I Hope You Find Me Read Online Free PDF

some
distant and unseen part of the runway where a fire was burning
fiercely. Dark rolls of smoke twisted and bellowed upward,
obscuring the view of any structures behind it. Vehicles were
everywhere; on more than one occasion we had to slide over roofs
and trunks to make it through the entwined metallic mess. The
military had attempted to block access to the airport terminals but
it was obvious the public had forced their way in. As we carefully
climbed around the collapsed military temporary fencing blocking
the entrance, we saw more and more vehicles riddled with bullet
holes. In the end, the military had turned on the civilians.
    A fine layer of ash had settled on mostly
everything, leaving a trace of our footprints behind us and messy
skid marks on whatever we climbed over. It smelled of fire and fuel
and something organic. People . Connor gestured for me to
cover my mouth with my shirt sleeve. I nodded that I understood and
we clamored our way through the disaster until we reached the
terminal’s first set of double doors but they were completely
barricaded with suitcases and trolleys. We followed the glass wall
as it angled on towards set after set of doors that we couldn’t
squeeze through. My eyes were stinging, and my head hurt from the
burnt and toxic air I was breathing. I was just about to give up
when my hands reached a bent piece of window frame where the glass
had been completely blown out. Connor pulled me inside behind
him.
    There wasn’t much to see. The halls were dark
where smoke had filled the upper half of the lobby and the air was
rotten. I understood it would be pointless to wander around. It
wouldn’t be hard at all to get lost in the hazy air.
    Connor stood before me, and gripped my
shoulders. Dark rings were starting to form around his nostrils,
his eyes were watery and bloodshot and his hair was dotted gray
with ash. He held me firmly as he asked loudly, “Do you see? Do you
see? There is nothing – no one , left here?”
    I nodded but still he did not let go of my
shoulders so I uttered a weak, “Yes.”
    His hands finally dropped, and he pushed past
me, back outside the broken window into what little fresh air was
left. The smoke billowed greedily out after him, escaping the
confines of the building. Zoey had stayed outside and was watching
anxiously, sneezing every so often. The smoke was too much, we
couldn’t stay anywhere nearby. Even if there were answers, we
didn’t know what we were looking for or where to find it. Another
massive explosion could level the whole place.
    This was a mistake. Why did he come with
me, when he knew we would find nothing? I thought to
myself.
    I turned to follow Connor when something
brushed gently against my back. I stopped abruptly, my feet sliding
along the bits and chunks of fallen glass but after looking over my
shoulder, I saw no one. Staying absolutely still, all I could hear
with my partially damaged eardrums was the sound of fire hungrily
eating its way through the building toward me. My eyes were
watering, and even though I had my arm across my mouth, every
breath I took was heavy with soot.
    “Hello?” I called out between my fingers, but
only the whistle of the oxygen being sucked out of the room
answered.
    I ran outside, unsure if it was the fire or
the lingering feel of a hand on my back that spooked me. I rushed
past both the dog and Connor and stopped at a red pick-up truck to
catch my breath.
    Connor came up beside me, heaving, and for a
moment all we did was lean against the truck and watch as flames
licked at the back of the building. A series of small explosions
shook the ground, rattling the frame of the truck. Without
discussing it, the three of us retreated to the barricade. Our
tracks in the dust and ash were the only signs we had been
there.
     
    ***
     
    We headed back the way we had come in
silence, half walking, and half jogging. Other than our labored
breathing and the fire raging on the runway, there wasn’t