Age of Monsters by John Schneider (a book to read txt) 📕

As he passed above, he could see both factions stretching for miles.

Behind him, the army of flying dragons cut his path off in every direction.

Lucas knew his mission – and he could clearly see the consequences of his failure.

And he could see that Eureka had been clearly destroyed.

The General had admonished him for holding out hope.

If she was alive, she was nowhere near here, Rhodes had said.

But what if he was wrong?  What if she was down there somewhere right now, maybe even cussing him for being late – and for damn sure, cussing him for sending her to this monster-infested hell-hole.

What if she was out there right now?  Maybe even looking up and seeing him, believing she was seeing the incoming cavalry?

It was doubtful – one in a million.

Just like Mrs. Naomi Walker.

The question was, could he do it anyway?  Not knowing?

No one else could.

It was his duty.

Death from above.

The flying dragons had flanked him and he veered back towards the bay, but they were coming in too great of numbers.

One of the largest had locked onto his tail.  It had tracked his trajectory, and was heading him off in midair.  In another moment, it would be upon him.

He had to make his choice – do or die – right NOW.

Two things happened right then.

First he cooled his heart to ice – and the very same moment, it broke forever.

He begged God to forgive him.

Tears began to run from his eyes.

“Naomi...?” he choked.  “Baby.  Oh, God, I love you SO much.”

Lucas fired his missiles.

Half-a-moment later, the teeth crashed through the fragile metal of the cockpit.

The last thing Lucas was aware of was a sense of impact, and a blast of cold air.

Then explosion and fire.

But the missiles were away.

Chapter 45

Jonah had flown exactly one sea-plane in his life – he'd had the idea it would be good for remote lakes without landing strips.  That was before he'd made his first take-off with the bogged-down pontoons off of water instead of wheels and a nice-sturdy tarmac.  Landing had been even worse.

He had bought the chopper shortly thereafter.

And that had been on a nice, easy-flowing river – hardly the conditions that met them today.

Naomi wasn't even looking at him, staring back over her shoulder as the F-16 was now circling back around.

The flying beasts were hard on its tail, and seemed to be congregating to cut off any avenue of retreat.

In another few moments, they might cut off their escape as well.

“Jonah...” Naomi began.

But Jonah had the key in the ignition, lighting the rusty propellers to life and firing-up a coughing engine.

Great, Jonah thought – a jalopy.

As he pulled away from the dock, out over the water, he wondered what might be prowling from below, attracted by the vibrations of the struggling motor.

But it was far past time to worry about the unseen.

Jonah took them up to speed and hit the flaps, launching them into the air, with lurching, wounded-sparrow hops.

He had no direction – just fired them straight up the coast over the northern ridge.

Naomi twisted in her seat, looking anxiously behind.

Jonah heard a breaking sob in her throat as one of the flying beasts finally closed on the F-16.

She saw the pilot drop his payload, even as the beast's jaws snapped shut over the fragile fuselage.

She hid her eyes as the fighter exploded.

But the missiles were true.

Jonah cranked the throttle, gaining distance, even as seconds evaporated away.

Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the basin disappear into light.

The mushroom cloud erupted on the horizon.

Then the blast-wave hit, and blew them out of the sky.

Chapter 46

The plane was blown sideways and Jonah could feel the wings strain, threatening to simply tear away.  But instead, it was the pontoons that broke loose – first one, then the other – the abrupt back and forth of dropping ballasts jerked them nearly vertical.

Naomi was gripping her seat, her eyes squeezed shut.

Jonah had a pretty good idea who she had seen in that exploding F-16 – whether it really was or not.

Until that moment, that had been what had kept her going – a single-minded purpose.

That was over now.  She was ready to die, and she didn't want to see it coming.

And that loss of faith almost did it for Jonah too.

His own focus had been getting her there.  A moot point, now.

Jonah wondered what it must have been like for that fighter-pilot – just the moment before the dragons got him – staying focused – letting your last action on the mortal plane be an act of defiance – to spit past death at the Devil waiting behind.

A higher-grade model, Jonah thought.

For some reason, that set his teeth.

Well, he decided, you just have to work with what you've got.

They were in near free-fall, riding the blast in a near-vertical launch pose.  Jonah flipped the flaps, knocking them forward.

The bulky aircraft immediately threatened to spin, but Jonah pulled hard, using their own momentum to stabilize them.

It was a little like ice-skating backwards – something he hadn't done since he was a kid.  You had to lean in exactly the opposite direction it felt like you needed to go.

They were ajar, off-center, but were at least leveling out.

If they could maintain altitude, Jonah was just beginning to believe he could ride it out.   Naomi opened her eyes warily – but that was when the motors quit – the propellers on both wings choked and died.

Almost immediately, they began to drop towards the Earth.

Naomi moaned aloud.  “Oh my God.”

Below was ocean and a narrow beach – bordered