First of all: I am so sorry that I couldn't keep my promise and it took me two months to update! I'm so grateful for all of you who are (maybe/hopefully) still patiently waiting!

The second half of the season motivated me to keep working. How good was Monday's episode? I'm really loving season 3 so far.

Anyway, while the last chapter was more for emotional stress, this chapter will push the plot forward again. Hope you enjoy!

And as usual, thank you again to Lone-Wolf-Ranger, thetracyset, anr017, Jacqb14 & sillychick13 for your reviews! Your feedback means a lot to me. :)

The body on the ground was shuffling, moving from left to right, pushing against the restraints that bound its hands and feet. The metal pipe buried in its stomach made clanging sounds whenever it touched the ground, and for a while, the clanging and the grunts were the only sounds in the room.

"How are we going to pull off a hostage exchange when our hostage is dead and actively pierced by a metal pipe?" Nick spoke eventually, voicing the question on everyone's mind. Daniel Salazar took a step closer to the body on the ground, kneeling down to inspect it up close. "It can work," he said after a moment, in his usual confident tone.

"How?" Nick asked.

"Clean up this mess," Salazar continued, gesturing toward the pipe sticking out of the stomach, "and then put a bag over his head."

Nick looked over to Madison, who was intently watching the body on the floor, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Could work," she nodded. "How do we find them?"

"You weren't listening to him yesterday, were you?" The corners of Daniel's mouth twitched upward into a sly smile. He stood up from his crouched position on the floor and walked out of the room, Madison and Nick following. "When they were waiting for the rest of them, he was trying to scare us," Salazar continued as he walked up the narrow stairs of the Abigail. "Warning us of his big, bad brother. Telling us how we shouldn't waste out energy struggling against them, how they had already taken 5 boats, how well manned they were." Salazar was walking through the upstairs living area, taking them into the cockpit. Strand was lying on one of the benches, covered under two blankets, a cup of steaming tea in front of him, but Salazar went straight to the radar. "We are looking for a cluster of about 5 or 6 boats." He had only inspected the radar for ten seconds when he pointed his finger. "Here," he said. "These five, near the coast. Could be fisher boats, they tend to travel together."

Nick came up behind him, staring at the little screen. Indeed he could see five little shapes close to the coastline. It was not too far from them, most likely a couple of hours away.

For a while, they stood around the cockpit, discussing possible scenarios on how the hostage exchange could work. Salazar estimated that the others had probably around 30 men, which would complicate matters, but the hostage exchange was still the best idea they had to get their people back. When they started to head back to prepare the dead brother, Strand motioned for Nick to stay behind. Nick furrowed his brow and walked over to where he was lying.

"I need you to do something for me," Strand told him in his typical deep voice.

"And what's that?" Nick said, sitting down on the coffee table opposite the bench.

"I need you to take the remaining motorboat, go to shore, and pick someone up."

Nick guffawed. "Sure," he said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. His name is Luis. I was supposed to meet him alone and he was going to take me back across the border with him," Strand told matter-of-factly.

"What?" Nick's expression changed immediately, realizing Strand was completely serious. "And when were you going to tell us that?"

"I wasn't," Strand simply said.

"So instead of rescuing my sister and the others, I'm supposed leave this boat and pick up a guy you were going to ditch us for?" Nick said incredulously, getting up. "That's not going to happen."

He had just reached the door when Strand spoke again. "He has guns."

Nick stopped and looked back at Strand.

"You're going to need more guns if you want to get them back, you know that," he explained calmly. "You will not be able to go before tomorrow morning anyway. You will only need half a day to pick up Luis, so you will be back tonight. He has guns, and he has excellent aim, and afterwards I will get us all to a safe place in Mexico."

The waves were gently rocking the boat as Nick was undressing, making him sway while taking off his pants. When he was completely naked, he took his clothes and put them in the backpack he had brought, which he hoped would be at least partially waterproof. He had stopped the boat a little ways off the coast, so it would not be drawn in by the tide. He hadn't told his mother or any of the others where he was going, instead he had simply left, like he was so used to doing. He had stopped by Charlie, and had told her unconscious body that he would be back soon. There hadn't been a change in her condition, and there was nothing he could to for her anymore. He needed Haley. And to get Haley, and Travis, and his sister, he would need more guns. Strand had been convincing with his arguments, and Nick gladly jumped at the change to be active and do something, instead of sitting on the boat all day planning, and thinking, and worrying.

When he had sealed the backpack and bound it to his ankle, he jumped into the ocean without much hesitation. The cold water engulfed him, and for a moment, he felt a rush of adrenaline, like when he had explored the overturned boat a couple of days prior. He easily covered the distance to shore, cherishing the way his body moved through the water effortlessly, how the waves carried him to the beach. When he set foot on solid ground, his body felt heavier than before. He quickly unpacked his clothes and was relieved to find them dry, even though they soaked up the water from his body when he put them on again.

Nick started walking up the beach, trying to orientate himself and find one of the points Strand had described when he was explaining where he had to go. There was a camp behind the dunes, dozens of tents covering the grassy ground, but there were no people there. At least, no people that were alive. Nick saw a few infected in his close vicinity and even more in the distance. A man in a flannel shirt and dark hair and a missing jaw, a woman in a floral dress and dead eyes; he wondered how he would make it past them. It would take up a lot of energy to take them all out, if he even could.
For a long time he stood on top of the dune, watching the infected man with the flannel shirt, wondering...and then he decided. It was worth a try.

Nick pulled out a knife from his backpack and casually jogged down the dune toward one of the open tents. When he had ensured that it was empty, he turned around and whistled, loud enough for the infected man to hear him, but not loud enough to draw the rest of them. When he had gotten the attention of the man, Nick stepped into the tent, which was big enough for him to stand upright comfortably, and closed the zipper of the mosquito net. The infected man did exactly what Nick had intended for him to do: he pushed against the tent, trying to get inside, his eyes staring into nothing, his jaw snapping eagerly. Nick took a tentative step toward the moving figure and then, in one smooth motion, buried the knife deep in its skull. It stopped moving instantly. Nick quickly opened the zipper again and the body fell into the tent with a thud. He knelt down next to it, turning it over so it was lying on its back, and then opened up the flannel shirt to expose the dead skin underneath. For a moment, Nick hesitated. Was he out of his mind? Was this a new level of crazy, even for him?

But in the end, he was too curious. He lifted his knife, buried it deep in the skin, and pulled. The smell almost made him gag, but he persevered. When the cut was wide enough, Nick carefully stuck his hand inside, trying not to think about the fact that his arm was inside a dead man, trying to ignore the consistency of the intestines. He started pulling, and with one last deep breath, his started covering himself in the dead man's blood.

Nick squeezed through the fence that had once encircled the safe zone when there were still people and looked at the smudged handwriting on the damp note he was holding.

BYO VIAJE BLVD.

He was in the right place, he only had to find #9208. He started walking down the street, easily passing the few infected that were present. His idea had worked. Once he was covered in their smell, they were no longer interested in him. He checked the numbers on every house he passed, each prettier and more expensive than the last one. Palm trees decorated the side of the road, the bushes in the front yards were all still well trimmed, and the houses were white and spotless, with elegant red roof shingles.

When he found #9208, he double checked his note to see if he had read it correctly. The house was nice, but it was also unfinished. The structure was done, but there was paper and plastic covering the windows and doors. He tried to look through one of the plastic covered windows but couldn't make out anything, so he casually strode up the the front door and knocked. For a moment there was no answer, but before he could knock again he heard the sound of a gun cocking behind him. He turned around and immediately raised his arms in the air. "Hey, hey," he said. "Don't shoot."

The man in front of him was pointing a gun at him. He was shorter than Nick, and he assumed him to be in his early 40s, with dark brown hair, a black sweater, and a ruthless expression on his face. The man, who Nick assumed to be Luis, didn't answer him, so he kept on talking. "Strand send me, Strand! Look," he said and unfolded Strand's note, showing it to the man who's expression seemed to be getting even darker. "Abigail," Nick continued, pointing at the paper. That word seemed to do the trick, because the man slowly lowered his gun and put it away. Nick's posture relaxed. "About time," Luis simply said.

And as soon as that, Luis was moving about, loading luggage into an expensive-looking silver car. He had put on a black coat, and combined with his black shirt with a blue collar sticking out from a shirt underneath, his well-groomed hair and neat jeans, he looked more like a jet-setter than a survivor of the apocalypse.

"So you're gonna get all of us across the border?" Nick asked.

"If you tidy up," Luis simply said, looking him up and down in an exaggerated gesture. "You're definitely not rubbing that stench on my leather interior."

Nick had to smile. Of course Strand was friends with someone like Luis, he could see their similarities.

When Nick had cleaned up using the last of the water pressure, and Luis had given him clothes of his to put on, they took Luis' Porsche back to the coast. Nick was trying to discuss how they would cross the border, but it was hard over the Spanish rap that was blasting through the car stereo.

"I have secured cash and organised passage for two people," Luis said when they arrived at the coast and he got out of the car. "Two people, not eleven. It's not like adding guests to a dinner reservation."

"Well, Strand must have planned for us," Nick argued.

"Victor is impulsive," Luis simply said. Without another word, he jumped down a small incline and pulled back a black tarpaulin, uncovering another motorboat.

The trip back to the Abigail was uneventful. The sun was setting when they reached it, and even from afar Nick could see Madison waiting for them outside, the angry look on her face unmistakable.

"You didn't think to tell us?" she said harshly once they docked and Nick got off the motorboat onto the yacht.

"You would've had objections," Nick simply shrugged.

"Damn right I would have," Madison said and eyed Luis suspiciously.

"He's going to help us," Nick said, even though he wasn't so sure. In the corner of his eye he could see Strand coming on deck, and Luis went up to him and they both disappeared out of view.

"We could have reached the others tonight, but thanks to this we have to wait until tomorrow. You better hope they don't send backup when their people don't show!"

"Luis has guns, and he can help us get across the border," Nick told her, again not being entirely sure of the truthfulness of his words. "Now you and I can take extra defenses when we go make the exchange."

"You and I are not going to do anything," Madison said, shaking her head. "I'm going with Victor."

"What?" Nick almost shouted, taken off guard. "You said we would go together!"

"And then you disappeared and jeopardized our whole plan. There's no discussion." And there wasn't, because as soon as she had spoken, Madison turned around and left.

Haley's head was pounding. The small cabin they had given her had a stale smell to it and no outside window, so instead of giving her energy, a full night's sleep had left her with a raging headache. They had not even allowed her to share a cabin with Alicia. She had no intention of staying here.

They were on a huge ship in a marina. After dark, Haley had managed to sneak out unseen and check out her surroundings. The ship was lifted out of the water, there had probably been maintenance when the world ended, and it was right on the shoreline; if you jumped off one end, you'd land on water, if you jumped off the other end, you'd be on land. Alicia and Haley were free to roam the ship, Haley having medical training and Alicia having volunteered to join them back on the Abigail in order to keep her family save, but Travis was kept in locked cages on one of the lower decks. When Haley had found him yesterday night, she had been immediately reminded of the cages Nick and the other patients had been kept in when they were at the military hospital back in Los Angeles.

Haley slowly slipped back into her jeans and shirt and looked at herself in the small, dirty mirror on the back of the door, before putting her long, black hair into a high ponytail. Without doing anything else, she opened the door and started waking toward the kitchen, desperate to get out of her stuffy cabin.

She had hoped to find Alicia, but instead Connor was sitting at the table in the kitchen, a smug look on his face. He was physically appalling. "Good morning, sunshine," he said when he saw her. Haley simply ignored him and went to the community fridge, grabbing some eggs to make herself breakfast.

"I see you feel right at home," Connor said confidently.

"I didn't have much choice," Haley said dryly.

"You should be happy," Connor said, his confident tone aggravating Haley even more. "We don't just take anyone. We're selective."

"Am I supposed to be grateful?" Haley turned away from the stove, staring at Connor almost challengingly.

For a second, he simply stared at her. "You should be. You go your rounds, help the community, and we'll give you a nice life. I can really use someone like you."

"Well, that's just neat," Haley said sarcastically. Connor ignored her. He got up, put his plate in the sink and walked to the door. Before he left, he turned around. "One of my men is sick, got a wound that got infected. I'll expect you to take care of that after your breakfast."

Haley spent the whole morning doing rounds, seeing everyone on the ship that had any pain, or discomfort, or even just a scratch. She didn't like the ship - it was too big and the air was too damp - and she didn't like the people. The men were cocky, like Connor was, trying to hit on her as soon as they saw her, each and every one thinking their pick-up line was original, and the women were arrogant and closed-off, looking at Haley like an outsider. Yeah, she had no intention of staying here.

She was walking down a small corridor on one of the lower decks when all of a sudden, a door next to her opened and she was pulled inside. Before she could do anything or even think of defending herself, Alicia took a step backwards, holding one hand in the air apologetically, and the other in front of her mouth, motioning for Haley to be quiet. She's not supposed to be here, Haley thought immediately.

"Are you alright?" Haley asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, yeah..I'm fine," Alicia said quietly, shaking her head slightly. "They're having me monitor the radar."

For a second, Alicia was silent.

"What is it?" Haley asked.

"The other's were never dropped off."

"What?" Haley asked incredulously. They had made the deal to join Connor if the others from the Abigail were dropped off at shore safely before the yacht was seized.

"Jack,...he told me they make everyone that promise, every time they take one." Alicia paused, swallowed, and looked Haley deep in the eyes. "He doesn't know if they're alive."

Haley's heart dropped. They should've fought. They should've fought when the others entered the Abigail for the first time, hell, even when Connor and the others joined to pick them up. She should have known better. "Fuck them," Haley exclaimed eventually, not knowing how else to channel her anger.

"Jack and I are getting out of here. We're taking a boat, see if we can find the others, if they're alive. We'll take you and Travis with us," Alicia said, and there was a determination in her voice that Haley had not heard from her before.

"I know where Travis is," Haley nodded.

"Can you get him alone or do you need help?"

"I'll be fine," Haley said and Alicia nodded.

"Meet us in two hours on the top deck. Connor will be distracted so we can slip out," she added and carefully opened the door again, but before she could walk out, Haley grabbed her hand. "Be careful," she told her.

"You too," Alicia said, gave her hand a squeeze, and left.

The bottom deck with the cages was even damper than the other areas of the ship, and Haley started breathing through her mouth when she walked along the small walkway. Travis was the only person in the holding cells, which made her task easier.

"We're leaving," Haley told him before he could say anything.

"How are you go-" Travis started, but Haley lifted her right hand so he could see the bolt cutter she was holding.

Travis nodded appreciatively. "That works."

Haley came closer and looked at the chain, wondering where best to cut.

"What about Connor?" Travis asked.

Haley chuckled sarcastically. "He said he could really use someone like me," she said and placed the bolt cutter. Then she looked up at Travis again. "No one uses me," she said and cut the chain. Haley quickly pulled it away and opened the door. "Alicia and Jack will meet us on the top deck." Travis raised an eyebrow in surprise at the mention of Jack's name. "Yeah, he's leaving with us. Connor will be distracted so we have a small window to leave."

Travis nodded and both of them started heading back to the door, but as soon as they were back in the stairwell, they heard voices - people coming down.

"Shit," Haley muttered. Since they were on the lowest floor, there was no other escape route than up.

"Here," Travis whispered and quickly pulled her toward a small, dark corner underneath the stairs. If they'd push against the wall enough, they might be looked over. Both of them huddled in and pressed their backs against the cold metal. Haley exchanged one more worried look with Travis before the people reached their floor.

"-get him and get it over with," one of them said as they were walking down the last flight of stairs. There were three of them, all big and armed. If they saw them, Haley and Travis wouldn't stand much of a chance to fight their way out.

The first one opened the door and stopped in his tracks, causing the man behind him to bump into his back. "Fuck!" he exclaimed, and quickly moved into the the room.

"How did he get out?" Haley heard one of them saying from inside.

"Someone cut the chain," the first man said angrily, and there was a rattling sound. He must have picked the chain up. Then, the footsteps were coming back toward the door.

"Find him!" the first man bellowed as he started walking back up the stairs, the other two following him like trained dogs. "Find all of them!"

Haley released a breath when they were out of earshot.

"We need to get out of here now," Travis said and was the first to move. "Do you have anything to defend yourself?"

Haley nodded and pointed at the bolt cutter she was still holding and at a knife that was attached to her hip. She handed him the bolt cutter. Together, they carefully moved up the stairs, deck after deck, until they reached the top floor.

"We have to go to the end of that hallway," Haley whispered, carefully peaking around a corner. "That's where we find the ladder to the top deck."

Travis nodded and walked first, in a slightly crouched position, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. Haley made up the rear and kept glancing over her shoulder to see if someone was coming from behind. They had almost reached the end of the hallway when Haley saw movement in the corner of her eye. And sure enough, when she turned around, a tall man with a big, dark beard stood in the hallway, looking almost surprised that he had actually found them. "Hey!" he said, but for a second, he was frozen, seemingly contemplating what the next logical step would be. Haley acted on instinct. She grabbed the bolt cutter from Travis' hands and started to run toward the man. Apparently, he had expected her to run instead of charge, and so his eyes grew wide in surprise for a second. He started hectically fidgeting for his gun, but before he could loosen it from his holster, Haley was already upon him. She took a big swing with the bolt cutter while she was still moving, and when she was close enough, she hit it across his head as hard as he could.

The sound of bone cracking under the impact was something Haley would not forget. The man's head hit the wall next to him and then he sunk to the floor, all muscles in his body going limp. Blood was gushing from the wound on his right temple. For a second, Haley was frozen. Then, she slowly knelt next to him, placing a hand on his throat, feeling for a pulse. She did not find one.

"Haley," Travis hissed from the other end of the hallway, and she snapped out of her momentary shock. She turned around and ran back to him without another look back at the dead man on the floor. Travis looked at her for a moment, concerned, but she ushered him on. "Go," she said. "Go."

They moved up the ladder quickly and thankfully, Alicia and Jack were already on the top deck. When Alicia saw them she walked over, giving Travis a hug, and then looking at Haley, a flicker of surprise on her face. "What happened?" she asked, looking at Haley's face and down her body. Only then did Haley notice that some of the blood had splattered on her when she hit the bearded man. Haley only shook her head. "We have to leave now!" she said instead.

"Yeah, we have another problem," Alicia said and led them to the bow of the ship. "Look," she added, pointing at one of the piers. A group of people, including Connor, had assembled at the pier, standing there as if they were waiting for someone.

"I thought he was supposed to be gone," Haley said.

"He was," Alicia confirmed, exchanging a meaningful look with Haley.

Before they could say anything else, they heard a motorboat approaching. So they were waiting for someone, Haley thought.

"Shit," Travis exclaimed before any of the others had seen it. "Madison."

And sure enough, Madison and Strand were approaching in a small motorboat, with a third, hooded figure. For a second, Haley didn't understand what was going on; and then the penny dropped. "Shit," she said, her eyes growing wide. "This was supposed to be a hostage exchange."

The other three looked at her. "And we had already run, so they don't have any hostages to exchange," Alicia concluded, the realization dawning on her as well.

They looked back to the scene at the pier. Strand pulled the motorboat close and remained seated, while Madison and the hooded figure got off and started walking toward Connors' group. They were talking, but Haley couldn't make out what they were saying from so far away. However, she could see the expressions, and they weren't good news. Then, Madison was yelling, still incomprehensible. They started getting angry.

"We need to do something," Alicia said.

All of a sudden, Madison cut the restraints that were binding the hooded man's arms and pushed him toward Connor. She slowly walked backwards, and when Connor lifted the hood, she started running.

The man underneath the hood was dead, and he was coming at Connor so hard that they fell over together. Then, chaos ensued, and all Haley and the others could do was watch. The others of Connors' group started shooting, not only at the infected man trying to bite Connor, but also at the motorboat. Madison had made it back into the boat, but Strand could not direct it back to where they had come from - there was too much open space and they would be too much of an easy target. Instead, he steered the boat to the left side of the ship Haley and the others were on, so that the ship formed a barrier between the pier and them.

"Come on!" Travis shouted and started running toward the left side of the ship as well. When he leaned over the railing, Strand and Madison were just pulling around. "Maddy!" Travis shouted, and thankfully, she heard them. Madison's eyes grew wide when she saw them, and Strand started waving them over.

"We need to jump," Travis said. Haley looked at the distance from the deck to the water, and her hands started shaking. It was high. Ajump would be painful.

"Alicia," Jack said all of a sudden. The two exchanged a look for a moment, and then he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Alicia said and turned around. Without hesitation, she climbed over the railing and jumped.

"You now," Travis instructed, pointing at Haley. Haley swallowed hard and approached the railing. She carefully climbed over, took a deep breath, and without looking down, she jumped.

She felt like she was in the air forever. The rush of falling pumped her full of adrenaline, and when she hit the water, it was more painful than any diving board experience she'd ever made. Water filled her nose and she could taste the saltwater as she sunk down. She quickly started moving arms and legs, trying to reach the surface. When she broke through, she sucked in air almost hungrily, and breathing was painful. She moved in the water hectically, turning around and trying to find the motorboat, when a hand reached out to her.

As Strand pulled her in, there was another splash in the water where Travis landed.

When all three of them were in the motorboat, Strand carefully steered the boat back to the bow of the ship, so they could peak around and look what was happening at the pier.

"We need to warn the others," Madison said, but Strand shook his head. "We can't take the direct way, they're blocking us. We would have to go along the coast at least for a mile and then go back out."

"You don't have a radio?" Travis asked, but Strand shook his head.

"But they're all alive?"

Madison paused for a second, but nodded eventually. Haley sighed, relieved.

When they were close enough to the bow to look around, they started hearing voices. A lot of hectic voices, many of them talking and yelling over each other.

"Shit," Strand cursed. "Connor's still alive."

And then there was one voice that silenced all the others, a voice that chilled Haley to the bone.

"Find them! And take boats out to their yacht," Connor shouted, his voice loud and full of rage. "Kill them all!"