Book Two: The Legends

Chapter Twenty Two - Savior

I sighed impatiently as I heard another low groan from beside me. I turned, just about to swing a machete at the approaching beast when an arrow flew through the air and sunk into its neck. Not even a second after that one, another followed this one making impact to stop the zombie in its tracks. For good measure, I swung my machete down and pulled it out, kicking the fallen body to the side.

I watched as Celia wandered out of the foliage and removed the two arrows from the corpse, returning them to the makeshift quiver on her back. Her short, frizzy hair was pulled back tightly into a short ponytail and her eyes, I noticed, darted around sharply, watching everything at once.

"Hey," I murmured lowly to her.

She tilted her head at me, dark eyes curious. "Hello."

"How long have you been on the island?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Since the first day of the initial infection..." Celia gave me an sad look and turned away, walking in the direction of camp.

"What happened?" I urged, walking quickly until I fell into step with her.

"We were on a plane, and an infected took out the pilots. We crashed here."

"We?" I repeated, "I thought Michael said you were alone when he arrived..."

Celia paused to look at me. "Yeah, well, everyone else... They didn't survive."

"I'm sorry," I sighed.

Celia shook her head and smiled at me.

At that moment, we broke into the clearing of camp and I couldn't help but marvel at the sight. In the exact middle of the small island, one tree branched out, much bigger and grander than all the others. On each of the branches were small and large platforms forming an elaborate tree house.

Celia approached the large tree and seized a rope ladder that hung down from a low branch. She climbed it expertly and took a spiral staircase up, disappearing into the trees. I rolled my eyes and climbed the ladder a bit more cautiously than Celia. When I reached the top, I pulled the ladder off the ground slightly. I took the same set of stairs that Celia had bounded up, feeling an odd sensation in my stomach as I glanced at the floor, metres below.

"Is that you, Shay?" I heard a voice call from the top of the staircase.

"Yeah, why?" I answered, beginning to take the stairs two at a time to speed up time. I came around the corner to see Felix standing on the top of the stairs.

"Michael wanted to speak to you," Felix told me with a sly grin on his face.

I cocked my head to the side and looked at him carefully. "What are you planning?" I teased.

"Just a harmless prank, no big deal," Felix said, smile growing even wider, "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Yeah, okay... As long as it's not me you're pranking," I told him. He nodded and disappeared past me down the stairs. I sighed, smiling to myself as I continued across a wooden platform supported by the massive branches of the surrounding trees.

I climbed another ladder, this one made sturdy, out of wood until I came to an another platform, this one surrounded by low walls.

Michael was busying himself with a tiny test tube, filled with a clear liquid in the middle of the room.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked.

Michael jumped at the sound, almost dropping the vial of liquid. "Shayde!" He put one hand to his heart and let out a breath.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Quite alright. Yes, I did. I wanted to let you know that we are leaving today."

"What do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"We got in touch with someone. They are picking us up by the end of today. They have a safe place."

"Are you sure?"

Michael rolled his eyes at me and returned to his test tube, putting in two drops of a red coloured liquid. "Gather everyone up. We're heading to the beach."

***

"I thought you said they would be here..." Marth muttered coldly.

"They will be," Michael insisted.

I sighed and threw another large log onto the small bonfire we had burning in the sand. Smoke twirled into the air in a thick column.

"Do you hear that?" Felix suddenly cried, jumping up from the ground.

I rolled my eyes and listened intently until I heard the familiar sound of spinning blades. A speck on the horizon grew bigger, followed by another and I resisted the urge to cheer as two helicopters sped towards us.

"Told you so," Michael snapped at Marth who stared at him in annoyance.

The helicopters both hovered above us, and a rope ladder was dropped from each one. Ike scaled one quickly, holding Winter as he did and Marth climbed up after him.

"Up you go," Darius said, pointing at the other ladder.

"Wait..." I glanced back at Celia who was stood far from us, clutching her bow, "Are you coming?"

"No... I'm going to stay here," She replied softly, barely audible over the noise of the helicopters.

"Are you sure?" I questioned, approaching her slim figure, looking even smaller now.

"Yes. Thank you for everything," Celia smiled brightly.

"No, thank you. We'd be dead if you weren't here," I told her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders tightly. She returned the hug and I started to climb the ladder after Felix who was lifting a makeshift box up the ladder. Michael followed after me and Darius behind him.

When we were all up safely in the helicopter, a young man already strapped in holding a large assault rifle gave us a once-over.

"Alright to go?" He asked.

"Yes. Let's go," I told him, reaching out to grab Darius's hand.

"Is it over?" I heard Felix mumble in a childlike voice, reminding me how young he still was.

"I think so," Darius replied firmly as he kissed my forehead.

"It's over," I told him. And the helicopters both started heading back across the ocean to the safe haven we were promised.

--

Well... This is the last chapter. I will upload the epilogue and stuff tonight also. I'm so incrediably sorry about the extremely long break from uploading and I'm also sorry if the ending was sudden. But it had to be done! This is also the last book in the series. (ohmygod i wanna cry) We had a good run but I gotta write something else for once! XD

Stay tuned for the epilogue and stuff and yeah, woooo.

Much love,

Lucie

xo