Velocity To Never Exceed

Chapter 32

"Mayday, Mayday!"

The response is nothing but static.

With every remaining ounce of energy left in my body, I twist Alex's wrist until his fingers release the metal and the gun falls into my hand. I hold his gun up as his hand loosens from my neck.

I gasp and gag, the cool air rushing back in. My throat rasps, and I force out a rough cough.

A sea of puffy white clouds approaches through the front windshield, so thick they almost look like they're painted onto the backdrop of the sky, round strokes in a pearly white paint, towering towards us. And within a second, we're engulfed in them. They envelope us from all sides, surrounding us, as if they're trying their hardest to catch us. My hand presses against the glass, so close I can touch it. But it's both out of reach, and untouchable. Just dust in water form.

It can't catch us, and we keep falling.

The plane begins to shake and I know the end is approaching. I can feel my thoughts beginning to detach, like paper disintegrating in water, breaking up into smaller finite pieces and drifting away.

Pressed against the curved windshield of the plane, I blink and all I can see in the momentary darkness beneath my lids is Evelyn Werth.

Her freckles that remind me of a starry night in the middle of a bustling city – faint but still very much there. Her warm brown eyes that sparkle with a vibrance I've never seen before. Her smile that's infectious enough to transform the entire world, inside out. And her heart that's big enough to stop time and make it fold back over on top of itself.

The plane begins to shake uncontrollably as it falls, and I know we're nearly there. We've almost hit it. The point in time when its beyond repair. The moment there's no returning from. The second that marks the beginning of the end. The Velocity to Never Exceed.

I curl up against the windshield, place my cheek against the cool surface, and wait to see the answer to the unanswerable. What happens after it all ends. 

But then, the plane is level again, cruising along calmly. Like nothing happened.

I pause, waiting. Did I get it wrong? Maybe there's another restart? Perhaps there are more loops after all?

And it's then I realize with a start. There's no music blasting in my ears.

In fact, all I hear is the baby wailing.

I peel my eyes open, as my body slumps back, hitting the floor of the cockpit. My vision falls to the gun, curled in my fingers.

It's then that I take in the scene. Jason DeSouza is in the pilot's seat, with a headset on his head, flying the plane with intense focus. The pilot is slumped over on the ground just outside the cockpit, but starting to move again, while Lydia runs over to attend to him.

Alex is beside me, stirring, as I jump to my feet. I stumble into the cabin as Bryan rushes past me, his arm still bleeding. He tackles and restrains Alex, pulling him out of the cockpit.

I stand, stunned, as I stare out into the cabin.

The plane is a complete mess. Bags have fallen and items are scattered around the front of the plane. I sidestep Mason as he sits on Jerry's back.

I peer at the very back to the plane, where Gary and much to my shock, Sibyl Erly, are helping Heather hold Janelle Fiori. Janelle looks dazed, but still very much alive.

The three people I saw that night in the Hawaiian motel as they concocted their plan for this flight, are all being restrained. The pilot is beginning to recover from his loss of consciousness. He stands, a bit unsteady on his feet, as Jason DeSouza continues to keep the airplane stable.

And then I focus on her.

Evelyn Werth.

She's just a couple rows back, facing me with a blank look on her heart-shaped face. She looks down at her hand, where she's holding the pacifier. She takes a few steps backwards, handing it to the mother. Then it's back in the baby's mouth, soothing away all his cries.

I glance at my watch. We broke the loop. We somehow did the impossible. We stopped the nosedive and figured it out.

 The loops were in the past and we managed to break through into the future.

Then Evelyn's rushing forward, towards me. She collides with me as I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close.

She's shaking. Maybe in relief, or in shock, or in fear. Or maybe in everything, all at once.

"Are you ok?" I mumble, holding her tight.

She's still trembling, releasing all the built-up anxiety of the past four hundred loops. "Yes. No. I miss my dog. And my best friend. Catherine."

My face is nestled in the top of her hair, which smells like strawberries. "Is Catherine your best friend's name or your dog's name?"

Evelyn looks up at me and my heart surges as I peer into her sparkling brown eyes. "Best friend," she says. "My dog is Ozzy."

I smile and hold her tighter. You'll see them soon, I think and with the thought, a relief settles over my entire body.

We did it. We actually did it.