'Yes, but they are right at the back,' said a trembling girl.
The crowd started to move towards the machine again, so Tanya leapt into the pilot's seat and gunned the engine. 'Shut the door, will you,' she yelled as they took off, narrowly avoiding the big Norfolk pines lining the beach. 'Fasten your seat belts.'
As the machine gained height and flew across Sydney's tree-lined North Shore, they could already see there were cars blocking all the main thoroughfares out of the city; most suburban streets were also jam packed.
'We were called from The Settlement and told to hurry to Manly. We took the Cat from Circular Quay. I think we were very lucky; hundreds were left standing on the Quay.'
She dropped the passengers, checked there was enough fuel for a return trip and was about to take off again when David appeared.
'Is this wise? They said you had a problem with the crowds at Manly.'
'We did, but I'll manage. I'm hoping Chloe and Kim might be there this time.' She accelerated away as David backed off.
The crowd was even larger on the next approach to the oval. Tanya flew the helicopter very low over the heads of the people, twice, scattering the crowd.
Hurriedly landing with a bump, she hoped any Settlement people had seen her and would run to the machine. She thought she had less than a minute to land, load any passengers and leave, otherwise she would be swamped and the helicopter would be grounded.
There was absolute chaos on the oval as people tried to rush the machine. Tanya opened the helicopter door and fired a burst from the automatic rifle over people's heads. The crowd hesitated and four Settlement people sprinted towards the machine. There was a shot from someone in the crowd, felling one of the runners who clutched at his chest. Two of the four by this time were scrambling into the machine and the wounded man was being half dragged and half carried towards the helicopter, by his companion.
'Here, hold them off with this,' she tossed the rifle to a girl she had trained with at The Academy.
Some shots were fired from both sides as Tanya ran over to the wounded man. Picking him up with a fireman's lift, she ran the few paces to the helicopter and tossed him into the machine, covering everything and everyone with blood.
'Try to fix him up,' she yelled unnecessarily.
Leaping into the pilot's seat, Tanya accelerated the engine. But as the helicopter started to rise there was a man clinging on to one of the runners. The passengers looked on anxiously as Tanya gained height slowly and then flew over the beach and the shallows. She managed to jerk the machine and it suddenly rose quickly as the man lost his grip and fell into the sea.
'Hope he can swim,' said Tanya looking out.
Instead of making for home she made the mistake of turning the helicopter around, looking for the dropped person. She pointed to a clothed figure swimming strongly.
'There,' she said, relieved.
Then the helicopter's Perspex window shattered and Tanya felt an excruciating pain in her left shoulder. With difficulty, she managed to fly the helicopter higher, directing it to the northwest. There was blood pouring from the wound. One of the passengers rushed over, having seen what had happened, ripping Tanya's shirt sleeve open and applying a tourniquet, and then bandages, to stem the flow of blood.
'Stop the blood if you can, I will manage to fly this thing with one hand,' said Tanya shakily. 'Some idiot shot me. How is our other patient?'
'Bad, very bad, but we are dealing with him. You just worry about getting us home.'
'Try not to move about too much,' directed Tanya, 'it makes it more difficult to fly.'
Sweating and fighting off bouts of dizziness the hour it took them to reach The Settlement seemed like an eternity to Tanya. She somehow clumsily landed the machine on the parade ground and switched the engine off.
Joe saw the bad landing and rushed over to the machine yelling, 'Stretcher, bring the stretcher and the doctor. They might be in trouble.'
The wounded man was rushed to the hospital as Joe crawled into the machine to find Tanya in a dead faint at the controls. 'She was shot in the shoulder as we left Manly and has lost a lot of blood, but I don't think the wound is life threatening,' Joe was told. There was blood in the cabin and all over the controls and pilot's seat.
David tried a number of times to phone London. On the tenth attempt, he made the connection. A very sleepy voice answered the phone, 'Oh, hi Dad,' said Evan, 'is this important? It's after one in the morning here'
'I'll be quick,' said David. 'The Ice Shelf fell into the sea a few hours ago. There is a fifteen metre tsunami heading this way at one hundred kilometres an hour.'
'Oh, shit,' said Evan now very much alert. 'Beryl and I have a plan to come home. We will try to call from time … ' the connection was then lost.
While Tanya was involved with her rescue mission, David had asked Mark to blow the gorge. All the charges had been laid within the past few days.
Mark, accompanied by ten others, drove to the entrance gate. The guards there were instructed to lay all twenty nail pads that had been procured for the purpose, along the road from the gate for a kilometre. They erected a sign at the kilometre mark.
EXTREME DANGER
BLASTING IN PROGRESS
DO NOT ENTER
'Hopefully that should stop anyone coming in,' said Mark.
'What about the people who haven't yet returned from Sydney?' asked an anxious member of the guard.
'My mother and Kim included,' answered Mark grimly. 'Sydney will be in gridlock within an hour. There is no chance that people will escape by road if they haven't already done so. Tanya is picking people up at Brookvale, if they can get there.'
Mark and his group withdrew down the gorge, back towards the village. He instructed everyone except himself and one other to return to the village in the vehicle. 'There'll be rock all over the road once we blow this place up,' he explained.
Going to a small, reinforced concrete hut, Mark spent twenty minutes making the correct connections. His companion was asked to check everything.
'There are about three hundred charges laid. We need to be sure they are all connected correctly and that the mountain will indeed drop into the gorge,' he said, almost to himself. 'Ready,' he said to his companion.
The man nodded nervously.
Mark pushed the plunger.
There was a brief silence. And then mayhem. A massive flash was followed by a series of enormous explosions. The rumble caused by falling rocks lasted for more than ten minutes and the whole area was then coated in a mantle of dust. Mark looked out of his bunker. A few pieces of rock had fallen nearby even though they were some way from the gorge. 'Nothing much more we can do here,' he muttered. It took them more than two hours to walk back to the community centre.
The centre was bursting at the seams, with everybody anxiously waiting. When the vehicle returned from the gorge David called for silence. 'As we all know, we planned to isolate ourselves by closing the gorge once the Ice Shelf collapsed. Mark is about to do just that.'
Even prepared, the whole community jumped out of their seats when they heard the massive blast down the valley and the continuous rumble that followed.
'This is the new reality,' said David, once everyone had settled down again. 'We are now isolated. No more trips to Sydney, no more outside visitors. It will be very difficult to leave and virtually impossible to return. It will obviously take time for all of us to become used to the situation. Aside from planned meetings, please raise any issues either with me directly or with the Bower family representative in your ward. This is very important. We need to have everything out on the table.'
'My son is still out there,' said a panicky female voice at the back of the hall. 'Are there going to be any more rescues in the helicopter?'
'I'm not sure how practical that is,' said David. 'Chloe and Kim have also not returned and Tanya was shot and wounded during the last rescue. I think we were very lucky the helicopter didn't crash. Also communications are be
coming difficult. How would we know where to find people?'
The woman burst into tears.
As the meeting broke up, a dust-covered Mark marched in. There was some desultory clapping. David said quietly, 'Tanya is back, she's been hurt and is in the hospital.' Mark rushed out.
Tanya woke with an excruciating pain in her shoulder, and an anxious Mark looking on.
She smiled. 'Look at you. You look as if you've been down a mine or something.' He gave her a dusty kiss. 'I've just blown the gorge.'
A slight frown crossed her brow. 'This is what we've been waiting for all these years,' she said quietly. 'Heaven knows what life will be like now.' She hesitated. 'It's pretty ugly out there. Any sign of Kim and Chloe?'
Mark shook his head sadly. 'I had better see to the kids.'
With the help of painkillers, Tanya was up and about within a day.
'Did you see anything of Chloe and Kim?' David had asked Tanya.
Tanya shook her head. 'The crowds make it too dangerous to try any more rescues with the helicopter. Apart from this.' She gestured towards her injured shoulder.
'How is the other fellow?'
'He's battling, we'll see in a day or two.'
Chapter Twenty-three
The Escape
Kim had received the message from Patricia, but it took her several hours to reach Manly on foot. She had just arrived and was pushing her way through the panicking crowds when she witnessed the incident with Tanya's helicopter at the oval. With her heart in her mouth she saw a man clinging onto the helicopter runners, drop into the sea. She was relieved to see the machine apparently flying off safely to the northwest.
With difficulty she found Chloe's flat. On the way was a supermarket in the process of being looted. Knowing they might have to walk to the mountains, she joined in and filled two large bags with food, mainly bread, cheese, and fruit.
Kim was well-built and tall at nearly six foot. Although no classical beauty, with her mother's blonde hair she was buxom and pretty. She knocked confidently on the door of the penthouse flat. She knew her grandmother was there, having seen her parked car.
The third time she rang the doorbell and knocked insistently, the door of the flat was snatched open. Chloe stood there, glaring, dressed in a housecoat from her chin to her bare feet. She said, without any greeting, 'What the hell are you doing here?' Chloe was dishevelled and obviously naked under her gown.
Kim who had always had a warm, loving relationship with her grandmother was momentarily taken aback, but said hurriedly, 'Granma, the Ice Shelf has collapsed and the whole town is in chaos. Just look out of the window. We are too late for Tanya to pick us up. We have missed the boat, so to speak, so we need to make a plan.'
Chloe looked uncomprehendingly at Kim for a second, then the bombshell suddenly registered. 'You'd better come in. What are those bags for? And the backpack?'
'We are going to need food. The supermarket downstairs was being looted, so I joined in. I doubt if there is anything left by now. The backpack has sleeping bags and clothes. We may have to walk back to The Settlement.'
Chloe said shakily, pointing to the kitchen, 'Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, I need to get dressed.' She hesitated. 'I have company, by the way.' She glanced at her granddaughter for a reaction.
The Bower grandchildren had discussed the possibility of their grandmother and a lover. All of them adored Chloe, lover or not.
Kim heard a male voice and some conversation down the passage. There was the sound of a shower while she boiled the kettle. She noticed the beautifully-appointed rooms and furniture. There were photographs of the family and some tasteful pictures on the walls. It really was a home to Chloe, she realised.
Within half an hour, a fully dressed Chloe emerged from down the passage, wearing jodhpurs and riding boots, followed by a tall, handsome, grey-haired man in his late fifties, dressed in a suit.
Blushing slightly, Chloe said, 'Clark, this is my granddaughter, Kim. Kim, this is Clark Mason.'
They shook hands rather formally.
'What's this about an Ice Shelf collapsing?' asked Clark.
'The Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic has collapsed into the sea. There is a massive tsunami heading this way. The whole city is in turmoil. Just look out of the window.'
'When did this happen?' asked Clark, looking out of the window. 'My God, look at all the crowds.'
'Earlier today,' she said impatiently.
'Oh yes,' said Clark. He was trying to keep the anxiety from his voice.
They quietly sat and drank the tea prepared by Kim, almost as if nothing was amiss.
Kim looked at her grandmother anxiously. 'Granma, we need to get moving. It's too late for the helicopter. I saw the last trip Tanya made. I had to walk here as no vehicles are going anywhere. The whole place is gridlocked.'
'Walk?' asked Clark. He was beginning to realise the seriousness of the situation. 'I should probably go; it will take hours to get to Roseville.'
'Yes, I suppose you should,' said Chloe reluctantly.
Clark moved to the front passage with Chloe, out of sight of Kim. She began looking for another backpack for Chloe to carry.
After ten minutes, Kim heard the front door close quietly and a tearful Chloe returned to the kitchen.
'What should we do?' asked Chloe.
'We have to walk back.'
'Wouldn't horses be a better bet?'
'Where'll we get horses?'
'There's a place north of the city in Terrey Hills.'
'Okay. We need to be careful what we take,' said Kim. 'Here's another backpack.'
They carefully selected items for each pack, with emphasis on food and warm clothing. They ate what they could from the resources in the flat, knowing food would be the biggest issue on the long trek ahead.
Chloe emerged from the bedroom, gingerly carrying a large handgun. 'I'm uncomfortable with this. David gave it to me some time ago and I haven't touched it since. With all your training, maybe it would be better for you to have it. We may need it.'
Kim took the gun, a .45 Webley automatic. She made sure the chamber was empty and noted the magazine was full. She put the safety catch on and tucked the weapon into the back of her trousers, so it was hidden by her jacket. Chloe passed over two boxes of ammunition.
They were almost ready to go when Chloe said, 'I can't bear to leave this place in a mess. Could you just help me tidy up please.'
So they made the bed and vacuumed all the floors. Chloe emptied the fridge, leaving the door open. She took all the garbage to the basement. Everything was left as if they would be away for a few months' holiday. Kim carefully cleaned the gun.
'I know this looks odd,' said Chloe, 'but this place has meant so much to me over the years. I need to be able to remember it like this now, even if I never see it again.'
Kim nodded. She felt much the same way about her home in the Blue Mountains. 'I understand Granma, I really do.'
Chloe whipped around the flat once more, finally switching off the electricity, and, wearing their packs, they went out, carefully locking the front door. It was now dark and all the streets were lit.
The crowds had grown in the three hours Kim had been in the flat, so they went down a side street and walked up the hill past Brookvale Oval. After less than a two kilometre walk, Chloe spotted a man on a motor scooter leaping off and joining in nearby looting. He had left the engine running.
'Quick,' she said, 'hop on. I had one of these when I was younger.' She clumsily engaged the gears and they drove off, whipping past the stationary traffic. To start with progress was rather unsteady, but after a few minutes, Chloe seemed to be perfectly in control.
'Better than walking,' she shouted into the breeze.
They wound their way slowly up the Wakehurst Parkway and Forest Way. The roads were all packed and hardly moving. Several times people tried to stop them, presumably to take the scooter away, since that was the only form of transport making any progress at all. Kim ha
d the gun readily accessible and when one man became very aggressive she fired a shot at his feet and he scampered off. By ten in the evening, they were in McCarrs Creek Road.
'The stables are here, just around the corner,' said Chloe, as she drove up a narrow path and killed the engine. 'We'll wait here. I hope nobody else has the same idea and the horses are all safely asleep in their stalls. I was going to offer to pay, but I don't think that'll work. I'll leave them a note though. We'll wait until all the house lights are out.'
Kim could see Chloe had put the emotion of leaving her flat and her lover behind her and was now fully engaged in getting them both back to the Blue Mountains.
At midnight they crept into the stables. The horses were all quietly resting. Chloe shone her powerful torch around. 'We'll take three, one each and one for the packs. I'll select some while you try to find some sacking to muffle the sound of their hooves.'
Within thirty minutes, they had three horses fully tacked up and their packs were firmly strapped onto one of the horses, together with a bag of fodder.
Chloe was busy shining the torch around. 'What're you looking for?' asked Kim.
'Wire cutters. We'll have to cut fences when it's too difficult to find ways around.'
Kim, standing in the shadows, became aware of someone approaching. She waited in the dark behind a door while Chloe continued her search.
'Who's there?' said a male voice.
Kim tensed up and waiting, holding the gun, whacked the man on the head as hard as she could as he crept past.
'Ah, here we are,' muttered Chloe. 'What was that?' she asked anxiously, reacting to the noise of the man falling to the floor.
'Someone heard us,' said Kim. 'I'll tie him up, but we must move quickly before anyone else comes.'
'It's the owner, damn. I really have no reason to hurt him, but we must be quick,' said Chloe, shining the torch over the inert body as they tied and gagged him, propping him up against a sack of horse food. 'No note now,' she added.
Icefall Page 26
