SURVIVING
Chapter One
Rose sighed happily as the Hindenburg glided
into America. It seemed as if they’d been on the airship forever, and at that
moment in time, Rose was ready to get off. She glanced over at her sleeping
fiancé and smiled. It had been a long trip, especially for Jack.
When they had first boarded, and Jack and
Rose were alone in their stateroom, Jack told her all that had happened while
they were separated. Rose listened in horror as Jack told her about his
father’s remains being delivered to him in that small shoebox. Rose couldn’t
understand how the Nazis could commit so many horrors, and still call
themselves human beings. She had held Jack as he cried tears that he hadn’t had
time to shed before then.
It was so unfair. Jack was more German than
she was, yet he had suffered the most at the hands of the Nazis.
"Are we there yet?" Jack woke up,
blinking against the bright light streaming through the window, tightly
clutching the box that held his father’s remains in his hands.
Rose sighed at the sight, surprised that he
had brought the ashes out into the sitting area. He had kept them with him ever
since they boarded.
"What?" Jack caught her staring at
the box, his voice a bit defensive.
Her heart melted as she spied the deep sorrow
in his eyes. She just couldn’t tell him how inappropriate bringing the ashes
out with him were. Rose shrugged with a blush. "I was just thinking about
how much I love you."
Jack’s smile was warm with a mixture of
sorrow and happiness. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found Rose.
"I love you, too, Rose."
Rose smiled, her confidence growing. He loved
her. He honestly did. She opened her mouth to say something about the ashes,
but instead screamed as a loud explosion came from above. She looked above her,
and the ceiling was a cloud of fiery orange, and the airship…it was racing to
the ground! The Hindenburg was on fire!
"Jack!" Rose threw her arms around
him, closing her eyes tight as if not to see the death and destruction, but she
could still hear the screams and the coughing. She pressed her face against
Jack’s shirt as he himself began to cough.
"Get on the floor!" Jack wrapped
his arms around her, still holding onto the ashes of his father, fighting
against the dizziness that was trying to overtake him. He kept his arms around
Rose as he lowered them to the floor below the bellowing smoke. As soon as Rose
and he were safely on the floor, he lost consciousness. He was unaware of Rose
desperately calling his name as the airship fell apart around him.
Tears blocked Rose’s vision as she took in
her surroundings. She could see down below as the interior of the ship burned
away, as the air ship groaned and tilted, crash landing in Lakehurst, New
Jersey.
*****
It was dark. She could tell that much. It was
dark, and she was pressed up against something cool, yet soft. Finally, her
eyes adjusted, and she saw that she was pressed against Jack’s chest, which, by
the way, was still unconscious. She touched his face, not sure if he was alive
or dead.
"Jack?" Her voice shook with fear.
Please God; don’t let her Jack be dead. Don’t let them reach America just to be
separated by death. "Jack…please wake up." She fell quiet as she
heard footsteps among the rubble and spotted a flashlight moving from side to
side, looking for survivors.
She blinked as the light fell on her.
"Hello?" a male voice asked.
"Help us." She could only manage a
small whimper, worried that she had lost the one person in the world that loved
her. "We’re down here."
"Hey, Louis! I’ve found some! Hurry
up!"
Rose gently took Jack’s box before she was
pulled up to her feet. She looked up into a pair of serious brown eyes.
"How do you feel, ma'am? Are you
hurt?" the man asked.
"My fiancé! He’s down there! Please help
him! Please…" Rose began to sob, afraid of being left alone in a strange
country. Jack was supposed to be there with her, awake and healthy!
Another man arrived and bent down to check on
Jack. "There’s a pulse, but barely! I’m going to need help getting him
out!"
"Ma'am, just stay here. I’m going to get
a stretcher, and then we’re going to get him out of here." Her rescuer
squeezed her shoulder before disappearing from sight. Three minutes later, they
had lifted Jack onto the stretcher, and Rose followed them out.
Quickly, Jack was lifted into the ambulance
that was waiting outside. As Rose got in behind him, she turned to see the ruin
of what once had been the greatest airship in the world. The Hindenburg was
gone forever.
Wiping away a tear, she climbed the rest of
the way into the ambulance, and held Jack’s hand tightly, praying that he’d
wake up soon.