"Falling is just like flying, except there's a more permanent destination."
The Fall
Noises and voices filled his ears, movements caused him to jerk from side to side, and smoke blurred his vision when his senses opened up. Shouts came from all around him as he sat in his seat, clenching the arm rests. Alfred's eyes stung from the smoke in the room. He closed them tightly and coughed out. The polluted air crept into his mouth and made it damn near impossible for him to breath correctly. His right arm came up to cover his mouth from the smoke. Looking around him, he could vaguely see figures running in every direction down the isle. An arm that came out of no where came to clasp his shoulder causing Alfred to glance around. The hand was firm and hard. Alfred couldn't see its owner and quite frankly didn't care. The hand pulled him out of his seat and down the isle of the plane.
That's right. The plane was crashing. Alfred could remember boarding the plane with a dumb asshole who just loved to push Alfred's buttons. They took off from Washington to fly over and down to Africa for the next World Meeting. Once they were clear from America, problems started to occur. The plane's engine was malfunctioning somewhere near Cuba. The pilots told the only two passengers not to worry. Other than Alfred it was Ivan Braginski, Russia's representative at the World Meetings. Alfred and Ivan never met eye to eye on anything. They always picked on one another and fought about every last thing on the planet. It annoyed the hell out of everyone at the meetings; neither one cared.
At first when Alfred's boss told him about the meeting and it being in Africa he was thrilled. He would fly over there and have a good time. Three days before the World Meeting was when Alfred left for his plane. They told him he would arrive in Cuba to pick up some documents and then head on over to Egypt, Africa for the meeting. When Alfred arrived on time to the airport where the private jet was placed, the news-his boss "just happen to forget"-was dropped on him. On the runway with that damned smile on his lips was Ivan Braginski. Of course Alfred pitched a fit and refused to ride in the same plane with him. Alfred's boss pulled him aside all the while Ivan grinned wider. The Boss ,who's name now escaped Alfred as he was dragged down towards the head of the plane, yelled furiously at him. He said to get on the jet and just ignore him. Do something to distract yourself from Ivan. Draw something, listen to music, play your PSP, or sleep. Boarding the plane, Alfred did just that. He fell asleep and then after a couple of hours woke up to find-well this.
Now at the head of the plane Alfred could faintly see the image of someone opening up the door to the plane. The door flew open and it revealed that the plane was heading towards open ocean. The smoke was immediately sucked out from the plane. Some of it lingered. The hand that had grasped his shoulder was now holding onto his own. The hand belonged to Ivan surprisingly. Alfred tried to pull it out of the hold but no luck there. Ivan's hold was strict and strong. It gripped harder. The man himself was staring at the open door with a frown to his face. Alfred looked too.
A man was shouting to Alfred and the other few people on the plane. Them being the stewardesses. They wore tight, red skirts with long, white sleeve shirts. A vest was neatly placed over the shirt along with a name tag addressing them. The man shouting was the co-pilot named Jerry. He was saying something about having to jump out of the plane with a parachute when the time was right. He was showing and giving instructions on how to land in the water properly. Showing which levers to pull. Alfred wasn't listening. He was too worried about having to jump. Wait. Wait. Alfred was a hero. Heroes didn't get scared and Alfred certainly wasn't going to be the first one to start the list.
"Now!" The co-pilot screamed, pointing to the parachutes,"Someone will just have to share with someone else! No one planned for this to happen. We weren't prepared for this! Good luck!" He took a quick glance out the door and shook his head. "The captain and I will stay here and try to contact people while we still can. You guys go! Don't wait for us." Everyone stood there frozen. Jerry shouted again to get everyone moving,"Go!" Tears were clearly in his eyes as the three stewardesses quickly grabbed their parachutes and strapped them on. Only one was left. It was clear either Ivan or Alfred was going to have to stay because Alfred guess neither one would want to hold onto the other as they went down.
Ivan finally turned to Alfred and let the hand go. The Russian grabbed the parachute as the three women jumped from the plane one by one. Alfred gritted his teeth. Guess he was going down with the plane. He walked over to the rack which was in front of the door and shouted at Ivan who was clicking straps together. Ivan glared at Alfred who was yelling at him,"You asshole! I hope you die on the way down! You're the biggest dick I've ever met! I-!" Alfred was cut off by Ivan shoving Alfred out the door to the plane. Ivan quickly followed behind and tried to quickly grab onto Alfred's flailing body. The man screamed as he descended downwards. Alfred had his back to the ocean and his limbs pointing upwards. Alfred's body was flying through the air at a fast pace and so was Ivan. Ivan was reaching out to Alfred in an attempt to grip onto him, but failed as the hand was not long enough.
Through tear filled eyes he could see the Russian man trying desperately to pull Alfred to him. Falling closer and closer to the water, Alfred closed his eyes and watched his life pass before his eyes. Feeling something wrap around him in an embrace, he opened his eyes and heard Ivan shout in his ear,"Hold onto me!" A Russian accent filled his ears and he obeyed. His arms wrapped around Ivan as the man himself pulled the chute. The pull of the chute was too strong for Alfred's tight grip and he fell from Ivan. Once again, he found himself falling without a chute. The last thing he heard before he crashed into the water was Ivan screaming his name.