The sound of crunching metal filled Alexander's ears. It roared through the massive airship, sending chills down his spine. His breaths became shallow as the sound of steel scraping steel rang through the air. It was a nail-biting sound, like fingernails up against a chalkboard.

"WE'RE GOING DOWN!" someone screamed. The blood drained from Alex's face as he realized what that meant.

There was no such thing as surviving an airship crash. It had never been done. A thousand pounds of steel and fire falling from the sky, like an asteroid striking the surface of the Earth, could never hold any survivors.

If they didn't burn to death, they would be killed by the fall. And if by some sort of miracle they survived that, they would be crushed by falling pieces of metal.

The lurching feeling filled Alex's stomach as the airship began to descend from the sky. He looked fearfully at a young boy who had been in the coal pit with him, helping provide fuel for the fires that ran the flying airship. The boy was around 18 or 19 and had dark skin with a large poof of curly hair tied up into a ponytail with a slight goatee. He had fear in his brown eyes.

"Alexander!" the boy cried out in a french accent, reaching out for his companion. They grasped at each other, holding the other close.

"I'm sorry, Lafayette," Alex whispered, a hollow pit of terror forming in his stomach. "I guess we'll never get to see New York."

"I'm sorry, Alex," Lafayette answered, choking back a terrified sob. "O-oh God, we're gonna die!"

The sound of ripping metal sent percussive sound-waves to the boy's ears.

The two were suddenly jerked from each others grasp and flew in different directions. The two cried out in shock and fear. Lafayette was suddenly enveloped in a large whoop of flame. Alex screamed in terror. "LAFAYETTE!"

He felt a crushing pain to the back of his head, and then everything went black.