The End (24 page)

“I was just playing, I know you won’t kill
anyone, well good night, love you,” Ashley said.

“I love you too,” Conway said softly as he
blows out the candle.

Early next morning, Conway is up thinking
about the next steps to take, including a good method to punish
Bobby, thinking that a trail between the people will maybe be
needed but yet again not many people is left, not after most got
slaughtered in Key West.

Emma nocked on the door before she entered,
at least, she gave him enough time to prepare everything. Conway
kind of figured that she would be there before he even had the
opportunity to think about what he will do about Bobby.

“Before we talk about Bobby, I need you to
hear me out on what we need to do next.” Conway said.

“Sure thing, I was wondering when you will
get to that point, though I didn’t expect you to do it so soon,”
Emma said.

“Let’s get started then,” Conway said.

“I have thought of this, ever since we
started the election, just for incase I do win, good thing I did
since I am here now and need to decide,” Conway said.

“Don’t worry about it, we can fix any minor
things later if it doesn’t work out entirely,” Emma said.

“Ok, so I believe we need to start with a
small supply run, we will need it, setting up these defenses and
preparing for another attack will be hard work and anyone working
on it will be starving at the end of the day,” Conway said.

“While we do the runs, we can look for
livestock we can store them in Fort Zachary in the square, just
until we get things set up neatly for any animals we find,” Conway
said.

“I know it sounds intimidating, but
everything will be rough at the start,” Conway said laughing.

“Nothing has ever been easy,” Emma said
smiling.

“So if we do get animals that is alive and
well, then we start with small individual homes per animal breed,
here they will stay until we finish most of the defenses, this is
to make sure none get sick or have the virus,” Conway said.

“It should be two small housings for one
single animal breed, the ones that look good, go separate from the
ones that look sick,” Emma said.

“What if they don’t find any animals?” Emma
asked

“Ok we can do that, if we keep them separate
then we will have a better chance to get healthy stock to breed
with, if we don’t find any, then we continue with the defenses,
keep in mind we still have food and I am sure if we look, we will
find enough to last us months to come,” Conway said.

“Well, William always said more is better and
it’s true, what if there are new survivors on their way here?” Emma
asked.

“That bridge, is a mess trust me I have seen
it with my own eyes, no one will survive it unless they arrive by
boat,” Conway said.

“That’s another thing, that’s very important
we need more boats, it’s going to be much easier to scout having
them around, we can save a lot of time while keeping it save at the
same time,” Conway said.

“Sounds good to me, we don’t have to risk
taking long roads then,” Emma said

“The bridge however, I don’t know that crack
we managed to make, wasn’t big at all, if one had to fall correctly
to make the slightest blockage, more could fall down blocking it
more, they will pass eventually, we need to find a way to bring
that bridge down,” Conway said, tapping his pen on the paper.

“I know nothing about any explosives, sorry
can’t be of any help in that field,” Emma said.

“Neither do I or anyone else here, it will be
useless to get anything ready, just to be attacked during the
rebuild or straight after we finish rebuilding,” Conway said,
worried and concerned.

“I see your point, we will find a way maybe
we can fill that crack with gas canisters and make the crack bigger
that way,” Emma said.

“Won’t work, that gas cans will need to be
tightly secured, otherwise it will simply shoot away, besides that,
they will just blow some intense flames and not explode like you
think they would, yet again I am no expert on this,” Conway
said.

“Still, let’s not worry about that just yet,
we need the food and defenses up as soon as possible rather have
some then none, we can always temporarily block the bridge just in
front of the crack, it will definitely make it harder for them to
pass,” Conway said.

“It will, they have bad grips unless it’s for
food, you will need to find a way to stack it, maybe one over
another, the higher the harder it would be if they ever managed to
pass the crack,” Emma said.

“For the long run, I suggest we find someone
that’s second in command, no not to replace you but one that can
always stay in Key West to take care of defenses, especially when
we find more survivors,” Conway said.

“That sounds like a great plan,” Emma said
smiling.

“That’s all for now, I believe we can discuss
Bobby now,” Conway said.

“If you are done, then yes we should,” Emma
said.

“So you are a nurse and you have some skill
when it comes to most surgeries, right?” Conway asked.

“Yes I do, giving stitches and cleaning
wounds,” Emma said.

“Then this is the options he has, you do the
same to him that he did to Danny, with him staying in a cell until
the end of this year, that’s a total of four months,” Conway
said.

“I can’t do that to him, wouldn’t be able to
go through with it no point to torture him,” Emma said.

“You have the tools, you can sedate him while
doing this, it’s just to let him think of the pain he caused, if
however he doesn’t want to go through with the operation, then he
will stay in that cell until end next year,” Conway said.

“Is there really no other way?” Emma
asked.

“No, there is none, that’s my final decision,
its either suffer a little after the operation with little jail
time or he will carry out the said sentence, until end next year,
just like any other prison,” Conway said.

“Guess it’s a good thing to go back to some
of our old ways,” Emma said.

“What are the terms for being in this cell?”
Emma asked.

“None, he is granted one small meal per day
and visitors once every two weeks, if good behavior is shown, then
there will still be no way anyone is releasing him, there is no
point keeping him in there if it doesn’t feel like punishment to
him,” Conway said.

“I understand then, I will get people to work
on preparing a cell for him,” Emma said.

“Oh before I forget, if he needs any medical
treatment then that will be provided,” Conway said.

“I will, I won’t be that harsh, I thought
what you said you know,” Emma said.

“We need new assignments too,” Emma said.

“Everyone will keep the assignments William
originally gave them, until decided otherwise as for Ashley she
will be taking Danny’s place,” Conway said.

“For you, you will be second in charge
equally as I am, as long as we discuss these things first,” Conway
said.

“I will gladly accept that,” Emma said,
delighted over Conway’s decision making skills so far.

Emma gets up and start putting people
together to get results, firstly the scouting for food, Martin and
Markus will do this like they always have, while they do this a
small group will help in preparing a cell for Bobby since either
way he will spend some time in their, no matter what option he
pick.

Martin was informed of Bobby’s sentence and
Martin agreed, thinking that its good either way at least he was
given an option, he can decide what he can handle, both harsh none
the less but Martin figured it will surely learn Bobby something
and if he had to stay in that cell until end next year, well that
will give him at least some time to take a break from Bobby.

Martin is sick of his brother in many ways,
he hates the things he has done, especially the bad things, rape,
murder, torturing, parties and all the drugs, not to forget being
extremely lazy.

Chapter 14: Evolution

The
group has been extremely busy for the last few days preparing their
defenses, everyone has been running around like mad things, no one
ever expected they would be working this hard, this is way more
work than William have ever provided for them. Even with the people
hating it, they still enjoy it somehow at the same time, they enjoy
celebrating after such a long day, and they enjoy seeing how things
were making progress.

Martin doesn’t mind this, he always liked
being busy, it’s a way to keep him away from and out of his
brothers mess, over all hating his entire family, the only person
he could trust was Samantha. Martin has known her for years, since
they were kids, sure she isn’t without problems, she has her flaws
she has her sins like everyone else.

Everyone was happy last night when Conway
announced they can all take a break that will be no less than 2
weeks; in this time they can go fetch whatever they wanted as long
as they remain in Key West in teams of two.

Debra is the only single person that hates
all of this, ever since her mother died when she was just a child,
she was spoiled by her filthy rich dad, everyone knows this, it’s
hard not to know when she complain about the work and how she
misses her old life.

She can be a really mean person when she
wants to be, none of the people here like her that much though
Bobby was seen hanging out with her a lot, making many believe she
is just a whore. She seems friendlier around guys, either for the
attention or she is just trying to use them, Emma couldn’t
understand this at all, she didn’t really care either.

Bobby has had his fun he didn’t want to go
through the operation, Martin did manage to change his mind the
very last second and he made it through the operation and is
serving his sentence until end year. At times you can hear him moan
and cry due to pain, no pain killers was allowed after the
operation, just a few antiseptics to keep the wounds clean with
clean band aids. As time went by, the pain must have stopped or
isn’t that bad anymore, that’s what people think, since he is
walking around slowly.

It might not seem long but 4 months can
really get to you when you’re not allowed outside especially when
no one visits you and have absolutely nothing to do but sit daily,
sleep, eat and repeat. Martin wasn’t heartless he did visit twice
but then things got busy and he was tired, he didn’t even bother to
go see his brother.

“Seem like things are working out pretty
well, isn’t it?” Ashley asked.

“It is, it’s looking much better,” Emma
said.

“Soon we can start cleaning up a little and
then we can take a long rested break, that everyone deserves,”
Ashley said.

“That sure would be nice, I really need it,
after running around I still go home to teach my daughter, and you
know learning can’t stop there,” Emma said.

“Learning, that will never stop, you learn
new things every day,” Ashley said.

“Every day, though that’s an understatement,
I am sure in our new world, it’s every hour if not less,” Emma
said.

“I always wanted kids but in times like this,
I highly doubt it will be worth it, doesn’t seem fair to any new
born child,” Ashley said.

“Things will get better, you will see and
once they do it’s just going to happen and I promise, you won’t
regret it, not one second of your life,” Emma said.

“Maybe, but I highly doubt anything will ever
be the same,” Ashley said.

“People have always found their way around
problems, just like we are going to find a way around our current
one, don’t give up hope, not until its entirely over or dealt
with,” Emma said.

“You’re probably right; things will have to
change a lot, before I plan on having kids though,” Ashley
said.

The day passed, the night was dead silent,
with everyone being too tired, none of them really had the extra
energy to stay up to chat, it was mostly just get back, clean
whatever needed cleaning, eat and sleep.

Early morning, its cloudy, at times it will
drip for a few minutes then stop, this continued for the two hours
Conway was awake, he already prepared breakfast for Ashley with
some tea, it’s not the best and it’s probably not a very healthy
meal to have in the morning. Eggs with tomato and spaghetti was
pretty much all he could make, it was all he had left to make at
that moment, at least it’s better than nothing, beside she loves
tomato and spaghetti.

After waking Ashley, making her day even if
it’s not a decently prepared meal, she was happy and enjoyed it the
same way she would any meal, not to be fooled by her skinny figure
she really like to munch away any food at any time, it’s all good
to her since she struggles to gain weight.

Conway heads out side with a little camping
chair, figuring it’s still early and there is enough time to just
enjoy the nice cool weather. It’s so nice outside its actually
making him lazy, not in the mood to wake anyone up or even start
the day, knowing the sooner it gets done the sooner they can stop
worrying about it.

The day started much sooner when a helicopter
stopped not far from Fort Jefferson, just hovering in the air, it
sure was strange to just hover around. Conway got up shouting and
quickly Martin was the first to respond, the pilot must be able to
see them and some tents, or he must be blind as a bat.

It didn’t hover for much longer before a
crate is pushed out of the chopper, shortly after it fell in the
water they shot of one flare and then another flare was shot
several seconds later, before the helicopter flew fast over
them.

To the direction it was going in, it clearly
didn’t go along the bridge, they must be going somewhere else, it
didn’t matter to them, what did matter was they just had to get
some gear and go for a little dive, whatever they dropped in the
water must be supplies, it’s a big crate it will be worth the
look.