Chapter 3 - The Crash CourseThe hill was steep, ending in a busy four-way intersection blocked by afternoon construction barriers.
âHold on to the seat frames!â Lucas roared to the children. âTuck your heads down!â
Two police cruisers raced alongside the bus, their speakers blasting commands for oncoming traffic to clear the intersection. Lucas knew he couldn't let the bus hit the concrete barriers at forty-five miles per hourâthe impact would crush the front cabin and kill the children in the forward rows.
He spotted a long, rising embankment of thick mud and decorative woodchips lining the entrance of the Maplewood Golf Course.
Using every ounce of upper-body strength, Lucas yanked the steering wheel hard to the right.
The front tires clipped the curb with a deafening pop, and the massive yellow vehicle slammed into the rising mud embankment. The bus groaned, its chassis tilting dangerously at a forty-five-degree angle before the thick, wet earth swallowed the wheels, bringing the vehicle to a violent, muddy halt.
Silence descended for one brief second, broken only by the sound of leaking steam and children sobbing.
âEvacuate through the rear door!â Lucas commanded, lifting a semi-conscious Maria over his shoulder.
Within minutes, police officers and paramedics swarmed the bus, pulling the twenty-seven children through the emergency exits to safety. Not a single child was seriously injured.
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But as Lucas stepped out into the mud, two officers pinned his arms behind his back, forcing him onto the wet grass.
âLucas Cole, you are under arrest for felony endangerment and vehicle hijacking,â the lead officer declared, snapping steel handcuffs around his wrists.
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