The Last Air Force One

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A nuclear blast looked nothing like a mushroom cloud from so close.

Dutch’s mind struggled to find solid ground. The same thing had happened on September 11th, 2001 when he watched an airliner hurl into the twin towers on TV. Just like that morning twenty years ago, President Nathaniel “Dutch” McAdams’ mouth hung agape and his knees went to water as he watched America being incinerated by its enemies.

The picture on the television jerked side-to-side. The iPhone cameraman must have been running away from the blast while filming toward it. A massive sphere of light wrapped around a cluster of high-rise office buildings. The light overwhelmed the tiny camera and the buildings vanished in a starburst. A split-second later, the light receded, and the camera adjusted to the exposure, the buildings still standing.

The President of the United States exhaled. He had been holding his breath for the last twenty seconds. Returning to this terrible reality, he watched as one of the wealthiest cities in America crouched before a thunderclap of flame.

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