United We Stand

15. E komo mai

I nervously look at everyone, wondering if I look like them. Liam is grinning and talking to Josh. And Dakota's eyes are glued to her phone.

And when my eyes land on Mike, I frown. His eyes are on me. "May I help you?" I ask Mike. Mike clears his throat and he straightens. "W-well I was going to ask you if you need any help?" Mike says. I shake my head. "No. Thanks for asking." I say sarcastically.

Mike sheepishly nods and turns. I readjust my big fluffy vest. Mike gathers us around.

"Alright, mates. Let's go over the rules." He says. We all nod and pay close attention. Mike continues. "First off, be careful and try not to push because the space is small. And if you so much as shift, one of you will pop out of the helicopter." He says.

My face paled and Dakota laughs at my reaction. "I'll grab on to you if you topple over." Dakota says with a wink as she squeezes my shoulder. Liam laughs and Josh grins.

Mike clears his throat louder and they all shut their mouths. "Second, you'll be jumping out so you have to know where the parachute string is attached." Mike says.

I tense. Jumping out? "What?!" I exclaim. Liam nods. "Didn't I tell you?" He asks. My frown deepens. "No!" I answer. Mike shakes his head.

"You'll be alright. You got the suit on so everything gonna be okay." Mike reassures me. I look down at my black suit. I thought we were wearing this just in case we would fall into the ocean or something.

We are all wearing big black suits under our green vest/backpack parachute holder. If we're jumping then where's our...

"Third, always wear ya helmets. You never know when you might pop out." Mike says as he hands us each a black helmet that looks like a motorcycle one. The helmet has clear glass where the eyes would be underneath. As I receive mine I slip it on. Mike grins at all of us.

"Four, have fun!" He says. "Why are we jumping?" I shout in order to be heard. Mike sighs. "Because the Nukka institute doesn't have a landing space for planes of copters. Plus, its really fun, am I right mate?" He says with a playful wink.

My stomach squeezes nervously and I think I might loose my breakfast. My hands start to tremble and for once I'm thankful I'm wearing the suit. Mike waves us over to the doorway of the building. "Let's go!" He says, grinning as he opens the door.

Liam comes to my side and squeezes my shoulder like Dakota did. "It'll be fine. Trust me. I've done this a million times." Liam says. I smile weakly and nod. Liam grins and we both walk out the door.

We all walk up to the helicopter and climb aboard. I'm squeezed in between Dakota and Liam. Josh is at the co-pilots seat, next to Mike. As Mike starts the engine a question pops up in my head. "Don't you need to take classes for this? Like skydiving?" I yell. Mike shrugs.

"I can't hear you!" He shouts over the engine. As I feel the helicopter start to rise I grip Liam's and Dakota's knee. Liam and Dakota just laugh. I close my eye shut and try hard to forget that I'm in a helicopter.

I'm in New York. Just going on a roller coaster. Yeah that's it. A roller coaster. I start humming a song when I feel a tap on my helmet. My eyes slowly open. "Look out." Liam says. I lean over him carefully as I make myself see the view.

"Whoah." I mumble. "Where are we?" Liam smiles as he looks down. Mountains filled with what seems like green moth from up here, are lined up next to each other.

Valleys rich with vegetation appears. Waterfalls fall lazily into a lake. The sun is high in the sky, illuminating the greenery below.

Green stretches on and on for seems like forever. I grin. The view isn't that bad. It's beautiful. I keep staring at the mountains rolling over into each other, seeing a house once in a while.