Chapter 8 #2
Men were already sorting the debris into what could be reused and what would have to be disposed of.
Mila clenched her hands. She wanted to help these people, but how could she?
There were a few shocked glances when they noticed her.
She must look a mess with her hair in knots and wearing filthy pyjamas. Mila exhaled, calming her nerves as she scanned the people for the man who worked for Agus, Ibu Minar’s son, Patar.
“Mila!” Fajar’s mother called and ran over to her. “I was so worried! Thank you for saving us.”
Mila hugged her back, tears welling in her eyes.
“Where have you been? Are you all right?”
She didn’t need to fake her exhaustion. “I got caught by the wave.” She followed Fajar’s mother over to a fire. “I must have lost consciousness. When I woke I was in the jungle.”
Fajar’s mother pressed a bowl of rice porridge into her hands.
“Terima kasih.” She took a mouthful and sighed at the warmth. Much better than the protein bar she’d had.
People crowded around her.
“Have you seen the village?”
“Did you find anyone else?”
She shook her head in response to the second question. “It’s taken me all night to walk here.”
“You must be exhausted,” Fajar’s mother declared. “We’ll get the doctor to check you over.”
“Where did you get the bandage?” The loud demand silenced the rest of the voices.
Mila glanced up at the man who had pushed his way to the front of the crowd. Patar.
Shit. “I got it from the medical centre. I was bleeding badly and timed it in between the waves.” As long as he didn’t make her take it off and see the stitches, she’d be fine.
“The medical centre is still there?” someone asked.
She nodded. “It’s the only building still standing.”
People gasped and a few sobbed, but Mila kept her attention on Patar. “Where’s Agus? Is my friend Vance here?”
“We have not seen Agus or your friend,” Fajar’s mother said.
“Did you see anyone in the village?” Patar demanded.
She shook her head. “I didn’t look. I was terrified I’d get caught in the medical centre when the next wave hit, so I went straight there and then headed up the mountain.” She glanced around. “Maybe Agus stayed at his house. Have you heard from him?”
Patar hesitated. “Yes. Agus is safe.”
“Good.” Mila faked her relief. “Is my friend with him?”
“I don’t know.” The man stepped back, his expression a little wary. Agus had obviously told him something.
Fajar’s mother frowned. “There are a few people missing. They may have left on their boats to deeper water. Where was your friend staying?”
“I thought he was staying with Agus.” She had a part to play. She stood, wincing as she did so. “What time is it?”
“Almost seven.”
Still a little early to ask Patar to call.
“How bad is it?” Fajar’s mother asked. “In the village?”
“Bad,” Mila admitted. “It’s mostly piles of debris.”
Tears appeared in the woman’s eyes and Mila hugged her. “We’ll work it out.”
Across the square she spotted Ibu Minar, the woman who had stolen her moped. She was lying on a makeshift bed watching Mila. Guilt crossed her face as Mila caught her eye and she looked away.
Mila didn’t have the strength to be mad. It had been a terrifying situation. But it meant her moped should be around here somewhere. She scanned the square and spotted it tucked along the wall of the house Ibu Minar was lying in front of.
If she couldn’t sneak out of the village, maybe she could ride out.
Would Agus search for her if he arrived and she’d gone? Or would he head straight back to his house?
This was a lot harder than she’d expected. She casually looked around, trying to spot Damien in the jungle. Nothing. Maybe he hadn’t made it yet.
She would have perhaps fifteen minutes to escape after Patar confirmed Agus was on his way. Any longer than that and she would risk running into Agus on her way down the mountain.
“You didn’t see the men in black?” Patar asked.
His words shocked her out of her thoughts. “What?”
“Ibu saw you talking with men in black when she was trapped.” He gestured to his mother.
Shit. Maybe Ibu Minar had been conscious longer than Mila had realised. “They appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared.”
“Did they speak to you?”
“They asked how they could help.”
“Anything else?”
“No. They helped lift a couple of things and then left. I assumed they were heading for another part of the village to search for survivors.” Mila met Patar’s eyes, knowing she was a terrible liar but also knowing if she looked away she would seem like she was lying.
She needed a distraction. “Is it too early to call Agus?” she asked Patar. “I want to know if my friend is safe.”
A pause as he studied her and then he said, “Of course. I’ll contact him now.”
“Thank you.”
Mila moved closer to Patar’s house but stayed outside, eating her bowl of porridge. She couldn’t hear the conversation inside.
Patar came out of the house carrying a radio. “Your friend is with Agus and is safe. Agus asked me to accompany you back to the village.”
“No!”
The man frowned at her outburst and she frantically thought of an excuse. “I can’t go back there.” She stepped away from him. “Not until the all-clear. It’s too dangerous.”
“The all clear has been given.”
She backed further away. “I won’t. Ask him to bring Vance to me. I can’t go back yet.” She forced herself to take heavy, panting breaths as if she was having a panic attack, and let Fajar’s mother help her into a seat.
“It’s safe,” the man said.
Mila shook her head. “No. If Agus isn’t leaving, then it isn’t safe. He knows what’s going on.” She hoped appealing to Agus’s ego would work and wouldn’t tip him off that she was lying through her teeth.
She needed him out of town. She hadn’t even considered he might not come for her himself.
Foolish.
What could she say to get him here? She scanned the square hoping to spot Damien, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Ibu, I assure you it’s safe.”
“No. I can’t go near the water.” She hugged herself and rocked a little, not having to fake her nerves.
The man scowled and spoke into his radio. “She’s too scared to go back.”
“Bring her to me.”
She glanced around, frantic to find an excuse. “I can help here.” No, that wouldn’t work. Agus might think she was occupied and not bother coming until he was ready. “Tell him I’m ready to marry Vance, but I want to do it here.”
Patar relayed the message.
Though it was a lie, the thought of marriage made her think of her mother. “Does anyone have a phone? I want to tell my mother I’m safe.”
“Mila!” Ibu Minar waved her over. “Patar has a phone.” She waved imperiously at her son.
Mila swallowed her smile. Perhaps the woman wanted to make amends. She walked over to Ibu Minar. “I’m glad you’re all right. How’s your foot?”
“The doctor has set it.” Ibu Minar grabbed her hand. “I am so very sorry.”
Mila patted her frail skin. “It’s OK. I am safe.”
“Fetch the phone!” the woman yelled to Patar.
Patar waved his acknowledgement and said to Agus, “She wants to call her mother.”
“No!”
Mila pretended she didn’t hear Agus’s explosion.
“I’ll be there soon,” Agus said.
Elation filled her. She handed Fajar’s mother her empty bowl. “Thank you so much.”
“Thank you. You will always have a place in my home.” The woman hugged her. “You saved my family.”
Tears pricked in Mila’s eyes. “I couldn’t have left them. What is the time?”
Fajar’s mother pursed her lips. “Quarter past seven.”
Fifteen minutes before she had to leave.
“Fajar told me about the men but I didn’t tell Patar,” Fajar’s mother whispered.
Mila stared at her in shock.
“Neither did Ibu Sari. Fajar told me Ali took your laptop after class yesterday.”
What could she say?
“If you need help, you tell me.”
Mila squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
“Come,” Patar called. “The phone is in my house.”
Mila hesitated. She was almost certain there were no landlines on the island. Everything she’d seen since she’d been here had been satellite or Wi-Fi. Which meant he wanted to keep her confined until Agus arrived.
“Hurry, hurry. Agus will be here soon.”
That was hopefully also a lie. It should take him at least twenty minutes to get here. “I’m not going inside,” she said. “There might be aftershocks.”
He waved his hand. “No, no. Earthquake is finished.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his house.
Fear prickled her skin. Time to go. Mila jerked her arm away. “It’s fine. I’ll call when Agus arrives. It’s too early at home.”
She spotted Dewi across the square. “Dewi!” She hurried over, hearing the man swear behind her. Another ten minutes until she definitely had to leave. But somehow she had to do it without being spotted.
The girl looked up. “Miss Mila!” She wrapped her arms around Mila’s waist. “I thought you were dead.” The girl burst into tears.
Mila patted her back while searching for some sign of Damien.
She pulled the girl away. “I’m fine, Dewi. You were so brave. I need to speak to someone. You stay here with your family.”
Mila moved back over to Ibu Minar and noticed her moped was gone. Damn it. She hesitated. What if Damien had taken it? Maybe she shouldn’t point out it was missing.
Two women approached them, one who was perhaps in her mid-forties and the other in her twenties. They shared similar facial features. “Are you the person who saved Ibu?” the older one asked.
Mila nodded.
“Thank you.” The woman hugged her. “We were so worried about her.”
“I couldn’t leave her behind.” She glanced behind her. Patar stood at the edge of the square with a smirk on his face.
Mila forced a smile, her stomach in knots. She had less than ten minutes to get away.
She turned around, searching for a solution, hoping Damien would realise it was her version of the bat signal.
She spotted the little child whom she’d put on the back of her moped before the tsunami had hit. She was being rocked by a woman, perhaps her mother. Mila hurried over. “I’m pleased she is safe.”
The woman looked at her in question.
“I put her on the back of the moped with Ibu Minar.”
The woman burst into tears. “You saved my baby.”
Mila hugged them both and continued to scan the area. She glanced towards the jungle, trying to spot Damien. No luck. If she made a run for it, how far would she get?
“I couldn’t find her after the earthquake,” the woman sobbed. “My husband forced me to leave because of the tsunami.”
“You’re both safe now.” Mila pulled back, extricating herself from the woman’s arms. “I must use the bathroom.” That ruse had worked once before.
“The toilet is over behind the houses.” The woman pointed.
Relief filled Mila. “Thank you.”
She hurried down the side of the nearby longhouse, hearing a shout behind her. She glanced back. Patar was jogging towards her.
Mila ran around the corner of the house and almost ran into Damien. “Keep going,” he murmured.
Thank God. She kept running, heading for the toilet building. When she reached the door, she looked back.
Patar raced into view and Damien grabbed him in a choke hold. In seconds the man was slumped on the ground.
Quickly Damien tied his arms and legs.
Mila jogged back. “He’ll yell when he wakes.”
Damien nodded. “Let’s go before he does.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards her moped which had keys in the ignition.
“You stole it!”
He grinned. “Yeah. I recognised it was yours and found the keys inside.”
He’d been busy while she’d been playing her part.
She jumped on behind Damien and gripped tight.
The acceleration of the bike wasn’t great at the best of times, but with two people on it, it was glacial.
As they rode past Patar, he stirred and yelled. A couple of people looked over and frowned.
“Faster!”
“I’m trying.”
The engine screamed as Damien opened the throttle and they picked up speed, bumping over the rough dirt ground. They bounced up onto the bitumen and a man darted to his left, heading to a car, while another ran to where Patar was shouting instructions.
Shit.
Fajar’s mother pulled Fajar and his sibling into the square right in front of the four-wheel drive. She grinned at Mila as the man honked his horn.
Mila exhaled. It would slow him for a moment.
“The road to the other village is about a kilometre away,” she yelled to Damien.
He nodded.
It wouldn’t take long for the man to catch up with them and they needed to be off the main road by then.
The small wheels of the bike didn’t give them a lot of grip and the twisty, bumpy road was a death trap.
She clung tighter to Damien and scanned the road ahead of them, searching for the track.
The roar of an engine behind them told her Fajar’s family were no longer an obstacle.
“There!” She pointed to the track. It was a significant decline, and she squeezed Damien as he steered the bike down it.
The bumps rattled her brain.
About a hundred metres on Damien swore and abruptly the bike slid to a stop.
Mila leaned to look past. The track had disappeared, falling a few metres straight down and then a path of dirt and debris spilled out from it.
Landslide.
Their escape route was gone.