Chapter 5
Nate brought the plane up, easing a little bit of Shatner's pain, while replacing it with another. Pandora busied himself cleaning up the stuff that had fallen during the take off, and he was perfectly happy staring out the window. After a little bit, Nate smiled and eased up, smiling.
"Hey, scared of heights?" asked Nate.
"No," said Shatner, hesitantly, "I'm actually very comfortable right now, as far as heights go. I enjoy this a lot. What I have a problem with is… you flying this. I am so SCARED right now."
"Don't worry," said Nate, "This is going FINE! This is a lot easier then I thought."
"Please don't say that," said Shatner, "Ever… again…"
"Uh-huh," said Nate, shrugging, "Alright, well… won't be long now."
"What?" said Shatner, "We're in a rust bucket. It's a 11-12 hour flight, MAYBE, with Jet Planes. We're going to be flying for awhile."
"Oh…" said Nate, thinking to himself.
They flew in silence for a little bit, Nate watching the clouds and Shatner keeping an eye on all the instruments. After about an hour or so, they decided that shifts would be very important, and so would normal travel, rules. Pandora was excited for the idea of Shifts, but Nate and Shatner made it clear his would be very short, and supervised.
Not long after, they settle down, overlooking the ocean. Pandora was in the copilot's seat, Nate was still flying, Shatner sat on the floor of the Cabin, overlooking maps and his compass.
"I Spy… with my little eye…" said Pandora.
"Boat," said Nate, pointing as a sinking abandoned yacht miles below.
Pandora snapped his fingers, looking at Nate, "It's like you KNOW."
"Well, you used water last time, three skies, a few clouds… and you haven't been smart enough to use anything INSIDE the plane yet," said Nate, yawning and stretching out a little bit.
"Oh…" said Pandora, examining all the gauges in the planes, "Inside… the plane."
"What does that compass on the dash say," said Shatner, finally, "Where are we going."
"Umm…" said Nate, looking around, then he smiled and said, "R, for right direction."
"That's not a direction," said Shatner, "R? Are you even looking at the right thing? Have we been going nowhere forever!"
Shatner rose from his spot, and looked at the dash, scanning it for the compass.
"Umm… Nate, Half these gauges don't seem to be working at all," said Shatner, looking around.
"That's no good," said Nate.
Shatner's eyes rose a little, then back at the gauges before shooting back out the front window.
"Uh… guys," said Shatner, slowly pointing out of the window, "Aren't you a little worried about… that."
Nate peered out the window as well and rubbed his chin. Outside dark clouds had moved in, and the sea below began to get rougher. Nate looked at Shatner, and shrugged his arms.
"It's a storm, that's bad," said Nate.
In a few second, several things happened. A bolt of lighting lit up the sky, and thunder shook the cabin. Shatner pushed Pandora out of the copilot's seat, and he sat down and strapped in. Pandora sprinted into the back, strapping into one of the many seats that were there.
"What are we going to do?" said Shatner, eyeing the gauges.
"Uhm… Fly through it?" asked Nate, shrugging his arms a little bit.
"Fly through it?" yelled Shatner.
"I am not smart enough to come up with anything else," said Nate, "In the pot, Five-By-Five!"
"I don't think that's the actual catchphrase…" said Shatner, but he was cut short as rain began hitting the window outside.
Nate grasped the joystick, and prepped his feet by the pedals. In another few minutes, a full scale storm was around them, rain, wind, and lightning all around them. Nate threw on the headset, and turned on the radio.
"Africa, Africa, this is… uhh…." Nate looked at Shatner, "What are we?"
"Dead!" shouted Shatner, "We're dead, this was such a bad idea, I hate you… I hate YOU!"
"This is Delta-Echo-Alpha-Delta, we are in distress, I repeat, we are in distress! Is anyone out there!"
"Dumbass!" yelled Shatner.
The plane shook, and Nate fought to control it. Shatner grasped the dash, looking around.
"You need to stabilize it," said Shatner.
"Don't backseat fly, dude," yelled Nate.
"Like YOU know what to do anyway?" fought Shatner.
"I'm going to be SICK!" yelled Pandora from the back of the plane.
"Stay on target," said Nate.
"Can you stop that," said Shatner, "Focus please!"
"Stay on Tar-get!" said Nate, a little louder.
"Focus!" said Shatner.
The plane shook again, and the right engine gave out, and the plane began to dive a little.
"Damn! We lost an engine!" yelled Shatner.
"Africa, Africa, this is Delta Echo…. UGH! This is US! May-day, may-day!"
"Oh, you've killed us, Flint, you've killed US! I hate you," yelled Shatner, "I'm gonna DIE!"
"I'm too young to DIE!" yelled Pandora from the back.
"Oh, stop being a baby," said Nate, "I can save this, It's just like Bioshock, As long as…"
BOOM, the second engine was hit by lightning and it exploded, bursting into flames. Nate swore under his breath and stared out the front window.
"Ok, now this is bad," said Nate, and he got back on the radio, "Mayday, mayday, mayday!"
"That doesn't even WORK!" yelled Shatner.
"At least I'm trying!" yelled Nate, "What the hell are YOU doing?"
"I am getting so SICK of this crap," yelled Shatner.
"Well… SOR-RY!" yelled Nate.
They were going to argue more, but a tree limb scraped the bottom of the plane, reminding them of where they were. Nate pulled up, hard, and Shatner tried to help. It was so dark; Nate never saw the ground as the plane slammed into wet dirt.
Nate heard the crackling of fire, and he awoke, morning dew on his face. He was soaked, form head to toe, and really cold because of it. He looked around, and his neck popped and cracked as he did. Wincing in pain, he rose from where he lay and had a look around.
Debris and fresh dirt was kicked around everywhere. The majority of the plane sat on the ground, next to a long, long trench dug out of the ground from the crash. One of the wings were still intact, but it burned very slightly. The other seemed to have exploded on impact. Nate stretched and looked around, surveying were they seemed to be.
They appeared to have gotten lucky. Hit some trees on the way in but landed in a field of some sort. Nate could spot a road not far off, and a lot of road signs to go with it. Nate could hear tapping of some sort, and he looked around the crash site. He couldn't quite understand what he was looking for, but he found his rifle, his goggles, undamaged…
THE OTHERS!
Nate immediately relooked around the area, scanning for any signs of the others, and then he homed in on the source of the tapping. He ran up to the damaged plane, and tugged on the plane's opening hatch. It only broke open a little bit, cracking and revealing cries of help on the inside.
"Hey," yelled Nate, "You alright in there?"
"Oh my god," yelled Pandora from inside, "I thought you had died. What the hell happened?"
"We landed, duh," said Nate, "How did you sleep?"
"I don't know how to open this door," said Pandora, "I think it's stuck."
Nate looked around, and then noticed a giant metal bar not far off. He ran over and grabbed it, then ran back. He slammed it into the door, then pulled on it, slowly prying the door open. It wasn't long and the door gave way, popping off the hinges and hitting the ground.
Pandora stumbled out, taking a huge wiff of fresh air and and spread out on the ground. Nate ducked in, looking at the crew quarters.
"Is Shatner in there?" asked Nate.
"I don't know, he's not with you?" asked Pandora.
"Damn," said Nate, checking inside the plane again, "Wait, he was in the cabin."
Nate ran into the plane, moving some of their supplies around and made his way to the cabin door. It had been closed, and sealed. He rubbed his head, and then began to tug at it. Slowly, it opened, the rust was evident in it. But soon, he pulled it back enough to look inside.
"Hello?" said Nate, grapping the magnum at his side, "Is anyone still alive in there?"
"What's with the pistol?" asked Pandora from the plane's door.
"He could've died," whispered Nate, cautiously looking back at Pandora.
"So?" said Pandora, 'What's the gun for?"
"If he's been Zombified," said Nate, "There's no way I'm taking a chance."
"What the hell," exclaimed Pandora.
"one second you're like, 'hey, he made it' next second… WAMMO!" exclaimed Nate, "You just became a McDouble extra cheese!"
"That is so stupid," said Pandora.
"Fine, McChicken," said Nate, "Stay back there, but when ZombiePossum rises again, I' going to let him eat you, then shoot you BOTH in the head."
"Oh my God…." Said Pandora, turning away, "If you shoot dead Shatner in the head…"
"It's precautionary measure, kid," said Nate, "Quick, find your rifle and get our things, I'm going in."
Nate shoved the last few inches of the door aside and slowly walked in, gun pointed at the copilot's seat. There was still a body there, and it wasn't moving.
"Ew," said Nate, and he slowly came forward.
"Shatner," Nate whispered, then he shook his head, "How Shatner, I knew you well… you were a nice person, full of love and joy for your colony and so helpful many times."
"Mhmm…" came a sound from the body.
"You were also very handy for carrying the extra things, because I couldn't do it without you," continued Nate, "But most importantly, you were a kill-joy, a very big killjoy. And I believe this trip will be a lot happier now because of this. Well… at least after a time of mourning."
"What?" said Shatner, rising from his seat a little bit.
"And I know you never really truly believed in this mission, but I know that I didn't care, and I'm glad you came along when you did…"
"What the hell," said Shatner, turning around, "Are you stupid?"
"OH MY GOD!" yelled Nate, jumping back and rising up his pistol, "ZOMBIE!"
"NO! NO!" yelled Shatner, also jumping back, "Don't shoot you idiot!"
"Oh, you're alive," said Nate, lowering his gun, "I'm so glad."
"Shut the hell up," said Shatner, "I hate you. My leg is stuck, get me out of HERE!"
"Fine," said Nate.
"Killjoy? You… UGH!" said Shatner, rubbing his head, and finding a bloody part of his head, "Oh my God…. I could have a concussion."
"You could have a bullet…" said Nate, holstering his pistol and stepping forward to help Shatner out.
After getting Shatner out, Shatner stumbled outside into the sunlight, and looked around. It was maybe early morning the next day.
"Dang," said Shatner.
"Yeah, I know, what a good landing job, right?" said Nate, "You know, for crashing and all…"
"Where are we?" said Shatner.
"Here," answered Nate, looking around.
"No, where!" said Shatner again.
"Africa, I would assume," said Nate.
"Well, go over to those road signs, they might give us an idea of where we are," said Shatner, pointing towards the road, "Nate, you go check the signs. Pandora and I will salvage what we can from the plane."
"I can't read African," said Nate.
"African's not a language," said Shatner, "But, how they are written, the type of alphabet, even the NAME can help us find out where we are. Now GO!"
"Fine," said Nate, "But I don't read African."
"No such thing as the 'African' language," yelled Shatner after him.
Shatner and Pandora spent many minutes gathering some of the baggage that made it out unscathed, and a few of the weapons, before they heard Nate yelling from the road area.
"Shatner, SHATNER," yelled Nate, over and over again.
Shatner looked at Pandora, and then ran towards the road, spotting Nate pointing at a sign.
"I can totally read African!" yelled Nate, finally, "We're SAVED! I didn't even know I could but I can."
"What?" asked Shatner, getting closer and viewing the sign.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. You can't read African," said Nate, looking at the sign, "It reads… 'Birmingham… 4…. 'Kilos', not fully sure what that means, but I'm sure it's a word for miles."
"You idiot," said Shatner, shaking his head, "That's in English, that's not another language. And Kilometers is a type of measurement."
"You're just jealous because I can read African," said Nate, again.
"There's no such thing as 'African'!" yelled Shatner, "What the HECK!"
"Is too," said Nate, crossing his arms.
"You child," said Shatner, taking out the phone from earlier and turning it on, "But this is still good, it'll tell us where we're going, where we are."
Shatner rang up the phone, and waited a second or two. On the other end, a familiar voice answered.
"Hello? Pizza Palace, can I take your order?"
"Zurom, its Shatner," said Shatner, holding a finger up to one of his ears, "We need some help. We've… had some problems and now we're lost."
"Ah, how is that whole… thing going?" asked Zurom.
"Bad, we're lost," said Shatner, "Look, can you just tell us where Birmingham is? A Birmingham is. Their signs are in English but read metric, maybe that'll help."
"Sure, I'll do a search. Hold on," replied Zurom, who cut off from the phone for a moment.
"Can he see us," said Nate, staring into the sky, "With satellites and all that."
"No," said Shatner, then he thought about and said, "Probably not."
"Weird," Pandora mumbled, also beginning to stare off into the sky.
"Ok, guys, here's the deal," said Shatner, turning around and facing the other two, "Wherever this 'Birmingham' is it's bound to have some supplies and maybe a vehicle we can use, ok? So, we'll gather our things and we'll make our way for it there, alright?"
"Sounds good!" said Nate, stretching out the vowels.
"We going to walk?" asked Pandora.
Shatner ignored Pandora's questioned and continued onward, "Ok, but since this is somewhere new, and we're heading towards some sort of residential area, we have to begin dealing with the possibility that we may encounter more people, new people. People who we may not want to meet."
"I hate people," said Nate, under his breath.
"Isn't that the point of our trip?" asked Pandora.
"The point of our trip IS to find people in Africa," said Nate, raising an eyebrow at Shatner.
"This is NOT AFRICA," yelled Shatner, again, "And our point is to find the AMERICANS in Africa, not just anybody at all ever. Remember, it's been a while since many of these people have seen ANYONE new. They're going to be a little hostile at first, but what I'm worried about are raiders or bandits or any stray form of Government that may still hold a major grudge against us."
"Africans…" said Nate, under his breath, "So we'll shoot first, ask questions later."
"No," said Shatner, "I just want us to lie low, get in, look for some supplies, get out. We'll be on our way in no time."
"Fine, I'm game," said Nate, nodding his head.
"Cool," said Pandora, showing his agreement as well.
"Let's go get our stuff," said Shatner, beginning to head back to the plane.
"Shatnerpossum, come in, this is Zurom," Zurom's voice rang through the phone.
"Find us?" said Shatner.
"Yeah, I found you. There's only one that really, truly, makes sense and if I were you I'd hope this was right. I tracked you down in Birmingham, England. Kinda a big city, you could say. It was hit during the war but should still be standing."
"England, ok," said Shatner, glaring at Nate and rolling his eyes, "Well, at least we hit SOMETHING."
"Did you crash? What were you doing?" asked Zurom.
"Nothing, forget it," said Shatner, "Thank you. I'm out."
"Oh yeah," said Nate, checking his rifle, "Shoot first, ask questions later."
"Why?" asked Pandora.
"Brits…" said Nate, shaking his head, "All I'm going to say… Brits…"