Chapter 27: Reunite

I knelt so Molly could climb on my back and I could run the rest of the way to the settlement. I was curious to see how the change I experienced last night affected my running speed. The answer was by a lot. It was probably a three-hour walk from the dock to the wall, eight if we had to avoid zombies the whole time. I turned that into only an hour and a half by jumping from roof to roof. By the end of it, I was tired as hell, but I was glad I managed to protect Molly the whole time we were gone. I let Molly off of my back as the guards at the gate approached us. "How'd you guys make it back?!" One of them asked with delighted surprise. 

Molly laughed a little. "Who knew a populated island would have boats? It sure took us a while to find that out. But Kane ensured we didn't get torn apart until we realized." I was touched that she would give me credit and the guards laughed at her witty reply before scanning us to let us inside. It was sunset, so there wasn't much activity going on in the streets. Jay and Sarah were talking next to some army jeeps and their mouths dropped once they saw us. They ran over to us and marveled at how we got back. "We thought you were stuck on that island! The helicopter broke down as soon as it reached the helipad! We've been trying to figure out what to do ever since," Sarah exclaimed.

"We were worried, man. James was more worried than anyone, though. He's been freaking out ever since you fell," Jay stated with concern. Molly's face became serious. "He has? How?" Sarah shrugged. "He's been working harder than anyone, trying to get you guys back here. I don't think he's slept." God that guy was confusing. He cheats on her and now he's all worried about her? Erin immediately shut my doubt down. 'Of course. He's been pulling off boning two chicks at once. One for detached fucking, one for emotional support. If he loses Molly, all he'll have is Vanessa.'

He said Vanessa's name as if a chill ran down his spine. I realized how right he was. Molly was the mature one of the two and was no doubt his favorite. He most likely ended up with Vanessa because Molly wasn't as interested in sex as he was. Now I knew why. 'I can understand him freaking out if a sexy beast such as yourself got trapped on an island with his girl. Especially since you know his dirty secret,' Erin said. I was pulled away from Erin's weird sentences by Sarah and Jay's stares. Wait, was I talking to myself? I don't remember. "What are you guys looking at?" I asked, suspiciously. 

Jay tilted his head a little. "Did you grow since the last time we saw you?" Sarah gave me the same confused look. "You look really tired too. Are you doing okay?" Molly then turned to me as if she recalled last night. "Now that I look at you, you are looking kind of different since yesterday. Did something happen when you killed all of those zombies?" I was surprised that they cared about me but brushed them off anyway. "No. I'm fine." I didn't want to try and explain something that I knew nothing about. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen again so I didn't have to. 

Suddenly, we heard a familiar voice come from down the street. "Molly!" James came running and hugged Molly as soon as he could. She hugged him back and disgust made its way onto my face. Once they pulled out of the hug, James placed a hand on her cheek. "I was so worried. How did you make it back here uninfected?" She gave him a nervous smile. "Kane protected me." That's when he noticed my presence and nearly jumped back when he saw the new me. "You- Get some rest, man." He then wrapped an arm around Molly's waist and began to lead the team back up the street.

He gave me a fierce glare when Molly wasn't looking and I instantly knew that he was scared as hell. For all he knew, I could've fucked Molly on that island. Even if he found out I hadn't, I was still the one who jumped in after her. Molly had to bring that up sometime. I felt a maniacal laugh coming on, most likely from Erin. "Soon she'll be mine," I said to myself. John sighed. 'Ah, yes. Because as a schizophrenic with superpowers living in the zombie apocalypse, your biggest conflict is a douchebag boyfriend.' He didn't have to say it like that. "Hey, this is temporary. Okay? Trust me. If I was going to be at battle with that piece of krill the whole time I would've either killed him or myself by now."

I began to follow the team back to the entrance of the building where I had first met Hank. As expected, he was there and speaking to some army men before he noticed us. "Hey, Boss! Look what we found!" Jay said as we approached. He turned to us and his face showed relief. Molly let go of James and Hank came over to hug her. I was surprised. I didn't think their relationship was hug-worthy. After they embraced, Hank moved his hands to her shoulders. "I'm so glad you're okay." Molly rolled her eyes as if she wanted to avoid the mushy stuff. "Don't be so dramatic. I was fine with Kane protecting me." I thought I saw James's face twitch after she said that.

I walked up beside everyone and Hank gave me a serious look. "Thank you." I hesitantly gave him a nod in response, still confused as to why he was so grateful. Wasn't Molly just another one of his soldiers? There was definitely something more going on here. As if following Molly's request to not take the reunion into the waterworks, Hank moved on to the next situation. "You arrived just in time. The test results are in. I was just on my way to the lab to see if Kane's blood is just what we need to save the world. Those who would like to join, follow me." 

Everyone followed him into the building including me. I was more curious to see if I could find out what was happening to me rather than whether I could cure the undead. Once we reached the lab, I had expected it to be filled with the happy faces of the scientists. Instead, every scientist I saw only had a look of worry. Hank felt the concern in the air and approached the lead researcher. "We are here to find out what happened with the results." The lead researcher took off his goggles and once his eyes caught a glimpse of me, they filled with empathy. "You're not going to like it."

With that, everyone knew that they hadn't found the antidote. James scoffed at me. "Some use you are." I hated to admit that his words stung me. Molly then hit his chest. "James!" He became defensive as he spoke to everyone. "What? He lied! He doesn't have the antidote in his blood. He probably wasn't even tested on by Xirnatech! He was probably mutated by one of the nuclear plants that gave out when the apocalypse started." The lead researcher then awkwardly raised his finger to object. "Actually... He was DEFINITELY tested on by Xirnatech..."