Page 12 of Mile High With the Bikers
“Wait!” Whittaker yells, just as a second explosion rocks the plane, followed by the deafening whoosh of a fireball billowing through the door to the back.
“Time’s up!” I toss Rory out the door and onto the slide, not giving a fuck about her surprised yelp. She can complain when she's safe.
The rest of us follow, reaching the bottom of the slide about the same time. Just as we roll off and to our feet, flames shoot out of the back of the plane. Smoke billows out the door as rats flee the sinking ship. Grabbing Rory's shoulders, I haul her away as fast as she can move.
Something booms and pieces of plane drop around us with loud crunches and heavy thumps. A particular big one slams into theground right by my feet. “Don’t stop! Move!” I pull Rory with me, Diesel and Bull right on our heels.
I’ve got no fucking clue where we are, but I know we had at least an hour left on the flight. It looks like a private air strip, and people are already flooding out in response. An emergency truck is speeding our way, and I hear sirens in the distance. A few people give us looks, but Bull points back towards the wreck. “There are still people on board!” In the grand scheme of things, nobody seems to give shit about three random bikers and a stewardess.
After we get some good distance between us and the activity, we slow down and duck behind the terminal. I scan the small parking lot as a firetruck and an ambulance shows up. “I don’t know about you guys, but if there’s anyone still moving in there I don’t know who to trust not to start shooting again.”
“Damn straight,” rumbles Bull. “Think we can hotwire one of those?”
Diesel nods. “Sure, no problem.”
Rory is quiet, looking over her shoulder at the plane where flames are pouring out the shattered windows and a thick column of black smoke rises to the sky. People are moving, so it’s clear not everyone was killed, but I’d be shocked if at least a few don’t make it.
I put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze to get her attention. “Are you with us or do you want to stay here and see what happens? Whatever's about to go down, we don't wanna be a part of it.”
As if to prove my point, gunshots go off. Are they Whittaker's people? A third party? Don't fucking care.
“W—with you. I’ll go with you.” Rory turns away from the disaster and shakes her head like she’s trying to shake loose some of the shit she’s just seen. She clutches her backpack to her chest. “Let’s get out of here.”
Turns out leaving is even less of a problem than anticipated. Someone left their car with the door open and the fob still inside. They must’ve run to see what happened. The moment we’re all inside, I peel out and spin the car around, aiming us down the access road as fast as this thing will take us. A final explosion thunders, shaking the ground so hard I can feel it through the car.
“Shiiiiiit,” Diesel says with a low whistle. “Remind me to leave Whittaker a one star review. Trip started out pretty good, but I can’t say I’d recommend this to a friend.”
“No fucking kidding.” Bull, in the passenger seat, strokes his beard thoughtfully. “I’m just glad we aren’t in the middle of this shit for once.”
Rory makes an odd noise and Diesel slides her over into the middle seat in back so he can put his arm around her. “How far to the airport so we can get our bikes?”
I pull out onto the main road, picking a direction at random. “Someone pull up a map. We can’t be that far, but it might take a few hours.”
“You’re going to the original airport?” Rory sounds so fucking lost back there. I don't blame her. That was some wild shit, even for us. “I can… I suppose I can get somewhere from there.”
“We’ll keep you with us until we know you're safe,” Bull declares. “Jesus Christ, we're no saints, but we're not assholes either.”
Diesel has his phone out. “Look for signs for the highway. It should be coming up. Head west for a couple hours and we’ll be good.”
“Not too bad. We can ditch the car there and someone will report it fast enough to whoever we borrowed it from.” Bull taps his fingers on the dash. “I bet when the cops get a look at everyone who was on that plane, they aren’t going to care about one fucking car.”
I flash the blinker and turn down the ramp onto the highway. “Let's go home.”
7
RORY
Everyone isquiet on the way to the airport. Nothing feels quite real. Did I really have sex with Bull less than an hour ago? And I was about to—I shove the memory down. Not because I’m ashamed, but because I can’t focus on that when there’s so much else to worry about. I lean my head against the window and watch the world fly by.
The next thing I know, Diesel is stroking my arm gently and I’m blinking my eyes open.
“Hey, beautiful. We’re here.”
I yawn. The sun is well on its way down and the car smells a little like we’ve been camping. “Did I miss anything?”
“Not really,” Diesel murmurs. “There’ve been some reports about the crash, but no details are public yet.”
Shrapnel pulls into one of the long term parking lots, well away from anything. He drives all the way to a back corner where there are several massive trucks parked across multiple rows. Between two of them is a gray tarp covering something more car sized but the shape is wrong. The guys get out first, thensignal for me to join them. Bull peels off the tarp, revealing three motorcycles.
