Even if Kristina had chickened out, the guide would have called before rappelling down and trekking toward them. Derrick glanced up at the man in front of him. He hated to do it, but he didn’t have a choice. Chances were the man wouldn’t even know what happened. Derrick just had to decide if he should choke him out or hit him. It wouldn’t take but a couple seconds for him to drop. The movies had it all wrong. If you knew what you were doing, a man would drop in less than three seconds. He decided not to hit the innocent man; instead, as the guide stared up toward the higher platform, Derrick used his hand to compress his carotid arteries, hence causing cerebral ischemia and a temporary hypoxic condition in the brain. The guide dropped before he could even lift his hand to Derrick’s arm. After lowering the man to the deck and strapping his carabiner onto the cable in the event he rolled over, Derrick grabbed his rappelling gear and hopped off the platform, hitting the ground and leaving a deep pit.
