The engine screeches, stuck in first gear, and Rachel prays that it won’t have enough power to reach the terrace. But it’s already here. She can hear the thud of bodies hitting the unforgiving metal, see them being spun up into the air. It’s all happening in slow motion, but yet she can’t seem to reach anyone before they’re hit; can’t save them from this faceless horror that is picking them off and taking them out, one by one.
The revving is deafening, competing against the roar of the waves, as the machine gets ever closer. What looked like a single beam separates into two round circles of light as it nears, blinding Rachel to anything beyond. She can’t see what car it is, what color it is, or, more importantly, if anyone’s in it.
It’s almost upon her now, but there’s nowhere for her to go, other than diving over the side of the terrace and into the sea. But it’s rocky and she’s likely to be taken by the ocean without trace if she gives it the chance.
She thinks of Josh, pictures his smiling face, and wonders how he’ll cope without her. She doesn’t want to leave him, miss out on seeing him graduate, get married and have children of his own. In that moment, she is comforted by the fact that he’ll still have his dad by his side, but then terror rips through her as she realizes that Jack might already be lying somewhere, mown down just a second before her. Where is he? When did she last see him?
She cries out in fear for Josh, more than herself, as the car reaches her. She moves, but not fast enough, to stop it from slamming into her, sending her spiraling out of control. It feels like she’s flying through the air, oddly serene as she floats above everyone else already on the floor. She’s sure she catches a glimpse of Noah’s pale-linen suit as she spins and she searches frantically for his face, knowing that if her eyes are going to be forever closed from this point, his face is the last thing she wants to see.
She tenses everything, squeezing every muscle tight, waiting for the impact to come. When she crash lands, she’s sure she must be dead, as there is nothing but a pain-free silence all around her.
But the whirring scream of the car as it goes airborne brings her around, and she watches as it’s momentarily suspended in mid-air before plunging into the sea.
There are cries of pain and calls for help all around her, but as much as she feels compelled to go to them, she takes a second for her own self-assessment. She tentatively moves her arms up toward her head, waiting for the agony to manifest itself in whichever limb has been struck. She doesn’t quite believe that her head is still on her shoulders until she feels it with her hands. Working her way down her body, she pats herself, checking that everything is still where it should be. Her fingers instinctively recoil from a warm, wet patch at the top of her leg, and as she allows herself to focus, a deep, rhythmical throbbing starts beating from her hip.
She winces as she pulls herself up into a sitting position, looking around at faces wearing expressions identical to her own, none of them yet believing what they’ve just witnessed and in too much shock to move.
Rachel’s buoyed to see that there are more people standing than on the floor, though Ali’s mum is the only one she immediately recognizes. “My baby, my baby,” comes a blood-curdling scream, as she reaches a figure lying motionless on the floor. Rachel can see the white dress literally turning red in front of her eyes.
“Noah!” Rachel calls out, her tears mixing with the salty sea spray, stinging her face. “Noah!”
Like a celestial being, he emerges from the open-mouthed crowd, running toward her and falling to his knees. “Oh my God,” he cries. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
She nods. “What the hell happened? Have you seen Jack? Where’s Paige?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he croaks. “It came out of nowhere. I don’t know where they were. I don’t know where they are.”
Rachel’s aware of frantic movement all around her, as staff emerge from the restaurant with their hands on their heads and the wedding guests begin to call out in disbelief.
“Kimberley!” comes a desperate voice. “Ali!” cries another.
“Will?” Rachel shouts. “Will, is that you?”
She sees him stumbling around, disoriented. “Go to him,” she says to Noah. “See that he’s okay and find Jack and Paige.”
“The servi?os de emergência are coming,” calls out one of the waiters. “Please, be calm. They are here quickly.”