Island of the Dead

Chapter Three

June 3th 5:19 pm

Frank Andrews and Albert Gomez were huddled around the small ham radio Albert had fixed up. They had gotten a signal on the other end yesterday but there was too much static for them to make anything out. Since then they had had no luck in reaching anyone, but they were getting close. Albert adjusted the channel some more hoping to come across a signal but to no avail. Frank patted Albert on the shoulder and said, "I'm gonna go to the other room. Tell me if anything changes."

"Will do Frank." Muttered Albert as he adjusted the volume knob.

As he exited the small supply room they turned into a radio room, Frank ran into Penny Toups. She and Frank had met eight years ago when he moved to the island, and they had become fast friends. Penny was a Pacoi native. She had tanned skin and dark brown hair that was cut short in a pixie cut. She had lived on the island with her family up until the viral outbreak. Slung on her shoulder was a rifle her father had given her when she turned 16. She had had to use that same rifle to kill her father when he had turned a few weeks before and now carried it as a memento to him.

Although Frank did find her attractive he never felt it was his place to make a move. Penny's family was very kind to Frank when he first arrived. As far as they knew he was escaping from reality on an island paradise, he neglected to tell them he was aver $70,000 in debt to a portion of the chinese mafia that resided in his old town. When arriving Frank had next to nothing, but Penny's family had let him stay with them until he made enough to buy his own little shack. It was this reason that Frank felt it would've been disrespectful to try to start a relationship with her.

"Any luck?" Penny asked

"None. But Albert thinks he is close to the right channel."

"Everyone else is starting to lose hope Frank. That signal yesterday is the only reason why everyone in there hasn't just laid down and accepted death." She gestured towards the main room she said this.

"Well, as far as they need to know we are trying our hardest and are close to finding someone."

"You think they'll buy that?" Penny asked skeptically.

"I think they'll want to. In fact, I think they'll want to so bad that they will have no choice but to believe it." Frank began walking through the store that he had found a few weeks before. His original group consisted of Penny, Daniel and his wife Martha Wright, and Mary Winfield and her 15 year old son Thomas. Frank was the group's de facto leader and his title was cemented when he found the store. It had enough room for all of them to stay and enough food that, when properly rationed, they could survive for at least a few weeks.

A few days after they found the store Albert found them. He was with a girl named Abigail Castillo, whom he had found and had agreed to come with him. Frank and the other survivors had boarded up the windows and doors leaving only the roof access ladder as a means of entrance and exit. They pushed all the shelves, previously filled with candy and chips, Up to the front windows to give extra support to the boards. They converted the front room into a small place for gathering and the various back rooms into sleeping quarters.

Right now, Abigail, Daniel, and Martha were gathered in the main room, hoping for some good news. Mary and Thomas were in their room in the back. Thomas had recently come down with what everyone hoped was just a fever and with no medical supplies all they could do was help him ride it out. When Frank walked in Abigail and Daniel turned to look at him, but by his expression they knew they would have to wait for anything that they wanted to hear. Frank found an open spot on the floor and sat down with Penny following suit.

"I'm going scavenging soon." Penny said, inspecting her rifle.

"You are? Where?" Frank knew that pretty much every building in the town of Ruiha, where they currently resided, had been picked clean by either looters or them the weeks before. Penny was also aware of this.