Days Like This (26 page)

Kieran came up close beside Lily and put his hand on her arm. ‘Let’s look upstairs for your sister,’ he said.

‘I’ll come, too,’ Greta said.

‘We’ll take downstairs,’ Sal said, nodding towards Luca.

‘No, we should stay together,’ Greta said.

‘Just go,’ Sal snapped. ‘We don’t have time to stuff around.’

Chunks of plaster lay on the floor and some of it littered the furniture. A few of the lamps had fallen and a delicate dresser on spindly legs, which Lily recognised, had tipped over, spilling it’s contents.

Greta, Lily and Kieran went up the stairs two at a time, the carpet muffling their footsteps.

Greta, slightly ahead, stopped Lily and Kieran at the top of the stairs and they all listened. Doors led off a long hallway that drew the eye to a high arched window looking out over the garden below, a glittering slice of harbour and a partial vista towards the northern headland. You couldn’t see the barricades from up here and the panorama looked almost serene.

‘The end door,’ Lily whispered. She could see a key protruding from the lock.

They crept down the carpeted hall and listened at the door. There was no sound, but something about the waiting silence made Lily sure her little sister was inside.

‘Alice?’ she called softly.

Greta pushed Lily gently aside, turned the key and carefully opened the door. A huge bed dominated the room. It had four posts with cream satin draped over the top. Pillows were arranged neatly underneath some fluffy toys that Lily recognised. The only signs of disorder were the chunks of plaster and debris scattered across the room.

Alice stood beside the window, pressed against the curtain.

‘Alice,’ Lily called, but her sister didn’t respond.

‘Alice!’ Lily moved right up to her, gazing at the familiar profile.

‘Go away,’ Alice whispered.

‘But it’s me, Alice. It’s Lily.’

Slowly the girl turned, reaching out to touch Lily.

‘Is it really you, Lilla?’

‘Yes, Alice, it’s me.’

‘Why didn’t you come back for me?’ Her expression was first bewildered, then distressed. She looked so fragile Lily wanted to cry. She hugged her and felt the sharpness of Alice’s shoulder blades, also the very slight bulge of her stomach that could only mean … Lily gagged, sweat prickling across her body.

‘You should have come for me, you promised,’ Alice whispered.

Before Lily could answer, a great roar shattered the cotton-wool silence. It started in the distance but quickly came nearer and louder. Greta and Kieran joined them at the window.

‘Oh, no,’ Kieran said. ‘It’s much bigger than last time. This is a proper tsunami. We have to go.’ They didn’t move, though. What they saw outside was too mesmerising.

The giant wave came from the direction of the headlands. Even though it was some distance away, it was clearly visible as a great surge of deep blue-green water that must have burst from the open sea into the harbour and now spread out, travelling in what seemed like slow motion across the water towards them.

‘We’ve got to go,’ Lily screamed, but she knew it was too late.

The wave surged over the barricades in front of the house. It rushed across the garden and smashed into the house, bearing a chilling cargo of debris, boats and vegetation.

Alice clung to the curtains, Lily clung to Alice and Kieran and Greta hung on to Lily as the water crested the balcony in front of them and battered through the French doors, showering them with glass. Cuts ripped open along Lily’s arms. The water punched her off her feet and slammed her into the door, which splintered. Alice was no longer with Lily, nor were Kieran or Greta.

The mass of water swept Lily out through the door. She choked and spluttered, struggling for breath. The water was solid, like steel, bruising and mauling everything in it’s path. Lily bumped up against something and clung to it with all her strength as the might of the water rushed around her. It poured through the house, down the stairs, swirling and roaring, gathering up splinters of furniture. Lily dug her fingernails into what must have been a banister. She thought she heard someone screaming, the sound filtering through from a long way away.

The water kept coming as if the entire southern ocean was emptying into Sydney, into this grand house that stood behind it’s now useless barricades. Lily waited for the house to fold like a pack of cards, trapping everyone inside.

It was almost impossible to breathe. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her legs tightly around the puny banister. It shuddered and swayed, on the verge of snapping and carrying her down the stairs. She was choking and her fingers and arms were sliding off the railing. Objects crashed into her. She let go and the relentless flood upended her against something solid.

Lily opened her eyes. Her entire body ached, but she was grateful to be alive. The water had receded, leaving behind a scene of devastation. Lily lay half way down the stairs. Above her, the banister had gone.

The most shocking sight for Lily was that of her mother crawling towards her.

‘Are you all right?’ Megan whispered, as if Lily had never left. Megan’s right arm bled from a deep cut below the elbow and Lily saw one of her ankles was purple and swollen.

‘Pym,’ Megan cried out, ‘Pym!’

‘Here.’ His voice came faintly from downstairs. ‘There’s probably more waves coming. We have to get out of here. Can you walk?’ he said.

‘I’ll try.’ Megan had forgotten about Lily and was pulling herself up against the wall, half hopping, half dragging her body along.

‘Come on, Alice, we have to leave the house, get to higher ground,’ Megan said. ‘You heard your father. Hopefully one of the vans still works.’

‘Mum, it’s not Alice, it’s me, Lily.’

Megan had reached the bottom of the stairs and she turned around.

‘Get up, Alice, we’re going.’

‘It’s me, Lily. Mum, where’s Alice, you can’t go without Alice.’

‘Get up.’ Megan’s voice rose a little. ‘You have to come.’

‘No, Mum, we have to find Alice.’

‘Pym, Alice won’t come! What shall I do?’ Megan cried out.

‘Make her come. I’m injured, I can’t come up. We have to go, right now The garage survived, so did the vans, but there isn’t much time,’ Pym said.

‘No,’ Lily said again.

‘Why, Alice, why?’ Tears streamed down Megan’s face; her voice rising, close to hysteria.

Lily started to crawl back up the stairs, ignoring her mother’s cries.

Megan stared after her, before turning away. Lily could hear her struggling along, the rasping of her breathing.

When the sound of her parents’ voices had faded, Lily dragged herself upright. Her body ached, but she didn’t think she had any broken bones. She climbed over the debris to get back into Alice’s ruined room. Her sister was lying against the far wall of the bedroom, surrounded by wreckage. Greta was with Alice, who was crying, her face buried in Greta’s shoulder. Alice was shaking her head over and over, her eyes tightly shut.

‘We have to go, there are more waves coming,’ Lily called out to them.

‘She won’t leave,’ Greta said. Her voice was hoarse and her eyes were strangely glassy. ‘She’s terrified. I can’t convince her.’

Alice had wrapped her arms tightly around Greta, though Greta lay limply. It was then that Lily saw Greta’s leg. It was twisted at an impossible angle and Lily was sickened to see a shard of bone protruded from it.

‘Take her,’ Greta said. ‘Make her go.’

‘I can’t, I can’t, I’m not allowed.’ Alice’s voice rose. ‘We’ll be safe if we stay here in the house. It’s safe.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ Lily said. She tried to prise Alice’s fingers away from Greta. Her sister was shaking; great jolting tremors.

‘Come on,’ Lily said desperately. ‘Don’t be stupid. No one is stopping you from leaving. I’ll help you both. Let me lift you, one on each side.
Please!
’

‘No, no, no, no, no,’ Alice howled. ‘Don’t make me, I won’t go, I’m safe here. Mum and Dad will come. Leave me alone.’

‘They won’t come, Alice. They’ve already gone. Oh, God, listen, I can’t help you if you won’t help me. Let go of Greta. No one will survive the next waves. Don’t you understand? it’s a miracle the house is still standing. There’s a van downstairs in the garage. We can all get away before the next wave comes.’

The words were barely out of her mouth when Lily heard the next chilling sound of water swelling into an all-encompassing reverberation.

‘Listen, Alice, it’s coming again,’ Lily screamed, but Alice just squeezed shut her eyes, pressed her mouth tightly and clung to Greta.

‘She’s shocked out of her mind, Lily,’ Greta whispered.

Greta’s face was ashen and blood pooled beneath her shattered leg. ‘Go, Lily. You have to. I can’t walk. Leave us and save yourself,’ she said.

‘I … am … not … leaving … you!’ Lily tried again to prise Alice off Greta, but it was hopeless. Trauma had given Alice an almost inhuman strength.

‘Alice!’ Lily was frantic.

The next wave came first as a great shadow, then as a solid fist of water. Lily was flung end over end in choking darkness, totally helpless.

So this is what death is
, she thought, amazed at her own composure.

The next thing she knew she was retching up burning seawater and desperately gulping air into her lungs. Dazed, but alive. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious. She lay at the bottom of what remained of the staircase. Looking up, she expected to see the top storey of the house, but there was just sky and the ragged silhouette of broken walls. The wave had taken a huge chunk out of the first floor.

‘Alice,’ Lily gasped. ‘Greta.’ She couldn’t move her legs. They were jammed beneath smashed up bricks and rubble. There was water and mud everywhere. Lily tried to wriggle out from under the debris. She knew more waves were coming.

‘Help,’ she screamed hoarsely. ‘Help us here.’

Kieran came lurching over the wreckage. His face was covered with blood and one eye was puffed and bruised.

‘Thank God you’re alive, Lily. Are you okay?’ He fell to his knees, wrenching away the debris from her legs and tossing it aside. ‘There’s another wave coming. The garage survived. Your parents have taken one of the vans but there’s another. Sal and Luca are seeing if it works, but we have to hurry.’

‘Greta’s badly hurt and I can’t get Alice to come, Kieran,’ Lily said.

‘Crap.’ He yanked aside the last obstruction and hauled her upright. She tested her legs then stumbled up what remained of the stairs. It was as she had feared – there was nothing left except a few sodden and broken walls opening to the sky.

‘I’ve got to look for them,’ Lily said, coming down the stairs.

Kieran grabbed her, not just by the arm but by the whole body and shoved her forward.

‘They’re gone, Lily, we can save ourselves, there’s no point staying and dying,’ he said.

‘No, I’m not leaving,’ Lily said obstinately.

In one swift movement, Kieran lifted her and threw her over his shoulder.

‘Alice,’ she called. ‘Put me down. Alice!’ She thumped at him with her fists but he held on, stumbling over the rubble.

Lily squeezed shut her eyes to try and block the image of what must have happened to Alice and Greta when the last wedge of water had wiped out the light and swallowed them and the child inside Alice. Then she was retching and vomiting uncontrollably.

Outside, the landscape was unrecognisable. There was mud-coated rubble scattered everywhere.

‘Luca and Sal have gone,’ Kieran said in disbelief. ‘They’ve taken the van and left without us. The bastards have left without us.’

Lily struggled, but still Kieran held onto her firmly, almost hurting her. He barged out through the hole where the gate had once stood and began to lumber down the road. Everything was thick with mud and the receding water swirled and sucked at Kieran’s legs. There was stuff everywhere, including bodies. Lily looked with horror at the corpses, terrified of seeing Alice or Greta.

People were streaming out onto the streets – bleeding, ripped-up people.

‘We have to keep moving,’ Kieran panted.

‘Put me down!’

‘No, you’ll only go back.’

‘Put me down!’

Blood ran down his leg. It had soaked into his jeans and was dripping onto the road.

‘You’re hurt!’

He was beginning to stagger.

‘Please let me go,’ Lily begged.

‘If I put you down, Lily, and you go back, I’ll come back with you and then we’ll both die. You won’t find them.’

‘You don’t know that,’ Lily argued.

‘Yes, I do know that. I think you do, too. They’re gone. Now we have to get away from the harbour. The next wave will be bigger and the next bigger still. This is huge, Lily.’

Lily couldn’t leave her sister and Greta, but if she went back, she’d kill Kieran too because she knew that he’d follow her.

‘Put me down and I’ll come with you,’ she sobbed.

There were even more people now, all hysterical, all heading uphill, towards the Wall. It loomed above them, white and sinister.

‘Wait.’ Kieran put his hand on her arm. ‘Look, down there.’

Inside a garage, which had been half demolished by the water, was a motorbike. It was lying on it’s side. Kieran ran down to it and Lily followed, still sobbing, still reluctant. The bike was undamaged, but a man was sprawled beside it, his body twisted at a strange angle. He was obviously dead. Kieran wrenched the bike upright. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine sputtered to life.