Mayday: A Kaiju Thriller

Chapter Seventeen

Not my problem. I shoved my way through the car park, making for the main entrance. There were as many people trying to get in, carrying wounded family members, as there were trying to evacuate. The hospital staff were struggling valiantly to maintain order, but you don’t reason with desperate people.

The begging and sobs of the crowd were so loud it took me several seconds to realise my pocket was yelling at me. I pressed my hand over one ear and pulled out my walkie.

“Boss! Boss!” Lindsey said.

“What is it?”

“We’ve got a problem. Dasari must’ve seen me. She made a run for it. I couldn’t get through the crowd. I’m going to lose her.”

“Goddamn it! What direction was she heading?”

“North side. Emergency exit.”

I broke into a run. “I’m going to head her off. Get your arse moving and make sure she doesn’t double back.”

I jammed the walkie back in my pocket without waiting for a response and elbowed a balding man out of my way.

I sprinted around the side of the hospital’s northern wing, dodging several parked cars. The crowd thinned to nothing. I scanned the side of the building. There was the emergency exit, or one of them, at least. Hell if I knew how many there were. I made for it.

The door swung open. Priya Dasari appeared in the entrance, dragging the boy by his hand. Her mother was a step behind. I slipped my hand into my pocket, touched my gun.

Priya’s head swivelled, scanning the car park. Her clothing was ripped and she bore a few new scrapes across one side of her face. She didn’t see me at first, coming at her from beside a long line of staff cars. Then her gaze snapped back to me and I saw the whites of her eyes grow.

I slowed from a run to a walk. I held my left hand out, palm toward her. “Don’t even think about it.”

Her gaze darted around. A trapped rat, that was what she reminded me of. She pulled the boy behind her and put out her arm as if to protect her mother. The older woman’s face was near black from her bruises. Her gait was unsteady and she looked dazed, like she’d just come off a three-day bender.

Priya backed away. “I just want to get my family to safety.”

“Admirable,” I said. “Stay where you are. Stop, I said.” I pulled the gun from my pocket and held it by my side.

Her eyes went to it. She stopped.

“I don’t know what you think I did, but my family—”

“I don’t have a problem with your family. They’re free to go. You, you’re coming with me.”

Priya shook her head and started backing away again. I advanced to match pace. The boy was staring at me, eyes wide. Dried tears made rivers on his cheeks. He looked blank, far away. The thousand-yard stare.

“My mother is hurt, drugged,” Priya said. “They need me to look after them. Let me get them to the boat.”

“No time, sweetheart. They’ll be looked after if you come with me now. If you run, I’ll shoot. I’ll be aiming for you, not them. But I’m not a great shot.”

I saw movement behind Priya and her family. Lindsey emerged from an exit further down the side of the building. She saw me, met my gaze, and nodded. She crept towards Priya.

“Let them go back inside,” I said. “The hospital staff will take care of them.”

Priya’s face fell. She knew I had her. She had more to lose than me. Her eyes went to the city behind me, where the thump of giant footsteps punctuated the crackle of approaching fire. She closed her eyes, opened them again. She knelt down and zipped up the last couple of inches of her boy’s jacket as she spoke to him. He didn’t look like he was taking in what she was saying. She pushed his hand into the older woman’s, then stood and said something in Hindi to her. Priya’s mother nodded blankly. With a small push, Priya directed them back into the hospital. They disappeared through the emergency exit.