Stay Together Chapter 8 by Maira Dawn

Chapter 8

(COPYRIGHT©2024 MAIRA DAWN)

Standing at the open door of the plane, Emily clenched a grab bar as she stared at the puffy slide.

That was supposed to save her life?

She hadn’t made a move toward it yet and her stomach was already rolling. She imagined jumping onto it. The fall. The sway.

“Look!” some said and threw an arm up, pointing at the darkening sky. A large plane circled, but even a novice like her could tell something was very wrong.

“It’s coming down,” Ian muttered.

“What do you mean?” her father asked the ex-pilot. “Isn’t there some kind of—some kind of contingency plan for an emergency like this?”

“There’s no power. The building, the tarmac, this plane. Not regular power and no back-up power either. It’s my bet that plane is as dead as this one.”

“What?” Liz exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

“There’s only one I know of, ma’am. And I’m not sure anyone wants to hear it.” Ian turned to one of the strong men. “Keep an eye on that plane up there. If it even begins to come our way, let me know.”

Ian nodded to James. “You about ready to get this show on the road?”

“Yeah,” James replied.

Ian quickly directed where flashlights should be positioned, then jumped onto the slide and went down as easily as a child at the playground. Then he turned to his wife and waved her down.

Nancy’s face paled, but she clenched her jaw and jumped. Emily counted one. . . two . . . three . . . and Nancy bounced onto the slide.

Okay, three and a half seconds. She could do this.

She glanced up at the plane still in the air. It was noticeably closer to the ground.

She had to do this.

Her dad turned to her, gently putting his hands on her arms. “Emmy, honey, are you ready?”

She forced out a pent-up breath. “Yeah.” Her voice came out rather shaky.

“I’ll be right behind you, Emmy,” her mother added.

“Not me! I’m going to pass you,” Mike teased her.

“Michael, you absolutely will do as you are told and no more or less,” Liz scolded her son.

“Aww, Mom. You’re no fun.”

Emily hauled in a large breath while she watched her dad for the signal. When his arm came down, she jumped.

Holding her legs up as high as she could, Emily mentally counted. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand . . . four, one thousand . . . wait, she should have landed on the slide. Where was the slide? Had she somehow missed . . .

Her back-end slammed against the slide. It is softer than she’d imagined and yet of thicker material too. Fast! It was so fast! Too fast! The end was coming—was here!

Her speed gave her the momentum to stand as she reached the end of the slippery slide and the start of the not-slippery land. Nancy and Ian grabbed her, helping her to the side. 

“We’ll help your mom and brother now,” Nancy said and smiled. “You did a great job.”

Had she? She’d felt so out of control! “Thanks!” 

Nancy’s comment made her feel so much better about the entire thing.

Her mom jumped as Mike stood at the top of the ramp, barely restrained by their father.

Emily watched her clearly nervous mother zipping down the slide then coming to an abrupt stop, pretty much the same way she had.

As soon as James gave the okay to his son, Mike whooped and jumped, landing directly in the middle of the slide. He squealed with joy as he picked up speed.

Several passengers laughed along with him.

The four at the end of the ramp positioned themselves to help the boy come to a safe stop. Emily and Liz made it to him first.

“That was awesome!” he exclaimed. “Oh, I wish I could go again!”

They pulled him to the side as he glanced longingly at the top of the slide.

Emily’s dad came down next. Then together, their family, along with Ian and Nancy, helped about half the passengers off the plane before a man at the top let out a holler and pointed to the sky.

“Coming our way!”

Everyone stopped and glanced up. Emily drew in a sharp breath. 

The plane was much lower now. It drifted aimlessly, its wavering movement making it appear as delicate as a paper airplane desperately seeking its next updraft. 

It was clear the struggling aircraft wouldn’t be in the air much longer. 

Her instincts screaming danger, a shiver slipped down Emily’s spine when the slide in front of her gave a little jump and bumped her shins. Her attention shifted back to her job. She eyed the inflatable slide to find her day barreling down it. 

“Heads up!” she roared, getting everyone’s attention.

Ian rushed over to James, offering him a hand.

As soon as James came to a stop, he eyed the sky. “This is bad.” Concern covered his face, and he turned to Ian. “We need to get everyone out of there ASAP.”

Ian nodded, already waving the next person down. “Speed it up!” he shouted.

The men in the plane started sending each passenger as soon as possible.

Emily did all she could, her heart pounding as she assisted everyone on the ground to get the passengers off the slide. Tension filled the air as they rushed to empty the plane, a silent understanding that they were running out of time.

Continued . . .

Please remember this is a developing story and in a rawer state than what I publish. As such, it has only been self-edited and you will see some errors.

In addition, some changes may occur between now and publishing, including major storylines. I try to avoid this, but it sometimes happens.

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