by Kody Boye
The moment the helicopter was down, they scrambled inside—boarding as quickly as possible and strapping themselves down into the seats that had normally been reserved for those in the army helicopter. Steve and Jamie remained upright, their hands snared in belts or handholds that would ensure their safety once they got into the air. Dakota had just settled down into a seat of his own beside Desmond and Rose when the vehicle suddenly lurched into the air.
“BUCKLE!” Rose cried.
Dakota surged forward.
Rose lashed out and grabbed a hold of his shirt.
She pulled him back into his seat just before he could sail out of the helicopter.
“Thanks,” he breathed, allowing Rose to hold him in place as he buckled himself up. He turned to Steve and Jamie—standing stoically alongside the other soldiers—and watched as the armed men continued to take out the zombies as they ran hopelessly toward the helicopter: reaching, without success, for an object they would never be able to catch.
“Hold on,” one of the armed men near Dakota said. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”
Dakota reached down, took hold of Rose and Desmond’s hands, and held on for dear life.
Though they were safe from the zombies in the air, the elements were a completely different story. The wind was harsh, the turbulence bad, the atmosphere in which they were traveling getting foggier by the second. Dakota tightened his hold on his companions’ hands and realized, with utter fragility, that he was more terrified than he’d ever been in his life.
Please be ok, he thought as they continued to fly through the desecrated city. Please be ok, please be ok, please be o—
He stopped.
He stared.
He refused to blink.
In the distance rose a gated compound surrounded by not only large wrought-iron fences, but concrete walls that had been built to withstand the test of time.
“Is that,” Dakota started.
“Yes,” Rose replied. “It is.”
Epilogue
“Lyra!” Rose cried as she ran through the compound, desperate to find the friend she had left behind all those months ago. “Lyra! Lyra! Where are you?”
She spun about—first to look into the room where the rows upon rows of cots were kept, then toward the cafeteria where, she knew, her friends most likely would be. She ran, without abandon, as behind her Dakota, Jamie, Steve, Desmond, and Kevin and his sons filed in—knowing, without a doubt, that she would soon find the very woman she had left behind.
“Lyra!” Rose screamed. “LYRA!”
A figure rose from somewhere within the cafeteria.
Rose didn’t hesitate.
She ran.
The moment she collided with the woman, she knew she’d found the right person. “Oh God,” she breathed. “Oh God, Lyra. Oh God, oh God.”
“Rose?” Lyra asked. “Rose Daniels?”
“It’s me,” she sobbed, bowing her face into her friend’s shoulder as from her side E.J. rose and took the two of them in her arms. “E.J. Thank God you’re all right.”
“I’m fine,” the Irishman replied. “Where were you, Rose? Why didn’t you come back?”
“I was scared,” Rose replied. “Afraid. Worried. Too scared for my own good. Then I saw those people and I—”
“Dustin?” Jamie asked.
Rose turned.
The very people she had rescued months ago sat together at a table—the man, his companion, and the young woman whom she’d sacrificed her own safety for to ensure her wellbeing.
“Is that,” Rose started, but already knew the answer before she could even hear it.
“The people you saved?” Lyra asked, tightening her hold on her. “Yeah. It is.”
“And those are the people you were with?” E.J. asked.
Rose nodded. She broke away from her friends to approach the small group of three and smiled as the young blonde girl lifted her eyes to look at her. “Rose?” she asked.
“You know my name,” Rose replied, crouching down to look her directly in the eyes.
“Everyone knows your name,” the young woman replied. “I… I even named my baby after you.”
Rose looked down.
In her arms lay the a small child, no older than three or four months old.
“Oh God,” Rose said, reaching out to touch the baby’s face. “I’d forgotten.”
“That I was pregnant?” the young girl asked. “You saved our lives.”
“You did,” the man named Dustin said.
“Rose,” Jamie said, drawing her attention to his face. “Alexis, Dustin and Michael are the people we lost back at the insane asylum in South Dakota.”
“You’re kidding,” Rose asked, looking back at the three strangers whom she knew only by name. “You guys came—”
“All that way,” Michael smiled, reaching up to push his glasses up his nose. “Yeah. We did.”
“So it came full circle,” she said. “The cycle’s complete.”
“Yeah,” Jamie smiled. “All thanks to you.”
Rose looked up.
Jamie extended his hand to her and smiled. “What do you say you show us around this place, partner?” he asked.
“I’d love to,” Rose replied.
She took Jamie’s hand, pushed herself to her feet, and smiled as the man leaned forward and wrapped her in a hug.
“Thank you,” he whispered beneath his breath. “So much.”
“It was my pleasure,” Rose whispered back.
Now, after all this time, they were finally safe.
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About the Author
Born and raised in Southeastern Idaho, Kody Boye began his writing career with the publication of his story [A] Prom Queen’s Revenge at the age of fourteen. Published nearly three-dozen times before going independent at eighteen, Boye has authored numerous works—including the short story collection Amorous Things, the novella The Diary of Dakota Hammell, the zombie novel Sunrise and the epic fantasy series The Brotherhood Saga. He is represented by Hannah Brown Gordon of the Foundry Literary + Media Agency.
