hauled, lifted the woman in his arms and with all his strength threw her towards the top of the ragged vent... She was caught by Natasha’s searching hands and pushed to freedom as another roar shook the room, more glasses smashed, and one of the huge ceiling beams split with a deafening crack, showering down jagged lengths of timber - and then collapsed with a tremendous scream, filling the chamber with clouds of debris and crushed stone, sending a shower of sharp rocks flying against Natasha and blocking out the light...
Dust engulfed Carter and he choked, balanced within the fissure of rock as everything shook around him, making him feel suddenly nauseous. With eyes streaming he steadied himself, traced the sobbing and choking noises and, reaching down, found the second woman’s hand. He lifted her to him and she clung, limpet to rock, face buried in his neck, breasts heaving with panic against his chest. Holding her tight, Carter turned his face away from the dust and closed his ears to the rumbling roar of the world around him. He could feel the bar, perched treacherously and moving as if in rhythm with the shaking earth - he felt it sliding and with a sudden surge of adrenalin and an insane burst of speed and power he sprinted up the incline, boots pushing against the torn handles of beer pumps to propel himself upwards and onwards, somehow miraculously launching himself from the summit to roll, still clasping the woman, to the stone- and -glass-scattered floor. The shards bit into his hands and arms and legs, slicing him open in a dozen places.
‘It’s fucking collapsing!’ screamed Natasha.
Carter watched the bar slide into infinity. He wiped rock dust from his eyes and felt blood flow over his hands and arms. He looked up; the shaking had increased, the whole world was shifting and moving and bucking around them as if in the throes of inebriation, of sex, and he felt pure fear. ‘Get the fuck out - now,’ he said calmly.
They could die in this place.
Hauling himself to his feet, and dragging the hysterical woman along with them, they sprinted for the exit and the steps leading out into the fresh air. Another beam collapsed behind them, a mushroom of dust billowing around the two Spiral operatives and smashing them with stone buckshot from this natural shotgun. Up the steps they raced and burst out gasping into the cold crisp night air—
People were screaming, sobbing, searching for friends who were missing in the huge crowd. A couple of small groups had moved away from the hotel and were staring with wide eyes, dumbstruck at this incredible disaster. A few were trying to help others, less fortunate than themselves, who had been cut by broken glass or battered by heavy falling stones.
Carter could hear helicopters and distant sirens.
He prised the woman’s fingers from their grip on his body, oblivious to her whimpers of thanks. His head turned to one side and he looked up. The screams were muffled by the continuing rumbles and vibrations. The whole hotel was tilted, partly collapsed, a deformed nightmare - and then Natasha was in front of him, her stare locked with his, her face almost unrecognisable through the dust and the grime.
‘You can hear it as well.’
Carter gritted his teeth, stone dust grinding between them. ‘I hear nothing.’
‘You can hear her screaming ... go and help her.’
Carter took hold of Natasha’s face, looked deep into her beautiful eyes. ‘No, Nats - I’m here for you. And our baby ... I’m not part of International fucking Rescue.’
‘She is fucking screaming in there ... she will die. And it will haunt your conscience for ever.’
‘Damn you, Natasha, I have our family to think about now ...’
‘Go,’ pleaded Natasha, ‘I will be OK here ... go and help her.’
Cursing, and rubbing hard at his eyes, Carter looked up at the collapsing hotel. Then he was running, around the side of the swaying building, staring up at smashed windows and tilted sections
Dust engulfed Carter and he choked, balanced within the fissure of rock as everything shook around him, making him feel suddenly nauseous. With eyes streaming he steadied himself, traced the sobbing and choking noises and, reaching down, found the second woman’s hand. He lifted her to him and she clung, limpet to rock, face buried in his neck, breasts heaving with panic against his chest. Holding her tight, Carter turned his face away from the dust and closed his ears to the rumbling roar of the world around him. He could feel the bar, perched treacherously and moving as if in rhythm with the shaking earth - he felt it sliding and with a sudden surge of adrenalin and an insane burst of speed and power he sprinted up the incline, boots pushing against the torn handles of beer pumps to propel himself upwards and onwards, somehow miraculously launching himself from the summit to roll, still clasping the woman, to the stone- and -glass-scattered floor. The shards bit into his hands and arms and legs, slicing him open in a dozen places.
‘It’s fucking collapsing!’ screamed Natasha.
Carter watched the bar slide into infinity. He wiped rock dust from his eyes and felt blood flow over his hands and arms. He looked up; the shaking had increased, the whole world was shifting and moving and bucking around them as if in the throes of inebriation, of sex, and he felt pure fear. ‘Get the fuck out - now,’ he said calmly.
They could die in this place.
Hauling himself to his feet, and dragging the hysterical woman along with them, they sprinted for the exit and the steps leading out into the fresh air. Another beam collapsed behind them, a mushroom of dust billowing around the two Spiral operatives and smashing them with stone buckshot from this natural shotgun. Up the steps they raced and burst out gasping into the cold crisp night air—
People were screaming, sobbing, searching for friends who were missing in the huge crowd. A couple of small groups had moved away from the hotel and were staring with wide eyes, dumbstruck at this incredible disaster. A few were trying to help others, less fortunate than themselves, who had been cut by broken glass or battered by heavy falling stones.
Carter could hear helicopters and distant sirens.
He prised the woman’s fingers from their grip on his body, oblivious to her whimpers of thanks. His head turned to one side and he looked up. The screams were muffled by the continuing rumbles and vibrations. The whole hotel was tilted, partly collapsed, a deformed nightmare - and then Natasha was in front of him, her stare locked with his, her face almost unrecognisable through the dust and the grime.
‘You can hear it as well.’
Carter gritted his teeth, stone dust grinding between them. ‘I hear nothing.’
‘You can hear her screaming ... go and help her.’
Carter took hold of Natasha’s face, looked deep into her beautiful eyes. ‘No, Nats - I’m here for you. And our baby ... I’m not part of International fucking Rescue.’
‘She is fucking screaming in there ... she will die. And it will haunt your conscience for ever.’
‘Damn you, Natasha, I have our family to think about now ...’
‘Go,’ pleaded Natasha, ‘I will be OK here ... go and help her.’
Cursing, and rubbing hard at his eyes, Carter looked up at the collapsing hotel. Then he was running, around the side of the swaying building, staring up at smashed windows and tilted sections
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