Chapter 55 The Escape
PARADISE
Perhaps now they can allow the old man to rest in peace
Authors notes: let's take a look at what happened after the sacrifice
Zoey and the others watched as a race car sped off from the bridge the owners thanking the 3 of them as their car went up the street and disappeared out of sight never to be seen again. "Maybe we should've gone with them?" Zoey said, as Francis and Louis nodded their disapproval Zoey sighing defeated as she turned to face her two friends. "It's too late to head out now but we'll use this house to rest for the evening and then we will head out at dawn, the sooner we leave this place the better" she said as they nodded. Louis leaving his place at the mounted gun turret as he limped into the house where their supplies had all been gathered, it was a small bar area, with a pool table and a dart board as well as a small bar in the left corner, thankfully they had sealed off the only way in meaning it was off limits to any infected that remained in the area. "We'll take whatever we can get with us and then we'll get Louis to the boat and then head out" Francis said as Zoey nodded her understanding sitting down in a corner of the room as the two men sat at a small table, Francis drinking a bottle of beer and handing one to Louis. "So I guess tomorrow we are home free huh, I mean assuming there's no infected on the island from people that were already there?" Louis said taking a swig of his beer, "whatever happens it can only get better" Francis said for the first time being positive causing a smile on Louis and Zoey's faces.
...
Soon enough the group had all settled in for the night only the gentle breeze outside accompanying the sounds of their soft breathing as Louis and Francis had since fallen asleep, Francis on a couch and Louis in a sleeping bag. Zoey was still awake her shoes beside her on the floor as she huddled deeply into her sleeping bag in order to make herself feel warmer it was rather cold outside, she felt sad but relieved at the same time, Bill was gone there was no changing that, but she was finally free of the infected, in the morning they would head out and make an island their new home. She prayed it would be a simple journey without any problems, but it was safe to say that all 3 of them felt happier then they had ever felt since this whole green flu epidemic had began and turned their ordinary lives upside down. Soon enough she found herself falling asleep, a deep yawn as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off, thoughts of the life of luxury they were going to make for themselves on her mind as she slept with a smile for the first time in a very long while...
Hopefully from this point on things would get better, and maybe just maybe one day when the military got the situation under control they could return to the mainland and start their lives over once again.
...
The next morning came quicker then any of them had expected as Francis was the first to awake after getting a decent nights kip for the first time in a long while, "rise and shine ladies it's time to get the hell out of here" he announced as Zoey and Louis soon awake after him smiling back at the usually grouchy biker. "Well its safe to say today it's looking up for the better" Louis said looking outside to the see the sun was already shinning brightly in the sky, "it looks like any infected left after last night have gone too so we should be clear to have a look around for supplies before getting in the boat and going" Francis announced looking out to see many dead infected on the street below. "Zoey get Louis to the boat I'll go look for more supplies in the town before we leave" Francis said as Zoey slipped her shoes on as Louis also left his sleeping bag, "Francis... don't forget to get Bill, we'll burry him on the island" she said surprising both the men she was with. None the less he agreed nodding with a slight smile as he jumped down into the street his trusty shotgun in hand and bloodied axe on his back with an empty sack with which he would gather more supplies.
Francis made several trips too and from the boat bringing supplies, including gas cans, grenades, ammo and weapons and food and drink, finally he came back with Bills body, Zoey tensed up slightly as Louis had a somber look on his face. "Cover him with a blanket, I've got one more thing to get" Francis said running back towards the generators quickly as Zoey and Louis both looked sadly at each other as Louis covered Bill with a blanket. Suddenly a yell from nearby alerted them to Francis coming back, start the boat let's get the hell out of here!" He yelled as Louis ran to the steering wheel and began to try and steer the boat away from the dock. Francis came running back with a box of laser sight attachments for weapons he had found, yelling as a horde of infected chased after him angered by his presence. He jumped onto the boat as Zoey opened fire with her hunting rifle, Francis also firing with his spas as Louis steered the boat away from the bridge and began its journey out towards the open sea. The infected screaming and shouting from the land as they swung their arms in the air in fury screaming like banshees, some even ran into the water but quickly drowned due to not knowing how to swim in their infected state.
Francis finally collapsed onto the back of the sailboat breathing heavily as did Zoey who sat next to him pulling him into a hug, "thanks for getting that stuff Francis" she said as he hugged her back simply nodding. Louis wasted no time, steering away from mainland and using a map in the direction of the Florida keys just as Bill had planned before his untimely demise. "Well this is I guess, island paradise here we come and hopefully it would have been worth it all in the end, even if we did loose Bill getting this far" he said quietly as Francis and Zoey sat in the back of the boat as the bridge behind them got further and further away becoming small by the second, as the sails caught the wind pushing the boat in the direction that they wanted to go. "How long til we get to the keys?" Francis asked, "providing the wind stays steady and we don't hit any foul weather, we should get there by early this evening" Louis said positively as the other 2 breathed a sigh of relief. "No need to panic now folks it's smooth sailing from here on out... hopefully" he said hopeful as they advanced further and further away from the mainland and closer to their destination of the Florida Keys.
...
The boat had been at sea for around 2 hours and there was now no sign of any land on either side of them, which they took as a good sign, they had all the supplies that they needed in order to sustain and grow on the island hopefully and would also be able to make a settlement to live on once they got there. Zoey had fallen asleep at the back of the boat while Francis and Louis sat up the front , with bills body under a blanket neatly placed on the ground where no one would tarnish it. "Man I'm glad we finally had something go our way, it's about time after all the times we either crashed or get ransacked" Louis said remembering less than positive things about their journey out of Fairfield to getting where they were now. "Yeah tell me about it, back when the helicopter crashed back in Fairfield I had to admit I thought we were goners, but hey we made it and we kicked a lot of ass along the way" Francis joked giving Louis a first bump which the man eagerly returned and laughed at. "It's a shame Ellis and the others didn't come with us... they were good people, I just hope they have better luck with the military than we did" said Francis missing Rochelle and the others already. "I'm sure they will be fine man, if they were anything like us, they will get through it all just like we have" Louis said as Francis simply grunted his understanding, it was around 2:15 in the afternoon and the sun was shinning high in the sky.
The boat continued on being pushed through the clam still ocean by the gentle breeze in the air, as time went on Francis and Louis had little to say but conversation was nothing but positive to say the least. Finally after a long while and the time reaching just before 3pm in the afternoon a large island clear as day began to grow in size as they sailed closer and closer, "that's it, we've made it this is the first island of the Florida Keys" Louis said positively pumping his fist in the air excitedly as Francis did a little dance around the boat. "I'll go tell sleeping beauty the good news" he said as Louis continued to steer the boat closer to the island paradise they had fought so hard to get to, he walked over to Zoey a smile on his face as he gently shook the teenager awake. "Rise and shine, we've made it to our new home" he said with a wide grin as she yawned stretching before standing and walking to the front of the boat, a smile on her face as she stared at the large island directly ahead of them. "Well here we are then, folks welcome to the Florida Keys" Louis said steering the boat close to what looked like a wooden pier, "home at last" Zoey said sighing and brushing a hair from her eye.
...
A large village in the centre of the island had already been constructed mostly from wood and stone, a young lady, with long black hair and deep green eyes smiled as she walked back to the main building on the island, she wore a light blue dress with white socks and blue converse on her feet in her hair was a white headband with a blue flower on it. "Libby darling your never gonna guess what, it looks like more survivors have just pulled up on the south side of the island, there looks to be 3 of them 2 men and a young woman" said a man coming to rush out and greet her with a beaming smile. He wore army fatigues similar to Bill's but they were more grey in colour and he wore a bandanna green in colour over nicely kept brown hair instead of a beret, in his hands he heard an AK47 while his partner held a sniper rifle. "Well that's great news Allen, let's go greet them after all we were sent here to start a settlement" Libby said smiling back at him as they held hands and began to make their way over to where Allen had spotted the survivors.
...
Louis and Francis cheered as the boat finally docked at the pier both of them jumping off and running on to the sand, as Zoey laughed watching their happy exchange she also left the boat ensuring it was secured to the pier before walking on to the sand. It was clean and well kept and the island itself had thick, healthy, green looking trees all around. "Well boys, looks like we are finally here" she said joining them as the three of them formed a circle holding hands, "we've had our ups and our downs but we made it away from the infected at long last" she finished, her blue eyes looking a little glassy. They all looked up shocked as a friendly sounding male voice suddenly sounded from behind them, "well howdy folks, it's good to finally see some smiling faces, how you doing?" Allen said walking over slowly as to not alarm them. Libby also emerging from behind the trees, smiling as she made eye contact with Zoey and the others who found themselves smiling back, "no need to be alarmed we are the only 2 here, seems like you've had quite a long journey, my names Allen and this is my partner Libby, pleased to meet ya'll" he said shaking Louis and Francis's hands while Zoey and Libby surprisingly shared a hug to introduce each other.
"Welcome to the island, we've been here for just over 3 days now, we were sent by the military from New Orleans to start a settlement for other survivors and it looks like you folks are the first ones to make your way here" Allen explained much to the delight of Zoey and the others. "I don't get it why did the military send you 2 to start a settlement here?" Zoey asked confused as were her 2 friends but Allen did quickly explain smiling all the while. "You see Zoey, the military separated the survivors into 2 groups, immune carriers and up immune non infected, to keep one lot safe the other needs to have a home, the military can't keep both, so when me and my partner were evac Ed we explained about the Florida Keys. Luckily Papa Gator the chief of the camp agreed to allow us to start a settlement here for the carrier survivors, once we are all set up and food to go, we are to contact him and he'll begin sending carriers here via helicopters as well as supplies like food and water and gas for power" he said as Zoey and the others were literally speechless. "Well damn ain't that something" Francis said smiling and feeling positive for once, "so what do you guys have to finish before we can start getting the survivors and supplies?" Louis asked.
"Well we were just about to get the final generator set up when you showed up, so now that's all we gotta do to ensure the whole island has power, but as far as buildings and houses go we've got that all set up already, he'll we even got working showers and fridges and freezers and several plots of land for starting farming" Allen finished. Zoey didn't know what to say, her eyes teared up as she collapsed to the ground the others looking at her worriedly, "you ok darling?" Allen asked concerned before she looked up a beaming smile on her teary eyed face. "At least he's didn't die for nothing..." she simply said, "you folks bought many supplies with you?" Libby asked, "yeah quite a bit, food, ammo, weapons, gas cans, the works" Francis said. "Alright then, I'll help ya unload your boat, why don't you go with Libby and have a shower and get a new change of clothes, then we can all wash up and contact Papa Gator to begin the supply runs" Allen finished looking at Zoey who happily nodded as Libby and her walked off towards the mainland.
Francis and Louis smiled at the friendly Allen and his nice partner, "alright then let's get to work" he said as he and Francis began to unload the contents of the boat onto the beach, as Louis assisted. "I take it you guys lost a friend on the way here?" Allen asked as Louis froze, "yeah we did, we was hoping we could bury him here I mean if that's alright?" Francis asked, "we'll sure, we even have a plot of land for graveyards should anyone wanna bury any loved ones" Allen said. "Jesus is there anything you guys don't have on this island?" Louis asked jokingly, "yeah, a working Television" Allen said laughing with the other 2 men, "welcome to your new home boys, hope you enjoy your stay" he finished as Francis and Louis looked at each other for the first time in a while having a mutual understanding for something they were both happy with.
End chapter
Authors notes: I can safely say we have reached the end of this story and with one maybe 2 more chapters left, I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it, with that said thanks for reading and I will see you all in the next one.
Goodbye
