WARNING: The following chapter includes moments of extreme peril. I do not detail anything graphic, but the images presented may be difficult for some readers.

The rising and falling of the plane continued on with little respite as Rey tried to keep it together. Her eyes popped open as the flight attendant's voice came over the PA. "Please prepare for a rough landing by keeping your seat belts fastened and leaning forward to place your head as close to your knees as possible," she said. "Captain Ross will have us on the ground momentarily." Her words were professional, but her voice was sharp and tight. After she put the hand speaker back on its rack, she did as she had asked everyone else to do, leaning forward in her seat and wrapping her arms around her knees.

Rey looked at Poe, both terrified and comforted by the fact that he looked as scared as she felt. Loss of control, she thought. If he was the one in the cockpit, he'd probably be confident and steady, but he was stuck back here with her and the others.

"I'm sorry," she gasped.

He frowned. "Sorry for what?"

"That you're stuck comforting me in a crashing plane."

He huffed a laugh. "I'm not," he told her. "If I have to be in a crashing plane, I'm glad I'm with you."

The loud grinding sound of the landing gear extending pulled her attention back to the window. It was hard to see anything with the heavy rain outside, but she thought she saw the tops of trees. "Are we at the airfield in Atlantic City?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

She looked back at Poe who was shaking his head. "I don't know if there is an airfield in Atlantic City," he told her. "If there is, it's private. It's an old mining town and not many people live there."

"Then..?"

"I think he just wants to get us to some open space to land." His eyes jerked up to the window and Rey turned to look as well. Trees. She could see trees. "I don't think he succeeded," Poe whispered. "Mierda."

Rey could feel the difference as the plane hit the tops of the trees. She and Poe both bent over, laying their heads on their knees, but Rey didn't let go of his hand, and he didn't let go of hers.

The jolt came hard, and she felt her body slam into the seat belt. There was another lurch, then another even stronger, and she felt the body of the plane turn. There was screaming and shouting and the horrible sound of metal on metal screeching, then suddenly everything was still. All Rey could hear was sobbing and the sound of heavy rain on the roof of the plane.

She felt Poe let go of her hand and could hear the sound of him unbuckling his seat belt. Slowly, she sat up, and as she did so, she became aware of the smell of smoke. She watched as Poe stood and looked around the plane, and she saw Finn also stand in front of her; there was blood on his arm. Quickly, she unbuckled her seat belt as Poe looked at her, his eyes wide but determined.

"We gotta get everyone off," he told her and Finn.

Rey nodded and stood, but stopped in shock as she saw the front of the plane. It was… gone. "Poe?" she whispered. All she could see was smoke and what looked like trees and rocks beyond.

"I know," he answered her, bringing his hand to her shoulder and squeezing it gently. Then he turned to look around him once more as a handful of other people began to stand. "Everybody get off!" he shouted. "There's a fire somewhere, so we need to get out of the plane! Help those who need it!"

It was no surprise that they listened to him. Not only was she quite sure most of the passengers knew who he was, but his demeanor and voice screamed authority.

The young man who had been sitting next to one of the emergency doors pulled it open and everyone started heading his way. No one seemed inclined to head out the open front of the plane, where there were still sparks flying and what looked to be bodies lying near where the floor had been ripped open.

Rey looked at Rose, who was finally standing on shaky legs, and the two of them hugged tight over the top of the seat. "Are you okay?" Rey asked.

Rose nodded, then they both turned to watch as Finn and Poe directed people past them down the aisle to the open door. The man who had opened it stayed in the doorway and helped people climb down to the wing of the plane. Rey felt water hit her, and she looked up to see cracks in the ceiling with rain water sliding along them and falling to the floor of the plane.

In a matter of seconds, everyone who was able had left the plane except for the four of them. Poe stepped out to let Rey into the aisle to leave, but instead she pushed past him and Finn, heading for the front of the plane and the unmoving people still there. Her EMT training was kicking in; she had to help them if they were still alive.

Five people were visible, three still strapped in their seats. An older man was moving, his eyes barely open. She went to him first, checking his pulse as she unbuckled his belt. He appeared to have a laceration in his abdomen, but as she examined him, he became more alert. "Finn! Rose!" She turned toward her friends. "Can you help him out?"

The young couple nodded, and together they helped the man stand and the three shuffled toward the door. Though they were only feet away from the open front of the plane, flames were now licking along one side of the opening, making it even more unsafe to exit that way. Rey moved to the older woman who had been seated next to the man. His wife, Rey wondered? She wasn't moving, but her pulse was still strong.

"Poe, do you think you can carry her?" Rey asked as she unbuckled the woman's belt.

"I got her," a voice said from behind Poe. The young man who had opened the emergency exit moved forward. Though he looked barely eighteen, his wiry strength allowed him to lift the woman with ease and he quickly made his way to the door.

Rey moved to the next person strapped in the single seat across from the older couple. The middle-aged man was slumped in the seat, and it was no surprise to Rey when she could not find a pulse. She looked at Poe and shook her head. Together, they moved to the two people lying on the floor by the burning tear. One still had the seat belt and part of the chair she had been sitting in around her waist. Her neck was almost severed from her body, and the other person was also missing extremities. Rey knew there was no chance of life in either of them.

She leaned forward, trying to see out the open end, and she felt Poe grab her arm, holding her back. Through the smoke and the rain, she could see what must have been the cockpit, which was engulfed in flames that the pouring rain was having a hard time dousing. Three more bodies were barely visible on the ground, one of which appeared to be the flight attendant. The pilot and copilot's bodies were most likely still in the cockpit. As burned as the bodies on the ground were, there was no way any of them were still alive.

"Let's go!" Poe shouted to her, tugging on her arm once more. "We have to take care of the living first!"

Rey turned to him, knowing what he said was true. She nodded, then she turned to head back down the aisle, Poe right behind her with his hand on the small of her back. They reached the door, and Rey looked down at the wing of the plane, which was right underneath the emergency exit. She sat down on the edge of the door and slid onto the wing, then did the same from the wing to the ground. Poe followed right after her. They moved quickly toward the rest of the survivors, who had gathered under the ledge of a rock wall about twenty feet away.

Rey looked around her. There was no sign of civilization. No roads. No power lines. No buildings. There were pine trees and stone cliff faces all around them. The fact that the plane had stayed upright and had only been severely damaged on the very front was a miracle.

A loud crash of thunder caused a few people to make startled sounds, and many were still crying softly as they held on to each other, watching the fire slowly go out and smolder in the rain. Within minutes, the downpour had eased, and eventually it stopped. Rey scanned the area once more as the light became better. She felt Finn's arm firm around her waist, and Rose was gripping her left hand tight. Without thought, she reached her right hand out and Poe grabbed it. She looked at him, her body starting to shiver with what she knew was shock.

"What now?" she whispered.

He looked back at her, his eyes large, his brow furrowed. "We wait until they find us."

"And if they don't?"

Poe didn't answer.

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