Chapter 5 - The Edge of Darkness
The cockpit and forward passenger cabin of the plane were crumpled like an aluminum soda can against a massive boulder.
Inside the wreckage, pinned beneath a fallen baggage rack and a twisted steel support beam, lay two adults—the pilot, who was already dead, and a foreign diplomat, unconscious with severe head trauma.
In the small gap beneath the rear seat sat six-year-old Maya. Her face was smudged with soot, her small body shivering violently in the freezing air, her hands clutching a torn teddy bear. Her right leg was pinned beneath a heavy iron structural beam, blood pooling around her boots.
"Maya!" Erin cried out, sliding into the cramped, sharp-edged metallic cabin on her knees.
The little girl looked up, her wide brown eyes filled with absolute terror. "Help me... my mommy won't wake up..."
Erin felt a sharp pang in her heart, but her tactical brain instantly swept the emotion aside. "I'm Erin, Maya. I'm a nurse, and I'm going to get you out of here. I promise."
Erin checked the child's neck pulse—rapid, weak, threadbare.
"Nolan! Get in here!" Erin ordered. "I need the hydraulic spreader from Mercer's secondary pack to lift this beam, and I need a high-thigh tourniquet right now!"
Nolan squeezed into the narrow space beside her, his hands trembling as he handed her the black combat tourniquet. "Her thigh... the metal pierced the femoral artery! If we lift the beam, the pressure holding the bleeding back will vanish—she'll bleed to death in thirty seconds!"
"Which is why I'm applying the tourniquet before we move the beam," Erin said coolly.
She slid the thick nylon band high above the girl's injured leg, pulling it tight and cranking the plastic windlass until the bleeding slowed to a dark trickle. Maya let out a sharp, painful scream.
"I know, baby, I know," Erin whispered gently, her tone transforming in a heartbeat from tactical medic to soothing mother. "It hurts, but it's keeping your magic blood inside. Hold my hand."
Maya reached out, her tiny, cold fingers wrapping tightly around Erin's gloved hand.
Outside the plane, Mercer’s voice crackled through Erin's headset. "Valkyrie! We have a major problem! The fire in the engine section is spreading toward the cargo hold! That's where the pathogen containment unit is stored! You have less than five minutes before the heat breaches the canisters!"
Erin looked at Nolan. "Nolan, take the hydraulic spreader. You and Mercer are going to lift this beam on my mark. I will pull Maya clear."
"What about the pathogen unit?!" Nolan shouted over the roar of the crackling flames.
"One job at a time, Doctor!" Erin snapped. "Position the spreader!"
Nolan jammed the heavy steel jaws of the manual hydraulic tool beneath the support beam. He began pumping the handle furiously. The metal creaked, groaned, and slowly rose two inches.
"Now!" Erin yelled.
She grabbed Maya under her arms, pulling the little girl clear of the metal trap just as the support beam collapsed back down with a deafening crash.
Erin wrapped Maya in a thick thermal space blanket, handing her directly into Nolan's arms. "Take her to the shelter of the rock wall! Start the blood transfusion immediately!"
May you like
"What are you going to do?!" Nolan cried out.
Erin was already turning toward the burning rear section of the fuselage. "I'm going to secure the virus."
