I didn’t ask any more questions I didn’t want the answers to, I just tightened the seatbelt across my lap and stared out the window at the storm we were flying through, and trying not to let the jerking of the plane upset my stomach.
I listened to the boys in the cockpit talking about plane stuff and tried to sleep. Penny, Jack and Chloe giggling over something Johnny had said was somewhat soothing as I tried to relax. My shoulder along with all the other body parts I’d abused today were making their presence known in no uncertain way and all I really wanted in that moment was a heating pad and a cupcake.
Shaking woke me up. My eyes snapped open to see the lights in the plane had been replaced with eerie orange emergency lights and I looked around to see everyone strapped to their chairs silently clasping the armrests until their knuckles were white.
I had no idea how long I’d been out but something was definitely very wrong. “What the hell is going on?” I asked anxiously.
“We’ve hit some turbulence, the storm is getting worse,” Ty yelled back to me from the front.
“What do you mean it’s getting worse? Can we fly around it or over it or something?” My heart was pounding and my palms started to sweat. I could hear 7 other hearts racing and feared the worst.
Ty shook his head at me, “No, without ground control to tell us where to go to avoid it, the only choice we have is to go through it.”
I looked out the window to my left to see a wall of clouds so dark I had to wonder if I’d died in my sleep and we were currently en route to Hell. I turned my attention to Jack, who was still sitting in the chair across from me and caught real fear on his face.
“Jack please tell me this is normal and we’re going to be ok,” I pleaded.
His brows furrowed and I could tell he was debating on how much to tell me. I took his silence as my answer and slid my backpack behind me and my arms through the straps. I checked the safeties on the 2 guns I still had on me, making sure I wasn’t going to be shot if something were to happen.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I got stuck in an elevator with Marilyn Manson?”
I didn’t even try to conceal the surprise on my face at Jack’s question. “No…” I answered in question.
Jack cleared his throat and looked out the window with me. “Yeah, I was in some building in New York, for what, I don’t recall but the elevator stopped a few floors after this really tall, lanky guy got on. After it stopped we just stared at each other for a solid minute until we realized who the other was.”
“Jack, how exactly is this relevant?” I didn’t want to be rude, but I didn’t think this was the moment to start name-dropping.
“Well, we got to talking and it turned out we had some things in common.” He stopped and looked at me then back at the window. “I guess it wasn’t a very good story after all.”
I looked at him and the concern on his face and smiled. “It’s ok Jack. If I were about to die I’d be telling random stories too.”
I didn’t have a chance to say anything else as alarms from the cockpit started going off and my stomach lurched as the plane dove forward and we started to fall.
Brian was shouting something about making sure the seatbelts were tight as the masks dropped from the ceiling. Just like the brochure in the pocket on the wall next to me had instructed, I pulled the mask down, slipped the elastic band around my head and breathed into the little bag.
There was screaming but it was all drowned out by the sound of thunder and metal being twisted. I wanted to close my eyes and let death come for me but the lids wouldn’t close and I was stuck staring wildly around the plane at the terror on the faces around me. The lights were flashing and casting a sickly glow over everyone so I returned my gaze to the window.
A wall of clouds was still the only view. I could make out thin lines of lightning streaking through the mass which reminded me of one of those electric current balls. The kind you put your hands on and the electricity moves to wherever you’re touching it.
The plane suddenly stopped shaking and it seemed we were hovering. The instant stillness was jarring and I peeked another look up front to see if maybe Brian was about to tell us we were in the clear.
“Hang on!” I heard him scream just as we started in a dizzying spin and losing altitude. I turned back to the window to see clouds rolling by so fast it looked like we were inside a cotton candy machine.
I was so terrified that I was calm and the whole thing seemed like it was lasting forever. It wasn’t until I started to see trees whizzing by sideways that I realized we’d been caught in a tornado.
A motherfucking tornado.
“Oh my fucking god we’re in a fucking tornado!” I looked around confused for a moment trying to figure out who was yelling and bit my tongue when I realized it was me.
I looked across to see Jack’s face mirroring my terror. “Jack, I’m sorry I’m an asshole and if there’s an afterlife, I hope I see you there.”
Tears leaked out of the corner of his eye as he looked at me. His hazel eyes were so big they took up half his face and he looked 20 years older in that moment. “Angie, I-“
The wall next to us was suddenly no longer there and I felt myself being pulled out of the plane like I was stuck in a vacuum. The sounds of screeching metal, trees being broken and screaming were all I could hear as I struggled to keep my eyes open against the dirt being whipped in my face.
Falling. I was falling and still strapped to a chair and knew that this was it. This was how I would die. Not alone in my apartment only to be discovered weeks later when the neighbors smelled something. Not torn apart by rabid zombies in any of the places we’d been through. Not laying on the cement floor of that cell with blood running down my face and thighs. No, I would die in a plane that had been caught in a tornado and crashed WhoTheFuckKnowsWhere. Well, it could’ve been worse.
I started to smile as I continued my free fall; chair bouncing off trees and limbs until my bones shifted when I hit something hard and then it was just black.
Something was licking my face. I opened my eyes to see Roscoe’s face above me, licking mine for all he was worth.
“Ugh, stop.” I moaned, turning my head away from his tongue bath. There was dirt in my mouth and I started to spit it out when I realized I was still very much alive and strapped to my chair, which was now lying on the ground.
I shifted and stretched to see if any body parts were broken and/or missing and other than a few aches and pains, I was seemingly ok. I couldn’t see the bottom half of me, so I reached down and patted my way to my thigh, grateful to find my machete still in its holster. Pulling the knife out, I wrestled to get the blade under the nylon across my lap and started a sawing motion until the strap broke and I rolled out of the chair onto the dirt.
Coughing, I stuck the knife back in the holster and pushed my hands against the ground so I could sit up. A sharp pain in my side protested and I looked down to see a piece of metal sticking out of my belly. It didn’t look too big so I took a deep breath, grabbed it with both hands and pulled it slowly out of me.
I’d never been stabbed before but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it as my mind threatened to check out again blinded by pain. I grit my teeth and whimpered as the last edge was pulled free and tossed the offending item to the side. Looking down, blood was running steadily from the wound.
Pushing my backpack straps off my shoulders I pulled it into my lap and unzipped it, hands finding what I’d been looking for. I pulled my hoodie out and tossed the bag on the ground before wrapping the hoodie around my waist and tying the sleeves as tight as I could to stop the blood flow.
I sat there and focused on breathing until the pain became a background drum solo for my heartbeat before looking around. Roscoe was lying down next to me with his head on his paws and he looked up at me with his giant dog eyes and thumped the ground with his tail.
Reaching over, I rubbed his head. “I know boy, me too.” His tail thumped a few more times before he stood and started running frantic circles in front of me. Obviously he wanted me to get up and go look for the others but that was easier said than done.
I shifted onto my knees and using the katana as a walking stick that was miraculously still attached to my harness along with my remaining rifle, I slowly stood all the way up.
“Oh god, not a good idea.” I said to myself as the world spinned and I leaned over and threw up stomach acid.
When the heaving stopped, I looked up through my panting and drooling. The only thing around were trees, trees and more trees. It would seem we’d lucked out and at least crashed in a forest, hopefully far from anyone infected.
Roscoe barked at me and darted off through the trees so I took that as my cue to follow. Everything appeared to still work as I could walk, but the pain in my gut kept me from moving very fast.
I stumbled over a tree root and nearly fell, only saved by the small branch I’d caught before I could hit the ground. I looked up and was met with a smoking pile of unrecognizable metal which meant it was likely our plane. Coughing and murmured words drew me closer as fast as I could.
“Guys? Anyone?” My words seemed quiet to me as they came out on a whimper and I struggled to limp over to the wreckage.
The whole left side of the plane where Jack and I’d been sitting was gone and I could see Penny and Chloe still inside trying to unbuckle their seatbelts. I hobbled around the front to find the cockpit smashed in and empty.
A panic started to well up inside when I realized I didn’t see anyone else.
“Jack! Ty! Where are you?!” I yelled frantic and desperate. I limped the whole way around to where the cockpit had been and a moan forced me to stop.
Looking down, I saw Brian’s foot poking out from underneath a piece of metal. I fell to my knees and crawled around to where his head was. There was so much blood mixing in with the dirt that I started to stick to the ground.
“Penny, Penny, come quick! I found Brian!” I tried to pull the scrap of metal off him, which only made his groans louder. I looked up to see Penny running over and stop so fast it looked like she was sliding into home.
I scooted back and looked up at Chloe with Johnny crying in her arms as she made her way over. Her face was dirty and her clothes were torn, but otherwise she didn’t look any worse for the wear.
“Chloe, where’s everyone else?” I asked, trying not to look at Brian and Penny crying over him. I knew he was dying and I didn’t want to watch.
“I don’t know, the plane, it started to go down, and then you, you flew out, and Jack…” Chloe’s words were halted by her sobs. Her little ribcage was heaving from the effort of trying to breathe around the tears and her words became unintelligible.
Cringing, I stood up and limped over to her, grabbing her shoulders and trying to catch her undivided attention. “Jack what? What happened?” My words were harsh and I shook her a little bit out of fear which only made her cry harder.
Instantly regretting making her cry more, I pulled her into me and hugged her as tight as I could. “Shhh, shhh. It’s ok, we’re ok.” I murmured into her hair while stroking her back. When I felt her cries start to calm I pulled back to look at her face. “We need to find them, Chloe. Can you help me look?”
She nodded her head, tears leaving little trails in the dirt on her cheeks. I turned her and pushed her off further into the clearing with Roscoe hot on her heels. Once I heard her start calling out names, I turned and looked back down to Penny and Brian.
Penny was almost completely wrapped around Brian’s head and crying so hard I wondered if her ribs were going to crack. His eyes were closed and the look of twisted pain was gone from his face. He looked like he was sleeping, which meant he was dead.
“Penny, I’m sorry, but we really do need to find the others,” I started, trying to sound consoling but urgent. She looked up at me through red, swollen eyes, saw the blood seeping through the hoodie around my waist and nodded, rising to her feet.
Sniffling, she walked over to me. “Your stomach…” She reached out to me to start inspecting me but I pushed her hands away.
“I’m ok for now, I’m more concerned about everyone else.” I backed away as Johnny came running over and wrapped himself around her leg.
She just nodded at me and reached down, pulling Johnny up into her arms.
I waited for her to walk far enough away that she wouldn’t see what I was about to do next. Watching her clear the trees where Chloe had just gone, I turned back and looked down at Brian. His features were peaceful and I envied him for a moment as I pulled my knife out and rammed it through the side of his skull. Pulling it back out, I wiped the brain matter off the blade on his pant leg and turned off towards the others. It was cold and hollow but it had to be done. We didn’t need any more zombies.