Hello, kiddies, and welcome to Chapter Three of "World Gone". This chapter was finished a couple weeks ago, but I needed to change some things, and make some edits. I think you'll learn here that this "event" has happened on a much more massive level than just a small town in Iowa. Chapter four is also pretty much done, as is Chapter five. After that, and I guess you're waiting on me to finish the writing. Still, I hope you'll like what you read. And if you do read it... thank you.
 |
| These are not people from my story, but they are falling... aren't they? |
Chapter 3: High Above the World
As the airplane soared higher into the sky, leaving the
Omaha airport and the worries of the world below, the angry businessman
couldn't help but feel a strange mix of emotions. His journey to Southern
California had begun, and with it, the anticipation of a weekend filled with
excitement and adventure. Yet, beneath the surface, a nagging unease tugged at
his thoughts.
The cabin of the plane buzzed with the low hum of engines,
and the passengers settled into their seats, each lost in their own world. The
businessman couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss, something
deeper than his usual undercurrent of anger.
He glanced around the aircraft, his gaze moving from one
passenger to another. They were all in various stages of comfort, some reading
books or watching in-flight movies, others engaged in hushed conversations. It
struck him how diverse the world could be, even within the confines of this
aluminum tube hurtling through the sky.
With a sigh, he stretched his legs out and yawned. The
stress of preparing for this trip had left him feeling drained, and sleep
seemed like an attractive escape from his turbulent thoughts. As he reclined
his seat, he noticed a speck of lint clinging to the impeccable fabric of his
expensive suit. He pinched it between his fingers, rolling it into a tiny ball
before flicking it away.
The absurdity of his obsession with material possessions
wasn't lost on him. He knew he spent too much on frivolous things (suits,
watches, luxury cars) all in the pursuit of an image he thought he needed to
project. The man he had become was a far cry from the young boy who had grown
up dreaming of freedom and adventure. The boy that once clung to each page of
Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer", thinking he would have liked to have been
friends with that young scamp.
As the airplane continued its ascent, the familiar sensation
of weightlessness washed over him. He had logged countless hours in the air,
and the novelty of flying had long since worn off. Being this high up, with
nothing but clouds and open sky below, had become second nature. It was a
reminder of the relentless pace of his life, always moving, always striving for
more.
Somewhere behind him, a baby began to cry, a piercing wail
that cut through the ambient noise of the cabin. "Figures," he
muttered to himself, his irritation surfacing. He had never been fond of
infants, and being on a plane with a crying baby was a particular torment. It
was akin to being in hell, and having to have a long conversation with Rush
Limbaugh.
The parents, undoubtedly frazzled by their child's distress,
did little to soothe the baby's cries. Their indifference only added to his
growing frustration. He didn't like kids, had never liked them. Even when he
was a child himself, he hadn't liked who he was back then.
But as he settled back in his seat, determined to get some
much-needed rest, the baby's cries served as a stark contrast to the turmoil
churning within him. His thoughts circled back to the upcoming weekend in
Southern California, where he hoped to leave behind the burdens of his daily
life and fulfill a longing that had gnawed at him for years.
For all his material success and outward confidence, there
was a lingering insecurity he couldn't escape; a sense of inadequacy that had
haunted him for far too long. At 25 years old, he was still a virgin, an
uncomfortable fact that gnawed at his self-esteem. He couldn't help but equate
his sexual inexperience with a failure to achieve a fundamental aspect of
adulthood.
The pursuit of wealth and success had consumed him, leaving
little room for personal growth or self-discovery. But the prospect of an
adventure in Southern California, with a woman he had never met but had
communicated with online, had finally pushed him out of his comfort zone.
He yearned for this weekend to be the beginning of a new
chapter in his life, a chance to shed the anger and frustration that had
defined him for so long. The image of the sexy blonde he was to meet filled his
mind, her allure symbolizing a world of possibilities beyond the confines of
his past.
As he closed his eyes and drifted into slumber, the rumble
of the airplane's engines became a soothing lullaby. He hoped that when he
awoke, the journey would have transformed him, and he would finally embrace the
man he had always wanted to be; a man unburdened by anger, free to explore the
world and the mysteries of life.
In the fleeting moments before his consciousness surrendered
to sleep, the angry businessman had drifted into a dreamless slumber. The hum
of the plane's engines had cocooned him in a reassuring embrace, and he had let
go of the tensions that had gripped him. But his peaceful reprieve was
short-lived.
Abruptly, he was wrenched awake by a violent jolt, his body
convulsing as if the earth itself had cracked open beneath him. Panic surged
through his veins, a cold shock that pierced the grogginess of his mind. It was
as if the airplane had just melted into nothingness, and left him and his
fellow passengers plummeting to the ground below.
Around him, the once-tranquil cabin had transformed into a
cacophony of chaos. Passengers screamed in sheer terror, their faces contorted
with fear as they too hurtled towards an unknown fate. The businessman's
thoughts raced, unable to grasp the horrifying reality unfolding before him.
The businessman's heart pounded in his chest as he plummeted
through the open sky, his mind spinning in a whirlwind of panic and confusion.
The world around him was a chaotic blur of screaming passengers, their faces
contorted with terror, and the terrifying sensation of free fall.
"What in the hell happened?" he thought,
desperately trying to make sense of the horrifying predicament. He craned his
neck to look above him, only to be met with a sight that defied all reason. The
airplane, the very vessel that had carried them moments ago, had vanished into
thin air. It was as if it had never existed at all.
"Help my baby!" a woman's anguished cry pierced
through the cacophony of chaos. She flailed about in a panic, clutching a
bundle in her arms. Her terror mirrored the emotions coursing through the
businessman's veins as he continued to plummet alongside his fellow passengers.
All logical thought vanished from his mind, replaced by an
overwhelming sense of dread and disbelief. He screamed, not in anger as he was
so accustomed to doing, but in sheer terror, his voice joining the chorus of
cries echoing through the blue sky all around them.
As the ground rushed up to meet them, the businessman braced
for the inevitable impact, his heart pounding in his chest. The descent had
been swift and merciless, and the realization that he was hurtling towards his
own demise gripped him with a paralyzing fear. But amidst all of this, what
really horrified him was that there should have been roads, and homes, and
civilization below him. Instead, there were only people. Hundreds of people,
all of them naked.
But in the surreal blink of an eye, the fall came to an
abrupt end. He crashed into a small, naked man, with a sickening thud. The
impact was instantaneous, and the two of them lay lifeless on the featureless
ground. For the businessman, sleep had come in the form of an eternal slumber
from which he would never awaken.
Around him, more bodies fell, and each met with the same
grisly fate as they collided with the ground. It was a horrifying scene, a
nightmare that defied all explanation. The survivors who had been passengers on
the ill-fated flight were now nothing more than lifeless forms, scattered
across the desolate landscape.
Amidst the chaos, the dead bodies remained undisturbed, a
haunting tableau of tragedy frozen in time. But beyond this gruesome sight, the
land stretched out, empty and barren. Every trace of civilization had vanished,
as if it had never existed. The houses, the businesses, the cars, the roads—all
were gone, leaving behind an eerie emptiness that sent shivers down the spines
of those who remained. The existence of humanity only in evidence by the people
themselves, and not their numerous luxuries, commodities, and belongings. All
that they had made was gone.
If not for the bewildered survivors, the land would have
returned to nature, as if humanity had never left a mark. But the people who
now stood in horrified silence were a testament to the existence of another
reality, a reality that had inexplicably ended, and began anew as something
that no longer held any creature comforts.
Questions swirled through their minds, but answers remained
elusive. How had they arrived in this alternate reality? What had caused
everything man made to disappear so totally, and so suddenly? And most
importantly, was there any hope of returning to the world they had known?
As they stood on the precipice of the unknown, the survivors
grappled with the incomprehensible. Their journey had taken an unimaginable
turn, one that defied reason and explanation. In this new world, they would
need to find the strength to confront the terrifying unknown and unravel the
mysteries that lay ahead.
