That heartbreak still chokes her whenever she recalls that pain, a pain that her brother won’t ever know because she will be right by his side, even if it means witnessing a horrible death that he doesn’t deserve.

“I had a thought before blacking out,” Scarlett had told Valentino while recovering the morning after the accident. “That since I was the last one to enter this world, I would be the first one out. It’s like life got too crowded so people had to be fired.”

“You’re making death sound more poetic than it is,” Valentino had said.

“That’s the artist in me. Happy to be wrong.”

Scarlett was no longer happy to be wrong.

Valentino was the first one in and will be the first one out.

Unless they depart together, like a plane off to its destination, one-way.

Scarlett glances up to find everyone else in her row on their own phones, as if they’re all waiting to see if today will be their last. Then she has a horrible vision of a collective ringing throughout the entire plane, damning everyone even though they haven’t taken off yet. She doesn’t want to give that thought power, but it doesn’t help when she hears bells.

The Death-Cast ringtone.

They’re calling someone aboard this flight.

Scarlett’s phone is quiet and dark, and she’s immediately consumed by solving the mystery of the unlucky Decker. From her seat in the seventh row, Scarlett can hear the bells chiming from up ahead, possibly someone in first class. But everyone in that section is facing forward, staring up at the front cabin.

The pilot of this plane is going to die today.

What does that mean for everyone else?

Captain Harry E. Pearson

1:00 a.m. (Mountain Standard Time)

Death-Cast is calling Captain Harry E. Pearson to tell him he’s going to die today, moments before he was about to prepare his airplane for his centennial flight.

From the first officer to the flight attendants to the passengers, all eyes are on the captain. This is the kind of attention one dreams about during in-flight safety demonstrations, but people are often too lost in their magazines and phones to care. But now they’re rapt with great intensity, wondering when Captain Pearson will answer his End Day call. He’s about to when he feels a deep dread, such as when he used to watch horror movies but had to stop because his aging heart couldn’t handle the suspense and jump-scares anymore, and Captain Pearson becomes very suspicious of all on board.