Carl walked out of the plane, holding his phone in the air. The late morning sun blazed in the sky, shining bright through the jetway's windows, somewhat obscuring his view of the screen. He had tried dialing Ryan's number again and again but still couldn't reach him.
When he was still at the mine, he could understand not being able to get through since the reception was basically nonexistent. The replacement network pole had only arrived the night before, and the repair team didn't come until that morning.
Since there was nothing else for Carl to do at the mine and everything was back on track, he decided to hurry back so he could talk to Ryan. The first thing he had done after landing was call Ryan. Still not getting through was unusual. Even when he was upset, he'd at least send a short text after a while. A 'meet me in the middle and let's talk this out.' But it's been days, and still nothing. This wasn't like Ryan.
