Desolate The Complete Trilogy

12



Aircraft Falcon Six Five Eight Alpha

4,734 feet and falling



Julia sat forward in her seat, eyes shut. She was holding onto the armrests so hard her forearms were starting to burn yet she couldn’t manage to let go. She kept reciting the first line of the Lord’s Prayer again and again. It escaped her lips in one long and desperate chant.

Our Father who art in heaven our Father who art in heaven our Father who art in heaven…

Every time the plane pitched and changed position, she screamed and held on even tighter. Once or twice it seemed to level out from the dive - a second or two of relief - then it would dive again. She could hear shouting from the cockpit above the constantly changing pitch of the engine noise. Buffeting air slammed violently against the fuselage.

She dared a quick look out the window and saw the ground below, very close below, and she knew they were going down. Oh God they were going to crash. They were over land now instead of water and she couldn’t decide if that was better or worse. The inside of her plastic face mask was fogged from her panting, and she couldn’t breathe. She ripped off the hood and mask and sucked in the fresh air of the cabin.

Suddenly, it felt as if her seat tried to buck her off like a bull. The seat belt cut painfully into her gut. The entire interior of the plane seemed to rain down on her, and a second later her breath was taken away as the cabin instantly depressurized as the fuselage shattered from the impact.

The world was still. Julia opened her eyes and thick smoke stung them. She breathed in a lungful of the toxic haze and coughed. She fumbled for the seat belt release and collapsed to the floor. Pain shot through her chest. Looking down, she noticed blood for the first time. Something was sticking out, just below her collar bone. A sharp piece of metal or plastic, she couldn’t tell.

The rear of the plane was open to the outside world and she crawled toward it, following the smoke as it escaped out the back. She was almost free of the wreckage when she looked back.

Pretty boy.

Ignoring the primal urge screaming at her to get away from the crash and run to safety, she went back. Her medical training and ethics overrode her survival instincts for the time being. He was covered in debris but she didn’t see any obvious signs of trauma. He was still unconscious. Lucky bastard. There wasn’t enough time to undo all his restraints; even so, she probably wouldn’t be able to carry him.

The cabin continued to fill with smoke and Julia knew she had to do something fast. She couldn’t help but think of the all the times she’d seen a movie where the hero ran away from a crashed vehicle seconds before it exploded behind him. She was pretty sure that didn’t happen in real life, but it didn’t change the fact she was expecting to be engulfed in a fiery explosion any second.

The stretcher was secured to the deck of the plane by a few simple latches and she managed to get them all released. It was designed to rise to waist level and move on wheels, but she kept it flat, knowing the wheels wouldn’t do much good.

Julia lifted one end of the stretcher, ignored the searing pain in her chest, and pulled. Adrenaline coursing through her veins gave her the strength to pull it through the wreckage and out into the sunlight. She slipped and fell, lifted it up again, and pulled.

Once outside and free of the cabin, she sucked in the delicious fresh air and tried to catch her breath. They were only a few feet away from the burning jet engine and she knew she needed to pull him farther away.

Gathering what was left of her energy she lifted the end of the stretcher again and dragged him as far as she could go. Her chest was really screaming now. Every muscle in her body seemed to be protesting. She finally dropped the stretcher and fell to the ground.

The adrenaline was quickly wearing off and Julia was having a hard time breathing. Her breaths grew shallower. She touched her chest and her fingers came away bloody.

Julia crawled a few feet, trying to escape the pain. She gave up and rolled onto her back. The warm sun felt good on her face. She closed her eyes to rest for a moment. As soon as she got her strength back, she would drag pretty boy into the shade and wait for help. She just needed to rest for a minute.