Kong Skull Island: Rewritten

3- Might Just Be

Carter and Conrad left the table, satisfied with the money that was made.
"Well done," Conrad grinned. He lifted his bottle. "Cheers."
"Cheers," Lorelei Carter agreed, lifting hers.

The two drank in momentary silence.
"So, since we're heading out to our death in a couple of days, are you going to fly back out to the States and say goodbye?" Conrad asked genuinely.
"Why would I? They'd be glad if I never returned," Lorelei sneered.
"Maybe, maybe not. What's the harm in trying?" Conrad persisted.
"You know how much I hate that place," Carter sighed.
"Yes, but I also know how much you wanted a relationship," he pointed out, taking another sip.
"That was then, Conrad. Times change," she sighed, sipping as well.
"Yes, times change, but parents do not," Carter tried to explain.
"All the more reason not to go."
"Carter, they're your parents," he sighed.
"Conrad, they're drug dealers," Carter corrected.
"They were drug dealers," he corrected.
"No, they were caught trying to sell again!"
"Lorelei, they love you," Conrad argued.
"But, James, they betrayed me," Lorelei Carter began to cry slightly. It was all too much. She wiped the tears away instantly.
"Come on. They still love you, in their own twisted way. The least you can do is tell them that you may die."
  Carter took a sip, then stopped. "Oh my God. This may really just be the last time I see them. Even I could die out there," she realized.
  "See? What's the harm?"
  "My God, I love you," Carter sighed.
  Conrad nodded. "Same. That's why I do everything that I do, Lorelei."

The next day, Carter and Conrad were on a free flight back to the U.S. Or, back in Carter's case. Conrad had never really been. The plane ride was tedious, and it didn't necessarily help that there was a crying child sitting right behind Conrad.
"My God, these Americans," he muttered.

The flight was mostly full of Americans who had been visiting Vietnam. Carter had gotten the window seat, and Conrad had chosen the aisle seat. He was beginning to regret it.
"Conrad, whiny children are universal," Lorelei murmured, barely looking up from her magazine.

Conrad stared with envy. She had picked up an issue of some bullsh*t American magazine or other. Everyone knew the stories were fabricated, or at least exaggerated one way or another, but no less entertaining. Conrad loved that he and Carter were able to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life, even as a soldier and a government assassin. Giving the seemingly relaxing frivolity a try, Conrad made the mistake of picking up an issue of Cosmo from the back of the seat in front of him. He decided not to even look at the cover, and open to a random page. He stared at one of the pages.
"Lorelei, what does it mean by this?" he asked, pointing to a specific American phrase, which seemed to only have some sort of significance to women.
Carter frowned, sighing. "Er, Conrad, let's just say you might want to select some new reading material, and let's leave it at that."
Conrad put the issue away instantly. "Okay then, I'll try to forget about that. Umm.... Food Network? Yeah. That sounds like the safest choice right now," he mumbled to himself.

Carter chuckled to herself. It was going to be an even longer flight for poor Conrad.

Two Hours Later

"Damn it, how long do you think it will take that child to shut up?!" Conrad cringed.
"I don't know, but if you're so irritated by it, why don't you offer the couple a blanket to put over the cage?" Lorelei grumbled.
"You know I can hear you, right?" an irritated female called.
"We know, we just don't care," Conrad snapped back.
"Bloody hell, remind me not to bring you onto a plane," sighed Carter, who reached into one of their bags, pulling out a soft blanket. "You are going to be so jet-lagged."

She wrapped it around herself and leaned her head against a part of her seat. She closed her eyes, trying to drift off to sleep.
"Carter, you always hog the blanket," Conrad complained, seizing a part of it.
"All you had to do was ask! And, come to think of it, why did you wear shorts anyways? You knew we were landing in the morning!"
"I thought the AC would be broken or something like that!" Conrad exclaimed defensively.
"Jesus f**king Christ! Will you two—"
"Shut the hell up!" Conrad and Carter shouted together.
"God, we're tired," Lorelei sighed, falling back asleep.
"Oh, I forgot, we still have another eight hours left!" Conrad complained.
"Just sleep through it, we got home so late last night, or, more accurately, this morning," Carter sighed.
"Why did we only bring one blanket?"
"The other one had bullet holes in it, remember?" Lorelei tried.
"Oh yeah," Conrad laughed. "That was one strange night."

Eight Hours Later

The two woke up groggily on the plane, just moments before it landed.
"Well, time to face the music," Carter sighed.