The Collapse

Broken Shell

I woke in a coughing fit. My side hurt from laying on the ground. I coughed again on the concrete dust, as I tried to stand, I hit my head on the slab of concrete that had both nearly crushed me, and saved my life from the rest of the rubble. There was a beam of light, coming through a crack in the concrete slab. Then I remembered everything. I panicked and started looking for a way out. "Did mom and Monica make it out ok?" I thought. Both sides of the concrete lean two appeared to be buried in bits of rubble of various sizes. I stated to breath hard and panic, I was trapped. I wasn't a claustrophobic person, but something about being trapped in a small space to die had me a bit concerned. I crawled over to the far end of the lean to of rubble. I didn't bother trying to stand as the top was not nearly high enough. I griped a chunk of concrete about the size of my head and pulled with all my strength. It was moving slightly, but the corners dug into my hands painfully. I began to try and wiggle the piece back and fourth and that tore it out. I fell on my back panting, and then went into another coughing fit as the dust assaulted my lungs. "Okay" I said out loud "I got this." I grabbed another, slightly smaller piece. I repeated my pull and shake method until it came loose. I didn't fall this time. Dust flew up into my face and I was blinded. "Shit" I said out loud as I blinks away the dust. Most of the pieces left where smaller than my fist. I laid on my side and kicked the remaining pieces. This time I took off my t-shirt from under my robe and wrapped it around my face to keep the dust off. I could partly see through the material. I kicked hard and only managed to knock dust around. I sat back up and started the take hand fills of concrete and shovel them away. Every time I reached in my hands where cut on the corners of the rubble. I reached for another hand full of rubble and felt the tip of my pointer finger pock out to the other side. I excitedly began ripping away hand fills of rubble with new energy granted by the promise of escape. I pushed my shoulder against the wall, clenching my teeth with effort, my shirt still covering my face. The wall finally broke apart and I exploded out. I was blinded by the brightness despite having my shirt covering my eyes. I stood up stretching and pulled my shirt off my face. I looked around the broken shell that used to be an airport. Then I remembered. "MOM!" I put my hands around my mouth for more sound "MONICA!" Nothing. Silence. I ran to the tunnel that lead to the plane and tripped on a slab of concrete and hit my chin on the ground. "Okay" I said as I stood up "That is the last time I'm falling today." I started running/jumping from slab to slab of concrete as I headed to the tunnel. When I reached it, it was steeply pointed down, like a slide, as if the plane had been disconnected and left the tunnel hanging. I nervously climbed in and tried to walk down the tunnel without tripping, leaning against the wall for support. "Did they leave without me?" I wondered. I reached the bottom, and hopped down onto solid ground. I saw a mass of twisted, dented, and scorched metal. broken into pieces. "No way" I thought "no way in hell that's the plane." I started running towards the heap of ruin. "MOM! MONICA!" I screamed. The stench of burnt flesh made my nostrils burn and tears began running down my face. I wanted to climb inside every single piece of the broken shell of the plane to look for my family. But there was no chance, not a single chance they could have survived that. And I knew that. The tears blinded me, I closed my eyes and fell to my knees. I opened my eyes and let the tears flow. The last of my family was gone. I was glad for the ruin of the airport. It reflected how I felt on the inside. Hollow, broken, helpless.