by HJ Lawson
Fly like a bird, fly into the warmth of the sun, fly to happiness and joy… don’t look down, just fly.
One foot lands on the edge of the ripped-away bridge, the other in the air.
I didn’t make it.
My body tilts backward, down toward the river. Is today the day I finally die? As I fling my arms in front of me, fear fills my body.
NOT TODAY!
I feel the warmth of Zak’s and Gérard’s hands as they grab hold of my arms and pull me up to safety. My guardian angels.
Gérard lets out an exhausted breath and turns to all of us.
“Now, let’s get off this FUCKING bridge!”
Chapter 25
I Am Your Leader.
ETHAN
Each second ticking down is like a lifetime of waiting. The time has finally come.
“Ethan, Senior Master Sergeant Davis wants to see you in his office,” a young lady informs me.
“Thank you,” I say, already making my way there. I tap three times on his door.
Samuel is also sitting in the office. Perfect. I give him a salute. He is not only my staff sergeant, but he’s also my mentor… my leader.
“At ease,” Davis informs me.
I take off my hat and place it in front of my chest. Being in the Air Force is all about routine and ritual.
“Please, take a seat,” Davis instructs, and I do.
“As you are aware, after today’s events in New York, the country is on high alert,” Davis continues.
I am very aware.
“Because of this, the President has requested that we continue relocating our nuclear warheads to an unknown location,” Davis says.
This is my request, not the President’s. He is my own personal puppet. His high-paid advisors are also on my payroll. But instead of money, they will get to stand by God, when their day comes.
“He is concerned that terrorists know the location of our weapons, and is worried about the lack of military support we currently have on the ground to protect them,” Davis adds.
He is correct to be concerned. Too little, too late.
Davis turns to Samuel. “You understand that you are among a select few who know this location. And sharing this information with anyone is an act of treason, upon punishment of death.”
Do you understand that I was the one who gave them that location?
Chapter 26
City of Fear.
ANNABEL
The city is in chaos. Once people saw the explosions on the bridge and watched as it plummeted into the water — taking people with it – they fled like scared rats.
Brandon and I are heading into the city toward Penn Station. Maybe the underground people will be safer.
“I have to take a break, my legs are killing me,” I say. We’ve been running for what seems like hours.
“Okay, five minutes; let’s get some water from here.” Brandon points to a store.
The city has turned into one giant traffic jam. No one is moving anywhere, and the sounds of car horns fill the air.
“Wait here and catch your breath. Do you want anything else?” he asks.
“Could murder some chocolate.” Bad choice of words.
Brandon smiles and enters the store.
Leaning up against the wall, I alternate my legs, resting one and then the other. For some reason I am drawn to a lady across the road… she looks out of place. She is covered in black, and walking against the flood of people. They are running around her, as if she’s parting the river of panic.
She looks so calm… too calm.
There’s another woman walking around the other side of the building, dressed the same way. They are making their way toward each other, as though they each know the other is there.
Then I see another woman… and another… and another. All dressed head-to-toe in black, and all walking calmly against the flow of people.
Oh no! It looks like they are all heading to The Tombs Prison across the street.
“Stop!” I yell out.
My voice cannot be heard over the traffic and the panic-stricken people.
“Stop them!” I scream from the top of my lungs.
A few people turn and look at me, including one of the women in black. Her deep brown eyes stare into my soul, as though she knows what I have done.
Breaking from her stare, I spot a police officer across the road and we make eye contact. Quickly I point to the women. He sees them and quickly moves over to another police officer.
The women seem to realize they’ve been spotted… they hurry forward, then they freeze — in position.
“I wasn’t sure which chocolate you wanted, so I got you these,” Brandon says as he wanders back over to me.
“Get in the store!” I yell, as I grab his hand, making him drop the chocolates.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s going to be another attack! Get in the store!”
“What? How do you know?” Brandon asks, confused.
“Over there at The Tombs… it looks like the women in black are going to blow it up.” Just as I finish speaking, one of the women opens the front of her black cape and I see what’s underneath.
Oh, my God…
Other people on the street notice them, and they start screaming and running away. “They are suicide bombers!” a man cries out. Soon all we can hear are screams of fear.
“Watch yourself!” Brandon snaps, as a man appears from out of nowhere and pushes us out of the way in an attempt to get into the store. More follow him.
Suddenly, a large explosion shatters the air and shakes the buildings; the force knocks us all to the ground. This isn’t going to be the only blast, I just know it. I curl up into the fetal position, and Brandon wraps his body around mine.
One after another the explosions go off; the buildings let out thunderous, deafening roars as they are ripped from their foundations.
More people run into the store, throwing themselves on the ground as the walls begin to rock violently, launching the contents off their shelves.
“Ahhh!” a woman screams, as she’s showered in fragments of broken glass.
“How many blasts have you counted?” I ask Brandon; he’s covered in light grey dust.
“I think six.”
“Yeah, me too. There are two more to go.”
“How do you know?” a man behind us questions me with a puzzled look on his face.
“We saw them outside! Eight suicide bombers!” I tell him.
We have to quickly cover our heads as the store shakes again, and items from the shelves begin to fall everywhere. Everywhere is chaos… screaming, sirens, alarms, crashing sounds… dust… and blood.
Brandon pushes off a shelf that fell on top of us. Then he stands up and lifts me up from the ground, hugging me tightly as if he never wants to let go.
“Kids, get down! If you're correct, there’s still one more left!” the store keeper hollers.
We both quickly drop to the ground, hugging each other… and just in time. The sound is earsplitting, and I cover my head with my hands. The walls are cracking everywhere I look.
“We’ve got to get out of here, it's going to collapse!” I scream.
Brandon instantly jumps up, and we sprint out to the road.
Mesmerized by the scene in front of us, we are silent in shock. It looks like a war zone. Cars are flipped over on top of other cars. The sky is filled with grey clouds from the explosions. Cries for help burn into my soul.
“Get out!” Brandon yells to some people as they stagger from a nearby building.
“Quickly!” I shriek.
Oh God, no…
They aren’t moving fast enough. They aren’t going to make it. Just as the horrible realization sinks in, the building collapses onto the innocent victims.
“No!” I scream, as I dive into Brandon’s arms.
Why is this happening?
“Annabel, we cannot stay here. The prisoners will be coming out at a
ny moment. This is a planned prison break… it will be complete chaos.”
He’s right.
I grab his hand. Together we turn and run away.
Chapter 27
Innocent Joy Stolen Forever.
JADA
“Mommy, Mommy,” the boy in Gérard’s arms yells out in desperation. His eyes are filled with tears, and his pupils are so dilated it's hard to see the whites in his eyes.
The innocent joy has been stolen from him forever. He will never have the playful twinkle of happiness on his face again. He will only remember the sadness and sorrow of today's events, the day his mother and other people were murdered on the bridge.
Every part of my body wants to turn around and see what is happening. It’s like when I was home watching a movie with my family and my mother would put her hands over my eyes to stop me from seeing a scary scene. But I’d always push her hands away to glimpse at the television anyway. And then I wished I hadn’t. I’d often get nightmares for weeks afterwards.
That’s what it’s like now.
Zak’s hand is in mine, pulling me forward as we run. Gérard is in front of us, cradling a sobbing Ashton in his arms. I have to turn around to see what Ashton is seeing. Don’t do it! The bridge roars with anger, as the cable swoops in the air.
It will not take long before the middle section will have nothing left to support it and it will plummet into the waiting river. Everyone on it will most likely die.
“No, Mommy,” Ashton yells out as his mother’s body slides down the crumbled road, her hair softly flowing in the breeze. I can feel my eyes fill up with sadness. Ashton lets out a scream, and then falls silent, as his mother disappears from sight and into the waiting river.
Another horrifying screech and crashing sound.
“Help me!” a hysterical woman screams. She’s hanging on to part of the bridge, and her legs are dangling off the ground.
“Gérard, cover Ashton’s eyes!” I yell.
The woman falls silent, as if she’s come to terms with the fact that she is going to plummet to her death. She lets go of the bridge and drops through the gap and into the river. There’s a splash as she hits the water. But maybe she’s alive? There are boats down there; maybe they can rescue her.
One after another, people slide or fall off the bridge into the churning waters below. There is another loud roar. We all run faster… it feels like the whole bridge is going to go down.
The path is too tight for all the people running for safety, and many people stumble and fall. Someone steps on my foot. “Watch it!” I yell, without slowing down.
The sound of twisting metal growls through the air. “It's going!” someone at the back of the crowd yells. The crowd pushes us forward, making us run faster.
Turning back for one last look, I see the section of the bridge up in the air. No cars are left on it; the only trace of it being a road are the yellow lines in the middle.
A whooping sound fills the sky, as if the air between the bridge and river is being suffocated. Then I hear the raging sounds of the waves, as the bridge crashes into the river.
Everyone pushes forward, running for their lives to get off the bridge. But up ahead the road is blocked where people had abandoned their cars after the first explosions. The cars are jammed against each other, making it almost impossible to pass.
“What do we do?” I yell.
“Climb onto the cars!” Gérard orders. One by one we start to jump onto the hoods and over the twisted piles of metal. Gérard carries Ashton in his arms like the boy is weightless. Gérard was born for this adventurous kind of life.
The mob behind us follows our lead, some climbing over the cars, while others try to push through the narrow spaces
“Help me,” I hear a muffled cry.
“Stop!” I yell. I spot a woman lying on the ground between two cars, and people are trampling on her. Only Gérard stops.
“What is it?”
“There’s a woman down there.” I point between the two cars as people continue to run over her.
Gérard jumps down from the car and pushes sideways through the oncoming traffic of people. Placing Ashton on the curb, he bends down and looks like he is saying something. Then he rubs Ashton's head.
“Stop running, there’s a person down there!” Zak yells in anger, as people continue to charge toward her.
“Move out of the way, kid!” a man shouts at Haytham. He runs in the direction of the lady on the ground, not caring that he's going to trample over her body.
But Haytham grabs hold of the man’s shirt and quickly spins him around. Nice move! Before the man can register what is happening, Haytham has landed a solid punch on the man's chin, knocking him right to the ground.
“Whoo hoo, Haytham!” I yell out. He looks over and gives me a proud smile.
“Watch out!” I scream, as the crowd runs toward him and knocks him to the side.
“Stop, there is a woman down there!” I yell. They’re not listening!
I jump down to be with Zak and Haytham. We have to stop them. We have to save the woman!
“Gérard, come here, I need your help!” Haytham yells. I turn back to see him lifting the woman’s head up off the ground. Her face is barely recognizable, her eyes are swollen up, and blood is pouring down her face.
“Is she alive?” I yell to Gérard.
“Barely; we have to get her to the hospital,” Gérard informs us.
Haytham and Gérard lift the lady up off the ground. “Come, kids, let’s get out of here!”
Gérard slams the car door closed, allowing us to fit between the cars. Then we head over to the curb where Ashton is waiting silently.
“Ashton, we are going to get you out of here.” I kneel down to him, placing my knees on the cold, vibrating ground, and softly stroke his head.
“What’s your name?” Haytham asks the lady, as he sets her down on the curb next to Ashton.
“Hanna,” she mumbles.
Oh, thank goodness she’s alive!
“Thank you for rescuing me. I thought I was going to die,” she adds, before losing consciousness in Haytham's arms.
Chapter 28
Cleansing Day.
ETHAN
The time for justice is here. I will cleanse the earth from their toxic poisons. Protect this flight and allow me to do your work.
Chapter 29
They Run The City Now.
ANNABEL
Everyone is running into each other as they try to get to their homes. More explosions keep going off in different directions. America is under attack by an unknown threat, and it’s as if the world is ending.
Brandon has a hold of my hand, as we weave in and out of the crowds on the street.
“Everyone’s gone crazy!” I cry.
“Look at him, over there.” Brandon points to a man stepping out through a store window carrying a television. People are starting to loot, and it's hard to tell who the real enemy is.
“I wonder if they have flashlights.”
“What? Why?” I’m puzzled by his question.
“We need one for when we’re underground. We could grab a housewarming gift as well… it's rude to turn up empty-handed,” Brandon laughs.
I give him a dirty look. The world has gone mad, there are bombings everywhere, and he’s joking around.
Before I can stop him, he's leading me into the store through a broken window. I feel guilty and excited at the same time.
“Hurry up!”
“What shall I get for a present?” I ask.
“Christ, Annabel, I was only joking… help me find the flashlights.”
I quickly look around. “There, over by the counter.”
“Hey, you little thieves, get out of my store!”
Brandon and I both jump as the store keeper comes out, waving a baseball bat like a madman. Where the hell did he come from?
“Calm down… calm down,” Brandon says, backing away from him.
“Don’t te
ll me to calm down! You’re stealing my stuff!” He waves the bat in the air.
“We were going to pay,” I say softly. “Brandon, give the man the money for the flashlight.”
“How much is it?”
“$7.99,” the shopkeeper growls.
Brandon rummages into his pockets. “Do you have change for a twenty?”
“No!”
“Brandon, just give it to him!”
Brandon passes the storekeeper the bill.
“You’ll need batteries. They’re another twenty.”
What?! Now the storekeeper is stealing from us!
“Give it to him,” I say as I head out of the store through the broken window. I turn back to Brandon. “Are you coming?”
Before I can hear his answer, I’m knocked to the ground.
“Oh, God… sorry.” A girl around my age is lying on top of me, and her brown hair is in my face.
“It's okay,” I grumble. She gets off me, then pulls me up. She’s stronger than she looks.
“Are you all right?” a gorgeous man carrying a young boy asks me.
I am now that I’m seeing you!
“Mmm, yes,” I murmur.
“Annabel, are you okay?” Brandon comes leaping through the store window holding the light. Great… I bet we look like thieves.
“We paid for that,” I quickly tell the handsome man.
“Yeah, bloody highway robbery!” Brandon yells, so the storekeeper can hear him.
Other people gather near us in a group. A man and several younger kids.
“Jada, are you okay?” a boy asks the girl who knocked me over.
“Yeah, not looking where I was running,” she says.
The boy slides his hand into Jada’s – I guess he's her boyfriend.
“It’s crazy here, there are bombs going off everywhere. What is happening?” I ask.
Brandon and I both stare at the older man, hoping he’ll have an answer for us. He takes a long time responding, and the others have odd looks on their faces.
