ATLAS 776

22

Victoria opened her eyes wide in a sudden burst of anxiety. She felt sweat trickling down her neck, her breathing erratic in exasperating strokes. It took a while to calm herself down, and even when she did, she was still as confused about her entire situation. It felt like a constant string of nightmares leading up to one another, each feeling as real as it could get. What was happening? Victoria shuddered to think. She couldn't, anyway, nothing seemed clear.

There she was, back in her seat. The same familiar scene, Kate beside her now sleeping like a log. The time on her watch was 11:59 PM. Victoria took a quick look out of the window. There wasn't a storm going on, although something caught her eye quickly. The sky was dark, darker than the kind of night she could remember... Darker than the kind of night she would expect being so high up in the air. Every passenger was sleeping. Not a single man, woman or child was awake. Sure, it may be close to midnight, but even on any plane one would expect at least one passenger to be up awake. The dreadful silence of the cabin was eerie. So sterile, the silence was deafening.

Victoria felt a sudden wave of dread fill her once more. Her heartbeat now rising once more, she rubbed on the seat handles in fear and anxiety. Something wasn't right. "Kate..." she whispered. "Kate... Kate... Kate! You idiot!" Victoria whispered a little bit louder as she shook Kate's hands.

Kate opened her mouth, and let out a screeching sound. The sound shocked Victoria, which caused her to reel back in fear. "FUCKING-A" Victoria shouted. The rest of the passengers followed suit, each screeching consecutively. Then the screeches stopped. Victoria had no time to waste. She immediately squeezed her way out of her seat, hastening herself when she was getting past her "friend". She felt Kate grab her right tight, as she reflexively jumped forward out of the grip.

Victoria did not want to look back. She ran forward as fast as she could towards wherever she could run. It wasn't much of a choice anyway. She ran and ran, and kept on running. She ran until she reached an empty cabin, and stopped to catch her breath. Victoria took the time to quickly let her surroundings become clearer. She was stuck on a plane. There was nowhere she could run. She had to get a weapon.

Anyone who's had watched any airplane shows or took airplane rides will know roughly what items exist in a plane. Sharp blades, explosive chemicals, firearms, are all prohibited. Victoria knew that her best chance at defending herself would be commonplace items which offer far less security than a real weapon. She pulled down all the overhead compartment covers quickly, in a bid to find anything of value to help her current situation.

Nothing seemed to exist in these barren compartments. An entire cabin on a plane not booked? Something was not right. Nothing was at this point. Victoria took her chances with the connecting room. She was dead sure there were stuff in the connecting parts where the staff would prepare the food and items at. Victoria was right. The connectors were seemingly the only places on the plane that felt real, they had the items you would expect, the mess of items strewn around.

Rummaging through the cabinets, Victoria found a torchlight. She took the light in her hands, and pressed on the switch. The light came on, but flickered a few times. The light was still strong though, and a quick search once more did not result in any spare batteries. "Weapons... Weapons, where the fuck..." Victoria spoke to herself anxiously. Victoria could not find anything large, or long enough to bash with. Maybe the next connector could have something.

Victoria took a few deep breaths. It was time she moved.

Victoria slowly peeked out of the curtain into the cabin ahead. There were sounds of thunder cackling. Heavy rain poured. Then it dawned on her. She quickly closed the curtain, and checked on the empty cabin. The weather outside was different in the empty cabin. There were no storms. The weather was quiet. The skies looked normal. Not the kind of dark that she woke up in earlier.

Victoria looked back into the other room, taking looks at the figures that resembled passengers in their seats. Something about them made Victoria skip a heartbeat. The passengers were shaking in their seats, as if having violent seizures. All of them. One of the passengers exhibited a scream, as an unknown object burst out of his skull. Blood came gushing down, and the object waved in the air.

What the heck was that? Doesn't matter. Victoria didn't have the time to process the information.

A flight stewardess came out of the opposite end, and started to feast on the object above the man's head. One by one, more passengers exhibited the same freak show.

Victoria quickly hid herself behind the curtain, tears streaming down her face. She did not want to die here. She had a life ahead of her. She did not want to die to some horrid creature on board an airplane. She just wanted to go home.