Cold Hard Fax

Janet started crying. I pushed myself off the wall. "I gotta get out of here."

Leaving Janet behind, I ran out to the line of planes being loaded. A Blue twin engine was just about to pull out.

I grabbed the passenger door. "Can I grab a lift to help unload?"

The pilot, a middle aged man grinned at me. "Come on, hop in, I can use the assistance."

I buckled in as we taxied onto the runway, lost deep in thought.

"Buddy, Hey Buddy, Pal." I heard the pilot break thru my thoughts.

"Oh, I am sorry. What you need?" I asked.

The pilot jerked a thumb, pointing behind him. "Can you secure that load? I do not want it shifting in flight."

"Sure." I said unbuckling my seatbelt and climbing into the rear of the plane.

Just as I had started moving all the jugs of water around, the plane did a violent lurch as it hit an air pocket. I and the seven gallon water jugs got thrown into the rear of the plane. Suddenly the plane dropped tail down. I got that sinking feeling in my stomach when an elevator drops floors. The pilot was cursing and I realized we were going down.

****

*JANET PICKS UP THE STORY*

I was still crying when Mac came out of the building to stand behind me.

"Where in bloody hell is that lazy ugly ass slacker boyfriend of yours?" Mac demanded.

I did not trust myself to speak, so I just pointed at a blue plane pulling up off the runway.

"Queens Christ! I need that idiot here helping me, not taking joyrides for frequent flyer miles"

I still did not speak, but willed the plane to turn around and come back.

Suddenly something went wrong. The blue plane was not flying level anymore. The tail was pointing at the ground and the aircraft was dropping rapidly.

Mac stepped in front of me. "Damn bastards got behind the power curve." He put up both hands. "Come on! Get some altitude. You can do it!"

But it was not to be. The plane keep dropping and dropping. There was a sickening noise as the airplane crashed tail first into a Shell Gas station just outside the airport fence.

"GARY!" I screamed, sprinting for the site.

I had only gone a few yards when Mac dropped me from behind with a bruising tackle.

"Get Off Me!" I yelled, thrashing about as Mac pinned me to the ground with his body. "Gary needs me! He is hurt!"

A blinding explosion shook the ground as the gas station blew up. The heat wave and concussion knocked Mac and I back several feet as debris flew all around us.

Mac never let go of me as black smoke poured from the gas station and I started sobbing uncontrollably.

****

The next few days were a blur. The Governor and President finally made nice and the Armed Forces came in with everything from instant hospitals to barracks. Martial law was declared and a curfew enforced. Power was still out, with portable generators and candles being in high demand.

I was sitting in a bar just outside the airport of our makeshift airlift. After Gary's plane crash, the authorities had shut down our operation.

Today, we were gathered in a makeshift memorial at the bar. The bar was lit with candles. A poster sized drawing of Gary was at the end of the bar, courtesy of an art student who had used a picture of Gary from my wallet.

Mac sat down next to me. "Sorry for your loss, lassie. Gary was a good man."

I nodded.

Mac raised his voice to be heard over the drone of the gas generator being used to keep some drinks cold. "I know it don't mean much Janet, but Gary went out a REAL man."

"I killed him Mac" I said softly.

"What?" Mac replied bringing his ear closer to me.

"I said, I killed Gary."

Mac shook his head. "The plane crash and bad luck killed Gary, not you."

This time I shook my head, but Mac was pointing at the TV set being powered by the same generator keeping the beer cold.

Red, the guy from the jobsite had his mugshot on the TV. The story disappeared before Mac could get the audio increased.

Mac yelled at the bartender. "What the hell was that about?"

The bartender put a glass on the countertop. "Bunch of dumb rednecks were out looting and mixed it up with a National Guard patrol." He poured a beer into the glass. "Did not go well for them. Only thing more dangerous than a redneck with a gun is a National Guard patrol with a Hummer and Ma Duce twins 50s"

I tuned out the conversation and was staring at the drawing of Gary, mentally debating if I should add another candle for more light when a loud voice boomed out from the doorway.

"Good thing it is so dark in here, the picture of that ugly bastard would scare a bulldog off a meat wagon"

I spun around like I had heard a ghost,

Gary was standing slouched in the doorway with a scruffy beard and filthy ragged clothes.

My feet never touched the ground as I launched myself at him and we both tumbled out the door.

****

*GARY PICKS UP THE STORY*

Janet hit me like a middle linebacker as we both rocketed out the door onto the sidewalk.

Janet was alternately kissing me and saying "I'm so sorry, Gary."

I finally pulled her away. "It's okay, Janet, come on I smell like a goat."

She would not let go and started crying as Mac and a host of others poured out the door.

"Do dead men drink whiskey?" Mac asked, thrusting a glass in my hand.

"This one does" I replied, throwing back the whole glass.

"I always knew you were too ugly to die." Mac said, as he picked up both Janet and me as others pounded on my back to help the whiskey induced coughing fit.

Everyone was clamoring for my escape with death tale. Janet was not going to let me go so I put my arm around her and started speaking.

"I was in a blue plane, but a twin engine blue plane. Not the single aircraft that crashed." I raised my glass that someone had filled. "A toast to that brave man who died helping others."

"Hear, Hear" everyone chanted, downing their beverage.

"Where were you then?" someone shouted.

I raised my hand for quiet. "We did have trouble. But my pilot did a magnificent job of getting us down in one piece. Unfortunately we landed in the middle of nowhere, and the plane was really fucked up. It took us two days to hump our way to civilization. We did not know about the curfew, and some jumpy homeowner thought we were looters and opened fire."

I felt Janet squeeze me tighter. "I did not get hit, but my pilot pal took a bullet in the leg. Fortunately he is gonna be okay."

Mac raised his glass. "Come on lads, let's bring this party back inside where it belongs."

As the crowd filed into the bar, I turned to Janet. "We need to talk."

****

Dual decades have gone by since that day. My oldest son Hal, says if I was cat I would only have 8 lives left. But hey, life's ultimate statistic is the same for all people. One out of every one person dies.

I am no longer the Young Turk with the pony tail, but am now 'The Old Man' of the crew. I have kept up with technology, but drew the line at having a twitter account.

Today, I was nursing my broken leg while checking in on Facebook. I had been in a car accident and Mac was pissed off I was going to miss business with some cruise ship (Yes, we still work together). Mac was complaining about some new ugly American guy he had to train from a small northern town.

I was posting about a buddy's birthday when a friend request popped up. This request took me back in a time machine. I clicked on the profile.

My wife was getting ready for her day at work. "Hey Honey" I shouted out to her. "Would you care if I accepted a friends request from an old girlfriend?"

Marysue walked out of the closet in her business suit.

"Sure Gary, what is the worst that could happen? You fall in love with some girl that broke your heart 20 years ago. You both run off to raise dental floss on a farm in Parma, Ohio, and live in a split-level house with two dogs named Rex and Brownie, while driving a used Kia and leased Chevy Trailblazer. Meanwhile, I get this house, custody of the kids, child support, lifetime alimony, half your 401K and pension plus the vacation place and most of our investments."

I gave her a look. "Okay, a Win-Win for everybody, right? But what is the downside?"

Marysue stopped to tussle my hair and give me a kiss. "You funny man, Gary. Just remember which one of us the senior partner in a law firm."

"So... not me?" I said as she picked up her car keys.

"Love you." Marysue called out she exited the house.

I turned my attention back to the friend request from Janet. Her profile was pretty open. She was single with no kids. A lot of photos were of a charity mission she seemed to do every year in the poor parts of Central America and her work with various animal rescue organizations.

My mouse hoovered over Janet's Friend request.

Confirm or Delete Request

I hesitated a moment before clicking my selection.

****

If you got this far without calling me too many names, thanks for reading. As always my fiction does have some truth. Hurricane Andrew did slam a part of South Florida in 1992 with many local forecasts missing the signs (some telling viewers it would be a good day for boating) FEMAs incompetence and well-earned reputation as a "Turkey Farm" and dumping ground for political hacks became apparent again during Hurricane Katrina. The US Navy came in to assist and did threaten FEMA officials when they tried to impose their bureaucratic inactions. Political infighting between the first Pres Bush and Fla Gov, left troops on tarmacs awaiting a "settlement" to save face for both sides, while citizens suffered. Lastly, an ad hoc citizen airlift did take place, bringing relief to those in need that sadly, did result in a fatality.