Yield (23 page)

Fumbling with the seatbelt, his heart pounds. It won
’
t give. The air is like fire in his lungs. A bitter taste from the melting unknown billows through the cabin, making him gag.
I
’
m going to die.
The thought slams into him with a trembling certainty.

Devin coughs. He glances around with a growing desperation for anyone still alive aboard the airliner, but his eyes still can
’
t quite focus. Only blurred shadows and shapes darken the smoke.

He squeezes
his eyes
closed. Devin
’
s 17 years as a firefighter slowly fill his mind. It tempers his emotions, turning the fear that twists through his stomach into an odd sort of detached calm. His breathing slows.

Devin looks back outside his window and sees one of the massive engines still spinning. It chews through a car lying awkwardly inside. He feels the plane
’
s cabin shaking, but all of the sounds are drowned out by a low hum in his ears. Everything else is quiet. So quiet.

He looks down again at the seatbelt, pushing and pulling on the buckle. The bent metal pieces slowly grind apart. Devin reaches over beside him to check on the business man. The man
’
s snapped neck rolls his face toward Devin, a scream now forever etched into the flesh.

The fireman stumbles to his feet. The throbbing in his head swells, turning into an explosion of light. His legs buckle. Devin grabs onto a seat back and forces himself to stand.

“
Get out of here,
”
he shouts deafly to any passengers still left to hear.
“
There
’
s an exit up ahead!
”

No one moves in the flickering haze. Devin starts pulling at the people closest to him, pointing to the bright daylight of an exit towards the front. He looks up with new dread.

The rear section is completely engulfed in fire. Flames flow quickly over the top of the split cabin.

Stepping back, Devin trips over the crumpled body of Terrence Mann. He scrambles up and looks around for other survivors, his eyes finally sharpening through the haze.

Fear stares hauntingly back at Devin from the faces of the dead. Their broken bodies are everywhere. They sit. Unblinking. Silent.

Jesus, is everyone dead
?

A wild-eyed Arab man suddenly pushes past him.
H
olding his left arm to his chest, he shoulders the fireman aside.

“
Hey,
”
Devin tries to yell.
“
Help me check for other survivors!
”

Abd whips around. His black eyes are filled with a barbarous fear. The Arab man shakes his bearded face before driving forward toward the hope of salvation outside.

“
Help me,
”
Devin shouts, but the dirty blue jersey just runs faster into the light.

Turning back to head deeper into the plane, Devin notices something moving. His heart leaps. A young woman is sitting several rows back, clutching a blanket tightly to her chest. He races toward her, but slows when he sees what she
’
s holding.

Devin looks down at a motionless baby in her arms. He fights back the tears all parents feel for injured innocence. Gently, the fireman helps
the young mother
out of
her
seat and stares deep into her eyes. They are haunted, filled with an uncertainty that even she doesn
’
t want to end. Devin leans down, slowly pulling the blanket back from her baby
’
s face. His stomach knots with dread.

The fireman almost collapses. A calm look of unquestioning love blinks back up at him. The baby
’
s perfect face is smiling, as if to ask why the rollercoaster stopped. Devin
’
s breath thunders out of him. He helps the mother and child limp past the bodies and destruction around them, escorting her quickly through the wreckage. His green eyes dart around the cabin to the growing flames.
You can
’
t have them
…

Several screams echo out from behind. The fireman turns, his instincts telling him to go back for more.

“
Can you make it out?
”
Devin tries to ask the young mother over the low hum still in his ears. The blank look on her face gives him his answer. He looks around quickly, spotting a head and shoulders rising above the seat backs in front of them.

“
You
’
ve got to get up!
”
Devin screams inaudibly to Chris Thomas. The basketball star doesn
’
t even turn. He just sits, staring forward at the bloody headrest. The decapitated body of the passenger ahead of him is barely obscured by crushed metal from the canopy above.

Blinking back to reality, Chris looks over at his best friend. He stares down at Darius
’
s still eyes and the body now slumped against him. Flickering electronics beside them seem to freeze. Their sparks slow, pulsing a brilliant orange as understanding dawns deep inside. The moment shatters everything Chris has ever known.

Devin grabs the 17-year-old
’
s shoulder, shouting to him as the sounds return with a fury all around.
“
I need your help! Can you move?!
”

Chris
’
s head snaps to attention, but he looks past Devin. Through him almost.

“
Get her out of here!
”
Devin yells. He somehow pulls Chris
’
s huge 6
’
7
”
body out of the seat and pushes his hands under the young mother
’
s arms to support her.

“
They need you!
”
Devin shouts. He grabs Chris
’
s face and forces the teenager to meet his gaze. Devin points to the front of the plane and the blinding light now pouring in.
“
Move!
”

Chris blinks several times, still trying to make sense of the chaos. He nods, starting off with the mother and child towards the white.

His jaw clenches. The basketball player turns to look for the last time at his best friend. Flashes of a young lifetime together play all around him like projected memories. Laughter and hope instantly brighten the cabin with their vivid colors. But the smiles and invincibility of youth quickly burn away to the rows of death he passes.

Dark smoke, stinking of chemicals and melting plastic, stings Devin
’
s eyes. The burning fog thickens the deeper he runs into the plane. His head whips from side to side, searching. Hoping. The fireman crosses the cabin, almost passing an elderly couple sitting quietly in the shadows. The woman
’
s head rests gently upon her husband
’
s shoulder. Tears run freely down the old man
’
s weathered cheeks as he caresses her hand.

“
You have to go!
”
Devin shouts.

The man doesn
’
t move. He doesn
’
t even hear the words. His life is so joined with the woman at his side that the world itself does not exist for him anymore.

“
There
’
s nothing you can do for her!
”
Devin pleads.

But the old man just clutches his wife tighter and continues to cry.

Devin
’
s voice becomes hushed.
“
Please.
”

Images of his own beautiful wife erupt in Devin
’
s mind. Light sparkles as it passes through her hair. It gives him a glimmer of peace, billowing gently in the wind. Katherine smiles. But the clouds pass quickly in front of her sunlight.
I
’
ll never see her again.
The realization is like a knife twisting through.
I
…

Forcibly shaking the thought away before it can consume him, Devin turns. Flames are spreading over the canopy toward the wings. Horrible screams echo across the cabin from those still stuck in the rear sections.

Devin gives the old man a final look of understanding before heading deeper into the debris. The advancing fire line moves steadily forward, feeding on everything in its path.

*  *  *

Seats and metal are caved in. They
’
re twisted together into an impossible cage. Debbie Yun and her daughter, Terra, are pinned to their chairs in terror. Squirming under the intense heat of the fire two rows back, Debbie winces. Wave after wave of throbbing warmth hit her skin.

“
Help us!
”
she desperately screams, smelling the charred remains of others behind her not so lucky.
“
Please, God!!
”

Debbie pushes and fights against the pieces that trap them, but nothing moves. Nothing even budges. She takes her daughter
’
s hand, tears of love and sorrow streaking down both their faces.
“
I
’
m so sorry, baby.
”

“
Keep pushing,
”
Terra pleads.

Debbie screams in pain as the fire moves across the cabin wall next to her. Flames lap hungrily at their next victim. Heat blisters the plastic canopy sides.

“
Hold on!
”
she hears. The British voice sounds like an angel flying through the smoke.

Devin lunges at the wreckage, twisting and pulling violently at the crushed pile of seats in front of them. The plastic gives slightly, but not enough. He turns, breaking a long shaft of metal off what
’
s left of a chair rail, and pries at the warped restraints. His back arches. His arms shake. The fireman strains with every ounce of his body.

Slowly at first, an opening forms as part of the debris finally bends forward.
Just a little more
…

The metal pole snaps, slamming Devin into the seats behind him.

“
Take her!
”
Debbie screams. The searing flames continue to close in. Their heat is unbearable.

“
No!
”
Terra yells.

Devin grabs the teenager
’
s arms and pulls at her. She screams, trying to twist her body through the small opening.

“
Go, Terra!
”
Debbie cries.

The fire is one row back from Debbie now. It shoots up the cabin beside her. The intense heat begins to melt the designer handbag in Terra
’
s seat.

“
Mom!
”
Terra screams, finally coming free. The plane window blackens and bubbles.

Devin and Terra pull with all their strength at Debbie
’
s arms, but her legs are pinned tight beneath the wreckage.

Waves of hot ash and flame overtake them. They gasp for breath as the fire burns hotter and hotter. It steals oxygen and hope from the very air around them. Debbie looks back in panic, starting to scream out in pain.
“
Get her out of here! Please!
”

“
No, keep pulling!
”
Terra orders Devin. Her mother writhes in front of her breaking eyes.
“
Mom! Mom!!
”

A sudden calm comes over Debbie. She looks deep into her daughter
’
s sapphire eyes.
“
I love you, Terra.
”

Devin watches on in horror.
“
I
’
m sorry,
”
he says softly to Terra.
“
I can
’
t
…
”

The flames begin to eat away from behind Debbie, completely engulfing her within seconds. Devin releases the wreckage and grabs Terra, forcing her back.

“
No!
”
Terra yells.
“
What are you doing? Mom!
”

Flames surround mother and daughter
’
s hands, ripping them apart. Tears roll down Devin
’
s face. He backs away, covering Terra
’
s eyes as he pulls her with him.