Chapter 3

Sam's head felt light, and that little bump he received during the turbulence was nothing compared to the headache he had now. The mask was still on his face, so he tore it away and breathed the smoky air inside the cabin. He smelled the acrid scent of charred wood, plastic and metal. Something was on fire. He heard the flames. As he slowly opened his eyes, he noticed that the fire lent a diffused light to the cabin area, and one very distinct fact became clear: the fuselage rested on its top at a crazy angle, and they were virtually upside down.

With a little care, Sam was able to unbuckle his seatbelt and get out without crashing into the overhead bin which was now the floor. He stepped down onto the ceiling and looked around. Except for the sound of the fire which seemed to be surrounding them, there was nothing. No cries for help. No one moving about. He turned in the cramped space, reached out and felt a bare leg, and he stopped when he heard Vivien making moaning noises.

"Hey, Vivien, are you okay?"

"Yeah...I mean, yes, Sir. Just that my shoe is stuck in this seat in front of me! I can't get free."

"Okay, hang on. Let me see what I can do." The operation required more from his sense of touch than sight because it was so dim and her foot was in shadow. "Okay, no big deal, it's just the buckle on your strap. Hang on, I've got it." He opened the buckle and her foot slipped out of the shoe.

With his help, she undid her seat belt and landed in his waiting arms. "Are you hurt at all?"

"No. Could I just have my shoe back, please, Commander?"

"Yeah, sure." He handed it to her, not sure what else to do, since she seemed bent on taking care of putting it back on by herself.

"Excuse me, I want to get my stuff out of this compartment."

Sam jumped back and let her lift up the door. He held it for her while she retrieved her things. "You know, we should really haul butt and get out of here."

"Yes, Sir, but if anyone is injured this duffle bag will come in handy."

"Fair enough." Sam grabbed his things while they were at the business of salvaging, and then looked toward the front and back. "I don't think either option is open for us. Guess it's the exits over the wings."

"Yes, Sir." Vivian followed him two rows toward the back, and he stopped so abruptly, she ran into him. "Hey!"

"We're going the wrong way. Everything's turned around. We should go forward two rows."

"If the lights on the floor were working..."

"But they're not. We have to figure this out on our own. Now move, Lieutenant!" Two could play that game, and if she wanted to be so formal, he would throw his considerable rank around to their advantage.

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay, that's far enough. There are the exits."

The next challenge was to open them upside down. It would seem easy, but in reality, it took more effort because of the locking mechanisms and the leverage required changed when everything was turned upside down. Sam and Vivien had to work together to get one open, and when it finally gave up its hold, they shoved the door out into whatever awaited them in the dark. It made a dull thud as it hit the ground.

"Sounds like we're up a little bit. Better let me go first," he said. "Once I'm out, I'll let you know about how far down I am, and then you can drop our stuff. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

Sam wasn't used to so many "yes, sirs" in one day. He shook his head, went feet first out the exit, and hung on by his hands. He couldn't touch the ground even if he stretched out his toes. "Okay, I'm going to drop now and hopefully I don't kill myself." He released himself and landed on solid ground. "It's about 20 feet, and it's packed dirt. Okay, throw everything down." Her purse fell and hit him in the head. "Hey, you wanna wait until I'm out of the way first?"

"Sorry, Commander. I didn't see you down there."

Sam backed up and felt the cold metal of the wing against his back. A vibration rolled from the tip of the wing to the fuselage and displaced dirt rained down.

"You better not stop to put on your makeup, Lieutenant. This plane is on some kind of shelf, and the wing is the only thing keeping it in place. If it gives way..."

"Yeah, I know! Just keep your shorts on...sir!" Sam got out of the way as he heard other things falling in rapid succession. "Okay, I'm ready to get down. You're going to catch me, right?"

"It's not that far, but I'll make sure you don't break anything, if that's what you mean."

"Thank you, Sir."

He heard her exhalations as she climbed out of the hatch, and her legs swung in the air above his head. "Okay, I'm right below you. Go for it."

"On three. One, two..."

The fuselage shifted and dropped several feet off the ledge. Vivien gasped and released her hold, falling into Sam's unprepared arms, but he quickly recovered and rolled them away from underneath it. When they stopped, he lay atop her and glanced up, anticipating what else might happen. The fire allowed him to see that the wreckage was in a very precarious position, and sticking around any longer would be life-threatening.

"Wow. That wing is bent. We better get our stuff out from under there before it goes completely." He scrambled to his feet, hurried to where their things lay, and picked up the duffle bag and their laptops.

"Wait! My purse!" Vivien called out, got to her feet, and reached it just as the stressed aluminum creaked again. Her fingers closed around the shoulder strap. As she ran toward Sam, she picked up his small suitcase.

"Get out of there!" Sam dropped his load and reached for her waist, pulling her away. The fuselage began to slide down the sloping ledge. They picked up what they salvaged and ran away from its path. The ground was uneven and littered with roots which were barely visible in the light from the fire engulfing the engines at the back section of the plane. Somehow, the tail miraculously separated from the rest of the body during the crash, sparing them from a fiery death. Now they just had to worry about being crushed.

Vivien tripped on a root and flew forward, and her body slammed into a tree. "Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Sam muttered as she clung to it and watched the wreckage come to rest where they'd lain just moments before. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she panted. "Thanks, Commander."

"Okay, before we get into any more trouble, let's drop this Commander and Lieutenant crap, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. It's hard seeing the uniform and not responding appropriately."

Sam chuckled. "You've been well trained. Me, I try to avoid rank and all that as much as possible. I'm just hanging out in Miami, enjoying my life, and putting all that behind me."

"Yeah, I can see that." She sounded less than convinced as she eyed the uniform which, in the dim light, it became obvious would no longer pass inspection.

"Okay, this was an unusual circumstance. Otherwise I'm Mr. Casual."

"Ms, Casual here, when I'm not on duty or doing interviews and stuff for my book."

"Well, is it settled then? No more mention of rank?"

"Yes...yes. You've got a deal. By the way, my name is Vivien Chase." She held out her hand and he shook it.

"Sam Axe. Now, we should find a location far enough away so we're not in any danger if this thing blows up or slides down any further. Then we need to think about looking for other survivors."

"In the dark, in the woods?"

"Hey, I was a SEAL, lady. I've had to do harder things."

Vivien smiled at him. "I thought we weren't mentioning rank."

"That's not my rank. That's who I am."

Interesting. She nodded. "Point taken. Okay, where to?"

"First, I need some light." Sam dug into his laptop case pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. He clicked it on and it cut a beam through the forest as he swept it in an arc away from the debris. "Good thing you ran into that tree. Look down."

Vivien sucked in a breath as she saw the steep decline below. She could have easily been killed by being impaled on one of the large trees sticking out of the hillside. He swung the light away to their right and saw the forest was strewn with pieces of the aircraft. Some of them smoldered.

"That way's not gonna work," Vivien observed aloud.

"Nope. Looks like we have to go that way." He turned the light to their left. "I think there's even a path. See it?"

"Yeah. So how far are we going?"

"Just enough to get safely away from this wreckage. After this little recon, I'm convinced we'll have to wait until morning when we have light before we can find anyone else." Thunder rumbled. "Crap, that storm is coming up on us."

"There were only, what, nine passengers on board?"

"Yeah, plus a flight attendant and the captain. Don't know if he had anyone else as part of the flight crew in the cockpit." Sam picked up the duffle bag and his suitcase. Vivien took his suit bag and the two computer cases. "Okay, let's move. Are you gonna be okay in those heels?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Unless you have something else handy..."

"Which I don't. My suitcase is in the cargo hold somewhere. Don't worry, I'll manage if we go slow and we're not going far." She grumbled. "I knew I should have changed before I left Tampa!"

"We'll figure something out. Don't worry."

They walked up the incline away from the fire and the plane and they came to a clearing. Lightning flashed and cut through the trees, illuminating a small cabin. "Oh, hello. What's this?" Sam dropped his load and approached the small log building, sweeping the arc of the light across the walls.

"It doesn't look like someone's home."

"It's not." He angled the light inside a window. "Looks more like a ranger substation or something." He glanced a Vivien. "We must be in a state park. But where?"

She smiled. "If we break in, I'm sure we'll find an answer inside. Not to mention we'll be dry."

Sam laughed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were my best friend's girlfriend Fiona. That sounds like something she'd say, and with that same look on her face too." The rain started to fall, just a light drizzle, but they both sensed that this was only the beginning.

"How would Fiona get in?"

"If she didn't have her lockpicking tools, a hairpin."

"Sorry, I don't have any of those." Her straight hair was short, framed her face, and curved gently under her chin. No hairpins in sight.

"Okay then, there's always the rock method." He picked up a rock bigger than his fist and smashed it through one of the small panes in the door. Then he carefully slipped his arm through the opening, reached the lock, and opened the door from the inside. "There we go, easy peasy."

Inside, Sam found a light switch and turned it on, but nothing happened. "Wonder if the plane took down the lines."

"We're lucky we didn't get electrocuted escaping it if that's the case." She looked around, taking advantage of the the dim spill from Sam's flashlight. "Maybe there are some lanterns in here somewhere."

Thunder rumbled louder. "Let's get our stuff inside first and then worry about light."