Rated M - Mature
Some Vulgar Language, Violence
A Matthew Smith Fictional Adventure
Episode One
The Plane Ride
By Matthew Smith
The plane was set for Los Angeles, California from Orlando, Florida. I sat down in my assigned seat and looked out the window. It was my first plane ride. I had gotten an intriguing job offer from the LA regional hospital. Now that I had my RMA and BMO certifications under my belt, someone had taken a great interest in wanting to hire me.
Everyone said it was because that they could train me to their way of doing things. Personally, I didn't care. I just needed to get away. The parents never got along much anymore and Rebecca had just lost her 'give-a-damn.'
"Excuse me?"
I looked up and saw a girl – she was about my age, give or take a few years. She had long brown hair and piercing brown eyes. Her smile was incredible. "Is this seat G5?" She asked. I smiled back. "Uh… yes. Yes it is." I said, standing. "Let me help you with your bags."
"Thank you!" She said, handing me two bags. I put them in the luggage compartment over our seats and then sat back down. She took her seat next to me. "My name's Crystal LaBeouf." She said, putting out her hand and smiling again. I stared at her for a mere second, before smiling back and shaking her hand. "Matthew Smith."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Pleasures all mine." I said, suddenly grinning. "This your first plane ride?" She asked. "How'd you guess?" I asked. "Because you look about as nervous as I feel. It's my first time on a plane too."
"Really? That's amazing."
Suddenly the seat belt sign came on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could ask you to fasten your seat belts, we'll be taking off in 1 minute."
I took a breath and reached down for my seat belt and felt skin. I looked down and saw a hand. Her hand. She laughed and moved her hand and took her seat belt. "Sorry about that." She said, still chuckling. I just grinned and shook my head. "It's no problem…" I replied, clipping my seat belt in place.
The plane started to move. I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding, and noticed that Crystal was holding onto the arm rest tightly. I smiled and placed my hand over hers. "You okay?" I asked her. She nodded and chuckled softly. "Just nervous is all…"
I gave her a wink and chuckled softly. "Hey, your not alone."
Suddenly the pilot's voice filled the cabin. "Alright, folks. You are free to move about the cabin. Please enjoy the flight, sit back, and relax. We'll be in Los Angeles before you know it."
Crystal let her head fall back into the head rest, and she let out a sigh of relief. I smiled and gave her hand a soft squeeze. "See. This isn't so bad after all…"
She smiled softly and nodded. "Maybe not…"
She sat up straight and brought her hair up in her hands and pulled it into a pony tail and put a hair band around it, to keep it in place. "So, Matthew…"
"You can call me Matt."
"Okay… so Matt. What's in LA?"
"Hopefully a career, and a new life."
She cocked an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "What kind of job?"
"It's uh, radiology technologist position at the general hospital."
"Oh, that's awesome. Will this be your first time visiting LA?"
I nodded. "Sure will be."
She nodded again. We sat there in silence for a moment. I glanced over at her. "So, what's there for you?"
She stared ahead for a moment before looking at me. "I don't really know. I'm just trying to get away." She said. I nodded slowly and looked toward the window. But a man walked into our area. I looked up at the man.
Time seemed to suddenly slow down dramatically. It didn't stop completely, but it just slowed to where I could do nothing but watch as the man reached into his jacket and withdrew a silenced 9mm pistol. He pointed it directly at the man ahead of our seats. He never had a chance to react as he fired two muffled shots into his chest.
He reached over and took out a gun from the man's belt. It must have been the air Marshall. I just stared at the man, who help up his guns. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Please do not panic, but this is a hijacking of a plane! Please do not attempt to leave your seats. Doing so will cost you your life." The voices had a thick accent. Perhaps Russian. German maybe? I couldn't be sure. I wasn't exactly an expert.
I felt the arm rest rumbling softly. I looked down and saw Crystal shaking terribly. I took her hand in mine. "Shhh. It's going to be alright." I cooed. A tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped it away and sucked in a breath as the man walked passed us.
Several more men had appeared around us, and they were carrying machine guns. I let a breath out slowly, trying to keep my head clear. The air Marshall was dead. We were on our own. I felt a shiver run down my back as the seemingly main leader of the men walked past and left the area. "Matt…" I hear Crystal whisper softly, fear heavy in her voice. At the moment, I was scared to death, but something told me I was going to have to keep it together, if there was going to be any chance to keep her together as well.
"What?" I asked her, leaning in so I could hear her whispers more clearly. "We should do something…" She said, two more tears falling from her eyes and trailing down her cheeks. I looked around. None of the men left in the area was paying any attention to us at the moment. I nodded to Crystal and put my arm around her, moving the arm rest up, and pulled her close.
She muffled her sobs as I reached down and slipped my cell phone from my belt. I then pulled the blue tooth head set from my pocket and turned it on. I flipped my cell phone opened and dialed 911.
Still holding Crystal close to me, I heard a voice through the headset. "911, please state your emergency."
I swallowed suddenly and took a breath in. I let it out, with several key words. "Flight 386, men with guns, air Marshall down." Suddenly my hand began to tremble and the headset fell from my hands and slid under the seat in front of us.
I closed my eyes. "Shit." I muttered under my breath. I heard footsteps and I quickly dropped the phone on the floor and kicked it under the seat in front of us. The man stopped in front of us, glared suspiciously, before moving away. I looked up and saw him talking to several other men with guns. He glanced my way before nodding at me. The other men nodded to him.
I closed my eyes. "Crystal. I need you to stay calm."
"What?" She asked, sucking in a breath from her sobs. I looked her in the eyes. "Trust me." I said, asking her to do something no one ever has. She sniffled softly before nodded. "I do."
Suddenly I felt arms grab me and pull me up. Crystal let out a cry as she attempted to keep me in her grasp. The men kicked me to my knees. I felt cold metal touch the back of my head. "What are you up to?" The men questioned. I shook my head. "I'm just trying to console my friend."
"I don't believe you."
"I'm sorry."
"For what, pig?!"
"That you don't believe me. No one generally does. And for good reason I guess. I don't quite look my age, and some people underestimate me for that very reason." Suddenly one of the men punched me. I fell sideways, and heard a cry from Crystal, as the men pulled me back up to my knees.
"Get up, pig!"
"I have to say, that hurt." I said, wincing as I spoke. I tasted blood in my mouth. "Yeah, well, I don't like you, so get used to the pain."
"I'm sorry."
"For what, this time?"
"That you don't like me."
The men looked at each other, confused. I sighed and looked over at Crystal. Tears were flowing out now and her sobs had grown louder then before. "Crystal. I'm sorry I couldn't get to know you more."
She shook her head. "No, please…"
I looked up at the man in front of me. "I'm also sorry for this." I leaped forward suddenly, knocking the man to the ground. I saw his gun slide away. I scrambled up, trying to reach it. Suddenly a foot pushed into my back and I fell forward, still inches away from the gun. I was forced around onto my back and then a fist cruised into my face. Everything went dark.
My head was pounding and I hadn't even opened my eyes yet. I sat up and looked around. The room was dark, with a mere glow of a red light. It must be the cargo hold in the bottom of the plane. I stood up, and leaned against the wall, trying to think of what to do next.
How much time had gone by? I wasn't sure. 10 minutes or 2 hours? I gritted my teeth and cursed. I turned and walked a few steps and saw a ladder. It was short, and led to a small hatch at the top.
I climbed it and slowly opened the hatch, peering out to see if anyone was around. It was quiet. Strange, and never good in these particular situations. I opened the hatch up completely and climbed up. Turning, I closed the hatch quietly, and stood off to the side, trying to get a better view down the walk of the plane. I could see the passengers, but Crystal must have been in the other direction, because I didn't see her.
Suddenly a man walked by. One of them. He stopped in front of the doorway, but didn't notice me. Yet. I reached out and grabbed him by the throat and pulled him into the small cramped room with me. He struggled, and I smashed his head into the door frame. Hard. He went limp and I slowly lowered him to the ground. I let out a deep breath. I couldn't believe I just did that. I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. I closed my eyes, breathing slowly.
I put my hands into his pockets and pulled out a wallet. His name was Synoff David. I put his wallet into my pocket and picked up his machine gun. Further searching found that he had a 9mm side arm on his belt. I took that as well.
Clipping the holster and 9mm to my belt, I checked the ammo for the machine gun. It was full. That was good. Maybe. I secured the machine gun and peered out again. Everyone was quiet other then the occasional cough or sneeze from a random person.
I could hear footsteps of the mad men. I stepped out into the hall, and glanced behind me. It was clear in that area. I stepped in that direction, and suddenly heard a click. "Move, and you're a dead man."
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn't call me a kid. I held my hands up and nodded. "Fair enough." Suddenly I brought my foot down on his, and then rammed my left elbow into his face. He fell to the side and I heard foot steps running now. They heard the struggle.
I pulled the man to his feet, and put the machine gun to his head as more men came into the hall, aiming their guns at us. "Try anything, and your man, is dead." I hissed, taking slow steps backwards. People were gasping and murmuring as this was going down.
One of the men just sneered. "You think we need him?"
"That's the problem. I'm not sure." I smiled. "But then again even if you don't, I can kill you all with a burst from this MP5, which, by the way, was a nice choice. However, guns and a plane, don't tend to mix."
"Oh, fuck!" Suddenly one of the men fired into the man I was holding. I shoved him toward them, and a few went down. I dropped the machine gun and drew the 9mm. Aiming carefully, I fired once, hitting one of them in the head. I stared, in awe. I just made a headshot. I shook my head and fired again, missing everyone completely as I dove to the side.
I heard foot steps as the men ducked back. A shout came from the front. "Fighter Jet's are here!"
"Son of a bitch! Get the packs ready!"
I got to my feet and hit the wall and peered around the corner. A man in front of me held up his hand. I put my finger to my lips. "Shhh."
Suddenly Crystal was on the other side of the doorway. "Matt!" She hissed. I looked at her. "Miss LaBeouf. Go sit down!"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to stop them."
"You are going to get killed!"
"Better me then you."
Suddenly a bust of machine gun fire hit the wall just inches away from my face. I stuck the 9mm around the corner and fired off a shot. Stupid I know, but…
I looked at Crystal. "Go back and sit down."
She shook her head. "No."
One of the men came through the doorway. A man jumped from his seat and tackled him. The fight went on down the isle way. I peered around the corner. It was clear suddenly. I looked back at Crystal. "Go get the phone from the seat. Tell them we'll be landing soon."
She nodded and rushed down the isle as the man from his seat punched the mad man, knocking him out. I moved into the isle with the 9mm in front of me, ready to shoot any of the crazy guys. Two men ducked in front of the door way. I fired a shot into each of them. There was a whistle from behind me.
I spun around and aimed the gun at the leader, who was holding Crystal, with a gun to her head.
"Boy! You will drop your guns or I will blow her head off!"
I narrowed my eyes to slits, glaring. The man smiled at my glare. "Ooo, did I hit a nerve?"
He took a step back, pulling Crystal along with him. No one else moved. I kept the gun trained at his head, or so I hoped. "You will call your friends, and tell them to back off!"
"Or I could just shoot you."
"And I could shoot her and it's a lose, lose situation for both of us!"
"Matt…"
I shifted my eyes to Crystal. I saw one tear fall from her left eye.
It rolled down her cheek, and time slowed as it fell to the ground.
As it splattered on the ground, I pulled the trigger.
The bullet shot out of the chamber, and ejected the shell.
The bullet flew through the air, and slammed into the man's forehead, directly between the eyes, throwing him backwards onto the floor. Crystal stood there, unable to move.
Suddenly time speed up to it's normal speed and I walked over and pulled Crystal into a hug.
"You okay?" I whispered to her. She nodded slowly. "They killed the pilots. No one is flying the plane."
"What?"
I pulled out of the hug and looked at her. Then I looked at everyone else. "Who knows how to fly a plane?!"
Two men stood up. "We do."
"Come with me."
We moved to the cockpit, where the pilots were slumped over in their seats. I moved the two dead bodies aside and the men to their seats. "Alright. I need your names."
"Jackson."
"David."
"Matt. It's lovely to meet you both, however, it's under the worst of conditions. Can you fly it?"
They both nodded. "Great…" I muttered. They pulled on the radios. I nodded and turned and left the room. I walked through the plane, and found my seat next to Crystal. "We'll be on the ground shortly."
She nodded slowly and smiled happily.
I looked out the window, and saw the fighter jets pull back, only to be replaced with a small flock of birds. I smiled as they began to change formation and pull away in their own direction.
I felt a hand touch mine. I looked over at Crystal and she smiled again.
I smiled back.
Song Recommendations:
Some Hearts; Carrie Underwood (OR) Gotta Be Somebody; Nickelback - The End, during which Crystal and I are smiling at each other.
Hero; Nickelback - During the final fight scene, in which the lead bad guy is attempting to use Crystal against me.
From Below; Unreal Game Soundtrack; During the scene in which the bad guys reveal themselves.