Chapter 2 - Stranded

The blue and white boat that approached the shore was modern, clean, and expensive-looking, in sharp contrast to the dock and the surrounding buildings. "At least the billionaire invested in a good boat," thought Jill. As the boat drew up to the dock, the pilot became visible. He was a thin, black-haired man wearing a black jacket.

"Mr. Wilterfreiss?" asked Zeke. The boatman shook his head. "Mr. Wilterfreiss is waiting on the island, along with all of his other guests," he said. "My name's Ted. I do a bunch of odd jobs around the estate for the boss." He paused. "Please climb aboard and make yourselves comfortable."

The guests got on the boat one by one. "Do you know if Chris Redfield is on the island?" asked Jill.

"I don't know the names of most of Mr. Wilterfreiss's guests," said Ted. "Like I said, I just do odd jobs around the place." By now, all the guests had boarded and were seated in the boat's comfortable leather seats. "We should get to the island in a couple of hours," announced Ted. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

The boat moved rapidly away from the dock. The skyline of Miami faded into the distance. Jill sat at the back of the boat, thinking to herself. Something about this whole setup seemed a little off to her. Why would an eccentric billionaire invite so many strangers to his private island? And then there was the boatman, Ted. Although he was trying to be friendly, she could sense that he seemed nervous and acted as if he had something to hide.

She glanced around at her fellow passengers. Benny was talking with Ted in the front of the boat. Ted, again, seemed very nervous as he answered Benny's questions. Jennifer had continued her flirtatious activities with Zeke, who seemed to be enjoying the attention very much. Monica walked up to Jill. "I think their personalities seem to match each other's," she grinned as she nodded at Jennifer and Zeke.

"Definitely," agreed Jill. She and Monica got to talking and discovered that they had a lot in common. They both liked sports, outdoor stuff, guns, and video games, and managed to hold an interesting conversation for the next couple of hours. "We're coming up on the island," announced Ted. Everyone looked up and saw a small, tropical island, covered with palm trees, looming just ahead. Jill looked at her watch in surprise, astonished that two hours had gone by so quickly. She saw Monica doing the same thing and they both laughed.

The boat slowed as it approached the island. A small dock jutted out past a white sandy beach and into the water. Surprisingly, no one seemed to be waiting to meet them. "Shouldn't Mr. Wilterfreiss or his guests be here to meet us?" asked Monica.

"I wouldn't worry," said Ted as he shifted his feet. "They're probably all at the mansion. There's a path that leads from the dock right to it. You can't miss it. Just follow the path and you should get to the party in a few minutes. Besides, it's hard to predict exactly when the boat will arrive, so there's not much point in anyone waiting by the dock." Jill, upon hearing this, was about to ask Ted why he couldn't just use the boat's radio to inform Wilterfreiss exactly when they were arriving, but she didn't get a chance to because Zeke and Jennifer began bombarding him with questions about what the mansion was like.

The boat pulled up to the dock and came to a stop. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to Wilterfreiss Island," said Ted. "Please watch your step as you leave the boat and have fun at the party."

"You're not staying with us?" asked Benny.

"I have another job to do in town," answered Ted. As soon as all the passengers and their luggage were off the boat, he motored it quickly away from the dock. Soon the boat was a speck on the horizon. Jill frowned. "I don't like this," she said. "There's something creepy about this whole affair."

"Oh, you're just being paranoid," said Jennifer. "I, for one, am going to party and have some fun. Just like Zeke."

"Right on," declared Zeke. Swinging his duffel bag and long case, he started towards the interior of the island. "This looks like the path right here," he said. He started down it with Jennifer right next to him. Jill, Monica, and Benny followed behind them. Palm trees and thick bushes crowded both sides of the trail. After about fifteen minutes, they emerged into a clearing where a large, white, three-story mansion stood. A fancy garden with a fountain in the middle stood in front of the house. To the mansion's side, a big, oval-shaped swimming pool was visible. It was all very exquisite and charming - but nobody was there! No people were waiting to greet the five new arrivals. There was no sign of a party.

"Hello!" Zeke called out. "Anybody home?" There was no response. He walked up to the front door and tried it. It was unlocked. Stepping inside, he repeated his shout, coming back outside a few moments later. "There doesn't seem to be anybody inside the house either," he said.

"It looks like you were right about something being wrong," said Monica to Jill. Jennifer was just about to open her mouth to say something in response when Benny held up his hand. "Listen!" he said.

They heard the sound of footsteps crashing through the bushes, growing louder as they came closer. A few seconds later, three people came running around the side of the mansion. They hurried up to the group.

"Who are you?" asked the man in the lead. He was middle-aged and strong-looking, with the air of someone who knew a lot about survival. "Do you have a boat?"

Jill and her companions introduced themselves and told their story, finishing with the fact that they did not have a boat. The man scowled angrily. "It happened to us too!" he said. "We all got letters, supposedly from friends, that said they had befriended this billionaire Wilterfreiss guy and were inviting us to a party on this island. That guy Ted dropped us off here in his boat, then immediately took off. When we got to the mansion and found it was empty, we knew it was all a hoax! That Ted marooned us here, probably as part of some stupid practical joke!"

"Yeah!" spoke up one of the other newcomers. She was a muscular blonde woman wearing a sleeveless top. "If I get my hands on Teddy-boy, I'm gonna kick his ass!"

The third newcomer, a short man dressed in a business suit, said, "It seems pretty expensive and pointless for a practical joke. There's got to be something more behind this." He introduced himself as Mark. The newcomer who had spoken first was Chuck, and the blonde woman was named Laura.

"Well, joke or not, we have to find something that can help us," said Jill.

Chuck shook his head. "We've walked all around this island," he said. "It's pretty small. There aren't any boats here. We looked all through the mansion too. There aren't any telephones, radios, TVs, or computers. Pretty strange for a fancy mansion like this, huh? And of course our cell phones don't work way out here. We're stranded."

"Just a minute. I think we're all forgetting something very important," spoke up Jennifer. Everyone turned to look at her. "Why should we want to get off this island? The way I see it, we all got a free trip to a tropical paradise with a big mansion, a big pool, and a lovely beach. We should just sit back, relax, and enjoy ourselves!" She looked around and saw that although Zeke seemed to be in agreement with her, the others were all giving her angry looks.

"Earth to blonde airhead," said Laura, blushing when she remembered that her own hair was blonde too. "When someone maroons somebody, they generally don't do it to give the victim a good time. I'm sure Ted and whatever cronies he may have are planning something else. Maybe they plan to rob us while we're out here stranded."

"I think it's some sort of conspiracy from some secret gang or terrorist group," said Benny. "We might be guinea pigs for some crazy nut's evil experiment."

"The only crazy nut I see around here is you," said Chuck. "This whole thing is probably just an idiotic joke by that weenie Ted. He's probably a spoiled rich kid with too much money and time on his hands. Anyway, we're not too bad off here. There's plenty of food and water in the kitchen, and there must be a generator because there's electricity. There are also enough bedrooms for all of us. This island isn't too far from Miami, and there's gotta be a lot of boats and planes that pass near here. We're stranded, but we won't be stranded for long."

There were nods of agreement from the rest of the group. They then dispersed to wait the situation out. Jennifer and Zeke changed into bathing suits and jumped into the pool. Mark and Laura sat on deck chairs by the pool as Benny sat near them, giving a speech on conspiracy theories. Jill, along with Monica and Chuck, decided to search the island for anything that might be of use or interest. They found nothing more than a few sheds filled with old tools. As they were heading back to the mansion, Jill suddenly stopped and held up her hand. "I think I heard something in the bushes," she said. The others stopped to listen. A faint rustling sound was heard, then it faded away. "Probably just an animal," said Monica. Jill nodded, but inside she was not convinced.

As darkness fell across the island, the visitors all carried their bags into the mansion and found bedrooms. (Jill suspected that Zeke and Jennifer would be in the same bedroom for most of the night). After that, they all managed to dig up some grub from the refrigerator. At Laura's insistence, and with Jill's determined backing, they agreed to have watches through the night, in case (as Laura believed) Ted and his buddies decided to show up and commit a robbery. The night, however, seemed to pass without incident.

Jill drew the last watch before daybreak. The darkness began to lift slightly as a faint glow appeared in the eastern sky. Jill, seated in a large, comfortable chair, stared admiringly at the various paintings on the walls. Suddenly, there came a rustling sound from outside, just like the sound she had heard the previous afternoon. She immediately turned to stare out the window, straining her eyes to make things out in the semi-darkness. Seeing nothing moving, she turned back towards the paintings.

It was too bad that she turned away when she did, because if she had remained staring out the window for two seconds longer, she would have seen the large, ugly zombie step out into the clearing for a few seconds and then step back into the bushes.