he who hesitates is toast

He throws his head back and howls, the cords standing out in his neck as the scream is torn out of him. As he does, he yanks his right arm toward him, jerking it away from the woman with all his might to try to get free.

The line cuts into his wrist and forearm, drawing blood, but the gambit works. He claws with his right hand at the chain above his left wrist, trying with desperate strength to wrench himself upward, trying to drag his body free of the restraints that anchor him to the dock below.