"I wish I never went on that airplane" Nicole signed, her motions displaying how defeated she felt in this hellish moment.
Nicole Wilson was one of the best players on her soccer team. She was also one of the happiest. That was until on the way to...
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May 1996: The Canadian Wilderness
Nicole must've passed out because she woke up again when they hit the ground, shaking violently as the plane split as cleanly as it could into three pieces. Taissa was trying to wake Nicole again and sighed in relief when her eyes fluttered open for the second time in a matter of minutes.
The pair then heard racket at the emergency exit door and Taissa went over to help with whatever was going on. Nicole took the oxygen mask that was still on her face off of it before getting up unsteadily. She looked to the bright orange glow emitting from the back of the airplane and her eyes widened at the sight. They were still adjusting to everything but she was completely mesmerized by the increasingly giant fluttering ball of orange light she saw.
"We have to go, Wilson!" Taissa shouted and dragged Nicole out of the emergency exit. All Nicole could do was hope Van got out okay.
As soon as Taissa and Nicole got off of the crashed plane, Nicole fell to her knees after walking a few feet from the doorway. Her eyes finally focused to the natural light and she looked at everything around her. She saw her teammates rushing around trying to find each other and debris and ash falling from the sky around them like snowflakes.
She saw basically everyone but a couple teammates and - more importantly to her - Van.
Her head pounded and her chest heaved like she was going to cry. Or scream. But no sound came out from her throat. She just kneeled in the dirt, witnessing the chaos that occurred from the crash.
A couple seconds later, Shauna and Jackie jumped out of the plane. Shauna landed beside Nicole but scrambled to her feet, looking around as well.
"We have to go back inside!" Shauna shouted to Jackie and started running for the plane but Jackie stopped her as an explosion happened at the back of the middle plane piece. Nicole jumped as the loud crash sounded. Jackie kept holding Shauna back as she calmed down.
Nicole finally got to courage to stand up, her head still spinning. She put a hand to her forehead and felt something slick, she pulled her hand back in front of her eyes to see red. Somehow, she wasn't as bothered about this as she would be normally - but then again, this wasn't a normal situation. She just needed to find Van. And clearly Taissa needed to as well.
"Has anybody seen Van?" Taissa asked their fellow teammates every time someone passed her, everyone replying with a negative answer. Nicole started following Taissa since their priorities were currently the same.
"Van?" Nicole called out, her voice hoarse from the smoke she was inhaling that hung in the air like dense fog. Nicole coughed and wheezed as they continued their journey.
Nicole's coughs died down but her lungs ached as they stumbled around the site, looking for their friend. They then saw the rest of the girls start crowding around a specific area. Nicole and Taissa looked at each other, silently agreeing to look.
