Castaways

twenty-eight

C r y s t a l

"Okay, guys. You know the plan. Get in, get out, as fast as possible, as safe as possible. Capiche?" Luke said, to all of us. We were currently standing outside of the airport, assessing the situation that lies before us.

There were walkers everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. Outside in clusters, inside the airport, on the landing strip. This is going to be harder than we thought, and on top of that, I'm extremely nauseous. Maybe it's the nerves, I don't know. Mike thinks that I should've stayed at his place, but me being me, I insisted on coming.

"Luke, how exactly are we going to do this? It seems that we didn't exactly think about there being so many zombies in such a busy place...which was quite stupid if we're being frank."  Makayla said, leaning onto Cal for support. While her ankle was feeling better, she still couldn't stand on it completely. 

"Well," he stated, " we'll figure it out as we go."

"If I haven't told you once, I've told you a million times. Luke, buddy, you're a dumbass." Michael started from behind me. Typical Mike. Gotta love him. 

As we slowly started to make our way towards the seemingly okay entrance, another wave of nausea swept over me. 

"You okay, Crys?" Michael asked, concern written all over his face.

" Y-yeah I'm fine, babe. Promise. "

" I think there may be a small convenience store inside. Maybe there'll be some medicine left. We'll check it out while the others find Mali, okay?"

I nodded and carried on walking into the unknown that lies before us. Inside the airport, it reeked of, well, death. It was indeed the foulest odor that I had ever come into contact with. There were walkers everywhere and bodies. Oh, the bodies. It was like a scene out of a war zone. Blood, guts, and just plain gore. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.  Holding onto Michael's hand tightly, we continued.

"Hey, look," Mike said, pointing across the room. There was a small convenience store, which looked completely ransacked, but it was still worth a shot. "Guys, we're going to go over there. Get some supplies, you know? The rendezvous point is here, okay? "

The group nodded and continued forward quietly while Michael and I quickly and quietly made it to our destination. The shelves were in disarray, everything thrown about. It was hard to focus on everything in front of me...until I spotted a small, pink box. The thought had never crossed my mind until now. The bold, white letter stared back at me, invading my every thought.  A pregnancy test. Could I be pregnant? If I was, what would we do? Regardless of the results, the curiosity was killing me. I hurriedly grabbed the box from the counter when Mike wasn't looking.

" Get everything we might need, babe?" Mike asked, not even a minute later.

"Um, yeah. I did." 

"Good. Let's go back and meet the others."

-

L u k e

While Crystal and Michael were off in the store getting the necessities, the rest of us searched around the airport, looking for any signs of life that were, well, alive. I still can't believe this is our world now. Less than 48 hours ago, my biggest concern was winning the stupid song-writing competition and remembering me and Sierra's next anniversary. All that felt like a million years ago. 

I was literally pulled out of my thoughts by Calum dragging me behind the nearest wall by my collar. 

"What the fu-" 

Calum slapped his hand over my mouth, and I kinda just sagged against his body, as he pushed his back flat against the wall. I looked to see everyone in the same position as Calum. Makayla was clinging to the arm that wasn't keeping me quiet, and I saw her hand subtly reaching for Ashton's hand. 

Huh, that's new. 

Next to them, I saw both Angelle and Sierra both trying to look still as possible, hands intertwined. Calum slowly took his hand from over my mouth and wriggled from Makayla's grasp, and made his way to the corner of the wall, peeking around the concrete. He let out a breath, turning back to us. 

"It's alright, guys. They're gone." He stated, walking again, to Makayla, pressing a kiss to the side of her head, pulling her arm over his shoulder.

"They?"

"Bro, I don't know what you were thinking about, but there was like a bunch of Walkers out there. You were walking straight towards them." Ashton said, after letting go of Kayla's hand. 

"Oh, sorry. Thanks, Cal." I said, giving the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Makayla a grateful pat. 

"No problem. Ok, does anybody have any idea where Mali could have gone?" Cal asked, and everyone looked at each other, like the answer would be anywhere but Calum's eyes. 

"Ugh," Angelle groaned, hitting the wall with her fist, as she pushed herself off of the wall. "I wish we could just track her or something."

"Yeah, me too, but... Wait." Calum stood stock still, and his face lit up, and he took two large strides to Angelle, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Angelle, you're a genius!" Calum proclaimed dramatically, spinning her around, to which she let out some kind of nervous squeak.

"Yeah, I know, PUT ME DOWN!" She whisper-yelled, hitting his shoulders until he placed her back down on the ground. 

"What just happened?" I asked because I was unaware of the moment they got to a spin-around-in-mid-air place in their non-friendship. 

"I just realized the one good thing that came from overprotective Mama Joy!" Calum said happily, pulling his phone out. 

"Ok, explain please?" Sierra spoke up, looking lost. 

"As soon as we were old enough to want it, Mali and I begged Mom to get us cell phones, and she only agreed is if we got..." Calum smiled, turning over his phone to an opened app"...trackers. She found someone to put an actual tracker in our phone case, so even if our phone is dead, or even destroyed, we can use the tracker. I can track her phone, at least through the app."

"Woah," I said and that's all I could say.

"Thank you, Mama Joy." Ashton's bright-as-the-sun smile returned, and Calum started walking, leading the way. 

Eventually, we came to the center of the airport, where the main reception desk sat, and it was completely deserted. For once, no Walkers, or bodies, or even rubble or signs of life. It was eerily peaceful, and it was kind of creeping me out. The red dot that symbolized Mali's phone was blinking from what seemed to be behind the desk. 

"Mali?" Calum whispered, still wary of Walkers that might appear at any moment. There was no response, and we waited with bated breath. 

"I don't get it. She has to be here," Ashton stated, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

"Mali? Please answer, it's me. Your brother? Who loves you very much? Mali?" Just as I could see Cal was about to give up, a mop of mussed blonde hair poked out from above the desk. 

"Calum?" Came Mali's weakened voice, and Calum dropped everything in his hands to meet her halfway, to hug his sister. And then a second body slowly stood up, and I was so shocked, my face froze. Standing behind the desk was someone I never thought I'd see again...

"Jack?"

A/N Hello my lovelies! It's A this time. Yes I'm back, and yes you missed me. It's been a hell of a week. In fact, these past few weeks have been... A lot. I got evicted, and I had m a n y mental breakdowns, but tomorrow's Christmas Eve here, so I'm back. There's only 2 chapters left, and if you're lucky, (and we get 50 votes?) I'll update on Christmas! If not, I will update Friday as usual, so enjoy this chapter and tell us what you think! Byeeeeee