They both watched the ground. They’d already been flying low, but now they were only high enough to avoid chimney tops.
The good news was that they were now on the western edge of the metropolis of New York City and there was a little of everything below. He could pick a landing site from among the long stretches of interstate, the golf courses, or the many huge parking lots.
“I’d go for the highway,” she remarked.
He’d been thinking along those lines. A golf course would be perfect if they wanted to get out of sight immediately, but fairways could have overhanging trees or sand traps. Either could be deadly.
The highway would make it impossible to hide the plane, but the level pavement would be a safer place to put down.
“There’s where we’re headed.” He pointed to a long stretch of interstate twelve lanes wide. The plane banked left as he lined up his approach.
“Watch the street signs,” she advised.
As he got aligned with the roadway, he tried to see out her window toward the airport. No planes were in the air, but some giant transports were taxiing on the ground. Nothing that big would risk landing without tower support; someone had to be watching he and Emily.
“We’ve got to get out as fast as possible, okay? Grab as much gear as you can, then run like hell for the houses.” They were coming down in the middle of an ocean of single-family homes. The highway cut through suburbia like a narrow bridge on its way to the island of Manhattan. Its tall skyscrapers stood in for tropical palm trees fifteen hazy miles away.
Ted adjusted the choke and flaps as he guided the Cessna over the highway. There were a lot of cars on the eastbound lanes, but almost none going westbound. He’d seen the rush hour traffic pattern back in DC, too.
“Hang on,” he said in his pilot’s voice.
The nimble little plane went down below the trees lining the highway, and he was about to commit when he realized a wrecked car might be a little too close on the right side. He drifted at about ten feet until he got by, then he let the plane bleed off the last of its altitude.
The three tires of the landing gear hit concrete a few seconds later, and he engaged the brakes after just a moment.
“Touchdown!” he exhaled. Every landing had the potential to be his last, so Ted treated each one with a great deal of respect. “Air Force One is on the ground.”
She chuckled with her own sense of relief. “We really doing this? Calling me the president?”
Ted goosed the motor to carry them down the highway toward the next overpass. If he could put the plane under there, he might be able to avoid detection from the air. It wasn’t something he’d considered while in the air, but it was obvious once he was down.
“Until I hear differently, I’m going to treat you as the most important person in America. You are the only woman I know for an absolute fact is still alive and is in line to be president.”
She seemed to consider it for a few moments. When Ted got the plane into the shade of the wide overpass, she sighed with relief. “This was smart thinking, pilot. Can you see about getting me a de-boarding staircase so I can climb down? The president deserves that, don’t you think?”
He guided the plane into the shoulder of the highway and pointed it at the sloped embankment under the bridge so it was out of the way of most of the lanes. If cars did go by, they wouldn’t bash into the Cessna. He figured the owner would appreciate that.
Ted opened the door, then jumped out. As he grabbed his gear from behind the seat, he watched Emily do the same. He wanted to joke around with her, but this was the most dangerous time for them both.
He’d pulled out his backpack, but before he could sling his AR over his shoulder and get moving, the engine whine of another aircraft came in on the breeze. It was a single-prop plane like the Cessna, but the drone wasn’t the same.
“Aw, shit,” he drawled.
Emily looked at him from across the front seats. “Let me guess…”
He shrugged. “They have to be on to us.” They hadn’t seen any other aircraft during the flight, but now there was one snooping around. When all the other people of America were gone, meeting someone wasn’t a coincidence.
The propeller rumble got closer and suddenly he was at a loss for the sure thing to do. They were under the overpass, but they were visible from the sides. Their large, white plane was impossible to miss for anyone looking for it.
He got her attention. “Get your stuff. We’ve got to move.”
She scrambled to pull out her rifle and ammo pouch. He slung his AR and put himself behind the door as the plane cruised over the highway about a quarter of a mile away.
“It’s a Piper Cherokee. Six-seater, I think.”
Emily seemed to have trouble getting her rifle from the backseat, but he didn’t move until the plane went out of sight. Once it was gone, he stepped away from the door and ran around the tail to get over to her.
“Go, Emily. We’ve got to get away from this plane.”
She yanked her rifle out. “The sling got stuck on the seat.”
He gently shoved her away from the door.
Emily hustled, but she also turned back like she’d forgotten something. “Hey! Where’s my staircase? This airport is getting a strongly-worded letter.”
Ted appreciated what she was trying to do.
The lawnmower-engine whine of the search plane came at them from one direction, but there was also another motor higher up. His pilot’s eye picked it out of the sky: a long, swept-wing Predator drone.
“Shi—” he started to cuss, before realizing he didn’t want to frighten her unnecessarily. “Come on, we—” He saw the puff of smoke. A missile fell off the wing and flew in a graceful arc right at them.
Scaring her was unavoidable.
“Run!”
St. Louis, MO
Tabby and the kids ran behind her gold-colored Ford to hide from the drone. The two men moved with less haste, but they also crouched behind her car. Tabby’s focus was on waiting for the drone to come back, but she glanced at the men to make sure they were down. Gus’s attention appeared mostly on his cigarette, but his eyes also went to Audrey’s shotgun.
She immediately gave up waiting for the drone; her duty was to the children. “We have to get in touch with someone on the outside. Does your truck have a radio?” She peered at Gus.
The dirt-covered sewer worker took a stiff drag on his cigarette, then shifted smoothly from Audrey to her. The smoke came out of his lungs as he spoke. “We could only talk to dispatch, but we haven’t been able to raise them. Before you ask, we’ve tried calling the police from the hotel, too.”
Audrey coughed from the second-hand smoke.
Tabby had to do something. The two men seemed harmless enough, but that wouldn’t last long. She expected Gus to ask for a weapon any second, and it would be hard to justify not giving him one, because she and the kids had extras. If she had to tell them no, it would make things even more uncomfortable than they already were.
Vinny inched closer to her. “We did a job below the Channel 5 television building not too long ago. It’s a few blocks away. They might have communications equipment.” He smiled at Tabby. Unlike Gus, she got a good feeling from him.
“Yeah, we should do that. Let’s go that way.” She pointed away from the end of the alley where she’d seen the floating drone.
Peter leaned close to her. “Are we sure these guys are telling the truth? Maybe the people flying the drones are here to help us. Unlike them.”
Gus laughed. “We can hear you, kid.”
Peter didn’t back down. “We have the guns. I’m not afraid of you.”
“Your pointer should be on the side of the guard, not on the trigger, boy.” Gus’s eyes made a dotted line to Peter’s finger, which was on the trigger. She’d have to remember that advice, even if it came from a sketchy man.
“It’s okay.” Tabby put her hand on Peter’s shotgun. He wasn’t pointing it at anyone, but he did
have both hands on it, like it was open for business. “Who would lie about people dying from their company? Besides, the guys under the Arch didn’t exactly have a Red Cross tent to welcome us in.”
“Fine,” Peter pouted. “Let’s find the TV station and get this over with.”
Tabby’s heart rattled inside her ribcage because everyone was acting unpredictably. If she was going to keep her kids safe, she had to keep the tour moving. She forced a smile toward Gus and Vinny. “I’m sorry for this. Yesterday, we learned their parents weren’t able to get out. I hope you understand. It isn’t you.”
Gus took another drag. “Bah. I get it. We’ll drive behind you guys.”
“No!” she blurted. “We can’t drive.” The little drone might have been gone, but they’d gotten lucky it hadn’t looked down the narrow alley. Being on foot would better allow them to hide if they saw it again, she was fairly certain.
Gus harrumphed. “What the hell do you want from us?”
Vinny nudged Gus. “The station is only a few blocks from here—a ten-minute walk, at best. When we get there, we can report those bastards for killing our co-workers.”
The older man seemed to think on it as he burned through his cigarette. Tabby was on the verge of leaving them both behind, but he finally nodded. “We’ll keep the truck where it is. I’ll call in to dispatch and let them know our intentions, just in case we don’t get back in a timely fashion. I’ll meet you at the other end of the alley.”
Tabby stood up and marshalled the kids together. “Works for us.”
She practically pushed Donovan ahead of her. “What’s the rush?” he asked.
“Just walk,” she insisted.
About halfway down the alley, she gathered them together. “Watch that Gus. He’s up to something. I didn’t like the way he looked at Audrey’s gun.”
Peter hugged his shotgun. “Nobody’s getting my Audrey Two.”
She smiled. “You watch him, okay, Peter? I’m putting you in charge of that.”
Tabby had more to say, but Vinny trotted up. He immediately spoke to her in a quiet way. “I’m sorry about him. I think that shooting messed him up. We really were about to go down there ourselves. He’s been with MSD forever, so he probably knew whoever was killed, though he refuses to talk about it.”
She did her best not to betray her own feelings of mistrust. Vinny didn’t need to know; he might tell his friend. “We’re anxious, too. If we can get in contact with someone, I’m sure we can straighten this all out.” She spoke a bit quieter, almost to herself. “I want this to all be over.”
“It’s going to be all right,” the young man said sympathetically. “I can tell you guys are going to make it through this. You seem like a tough girl.”
She blushed with embarrassment, but her demeanor shifted as Gus arrived. No matter what she thought of Vinny, and his distracting blue eyes, she couldn’t allow anything to take her concentration off job number one.
“Kids, stick with me. Vinny is going to lead us.”
He walked ahead. “We keep going that way.”
They reached the end of the alley between the two buildings. Ahead, a wide avenue stood between them and another alleyway on the far side.
Vinny took off his hat and peeked around the corner but yanked his head back an instant later. “We’ve got company headed this way.”
Her stomach hit the panic button.
She suddenly wished she’d brought the shotgun.
CHAPTER 14
Newark, NJ
A long time ago, Kyla and Mom took a ride in one of Uncle Ted’s little planes, but she had never been in a helicopter, so the flight on the big military machine was another notch in her training. After being up in the air for only a short time, she appreciated again why her uncle flew for a living; the view was incredible.
They’d been flying above the ocean for about twenty minutes before they turned inland. As soon as they did, Meechum reached over and tapped her, then spoke through the industrial-grade headset and mic gear they both wore. “Can you hear me?” Meechum asked at nearly a scream.
Kyla scrambled to turn down the volume. She gave the Marine a thumbs-up once she did.
“This is where I need you. We’re starting to go over Staten Island, New Jersey. We’re going to sweep to the north and east to see if we can find any survivors.”
“So… I just look outside?”
Meechum grinned. “Not everything about being a warrior is fun.”
“I don’t mind,” she said dryly. The less drama, the better.
They flew above thousands of houses, and there were many more to the west. It was like one big subdivision that went from the edge of the coast all the way to the curve of the horizon. The rivers and bays and skyscrapers of Manhattan were to the north. She’d recognize that skyline anywhere; that’s where Mom lived.
Used to live. Does live. Maybe lives?
She’d accepted something big had happened to the world, including people and sailors who disappeared into thin air, but she wasn’t ready to accept it had taken her mother. If she could just see the city was all right…
Kyla lost some of her enthusiasm for a brief time, but she couldn’t let it drag her too far down. As Meechum stated, it wasn’t all fun and games. She’d been brought up here to do a job.
The helicopter was low enough for her to see trash cans at the end of driveways, individual windows on cars, and colorful lawn chairs sitting poolside in many of the backyards. She imagined if there were people down there, they’d be easy to spot, but, at first glance, no one came running out to greet them.
“If you see anything interesting, let me know and I’ll let the pilot know. You know?” Meechum laughed.
Kyla let herself lean toward the open doorway but kept one hand on the seat belt. It would put her closer to danger, but it made it possible to see almost directly below them. If people were down there, she didn’t want to miss them.
Meechum sat on the floor of the cargo hold, with her legs dangling outside the aircraft. As usual, she made it look easy.
“You can do that, too,” she told herself.
They flew for a couple of minutes before she gathered up the fortitude necessary to try it. She found the tether rope attached to the wall, then buckled herself in with a carabiner.
She breathed fast, like she was about to dive underwater.
“You can do this,” she whispered.
Kyla unhitched her seatbelt and set it aside. She slid off the edge of the seat, never losing contact with it as she got onto the floor.
“Just a little more,” she encouraged herself.
The heavy rope would prevent her from falling out the door. She knew that. However, it seemed like the most dangerous thing she’d ever thought of doing. The earth flew by below her. One fall and she’d be dead.
Still, she got her feet over the edge and carefully shimmied her legs over the side, too. Gradually, she slid even closer until everything below her knees was out of the helicopter.
“I did it!” she said to herself. Uncle Ted wouldn’t believe she’d flown today, much less stuck her feet out the door of a moving helicopter.
“I could get used to flying,” she said in her microphone.
Meechum agreed. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? Do you see anything over there? I don’t see nothin’ on this side.”
Her attention had been elsewhere while she’d gotten down onto the floor, but now she made a concerted effort to do her job. At first, there was nothing to look at but more houses, streets, and tree-covered yards. Far to the north, a huge fire consumed a large part of the landscape. The black smoke rose to the stratosphere like a towering thunderhead.
“That thing is out of control,” she said.
Somehow, the Marine knew what she meant. “If you ever wondered if you should pay your fire department, this should be your clue.”
The fire was the most interesting thing out there, but her vision was drawn to movement in the air a lot closer. An orang
e spark and a puff of smoke appeared between her and the rager.
“I see something!” she yelled.
The orange streak went downward and closed distance on a highway. Before she had time to comment on it, the missile exploded under a bridge, and flames and black smoke burst from both sides of the overpass.
A man’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Evade!” the pilot yelled three times in a row.
The airframe dipped as the pilot steered them away from whatever shot that missile. She had half a second to wonder what had been struck down there, but her whole life flashed in front of her eyes as she slid right out the door.
Newark, NJ
The Hellfire missile crashed into the Cessna about ten seconds after they’d run away from it. The concussion knocked them both to the ground, but Ted scrambled to his feet as fast as he was able.
“Come on, hurry!” He pointed at the enemy’s Piper Cherokee. It was lining up a landing on the interstate, exactly as he and Emily had done.
Emily’s eyes lolled for a moment, but she focused on him. “Did I fall?”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “You were clumsy. Let’s get up and run.”
He had to help her up, but once she’d gotten upright, her balance improved.
“What happened?” she asked, like she’d regained her senses.
“Drone attack. These guys aren’t messing around. We’ve got to get out of here before more bad guys show up.”
The whirr of the Piper steadily rose as it came closer. He watched as it descended toward the highway. He and Emily stood on top of the embankment, giving them some concealment, but he wanted to get her running toward the nearby suburban homes, so he tugged at her elbow.
That got her moving.
They made it to the back yard of the first house on the street as tires chirped on the highway. The plane was below their line of sight, because the interstate sat in a lowered channel, but there was no mistaking how close the aircraft was.
Ted ran through the yard and came out on a short block of homes with a white-steepled church at the end. The small brick homes appeared clean and tasteful with stubby driveways and narrow porches. It was the type of place where he might have lived if he wasn’t an apartment person, always on the move.
Minus America Box Set | Books 1-5 Page 32