Station Breaker

32 Air Show

The SUV is cruising by very slowly. The windows are dark, but I can see the silhouette of two men in the front seat and two in the back as it passes in front of a light.

I move behind the fuselage of the plane and pretend to inspect the airspeed sensor on the nose. While I can't see the SUV from here, I can see its shadow on the tarmac.

And it just came to a stop…

Keep calm, David. They could just be passengers. Hell, it could be our Brazilian soccer player.

Sure, maybe they're federal police of some kind. But they're probably everywhere. Just be another pilot inspecting a plane.

Don't be a panicked guy about to go on the run at the drop of a hat. How many times was I going to do that tonight?

If I'd ran off in the hotel bar I would never be this close to getting a ride back to the United States.

This close…

The doors to the SUV open.

Beat.

Beat.

Beat.

And they don't close.

I hear footsteps from several men walking across the pavement.

I casually drift to my right so I'm blocked by the landing gear and lean down to have a look.

It's the Russians from the stadium.

Fuck my life.

They're speaking to the policeman.

One of the them spots me and knocks the policeman out of his way and starts firing.

BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!! Bullets ricochet off the landing gear.

"GET DOWN!!!" I scream to Steve and Gary.

They don't need my advice to drop flat. The men hit the deck as the Russians run towards me.

I've got a thousand feet of empty runway ahead of me. They'll have no trouble gunning me down out in the open.

BANG!!! BANG!!!

The closest Russian falls flat on his face and skids — blood smears the tarmac out of a head wound.

I'm confused until I see the grounded policeman aim his pistol at the other Russians and they run to the other side of the SUV.

BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!!! They fire back as he races to rear of their car.

The hatch to the jet is right in their kill zone. I'll never make it.

But the policeman's motorcycle is only a few yards away. I can even see the key in the ignition…

I run to the bike in a hunched position.

BANG!!! BANG!!! The Russians and the policeman exchange fire through the windows.

I hop on the bike and start the engine. A bullet strikes the pavement ahead of me as somebody realizes I'm about to get the hell out of Dodge.

I gun the accelerator and peel out, flying away from them at full speed and twist around the jet, putting it between us.

Red and blue police lights flash somewhere behind me. I just keep going and take the bike across the tarmac.

Full throttle, I race down the taxi-way. Straight ahead there's a landing light of a jet as it rolls towards me.

I take the bike onto the grass island and blow past the wing tip. Stealing a glance behind me, there's three or four police cars with their lights on.

I don't know if they're after me or responding to the shooting, it really doesn't matter because there's also a pair of headlights belonging to the SUV, charging towards me.

Think, David.

You're trapped in an airport with fences all the way around. There's no way I'm going to pull a Steve McQueen and jump my way out. And there's no way this bike is going to knock down the fence.

While you might be able to evade the Russians by whizzing around in circles, the Brazilian police are going to catch you sooner than later if you can't get out.

BANG! Someone tries to shoot at me from all the way back there.

I glance behind me; all the way back there is a lot closer… That SUV is tearing it up. So are the police cars in hot pursuit.

This is going to be a god damn blood bath.

The Russians already had a gun battle with one cop.

BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP

Automatic gun fire! Shit! They're shooting machine guns now!

Two police cars appear out of nowhere in front of me and blow past, heading to intercept the SUV.

BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP

There's a crash behind me as a police cruiser smashes into the front landing gear of a plane when it gets hit by automatic gunfire.

The SUV swerves as the other police car plays chicken.

BANG!!! BANG!!! BAP-BAP-BAP-BAP Christ, there's a full on gun battle behind me.

It slows the Russians down and helps me a little.

Maybe there is a way out of here…

And there it is…

I think I found a way over the fence after all.

It weighs 80,000 pounds and already has a staircase waiting for me.