Express Cargo Flight XX, HKG-BER
18:43 – 15 February 2021

“Why couldn’t we just take a normal flight?” asked Rajan as he awkwardly sat on a strapped-down bundle of average sized metal cargo boxes.

“I already told you, General Cheung will be monitoring all traffic from Hong Kong,” replied Jason for the umpteenth time.

The pair had managed to sneak through airport security, reached this large plane on the runway and snuck aboard. Officially they were stowaways, but the crew were well paid to take no heed of them.

“Man, when I signed up for this I didn’t think I’d be running from the damn US Army,” complained Rajan as he took a bite out of his freeze dried dinner packet. Thankfully after the incident eight months ago the quartermaster had ordered a large number of vegetarian rations. When they were equipping themselves for the trip the quartermaster had looked warily at Jason and rubbed his buttock unconsciously.

Jason poked at his packet, unused to the food after being spoiled on the fine dining he’d been treated to at the expense of quite a few women in Hong Kong. However Jason was not totally uncivilised on this plane trip, having brought aboard two bottles of Bordeaux. He was sipping from his glass as the plane left Chinese airspace.

Hong Kong International Airport, HK (AFR I)
18:44 – 15 February 2021

A man stood in the departure lounge, cell phone to his ear.

“Madame, it is done.”

“Did everything proceed smoothly?”

“Yes. I have inserted the chemical into every item of food on the plane.”

“Well done. Return to me immediately. You have a mission in London.”

“Yes Madame.”

Express Cargo Flight XX, HKG-BER
18:43 – 15 February 2021

“Hey Bill, are you okay?”

“I don’t feel so good. You take over.”

“I’ll put it on autopilot. Wait a minute, I… I don’t feel too good either.”

Meanwhile, down in the cargo hold, Jason and Rajan were preparing to hit the bunks, or rather the sleeping bags they’d placed at the end of the cargo hold.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jason to a green-faced Rajan.

“I think I ate a bug, and it tastes like… dude just give me the wine.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Come on man, it tastes horrible.”

Jason passed Rajan the wine, just as the plane began to experience turbulence. Rajan lost his balance and barely held onto the bottle as he fell.

“Aw jeez, that hurt,” complained Rajan.

“Quiet,” whispered Jason, “you hear that?”

There was a soft gurgling sound.

“I’ll go check it out,” said Rajan, “I need to wash my mouth out. Urgh.”

Rajan moved to the fore of the plane and was proceeding up the stairs when suddenly a pale faced copilot leapt down on to him, snarling with rage or hunger. Extreme hunger. Jason pulled out his gun and began to move towards Rajan. Unfortunately it was at this moment the zombified pilot engaged the cargo door controls. Massive turbulence hit the plane, lifting Jason off his feet and hurtling out the cargo door. By some measure of luck he managed to grab the top edge of the gaping hole separating the plane from the atmosphere.

Rajan quickly got to his feet and ran towards Jason, looking back at the zombie copilot. It leapt again while making a gurgling sound, and Rajan dived out of the way… and crashed into the legs of the zombie pilot. It screamed as it was dragged down, but quickly it began clawing at Rajan, whose refined senses of self preservation caused him to propel backwards out of reach.

Jason started screaming at Rajan, but the howling wind meant he could barely be heard. Seeing that coast was clear, Rajan ran towards the open cargo door.

“What did you say?”

Jason’s screams were still muffled. Rajan climbed a crate to try and catch Jason’s words.

“Raise the plane! Raise the plane!”

Rajan looked out the door and saw the snowy icecaps of various Himalayan mountains poke through the clouds. Then he turned to see the zombie pilot rush towards him. With no time to move Rajan braced for impact… but it never came. Instead Jason was grappling with it, having dragged himself in and jumped down onto the zombie. Rajan froze for a second before remembering the falling plane.

As Rajan ran towards the cockpit Jason and the zombie pilot began slipping towards the edge of the cargo door. Jason punched the zombie’s throat with what would have been a crippling punch, but despite the zombie’s trachea being horrifically crushed it remained very much undead. Jason grabbed hold of a nearby strap, stopping his movement towards the edge. The zombie pilot wrapped its bony hands around Jason’s leg, attempting to climb back into the plane.

In the cockpit Rajan leapt for the controls, attempting to raise the plane while increasing the throttle. Unfortunately the zombie copilot chose this moment to leap onto the Rajan’s back, attempting to remove him from the controls. Rajan struggled to maintain his grip on the flight wheel as the zombie clawed at his arms. Then in a surprise move, the zombie pushed him closer to the wheel, causing Rajan to push it forward and drop the plane’s nose dramatically.

Jason was one kick away from ditching the zombie pilot from the plane when the plane dropped, sending the zombie and Jason flying into the cargo hold. Jason barely held on to the strap, while the zombie slammed into a stack of metal crates, cracking several bones. This did not seem to hamper it, as it stood up and prepared to leap again.

Rajan slammed the zombie on his back into the wall, extricating himself from the clammy grip of the zombie. He once again pulled at the flight wheel, raising the nose slowly away from the snow. This caused the zombie in the cargo hold to misjudge its leap, sending it falling out the open cargo door into oblivion. Jason once again barely held onto the cargo strap.

With the plane finally level Rajan set the autopilot, then looked at the copilot zombie. Rajan’s back attach had broken the zombie’s neck against one of the overhead consoles. Satisfied it was dead, Rajan moved to the back of the plane to rescue Jason.

However Jason had already climbed up the strap and was closing the cargo door.

Rajan let out his breath and exclaimed, “I’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

Jason looked over at Rajan and his eyes bulged. Jason grabbed the unopened wine bottle, shouted “duck!”, and swung the bottle at where Rajan’s head used to be, shattering the head of the copilot zombie, who happened to still be undead despite the broken neck. The result was not pretty. Rajan stood up covered in pink matter and red wine.

“Dude, you almost killed me! Again!”

“I saved your life.”

“You could have killed me!”

“But I didn’t.”

Rajan curled his fists in frustration, then unclenched them and said, “Whatever, I need a shower. This stuff stinks.”