AN – Alright so here it is the last chapter in this story. I hope you like it and please Review. Once again I own nothing and please support the official release.
Looking across the island it almost looked like a real paradise but hidden in that dense jungle were all sorts of dangers. From wild animals to cannibal natives and insane criminals it had all been hell. From the window in his room Robbie could see the only other mountain on the island as well as strange buildings dotting the cliffs. He couldn't help but wonder if they sheltered more evil or maybe something good on this island. Limping back over to the bed Robbie sat down wondering why Sikowitz or Alex hadn't searched for them yet, of course they probably received the news from Mr. and Mrs. Vega when they received word for the ransom but something felt off. Their teacher might have been a homeless looking nut job but he really cared for his favorite students and wouldn't let them get hurt by anything. Twenty four hours had passed since he told Tori that he loved her and luckily no more crazy guilt dreams had occurred during his time of resting. His wrist still hurt but everyone thought it was sprained, not broken, thankfully. Instead of trying to be all macho Robbie had allowed himself to stop worrying and simply heal so even though he wasn't one hundred percent he was ready to go whenever. While he rested Beck and Tori took the time to check out the hang gliders which were big enough for two, they weren't going to question the few miracles they received, while Jade took post as a look out. She wasn't going to be losing anyone else and hand dubbed her assault rifle Doll taking up home in the observation tower once used for bird watching. She kept an eye on the boat in the water and the jungle below, she took aim as someone came running up but lowered it when she saw it was Isis. True to her word Isis kept their location a secret and was their spy on her father.
"You must leave now, my father's men have been looking for you and one suggested this house, they will climb the cliff and it will take a few hours but I suggest you leave now." She told them picking up Robbie's bag and tossing it to him as he came down the stairs. Grabbing the rest of their supplies Robbie and Beck strapped together since Beck was stronger than the others he could manage if Robbie didn't help. With no words of complaint Jade did the same with Tori and as Isis kept watch they two pairs run and jumped off. As Beck and Robbie's glider fell Robbie was having a hard time pulling up and Beck misjudged that, at the last second they managed to pull up and soar into the air. The girls were a lot more graceful sailing above them towards the boat. Luckily for them no one was aboard and the boys managed to land quietly on the deck. Seeing how high the girls were they knew there was no way they would land so they detached and went splashing into the water right next to the ship. As Robbie got up Beck ran to the side to toss some ropes in to get the girls on the boat. While that was going on Robbie noticed some of the crates were marked food, others water and still others weapons, Hank was really prepared. Opening one box as they came back he handed out guns to Beck and Tori and ammo to Jade. Taking his own gun Robbie and Tori went down as Beck and Jade checked the upper levels. Isis' thoughts had been correct as there were only four people on board and soon there was none. Once the bodies were tossed over they drove the boat back towards the main island.
"Considering this is like driving a car Vega's the only one who can't drive," Jade said in her impersonation of Tori which got a laugh as Tori rebuked her. Hugging her Robbie kissed her head before leaving Jade to steer the craft towards home. Walking to the back of the boat he watched the island get smaller, the place where Sinjin, Cat, Andre, and Trina had all died. Maybe one day after the authorities cleaned it out they would go back and find their friends or at least a bit of them to bury but for now they just wanted to go home.
Bring the boat to a stop so it lazily floated around the island they could easily see the hotel. "Think they'd let me keep the gun?" Jade asked getting a chuckle from the others. Beck looked at the beach through binoculars at the people on shore. "Think they'd let us keep the boat?" Tori asked even though it belonged to a master criminal and had probably stolen weapons on it. Slowly lowering the binoculars Beck handed them over to Robbie who wanted to see what possibly could make Beck turn as pale as he was. Looking through them he saw a nearly empty beach, devoid of people but not of bodies, they were everywhere. They thought they had escaped the evil but it looked like they were wrong. The others rose as they heard a scream but Robbie could really see a woman run across the beach in a bikini being chased by a man and a woman. The first woman tripped and fell and the other two were upon her. The others just saw someone being attacked but Robbie could see they were eating her. He could see their dead eyes as well as the flesh hanging from their mouths. Tori started to as Beck went to check the fuel and Jade checked her gun. Stroking Tori's hair Robbie led her and Jade into the cabin telling them everything would be fine.
Sitting around the table they had lists of everyone on board.
"So according to the logs we have food, water and ammo but we're running low on fuel and medicine." Robbie explained looking over the list. "We also have some fishing gear one of the men had in his cabin but without fuel we're not getting anywhere."
"Ammo" said Jade, it wasn't a question.
"If movie night at Beck's proved anything it's that the undead don't shoot back. Try to find some hand held weapons to fight them off unless outnumbered then don't forget to aim for the head." Robbie explained as Beck took the wheel and steered towards the docks on the far side of the island.
"Tori come here, it would be best if everyone knew how to steer the boat." Beck said and Tori went up to learn.
"It should be Beck and I fueling up with you on point watching out for any zombies while Tori keeps the boat ready to escape at a moment's notice." Nodding Jade rose and went out to the deck while Robbie fetched a pistol from one of Hank's former men's rooms. Finding two he brought both back handing it over to Tori just in case before walking out on deck with the others as the fueling station came into view. Considering how many times Tori failed her driver's test she took to boating like, well, a fish to water and she brought the boat right up to the deck only bumping the wooden deck a little as Beck jumped off to tie them up before starting to completely fill the boat's fuel tanks. As he did that there were a few more red canisters along the dock which Jade fetched and brought over so that they could fill them up and have extras. Since there was no one on the dock Robbie went over to the office and peeked inside, seeing no one inside he tried the door and found it locked. Using his shirt he quietly broke the glass that read 'Front Office' and reached inside to open it wincing as a bit of glass bit into his arm causing a few drops of blood to splatter the ground. Once inside he saw a vending machine and a mini frig, opening the frig first to see several bottles of alcohol. Using a backpack that was left behind he gently filled it before walking to the vending machine and breaking it and taking the snacks, luckily it had been filled recently.
Outside Beck and Jade worked as a team, keeping their eyes open while filling the canisters and soon they were not only filled on the boat but had four extra canisters on board with two more to go. Looking from Beck to the end of the dock Jade noticed a man standing there with his head down but fingers gripping the chain link fence. Recognition hit her eyes and as she started to yell her teacher's name Beck was by her side covering her mouth. Moaning Sikowitz looked over at the pair and coughed splattering blood onto the metal from a mouth whose lower jaw shone a dull white from where it was torn away. Everything was still for a moment before a shot from inside the office drew them back into the world and Robbie came dashing out.
"We have to go now!" he shouted as Beck and Jade froze watching Sikowitz scale the fence, he was still a distance away but suddenly he threw his head back then forward and his tongue shot out sailing across the docks, closing the distance in seconds and wrapping around Robbie's ankle. With a yank he hit the deck and felt himself being dragged towards not only Sikowitz but a hoard of zombies that formed behind him and began to shake the fence to get through. Rushing towards his friend Beck knocked the nozzle from the canister causing it to spread out across the wood and grabbed his hand. Screaming Robbie held onto Beck for dear life as a game of tug of war started where he was the rope and suddenly his body was up in the air between the two. Rushing up Jade leveled her rifle and shot at Sikowitz hitting him three times before he literally exploded in a cloud of blood. The tongue hit the deck and Beck pried it off Robbie as the pair helped him back to the boat as the fence came down.
"Tori let's get out of here," Robbie shouted as he fell onto the deck and picked up the pistol turning to fire at the hoard along with Jade. Beck picked up a knife and cut the rope before running towards a pile of crates looking for something. Bullets flew into the hoard and at the moment they weren't trying to get head shots, they were trying to slow the wall of monsters down until they could get away. Turning the boat and hitting the gas Tori slowly started the boat away but it wouldn't be fast enough until Beck came back holding a flare gun and firing it off at the still spraying hose. For a split second there was silence and the world froze but then the gas pump exploded in a huge fireball that knocked all three of the friends back onto the deck. Soon they were off and as Jade helped Beck into the lower decks while Robbie rose to look out at the burning docks. Yet another person was known to be dead now and he had a thought to return to the first island for Isis since they didn't have anyone else really but he waved it off before walking over to the cabin where Tori was. Once inside he placed the backpack aside seeing his own backpack empty on the ground and an object he hadn't seen in a while.
"It was in your bag," Tori said about the Golden Idol, "I think Isis put it in there for you as one final apology for her father."
"And now it's all gone to shit, I was thinking about going back for her but I think it's too far gone."
"Do you think it's like that everywhere?" Tori asked fearfully.
"No, I don't think so." Robbie reassured her, "We should have enough fuel to get us home now, and it'll probably take a week though, since this isn't a fast boat." Tori nodded as she set basically the auto-pilot and sat down next to Robbie. Motioning for him to lift his leg so she could see his ankle he winced as she gently touched the bit that the tongue was, it had burned him but hadn't broken the skin.
"What were they?" she asked quietly.
"For a lack of better words, zombies"
"That's a movie term," Tori said softly.
"Yeah this whole adventure is like a movie."
"Except in a movie we wouldn't need to use the bathroom," Tori said with a smile and Robbie laughed.
"That's really only T.V. Shows but you're right."
Their moment was interrupted as Beck and Jade came in setting Andre, Cat, Sinjin and Trina's backpacks on the table.
"Hank took them, we figured we could honor them someway where we got back home," Beck said seeing the idol, "Why is that here?"
"Going away present I guess, worth probably a fair amount back home, which should take a week I would think." Nodding Beck and Jade said they would take a turn up here as Robbie and Tori had a break. Before heading to one of the larger cabins Robbie and Tori tied down the hang glider to the deck so that if the ocean got choppy they wouldn't lose it. Walking towards the lower deck Robbie and Tori held hands as they went. Once downstairs they found a larger room that didn't have remains of Jade thrown about, like clothes or things like that. Falling on the soft bed Robbie moaned at the comfort he had been missing the past few days daring to steal a peek as Tori, not facing him, pulled off her shirt and tossed it aside. Pulling on a clean shirt she laid down beside him looking up at him and smiling.
"The only good thing is I realized how much you mean to me Robbie," Tori said with a soft smile on her lips that never faded. Leaning close they kissed and they both felt the fireworks that almost matched the explosion at the docks. Pulling apart they saw the passion and love in each other's eyes and moved in to continue to kiss. Time seemed to blur as the kissing turned more passionate however the drain of the days and the comfort of the bed they were both asleep in each other's arms.
A cry from above woke them up as a lurch threw them out of bed. Helping Tori up Robbie led the way to the cabin where Jade was trying to turn and stop the ship. Once it was done Robbie noticed Beck outside and went to him.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked but Beck didn't answer, instead he was looking at something so Robbie turned to see what it was and his mouth fell open. They had reached the third and fourth islands in the chain but that wasn't the problem, the problem was that in between the two islands was an impassable wall of boats. There was a Cruise ship as well as a real Battleship that seemed to run into each other with the battleship winning but the cruise ship taking hold and not giving up. Not only did it block the path but it did a great job as a few small boats like their own were spread out across the water, a few in pieces which looked like the hit the hulls at a good clip. Soon they were joined by Tori who grabbed Robbie's hand and Jade who moved close to Beck.
"Oh ship," Tori muttered earning a look from the others about her horrible pun and a blush from her, "Do you think we can just go around it?" Peering both directions Robbie sighed.
"We can but we will run out of fuel before getting home and it will add another few days to the trip," Robbie said picking up some binoculars and looking at the decks for any survivors.
"Think it reached this far?" Beck asked.
"Maybe just to the other islands," Jade mused as Robbie motioned for them to quiet. Only Robbie could see it but they could all hear it, a series of gun shots from an automatic weapon. On the deck of the battleship someone was shooting at a group of four zombies chasing him. The shots were erratic but he was taking them down as he made it to a bunker door and fled inside the bowels of the ship. "So there are survivors."
"With weapons," said Robbie warning her that the living might be more dangerous than the dead.
"Could this get any worse?" Tori asked and her friends looked at her again, Beck and Robbie with a look of pity while Jade had a look of rage, "What?" she asked as a crash of thunder answered her question and the foursome went inside the cabin. The boat was jerked around but after lowering the anchor it was a little better and the storm gave the group a chance to figure out their next steps.
"Thanks to Robbie we have some more food and some alcohol to disinfect any wounds we might get but Hank had this boat pretty well stocked so food and water won't be an issue. The choices are we scavenge the small boats if there are any left after the storm, somehow board the cruise ship which could get us food, water and most importantly medicine, somehow board the battleship which would mean weapons and ammo but also possible armed survivors who aren't too willing to share their goodies, finally we have either of the islands. I wouldn't suggest abandoning the boat so we have to look for a fueling dock but I don't think that will work out, these islands don't look very populated." Beck laid out to the others.
"Actually I found a note in Hank's room," Robbie quipped up, "One of the islands was used for the Black Market so that means that there will be everything on that island, however I don't know which he means."
"Whatever happens I'm not staying behind again," said Tori solemnly.
"Do you think you could kill someone if you had to?" asked Jade smirking at her naive friend and for a moment she was quiet, thinking before nodding.
"If anyone hurts my friends then I'll….I'll…I'll fuck them up." Tori swore getting a smile and a nod from Jade and a shaken head from the boys. Turning Robbie looked out one of the windows at the island that they were facing, it was as good as a chance as they would have as any that it was the island but he wondered what dangers it would be hiding inside those jungles and when it was over and done with who would be left. His eyes went from Tori, to Jade, to Beck then to the backpacks of their friends on the floor along with the golden idol all that remained of their friends. Looking out the window one last time he silently made a promise to his fallen friends that he would protect the remaining members of the gang no matter what.
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The island in the distance was almost just a dot on the horizon however Isis knew that if she swam hard she could make it, especially since she didn't feel tired anymore. Looking back behind her at the others that had risen up to come with her she smiled, her jaw visible and working through muscles that were torn away. Behind her Sinjin, the one armed Trina and Raul whose left side of his face was broken with the blood washed away, his leg was also chewed on by a shark once upon a time. A sort of a nod she started to walk into the water followed by Sinjin and Raul. Watching them go Trina lifted her single hand to her face seeing all of the fingers but one bitten down to spikes before sticking it in her mouth to chew and walking into the water towards the island she could sense her sister was on.
Second A/N – So constant readers of my story will notice a call out to another fic of mine. There will be a second part to this story but I feel that 'Anything But Paradise' has reached its end. Always and this story aren't in the same universe but have the same disease that causes the zombies, this story will contain the hybrids that are both scratchers and sprinters. So keep an eye out for the next part of this series.