Intervention | NaNoWriMo 2018

Chapter 27

Lincoln gasped and stumbled backward until his back hit the wall. It really was her. What was she doing in the cargo bay of the aircraft? Was she dead? Sedated? He had to know and immediately returned to the body and felt for a pulse on her neck. A smile spread across his face when he felt a strong, steady rhythm through his fingertips. She was alive, although obviously knocked out. The question now was how he could get her out of there in that state.

Just as he stood up, the ramp at the rear of the compartment came alive with a loud rattle and began to close.

"Not good, not good," Lincoln said to himself as he jumped over to the ramp. It was closing quickly. His first instinct was to jump out of there and run before it was too late but he knew that if he did that, he'd be leaving Marie behind. Again. He couldn't do that. He wouldn't. Although Lincoln was acutely aware that there was no way of knowing what was happening next, he had to stay put and try to figure out what to do next. What could he possibly do to save her if they were trapped in the cargo hold of a reconnaissance aircraft?

The sound of the aircraft engines coming alive partially answer his question. The aircraft was leaving. Lincoln retreated to Marie's unconscious body and settled in against the wall of the compartment while the sound of the engines continued to increase. Without warning, the aircraft tilted slightly, first to the left, then to the right, and then took off, causing a sinking sensation in Lincoln's stomach as it accelerated upwards. He grabbed hold of piping that ran along the wall and held on as the aircraft banked to the right. The pilot leveled the craft and accelerated, forcing Lincoln to hold on tightly with both hands to avoid being thrown against the rear ramp. He glanced at Marie, concerned she might get thrown around but she hadn't moved.

It was difficult for Lincoln to tell how long the flight lasted, much less tell how far they had actually traveled. He estimated that they had been in the air for about thirty minutes when they began their descent, rapidly at first, then at a slower rate as they approached the ground. Lincoln barely had time to prepare for landing when the aircraft set down hard, almost knocking him off his feet. Almost immediately, the rear ramp began to lower. Desperately, Lincoln looked around the cargo compartment for a place to hide. Just as the light began to illuminate the inside, Lincoln spotted what appeared to be a door of some sort. With three steps, he was next to it, pulled the door open and stepped inside, closing it behind him almost all the way, leaving a small crack to avoid the lock from engaging. Moments later, the ramp hit the ground and he heard the heavy footsteps of multiple persons entering the cargo area, talking amongst themselves with muffled voices. A few minutes later, the steps and voices receded down the ramp. Lincoln had no doubt that Marie was being carried away at that very moment.

He had to fight an impulse to burst out of whatever space he had crammed himself into and run after Marie, to save her. Instead, he took several deep breaths and forced himself to focus on the end goal. He had to survive long enough to save Marie and bring her back home. Rushing out into the unknown was unlikely to accomplish that. He had to focus, relax.

Ten minutes later no-one else had approached the aircraft. Not a sound could be heard from the cargo area or from around the aircraft. It was as the aircraft and the area around it had been abandoned after Marie had been carried away. Lincoln decided that it was safe to come out and take a look.

The door to his hideout opened without a sound and Lincoln stepped out into the cargo area. Marie was gone, as expected. He followed one of the walls to the open rear ramp, crouched to get a better look at the landing area. The aircraft had landed in a large open area, its periphery lined with bright lights mounted high above the ground. A couple of trailers were positioned to his immediate right, between two of the light poles, while a lit path stretched up the shallow hill on his left to a group of larger buildings. Lights illuminated the windows of several of the buildings and he could just barely make out the movement of what likely were guards patrolling outside the hill compound.