In the Air

In the Air
By Matthew Carter Herch Jr.

Though they had only lifted off from Paris two hours ago, Billy was already feeling the stress of flying. He stared out the thick glass windows into the endless abyss of clouds and thin air. Billy was the co-pilot of a TOG-AIR Boeing 747 passenger jet. He was well built, though he had a bit of a gut. He hadn’t shaved in days, and he needed to take a shower. The pilot had just left the cabin to take a piss, leaving Billy with no one to talk to and nothing to do. They were 25,000 feet up, what was there to do? Billy just sat twiddling his thumbs until he heard footsteps coming toward the cabin door, then a loud banging on its steel face.

Billy got up from his seat and stomped toward the door, eager to scold whoever was disturbing him during his pitiful attempt to entertain himself. “Hey, stop banging on the door, I’m coming!” The heavy banging continued. Jesus Christ, stop the banging he thought. He opened the door wide. “Hey buddy, what the hell.....” That was all he could say before a rotting fist flew by his face, nearly knocking his nose off his face. Billy was stunned as he looked at the ugly figure standing before him. It was a man, standing naked in the doorway of the cabin, about 25 years of age. He growled and jumped forward.

The man landed about five feet from Billy who was almost in tears at the sight. The man’s skin was falling off of his putrid body; his eyes glazed over and filled with blood. Worst of all, the man began spitting out a rancid black liquid which fell to the floor and splattered into a terrible mess. Billy had no time to think. He ran to a small compartment in the cabin and pulled out a small pistol. He aimed it at the man and fired. The bullet pierced the chest cavity, sending blood and flesh through the air, landing on everything. Unfortunately, it had no effect. The man was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained himself. The decayed man lurched forward, grabbing onto Billy’s bloody uniform. “No!” Billy screamed as he tried to push the fetid mass of flesh off himself. He knocked the creature to the floor and lowered his pistol. He fired. The shot shattered the zombie’s skull and allowed its blood to flow out of the back of its head. Billy bent down to examine the thing, but he looked to his right-into the 1st class area of the jet.

Screaming and clawing, growling and cries of terror assailed him. Billy had not seen or heard these things while he was trying to defend his own life. The fifty or so passengers in first class were nothing but a cruel memory. They had all been gashed to shreds by the economy class passengers. Something in the plane had infected them. Billy didn’t know how or what caused the outbreak on the plane, but he probably didn’t want to know. He quietly got up from the body on the floor and shut the cabin door, locking it.

He grabbed the radio and tried to contact an airport, any airport, but he had no such luck. He heard nothing but white noise. Billy sat in the pilot’s seat and grabbed the plane’s control mechanism. He lowered the plane, so he could see the city below. It was New York City. The cities lights were out and there was an ominous silence. He finally got low enough to see the ground the ground covered with dead bodies. The only movement was coming from a huge group of what seemed to be zombies.

Billy tried to shove the thought from his head, but he knew it was the only way to escape the terror of the new ‘civilization’. He raised the cold pistol to his head and closed his eyes. He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He re-opened his eyes and realized a terrible fact. The pistol only held two rounds. He dropped the gun to the floor and fell to his knees. Then an idea struck him. Billy got up and sat back in the pilot’s seat. He took control of the jet and aimed it straight for the earth below. He knew this was the only way. The plane grew nearer and nearer to the ground. Billy sat in the chair, with his arms crossed across his chest, praying to the Lord to save his soul. Just as the plane was about the hit the ground in the middle of Central Park, Billy heard a loud beeping sound.

He sat up in his warm, cozy bed, sweating and shivering. “It was all a dream!” he cried. Billy leaned over, turned off his annoying alarm clock, and fell back into bed. Just as he laid his throbbing head on the pillow, he noticed a dark shadow on his wall. He looked toward the doorway and screamed. It was his father, hungry and ready to eat.