The plane skimmed across the trees of a thickly wooded section of Southern Illinois, snapping trunks like toothpicks. The left wing dipped, caught in the trees and burst into a cloud of splinters and steel shrapnel.
The impact rocked the plane like a child’s toy and ripped the wing from the side of the fuselage leaving a gaping hole. The plane twisted and swung to the left causing the right wing to dive into a grove of huge hickories. The wing disappeared in a roar followed by the agonizing scream of shearing metal as the plane was torn in two.
In the cockpit, the eyes of the pilot and copilot glowed with the intensity of a spotlight covered with blood. They had just enough time to recognize the shape of a huge tree before the cockpit disintegrated into a mix of glass, wires and wood. The rest of the front section followed the cockpit into the trees exploding into a huge fire ball, instantly consuming everything within a fifty-yard diameter.
The not so attractive couple, who had managed to strap themselves into their seats just as 5B was coming out of the exhaust side of the tail engine in a pink spray, were incinerated before their minds could even comprehend they were on fire.
Completely disoriented, the last thing Tony remembered before slipping into a calm sea of blackness was flopping back and forth on the seat like a rag doll and hearing the thudding roar of a huge explosion.
#
The instant the plane was torn in two, the back half, including row 13, spun around and smashed through the trees tail first. Then as if an answer to Tony’s prayer, it broke through a stand of soft pines and crashed into a large clearing nearly three hundred yards away from the raging inferno caused by the explosion.
The impact cut a trench into the soft floor of the woods, sending up a brown wave of dirt over fifty feet in the air. When the tail dug in, every window remaining intact exploded outward in a spray of glass. The cargo hold and section housing the remaining passenger seats rippled and compressed backward like an accordion, before twisting sideways and slamming into the ground.
The bolts keeping Tony’s seat in place finally gave way during the sideways twist, causing him and everything else loose in the plane to be vomited out like spoiled meat. Still dangling from his seat, he flew thirty yards before smashing into several small pine trees.
The impact with the trees ripped Tony from the seat belt and twisted his foot one hundred and eighty degrees from its normal position. This white-hot flash of pain rocked him back to consciousness. He hit the ground hard, feeling and hearing at least one rib snap. Tony screamed with all he could manage. He felt the world start to spin, turned his head to one side and vomited on his shoulder before blacking out.
Behind Tony’s motionless body, wires dangled from the wreckage like multicolored snakes, occasionally sparking and sending flashes of light through the trees like the lightning of a distant storm. Below the wires, a huge pocket formed by the twisted metal was slowly filling up with jet fuel dripping from somewhere in the mangled section of the wing.
#
A split second before the plane broke in two, 13A had lunged towards Tony. This last second move was the only thing that kept him from joining the fate of the rest of the front half occupants. He had caught the seat right beside Tony and managed to hang on for the two seconds it took the back part of the plane to veer off from main section.
When it smashed through the pines, he lost his grip and flew like a cowboy thrown from an enraged bull. He went through the first tree suffering no more than a six-inch gash across his back, but the second one caught his left arm in a V shaped branch peeling off all the skin from the elbow down. This twisted him around, and he hit the next one face first, breaking most of the bones in his face and leaving a nice assortment of shark like teeth embedded in the trunk. The impact with the tree left him unconscious and dangling from several of the heavier branches left unbroken during the assault.
#
When Tony opened his eyes, he saw the trees around him lighting up with the flash of photographer’s cameras and knew rescuers had found the plane. His heart leapt to his throat, and with a tremendous effort, he pushed himself up to look back at the crash site where he could see people sorting through the wreckage. "Here!" Tony yelled and then groaned from the pain in his side. Struggling, he lifted a hand, waved at the figures, and then felt his heart drop as he realized the people were only jumping shadows. There were no rescuers, no photographers. Only the smoldering carcass of the plane.
Another flash of light lit up the woods, and Tony saw it was only loose wires that must still be connected to some sort of battery reserve. His heart sank, and he winced at the pain seeming to come from everywhere. He looked at his leg and nearly threw up again when he saw his foot going when it should have been coming. He pulled himself over to a fallen tree and leaned his back against it.
Even at a quarter mile away, he could feel the heat from the fire raging from the other half of the wreckage. Everything had an orange glow. The shadows of the trees flicked and danced around him like demons in a satanic ritual.
He could smell a rancid mix of melted plastic and jet fuel hanging in the air like a poisoned fog. He tried to push himself up when his mind, nearly wiped out with shock, suddenly went back to what was happening just before the crash. Even through the intense pain, he felt his skin crawl.
His heart raced remembering the hideous creatures only moments away from ripping him open to partake in the in flight meal. He looked around like a cornered animal; the thought of being roasted alive suddenly took a backseat to the thought of what could be watching him from the dark shadows of the woods.
His mind told him something was creeping up on him right now, but all he could see in the faint glow of the fire and the occasional flash of the wires, was twisted trees and large chunks of metal and debris. The crash killed them all, hadn’t it? Although if he was spared and if he survived...
He heard a loud snap followed by a heavy thud. It sounded like it landed somewhere behind the plane. He pulled himself in to a sitting position by using a branch sticking from the tree he was leaning on. Then, enduring more pain than he had ever experienced in his life, he pulled himself up on the tree in an initial effort to move away from the remains of the plane. Sweat poured from his forehead in constant streams, stinging his eyes and blurring his vision. He was trying to focus through the faint light when the wires sparked again, and in the instant of the bright flash, Tony thought he saw something moving from behind the plane and into the trees.
#
13A regained consciousness when the branch bearing most of his weight cracked with a loud snap. Before he had time to get his bearings, the branch broke sending him downward through several smaller branches. Just before hitting the ground, a leafless twig caught him cleanly in one eye sending out a spray of yellow liquid before snapping off.
He slammed to the ground, but knowing the bastard who caused all this had somehow survived allowed him to stifle a scream. A scream may alert him, which just wouldn’t do. No, it wouldn’t do at all.
He pushed himself to his feet and made his way toward the clearing where he could see the piece of shit struggling against a fallen tree. A broken and hideous grin spread on 13A’s face. He could tell the extent of the man’s injuries were significant enough there would be no problem taking care of business.
The remaining teeth in his mouth quivered. Two teeth barely hanging on to the gums fell out, bouncing off his chest and onto the ground. He absently put his skinned hand to his face and wiped away a thick line of yellow fluid running from his left eye socket. Using the cover of darkness, he moved from behind the plane and into the trees.
#
“Who’s there?” Tony tried to shout. His broken ribs made breathing difficult and yelling excruciating. “Who’s-” This time when the wires sparked Tony could see who was there, what was there, and terror gripped his heart with a cold, steel fist. 13A was making his way from the trees directly at him. In the brief glances granted by the wires, Tony could see 13A had taken his fair share of damage, but it didn’t seem to be slowing him down.
Only ten yards from Tony, 13A stretched out his arm and pointed at him. Large flaps of skin dangled from around his elbow, and the finger-pointing at him was nothing more than bone stained pink with blood.
“I am going to enjoy killing you more than you can imagine, and it won’t be quick, I can promise you that.” His voice growled and bubbled as it spilled from his grotesque mouth. His teeth were vibrating like they did on the plane, but now were much slower and jerky. A tooth working its way from his mouth caught on his bottom lip, splitting it open like a bloated grub.
Tony tried to scream again and pushed himself away from the horror moving towards him. When he did, he fell backwards over the tree, sending fresh pain through his leg and chest. The tree blocked out his view, but through the crackling of the wires, he could hear demented laughter coming closer.
The periodic bursts of light had turned to a constant flicker seeming to burn the trees with silver fire. From over the log, Tony saw 13A’s ruined face look down at him. His bottom lip was gone. His one good eye burned bright red casting a light on Tony’s face like the laser site from a gun.
13A stood up straight, stretched out his arms and howled up at the sky. Tony knew he was only seconds away from being torn to pieces and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears to try to block out the hideous screech.
Behind them, the harness holding the writhing wires to the crumpled wing, silently gave way, sending them downward like a coil of angry snakes. Still spitting sparks, they landed directly in the pool of jet fuel below.
What happened next never clearly registered in Tony’s mind. The air suddenly crackled like static blasting from a PA system. He felt every hair on his body stand straight out as all of the air was sucked from his lungs. Above him, 13A stood with one foot on the ground and one on top of the log. His one eye widened in seeming understanding.
The concussion of the explosion burst Tony’s right eardrum and sent hot spurts of blood from both nostrils. A chunk of metal the size of a small car screamed through the air just above Tony’s head and smashed through the trees behind him. On its way by, it turned 13A into nothing more than a bad memory. The impact of nearly a ton of steel moving at roughly the speed of sound, transformed 13A’s brain to pulp before the idea of getting out of the way even started to become a thought. One foot, with the leg from the knee down still attached, lie twitching in the dirt while the other took a one way ride with the hunk of metal.
Small fires crackled all around Tony, but enough clearing had taken place with the initial crash that singed hair and first-degree burns were as close as he got to being burned alive. He made a brief attempt to push himself up, but pain and exhaustion overpowered any will he had left.
He felt his head start to swim as the trees above him spun in slow circles. Consciousness was slipping away fast, but before it overtook him, the faintest trace of a smile crossed his bloodstained lips when he heard the far-off and sweet sound of sirens drifting through the woods.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment