They Will Run You Down

Forty: Success Leaves Clues

"Cockatoo Island isn't far from here. We just need to get our hands on a boat," Edvin explained as he drove excitedly through the streets.

"And if we can't find a boat?" Harley questioned from the back seat.

Edvin glanced over his shoulder at her, "We'll find one"

Harley leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms, trying to warm her soaked, freezing and shaking body. John saw her discomfort and began rooting around the truck, looking for anything that could help Harley warm up. He managed to pull a raggedy men's t-shirt out from between the seats and proceeded to drape the questionably clean but dry fabric over her wet shoulders. John scooted closer to her and began rubbing her upper arms to create some heat through friction.

Harley glanced at John, her teeth chattering as he tried to warm her, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. She felt a powerful need to distance herself from John for self preservation. Harley was terrified of being vulnerable; She didn't want to have to need anyone, but John and his tireless devotion for her were making it nearly impossible.

"How far to the harbour?" Taylor asked from the front passenger seat.

Edvin kept his eyes fixed on the road, "Only a few more minutes"

Everyone felt the same tension in their chests as they inched closer to the place they all hoped would be the finish line. It was only moments ago that they'd been devestated to find the CDC in ruins, and none of them possessed the fortitude to go through that sort of heartbreak a second time. Cockatoo Island had to be the place.

As if it were a sign from the universe, the sky had begun to clear in the distance above the Harbour, precisely in the direction the group were travelling. Golden streams of light fell from a break in the clouds, and suddenly there appeared a faint but unmistakable rainbow.

Of course the beauty of it was lost on Harley. She preferred her beauty cloaked in a disguise, be it abhorrent or heartbreaking in nature.

It was only a few more minutes until the group of four pulled into a small marina situated alongside the harbour. They were extraordinarily lucky not to have collected a following of screamers on their drive, but worked as quickly as they could to get off land regardless.

There were only three boats tied to the dock, and of the three, only two were water worthy; the third being partially sunk.

Splitting up, Edvin and John looked over both boats to find which might work, and while Edvin's had gas, it refused to start when he attempted to hot wire it. John's boat, a small pontoon, was completely out of gas, but it had a key that John found hidden within a small rip in the carpet next to the console.

"I need a hose and a can," John said to his group as he climbed off of the boat and onto the dock.

Together the group went about searching for said items, and it was Harley who found a tin watering can inside the small marina office, which had been broken into and left in shambles when things went to hell. Of course the flower garden which grew along the office had long since died off without someone around to tend to it.

Taylor was able to find a short hose in the boat Edvin had tried fruitlessly to start and rushed it over to John, who had made his way back to the truck.

As Harley paced back to John with her can, she caught something moving in her periphery. She turned her head to immediately see a disheveled female screamer sprinting full speed toward her and the rest of her group. Having been relieved of her folding knife back in Haven, Harley struggled for a moment with what to do about the feverishly advancing creature.