Again which feels like the hundredth time, I wake up to the steady hum of the engines. My eyes open and I feel more rested than I did say...thirty minutes ago. Blue cushioned seats stretch out ahead of me, leading to a door to the cockpit I think. It’s amazing how empty this room is, normally planes are packed to the brim with passengers, but on this flight passengers could pretty much sit wherever they wanted. It was actually a little unsettling, I couldn’t even see the other passengers from the angle of the seats.

    I felt something latched onto my arm and look right to see what it is, oh it’s just Alan. Looks like he’s still asleep, he leans against me and really couldn’t look any more peaceful. I took him to Europe to see his Uncle, Aunt, and Cousins for his tenth birthday, and of course to just enjoy the vacation. Now we were heading back to the states, can’t really say I’m excited about returning to work, but there’s no use whining about it, I’ll just deal with it.

    Suddenly the vibrations from the engines began to increase in severity, causing me and Alan to be shaken around by it’s aggressiveness. What is going on all of the sudden? I begin to hear the concern from the other passengers as they begin to panic and ask the same questions of the attendants. The vibration violently shakes us about for several seconds, and then, it stopped. Everything just stopped, I couldn’t feel the hum of the engines, the reminder of the spinning turbines, just soundless. My panic ensues once I see clouds ascend above us at alarming speed and I feel the plane begin to drop, sending my insides to my throat. The rests of the passengers succumb to the anarchy of panic, and the flight attendants look completely helpless and ready to lose it themselves.

“Dad?! What’s going on?!” a voice rings out

“Alan! Put on your seatbelt, hurry!”

    The angle of the plane continues to dip while Alan scrambles to strap himself in, after securing my own I quickly help him before he falls out of the seat. After we are now secured I can’t think of anything to do except-

“Alan hold on!”

    The cockpit is torn from the plane, leaving us in a large metal tube plummeting to the ground. We finally drop below the clouds revealing land of green complete with plentiful trees, I can only see it for a second before we’ve already hit the ground and mowing down dozens of the trees as the metal behemoth tears through the forest. The plane comes to a sudden stop, jerking my head forward and sending me into darkness.

    My eyes open briefly, everything hurts and I feel so tired. It looks like I was laying face down in the center of a the aisle somehow, but I realize quickly there was someone else standing in front of me. A man who looked nearly naked stood there, completely bald, in fact I couldn’t see a single hair on his body. He was also extremely dirty and gritty looking, setting him apart from me and every other passenger on the plane. It was then I realized who was at his feet, Alan laid there motionless, breathing slowly signaling he’s still alive. The man merely stood there staring me down before noticing Alan at his own feet. His possible motives send shivers up my spine and I want to just scream. He simply picks up his limp body and walks away, I want to move, I want to charge him, I want to save my son. But I can’t do anything, I just freeze and then return to the darkness.

    I wake up again alone, man it’s so quiet. All I hear are birds chirping around and singing carefree, bugs buzzing around, particularly around the...oh God. The bodies littered the plane, with their frozen dead expressions they are all as still as statues. I want to run away, just leave this plane before I decide to throw up, but then I remembered what I had to do. I remembered what happened before I went out, speaking of which how long was I out anyways? A few hours is the realistic answer, but it doesn’t matter. I have to find him, please God let me find him, please God let him be alive, oh God please.

    I find an emergency survival kit next to the bathroom before I leave, I’m not sure if I’d even be able to make it without having it. Inside I found a survival hatchet, a bag of food meant to be easily prepared at a fire, two bottles of water, a lighter taped to a box of matches, and a flashlight with two spare sets of batteries. After I gather all of this, I clean out the first backpack I can find and load everything into it. If I have to spend another minute in here and not out there looking for him I’m going to lose my mind. I quickly jog to the front of the plane where a section was torn from the plane and jump down.

“ALAN!” I shout into the forest

“ALAN! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

    I continue shouting into the forest, just praying for an answer, I look around frantically for leads for where he went with him. I can’t see anything, I can’t find anything, oh my god I can’t find him, I can’t find Alan! I begin to panic and start hyperventilating, trying to figure out what to do next. I pace back and forth like a madman, and I feel like I’m on the verge of sobbing

    Come on man get a hold of yourself. I sit down in the grass and force myself to calm down, I close my eyes and focus on controlling my breathing. If I can’t concentrate, I won’t be able to find him anyway, I have to stay calm, I have to focus. My heart rate starts to calm down a little, my mind starts to clear instead of being a hazy hurricane of thoughts, and my muscles relax a bit. Just focus on staying alive. If you die then no one can find him.

    First thought is shelter, a home base of sorts, wow I really wish that survival kit had a tent. I’ll probably have to find some shelter, or make it. Ah who am I kidding? How would I ever build shelter out of what I find in the woods? I could never build anything efficient, not me anyway. With that aside, what could I possibly find? Not like I’m going to find a naturally built shack or something, so my realism is leaning towards caves or rock formations. If it comes to that I really hope it’s the latter.

    After wandering about for a while, speak of the devil, a cave. Well it’s the best I got. I get my flashlight ready in my left hand and my hatchet in the right, pushing forward past my jitters. I pass through the rock arch, and I feel the cold temperature cool me down and making me shake, the light I hold shakes more than I do in response. Ok so far as for shelter, it’s damn cold in here. It’s not ideal for shelter, unless I wanted a campfire going 24/7 I’m going to freeze to death. I could gather water here though, there’s a good pond here and it looks clean. That’s my first thought before I take another more detailed look. I shine my light onto it, my mouth agape from what I easily ignored.

    A dark crimson liquid is spreading through the water, my light instinctively follows to its source. It finds a body, but not a normal body, a brutalized body. It was absolutely torn apart, looked like a pack of feral wolves were eating it like it were their last meal. It’s clear this cave isn’t safe, this has to be the den of an animal or something, maybe a feline. Probably here for the water. I consider leaving until I look up, oh God, more bodies like that one hung from the ceiling by vines and ropes. Some brutalized, and some untouched. Some tribal like the man I saw on the plane, and others which must have been other passengers. My body screams to sprint out, but my mind tells me the possibility of Alan being here is the best chance I have. I need to look, I need to see, I won’t be satisfied until I see a...until I see him.

    I keep pushing forward, putting every ounce of effort I have into not fleeing. The walls and ceiling start to close in, signalling that this cave is coming to an end thankfully. My light light finds the wall and I glide to the right to see if I missed anything, then to the left-oh God! I nearly drop my flashlight when I see another living being sitting against the wall idly. He clearly wasn’t as startled as I was, since he probably already saw me before I even came in, but he reacts strongly to me, standing up without a sound and advancing toward me confidently.

“S-Stay back!” I shout

    He responds by stopping in his tracks, his facial expression as still as he is quiet. I get a better look at him, hold on, that’s the same guy on the plane that...I notice his lips and chin are red from what I can assume are dry blood, and he simply cocks his head with a stare that could pierce the walls.

“Where is he?”

“Dad!” a body writhes over next to an extensive pile of bones

“Alan?!”

    The man responds in kind by leaping at me and tackling me, pinning me down nearly submerging my head in a small pond of water. I end up dropping my flashlight and hatchet, the hatchet somewhere I can’t see, and the flashlight onto the ground to my left shining towards us. He throws his fist into my cheek disorienting me, and quickly grabbing my clothes and slamming my back into the rock floor repeatedly knocking the wind out of me. He submerges my head underwater and I can focus just enough to hold my breath in time, adrenaline running through my veins like a rapid river, I see his open mouth revealing his yellow teeth which have clearly seen the history of flesh and muscle.

    His head rockets towards mine and I barely have enough time to grab his neck and hold him back, he’s much stronger than I am though and I can’t hold him for long. If I don’t get him off me now, he’s going to kill me and eat my son! Where’s the hatchet where’s the hatchet where’s the hatchet, where’s the damn hatchet! His fit, experienced body slowly overpowering my averagely worked one is bringing his cannibalistic teeth closer and closer to my face, he’s only inches away now, I take my right hand and feel around for something, anything to use. My hand finds something hard and rigid and wastes no time slamming his temple at full force. This only serves to stop his bite and disorient him, immediately calling for several more hits until he has been knocked off. I come up for air and crawl out of the pond, I look over and he’s standing up holding his bloodied temple. I immediately throw my rock at full force, he flinches but it still hits his chest. I look around frantically for a new weapon, and find my lost hatchet resting on the edge of the light. I grab it as fast as I can and look back, he already has his own rock and is coming straight for me. I scream and take a single swing of my hatchet towards his head, and his body slams into me knocking me to the floor once again.

    Suddenly it’s quiet, I can’t see very well since I’m almost outside the light, but I can see him clearly. My hatchet was now embedded into his cranium, his emotionless facial expression has now become a bleeding dead one. I push him off of me and don’t waste a second rushing back to Alan. I frantically untie the crude vines restraining him, and he immediately jumps up hugging me tightly.

“Dad!” he exclaims fondly, and then begins crying.

“Dad! He was...the other people on the plane...he was going to…” he says pushing through his tears and rapid breathing

“Shh shh it’s alright, I’m here now you’re ok. You’re ok.”

“Dad, there was...there was more than one.”

    I pick up the flashlight and shine it toward the entrance to see if anyone came in behind me, and the tunnel remains empty.

“Come on let’s get out of here.”