Dead But Not Gone

The Revolution

Danny

The large ship moved slowly through the water. I was sleep deprived and for the first time in years, scared of what would happen next. I've never executed innocent people before and it hurt like hell just to pull the trigger. Rodney threw the teenager's body into the ocean and made the other men pick up the bits of his head to throw into the trash.

I continued to steer the ship, following the map given. We were headed to Blinskeville: a town and community that has many survivors. We forced an answer out of one of the soldiers on board by cutting off his fingers. After Rodney get his information, he slit the guy's throat.

I've seen many fucked up things during my military life. But nothing can come close to the bad things Rodney has done in front of everyone. I remembered when he carved my eye out of my skull and took off my eye patch. I looked into the glass window of the ship and saw the reflection of a man with short hair, a beard, and a large hole in his face. I felt ashamed and quickly covered my wound.

If Hazel knew about this, she'd be disappointed in me, no doubt. But I was doing this to make sure my wife and daughter were safe. My inner soldier was telling me to fight back and take Rodney out when we were alone. I couldn't bring myself to do it though. I blocked out those thoughts and continued steering the ship. We were a couple of hours away and things would change.

Derek

Most of the contaminated people were herded into beds separated by sheets. Maria ordered the soldiers to seal off the area to prevent anybody from entering. Some people died by the next morning and turned. Others were so sick that they wished they were dead. I stood beside Hazel and stared into the ocean and saw our reflections look back at us. I saw a guy with a sloppy crew cut and stubble beside a girl with brown hair that has grown longer over the past few months. His brown eyes glanced over at her grey eyes and smiled.

"It's nice to have these moments...even when everything is going to shit, isn't it?" I started conversation.

"Yeah I guess." Hazel answered. She then opened her mouth to say something else but changed her mind. I noticed this and brought it up.

"What were you gonna say?"

Hazel turned away and bit her lip nervously. She covered her wrist with her hand and looked around. "It was nothing. Just kinda nervous about The Revolution."

"You're lying to me Hazel. What'd you do?"

When she didn't answer, I caught a glimpse of her arm as she shifted in place. It had fresh scars and my eyes widened. I grabbed her wrist and brought it up for both of us to see.

"Hazel what the fuck is this? Why did you do this?!"

"I-I-I...I'm sorry! I couldn't help myself and it just happened..."

I released my grip on her arm and embraced her in a hug. She cried and I felt the tears soak through my black tee shirt. This reminded me of the day I talked her out of suicide back in Gunther. I held her for as long as she sobbed. When we finally separated, she wiped her tears and sniffled.

"Next time you think about that, come to me first okay? Don't stress yourself out over what's happening right now. It's not your fault. Besides, we still don't know what caused it." I cooed to her.

Hazel nodded slowly and then we heard the sounds of a rapidly spinning fan above us. We looked up and saw a helicopter flying towards the center of the camp. Hazel and I rushed over to the scene and gathered around with the remaining survivors. Maria walked through us and stood in front of the doors of the chopper.

The doors opened up and there stood someone we haven't seen in a long time. He saw me too and his eyes widened.

"Holy shit." I gasped.

John exited the helicopter and was followed by Angelo, Violet, and Riley. John had grew a goatee and Angelo's once blonde, long hair was now reduced to a buzz cut. Stella and the others met up with us and when they saw who was in the chopper, they stood in awe beside me. Stella quickly ran past Maria and hugged both Riley and Violet tight. Xander and I walked to John and Angelo and gave them a bro hug. Maria looked confused and then Alessandra spoke up.

"These are our friends. We were together for a long time but then separated due to different beliefs."

"Derek, damn I didn't know you could grow facial hair." John half joked.

I chuckled and we looked back at Maria.

"Enough of this sappy shit." John said. "Let's get to business."

Maria allowed my friends and I to help discuss trading. We told them about the infection that spread around camp and that there was a quarantine zone to keep the sick at bay. They also told us about the bandits that tried raiding their base recently and that they weren't Rodney's men. Before we got to the actual trading process, I talked to John about how they built up that community.

"Well after we split up, we got to the warehouse and cleared out the biters that surrounded it. After that, we started to use the tools and wood there to start some defenses. From there, we built makeshift beds and looted any towns nearby. Angelo managed to find a military base and stole this chopper, along with some guns and cars. People started pouring in and we built a trust system to ensure no back stabs happened. After that, the rest is history. We thought you guys died but I'm glad I didn't lose faith."

"That's great man. Machton hasn't bothered or found us since Gunther. They probably gave up and it's good to know they haven't come after you." I replied with joy.

"Before we start this trade, I need to contact The Hope. Zoey hasn't given any updates to her location in a couple days." Maria pulled out her walkie talkie and turned it on. "This is Maria. You haven't updated us on your location in 72 hours so please respond."

There was nothing but static on the radio. Maria tried again. "I repeat. Zoey, come in. This is Maria and you haven't updated your position."

Static once more came from the end of the line. Just as she went to turn it off, a voice responded. "Hello Maria, this is Blake and I'm the new captain. Zoey is resting and she's ordered for me to take control. We're on our way back and we'll arrive in 26 hours. See you soon."

The transmission cut off and Maria looked puzzled. "That's weird. Zoey never leaves her captain spot, regardless of how she feels. She must've picked up some new survivors..." She put the walkie talkie away and looked at John. "Now let's talk."