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As Daniel helped me get the mayor out of it, the pilot yelled, "Whoa! Hold on! Back in your seats. We'll be landing in a few minutes."
Fortunately, as long as he was flying the helicopte
r, all the pilot could do was yell. And if there are teenagers who actually respond to adults shouting at them, I've never met one.
When we got the mayor's jacket off, I checked his upper arm. There was a puncture wound. A dot, slightly swollen, crusted in dried blood.
"Injection?" I mouthed to Daniel.
He frowned and leaned to my ear. "Could be an insect... No, wait. Before we got on, the pilot clapped Mr. Tillson on the arm. I remember the mayor rubbing the spot, like it hurt." He paused. "Like he'd been injected."
Daniel slowly turned on the pilot. I could feel the rage pulsing off him. I grabbed his arm and squeezed so tight it had to hurt. Only then did he drop his gaze.
"His heart's beating fine," I said to the pilot. "Just have someone waiting at the pad."
I refastened the mayor's seat belt, then started moving back toward my seat. I don't know exactly what happened next. My gaze was on Nicole, who looked terrified. I think the pilot grabbed for me. Or maybe he just reached out to get my attention.
Daniel yelled "No!"
That's all he did. I'm sure of it. Daniel shouted and the pilot snapped forward. His head cracked against the instrument panel, and he crumpled in his seat.
"Wake him up!" Hayley shouted. "Someone wake him up!"
Daniel and I shook the pilot. The helicopter dropped a couple of feet and we stumbled. Corey ran over.
"Help me get him out!" he shouted to Daniel as he grabbed the front of the pilot's jacket. "I can fly it."
"Based on what?" Sam appeared at his side. "Video games?"
Corey scowled. "You got a better idea?"
"Yes."
The boys pulled the pilot out of the way and dumped him in the narrow gap behind the front seats.
Sam slid into his spot, grabbed the throttle and the control stick, then planted her feet on both pedals. The helicopter stabilized and began to rise, but listed to one side.
"You have to get her level," Corey said.
"No, really?"
He reached for the control stick. Sam swatted him aside.
"Do you know helicopters? Or just planes? Because they're not the same."
The helicopter leveled for a second, then started to spin.
"Sam doesn't know what she's doing," Hayley said. "Stop her."
"She's keeping us in the air," I said.
"Everyone else?" Daniel said. "Sit down and put on your belts. Now."
Hayley and Nicole obeyed, but Corey hovered at the front, wedged between Sam and me.
I reached for the radio and put on the headset. It took some fiddling to get the radio going, but we had a shortwave at the park, so I had some idea how to operate it.
"SOS!" I said. "Helicopter out of Salmon Creek. Pilot unconscious. Repeat, helicopter pilot unconscious."
