The Long Night

Terrence had always loved flying, he might as well have been a bird himself, but today something felt wrong. The skies seemed dark, the clouds were off and he felt sick to his stomach as he loaded up the last box into a small cargo plane. It was an easy job, he had to deliver a bunch of crates to a facility in the Alaskan wilderness. It was some research facility, studying bacteria under the tundra, or something like that. He didn’t care so much as long as the job got done without a hitch.

He had no idea what was in the crates, nor really did he care, but they were locked tight and coated in metal, he had to use a dolly for some of them. This wasn’t the first trip he’d made to Alaska, he’d dropped crates of food and supplies in a small town on the coast, he’d had some great booze there too but he wouldn’t tell his company that, it was on their dime.

“Well, that’s it,” he said as he closed the bay door and secured the lock. “T-minus 20 to lift off.”

He was wearing his traditional flight outfit, his bomber jacket complete with wings stitched on the back. He could wear whatever, he was a private pilot and was only hired on an as-needed basis but he always chose the same one when making long flights it made him feel more experienced than he probably was. As he rounded the plane he caught sight of his assistant, a young kid just looking for internship experience. He was inexperienced but willing to learn so he kept him on.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along?” Will said as he clapped his hands after closing the gas tank up.

“I’m sure, its dangerous out there, plus don’t you have class tomorrow?” Terrence said. At this, William let his head hang a little low, most obviously disappointed.

“Yeah, sadly,” Will replied solemnly.

“Don’t be upset, get your classes done, and done well, and you’ll be making flights soon enough.”

William smiled a bit but retained his solemn expression. He turned away and started doing system checks on the plane while Terrence made a phone call. He took out his phone and went through the contacts, finding his client he called them quickly. It rang three times and finally picked up with a click.

“Good afternoon, I’m just updating you on the departure of cargo flight 2AG04, am I still green to go?”

There was a dead silence on the other end. A faint whistle of wind could be heard through the speaker as he pulled the phone away trying to see if it was working, and it was. Strange, he thought, he tried again. This time though, it went directly to the inbox. Maybe they were busy with some research, their receptionist was probably ill, he wondered. Either way, he was making the delivery, no doubt about it, he needed the money more than anyone knew.

He took this job as a buffer between him and his gambling problem. Yes, he had a gambling problem, and pretty much everyone knew. He would lose money faster than it came in, so when these Alaska deliveries popped up he was first in the barrel to sign up. No one ever wanted these, no one applied, who would dare set foot in the coldest state in the US. Obviously, Terrence would but not without some griping. Odds are, he’d take a drink when he landed.

“No one there?” William said curiously.

“No, it’s strange,” Terrence replied. “But not my business, the delivery still needs to happen, I’ve got bills to pay, especially with Christmas coming up.”

William nodded and finished closing the cockpit door after his inspection. He wiped his hands clean and proceeded to grab his toolbox. He looked a bit down still, clutching the toolbox with white knuckles, frustrated even. Terrence could tell that he would never hear the end of it and quickly tried to alleviate the situation to try to avoid losing his mechanic.

“Listen, next trip I will take you on, I promise.”

“Okay, I guess that’s fair,” he said, he flashed a small smile and started to walk to the other side of the plane. “I just have to check one more thing and you’re good to go, sir.”

For some reason Terrence could taste a bittersweet tone in his voice. A calmness that almost seemed more eerie than reassuring but he figured he would still be a bit upset of course. He couldn’t help it though, he didn’t want to be responsible if anything happened on the trip, he couldn’t afford a lawyer if he was sued for injury. As William inspected the other side of the plane, Terrence once again tried to call up the client.

Nothing.

The phone didn’t even ring once this time, was it disconnected? maybe there was a storm or something that knocked out power. Questions and doubts began to flood his mind as he walked around to the cockpit door and opened it. William had just finished inspecting the underbelly of the plane and clapped his hands.

“All done, sir.” He said.

“Good as usual, kid,” Terrence replied. “I guess I’ll be taking off, mind sticking by to make sure everything goes okay?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”

“Good, I’ll be back soon, be sure to study up some more and next time I’ll take you for a spin.”

Terrence stepped into the cockpit and closed the glass behind him. He strapped in adjusted what dials and levers he needed and started the plane. The propeller started up as the engine cut on. Everything was in order, he thought. He looked out the window at William who was standing outside the tarmac on the grass. Terrence shot a thumbs up with his gloved hand and looked straight ahead ready to hit the runway. In a minute he’d be up in the sky, where he belonged.

The flight was nearly flawless, seven hours in and not a hitch, just how he liked it. He absolutely loved to fly, it was a natural habitat for Terrence. The clouds were a blanket of comfort and the blue skies were a antidepressant, reminding him that there was more than debt in life. Plus when this was all over, he’d have ten thousand dollars in his account, more than enough to live off of while he paid off his debts for the next few months.

Alaska finally came into view as a light snow began to develop during the flight. He dropped the plane a few thousand feet so that the land came into view. It was a vast white masterpiece covered in trees and frozen water. In some instances he could see wild animals roaming in the cold, something he didn’t envy. This would be a quick job, there and back.

He looked over to his dash, among the many buttons, levers, and dials, was a photo of his wife and child. Though they were divorced, he still loved her. She only left him because of his addictions, something he regretted everyday. His child was the pride of his life, an accomplishment, his only one. A tear began to form as he continued to look at the photo.

He vowed to better himself so he could demonstrate that he was more than a addicted gambler. He definitely learned his lesson and was already paying for it. Addictions are hard to kick, harder still when it involves making money and all to often, losing it. Terrence looked away from the photo and instead focused on the radar. He was only a few miles away from the airstrip near the facility.

He picked up the communicator and peered outward, looking for the tower which by now should have been blinking letting him know where to land. A fog began to develop in the distance creeping inward so that he could only see a mile or so ahead of him.

“This is flight 2AG04, do I have clearance to land?”

There was no response, only static. He tried again but no one responded. Things were definitely getting strange, he wondered if they had abandoned the facility. They were thriving last he was there. They had buses and cars coming in and out like it was Disney World. What was going on?

As he wondered what was going on below him at the facility the lights in the plane blacked out. The dials shot downward and the engine sputtered to a complete stop. Shit, he thought, he didn’t think he had hit turbulence he was too low. He tried to recover the plane, pulling as hard as he could on the yoke but nothing was happening, he was going down.

“Mayday, mayday!” He screamed into the comms unit. No response.

The plane fell like a quarter off of the empire state building, there was no recovering. Terrence braced for ejection as he unbuckled his restraints and grabbed his parachute and emergency bag. He took a deep breath, the plane was almost to the ground. He’d have to do it now. 1,2,3, and he pulled the lever.

Terrence was shot from the plane into the Alaskan air. It was bitterly cold and it bit at his skin immediately, fighting with the warmth shooting through him in the form of adrenaline. Below him was a sea of trees, he’d be lucky not to get caught in one with his parachute. He pulled the cord and the parachute shot out just like it was supposed to. At least one thing worked. So far this trip was a complete and utter bust as the plane shot down into the ground and exploded.

Terrence slowly fell to the ground. clutching his emergency bag between his legs. In a minute he’d hit the ground and have to figure out where the hell he was or he’d be dead in just a few hours. It was far too cold to survive without shelter. Before he hit the canopy of the trees, he swear he saw something like a giraffe. Strange, there were no giraffe in Alaska. What the hell was going on.

He didn’t have time for questions though, he was hitting the ground. He rolled into the landing dropping the bag somewhere behind him as he was tangled into the parachute. Well, he’d survived. So much had happened so quickly he wondered if any of this was real. He had no idea what to do or where to go from here. After clearing himself from the parachute and cutting the cords he retrieved his bag.

He looked around him but for miles all he could see were trees and snow. White and green as far as his eyes could see. A lump formed in his throat and his stomach seemed to ball up like there was a snake inside rather than butterflies. He honestly had no confidence in his survival or if he wanted to anyway. No, he had to, he wasn’t going to let the cold kill him. As he thought that to himself though, a pack of wolves howled off in the distance.

If the cold didn’t kill him, the wild might.