Apocalyptic Love - The island

Chapter Twenty-Two - Rescue

Carter-

My body was aching with exhaustion, but nothing compared to the worry ripping me to the core. Ben was racing behind me slightly slower and we could faintly see the outline of the police station in the distance, as well as the huge herd surrounding it from each entrance.

I felt Bens hand wrap around my wrist before I got too close, his grip halting my steps "We need a plan Carter, if we do this without one we both end up dead as well as them".

I turned to look at his dark eyes, my breaths coming in short and heavy "Why does this always fucking happen" Ben's eyes softened "She cant die man. we need to get her out".

The boy nodded looking around the town we were in until his stare stopped at small store "I got an idea" he jogged over to the small shop, elbowing his arm through the small window before reaching in and turning the door handle "Look for anything we can play music on".

I scanned each shelve as he did the same on the opposite side until my hands landed on a small Walkman "Find a disc" I was already halfway to the door when he came back with a cd in his hands.

"Lets go".

We barely made it a few steps out of the shop when the ground started to shake, a huge cloud of dust following the cracking sound of an explosion expanding into the air. Ben and I looked to each other in fear, before looking back to the police station. The explosion shattered almost every window sending glass into the distance, the herd of monsters were blown into severed parts, their dismembered bodies flying back by the force of impact.

All the wind in my lungs was knocked from me as I watched the building implode, seeing what happened from the outside was nothing compared to the inside, and she was in there. "Carter" I could hear Ben but I couldn't move "CARTER" his hands gripped my shoulders shaking me.

"Katie.." I cried, my hands fisting into my hair as I felt my heart breaking.

"I'm going to set up the music a mile down. The building is still standing man, we are going to find her" Ben was hopeful, but I was far from that. This always happened.

Ben sprinted down the road and past the station, the moment I watched his shadow disappear I started pacing towards the rubble, my knife held so tightly in my hand I could feel the wood tensing under my grip. Outside the station the dust was creeping into my chest, the stench of the bodies filling my nose, I pulled my shirt up to cover my nose as I started to climb through the pile of concrete that was once the entrance.

"KATIE" My voice was chesty as each step closer inside the air grew more tense "MATT".

Debris and rubble was covering every inch of the reception, blood sprayed across the entirety of the room.

My eyes were racing over every inch of the place, but all I could see was the left over remaint's of the herd, if they weren't dead they were dismembered so they couldn't reach me.

The faint sound of coughing could be heard over the crumbling foundation, the roughness almost made it certain to be Matts. A crunching of footsteps joined behind me and I twisted my body holding my knife in shaky hands, I was about to launch at the sound when Bens face came into my view.

"Over here. I can hear coughing" I gestured my head to the opposite side where the celling had collapsed.

"Katie.." The voice grew louder as we climbed over the rubble, Matt's cries cutting a wound into my soul. We climbed over a huge part of drywall to see him leaning against the wall by the back exit, his face covered in black ash as he lolled his head back against the wall. His bottom half was weighed down by a huge slab of debris while his hands rested on top.

"Matt" I jumped over readying my hands underneath the block of concrete, Ben climbing to the opposite side to help me.

"Where is she?" Matts face looked pale as his stare darted across the room "Where is Katie".

I pushed back the fear of the unknown as I looked to him "Let's get this off you and then we can find her".

Matt shook his head groaning in pain as me and Ben started to lift the slab "No. Get her first".

"You don't really have a choice right now man" Ben argued nodding to me to start lifting again.

I flexed my arms while squatting down slightly to elevate the weight, each muscle in my arm was stretching to the point of immense pain, but we pushed through. Matt's groans only growing louder until the weight was finally off his legs, his hands instantly shot to his stomach which was covered in thick red blood. "Fuck".

I knelt down to his height lifting his shirt to see a shard of glass protruding from his lower stomach "Don't pull it out" Matt winced while ripping his t-shirt to wrap around his waist with the help of Ben "We pull it out ill bleed to death. This will hold. Go find my niece" He looked to me with pleading eyes, but with the way his abdomen was leaking, he wouldn't last long.

"Ben" The boy's tanned skin was sickly as he looked over Matt thinking the same thing "Get him back to the house, Maddie helped in the infirmary at the park, she can help".

"No" Matt tried to stand up, but the moment he got to his feet his body fell against the weight of the wall "I'm not leaving without her".

"Me either. You know I wont leave this place without her, but if she finds out I let you die because you were to fucking stubborn to leave and get help she will kill me".

Matt nodded with tears in his eyes before letting Ben sling an arm under his arms, the moment the two were on the way out I was like a crazed man pulling every piece of rubble I could find a slinging it through the air.

"Katie" I must have shouted her name at least a hundred times, each time I couldn't hear her sweet voice reply back to me I was crumbling more than this place.

Beneath the dust I could see the outline of a desk, most of it blown to pieces but one thing that caught my eye. A small dust covered converse, the sole peaking out from beneath the desk.

I raced over pulling everything around it until I could finally see her. Her dark chocolate hair was covered by the dust piling in from the roof, her face covered in small gashes and fresh bruising. I fell to the floor next to her pulling her body into my lap as I cupped her cheeks "Baby. I'm here, please wake up" My tear drops fell onto her bloodied skin "Katie".

Her eyelashes fluttered, her body slowly twitching as her eyes slowly opened "Carter".

I smiled leaning down to rest my forehead against hers, pulling her body tighter into mine. "Lets get you out of here" I stood up scooping her up, one hand under her knees while the other wrapped around her shoulders.

Bright blue eyes stared at me in awe, her lips slightly turned up "The bags" I looked around the floor next to where I found her, two duffel bags laid in the dust "We need them" she coughed.

I let go of her legs momentarily to sling the bags over my shoulder before picking her back up, the pain scorching my body was nothing compared to the relief of knowing my girl was okay.

"Don't let me have bombs anymore" Her dry voice laughed before she fell back to sleep in my arms.