by Brad Manuel
“Greg and Rebecca.” She said to him quietly.
“Greg and Rebecca.” He said back, pulling her towards him as they walked.
“Do you think we’ll find anyone alive over there? Will someone see our plane in Honolulu and try to come over to Kauai? Do you think anyone will be on Kauai?” Greg read the travel guides for the islands, but he did not know the islands population before the plague. What were the odds they found people or even a person?
“There should be a person alive. The population is over one million three hundred thousand. I don’t know if that means two people made it. We are going to Kauai. Its population is sixty thousand. That island should be empty, but you never know. We fly low over Honolulu, drop some flyers, make it known we are going to Kauai. I bet Peter will find a small plane he can pilot over to Pearl or something, if he wants to pick up a survivor. Antonio can take a boat.”
“Could you imagine being alone in Hawaii, literally alone like you and I were, only for almost a year, then a plane flies over your head? If it were me, I would think it was a dream.” Greg opened the front door of the coach house and let Rebecca walk through. There was a pre-made fire in the fireplace. She lit it while Greg shook out the umbrella and took off his boots. They had a solar lantern, one of the few left in town that wasn’t packed on the plane in Manchester. The fire cast enough light for the room, and Greg clicked it off.
It was cool in the room, the evening temperatures were still in the low 50’s. Rebecca kept her sweater on until the fire brought up the heat. Greg had a flannel shirt unbuttoned over his long sleeved crew neck shirt. He sat down on the couch with her. She cuddled into his arm and chest. The fire danced in front of them. They sat quietly, and relished their time together. She fell asleep on his chest, and he enjoyed her feeling against him. Greg let her sleep while he watched the fire, and worried about the flight.
54
“You’re sure this bull isn’t going to fall asleep before we get it on the plane? We aren’t going to wait for it to wake up, and I don’t think we can carry it.” Hank pulled an increasingly groggy black male steer through the Manchester Airport.
“He’ll make it, don’t worry. We need to get him on the plane though, so stop complaining and keep pulling.” Kelly was walking next to the animal, coaxing it along. Hank made it to the gate and walked down the corridor. The bull snorted, raised its head, resisted the enclosed space for a second, and moved forward.
“It’s okay big fella, you’re doing great, keep walking.” The bull slowed to a painstaking trot, but made it to the door of the plane. It pulled its head back, but was drugged enough to be led forward through the door. Hank turned the beast towards the pen in the back of the plane, and after fifteen minutes of handling, the large animal was in a chain linked fence. It blinked a few times, bent its legs to lie down on the ground, and its eyes rolled into its head. His side moved up and down as he breathed. Kelly checked its heartbeat and pulse, and gave Hank a thumbs up.
“He’s going to be out for a long time, and I mean a long time. If he opens his eyes, I’ll hit him up again, but even if he wakes up, he’ll be in a daze.”
“Let’s get the cows, the pigs, goats, and chickens.” Hank looked at Kelly. “I cannot believe I just said that, both from the standpoint of me, a non-farm type person, and because we are loading a plane to Hawaii full of farm animals.”
The cows loaded easily, as long as the first one walked the others followed. Hank put them in an area next to the sleeping bull. The pigs came in a herd to their pen. The goats and chickens were on their way down from Hanover.
With their animals loaded, Hank and Kelly sat in first class chairs, sweaty and ready for a break.
“When do we take off?” Kelly asked, exhausted.
“I asked Todd to have the water filled and hot in the RV so we could shower before the flight. I plan on sleeping as soon as we are in the air.” Hank put his hands behind his head. “Everyone should be here soon.”
Todd pulled up in the RV fifteen minutes later. He called Hank on a handheld to say he was outside of the terminal.
Todd did not want to expose the kids to the noxious smell from the parking area. He told them to hold their noses and run into the terminal once they saw Hank or Kelly spinning the large revolving door.
“They’ll come out, and you go in.” He told the ten kids with him. Bernie, Emily, and Melanie nodded in agreement.
Hank and Kelly appeared on the other side of the glass windows. They spun the door, and Emily took a big breath, picked up the sleeping bulldog laying at her feet, let Todd open the door for her, and ran the ten feet into the terminal. The children did the same. Bernie and Melanie went last.
Hank and Kelly ran from the terminal into the RV once the kids were inside with Emily.
“Shut the door!” Todd yelled. “The smell is incredible.”
“Sorry.” Hank was sweaty and panting. “It might be a little from us too. We’ve been sleeping with and moving farm animals for twelve hours.”
“Are they all set?” Todd asked.
“The bull is out, and the rest are sedated for the flight. We are good to go.” Kelly looked at Hank. “I’m going to jump in the shower if you don’t mind. I’m calling ‘girls first’ on you.”
“Please.” Hank told her, sitting down on the couch in the RV.
“You do smell.” Todd told him. “Dan is driving the other RV with the adults and animals. They were supposed to leave within ten minutes of me.”
“All going as planned? Any problems?” Hank had been at the farm with Kelly.
“We are amazingly problem free. I was sad leaving Hanover, but we’re all excited for the journey. It’s time to start our lives.” Todd looked towards the terminal. “I better get in there to see if Emily needs any help. Did you get breakfast?”
“Not really.” Hank admitted. “I was planning on chips and cookies on the plane.”
Todd gave him a wink. “You think I’d let my brother go out like that? We had steak and eggs this morning. I saved you and Kelly some steak, the last of the moose, sliced it with some fresh mozzarella and basil mayonnaise on a baguette I made last night.” He pointed to the oven. “I hid it in there so no one would find it before you two got to eat.”
“I love you, man. I really do. I think I might cry.” Hank walked to the oven and claimed his prize, biting into his half of the sandwich as soon as he exposed an end from the plastic bag.
“Don’t forget there is a piece for Kelly. It’s not all for you.” Todd waited for Hank to nod. “Okay, I’ll see you in a few.” Todd took a breath, opened the door, and ran for the terminal.
“What’s for me?” Kelly asked, coming out of the master bedroom in a senior citizen style sweat suit for the flight.
Hank held up her half of the sandwich. No words were exchanged, she accepted the food and began to eat. They were ravenous. After a few bites and swallows Kelly managed a “oh my god this is so damn good.” Hank nodded. He was slowing down, his belly full for the first time since he awoke five hours earlier.
“I’ll be in the shower, out in a minute.” He said getting up from his seat.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it feels as great as this sandwich tastes.” Kelly ran a brush through her hair with one hand and held the sandwich in the other.
She was right. Hank washed the grime from his body, and enjoyed a minute of happiness in the warm water. He turned off the shower, dried himself with a towel, and put on his own senior leisure suit. When he emerged into the main part of the RV, Kelly was gone. Hank ate the last bites of his sandwich as the other RV pulled up behind him. He took a gulp of water from a bottle on the table, and ran into the terminal.
Hank did not go to the plane. He waited for the people to come out of the RV. Peter ran into the airport first. He said hello, and made his way down to the plane for his pre-flight systems check. One by one the people came out of the RV and into the terminal.
John, a bandana wrapped around his nose and
mouth, opened the animal trailer, and led the goats into the terminal.
Solange, also sporting a bandana, ran to the animal trailer and grabbed two cages of chickens. She handed a cage to Avery.
“It’s not as bad as I remember.” John said to Hank as he waited with the three goats. “But it’s still pretty damn bad. There are ten chicken cages. Everyone needs to grab one.” John grasped Solange’s empty hand, and they walked towards the ramp leading the goats.
Hank, Paul, Dan, and Ahmed took turns running out to the trailer for chicken cages. Once inside, they handed the cages to a waiting person. Dan came back with the last cage.
“That’s it.” He said, gasping from holding his breath. “It’s empty.”
The chickens beat their wings against the cages. The rooster crowed. Paul looked at his brother, Hank. “Nice sweat suit grandpa.”
“I bet I can sell this to you in six hours. Comfort is key on a long flight.” He showed off his moccasin slippers.
“I have a set on the plane. I’m making fun of you while I can.” Paul picked up a chicken cage and walked towards the plane. Hank fell in step next to him. “We’ve come a long way from me finding you in a hole.”
“We have.” Hank put his free arm around him. “I know we aren’t there yet, but.” There was a tear in his eye. “I feel like we made it, Paul. We made it through this whole damn mess.”
“From a hole in Ohio, to a snowy bed and breakfast in Vermont, we made our way onto a plane bound for Hawaii.” Paul shared his brother’s sentiment. “The ticket price was too damn high, but we made it.”
Dan walked behind them, chicken cages held out to his sides in each hand.
“We’re going to get a ticket leaving those RV’s in the fire lane.” Ahmed said to the men.
“I can get you out of most tickets in New England.” Dan replied over his shoulder. “I’m pretty popular with law enforcement.”
They walked up stairs to their gait at the end of the terminal.
“I swear, I’m always the last gate.” Dan shook his head in mock anger.
“Could be worse, we could be in Minneapolis or Atlanta.” Paul responded. “Honestly, Dan, when was the last time you were in the public side of an airport?”
“It’s been a while. I remember them being more crowded, and the security being tighter.” He smiled at his own joke.
They arrived to a plane full of noisy children, adults, and animals.
Peter greeted them, escorting Dan and Paul towards the back. “Hand the chickens to Avery and Matt. I want to show you my plan for the flyers.”
The adults were in first class. The children occupied business class, and the animals crowed, oinked, bayed, and mooed in coach. Peter walked through a door to the cargo area and stopped when he reached a door handle in the floor.
“See this?” Peter twisted the handle and opened the trap door. Light from the outside glowed from below. “This is the access panel to the landing gear, which is down, obviously. You can see the outside at the bottom of the wheel well. When we’re in flight, the wheels will tuck in here.” Peter pointed towards the stacks of printed paper in piles next to the trap door. “When the wheels are up, put fliers in here, not too many, but you know, a couple of thousand or so. It’s going to be very cold in this cargo hold when we reach cruising altitude, but you’ll manage. I’ll drop the landing gear over the cities, the papers will drop, rinse and repeat, easy peasy.”
“And we know it will work?” Hank asked.
“No, but it’s the only option. I give it a 90% chance of success. Do I think all the flyers will go out? No. Will most of them? Yes. I have no idea what the coverage will be. Chicago is a big place. People could be on the North Shore, the Southside, or any of the suburbs around the city. We have a very small shot of landing flyers on people. We do a pass, we drop the flyers, hope the sound of a plane alerts people, they find the instructions, it’s all we can do.” Peter shut the door and twisted the handle. “Any of you want to try it?”
They each took turns opening the door and shutting it. Thick winter gloves and hats sat in a pile next to the door along with several noise suppression headphones.
“You think Chicago is big, what is our plan for the other places? Houston? Dallas? San Antonio? Los Angeles is massive.” Dan shook his head. “Needle in a haystack to find people.”
“We give it a try because it’s the right thing.” Hank gave Dan’s arm a pat. “As Peter says, it’s all we can do.”
The men stood in the cargo hold. “Are you ready, Ahmed? Let’s get this show on the road. The rest of you? Seat belts on and seats in their full and upright positions.”
“Yes sir.” Paul told him, falling in line behind Ahmed.
Antonio backed the accordion gate away from the plane door before jumping the two foot gap to get back on the plane. He gave his ever present cocky smile after landing the jump.
“Never in doubt.” He said.
“Next time, wait for one of us to be by the door to catch you.” John told the young man. “We can’t afford to lose you.”
“Next time?” Solange asked him.
“Yeah, next time he’s jumping from a ramp onto a 777 bound for Lihue.” John replied sarcastically. “You know what I mean.”
Antonio shut the door and locked it into place. “The trick is going to be getting off this thing on the other end.” He said.
“Emergency slide.” John told him. “You get to push the cows.”
“Emergency slide.” Antonio said back, realization in his voice. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“Stick with us, Tony. We’ve got your back.” John joked as Antonio walked into the cockpit.
There were four seats in the cockpit. Peter motioned Antonio to the other front seat. Ahmed sat behind Antonio. Ahmed had not trained with Peter, but his previous experience as an investment banker, a job with extreme hours and pressure, made him a nice third person in the cockpit.
“I guess it’s time to leave.” Peter said to them. He pressed the button to start the plane.
Cheers erupted from the cabin.
“Next stop, Lihue, Kauai.” He backed the plane away from the terminal and started towards the runway.
Peter picked up the intercom, “We are currently first in line for takeoff. Please secure any farm animals that may be loose among the cabin, and get a good hold of your dog. We should be off the ground shortly.” He set the intercom down and drove to the end of the runway, turning the plane at the top of the strip, and directing it into takeoff position.
Peter undid his buckle and got out of his seat. “Come on.” He said to Ahmed and Antonio as he walked to the first class cabin.
“This is it.” Peter said loudly, addressing the group with purpose in his voice. “I’m not saying we can’t change our minds and land back here, because we can, but this is it. Once we hit water, or maybe even when we drop our first set of flyers, we’re committed.” He clapped his hands together. “Is this our final unanimous decision?”
The plane was quiet. Emily, sitting in the second row aisle with Jay in the window seat on one side and Brian across the aisle on the other, was the only one to reply. “Let’s go to Hawaii and restart our lives, Peter.”
The old man nodded with finality, and said. “Okay, let’s do it. Come on guys.” He directed Antonio and Ahmed back into the cockpit. They sat down in their seats, and Peter revved the engines.
Without fanfare or another announcement, Peter pushed the controls forward and the plane sped down the runway. Peter adjusted the flaps. The front wheels came off the ground, the back wheels lifted, and they cleared the trees at the end of the runway by several hundred feet. They were in flight and headed west.
Dan leaned towards Brian. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
“Flying is boring. You have to sit in your seat the whole time, and my mom told me this flight is for like two days.” Brian crossed his arms, lamenting the next twelve to fourteen hours.
“We’ll figure out how to make i
t fun. Don’t worry.” Dan assured him. “We hooked the gaming gear up to the big television in business class, and we can run movies back there. You kids can have your run of that section.”
“Can I go now?” Brian’s arms uncrossed.
“Let’s give it a few minutes.” Todd told him. “You have a long time to have fun.”
“I know we are free to do what we want.” Peter crackled over the intercom. “But stay buckled for a few minutes while I get up to the correct altitude. It can be bumpy at these lower levels. Dan, if you want to load the flyers while that room isn’t cold, you can get up, but everyone else should stay seated for a few minutes.” The intercom clicked off.
Peter put the microphone down. “This is going to be an adventure, fellas. I don’t have a weather report. For all we know, we could be running into a huge tropical storm in Hawaii, or a spring storm in any of our cities. We’ll play it by ear.” Peter settled into his chair. He had flown for over fifty years, and never lost the thrill and love of being in the air. It was in his blood. He knew this was close to his last flight, and he soaked in every minute.
“Do you need me to stay up here?” Antonio enjoyed the takeoff, but was more interested in seeing a movie or gaming in the back of the plane.
“No.” Peter told him. “If Ahmed will stay, I should be good. I’ll call you if I need a break or the rest room.”
Antonio jumped up and went in the back. “If you can get another person to sit up here, you can take breaks.” Peter told Ahmed. “I just want someone with me to make sure I don’t fall asleep.”
“The computer is flying us, right?” Ahmed scanned the controls.
“Yep, but I don’t want to risk not having two people up here.”
“Well then, what do you want to talk about?” Ahmed asked, his aviator sunglasses reflecting the blue sky and clouds.