THE DEAD ZONE | COMPLETED

Ninety Six |

Ninety Six |

We headed out as the sun began to rise, and the rain softened. As we headed out, we discussed our next moves. My fingers flipped through my dad's journal furiously as I tried to find any sign of the Isle of Paradise. Any directions—anything at all. Unfortunately, my dad seemed to only know the name of this place created by Bio Gen and the man who could be running it: Agent Samson Hathoway.

"Sebastian do you know anything about the Isle of Paradise?" I asked.

He hummed, "Not very much love, just that Maxwell is always careful to keep the illicit under his control away from theirs. He always told us to keep away from the city port though, I always thought that was because the city is infested."

"Isn't that near the Labyrinth?" I asked Lisa.

"No," Lisa explained, "The Labyrinth is at the edge of town at the east, the city port is south. It's about an hour drive from the Labyrinth. But with the amount of zombies, I'd say three if they don't manage to fuck up our car."

I giggled, "You act like we have a car."

"Don't we?" she replied with a smirk.

I blinked, realizing the direction we were walking was back to the van Barron had left. My eyes lit up and I rushed over only to find the keys on the driver's seat. It confused me, why would Barron leave Sebastian and a working van here for the taking?

"Let's hurry love," Sebastian said, "Before he realizes we're moving towards the Isle."

He was right.

"Whose driving?" Lisa asked.

Sebastian snickered, "I am. No way animal boy, no offense, or Mira are driving. Lisa get in the back with Oliver, Mira already called shotgun."

She gasped in offense, "Since when?"

He winked at her, "In my dreams. After we made sweet, sweet love."

My cheeks heated, "M-Must have been a dream then."

"Ha!" Lisa cackled, following Oliver and Owl into the back of the van.

I slid into the passenger side as he slid into the driver side. He turned the key and the van purred to life, however he made no effort to drive the van. I blinked with confusion, as he stared at me with intent. Was he mad that I did say—

"Your seatbelt love," he said, cutting off my thoughts.

Oh.

"R-Right," I chuckled nervously.

I clicked it on, and we were off. As he drove away from the site, we listened to silence. My eyes flickered over the scenery, the occasional zombie passed by but I no longer flinched at their sightings. By now I had grown more comfortable of the undead than normal, living humans.

Funny how things work out.

"You're uncomfortable around me," he said after a while.

I looked over at him, "What?"

"Shit," he cursed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, or ruin our relationship. I know you have a lot on your plate and I didn't want to add to that."

My eyes widened, "You think your words stressed me?"

"They didn't?" he replied cheekily, with a smirk.

My cheeks heated, "S-Shut up. I just mean they didn't stress me out."

"So you don't like me."

I was sure my face was bright red now, "I-I didn't say that either."

He looked over at me, a cocky look on his face, "Good to know."

My eyes rolled as I looked back to the road. The city was drawing near now, my stomach was growing uneasy. Were we really going to the Isle of Paradise without looking back? Sure that meant we'd be leaving Maxwell behind but we'd also be leaving all our other friends behind too. We're we truly fine with that? I chewed at my lip carefully, doubt flooding me like a wild fire. Maybe we were rushing into this too soon, we didn't even know anything about the place let alone if they could help us...and help us do what—

"Hey," Sebastian grunted, "Love, what's on your mind?"

I looked over at him with a sigh, "Are we doing the right thing?"

"It depends," he said honestly, "What are we doing?"

Hesitation fell over me before I nodded, "Oliver has a friend who was taken by the Isle. How about we start there? We can find information about her, ask the Isle about her. If they seem threatening, we leave, or escape. Her name is Ophilia."

"Ophilia?" Sebastian seemed surprised.

My eyes narrowed, "You know her?"

"Yeah!" he laughed, "I didn't know she was friends with Oliver. We'd always meet up when I was on a mission, I'd bring her food, supplies, information about Maxwell. Then she stopped showing up and I thought she left to somewhere better or died. I had no idea she was at the Isle or I'd have gone there sooner."

I couldn't help the anger that filled my heart and bitterly, I was glad I didn't tell him I loved him. Of course he had loved someone else, I'm sure when we met up with her, he'd go back with her and I'd be long forgotten.

"That's great," I said weakly.

He didn't notice my mood change, "I wonder how she is. Love, you'll love her. She's a lot like you: strong, stubborn, but she's good. She has a kind heart."

"That's good," I murmured, looking out the window, my eyes burning.

He looked over me, oblivious to my mood, "Oh I'm so excited for you to meet her. She was once basically my best friend. Like you and Cam."

Right. Me and Cam—

"Oh god!" I cried, "Cam!"

Sebastian put his hand on my knee, "I'm sure he is fine love."

"How are you so sure?" I whispered, panic and fear filling me, "W-We just left him there! He was shot, oh god he was shot!"

"And he was shot in the shoulder, while in the care of very capable people," he replied, "He will be fine, but if we return now, we'll just put them in more danger. The shadow people know we are long gone. If we return now, so will they and this time they won't be as forgiving."

I calmed but only slightly, "You're right."

We shifted into a comfortable silence.

Saying nothing more until in an hour we reached the city walls. Sebastian slowed the van, the large amount of zombies on the roads daunting. We glanced at each other before looking back to the road. Then, he hit the gas as hard as he could, our tires shrieking as we took off. I closed my eyes, but that did not stop the sound of rotting flesh slamming into the van over and over again. Sebastian did not hold back as he plowed them down like he was simply driving through the forest.

"Are we there yet?" I murmured feeling nauseous.

"Almost Love," he chuckled.

Great.