Take the Hit (Nuclear Survival: Northern Exposure Book 1) Read online

  The flight attendant called after him. “Sir, you can’t do that! Sir, we’re still—”

  Danny unbuckled his seatbelt, about to step into the aisle, when a large man busted past him in a full-out sprint. “Sir! Step away from the door!” His voice boomed throughout the cabin.

  Danny lowered himself back into his seat as the conversations around them died. Cries became whimpers. Everyone turned to stare at the panicking man at the back of the plane. He had reached the emergency door.

  The second man who rushed down the aisle stopped ten feet away. Midge squinted to see. Without lights in the rear of the plane, the lack of windows made it impossible. Other passengers held up their phones like fans at a music concert, but it wasn’t enough. Just then, a round circle of light illuminated the panicking man as he struggled with the bar across the emergency exit door.

  It was a light on the end of a gun. Midge swallowed. She knew what that meant and a moment later the man in the aisle confirmed it.

  “Sir, I am a United States air marshal and I demand that you step away from the door.” Just then, the plane shook violently, turbulence throwing Midge against the window. Danny landed hard against her shoulder, his unbuckled body no match for the sudden jerk of the plane.

  Midge let out a grunt of pain as another jolt of turbulence sent Danny in the other direction. She reached for him, managing to hang onto a scrap of his shirt as screams multiplied all around them. At last, Danny managed to find his seatbelt and buckle himself in.

  “I’m sorry, are you—” As Danny started to speak, another shout drowned out his words.

  “You can’t stop me!”

  Midge struggled to see. Shouts rang out. The air marshal was no longer in the aisle. Lights from phones darted in all directions as people tried to make sense of what was happening.

  “Shoot him!”

  “Do it!”

  “We’re all going to die!”

  Midge leaned closer to Danny. “Can you see anything?”

  “I think they’re fighting on the floor.”

  Midge sucked in a breath. “What about the gun?”

  “I can’t see it.”

  Risking the threat of turbulence, Midge stood up and peered toward the back of the plane. Danny was right. A tussle of suit pants, dress shoes, and ties rolled on the ground in front of the bathrooms.

  This wasn’t going to end well.

  Screams rose up from the rows nearest the fighting men as more and more passengers realized was what happening. Midge couldn’t move. If the man in the grips of a panic attack got his hands on the gun…

  A shot pierced the cabin, followed by another and another. Midge recoiled against the window as a loud splintering sound echoed down the metal body of the plane. The pressure instantly changed. Midge’s hair blew toward the bathrooms. Someone’s phone flew through the air. Luggage rolled and shouts rang out. They were going to die. Midge knew it.

  As she tightened her seat belt, the air marshal staggered past their aisle, gripping the chair back as he fought his way forward. A bloody handprint remained on the seatback after he was gone.

  Midge sank into her seat as a flight attendant’s terrified voice filled the plane. “Everyone assume the crash position. Seatbelts low and tight. Lean forward and wrap your arms around your head. We’ve lost cabin pressure.”

  The plane shook as shrieks and screams drowned out the sucking sound of the air as the cabin depressurized. Midge bent over and wrapped her arms over her head as the flight attendant instructed. If the captain couldn’t land the plane, she would never make it to Chicago alive.

  Chapter Two

  DANNY

  Friday, 4:30 pm CST

  Plane en route to Chicago O’Hare International Airport

  Holy smokes. One minute, he was chatting up a real-life rocker version of Mila Kunis, and the next, it was freakin’ chaos. Total, mind-bending, you-can’t-make-this-crap-up, chaos.

  He ran a hand through his tangled hair and looked around him. Maybe it was the hard-ass dad who always told him he’d never amount to anything, or the struggle of watching his kid brother die from an infection no one could cure, but Danny never panicked.

  Whenever other people were losing it, he managed to keep a clear head. And a clear head was needed right now, more than ever. He glanced at Midge.

  She was tucked into a ball, shoulders shaking, fingers doing a dance across her inky hair. He wanted to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he wasn’t a liar. The plane shook and the panel above his head popped open. A pair of oxygen masks fell out.

  He reached for them both and pulled as Midge sat up. “Here, let me help you with yours.” As he brought the mask closer to her face, she batted his hand away.

  “Don’t touch me! I can manage.”

  He held up his hands and leaned back, surprised by the sudden reaction. Maybe she wasn’t as much of a dream girl as he’d thought. He reached for his own mask and put it on as Midge did the same.

  One breath of the oxygen and Danny reeled. He hadn’t realized how thin the air inside the cabin had become. Too much longer, and they’d have passed out.

  The plane jerked as the nose dipped down and Danny latched on to the armrest. The pilot had said it would be a rough landing, but that was before the cabin depressurized. He leaned into the aisle to look behind him. The man who caused the commotion was nowhere to be seen.

  He turned back to the front. The air marshal’s handprint dried on the seat in front of him and Danny wondered if the man had gotten medical attention. With that much blood loss, he would need stitches or a clotting bandage, anything to stop the bleeding.

  All around him, people sobbed and clung to each other, oxygen masks making talking all but impossible. Wails rose up from here and there, but he couldn’t hear much over the roar of the air now that something had broken in the plane.

  Without the typical seal and pressure inside the cabin, the plane was like a rocket screaming through the sky. Even if the flight attendants or the captain were trying to use the intercom, it wouldn’t make a difference. No one would hear them.

  He turned to Midge.

  She might not have wanted help when he offered, but she had listened to him for over an hour, rambling on and on about nuclear war. It wasn’t the happiest topic, but she’d seemed genuinely into the conversation.

  He leaned over, assuming the crash position again, and his hand brushed hers. He froze for a moment, wondering if she would push him away. When she didn’t, he took a chance and reached for her hand.

  She whipped her head to the side, eyebrows slanted at him. At first, he thought she was about to smack him, but as the plane jostled from left to right, her face softened and she squeezed his fingers. If they survived the emergency landing...

  As he stared at her, the plane lurched more violently than before, tipping almost onto its side. The sound of metal tearing combined with horrible vibrations shook Danny straight to the core.

  He jerked up and looked out the window, unable to stop himself. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight. Another plane, main cabin peeled back like a tin of sardines, hung in the air. They couldn’t have been more than thirty feet apart. Their wings almost touched.

  Had they collided? Was that what caused the damage? He watched in horror as passengers on the other plane were tossed about. One man balanced on the edge of the destruction, his seat rocking back and forth from the rush of air. The seat careened sideways and Danny’s lungs seized, unable to fill with air as he watched the man, still buckled into his seat, plummet out of the other plane and to his death.

  Danny flung himself back against his seat, unable to watch anymore. If that plane was gutted, why wasn’t theirs? Why were they still in the air? As panicked thoughts raced through his head, the plane tipped again, this time in the opposite direction, and Danny got a glimpse of the wing. The last third was mangled and hanging at an awkward angle, pointing almost at the ground.

  He squeezed his
eyes shut. As he let the panic he ordinarily kept at bay rise up to the surface, he heard Midge let out an anguished cry and he opened his eyes.

  She had sat up and was staring out the window, hands plastered to either side of the small oval of glass. Her oxygen mask had slipped down to her chin and he could hear the same words tumbling from her lips over and over. “It’s true. It’s all true.”

  Danny leaned toward her. “What’s true? What’s going on? Do you know something?”

  Midge didn’t move; she couldn’t hear past his mask. As he reached to yank it down, the plane took another nosedive. The force knocked him back as the plane descended way faster than normal.

  His head dug into the seat and his whole body flattened. There was no way the pilot could be in control. Terror rose up his throat. They were going to die. They were all going to die.

  The front wheels of the plane hit the ground a moment later, so hard the plane bounced back up into the air. When it hit the second time, Danny sucked in a breath. Could they be this lucky? Could he really walk away from the worst airplane ride of his life? If he did, he vowed to never step foot on another plane, ever.

  As he was thanking everyone from God to his mom for instilling in him the need to go to the bathroom before every trip, everything went to hell. The front of the cabin ripped to the left while the back skidded to the right. The plane was tearing apart.

  The engines roared and the brakes engaged, but they seemed to be speeding up even though they were on the ground.

  A woman in the seat in front of him rose up, wailing in confusion. “What’s going on?”

  Danny had no response. How do you tell someone part of the plane just—

  His whole body jerked forward and his forehead smacked the seat in front of him as the plane finally came to a stop.

  He’d panicked and forgotten the crash position.

  Chapter Three

  DANNY

  Friday, 5:00 pm CST

  Chicago O’Hare International Airport

  “People, people, please quiet down.” A flight attendant stood a few rows up from Danny’s seat, holding her hands out in front of her. On any other day, he’d have flashed her a grin and maybe if she’d smiled back, he’d have struck up a conversation.

  But not today. Even from ten feet away, he could see her fingers shaking. “We have landed, and I know it’s been a terrifying descent, but we have to get off the plane now. If you could please try to maintain order, we will now deploy the slides.”

  He palpated his head and assessed the bruise spreading across his forehead and up into his hairline. No broken skin. He’d be fuzzy for a while, but it wasn’t a concussion.

  All around his row people were standing and gesticulating. Someone shouted a few aisles back and everyone on the opposite side of the plane rushed to the windows. A terrific boom shook the ground beneath the plane and Danny gave a start.

  He didn’t need to see the wreckage to know the source: another plane, not so lucky as their own. He wondered if it was the one he’d seen out the window; the one their plane gutted like a fish. Nervous laughter drifted from the row behind him, bordering on hysteria. Passengers were barely in control of their faculties. Some were rocking back and forth in their seats. Others murmured prayers over and over.

  Two flight attendants made their way to the emergency doors and Danny watched them wrestle with the bars. It took some effort, but once the heavy doors swung back, the whoosh of inflatable slides sent the cabin into a frenzy.

  Within seconds, every passenger rushed the aisle. Instinct pushed Danny to join them, but his brain stopped him. They were safe now on the ground and crowding into the horde wouldn’t get him off the plane any faster. He leaned back, content to wait it out, when Midge nudged his leg.

  “Move. We need to get out.”

  He could hear the fear in her voice, but it didn’t make sense. The worst was over. “Don’t be crazy.” Danny stuck his arm up and barred her access. “Sit down and wait it out.”

  “No.” She tried to climb over him, but he grabbed her by the elbow. “Let me go.” She yanked, but his hold was strong.

  He wasn’t going to let her go into the fray, not if he could do anything about it. “Look at the aisle, Midge.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “They’re one shove away from panic. Do you really want to get trampled?”

  She glanced up, eyes widening as she took in the scene. Her fingers drifted up her neck and into her hair, twirling a clump around and around as she processed the swelling mass of bodies and increasing pandemonium. The mother from across the aisle shouted at someone behind her and picked up her youngest child. The boy couldn’t have been older than two. Twin streams of snot ran down his face and over his lips.

  Danny tugged on Midge’s arm again. “Just give it a minute. You can wait that long.”

  At last, she looked down at him and jerked her head in a small nod. With her thick black eyeliner, her wide-open eyes reminded him of a startled deer. If he moved too fast, he was sure she’d bolt.

  Midge flopped down in her seat and pulled the sleeves of her hoodie over her fingers. She brooded in silence, foot tapping like a bird pecking the ground, over and over and over.

  Danny ran a hand through his hair for the hundredth time. She was making him nervous. Was there something she knew that he didn’t? He remembered her mumbled words as she stared out the plane. It’s true. Had she known the plane’s power would fail? It didn’t seem possible. Why would she be on the plane if she knew?

  He glanced up at the aisle. While he’d been busy staring at his seatmate, the crowd had thinned. He tapped her on the shoulder and motioned toward the empty space.

  Midge nodded and they stood up together, easing into a break between passengers. As they neared the wing exit doors, they passed the marshal who’d rushed the crazy person in the aisle. Ashen skin and labored breathing meant he was in trouble.

  Danny slowed and looked closer. Blood coated the marshal’s hand as he held it against his side.

  “Sir? Sir, are you okay?”

  He grimaced up at Danny and spoke through clenched teeth. “Do I look okay? I’m bleeding like a stuck pig here.”

  Danny turned and shouted toward the flight attendants manning the exits. “Is there a doctor here?”

  At first, no one heard him, or at least they pretended not to. He turned toward the back of the plane. Midge stood close behind him, staring down at the wounded man. She eased over to let him shout again.

  A flight attendant from the rear of the plane pushed past the remaining passengers to stop in the aisle. “We haven’t found anyone.” The young woman looked down at the marshal. “At least not anyone willing to help.”

  Danny frowned. He wasn’t anywhere close to a doctor, but he’d gone through the basics of emergency care last summer. He knew CPR and he’d taken a few anatomy classes. It wasn’t a lot, but he couldn’t walk past the man and do nothing. He shrugged. “I know a few basics. I can try to help.”

  Relief spread across the woman’s face and she moved toward the aisle, ready to return to her normal duties.

  “Wait!” Midge spoke up, startling Danny almost more than the flight attendant. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

  The flight attendant hesitated. “Yes, I think we have one in the back. I’ll get it.”

  As the flight attendant walked away, Danny crouched beside the air marshal. “Sir? I’m going to try and help. Just hang on.”

  “You a Doogie Howser or somethin’?”

  “Or something.” Danny turned back toward the aisle as a member of the crew strode toward him.

  The man held a red parcel with a cross emblazoned on the side in his hand. “I’m the copilot on this flight. This is the crew first aid kit, but you can’t treat him here. Everyone has to evacuate. Now.” He frowned at the three of them. “There’s a significant risk the fuel tank could rupture. Can you make it outside?”

  “Get me an ambulance stretcher.” The air marshal grunted and tr
ied to sit up. “They’ve got to be here by now.”

  The copilot’s expression turned grave. “O’Hare’s running on backup generators. At least ten other planes crash-landed. One plane’s fuselage blew and it’s burning on the other side of the airport. There’s people panicking everywhere. No ambulance is coming.”

  Danny hesitated, not sure what to do. The marshal had been shot, and common sense told him to make sure the guy was stable before moving him, but if they stayed on the plane, they could all go up in smoke. Literally.

  Part of him wished he’d followed Midge’s lead and pushed through the crowd to deplane. But then he’d have left the marshal to bleed out. It wasn’t right. He exhaled. “Can you help us move him?”

  The copilot nodded.

  As the marshal struggled to sit up, fresh blood gurgled over his fingers and he moaned. Danny spun around, searching for something to use to staunch the flow of blood. A discarded sweatshirt hung off the seat beside him and he grabbed it and handed it to Midge. “Can you hold this on his wound while we lift him up?”

  She nodded and took the hoodie, folding it into a lopsided rectangle before placing it on the man’s side.

  He grunted. “You don’t look like a nurse.”

  “You don’t look like an invalid.”

  The marshal chuckled. “You got that right, sweetheart. Now hold that tight while they hoist me up. It’s a real bleeder.”

  Danny and the copilot managed to half-lift, half-drag the air marshal out of his seat. Staggering down the aisle, they stopped at the slide. Danny swallowed. How were they going to get him down that without him bleeding all over?

  He turned to Midge, but she was already busy tying the hoodie around the marshal’s middle and pulling tight. It would have to do. With the copilot’s help, Danny eased the air marshal down to slide and got in front, catching the big man as he reached the bottom.

  In the time it took to maneuver him off the plane, the man had grown even more pale. In the light from the afternoon sun, Danny could see the full extent of his blood loss. His pants were soaked and his shirt even worse. A small circle of crimson already bloomed in the center of the hoodie.