by William Oday
Fight the Shock
William Oday
Contents
Want the Epilogue?
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
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1
The plane shuddered through yet another pocket of turbulent air. Cade Bowman liked flying about as much as he liked dying, which was to say that he considered them to be close enough to be one and the same.
The fact that he’d flown and survived so many times over the years did nothing to change that opinion.
He gripped the armrests so hard the veins in his forearms bulged beneath the skin. He swallowed to keep from losing fifteen dollars worth of a cheese and crackers plate. He didn’t normally spring for airplane food because it was always overpriced and usually tasted terrible. But it had sounded better than another energy bar from his Get Home Bag. So he’d splurged and was now determined to keep those expensive calories down.
Two months working construction in Seattle had paid well and put some padding into a depleted bank account. The time away from his wife and kids had been tough, but at least they could catch up on bills and have some room to breathe. A connecting flight in San Francisco and then he’d be on the way home to Durango, Colorado.
He couldn’t wait.
An elderly lady sitting next to him patted his hand. Her skeletal fingers cold and light as a feather touch. “It’s going to be okay, dear. I take this flight every summer to visit my grandson in San Francisco, and I always get there. Now, two summers ago was a real headache, let me tell you. Or was it three? Anyway, there was a problem with the plane and they made us wait on the tarmac for hours. They wouldn’t even let people get up to go to the bathroom. I’m sorry, but when you get to be my age you simply can’t hold it forever. But did they care? No. Can you believe that?”
Cade forced a smile and then grimaced when another pocket of rough air shook the plane.
The intercom crackled. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re beginning our descent to San Francisco International Airport. As you’ve noticed, we’re moving through some turbulence, so hang tight and we’ll be below it in a few minutes. Once again, on behalf of American Airlines and the crew, it’s a pleasure to have you with us and we hope to see you again soon. Flight crew, please prepare for arrival.”
Cade looked out the window and saw the city in the distance. Twinkling lights through a thick blanket of fog. Unfortunately, he also saw the black void of the bay as well. The pinprick lights of boats here and there punctuated the vast stretches of darkness between. He didn’t enjoy flying in the first place and flying over large bodies of water at night was even worse. His phone lit up. A text from his wife, Samantha.
Call me when you can. Love you.
He texted back. He wasn’t supposed to have his phone on, but he’d forgotten to set it to airplane mode. And they were obviously low enough for it to pick up a signal.
Will do. Love you too.
He decided to send another.
And don’t stress. We’ll figure it out like we always—
The screen went dark.
The cabin lights did too, plunging the interior into darkness.
The plane dropped and Cade’s stomach flopped, the queasy feeling of plunging down a roller coaster.
Voices rose in panic. Some broke into screams.
He sunk into his seat as the plane leveled out some, but it was still angled down far more than it should’ve been.
“What’s happening?” someone yelled.
“We’re gonna crash!” another voice added.
Cade clenched his torso tight and groaned through the surge of adrenaline, fighting to keep the rising fear in check.
A hand latched onto his arm and slid down.
He peeled his fingers off the armrest and clasped the old woman’s hand. He wanted to reassure her, tell her it was going to be okay, but it was all he could do to keep himself under control. Instead, he held her frail hand in his and squeezed, but not too hard. A career in the trades had made his body strong and his grip like iron. Some tasks required brute strength. This one required a subtler touch.
A door slammed somewhere ahead and a frantic voice yelled above the din. “Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm! We’ve lost power and will have to make an emergency landing in the bay. Life jackets are below your seats. Please do not inflate—”
Her words were drowned out by a new wave of screaming and shouting. Terror filled the cabin with a palpable, suffocating weight.
Cade reached beneath his seat but couldn’t find anything that felt like a life jacket that could be removed. Years ago, he’d once taken the time to locate the vest and run through how to retrieve it and put it on. But that wasn’t helping now because it wasn’t there. Or maybe it was tucked somewhere that wasn’t obvious in the dark.
A soft voice whispered in his ear. “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”
Cade hadn’t been all that religious since leaving the church as a teenager, but he joined the woman in prayer, silently speaking the parts he remembered.
They finished it together and Cade added a prayer of his own.
Please let me live. I have a wife, a daughter, and a son who need me. Please, God, let me be there for them.
A shadow hurried by in the aisle. “Put your heads down, arms around your legs and brace for impact! Put your heads down, arms around your legs and brace for impact!”
Cade snatched his bag from below the seat in front and stuffed it down at his side. He leaned over, doing his best to keep his breathing slow and steady even as his heart ran wild in his chest.
“Mommy, what’s happening? I don’t want to die! Mommy!” a young voice wailed over and over.
The elderly woman spoke in a strained whisper. “If the Lord takes me, tell my grandson that I love him.”
“You’ll tell him yourself when we get through this,” Cade said through gritted teeth.
“Please, tell him for me.”
&n
bsp; What was he supposed to say?
“Okay, I will.”
It wasn’t important that he didn’t know her grandson’s name or address or anything. It was about comforting her in what could be their final moments together.
“Thank you.”
Cade’s body pressed down as the descent flattened out and the front of the plane lifted. He grunted through the pressure until it eased.
For a few seconds, time froze.
The plane was neither falling nor climbing.
And then the curse of the present slammed into gear as the rear of the plane hit the water. The fuselage quaked and shivered.
The seatbelt dug into his waist from the abrupt deceleration. The front of the plane dropped and it felt like the belt was about to cut him in half. Blood filled his head. His heart thumped in his ears.
Like a bucking bull, the cabin thrashed around as the plane bounced along the surface of the bay. Overhead compartments flew open hurling bags into the aisle and onto passengers.
Cade held onto the woman’s hand, probably gripping too tight but he couldn’t tell. His foot hit the floor and bounced a knee back into his face. His nose erupted in white-hot pain and warm blood spilled over his lips.
The terrible shaking began to settle as the plane slowed.
Amidst the crying and yelling, a single voice cheered. Howling joyous whoops that spoke to the gift of life snatched from the jaws of death.
Cade sat up and glanced at the old woman. The pale light of the full moon coming through the window cast a dim blue glow onto her face.
She pointed past him.
He turned to look out the window just as a massive barge filled with shipping containers sheared the wing off and smashed through the tail of the plane.
2
The impact spun the plane around. The momentum snapped Cade’s head to the side, shutting him off like a light.
He was somewhere else.
Home.
It was a bright and clear summer afternoon in the Rocky Mountains. He turned in circles, dazed and disoriented.
He was in a meadow swathed in lush green. A gentle breeze rippled through the grass, drawing patterns that made it feel alive and expressive. Almost like it was trying to tell him something. Majestic peaks painted an angular pattern along the horizon. The rise and fall of the lines like the scrawl of a heartbeat writ large. Sweet mountain air filled his chest. Air that could be found nowhere else in the world as far as he was concerned.
And there on a patchwork quilt made by his grandmother was all that mattered in the world.
His family. Samantha, Lily, and Ethan. Dennis, their rescued Boxer mutt, bounded out of the grass like a deer and flopped down to get his belly rubbed. It was a ridiculous name for a dog, but there was a story behind it.
The suffused rays of the sun cast a glowing halo through his wife’s light brown hair. She was an angel. His angel. She saw him and a beautiful smile spread across her face. The warmth in it a reflection of the sun. Lily and Ethan laughed and waved him over to see something they’d found in the meadow.
He started toward them, but found his limbs numb and pushing through viscous air. As much as he tried, he got no closer.
The weather shifted. Clouds closed in, blocking out the sun. Darkness gathered. The air turned cold and a gust sent shivers up his spine.
They were scared now. Frantically waving and shouting, trying to tell him something but he couldn’t hear what above the roar of the wind. Dennis barked wildly like he did every time a package was delivered to their front door.
Cade snapped awake with a sharp intake of air. One sensation dominated the others.
Cold.
An aching, bone-biting chill like his feet were locked inside a block of ice. A high-pitched whine like a tuning fork smacked by a hammer vibrated inside his head. A numbing distance that threatened to draw him down. Promised to make it all go away if only he would surrender.
No!
He tried to sit up, but something heavy on his back had him pinned down against his knees. He blinked and tried to focus. Took a few breaths to steady himself.
The plane.
The crash.
The barge.
It all snapped into focus with terrifying clarity.
Screams of terror choked the air. Gurgling water rushed into the cabin as the rear of the fuselage dipped below the surface of the bay.
He gathered himself and pushed against whatever was holding him down.
A lifeless body rolled off. An arm dragged across his head as the corpse splashed into the water at his feet.
He jerked away and winced as the seatbelt pinched into his waist. His hands reached for the buckle and ran into the something.
His bag.
He still had it!
He dug under it, found the buckle and got free.
The water was coming in fast now. A rushing current under the seats. He glanced out the window at the moonlight reflecting off the water. A wave splashed against the glass and then it went dark as it sank below the surface.
He remembered the elderly woman and turned to her. Fumbling in the dark, he found her slumped over. Not moving. He pulled her upright and tried to release the seatbelt.
The plane lurched and began to roll over.
He lost hold of her and she slumped forward. She was gone.
And he would be too if he didn’t get out of there.
He slung the bag over his shoulder so both hands could be free.
The plane continued rolling as he climbed over the seat and started toward the back. It settled and now the opposite row of windows was the floor.
He continued on toward the half-circle at the back of the plane that was still above water.
Moonlight filtered through the row of windows above, casting everything in muted shades of blue and black.
A hand grabbed his wrist and he saw a teenage girl trapped beneath a body in a dark suit. She was around the same age as his daughter. “Help me! Please!”
He braced his boots on two armrests and heaved at the corpse. He was able to pull it up enough for her to squeeze out. “Go!” he yelled as he guided her toward a shrinking window of salvation.
A few others were climbing toward the back. Far more were trapped or dazed or already dead. A flailing limb struck out as he scrambled over twisted seats, piles of luggage and bodies.
He wanted to stop and help.
But he couldn’t.
The water was rushing in faster now. Soon, it would fill the interior and the plane and everyone inside would get sucked down into the dark depths.
He kept going.
Closer now to escape.
Twenty feet from where the fuselage had been torn in two.
He was swimming as much as climbing through the rising water and the shrinking pocket of air.
A face in the water shouted to him. Only the mouth, nose and eyes above the surface.
“I’m stuck! The belt won’t open! The water—” He gagged and spluttered as water poured into his mouth.
Cade reached below the surface and found the clasp. The metal was bent and the lever jammed. He clutched it like a clam, fingertips hurting, and wrenched it open. He shoved the kid forward as a wave of water swept in and sealed their escape. “Take a deep breath!” he shouted.
He did so himself and then dove under as it hit.
Only one thought remained.
Get out. Now.
He swam and climbed and made it to the ragged opening. His chest ached as the urge to breathe grew. He kicked away from the sinking hulk and made for the surface.
Chest burning for air, he broke through with a coughing, spluttering gasp. Several more before his heaving chest calmed.
Out in the middle of the bay.
Surrounded by dark water, floating debris and carnage from the crash.
And then something bumped into him.
3
Cade flinched away as the image of a shark flashed through his mind.
&n
bsp; He spun around and found a couple of floating seat cushions. He stacked them up and hooked his arms through the straps on the back. He slowed his breathing, rising and falling with the passing swells.
He kicked around in a circle to get his bearings.
Splashing and yelling from other survivors. Not close enough to see, but not many by the sounds of it.
A body face-down in the water drifted by.
Cade gritted his chattering teeth and tried not to think about what could be swimming under the surface. What could track the blood trail to an easy meal.
There were many reasons he lived in Durango, Colorado. Distance from oceans hadn’t been on the list, but it was now.
He spotted the towering silhouettes of the skyscrapers of downtown San Francisco ahead and the span of the Bay Bridge to the left. The city was dark but for a raging fire in the distance. The glowing orange flames reached high into the night sky. The hills of the city were a sea of shadows of varying depths. The light of the moon reflecting here and there, offering some illumination.
But no street lights.
No office lights checkering the sides of buildings.
No headlights snaking through the streets.
No brake lights coupled in the opposite directions.
It was dark like no city had been in well over a hundred years.