A Trial of Torque

Stalked out from the yellow channel into the brisk morning glare. Discarded in the dust lay a thick steel hex key, an L-shaped iron bar cold with grime. Proper tool. A real lever. I gripped the long arm with both clawed hands, set my wide stance in the gritty dust, and jammed the short six-sided tip straight into an open expansion seam in the concrete slab. Grunted deep from my gut. Heaved my entire bulk sideways against the steel shank. The metal bowed a fraction, humming with fierce tension against the stone edge before popping forward half an inch and gouging out a stubborn chunk of dried asphalt sealant. Solid bite. Good leverage.