Apocalyptic Love - The island

Chapter Fourteen - Goodbyes

After burying Harriet, I headed back to the girls with death plaguing my mind, it was never easy watching someone die, a stranger should have been easier.

The photo of her granddaughter and the map was concealed in my bag, I didn't know if the island was true but that wasn't for just me to decide.

By the time I reached them the sun was rising again, the windows of the car blocked and the silence surrounding it. I knocked three times and waited outside, barely a few moments later Sarah climbed out quickly hugging me before Hayley did the same.

"What happened?" Sarah's kind eyes pleaded.

I sat them down and explained everything, leaving the gory parts out for the sake of the child. Sarah was teary when I finished telling them about Harriet, her blaming the hormones of course.

"We can't go without them" was the first thing she said and I agreed, but then looking to Hayley. Her blue eyes drained by the heavy bags sinking beneath, I couldn't help but feel bad for dragging her from place to place.

"I know that" I smiled under the harsh reality of what I was going to say next "But we can't look forever, as much as we want to it's not safe out here. We've got Hayley and you are going to have a baby in a few months" Sarah nodded sadly looking down to her barely showing bump.

"We can't just give up" Her green eyes were cloudy and I knew she was about to break down "We both know we would never forgive ourselves without finding them".

Part of me would be gone without Carter, I knew that. But we both agreed to put Hayley first and if that meant leaving that's something I would have to set my mind to.

"A week" Sarah announced "We look for one more week, the places that we missed on the map and if we find nothing we go".

I nodded, pushing back the emotions threatening to surface. "A week".

"Are we going again?" Hayley jumped from the bonnet, wrapping her hand in my own as she looked up to me.

I knelt down to her height "Yes honey. Are you ready?" The girl nodded eagerly as we took off down the highway.

Barely a mile down the treeline errupted with noise, the harsh cracking of branches underneath heavy footsteps. My gun was pulled from the holster while I pushed the girls behind my back, the aim holding on the incoming sound of noise.

"Fuck" A woman's voice echoed through the treeline "Come on man".

The bushes spread apart as a girl emerged, her face blushed and dripping with sweat as she held a man to her side. She looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it, and the guy the same.

"Are you okay?" I shouted slowly lowering my gun as they grew closer. It wasn't until the grunting man lifted his head that all the colour drained from my face "Brent?".

His face was pale, too pale. His body limp as all his weight rested on the girl. I didn't hesitate to run over to them taking his face in my hands as he dropped into my touch, we collapsed to the floor as his faint voice whispered "Katie?".

My head bobbed as the tears fell "Katie? The Katie" The girl looked shocked, pushing her short dark hair away from her eyes "No fucking way".

"We found you" Brent smiled up to me, and my voice stuck in my throat noticing the way he was grabbing the red stain in his shirt.

"We need to get him somewhere safe for now, we've got a herd on our trails" The brunette girl whispered as she looked back to the forest, I nodded pulling up his left side while she took the other.

Sarah and Hayely ran ahead only stopping at a small convenience store, to our luck it was empy as we carried him through to the back room. Us girls laid him on the small couch in the back room, watching him groan in pain as he gripped his side.

"What happened" I cried lifting his shirt to see the deep indents of teeth, the flesh torn as blood seeped through his abdomen. I pulled my jacket of pushing the material in his skin as he winced.

"We were leading a horde away from the others, we got caught at a dead end and had to climb over a fence" I looked from the girl to Brent as she spoke "A fucker caught him just as we climbed over, we tried to circle back to the others but we just couldn't so I kept running".

My voice caught in my throat when she said "others", my eyes instantly sinking into Brent's as he held my hand. "We found Matt. Me, Maddie, Ben.." He faint voice echoed "Carter".

The emotions broke through like a dam. Happiness, relief and Anger. Even though we found them, Brent didn't have long. "I'm so sorry Brent, it shouldn't have ended like this" I brushed the hair from his pale face, watching his eyes slowly flutter.

Sarah's tears sounded in the background, as well as Hayleys as they watched the scene.

"I'm not" Brent smiled as he turned his head to mine. In ways we had a sort of sibling bond, after Melanie we both always seemed to end up around eachother. Whether it was at her grave or checking in on eachother around the park, I guess we were both the only remainders left of her. "If my death means you found eachother, it makes it worth it".

His calloused hand reached up to my face, cupping my cheek with his bloodstained skin "It doesn't make it worth it. We could have found eachother without you dying" I cried.

"This is my fault" Maddie wiped her own tears, kneeling down next to me beneath the sofa "I'm sorry I couldn't save you".

Brent smiled looking over to the girl "Its not your fault Mad, or yours Katie. This is just the way life is. But when you see the boys tell them how much I loved them, they helped me through more than they knew".

I hiccuped leaning my head into his arm "I will".

"I'll tell Melanie you said hi" Brent smiled as his body grew weaker.

Two days. Two days in a row I'd watched the life slowly drain from people and I was tired of it, death was inescapable and I couldn't take any more. I needed him now more than ever.

Maddie stood up first rubbing her hand down my back as I kept my head down "I'm going to get the others" I didn't say anything except a subtle nod as my body shook with grief, I barely even noticed her footsteps slowly disappear.

How much more death could we take until we had nothing left.