Flight 3430

by Druga, Jacqueline

“They’re gonna help you, Tom. They will.”

  Tom lowered the mask. “If they …”

  “Put the mask on.” She brought his hand up.

  Tom resisted. “If they can’t, I’m okay with that. Tell my boys, I’m okay with that.”

  “They’ll be no need.” She put the mask back on him and held it there. “You’ll be fine.”

  Delaney spoke the words with confidence, but she struggled on whether she truly believed her own words.

  TWENTY – HEAVY HEART

  Flight 3430 B – Colorado Springs, CO

  Not that he knew anything about flying, but Owen was worried the way his brother brought down the plane. It didn’t feel straight and he fought to stay between the navigational two lines.

  It felt as if they landed on the left wheels first then bouncing down to the right.

  Gabe fought to control the plane and finally brought it to a halt. He looked over at Owen and apologized.

  Owen knew his brother’s mind was in the same place his was … on their father.

  As soon as it was safe to, Gabe jumped up from his seat to go to the back and Owen followed.

  Gary was already opening the door and that was when Owen saw his father standing in the aisle, Delaney right behind him.

  He wanted to believe that his father walking and standing was a good thing. But his father didn’t look well.

  Tom moved toward his sons at the same time two medics, carrying a chair like emergency stretcher, entered the plane.

  “Excuse us, coming through,” one of them said.

  Gabe backed up into Owen to let them go through. There was almost a relief on his father’s face when he saw the chair and he sat down in it.

  The medics strapped him in.

  Owen’s eyes never left his father, it was heartbreaking to watch. Tom was always so strong and he fought to keep up that front, even as they carried him in the chair to the door.

  Once they crossed the threshold with him, Gabe hollered out an emotional, “Dad,” and raced after his father.

  Owen was in a state of shock. It took a second and then he too got off the plane.

  It didn’t register to Gabe, not at first, because all he worried about was landing the plane and getting to his father.

  He was hopeful when he saw his father standing, but knew better. His father was stubborn and strong, he didn’t want to be carried off the plane, but was willing to sit because he had to.

  The medics carried his father down the airstairs quickly and Gabe raced to keep up.

  They were ready and waiting for the plane to arrive. They had the stairs at the door by the time Gary opened it, a helicopter parked not far from the plane, waiting and there were two military jeeps.

  The medics weren’t wasting time, they moved Tom fast and Gabe ran.

  They were taking him to the helicopter.

  “Dad!” Gabe shouted. “We’ll be right there!”

  Tom held up his hand to the medic and they stopped, allowing Gabe and Owen to reach him before they lifted him on the chopper.

  His sons.

  It didn’t matter that they were men, when Tom saw them running toward him, all he saw were Gabe and Owen as little boys. A flash back of them at nine and eleven years old. It was October and cold, leaves all over the ground. Both so young and naïve, tears streaming down their faces as they chased after Tom.

  It was the day Tom left the family home. He didn’t want to, but the marriage was over and his wife Julie wanted him out. It was time, but the boys didn’t understand that no matter how many times Tom and his wife explained to them, it would fine.

  It was …

  That day, Tom’s heart broke. The boys’ hearts broke. They begged him not to leave, crying out, “Please Dad.”

  There was no explaining that day, to Tom, the boys would know when they saw him in a day or two.

  In their young minds, they acted as if they would never see him again.

  That simply wasn’t the case.

  Back then, Tom kept going, knowing he’d call them later. He only waved because it was too painful to stop.

  He couldn’t make that mistake again.

  Gabe was yelling something, Tom couldn’t hear.

  “Please stop,” he whispered to the medics. “Please. One minute.”

  They did.

  The boys ran to him.

  “We’ll be right there,” Gabe said. “We’re right behind you.”

  “Stay strong, Dad,” Owen said. “You’re gonna be okay. Alright. You’re gonna be okay.”

  Both Owen and Gabe laid their hands on Tom’s arm and he took his free hand placing it over theirs.

  “So will you,” Tom said. “I’m proud of you both. Proud. Know that.”

  Both Owen and Gabe nodded.

  “I love you, Dad,” Gabe said. “We love you.”

  “I love you, Dad.”

  Another squeeze against their hands and Tom replied a strong, “I love you, too. Very much.”

  He gave a pat to their hands, did his best to portray strength and nodded to the medics that he was ready.

  They immediately returned his oxygen to his face as they lifted him inside.

  His sons backed up as the helicopter blades whirled.

  Tom watched them, standing close to each other, and like Tom, they tried their best to put on a façade of strength.

  He couldn’t have been prouder.

  Owen was the big brother that walked the straight line and took care of Gabe through thick and thin. There he was, doing it again.

  All Tom wanted in the last few years was to see that Gabe would get on the right path, to do the right thing.

  And Gabe rose to the occasion like Tom always believed he would.

  No matter how old, their faces still looked as sad as they did thirteen years earlier.

  As the door closed and he caught the last glimpse of his sons as they waved, Tom’s heart broke as badly as it did that day in October.

  However, unlike that day, Tom knew it was the last time they would ever see each other again.

  <><><><>

  Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Support

  Would it have made a difference had Gabe and Owen not stood there for that minute or two watching the helicopter lift off.

  Immediately as the chopper veered toward the mountain, soldiers called Gabe’s attention, instructing them to get into the jeeps.

  The four of them did.

  He was impressed how coordinated everything was. It was nothing short of a rescue, help swooping in and whisking his father away to get what he believed would be the best medical care. After all, the president was there.

  They were going to a place Gabe had only heard about, even though he lived in the same state. It wasn’t a place he ever expected to enter. The only knowledge he had of it was in books, and games, and some old movie or two.

  The drive to the mountain took fifteen minutes and the jeeps moved fast. They wound up the mountain to a gated entrance with guards.

  He supposed his father was already there and Gabe said a silent prayer that he would be fine.

  They pulled through the gates and went through a tunnel.

  “Why here?” Delaney asked. “I don’t understand what made this place so safe just because it’s in a mountain.”

  Gary answered. “It was designed to be a safe place in the event of an all-out nuclear war. It has an independent oxygen system and sealed doors. It is the best place to be.”

  Own looked over to Gary. “Do they have great medical facilities?”

  The soldier driving answered, “Yes.”

  From that moment on, everything was a blur to Gabe. He just wanted to get to his father and it seemed to be taking too long.

  Roads inside the mountain looked like roads outside. There weren’t that many people around when they pulled into what looked like an indoor airfield.

  They took an elevator down for a while to where a short walk brought them to a building with a blast door.

>   When they passed through that, there was one more door before Gabe recognized the building as a medical facility.

  The four of them led by a soldier, walked down a hall and then turned left. Gabe finally noticed the soldier was speaking softly to someone through an earpiece.

  “End of the hall,” the soldier told them and he stayed back.

  The hall was long, or at least it looked that way to Gabe.

  Modern wood paneled walls on one side with cushion bench seats over five feet, the other wall were windows with Faux natural lighting.

  At the end was a set of silver double doors. Hospital looking doors.

  A third of the way down the hall, Delaney stopped. “I think I’ll wait here,” she said, taking a seat on the bench. “This is your father. I’ll let you guys go on.”

  “I agree,” Gary added. “I’m going to see if I can find a beverage.”

  Gabe glanced at his brother and Owen closed his eyes. He didn’t need to speak to him to know they were both thinking the same thing.

  Something was wrong.

  The gut gnawing and twisting, racing heart. When Delaney and Gary offered to stay back, that all but confirmed Gabe’s fears.

  It was worse than he wanted it to be.

  He moved down that hall with his brother, side by side, steady strides.

  Gabe’s heart beat so hard in his chest he could feel it.

  “Do we knock?” Owen asked as they neared the door. “Or do we go through?”

  Gabe didn’t get a chance to answer. Just as they arrived at the door, it slowly pushed open.

  Gabe would have been lying to himself if he said he didn’t hope that it was his father pushing on that swinging door. He also would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t know better.

  His worst fears where confirmed when he saw the woman doctor emerge. Her face expression serious yet painted with sympathy.

  “We’re here for our father,” Owen said.

  “He came in on a helicopter,” Gabe added. “Tom Foster.”

  “Yes,” she said then cleared her throat. “I’m very sorry. Truly, very sorry.”

  TWENTY-ONE – FAILING

  The need for water or something to drink grew stronger for Gary when he saw Gabe and Owen at the end of the hall with the doctor.

  He couldn’t see their faces, but he knew by their body language. Gabe’s head dropped and he nearly collapsed, only to be held up by his older brother.

  He knew.

  Tom was gone.

  They followed the doctor through the doors and Gary turned, leaving the hallway.

  It took him a good ten minutes to find water and coffee. Grabbing a cup for Delaney he headed back to the hall.

  She sat on one of those benches.

  Her back against the wall, legs up as she stared at her phone.

  The closer he walked, he saw she was crying.

  “Hey, I …” he extended a cup to her, “Got you some coffee.”

  She wiped her face with the back of her hands, set down her legs and scooted over. “Thank you.” She accepted it.

  “Are they in the back still?”

  Delaney nodded. “He’s gone.”

  “I saw.”

  “I heard.” She lifted the tab and sipped the coffee. “I feel horrible. This is all my fault, Gary.”

  “What? How can you say that?”

  “Because they came for me. They all came looking for me because I left to find my sister. If I hadn’t or they hadn’t … Tom would be alive.”

  “It’s no one’s fault. Tom wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. They wouldn’t have left you in Vegas. I wouldn’t have. I just didn’t know where to look. They did. I’m sure Owen will blame himself because it was his idea to find you. I’m sure Gabe will find blame because he will think he didn’t move or fly fast enough. I can blame myself for not seeing that Tom didn’t clamp the hose right. We all can blame ourselves, but the truth is … things happen. Not for any reason, but they just happen.”

  Delaney sniffed. “We all lost so much, so many.”

  “We all have to grieve this together.”

  “I keep looking at my phone and thinking about my babies. I just so hope they were sleeping when this happened or that it was fast and peaceful.”

  Gary reached over and grabbed her hand. “I saw a lot of people go. A lot. I didn’t see a lot of suffering it was so fast.”

  “But Tom’s was a slow poisoning. Like the man on the plane who didn’t wear his oxygen mask correctly. I feel so bad for them.” She leaned her head back against the wall. “And I can’t even get excited.”

  “Excited?” Gary asked.

  “My brother … you know how we saw movement?”

  Gary nodded.

  “I talked to Wiley, Gene’s partner in Billings and told him. I really thought someone had my brother’s phone. He just let me know … Stew, my brother, is alive.”

  “That’s great news.”

  Delaney nodded. “His screen was broke on his phone and he couldn’t answer. But it kept tracking his movements. Wiley said the whole town of Clarksville is alive.”

  “Is that where your brother is now?”

  “I’m waiting to hear from him.” Delaney looked at her phone. “I feel guilty for being happy.”

  “Don’t. You know, I didn’t know Tom well. But he seemed like the type of man that would tell you to get in a truck and he’d drive with you to find him.”

  “He did seem that way.” Delaney jolted when her phone rang.

  “That’s probably him. Answer. Go on.”

  Nervously, nodding, Delaney stood and walked a few feet before answer.

  Gary listened for a second as she emotionally sobbed out a ‘hello’ then cried a little more as she spoke on the phone. She drifted farther down the hall with the conversation.

  Even though there was such an abundance of sadness in that hallway, Gary was happy for Delaney. She was one of the very few people left that lost a lot, but not everything.

  Just like the two brothers, Gabe and Owen. They hadn’t lost everything, they still had each other, and Gary hoped, for their sake, they realized that.

  <><><><>

  Gene made no phone calls. Even though he wanted to know how Tom was, he didn’t want to hear any bad news.

  He was so indebted to Jeff the pilot for refueling the plane and flying him to Colorado Springs. Even though Jeff had been going nonstop, he was grateful to Tom and his sons for all they had done. Without them, Jeff told Gene, Flight 3430 would never have made it.

  Gene radioed the Colonel letting him know he was on his way.

  The Airforce had a car waiting for them when they landed and they drove them without hesitation to the base.

  Gene was told nothing about Tom on the way.

  They were escorted below and to the medical facility.

  When they walked in there was a small waiting room just before a hall. A couple of sofas and chairs with a coffee pot on a table.

  A woman and man were there when Gene entered, he didn’t know them, but Jeff did.

  The man and woman stood immediately and Jeff greeted them warmly. “I am so happy you are all alright. I’m sorry I had to take off.”

  “No.” The man shook his head. “We understood, you had a lot of lives on that plane.”

  “What am I thinking.” Jeff snapped his finger. “Gary, Delaney this is Gene Taylor. The man we all spoke to on the phone. The guardian angel that kept us all alive.”

  The man, Gary shook his hand and the woman embraced him.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you very much.” She stepped back from the embrace.

  “You’re welcome,” Gene replied. “How’s Tom?”

  Silence.

  Delaney and Gary just looked at each other, then to Gene.

  They didn’t need to speak or say a word.

  Gene knew.

  Tom was gone.

  It didn’t take much direction or asking people for Gene to find his way to
the room where they said Tom was.

  The door was closed and he stood outside nervously, before opening it.

  He pushed in the handle then slowly on the door.

  As it partially opened, he saw the foot of the bed, and Owen in clear view.

  He stood by the window, arms folded tight to his body staring to the bed, until he heard the door.

  His head sprang up as Gene walked in.

  “Uncle Gene,” Owen said with such relief as he rushed to Gene.

  Gene wrapped his arms around him, finally seeing the bed, but not really looking. He wanted to embrace Owen, convey that he was there. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.” Owen said.

  Gene stepped back, leaving his hand on Owen’s arms and squeezing it when he saw Tom in the bed.

  His friend looked as if he were resting. Lying on his back, eyes closed, covers to his mid chest and head tilted slightly toward Gabe as if he were staring at his youngest son.

  An ache of emotion slammed into Gene’s chest and his hurt eked out of his throat in a form of a moan.

  Gabe sat at his father’s side. His hands clasped over his father’s hand and Gabe’s chin rested on top.

  “I’m sorry, Gabe.” Gene walked over and placed his hand on Gabe’s back.

  “We tried, Uncle Gene,” Gabe said. “We tried. It’s not fair.”

  “No, it’s not. But your dad, you know, your dad would want you two to make this mean something. You survived and to him that was what was important. You two were all that mattered to him. He’d want you to make your survival mean something.”

  “How do we make this mean something,” Owen said. “How? Our father is dead, how does that mean anything but a fucked up situation?”

  “I can’t argue that,” Gene said.

  “I know what Uncle Gene means,” Gabe said. “It means we don’t waste living. We won’t. We won’t. But right now, I can’t think of anything but how much I am gonna miss him. I can’t leave him. Not here. Not like this. Not yet.”

  “Then you won’t. None of us will.” Gene pulled up a chair and indicated for Owen to sit. “We’ll all stay as long as it takes.”