To The End
Chapter 25
I awoke to the sun streaming into the cabin. Gerard's head was resting on my shoulder, and I felt no desire to get up. I wrapped my arms around him, and laid there for a while, staring up at the ceiling and smiling.
"What a good way to wake up," Gerard mumbled after a few minutes, wrapping his arms around me. I laughed quietly.
"Good morning," I said, as he yawned. "The sun's out."
"I see that," he replied, laughing lightly. "Let's get up before the rest of them, and go take a swim."
"You're on," I replied, and we struggled to get upright. I pulled off my sweatshirt and fleece pants revealing my bikini underneath, and as Gerard changed into his swim trunks, I rummaged through the overhead, extracting my purse of toiletries, and my towel. Quietly, we made our way down the aisle, and down the ladder, before running to the pool. I shaved my legs again as Gerard used my soap and shampoo, then lowered myself into the water, washing my own hair and body. As we were brushing our teeth in the waterfall, I saw Charlotte and Frank emerge from the cabin, heading over to the bonfire, and working to get it re-lit. Eventually, they had a huge fire that poured steam from the slightly wet wood, and we watched as they returned, dragging the yellow mat between them, to the cabin. A few minutes later, they joined us, along with the others. We played a couple of games of Marco Polo after the others cleaned off, before I started to get pruney, and hoisted myself out of the water. Gerard followed me, and minutes later, we were in our cabin.
In an uncharacteristic lack of modesty, I stripped down, toweled off, and pulled on my bra and underwear, before adding the light blue sun dress. I turned, and Gerard was staring at me, dripping all over the cabin.
"Don't do that," he said softly.
"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"Strip down like that. I can just about control myself when you're fully clothed, but..." He trailed off, and I laughed. After a moment, he joined in. "Sorry," he said, before toweling himself off and changing into his shorts and tee shirt. As the others were beginning to return to the cabin, I took our wet swim clothes, and headed out to the make shift clothes line, which had somehow managed to remain despite the heavy winds the day before, and hung them out to dry. Then I returned to the yellow mat, where Gerard sat with a now dry Mikey.
"Hey," Gerard said, holding out his arm to me. I sank down beside him, and snuggled into him. They were discussing their parents, and how they were coping with their sons' disappearance. I stared out over the ocean, half listening, leaning against Gerard and becoming somewhat sleepy. Suddenly, my eyes jerked fully open, and I pointed into the sky.
Two small, black shapes were coming towards us in the sky.
"Look!" I shouted, as the shapes got larger and larger, and I knew immediately what they were, US Military bomber jets. I jumped to my feet, Gerard and Mikey right behind me, and ran towards the bonfire, waving my arms and shouting. As I glanced behind me, I could see Bob, Ray, and Frank, half dressed, running behind us, waving like idiots as well. The jets flew over head, looped around, and flew lower over us, before flying rapidly out of sight the way they had come. I felt my arms fall limply to my sides.
"Do you think they saw us?" Frank asked.
"If they didn't, I bet they saw the fire, it's smoking like crazy," Gerard replied.
"What now?" I asked, excitedly.
"Pack," Ray said.
"Yeah," Gerard replied, scratching his head thoughtfully. "Four at a time, quickly, while the rest of us keep watch. Frank, Bob, go tell Tori and Charlotte, and get yourselves packed up." I could hear the excitement in his voice as he spoke.
"Should we pile our stuff outside?" Bob asked, as Frank ran off towards the cabin.
"No," I replied, thoughtfully. "It seems like tempting fate." Bob gave a quick nod, then turned and ran after Frank. The rest of us turned, and headed back to the mat, sitting in a line on the yellow rubber, all staring off into the sky, in silence. Perhaps ten minutes later, the others filed out onto the sand, and Ray, Mikey,Gerard and I got up, and hurried into the cabin.
I don't think I have ever packed so quickly in my life. I dumped everything into my suitcase. I could see Charlotte hurriedly pulling our wet clothing off the clothes line, and a moment later, she had thrown our things up onto the floor of the cabin. I raced over, grabbed a trash bag out of the stewardess' station, and threw Gerard's and my bathing suits into it, stuffing the bag into my suitcase. I scrounged through the back of the overhead, stuffing my passport, wallet, personal effects, stethoscope, and blood pressure cuff into my now empty purse. Gerard and I then stood for a moment in the compartment, our belongings neatly piled in the center of the room, looking at each other. Then he pulled me close to him, and kissed me passionately.
"Maybe tonight we sleep in a real bed," he whispered when we pulled apart. I didn't reply, just held up my first two fingers, tightly crossed. He did the same, and hand in hand, we headed outside to the mat. Soon, the eight of us sat in a line on the yellow rubber, everyone staring at the sky. Suddenly, Ray stood up.
"Gun," he said.
"You're right," Gerard replied. "Go get it, I'll get the key." I started to get to my feet. "No, stay here, Angel, I'll be back in a second." I sank back down onto the mat, and watched as he and Ray ran off in opposite directions, before turning my attention back to the sky.
"What's that!" Mikey cried a few minutes later, pointing into the air from beside me. Five heads turned quickly in the direction he pointed.
"Bird," said Tori.
"Yeah. Sorry Mikey, definitely a bird," I replied, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. We sat for a while longer, and after a while, Gerard returned carrying the briefcase, sinking onto the mat beside me, and taking my other hand. A few moments later, Ray appeared, carefully carrying the lock box, which he immediately placed inside the briefcase, before sitting on Gerard's other side. We waited. And waited.
It took perhaps two hours, but eventually, Charlotte jumped to her feet, pointing into the sky. Three large, military looking helicopters were coming closer and closer. Suddenly, we were all on our feet, running around the beach, waving our arms and screaming, as the helicopters came closer and closer, flying lower and lower. Finally, about a hundred yards away from the bonfire, they landed with thuds on the sand. Slowly, their propellers stopped, and we could see people in uniform jumping down and running towards us. Gerard reached down, and took my hand, smiling down at me, and I squeezed his in return. A lump formed in my throat, and I quickly wiped away a couple of tears. The uniformed men and women stopped a few yards from us, staring first at us, then at the cabin.
"Flight 187?" asked a uniformed woman.
"Yeah," replied Gerard. She looked stunned.
"How? What?" she stammered. "We were looking for bodies!"
"We've got quite a few of those," I replied quietly.
"I'm Sergeant Sheila Richardson," she said slowly. "We're from the US Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Um, we're here to rescue you." We looked at each other, Charlotte and Tori had both burst into tears. I merely gripped Gerard's hand tighter. "Where's that passenger manifest?" Sergeant Richardson asked one of her men, and a clipboard was passed to her. "Can you tell me who you are? It would help if you told me where you were seated, in coach, or first class."
"We're all from first class, so that should make it easy," Gerard said. "My name is Gerard Way, and I'm from Newark, New Jersey."
"Way," she said, scanning the list, "W-A-Y?"
"That's right," he replied.
"I have two, you said you were Gerard?"
"Correct," he said, and she made a mark on her clipboard.
"I'm the other," Mikey added, "Michael Way." She looked him over, and made another mark on her board.
"Aren't you from that band?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Gerard, "and so are they." He indicated towards the other guys.
"Frank Iero," said Frank.Ray spoke up next, after she had made another note on her board.
"Raymond Toro-Ortiz," he said. Again there was a pause, as Sgt. Richardson made notes.
"Robert Bryar," Bob said at last, and she began writing again.
"You know, they had a memorial service for you guys on Sunday in New York. Something like ten thousand people showed up." The guys exchanged glances as she said that, and grinned. "Ok, so continue, who are the rest of you?"
"Charlotte Lawson, New York, New York." Again there was a note made on the clipboard.
"Victoria Taggart, New York, New York." Another note.
"Dr. Angel Emerson, Boston, Mass," I said, waiting while she wrote yet again.
"Doctor?" she asked, looking me up and down.
"Yeah," I replied. "Emergency medicine."
"Well, I guess that explains that," she said, motioning towards the cut on Frank's face and the one on Charlotte's temple, both still stitched up, the wounds I had treated on that first day.
"Here," said Ray, stepping forward, offering the briefcase.
"What's this?" she asked, as she took it from him.
"The air marshal's gun and badge. The key to the lock box is in the front pocket of the briefcase," Gerard said. Sgt. Richardson looked at him in surprise. "We used three bullets," he continued. She raised an eyebrow, and Gerard let go of my hand, drawing her aside, and, I assume, explaining about Amanda, Phil, and Zara. Mikey threw an arm around my shoulders.
"Smith!" Sgt. Richardson barked.
"Yes, sir!" replied a sailor, whom I assumed was Smith.
"Get someone to show you their graveyard, and chart the location!"
"Yes, sir!" he replied.
"I'll go," Ray said, and a moment later, I watched as he walked with Smith down the beach, towards the place where we had buried Zara and Amanda, and the other passengers who had not survived the crash. We stood around waiting, as Gerard related the events of the past ten days to Sgt. Richardson, and as Ray showed Smith where the bodies were buried. Once he had returned, Sgt. Richardson addressed us all again.
"Well, I guess you should go get your things, quick as you can. We'll get you to the aircraft carrier, and then a charter plane should be arriving to pick you up, and take you back to New York. Make sure you all have your passports or some form of ID. If it was lost in the crash, see me now." Gerard took my hand again, and we all began to head back up into the cabin, for the last time. We got our bags, but before we left the compartment, Gerard pulled me aside.
"Keep a tight hold of my hand from now on, ok?" he whispered, wrapping his arms around me, and kissing me quickly, before helping me to lug my bags down to the rubber mat. Then, as he instructed, I took his hand, and we walked along the sand towards the helicopters. Soon, we were seated in the helicopters, Bob, Frank, Tori, and Charlotte in one, and Gerard, Mikey, Ray, and I in the other, with Sgt. Richardson. We took off, and I leaned into Gerard, his arm around my shoulders, as Mikey squeezed my hand.
Soon, the USS Ronald Reagan came into view. It was the most welcome sight I had ever seen, and I cried as we touched down on the flight deck. Immediately, we were shepherded into a room below the deck, and a doctor immediately came in, checking each of us for injury. Then, another sailor came in with a cart laden with food and coffee. We ate silently, there were no words that could possibly describe our excitement. We were going home.
"What a good way to wake up," Gerard mumbled after a few minutes, wrapping his arms around me. I laughed quietly.
"Good morning," I said, as he yawned. "The sun's out."
"I see that," he replied, laughing lightly. "Let's get up before the rest of them, and go take a swim."
"You're on," I replied, and we struggled to get upright. I pulled off my sweatshirt and fleece pants revealing my bikini underneath, and as Gerard changed into his swim trunks, I rummaged through the overhead, extracting my purse of toiletries, and my towel. Quietly, we made our way down the aisle, and down the ladder, before running to the pool. I shaved my legs again as Gerard used my soap and shampoo, then lowered myself into the water, washing my own hair and body. As we were brushing our teeth in the waterfall, I saw Charlotte and Frank emerge from the cabin, heading over to the bonfire, and working to get it re-lit. Eventually, they had a huge fire that poured steam from the slightly wet wood, and we watched as they returned, dragging the yellow mat between them, to the cabin. A few minutes later, they joined us, along with the others. We played a couple of games of Marco Polo after the others cleaned off, before I started to get pruney, and hoisted myself out of the water. Gerard followed me, and minutes later, we were in our cabin.
In an uncharacteristic lack of modesty, I stripped down, toweled off, and pulled on my bra and underwear, before adding the light blue sun dress. I turned, and Gerard was staring at me, dripping all over the cabin.
"Don't do that," he said softly.
"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"Strip down like that. I can just about control myself when you're fully clothed, but..." He trailed off, and I laughed. After a moment, he joined in. "Sorry," he said, before toweling himself off and changing into his shorts and tee shirt. As the others were beginning to return to the cabin, I took our wet swim clothes, and headed out to the make shift clothes line, which had somehow managed to remain despite the heavy winds the day before, and hung them out to dry. Then I returned to the yellow mat, where Gerard sat with a now dry Mikey.
"Hey," Gerard said, holding out his arm to me. I sank down beside him, and snuggled into him. They were discussing their parents, and how they were coping with their sons' disappearance. I stared out over the ocean, half listening, leaning against Gerard and becoming somewhat sleepy. Suddenly, my eyes jerked fully open, and I pointed into the sky.
Two small, black shapes were coming towards us in the sky.
"Look!" I shouted, as the shapes got larger and larger, and I knew immediately what they were, US Military bomber jets. I jumped to my feet, Gerard and Mikey right behind me, and ran towards the bonfire, waving my arms and shouting. As I glanced behind me, I could see Bob, Ray, and Frank, half dressed, running behind us, waving like idiots as well. The jets flew over head, looped around, and flew lower over us, before flying rapidly out of sight the way they had come. I felt my arms fall limply to my sides.
"Do you think they saw us?" Frank asked.
"If they didn't, I bet they saw the fire, it's smoking like crazy," Gerard replied.
"What now?" I asked, excitedly.
"Pack," Ray said.
"Yeah," Gerard replied, scratching his head thoughtfully. "Four at a time, quickly, while the rest of us keep watch. Frank, Bob, go tell Tori and Charlotte, and get yourselves packed up." I could hear the excitement in his voice as he spoke.
"Should we pile our stuff outside?" Bob asked, as Frank ran off towards the cabin.
"No," I replied, thoughtfully. "It seems like tempting fate." Bob gave a quick nod, then turned and ran after Frank. The rest of us turned, and headed back to the mat, sitting in a line on the yellow rubber, all staring off into the sky, in silence. Perhaps ten minutes later, the others filed out onto the sand, and Ray, Mikey,Gerard and I got up, and hurried into the cabin.
I don't think I have ever packed so quickly in my life. I dumped everything into my suitcase. I could see Charlotte hurriedly pulling our wet clothing off the clothes line, and a moment later, she had thrown our things up onto the floor of the cabin. I raced over, grabbed a trash bag out of the stewardess' station, and threw Gerard's and my bathing suits into it, stuffing the bag into my suitcase. I scrounged through the back of the overhead, stuffing my passport, wallet, personal effects, stethoscope, and blood pressure cuff into my now empty purse. Gerard and I then stood for a moment in the compartment, our belongings neatly piled in the center of the room, looking at each other. Then he pulled me close to him, and kissed me passionately.
"Maybe tonight we sleep in a real bed," he whispered when we pulled apart. I didn't reply, just held up my first two fingers, tightly crossed. He did the same, and hand in hand, we headed outside to the mat. Soon, the eight of us sat in a line on the yellow rubber, everyone staring at the sky. Suddenly, Ray stood up.
"Gun," he said.
"You're right," Gerard replied. "Go get it, I'll get the key." I started to get to my feet. "No, stay here, Angel, I'll be back in a second." I sank back down onto the mat, and watched as he and Ray ran off in opposite directions, before turning my attention back to the sky.
"What's that!" Mikey cried a few minutes later, pointing into the air from beside me. Five heads turned quickly in the direction he pointed.
"Bird," said Tori.
"Yeah. Sorry Mikey, definitely a bird," I replied, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. We sat for a while longer, and after a while, Gerard returned carrying the briefcase, sinking onto the mat beside me, and taking my other hand. A few moments later, Ray appeared, carefully carrying the lock box, which he immediately placed inside the briefcase, before sitting on Gerard's other side. We waited. And waited.
It took perhaps two hours, but eventually, Charlotte jumped to her feet, pointing into the sky. Three large, military looking helicopters were coming closer and closer. Suddenly, we were all on our feet, running around the beach, waving our arms and screaming, as the helicopters came closer and closer, flying lower and lower. Finally, about a hundred yards away from the bonfire, they landed with thuds on the sand. Slowly, their propellers stopped, and we could see people in uniform jumping down and running towards us. Gerard reached down, and took my hand, smiling down at me, and I squeezed his in return. A lump formed in my throat, and I quickly wiped away a couple of tears. The uniformed men and women stopped a few yards from us, staring first at us, then at the cabin.
"Flight 187?" asked a uniformed woman.
"Yeah," replied Gerard. She looked stunned.
"How? What?" she stammered. "We were looking for bodies!"
"We've got quite a few of those," I replied quietly.
"I'm Sergeant Sheila Richardson," she said slowly. "We're from the US Navy, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Um, we're here to rescue you." We looked at each other, Charlotte and Tori had both burst into tears. I merely gripped Gerard's hand tighter. "Where's that passenger manifest?" Sergeant Richardson asked one of her men, and a clipboard was passed to her. "Can you tell me who you are? It would help if you told me where you were seated, in coach, or first class."
"We're all from first class, so that should make it easy," Gerard said. "My name is Gerard Way, and I'm from Newark, New Jersey."
"Way," she said, scanning the list, "W-A-Y?"
"That's right," he replied.
"I have two, you said you were Gerard?"
"Correct," he said, and she made a mark on her clipboard.
"I'm the other," Mikey added, "Michael Way." She looked him over, and made another mark on her board.
"Aren't you from that band?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Gerard, "and so are they." He indicated towards the other guys.
"Frank Iero," said Frank.Ray spoke up next, after she had made another note on her board.
"Raymond Toro-Ortiz," he said. Again there was a pause, as Sgt. Richardson made notes.
"Robert Bryar," Bob said at last, and she began writing again.
"You know, they had a memorial service for you guys on Sunday in New York. Something like ten thousand people showed up." The guys exchanged glances as she said that, and grinned. "Ok, so continue, who are the rest of you?"
"Charlotte Lawson, New York, New York." Again there was a note made on the clipboard.
"Victoria Taggart, New York, New York." Another note.
"Dr. Angel Emerson, Boston, Mass," I said, waiting while she wrote yet again.
"Doctor?" she asked, looking me up and down.
"Yeah," I replied. "Emergency medicine."
"Well, I guess that explains that," she said, motioning towards the cut on Frank's face and the one on Charlotte's temple, both still stitched up, the wounds I had treated on that first day.
"Here," said Ray, stepping forward, offering the briefcase.
"What's this?" she asked, as she took it from him.
"The air marshal's gun and badge. The key to the lock box is in the front pocket of the briefcase," Gerard said. Sgt. Richardson looked at him in surprise. "We used three bullets," he continued. She raised an eyebrow, and Gerard let go of my hand, drawing her aside, and, I assume, explaining about Amanda, Phil, and Zara. Mikey threw an arm around my shoulders.
"Smith!" Sgt. Richardson barked.
"Yes, sir!" replied a sailor, whom I assumed was Smith.
"Get someone to show you their graveyard, and chart the location!"
"Yes, sir!" he replied.
"I'll go," Ray said, and a moment later, I watched as he walked with Smith down the beach, towards the place where we had buried Zara and Amanda, and the other passengers who had not survived the crash. We stood around waiting, as Gerard related the events of the past ten days to Sgt. Richardson, and as Ray showed Smith where the bodies were buried. Once he had returned, Sgt. Richardson addressed us all again.
"Well, I guess you should go get your things, quick as you can. We'll get you to the aircraft carrier, and then a charter plane should be arriving to pick you up, and take you back to New York. Make sure you all have your passports or some form of ID. If it was lost in the crash, see me now." Gerard took my hand again, and we all began to head back up into the cabin, for the last time. We got our bags, but before we left the compartment, Gerard pulled me aside.
"Keep a tight hold of my hand from now on, ok?" he whispered, wrapping his arms around me, and kissing me quickly, before helping me to lug my bags down to the rubber mat. Then, as he instructed, I took his hand, and we walked along the sand towards the helicopters. Soon, we were seated in the helicopters, Bob, Frank, Tori, and Charlotte in one, and Gerard, Mikey, Ray, and I in the other, with Sgt. Richardson. We took off, and I leaned into Gerard, his arm around my shoulders, as Mikey squeezed my hand.
Soon, the USS Ronald Reagan came into view. It was the most welcome sight I had ever seen, and I cried as we touched down on the flight deck. Immediately, we were shepherded into a room below the deck, and a doctor immediately came in, checking each of us for injury. Then, another sailor came in with a cart laden with food and coffee. We ate silently, there were no words that could possibly describe our excitement. We were going home.
10/13/13