by Sofia Grey
She tried to explain as rapidly as she could. “At midnight, in around ten minutes, there’s going to be an earthquake in Wellington. I’ve arranged a helicopter to get us out of here, but we need to go up to the roof. We can’t stay here.”
He released her hand and started to push himself upright, fiddling with the drip in the back of his hand. “Tanner?”
She dialled his number. He answered immediately, and she passed the phone to Jack. While they talked, she searched in his locker for clothes. He couldn’t travel in the standard-issue hospital gown, open at the back. She found his jeans—torn and bloodied—and a T-shirt. They’d be better than what he wore now.
By this time, Jack had come off the phone and yanked the drip out of his hand. A droplet of blood appeared in its place.
“Can you walk, or do you need a wheelchair?” Juli helped him into the jeans, and stuffed his feet into socks and boots while he pulled the shirt over his head.
“I’ll walk, if you help me.” He stood and was a little wobbly. Leaning against Juli, he rested an arm across her shoulders while she looped one of hers around his waist. They shuffled painfully slowly into the main thoroughfare of the ward and crept toward the exit.
It didn’t surprise her when a nurse stepped out in front of them. “Mr O’Donnell, where do you think you’re going?”
“We have some friends waiting to see Jack. We’re just stepping outside for a minute.” Juli tried to sound calm. She felt like screaming at the nurse to get out of the way.
“You shouldn’t be putting any weight on that leg yet. I’ll find you a chair. Just wait here for a minute.”
Juli blinked. She’d been expecting more of a fight. “Sure.” As soon as the nurse turned the corner, Juli shuffled off again, through the swing doors, and down the short corridor to the lifts.
“Come on,” she muttered under her breath as they waited for the lift to arrive. There were five minutes until midnight, assuming the timer worked correctly. Just as the lift pinged to announce its arrival, she spotted an abandoned trolley with a stack of blankets folded on top. Leaving Jack for a second, she grabbed them. Chances were it was still raining, and neither of them was dressed for bad weather.
The lift crawled up the two levels, and they emerged onto the roof.
One minute until midnight.
And no helicopter.
*
Charlie didn’t have time to explain. He leaned forward and plucked the phone from AJ’s hand. “Later, okay?” He tapped the screen. “I’m forwarding this to Kate, to pass on. I want Daisy to get it.”
“Yeah.” AJ stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Lucky.
“Two minutes to go. I’m pulling over.”
“What?” AJ swung around. “We’re nearly there. Keep going.”
“No.” Lucky stopped the car at the side of the road but left the engine running. “We can’t assume the timer on that thing is accurate. It could go off early or late. And we’re safer here, on this open stretch, than we would be further up. I’m sorry, Alex, but we ride it out here.”
AJ turned back to Charlie. “I need Daisy’s phone. I have to call Joni.” He dialled but left it on speaker.
“Joni, I’m on my way, but I’ll be another five minutes. Where exactly are you parked?”
“South Beach Road. The house with little stone lions on the gateposts.”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Charlie couldn’t believe how calm AJ sounded. Then again, he was struggling to believe most of tonight’s events.
“Listen, Joni,” AJ continued. “This is important. I need you to start the car and drive to the end of the road. Okay? There’s a big car park there, by the sea. Please go there instead.”
“Why can’t I stay here and wait for you?” Her voice was hesitant.
“There are police cars driving up and down. They might see you on the road. If you’re on the car park, they won’t pay you any attention. Got that?”
“Okay. You promise you’ll look after me, AJ?”
“I promise. And Joni, what kind of car are you driving?”
“It’s dark blue. A Ford, I think.”
“I’m in a black Merc, and I’m with Charlie and another friend. Is Callum awake?”
“No, he’s sleeping.”
“Move the car like I asked, and I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He disconnected.
They had to rescue Callum. They were so close now.
“It’s midnight,” said Lucky.
They sat in silence.
They might as well be waiting for the end of the world.
SUNDAY 21 JANUARY
Chapter Thirty-Five
Jack had experienced some whacked-out dreams before, but this one beat them all. Not only had he been chatting to his dead buddy, Rico, but he also seemed to have married Juli, and they now stood on a rooftop somewhere in a mammoth storm. They huddled under a blanket, with gale force winds and rain coming sideways at them. Oh yeah, and they were waiting for a helicopter to rescue them from an earthquake that hadn’t happened yet. All he needed was for Bambi and Marilyn Monroe to join the party.
His leg hurt like fuck, but the sensation of Juli cuddling next to him helped to take his mind off the pain. He liked the idea of being married. When he woke, and finally caught up with Juli, he might ask her how she’d feel about it.
Juli kept looking at her watch, then grabbed his wrist and checked the time on his. One minute after midnight. She clung tighter, shivering in the cold.
Over the sound of the wind and rain, he heard a low-level rumbling. It sounded like a freight train in the distance.
Juli heard it too. “Oh God, here it comes.” She looked terrified, and he felt a ripple of alarm.
“It’s only a dream, babe.”
“A dream?” She gazed up at him, a flicker of amusement on her face. “You think this is a dream? I wish it were.”
*
Juli stared at the digital display on Jack’s watch. Almost two minutes past midnight. The rumbling noise was audible over the rain hammering down on the concrete roof around them.
The floor seemed to shudder beneath her feet. Was this it? Or was it her imagination? She wrapped her arms more tightly around Jack and pressed her face to his warm chest. “I love you, Jack. I’m so sorry.”
For some reason, maybe the after-effects of the anaesthetic, he thought this was all a dream. He held her close, unperturbed by their imminent deaths, and murmured something over her head.
She struggled to hear him. “What did you say?”
“I can hear a phone ringing.” He moved a slow hand to rummage in his pockets, but she dived for hers first. “Hello?”
“Juli? This is Tanner.”
She pressed the phone to her ear. “Yes. What happened? I felt a vibration, but nothing more.” She had to pull the sodden blanket over her head, to be able to hear him.
“It was small,” said Tanner. “Our expert thinks maybe a four to five pointer. Do you think that’s it? Is it all over?
Jack was trying to shield her from the rain. She ended up with her face buried in his armpit.
“There could be more.” She raised her voice, to be heard. “The original oscillator had a cumulative effect. It kept vibrating, increasing in intensity until Tesla destroyed it. If it’s still running, there could be more, and they’ll keep getting worse. It all depends on how Yanni set it up.”
The line went quiet for a moment, then crackled over his voice. She waited, and he spoke again.
“Did you find Jack?”
“Yes. We’re waiting for a helicopter to pick us up. Lucky arranged it before they all left. Where are you? Will you be able to get out if they get worse?”
“Hold on.”
She waited, impatient. Beside her, Jack shifted position.
Another rumbling started in the distance. Did they have time to get out of the building and into an open space instead? Jack could h
ardly walk. They’d never make it.
Tanner’s voice burst down the line again. “We’re in the Botanic Gardens in, the city centre. Our local expert thinks the first tremor was centred here. If we find anything, I’ll call you.”
The line went dead.
Jack nudged her. “That looks like a chopper. Is it coming for us?”
*
Charlie stared at the digital clock display on the dashboard.
Midnight.
One minute past.
Two minutes past.
The rain sounded like a spray of bullets smacking into the windscreen, and the wind buffeted the still car. They might not even feel it, if it happened. It still sounded like the plot of a fifties sci-fi movie, rather than a real possibility.
He scrambled out of the car, and the others followed suit. Great idea. Not. He was soaked to the skin in seconds. Jeez, that rain was cold.
And then he felt it—a slow juddering underfoot, like standing on an old escalator. Was this it? All that fuss and panic, for this?
Charlie laughed aloud and grabbed AJ’s arm. He grinned back, some of the tension dissolving from his face. Despite the water cascading down and the wind whipping at their clothes, they danced a little jig on the pavement together, howling with laughter like a pair of maniacs.
Lucky pulled them apart. “Sorry, guys. You’re celebrating too soon. That was probably just the start. Juli reckons there could be more, and they’ll get progressively worse. Let’s go find Callum before the next one hits.”
Lucky’s words sank in. Fuck. Worse to come. Double fuck.
They climbed into the Merc, sobering rapidly, and Lucky gunned the engine, aquaplaning through the standing water. They were only a couple of miles from the house, if that, and Charlie anxiously scanned the road ahead. Joni said she drove a dark-blue Ford.
Lucky turned into the road. Nobody was visible. That was hardly surprising for the time of night and the weather conditions. But there was no blue Ford, either. He drove past the house and raced to the car park where they hoped to find Joni. It was empty.
AJ kept redialling Joni’s number, but she didn’t answer.
“Fuck,” he howled, as Lucky turned around on the car park and shot back toward the house, near the top of the road.
“Okay. Where else could she be? If she misunderstood the directions?” AJ opened the glove box and pulled out a map of the Wellington area, then flicked on the interior lights and opened the map.
“Yeah, and what if she’s just playing games with us? Why isn’t she answering? Where the fuck is she?”
“Steady.” Charlie placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Maybe the tremor spooked her?”
Lucky studied the map intently, following a road with his finger. “Or maybe she went the wrong way.” He turned the map so they could both see it. “You told her to go to the end of the road, expecting her to go that way. What if she was pointing in the opposite direction? She might have gone up to Steyne Avenue.”
“We’d have seen her,” Charlie pointed out. “When we turned off the highway.”
“Unless she turned left and headed along the coast road. It has—”
The car rocked as though it were shoved by an invisible hand.
“Whoa,” said Charlie. “What the fuck was that?”
They sat frozen for a moment, and then leapt out of the car, into the lashing rain. The ground shivered beneath their feet again, but this time with a strange wavelike motion.
A real-estate sign bobbed back and forth, before majestically toppling to the ground. The ground shuddered. It was the weirdest sensation ever. Like standing on jelly. Charlie leaned against the car for support. The whole thing lasted maybe four seconds.
“That was another one,” he said.
“Stronger this time,” said Lucky. “Let’s go.”
Charlie was about to climb into the car, when Lucky paused, his head cocked. “Can anyone hear that?”
It sounded like an express train approaching. Charlie braced his hands on the roof of the car. “Is it another?”
His question was answered when the car bounced and danced again, skipping forward then backward rapidly. He struggled to keep his balance. This was like being on a major bender.
Lucky moved to the middle of the road, while AJ leaned on the car too.
The ground was springy underfoot again, in a way solid earth wasn’t supposed to be.
In the space of a couple of seconds, the world changed. The stone lions tumbled to the ground with a crash. A tree up ahead creaked and started to lean into the road, and a crack appeared in the tarmac next to his feet.
Debris from the stone lions scattered across the road in front of the car.
Lucky pushed aside the bigger pieces of stone. “Get in,” he yelled. They didn’t need telling twice. “That was probably only a five pointer. We need to find Callum before they get any worse.”
*
When Juli mentioned a helicopter, Jack expected a little one, like the air-ambulance that ferried him to hospital, not this great monster—a Russian Mil-8 troop ship, studded with floodlights and probably some cannons on board too. Oh boy, this dream was a doozy.
She ducked out from under the blanket and gripped his arm, smiling up at him, her delight infectious. “It’s here. We’re saved.”
Jack had to admit he couldn’t work out exactly why they needed to be airlifted away, or why Juli suddenly got so scared as the chopper approached. The ground—the flat concrete roof—appeared to be vibrating under their feet. Perhaps this was the earthquake she was expecting?
The Mil-8 dropped into position and landed on the giant H marked out on the concrete. He took Juli’s hand and kissed her fingertips. “Our chariot awaits, my lady.” The shaking was getting more pronounced as they clambered in, but seconds later they lifted off.
Tired, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, holding Juli close to his chest. When he next woke up he’d be on the ward again, with her God knew where.
*
As Lucky drove up the road, Charlie had a question. “If we’re feeling it like this here, what will it be like in the middle of Wellington? Aiden and Tanner are there. And Jack’s in hospital.”
“It’ll be worse. Just be glad Jordan got the others safely away in time.” Lucky’s voice was grim.
Charlie’s mind flashed to Daisy, so happy to see him earlier. And Sylvie. How must AJ be feeling now? He hunched in his seat, gaze scanning the road ahead. Even if they found Joni and Callum, where would they go? Where would be safe? A bubble of hysteria rose, but he swallowed it back down. If AJ could stay calm, so could he.
Lucky expertly dodged around a fallen tree branch sprawling across the junction and turned left at the top of the road. AJ tried his phone again, and let out a muttered curse when it didn’t work. “The lines must be down. There’s no fucking signal.”
“Either the cell towers have been damaged or the network is overloaded.” Lucky spoke with the voice of authority. He accelerated on the quiet side road, windscreen wipers flashing back and forth, barely keeping up with the rain. “Try again in a few minutes if we haven’t found her.”
There were no other cars on the road. They’d see Joni’s Ford if she was here. AJ gazed ahead, and Charlie stared left and right, steadying himself against the back of Lucky’s seat.
They rounded the bend, and Lucky yanked at the wheel. “Fuck.” It was his turn to howl. He crashed through the gears, and braked so hard AJ nearly bounced off the dashboard, the car skidding sideways with the force of deceleration.
Charlie slammed into the door, the shock of the impact driving the breath from his body.
“What is it?” AJ yelled over the screeching of the gearbox as Lucky tried desperately to control the car.
Holy shit. Charlie saw the problem. The road normally led over a bridge, a small river feeding into the sea.
Except the bridge wasn’t there anymore.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sylvie
fidgeted. “It’s driving me insane, just sitting here,” she said to Daisy. “I can’t even try to call Alex. I gave my phone to Charlie.”
“I know. I gave mine to Alex.”
“I have to talk to Jordan.” Sylvie got up, and Daisy went with her. Jordan sat a few rows ahead. He had Kate turned into his body, a sleeping Poppy sprawled across his lap.
“Jordan, we have to go back,” said Sylvie. “We can’t leave them.”
His face looked pale, and his eyes had a haunted look. “I’m sorry, Sylvie, but look around you. Everyone else is in danger if we turn around.”
“Dammit, Jordan. You can’t do this to me.” She paused, hand over her mouth. “I lost Rico when he tried to rescue Marianne. I can’t lose Alex while he tries to rescue her sister. I can’t go through that again.”
The flight attendant stepped forward, probably worried that she’d become hysterical. “Is there a problem, madam?”
Daisy leapt in before Sylvie could speak. “Cell phones still work up here, right?”
“You’re not supposed to use them—”
“But they work,” Daisy insisted. “I could make a phone call if it was really urgent?”
“We’d prefer you didn’t, but one call would be fine if it was an emergency.”
“Thank you,” whispered Sylvie. Turning to Jordan, she held out her hand. “Please let me use yours. It’s a long story, but we don’t have ours.”
He passed her his phone, and she dialled a number. Frowned and tried again. “It’s a message saying Alex’s phone is out of order. Charlie’s is the same.”
“Try Jean-Luc,” said Jordan.
She did. “It’s the same.”
“Okay,” said Daisy. “There has to be a rational explanation.” She refused to think of the obvious one—that the earthquake happened, and Wellington was a pile of rubble.
“Perhaps the phone network is down.” The attendant was clearly trying to be helpful, but he hadn’t heard Jordan’s briefing earlier. He didn’t know about the possible quakes.
“What about the pilot?” Daisy had a brainwave. “He’s in contact with the ground. Can you ask him to contact Wellington airport and ask if there’s been an earthquake?”