Chapter 56 The Island

Authors notes: here we go folks, the story of Zoey, Louis and Francis and their new lives on the Florida Keys as it unfolds.

Zoey was shown around the village that had been set up by Libby being genially speechless most of the time, where she was shown to a dorm where she could pick some new clothes, after doing that she was taken to the showers where she was finally going to get rid of the grime of zombie fighting that had plagued her up til this point. Libby waved her goodbye as she went inside, undressing herself for the first time in a long while before stepping in to the shower, leaving her old worn down clothes outside. She turned in the water and was taken back as a thick stream came pouring through that was initially freezing cold but even more surprisingly after 10 seconds heated up and became hot. She stood under the water, her eyes closed as she soaked up the water washing away the dirt and blood she was caked in from her journeys throughout the north and south of America, using a shower gel and shampoo that had been conveniently left in there for someone to use, she washed herself thoroughly. Scrubbing herself down from head to toe, as the water washed the blood and other stuff she didn't even recognise off of her skin leaving it feeling smooth and clean, she gave a deep sigh as she was finally satisfied she had been cleansed of all the death she had left behind back on the mainland.

She stepped out of the shower using the towel that had been left for her, rubbing herself dry before smiling as she began to dress herself with her new clothes, that she had picked out herself. Once she was fully dressed she smiled as she inspected herself in the mirror, "not bad, not bad at all" she said as she was happy with her new choice of clothes. She now wore a darker pair of blue almost black coloured jeans, with black heeled boots on her feet over white socks, with a short sleeved light blue shirt with a brown jacket over the top, she had decided to keep her hair flowing freely now instead of tying it back into a ponytail. She picked up her old clothes and shoes and walked out to see Libby sitting on a stool waiting for her, "thanks for everything you've done for us" Zoey said as Libby simply smiled back, "it's ok, in a world full of infected it's nice for there to be somewhere safe" she said as Zoey smiled back. "Come on let's go and see how the boys are getting on I'm sure they've transferred most of the stuff from your boat by now" Libby said a Zoey nodded, they stopped off in the laundry area so Zoey could leave her old clothes before going back to the middle of the village. The men had indeed transferred all the stuff to the central building of the village which Allen had explained was where all the communications equipment was, "damn you look like a million bucks when your not stinking of zombies" Francis joked causing laughter from all as Zoey giggled as well.

"Well that's everything from your boat, why don't you fellas go and get showered up yourselves, then we can have some dinner and get in touch with papa gator?" Allen said as Francis and Louis both nodded waving their goodbyes to the women as they were shown where to go. Libby and Zoey both decided to go to the beach and sit and talk for a while, "so where did you guys come from and how did you end up here?" Libby said asking the all important question. "Well believe it or not we started out in Fairfield where we tried to get out of the city by being evacuated from mercy hospital, but that didn't quite got to plan, then we found ourselves in a number of places, including Riverside, Newburg and even the Allegheny National Forest, after some complications with the military we needed up escaping out to a small town where we found the sailboat and got ourselves out here under the instructions of our team leader" Zoey said looking downcast for a moment. "Was that the man who was on the boat who died?" Libby asked putting her hand over Zoey's as her eyes appeared to go a bit glassy, "yeah, his name was Bill, he was a Vietnam war vet, he was the bravest old man I ever met, he looked after all and guided us all the way here... even gave his life to save us, if it wasn't for him we would've died a long time ago" she said tearing up a little. Libby pulled the young woman into a hug, both of them smiling even through the thoughts of sadness that clouded their minds, "it's ok Zoey, wherever he is now I'm sure he's proud of you" she said as they continued to hug. "And hey at least now your here you can bury him and lay him to rest... a lot of people had or leave their loved ones behind to die in the cold when the green flu begun" Libby said reassuringly as Zoey finally pulled away smiling and wiping away her tears. "Come on let's go see what the others are up to I'm sure Allen has some dinner cooking by now" she said as Zoey nodded both of them standing and walking back towards the village at the heart of the island.

...

The two women made their way back where they could now see the 3 men sitting around a bench drinking beer and eating some beef jerky, Zoey gasped in shock at the sights of Louis and Francis. Louis now wore blue jeans with Nike air forces, a white shirt with a brownish long sleeved coat over the top. Francis surprisingly now wore, blue jeans with a red and blue stripped collar shirt that still showed off his tattooed arms, his sleeveless jacket had been replaced with a pristine sleeved one where the sleeves ended at his elbows and now wore cowboy boots on his feet. "Looking good boys" she said jokingly as Louis and Francis smiled back at her as the 2 women sat around the table, "we've made contact with papa gator, the first group of survivors to come here will be dropped off tomorrow at 10 am so it looks like we've got a bustling community on our hands" Allen said with a laugh as the others all smiled at the wonderful news. The group then spent a full hour talking about memories of their past lives and drinking beer and eating food all the way sharing laughs of happier times, Libby and Zoey found themselves becoming very close as they shared memories of their lives. Both of them being nearly the same age and coming from colleges which they were flunking from, it made Zoey think of her childhood best friend Sam, she hoped she had survived the green flu epidemic and would see each other again one day. But for now she was grateful for what she did have, the green flu may have taken, her home, friends and family, but they had all been replaced, by a new home, some new friends and even a new family in Louis and Francis.

"It will be getting dark soon it's up to you where you guys wanna go, but I'd be happy to show you where the bedrooms are around here... and also if you wanna bury that friend of yours" Allen said as he and Libby looked downcast as did the other 3 survivors. "Yeah sure... that would be nice" Zoey said giving a weak smile as Libby squeezed her hand smiling at the young college girl, Francis and Louis nodded their understanding. "I'll go and dig a hole in the cemetery, you go grab your friend and I'll get Libby to show you the way" Allen said as Francis nodded, he grabbed a shovel and went off to dig the said hole as Libby followed them to the boat. Francis went on grabbing Bills body and carrying it under the blanket over his shoulder, Louis looked away and Zoey couldn't help but bury he face in Libby's shoulder as Francis walked past carrying the old man. "Come on Zoey, it's for the best, like I said, I'm sure where ever he is he is proud of you for following through with his plan... your doing exactly what he wanted you to do... to survive" Libby said hugging her as she tearfully nodded. "Yeah... let's do it" she said quietly as her and Libby and Louis followed Francis to the graveyard, they were finally going to give the old man the send off he deserved for everything he had done for them...

...

The group gathered around the hole that Allen had dug, Zoey and Louis holding back the tears as Francis lowered the old man inside, "sorry I'd put him in a coffin but sadly we don't have one" Allen said apologetically. But Francis put a hand on his shoulder and simply nodded, "you've done enough for us" he simply said as he dropped some flowers into the hole to lay on top of Bill, he took a deep breathe as he gently laid the old mans beret and M16 on top of his chest. "Bill... you were on grumpy sun of a bitch... but without you we would never have made it this far... I just wanna say... thanks... I owe you one you old buzzard" Francis said sighing and closing his eyes as he moved out the way allowing Louis to stand in the front next. "Bill thanks man, for everything, for looking after us... for getting us out of Fairfield and beyond alive... for pushing us on even in our darkest times... for everything you ever done" he said bowing his head as he moved to finally allow Zoey to finish. "Bill I... I just wanna say goodbye... I'll never forget you and everything you did for me and Louis and Francis... for saving us from those tanks..." she tried to finish choking on her tears as Louis placed a hand on her shoulder. "Goodbye Bill... I love you" she finished collapsing into Louis as she sobbed openly, Francis joining the two of them as Allen began to place dirt over the old man resealing the hole he had dug as he laid the old man to rest. Francis saluted as Allen continued to reseal the hole as Libby simply watched a tear falling down her left check as she bowed her head in respect, Louis and Zoey embracing one another as the young woman sobbed her grief away.

The time was around 7:30pm when Allen finished resealing the hole, Zoey finally standing and wiping away her tears as she and Louis pulled away, smiling weakly at one another as Francis hugged her as well as Louis in a moment uncharacteristic of the burly biker man. Libby placed a stone down at the top of the grave as Allen used a hammer and chisel, to carve out words on it, WILLIAM OVER-BECK THE TRUE HERO OF THE GREEN FLU APOCALYPSE.

With that being said and done, Allen bowed as he paid his respects to the man he had learnt soo much about from his 3 new friends as he and Libby hugged gently, "May his soul finally know peace in the world of the dead" he said quietly. "Come on let's get some rest and relaxation, tomorrow is a big day for us, we start a brand new community on an island paradise in the end days... Bills island" Allen said as the 3 survivors looked at him at his last words, smiling as he and Libby smiled back. After standing in silence for a few more minutes the group went back to the main village where they would be sleeping for the night inside the main cabin which could sleep 7 people in total. Zoey and Libby sleeping in a corner of the room on 2 separate single beds while the 3 men sat around a table playing cards for a few more hours, drinking some more beers and eating some beef jerky before eventually heading off for the night as well...

End chapter

Authors notes: finally my take on the resting of bill over beck my favourite fictional army character in video games, may he and his beloved voice actor rest in peace... there is one more chapter to go before the end of this story and just want to say thank you to all of you for reading up to this point, with that being said thanks for reading and I will see you all in the next one.

Goodbye