Rescue Me -Jake Seresin// TG:Maverick

Chapter Six

18 Months Ago

Haley's heart stopped as her brain tried to process the dark red liquid now surrounding her. What the hell was happening? As if on fast forward, her brain sped up, her terrified voice calling out across the radio, "Sweets is hit!  Repeat, Sweets is hit!" Haley leaned as far forward as she could to try and reach out and check for a pulse on her pilot.

Her voice stuttered for a second as bullets once again rained across the plane, making her jump in an uncontrolled reflex. A white hot searing pain shot across her side, down her hip and into her leg less than a second later. "Son of a bitch!"

Haley looked down, watching as a warm dark liquid seeped out across her now tattered flight suit. Adrenaline crashed through her system as her chest heaved, her breath and heart rates soaring as her brain tried to process the pain swamping her body. She clenched her jaw tightly as she called out her situation before turning her attention back to checking on Sweets.

Quickly reaching forward once more, her shoulders and chest straining against the strap, Haley's un-gloved fingers sought to find her friend's heartbeat along his neck. 

Instead, her shaking fingers found nothing but warm liquid and mangled skin and tissue.

Voices from everyone inundated Haley's ears over the radio but the only thing she processed was the rushing sound of blood as her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes were glued to the dark mangled seat in front of her, trails of the red liquid making its way slowly down the remnants of Sweets' blue helmet.

Haley jolted in her seat as the enemy plane exploded nearby, the sudden flash of light pulling her eyes away from the blood staining her vision for only a moment.

Her mind registered a familiar voice yelling something to her but she wasn't able to comprehend it. Instead, her hands reached forward and grasped her friend's shoulder, shaking it in panic as a pleading voice came from her mouth. "Sweets. Answer me, dammit." 

She shook his shoulder again, refusing to accept the uselessness of the action. The only response that came was the hard material of his helmet knocking against the canopy where it leaned. "Sweets, please." She bit her lip in an attempt to keep a sob from escaping her mouth.

Buddy's order snapped across the radio. His forceful words managed to penetrate the fog surrounding her, bringing some clarity back to the reality of her situation. 

Her pilot was dead and she was rapidly losing altitude. The rushing blood eased in her ears only to be replaced with the sounds of alarms blaring all around her. She needed to do something fast or she was going to die as well.

Focusing her attention on what needed to be done and not the lifeless form of her brother in front of her, Haley called across the radio to register her ejection. She reached between her knees, grasping the yellow and black striped ejection handle and yanked with all her might, eyes clenched tight.

In an instant the canopy burst away before she was catapulted into the skies above. The force of the ejection slammed through her body, the white hot pain in her side renewing with more force than she thought possible, a new pain in her shoulder joining in as her collarbone snapped against the straps. 

Keeping her eyes clenched tight, Haley tried to focus her attention on steadying her breathing. The sound of her parachute snapping open had her eyes snapping open themselves.

Her body tensed against her will as she realized she had ejected at a dangerously low altitude, the ocean waves much closer than she'd realized. Ignoring the immense pain shooting through her body, Haley braced for the impact like she'd been trained. The only thing was, nobody could train for landing in a situation like this.