Chapter 8 - The Wire in the Dark
Evelyn flew through the freezing air, carried by the violent suction of the opening cargo door.
She reached out blindly, her fingers wrapping desperately around a heavy steel handhold near the edge of the abyss.
Her legs dangled freely out of the airplane, the freezing night wind violently whipping against her body.
She looked down and saw nothing but thousands of feet of empty, black sky.
Using every ounce of her remaining strength, she pulled herself up against the hurricane-force winds.
She reached the glowing red manual override panel and smashed her frozen fist against the emergency seal button.
Heavy hydraulic pistons roared to life, fighting against the air pressure to pull the massive cargo door shut.
The door slammed closed with a deafening metallic boom, instantly cutting off the violent suction.
Evelyn collapsed onto the icy floor, gasping for breath as her muscles burned with severe exhaustion.
She checked her pocket, confirming the actual glass vial of medicine was still safely secured.
She crawled over to Leo, wrapping the shivering boy tightly in her arms to share her body heat.
Together, they slowly climbed up the maintenance ladder and emerged back into the forward galley.
The cabin was eerily silent, the emergency oxygen having put most of the terrified passengers into a deep sleep.
The corrupt flight attendant was completely gone, leaving only a trail of blood leading toward the front of the plane.
Evelyn secured Leo in a first-class seat and wrapped him in thick blankets.
She drew her federal firearm and cautiously approached the heavily reinforced cockpit door.
The heavy steel door was standing wide open, which was a severe violation of every aviation protocol.
Evelyn stepped inside, her gun raised, only to find the captain slumped dead over the control panel.
The flight attendant had murdered the pilot and completely destroyed the automatic flight computer with a fire axe.
Through the cockpit windshield, Evelyn saw that the airplane was locked in a terrifying, steep dive.
They were hurtling rapidly toward the jagged peaks of a massive, snow-covered mountain range.
May you like
Suddenly, the cockpit door slammed shut behind her, locking from the outside with a heavy mechanical click.
The intercom crackled to life, and the flight attendant's voice whispered that they were all going to die together.
