The high buzz of a motorbike engine reached his ears.Still up on the main road, but it wouldn’t take them long to reach the village.
He needed a new plan.He crouched and took the canteen from Mila, taking a long sip before giving it back to her.“What’s this village like?”
She swallowed, huffing out a breath.“Smaller than the others.It’s one long street along the bay with houses on each side.I doubt anything survived.”She swiped at the back of her shoulder and her fingers came away red.
“You’re bleeding.”He shifted to look.New scratches, probably caused by pushing past bushes.
He dug into his pack and handed her his spare shirt.He should have thought of it earlier.“Put this on.”Normally he didn’t pack extra clothes for a short mission, but it had already been in there when they’d been given the news to go.
The shirt fell to her mid thigh and the darker colour would help her hide better amongst the dark leaves of the jungle and protect her skin from scratches.
His pants would be far too big and more cumbersome than helpful.
He got out his radio.“Radar, do you copy?”
“Copy.Chopper is five minutes out.”
He swore.“We need to go one bay west.”
“Copy.You going to make it?”
Mila was already getting to her feet even though she was still panting.
“We’re going to try really hard to.”No promises.That wasn’t what she needed right now.
Checking his compass, he pointed in the direction they needed to go.As long as they didn’t come across a deep gully, they would be fine.
“You should go on without me,” Mila gasped.
He snorted.“No chance in hell.If we miss evac, we’ll go with plan… C.”He’d lost count of the number of plans he’d been through in the past twenty-four hours.
“Which is?”she asked as she followed him through the undergrowth.
“I’ll let you know when I come up with it.”He was rewarded by a bark of laughter and he grinned.If she saw humour in his words, she still had more to give.She was tough.
Though Mila’s breath was loud and raspy, he picked up the pace, glancing behind him now and then to make sure she was keeping up.
He moved fast but the uneven surface made it difficult to go as quickly as he’d like.Rocks, leaf litter and tree roots meant he had to keep his gaze on the ground half the time rather than watching their surroundings.
Maybe if it hadn’t been so rough he would have noticed the change sooner.
The light brightened from the dappled shade of the dense rainforest and he glanced up.About ten metres further was open sky.
And devastation.
The tsunamihadaffected the northern side of the island.In front of them was about three hundred metres of flattened rainforest.It was like a giant had taken a scythe and chopped everything down.
His radio blared.“Evac coming now.”
His spirits plummeted.
No way were they getting through it in time.
Massive trees had been felled with branches, vines and roots sticking in the air creating a fence between them and the ocean.It would be a bitch to get through.
And though the sky was clear, there might not be enough space for the helicopter to get a line down without it tangling on the branches.
The ocean was full of debris from the jungle and the town.Likely too dangerous to do an ocean extraction even if they could reach it in time.
