Cheating Death

Chapter Nine:

Reagan stepped into the small blue car and looked back at his house.  His mother had refused to come out of her bedroom to say goodbye and was, no doubt, crying again.  He hoped she would come to her senses soon and take care of herself.  After all, she hadn't eaten a thing since yesterday.

As soon as he shut the car door he felt guilty for leaving his mother in such a state.  Why had she decided to break down right when he was about to leave?  He sighed and watched the town go by as the driver sped toward the airport.  He couldn't leave his mother like this, but now he had no choice.

The driver interrupted his thoughts by turning on the radio and Reagan leaned his head on the window.  It would be a long ride to the airport and then an even longer ride to meet once with all the chosen people.  He wasn't looking forward to the meeting, but he knew he had to meet them for his own sake.  Maybe he could figure out who to avoid and who to form alliances with.

Reagan sighed and watched the blurry trees and shrubbery as they got closer to the airport.  They pulled in twenty minutes later and the driver showed him to the airport security.  Helping him through the ticket process, the driver showed Reagan to his airline and abruptly left.  Reagan was left alone and scared.  What would happen next?  Was there going to be someone there to help him on the other side?  What if he had decided to leave?  No one would be able to stop him?  Where was the girl that was supposed to be here?  Was she coming later so they wouldn't meet each other?

All these questions, and more, bounced around Reagan's mind as the time neared for the plane to leave.  It made him feel nervous not knowing who he was up against, but it also made him nervous to leave his mother in the state she was in.  Why had his mother refused to see him?  Was it too much for her to think that it might be their last hug?  He put his hands in his hair and leaned on his bent knees.  He was sitting on a cream-colored chair, with long arm rests which he particularly didn't like.  Cold air blew from a huge vent in the ceiling which didn't help his nerves at all.

"Flight 1727," a voice called.  Reagan looked at his ticket to find that it was his number.  He got up and automatically followed all the other waiting people.  He boarded the airplane without difficulty and sat near a window.  As they left the ground his stomach started to flop and he realized that this was the first time he had ridden in a plane.  A. Real. Live. Plane.

***

Hours later Reagan shook himself awake and looked around the dark plane.  People were scattered throughout, playing on cell phones or looking through the windows.  The last time he had been awake it was light outside, which meant it must be night time.  He leaned his forehead against the seat in front of him and moaned.  He was already dying of boredom.

***

 Reagan must have fallen asleep again because he was suddenly being nudged awake by a blurry girl in green.  He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the flight attendant.

"The plane has landed," she said.  "It is now time to exit."

"Thank you," Reagan stuttered.  He felt a little embarrassed that he had slept through his first, and maybe last, landing, but he brushed it off and got up.  The flight attendant moved on as he exited the plane.

He walked through the small door and a whiff of clean smelling air hit his nose.  He stopped to capture the moment and engrave it in his memory.  He had grown used to the polluted smell of New York that to smell anything else was heavenly.

The person behind Reagan started to brush past and he started to apologize for holding up the line.  The man just grunted and continued to go past.  Reagan shrugged and continued to walk down the pathway.  His heart thumped wildly as he anticipated seeing the chosen people.  What would they look like?  How would he remember all of them enough to keep away from the tough looking ones?  He to remind himself that he didn't exactly look like a sweet young man himself.