by Tim Moon
“I like to fly,” Oliver said, making an engine sound as he piloted his hand through the air like an airplane. “Especially take off. Do you like take off?”
“I do,” Ben said, smiling at him. “Take-off and landing are the best parts.”
Oliver’s mood flipped like a light switch as his little lip quivered. “But I wish my mom was here.”
Ben reached across Charlotte to put a hand on his shoulder. “I know. I’m sure she’d love to be here with you too.”
Oliver wiped his eyes and turned back to the window.
Poor kid, Ben thought.
Charlotte’s eyes twinkled under the overhead light. The two of them had become fast friends and she’d been a huge help in caring for the boy. When it came to Oliver, Ben’s main concern was about his future. He had no idea how they could reunite him with his family? According to Oliver, his parents were both dead. Meaning they would have to seek out his grandparents or someone else in his family. It seemed impossible.
He bumped her shoulder and smiled. “It’ll be okay. He’s tough,” Ben whispered.
“Yeah,” she sighed.
Anuhea asked, “You guys okay over there?”
“We’re all set,” Ben said with a nod. “Just ready to get this over with.”
“I hear ya,” she said.
Ty looked perfectly giddy again. It was like he’d been reborn, full of energy and good humor. A sharp contrast to the days before that when he’d become a moody, nervous wreck.
“Good, good. Everyone’s fine,” Ben said to himself. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and leaned back into his seat. Hawaiian nights were balmy and even with the air nozzle wide open above his head, the airplane felt warm.
Molokai.
Ben sighed again. He thought about what the FEMA guy had said, “Any flights attempting to leave the Hawaiian Islands to travel outside of the state will be met by fighter jets and turned back. Or shot down.” The blunt, honest answer surprised Ben.
A battle raged in his mind as he fought to push aside those thoughts. If he continued worrying about the same thing over and over, it’d drive him nuts.
His thoughts turned to the infection.
The Infection, as if that was its name. What was it? Why had it happened? How had it started? Bio-terrorism? A modern day Black Plague?
No one was entirely clear about how things had spiraled out of control so quickly. By all accounts, the infection originated in China, Russia, or the Middle East. At the QC, one of the nurses said that she overheard the soldiers talking about China as the main suspect. Some photos and video clips made it out of the mainland before the internet shutdown completely. From what Ben saw on TV, things had spread quickly there. Everyone knew that China cracked down hard on dissent, but he doubted even they would resort to bio-terrorism on their own people.
Seriously though, he thought, why would they infect their own people? Ben wasn’t convinced.
One undeniable fact was that the infection spread quickly and unpredictably. Reports of infected people began to spread all around the world, before most nations acknowledged there was even a problem outside of China. Denial, corruption, and secrecy had allowed the initial outbreaks to spread further than it should have, exacerbating the situation. News reports and social media sparked outrage, leading to violent protests, and of course, large, noisy crowds attracted the infected and provided a ready supply of victims.
Then again, Ben knew the Quarantine Center was something of a rumor mill. Hundreds of scared people confined in one place with piecemeal information. Speculation was bound to run rampant.
Out of all the bullshit, only two other indisputable facts had emerged. First, do not get bit. Whatever this “infection” was, it spread through the bite of an infected person. Second, aim for the head. The only sure way to stop the infected was to destroy their brain.
Ben and his friends figured out those two gems the hard way. Ben learned about the last one first hand when he fought Eric in the hotel bathroom.
Ben’s fingers began to ache. He glanced down and realized he was gripping the armrests as if he was hanging onto the edge of a cliff. Some of the things they had seen, some of the things he’d done, still haunted him. He had never considered that he could take someone’s life. Yet he’d done just that, and more than once.
Ben hadn’t had a proper night of sleep since killing Eric. During those restless nights, he wondered if he’d done the wrong thing. Had he made the right decisions? After this was all over, would he get in trouble for killing Eric? Would he go to hell?
Not much comfort in those thoughts.
Ben uncurled his fingers, releasing his death grip on the armrests. He took deep breaths and tried to relax.
The steady stream of people boarding the plane tapered off, everyone took their seats and a calm female voice came over the intercom.
“Please take your seats and buckle your seat belts. We are third in line for take-off and will be departing momentarily,” she said. “Please watch the safety video on the screen located on the seat back in front of you.”
Outside the plane, they could hear the whine of engines spinning to life. Ben grew nervous even though he knew it was silly. Charlotte placed her hand on top of his. Her skin was velvety smooth and reassuring.
He smiled at her as best he could.
“The noise, you know,” Ben said. “They hone in on noise.”
Charlotte leaned in close, her breath warm on his neck. “Soldiers are here and we’ll be gone in just a few minutes.”
“I suppose.” Ben leaned back into his seat and took another deep breath.
Chapter Four
Several minutes passed before the plane lurched. Ben heard a few passengers gasp in surprise, but they quickly settled down. The whining roar of the engines spinning up grew as the plane began to taxi out toward the runway.
“It’s amazing they still have people working,” said Ben. He nodded out the window at a pair of men standing near a large refueling truck, a small sampling of all the people keeping the airport functioning.
“They’re saving lives,” Charlotte said. “It’s brave, but I wonder what they’re doing about their families? To be honest, I wouldn’t go to work.”
Ben smiled. He hoped the staff that stuck around could sense their gratitude, even if they’d been too rushed to thank them personally.
“Right now, I could hug each of them,” he muttered.
What motivated the folks working at the airport? Everyone knew that the army cultivated a strong sense of duty and unity, which compelled the National Guardsmen to service. Was it a similar sense of duty or patriotism? It baffled him. Then a thought struck him that made his heart skip a beat. Did they have anyone left?
“Want me to call over the flight attendant so you can make that happen?” Charlotte raised her hand. Her finger hovered near the red call button.
Ben shook his head. “No, but I’m thankful to be leaving this island of death behind. That’ll have to be good enough.”
Both engines roared louder as the plane began to roll forward again, keeping its position in the line.
“Here we go. It’s really happening,” Ty said. He reached over and slapped Ben on the shoulder.
Engines roared in the distance.
Ty turned away from his window, looked at Ben and said, “The first plane just took off.”
The second plane, directly in front of them, began to move forward as it lined up and prepared to take off. Once it cleared the runway, it would be their turn and they could put the horrors of the last few days behind them for good.
Ben leaned his head back against the headrest and waited for the momentum of the plane to press him into the thin cushion of his seat as the plane charged down the runway.
Instead, he saw a flash outside of the window on Ty and Anuhea’s side of the plane. Ben quickly looked over, concern creasing his forehead.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“Looks like a fl
are,” Anuhea said, glancing back at Ben with a worried scowl.
“Oh no! We’re so close,” Ty groaned, slamming his fist on the armrest. “No, it’s nothing. We’ll be fine. We’re almost to the runway.”
Machine guns opened up, blasting into the night. Ty clenched his eyes shut and pressed back into his seat. Shifting light from the flares swinging above the airport cast eerie shadows on the tarmac, as they parachuted to the ground.
“It’s nothing, huh?” Ben asked.
“Shut up,” Ty shot back.
“Look,” Oliver said, jabbing his little finger at the window.
Ben leaned over, peering out of the tiny window and saw a Humvee speed by their plane. Oliver’s big head was in the way.
“Sit back, I need to see outside,” Ben said, gently pushing Oliver back into his seat.
Oliver looked disappointed. “I want to see too,” he said.
“You can see, but I need know what’s going on.”
“It’s my window,” Oliver grumbled.
Nothing was visible out of their side. With the airplane turned to the south, their window faced the coast and all that was visible was the alternating darkness and light cast by the flares drifting down.
More and more guns began to fire, followed by a series of loud thumping booms. The murmur of voices in the plane grew more panicked. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, the airport went from a peaceful refuge to a battleground.
“Why aren’t we moving?” a woman behind them cried out.
How could this happen? Frustration bubbled up inside of Ben. Didn’t the soldiers know that noise drew in the infected? Why hadn’t they setup a perimeter further back from the airport? Then he paused. Maybe they did and it was overrun? Ben’s heart raced faster than the machine guns firing.
People chattered in the background, punctuated by the occasional scream as they witnessed the battle raging just outside their windows. Anuhea was looking out of her window, blocking Ben’s view. Ty sat frozen in his seat, staring at the seat back in front of him. A group of people began to yell for the plane to go, but everyone was powerless to do anything.
“They’re through the fence,” Anuhea said, fear thick in her voice. She glanced at Ben. “There’s so many of them…”
Small explosions flashed outside, their blast waves slightly jostling the plane.
Grenades? Those would probably be too small. Mortars? Ben wasn’t sure, but if they were using explosives then it was at least as bad as Anuhea said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Grant your pilot today. I’ve been informed that the infected have made it through the security fence and onto the runway. The army will attempt to clear the way for us. Please stay seated and prepare for takeoff,” said the pilot. He sounded surprisingly calm and confident. The noise died down as passengers sat in stunned silence.
“Oh, I’m so glad we’re on the plane,” Ben said. “You have no idea how glad I am.”
Ty turned to stare at him.
“What? In here, we’re safe.”
It was true. They would be safe in the plane, out of reach of the infected below them. For a time. But if the plane was blocked from taking off, then the plane’s crew would have to help keep people calm so they wouldn’t get too stir crazy and do something stupid, like the guy that fell out of the deuce.
On Anuhea’s side of the plane a large trucked raced past. Ty turned back to stare straight ahead.
“Anuhea, what’s happening? I can’t see shit,” Ben said.
“A truck went by and is plowing through the infected, just mowing them down like weeds. Soldiers are shooting from the back,” she said.
The plane swerved violently to the left.
As the roar of the engines grew louder, something hit the side of the plane, ripping off the end of the wing outside of Ben’s window. He flinched and his heart stampeded inside his chest.
Oliver squealed and pointed. “It smashed us!”
Charlotte pulled Oliver back from the window to look out. She gasped. One of the other airplanes, presumably the one behind them in line, was trying to pass them and get to the end of the runway first. However, the fool had struck their airplane, disabling it.
“It hit us,” a passenger behind them exclaimed.
“Did you see that?” Charlotte asked. Tears welled up in her eyes as the realization of what had happened dawned on her.
“What happened?” Anuhea asked.
“The other plane hit us,” Charlotte said. “It broke our wing.”
Ben shook his head in disbelief.
“Now we can’t take off,” she added softly as if she still couldn’t believe it.
An explosion rocked the cabin, tearing a car-sized chunk out of the plane several rows in front of where they sat. Air and noise rushed in. Pained shouts and screams joined the cacophony. Ben was thrown back into his seat when another massive fireball burst from the plane beside them. Debris pelted their side of the plane, heat rushed in through the gaping hole and people began to cough as thick black smoke filled the air.
Ben leaned over, trying to shield his friends.
Oliver yelped and grabbed onto Charlotte. The three of them huddled together. People were screaming. Ben glanced up when something hit him in the shoulder. The oxygen masks had dropped down, dangling uselessly in Ben’s face, mocking him.
Warm air rushed into the plane filling the void left by the poor souls who had sat where a gaping hole now existed. It spread the smoke. Ben’s eyes burned from the acrid air and his mouth had a metallic tinge to it.
Somehow, the plane was still rolling forward slowly. It suddenly lurched and the broken wing tilted down, slamming into the ground. Ben and Charlotte jerked forward against their seat belts. Ben slammed his head on the back of the seat in front of him. Oliver nearly popped out of his seat belt, with a squeal, but Charlotte had her arm around him, holding him in place. Sparks shot up where the metal scraped against the tarmac.
Another massive explosion shook the airplane. Ben’s head felt clouded. He couldn’t hear anything even though he could see people’s mouths moving. Ty and Anuhea began to cough as smoke filled the cabin. Beneath him, Ben felt the plane grind to an abrupt stop. Shaking his head, he blinked and squinted against the smoke. He could already feel waves of heat washing over him. Then the noises began to filter in, people shouting “fire,” screaming, the roar of the flames, and bursts of machine guns along with the pop of assault rifles as the soldiers fought the infected.
The entire plane tilted to the side at a sharp angle. Ben had to look up to his left to see Ty and Anuhea. Ty dangled in his seat and felt like his seat belt was going to slice him in half.
Smoke clouded the air on the left side of the plane, which was now almost the ceiling. Panic coursed through the people trapped there, coughing and fighting for oxygen. One of the men seated in front of Ty unbuckled his seat belt. The man fell, bounced off the side of the seat in front of Ben and toppled backward against his shoulder.
“What the fuck, man!” Ben shouted at the guy, shoving him away. In just a few moments, the man had scrambled away toward one of the exits.
Ben tried to release himself from his own seat belt. But with his weight against the mechanism, it was difficult to get it unlocked. Ty was flailing above him.
Then he heard a click.
“Wait!” Ben shouted, throwing his arms up in defense.
Too late. Ty fell against him. Luckily, he managed to catch himself.
Ben’s stomach felt like it was about to burst, as he was pressed against the seatbelt, smoke wafted past his face, and he could barely breathe with Ty on top of him. He was vaguely aware of Charlotte freeing Oliver before she freed herself. Spots began to float in his vision. None of it made any sense, the attack, the angle of the plane, his inability to breathe, he felt so confused. Everything had been moving so quickly and now it all slowed down. Every breath felt like a battle. For a split second, Ben wondered if this was how he was going to die.
Char
lotte reached up to push Ty away, but then, as fast it happened, Ty was gone.
Ben groaned and coughed. Anuhea stood over him, straddling the two seats. She squatted down, cupped her hands under his arms, and lifted him up enough for Charlotte to unbuckle his seat belt. Careful not to squish Oliver, Ben extended his legs and stood against what should have been the wall.
“The exit is this way,” Anuhea said. Her voice was strained. Several people crawled past, shoving her out of their way. She nearly fell, but pushed them back and slid forward into the seat in front of them. Her head poked over. “Come on.”
People were pushing past, climbing over the seats in a mad rush for any exit they could find. Some of them were escaping the airplane through a gaping hole in front of them. Emergency exits be damned.
Ben looked at Charlotte.
“I’m fine. Go,” Ben said with a nod. He doubled over as a cough wracked his chest. The air was thick with the scent of burning plastic.
“No, you lead the way,” she said.
“One of you go.” Anuhea coughed, but managed to motion angrily for them to move. She held a hand over her nose and mouth in an attempt to block the smoke.
Ben climbed up and reached down for Oliver. The boy’s brow was furrowed in frightened determination and he held Ben’s hand and scrambled over.
Ben handed him to Anuhea. “Get him outside.”
Anuhea was too busy coughing to respond.
Charlotte was almost over by the time he turned back to help her over. She didn’t need help, so he began to climb forward over the next row. Charlotte placed her hand on his shoulder, following behind him. They went toward the torn section of the plane where Anuhea had already exited with Oliver.
Soldiers formed a defensive line around the two crashed airplanes. They fired madly into the crowd of infected. All around them, a vicious battle raged for the airport. Soldiers fought to hold back the advance of infected who were attempting to push through the boarding gate. Bodies shook as bullets penetrated their dead flesh. Occasionally a head would burst and an infected person would drop, but they were like Hydra. When one head was blown off, two more would take its place.