Combustion (26 page)

The roadway rushes up to greet him.

‘Oh, damn.’

~ * ~

Corey yanks on the controls, pulls the chopper up just twenty metres above the road.

~ * ~

Which means Judd is only
five
metres above the ground at the end of the rope. He hurtles towards a burning fire truck that’s directly in front of him. ‘What the hell? Pull up! Pull up!’

~ * ~

Corey can’t hear or see him. His eyes are locked on the rear-view mirror and the missile that follows. It’s close, just thirty metres away.

Spike’s head is pushed out the rear of the pilot’s door and he looks down. He barks.

‘What?’
Corey looks forward and sees the fire truck below. ‘Judd!’ He pulls the chopper up and tips it hard left.

~ * ~

‘Yaah!’ Judd is jerked right and swings out like he’s at the end of a pendulum. He pulls his legs up so they don’t spank the burning fire truck, can feel the heat as they pass through its flames.

~ * ~

‘Is he okay?’

Spike looks down and barks.

Corey lets out a relieved breath. ‘Good.’

The Loach shoots along a narrow street, fifty metres above the ground, skyscrapers towering on either side.

The Aussie glances in the side-view mirror. The missile is still there, fifty metres away and closing. Fast.

Spike barks.

‘I see it!’

Oh, damn. Corey realises he’s been talking to Spike. He glances at Lola to see her reaction, but he’s sure she didn’t hear anything. She’s hunched over, her eyes are jammed shut and her face is drained of colour, one hand clamped to the doorframe and the other gripping her seat.

‘You okay?’

‘I’d like to go home now.’

‘It’s going to be fine.’

‘I don’t know if I can do this.’

‘You’re already doing it. Now come on, eyes open! I need you to navigate. I don’t know these streets.’

~ * ~

In the short time she’s known him, Lola’s never heard Corey speak like that. His tone is gentle but tough and compels her to snap out of it. She takes a breath, opens her eyes and nods stoically. He shoots her a reassuring wink. It’s incredibly corny and completely genuine and makes her feel better.

‘Find me a tall building.’

‘How tall?’

‘Biggest you got.’

She nods, thinks about it for a moment. ‘Take the next left.’

On the street below, an intersection quickly approaches.

‘This one or the next-?’

‘This one!’

He yanks on the controls and the chopper tilts hard right, makes the turn down a narrow road.

~ * ~

‘Ohmijeez!’ Judd swings out - holds on for dear life as a building brushes past his feet just a metre away. He’s almost horizontal to the ground, hangs there for what seems like an eternity - then swings back down.

He looks up the rope, realises the higher up he is the better his chance of not being thrown off, or hitting one of these buildings. He puts his right hand above his left and hauls himself upward.

~ * ~

Corey stares at the missile in the side-view mirror. It’s not as close as it was.

‘Where now?’

‘Third street on the right.’

The missile closes in and he loses sight of it. ‘Need a visual on that rocket. It’s in my blind spot.’

Spike and Lola both look back. Spike barks as Lola says: ‘Twenty metres away.’ Corey hears the information in stereo.

The Loach thunders past the first street.

‘It’s getting closer!’ Lola’s voice rises as she says it.

Corey tries to increase power but the chopper is already at its maximum speed. ‘If this bloody thing was any slower it’d be going backwards.’

‘Really
close now!’

‘Does it have to be the third street?’

‘The third!’

Corey looks in the side-view mirror again. The missile hoves into view, fills the mirror.

‘You sure?’

‘Absolutely!’

They pass the second street.

The missile surges closer.

The third street approaches fast.

~ * ~

Judd heaves on the rope, drags himself up, then again, gets his feet on the hook. He feels as secure as he can considering the situation. He looks back.

The missile is so close he can see the rivets on its casing. It’s just five metres away now. They won’t outrun it. It’s only a matter of time before it -

The Loach jinks hard right, turns down another street. The missile turns too but not as fast. Suddenly it’s twenty metres behind again.

‘Whoa!’ Judd grips the rope white-knuckle hard as he swings out again, even wider than before, more than horizontal this time - hangs there like he’s in suspended animation -

~ * ~

Clang!

The chopper shudders.

Corey is horrified. ‘What was
that?
Is he okay?’

Lola and Spike look down.

~ * ~

Judd swings back down. He’s fine but the hook below his feet is gone. It struck the side of a building and has been severed from the rope.

~ * ~

Spike barks as Lola speaks: ‘He’s all right! He lost the hook but he’s all right.’

Corey exhales, relieved. ‘Okay, where to now?’

Lola turns and points out the windscreen. ‘You wanted a tall building.’

Corey follows her finger and takes in the towering blue glass edifice before him. It must be three hundred metres high. He grins his crooked grin. ‘That’ll do.’

He glances in the side-view mirror. The missile is right behind. He pulls on the controls and the Loach points up at a forty-five degree angle, thunders towards the heavens like a bat out of hell.

He wills the little chopper onwards. ‘Come on, baby, you can do it.’

~ * ~

What the hell is that Australian
doing?

Judd holds tight but without the hook to stand on, gravity goes to work. He watches himself slide down the rope in the mirror windows of the building in front of him. He’s surprised he doesn’t look as terrified as he feels - then he sees the white missile close in and he does.

~ * ~

The g-force jams Lola back into her seat. ‘Oh jeez.’

Corey glances at her. ‘Don’t worry, there’s a plan.’

She’s petrified - and yet she’s never felt so alive. It’s the first time she’s seen Corey fly and it’s like watching a maestro conduct an orchestra. She’s seeing it but she’s not quite believing it. She glances in the side-view mirror. The missile is close. ‘Must go faster!’

‘Almost there.’

The Loach goes up and up -

This building seems to go on forever -

The missile is
right
there -

‘This might get a little bumpy.’

~ * ~

Judd grips the rope tight but that just seems to make it slide through his hands faster. There’s a foot left - then half a foot - then the severed end slips through his fingers –

He falls.

~ * ~

35

Crunch.

Judd slams into the skyscraper’s roof and lands on the bed of white pebbles that insulates the surface.

He skids to a stop. It should hurt, the fall was over three metres, but the pain is cancelled by pure relief. He watches the Loach thunder overhead.

~ * ~

‘How is he?’

Lola looks down, clocks Judd, then turns to Corey, amazed. ‘He’s okay!’

The Australian drops the Loach onto the pebble surface with a skid-bump then turns and watches the missile sweep overhead and rocket towards the heavens. ‘Okay, time you ran out of fuel, mate.’

Lola studies Corey, her face flushed. ‘That was amazing. I mean - you’re so good at flying this thing.’

Corey nods politely but he’s not really listening, he’s focused on the missile as it rips into the sky. He whispers to himself: ‘It’s gotta be low on fuel.’

‘The way you threw it around. I had no idea you could do that sort of stuff in a helicopter.’

Again Corey nods politely, but he’s still not really listening. His eyes are locked on the missile as it accelerates away. ‘Come on, run out of fuel, you bastard.’

‘And the plan, with the serpentine through the tall buildings, that was very clever —’

He holds up a finger and she stops talking. ‘What?’

He points towards the distant missile, unsure. ‘Is it turning?’

She watches it. ‘Um, well, I think -’

The missile gently curves to the left - then keeps turning.

‘Yes.’ Lola frowns. ‘We don’t want that, do we?’

‘No, we don’t.’

The radius of the missile’s turn tightens, then tightens again.

Corey can’t believe it. ‘No, no, no, don’t do that!’

It heads straight back towards the Loach.

‘Oh, come
on!’

‘That’s not good.’

‘No, it’s not. Get out.’

Lola turns to Corey. ‘I’m coming with you.’

Corey looks at her. ‘No, you’re not. Out.’

‘But I want to.’

‘Two minutes ago you were asking to go home.’

‘I changed my mind.’

‘It’s too dangerous. Out! I need to draw it away from the building.’

She unhappily unbuckles her belt and slides onto the skyscraper roof.

‘Stick close to Judd.’ Corey’s eyes flick to Spike. ‘You too. Out.’

The dog hops out as Corey looks back to the missile. Its hissing rocket motor coughs and splutters - and cuts out.

It has finally run out of fuel.

And that’s
really
bad.

‘Oh, damn.’ Now the engineless warhead tumbles directly towards the roof of the building and there’s no way Corey can draw it away.

Fifteen seconds until impact.

Corey shouts: ‘Everybody in!’

Lola turns to him, confused. ‘But you just said —’

‘I know what I said! In! Now!’ She does it. Spike jumps in behind her.

‘Mandy!’ Corey leans out and waves Judd towards the chopper. ‘In!’

Judd limp-runs to the Loach as he watches the warhead silently plunge towards the roof. He swings into the backseat. ‘Go!’

Five seconds until impact.

The Loach’s rotor blades thunder and it springs into the sky.

The warhead slams into the roof.

Ka-boom.
The explosion is massive.

~ * ~

Time slows.

‘Jesus H!’ Through the Loach’s open door Lola looks back and sees the top of the building blow apart. An orange fireball fills her world, reaches out for the chopper like a giant claw. It’s the most beautiful and terrifying thing she has ever seen.

Then the blast wave hits and it’s no longer beautiful.

Time speeds up.

~ * ~

The rush of hot air spanks the Loach onto its side.

Every alarm in the cabin shrieks.

‘That’s me!’ Corey tries to drag the Loach upright.

It doesn’t work.

The helicopter falls like a dropped shoe.

Corey glances right, sees Lola’s terrified face, then back at Judd, who holds the dog. He turns, looks out his open door at the ground as it rushes up to meet him.

In five seconds everything important to him will die.

~ * ~

36

The Loach falls.

Corey wrenches the controls.

The Loach rights itself, but it’s slow.

One hundred metres from the ground.

He gives it full power.

It makes no difference.

Fifty metres.

The turbine screams as the rotors bite at the air.

Twenty metres.

The rotors kick up a wave of dust.

Five metres.

Corey, Judd and Lola all brace for impact.

The Loach stops dead.

One metre off the roadway.

They look at each other, relieved and euphoric. Judd leans forward with a smile. ‘Doesn’t get much closer than that —’

Crack.
A deep rumble from above. They peer up through the spinning rotors and are no longer relieved or euphoric. The top three floors slide off the building - and drop towards them like a cement waterfall.

Lola turns to Corey. ‘We gotta go.’

He nods but there’s nowhere
to
go. There are skyscrapers on either side and they won’t outrun the debris if they fly forward or back.