Chapter 19: The storm
The distorted sound of the hotel room's television broke the tense silence.
A shrill, mechanical, and prolonged beep filled the air. The Emergency Broadcast System had interrupted the signal.
Myeong, Jason, Ethan, Ryan, Sasha, and Myeong's mother turned to the screen just as the message began:
EMERGENCY BROADCASTING SYSTEM
SEVERE WEATHER ALERT
THIS MESSAGE IS ISSUED AT THE REQUEST OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND SALEM AUTHORITIES.
AN INTENSE STORM WITH HURRICANE-STRENGTH WINDS, LIGHTNING, AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL HAS UNLEASHED THE REGION.ALL RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER AND AVOID GOING OUTSIDE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
REPORTS CONFIRM THAT THE STRONG WINDS HAVE CAUSED POWER FAILURES, STRUCTURAL COLLAPSES, AND SEVERAL ACCIDENTS.
️ THIS IS NOT A PRACTICE. I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A PRACTICE. ️ ️
STAY SAFE.
The screen flickered and then went black.
The group barely had time to process the message when Myeong's mother's cell phone vibrated on the nightstand.
She picked it up with trembling hands and answered.
"Detective?"
"Listen carefully." The detective's voice sounded more tense than ever. "I have a Coast Guard helicopter ready to get you out of Salem."
Everyone stared at him, their eyes wide.
"A helicopter?" Myeong's mother asked.
"Yes. With this storm, the roads are out of the question. The helicopter will pick them up from the hotel rooftop in fifteen minutes."
"Fifteen minutes?" Ryan repeated. "With this wind, can they fly?"
"I don't know how long they can stay in the air," O'Brien admitted. "But it's our best chance."
Myeong's mother nodded, as if O'Brien could see her.
"We're going there."
But when she hung up, Myeong didn't move.
"We shouldn't go."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Everyone looked at her.
"What?" Sasha asked.
Myeong swallowed.
"Ryan's next."
Ryan clenched his jaw.
"Myeong..."
"If we get on that helicopter and something goes wrong..."
"If we stay here, something's going to go wrong too." Ryan glared at her. "I know I've got a target on my back, okay? But staying in this hotel waiting for the storm to blow over isn't the answer."
Myeong felt a knot in her stomach.
"What if Death is waiting for us to get on that helicopter?"
"What if we stay and die some other way?"
Thunder crashed in the distance, making them flinch.
Ryan put a hand on her shoulder.
"We have to get out of here."
Myeong's heart pounded in her chest.
Finally, she nodded.
"Okay. Let's go."
As they hurried out of the room, Myeong accidentally knocked a glass cup onto the table.
The glass fell to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.
But no one noticed.
If they had, they would have seen that the broken fragments formed a perfect spiral.
When they reached the rooftop, the wind was relentless.
The roar of the storm deafened them as the rain battered the hotel structure.
And then, amidst the flashes of lightning, they saw it approaching.
A Coast Guard helicopter, with the number 2-3-4-0 painted on its side, emerged from the curtain of water.
The pilot maneuvered with difficulty, fighting the gusts of wind.
The helicopter descended as low as it could to the rooftop.
The propellers whirled violently, kicking up debris and forcing the group to hold on to each other to avoid being swept away.
"GO!" Myeong's mother shouted over the roar.
But when Myeong took a step forward, her foot slipped on the wet ground.
Her body was swept away by the wind.
She was about to fall.
A scream escaped her throat as she felt the emptiness beneath her.
But before she could plunge into the abyss, a strong arm caught her.
"NO!"
Ethan.
With all his strength, he pulled her back and hugged her tightly, his labored breathing in her ear.
"I'm not going to let you fall," he whispered.
Myeong clung to him, trembling.
Ethan held her even closer, his forehead resting on hers.
"We'll be okay," he promised.
But deep down, they both knew it was a lie.
The helicopter began to approach slowly, wobbling dangerously in the air.
"As soon as it touches the ground, run toward it as fast as you can," Myeong's mother ordered, raising her voice above the gale.
The group nodded, tense.
The seconds dragged on as the pilot tried to land, fighting the fury of the wind.
Once. Twice. Three failed attempts.
The helicopter swayed violently.
Finally, after a titanic effort, the landing gear touched the surface of the roof.
Before anyone could react, Ryan ran toward the helicopter.
"RYAN, NO!" Myeong shouted.
But it was too late.
At that instant, a brutal gust of wind shook the helicopter.
The front blades tilted the aircraft sideways, and the rear door slammed violently into the ground.
Inside the helicopter, O'Brien tried to take control, shouting orders to the pilot.
"HOLD THE STICK! STABILIZE IT!"
But the storm was stronger.
The propellers descended just a few inches.
Enough to hit Ryan.
There was no time to react.
The blades struck him with indescribable violence.
The first impact severed his left arm.
The second ripped it in two, dismembering him in a brutal display of blood and guts.
Myeong, Ethan, Jason, Sasha, and Myeong's mother screamed in horror as Ryan's remains fell to the rooftop.
But the tragedy didn't end there.
The helicopter completely lost control.
It pitched lower, dragging its propellers against the ground, which sizzled with a shower of sparks and fire.
"RUN!" Myeong's mother shouted.
The group fled downstairs just as the plane crashed into the hotel's rooftop and exploded.
The shockwave threw them to the ground.
As fire and debris consumed the structure above, Myeong couldn't help but think of one thing.
Ryan was dead.
And Death was still with them.
The helicopter explosion unleashed absolute chaos.
The impact caused one of the broken blades to fly out like a projectile, piercing the stairwell door and striking a man trying to escape. The spinning blade tore his head off, spraying blood against the concrete walls.
Flames quickly spread through the hotel structure.
The fire licked through the hallways with a hellish roar, devouring curtains, furniture, and everything in its path.
People ran desperately through the corridors, some engulfed in flames, screaming until their voices died along with their charred bodies.
A woman tried to go down the stairs but tripped in her panic and fell down the stairwell, hitting the metal edges in a cascade of broken bones before crashing to the floor, her head bursting like a rotten fruit.
Another guest tried to use the elevator, but the doors opened only partially, and he was trapped just as the fire reached the elevator motor.
The ropes gave way.
The elevator plummeted.
A crack and a final pop.
Blood seeped through the cracks of the destroyed elevator.
Myeong, her mother, Ethan, Jason, and Sasha ran for their lives.
"QUICKLY, GET OUT!" Myeong's mother shouted.
The group dodged corpses and fire as the hotel's foundations teetered dangerously.
Finally, they made it out to the parking lot, just before a second explosion shook the building.
The hotel began to collapse, the screams of those trapped still echoing in the air.
But now they had another problem.
The storm roared like an uncontrolled beast.
The wind was so strong it pushed them backward, making them stumble.
The torrential rain hit their skin like icy needles, and lightning lit the sky with blinding flashes.
Sasha, gasping, turned to Myeong.
"Who's next?"
Myeong didn't answer.
Sasha frowned, waiting for an answer.
"Myeong..."
Myeong looked away.
She avoided his gaze because she knew the truth.
Sasha was next.
Myeong's silence was enough for Sasha to understand.
The girl felt a chill that had nothing to do with the storm.
She was going to die.
But there was no time to think about that.
Myeong's mother took the lead.
"Stay together! We have to cross the street and find shelter!"
They struggled forward, but the city itself seemed to turn against them.
A giant billboard toppled from a nearby building, falling right in front of them and crushing a car with someone inside. A spray of blood spurted from the windows of the mangled vehicle.
An electric pole fell into a pool of water just as a man tried to run. The shock caused him to convulse violently, his skin scorching as his body smoked before he fell dead.
An out-of-control pickup truck skidded across the wet street, skidding and striking a couple trying to take shelter under an awning. Their bodies flew and slammed into a pole with a crunching sound.
A ruptured gas line exploded near a store, spewing flames and tearing three people to pieces on the sidewalk.
A sharp piece of metal, torn from a building, flew in the wind and pierced the throat of a cyclist trying to pedal through the wreckage. Blood gushed from his neck as he collapsed on the street.
The group dodged death time and again.
But Sasha... wasn't so lucky.
A flash of lightning lit the street in a white flash.
The group hurried through the rubble, struggling to stay together.
But then Sasha fell behind.
It wasn't on purpose.
A gust of wind pushed her to the side, separating her from the group.
"SASHA!" Myeong shouted, trying to reach her.
But it was too late.
A lamppost several meters tall, weakened by the wind and the storm, leaned over her.
Sasha looked up at the last second.
The pole fell,
Crushing her with a brutal impact.
Sasha's skull split like a melon, her blood splattering onto the sidewalk in a crimson pool.
The rest of her body was bent grotesquely, her bones crunching as her torso was crushed under the weight of the metal.
The group stopped in its tracks.
Myeong wanted to run toward her, but Ethan stopped her.
"No..."
Myeong's mother covered her mouth in horror.
Jason squeezed his eyes shut.
The rain began to wash Sasha's blood into the gutter.
Myeong felt her body freeze.
Sasha wasn't moving anymore.
Death had reached her.
And they were next.
