46
The cherry picker was soon there and up they went to look, just the three immortals.
Rex immediately plastered himself against the window to peer on, cupping his hands to block the sunlight and Ianto shook his head as he watched him with annoyance. Jack grinned as he leaned back and folded his arms to see how long before Rex would speak.
After a few moments Ianto kicked the hull of the pane and Rex yelped as he leapt back, then liked at Ianto with annoyance and resumed his fruitless peering.
It was a couple of minutes before he finally said "I can't see anything."
"No. The windows are blacked out with smoke" Jack agreed sagely, "looks like a fire"
"What?" Rex pulled back.
"Electrical fire, they tried to put it out with the extinguisher, hence this white stuff in one corner… but they did not manage it. Likely we will find some crispy critters." Jack pointed out "Luckily. If we are unlucky … we will have Decay in there as the cabin door may not have been locked."
"But with an electrical fire, does it not lock automatically to protect the rest of the plane?" Rex asked.
Jack and Ianto stared at him silently like he had just spoken in an alien language and he was again reminded that he was the stupid kid at the back of the class where his weird noises do not upset the clever kids up front learning something.
"Anyhow" Jack said after a too long pause, "Let's crack this open."
Jack pulled out a small device and expertly cut through the Plexiglas windscreen then let it fall into the plane. "Shit. Maybe we should have…"
There was a loud thump in the semidarkness.
"Tell me that door is closed" Rex hissed.
Jack leaned in with a flashlight and looked around, feeling ill as he saw the burnt bodies that confirmed their theory. "Fire!"
"Great. That smell will not go away any time soon" Ianto muttered as he screwed his nose up.
"I don't smell anything" Rex said with a sniff.
"Not yet, once we get in there, it will envelop you like a fine mist, seeping into your pores. Believe you me, come tonight you will want to soak in fucking disinfectant" Ianto muttered as he moved to the hole and to Rex's shock he simply stepped up, gripped the top of the Plexiglas and simply swing his legs into the hole, disappearing in the dull light.
"Yeah, a bad fire" Ianto called back, "Hang on… checking the door. Locked!"
The two men followed him in and looked around. Rex put his hand out to steady himself and found the man in the jump seat behind the co-pilots's seat, his hand sliding into the mushy flesh "Gross."
"Right… let's do this" Jack said as he reached for the door's lock and then glanced at Ianto who nodded, his hand holding something that glistened in Rex's torchlight.
A blade.
A large nasty blade.
Ianto saw him looking and whispered "Noise attracts them. Guns are bad… silently stabbing them in the eye socket to get to the brain is good."
"Gross" Rex repeated with a shudder.
"Just stay behind us" Jack said as he went to move, then he turned back "Or do you want to stay here and keep this door locked so none get out?"
"Yes!" Rex latched on to that as Ianto internally giggled at Jack.
Things were easier now as both men stepped into the darkness and let the door swing closed, assured that they did not have to trip over Rex. Seems the time spent sidestepping Gwen had taught them a few tricks and now their eyes had adjusted, both of them made for the aisles, walking down both aisles, the middle seats between them and to their horror they saw most of the passengers were still in their seats, as if asleep.
Only the odd set was empty, the belts flung aside as if someone had bolted and they knew there ones had turned. It was not a case of Decay that had brought this plane down. It was a catastrophic failure due to the fire and the oxygen had clearly burnt up, the bodies showing burns and blistering consistent with that. No doubt the flash point had fed the fire along the ceiling of the aircraft like a dragon breathing fire.
Then those who did not burn to death suffocated within minutes.
What a horrible way to go.
Like a spaceship, once again … no one heard their screams.
Except for those who were now near the back of the plane looking for something… or hunting for it. Had they heard the banging of the ground crew on the hull? Did they smell the toilets s or the back galley with the food?
Ianto paused first, nodding as he let Jack slide along the back walkway to come to him. Then lead the way to the back section where they saw movement in the half-light.
'Pets' Ianto finally thought to himself, Jack catching it and glancing at him with a raised eyebrow so Ianto thought as clearly as he could 'Pets in the cargo hold. Separate air?' and shrugged.
Jack sighed knowing they could not retreat now. Ianto would not let that be a simple thing and he nodded, moving towards the din.
His own blade heavy in his hand.
