Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 31: Crystal

"What are you doing lying down? We have to be fast here, hello!" I exclaimed. "How long was I out?" he asked. "Only a few seconds." Wilt replied. Cryptic groaned as Wilt helped him up. "But I wasn't-" Crystal cut him off. "Come on, zombie. Let's just get to the airport." I said. "What about you? I mean, this is where you live. Are you just going to leave?" Wilt asked me. "That's the thing. I couldn't find my home. There was this weird tugging thing on my hand, and"
"Okay, we can have story time later. For now, we need to focus on finding the airport. How are we supposed to find it through this blasted snow?" Cryptic said in frustration. I realized he was right. The farthest I could see in front of me was about two feet. We could never find the airport. I closed my eyes and wished the snow would stop. When I opened them, it was the same as before. We walked on.

Cryptic moaned. "Aahh!" I screamed. "What? What is it?" he asked. I didn't answer. I just couldn't shake the feeling that he was a zombie. And that moan... "So what now?" Wilt asked. Cryptic looked over at her, and she immediately looked away, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I don't know. But all this snow-" Suddenly the winds died and the snow slowed. I could finally see clearly in front of me. "Thank goodness," Cryptic said, "I was beginning to think that snow would never stop! And look," he said, pointing, "there's the airport."

It was a lot farther than it looked. We ended up walking for another hour before we actually reached it. When we entered through the front door, Wilt collapsed on the floor and absorbed the heat. "My toes! I forgot what warmth feels like." Cryptic said. "Your heart forgot what warmth feels like." I muttered. Thankfully he didn't hear me. Otherwise, I would have gotten a zombie sandwich. He walked over to Wilt who was still lying down and reached out his hand. She stared at it for a while minute before taking it and pulling herself up. Once she was standing, she pulled her hand away and stuffed it in her pocket. Was she...blushing? No. She couldn't be. Well, maybe out of embarrassment. Wilt didn't like boys, of course she was a tom boy, but she didn't like the whole mushy love thing between boys and girls. It made her sick just thinking about it. But she seemed different now. Something had changed when she was in that cave...

"Flight 302." The speaker echoed around the big room as scattered people began to stand and get their luggage. "I can't believe I'm actually going home." Wilt whispered. She squeezed my hand and we boarded the plane.

"Hello, what may you like to drink?" asked a lady in a flight attendant outfit. "Ill have a Coke." Wilt replied. The lady handed her a can of Coca-Cola. "And you?" she asked me. "Sprite, please." I answered. She smiled and gave me my favorite soda. "And for you, sir?" she asked Cryptic. "I-I-I-I'l just have water." he said with a shaky voice. She gave him a bottle of water and went off to the next row. I looked over at Cryptic. He looked clammy. His face was pale, an his knuckles had turned white because he was holding onto the armrests of his chair for so long. He had a wile look in his eyes and they darted from the floor, to the ceiling, to the window. "You're afraid of heights?" I asked. He didn't say anything. "Why would you come?" I asked. "Please...don't tell anyone" he mumbled. "Why did you come?" I repeated. "I had to take a risk, Go on an adventure. Explore the world. For half of my life I was stuck in that cave. You think just because I'm...you know, I wouldn't come? This will be the best experience I've ever had." he explained. I shrugged. "You don't know that."

And hour later, the same lady came around with packets of sunflower seeds. "Seriously? We're on a plane ride for seven hours and all we get to eat is a stupid pack of sunflower seeds?" Cryptic exclaimed. But the lady wasn't listening. She was already at the next row. Cryptic groaned and rubbed his forehead.The black ooze had stopped before we had reached the airport, but just in case it started again, we had wrapped a black bandana around his head. To everyone else, he probably looked like a weird hippie dude or a sweaty tennis player. His face turned paler and he started breathing heavily. "Zombie?" I asked. "W-what?" he asked. "Stop it...stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" I was slipping his face as I said that. "Ow! What are you doing?" he asked. "You're going into another zombie daze and then you're going to ooze black blood and try to kill us again." I said. "I'm not a stinking zombie!" he shouted. There was a dead silence. I turned around and the people behind us had a strange look on their face. I smiled sheepishly at them.

Suddenly we heard a scream. A lady ran through the aisle, shouting, "The pilot! He....he....AAAAAHHHH!" She ran to the back of the plane and hid in the bathroom. "What the-" Suddenly I heard a crash in the front of the plane followed by a moan. People started whispering as the pilot came forward. "What is he doing here? And if he's not up front, then who's driving the plane?" Wilt asked. I unbuckled my seat belt and went into the aisle. "Excuse me, but shouldn't you be up front driving the-" Everyone got thrown to the right as the plane swerved. I screamed and people came flying towards me. Then we all toppled to the front of the plane which was pointed directly at the ground. "We're going to crash!"