Maybe I should stop making promises.

Chapter 12: Crashed

"Hey"

No answer.

"Hey!"

Still none.

"Zoey!"

A gap in her mind was instantly filled as she snapped back to attention. The rain had not yet stopped, but there was something else on her mind. Still, Louis apparently had something important to say.

"Yes Louis?"

"We have arrived."

Zoey motioned Francis to stand up as well, so that the two of them could check out their destination. Cindy was still squirming on the bed at the time, as the Witch had not taken a particular liking to the roaring thunder. Louis found the two present on the deck soon enough, as he had already slowed the speed of the sailboat significantly. The storm was not too terrifying yet, so he could hold this position for at least a little bit.

"Where are we?"

No one else on this boat had much of any geographical experiences except for Louis, as "Florida Keys" had always sounded extremely vague to them. At least Louis knew where they were going, but they had not had the best experience getting there.

"Somewhere between Sugarloaf Key and Cudjoe Key." He answered, as the boat took a rather sharp turn towards the edge of the cliff barely visible through fog. There was a certain amount of doubt in the eyes of his companions in response. "Don't doubt me, those are actual names."

"I assume you got them from the map?" Zoey inquired. She had complete faith in Louis, of course, but she also knew that over the past couple of weeks, he was the only one they could rely on. If the work had gotten to him, she would not mind helping out or checking things over.

"I did." Louis squinted, focusing on the black isles across the rain. The fog was heavy here than anywhere else. His confidence in his own abilities was unmatched, however, as he spent hours upon hours revising routes and avoiding unwanted isles in the way. If this was anything else, he would've known about. They have set up a little booth of constructed wood up here in the deck so that Louis can safely steer the boat even in hard weather, and so that the documents do not get compromised easily under the pouring rain that was inevitable. "We should be arriving on the northern beach of Sugarloaf Keys at any moment."

"I should wake Cindy up." Suggested Zoey, as her own actions promptly followed. Louis nodded, while silently calculated in his head how long it would take for them to successfully land. From this distance, there was simply no way to tell what would be waiting for them upon their arrival. What they did know for sure, however, was that they were running out of supplies rapidly. It had been well over three weeks since they departed from the cityscape, and the trip down south had not been at all painless.

"Ready up our defenses." Said Louis. Underneath this harsh downpour, he would rather not take any chances. They had worked hard enough to get here, and there are variables that they could not have yet accounted for. The biker nodded, and followed Zoey. All of their supplies are kept safe underneath the deck, of course. "Let's see if I can avoid crashing into the damn rocks."

Soon enough, Zoey could be seen poking her head out to call out to him.

"We're ready."

"Just as planned then."

She nodded, and closed down the hatch. This was the plan they had discussed long ago. Only Louis would be present on the deck by the time of landing, determined by sheer necessity. Everyone else is to stay hidden in case of complications. Should the sailboat get into a crash, those inside would be much safer covering themselves within the confine of tangible and firmly built frames. If opposition somehow managed to get themselves out here, whether the Infecteds or hostile survivors, or worse, it would be much better not to expose themselves as soon as they enter unfamiliar territory.

With that said, the sailboat eased itself towards the beach. While most of Louis' attention was spent on not letting the contraption slide out onto despair, he also had to keep his eyes on what seemed to be happening on shore. There was not much to see, and he would happily pray for the Keys to be empty. However, that was far from a likely possibility, and they were very much aware of that fact. Soon enough, the reality that there was going to be an impact dawned on him. Louis had no other choice, and was forced into a rather unexpected crash towards the beach.

As the boat slid across the increasingly frictional sand, it proved to be a worthy effort. Shutting off the sail quickly was a bit of a challenge, but his injuries were no longer present. As the boat came to a stop, he quickly took an on look position. He did not notice much when leading them in, but that was definitely an awful lot of noises. His sight ran over the vicinity hoping to spot any suspicious movement, but nothing caught his eyes. He was not sure of whether to be delighted or worried. Then again, that was not of his priorities right now.

"It's fine now, let's go." Soon enough, all four of them found themselves standing on this strange island down south. None of them had even heard of this place before making the trip, but considering how much it was promised as a paradise, they had their hopes. What they also needed to do, though, was be practical.

"So this is… Florida Keys?" Francis was trying his hardest to have a good look around. The sun isn't going to appear for another few hours, and the lanterns they were currently using were definitely not made to cast over a large distance. There was nothing else visible except for the forest side, which was what they were expecting in the first place.

"I would say so. Do you see that small island off to the side?" Louis directed their attention at the piece of land off to the side of the horizon. The moon was providing minimal coverage, but it was noticeable enough as a blockade. "That's Bill Finds Key."

A moment of silent followed. That fact was truly curious to them, considering their circumstances. The old veteran had his carcass casted out to the sea long ago, but that meant little to them. As far as they knew, it was because of him they were able to make it here, and that's what he would be remembered by. The moment did not last long, however, as the rain was still not showing any sign of stopping. There was no good reason to risk their health at a time like this, considering what might happen soon. Zoey had spent most of that idle time looking for any visible signs of damage to their boats. Luckily, the works of twenty first century science seemed to have held up quite well, as the impact appeared to have done little to the key structure of the transport.

"This boat will hold up another trip if we needed it to." She said confidently, giving the frame a smack before returning to the front. Louis sighed of relief, as he did not have high hopes in his docking ability, but it turned out to be adequate. Regardless, they knew there was nothing to do at this hour. This was one of the farthest places in America where one could get away from civilization. It was not particularly far from a resort palace, of course, but not on this side of the island. There was a very specific plan to land somewhere far enough from the attraction, as they would rather not be in contact with a large amount of possible Infected. "Go inside Louis, you need a rest."

"You just might be right." He laughed weakly, before quickly climbing up onto the deck. The sand was not being unreasonable, as was the weather. They did not plan to move things out anytime soon, but take the first few days they could to survey the areas and stock up on supply if possible. They would only enter habituated territories and roads once they felt like they had the needs to settle down on a property somewhere. The expedition was scheduled to begin soon, but as it was still rather dark and rainy, it was delayed until well into the morning.

"Francis, go scout around a bit. I'll stay here and watch the boat." The biker nodded, then took off at once. Zoey was the leader at this point, much more so than Bill ever was. While their combat improvisation was nothing short of individually amazing, all the plans talked over were decided by her. Francis saw no need to argue, as he was not someone who was well-informed in such tasks, and Louis felt no need to challenge on any of those points. As the two men disappeared from sight, Zoey climbed back up to the watch post, where Cindy was waiting for her.

"Zoey…" She felt a slight tug on her shirt, as turning revealed that the Witch seemed agitated. It was to be expected, of course, as this was quite a drastic change from the time they spent trying to get here. Unlike the other three, it was harder for Cindy to see the weight of the situation, or gauge it in any respect. "What is going to happen now?"

"We're hoping to stay here." Zoey showed a morbid smile, as if to reassure her own doubts. She was never a fan of travelling, and the dreaded idleness of their time on the boat was not welcome. A few weeks before that were nothing but pumped full of adrenaline and sorrow, a fatal combination that she knew not of how to face again. "This is a far enough place from the majority of civilization so that we would not have to deal with too much problem, and close enough that there will be facilities and medicine here once we need them."

"That's good." Cindy somehow appeared perplexed. Zoey took that to heart, and tried her best to put that feeling to rest. She was absolutely thankful for how attentive her companion was while she was recovering. There was little that could have been done except for a constant change of bandages and moral support, but it was certainly what allowed her to even stand up today. "Hm?"

Zoey quietly reached over and hugged Cindy to her side. It was her usual way of calming people down, and it seemed to work this time as well as ever. Cindy comfortably tuck herself under those arms, unknowingly cheering up Zoey as well. During the beginning, there was a decent amount of discussion between the three survivors on what to do with Cindy, as they did not actually have time for a sufficient talk after they decided to take her along. However, if the past month was of any decadence, the Witch seemed to be of no threat whatsoever. If it was any problem before, that possibility has passed everyone's mind.

The rain died down gradually as Francis returned with a blank stare, less because of worry and more of a lack of sleep. Soon enough he found himself resting inside the boat as well, leaving the two females on the deck. It was going to be sunrise soon, and the scene had been relatively peaceful so far. Zoey was dozing off half the time, as she spent most of the previous night thinking up plans and conjuring scenarios. She was tiring herself out quite a bit. Cindy however, did not sleep, ever. It was not too surprising when they found that out, as all the Witches they have come across before never took a liking to resting at all, instead spending their time weeping at night or wandering about during the day. It was mostly her keeping watch of things, and to inform the others should anomalies turn up. There was not any to speak of however, and thus the morning was spent quite idly.

"So, what's the plan?" The sun is now high in the sky and the rain has ceased. The day was much slower than they were expecting, and for once it appeared that everyone has sufficiently rested. There was definitely a looming doubt, however, as reality has always been a harsh mistress.

"It's been very quiet." Zoey narrowed her eyes, out of both suspicion and the excess sunlight. They were ready to move out, but it was obviously not that easy. Things could go wrong very quickly, as this was definitely unfamiliar territory. The beach and jungle settings aren't what they used to fight in, and is going to continue even if they hit a resort. "I don't like it. While this place is certainly far off the mainland, there should still be plenty of people here. Or worse yet, Infected."

"Are we going to go deeper in the jungle or trying to skirt the beaches?" Francis asked. He had reported some of the terrain status from the scouting earlier, and with the map they basically had a decent idea of where they currently are. The strategic position of their landing zone, however, should be called into question. "We have to get out, but someone had to watch the boat. We're in a very open place, and this thing is extremely noticeable."

"That would definitely be a problem, especially considering we have Cindy on our hands." Louis added. A decent amount of time went into dressing up Cindy to be presentable. Fresh, untorn clothes were definitely short on hand, as the boat did not seem to hold women's apparel. Even then, no amount of clothing available was quite able to conceal the glowing red eyes and palm length claws. They made delicate works significantly harder for her, and were extremely sturdy and basically engraved into her skin, rendering them impossible to remove. "The Infected don't seem to be reacting at all to her presence, which is good; but other survivors, should there be any, would not be able to be as understanding."

"At this point, I'd rather we only run into Infected." As Zoey finished her sentence, the other two stared at her in disbelief. Surely, the thought of other survivors being hostile had crossed their minds before, but they would never have basically wanted a death wish on the entire population of this island. Zoey did not seem to budge an inch however, despite seeing her teammate's reaction. Sighing was all she did. "You don't seem all that supportive."

"I mean I certainly don't want any more enemies we might not know but…" Francis stuttered. As much fun as he had blowing heads off the mindless bastards, humans were always a different measure. He did not put much thought into the well-being of the rest of his families, but they were never particularly close in the first place. "What you're wishing for is a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"Ever since our group formed, what good has meeting other people got us?" Zoey grunted. It had only been two months since the infection broke out, but for them it seemed nothing short of a life time and a half ago. They had been caught up in this whirlpool of destruction that society as they knew it was experiencing that they hardly had time to think of much of anything. "We almost died from the plane crash, those people on the boat left us for dead, the military came this close to downright executing us, and all the other four did was cost us supplies."

"Well, yes but…" Louis tried to voice an opposition, but could not think of any. It was true that in the grand scheme of things, encountering other survivors had done little to favor their situations, perhaps except for helping the move further south. However, there was no guarantee that it was needed without those hardships. After all that, they lost a member of their crew as well. "I guess we just never expected you to be so cynical."

"What about me?" Cindy asked. The three of them froze, as if doubting themselves. Could Cindy be counted as a survivor? She was certainly not in any danger in prior to them finding her, and had only aided them since then. Zoey, after some deliberation, decided to simply drop it.

"Never mind." Nothing else needed to be said. There was no proof of any hard decisions needed to be done just yet, and while Zoey might be against helping other survivors they might encounter, that had always been an option. They were never debating on endangering anyone's life after all. What did require a decision on, however, was the matter at hand. "Cindy and I are going to go through the woods today to get some supply if possible. I really do not want to risk running out of electricity in the boat if we could avoid it. Our priority shall be collect wood to create a camp."

"Alright." Louis nodded, acknowledging orders. It was good to see everyone feel in shape again, as they had not seen a piece of action in quite a while, not that they yearn for it of course. Travelling had gotten on their nerves quite a bit though. "I assume that means the two of us are staying with the boat."

"Scouring about should not be a bad idea. Try and see if you can get a feel of the land if able."

The plan was carried on immediately after. While none wanted to admit it, the rush they were feeling before had been sorely missed, and they were just grateful to be able to go out to land and walk again. A promising future could be seen ahead, or so they presumed.