Airborne

Chapter 4 - The Virus

30,000 ft. in the air, Bradon remained where he was seated. Still shaking his legs nervously as he could feel evil spreading through him. The rope he had tied to his leg did nothing but postpone it. He was becoming more and more sure he was going to turn into one of those things that attacked him at the airport.

"Are you okay?" A man asked nervously.

Brandon jumped as he snapped back to his senses, and glanced to his right. The two people sitting next to him stared at him with perplexity.

"You look pale." The man said, he was a black man in a business suit. Next to him was a woman who sat silently, she was trying to read her book, but was too disturbed by Bradon's terrified stare at her to continue doing so.

"E-excuse me, I'm sorry." Brandon stammered as he got out of his seat. He needed to go to the bathroom. Something was wrong with him.

He stumbled down the cabin to the lavatory closest to him. Locked, someone was using it.

Bradon's leg burned, he didn't want to wait for some prick to finish taking a dump or something. He entered the 4th cabin, finding it increasingly difficult to walk. People stared as he walked by them, but nobody asked if he was alright. Perhaps the businessman who sat next to him was a talkative type.

He went into a lavatory on the back of the plane and locked the door tightly. He tugged up his right pant leg and found his veins turning black, all originating from the bite mark he had on his leg. Brandon risked touching the horrific flesh wound. His fingers stroked the wound and black pus oozed out, it burned like a third degree burn and it made Brandon winch and clench his teeth to avoid screaming. He didn't want to draw attention to himself.

He took the rope he had tied to his leg to prevent the spread, cutting off blood to his leg and tightened it some more. He didn't care if his torso was getting the same black veins, it was the only way he knew how to prevent the spread. He had seen what this thing can do, how fast you turn. It's been an hour and he hadn't turned yet. It was working.

"I'm fine.. I-I'm fine.." Brandon moaned to himself as he noticed some hand sanitizer next to the sink. He squirted some of it into his hand and dabbed it onto his wound. He winced again in pain as his leg stung again. But he felt better, he could feel the alcohol doing it's thing. His wound oozed more and more black pus as he added the hand sanitizer. It was something he had never seen before, and he was a medical student!

Brandon began to feel himself growing faint, maybe it was from this unbearable pain he was enduring, or if it was whatever sickness he had doing it's thing on him. He glanced at himself in the mirror. He could see under his shirt the black veins had increased to his neck. How did it happen so fast?!

The room spun around him as he fell to the floor, his body curled up against the walls of the cramped lavatory.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?!" Brandon thought to himself as the sickness overtook him.

Thirty minutes into the flight, Aiden remained seated quietly in his seat, watching a movie on the TV. It was hard to watch the movie, as the man in front of him had reclined his seat all the way back. Now both Jack and the old man next to him had fallen asleep, as well as many other passengers on the plane. The old man snored softly, but it was drowned out by the movie Aiden watched. A flight attendant would pass by occasionally to make sure everything was alright with the boy. Not because they wanted to, but they had to. Aiden could tell by their monotone voice that this was the case.

Another ten minutes had passed and Aiden realized he had to use the bathroom. He carefully unbuckled his seatbelt before squeezing past the idle legs of his older brother without touching them, fearing he would wake up and scold him again. Their knees made contact and Aiden froze and held his breath as he locked his knees. Jack stirred a bit in his sleep but didn't wake up. Aiden sighed in relief as he squeezed past the old man before walking to the nearest lavatory that was behind him.