“We’ve got family and friends all over the state, Bernie. Are they all caught up in this too?”
“Don’t think about that now. We’ll get out of here and then we will find them,” he said.
“We’ve two friends in the Manhattan area as well,” Jack said.
Bernie and Linda had lived in New York for years and probably had a whole network of friends and family nearby. Linda was obviously concerned, but neither she nor Bernie were paying much attention to us at the moment.
“The captain said other airports had the same issue. Could this be happening on a wider scale?” Jack asked.
There was no reason to hold back at this stage, but I could have done without the further worry. The thought of our own family and friends being affected was too much at the moment, we had to remain switched on to the situation. I had to hope that whatever we were witnessing, was confined to the state of New York, but my head told me otherwise. Although we didn’t know which airports the captain had tried to contact, the lack of communication made it seem like this was not a local phenomenon.
The plane. We’d all forgotten about it. I ran over to the blinds and created a gap in them with my fingers. It was dark outside. We’d missed our agreed cut off.
“I’m not going out in the dark, no way,” Bernie said.
He was cuddling Linda who had her face buried in the crook of his arm.
Jack also had a quick look through the blinds, “Remember, we told the captain that we’d let them know with a flare if we were still around? Should we fire one off towards the plane?”
We had to let them know we were still in the local area and give them at least a little bit of hope through the night. The people on-board were bound to be hungry and scared. At first light, we could grab some supplies and head back.
“No, you can’t,” Bernie said, “it will only draw attention to all of us. Anyone on the lookout for a kill will immediately come here. I would.”
It was a fair point, but I still wanted to do it.
“I agree, Bernie, but we would be letting the passengers and crew know that all is not lost. Who will be looking for flares over the airport? If one killer sees it, then hopefully another will, and they’ll both wind up dead if they meet each other here.”
“If you insist, but I am just going to end up saying I told you so.”
I ignored Bernie. Our survival was paramount, but people were relying on us. I knew it was a risky strategy and hoped the captain wouldn’t let any strangers on-board — why would he after the incident when we landed? And if killers did turn up, hopefully they’d find each other.
“On my head is it then. Jack, you open the door. I’ll run out, fire the flare in the sky over the plane, and then come back in. No hanging around.”
I ran out of the police building and fired the flare towards the runway, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake. It shot up and must have lit up the whole area around the craft before slowly floating to the ground on the other side of the terminal.
Jack was looking out of the door as I watched the sparks settle.
“Get back in here, will you? It’s not a fireworks display.”
Once I was back inside, we decided to lock the door and turn the lights off to avoid any unwanted attention from potential killers.
We shared the snacks that we found in the cupboard and carried on our discussion by the thin light that was seeping through the blinds from the streetlights outside.
“Imagine if the airport is just a small snapshot of the rest of the globe? If it is, then we are screwed,” Jack said.
“It isn’t worth thinking about. We’ve all got people we love out there. Let’s keep positive. We’re alive, aren’t we?” I replied, attempting to be the voice of reason.
“Why though? What makes us so different?” Linda cried.
“Well, we were in the air when all of this started. Remember, the captain said he lost contact with the planes that had landed shortly after the communications went down? Those who landed were probably sucked into the violence.”
“So only people that were on the ground have been brainwashed?”
“I didn’t quite say that, but it stands to reason that’s why we are not affected. Maybe it was transmitted by something in the air. If that’s the case, there must have been people on the ground that were in oxygen tents, air locks, or other pressurised environments that might have survived. And think of how many thousands of people are in the air flying at any one—”
The front door rattled violently.
We all looked at the door, then back at each other.
“Get down and lie under the windows,” I whispered.
We each slid to the closest side of the room and waited.
I heard footsteps outside that continued around the side of the building. It sounded like hands were being pressed onto the window above me. The glass shuddered with a bang. Bernie was holding Linda’s mouth closed and whispering in her ear. I could see her shaking, and there were tears rolling down her face. The footsteps went back to the front door and it shook violently again, followed by loud thuds.
“Come out. I heard voices. I’m here to help you.”
Bernie looked at me through the gloom, and we both shook our heads. I realised my Sig was still on the reception desk and looked over to Jack. He was pointing the Glock towards the door.
“If you don’t come out now, I’ll burn the fucking building down.”
This time the voice was angry.
“Last chance mother-fuckers.”
The footsteps went around to the side of the building again, followed by two loud bangs on the window.
I tensed, ready to jump up and fight if necessary, but prayed that whoever it was would go away. There were three repeated bangs on the window, followed by what sounded like a rock being thrown against it. The glass must have been thick, as it held.
A minute later, I heard footsteps fade away from the building.
Chapter 3 – Departure
We lay in silence for what felt like hours after the man had left, but heard nothing more.
“I think he’s gone,” I whispered.
“That was because of you and that fucking flare. I told you not to do that,” Bernie said.
“He could have been bluffing about burning us out… he’s gone hasn’t he?”
Linda suddenly jumped over to the desk and picked up the phone.
“I’m sick of this, I’m calling 911.”
Had she lost her mind?
“Bernie, sort her out will you?” Jack snapped.
“Just let her do it,” he tiredly replied.
Linda punched in the three numbers, put the call on speakerphone and waited. The tones echoed in the silence of the room. Nobody would answer, surely…
After four rings, somebody did pick up at the other end.
“Err… Hello?”
“Please come and help us. Terrible things have been happening.”
“What is your location, please?”
“We’re at the airport. We’re inside the—”
Jack jumped up, lifted the receiver, and slammed it back down, cutting off the call. “Linda, are you stupid?”
Bernie rushed over to where Jack was standing and grabbed his arm. “Don’t you dare speak to my wife like that.”
“Linda, who answers 911 by saying, ‘Err… hello?’ And well done, Bernie, you two have just fired out a flare as well.”
“Everyone just calm down. Let’s try and get some rest before sunrise. We’ll take turns being on watch, an hour each,” I said, as I walked over to where the three of them were standing.
“I can’t sleep, Harry,” Linda replied.
“Just sit down with Bernie; we need our strength for tomorrow. Jack and I will take the first few hours.”
Bernie guided Linda into the far corner of the room and they settled down in silence.