CHAPTER 25: THE CHAOS

It was 2:15 am on a snowy Christmas morning when the plane landed at Incheon International Airport, but no one was celebrating. Instead, most of the passengers were glued to their phones, reading and watching the horrendous news in disbelief. While they were up in the air, the ‘plague’ had swept across the whole of the Middle East and a major part of Europe. Many were trying to call their loved ones back home, some were lucky to have their calls answered, others, were left in tears.  

 

Both Suzanne and Tom kept their heads down and hurried out of the plane.

 

As they waited in line to go through customs, Rudolph the Red Nose Raindeer played on the speaker. The cheery song did nothing to cheer them up, Suzanne looked at Tom and he met her gaze before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

 

They remained silent, as did the rest of the passengers as they waited for their turns to go through immigration and customs. The process which would have normally taken less than 15 minutes stretched far longer, the immigrations agents scrutinized each and everyone who passed through and made every passenger walk through a disinfectant tunnel before letting them go. The staff were understandably worried about the mysterious plague and were trying to prevent the spread to Korea. The country had so far been spared.

 

No sooner had Suzanne and Tom passed the immigration, The White Christmas suddenly stopped blaring over the speakers. In its place was a live announcement by the president of Korea. He spoke in Korean, and for all Suzanne knew, he could have been telling them a Christmas story, except the immigration agents suddenly stood up shouted for the arrival hall gates to be closed.




“What’s happening?” an elderly lady with a thick glasses asked as she stepped through the disinfection tunnel. 

 

“Is it the plague?” a young man with a nose ring in the next lane looked confused.

 

“They’re barring international entries starting now…but my husband is on the next flight!” wailed a woman in a maroon office blazer. She started to run back to the arrival hall gate but was held back by a security officer. Somewhere, a baby began to cry.

 

Chaos ensued. People started pushing their way out of the immigration hall, fearful that they too, would be held back.

 

“Everyone, calm down!” an officer called out, but his advice went unheeded.

 

In the midst of the confusion, Suzanne’s hand started to throb again. She pressed her palms together and felt someone pressing against her towards the exit. Tom pushed the person away, shielding Suzanne with his good arm.




Suzanne craned her neck to look for Vlad, only to see his back far away amidst the bobbing heads of other people at the exit of the baggage hall. Celine the redhead was nowhere to be seen.

 

From the corner of her eyes, she saw the spirit of the teenage boy on his knees, begging for his parents to move, the elderly couple stood motionless in a daze, too immersed in their grief to give a damn about what was going on around them. She wanted to reach out for the poor boy but Tom kept tugging at her, moving her further away.

 

A panic crowd was at the baggage hall, frantically combing through the luggage bags that came rolling out the conveyor belt. Some decided to leave empty-handed and ran for the exit.

 

*Suzanne…*

 

Suzanne blinked, who had called her? She turned her head to find the source of the voice but found no one she knew. Was she imagining things?

 

“C’mon Suzanne,” Tom pulled her in his arms as he shoved their way through the horde of passengers.

 

It seemed like forever before Tom and Suzanne finally stepped into the arrival lounge. Outside, she saw a group of police officers arriving, carrying shields and batons. They were here to prevent any riots from happening.  

 

“Suzanne!” a voice called out from the crowd. It was Hans and he was a sight for sore eyes, Suzanne broke free from Tom’s steady grip and ran into Hans’ arms. Hans smiled, his eyes crinkling with delight.

 

“Hans!” she cried, choking back her tears as she buried her face in his jacket. He smelt of pine cones. Tom’s eyes narrowed and he quickly stepped up to Suzanne, pulling her back to his side. He eyed Hans, sizing him up. The man looked at Tom and flashed the most gorgeous smile, worthy of a toothpaste ad.

 

*Do his teeth have to be so white?*

 

Hans reached out and shook Tom’s hand. The man had a strong grip. Tom gave him his most charming smile.




“Come, we must go now,” Hans said, letting go of Tom’s hand. He swung his arms around Suzanne and began guiding them to the exit, Tom trailed close behind with two luggage bags in tow.




Above them a gigantic flat screen was running the latest news, two planes had fallen from the sky and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. A search and rescue team was being assembled to look for survivors.

 

As they walked, Hans reached out and took Suzanne’s hand, much to Tom’s annoyance. He studied her palm quietly before giving it a gentle pat. They had reached Hans’ minivan. It was a shiny black Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Tom was impressed, but damn right if he were to show it.

 

The door slid to an open and out popped a thin and pale looking man with round glasses. Like Hans, he too smiled, albeit goofily and opened his arms, Suzanne ran to him like a little girl, throwing him off balance.

 

“Thomas! I missed you!”

 

“What about us?” a pair of twins stuck their heads out, grinning from ear to ear. They were the spitting image of each other, from their dark braided hair down to their rainbow-coloured nails and the lollipops in their mouths.

 

“The twins! You made it!” Suzanne squealed, feeling her spirits lifting. There was hope after all. “Who else is here?”

 

“Marcelino’s inside,” Hans voiced out as he helped to put the luggage in the back of the van. Thomas pulled Suzanne into the van, Tom followed suit and saw a powerfully built man at the front seat. He gave Tom a silent nod before returning his gaze to the window, the snowfall was getting heavier.

 

It was freezing, Hans jumped into the driver’s seat and cranked up the heater. Suzanne took her seat, “Is that all? What about the rest?” Her breath came out in white puffs and she rubbed at her palms. Seeing her old friends alive and well somehow made the pain more bearable.  She could not wait to meet up with the rest of her fellow clairvoyants. They would be safer in numbers.

 

Tom took his seat next to Suzanne and quickly buckled his seat belt, but not before they both had a brief look outside. The scene was total chaos, with people dashing in and out of the airport, trying to avoid colliding into one another. Some were wailing while others could be seen arguing.  Then the door slid to a close, drowning the commotion from outside.

 

One of the twins took out her lollipop and spoke,” It’s just us now.” 

 

Suzanne's heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?” Suzanne asked, hoping she had misunderstood. Hans car slowly pulled out from the side of the road, carefully avoiding the mad rush of people.

 

Thomas nervously pushed his glasses back up, “They didn’t make it.”

 

From the front, Hans quietly added, “The mist got to them.”

 

*No…*.




The glimmer of hope faded and Suzanne's heart sank into despair.




*This was not supposed to happen*. 




A tear began to flow down her cheeks.