Post by Wartortle on Mar 16, 2013 16:07:15 GMT -5
AWAKENING
Lucas
8:55 p.m CST
Lucas
8:55 p.m CST
It was cold in the airport, even for winter. The sun was finally setting behind the tree line. We had been watching the sun set as we had been impatiently waiting for our delayed flight to board. Our flight, which was supposed to depart at three p.m., had been delayed an additional six hours. We would not be on our way home until nine.
The airport wasn’t a luxury hotel either. It was oddly empty. The only travelers were the ones who were also headed to Bellingham, Washington, and even then that was at most twenty people. Perhaps it’s my hatred of enclosed places, but the small airport in South Dakota just wasn’t my favorite place to be. Maybe it was just the musky smell, or the thirty-year old carpet, or both; I just wanted to go home.
Hunter and Charlie were sitting at a table playing cards. Hunter stood up for the fourth time to check our flight’s expected departure time. Hunter was tall for a sixteen year old-close to six feet and five inches. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes. Hunter wore a white sweatshirt, the same one that all high school football players had. The back of the sweatshirt read, “THE BEAST”- a nickname he acquired after getting ten sacks in a single football game.
“Lucas, I think we are boarding soon…” Hunter said as he picked up his bag.
I nodded as I picked up my bag and headed over to the gate. Charlie seemed relieved that we would finally be leaving this god-forsaken place. Charlie, along with everyone else just wanted to get home.
Charlie was much shorter than Hunter. He was considerably thin, as he weighed around one hundred-fifteen pounds. He had short black hair, with brown eyes. Although he wasn’t nearly as strong as Hunter, he was fast. He set several records for various track events at our high school, and some colleges have already shown interest in granting him major scholarships, despite only being fifteen.
The three of us waited to board our plane. I looked over at a television mounted on a wall. Although I couldn’t hear, it showed a damaged city near a beach. I nudged at Charlie to look at the television.
“That’s probably why our flight got delayed.” Charlie whispered.
“Everything must be alright if they are letting us board travel, lets just hope nothing else happens to delay our flight.” I responded
12:01 a.m. CST
Charlie was asleep, and Hunter was playing on his phone. The fasten seat belt sign illuminated above our heads.
“Uhh…This is your Captain speaking… It seems like we have some very p-powerful storms approaching… We will try to avoid the rough spots as much as possible, and we should have a very smo—“ The captains voice was interrupted by a tremor within the plane. Charlie perked up.
The plane started to shake. The plane tilted to the left and then the right. We all looked out the window, seeing several flashes of lightning. The plane was shaking more violently as the lightning flashes were becoming more frequent. All the lights in the plane shut off. I grasped my armrest as I heard the screams of the engines, and passengers. I could tell that we were falling. I felt something hit my head. My little vision faded to black.
12:08 a.m. CST
I pressed my hand against my throbbing head. I opened my eyes, and waited for my vision to clear. The screams from the plane, and the passengers seemed to have been subdued.
“Lucas! Are you alright?” Charlie promptly asked. I nodded and peered out the window. I couldn’t see anything. The inside of the plane was still rather dark, with the exception of the emergency lights, which were illuminated.
“The flight attendants told everyone to stay seated, something about leakage? We haven’t heard from either of the pilots… I-I don’t think they made it.” Charlie had a worried look on his face.
I looked around. It didn’t seem like any other passengers were injured during the landing. My hand was stained with blood from my head injury.
I glanced across my aisle at a young man-who was by himself in the emergency row. He unbuckled his seatbelt, stood up and approached our row. He wore a brown leather jacket, with a pair of faded blue jeans. He picked up the briefcase that was on the floor.
“I’m sorry about this.” He said as he glanced at the briefcase. He hurried back to his seat, sat down, and pulled his tray table down. He propped the briefcase on the table and opened it. His hands fidgeted through his belongings, until he found what he was looking for. A new, unopened pack of cigarettes. The man tossed his briefcase on the floor and reached into his shoe pulling out a lighter. He promptly lit the cigarette, and began to smoke.
“How’s your head?” Charlie asked.
“Eh, I think I will be alright. Briefcases aren’t really the softest carry on item are they?” I chuckled.
“Ha, I guess they’re n--” Our conversation was interrupted by a loud click from the front of the plane. The flight attendants, scurried towards the cabin door. We heard another loud crack. Water began to pour through the cracks of the door.
“The hell? Are we fucking underwater!?” Charlie yelled.
More and more water began to enter the plane as the cracks expanded. A sense of panic consumed my emotions. I started to unbuckle my seatbelt. I glanced at the man with the cigarette. His expression did not seem scared, as I had expected. He seemed more aggravated, or angry. He looked at me.
“There is no way, in FUCKING HELL than I am dying in a flooded plane! Unless you feel like dying tonight, I suggest you come over here and help me open this door!” The man yelled.
I swiftly arose, and moved across the aisle to the emergency door. Charlie and Hunter followed behind me. We lifted the emergency lever and proceeded to push against the door.
“You guys better hurry the hell up! The front door is about to burst! ….Why don’t we just go out the front?” Hunter shouted.
“We will never make it all the way up there in time! Plus we can’t just swim our way up the aisle!” The young man shouted.
We heard screaming from the front of the plane. We looked forward to see that the door had cracked open. Water began to rush in from the front of the plane, bringing the water level quickly up to our knees. The young man looked back at us with a determined look on his face.
“ALRIGHT, ON THE COUNT OF THREE, WE ARE BUSTING THIS FUCKER DOWN! ONE….TWO…..THREE!” We all pushed against the door, forcing it open.
The water rapidly rushed through the entrance. I took one last gasp of air, and plunged into the water.
I finally was free from the plane. I looked up and calculated we were anywhere from twenty to thirty feet under. I started to ascend. I kicked my legs and moved my arms, as I was slowly approaching the surface. I needed to breathe. My lungs screamed for air. I released what little oxygen I still had left in my lungs, and continued swimming. I began to feel light headed, and my vision was fading, but I knew I was almost at the surface. I closed my eyes and kicked harder.
I felt my head emerge from the water. I gasped for air. My lungs were burning, but never had it felt so good to breathe, as it did at that moment. I opened my eyes. It was still dark, but the full moon assisted my visibility.
I scanned the area for anyone from our flight. In the distance, I could recognize Charlie and the young man, who were staying afloat on an object.. I looked around for Hunter. I didn’t see him anywhere.
I swam over to Charlie and the man. They were holding onto a large piece of driftwood. I rested my arms on the wood, and caught my breath. I looked down again.
“Where’s Hunter?”