Fiction – Ruth’s Tale Continued Part 2

Before I crawl through the hole in the wall into the large dark baggage sorting area, I had an epiphany; my Pelican cases are probably in a locked, secured area since they contain weapons. Walking around the Seattle-Tacoma Airport baggage claim, I found a small locked high-security room containing several pieces of luggage, most of which looked oversized. My Pelican cases, well one anyway, is oversize and heavy.

Peering through the small reinforced glass window in the wooden door on the side, as God loves me, there were my Pelican cases! Damn door is locked! Why could not the thrice-damned TSA have left the keys or left the door open! Now I have to find a way to get the door open!

With the pandemic-caused confusion and sheer number of people attempting to travel at once, many pieces of luggage (and the people who owned the luggage) never reached their destination. There are several tons of abandoned luggage littering the airport.

I landed at SeaTac Airport on one of the last domestic commercial flights. My Pelican cases should have been transferred from the domestic portion to the international portion of the airport. My Pelican cases were taken off the plane that I arrived in; I saw them on the luggage trolley. My Pelican cases ended up in this locked high-security luggage area. The cases should have been transferred to the international part of the airport. Some TSA asshole dropped the ball! Lucky me!

I am lucky that I did not make my connecting flight to Ben Gurion Airport! My luggage and Pelican cases would not have come with me. Dovid, my older brother told me that all flights into Ben Gurion were being diverted to Palestine’s newly refurbished Atarot International Airport for security reasons. Dovid told me that Israel was in total chaos. I was lucky that I did not make my connecting flight. I wonder what happened to the flight I was supposed to be on?

At the time I talked to my only brother, East Jerusalem and large portions of Palestine were still mostly zombie-free. First time the IDF and PLO fought together instead of against each other! CNN reported huge hordes of zombies walking out of the Mediterranean, overrunning places like Tel Aviv and the Gaza Strip in less than two days. Cyprus was lost in less than a day. Thinking of zombies walking out of the oceans makes me look around to see if any zombies are chasing me as I walk carefully around the airport baggage claim area dragging my rolling carryon.

I am trying to not make any noise, but the litter makes moving quietly difficult. I am too hungry and exhausted to carry my rolling carryon. Even my purse is too heavy for me to carry so I strapped it on top of my carryon. Occasionally I knock over luggage or step on something that crunches under my desert tan, eight-inch high, Gortex Israeli Army boots. My feet feel a lot better since I changed out of my heels. I cringe every time I make a noise expecting a torrent of zombies to appear.

Before deciding to hack my way somehow through the security door into the small locked luggage room, I checked to see if I might pick the door lock. Unfortunately for me, the door lock is equipped with a brand new high security electronic lock with a numeric key pad, an electronic card access reader, and a thumbprint scanner. Nothing like TSA paranoia!

When the power went out the door automatically locked itself. It has to be mechanically unlocked. There is a key hole in the door handle; it is one of the new high-security “virtually unable to be picked” titanium alloy locks. If I had the time and my excellent set of lock picks I might try to see if I could pick this lock. At the present, my lock picks are in my smaller Pelican case. I do not have the leisure to fool with the door or try to find suitable tools to attempt picking the door lock. I need in the room now!

While I was exploring the baggage terminal earlier, I spotted an abandoned large yellow fire truck outside the doors of the baggage claim. Going outside, I searched the fire truck thoroughly. I grabbed several first aid kits, some hemostats, several QuickClot ACS+ packets, a pair of stainless steel rescue shears, and as many alcohol swabs as I could cram in my bags.

I also grabbed a fireman’s pickhead axe with a bright florescent-yellow, fiberglass handle. The Fire Axe Inc. highly-polished fireman’s axe has a serious five-inch long poll (spike) on the back of the axe head. This fireman’s axe is similar to the famed Seagrave Axe, but is better balanced to resist tipping and to ensure the force of the blow lands squarely. Huh, the benefits of dating a firefighter for better than a year!

Now, if I can just remember what Amy taught me about swinging an axe on those camping trips in the Great Smoky Mountains. I remember Amy looking at me in disbelief when I told her I had never swung an axe. I grew up in the desert, what the hell did I need an axe for?

The axe has a decent edge; someone took real good care of this axe. At least now I was armed! I must look a sight though, with my rumpled clothes, carrying a fluorescent yellow fireman’s axe and dragging my rolling carryon bag behind me. Like I was ever a fashion plate anyway!

I intend to use the fireman’s axe to chop through the reinforced glass window in the locked door. After I smash the glass out, I am going to reach inside and unlock the door. Unfortunately all the noise I made breaking out the small wire-reinforced window also attracted a few zombies.