America's Sunset: A Post Apocalyptic Fight for Survival by Norman Christof Read Free Book Online Page B

              We’ve got all the time in the world, don’t we? So those nasty videos take a little longer to load, and we swallow the piece of pie a little quicker than we used to. Mom wouldn’t notice. And Mother Nature certainly wouldn’t begrudge us a little fun in the sun at the airport for a show of old World War II fighting aces.
                  These guys are amazing. Pilots the likes of which most people here had never seen before. Even the Internet video junkies had to be impressed by the stunts they were pulling off. And, there’s definitely something to be said for watching planes that are human piloted. Sure, computer-controlled planes with a dash of computer-generated graphics in the hands of a competent editor could make your head spin, but where’s the thrill in that? There’s no real danger there. Everyone knows it, even though no one wants to admit it. Watching the latest blockbuster superhero kickass Hollywood film has its thrills. But, we all know it’s fake. Hugely fake. This though. This is the real deal. These guys are quite literally putting their lives on the line to perform these stunts. Adrenaline junkies, the whole lot of them. They love this shit. Even without the crowd watching, they’d still go through it. And the crowd? The crowd loves it as well. While most anxiously hold their breath with clenched fists, watching the narrow misses while all the time hoping and praying the pilots make it to safety … not all feel the same way.
                  There’s always a percentage of the crowd that lives for the hope of unbridled chaos and agony. There are those that want to see the spectacular crashes. And no, not just your redneck beer-bellied Nascar junkies that love big pileups around the corners. Those are pretty cool, what with all the noise, smoke and flames, but 99 percent of those guys walk away without a scratch. Sure, some corporate sponsor may be out tens or hundreds of thousands, but it’s a small price to pay for a thrill. These pilots though … they won't be walking away from a crash sweeping around the corners. These guys wouldn’t even be able to parachute away. They’re flying way too close to the ground. They practice higher up, but not when the crowds are around.
                  People want their money’s worth, and there’s nothing quite so visceral as planes screaming overhead so close you can feel the vibrations and smell the burnt fuel from the ground. Binoculars can’t duplicate those thrills, not for any price. Sure, there’s always some danger to the crowd, but hey, we’re all adrenaline junkies at heart, aren’t we? That’s what the thrill is all about. And of course, there’s that deep-down hardwired belief that nothing’s going to go wrong. Why would it? We’ll wake up all snug in our beds tomorrow morning to the annoying alarm of some over-caffeinated DJ on the radio. It’s why we all came today. A little bit of a thrill, and that unflappable belief that we’re indestructible.
     
                  Then, there was today. Something or someone made this crowd and this day different; Ahmed was that someone. That one that stands out from the crowd. The one that’s a little bit different. Different, that is, if you know what to look for. Different, that is, if you’re the type that actually notices differences. Today however the crowd was full of oblivious masses that were too absorbed in their own problems, too distracted by the latest message on their phones, or too enthralled with the vintage planes on display. No one noticed Ahmed and his differences, but he noticed everyone. This place will be perfect, Ahmed thought.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 10 ~ The Old Homestead
    It was actually a milder day in Big Springs than the forecast had called for. The middle of summer being what it was, any day that was under a hundred degrees, Maggie considered gardening weather. A ninety-three-degree