William reached Sarah first. He raised himself up by her side and watched as the Rex passed by her window and continued down the fuselage. “Sarah.” William whispered her name and gently shook her. “Sarah, wake up.” As she opened her eyes William placed his fingers on his lips, “Shhh!”
Sarah looked confused. “What?” she whispered back to him.
He pointed down towards the back of the plane and gestured her to follow him. She slid out of her seat and followed William while he woke Amy and Marcus.
“What about Nick?” asked Amy.
“He’s asleep in the captain’s bunk and there are no windows in there. He should be ok if he stays asleep,” replied Marcus.
“Yeah, if he stays asleep,” interrupted Sarah.
“I think he’s the lucky one, it passed inches by him and he slept through it,”Amy said.
“Where is it now? I can’t hear it anymore,” Sarah said.
Marcus looked at William and gestured to him to follow. The two men pushed through the galley curtains and made their way down the economy class towards the centre of the plane.
“Its shadow has gone,” William said.
Marcus pointed further down the cabin, “No it hasn’t.”
Suddenly the image of its massive head appeared again against the closed blinds.
“It must have walked around the wing,” said Marcus.
They watched as its head dipped down under the windows.
“The meat, shit, it’s here for the meat,” William said.
Marcus looked at him. “We have to do something, we have to scare it off or it will come back again and again looking for food.”
William grabbed at his arm. “Scare it off, how the fuck do you intend to do that? That gun you have won’t even scratch it!”
Marcus smiled, “No, but the flares will…follow me.”
He led William over to the hatch that led into the hold. Grabbing one of the lanterns they climbed down into it.
“I must be fucking mad,” William said.
“No, William, not mad, if this works we won’t see it again!”
Marcus lit the lantern and made his way to the door. The cargo bay looked foreboding, lit only by a single lantern. Shadows and strange patterns filled every unlit area that the little lamp couldn’t reach and William expected the Rex to leap at him from every one of them even though he knew it couldn’t possibly fit in here. But knowing that it was outside the door made the atmosphere down there even more terrifying and his imagination was running away on his fear.
As they approached the door both men knew that the Rex was only a few feet away from them; separated only by a few thin inches of steel. Marcus pulled the safety catch across and started to wind the handle that dislodged the door and cranked it open.
After it was open by only a few inches - just enough for Marcus to get his head and shoulders out - he stopped and locked it in place. “Ok, switch the lantern off,” he ordered William.
William did as he was told. He was in no position to argue or even think against anything Marcus would say. Right now all he could concentrate on was survival. Marcus pulled the flare gun out of his jacket pocket and smiled, “Wish me luck, William.” With that he lowered himself and slid his head and upper torso out of the door.
Marcus was met with a moon-filled night sky. Dark massive clouds passed by it and he could see the rain droplets running down the curved fuselage and further away the trees glistened and gleamed. The large green leaves wet with the rain reflected the moonlight back at him against the black velvety background.
He turned his head to the left and then he saw it, or at least he saw its legs. Two immensely strong legs and leading back from them, a colossal tail that swayed back and forth. Marcus tried to pull his arm around to line the flare gun up to aim, he wanted to hit it in the middle of its back. He thought that that would be enough to send it running and not come back. He twisted his body round and started to bring his arm up alongside him to take his shot. His hand managed to get most of the way up his side when the gun snagged against one the hinges on the door. He turned his attention away from the Rex for just a moment to re-adjust his position and free his arm. He released the stuck flare gun and turned back towards his target; the rain now ran down his face and in to his eyes. He blinked furiously to clear the water from them, and when the clarity came back he realised the Rex had moved and now they met eye-to-eye.
Marcus froze, he had the flare gun free but it still wasn’t lined up where it needed to be; he looked at the angle of the gun and then instantly back into the eye of the Rex. Its small eye stared at him intently. Rain ran from its face down its thick curling lips and onto the huge sharp jagged teeth, that now seemed to be getting closer and closer and bigger and bigger.
Marcus blinked hard, clearing the rain once more, but the Rex was still there still staring, still snarling. Marcus heard the low grumbling that came from the back of its throat and it sounded exactly as he imagined it would when William had described it after it had taken David. His attention was brought back in an instant when the grumbling turned into a definite growl. Marcus made his decision, he brought the gun round to line up the shot. He would direct the flare straight at the Rex’s eyes. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, from the thought in his brain to the nerve impulse sent to his muscles to start the process of moving his arm and eventually pulling the trigger.
He watched as the gun moved through the rain, and Marcus began to scream hoping to stun and confuse the Rex, allowing him the seconds he would need to get the shot away.
In the cargo bay all that William could see was Marcus’s waist down to his feet, all he heard was the scream as his arm moved, pulling the gun to line up the shot, but he didn’t hear the flare leave the gun and he didn’t hear anything else from Marcus after his legs disappeared through the small gap he had left in the cargo bay door so quickly; that William didn’t even get time to react and try to get to them.
William screamed after him but it was no use, he was gone and when he finally gained the courage to peek through the small gap all he saw was the back of the Rex as it headed away and back into the moonlit emptiness that surrounded them.
Instantly, William cranked the door shut and secured the thick locking bar. He headed back up to the passenger cabin. Hysterical, he clambered up the ladder and fell in to the arms of Amy, who had been waiting for them, he didn’t say anything to her, he couldn’t, no words could form his sheer anguish, but she could see clearly by his face that something terrible had happened. He fell against her and sobbed. Amy cradled him but knew there was nothing she could do to make his pain and sorrow go away and just as she thought that night could be no worse, Sarah came through into the galley and through her own tears and sobbing she announced, “It’s Holly, she’s dead!”
Chapter Ten
Bruce had spent the time, since he had returned to his tent, trying to get any information he could from the flight recorders, but it was useless, both recorders were blank; their hard drives corrupted so badly that not even the powerful retrieval software that he had could piece together any bits of information.
He sank into his chair and stared at the screen of his laptop, the cursor just stared at him occasionally blinking waiting for his next command but he had none to give. He tried to piece together the clues he had about the flight, the two reconstructed faces, names that were mentioned in the diary and of course the body itself.
Andrea had checked the body for ID but to no-one’s surprise there was none. Over time the survivors must have changed clothes and no doubt as they had come to accept that there was no chance of rescue and that they were in fact alone, why would they have kept their ID in a safe place or even carried it with them?
Bruce lowered his weary head into his hands, he was tired and even though he wouldn’t admit it, especially to Simon, he was beaten.
Mustering what little energy he had left he raised his head and checked his clock, the green illuminated numbers read 8
:03pm. He sighed heavily, he knew that Susan and Andrea would be here at any moment along with Simon to go through the rest of the diary and unless it gave any further clues to the discovery of the plane and its passengers; it was game over and that above everything was what Bruce feared.
As he sat in silence, Susan and Andrea came into his tent, he looked up from his chair and greeted them with a resigned look on his face, forcing only half a smile. As he did he said nothing but simply gestured towards two camping chairs he had put out for them. Susan sat in the one closest to him.
“You ok, Bruce? You look really down.”
His smile widened. “Taking everything into account, Susan, I would say I’m just great!”
His answer was delivered with an almost aggressive undertone and Susan didn’t really know how to respond in case she rattled him further.
She turned to Andrea and shook her head. Andrea spoke to him next. “You seen Simon since this afternoon?”
Bruce was already regretting the way he had just spoken to Susan, he knew as the words were delivered the way he had spoken to her was not right and as if to try and apologise and ease his conscience he engaged with both of them in much more civil manner. “I haven’t, Andrea, I assumed he had returned to the plane to keep an eye on Mark and the forensics that your team is doing, Susan.” As he spoke her name he looked directly at her and smiled, and she knew that this was Bruce rectifying his last comment.
She nodded to him and replied to his rhetorical statement, “No, Bruce, I was over there myself most of the day and I haven’t seen him.” As she finished her sentence the tent flap pulled open and Simon came in. “Hi, sorry I’m late. I just had to finish off something,” he said as he made his way in and sat down, but Simon had an uneasy look about him as he had earlier and now Bruce could see it as well as Susan and Andrea.
Susan looked over at Bruce and he could see a look of concern about her face; something didn’t feel right, they all felt it and before Susan was willing to carry on reading the diary she wanted it clearing up. “What’s the matter, Simon? You’ve been quiet most of the day, and missing to come to think of it?”
Simon shifted in his seat with an anxious smile, desperately trying to hide the look of utter guilt he had been wearing when he came in. He looked up from his seated, position around to Susan first, then Andrea and finally up to Bruce who was now standing at the foot of the chairs and has he did they could see his expression change. “I got a call today from the guys that took the metal sample from the plane, you know, the metallurgists,” he said in a soft voice.
“Ok, good, go on,” replied Bruce.
“That’s the point, Bruce, it’s not, they rang me to tell me that while the sample was being looked at, it was found to contain something that couldn’t be identified, there was a change at the molecular level of the metal.”
Bruce looked at Susan and Andrea, and in turn they looked back at Bruce and all of them had the same expression of confusion and imminent dread on their faces.
“Go on, Simon,” Bruce urged him to continue.
“Well, when these things come up there are procedures, lines of command that have to be followed.”
Bruce interrupted, “Yes, and?”
Simon shifted again, his hands were clasped tight between his knees and until then his head had hung low between his shoulders, but now he raised it to face is colleagues.
“They reported it to the CDC and the NSA.”
Bruce’s expression changed again, it wasn’t imminent dread now that Bruce felt and showed it was very real dread and he could feel himself becoming angry.
“So what does that mean for us then?” He pushed Simon for the answer even though he already knew it.
Simon took another deep breath. “The call was a tip-off.” He paused… “he told me they’re on their way here now and are expecting to arrive around 11:00 tonight.”
Bruce flew in to a rage, “Do you know what that means? Do you? For fuck’s sake, Simon what were you thinking? They’ll shut us down and bury the whole fucking thing. We will never find out who these people were, their families will never have closure.” Bruce spun round, he needed to vent his frustration and the closest target was his work station. He took hold and with all his strength tossed it over as hard as he could. The flight data boxes and laptop took the brunt of the impact, smashing against the thin groundsheet. The laptop exploded into a hundred pieces of plastic and circuit boards.
Instantly, Susan jumped from her seat. “Bruce, Jesus, calm down, he’s done nothing wrong, it wasn’t his fault, you knew this would get out at some point.”
Bruce didn’t reply, he turned back to face them and stared directly at Simon.
Susan continued, “Look, it’s only 8:30, we have some time on our hands, we may be able to at least determine the flight or the company; we might still be able to find the truth and solve this.”
Bruce slowly sat on his camp bed, his temper now burnt out. He looked over at the broken pieces of his laptop and the data boxes; now lying on the floor, and then back to Simon. “Look, I’m sorry, Simon. I know it wasn’t your fault, but…” he didn’t get any further, he stopped mid-sentence and this time it was Simon who cut across him. “I know, Bruce, but I called them, I brought them in.”
Bruce nodded and looked back to Susan. “Our only real hope is that diary, I think you should start to read it again.”
Susan looked back across at Simon, “You ok now?”
Simon smiled at her and nodded before gazing back down at the floor. She looked back at Bruce and gave him a strong look of disappointment, as if to scold him for taking his frustration out on Simon, and Bruce knew. This time he didn’t get in to a staring competition, he just looked away.
Susan sat back in her chair and pulled the diary from her pocket…
We lost Marcus and Holly two days ago, the fever took Holly. Finally she gave in to it. I guess she wasn’t strong enough but at least she didn’t suffer; she drifted into death from her sleep. I suppose it’s how we all want to go, if truth be known.
It was different for Marcus, he was taken by the same bastard animal that took David. The T Rex. It came looking for the food we’d left under the plane and he died trying to scare it away. It comes every so often. None of our phones or watches work now so we’re not sure but we think every six weeks or so, when the moon is full.
It hasn’t come back up to the plane but we can hear it moving around outside at night, and if the moon is high we can see the trees tremble when it moves past them, but the biggest sign is the deathly quiet that falls over the place minutes before it arrives, it’s as if every other living creature here hides: including us!
Susan looked back up from the diary, “Look, I think this can tell us a lot about the day-to-day stuff, but right now we need clues.” She started to skim through the pages looking for anything that might tell them something that could give them a head start on the agents that were now on their way. It was towards the back when she stopped, and Andrea could tell she had found what she needed; Susan looked up at them, “Listen to this…”
I’m on my own now. Sarah was lost today and in this place those odds are un-winnable, so I’ve decided to end things on my own terms. Those evil godless bastards are not deciding how it ends for me. If, by some miracle, anybody does read this I hope you understand why I did what I did and you won’t judge me too harshly.
The funny thing is, I didn’t need to be on this flight. I only went to that damn meeting to hand in my notice; to tell them where to stick their fucking job!
I left Portland expecting to be at Atlanta and then home again in three days! I don’t know how long we’ve been here now exactly; we lost track of the time a long while ago. We just lived day-to-day. We watched the seasons change, the winter isn’t that cold but the summer…God, it was hot too hot for Nick; he couldn’t take it; it wasn’t the creatures that got him: he got himself!
“Stop!” Bruce yelled. “That’s it, that’s what we needed
to know.”
Susan closed the diary. “Portland to Atlanta, we have the pilots’ names; all we need to do is marry the airport, pilots and airline together and we can give their families some peace before the NSA bury it!” he said.
Andrea replied, “We can do more than that; there is a good chance this flight may not have taken off yet; we may be able to stop it!”
Bruce looked at her. “What? Of course it’s taken off; the damn thing is over there.” He pointed in the rough direction of the dig site.
“No, she’s right,” Simon added. “If this plane travelled back in time and excluding all the logical explanations; that’s what happened, it might not even take off until next year or the year after.”
Bruce spun his gaze back to Simon. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Simon stood up, that schoolboy look of excitement slowly returning to his face as it had the very first day they had arrived here. “Bruce, how many planes do you know that are currently missing, presumed down?”
Bruce thought for a second, “None!”
“Exactly, if this plane had already taken off and was already missing we would know about it. The fact we have not received any alerts means it hasn’t happened yet.”
Susan backed him up. “They’re both right, we still have time to stop it.”
Bruce stood up and held out both palms towards the excited group as if he was trying to slow an approaching car. “Look, even if this Star Trek stuff was right - and I’m not yet convinced - all we have is an airport and the pilots’ names.”
“Yes, but we can deduce from that, we can contact the air companies who fly form Portland and find out which ones have pilots called David and Steven and air cabin called Holly and Lynsey. Christ, it’s worth a shot! If we can stop this happening then the changes to the metal and how the plane survived for so long won’t matter!”
Bruce pulled his mobile and flipped open the case. “No signal, now what?”
Without warning a loud crack came from outside the tent and a flash of brilliant light illuminated it. “What the hell was that?” Andrea shouted.
Yesterday's Flight Page 17