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Hank sipped his coffee in the afternoon, placidly, from the comfort of his patrol seat. Suddenly, his tranquility was suddenly disturbed by the rumble of a Boeing 737 a few meters high, hovering over his patrol.
Hank gave a loud cry as he spilled his hot coffee on his uniform, remaining petrified, seconds later, while his eyes watched as the aircraft crashed on the Jeremiah’s farm.
Hank started his vehicle, while calling the central to request support. He knew that Las Mercedes was a very small town and he was sure that they did not have the necessary equipment to handle an emergency of such magnitude.
— This is Hank, Edna, do you copy? Over.
— Edna, here! Over
— Warn the fire department and send all rescue units of the town to Jeremiah’s farm. A Boeing 737 has just made a forced landing, over.
— Oh dear Lord! — Edna replied, forgetting to say "over".
— Do you understand?! Over — he added loudly.
It took Hank a few minutes to get to the impact site.
There were pieces of fuselage scattered in all directions. Hank took a kickstand tool and ran towards the body of the plane, which was particularly unharmed.
As he approached, he noticed that some passengers were getting off the plane, disoriented, perhaps confused.
— Hey! Are you ok? — Hank yelled at the Afro-American man walking towards him.
— Where am I? — He ask
— You are now on the outskirts of "Las Mercedes" — Hank replied
— Are you okay? — He added
The man held his head for a moment, trying to remember something. Unable to do so, he sat on the ground. Hank put his hand on the man's shoulder.
— Keep calm, help is on the way.
Hank continued his way to the plane, while other people came down, leaning on the left wing of the plane.
— Keep calm, help is on the way. Walk away from the plane — warned Hank.
Strangely, the people who descended from the plane were also confused. Hank related it to the shock effect of the forced landing.
Hank managed to get on board the plane. While he was doing it, firemen and ambulances made their presence at the scene. Inside the plane, he began helping the elderly get off the plane.
Soon, Mike and his fellow firefighters joined in the help.
Hank, took advantage of forcing the pilots cabin door to get them out. He pushed hard with the help of the kickstand and finally managed to open the cabin door.
To his surprise, the cabin was empty.
— What the heck?
At that moment, Hank received Edna's call on the radio.
— Hank? You copy, over
— Loud and clear, over
— Government agents are on the way, as is the National Guard. Possibly, they presume a terrorist attack, over.
— Understood, over and out.
Hank left the booth and found Mike
— Where’s the crew?
— See for yourself — said Hank
—What the heck?
— Same thing, I told myself.
— Are they all out of danger? — Hank asked
—Positive. Everybody is safe and sound.
— Someone hurt? — Hank asked again
— This must be a miracle. None of the 100 survivors have major injuries.
Hank was surprised to hear the news. Hank doubted much about miracles, in fact, he was not very believer in such things.
When they were about to get off the plane, Hank took one last look and noticed a movement in the background.
— Wait here, I think I've seen something — answered Hank
He checked between the last seats. A little boy was hiding, perhaps 7 years old, scared.
— Relax kid. I'm a police officer. Are you hurt?.
The child broke down in tears. Hank took him in his arms and carried him away from the accident.
Hank took the boy to the ambulance.
— Cindy! I present to you this very brave little friend. I need you to examine him.
Cindy was the paramedic in charge of that ambulance.
— Hello! What is your name, buddy?
The child broke down in tears again. Cindy's maternal instinct activated and she took him from Hank's arms to lull him.
— There. There.
— Treat him well. I'll be back in a few minutes — Hank added
The National Guard and the government agents made their presence. A man dressed in an elegant suit approached Hank.
— I'm agent Tom Hardy, are you in charge?
— Yes, sir.
— Well, not anymore. This incident falls on article 32 of the homeland security statement. For the moment we require that you do not comment on anything that you have seen inside the aircraft.
— No problem — replied Hank
Hank thought to himself that it would be normal in these cases of possible terrorist attacks. So he did not resist the mandates of that dunce man.
Finishing his shift, Hank was having dinner at Joes' dinner. He hadn’t had a decent meal in more than 8 hours, so the steak and eggs became appetizing before his eyes.
But his dinner was interrupted by the presence of Cindy and Mike.
— Hank! Have you heard anything about the survivors of flight 356? — They asked in unison.
Hank set his morsel aside and took a sip of his beer.
—The agent Hardy is in charge now of the whole incident — answered Hank.
— Allegedly everything is kept confidential — added Cindy.
— All passengers suffered from amnesia! It does not seem like much coincidence — Mike added
— And besides, what happened to the crew?
Hank was thinking. He knew that his friends would not leave things as they were. The incident had become the "what to say" of the town. Determined to forget everything, Hank responded
— As I told you, it's already the problem of the government authorities. You better forget it.
He took his fork again; ready to taste the bite he had left before being interrupted.
Cindy stopped Hank’s hand. Hank was left with his mouth open.
— You'd better come with us.
Hank paid for his half-finished meal and Cindy bought a hamburger and a shake to go. It seemed odd to Hank that Cindy did buy a shake, knowing she was lactose intolerant. But he was beginning to suspect her intentions.
All three friends left the dinner and headed towards Cindy's ambulance.
Cindy opened the back door and greeted happily:
— Hello Thomas! I brought you a hamburger and a shake.
The little boy smiled and began to taste his food.
Hank and Mike gleefully greeted the infant.
— You've gone crazy? — Hank muttered under his breath
— No one knew about the child's existence — Cindy replied.
— Also, he was terrified of the presence of the passengers. In fact, he hid from them — she added.
— Will you do me a favor? — Cindy asked
— Could he stay with you? Only for the moment. — She added sweetly with a smile on her lips.
Hank wrinkled his lips and lifted his hat to fix his hair. He looked towards the alley; a cat was hunting some vermin. After thinking about it for a while. He consented.
Hank was in his house. He still could not remember why he had agreed to Cindy's demands so easily. However, the kid had finally managed to fall asleep. He slept on Hank's couch, quietly.
Hank checked the passenger list of Flight 356, which Edna had sent him. He was surprised to see that the child's name was on the list as well as his parents, who also traveled with him. He wondered why the child's parents did not remember him and even more why the child did not want to meet them.
Suddenly the child woke up terrified and sweaty.
— Hey! Calm down kid; it was just a nightmare. It is normal to happen after the trauma you have experienced.
The child started crying again.
Hank tried to comfort the little boy, but he could not calm him down.
— Cheer up, boy. Tomorrow we will find your parents! — He said cheerfully
— I realized they were traveling with you on the plane — he added
— They are not my parents anymore! — The terrified child shouted
His answer froze Hank's blood. Something was not right.
— You want to tell me what happened on the flight?
The little boy, after a long pause, began to tell what happened:
— Some men took out some weapons and started screaming, my mother locked me in the bathroom.
— I heard some shots and everything went sideways. I heard many screams and then silence.
— I opened the bathroom door to find my mom
The boy started crying again.
Suddenly the light went out and some men burst violently into Hank's home, breaking the door, followed by the barking of many dogs. The lights of their lanterns blinded them both.
Hank protested, but he was not heard. He faded away.
— We found the boy! — Shouted one of the men.
— Calm down, you're in good hands — it was the last thing the boy heard before fainting.
In the ward of a hospital, two nurses whispered at night.
— Have you heard what happened to the child in room 102?
— He was the only survivor of a plane crash. They found him hiding into the tail of the plane. It had been more than 10 hours without anyone finding him — she added
— It is tragic what happens sometimes — replied the other nurse
— How unfortunate the people of that town where that plane crashed — continued the first.
— None is safe anywhere my dear friend — answered the second one.
Nodded the first one.
This is my entry for @mctiller's Twenty-four hour short story contest
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