Mumbai Manhunt by JC Hay

Author:JC Hay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Metal Pig Press
Published: 2017-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

Netta kept her eyes on Joshi's back as he picked his way through the warren of alleys and tunnels that made up the Blackout Zone. She could see how the area had developed organically as additional people contributed to the internal structure. As more bodies moved into the perceived safety, new structures were built on top of old. The space divided into smaller sections until it became a collection of highly specialized compartments.

The parallels to cancer didn't escape her.

And just like cancer, she understood that the city would lose more trying to fight the growth than by keeping it contained. Which explained why it hadn't been eliminated.

Joshi paused, studying another haphazard collection of scrap wood and corrugated plastic that grew from the side of a brick wall. Whatever he wanted, he didn't find it, as he sighed and moved on a moment later.

"It would be easier if we both knew what you were looking for," she offered.

He grunted. Since the confrontation with Bao, he'd barely said a dozen words to her. Netta wondered what conclusions he'd jumped to. Wondered where Bao had gotten his information in the first place. BlueGene had assured her that her past had been very much hidden. And as bad as he thought it might be, what would Joshi think of the truth?

He'd leave. Again. And he'd be right to. The sudden pain that dug its nails into her heart made her gasp. Not over fear for herself; she refused to believe he'd turn her over to Bao. He'd simply leave her to fend for herself. More painful was the idea that in doing so, he'd be condemned to die alone. It wasn't love. Just sympathy. And hormones. There was no need to assign lofty words to a purely biological reaction.

Which didn't make the way she'd responded to him, the way she still wanted him, any more logical. It's concern, she told herself. Knowing you can save him.

But that required her to tell him the truth first. Before he decided that what his imagination had concocted was bad enough and left anyway.

Joshi moved to the next shelter, which seemed to have been built to protect a bird's nest of wiring, connected together for God alone knew what purpose. He pressed close to the wall and, after a moment's effort, slid out part of a broken brick. As soon as the brick had cleared its socket, Joshi shot his hand inside and gave a sigh of relief.

He held a grenade in his hand when he pulled it back out, and very carefully returned the pin from the back of the brick he had removed. Once it had been disarmed, he looked at her. "Low yield incendiary. In a brick and steel tunnel. The fire would have destroyed everything I'd hidden in there, but it wouldn't have spread. I wouldn't endanger the Zone like that."

It still sounded an awful lot like a risk to her, but she refused to argue with him. He was talking to her again, and she didn’t want to take the chance that he might stop.

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