The old helicopter coughed and caught.
The first rotor turned. Slow.
Then faster and faster.
The second rotor woke and matched it. Dust lifted from the floor in rings. The loose plastic on the crate stack flapped and snapped.
The machine shook and then smoothed down into a steady tremor.
Sera rested her palm on Luci's head and felt the vibration come up through his skull and into her arm. She looked at Zubair's hands. They were steady on the stick. She liked that. It gave her just a bit of confidence that they weren't all going to die.
Elias watched the hangar mouth and counted shapes that would never move again. Lachlan rolled his neck and grinned at the way the world started to hum around his bones. Alexei narrowed his eyes and held the wind where he wanted it.
Heat from the burning yard surged once, pushed a hot breath through the door, tried to climb the air Zubair needed.
