Freegans part 5

Lucy
I leaned down through the net and yelled, "Go home, Danielle! Go home!" Maybe it was sheer terror, maybe she was confused, but she did as I said. As I watched her run away, I was suddenly hit by a wave of vertigo. I've never been too good with heights, and this net was pretty high off the ground, though I couldn't see what it was attached too. Mostly that was because I now had my eyes squeezed shut, and was trying very hard not to puke.

I heard Cara say, "I think we can safely conclude this was a trap set by the consumerists."
"Brilliant deduction, Holmes," said Matt sarcastically, followed by an "Ow!" after she socked him. Then I suddenly heard a loud thrumming sound above us.
"What's that?" I asked. I opened my eyes, and saw. The net was swinging precariously through the air, and dangling by a rope from a big helicopter!

"How come we didn't hear that earlier?" Matt wanted to know.
"I presume it's because of the silent hovercraft hidden in the clouds that this helicopter was resting on," said Cara. Both of us looked at her.
"How do you know about that?" we asked at nearly the same time. She pointed up at the sky, and we saw the silent hovercraft following us. Instantly I felt kind of stupid. Then my feelings changed to ones of panic. We were prisoners! The consumerists had captured us, and were going to do who-knows-what! My chest began feeling tight.

The trip lasted for what seemed like hours, going past the city we knew, and during that time all we did was sit and think. I didn't understand how Cara and Matt were handling this so calmly. They sat, trying to make themselves comfortable on the mesh, and staring out at the landscape. As I watched, I suddenly noticed that Cara's hands were shaking, and looked kind of clammy. I glanced at Matt, and saw that his eyes held a slightly anxious look. I realized that they really WERE as afraid as I was, just better at controlling it. That made me feel kind of crummy, since I always wear my heart on my sleeve.

Anyway, we finally closed in on another city. "Which one is this?" I asked aloud.
"I think it's Washington D.C," said Cara. She's the history buff in the group, and knows that sort of thing. She pointed down at a tall, white building standing out on the ground. "That's the old Washington Monument. Dedicated to our first president." Looking down on it made me dizzy, so I looked away. It was a marvel that I had come this far without throwing up. Matt looked at me.
"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded.