The need to fight back warred with her survival instincts and Sam brushed only a quick glance over the other well-dressed, "lucky" few on board with her. In their faces, she saw the same dismay and slowly-dawning terror, and yet, she could have been alone - didn't feel a connection with them. She was different.
Samantha fingered the badge around her neck, wishing she didn't have it. If her alarm hadn't worked, the former President, Robbie Milton of the infamous suicide video, would have died four years ago in Nebraska, and none of this would be happening. Sam had been horrified to recognize the "terrorist" in the two short security videos. Did her saving his life all those years ago make some of this her fault?
Sam assumed they were flying low to avoid Star Wars and stifled another sound of misery as the cities rolled by, unable to believe that was her country down there tearing itself apart. Shootings, fires, assaults, murders. Bodies everywhere! In cars, on streets, even on playgrounds! Moreover, no one was coming to remove them! Samantha swallowed her panic. This wasn't happening. Just a horrible nightma…
She watched in terror, forgetting to breathe, as an unending line of destruction rushed over the land, eating everything in its path. Power lines lit up, sparking violently; gas lines ruptured, exploded, and homes and cars disappeared under the rapidly advancing brown and gray avalanche of death that was now drawing even with the military transport chopper. They were out of range, weren't they?
"Get higher!"
Even as Sam finished the shout, she saw the blades stop spinning, her ears registering the sudden, deafening silence, and then they were plummeting to the earth in a sickening blur of swirls and screams.
The government bird slammed into the rocky, Wyoming ground at a hard angle and flew back up, flipping and twisting into new shapes. It blew through a thick tree and began to roll, scattering awful debris. Huge flames and thick smoke blanketed the crash site.
Her hurting body checked in as bruised and ready to hide, but otherwise uninjured, and Samantha groaned, not opening her eyes. The lack of noise (not even a whimper or scream) told her that the rest of her traveling companions had not been so lucky, and she moaned again, dazed.
Forgetting for a second about all that had happened, she hoped someone had already called 911.
"See! Told ya it's a woman!"
The male voice released her tears. Help was here!
"I'll hold her down 'n you can go first this time, but let's pull her away from all that metal and fire."