Blood Brothers
Chapter 2
The impact of the truck with the school bus carried both vehicles off the road. The force of the crash swept both vehicles down the slope, where the bus rolled over like a floundering beached whale, before coming back to rest on the ground in an upright position. One side of the bus was completely mangled, while the roof was dented in, near the point of collapse. Flames erupted around both vehicles, causing panic among the trapped occupants.
Dan's Jag screeched to a stop on the road above the median. He stared at the wreckage littering the highway, panicking at the smell of gasoline and small fire that danced where the vehicles were smashed together. Dan grabbed his cell phone, alerting 911 to the location of the wreck, and then sprinted down to the mangled wreck that contained his son.
Jake threw open the back door of the bus and began directing the kids in the back to safety. He felt a trickle of something and realized his forehead was bleeding. Ignoring the wound, he yelled for someone to open the side escape door. People were beginning to panic as smoke filled the bus, making it difficult to see any of the exits they all knew were there. Years of bus fire drills were thrown out the window as panic threatened to overtake the need for a fast, yet orderly exit.
Luke slowly returned to awareness, momentarily confused by the smoke and screams of the people around him. Feeling a weight on his chest, he looked down and saw Nathan's slumped form collapsed on his lungs. Both boys were trapped on the floor near the front of the bus, between a row of mangled seats. The force of the impact from the bus rolling over had some how dented the side of the bus wall above him, forming a metal tent of seat backs and sidewalls.
His oxygen deprived lungs nearly screamed for air, yet any attempt to placate that need resulted in a sharp pain in his chest, which was compounded by Nathan's weight. Luke cautiously poked the other boy in the arm, not sure if he was dead, unconscious or just purposely trying to squash Luke's lungs.
Coach Durham and an assistant coach tried to do a head count with the students who were massed a safe distance away. They had gotten out through two of the escape doors, but the smoke was so dense they couldn't tell if anyone else was still on the bus. Dan ran to the back of the bus, where Jake stood helping the last of the cheerleaders out. The older man panicked, not seeing his son milling about with the rest of the stunned and wounded teenagers.
"Where's Nathan?" he asked Jake. Whitey and his assistant ran up to where they stood talking. "We did a head count. Both Lucas and Nathan are missing," White solemnly stated, as his eyes traveled to the bus wreckage that was becoming consumed by smoke and flame. One of the cheerleaders ran up, coughing in the smoke filled air. "Peyton and Brooke are missing, we can't find them anywhere."
Dan moved passed Jake and tried to get in the bus from the back door. Jake pulled him back, pointing out the rescue crew that was preparing to go into the smoke. "They don't need anyone else to rescue," Whitely softly uttered, hoping that for once in his life Dan Scott would listen to him.
"You don't understand, my son is in there," Dan replied, his voice ragged on both smoke and raw fear. Whitey grasped his shoulder, offering the only comfort he could. "No, BOTH your sons are in there." Dan's face dropped even more as he listened to his former coach's words. And something deep inside him panicked, realizing that he stood to lose something he'd never HAD to begin with.
Luke coughed as much as he could, drawing in even more toxic air. The open escape door at the back of the bus merely pulled the smoke toward it, leaving even less air for those still trapped. Looking at his half-brother's face, Luke was startled to realize how young he looked. Unlike the tense, harsh lines that crossed his face during a game or practice, Nathan actually looked more relaxed that Lucas had even seen him before. He once again reached out to Nathan, this time attempting to find a pulse or any other sign of life. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and Luke found it hard to know how long had passed since he and Nathan were thrown into this oblivion
Nathan felt something brushing his neck and jerked awake. He came face to face with Lucas and immediately tried to jump back, before hitting the collapsed seat back above them. "What are you doing, trying to grope my neck?" he challenged, vaguely aware of the sounds of sirens in the distance and screams of people closer to him.
Luke coughed, the burning feeling inside of him growing with every minute. "Actually, you're the one on top of ME," he pointed out, trying not to laugh when Nathan automatically jumped back, only to hit his head on the collapsed metal above them. In his dazed state, Lucas noticed a nasty cut on the back of Nathan's skull. He was going to mention it to the boy, when Nathan spoke. "We have to get out of here. If that fire spreads, we're toast".
"I can't disagree with that," Lucas choked out, noticing how the smoke was getting denser by the minute. "If you push up off the floor, I think I can partially slide under the seat. Then you can crawl out into the aisle. Once you're gone, I can follow you out."
Nathan nodded briefly, noting how labored Luke's breathe was, and how he kept grimacing in pain. His own body was wrecked with unidentified aches, and his panic was growing as he realized that very few people were left on the bus. 'We're trapped,' he thought. He didn't want to die with the one person he hated most on earth. "Let's do it," was all he said, as he shifted his weight so that Lucas could move out of the way. He heard a girl's muffled scream someplace nearby, and thought he could see the flash of a rescue vehicle's lights.
Or maybe it was just a lack of oxygen, he reasoned.
Short, but sweet. Thanks for the replies! All comments and replies are appreciated. I'm still working on the next chapter of Purg. I hope to get it posted soon.