Disclaimers: No, none of the characters belong to me nor do I receive any payment for the writing of this fanfiction. This story is rating M for extreme violence, really bad language and sexual scenes. Oh and if you're not a fan of same sex relationships, why did you even press the link to this story, man? Close the page.

AN: Hey guys. Yes, this is a zombie story and I know there's already a few around for this fandom, but most of them have been abandoned or haven't been updated in weeks, so I thought I'd add my own. If you like it, then review it. If you don't, well, review it anyway and let me know. I'll get a kick out of it. Enjoy.

Until Dawn

Prologue

If I had known that my fifteen month sentence in Litchfield would turn out the way it has so far, I never would have self-surrendered. I would have fought with every ounce of strength in me to stay the fuck out of prison. I would have told Larry's dad that he could shove his ideas up his ass and I would have spent every cent I had to get a good lawyer who would fight for me and my freedom. I had been at Litchfield for less than six months and already I had been starved out, forced to live with my drug dealing ex-girlfriend, fallen back in love with said ex-girlfriend, been sent to the SHU, have my boyfriend on the outside write a column in the Times that alienated me from everyone in prison, break up with said boyfriend when he found out I was cheating on him, find out that the woman I loved named me and being told that she never wants to speak to me again because I was stupid enough to go back to the man that had I had planned on marrying before I came to this God forsaken place.

Then I did something so idiotic and so unlike me and beat the living shit out of Pennslytucky. Life couldn't get much worse, right?

Wrong.

Damn, I hate it when I'm wrong.

Chapter One

I sat in the snow, my body trembling as the last bit of rage seeped from my body and disappeared on the cold breeze. I pushed my hands into the snow, unwilling to look at my bruised and bloody knuckles that had created the mess before me. Tiffany's face was unrecognizable, looking like a piece of tenderized meat and I noticed with something like horror that she was completely still, her chest not moving with the slightest intake of air. The snow around her body was slowly melting and the hot blood that had flown from the fallen angel's wounds was melting away with it.

I sat there in what I could only assume was shock, unable to move even when the door was thrown open and Bennett and Fischer raced out, talking loudly into their radios. They both paused when they saw me, their eyes widening simultaneously as they took in the scene. I watched as if in slow motion as Bennett dropped his radio to the ground, reaching for the gun at his waist. My eyes widened in horror as he swiftly pulled it from its holster and pointed it at me. Instincts caused me to hold my hands up, shielding my face, having expected to be sent to the SHU or even Max, but to be shot for beating Tiffany's face into the ground? It seemed a bit much but I couldn't even force my mouth open to speak past my shock and complete terror. And I had always thought that Bennett was one of the nice, cool headed guards.

Fortunately, Fischer did the speaking for me as she reached out and grabbed the man's arm before he had time to pull the trigger. "Bennett, wait! Look at her! She's completely coherent, I don't think..."

"Fuck," Bennett breathed out shakily and I could only choke back a sob as he lowered his gun, taking in the scene with clear eyes. "Shit, Chapman, I'm sorry, I-"

"There's no time," Fischer uncharacteristically took charge, her face serious as she turned to me. "Chapman, you need to get inside and return to your bunk now. Officer Bennett and I will take care of inmate Pennsyltucky."

I could only stare at her with wide eyes until she sighed in exasperation, walking towards me and kneeling before me in the snow. "Piper, you really need to go inside, right now."

"B-but-" I stuttered, swallowing the lump in my throat. "It was self-defense! She attacked me, I swear!"

"I know. It's okay," Fischer reassured me and I watched from the corner of my eyes as Bennett knelt next to Tiffany's still form before picking her up in his arms carefully and carrying her body inside.

"I- I didn't mean to kill her. Am I going to the SHU?" I asked fearfully, tears welling in my eyes. I could feel panic building inside me at the thought of spending more time in that tiny room. "Healy... He was here, he didn't do anything! He's going to make them send me to Max. He wanted me to die."

Fischer's eyes widened at my words but she didn't say anything. Her light blue eyes shifted away from my face for a moment, only to stare at the ground besides me and I watched, bile rising in my throat, as she picked up the forgotten screwdriver that Pennsyltucky had knocked from my hand during our fight. I closed my eyes, cursing myself as I realized that I had just given myself at least another five years on top of my sentence. I was carrying a potential weapon and even using it during self-defense was no excuse. I was fucked.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I felt the tool being pressed into my hand.

"Piper, go inside and take this with you. Keep it in your jacket pocket, okay?" Fischer said softly, resting her hand on my shoulder as my fingers curled around the ice cold metal. "You're not going to the SHU or to Max, I promise. Just go back to your dorm and wait for instructions."

I stared at the screwdriver in my hand before looking up into Fischer's blue eyes. As the panic began to recede and my vision became clearer, I noticed for the first time the little bit of fear in her eyes, mixed with concern for me. With her help, I pushed myself to my feet, putting the screwdriver in my pocket but keeping my hand wrapped around the handle.

"Officer Fischer, what's going on?" I asked, my voice trembling as my limbs shook with cold and tension. I was confused and I wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a warm bed but Fischer's expression was beginning to worry me.

"You'll find out soon enough, inmate," Fischer said elusively before gesturing towards the door. I took one last look at her before walking back into the prison, almost completely forgetting my recent fight as I started to think about what could be possibly going on now.

So lost in my thoughts, I hardly even noticed that the halls were entirely empty. It was the almost complete silence that finally caused me to look up as I looked around for inmates and guards but it seemed as if everyone had just vanished. As I got closer to the dorms, the sounds got gradually louder and I could hear voices, but none were raised about a whisper. I had to walk through the Suburbs to get to the Ghetto and as I stepped into the dorm, everyone looked up from their conversations and stared at me. I wondered if they knew about my fight with Pennsyltucky and realized that if they didn't before, they knew something was up now, considering my jacket and prison shirt was covered in blood. Not to mention the red liquid that was dripping from my hands and onto the floor.

"Fuck, Chapman, what did you do?" Nicky seemed to be the first one to snap out of her shock, moving out of her cube and taking my hands in her own. She mumbled something under her breath before pulling me into her cube, pushing me down onto her bed before searching in her locker for something.

"Did the alarms go off?" I asked, ignoring the eyes I could feel from the other inmates watching us. "I didn't hear any."

"No, no alarms," Nicky said absentmindedly before she pulled a small package from her locker with a look of triumph. She quickly unraveled two bandages and processed to wrap my hands, her touch surprisingly gentle. "Now, seriously, what did you do?"

"I figured everyone already knew since everyone has been sent to their dorms," I said, finally looking up and meeting Nicky's eyes. She was quieter than normal and seemed to be lacking her normal sarcasm and wit. "I got in a fight with Tiffany."

Nicky raised her pale eyebrows as she stared back at me with her deep brown eyes. Finally, she made a noise in her throat as she nodded before returning to her wrapping. "I heard something about that from Taystee. Didn't think anything would happen though. Where's Pennsyltucky?"

"She's dead."

Nicky's entire body jerked in shock and moments after the words left my lips, the cubicle was surrounded by inmates, whispering loudly.

"You killed her?" Nicky said, her eyes wide as she ignored the people staring at us. "Why?"

"I think so," I whispered, my hands starting to shake. I felt a small bit of comfort when Nicky squeezed them in her own, despite the pain it caused me. I hardly even noticed as people started to sit down on the bed around me, my mind was lost in the memories of the last hour. "I- I didn't mean to. She came outside and attacked me and I knocked her down but I couldn't stop. I couldn't fucking stop, Nicky! I just kept hitting her and hitting her and there was blood everywhere and then Fischer and Bennett came out and Fischer gave me the screwdriver and what the fuck is going on?"

I knew I was babbling, my voice becoming higher and more hysterical with each passing second but it seemed as if my numbness was wearing off and panic was settling in. I heard shouts in the distance, guards yelling into their radios but I paid it no attention.

"Did she bite you?" I heard a low familiar voice from the doorway and my head snapped up to take in the form of Alex staring back at me intently. Her face was an emotionless mask but I could see emotions swirling in her grey eyes, was it concern? Concern for me? Why the fuck would Alex even care if the stupid bible basher bit me, of all things. Why was she even here?

"B-bite me?" I asked in confusion to which Alex nodded impatiently. She walked into the cube and took one of my hands and held it up before my eyes. The touch made my hand tingle and I couldn't even feel the pain as I watched her pale fingers wrap around my own.

"Yeah, did she try and bite you?" Alex asked more insistently, causing me to look away from our hands and up into her eyes. "Was she acting normal? Did she talk to you?"

"If you can call preaching about being God's right hand, yeah, she was acting normal," I said, finally pulling my hand from Alex's grasp. I felt the loss of her touch immediately but my heart was still hurting over her words to me earlier. "She said some things and I got... upset and I punched her… and then I punched her again."

The room went momentarily silent until Nicky nodded her head, patting my shoulder with her signature half smirk.

"Stick by me when we get out of here, Chapman," she said. "At least I won't have to watch my back with you there."

I looked up at the uncharacteristically nice words that came from her mouth but the meaning set in and I frowned. "When we get out of here? What the fuck are you talking about? I'm going to be sent to Max for sure, Nicky!"

"No, you ain't," Morello spoke up for the first time and I turned my head to look at her in bewilderment. Was it just me or did she look ashen? "We're not staying here, Chapman. We're getting the fuck out."

"W-what's going on?" I asked again, hoping that someone would finally answer my question. It was then that the background noise finally filtered through. Past the shouts of the guards, past the whispers of the inmates, I could hear the noises from outside. Litchfield was pretty far from civilization, so why could I hear a helicopter? Why could I hear screams that weren't the yells of guards, but terrified noises of human beings that were scared for their lives?

"Shit has hit the fan, man," Big Boo said, leaning in the door way. "And I for one would rather be out of here than locked in if the worlds ending."

"I ain't spending the apocalypse in prison," Nicky agreed, finally finished wrapping my hands. I stared at her with wide eyes, my eyes flickering between her and Alex who was still watching me with an unreadable expression. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the dark haired woman had spoken to me, to check that I was okay.

Wait, the end of the world?

The apocalypse?

I hardly had a moment to think before the screams were suddenly louder, sounding as if they were right outside the prison.

"Zombies," I heard Morello say softly. "Who would have thought?"

The laughter bubbled up in my throat at Lorna's words and it was a maniacal, crazy sound. I knew at this moment that they must be playing a joke on me. There was no such thing as zombies, everyone knew that. I knew that I had pissed a lot of women off in this prison and I figured that this was there way of getting back at me. I continued to laugh, relieved at the feeling of my pent up emotions pouring out of me as I chuckled. Everyone stared at me, their expressions serious, though the corner of Nicky's mouth was turned up into a smirk as she watched me lose my mind.

My laughter finally died down and everyone continued to stare at me for a moment before going back to their whispering. Alex shook her head before turning away from me to look down the hall way. It was then that I realized that everyone was deadly serious, but zombies? They must have been informed wrong.

Nevertheless, I felt a ball of fear curl uncomfortably in my stomach.

"Nicky, come on," I said exasperatedly, running my fingers through my hair. "Tell me what's really going on."

"I already did, Chapman," Nicky grinned at me as she shoved things from her locker into a small bag. "It's the end of the fucking world and we are getting the fuck out of here. You coming? We could use the muscle."

"The end of the world?"

"Look," Nicky finally dropped her bag, turning to look at me. "When you left the Christmas Pageant, we got a call over the PA that we all had to return to our rooms. No biggie. But when we got in here, someone turned on their radio. Every fucking news station in America is talking about how a fucking hick in opened something toxic in a laboratory on the other side of the country. All the people there got really sick and then they died, right? But they didn't fucking stay dead."

"It was kept hush hush for about two weeks," Morello continued in a soft voice. "But then one of the staff in the hospital got bitten and tried to hide it in case it was contagious, y'know?"

"Which it was, of course," Nicky snorted in disdain, shaking her head.

"Yeah. One of these things bites you and that's it," Morello snapped her fingers. "Anyway, she went out on the street and apparently someone was taking a video on their phone when all of a sudden, the woman had a fit! People went over to check on her and when she came to, she started to try and eat them!"

I stared at Morello with wide eyes, unable to comprehend what she was telling me. The screams were getting louder with every minute that passed and as I looked away from Morello, I could see that the inmates were becoming restless. I stood up, walking slowly out of Nicky's cubicle and looking around me. People looked completely fucking terrified.

And it only got so much worse when the first gunshot sounded.

It was instant chaos as women started screaming and racing through the halls. I was jostled painfully in the crowd and tried to push my way through to B Dorm as women pushed past me and towards the doors that would lead outside. If it was the end of the fucking world, then I at least needed a change of clothes, didn't I? It was crazy what you thought of in a moment like this. There were no thoughts of my family or friends on the outside. All I could think of was that I needed my fucking running shoes if I was about to go outside with God damn zombies. I was almost out of A Dorm when I felt a hand grab my shoulder and I was suddenly pulled from a crowd and being pushed forwards towards the stairs that led to the visitation room. I tried to stop and turn back, but I felt her hold me in place, her hands on my shoulders as she whispered in my ear.

"Piper, we need to get out of here. They're all going the wrong way. Nicky and the girls are waiting for us in the visitation room; the guards are all gone and we're going to make a run for it."

"I- I don't-" I stuttered, feeling my entire body begin to shake with pure fear. Gun shots were sounding constantly now and I flinched at the screams of women throughout the prison. What was going on out there? "I-I-I can't. I need my shoes!"

"You have to," Alex said, her thumb rubbing my shoulder soothingly, being surprisingly gentle with me despite her words of anger towards me only hours ago. "I'll be right behind you the whole time. I'm not leaving you behind."

I turned my head, looking into her gray eyes at close range and feeling her warm breath on my cheek. She held my gaze for several moments until I finally nodded and started to move forward. She never strayed more than an inch away from me as we made our way quickly through the dark halls, screams echoing off the walls and ringing in my ears with every shaky step that I took. Finally, we got to the visitation room and I could see Big Boo picking the look on the door with Nicky telling her to hurry the fuck up before we became zombie food. The group consisted of mostly Suburban women. Other than Nicky and Big Boo, there was Morello, Red, Yoga Jones and a couple of girls from B Dorm, including Taystee and Poussey.

"What took you two so long?" Nicky said to us when we finally got there. "Did you two not lesbians stop by the chapel on the way? I can't blame you. If I'm gonna die, that's how I wanna go."

"Shut up, Nicky," Alex said, moving away from me to stand near the door as she inspected Boo's work. "What's taking this so fucking long?"

As the words left Alex's mouth, a click signaled the door unlocking, just as something heavy smashed into it from the other side. I watched as if in slow motion as the door was thrown open to reveal a man I didn't recognize, blood and gore dripping from his open mouth as he stared at us with rage and hunger filled eyes. I barely had time to scream before he was vaulting through the doorway, knocking down Big Boo and Alex and sprawling over their struggling forms.

My survival instincts kicked in the moment I heard Alex's terrified yell, her low voice muffled further by the heavy body covering her. I watched as the man leaned over her, a terrifying animalistic growl erupting from his throat as blood spilled from his mouth. My hand was swinging through the air before I even realized I had pulled it from my pocket, fingers wrapped tightly around the screwdriver. I immediately stabbed it into the man's neck, blood spraying from the wound as he lowered his head to bite Alex's shoulder.

And then I did it again and again and again.

"Shit, Chapman," Nicky breathed as Morello pulled me away from the now unmoving zombie, my hand still clenched around the screwdriver while Nicky kicked the body off Alex and Big Boo. The brunette immediately stood up, her entire body shaking as she stared at the man on the floor with wide eyes. Big Boo pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

"Two people in one day, Chapman," Red muttered from behind Nicky, holding a large frying pan from the kitchen. "I'm glad you on our side."

"No shit," Big Boo murmured, wiping a few drops of blood from her face with a grimace. She gave me a nod of thanks as she finally pushed herself up from the floor, while I just stared at the man that I had killed in the blink of an eye. It had all happened so fast that I didn't even remember my body moving in to action. I had just killed someone, again.

Fuck, what was happening to me?

"Come on," Alex finally said after everyone regained their wits. "We need to get out of here before more of these things show up."

I felt Morello leading me out of the door behind Red and Nicky, the rest of the group trailing behind us. My heart was hammering in my chest as we strode quickly down the hallway, towards the double doors that would lead us into the outside world. I took a moment to think about the fact that I was actually leaving prison without even having to finish my sentence. In only moments I would be walking out of Litchfield Prison to hopefully never come back, when only an hour ago, I thought I'd never be leaving this place.

But what the fuck was I walking out into?