I wanted to tell you all that I appreciate your feedback greatly, so keep it coming! Also, I will be taking liberties with a few of these characters, as I've probably already done, but don't hate me for it. :) I think it will make for a more interesting story and enable me to not just regurgitate the film.

Chapter 18: Consequences

The black man offered Alice a hand down from the wing of her airplane and she accepted it.

"Luther West," he spoke with respect as they shook hands.

"Alice, that's Claire." She nodded to the redhead avoiding the rest of the survivors. The ex-project counted five of them; Luther, who seemed to fill the role of leader; a man in military uniform, possibly the follower; two other males, one who kept his hair well groomed and the other Asian; followed by a dark-harried woman.

The dainty figure approached Alice alongside the others and said, "Hello, I'm Crystal."

"No-no more introductions; you're here to help us right?" The man with the goatee asked and the Asian chimed in on his heels.

"Can you get us out?"

Alice was becoming overwhelmed; her focus really wasn't on the survivors until Crystal spoke with animation.

"Are you from Arcadia?"

"What did you say?" Alice said; they had her full attention now.

"Are you from Arcadia?" Crystal repeated.

The brunette couldn't believe it. "What do you know about Arcadia?"

The Asian and Crystal teamed up to answer, the small man speaking first. "They said they could help us."

"There are other survivors, civilization, and safety," Crystal continued.

"It's infection free," the Asian finished.

Then the man with the goatee and black suit hounded the pilot again, "so they sent you both right?"

"No," Alice shook her head, depressed to already be disappointing these strangers.

"There's to be no rescue?" Crystal asked as the hope fell from her features.

Alice didn't want to say it; she was tired of saying it, "I'm sorry."

The man in the suit turned and walked away in disgust, followed by the Asian and Crystal. Alice's gaze lingered on the three as they walked past Claire without a single exchange.

The man in uniform appeared at Luther's side and spoke with a full Spanish accent.

"Thought you could take them to the Promised Land. Angel Ortiz," he said as he held out his hand. Alice shook it quickly; ready to discuss Arcadia, but Angel kept talking, admiration in his voice. "That was some fine flying."

"Thanks" Alice replied right as Luther looked at the man and cleared his throat. Angel's smile fell and Luther stood up a little straighter. It was typical male behavior; one asserting his dominance over the other. Alice realized that if she wanted answers it would be Luther who decided if and how she got them. Angel would not be manipulated; his loyalty in this case was probably a fault. The structure of authority was likely the same for the others; Luther was in charge whether they liked it or not. If Alice wanted to get along here she would have to attempt to not step on his toes, but men with Luther's bulk tended to irritate her like no other; the bigger the bicep, the bigger the ego.

"So what exactly do you know about Arcadia?" She asked Luther and tried to be polite about it.

"Only what we heard on the transmission."

Alice listened intently and that seemed to improve Luther's willingness to devolve information.

"We've been receiving their broadcasts all week; food and shelter, safety and security, no infection. I thought they sent you. We've been sending up flares on the hour to get their attention."

"Nobody's going to see flares from Alaska," Alice reasoned.

Luther laughed outright. "Alaska?"

"I was there; it's a town, or so I thought," she responded not sounding sure of herself.

"I don't think so," the black man retorted and walked over to edge of the building without another word; he held out his hand for Angel's binoculars as the man walked up beside him. It was clear to Alice that she was to follow just like the loyal soldier and it was off-putting.

Luther gave the binoculars to her and pointed out to the ocean; Alice already had it figured out, but she needed to see it. She brought the binoculars up, and focused on a blurry object that rested in the water as patterns of fog covered the image, then revealed it. It was a large, red freighter, the name ARCADIA painted onto its hull. She was shocked and at once impressed; with enough supplies, K-mart and the others could easily have survived there without the threat of constant attacks from the undead. But it still doesn't add up, why wasn't Claire on that ship? Does the bug have something to do with it?

The black man spoke with authority to Angel, "Play her the recording."

Angel pulled out a handheld radio from a pocket on his vest and said, "I caught this on the shortwave," then pressed play.

A voice emanated from the device, "this is Arcadia, broadcasting on the emergency frequency. There is no infection; we offer safety and security, food and shelter."

"That's the same message we got; they must have sailed down the coast picking up survivors," Alice articulated.

The words repeated, but right as it got to mentioning 'no infection,' the message cutoff to static. Alice's stomach dropped, and she flashed back to the broadcast she picked up at Rockaway Beach.

"Wha-" Alice had to swallow before she could continue, "what is that?"

"I don't know; it was the last transmission from them until it stopped two days ago," Angel answered.

Too late – don't tell me I'm already too late, Alice thought as she excused herself from the guys. She needed to be with Claire. For a second it seemed like Luther was going to try and stop her.

"Wait," he commanded. It was clear that he liked to be in control of everything, but Alice didn't care if she upset him. She spurned his light instruction, and walked over to the redhead who was waiting by the entrance to the inside of the prison.

"Claire," Alice said trying to get her attention, but she was still upset with the brunette because she didn't respond. Alice took it in stride; an angry Claire was better than none at all. "That ship over there," she pointed, "it's Arcadia."

The redhead broke her silence a moment later, "I know."

"You remember?" The older woman asked surprised. If Claire could remember it would solve more than a few problems.

"I remember the beach. People were coming to help us."

"What happened? Why didn't you go with the others?" The brunette interrogated her with vigor.

"I don't know," she replied tersely.

"We have to get to that ship," Alice said and it finally got Claire to look at her.

"What is it with you?"

Alice brought her eyebrows together in confusion and her companion kept speaking.

"You can't save everyone – you shouldn't try."

The brunette felt insulted, "I'm not trying to save everyone." Claire scoffed at the remark. "I'm trying to save your friends."

"So this is my fault?" The younger woman's green eyes reflected her wrath.

"No-no, that's not what I meant," Alice tried to backtrack but suddenly Luther and Angel appeared behind them, and the black man spoke to them both with charm.

"Coming ladies? Dinner is about to be served."

Claire turned her focus away from Alice and walked through the door without a second glance as Luther joined her, a smug smile on his face. Angel followed him, leaving the brunette on the roof alone. The fingers of her right hand clenched into a fist; the significance of Claire's move was not lost Alice.

The ex-project returned to her aircraft and walked around to the nose; she took hold of a propeller blade and rotated it experimentally. It seemed to be fine, so she grabbed the pack that contained her and Claire's things. Before she left the rooftop, the wind died down and for a time she could hear the faint sound of the undead struggling below; their moans and useless clambering, a backdrop to Alice's personal reflection on her dauntless landing and its consequences.