Tom looked over at Samantha and Lucy. He worried about the child being hurt when the plane landed. He grabbed several blankets from the overhead storage and took them to Samantha. “Wrap your daughter up in these. Finish wrapping her head just before we touch down.”
Samantha hastily wrapped Lucy and prepared for the landing. She smiled at Tom. “Thanks. Lucy is small for being twelve-years-old, but she’s a tough little girl.”
“Mom, I’m small, but I’ll be a teenager in a few months.”
Tom then reminded everyone to use their pillows and blankets to protect their heads.
The plane was down to one hundred feet when the pilot saw the cars dotting the highway on both north and south lanes. He pushed the throttle forward, and the plane roared back up to a thousand feet. “Sumbitch, that was too close. Let’s check out 80. They flew over the section of Highway 80 from Vacaville to Davis. They found a section about three miles long without any stalled vehicles. Massive wrecks on either end of the stretch left the section open for their attempt to land.
“Looks good to me. I’m heading back around, and we’ll land here.”
The pilot addressed the passengers. “We’re landing now. Place your heads in your laps and pray.”
One of the two engines flamed out with a bang and smoke before they were lined up with the highway. The plane lurched and dropped precariously low to the ground. The pilot fought to get the plane on course to line up with the road when they clipped the top of a tree by the first overpass.
The co-pilot yelled. “We’re too low! Pull up! Pull …”
The plane slammed into the road below. Black smoke then fire rolled from the tires causing several to blow. The landing gear on the left side folded under and struck the belly of the fuselage. The plane slid down the center strip between the two lanes as it turned almost sideways. The tail barely missed several utility poles before it stopped spinning. Just before it came to a rest, the nose hit a tree on the highway's right side and exploded in metal and glass with bodies flung through the air. The remaining wheels hit a concrete culvert and ripped the plane's front half from the tail section. More bodies, seats, and luggage scattered along the jet’s path. The passengers’ screams were drowned out by the sounds of the metal screeching on the concrete as the plane disintegrated.
Tom and the others around him tried to cling to their seats but were buffeted around like rag dolls. Tom and Jackie banged heads together, and both had blood running down their cheeks. Granny B’s shoulder had hit the side of the fuselage several times and had been dislocated. She’d wrapped a blanket around her head and didn’t suffer any head wounds.
The others in their group suffered as well. Bill’s arm slapped Betty across the back of her neck, and then their shoulders crashed together. Samantha hadn’t had her head tucked between her legs when the plane struck the ground and was unconscious because her head ad hit the armrest beside her.
The screeching stopped abruptly. Tom was a bit dazed and took a minute to regain his balance after being tossed and battered during the crash. He looked around him and saw blood on many of the people close by him. Tom was shocked to see he was looking out onto a grassy field instead of the plane's front. Tom shook his head to clear the cobwebs and knew he had to do something. He turned and saw the blood on his sister’s face.
“Sis, are you okay? Granny B, what about you?”
“I’m okay. I’m just battered and bruised.” Jackie said.
Granny B shook her head and then smiled. “Lord, thanks for keeping us alive. Judging from how short our section of the plane is, several people didn’t make it. Thank God for sparing us today.”
*
Chapter 4
California - Northwest of Sacramento
Everyone ahead of them was in slow motion. The sight of bloody bodies still strapped to their seats sickened Tom. Several survivors had arms dangling uselessly by their side, grimacing in pain as they tried to escape the wreckage. The plane's front had disappeared, and ragged edges were left as a reminder that the plane had broken into several pieces. The tail section had been full, leaving Hawaii. However, now, only about half of the eighty to ninety passengers were still alive. The smell of fear and urine filled the plane as Tom surveyed the situation. The smell choked him, but he steeled himself for the worst to come.
Tom turned to Granny B and smiled at the tough old bird. “Granny B, I believe you escaped without a scratch.”
“I’ll be sore as a rising tomorrow, and you’ll have to help get my shoulder back in place, but I won’t slow us down any. You know what we need to do.”
He wiped the blood from Jackie’s brow and cheek. “Sis, can you get up? We need to shag ass out of here.”
“I’m okay. We need to help some of these folks escape the plane.”
Tom unbuckled his belt and stood up on wobbly legs. “Get up! Let’s go! This sumbitch might blow up at any time!” He doubted that since the plane had run out of fuel, but a little sense of urgency would be in order now.
Tom saw Bill helping Betty to her feet and saw Samantha struggling to get her daughter untangled from the blankets. Lucy fared better because her mom had wrapped her with several blankets. Samantha unwrapped the child. “Thanks, Tom, for the taco idea.”
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
Tom knelt down in the aisle, lifted the little girl to his shoulder, and held her while her mom checked on her. Lucy wanted
