Dead on Arrival

A Story by K.H. Law

A world where everyone has a clock embedded in their wrists counting down to their time and date of death.

Michael Biggs enters the John F. Kennedy airport at 10:11 in the morning on November 17^th, 2014. He is boarding a flight to California where he will conduct a series of important business meetings. He will return home to his wife, Carol, and two children on November 19^th. He is forty-four and a generally healthy man, but has a family history of heart disease. The digital clock embedded in his wrist indicates that he will die on February 22^nd, 2034 at 8:12 at night. He will most likely die from a heart attack or complications from heart disease, like his own father who died at the age of sixty-six. Michael feels this is a long enough life to lead. He will see both of his children graduate university, and will most likely be able to meet at least one future grandchild. Michael is content knowing he can get a lot done in the next twenty years.

Melanie Fernandez has been at the airport for two hours already. Her flight to California isn’t supposed to take off until 11:30, but she was anxious to be early. She spontaneously decided to fly to California to visit her long-distance boyfriend of three years. She is twenty-three and is supposed to live for another sixty-one years. She will die on June 2^nd, 2075 at 1:44 in the morning of natural causes. She is grateful that she will die an old woman, warm in her bed because that’s how Rose from Titanic wound up dying. It’s her favourite film and she idolizes every rash decision made by Jack and Rose in it. This is why she decided to all of a sudden fly to California, despite not being financially capable of supporting this trip. She has a long life to live, and has no issue in making quick decisions and living in the moment because she believes she has time to work out any consequences later in life.

Helen Jameson is eighty-four years old. She is moving from upstate New York to the 90210 area code to live with her son Daniel and his wife Molly. She is a spry old woman; she was always athletic and lived a healthy life. She loves to travel and enjoys being in airports. She likes to see the different kinds of people coming and going. She especially likes to see young children in the airport because she believes they will find a love for travel like she did at a young age. Helen will only live another two years before she dies of natural causes, like Melanie Fernandez, on November 9^th. Helen is happy to spend those two years with her son and grandchildren and is grateful that her clock never changed.

Jonathan Ching is twelve years old and has been at the airport since 9:22 in the morning. He was on a connecting flight from Toronto, Ontario before landing in New York. He is an unaccompanied minor on his way to a special science retreat for gifted children in Pasadena. Only ten children from Canada were chosen, each from a different province. Jonathan has never been more excited for anything in his short life. He especially liked the attention he got from the pretty TSA agent, Allison. Jonathan’s clock said he would die on October 18^th, 2056. He would be only fifty-four when he will suffer a stroke that will eventually shut down his entire body. He will still have a fulfilling life before then. Although, he does hope that science will advance enough by then to be able to better preserve him and elongate his life. But, he is also aware that that is not how it works.

Andrew Howard is dying of brain cancer. He was always aware of his short life span; he always understood he would die on March 11th, 2015 at the age of thirty-seven. He thought there would be an accident, something quick. He did not suspect to endure four years of chemotherapy and radiation and large amounts of suffering before he would finally clock out. Andrew sometimes wondered why he even bothered with treatments because he knew he would die no later than March 3^rd. But, then he would realize, he did it in the hopes that he would not die sooner. He is flying home just a few months before his death to spend time with his family. He is originally from Anaheim and wants to spend another holiday season with his parents and his brothers’ families. He did not buy a return ticket to New York.

Cameron Chapman was not supposed to fly flight United 142 that morning. He was offered the job the night before and accepted. He had been drinking, quite heavily, but agreed anyways. Cameron Chapman does not have much longer to live, according to his watch, and was depressed. He is only forty-five and doesn’t think it is fair that he is going to die so soon. He always had a drinking problem. It’s why his ex-wife Louise left him. He had a one percent chance to escape his death date, for fate to change, but no changes were made. He drinks and flies, and that’s his life.

He arrives in the cockpit, still drunk, at 11:17. He does a poor job of making all of his checks, he does not inform his co-pilot of his night of drinking. He takes no precautions.

Michael Biggs enters first, as he is in first class. Soon, Jonathan Ching and Helen Jameson enter. Helen is chatting to the boy about his travels. Melanie Fernandez enters and seats herself next to Andrew Howard. Only forty-six people are on board this plane, including the flight attendants.

The engines begin at 11:29. There are forty-six beeps. Each beep from someone’s wrists. Everyone’s clocks syncs up to Cameron Chapman’s: November 17^th, 2014 and 11:57 a.m.