Chapter Nine: Marsh Airlines
/Somewhere near LA, US, October 11th, 2029
"Almost there, yet?" Dianna asked, getting up from her seat and walking over to the cockpit. Turning, Max took off his headset and hung it round his neck. "Yeah. We're just about to pass Los Angeles soon, so we should be there in about an hour." Looking out of the glass cockpit, Dianna saw the LA skyline not far beneath them. "Flying a bit low, aren't we?" she asked. Maz simply shrugged in response as his sibling decided to explain instead. "GDI tracking is all over the place, and with the state the military is in, they'll shoot down anything flying above 20-kay feet."
Suddenly, the plane rumbled with turbulence as the controls suddenly went dead, the multi-coloured lights and displays stuttering for a moment before switching off. "What the?" Max shouted as he watched his control panel go offline. "What's happening?" Dianna asked in concern. Looking to the city below, a MUTO roared up at them as they passed over the top of it. "EMP strike. We've lost control!" Maz gasped as he realised what had happened. "Landing gear is unresponsive. Autopilot's shot – I'm gonna have to bring her down manually." Walking back to the main part of the cabin, Dianna collapsed into the nearest seat and strapped herself in. "Where's the nearest airport!?" She asked. "LA International!" Maz replied "Its' too far, we'll never make it. Just stay down and keep your head covered." The pilot exclaimed as he wrestled with the aircrafts' steering.
Shooting past the city skyline towards the suburban area of Los Angeles, the planes' altitude dropped rapidly as the ground came up quickly, racing beneath the aircraft as its' pilots searched for an area to put it down. "Heads down! Heads down!" Max cried out. Dianna lurched forward in her seat, throwing her hands over her head as she shut her eyes. The impact felt like they had been hit by a train as Dianna was thrown back in her seat as smoke and debris filled the cabin, the screeching and groaning of the fuselage buckling roared through the blackness as Dianna felt the plane suddenly twist sideways and begin to roll. Feeling the centripetal force trying of drag her to the floor of the cabin as the plane rolled over and over, the woman felt as though she was going to be sick. Eventually, the rolling stopped abruptly as the craft jolted as it hit the side of something.
Slowly opening her eyes, Dianna glanced round. The airplane cabin was a mess, with seats and other debris scattered across the ground below her, her black hair swaying back and forth above her head. She realised she was upside down as gravity seemed to pull upwards. Fiddling with her seatbelt buckle, Dianna yelped as she came free and fell to the floor. Groggily getting to her feet, she looked up and saw that the entire cockpit had been ripped away on impact, the ruined suburban streets reaching out, far into the horizon. "Max!?" Maz!?" She cried out desperately as she stumbled out of the wreckage.
They had come to a stop in the middle of a cul-de-sac, with the body of the plane smashed into the side of a house. It was oddly quiet as Dianna walked out into the middle of the small collection of houses. She noticed something strange; there was not a single vehicle in sight, save for a vacant motorcycle lying on its' side with parts of its' engine strewn across the nearby asphalt. The entire area must have been evacuated long before they arrived.
Dianna jumped as she heard something metal clatter as it fell to the ground. Spinning, she saw the cockpit of the plane, crumpled and scarred but relatively intact. There was movement inside. Walking over, Dianna called out for Max and Maz again. This time, she got a response, in the form of Maz coughing as he fanned dust away from his face. "Thank you for flying Marsh Airlines" The man said sarcastically. "And we hope you have a great time in LA." His brother added.
"It's good to know you two are okay." Dianna said, chuckling as she saw Maz fall to the floor as he undid his seatbelt. "We need to find a way outta here before that MUTO decides to come looking." Maz simply groaned in response, rubbing his neck from the fall as he and Max walked up to her. "There's gotta be a car around here somewhere." Max said, looking round at the vacant cul-de-sac. Walking up to the nearest house, the one which the bulk of the plane had smashed into.
Approaching the front of the house, he bent down and grabbed the bottom of the garage door, throwing it upwards and looking inside. The man grinned with delight. "Ah, the universe provides." He smirked as he walked around the car to get a view of the front of it. It was an old car, a rusty sedan. "Hey, Maz!" he called out. "It's exactly the same as you're old car! Same colour and everything!"
Maz looked at the man and shook his head. "What, you're just gonna steal someone's car?" he asked. Max walked out of the garage, throwing his warms out to the sides, gesturing to the empty city around them. "Got any better ideas!?" Besides, There's no one round here who's gonna miss it." Dianna shrugged, walking up to the car and getting in the passenger seat. "I'm sold." She said calmly, closing the door. The two brothers looked at each other. "Who gets to drive, then?" Maz asked. The two simultaneously drew a clenched fist each. "Scissors, I win!" Max cheered childishly, running over to the car as Maz sighed in defeat.
….
"Okay, just for the record, I'm not comfortable with this." Maz said as he climbed into the back seat of the sedan. "Relax, we'll be fine." Max smiled as he pressed the two wires together trying to jumpstart the car. The engine came alive, growling as it revved up, its' headlights lighting up the back wall of the garage a pale yellow.
Reversing out of the garage, Max turned the car round. "Where to?" He asked Dianna, who was unfolding a map she had pulled out of the glove compartment. "Okay well if we're here; we need to head east, cut through downtown and take the I5 all the way north to San Francisco." She said. "That's the main road, by the way." She added. Max wasn't listening. He flipped down the shade and a pair of silver aviators dropped into the scientists' lap. "Roads? Dianna, where we're going…" He grinned as he calmly put on the sunglasses on the sunglasses. "We don't need roads."
Dianna and Maz looked at the man in utter confusion. Maz was about to insult him when Max put his foot on the accelerator, causing the car to dart forward, rocketing along the road out of the cul-de-sac.
….
"Welcome to NORAD, Mr President!" a man shouted out over the roar of Air Force Ones' engines as Locke walked down the steps onto the runway with a group of Secret Service Agents behind him. The man who approached him was a General, indicated by his military uniform, patch and bulk of various medals down his left side. "General Ericson, sir. Right this way, Mr President."
….
The group entered a large control room of sorts, with a huge wall covered in screens against the back of the room. "With the White House, Pentagon and most of our military bases gone, this is our most secure centre of operations, sir." Ericson explained. Locke nodded as he looked at the gigantic screen which displayed a map of the United States. Almost every single government, GDI or military facility displayed had a red X through it, indicating contact had been lost or it was confirmed destroyed.
"General Ericson, do you have an armory?" Locke asked. The general nodded. "Yes sir. Kitted out with everything from Handguns to Anti-Material Rifles." Ericson explained. "Alright, everyone listen up." He addressed the room full of console operators, agents and staff. "Everyone who is capable of using a weapon and willing to defend this place raise your hand." Every single agent raised their hand along with a couple of console operators and finally Locke himself. Doing a quick head-count, he turned to Ericson and the soldier next to him. "Alright, I'm going to need twelve Assault Rifles from the armory." He said. Ericson was about to interrupt when he saw what Locke was intending. If the base were to fall under attack, the President was going to be on the front line no matter what anyone had to say. "Yes, sir. Mr President." Ericson headed off to the armory with a handful of his men.
"What about the White House, Mr President?" the agent next to him asked. "We've rebuilt it before; we'll rebuild it again. Right now our priority is keeping as much of the public safe as we can." Locke replied, turning to the agent. At that moment, a radio nearby crackled as it came to life. "NORAD Control, this is Colonel Jefferson. San Francisco is secure. I'm leading a convoy to evacuate any survivors still in Los Angeles."