by Newman, AJ
Suddenly, a hand reached over Bill’s shoulder, yanking him around to confront a furious man. The man yelled, “Stop scaring my wife and kids!”
Bill grabbed the man’s hand and flipped the mad man to the floor after bouncing him against the seats. “Don’t grab me again, or I’ll drop you to the floor and kick you in the nuts.”
Tom helped the man up and stood between them. He placed a hand on the man’s chest. “Now, shut up and listen. We are in danger and need to make a plan for what happens after we land. We have about five hours before we arrive above San Francisco.”
The man clearly didn’t understand. “Why? That explosion was behind us. We just need to land and go on with our lives. You two need to stop scaring everyone.”
Tom’s face flushed, and his hands drew into fists. “Shut up and move your family up to the front, now! We will be making plans and don’t want to scare your candy ass or your sensitive family.”
Tom heard, “That’s telling the SOB, son.” He turned and saw Granny B cheering for him.
“Bill, we’re from the Ashland area. We might want to ask for others from our area to come back here and …”
The overhead speakers buzzed and sounded ominous as the pilot spoke. “I’m sure you want to know what the bright flash was behind us. The truth is we don’t know, and it would be unwise to speculate now. We’ve lost communication with the control tower. Still, I promise we’ll give you more information as soon as we know something. Stay calm. We have plenty of fuel and will land on time in San Francisco. That’s all I have right now. Thanks, and enjoy your flight.”
Bill’s eyes were wide open, and his face turned pale. “This is worse than I’d thought. To lose communication with the control tower is a major problem. I wonder if the plane’s GPS is working. Those blasts could have knocked our satellites out.”
Jackie had joined the conversation. “Other people are trying to figure out what happened, and we might have a riot on our hands.”
Bill nodded. “That’s a possibility. Perhaps you could lead the group in some songs or something to give us time to work on our plans?”
Jackie said, “I can’t sing, but I have an idea. I’ll be right back.”
Jackie calmly walked to the front of the plane and talked with the flight attendant supervisor. She was walking down the aisle to return when one of the flight attendants started singing over the intercom and then invited everyone to sing along with her. Bill gave Jackie a pat on the back and then left to see if he could find any other passengers who originated from the Ashland area.
*
Chapter 2
The Pacific Ocean – United flight 4242 - Hawaii to San Francisco
The Boeing 957 cruised along at thirty-five thousand feet with three hundred-fifty-six of the five hundred seats filled. There were six seats across in the middle and two seats on either side of the aisles outside the center aisle. The colossal jet was mainly used for intercontinental flights and was usually full. The connecting flight from China didn’t arrive by the scheduled departure time, so the flight left with a light load. The plane was almost empty just before the flight attendants closed the doors. A sudden influx of an additional group of people upset the passengers because it was already a half-hour late. Many complained about their chartered flights having been canceled. Tom didn’t think anything of the issue because he’d only flown once before this flight.
The woman looked like a movie star as she walked to the back of the plane, towing a young girl behind her. She was dressed from head to toe in expensive white clothing and shouldered a large gold and white purse. Her red lipstick, gold belt, and white sunglasses perfectly accessorized her outfit. She bitched, moaned, and groaned all the way down the path to the back of the plane. The small woman’s fiery personality matched her red hair. However, her daughter was quiet but dressed exactly like her mother.
Tom recognized the lady as the same one who’d pitched a fit when she couldn’t get two first-class seats at the last minute. The woman had cursed the clerks who’d tried their best to get any first-class seats for the unappreciative lady who fumed, making everyone around her uncomfortable. The clerk had finally offered four free round trip tickets to any destination United serviced to get someone to give up their first-class seats.
Tom couldn’t help looking at the gorgeous, albeit horrible behaved lady with the red hair, piercing green eyes, and shapely figure. He hated the type and thought she needed a good spanking. She might be the bitch from Hell, but she was a beautiful bitch and apparently knew she was gorgeous.
Granny B caught him gawking at the woman in white. “Boy, you lost the love of your life, and this woman ain’t a pimple on Gwen’s ass.”
Tom’s head rose, and he stared at his grandma. “Granny B, what the heck did that mean?”
“You can do much better than that bleach blonde hussy.”
The words stung since he still grieved for his dead wife and felt guilty when he had thoughts about another woman. He’d known her from childhood, and she’d been his best friend. They hadn’t left the ranch very often, and even though she’d loved ranch life, she’d missed eating out, shopping, and the city’s other amenities.
Tom risked his grandma’s wrath but grinned and said, “You keep telling me - to get back on the horse.”
“Son, I said horse, not whore. You’ll find the right one. Give it time.”
Tom knew his grandma didn’t mince words and always said what was on her mind. She wasn’t always mean sounding and had a funny side. She’d often used humor to get her point across to her grandkids. Since his wife had died, Tom had less patience for being bossed by his grandmother or sister. He wasn’t a kid anymore and needed some independence, even if they all lived in the same home.
Tom motioned for the lady in white to sit down across from his family. “Hello, I’m Tom. What are your names?”
The little girl looked up with beautiful green eyes that caught his attention. “My, you could be your mom’s younger twin sister.”
“I’m Lucy, and I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”
The lady in white still hadn’t spoken. She helped the girl into the window seat and sat down, facing Tom. “I’m Samantha Hale, and I demand to know what is going on. I tried to call my boyfriend, and my damned cell phone didn’t work. The screen lights up, but no service and no internet.”
“Ma’am, did you hear what the pilot said?”
“Yes, but that idiot didn’t know anything.”
Tom took a deep breath. “If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll tell you what I know when the others from the Medford area arrive.”
Samantha tersely replied, “I want to know now!”
Tom imagined the lady rolling on the floor, throwing a tantrum. He laughed. “Ma’am, I’ll tell you when I’m good and ready.” He chuckled to himself. The woman didn’t mean anything to him, and he didn’t give two shits about her feelings.
She huffed. “Well, I’ve never been treated with such disrespect.” Tom glared back at her and wanted to flip her off.
Granny B couldn’t stand it anymore and blurted out her thoughts. “Well, miss snooty britches, hang around us for a while, and we’ll teach you some manners.”
Tom waved his hands. “Ladies, we just have to get along for a few more minutes. Look, here comes Bill with the others.”
Samantha glared and cursed under her breath.
Bill had only found four other people from the Medford area, and two weren’t interested in attending the meeting. Bill introduced everyone. Betty Jones was a biology teacher from Medford. Paul White was a security guard at a company in Talent, Oregon.
Bill started the meeting by telling everyone what he and Tom thought had happened. Before Bill could explain, Paul interrupted. “I thought you knew something. You’re just guessing like everyone else.”
Tom cut him off. “Sorry, but no one on the plane knows what happened. The evidence suggests several powerful nuclear bombs have been detonated high in th
e atmosphere to disable the United States’ communication and military capability. Nuclear bombs give off an electromagnetic pulse which can destroy electronics.”
“Okay, smart boy, why is our plane still in the air?”
Tom exhaled and knew he had to keep his temper. “Luck. Just plain old luck. We’re lucky we’re between the blasts and not close enough to either one to damage our electronics. That’s why we’re still in the air instead of in a million pieces on the ocean floor.”
Paul sneered and glared at Tom. “So, you’re guessing and stirring up crap.”
Tom looked at the shit-for-brains idiot and thought about slamming him to the floor, but knew Granny B didn’t like violence. Tom grinned at the man and then smiled.
Bill interrupted. “No, we’re doing the best we can to be prepared when the plane attempts to land in San Francisco. You’re free to go back to what you were doing if you don’t want to listen and participate.”
Paul cursed and then stormed back to his seat. Bill looked at Betty and Samantha. “Ladies, what are your thoughts?”
Betty spoke first. “I don’t know what to think, but I believe you’re right about being prepared for anything when we land. The worst case is we laugh at each other and tell our friends so they can laugh at us later.”
Samantha was confused by all of the give and take but appeared to be genuinely concerned. “I don’t know what to do. I just want to get my daughter home safely. I’ll do what you tell me to do and help where I can.”
Samantha looked over at Tom and Granny B. “I’m sorry for being a bit grumpy. This trip has been a disaster. Some bastard military group stole my chartered plane, or I’d have been a couple of hours ahead of this flight sipping Appletinis and napping.”
Tom’s head snapped around to face Samantha. “Huh? The military commandeered your plane?”
“Yes, they took over a dozen chartered planes and flew away an hour before we left. Oh, my God! Do you think they knew in advance?”
Tom looked at his family and then Bill and Betty. “The plot thickens. Did anyone notice if any Navy ships or aircraft were bugging out before we left?”
“Now, that you mention it, there was a stream of large naval vessels leaving Pearl Harbor when we flew by the main island. Those bastards knew it was coming and didn’t warn us.” Bill fumed and cursed below his breath, then said, “BOHICA.”
Granny B started laughing aloud. “Bend over, here it comes again. The green weenie in action.”
Bill looked up at Granny B. “Army or Marines?”
“Army nurse, but of course, the green weenie can also violate the Navy and Air Force.”
Bob and Granny B sat down beside each other swapping stories from when they were in the “Sandbox” in Iraq back in the day. Tom never knew his grandmother had been in several firefights and had even been wounded, fighting off the enemy to save her patients.
Granny B was a feisty sixty-four-year-old hard-working Oregon rancher’s wife who been to the school of hard knocks and kicked its ass. She’s been a pretty woman in her youth. Still, the combination of ranch life and sixty years of suffering the Oregon sun and wind affected her once creamy smooth complexion. Yes, rode hard and put up wet aptly described her to a T. Her many wrinkles were a road map from her tours in the Middle East to blizzards in the mountains of Oregon punching cattle and rough ranch life. She was rough as a corn cob but gentle as a lamb when needed. Her tongue could praise good work or flay the hide off a wayward ranch hand.
Bessie Clark loved the twins with all her heart and was proud of the people they’d become. She’d become their mother when her son and daughter-in-law had died when the twins were just kids. Bessie became Granny B because Jackie had called her ‘Bethee’ and couldn’t say, Bessie. Granny B was now sixty-four, gray-haired, and five foot four inches tall. She had grown up on the ranch and had been raised by her dad and older brothers. Jackie wasn’t the only tomboy the farm had produced in its one hundred and forty years of existence.
Granny B had been a nurse in the Iraq war when the enemy had overrun their base. She’d picked up an M4 rifle and had promptly shot four of the intruders saving several lives while being shot herself. She’d received the Purple Heart and a Distinguished Service Medal even though her Division Commander had turned her in for the Medal of Honor. Granny B had married a fellow soldier, returned to Oregon to take over the ranch from her ailing father, and never left. Her husband and Granny B had become doomsday preppers and raised the twins to be self-sufficient and always prepared. They’d been preparing for when TSHTF all their lives. Now, they would be tested.
Jackie looked at her twin brother. “I didn’t know we had a badass for a granny.”
Tom thought for a few seconds. “I guess any grandma who can still rope cattle and brand calves has to be some kind of badass.”
Jackie touched Tom’s shoulder. “We’re both fairly good at the outdoors stuff like camping, fishing, and hunting, but we could be looking at a survival situation. Neither of us was in the military and don’t have combat experience.”
“But little sister, Grampa and Granny B taught us a lot about survival and prepping. We might have to use that stuff we thought was a waste of our time when we were teenagers.”
Jackie frowned since she could always read her brother’s mind. “I sense you think this will get worse, quick.”
“Sis, you read the same Post-Apocalyptic books and watched the old Jericho reruns on cable. All I can think of is we have about three days before the shit hits the fan and ninety more days to survive until everyone else starves or kills each other off.”
“Tom, we didn’t have much of a childhood or social life later as teens. Grampa was so paranoid about people knowing where we lived. Crap, neither one of us has much in the way of social skills. Your wife hated being isolated on the ranch. We never went to the movies or anything. Hell, I didn’t date until I went away to college.”
Tom nodded and then smiled. “I almost laughed at Granny when she advised me to get back on the horse after Gwen died. Her birds and bees talk didn’t prepare me for courting Gwen or our marriage. I thought working on the ranch was exciting enough. I think Gwen was tired of ranch living and would have left me if she hadn’t died.”
Jackie snickered. “Tell me about it. I met a boy I liked the first week at college, and he put his hand on my butt when he tried to kiss me. I gave him a karate chop and threw him to the floor. All the boys were afraid of me for months. Then I found a boyfriend and didn’t know what to do with him. I felt out of place and came home the next semester.”
“Tom, it’s been two years. You have to trust people and find love, or you’ll become more distrusting and cynical. You’re kinda mean at times to me and Granny B.”
Tom ignored the comments and placed an arm around his sister. He chuckled. “Is there hope for us? I loved having Gwen around but got sick of her whining all the time about going to town.”
Jackie knew about Gwen cheating on her brother, but Gwen had died before Jackie could work up the courage to tell him. “I know what you liked about having Gwen around. Remember, my bedroom shared a wall with your bedroom. I had to sleep out on the porch many a night.”
Red or crimson didn’t do justice to describe Tom’s cherry red face. “I uh … why didn’t you say something?”
“I guess I could have said, - Brother, dear, please make a bit less noise while humping your wife, or maybe – Dear sister-in-law, please stop moaning so loud. That would have gone over like a turd in a punch bowl.”
Tom was too embarrassed to answer.
“Well, look here. I found a way to shut you up.”
Samantha and Betty had started a conversation but stopped when they saw Tom and Jackie watching them. Betty smiled. “Your grandma and Bill appear to have hit it off. What can we do while we’re waiting on those two to catch up on war stories?”
Tom reverted back to his training. “First, we need to stay at the back of the plane and gather some survival ite
ms without attracting attention.”
Samantha’s lips thinned. “What could we possibly gather that could help us? Hey, are you saying the plane might crash?”
Tom looked at those green eyes and was almost hypnotized. Jackie bumped him on the arm. “Brother? Earth to brother.”
“Sorry, I was trying to think of a way to soften my answer, but there isn’t a way. Yes, we might crash land. I don’t mean fall from the sky. We could have to land in a cornfield or something. We need to gather some blankets and pillows to cushion ourselves before the impact. It probably won’t happen, but who knows what the future holds for us?”
Samantha said, “Okay, what else do we gather?”
“Food, water, knives, backpacks, and anything that could help us survive until we get home. We might hop a plane to Medford or have to steal a car to get home.”
Betty had a tear flow down her cheek. “I had to leave my girlfriends to return to work. They’re staying until next Monday. If … there’s a next Monday?”
Jackie and Tom were shaken by Betty’s words. “What’s wrong? Did I say something stupid?”
Tom choked down his tears. “We were with eight of our relatives on vacation. We had to get back to our ranch to tend to the animals and left a few days early. They’re stuck in Hawaii. That is if Hawaii still exists.”
Jackie broke down in tears, and Granny B rushed over to console her. “Aunt Joan, Uncle Bob, and all of my cousins are ….” She wept as Granny B stroked her hair.
Jackie sighed and then rubbed Tom’s arm. “We’ve got each other, and Granny B might be a lot more help than we ever imagined.”
“Yes, and I’m beginning to appreciate all those days canning vegetables, firearms practice, and learning to trap and hunt on top of our chores at the ranch. I hope we’re overreacting, but we’re as prepared as anyone else could be.”
