Save the drama, there're are things happening.

Chapter 18: Hit the road

"Hey…" Louis lifted the hatch door, only to find the lights were still out. It was already nine or so in the morning, and oversleeping certainly was not something Zoey was known to do. He was not in top shape himself, but he managed. "Are you still asleep?"

There was no answer. He was rightfully bothered. Below deck was dark still, but he wasn't ready to disturb anyone down here before knowing what was happening first. Fiddling around, he managed to find the lantern and switched it on. There was nothing too out of the ordinary, as far as he could see. Apparently, Zoey really just had overslept, with the Witch in her arms, as it had always been. It brought a smile to his face, knowing that at least something would never change.

That said, he still needed to wake them up. It was already light outside, and they needed as much sunlight as they could get to help with the excursion. Louis started by light tapping on Zoey's shoulder, to no avail. He then nudged it gently, same result. A bellowing call of her name also did no good. Out of options, he had to resort to actually putting force into shaking her up.

Not nearly soon enough, Zoey was beginning to budge. It had been a long time since she was this hard to wake up, had to be since the first few days of the infection. She was still holding onto Cindy like a body pillow, albeit unintentionally.

"…Louis?" A solid minute before a word was spoken.

"Welcome back to the world of the awake." Louis was not a hundred percent himself. Last night's drinking antics did not leave a good mark on his mental state, although it was certainly better than Francis. It did make him feel a bit better to know that he was the only one who managed to be punctual throughout all of this. He was a project manager once, and that hadn't left him completely yet. "You slept well, I hope."

"I did." With a beaming smile, Zoey lightly stroked the silver locks fluttering in her hand. If anything, Zoey did her best to keep the Witch's features from falling out of place. This long, lustrous hair would never be had Cindy never been found. Zoey was never one for 'feminine hobbies', but she knew what she had to do. "…beautiful."

It was sudden, but Louis watched as her arms stopped when she looked at him, flustered. It was as if she finally acknowledged the existence of a third person within the room. Zoey rushed to get up and fix her clothes, in an almost comical attempt at trying to invalidate what had just happened prior. She was absolutely mortified, to Louis' surprise.

"What's wrong Zoey?" He indeed felt left out of the group, wondering what he had missed.

"Can I ask you a question?" Recognising her own downright ridiculous reaction, Zoey motioned for the two of them to talk on the deck instead of here. It seemed she either did not want to wake Cindy, or let Cindy hear of this.

"Sure." This was strange behaviour no doubt, but Louis had no choice but to comply. It did not seem like something too serious, so it should be fine if she wanted to talk in private.

Closing the hatch behind her, Zoey was greeted with sunlight of a Monday morning. The sea was radiating, and she found herself lost in it for a moment. However, quickly reminding herself that she was up here for a reason, Zoey turned to her companion.

"Answer me honestly." She seemed nervous somehow. Louis nodded in agreement to her condition, as he did not see a need to hide anything. He doubted that she would be interested in something that belonged to his personal life back then, which would be the only thing off limits. "Do you think I spend too much time with Cindy?"

"What brought up this question now?" As he inquired, the only thing he received was how Zoey was clearly avoiding his gaze. "I mean, it doesn't really matter to us. You obviously feel like talking to her more. She's your age, and also a girl. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that much."

"I see." There was some obvious doubts in that reply. Louis was not sure what Zoey had in mind, but there was obviously something out of the ordinary. Right after they were introduced to Cindy, due to the accident on the dock, Zoey was immobilised for quite a few days. She spent most of that time with Cindy taking care of her. It was only natural that they grew to enjoy each other's company. "Maybe I'm overthinking this."

"I'm sure you are. I can't speak for Francis, but I doubt he'd see anything more to it than I do." The last thing Louis wanted for this group was for the leader to start doubting herself. Besides, he genuinely believed that there was nothing to worry about. "You and Cindy are really close, and that's fine. We, as thirty something years old men, can manage fine."

"Thanks, Louis." Zoey smiled in appreciation. He was a much better optimist than she was. There was something lingering in the back of her head. She knew fully well that what she did down there was no different than what she had been doing for the longest time. However, she had no idea why she was becoming so self-conscious about it, especially in front of other people. "Sorry for waking up so late too."

"No problem." Louis figured that high spirits was always good to have. After all, they had to go into action again after some time. Now he still had to wake up Francis, but then in that case he wouldn't have to hold back. It was all going just fine. "You should wake Cindy up. We're ready to hit shore in thirty minutes."

With that, Zoey once again found herself below deck. Sighing, she turned to the sleeping figure on the bed. She had to silently note that, at times, she had completely forgotten the fact that Cindy was even a Witch. Instead, Cindy was just a girl that she needed to protect.

"Zoey…?" It seems Cindy was waking up on her own. The fact that she even slept last night was striking, as that just threw a lot of assumptions down the drain. At this point, it would be better if they would just ask her what she felt like. "Where are you?"

"I'm here." Zoey reached out and grabbed Cindy's hands, stopped them from flailing about. There was still barely any light down here at this time, since Louis turned off the lantern when they left for the deck. "Good morning, Cindy."

Cindy nodded, clearly delighted. The Witch was never the talkative type, but her expressions were enough. They were always so distinct and forward that it never left room for doubt. Sometimes, Zoey was jealous of that innocence.

"Have you slept well?" Another nod was a good enough reply. It's hard to keep in mind just what kind of strength the Witch actually possessed, seeing her so open and vulnerable like this. She was aware of it too, as it was easy to tell how she has to hold back every physical interaction, lest hurting someone else. "We're going to dock today. Everyone's waiting for us."

…

"Francis!" Louis' words were lost, as the biker could not think of anything at the moment. He never drank to think of the consequences, at least until he was projectile vomiting off the handle. "Would you stop that?"

"Let it be, better now than later." Zoey was half-amused and half-disgusted at the sight. Growing up, she was taught to stay away from alcohol. Her mother was too much of a housewife to care about it, and her father would need another twenty years or so before he would resort to drinking. If they were alive, of course. "'sides, didn't you drink just as much as him?"

"I don't even know if I should be concerned." Louis narrowed his eyes. He did, in fact, kept up. He was not feeling like unleashing a gush of putrid odour onto the unsuspecting aquatic population below. It would be absolutely hilarious to know that Francis couldn't hold his liquor as well, however. "Regardless, let's talk about this. We're almost out of supplies, and we need more."

"Right." Zoey pondered. It's nigh impossible to get back onto Key West at this point, and they don't necessarily want to. There was quite a bit of daunting memories left there, not to mention how there's no guarantee that the shores had cleared up. "Where are we looking at right now?"

"Dredgers Key." Louis unfolded the map before them. It was a small island to the North East of where they docked before. The only connection to the mainland seemed to be a highway. "Also known as Sigsbee Park. It's a relatively small site, but is only vulnerable by foot through Sigsbee Road. It's primarily used for Navy housing, which means it would include plenty of supplies regardless."

"I take it they don't have a lot of civilian facilities." Zoey noted. They were lucky that Louis was actually rather good with maps and getting information from travel brochures littered around the boat when they got their hands on it. "The last thing we want is a populated, or at least used to be populated, zone."

"Well, we're actually counting on the military either having things under control, or have been overran." At this point, this was all nonchalant to them. Some time ago, they would have liked to be rescued by the military. However, first-hand impressions have proved it to be a generally bad idea. It would actually be far easier for them to infiltrate a broken facility. Military personnel would put up quite a problem otherwise. "We're going to have to do some reconnaissance to see just what the situation on the island is."

"If the military is still running, we would have nothing to do with them." It was simply a reinstatement. They already knew how this was going to be handled, especially since they have Cindy in their group now. The military was not to be trusted again, in light of experienced and potential risks. "Now we need to know what to do with this boat."

"I still think Cindy should stay with the boat." Francis, having expulsed the necessary substance from his system, was now joining the conversation. The good thing about such a violent reaction was that he was no longer half-drunk. "Someone has to, and it's pretty obvious that people don't react well to her presence."

"I can't deny that." It was absolutely true. One of the reasons they had so much trouble the last time was how the kidnappers wanted to segregate Cindy from the rest. However, that was also because she stayed with the boat. "If they get their intel on the boat docking, which I'm almost sure they will, then it's lost either way."

"What are you suggesting then?" Francis wiped his vest in disgust. It was his favourite – and only – one.

"We make the whole thing as zombie-proof as possible when it hits shore." Lightly tapping the side, Zoey was showing some hope for this boat holding up if anchored deep enough. They never saw the schematics for the vehicle or anything, so impolite construction was always a possibility, just not one they can afford to account for. "Everyone goes."

"I'm not sure you're amazingly brave or amazingly deluded." Francis was holding back, and he knew she could take it too. That said, they hadn't much of a choice. "Either way, I agree."

"I'm glad you see it that way." Zoey was fully aware of the risks. She spent half her day, every day since their escape, thinking about this after all. Last time they took a chance, it didn't work out. There will be no more chances. "Cindy, are you ok with this?"

"I'm going with you?" There's a sense of both doubt and delight mixed with that reply. Zoey nodded; so Cindy smiled.

"Alright, we have to move everything below deck." Everyone was on it. The hatch door was reasonably strong, and with proper barricade would easily hold off brute force. That was not the only invasion they expected, though. "We go full loaded, but nothing more. A pair of guns, a grenade, a medkit, and that's it."

"What about me?" Hearing that, Cindy poked her head up. For moving tasks like this, she was the best of them all. Her unnatural strength certain came in handy in these kinds of situations. It was easy to see she never held a gun in her life, though.

"You'll stay behind us." Zoey was slightly uncomfortable with the thought of putting Cindy out on the field barehanded, but she managed to survive just fine before they met. Being a Witch, she was a lot more physical resilient, and had built-in ways of self-protection. Granted, with those claws, it was not possible for her to operate complex machinery. It was hard enough for her to properly hold a piece of paper as was. "Stick to the group at all times, and don't be afraid of defending yourself against anything that isn't the three of us."

Cindy nervously nodded, and continued transferring items. Zoey knew not what else to say. She didn't have any words of encouragement, because those would just be empty. They have been amazingly lucky so far, but all it would take is a bullet through her chest to end it all. The thought of dying was scary, but the thought of Cindy being alone as a result of it was much more terrible.

"Guess I finally knew how you felt, Bill."

…

"We're good?"

Louis was ready to steer the boat inland. He was just waiting for the signal. Zoey gave it, and so they approached the shore gradually. All of them was slumped behind cover, though, as the thoughts of having soldiers shooting them on sight was not a pretty one. The shores, however, was empty. There was not a single sign of civilisation on it, which bothered them greatly. Surely there must have been people thinking of escaping to sea, but what did the lack thereof indicate? Were they still alive, held fort somewhere; or have they simply been all killed off by overwhelming force before even getting a chance to escape? Both seemed equally likely, given that this used to be a military-controlled zone.

The boat landed without a hitch. With the anchor down, they all departed the site. It was regrettable to have to leave the boat without anyone watching over it, but the pros outweighed the cons in their calculation.

"Where are we?" Zoey wanted to confirm their location. Having the map on hand with them this time would make things relatively easy to pin point.

"This is the North East shore. On our right side is a relatively isolated V-shaped patch of land, only accessible by water and a single road." All hidden within the trees, the formation of the land was being pointed out. "In front there is the few private boats connected to this place."

"So this place then?" Francis readied his gun. If they had to fight, it was probably coming up soon.

"It's an easily held, isolated territory." Louis was finishing his briefing. "You figure."

"Then it's obviously many other should see it the same way as us." Zoey nodded, and motioned everyone to ready their weapons. They discussed this over, and would try to be as stealthy as they could, but will shoot on aggression, regardless of whether it's the infected or hostile humans. "Avoid conflict if possible, but go all out otherwise."

"Right." Everyone else had their own reserves on this order. Up until this point, even though non-infected had given them a great deal of trouble, at no point that they had to shoot and kill anyone. However, they had been appropriately demystified on this subject. People will try to kill them, just as people have. There was no other choice.

With that said, they silently climbed to dry land. The place was fairly small, and they could barely so it end-to-end. As expected, there were a few visible infected roaming about. They did not want to draw attention just yet, so the sneaking continued. They wanted to know whether to know whether or not there was a patch of human stronghold within this area. If there was, those people would be far more unpredictable and potentially dangerous than any of the infected. Sticking to the tree line, they were quickly able to identify most of the roaming infected. There were many vehicles, both land and sea, lying about the road. Many of them seemed destroyed or burnt out, while the rest had fallen into serious disrepair. There was nothing out of the ordinary thus far.

There was a small guest house at the cliff's end. There was no lights inside, but it seemed to be the only one not to have been either ransacked or destroyed. Noting the types of organised destruction surrounding the area, this was obviously done at the hands of sentient, well-thinking humans. Thus, if there was any other building left untouched, it had to have been due to its strategic importance.

"We're going in." Infiltrating the guest house would be their best bet at finding any signs of human life, or confirming the lack thereof. With the position of the patch of land, they would just need to seal off the road afterwards to have an easily defendable position. There was still another north point to clear out, but they already scouted it when their boat eased in.

The door opened with minimal resistance. There was a lock outside, but it gave way with just a few bashes. The first floor was riddled with blood and body parts, which set off an obvious signal. It was rather clear what happened here. The most obvious sign of struggle was present, but then who could have possible locked the door? That was not the priority, however, as they heard noises from the second floor.

With a single motion, Francis was leading the raid group. Zoey sprinted to close the door. Should there be a firefight occurring, it would undoubtedly drive infected into this building. Zoey and Cindy would be the one guarding their position, while Francis and Louis clear out any on the upper levels. The door closed slowly, as the two men hung in the middle of the stair case, waiting for the signal.

Zoey's finger motioned forward.