"How do we deploy them?" I asked.
"The big pull-tab that's hanging off your right shoulder. You just yank it, and the parachute comes out. But you can't yank it too soon while we're together, or our lines will get tangled. So Wolf will let go first, and open his parachute when we're away. You're next, Bee. Then I'll help Fitz with his, and I'll go last. That way, if someone's parachute doesn't deploy or they mess up, I can grab them and we can go down together."
"Oh we're going down together," Fitz whispered. "Straight to hell."
"Hush," I said. "We'll be fine."
"You say that now, but when they open the doors -"
The doors to the helicopter slid open just then, and the wind nearly knocked the breath out of me. The sky was a gorgeous silken tableau of puffy white clouds and porcelain blue - the ground below us seemed so distant. You could see the shadow the clouds threw on the ground, the houses so far away they looked like tiny, colorful building blocks.
I suddenly felt like puking. Casually. Casual puking because this was really, actually happening and oh my god if it went wrong I was going to be a pancake -
"So," Burn edged to the open door. "We jump out one at a time. Wolf will go first, then Bee, then Fitz, then I. Same order as the parachutes. Wolf and I will make our way to you two, so don't worry. Just hang tight, try to enjoy yourselves. If that's even possible."
He looked at Fitz, who had gone completely white and completely silent at the sight of the open door. Wolf put himself closer to Fitz, not touching, but close enough it almost seemed like a touch.
"Remember what Mom said?" Wolf asked.
Fitz shook his head tersely, his teeth gritted and his jaw flexed with the effort of not freaking out.
"It isn't the fall that's bad," Wolf said. "It's the landing."
"That's not helping," I argued. To my utter surprise, Fitz straightened, his whole face relaxing as he closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a moment, and then opened them again.
"Okay." He said. "Let's do this."
I was so confused - Wolf's words had an effect on Fitz like no other. What exactly did that phrase mean to them? It had to be something important. Burn raised his voice again.
"Once you deploy the parachute, it'll take you about four or five minutes to land. We'll be aiming for Jakob's property - it's got a pattern cut into the grass, so it should be pretty easy to spot."
"Pattern?" I asked.
"A giant JP," Wolf said. "His initials. There’s some traffic cones around it, too."
"Wolf will be falling first, so you just follow him. You can't control the speed of the fall, but you can control the direction you fall. If you pull the same tab on your right that you pulled for the parachute, you'll angle left. If you pull the tab on the left, you'll angle right."
"Right, left," I muttered, frantically trying to get it through my head. "Left, right. Got it."
"Whatever you do, try to aim for open ground. Don't land on any trees. By the time your feet touch ground, you'll be going slow enough to run it out. Questions?"
I shook my head. Fitz whimpered a little.
"Alright, let's go." Burn motioned to the door. Wolf took the first step towards it, and I was struck by just how confident and determined his jade eyes were, so focused on the sky. Jakob shouted through the intercom.
"First drop-off! Three, two, one - go!"
Wolf stepped off the edge, and my heart squeezed painfully. Fitz and I scrabbled to look over the edge - there he was, falling like an orange meteor through the sky. I felt Burn pat my back.
"You're next, Bee."
"Oh god," I sucked in a breath. "Oh god, oh god."
"It's okay," He said. "Just go. Wolf's down there, waiting for you."
We were so high up. Every bone in my body screamed at me not to jump, to stay in the safety of the helicopter. I could change my mind. I could not do this. This was stupid, my instincts shouted. This was dumb as hell!
But Wolf was doing it. My enemy was doing it. The guy who was scared to touch anyone was doing it like it was the easiest thing in the world -
It suddenly hit me.
"Burn," I turned to him. "We're going to hold hands, right? Wolf -"
"We usually do this alone," Burn said. "So this will be the first time we've had to hold hands."
"Will he be -"
"He'll be fine." He assured me. "If it's with you, he'll be fine."
I felt my eyebrows furrow. "What does that mean?"
"We don't got much time, if she wants to catch up to Wolf!" Jakob called out over the intercom. "Get going!"
"Okay," I did a little shimmy-shake out of sheer terror. "Okay. I can do this."
"Just walk off the edge," Burn said. "Make sure your feet are straight. You fall for a while to get away from the helicopter, and then you make your body parallel to the ground."
"Okay." I sucked in a breath so huge it hurt my lungs. "Okay!"
"Next drop-off!" Jakob announced. "In three, two, one -"
I couldn't do this on my own. No way. But I had Burn here, and Wolf, and Fitz, who was just as scared as I was. It would be fine. .0007 percent chance of dying. That's less than a car accident. I'd driven a car a million times -
"Go!" Jakob shouted.
"Shit," I hissed. "Shit shit shit -"