Everyone gets ten minutes before they die. A little voice in your head speaks up and tells you that your time is nearly up. No one knows what causes it. Some people think it's God, others, the next step in evolution, but it started just after WW3 ended, when the world treaty was signed, offering a bunch of different promises to a bunch of different nations that they'd all probably end up breaking in a few decades.
Not much changed after that. People freaked out for a few months, and the stock market nearly crashed, but eventually it left the collective consciousness and people only thought of it when someone started crying in front of them or something along those lines.
I was on a plane when it happened. Just not the way I'd expected.
I'd just opened a Fanta when the mood in the cabin shifted, and the stewardess's voice came on over the P.A, shaky but urgent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to remain calm. If you received the message, please raise your hand."
Everyone did.
Everyone except me.
I wasn't sure what was happening for a moment, but the plane jumped and one woman stood up and screamed "I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
The scene descended into chaos and even the hosts and hostesses sat sobbing.
Some people prayed, others cried. One man started punching anyone close enough, leaning over seats to hit those within reach.
That was when it hit me. I didn't get the message!
I stood up and shouted, but my voice was lost in the madness. I made my way away from the crazed man whose fists were dripping red by this point and pushed toward the intercom. I dialled the number for the cabin and almost shouted into the receiver. "Can I have your attention please‽"
The noise ebbed for a moment, then died as people found where all the attention was being directed.
I cleared my throat and said "Did anyone here not receive the message?"
Silence followed as everyone began to look around, but no one raised their hand. A woman called out, "Did you? Did you get the message?"
I only shook my head as my hand slowly lowered. I dropped the receiver which knocked lightly against the cabin wall.
A male's voice called out from the back, "What makes you so special?" Someone else shouted, "Why should you get to live and not us?"
Then a woman barrelled forward and threw her arms around my waist. "Please protect me!"
Registration rippled through the crowd like a wave and suddenly there was a torrent of people rushing toward me, begging me to save them. The threw themselves at my feet, climbing over each other to get to me. They piled up and the mountain of people quickly spilled over and before I could register what had happened, I was at the bottom of a pile of people attempting to crawl through each other to get to me.
Then the plane lurched again and continued to do so. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling and a voice filled with barely contained panic come on over the loudspeakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. We are experiencing extreme turbulence. Please fasten your safety belts and equip the oxygen masks- Jesus! Please equip the oxygen masks in front of you before assisting others!"
I heard crying coming from one man down near my feet and another whose face was next to my own was pleading with me, offering all the money he had if I got him out of this alive.
I heard the muffled clicking of seatbelts through the pile of bodies around me, assuming a couple of people made it back to their seats, but those still on me either weren't willing or able to return.
The angle of the plane dipped and the pile began to slide slowly down the aisle.
Then the pilot yelled over the system "Please assume the safety position!"
More screaming came from all around as the plane began to shake violently. I felt the weight on top of me lessen slightly and thought that people might be leaving the pile before I realised we were plummeting.
A baby cried.
I remember wondering what the voice it heard would have said, or if it even understood it.
The voices are always different. Sometimes it sounds like your own. Sometimes it's a friend. Some people say they hear the voice of God, while others don't hear anything; just a wordless message inescapably implying their impending death.
Then, the last thing a lot of people heard, the pilot's voice returned. "Brace yourselves!"
And from that point, everything becomes patchy.
There was a moment when the plane hit the ground and the impact of the crash shook my core. It felt like I was suspended at the heart of an explosion as violent energy sent me convulsing in every direction.
Then everything was still and I saw a light.
The sun shone through a hole in the shell of the plane and outside I saw a lush green meadow. An acrid smell conflicted with the view and after I came to, I recognised it as petrol. The plane was torn apart and blood covered the floor and walls around me.
I tried to move and pain shot through my stomach. I looked down and saw a bone sticking out though it. It took me a moment to realise it wasn't mine, but one of the people on whom I rested.
I looked around for anything that could help. There were piles of debris, and exposed wires that hung out of the walls. Some swung and they sparked as they made contact.
I heard a noise behind me and managed to turn enough to see a goat making its way through the wreckage. It was tearing at people's clothes and the fabric on the seats.
I called out to it, "Come here goat. Come on."
I didn't know how it could help, but it was that or do nothing. At least I hadn't heard the warning.
I kept trying to coax it over by waving torn pieces of clothing in its direction, but for all the effect it had, it noticed the flies around its head more than me. Eventually I gave up and sat back and watched it gradually consume the plane.
It stripped row after row of chairs until it came back round to the hole it must have entered through. It stopped half way through the portal. It was looking at the wires that thrashed about every times their ends touched. I could only watch to see what it did, which was what I expected. It leaned forward to bite them, and as it chewed the protective rubber sleeves, the ends continued to thrash as they touched, and all in what seemed like a moment, a couple of things happened.
A voice in my head perked up.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news man, but you've got ten minutes.
Then the goat burst into flames. The wires that had been swinging about caught its fur, setting it alight, sending it running and screaming throughout the plane, a few things caught fire and it didn't seem too bad until it found the fuel leak.
It ran through the puddle, setting it alight and in no time the fire had made a wall that blocked one end of the plane. In seconds, it had made its way forward and the hole in the side of the plane was blocked off as well.
And so that's where we are.
It's getting warmer by the moment. I assume seeing as the fire's almost at me it's going to be a slow death, but all I can think about are the warnings. I hope they can figure out how they work. I hope someone stumbles onto the answer and they can turn the dam voices off, for the sake of everyone still living.
Because in all honesty, knowing how long I'm going to burn for...
It fucking sucks.
