The Sky's The Limit (WLW)

8

More than an hour had passed.

It was 8.29pm.

Air traffic control hadn't called back.

Wallace had called back four times.

There was still absolutely no sign of Tanner or DeMarcus.

Three of the four stewardesses sat scattered around the seats of the plane.

Jasmine was biting her fingernails.

Caitlin was saying silent prayers.

Melissa was trying to call Tanner and DeMarcus again.

And Emily was pacing. She paced up and down the plane, arms folded tightly, trying desperately not to let the tears that pricked at her eyes escape and fall down her cheeks.

The silence of the situation made it feel worse. Paloma was quietly rocking herself in her seat, clutching her blanket tightly and looking out her window in numb silence, grieving for her family.

Scenario after scenario raced through Emily's head as she thought of what could have happened to their Captain and First Officer. She fought to stop herself from fearing the worst. She couldn't face that possibility. Not yet.

"Do you think they got stuck passing through the village?" Jasmine asked softly.

"If they had, that would have been ages ago." Melissa replied. "They should have been here by now."

"They should have been here more than an hour ago." Caitlin stated.

"No, they should have been with us at the chalet two hours ago!" Emily had had enough. She was exhausted. She was scared. She was on the edge of breaking. For the first time that night, she let a tear fall down her face. "No one knows where they are. For all we know they're locked up somewhere, or in an ambulance because they had an accident, or- or..."

Emily couldn't even bring herself to say it.

Melissa saw her best friend on the verge of a panic attack. She raced towards Emily and engulfed her in a hug, letting her bury her face in her shoulder.

"Em, we can't lose hope yet." Melissa whispered. "We can't."

After a minute, Melissa felt the shaking ease and Emily slowly let go of her, standing back up.

"Whatever happens, Paloma has to come with us."

"What?" Jasmine looked up at her from her seat.

"She has no one else." Emily continued. "We can't leave her here. She could be killed if we do."

"Emily, that's not our call to make." Melissa looked into her eyes. "And she's a minor. We can't take her across the border with us. We'll all lose our jobs. We could all be fined or even get jail time."

"She's right." Caitlin agreed. "We can't risk our own livelihoods. And anyway, we have to wait for Tanner and DeMarcus-"

"We don't even know if they're coming, Cait!" Emily snapped. "We don't know! God, I just wanna go home!"

"We all do, Emily!" Melissa shouted back. "We all do! Fuck, we're sitting in a fucking bomb with no one to get us out of here! We're all just as worried as you!"

"Guys..." Jasmine stared out the window.

"If we ever see Tanner and DeMarcus again I'm gonna fucking kill them!"

"WHEN!" Melissa shouted back at Emily. At this point, Paloma was covering her ears as tightly as she could. She couldn't stand any more noise. "WHEN WE SEE THEM AGAIN!"