Avalanche

| the fire |

3 days until the final exam.

This was the point of time where pilots were consumed with nerves, and made mistakes.

I ignored the nerves, I had a job to do.

I was in a dog fight, currently it was me and Rooster against Phoenix and Omega.

It was one of our last flight tests.

"Rooster you got eyes on Phoenix and Omega?"

"Affirmative. Coming in from the north at Sector B."

"Okay I see them."

Spotting them, I flipped my plane sideways so I could curve around them, but—

BOOM.

I don't know exactly what happened, but I was spinning and fighting for control of my plane. There were dozens of alarms going off, and too many people were trying to tell me what to do.

Spinning and spinning and spinning and I couldn't focus. If I kept this up, I wouldn't make it. It was a guaranteed death if I crashed.

"AVALANCHE EJECT!" Phoenix screamed at me.

I managed to steady my plane, and my right engine was on fire.

I could make it.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap." I muttered to myself.

I turned my right engine off, hoping it would stop the flames.

It didn't.

I tried turning the engine back on, but it was unresponsive. Flames started climbing up the side of my plane and I prayed that it wouldn't hit the gas line. Then I'd be a real goner.

"Avalanche, eject!" Rooster said, "You're not going to make it!"

I could make it.

"Watch me." I said and the radio went silent.

I flicked the unimportant alarms off, and steered around to the runways.

"Mayday, mayday! Mustang, this is Avalanche. Approaching Runway 1 for emergency landing."

I struggled with my central flight stick, it was stiff, and I could barely keep control of the plane. Turbulence shook the plane, and I had to even out my flying with only one working engine, and it was on fire.

"This is Mustang, order granted. Calling fire team now Avalanche."

Breathe, Zoe, breathe.

It was all going to be alright.

Luckily my landing gear still worked, and with a couple of bumps I managed to land.

Fire team was already there, and I passed out, out of stress or lack of oxygen, I couldn't be sure.

❅

I just left the infirmary room, to see Hangman, Phoenix and Rooster here to check up on me.

"You're okay!" Phoenix tackled me into a hug, and I patted her back.

"Yeah I'm fine. The doctor said I can start flying tomorrow." I inform.

Phoenix sighs in relief, "Thank goodness, if you didn't take the final exam it would've been the end of the world."

"I know." I say a little softer.

Rooster pulled me into a side hug. "If you had died, was 'watch me' really going to be you're last words?"

"But I didn't die. I'm perfectly fine." I restate.