Apocalyptic Love - The island

Chapter Twenty-Three - Land Ahoy

Each time my eyes fluttered open and I felt the scorching pains ripple through my body the exhaustion took over again. In my dazed state I caught a few glimpses of whispers, which I couldn't decipher as real or if i was stuck in loop.

"We need to go now" I recognised as Maddies voice, but her normal firm tone was replaced with worry.

Then came the darkness again, and the feeling of my body being cradled against a warm chest.

"We don't have a choice" Carter was shouting "Its this or he dies".

It's like I could feel what I wanted to say, I wanted to scream, but my body wouldn't let me.

"Please wake up Katie" Hayleys small voice was shaking, I could feel her tiny hand wrapping around mine "We need you".

A wave of nausea rushed through my body, my head pounding as I finally regained consciousness.

"Here baby" Carters voice was angelic to my ears, but not for long as I leaned over to empty the contents of my stomach into the bucket he was holding "Let it all out" he leaned round to the cot I was sat on, his palm rubbing my back "Good girl".

When I looked around I realised we weren't in the beach house no more. The small wooden cabin was tiny, two single beds on opposite sides of the room, on the wall I was next to was a small circular window. The view directly to the bright ocean, which explained the sickness.

We were on a boat.

"What happened" I leaned my head onto Carters shoulder, looking up to his tired hazel eyes as he smiled down to me.

Carter laughed lightly kissing my forehead before wrapping his arm around my shoulders "Before or after you blew up the police station?" I groaned remembering feeling the huge slabs of concrete fall over us.

"Matt?" I jumped up.

"Matts.. Alive" Carter couldn't look me in the eyes and I knew something was wrong "When we pulled him out he had a shard of glass in his stomach. Maddie and Sarah got it out and patched him up but he has an infection".

My sob came out croaky from the dryness of my throat, the guilt ripping me open "This is my fault".

My husband knelt down in front of me between my legs, his hands finding their way to my cheeks as his thumbs brushed the fresh tears "We are a few hours from the island, they will have antibiotics there. Matt will be fine baby".

All I wanted to do was get up and go to him but my body was weak, my limbs hurting in every possible place. "Can you take me to him".

Carter nodded standing back to full height before picking me up, his hand slipped under my knees while the other wrapped around my back. I couldn't help but sink into his warmth, the feeling of his body against mine as my personal comfort.

The boat wasn't big but it wasn't tiny either, the small hallway just outside the room I was in held four small cabin doors, one being a toilet and the rest identical bedrooms to ours. But Matt was out on the deck, on a square shaped sofa just at the end of the boat.

His head was upright against a tower of pillows, his pale body sinking into the couch as he held his side. When he looked over to me he grunted, the small show of a fever dripping down his face as he attempted to smile at me. "Hey bug".

Carter sat me at the end of his body, leaving us in the silence of the calm waves hitting the boat. There was no land for miles, the only thing we could see was the blue of the ocean and the seagulls flying overhead. The sound of animals was almost angelic compared to our usual sound of groans.

"How are you feeling? You look like shit Spartacus" Matt laughed lightly, groaning again as he lifted his shirt. His side was covered in a square of gauze, the infection was obvious from the mixture of blood and green ooze seeping through the material.

"It's always us huh" Matt reached out to take my hand in his own "They really should stop letting us out" I couldn't help but laugh "I can feel it getting worse, it's like my body is on fire. But don't tell Sarah how bad, you know how she worries".

We always had the fear of death, but seeing someone so close to it, someone you love. It's heartbreaking. "The island is real, I know it is. We can get you help".

Matt looked at me with a look I couldn't perceive, guilt.. sadness. "If it isn't".

"No" I shook my head not wanting to hear his next words "no. It's real Matt".

"Please Katie just listen" His grip in my hand grew stronger "If I don't make it. If the island isn't real, you cannot give up. They all need you, they need someone strong, smart and someone who cares so deeply. They can't make it without you" I was crying at this point, knowing this was his goodbye "And Sarah, the baby. She will be a mess, I know that. But you need to make sure she stays strong, for herself and the baby".

"I don't know if I can do that" I brushed my tears with the arm of my T-shirt "I still need you".

Matt sat up more, groaning as he leaned over to cup my cheek with clammy palms "And I will always be with you, whether I'm alive or not. You've got this Katie".

I couldn't help but think I didn't, it was too hard. Fighting for a world that was against us, while trying to force others to fight with you. Losing day after day, whether the loss be small or great, it was becoming harder to find that reason to fight. "Yeah" Matt was slipping, and he needed to know i had this whether I did or not.

Carter and Ben walked down the small steps, a smile on both theirs faces as they looked to us "There's an island up ahead, just like the one marked on the map".