Snippet Saturday: Zombies on a Plane an excerpt from 'Impractical Encounter'

As they called for general boarding, Billie turned to Randy. “I don't think I can do this. I haven't even got on the plane, and I think I'm going to barf.”

“Deep breaths, honey. Deep breaths.”

They fell in line, shuffling behind an elderly couple. Randy checked the seat numbers for the umpteenth time. When they finally reached the inside of the plane Randy shook his head at the realization that one of them had to sit by the window.

He stopped at their row number. “Do you want me to sit by the window, or do you want to sit in the middle?”

“Ugh, you're kidding, right?” Billie asked. “Um, you take the window. Maybe shut it so I won't be tempted to look out to see how high we are.”

“Okay,” Randy said and shimmied past the man sitting in the first seat.

Billie glanced around. “Does this bag look small enough to put under the seat to you?”

“Uh, maybe?” Randy replied.

The man glanced up from a book he was reading and looked at Billie and her bag. “Yeah, that'll fit. Now sit down, the people behind you will turn into a lynch mob if you make them wait much longer.”

“Oh.” Billie turned her head to the impatient faces behind her. “I'm sorry,” she said apologetically.

She squeezed through to her seat. When she was finally situated, she retrieved her tablet from her bag and then shoved the bag under the seat in front of her. It rested on the toes of her shoes. She fidgeted with the belt and finally managed to clasp the buckle. Settled, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

“Hey, Billie,” Randy said, snapping her out of her mini meditation.

“What?”

“Look,” he told her and pointed out the window.

“Shit, is that the wing? That means we have a front row seat if something, Zeus forbid, happens to the engine on this side. Ugh, this is what nightmares are made of. Well, this and zombies,” she said quietly.

Randy laughed nervously. Then both shock and fear flooded Billie's expression.

“Randy, what if there are zombies on the plane! Or what if the food turns the people here into zombies? Randy, we'll be stuck on a plane, however many thousands of feet up, with zombies trying to eat us. I don't think I can do this.”

The guy in the first seat grinned, shook his head, and stuck the earbuds from his iPod in his ears.

Randy was silent for a few seconds, just staring at his sister, before he spoke. “Billie, your imagination is incredible. Zombies aren't real and if, by chance, the zombie apocalypse occurs . . . Well, I'll try my damnedest to fight them off.”

“You're right. But at least you're not completely blowing off the what ifs.”

Just then the pilot's voice came through the speakers. Something about five minutes to take-off and then to turn their attention to the screen in front of them or to the flight attendants. Billie didn't pay much attention, her nerves getting the best of her as the plane began to move back. There was something about seat belts, oxygen masks, your seat cushion being a flotation device, and emergency exits. She glanced at the window beside Randy, then to the one in front of them. She was glad to see that they didn't have the emergency exit, but it was right in front of them. She would not have the proper frame of mind to help people off the plane if it crashed and people survived.

The plane lurched forward. Billie tensed. Randy grabbed her hand. Time contradicted itself by freezing and speeding by, all at once. The plane began to pick up speed. Faster and faster.

“Oh, my god, Randy. I can't do this,” she said, tears escaping her eyes. The front of the plane began to raise, and Billie's stomach dropped. “Oh-my-god. Oh-my-god. Oh. My. God.” Billie's tears streamed faster and fuller.

Randy put his arm on the back of her head and brought her tear-streaked face to his chest. “Shhh, you're already doing it. It's going to be okay, sweetheart.”

He forced his body to stop shaking. He had to be strong for her. Truth was, he was scared shitless, too. He stroked the back of her head. Calming her until he finally felt her weeping subside. Shortly after the plane leveled off, Billie lifted her head and wiped at the tears that lingered unshed.

“I'm sorry, Randy. I got your shirt all wet. And, I made a fool out of myself.”

“It'll dry.” He shrugged. “Also, I don't think anyone was paying attention. I told you it was going to be okay, didn't I?”

“Yeah, but I still feel a little queasy, and we still have the entire flight left. We've barely made it into the sky. So, until my feet are back on the ground, I'm not going to say that everything is okay,” she said, still a little shaken.