Numbered

Chapter 10 - Crash

"Where are we going this time?" Zeke asked in an exasperated tone for what must have been the tenth time.

"You'll see," Jake calmly responded.

Zeke let out a noise that was a cross between a groan and a growl. To say he was irritated would be an understatement. He was angry, borderline pissed. It had been an average morning: waking up, taking a shower, all that jazz. When they were going for breakfast, Jake invited Angelica to come along, though he was unsure why he did or even why she agreed to the invitation. They had gone to the Sunny Side Cafe for breakfast, then went sightseeing and shopping until lunch. After lunch is when everything went south. They had just stepped outside the restaurant when they were blindfolded. Well, he and Angelica that is. The only way he knew she had been blindfolded is because she had let out a gasp of shock. He had felt Jake grab his hand and pull him along to God knows where. Both he and Angelica had asked what was going on. Jake's response struck worry and a little fear into his heart: It's a surprise.

Since they did not have a car, nor did they feel like renting one, their choice of transportation was walking. It was kind of cool, in a weird kind of way, how the other senses were heightened when one was removed. He could feel when they were traveling up or down a hilly street. Hearing cars were not unusual, but hearing the occasional bird chirp was. It was amazing how anything could be heard over the zooming vehicles. They had a passed a few restaurants; one was Chinese, another was French, and he thought he smelt Italian. A few times they had been stopped and Jake was asked what he was doing with him and Angelica. Of course, they were sent on their way when the interrogator was told it was a surprise for them. He was beginning to hate the word, yet there was a certain appeal to it which prevented him from completely crossing that bridge.

Thinking of surprises, what did Jake have in store for them this time? Last time he mentioned the word, they had been attacked by a cannibal, vomited at the sight of rotting corpses, and been shot in the leg. They stopped again, but rather than hearing voices, a piercing metal sound met his hears. Zeke felt the air become colder as he was led forward, only to be stopped once more, followed by that metal sound, except this time it echoed. The sounds of their steps bounced off the walls as they proceeded further into the building. Curiosity and impatience finally got the better of him and he reached up to remove the blindfold. Almost instantly, his hands were smacked away and a tsking sound came from Jake. He smiled as he imagined his friend wagging a finger at him like he was some bad puppy.

A door was opened, emitting a loud creaking sound. He rolled his eyes as he felt Jake cringe from the sound. It suddenly became apparent that the three of them were not allowed to be here. He was curious, though, as to why nobody had stopped them yet. The door was closed and he was led up a long flight of stairs, after which another door was opened. Moving farther into the new room, he was shoved backward and he landed in a leather seat. He heard a grunt of Angelica as she hit her chair. Once again, Zeke attempted to remove the blindfold and was surprised when he was met with no resistance. He squeezed his eyes shut after the removing it, shocked at how much light shone into the room. Given that they were inside, he figured it would have been darker. Slowly, he reopened them, finding it easier to do it one at a time.

As he looked around, his mouth dropped open, his face clearly appalled at their location. He jumped out of the seat and ran over to the window, taking in the beautiful sight. It was pretty much open land with a few large buildings, but from his height above the ground, anything could look magnificent. There was a really wide and long asphalt strip, yet it was not for cars. On the edges of the strip, little red lights were stationed, though they were not blinking. Thinking back, he probably should have realized where they were, but he had been too concentrated on everything else to contemplate on the matter of location. Suddenly, the runway lights were blinking, signaling that a plane was near and would be landing soon. Glancing to his right, he just managed to see Jake's hand falling back to his side.