{Author's Note}
This is the ‘last’ chapter of the book, and I want to throw out a quick thank you for the tremendous support I’ve gotten. Don’t fear though, on Sunday, I will be posting an epilogue for all you beautiful people to neatly wrap up the story. But, I really would love to see some major support on this final chapter. I want everyone to comment their favorite part, overall, and/or from each perspective. I wish I could personally thank each one of you for your insane support, and stay tuned for the epilogue.
Ashley:
“Do we stop?” I asked as we drew nearer. “Why would we stop- wait. Is that Jordan in that car from Youtube?” Mitch asked. “Yeah, I recognize them. Let’s pull over.” I said. Sydney groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Why can’t we just keep going..” She sighed, yearning to avoid any sort of contact with over humans if possible. When Mitch and I got out of the car, everyone paused, frozen in distrust and surprise. I supposed they knew you can’t trust everyone you knew before the apocalypse, like Ryan. Then, the truck’s car door opened and Sonja’s head poked out. “Ashley? Is that you?” She asked. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying a lot. “Yes! Hi Sonja! Fancy seeing you here. Are you on your way to Seattle?” I asked the obvious. “Uhm, yeah. Are you going there too?” She asked. I found it wildly humorous to have such a casual conversation in such a drab, dangerous world. “Mmhm, yeah. Do you want us to wait for you?” I asked. Sonja looked to the man changing the tires. “They can wait for us, right?” She asked him. “Do you know them?” He asked back. She nodded her head, and the tire man approved us waiting for them. “What a weird turn of events.” I said, looking back to Mitch. “Yeah, seriously. Whoever thought we were gonna end up meeting a bunch of other friends right outside Seattle.” He said. We got back into the car to wait for them, and the tire man came up and knocked on the driver’s window. Mitch rolled down the window, and the man handed him a small, handheld radio. “Welcome to the team, I guess. The name’s James. Use channel three to talk to us.” Mitch threw a side glance at me. “Uh, thank you sir. I’m Mitch. This is Ashley, and that’s Dan and Sydney. Pleased to be with you today.” Mitch introduced us. “Pfft, yeah. Pleasure.” He said, beginning to walk away, but he turned back. “I’m sorry, it’s just, smaller groups are easier to take care of. If you’re with me, I feel responsible for you, and I just lost a member of my group.” He said, then walked away for good. The man looked tired, and I sympathized for him. I didn’t get as annoyed as I once did, because I knew everyone I had met since the start of this had experienced the same thing I did. They had all lost friends to the infected as well as other people, they had seen the horrors of the spreading disease, they had lost their family, or were separated from their family. Mitch switched the radio to Channel Three, and all three cars merged back onto the road, ready to continue the adventure. Soon, the ghostly empty city of Seattle loomed ahead of us in the evening’s shadow. Unlike photos I had seen of it, it was lifeless and dark. “We’re getting close, guys. Hang in there.” James’s voice crackled over the radio. We followed his truck down many empty roads, and swerved past exceptionally large hoards of zombies. “I guess a lot of people made it this far only to get infected.” Sydney sighed, looking at the undead. “That’s sad, but we’re not gonna be like them.” Dan promised her. His comment was enough to make her smile a little, and she didn’t speak again. Mitch kept glancing at me like he wanted to say something, but never did the the whole way. Finally, the gleaming lights of the air port came into view, and the hum of an air craft coming down for landing filled my ears. “We’re gonna make it! We’re actually gonna make it!” Sydney spoke again, her eyes lighting up. We drove up to a concrete barrier that surrounded the air port with heavily armed guards on posts all around it. Besides us, there were a couple cars lined up for entry. When we reached the gate, a guard asked us a couple security questions, then let each of our cars in one by one. We were in the back of our ‘train’, and as James’s car passed through, he announced they were in. Then Jordan and Aurey got in, and announced they were in over the radio, and finally were accepted in! We had made it! We were directed into the safe parking lot that was already overcrowded, but eventually, what seemed to be hours later, we finally all found parking spots, and met up at the main building. There was working electricity, a first aid centre, free drinking water and food. It was miraculous. As we walked into the brightly lit building, Mitch pulled me aside for a minute. “Hey Ash. I just wanted to say, it’s been an incredible journey. I’m glad we did it together. And I also just wanted to say, I love you.” He was smiling brightly and widely. He leaned down, and kissed me. I was too shocked to react for a moment, but then I smile back and kissed him back. Eventually, we pulled away and turned back to the airport. A flight would be leaving in thirty minutes, and we had to meet up with the others and get to the terminal before it deported.
Sydney:
I had been awake for so long. Not physically, but mentally awake from the dream of my life before the apocalypse. The airport felt like I had fallen back into the dream. I walked between Dan and Sonja, gazing at the lights. They were blinding. “Is this real? Did I die, and this is heaven? Am I dreaming?” I asked, in disbelief. “I’m happy to tell you it’s real. No illusion. No dream. You’re still alive. It’s all real. Let’s grab some food though before we take off. I don’t know where they’re taking us, but I’m sure it’s far away. Hey James, we’ll meet you guys at the terminal.” Dan told James. He nodded, and we peeled away from the group. They had microwave meals, but they tasted like the finest foods in the world. “Where do you think we’re going now? How are we gonna get by when we get there too? We have nothing.” I asked Dan as I dug into my food ration. Dan shrugged his shoulders, thinking. “I hadn’t really thought of that. My aunt lives in Liverpool though, so if we go to the UK, then we’ll be able to go stay with her for a while. At least until we get back on our feet.” He said. “I hadn’t thought about it, because I didn’t think I was gonna survive.” I said, stirring my food. “I didn’t think about it because I’m just bad at planning.” Dan laughed. I smiled, glancing at him, then back at my food. “I can’t wait to have twenty four access to clean water. That is the worst part about the apocalypse.” Dan laughed. I just smiled it off. The worst part about the apocalypse was loosing friends, but I didn’t say anything. “Sydney, hey, look at me.” He said. I dropped my fork, and looked up at him. “Yeah?” I asked, tipping my head slightly. “Thank you for sticking with me through all of this. I made some really crappy decisions, but you stuck with me, or at least, as much as you could. I wish I could have helped you as much as you helped me. Do you know how many times I just wanted to give up when we got separated, but I kept going, because I thought just maybe, I’ll see you and Mark again.” His goofy expression had vanished, and he was being completely serious. “Dan, you helped me through a lot more than you may think. I’d probably be dead or a zombie right now if it weren’t for you. You saved me back in Ohio, you got me out of the car that you crashed, you pulled me away from the battle, and you’re still helping me fight my mental battle. I really can’t thank you enough. You’re the only one who seemed to understand the mental pain I underwent after loosing Mark.” I replied. The ghost of me who lived in the dream before the apocalypse hovered over me for a second, and just for a moment, I felt like my old self. We finished our microwaved meals, and headed down the airport together to the terminal. For the first time, I knew that we were going to make it. I reflected on it, every moment playing back like a movie. Mark was dead, but Dan was alive. I was alive. I was going to miss him, but I knew in that instant that someday, I would overcome my sorrows. They were only getting in my way, and I still had the rest of my life ahead of me.
Sonja:
Ashley and Mitch had disappeared once we got into the airport, promising to meet us back at the terminal. Then Sydney and Dan disappeared too, leaving James, Tom, Aurey, Ella, Atticus and I. Tom had been remarkably quiet, especially for his boisterous personality. I hadn’t really taken into account that Tucker’s death had affected others than just me. We went through the makeshift security system, and down to the terminal. The waiting area was crowded, but the ladies working the boarding reassured us that there would be enough room for all of us. James found us an area on the floor to sit down, but after a little while, Tom asked me to come get some water with him. I followed him through the airport. Though there was light conversation humming through the air, everybody seemed to speak in hushed whispered, like they feared someone would hear them. Paranoia had effected everyone in the airport, I supposed. “How are you doing, Sonj?” Tom asked me as we walked. The word ‘Sonj’ hurt me a little, because that’s what Tucker said before he died, but I swallowed the emotional pain as much as I could. “I’m fighting. I’ll get through it though. How about you?” I asked. Tom’s eyes were exhausted and full of emotional pain. “Same, I guess. I’m gonna miss him so much though. We both will.” he said. At that point, we reached the water station, and waited in line a couple minutes for clean, bottled water. “How do you think everyone else is doing? I mean, at least Jordan, Aurey and Ella seem happy. Ashley and Mitch seem happy too.” I asked. “Yeah. I agree. I’m concerned about James though. Since we left the…the- Tucker’s resting place, he’s seemed sad. Do you think Tucker’s death effected him that much?” Tom asked. “I don’t know. Tucker was never incredibly fond of James, and even though James looked out for all of us, I don’t think Tucker was his favorite either. I don’t know him as well as you do though.” I said. Tom nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, maybe he feels like her failed us. Maybe he’s gonna miss the adventure. It was kinda his domain, you know.” He said. We were walking back to the terminal, and we both looked at James, who playing with the radio by himself. “Yeah, I guess he’s still human. It’s sometimes easy to forget, he seems so in charge of everything.” I said, beginning to walk back over to James. Tom grabbed my shoulder, and I turned around. “Yeah?” I asked,tilting my head. “Sonja, before we left the house in L.A, Tucker and I talked. He asked me that if anything happened to him, that I’d protect you. Of course, I promised I would, and even though we’re at the airport now, I’m worried about what’s gonna happen to you after we get out of America. So, what I’m asking is, will you come live with me in Manchester? We’ve gone through this together so far, why not continue?” Tom asked me. “Of course I will.” I said smiling. He hugged me, and I hugged him back. We were two broken souls, surviving together. We came back to James, Jordan, Aurey, and Ella and sat down waiting for the flight to start boarding. For some reason, talking to Tom made me feel better, maybe because he reminded me of Tucker a little bit. Maybe it was because we had been together since the start, and we were the only two to stay together since the beginning. Aurey had been chatting with Jordan and Ella, and looked over to me. “Hey Sonja. We made it, huh?” She said, smiling at me. I smiled back, for her sake. It was nice to see someone with a true happy ending. “I guess we did. I can’t believe we found you again, er- I guess you found us. What brought you there?” I asked. Aurey glanced back at Ella, Jordan, and Atticus. “Ella was kidnapped, and we chased them back to that house. I can’t believe you were there too. What were you doing there?” Aurey asked. “James and Tom were kidnapped too. Tucker..” I hesitated. Even saying his name hurt me, but I pushed on. “Tucker and I went to rescue them. We were obviously successful. Well, I guess thanks to you and Jordan. And Ella I guess.” I said. Aurey was about to add something to the conversation, but the ladies manning the boarding pulled down a microphone. “Boarding will be beginning now.” They called.
Aurey:
Jordan had checked with the front desk, and they confirmed that we could indeed bring Atticus aboard. “They understand that you can’t leave any companion behind.” Ella smiled, stroking the large dog’s head. “Thank goodness. I don’t know what we would’ve done if they said we couldn’t bring him.” I said. Atticus wagged his tail gently as if he understood. “Looks like everything is working out, but there is still one question.” Jordan said. We looked at him, waiting for the question. “What are we going to do when we get to wherever we’re going?” He asked. Ella’s eyes gleamed with anxiety. “We’ll be homeless. Where will we get the money to buy food?” she stammered. “It’s okay, Ella. Everything’s gonna be okay. We’ll find something, I promise-” I said to her, calming her before Tom butted into the conversation. “I’m sorry to be eavesdropping and all, it’s just you be be glad I’m eavesdropping because I’ offering you three-er, four a chance to live Sonja and me in Manchester. At least until you get a chance to settle in.” He offered. Jordan looked at Tom with great relief. “Thank you Tom. One less thing to worry about. I appreciate it man.” He said. At about that time, Ashley and Mitch returned, as well as Dan and Sydney. “You guys should probably get in the line.” James said, gesturing to the line of people waiting patiently to board the plane. “We will in a second-wait, we?” Tom said, looking at James. The guy who I had first seen at the wretched slave trade was starring at his muddy boots, and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. “Yeah. I don’t know if I can go back. Not yet. There’s more people to help.” He said. “Do you need a place to stay? I’m sure there’s still room with Sonja and me.” Tom said. “No, no, my family is in Ireland. It’s not a home issue. It’s just… I can save so many other people. I’ll come home some day, and I’ll see you again.” James said. “Wait, James, no. Come with us. We’re not going to leave you here after all you’ve done for us.” Sonja spoke up, looking at him. James smiled at Sonja sadly. “Sonja. The girl I picked from the slave trade first. You know why I picked you?” He asked. She shook her head ‘no.’ “Because you remind me of my sister. My sister who died on the first day of the apocalypse. Now, I refuse to let you stay in this infested world any longer. I’m asking- no, begging you to leave me. Some day, like I said, we’ll meet again, I promise. Now hurry, they’re almost done boarding.” He said. Sonja hugged James tightly, and everyone else said there goodbyes to the man. “Goodbye James. Thank you for taking care of my friends.” I said, shaking his hand. After our goodbyes, we lined up to board the plane.
And fifteen minutes later, Ella, Jordan, Atticus, Ashley, Mitch, Sydney, Dan, and I were all seated on a plane that took off, London bound. We had escaped.