Apocalyptic Love - The island

Chapter Twelve - Redemption

"We need to move faster" I shouted as we sprinted down the highway.

The continuous buzz of the walkie was slowly getting clearer, someone was close and we were definitely getting closer to their location. "That was a guy right?" Brent managed through huffs "It was defiantly a guy" Ben added.

The whirring finally slowed as we came to a stop just outside of a residential area, the houses were all crowded around each other. The once pristine mansions now covered in grime, overgrown greenery surrounding the front gardens. "Hello. Are you still there?" I huffed into the walkie, slowly walking closer to the homes.

"Carter? is that you" Through the old machine i could recognise Matt's voice, the roughness which i would recognise anywhere.

I sighed in relief, this was the first sign of hope we'd had in days but surely i couldnt be this easy, it never was. "Yeah its me. Where are you? We are in front of a row of houses".

The guys looked to me with a smile thinking the same as me "You see the dark house towards the back? Run down green truck outside?".

I raced my eyes across the area until the description finally matched. A huge dark grey house, vines of greenery running up the sides, windows smashed out while the door was broken from the hinges. A dark green pick up truck parked outside, the wheels missing while the doors were left ajar "I see it".

The four of us started jogging towards the house before the walkie buzzed again "Don't come closer" I noticed his face in the front bedroom window, the worry obvious across his pale face as he held a hand to us to gesture us to stop "The ground floor is surrounded, they all came out of nowhere so i ran in here to hide but they followed me. The stairs are barricaded, I could jump from the window but I'd probably break my legs".

"Fuck" The walkie was gripped harder in my hands "What do we do?" I turned to the others whose faces were as pale as my own.

"I have an idea" Maddie said.

"Is it going to get us all killed?" Ben looked to her as he crossed his arms across his chest "I don't want to die today".

"Shut up" She punched his arm with more forced than he expected, rubbing his arm like a wounded solider "No offense, but me and Brent are the fastest" I looked to Ben who was once again overdramatically holding his heart "Us two will make noise and draw them out of the house, lead them further out until we can circle back around. You and Ben will go in and pull the barricade down and get Matt out".

It was a good plan, but as always things could go wrong but it was a chance we needed to take. "Lets do it" I nodded to the boys who nodded back. I repeated the plan through the walkie to Matt who told us to be careful, he didn't want anyone dying for him. "Be safe" I pulled Brent in for a quick hug, before nodding to Maddie "You too".

"This is the first step of finding her" Brent smiled, his shaggy brown hair falling across his raised brows and he nodded to me one last time.

The two sprinted towards the house, shouting at the top of their lungs until the first of the corpses began to appear through the broken frame. It took a few minutes until the majority of them had exited the death trap, but the plan worked. They followed them behind the estate until their bodies disappeared in the distance.

"You are crazy motherfuckers" I heard Matts voice from my pocket as myself and Ben neared the house, we took out the last of the herd before reaching the stairs. Mattresses and bed frames were piled on top of each other, Matt was at the top pulling the highest while me and Ben moved the last few parts.

The moment the pathway was clear Matt pulled me and my friend in for a hug "It's good to see you idiots" he laughed before he pulled back, the sadness finally flowing back to his eyes "Where's my niece?".

His eyes wandered behind us until finally he found mine again, I looked to Ben whose eyes dropped. I promised Matt I would take care of her and here I was, without his only family and no idea if she was alive. "I don't know" I kept my eyes glued to the floor "We got split up at the park and I've been trying to find her since".

Ben put a hand on my shoulder "I got stuck, Carter told them to get to safety and he saved me".

When I looked back up Matts eyes were brimming with tears, but there was more behind the surface than the unknown of his Niece "We will find her".

"Where's Sarah?" Instantly I thought the worse, it was the easiest explanation in this world. Matt ushered us outside of the death trap, walking until we were back out to the road.

"We got split up too" Matt finally whispered with a shaky voice "I drew a herd away from us, assholes managed to sink themselves in quick sand. I was walking to get back to her and some assholes knocked me over the head, took me to some sort of underground tunnel" The man leaned himself against the brick wall, his head between his hands "If somethings happened to her.. the baby. I wont be able to live with myself".

The two of us stepped closer to him, placing a hand on each shoulder as he finally broke down. "Its not your fault, you made it out for them, we will find her okay" Ben said as Matt nodded slightly.

His fists clenched whiter "The assholes wanted blood, said they were saving the world. All I could think about was Sarah and getting back to her, I killed all of them just to escape" Matt was a good soul, he would do anything to get back to his family but killing, this was going to break him down bit by bit. Sure he killed in the army but not like this "When I got back she was gone, I followed her trail until I got stuck".

"You did what you had to survive" Matts eyes were pleading, desperate for any chance of redemption "It's fight or die, you fought to get back to them. Hell we all are".