Dobby glanced at the rear of the car.This model had two doors that swung out to access the rear.Maybe they could get one open and Hawk could climb in.
Dobby shifted.“Bend down,” he told Vance, shoving his back forward to show what he meant.
“Watch it.”Vance tried to resist and Dobby snarled, “I need to get in the back.”
He didn’t wait for a reply, just climbed over the seat, kicking Vance in the back as he did so.
“Hawk, move to the side,” Dobby called.
Hawk moved and Dobby shoved the lever down, opening one side of the door.The gap was too small for the broad-shouldered man to squeeze through but before Dobby could speak, Hawk was already shifting to the other side so he could open it.
The second door opened with a thud and swung shut again, but Hawk shifted his body to block it.He reached one hand inside and Dobby grabbed it, bracing his legs on the sides of the car.“I’ve got you.”
“Corner!”Axle yelled.
“Hold on!”he yelled to Hawk.
The car rounded the corner.The wave was on the far side of the square where he’d spoken to Mila.
Who was running towards them, the moped nowhere in sight.Fuck.What the hell was she doing there?“Mila!”
Before he processed that, Hawk’s foot slipped from the back of the car.“Ah!”His other arm flailed for purchase.
Dobby’s arm jolted as Hawk’s full weight bore down on him.Radar lunged from the back seat to help, but he was too late.
Hawk’s hand slipped from Dobby’s grasp and he fell, hitting the ground hard and rolling.
“Stop!”he yelled.
“There’s no time,” Axle shouted.
Hawk struggled to his feet and turned towards Mila and the wave.
Dobby watched in horror as the wall of water picked up Mila and then Hawk, and swallowed them both.
***
Mila glanced around the square.Everyone was gone, and she took a moment to check whether she could salvage anything from her little room, but she couldn’t lift the rubble in front of the door.
As she headed for her moped, she heard a moan.“Tolong.”
She spun, searching the night for the woman.“Di mana?” she called.
A high-pitched, ear-splitting, wailing siren made Mila jump.Definitely time to get out of here.She hesitated and strained to hear over the noise.
“Di sini.”
She followed the cry and found Ibu Minar underneath a section of wall next to Mila’s room.The old woman was disoriented and had perhaps been knocked unconscious.
Mila tried to block the incessant scream of the siren but glanced towards the ocean.Nothing yet.She hefted the slab of the wooden wall, wishing the two special forces guys would miraculously materialise again and help her.
They didn’t, and the slab didn’t shift.
Spotting a wooden pole, she dragged it out and used it as a lever to move the panel.It lifted enough for the old woman to shift from under it.
Muscles burning, Mila ensured the woman was clear before she dropped the panel.She panted as she helped Ibu Minar to her feet.The woman screamed in agony.Her foot protruded at an odd angle.
Fighting the urge to vomit, Mila placed her shoulder under the small woman’s arm and half lifted her to the moped.
