“If you look down from your window,” Collin said to his wife. “You can see Kansas City, Missouri. Which means we’re getting closer to Kansas state.”

“Great,” said Lucy, smiling. “I can’t wait. On the other hand, I could stay in this plane forever.”

“Me, too,” said Collin solemnly. “The only thing better than flying is being with you.” He grinned at her admiringly. He loved the way she looked on relaxed mornings like this. Her sandy hair piled lazily atop her head; no makeup except for the smudged, leftover eyeliner from the day before. Wearing makeup, she looked like a smoking-hot movie star. Without it, he thought, she still did. She was naturally beautiful.

“Shut up,” she smiled. She turned her gaze to the passenger’s side window of her husband’s plane.

Collin exhaled sharply, still grinning. “Should be another hour or two. We’re making good time,” he said. “Not a cloud in the sky. If you’re getting tired you can take a nap. I’ll wake you before we land.”

She turned to kiss her husband’s freckled cheek, then leaned back in her seat. She tried to count the number of times she’d been in this plane, Collin’s beloved Cessna named the Red King, realizing she’d lost track after their honeymoon in Costa Rica. Was that their sixth flight together? Or seventh? She couldn’t remember. They’d been going on little trips like this almost weekly since then, but somehow the flights never lost their magic.

Lucy wasn’t sure which she loved more: flying, or watching Collin pilot the plane. Something about watching her husband maintain control over a twelve-hundred-pound flying beast made her want to rip his clothes off right there in the cockpit. She closed her eyes, imagining everything she wanted to do to him when they got to the hotel, and began to drift off.

---

Lucy didn’t know how much time had passed when she was jolted awake. She took a deep breath and straightened up in her seat.

“Mh… turbulence?” she said sleepily.

“Yeah,” said Collin. His face was stoic as always. “Just…” He began pressing buttons. “More than I’m used to. Hope a bird didn’t get sucked into a propeller or something.”

“What kind of bird would be flying at this altitude?” said Lucy.

“I don’t know, you’re the Zoologist.”

“And you’re the pilot! Shouldn’t you know this stuff?”

“I guess so,” Collin laughed.

Lucy looked down through her window. “How long was I out?”

“Only about an hour.” He said, trying to sound calm. “We’ll start landing soon.”

As she leaned back again, the King jolted and shivered.

“Shit,” Collin said under his breath. He began frantically pressing buttons and pulling levers.

“What’s wrong?” said Lucy. But she saw it before the question finished exiting her lips. “A storm?”

“I don’t know,” said Collin, “I think so. But there’s nothing on the radar. The weather’s supposed to be crystal clear.”

“Maybe we should turn around,” Lucy suggested.

“Yeah,” said Collin, sounding relieved. “We’ll find somewhere to land in Missouri. Come back in the morning.”

Collin began turning the plane. The machine shivered.

“Shit,” Collin muttered.

“What happened?” Lucy began to worry. She trusted Collin with her life, but she’d never seen him like this. Anxious.

“Shit,” he repeated. “Shit. SHIT!!”

“Honey, you’re scaring–“

“Lucy, I need you to lean back in your seat and make sure your belt is fastened. Take out your oxygen mask and breathe normally. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

She followed his instructions. “What’s going on?”

“We’re losing altitude. Just breathe normally. And hold on.”

“But I don’t feel–“

-SHUDDER-

The lights went out.

“Shit,” Collin froze.

“What happ–“

The plane lurched. Shivered.

The blue sky disappeared, and everything went dark.

Lucy blinked, unsure for a second if her eyes were still open.

“I think we’re getting sucked into that storm,” said Collin. We’re in a graveyard spin, he thought.

“Are we going to die?”

Yes, he thought. “Everything’s gonna be fine,” he said, reassuring himself as much as Lucy. “Just stay calm.”

The plane lurched again. Lucy’s head bounced off of her seat. Collin held tightly to the control wheel.

After a few seconds, Collin saw the ground beneath them getting closer, and he realized the plane was no longer spinning.

The control panel lit up. Collin’s hands jumped wildly from button to lever as he regained control.

Collin looked over at Lucy. Her eyes were tightly closed, Her blanched knuckles gripped the sides of her seat.

“You okay, Goose?” said Collin, catching his breath.

Lucy opened her eyes. The midday sky had returned, wiping away the darkness.

“What–” Lucy absorbed her surroundings. “What the hell just happened?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Collin. “But look,” he pointed at the direction finder. Then up at the altitude monitor. “We’re fine. We’re gonna be fine.” He took a deep breath. Lucy mirrored him.

“Is that storm just… gone?” Lucy looked through the windows. Blue skies all around.

“Looks like it was never there,” said Collin. “I don’t want to worry about it right now, though, let’s just find a place to land.”

“Sounds good,” said Lucy. She tried to relax.

“Looks like there’s a hangar about forty miles from here,” said Collin after a moment. “We’ll be there soon. Let me get in touch with the control team.”

Collin lifted the mouthpiece of his radio. Silence. He clicked some buttons. Silence. Spun some knobs. Nothing.

“Shit. I think the speaker shorted out when the power was cut,” he said. “Let’s just hope they don’t mind unscheduled visitors too much.”

Lucy gazed out of the passenger side window, trying to reschedule her panic. It would be easier to ground herself when she was actually on the ground.

“There it is,” said Collin. “Wait…”

“What?” said Lucy.

“It’s weird,” said Collin. “They don’t have any lights on.”

“Do you think we’ll get in trouble if we land? Maybe we should just go to our scheduled hangar.”

“Nobody’s going to arrest an air force vet for making an emergency landing in a personal aircraft,” he assured her. “Plus, I want to get this radio fixed before we keep flying.”

“Okay,” said Lucy.

Collin flew as low as possible until he spotted the hangar, then prepared the Red King for landing.

---

Lucy’s knees buckled as she exited the plane. Her right hand gripped the handrail while her left tried to contain her exploding chest. Collin hurried over to help her down, placing two backpacks on the hot tarmac.

“What city are we in? Or–” Lucy’s head turned like an owl. She saw nothing but forest beyond the hangar, and the place itself looked like it’d been abandoned for years. “Near?”

“We should be close to Topeka. Grab your phone,” He said, taking out his. They waited for their devices to light up.

“Got any bars?” said Lucy.

“Nope,” said Collin, holding his phone to the sun. “No roaming, either. But GPS should still work. Got a location?”

“Hold on,” Lucy thumbed her screen. “Says Topeka. What about yours?”

“Yep,” said Collin. “We can’t be too far out of the city. We’ll find a convenience store and buy a Tracfone. Get a hotel for the night and fix the radio in the morning. I’ll call home and let them know what’s going on. I’m sure someone’s noticed our early landing. Don’t want to keep them worried too long.”

“Yeah,” Lucy agreed. Her brain was spinning. She felt thankful for Collin’s strategic attitude, and his seemingly natural skill of keeping her calm.

“Look,” Collin pointed ahead. “The road from the hangar leads into those woods. I bet there’s a highway on the other side.”

He slipped one of the bags over his right shoulder, the other over his left. He took her arm. They walked.

---

The forest was quiet. No sounds of cars in the distance. No horns or sirens or anything indicative of human life.

Collin’s breath was heavy.

“I can carry my own bag, honey,” said Lucy. “Do you need to sit down?”

“Yeah,” said Collin, exhaling. “Let’s rest for a minute. We’ve been walking forever.” He dropped the bags to the earth and lowered himself onto a fallen tree. Lucy took a seat next to him.

“How far do you think we are from a road?” she asked him, unsure if her question was rhetorical.

“I can’t imagine it’s too much farther,” said Collin hopefully.

“Maybe we should head back to the King?” said Lucy, unzipping her bag. She pulled out a bottle of water, took a sip, and offered it to Collin. He accepted.

“Let’s walk a little farther. If we don’t hear any cars before sunset, we’ll turn around.” He handed her the bottle. She returned it to its pocket and slung her backpack over her shoulders.

“You don’t think we’ll get lost if it gets too dark?” She sounded more curious than worried.

“Nah,” said Collin. “It’s a pretty straight road. We’ll be fine. Besides, someone’s probably already out looking for my plane. I assume they’ll be relieved to find us with it. But if we can find a way to contact them before that, it’ll spare them from wondering whether they’re looking for our bodies.”

“That’s encouraging,” said Lucy.

“We’ll be fine, either way,” said Collin. “I’m sure they already have our location. They’ve certainly noticed I haven’t been responding. It’ll be a few hours before someone gets here, though.” He stood. Kissed her forehead. “We’re fine.”

They walked.

The sky grew pink, and still, no sounds of nearby cars. As Collin opened his mouth to suggest they turn back, he spotted a large object in the distance.

“Look!” he shouted, pointing.

“A building! Finally,” sighed Lucy.

“These woods should open up any second now,” said Collin.

They walked a few hundred feet more, and half of Collin’s prediction came true. They reached the highway, but the forest didn’t stop abruptly as expected. Instead, trees and dilapidated buildings intermingled for miles. Vines reached the tops of the skyscrapers they hugged. The entire place was dark. And still no cars on the road.

“What is this? Where are we?” said Lucy, again sounding curious.

“Must be some abandoned town on the outskirts of Topeka,” said Collin. “At this rate, I doubt we’ll find civilization before dark. Wanna explore? We’ll head back when it’s too dark to see.”

“Why not,” Lucy smiled. Her chest was tight with anxiety, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change this situation. They were lost, for the time being, and panicking wouldn’t magically solve that. Instead, she tried to enjoy this unique experience with her husband.

After all, his ability to truly live in the moment was what made her fall in love with him. Before, she’d always been worried about making plans and sticking to them. When something didn’t go right for Collin, he simply adjusted his plans. His calmness was contagious.

The couple walked together through the jungle of buildings and vegetation, occasionally pointing out interesting-looking rocks and discussing their theories as to what each building used to be.

“What’s that?” said Lucy, pointing at a long, stone rod in the distance. They walked closer.

“Looks like a statue,” said Collin.

The sky was still pale, but the darkness cast by the trees made it nearly impossible to see. They each pulled a flashlight from their backpacks. The lights flicked on, illuminating the stone. Upon closer inspection, the rod-like shape resembled a bow. Attached to it were two arms that disappeared into the leaves below.

Collin handed his flashlight to Lucy and began brushing the leaves away. Another section of stone appeared. He dug until he revealed the shape of a head and shoulders; smooth and eroded, but identifiable. He stepped back. Took his flashlight from Lucy. His hands were shaking.

“Oh my god,” said Lucy. “That’s not… it can’t be.” Her throat tightened.

Collin spun around frantically, shining his light in every direction as though the atmosphere would change if he looked hard enough. His light landed on a building twenty-some yards away. Tall and round. Roof caved-in. Exterior swallowed by ivy.

“It is,” said Collin, his voice shaking. “It’s the Kansas State Capitol.”

“No,” said Lucy. “It’s not.” She fought panic.

“Let’s get back to the King,” said Collin sternly.

“What’s going on?” cried Lucy. She was losing.

“We need to get back to the plane, Lucy,” said Collin, taking her arm. “Someone will find us there.”

“This can’t be Topeka,” said Lucy. “It’s not!”

“The sun’s almost gone. Let’s go back to the plane. In the morning, we’ll probably wake up to Matt or Lenny pounding on the door. Then we’ll go home.”

Lucy struggled to understand what was happening. Was there some kind of attack? How did nature take over so quickly? There’s no way this was Topeka. This place looked like it’d been abandoned decades ago. The GPS was wrong. That was just a copy of the Capitol building. Or a building that looked a lot like it. In a town just outside of Topeka, hit by a tornado many years ago. That was the only logical explanation.

Lucy giggled under her breath.

“What’s so funny?” asked Collin. They were crossing the highway back into the forest.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” she said.