Airborne

Chapter 7 - Dubai

"What do you mean we're quarantined?!" The man in the white suit asked furiously, causing a spark out outrage among some passengers.

"We're not allowed to leave! They are letting us refuel before they force us to depart again." The pilot explained, the co-pilot poking his head through the door into the cockpit. The pilot was a middle aged Malaysian man, with dark skin that matched with his short black hair. The Co-pilot was an asian man in his late-twenties, he had neatly combed short black hair, which contrasted with his pale skin.

"Is everything alright? I heard shouting." The co-pilot said nervously, causing everybody in the first cabin to look back at him.

"It's fine, Eric. Keep working on the radio." The pilot instructed, Eric nodded and crept back into the cockpit.

"What's he doing on the radio?" The man in the white suit asked, as he tried to push past the pilot, flight attendants rushed to stop him from going inside.

"Trying to radio different airports, finding another place to go." The pilot said as he pushed the man away from the cock pit.

"Yeah, then why does that mean I'm not allowed in?" The man snapped. His face flustered with anger, yet showed that he was scared like everybody else.

"Safety regulations, passengers aren't allowed in." The pilot replied sternly. The man sighed as he turned to return to his seat in the business class.

"I can't believe this!" He hissed.

"Stuck on a plane with a bunch of candyasses just because there are a bunch of sick people on this plane." He muttered under his breath as he sat onto his seat.

The first cabin was not like the rest of the cabins. The floor had a red carpet covering the floor, but it had the same kind of walls surrounding the cabin. However, there were paintings of rural countrysides hung on the walls on either side of the cabin.

The most obvious difference in the first cabin compared to the rest of the plane were the seats. They had much more legroom, the seats were made out of black leather and were able to recline into a full bed. Each seat included more USB ports and even two electrical outlets. Each seat also had a thin plastic wall surrounding them to allow some privacy for whoever was sitting there. There were a lot less seats due to the added features, only around twenty of them as a matter of fact. People from other cabins were envying these people as they probably had no idea what was going on while people right behind them were fighting for their lives.

...

Jack gazed out a window in the second cabin, he watched as airport employees refuel the plane by pumping it into the wings. According to the howls from the other side of the suitcase forts, the zombies had turned their attention on the workers and were pressing themselves against the windows. The workers giving nervous glances as they continued refueling the plane.

He still couldn't believe they weren't allowed to leave, it was just the Thai government being scared, terrified of this mysterious new disease entering their country. Jack began to become increasingly worried that like Aiden, he would die on this plane. It's bad enough the future of the family would turn into one of them.

"Are these the forts?" The pilot asked a male flight attendant, which snapped Jack out of his thoughts. He glanced behind him and saw the pilot with a flight attendant in his early to mid twenties. Like all male flight attendants in Singapore airlines, he had short combed black hair that had sideburns in a rectangular shape. He wore a suit with a green tie.

"Y-yes sir." The flight attendant answered said in a singaporean accent, pointing at the suitcase fort.

"Yes, good thinking, Justin." The pilot replied, patting Justin on the shoulder. Jack glanced at the forts as well, the pile of suitcases and steward carts in each doorway into the overrun cabins was more solid than he thought. It amazed him that the people in the second cabin were such quick thinkers. Perhaps it was people fleeing from the fourth cabin that told them, which gave them the head start.

Jack turned and saw David sitting nearby him, both of them sat on the floor. His crush, Amy was sitting next to him. Both of them managed to escape somehow as well. David was on his phone, texting people back in singapore, but according to tears streaming down his cheeks, he wasn't being successful.

Then, he remembered. His own parents!

Jack pulled his phone from his pocket, he signed into the Airport wifi, at least they would let them use the internet while they were here. He thought about calling Aiden to see if he was still alive. However, he then remembered Aiden had set his phone to airplane mode before the flight. He immediately after called his parents. The phone rang for an eternity while begging for his parent's to pick up. He sighed in defeat after he was re-directed to an answering machine. He glanced around at the rest of the cabin. Many people were doing the same as him, on their phones desperately trying to contact their friends and family. Most being unsuccessful. 

Abruptly, the plane lurched forward as they were forced off the airport. Jack turned back and faced the window again. The workers were now gone, and as a matter of fact, the zombies had also stopped howling in pursuit of said workers.

Jack had never seen a runway so empty, they must not be letting any planes in or out. As the plane approached the runway to take off again, the flight attendants rushed around the cabin trying to make sure everybody stranded on the floor had something solid to hold onto, allowing elderly to take their spots in the seats designated for the flight attendants. The flight attendant, Justin asked the old man that saved Jack if he wanted his seat. He refused, but patted Justin's shoulders for his generosity, before leaning against a suitcase fort with several other people.

This time, Jack was awake for the takeoff, it was the same with most of the passengers this time. However, there were still some people who never encountered the infected somehow managing to fall asleep again. It dumbfounded Jack that these people seemed to take the event so nonchalantly. The plane sped up, causing some unexpected passengers on the floor to begin tumbling towards the back of the cabin. People anxiously looked back at the suitcase fort as the plane tilted back and lifted off the ground. The pile of suitcases shook and some bags on the top toppled off. Jack could hear numerous bodies flopping around on the other side of the fort. Obviously, none of the zombies were strapped in and this was the consequence. The pile of suitcases right in front of Jack shook as a zombie collided with it. One person in the cabin screamed and broke the silence of anxious passengers holding their breath. However, it still surprisingly stood up and the passengers sighed in relief.

Jack glanced out of the window again and noticed they were flying in the gulf of Thailand. The plane circled Bangkok helplessly, it was obvious the pilot had no idea where he was going. However, Jack did notice the gulf was filled with boats of all kinds. Refugees of this disease most likely. Like the planes, Thailand was probably not letting boats in either. Some of the boats were on fire, it was more than likely that some people on the boats were in the same scenario as he was. Jack sighed in defeat as he leaned back against a suitcase fort. How long would they be up here?

...

The pilot continued aimlessly circling around Bangkok while Eric, the co-pilot was on the radio, desperately trying to find somebody to take them in.

"How's Ho Chi Minh?" The pilot asked Eric, causing Eric to sigh.

"No response, they may be overrun." He responded.

"Okay, try Mumbai." The pilot told Eric. Eric nodded and began tuning the radio again. After a few minutes of Eric scanning various cities and finding nothing but static, a voice finally crackled to life on the radio.

"This is Dubai International Airport tower, how may we assist you?" The voice asked.

Eric's mood abruptly perked up.

"This is flight 5035 from Singapore! We need help, there are infected on the plane and we need to land. Are you still accepting incoming flights?" Eric asked, sweating pinballs from his forehead.

"Yes, of course." The voice said, with a nervous tone.

"We're still accepting incoming flights." The voice repeated.

_______________________

Chapter Seven done! :D

I'm amazed about the sudden popularity this book has gotten ^^

I can't thank all of you who have read this book more. You all have no idea how much this means to me!