A:N/ I hope you like the chapter. I'm excited to see what you think. It was a battle getting it posted today. The power in my hometown and the surrounding area kept turning on and off. Hopefully, it's back on now for good.
Chapter 43: The Island
EDWARD
The open ocean was a beautiful thing with light reflecting off the waves in silver and gold. As we got further away from the shore, I felt a weight lift off of me as the fresh air buffeted my face. There were no dead out on the ocean which meant that for a brief time I could just breathe and not have to watch our backs.
However, the beauty soon wore off as the glare off the water started to blind me, making me wish that I'd thought to bring something so insignificant as a pair of sunglasses.
Eventually the shape of an island materialized out of the glare which caused Emmett to let out a whoop of relief.
However, as we got closer, my stomach dropped.
The island seemed like nothing but rock. A grey rock beach led up to a rock cliff face with only coarse shrubs dotting its landscape. It couldn't be McManus because there was no way that anything could live on the island let alone be a tourist destination.
"It's too small anyway," Ben shouted to our boat, trying to give the upside of the situation.
However, I wasn't willing to see the upside right now. My arms and thighs burned from the strain that came with the repetitive motion of rowing. I could also feel that the blisters on my hands were on the verge of bursting despite Bella's socks that Emmett and I were using to cushion our hands. Emmett's were already raw and bleeding.
I'd thought that once we'd gotten past the breakers near the shore that it would be easier rowing against the waves. And it was to a certain point. The waves weren't as violent out on the open water, but that didn't mean that without power behind each stroke of the oars that we didn't just hover in place because of the tug of war between the current of the ocean and our boat.
With a deep sigh of frustration, I kept rowing, ignoring the aches in every part of my body.
After another hour of rowing, we finally came upon a second island. This one looked more promising. It was quite large and because of the vegetation growing in abundance on it, I knew it had to have fresh water.
I assumed that it was McManus island, but couldn't be sure. I had no point of reference on the open water.
The coastline of the island had no beaches. The trees met the ocean directly, sometimes with the branches of the trees touching the water, turning them brown. From the boat, it appeared to be an impenetrable wall of colour. It was quite beautiful as the vibrant colours of red and black spruce, yellow birch, ash and red maple reflected off the water.
"We'll have to circle the island and look for a place to dock. There has to be one on the other side," Ben said, as his boat came closer to us.
Emmett sighed. "Change places with me Edward. You need a break."
I practically moaned in relief.
I thought the years of hard living had made me strong, but not for something like this.
Bella and Rose had tried to take a turn at the oars, but they didn't have the upper body strength to push past the waves, so it fell to Emmett and me to do all of the rowing.
We continued along the edge of the island, but we still couldn't find anywhere to land our boat. There was just a wall of forest like a fence trying to keep us out.
However, we finally found a small inlet that was overshadowed by trees that we could have easily missed if we'd been looking from a distance.
As we paddled into the narrow passage, I tried to look everywhere at once. We were sitting ducks for any survivors or the dead because the thickness of the trees around us was excellent camouflage.
The water became more and more shallow until I felt the boat scrape along the bottom, so I jumped out of the boat and pulled it up higher on the bank, trying to give room for the other one.
After covering our boats with fir boughs, we quietly climbed the slight incline away from the creek and into the forest.
The air was filled with the smell of pine resin mixed with another perfumed scent that I couldn't place. The trees were so thick that as we moved further away from the water the light faded too. The branches of fir and ash trees formed a canopy over our heads that cast the whole area in shadow.
It was beautiful, but it also made me incredibly nervous. People could be hiding anywhere ready to kill us. I could tell that the others felt the same way because they had their weapons at the ready too.
We walked for a quite a while in silence, looking everywhere but seeing no signs of human life.
"This doesn't seem right," Emmett said, breaking the silence. "There's no sign of any cabins or even beaches… Shouldn't there be some sign of civilization?"
The brochure did say that people could get away from civilization but I didn't think they meant that it would be this untouched. However, we hadn't searched the rest of the island yet, so the cabins were probably on the other side.
By the time dusk approached, we still hadn't seen any signs of camp-sites or cabins, so we decided to stop for the night.
Ahead of us, the trees had opened up into a small field, allowing us to use the remaining daylight to set up camp.
After getting the fire started, Katie stood up and looked around us in amazement. "I don't think there are any dead here. I didn't think that was even possible anymore."
"Don't get your hopes up," I warned as I continued to scan the trees. "This is a big island and they may just not have caught our scent yet."
Katie scowled at me.
"Thanks, Edward. I needed my slight dash of hope squashed," she growled.
"I'm just telling you the truth," I grumbled. "We can't let our guard down."
"Edward's right," Ben said. "We still need to take turns on watch tonight."
We didn't have much with us besides our weapons and rations. We'd stupidly expected that we'd easily find the cabins that were promised in the brochure.
Thankfully, the weather cooperated and there wasn't any rain, so we huddled around the small fire for warmth. We weren't used to the kind of wind that came with being surrounded by open water. In the middle of the day, it was a welcome relief from the sun pounding down overhead, but now as the sun began to wane it cut through our clothing like a knife.
Once we were settled, Bella insisted on using a small amount of our fresh water to rinse the burst blisters on my hands which stung like a son of a bitch from the salt water.
Emmett, Embry, Ben, and Quil were suffering from the same pain but we were trying to remain stoic about it. We didn't have a lot with us in the way of supplies and I didn't want it wasted on something so small as blisters on my hands.
"Don't waste the water. The salt from the ocean is good for them. Carlisle used salt water to clean Jasper's wounds," I said, pulling my hands away from her when she opened her thermos of water.
"Don't argue with me, Edward," Bella said with a scowl. "Whatever help the salt water had on your hands is long over. I know you're in pain. You can't hide it from me."
I winced as she prodded at one of the blisters at the base of my thumb.
"Sorry," she said, guiltily. "I'll only use a little bit of water to dampen the cloth so I can wipe off the salt. You need to heal up as much as you can before tomorrow."
I let out a large gust of air and relaxed my hands in hers. Truthfully, I was in quite a bit of pain, not just my hands but my shoulders and legs too.
I looked around us as she cleaned them, taking in our surroundings. I was on edge, partly because I was waiting for the inevitable moans of the dead to reach us, but also because I felt very unprepared for the environment we found ourselves in. I was so used to scavenging from abandoned homes and fighting the dead that I didn't know how to do anything else. It was a whole new world we were in now.
Bella was more prepared than I was. Once she'd cleaned my hands, she took out her first aid kit and pulled out the little pill bottle that she'd filled with aloe from a plant that she'd rescued.
"This is going to hurt," she said as she prepared to smear it over my palms.
I smirked at her.
"Do your worst, woman," I said with a growl which caused her to smile.
I hissed in pain, but otherwise stayed quiet.
Once she'd wrapped my hands, Bella handed her first aid kit to the others while she grabbed my axe and started cutting down fir boughs.
"What are you doing?" Katie asked as she worked on Embry's hands.
"Charlie used to take me camping sometimes," she said. "He was quite a boy scout when he was young and he told me that if I was ever stuck in the woods overnight fir or pine boughs can be used as insulation."
I couldn't resist a smile breaking across my face because I loved it when my little nerd made her appearance.
"Let me do that," I said, standing up and reaching for the axe. I was restless and needed something to do.
"Not on your life," she said firmly. "I just cleaned your hands."
Katie and Rose started doing the same thing and soon they'd cut enough branches to make pallets to sleep on and a few to drape over us.
I didn't want to sleep out in the open like this. The trees that surrounded the clearing made me feel trapped.
As we ate our rations, the others started to relax and even began to joke around and tease each other. It was nice to see them happy, but I didn't think it was smart to let their guards down.
We didn't have much food, so I tried to give some of mine to Bella. She didn't have as strong an immune system as I had, so she needed more to keep up her strength. But she fed it to me anyway, laughing as I tried to convince her otherwise.
I shook my head as I stoked the small fire while the others got ready for bed. It would be too easy to get lulled into the belief that we were just a bunch of people on a camping trip. The temptation to let that thought take control actually made me more tense. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all a trap.
I chose to take first watch because I didn't think I'd be able to sleep anyway.
I stepped away from the fire because it was affecting my night vision. Walking to the edge of the woods, I stared out into the darkness, looking for any danger that might approach while the others slept.
The blazing heat from the fire at my back was a stark contrast to the cold wind that came off the ocean, which caused me to shiver uncontrollably. I tried flipping up the collar of my jacket and pulling it tighter around me to get warm, but it didn't help much.
The others didn't fall asleep right away and I couldn't help but listen in on their conversations while I tried to stay alert to any possible dangers.
"When I was young, I thought our galaxy was called the Milky Whale," Emmett said with a chuckle. "I actually still thought it was the Milky Whale right up until middle school science class. When the teacher asked us what our galaxy was called I proudly said, 'Milky Whale' and everyone laughed. I almost got in trouble because the teacher was so used to me cracking jokes that she thought I was just being the class clown."
I chuckled with the others at Emmett's story as I looked up at the sky. There was no moon lighting the sky tonight, but the sky was full of stars, layers upon layers of them covering us like a blanket. In the old world, I'd never seen the stars as bright as they were tonight. There had been so much light pollution back then that it had been almost impossible to get away from artificial light.
Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me, but instead of panicking I could sense that it was Bella. I didn't know whether it was how she walked, her scent, or simply the energy she gave off, but I could always tell it was her.
She sat down on a log and pulled me down in front of her so that I was sitting between her legs. Then, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight.
"That's Ursa Major," she said, pointing at a constellation overhead. "The body and the tail of the bear make up the Big Dipper."
I leaned back against her and rested the back of my head against her shoulder.
"I remember learning about the origins of different constellation names in my history class. The ancient Greeks had a story to explain how the animal ended up there. Zeus' wife Hera was jealous of the affairs that Zeus would have with human women. One day she almost caught Zeus with one of his favorites, Callisto. To hide her, Zeus turned Callisto into a bear. The same day, Callisto's son Arcas was hunting. He saw the big bear in front of him and shot her with his bow, but then in front of his eyes she turned back into his mother. He started crying loudly and Zeus heard him, so he went back to earth and turned Arcas' dying mother into the largest constellation in the northern sky, known as the Big Dipper. He also turned Arcas into a smaller constellation, known as small bear or Little Dipper to keep Callisto company."
I snorted at her little piece of trivia.
"Have you ever noticed that a lot of the Greek and Roman myths centred around affairs and sex? And people said our TV shows were nothing but sex and violence. Ours were nothing compared to theirs," I said, wryly.
Everyone laughed at that.
"Free soap operas, all night, every night," Embry snickered. "All you have to do is look up."
The others laughed and Bella kissed my neck before resting her cheek on my shoulder.
Things were quiet after that, too quiet. The only sounds were the crackling of the trees being bent to and fro from the wind and the snapping of sap as it burst into flame in the fire.
Maybe Katie was right. Maybe we were the only living things on this island or maybe there were people watching us right now waiting for us to let our guard down.
"What are you thinking about?" Bella whispered in my ear. I jolted in surprise because I'd thought she'd fallen asleep.
"Do you think Katie is right?" I asked, quietly. "Are we alone here?"
"I don't know. I guess it's possible. It could have been empty when the dead began to rise. The island is mainly a tourist destination. I don't think people lived here year round," she said with a sigh, but then a shiver wracked her small frame.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of me, so that I could wrap myself around her to keep her warm. Sighing deeply, I rubbed my hands up and down her back, trying to get her warm.
"I just can't shake the feeling that we're not alone," I said, "but I might just be paranoid."
"Until we search every last bit of this island, we should trust your instincts," she responded.
"Is it strange that I wish Jasper were here?" I asked.
Jasper was such an enigma. He was unstable for sure. I'd seen him lose it too many times to deny it. However, there was no one among us that had fought harder for the safety of our group. Despite his issues, I trusted him completely.
"It's not strange. He's saved all of our lives over and over again," she said. "But he needed a break. He deserves a break."
"I know," I said.
Both of us jerked up in our seats at the sound of footsteps behind us.
"It's just me," Embry said. "I'll take watch."
I didn't think I'd be able to sleep, but once I'd settled down under our coats that we used as blankets with the fir boughs on top of us the warmth eventually helped me drift into a restless sleep.
When our camp awakened, the forest was filled with mist and gray-blue light which signalled that it was not quite daybreak yet. It was early, but we wanted to find the cabins by the end of the day.
After eating breakfast we headed back into the forest, following Ben and Embry who were in the lead. I was at the end of the line because I wanted to keep watch behind us.
As I fell a little behind the others, I started to get the very distinct feeling that we were being watched. It was faint at first, but as we continued deeper into the island, the prickling feeling on the back of my neck got stronger until I couldn't stand it anymore.
I spun around with my gun trained on the surrounding forest, looking for any sign of movement. However, there was nothing. The woods were even more still than usual. Even the squirrels and birds were silent.
I looked in the direction of the group and saw that they were getting too far away from me, so I broke into a run.
"Stop!" I said as I got closer.
The others stopped immediately and without me having to say anything they hauled out their weapons.
"We're being watched. I didn't catch a glimpse of them, but I know there are people out there," I hissed, not taking my eyes off the woods.
No one doubted me. Our instincts were what had kept us alive all these years.
Before anyone could respond, a voice came from the trees.
"Get back in your boats and leave assholes!" a male voice snarled.
Immediately our group's guns were pointing in the direction of the voice searching for the owner.
"Whoa… We're not here for a fight," Ben said, with his hands in the air.
"Oh, of course not," the man snapped. "Let's pretend the entire world hasn't gone to hell. Let's just ignore the fact that you're on my island with weapons, clearly spoiling for a fight."
"We're not-" Ben began, but he was interrupted.
"Turn around and go home," the voice said, firmly.
"We don't have a home. Our home was destroyed," Ben said. "We're looking for a safe place to live."
"I don't care what you're looking for," he said. "This isn't it. You can't stay here."
"The island has more than enough room-" Ben began, but was cut off as two people stepped out of the trees with guns aimed at us.
The man looked to be in his early fifties - maybe older. For a minute, I got the strange impression that I was looking at Liam Neeson. But then I noticed his weathered complexion and hunched shoulders that spoke of a man who'd spent years outdoors doing hard labour.
A woman stood next to him dwarfed by his size, but not frail. She had a round face spattered with freckles that stood out in sharp contrast to her lightly tanned skin and light brown hair. Her pale blue eyes stared at us coldly as she kept her gun targeted on us as well.
They both held their guns with experience. Their stances reminded me of police officers that I'd seen on TV.
"We told you to leave," the man said, focusing his weapon on Ben. "I'm not saying it again."
"Please," Ben said. "Just hear us out. We know that there are bad people out there, but my group, my family is trying to get away from all of that. It's not safe on the mainland."
"I understand your predicament," the man said, calmly, "but you're not going to find that safe haven here."
"There's more of us than of you," Quil blurted out before any of us could stop him. "What are you going to do to stop us?"
"Quil!" Ben shouted.
I tensed, my finger on the trigger, preparing for the inevitable onslaught of gunfire, but nothing came.
"Try it and you'll get an ass full of buckshot for your trouble. Maybe I'll just shoot you anyway…" the man said, raising his head and jutting out his chin in a look of determination. However, he didn't shoot and neither did the woman which surprised me.
I looked at the man intently. We were a threat to them. He could see that we were all armed and clearly capable of fighting, but he hadn't attacked. Most survivors faced with this situation wouldn't have thought twice about shooting invaders. I wasn't sure I would have thought twice after hearing a threat like Quil's. We'd all grown to accept that it was kill or be killed.
"We're not alone and we'll hurt you if necessary," the woman said harshly.
"I'm sorry. Quil spoke without thinking," Ben said, putting his gun back in its holster and gesturing for us to lower ours. I wasn't sure about doing it but tensions were rising and it was likely the only way to prevent a slaughter.
"We're desperate. We've been fighting to survive for so long that some of us have lost common courtesy," he finished with a glare at Quil.
The couple made no response, but they didn't lower their guns like we did and I suddenly got the sense that there were more guns aimed at us from the surrounding trees.
"We have children in our group," Rose pleaded softly, breaking the stand-off. "A newborn and two children under the age of nine. We just want to find a place to raise them in peace. You know they won't survive if we don't find one. A crying baby is a death sentence."
I thought I noticed a slight softening in his eyes, but the woman's posture only stiffened and her jaw clenched.
"We have children of our own. That's why we're not going to let a bunch of armed strangers invade our home," she said resolutely. "There are other islands further down the coast a ways, so go find your own."
"We found a brochure that said that McManus island has cabins all over it. That's more than enough room for us all to live without bothering each other," I said.
"Well, there you go," the man responded with a sharp nod of his head. "This isn't McManus. McManus is further down the coast. Perfect place for you guys to settle. This is just a nature reserve. It doesn't have the amenities you'd need to care for young children."
We all looked at each other with hesitation. If this wasn't McManus island, it was in our best interest to continue on and avoid a confrontation.
"Okay," Ben said, calmly. "We'll be on our way. We didn't mean to invade your territory. You can understand that we just want to find a safe place away from the dead."
"I get it," the man said, "but I want you off this island by sunset."
I felt like any false move and we were going to be shot by the people hiding in the trees, so we backed away cautiously, trying to look everywhere at once.
Once we were out of eyesight, we moved more quickly towards where we'd left the boats. It was around midday and we wanted to get to McManus before dusk.
"Well, they were a pleasant couple…" Emmett said, sarcastically once we were a safe distance away.
"I'm surprised they didn't shoot us after dumbass over there threatened them," Embry snapped, glaring at Quil.
"What were you thinking?" Rose admonished.
"I was thinking that it's survival of the fittest in this world," Quil said. "If it was between us and them for survival, I chose us."
"Survival of the fittest doesn't just mean using violence. Use your brain next time," Bella snapped.
We continued on in tense silence as we approached the ocean.
Suddenly, a shrill scream erupted from the head of the line.
We all broke into a run, but the others got to the water's edge first and they were blocking my view.
I pushed past them to see what had caused Katie to scream.
When I saw it, all the breath left my lungs.
One of the boats was gone.
"Oh my god. Oh my god…" Katie rambled, her voice becoming more shrill with each passing breath.
"What the fuck is this!" Embry shouted, spinning around as he scanned the trees.
"Did it float away?" I asked, trying to squash the panic that was choking me.
"Look," Quil said, angrily. "Someone took it."
In the mud and mossy ground leading away from water were the distinct tracks of the boat being dragged away.
"Son of a bitch!" Emmett shouted, hauling out his gun and searching the trees.
"What do we do?" Rose asked, shrilly. "Emmett, what are we going to do?"
"Everyone stay calm," Ben said, firmly. "Let's make a plan."
"A plan?" Quil said. "We're fucking trapped on this island."
"Katie and Quil, stay here and guard the boat. If things go badly, at least some of us will be able to escape. Embry and I will walk the perimeter and the rest of you cut straight across the island. If you see anyone, do NOT shoot. We need them alive to tell us where the boat is."
There was a controlled anger in Ben's voice. It was rare for him to be angry, but I knew that his thoughts were on Angela and getting back to her.
"Can I trust you to do that, Quil?" he asked, turning to Quil who was the most reckless of all of us. "I need you to stay calm. It's our only chance to get our boat back."
"Of course," Quil said, his earlier rashness locked away as the cold fighter took its place.
"Okay," Ben said. "Meet back here at dusk regardless of what you find. If you find someone alone, bring them back with you. If there are too many of them, do not engage and report back."
Bella and I moved forward in silence, trying very hard not to let our panic affect us, but all I could think was that we were fish trapped in a barrel. Only half of us would make it off the island if there was a large enough group that attacked us.
We were trying to walk as quietly as possible, but none of us were surefooted in the forest. I seemed to step on every fallen branch and trip on every root.
The forest around us had thinned out some, but we still could easily be attacked by people who knew the island better than us.
We'd been walking for a while, the light fading overhead, when I heard the snapping branches nearby.
I gestured for Bella to get down and hide. Then, we waited in silence for whoever it was to come into view.
"My father told you to leave, assholes," a male voice came from behind me a second before I felt a cold metal object press against the side of my head.
"Now I have to put a bullet in your brain," he said. "Don't-"
At his words, instinct kicked in. Without even thinking, I jerked my head backwards, hitting my attacker in the chest and brought my elbow back to hit him in the stomach.
Spinning around, I saw that Bella had wrenched the gun from his hand as he gasped for air.
Grabbing my gun from where I'd dropped it, I jumped to my feet and rammed the man with my shoulder, trying to knock him to the ground. However, he was fast, so he was able to jump back two steps, giving himself just enough room to throw a punch at my face, striking me across the jaw.
I stumbled backwards, dropping my gun in a dazed haze, but then I shook myself awake. While I was distracted, Bella jumped into the fight, kneeing the guy in the upper thigh, but not reaching her mark.
The man gave Bella a hard shove, knocking her to the ground before turning on me, clearly seeing me as the threat. Without missing a beat, he threw another punch at my face that I was able to dance away from, but then he just kept coming. He kept throwing punches, some landing some not as he plowed towards me.
I was quickly realizing that while I was getting in some punches, there was a good chance that I was going to lose this fight without a weapon. My arms and legs were still recovering from rowing, so I was no match for him.
I knew we needed to take him alive, but I would shoot him if necessary.
Finally, he threw a punch that left himself open to me, so I punched him as hard as I could in the stomach, causing him to fold at the waist. However, before I could do anything else Bella cracked him on the back of the head with the butt of her gun, knocking him to the ground unconscious.
"Motherfucker!" I snarled, wiping the blood off my face that was coming from I didn't know where.
I rolled the asshole over onto his back and stared down at him.
He had the same colour hair as the woman we'd met earlier, but he had the size and facial features of the man. Clearly, he was their son and to my astonishment I realized that he was only a teenager.
"Jesus," I hissed in pain. "Where the hell did he learn to fight like that?"
"Let's get him back to the boat before he wakes up," Bella said.
With a sigh of resignation, I picked him up and slung him over my shoulder making my arms ache and my thighs burn, but I had no choice but to push through it.
It took us longer to get back to the water because I was slowed down with the boy's weight.
Thankfully, he didn't wake up because I knew that by now his family was probably looking for him and would come running if he started yelling. Plus, I wasn't sure I'd be able to fight him in the state I was in.
The others had gotten to the water's edge before us and their relief was palpable when we breached the forest.
"Oh thank god," Rosalie said, but then gasped as she saw the mess I was in and then the boy slung over my shoulder.
I dropped him to the ground, not caring if he woke up now as the others had their weapons on him.
"Did he tell you anything?" Ben asked, as he crouched down to look at the boy who was starting to wake up.
"No. The kid can fight and was giving me a run for my money, so we had to knock him out," I said.
"He's clearly their kid, though," Bella said, with a frown. "He said that he was going to shoot Edward since he didn't listen to his father's order to get off the island."
Suddenly, the boy was doused in ocean water.
I looked up in surprise to see that Quil had used the bail bucket from the boat to scoop up ocean water.
The boy spluttered awake, disoriented as he looked around with wild eyes. His left eye was already swelling shut from the punch I'd given him earlier, but I was pretty sure I was worse off than he was.
When he realized that there were seven weapons aimed at him, he raised his arms in fear.
"Don't kill me," he said. "I didn't do anything…"
"Didn't do anything?!" Bella snapped. "You put a gun to Edward's head! You attacked him."
The boy looked at Bella and glared.
"You guys didn't leave. I just wanted to scare you to make you leave," he said, defiantly.
"Well, you did the opposite kid," Emmett said in a quiet, but threatening voice.
"What's your name?" Ben asked, apparently playing good cop.
"John… my name is John," the boy said, trying to strengthen his voice as he sat up straight.
"Let's cut the bullshit," Quil snarled, stepping close with his knife in front of him. "What did you do with it?"
"Quil..." Emmett warned, grabbing his arm.
Quil tried to shake him off, but Emmett kept a tight grip on him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," John said. "I was just supposed to make sure that you left. Dad told us to keep our distance, but I thought I may be able to scare you enough to leave."
"Well, we would have left the island if you hadn't stolen our boat," Emmett said. "Is this some mind-fuck that you guys have going on here? Threaten strangers and then trap them here with no way of escape?"
"Boat? What are you talking about? Your boat's right there," John said, pointing at the rowboat.
"You know what we're talking about kid," Embry said. "Stop playing games."
Ben silenced the rest of us with a raised hand, but misinterpreting his actions the boy flinched from what he expected to be a blow from Ben's fist. This was a very different version of the kid who had nearly beaten me unconscious earlier. Now that he was outnumbered, all the fight had left him.
"Okay, John," Ben said, calmly. "Let's talk about this. We tried to leave your island, but one of our boats is missing."
"Maybe it floated away. The tide here is-" the boy began, but Bella interrupted him.
"It didn't float away. There are tracks that show it was dragged into the woods."
"I don't know anything about that…" he said.
It was clear that he was telling the truth. His body language showed fear, not deception.
"Then, we'll just have to wait for your dad to get here," Ben said. "When you don't show up, he'll come looking."
"Don't hurt my dad," John begged, panic causing his voice to get higher. "He's just trying to protect us."
"Well, he has a funny way of doing it," Emmett said. "Trapping us here so he can take our stuff and kill us is beyond stupid. We've fought others before and always came out on top."
"That's not what-" John began, but just at that moment we heard crashing coming from the trees.
"Stand up, John," Ben said. "Call out to your dad before this turns into a gunfight."
"Dad! Dad! I'm okay! Don't shoot!" John shouted.
All movement in the trees came to a halt.
"John?" his father's voice called out.
"Yeah, Dad," he said. "I'm okay, but-"
"Come out of the trees," Ben said. "Let's negotiate."
John's father and mother burst out of the trees. Both of them were armed, but this time instead of looking deadly they just looked scared.
"Let my son go," the man begged. "He's just a boy."
"Drop your guns," Ben said to them.
Immediately, the four of them let their guns fall to the ground.
"Please don't hurt him," the woman said, worry etched across her face.
"We don't plan on hurting your son," Ben said. "We just want-"
Suddenly, a bullet whizzed by me, striking the ground at my feet.
Startled, I spun towards that direction it came from as the others did the same, momentarily forgetting the man and his family as more gun shots struck the ground around us.
"Enough, Philip," the man said.
I spun back to see that the man and his wife had somehow caught Rose and Bella in their grips with guns to their heads.
I clenched my hand around my gun and nearly screamed with rage at seeing Bella in danger.
"Now, let's talk," the man said. "All you had to do was leave this island. All of this could have been avoided if you had just done what I asked."
"How the hell did you expect us to do that when you took our boat?" Emmett snarled in rage as he clenched and unclenched his hand in his need to rescue Rose.
"What are you talking about?" the man asked in confusion.
"Our boat. We had two boats and you or someone in your family took one," Ben said.
The man's grip loosened on Bella as he looked around us in confusion.
"We didn't do it…" he said, but then the confusion evaporated from his face. "Oh for God's sake! Those goddam hillbilly freaks!"
I tensed, ready to kill him with my knife now that he'd lowered his gun.
But then his words hit me.
He was glaring at the surrounding trees, not at us.
"Goddammit Jack!" he shouted, his voice echoing. "Bring back the goddam boat!"
"I should have never allowed them on the island," the man grumbled to himself as he and his wife released Bella and Rose.
"What are you talking about?" Ben asked, lowering his weapon as well. "Who's Jack?"
"Jack and Caroline are a brother and sister who landed on our island last year," the man said, running his hand over his face in frustration. "I stupidly wanted to help out a couple of strangers who were just trying to get away from the dead and I've regretted it ever since. They're a couple of thieves and a bane to our existence."
"We can get the boat back," Quil said in a chilling voice. "We know how to fight for what's ours."
Ben put his hand on Quil's shoulder, silencing him.
"That's not necessary," the man said as he glared into the trees. "Jack and his sister are dumb as stumps, but not a threat. I bet they left that goddam mushroom in your boat as payment too.'
I looked quickly in the boat and saw a large mushroom that looked like a growth of burnt bark.
"We can't leave with only one boat," Ben said, reasonably.
"Do you think I don't know that?" the man snapped, turning his anger on Ben. "I'll have to get it back. But god knows where Jack and Caroline took it."
"Let us go after them," Quil said again.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting you loose on my island," the man growled. "I have people to keep safe from the likes of you."
He looked at us for a moment and then said, "You're going to let my son go. Then, you're going to stay right here. You're not going to take a step further or you're going to get shot. Do not test me. My family follows my instructions to the letter. If I order them to shoot, then they will. No questions asked."
Ben and Embry let go of John who quickly rushed to his mother and father.
"Let some of us go with you," Ben said. "People need to carry the boat."
"No," the man said, gruffly. "I'll take John."
"I'm sorry, but that's not going to cut it," Embry said. "You can't just expect all of us to trust you, no questions asked. Would you?"
The man stared at Embry for a few moments before nodding sharply.
"You can come," he said to him. "No one else."
Embry nodded.
When he saw that I was going to say something against him going alone, he shook his head at me.
"I'll be fine," he said, reassuringly.
"How about we take our boat around the island to look for it?" Emmett asked.
"You're welcome to try, but they're pretty good at hiding things. They're always taking stuff from us and leaving those goddamn mushrooms behind," the father said with a grunt of disgust.
With one last word of warning, Embry, the man and John left us while Emmett and Quil took the boat to search the coast.
The mother stayed with us, not letting up on her weapon.
However, soon she was joined by another man whom I assumed was Philip and a young girl around 11 or 12. Like John, Philip had his father's size, but everything else was like his mother. The little girl seemed to get her distinct features from her father.
"Why don't we put down our weapons," Ben said. "There's no need to see each other as a threat. It was all a misunderstanding. We thought you were the only ones on the island."
"So, you thought that you'd just shoot us," Philip said, angrily.
"Need I remind you that it was your brother that had a gun to Edward's head?" Bella snapped.
I reached over to her and pulled her close in order to soothe her.
We needed to diffuse the situation, not stir it up again.
I put my gun away and gestured for Bella to do the same.
She looked at me incredulously for a moment.
"We're not looking for a fight," I said to her loud enough for the others to see and then turned to the family. "We'll be gone as soon as your husband, your father, brings back the boat."
Trying to distract the tense situation, I turned to Bella.
"Can you check my hands?" I asked. "I think I might have opened up some of the blisters."
Immediately she put her gun away and pulled me to the side of the boat so I could sit down on the edge.
Gently, she unwrapped the gauze and examined my hands. I had in fact burst a few of the blisters by holding my gun.
"The skin looks pink and healthy underneath. Maybe, we should just let them air a little bit," she said.
She hauled out her bottle of water again, but I stopped her.
"No. No more water. We're going to need it," I said, firmly.
"We have water," the young girl piped up.
I looked at her in surprise.
"There's a well not far from here," she said with a smile.
"Sue," her mother hissed, grabbing her arm. "Keep quiet."
Sue looked chagrined at her mother's scolding, but she didn't completely back down.
"But Mom," she whined. "It's not going to hurt us if we give them water. I can go get it. We might be waiting for a while. Jack's pretty smart."
"Smart, my ass…" Philip grumbled.
"You don't know him the way I do," the girl snapped at her brother.
"Enough," the mother said.
I watched the family squabble in fascination. It seemed so out of place in the circumstances we found ourselves in.
"Please Mom," the girl said again. "It won't take me long and once Dad gets back they're leaving anyway."
"Fine," the mother said. "Take a couple of their bottles and fill them up."
"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked in concern. "Aren't you worried about the dead?"
The woman whipped towards me with a glare.
"Do not mention those things around my children!" she snarled, eyes blazing.
I was shocked. This wasn't the old world. The dead were a part of our lives now. It wasn't something to hide from children.
However, I chose not to say anything. We needed to keep things calm and that wouldn't happen if I criticized her parenting skills.
I quickly grabbed two of our large thermoses and handed them to the girl with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Sue," I said, looking her in the eyes. "We really appreciate it."
Her eyes widened momentarily and then she flushed red and ducked her head shyly.
"Step away from my sister, asshole," Philip said, stepping forward.
I did as he said and backed away until I stood next to Bella again.
"Well, it's time for lunch," Ben said, trying to sound normal even while guns were aimed at us.
We'd brought with us some of the remainders of dried fruit, nuts, and vegetables that we still had stored. It wasn't a lot, but again Bella had made sure that it was the right balance for our diet.
As we started eating, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the woman was staring at our food intently.
"I thought you told us that you had no home," the woman said suspiciously. "You clearly grew those things yourself."
"I said we didn't have a home anymore," Ben said. "People destroyed our home because they wanted what we had. There are bad people roaming the mainland that will take whatever they want from whomever they want. They're just as dangerous as the dead."
The mother's eyes narrowed at the mention of the dead, but with her daughter gone she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she went back to scanning the area with her rifle.
Philip, on the other hand, looked more intrigued.
"Did you see a lot of the dead ones?" he asked, almost in excitement.
My jaw dropped open in shock. How could he be excited about zombies?
"Philip…" his mother scolded.
"What?" he said, looking at his mother with raised eyebrows. "Sue's not here and I'm not a little kid."
"Haven't you seen them yourself?" I asked incredulously.
He bristled at my words.
"I've seen a few," he said with a frown.
I looked at the others in shocked confusion.
How was that even possible?
"Have you been on this island ever since the dead began to walk?" Bella asked.
"My father's the caretaker of this nature reserve, so we've been living on this island for years," Philip said. "I went to college on the mainland, but the world fell apart right after I'd come home for summer holidays."
"So you have no idea what the rest of the world is like? Is that what you're saying?" Emmett asked in absolute astonishment. "Man, you have no idea…"
"What do you mean?" Philip asked, defensively.
Before Emmett and I could speak, Bella spoke up.
"My town had a population of around three thousand people before the dead began to rise. When I left with Edward, I don't think there was anyone left besides me. Many of them ran away, but a lot of them were zombies wandering the streets. Nothing's left. Every city we've come across is full of dead and no people. The only people left are those that have been able to carve out a little piece of civilization for themselves."
Philip fell silent as he looked at his mother in distress.
"I didn't know it was that bad…" the woman said, mostly to herself.
"If you've been on this island the whole time, when did you see any of the dead?" I asked.
"There was a boat crash…" Philip began, but then stopped when his sister came flying out of the woods with our water bottles sloshing in her hands.
I looked at Philip as his sister gave me his water bottles. I knew that I had to find time to talk to him out of earshot of his sister. He needed to know that when people died they came back.