Chloe

"How haven't you lost the backpack?" I ask, dumbfounded.

Brody pats it with his free hand. "Should call it my lucky backpack, shouldn't I?" he muses.

Mounting the sandy hill, I reply, "No kidding—"

Brody pulls me back to him, lowering our bodies to the sand as his eyes scout the surroundings. "Watch tower, he may be up there."

Checking it, it does make a perfect hiding spot. Inspecting the scenery, I signal for Brody to take one side while I sneak up the other side. On my route, there are things that can only be depicted as set off or deliberately broken snare traps. There's no sign of movement from the tower, and there's definitely no one nearby.

"Brody, I think he's bolted!" I holler for him to hear me, and he's quick to jog over and follow me up the tower.

It was exactly how I thought it would be: cluttered with wrappers, paper, and bare of anything that may help him, other than the guns. He has plenty of those, and enough for me and Brody. Grabbing a pistol and sniper riffle, and Brody has his famous choice of another shotgun and a revolver.

Rummaging through the papers, there's nothing but plans to escape, where Rotters gather, statistics on the other infected, how he's getting off this 'rock' as he calls it. Then a sheet settled on top of a cracked box full of ammunition snags my interest.

I have come to lose hope. Help isn't coming—at least, not any more if it used to, I mean why would it? Those of us left are damned, and it's all my fault. It's funny, I never intended for any of this to happen, all I wished for was the company to be shut down since it was dodgy left and right, and I wanted to be the one to get the notice for bringing it out in the open. A few people were meant to get sick, that was all, not lasting effects, and Deric Slade was my first test, but for some reason, he became one of those things. I fled after realising what was to become of me, and that's my life now, fleeing. To those who are hunting me down, sorry to disappoint, I'm either dead, or I'm not here at the moment. If you trespass, and decide to take one of my weapons, then there's a surprise for you—

Brody sits on the seat and suddenly an alarm blares. My senses are on full alert, and that's when the smell of petrol hits my nose, and then then the flicker of embers eating its way in a single file line catches our attention, and it doesn't take us long to scramble out of the watch tower with our things. Just as we make it to safety, the tower goes up in flames, and before either of us can move, a sharp pain slices through my arm, causing me to stagger with a hiss.

Peering down, I see it's a minor graze, and Brody's fast to pull us to cover behind a collapsed billboard. Using the scope, it takes me a second after figuring out where I was, how I was position and the possibility of where the bullet came from, I find a figure lurking near the back of the beach, the other end we came from. Firing, my bullet cracks through the air, inches from him and kicking up sand. He shifts back and forth, shooting back.

Sending another one, satisfaction tugs at me when his body juts back from the impact to his shoulder. Cracked howls in various pitches echo in the distance, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out they were the trap all along, and we set it off.

Smart asshole.

All shapes and sizes barrel toward us from the average and beefy Rotters that stumble in their strides, grasping at the air and more than likely drooling while the Rabids charge, claws digging up the earth as they snap wildly, and the Bestials dart ahead in all their lean agility, eyes narrowed for the hunt, and teeth bared for the kill.

Shooting off rounds, my eyes turn to Levi, who smirks down my scope, and backs away like a criminal in the night.

"Chloe, we're going to have to leave," Brody calls, firing off his revolver.

"He's right there, we can do it!" I plead, shooting another round at the last Bestial, knowing they would be the most hassle, now it's just the swarm.

"I'm sorry sweetheart."

Shifting my gaze frantically toward my target and the infected, realising some have diverted to chase after him, my heart weighs in on me, guilt for not honouring my word. Unless . . . they just need peace knowing the true intentions behind the mastermind.

Maybe the true lesson is to find peace in one's self, and to let those rest with it, knowing that they were fought for, and never forgotten.

Gritting my teeth, I take Brody's hand and we start running as fast as we can to the water where we left out float, and set our things on it and push off. As we set off, the plumes can still be seen from our point, the roar of the infected are no longer there, and the faint flickers of fire soon die out with the lack of fuel, and all I can do is huddle with Brody as we leave the 'rock' we used to live on.

"I'm sorry we couldn't catch him," Brody murmurs, and a heavy, exhausted sigh comes from me before I meet his eye.

"It was the right thing to do."

His brows furrow, and a small smile makes its way onto my features.

"We could've died, risked everything for that man, and there's no way I want to lose you. You're enough, and I'm sure everyone we lost on the way can rest in peace, knowing they aren't forgotten, and that we figured out the truth behind everything."

A beaming smile lights up his face, and I know that I made the right decision.

"You did it, Chloe."

I shake my head at him, collecting his hands in mine. "No, we did it."

He grins down at me; pride highlights his eyes. "Yes, we did sweetheart."

"Let's go home."

One year later,
Chlody Island

The sensation of the heated sand between my toes, and the smell of vegetation and the water is something I will never get used to. That, and the view of my Prince Charming finishing picking the vegetables to go with our wild boar tonight.

"Taste this," Brody asks, setting the basket at my feet as he raises a plump cherry tomato to my lips.

Allowing him to slip it in, the juicy pop as I bite down pulls a moan from me. "Delicious, great job."

He smiles and places a sweet kiss to my lips. When he pulls back, his tongue traces his lower lip, a deliberate moan coming forth. "Even better."

Playfully hitting his shoulder, he drops down beside me, legs stretching out, and my hand rests on his shoulder.

"Thank you," I pipe up.

"What for?" he questions, turning his head to look at me without moving his body.

"For everything. You're the best thing in my life, and I'm glad we managed to make a home here, and I'm happy that it's all with you."

He strokes my cheek and lays another gentle kiss on me, this time a little longer. Resting our foreheads together, he whispers, "And I thank you, my beautiful girl. I never thought I'd find a place to call home, let alone with anyone until you came along, and I don't have the words to show how happy I am that it's you."

We came to this island, and just like Brody claimed, his backpack had what we needed to create a living space. He somehow preserved seeds in those zip up plastic bags, so we have a fruit and vegetable patch outside our house, we created a water base, and the island has plenty of animals that we've learnt to hunt and use for meals/ Living by the water results in a change of food, and as much as Brody turns his nose up at it, we manage to find him the odd things he enjoys.

Home is a typical structure in the more knitted trees, and we've made it to be warmer with the leaves for when the nights get cold. And Brody's favourite, if we want to go for a dip, the water isn't far from us.

The memory of when we arrived is my favourite, because I gathered the courage and showed him who each person is in my photo, and I even let him read Macey's book, and the support and love he gave me when I become emotional is a memory I'll never forget. Every night, when we star gaze, he makes sure to point out and name the brightest stars, saying each one represents my friends and parents, and that they are looking down on me—

"Can I ask you a question?"

My head bobs, soaking in his presence along with the heat from the sun.

"If I were to ask you to be my Rapunzel, what would you say?" Brody asks, shifting so he's on one knee with a knitted ring.

Tears well up, slightly blurring my vision until I blink them away. Throwing myself at him, we tumble to the floor as I squeal, "Yes!" over and over again, kissing him repeatedly.

Brody laughs and squeezes me to him, rocking me in the position we're in.

"Thank you, my love, you just made me the happiest man on earth," he beams, pulling me down for a passionate kiss. "We finally got out happy ever after."

"Yes, we did."

Slipping on the ring, we both smile at each other.

"I love you," he murmurs.

"And I love you too, Brody."