Kit took that moment to catch her breath. One second she was on the plane, the next she crashed and now was on a whirlwind frantic search for her family.
“Nine F,” he called out. “Nine F.”
Kit wasn’t sure who was calling out, but she turned toward the voice to see him approaching her. It was the Captain from the plane, the same one who took a seat right before they crashed.
“I am so glad you’re all right,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“I was worried. You weren’t breathing.”
Kit snapped her finger. “Abe, right? You’re the one who put oxygen on me. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t know if you had any more injuries. I wanted to stop here before going to the school to look for you.”
“For me?” Kit asked. “That’s right you said you’d find me.”
“You also asked me to look for your son.”
Kit’s heart skipped a beat. “You looked for my son?”
“I did.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Listen,” he held up a hand to her. “It may not be good.”
At that second, Kit’s excitement nose dived to the pit of her stomach. “What happened?”
“I looked. There were only four children on board. I found the little boy, he was about five, he didn’t make it.”
“That is so sad. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“I’m sorry for you, too.”
“What do you mean?” Kit asked.
“That was the only male child.”
“Oh,” Kit exhaled heavily. “No, my son is seventeen.”
“Oh wow.” Abe stepped back. “Here I was looking for a kid. I… didn’t see any teenagers. I looked everywhere.”
“You did? You looked everywhere?”
Abe nodded. “Until they made me leave.”
“My son was two rows behind me.”
Abe shook his head. “I didn’t help any injured there. The more seriously injured or killed people were up front, first class and the cockpit.”
“So those in the main cabin survived?”
“Well, pretty much. Except the back end. The tail end broke off. Probably when we hit. Anyone seated in the back more than likely got tossed out or…” Abe stopped and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
He saw it, he had to, because Kit felt all the blood drain from her face. Her cheeks felt like sandbags. “My brother Mark was seated in the back.”
TEN – Left Behind
The taillights of the last of the rescue vehicles seemed to be swallowed by the black of the night as they drove off into the dust and darkness.
Regis stood alone.
There were so many trucks, too many, it was as if they knew the plane was going to crash. There were military vehicles, military buses, local fire departments and not to mention numerous locals with their pickup trucks. Regis heard someone say there were a hundred and eighty people on the plane. With all the ready hands, the rescuers swept in, collected passengers – dead or alive – and moved right out.
Regis wasn’t surprised at all that they were in Colorado, after all, Dalton had etched that information on the black third page of the novel, Alas, Babylon.
‘We are being evacuated as part of COG,’ the note read. ‘Course changed. Destination NM. Nuclear attack imminent.’
A paperback, Regis placed in his back pocket.
It was still there.
Some people probably wouldn’t understand COG, but Regis did. Continuity of Government. Because of his father, he was very familiar with the term COGCON. Continuity of Government Conditions. There were five levels in getting the government ready. He guessed, with the soldiers, they were in level two. The highest level, which was zero, was the full on evacuation of the president and his successors.
Considering they were so close to Colorado Springs, more than likely the pilot sent out a call for assistance. However, in Regis’ opinion, there were far too many rescue workers for a handful of solders. Somebody important was on that plane.
Whoever that was didn’t matter to Regis, because he had his own people that were very important to him.
He was grateful to Dalton for giving him that information. Mentally Regis was preparing when he read the words. It still didn’t lessen the shock of seeing the mushroom clouds glow against the nighttime sky.
That information allowed him to snap into thinking and reasoning mode when the plane sailed to the ground.
The nearest Regis could figure was he was in a good spot on that plane. Yes, he felt the bumps and jolts but he was snug in a safe position. In fact, his entire row on both sides were unscathed. Seats weren’t moved, no one was injured.
Regis didn’t have a scratch.
The second he realized that he started to pray, but noticed Dalton was freaking out. The young soldier fought with his seatbelt, legs kicking.
“Hey, hey, calm down. Okay?” Regis told him. “I’ll get you out.”
“It’s over. They did it,” Dalton said emotionally.
“It’s not over. Not by a long shot. We’re near NORAD, these were strategic hits. That might be all that’s done.”
“My family…”
“Son,” Regis took a calm fatherly tone. “The best way you can help your family is to do your job. Alright. Now let me undo this for you.”
Regis undid his belt and Dalton stood quickly and pushed his way through the dark plane.
He tried to look around, to see anything. He needed to find Zeke, Mark and Kit, but he couldn’t see a thing. He followed the directions of screams, which only brought him two rows back when a bloody hand reached out to him screaming for help.
So many people screamed for help.
The woman was on the floor, trapped not only by a seat, but also by two people on top of her.
More than anything he wanted to walk away, say “Sorry I have to find my family.” Instead he found himself helping the woman. Trying to convince her to stay calm and lift not only the weight of the bodies, but the airline seats. She was stuck, and the blood just flowed.
He attempted to call out for someone to help him, but his calls were lost in the cries from everyone else. “
Before he knew it, rescue workers ascended on them like the cavalry and someone was there to assist Regis in a matter of minutes.
“Are you hurt, sir?” the one rescuer asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“After we get her out, you need to get on one of the trucks.”
Regis started to say he couldn’t, but the seat was lifted.
They freed the woman, but it was obvious to Regis she wasn’t going to make it. The gaping wound in her stomach bled profusely. Another worker came over and they carried her out.
Regis watched and was about to turn back when he saw two workers carrying Kit.
“Kit!” he called and tried to push his way up front. He couldn’t get through and she was off the plane. He grabbed a man who looked like he wore a captain’s shirt. “That woman they just took out. Is she…”
“No, she’s fine. She’s fine. Excuse me,” he said and rushed away.
Okay, Kit is good, Regis though. Now I have to find Mark and Zeke. If I’m fine they are.
Zeke was sitting close to Kit, he didn’t see him, so Regis opted to search for Mark. The farther he made it to the back of the plane, the darker it was. Not even emergency lights worked.
To him it looked like a wall of darkness until he not only felt the cold breeze, but saw the lights.
Head lights from the rear of the aircraft. That was when he knew, the back of the plane, the section where Mark was seated… was gone.
His hand gripped a seat and a pain filled his chest.