Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Nine

The small balcony was about six feet deep and ten feet long.A narrow iron ladder was firmly fixed on the side wall, leading directly to the black iron roof.There were doors to the building on two short walls, and on the other side facing the fence, there was a high railing made of thick translucent glass panels with an iron beam resting just outside the two side walls. corner room.Racks for cleaning carpets stood on the bright tiles of the balcony floor. Martin Baker lay on a staggered stretch of iron pipes.His head was thrown back, his neck resting on the heavy pipe. Martin Baker regained consciousness gradually.He opened his eyes and looked at the clear blue sky above.But soon his vision started to wander again, and he closed his eyes again.

Martin Baker remembered—or felt—the terrible blow to his chest, and how he fell.But he couldn't remember how he landed.Did he fall from the top of the building all the way into the yard?Can a person survive a fall from such a height? Martin Baker tried to look up and look around, but when he tried, his body hurt so badly that he passed out again.After that, he didn't dare to try again, just half-closed his eyes, and looked around without turning his head as much as possible.He could see the ladder and the edge of the black roof and knew he had only fallen two or three yards. Martin Baker closed his eyes and tried to move his hands and feet one by one, but any muscle he pulled caused pain.He knew he had at least been shot in the chest, but was surprised he wasn't dead yet.But he wasn't as thankful as in the novel, but strangely, he wasn't scared either.

Martin Baker didn't know how long it had been since he was shot. After he passed out, did he take more bullets?Is Eriksson still on the roof?Martin Baker heard no shots. Martin Baker saw Eriksson's innocent and old face.How could that be?And the eyes that look crazy from fear, hatred, despair, and confusion. Martin Baker felt as if he could understand the other party, and he felt that he was also partly responsible, so he should come forward to help, but the man on the roof was hopeless.He'd spent the last twenty-four hours throwing himself into a world where nothing existed but vengeance, violence, and hatred.

Now that I lie here, Martin Baker thought, I may be dying.If I die like this, can I make up for any sin? Nothing can make up for it. Frightened by his own thoughts, Martin Baker suddenly felt that he had been lying there all his life.Was the man on the roof killed or arrested?Is it over?But they forgot about him and let him wait to die alone on the small balcony? Martin Baker wanted to scream, but all he could say was a grunt.He tasted blood in his mouth. Lying motionless, he wondered where was that great uproar coming from?The sound pressed against him, like a strong wind in the treetops, or like breaking waves on the shore.Or was that sound coming from an air conditioner somewhere nearby?

Martin Baker felt himself plunged into a soft, silent darkness in which the uproar faded away, and he did not want to resist.With his eyes closed, he felt the red light flashing on his eyelids. Before he passed out, he realized that the noises came from within himself. His consciousness came and went, wandering here and there, as if floating on the top of a wave.Some intermittent ideas from books flashed through Martin Baker's mind, and he was powerless to pursue them.He heard muffled murmurs, heard internal commotions getting louder, but he didn't care anymore. Martin Baker sank rapidly into darkness.