The Accident
Dozens of cars traveled along the dark Oregon highway as torrents of rain poured over them, creating a thick screen of precipitation that made it difficult to see much further than the vehicle ahead of them. The only light came from the multitudes of headlights, temporarily lighting the area around the road. The mountains, cliffs, and thick crops of trees were shrouded in darkness, standing invisible and perilous just out of sight. Cliffs and steep hills along either side of the road made it appear as though the pavement was hovering over an empty abyss, the trees and shrubs scattered through the ditch were the only indication that the road was still connected to the ground.
Three tour buses drove in succession amongst the other vehicles. The occupants inside had finished a performance earlier that evening and were now headed toward the next venue scheduled for their combination world tour.
All of the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls were crowded into the boys' tour bus, too amped from their performances to even attempt to sleep during the journey. The band and the crew were in their own bus and a few were occupying the girls' otherwise empty bus.
Nick, Howie, and Emma were at the back of the bus playing Super Mario Cart on Nick's N64 console; Victoria, Mel B, Kevin, and Geri were sitting at the table playing a game of cards; and Melanie, Brian, and AJ were standing next to the table watching the game.
Dennis, the bus driver, gripped the steering wheel tightly as the fierce wind outside pushed against the vehicle. He kept his eyes on the road, looking back in the rear view mirror every once in a while to check on the group in the back as they burst into fits of laughter and rowdy conversation. The rhythmic back and forth of the windshield wipers kept time with the song on the radio as they removed the droplets of water that obstructed Dennis's view.
"Grab me another one of these, Melanie," Mel shouted over the conversation at the table. She held up her empty bottle to show Melanie what she'd been drinking then shoved Geri, who was trying to peek at her cards. "Oy! You cheeky bitch!"
Melanie turned to the fridge and grabbed a vodka cooler for Mel, handing it to Geri to pass to Mel. "Anyone else?" Melanie asked, holding the refrigerator door open.
"I'll have another beer," replied AJ, crushing his empty can and throwing it in the sink.
Melanie tossed him a beer, waited to see if anyone else wanted a beverage, then closed the door with a water bottle in hand for herself.
"Bullshit!" Victoria shouted as Kevin set his cards in the pile. Kevin rolled his eyes and flipped his cards over for everyone to see before pulling all of the cards from the middle of the table toward him.
"I love this game!" Mel B giggled. "Three aces." She set three cards face down on the table and looked at Geri expectantly. "I'm going to call bullshit before you even get your cards out."
"You've looked at my cards!" Geri snapped irritably.
"You looked at mine!" Mel B exclaimed matter-of-factly.
Dennis looked back at the commotion through the rear view mirror and smiled. As he looked back at the road his smile faded and he quickly veered the bus to the side as an oncoming semi drove into his lane. The semi smashed into the side of the bus with enough force to send everyone flying. Everyone at the table fell to the floor along with the playing cards, cans, bottles, and snack foods. Melanie was thrown back against the door, which shot open and sent her, AJ, and Brian flying outside the bus and down the hill. Emma, Nick, and Howie crashed into one another and tumbled onto the floor as another vehicle collided with the bus from behind and pushed it off of the road. The bus was hit by two more vehicles, sending it reeling in multiple directions. The bus rolled onto its side, sending everyone in the bus flying in a mass of confusion. Multiple oncoming vehicles began swerving and screeching to a halt around the accident.
A horrific screeching sound echoed through the dark as the side of the bus slid against the pavement, finally stopping in the centre of the highway in a cloud of steam and a mess of debris.
"Is everyone ok?" Dennis grunted from the front of the bus. He climbed out of his seat, dusting himself off and shaking off the shards of glass from his clothing and hair. A symphony of groans echoed throughout the chaos in the bus.
"I think so," Geri replied, looking around. "Em, are you three all right?" she shouted toward the back of the bus.
"I don't know," Emma groaned through the closed door. "Is everyone ok out there?"
"Victoria's out cold," Kevin replied as he carefully gathered Victoria into his arms. "She's not bleeding though and she's breathing."
"I'm pretty sure I've broken my arm," Mel hissed through clenched teeth as she held her arm tightly against her body. She cursed as Geri helped her to her feet and tried not to cry as pain tore through her arm.
There was a pounding on the back of the door at the back of the bus as Nick threw his body against the door. The door crashed open and the three of them piled out, stepping carefully around the broken glass and splinters of wood. Nick's lip was split and he had his arm wrapped around Howie, carefully helping Howie who had broken his leg. Everyone else had cuts and scrapes of varying severity.
"We're going to have to use the emergency exit to get out," Dennis announced. Both doors were on the ground, preventing the group from exiting the bus. Nick made his way over to the emergency exit in the roof of the bus and pulled on the handle, kicking the door to get it to open.
"Is everyone ok in there?" Simon shouted frantically from outside of the bus. "We've got an ambulance on their way."
"We've got a break or two," Geri replied. "Victoria's unconscious. Loads of cuts and bruises."
"Everyone out," Nick instructed as the emergency door flung open.
The girls were led out first, followed by Kevin, Howie, Nick, and Dennis. A large crowd of people had formed outside of the bus, mainly the bands' crews and a few bystanders.
The rain had begun to increase and the wind had picked up, making it difficult to see anything beyond the lights from the surrounding traffic. Every few minutes, a crack of thunder would interrupt the sound of the rain on the pavement and a flash of lightning would follow, temporarily lighting the scene.
"Wait!" Emma cried, looking around. "Where's Melanie?"
"Brian and AJ didn't come out either!" Kevin exclaimed with a tone of panic. He handed Victoria to JP, one of the girls' security guards, and ran back to the bus to look for the three missing band members.
"They weren't in there," Mel replied.
"They must have been thrown out," said Geri, panicking.
"We need torches," Simon shouted. "Everyone start looking for Brian, AJ, and Melanie."
Emma looked back at the bus and gripped Mel B's hand. "What if they're crushed underneath?" she choked. A few stopped to look at the bus, suddenly aware that their friends might be gone, while others burst into action, attempting to lift the bus.
-0-0-
The bus collapsed onto its wheels with a cacophony of shattering glass bottles and other objects as they toppled to the floor within. Pieces of glass and shards of metal were scattered around the pavement and sparkled from the light of the tow truck and emergency vehicles surrounding the area.
Traffic moved slowly around the accident, redirected by a number of emergency workers in reflective vests. The area around the bus had been taped off and dozens of police officers guarded the perimeter to keep the media away.
Emma, Mel, Victoria, and Howie were sitting on the backs of some of the ambulances as paramedics tended to the wounds they'd sustained during the rollover. Victoria had come to after a few minutes and seemed to be fine, apart from a bump on her head and a lingering headache. Both Howie and Mel had sustained broken bones and a few lacerations, which had been temporarily patched up until the ambulance was ready to depart. The paramedics were quickly stitching a cut in Emma's calf, then planned to take the other three to the hospital for further medical attention. Geri was standing near the bus with Simon and Kevin. She was wrapped in a blanket that the paramedics had provided and she was trembling uncontrollably, succumbing to the shock of the accident.
"All clear!" one of the officers called as he ran his flashlight over the area that had been covered by the overturned bus. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief with the realization that none of their friends had been crushed beneath the bus.
Flashes of light from various flashlights lit up the ditches and reflected off of the rain-soaked vegetation as volunteers and emergency workers searched for the missing band members. A helicopter could be heard overhead and a spotlight began scanning the heavily wooded area.
"They couldn't have been thrown far, right?" Geri whimpered. "Where are they?" Simon wrapped his arm around her, hoping to provide some comfort as she broke down.
"I heard someone say they were going to bring tracking dogs," said Kevin, encouragingly. "They'll be able to find them."
"I'm sure they're fine," Simon added. "It's hard to hear anything through this rain and all the traffic. They probably can't hear the search party, is all. Perhaps they're a bit disoriented."
Even as he said it, he knew it was wishful thinking. Deep down, everyone was thinking that the trio had to have been killed. The hill off of the road was steep and thickly wooded. Survival after a fall was unlikely.
Kevin, Simon, and Geri stood silently, apart from Geri's occasional sobs, as they watched the search party disappear into the trees. Sam wrapped his arm around Emma and carefully led her over to Kevin and Geri. She'd been given a blanket and had it tightly wrapped over her shoulders to keep her warm and dry. "Where's Nick?" she asked softly.
"He's with the search party," Kevin replied, motioning toward the ditch. "We tried to get him to stay with us but he took off."
"Have they found anything?" Sam asked. He could see Emma was becoming upset and he quickly pulled her into a tight embrace.
"They found some clothes on the side of the road," Kevin replied. "And someone found a pair of sunglasses at the bottom of the ditch that we think belonged to AJ. They were broken, so it was hard to tell."
"Why haven't they found them yet?" Emma sobbed into Sam's shoulder. Sam squeezed her tightly and kissed the side of her head.
"Don't worry," he said, softly. "They'll find them. It's just a bit difficult because it's dark and raining." A loud crack of thunder made all of them jump. It was followed by a bolt of lightning that lit everything around them for a moment before leaving them in darkness once more. The lights from the search party began making their way back toward the road. With the severe weather conditions, it was too dangerous to continue their search. Emma sobbed harder, knowing they weren't going to be able to retrieve their friends until the storm passed.
"I'm really sorry, everyone," one of the officers announced as he and Simon approached the group. "We're going to have to call off the search for tonight. It's too dangerous for our crew to be out there right now and the lot of you need to get somewhere warm and dry, too. The weather is supposed to clear in a few hours and the sun will be coming up by then. We'll come back out as soon as it's safe to do so."
"No!" Geri whimpered. "What if they're hurt? We can't leave them out there."
"Geri, honey," Simon said sadly. "No one is going to be able to find them in this and it isn't safe to have everyone out there. I'm sure they'll be fine until morning."
"Brian was a Boy Scout as a kid," Kevin said, trying to be reassuring to the girls. "And we used to go camping lots as kids. He'll take care of them, I'm sure."
"A few of my men are going to stay with the cars to keep the barricade up," the officer explained. "They'll keep an eye out for your friends in case they wander back onto the road."
Another crack of thunder and a flash of lightning forced everyone back into their vehicles. The ambulance took Howie, Mel, and Victoria to the nearest hospital, while Emma, Geri, Nick, and Kevin were loaded into a van that took them to a nearby hotel for the night. The bus was soon hoisted onto a tow truck and pulled away while a few squad cars remained to keep the press at bay and to keep an eye out in case Melanie, Brian, or AJ made it back on their own.