Many passing out before dying. Pools of blood around their heads from their faces banging against the ground or whatever object they hit into.
It was sad and heartbreaking.
He put the warning out, informing everyone in the building what they had to do.
But it happened so fast, people weren’t ready to just grab an oxygen mask or even have one at hand.
When the methane eruptions began to occur, when they happened here and there in the early morning hours across the globe, Gene knew it was far too big and wide to save everyone. It just wasn’t going to happen.
So they remained silent.
Something Gene would carry with him for the rest of his life.
Sure, they couldn’t save the world, but maybe if they said something, maybe they could have saved some.
There were places not hit, not effected, but Gene didn’t know where they were. Until everything settled and stopped, they wouldn’t know any true safe location.
Truth was, until the earth burped out the last of the built up gas … nowhere was safe.
The event was so massive, it was nothing like Hardin where a two square mile area was hit, each eruption site was covering hundreds of miles.
Billings was forty miles from an eruption and it killed the population as if it happened in the center of the city.
Nothing he witnessed was a shock to him.
People had died while driving their cars. Vehicles veered off the road into each other, into buildings. Bodies had been ejected onto the street, some half out of the windshield.
It was not how Gene ever pictured the world’s end to be.
In his mind, he would never live to see it. Extinction level events take millions of years to complete. But had he predicted a modernized apocalypse it wouldn’t be a methane eruption. It would have been a plague, or war. Hell, even an alien invasion was more feasible.
Something that would give the human race at least a fighting chance.
But with the current disaster, there was no fighting chance. It was all luck. You were near it or you weren’t. No amount of survival training would prepare the masses for the fate they endured.
As Gene meandered the streets of Billings, he wondered how and if the world would ever get back on its feet.
He just couldn’t see that happening.
TWELVE – OVER THE TOP Flight 3430
The double tone chime alerted the passengers they had reached a safe altitude, but just to make it clear to them, the captain made the announcement.
Even though Gabe knew they were high enough, he still felt nervous and a bit apprehensive about taking off his mask.
Jeff did first, then Gabe.
He inhaled, going all in with one deep breath.
Once he knew it was fine, he replaced the pilot’s emergency oxygen mask back in its side arm containment.
“I’m going to …” Gabe undid his belt. “Check on everything and my family.”
“Let me know.”
“I will.” Gabe stood. When he turned to face the open cockpit door, his father stood there. “Dad?”
Gabe knew by the look on his father’s face something had happened.
“Is Owen okay?” Gabe asked.
“He is, but it’s not good.”
Jeff pivoted in his chair to face Tom. “What happened?”
“Despite the best efforts of your newcomer firefighter, we lost people,” Tom replied. “It was an oxygen mask thing.”
Gabe clenched his fist and pushed it into the chair. “I knew it. I knew that was going to happen.”
“It wasn’t long after takeoff,” Tom said. “We had maybe less than a minute to get our masks on. Which is enough time, but some didn’t manage it. Some didn’t secure them or have them on properly. They needed to breathe in only what was coming through that mask. Anything else was deadly.”
“How many?” Jeff asked.
“Seven.”
Gabe heaved out a breath as his head lowered. “We tried.”
“You did.” Tom reached out and placed his hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Right now, we need to start focusing on where we can safely land again, either to refuel or land. As we all said, we can’t stay up here forever.”
“I’m sure Gene is working on it,” Gabe replied. “I know if Gainesville remains safe, we still wouldn’t have enough fuel to get there.”
“Maybe next fuel up we will.”
Jeff asked. “What is the state of the passengers in the back?”
“In shock,” Tom answered. “Some are very upset, it was a family that passed away. It’s just an emotional mess. We need … we need to move the bodies. We don’t know how long we’ll be up in the air. We need to move them.”
“Take them to the cargo hold,” Jeff suggested. “It’s colder down there.”
“Man,” Gabe said. “That just seems so insensitive. Impersonal.”
“It’s what needs to be done,” Tom said.
“What about just moving them to the back of the plane?” Gabe asked. “We could cover them, I mean doesn’t it take a couple days for the bodies to smell? By then we’ll be on the ground, right?”
“Hopefully, and we did start to move them to the back, Tom answered. “But Delaney thinks we need to move them below. For health and emotional reason.”
“Delaney?” Jeff asked.
“Our only medical person on board. She … um, works with the morgue.”
Jeff nodded with an ‘ah’, of understanding. “Okay then, I would go below. Use the rear cargo hatch. Clear a space. There are cords down there to secure them, and tarps. Then maybe a couple strong individuals could carry them down.”
“Our firefighter, Gary volunteered.”
“How’s Lance?” Gabe asked.
“Sedated,” Tom said. “Delaney put his mask on, she held it there. She was tending to him when we took off.”
“Will you … will you excuse me?” Gabe asked and made his way out of the cockpit.
There was something
