A Lost Ghost

Chapter 20: Fear Not

I shove the throttle forward. My back slams into my seat. My eyes dart back and forth between the speedometer and the runway. The needle gets closer and closer to take-off speed. The Russian is screaming at me through the radio. Finally, the needle hits the take-off speed. I yank the stick back and climb into the air.

"Remember to stay under the SAM sites," Dice says. I glance into the rear-view mirror, and my heart sinks as I stare at those three buildings. They get smaller and smaller as we fly away. This place. It's the reason so many Allied soldiers are dead or missing. I don't know why it took me until now to realize this...but I'm not the reason they're gone. This place is the reason Matrix is dead. It's the reason Akio is dead. This place didn't just affect them. It affected their families. My heart starts to pound against my rib cage as a dangerous thought comes to mind. I swallow hard, curling my fingers tighter around the stick. I think and think for what feels like forever, but honestly, I made up my mind the second this thought hit. I let out a shaky breath.

"Crap," I whisper. I yank the stick to the side and turn us around.

"Binky, what the—?!"

"We have to destroy this place."

"We—we have to—what?" Dice stutters, "Are you freakin' insane?"

We get closer and closer to the base.

"If we don't do this, they'll just keep downing more pilots!"

"They're gonna down us again if you don't turn this plane around!"

"Dice, trust me! I can do this!"

Dice is quiet. The only thing I hear is his rapid breathing.

"What do you plan on doing?"

The buildings get closer and closer. My eyes narrow as I have my sights set on the building to the left. I curl my fingers around the stick until my knuckles turn white.

"I'm gonna burn this place to the ground."

I slam my finger against the weapon release button. The missile flies out and slams into the building. A fiery mushroom cloud reaches into the sky. My eyes snap towards the ground as beeping erupts from the jet.

"Smoke in the air! Break right!" Dice yells. I yank my stick to the right. My chest tightens as the G's tighten its grip around my body. I twist around, seeing the missile on my tail. I push my stick downwards, getting as close to the ground as possible. I race head-on towards one of the buildings. My eyes dart back and forth between the building and the missile.

"Altitude! Pull up! Pull up!" Betty screams.

"Binky, pull up!" Dice yells.

"Not yet!"

The building gets closer and closer. My surroundings blur as I shoot through the sky. Finally, I yank the stick back. I can feel the pressure in my eyes. My ribs tighten around my heart. I look back, seeing the missile slam into the building. Fire shoots into the sky. I go upside down and then level out. My eyes flick to the side as I see a soldier standing on the runway, an RPG in his hands. I point my nose towards him and pull back on the trigger. The bullets tear through the soldier's chest. I turn around and look at the building holding all the prisoners. I can see them fleeing out of every exit, running towards the woods. At least they're not being tortured anymore. My heart sinks, though, as humvees come rolling onto the runway.

"Looks like they forgot all about the prisoners," Dice says.

"That's cause they've got bigger problems at the moment."

I point the nose towards the runway and fire a couple of missiles. They slam into the runway, destroying everything, including the remaining jets. My eyes narrow into slits as my jet beeps again.