrambled up, and brushed the snow off each other.

“Set your watches,” said Will. “We need to be in perfect sync.”

“Two-oh-eight,” said Nick. “Central Standard Chuck Norris Time.”

“Check,” said Ajay.

“We have twelve minutes,” said Will. “Here’s how this is going to go.”

He explained their assignments. Thirty seconds later, they took off running in three different directions.

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