by J. R. Tate
It was going to be a hard landing. Jake estimated that they were somewhere over New Mexico, Colorado, or maybe even into Utah. They weren’t too far into their flight and regardless of what state it was, they were over mountainous terrain that would make their landing even more difficult.
“Assume crash positions!” Jake yelled over the loud rumble of the plane as it shot through the morning air, slicing through it like a sharpened knife through a tomato. He wasn’t sure what else he should do. He pulled on the yoke again, holding it so tight that his hands and palms ached. The nose of the airplane pulled up just a tad and he hoped it was enough to help slide the plane on its belly. They were going way too fast for a soft and gentle landing. When they hit the plane would slide for a long time until it made impact with an object to stop it completely. Since they were in hilly terrain with trees, maybe it’d happen quicker than he thought. He didn’t have time to think about it. They were just a few feet away from making contact with the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Jake did the only thing he could think to do - he held onto the yoke and closed his eyes, thinking about the things that mattered most in life - Alice, Sophie, and Dylan. The plane hit hard, jolting him upward, his seat belt tightening over his chest to keep him in his seat. Crunching and grinding sounds of metal being destroyed were the last things Jake heard before everything went black.
***
Alice’s calm day in the emergency room was driving her crazy. Her twelve-hour shift was starting to feel like a double just by how time was dragging. She was caught up charting, making rounds, and checking on the other nurses to make sure they didn’t need help with anything. Glancing at her pedometer watch, she was shocked that she had already hit her ten thousand step goal despite the lack of work needing to be done.
Smiling at the clerk, Alice glanced up at the clock. “Dare I say it?”
The younger woman grinned in return and Alice noticed her name tag - Jocelyn. ER clerks came and went like patients did so she wasn’t familiar with her, just that she always had a smile on her face and was willing to do anything the nurses and doctors asked of her.
“You know the rules, Alice.” Jocelyn wagged her finger at her. “But you don’t have to say it for me to know. And you’re right.”
Alice patted the counter in front of Jocelyn and walked down the hallway, glancing behind the curtain at a patient waiting for their doctor to come in so they could transfer to an actual room. Looking up at the TV, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the news story - the crawler mentioned a possible plane crash but the information was sketchy. Hurrying down to the break room, she quickly turned the channel to the first news station she could find, ignoring the people who were watching the soap opera.
No one said anything as they were all pulled into the story - Alice felt a lump form in her throat, her pulse thumping in her temples as she waited for the anchor to report more information.
“At this time it isn’t clear if the plane has actually crashed, just that it went off of radar about fifteen minutes ago. Air traffic controllers have not been able to make contact with them but they do report that a possible mayday was sent out just seconds before all systems crashed.”
“Do they have a flight number?” Alice asked out loud as if they could hear her through the TV. Looking over her shoulder, she bit her lip when she saw the sympathetic looks from her fellow co-workers. They knew her husband was a pilot. Hundreds of flights went across the country daily - the chances that it was Jake’s flight were slim, though very possible considering where the loss of communication had happened.
“Again, we are reporting about flight two twenty-eight, direct service from Dallas Love Field to Seattle-Tacoma International. The plane has gone off the radar, no communication is being made with the flight crew, and there may have been a possible mayday alert sent out just seconds before they disappeared.”
Dallas Love Field to Seattle? That’s exactly what Jake was doing. Alice felt the room begin to spin and she took a few steps back, sitting on the lounge sofa behind her. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she checked the flight information that Jake always gave her so she could track him for instances just like this. Scanning through her messages, the numbers two and twenty-eight flashed right at her, confirming that the news story was about the airplane her husband was on. This couldn’t be true! Flying was the safest way to get around.
She dropped her phone and it hit the floor, the case breaking into two pieces. Everything was moving in slow motion and she looked up at the TV again, only she wasn’t comprehending anything that was being said. No! Jake’s flight was fine! This was a mistake!
“Oh my God, Alice, that isn’t Jake’s…” Rose cut herself off as she picked Alice’s phone off of the floor. Sitting beside her, she put her arm around Alice’s shoulders and pulled her in for a side hug. “They don’t have much information right now, hon. You know how the media is. Pure speculation for ratings.”
Alice didn’t want to be coddled. Rose was a good friend but now was not the time to smother her. Standing, she smoothed her hands down her hair and took a deep breath, pacing in front of the TV. What did a person do in this situation? Did she call the airline? Did she let Dylan and Sophie know that their dad had disappeared off of radar? No one could ever prepare for a situation like this to happen. No one even wanted to think about it.
Licking her lips, Alice felt the urge to drink some water. Just as she was about to say something, the lights in the emergency room flickered several times and then completely shut off, leaving them all standing in the dark. The emergency lights didn’t even come on like they usually did. The hospital had generators and everyone stood by, waiting for the machines to kick on and bring life back to their work area.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Hey, Sophie, can I borrow your notes from psych class this morning?”
“Where the heck were you, Danny?” Sophie pulled out a spiral notebook and a pen, ready for her next class to start. Normally, she would tell a freeloader to hit the road, but she liked Danny. He was the first boy to pay attention to her for longer than the time it took to play a football game - back in high school, it was the same old thing. The boys loved watching the cheerleaders jump around with their shapely legs, their spirit, and their caked on makeup. Now at college, all of that crap was over. Danny didn’t even know she had been a cheerleader.
“I worked late last night so I couldn’t exactly get out of bed this morning. Come on, Sophie. I’ll pay you!”
“Worked late or stayed up late drinking? One isn’t exactly a job.”
“It is if you work in a bar.”
Sophie shook her head and rummaged through her book bag, pulling the spiral designated for her psychology notes. “I’ll need them back tonight. No exceptions. I’ll see you at the game, right?”
“Yep! I’ll make sure to bring them with me.”
“You better or I’ll charge you interest.”
“So you do want me to pay you?” Danny asked, his grin making a pang of butterflies shoot through Sophie’s stomach. Before she could answer, the professor stepped up to the podium and began the lecture for the day. The flirting would have to wait and even though they had stopped talking, Sophie couldn’t get her heart rate down. It was good and bad - she always swore to never be the pushover girl to impress a guy, and here she was, allowing a slacker student to borrow her notes. This would be the last time, she swore.
Mentally pulling herself from Danny, she tried to focus on what Professor Baughman was talking about. It was college algebra, not her strong suit, so she had to really pay attention to what was going on. Her parents would kill her if she flunked a class.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out, noticing a text message from Brooke, her dorm roommate. Her heart skipped a beat at the question that flashed on the screen:
“Your dad is a pilot, right?”
Sophie made sure the professor wasn’t looking her way. The last thing she needed was to get cau
ght playing on her phone in front of Danny. Teachers frowned on it and she didn’t need the embarrassment.
Feeling like the coast was clear, she texted back:
“Yes, y?”
A few seconds passed before the phone buzzed again with Brooke’s response:
“Plane crash. Flight from Dallas. U might wanna check out the news.”
There were hundreds of flights that left from Dallas every day. What were the chances that it would be her dad? Sophie slid the phone back in her pocket. The professor had moved to her area of the classroom and she almost got caught with it out. Taking a deep breath, she jotted down what he had written on the white board, though none of it made sense. It was like she was learning another language, and now she had the distraction of a plane crash out of Dallas on her mind. She couldn’t sit still - her leg bounced up and down in anticipation as she thought about everything clouding her busy mind.
She glanced at her watch - Damn it! There was still an hour left in the lecture. She couldn’t sit here wondering for another hour! Gathering her belongings, she hurried out of the classroom, ducking everyone’s glances as she disrupted their mental focus. She didn’t even look back to see Danny’s reaction - she didn’t care at that point. She needed to try and get hold of her mom for clarification. The fact that she didn’t have any calls or messages from her made Sophie believe that the crash didn’t involve her father.
Pulling her cell phone out again, she sat on a nearby bench and dialed her mom’s number. She’d call her dad but if he really was on a flight, he wouldn’t be able to answer anyway. The other line cut to a tinny message that said, “Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again.” What? The voice sent a chill down Sophie’s spine and she hit the red button screen on the screen to hang up. Looking around her, life was moving along normally. People were hurrying to and from class, it was a beautiful day, and inside she felt like she was imploding. She tried to call again, this time the tinny voice said, “All circuits are busy. Goodbye.”
She tried her father’s phone - same story. She also tried her little brother Dylan’s phone and got the same result.
“Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again. All circuits are busy. Goodbye.”
“Sophie, why’d you leave class? Is everything okay?” Danny stood in front of her, pulling her from her panic. His eyes widened when she made eye contact with him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost! You’re sweating!” Reaching out, he touched her brow, his fingertips smooth on her skin.
“I need to get to a TV. I need to see what’s going on.”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
Sophie stood up and pulled her backpack on, hurrying toward the student union building. There would be TV’s in there where she could catch some news. She didn’t even wait for Danny but could feel him matching her step for step. Once inside, she spotted a flat-screen on the wall and there were several people crowded around, everyone fixated on the news story. She read the headline at the bottom, highlighting the story:
“Major power outages spanning from the west coast to the Midwest”
“There have been multiple plane crashes, power outages, and loss of communication that spans from Los Angeles all the way to Chicago. Sources say that it is working its way eastward, knocking out everything in its path.”
“What is it?” Another news anchor asked.
“We aren’t clear on that, as we can’t make contact with anyone in the affected areas at the moment.”
“Is it safe to say that it will happen here as well?”
“If it continues, whatever it may be, the pattern shows that within the next hour, the entire United States will be crippled.”
Sophie felt claustrophobic and needed fresh air. She was also scared to walk away from the news coverage in fear of missing something. Backing away, she had to push through the crowd that had formed behind her. This had to be a nightmare. She’d wake up eventually in her dorm room, laughing to herself at the crazy dreams she always seemed to have. Or in this case, nightmare.
“Your family is in Dallas, right?” Danny asked, his mouth set in a hard line.
“Yes. And my dad’s a pilot. And they mentioned…”
“Plane crashes,” Danny finished her sentence with the shake of his head. “That doesn’t mean his plane was one of them. Was he scheduled to work today?”
“I don’t know.” Sophie shrugged and went outside. The air in the student union building was stagnant and she couldn’t breathe. “I don’t keep up with his schedule.” It came out harsher than she had wanted it to and cringed. “I’m sorry. That was rude, Danny.”
“No, it’s okay. Have you tried to call? My family is in Abilene. I should try to contact them too.”
“I couldn’t get through.” She held her cell phone out. “I tried my dad, mom, and my little brother. Nothing.” Her voice shook and warmth gathered in the corners of her eyes. “A nationwide power outage? Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“I’ve read about possibilities but it was all conspiracy theories. EMP’s, terrorists and war, all things we probably shouldn’t talk about right now.”
Sophie nodded in agreement. “I need to find out if my parents are okay. If I could just get a call to go through and hear one of their voices, I’d calm down a little bit.”
She tried to call one more time and got the same damn result! She almost threw the phone down but resisted the urge. It was her most precious commodity at the moment - and if the power outage spread toward the east coast like the news was speculating it would soon be completely useless.
“The power is out!” Someone opened the swinging door that led into the student union building. “The power is out! Get inside!”
Sophie didn’t know why but she followed suit, being herded inside like they were livestock. Just as she stepped through the threshold, a loud explosion rumbled nearby, shaking the building they were in like an earthquake. The electricity flickered and came on for a split second before it shut down again. What had exploded? Most importantly - how much danger were they in at the moment. The building was so crowded she couldn’t move and was getting pushed further and further away from the exit. One big bomb and they’d all be dead, taken out in one fell swoop. A sense of dread settled in the pit of her stomach and she tried to think of a better plan to get out of harm’s way. She hated how she went straight to doom’s day and war but unfortunately, it was the world they lived in.
“Sophie, stay close to me. I don’t want to get separated!” Danny yelled and grabbed her arm, his grip tight on her bicep. He was right - the last thing she wanted to happen right now was to be alone.
“What the hell is happening, Danny? We need to get out of this crowd!” She had to raise her voice - with the number of people rushing to get inside, the chatter of others predicting what was going on was deafening. “We need to get out of here!” She couldn’t panic. Panicking would make things worse. As they edged deeper into the building and farther away from the exits, it got darker. It was daytime, the sun was out, but it was dark inside, heightening Sophie’s fears.
“Just stay with me. We’ll get it figured out.” Danny’s voice of reason was what she needed to pull her back in and calm her down. His hand on her arm helped her realize she wasn’t alone in the darkness and in the crowd. She had a friend with her and he was okay. At least she knew that much, even if she had no idea what the status of her family was.
“There’s a basement in this building. Let’s try and get to it.” It was the safest place Sophie could think to be, especially if planes were dropping out of the sky and things were exploding. The challenge was getting through the crowd. No one was willing to move and everyone was panicking. “Come on, Danny! We’re almost there!”
CHAPTER FIVE
The first thing Jake felt was pain. It was hard opening his eyes as if there were weights on his eyelids. Forcing them open, he let out a deep groan when he turned his head to the
side. His vision was blurry - everything around him was enveloped in fog. He had no idea where he was, nor could he recall what had happened to put him in so much pain. Was he dead? What a stupid thought to have - dead people didn’t feel pain, and he was hurting bad enough that if death came for him, he’d welcome it.
Blinking, Jake tried to clear the blurriness but it got worse. He attempted to sit up but something was restraining him, right across his chest. Lifting his arm made him lose his breath - the small task that people did daily turned into an unimaginable challenge. Pain radiated down his side, all the way to his toes. From the harsh discomfort, he had to estimate that he was severely hurt, and with the fog in his brain, could he possibly have a head injury? That would explain his lack of memory - he still couldn’t recall where he was or why he was hurting so bad.
The restraint across his chest felt like a seat belt and he traced his hand down to where it was buckled. Unfastening it, he was able to move a bit more freely, but he regretted even trying when the pain came on so bad that he almost passed out. Leaning back, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The strong taste of metallic was thick on his tongue and he winced at the flavor. Nausea hit him hard and he gagged, dry heaving several times before stomach acid finally came up, burning his esophagus and throat.
Jake knew he had to move. If he stayed where he was, his body might get used to it and his injuries could get worse. Or maybe not - moving could heighten whatever problems he had and do more damage than good. Injured spine? The last thing he needed to do was paralyze himself.
