World Gone, Chapter 3: High Above the World

 

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.