by Nathan Ward
But before she could complete her sentence Murdock interrupted.
“He’s alive, I’m picking up life signs directly above!”
Stephanie’s face suddenly lit up, then a thunderous roar emitted from outside the window, as an earth shattering blast of energy and a giant black mass rose up the side of the tower and into a gentle hovering motion. It was the war bird, with a few minor points of damage but it seemed to be working perfectly as Murdock controlled it from Enrique’s wrist computer, patching it in wirelessly to the commands that he had already set up before their first flight.
Steph continued to grin and Michael now sported a cheesy smile as the idea of surviving finally settled in, they were saved, they really were going to make it...
Chapter 45: Consequences
The war birds left wing collided against the remains of the walls and horizontal steel struts as it eased in closer to the open platform, the stone had cracked and it fell away from the supports like water droplets, trickling down the side of the tower and piling on top of the mess that lay unwanted along the nearby streets down below, while the marble spilling from the upper levels clattered against the top of the war birds hull, chipping away at the already scratched matt black paint then rolling off the sides.
Murdock had positioned the craft perfectly using his advanced navigational skills, although getting on board would neither be a safe transition or without complications he realised, as the boarding ramp detached and extended out from the belly of the hull.
The ramp was slender and slightly angled, not to mention it was also moving no thanks to the wind getting under the wings of the bird, pressing against it, but she remained stable even under autopilot control, which Murdock had activated just before he reached for Joy who was barely conscious, her eye moving erratically as she tried on some level to take in the sight of the room.
“Joy! Stay with me!” Murdock cried, placing his hand behind her neck and raising her off the ground to a sitting position, where the vibrations could ease from her head and bring her back from the darkness that she was slipping to, as if the dead were calling a welcoming that only she could hear.
“They’re inviting me, Mur…dock. They want me to go with them…” muttered Joy, slumped over and staring at the grains of stone and dust between her thighs.
“We’re losing them both, we have to board the ship, NOW!”Murdock claimed, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the loud jet engines.
Michael looked towards the ramp then turned to Murdock.
“I’ll go across first, I’ll make sure everyone passes over safely.”
Murdock nodded in agreement and Michael rose to his feet, taking a small step towards the edge of the tower and checking the distance between him and the platform that had extended from the hull. The gap was only approximately eighteen inches which was no more than a single step but it was moving and all Michael could focus on was how far he was from the ground. The possibility of falling to his death sent a chill through his blood, making him weaken, as if his legs had turned to jelly and no longer supported his weight, but he remained standing with the wind blowing through his sweat dampened hair.
Michael closed his eyes slowly, drew a breath of fresh air then jumped from the tower, keeping his eyes shut tightly as he crashed on to the surface of the ramp with ease.
“I made it!” he called out in elation, turning back to cast his gaze into the oval room where Murdock, Steph, Joy and Lynch remained.
Murdock returned a confirmation nod to Michael, he then took a step towards Lynch and crouched down beside him, looking Steph directly in the eye.
“We’ll move Lynch first, then I’ll make sure Joy gets across okay.”
Steph looked over towards Joy. who was still slumped over and staring at the ground with a dazed look painted on to her face, she obviously wasn’t in a good way, Steph realised that but even as the structure around her continued to collapse putting their lives at risk yet again a question burned that she couldn’t ignore. “This woman, Joy... How did you meet?”
Murdock turned his head and met her deep gaze, his eyebrows raised with a look of surprise. He knew that being a mother Steph was wary of who she let in, hence why she had felt compelled to get the measure of Lynch from the moment they all met, and if anyone was to be under the watchful eye of concern it was him, yet Steph managed to see beyond that and found a quality that no one else could see. Joy was harmless, he knew that but to a stranger she could be anyone or anything, so Murdock made sure he responded in a confident yet reassuring manner.
“She saved my life, now I’m saving hers…I owe it to her.”
Steph glanced over to Joy then back to Murdock with a subtle smile and calm in her posture.
“We’ve got so much catching up to do…” She said fondly, then took a hold of Lynch in time with Murdock, they raised him off the ground by his arms and slowly made their way as close to the edge as possible. Lynch was completely unaware, his head hung against his chest and crimson soaked the fabric around his wounds, yet still clinging to life and that was enough to delay the watcher of death that seemed to linger over them all.
Michael crawled to the end of the ramp which was the closest point on contact as Steph and Murdock lowered Lynch so Michael could take a grasp under his arms and quickly pull him on board. The blood soaked dressing dragged along the aluminum surface of the ramp, leaving a trail of crimson across it as Michael pulled Lynch to safety, within the inner compartment of the war bird.
Flames suddenly burst from the ground as purification had once again reached their level. Murdock raised his arm to shield his face from the heat as he leapt back to Joy and heaved her away from harm.
“Steph! Get inside the ship!” he commanded, reaching down and pulling Joy towards the ramp of the war bird.
“But what about Joy? Can I help?” she asked, stood at the edge of the tower concerned at the sight of Joy, she was becoming more and more unresponsive and Murdock was struggling.
“I can handle this! Get inside!” he ordered, watching over Joy's shoulder as chunks of the floor begun to sink into the fire and smoke below.
Steph leapt over the gap and on to the metallic ramp, she watched Murdock for a moment then turned towards the opening hatch, following the path of crimson that trailed up and inside, deep within the cargo hold where Michael had propped Lynch up on to a flat surface.
“Where’s Murdock?” Michael asked, looking wide eyed and needing the reassuring presence of the Captain as he unwrapped a foil blanket.
“He’s now coming, he told me to get inside,” she replied, as the thought nagged at her that he did need help - but being Murdock, he was just too stubborn to ask. Her mind was made up.
“On second thoughts, I’m going back…You’re doing a great job!” she yelled as she returned to the boarding ramp. Wind swept through her long black hair and the sound of the jet engines roared against her ear drums while she descended on to her hands and knees then slowly approached the centre, watching as Murdock laid Joy as close to the framework as he could, then stepped over her body and on to the edge of the ramp, which was swaying ever so slightly as the wind blew against the beaten black and silver mass of the war birds hull.
“Keep those eyes on me, Joy!” shouted Murdock, with an instant sense of shame as he realised what he’d said, hoping that Joy wouldn’t make a thing of it – she certainly would have, had she not been so badly injured - but she couldn’t of heard him, at least it didn’t look as if she had by the way she continued to roll her head like she was on some kind of roller coaster, and a brilliant one for sure. She was having the time of her life on whatever planet it was that her mind had been transported to, but as much as that sounded like fun it was a deep concern for Murdock, who just wanted to get her to safety.
Joys face looked awful, the entire left side was black and blue and soaked in crimson as it poured from the pit where her eye ball was once housed, but now there was nothing, just a mass of dark purple fle
sh and veins dangling against her cheek. It was a hideous sight to behold but nothing meant more than the friendship between the two freedom fighters. Murdock had never buckled over the sight of wounded comrades, even though the severity of the damage was churning his stomach. He reached out his arms and wrapped them around Joy’s torso, slowly pulling her over the edge of the tower where her body was momentarily suspended hundreds of feet off the ground.
Steph sat close behind Murdock in case he needed assistance, but it looked like everything was taken care of as Joy fell in to his lap and her legs dangled from the end of the metallic ramp. He had definitely met everyone’s expectations and exceeded them, Steph felt a sense of surprise as the Captain fulfilled everything he had promised.
But there was one last important matter - her husband was still inside the tower, and possibly trapped…she’d not been able to make contact for quite some time and it troubled her, it was nipping away at the back of her mind while she attended to more urgent matters like Lynch whose lower body was gone, and Joy who she could see meant a lot to their leader, but once she was safely inside the search for Josh and Thomas could commence, she reminded herself, glancing up as the sun shone down from a shattered plane of glass directly opposite, then a large lump of concrete appeared from behind the intense ray of light and slammed against the wing of the war bird, sending it in to a frantic motion which threw Joy overboard, almost to her death - but Murdock was quick to respond, clamping his hand around her wrist and not letting go.
“Murdock!” yelled Steph as she clung on to the sides, breathing heavily as the aircraft swayed from side to side.
Murdock used his other hand to adjust the war birds’ stabilisers ever so slightly with a subtle press of a finger against the screen of the small computer system outstretched over the city. The command immediately threw the war bird into a state of calm, countering the aggressive actions and finding a balance within the air flow so the craft could realign itself close to the remains of the tower.
Murdock quickly pulled on Joy’s wrist, launching her up on to the aluminum ramp beside him, where her body slammed firmly against it, knocking her unconscious.
“Murdock!” Steph cried again, scrambling to his aid.
“Just get her to safety for me, Steph,” he said as he leant back in complete exhaustion, gazing up around the hull of the craft and towards the beautiful frosty blue skies moving overhead. “I’m going to sleep for a week after this, a damn week I tell you!”
Steph smirked, then begun to pull Joy up inside the war birds cargo hold where she knew Michael could help, he’d already done brilliantly she thought to herself, remembering how secure Lynch looked as she walked in on the pair.
“I’ll take care of her, keep a look out for Josh,” Ordered Steph.
She had spoken with growing confidence as she entered the interior of the air craft, carefully dragging Joy’s body behind her, which caught the attention of Michael who quickly leapt over to assist her.
“Let’s get her on the other side, let me clear it!”
Michael dashed back and swept his hands over the surface, knocking away cups and empty ammo cartridges which fell and clattered against the hard, cold surface at their feet. The two of them worked together, hoisting Joy up on to the table and making sure she was secure, before returning to Lynch who was in a much worse state.
Steph sighed, and then looked across at Michael whose eyes were glistening with fear and uncertainty, she could see it, they told a million stories and she didn't think he even realised, at least it didn’t seem that way, Steph guessed as Michael met her gaze with a look of confusion.
“What is it?” he asked.
Steph couldn’t help but smile, it was the look of humanity within him and shining brightly, too – she’d missed that.
“I can tell you’re still scared, you’re worried they’re not going to make it…”
“I’m terrified, Steph. I’m absolutely terrified,” he replied, trembling by the sight of Lynches lower body bleeding out on to the metal appliance, the bandages didn’t seem like they were helping too much, but without them he would have surely been dead already – but he wasn’t, he was still fighting for dear life, even though he seemed unaware, that man was determined to hold on...
Murdock suddenly arrived inside the cargo hold, wading his way through the equipment that had been pushed to the floor as he frantically advanced towards the cockpit.
“Buckle up sweet peas, the tower’s coming down fast!” he announced as he lunged for his chair and pulled a belt around his tender torso, quickly fastening it and switching the controls to manual, which disengaged the signal transmitting from his wrist computer. The war bird jerked then Murdock grabbed the joystick and moved the craft away, avoiding a flurry of marble and concrete falling from the tower's mass.
Steph rushed through into the cockpit and held tightly on to Murdock's shoulder.
“We’re not leaving? Not yet?”
“I never said we were, just re positioning!” he replied as he maneuvered the ship around the blazing structure where areas seemed a little more intact but the western side was weakening, they could tell from the blistering crack marks running riot up and down the outer concrete walls.
Murdock waved his left hand over a series of buttons before pressing his finger against a long articulate switch, and with a cheap CLANK the dashboard around it sparked in to life, reds and greens illuminating underneath a cracked monitor and dials twitching to the sound of the air crafts engines. The captain pulled across a small microphone from its cradle and pressed it against his chin before speaking into it, while setting his sights towards each of the levels on a look out for any survivors.
“This is Captain Nathan Murdock, Leader of the freedom fighters, rallying all survivors of the UNA’s experiments. I am circling the perimeter, make your way to the windows -what’s left of them - and await evacuation, I repeat make your way to the windows for evacuation.”
Murdock turned to Steph, who returned an equally uncertain expression, but now they shared a look of hope in their eyes as the warm sun rays shone across the city and through the remains of the tower, it was a blinding light that warmed their flesh against the icy chill of the morning air, almost as if it served as a reminder of life, a bright light to warn off the shadows of death that lingered so close.
“I’d be inside there looking for them if I could, but it’s unsafe…I took a risk with Joy, but all we can do now is hope they pull through.”
Murdock placed his hand against Steph's cheek, only gently, but it was enough to spark reassurance and a calming sensation which reunited both with that of human comfort, where Steph was missing the reassuring touch of her husband and Murdock at that moment felt sharply deprived of having his lady in his arms. They needed each other, that moment of assurance, that human warmth to spur them on, to remind them they were still human after all the horrors they had witnessed, even though the final hurdle which was riding the horizon with chequered flags and fireworks primed – there wasn’t much further to go, they both thought on that hope, refusing to let worries of what could go wrong cloud this final part of the hard and terrible journey.
As dust clouds begun to erupt from down below where concrete, metal and marble were exploding against the ground, an incubator launched out from inside the tower through a glass window and plummeted out of sight down towards the debris, then moments after a group of figures emerged with the sun shining behind them, silhouetting them as they waved towards the war bird.
“Survivors!” yelled Murdock.
He pointed down towards the people waiting on the ledge, they were holding on for dear life and flailing their free hands hoping to attract the attention of Murdock who was already on his way, throwing the aircraft in to a descent path where the people could safely climb on board.
But as they neared, Steph noticed that none of them were Josh or Thomas - neither of them had seen their faces before but they had to trust their gut instinct, hoping th
at trust was mutually shared by both parties as the three survivors leapt on to the metal ramp and scurried up into the cargo hold where Michael was alert and waiting.
“Are you all okay? Anyone require medical assistance because I’m the wrong guy to come to, but I can try help.”
The male stood closest was just catching his breath and wiping away the blood from his scalp, he was middle aged dressed in a tatty medical gown and flanked by two females who had definitely seen better days, Michael observed.
“Well, help yourself to anything…just, avoid the pilot, that’s all we ask.”
“Thank you, we owe you our lives,” said the weary man, now holding out his bruised hand which Michael collected swiftly.
“It’s our pleasure, besides its always good to see a friendly face, no matter how bloody it is.”
The man chuckled with a look of pure delight in his eyes. As he laughed off the moment he raised his arms and wrapped them fondly around the two females who looked a lot younger than him, he pulled them close to his chest and smiled.
“My daughters, an unlikely combination, I know.”
Michael tried to bury his emotions, but the sight of the family brought the most sincere smile to his face, he reached for the mans hands then held them tight as a means of communicating what he was thinking: Yes, you’re all safe now...
“Michael!”
All of a sudden, Murdock had called out from the cockpit. He was being summoned - which came as a surprise, as Michael moved away from the man and his children and proceeded to follow up the cry for assistance.
“Captain?” said Michael as he entered the cockpit.
“I need you to take over…” Murdock stood up and made his way around the side of the pilot’s chair.
“I can’t fly this!”
Michael then realised the passengers were listening so immediately changed his tone, “I cannot fly this thing…” he said quietly but firmly.
“Steph can help.”