It's here! The final chapter (plus an epilogue) is here! After much thought, typing and editing, too ;).

Thanks to batman 2.0 and Coolguyforever for reviewing! Yes, in reply to you both (and no doubt others as well), there are ZOMBIES in this chapter! So enjoy!

Chapter 8

Owl Mountains, Poland

September 13, 2016, 7:12:23

Samantha's soldiers had struck gold in the form of Element 115.

After two days of non-stop drilling, mining, and shovelling, Der Riese's underground storage of the strange element had been penetrated. If the year had been 1944, the same task would have taken them weeks or even months. But technology had rapidly evolved since Der Riese had been built.

Samantha smiled. The Plan was starting.

She had the Phonies in charge of the massive excavators to start bringing up 115 to the surface. They complied, of course. Bucketload after massive bucketload dumped rocks containing the element on the ground. They were just as Samantha remembered them – rocks that were tainted orangish-red and with a slight blue glow emanating from them.

Once all of the rocks containing the element were excavated, Samantha focused her energy on the links to the Phonies. She directed all of them to the pile of 115, had the ones with guns make sure that their weapons were ready…and terminated her control of them.

The Phonies had been created for the sole purpose of fighting and killing anyone around them. Samantha had just commanded them, directing them against an enemy. But now, with her control terminated, the Phonies were reduced to their primitive ways, which resulted in them turning on one another. Obviously, the ones with guns had an upper hand, but the unarmed Phonies had some fight in them too. Strangling, shooting, kicking, punching, and more all took place at the pile of 115. That was Stage 1 of The Plan. Stage 2 would arrive very, very soon.

Sure enough, one of the Phonies that had been killed was resurrected by the 115 as a zombie. It immediately attacked Phonies that were still alive, creating more of the undead. As each zombie was created, Samantha took control of it, and eventually she had an undead army once again.

Stage 3 was next. She directed the groaning and moaning zombies to a cloning machine that had been set to auto-run before the termination of control. The machine whirred as it replicated the undead, sucking up dirt for the atom rearranging process. Now there were hundreds of, almost a thousand, zombies at her disposal. She moved them into the mining complex's central buildings and telepathically shut the doors.

Now it was waiting time.

One hour later

"Four minutes until we reach the HVT!" the Osprey pilot called out.

"All right, you heard him! Check your weapons and gear! We don't want to screw this up!" Sandman ordered.

Team Metal was part of Alpha Force, assaulting the Phony mine that was the HVT from the north. Bravo Force, meanwhile, would attack from the west. Ten F-22s would also pelt the mine's defenses with JDAMs to soften up the Phonies. This was the Allies' biggest opportunity to counterattack since the entire mess started almost two weeks ago, and no expenses were being spared.

"Three minutes!"

Frost heard the roars of the F-22s as they streaked past the fleet of aircraft. Hopefully the bombing run would take out most of the defenses and make their job easier.

"Two minutes!"

Everyone in the Osprey tensed. At this time they were in range of AA guns. One soldier muttered a prayer that they wouldn't get hit. Actually, everyone was doing the same in their minds. But Frost didn't hear anything except the drone of rotors and engines that had accompanied them ever since they left Britain. He was thoroughly confused – the Phonies had to be making an effort to down them, right? He gave a mental shrug. Maybe they were keeping it quiet for some unknown reason.

"One minute!"

Frost did a final, nervous check of his SCAR-L. To the right of him, Truck was doing the same. Normally Grinch would be on Frost's left, making some joke, but he was still back in Britain with his broken arm.

The Osprey landed with a dull thump. Its inhabitants stood up and exited onto the grass. Immediately Frost tensed for bullets to come flying his way, but nothing happened. Not a sound was heard.

"Stay alert! They might be playing dead," Sandman warned.

Alpha Force cautiously advanced into the complex. It was deadly silent. Frost warily eyed the MG posts that lay directly in front of them. Everyone was randomly going prone and jerking to the side, anticipating a hail of lead to come at them. But Alpha Force got to the first enemy line of defense in one piece without incident.

"What the hell is going on?" Truck said. Not only were the MG posts abandoned, but not a single Phony was in sight. There were smoking craters from the F-22s' JDAMs, but that was it. Sandman got through to Overlord to ask about this.

"Overlord, this is Metal 0-1. HVT seems to be abandoned. No sign of hostiles."

"Copy that, Metal 0-1. Bravo Force has reported a similar situation. Continue investigating and come up with any intel you can find."

"Roger." Sandman signed off.


"This is stupid," Dempsey growled. "We came here to kick some clone-freak ass, not take a walk!"

Task Force 935, the Loyalists and some of the Ultranationalists that Makarov had given up had landed half an hour ago, a safe distance away from the HVT itself. To preserve stealth, Price had opted for everyone to walk to the complex from a distance rather than land right outside its gates. It proved to be a good move after several F-22s had roared through the air and bombed the complex. Had they had landed close to the mine and gone in immediately, they would have been caught by the bombs.

The F-22s also told them that the Allied strike force was going to arrive soon. "Damn! I didn't think they would have done it so soon!" Price said.

"Should we turn back? Mac said we're wanted by the Yanks and Britain," Soap said in a worried tone.

Price gave a bitter laugh. "We've been wanted by everyone ever since we killed that bastard Shepherd," he said. "A few more hours won't hurt."

"Plus, zhere could be…objects…zhat only ve have experience vith," RIchtofen added. Evidently, by "objects" he meant zombies.

"Yeah, I ain't running away like a coward!" Dempsey proclaimed. "I dare them to try and take me. I'll tear them a new one!"

"American, they're fighting Samantha like us," Takeo interjected. "That makes them our honorable allies."

"Anyway, I think our loyalties will be shown once we kill those zombies," Price said.


Moving deeper into the complex, Sandman had ordered for any doorway they passed to be kicked in and investigated. So far the most interesting thing they had found was a decaying and moth-ridden Nazi flag. But then they stumbled upon something completely extraordinary. Something none of them had seen.

"The hell is this?" a soldier said.

Spread out before them was a huge pile of odd rocks. They had orange-reddish hues and glowed slightly. Some soldiers cautiously crept forward to take a closer look.

Truck suddenly stiffened. "Do you guys hear something?"

Frost strained his ears. He only heard the scuffling of his fellow soldiers shifting around.

"Everyone, quiet!" Sandman ordered. The scuffling immediately stopped, and Frost's ears picked up something. Something unnerving: the groaning of an animal.

"I think it's coming from in here!" a soldier beside yet another building said. His hand was on the doorknob.

"No! Don't…" Sandman began. But it was too late. With a click, the door was opened. Time seemed to stop for a second.

Then all hell broke loose.

Something that looked like a human (but was most definitely not, unless humans had decaying and bloody skin) burst out snarling and attacked the poor soldier who opened the door. He went down with a scream. More of the things came out of the building, equally revolting and bloodthirsty. Alpha Force stood in shocked silence before snapping into action.

Frost fired his SCAR-L into one of the things, watching its head explode and carcass topple. Several more soldiers were taken with cries of fear and agony, but it seemed like they would fight off these weird enemies. Then the doors of several more buildings around them burst open, releasing more hell.

"Frost! Behind you!" Frost turned around just in time to see one of the things reaching for him. Its skin was deathly pale with bloody gashes here and there; its eyes and teeth were yellow; and it had on a Phony uniform. Frost instinctively stabbed it with his combat knife, and it fell to the ground.

"Fall back! We need to get out of here before we're surrounded!" Sandman shouted frantically. The things were everywhere now. The surroundings blurred into a symphony of bullets, blood and death.

"Metal 0-1 to Overlord! We're being overrun by an unknown type of hostile! Request backup immediately!"

"Roger, Metal 0-1. Redirecting Bravo Force to your location."

"Oh god!" a soldier screamed. He was shakily pointed at the dead body of a fallen US soldier – or rather, the reanimated body. What had been a young man before was now one of those ruthless things. It shook his head and gave a low, guttural snarl. Several soldiers almost fainted right there and then.

"Shit! This is getting crazy!" Truck shouted as he saw more of his fallen comrades get reanimated.

"Run! Just run!"


"Vait. I hear somezhing," Richtofen said.

The group stopped. "What is it, Doc?" Dempsey asked.

"I zhink it is…" Richtofen paused for a second. "…moaning."

"That means zombies!" Nikolai the Drunk said.

"Shit! We've got to pick up the pace," Price urgently said. "The lads in the strike force will have no idea what they are!"

Everyone started running, with Richtofen leading them. Gunshots and screams rang out, shattering the silence that had blanketed the complex only minutes before. Price got through to Nikolai the Pilot, who was with the choppers along with the other pilots.

"This is Price! The zombies have broken out! We need you and the others to get the choppers running and provide air support!"

"Ve're here!" Richtofen told them, and Price abruptly signed off.

There was a sea of zombies before them. Without thinking, everyone started banging away with their G36Cs. The Loyalists and Ultranationalists were a bit unnerved at the sight, but steely imitated Task Force 935.

The zombies had noticed their buddies dying, and turned around to face this new threat to them. Technically, it was Samantha who noticed them, but any which way the zombies attacked Task Force 935 and their comrades.

"Do not let zhem get near you!" Richtofen warned. Everyone complied. He was, after all, the expert on zombies.

"We need to link up with the strike force!" Soap shouted over the gunfire. "That way we're both on the same side and help them!"

"Sure, but first we have to get through this, mate," Price replied, waving his hand at the gigantic horde of zombies. They had an advantage over the strike force – instead of being disorganized and spread all over the place, they were in a firing line, dispatching zombies quickly and efficiently.

"We could go around," Yuri proposed as he shot off a zombie's arm. "Shouldn't be too hard, as long as we stick together."

The sound of rotors signalled the arrival of their air support. A salvo of missiles from the helicopters streaked into the mass of zombies. Blood and guts sprayed upward in a fountain of gore, which Richtofen found most amusing.

"We're going to head right and circle these zombies to link up with the Allies!" Price said to Nikolai the Pilot. "Make sure we're good!"

"Roger," the Russian said.

"Okay, let's go! To the right!" Price ordered. As everyone began running, a tendril of zombies stretched out from the main group to chase them. From above, it looked like one of the Milky Way's spirals stretching out. Nikolai the Pilot fired some rounds into them, just to ensure that they wouldn't endanger his comrades.

The zombie killers were feeling very much at ease, doing what they did best.

"Slaying zombies since 1945! Oo-rah!" Dempsey said happily.

"Even drunk, I'm too strong for you!" Nikolai the Drunk shouted as he shot a zombie.

"The power of my ancestors runs through my veins!" said Takeo as he fragged some undead.

"His head exploded. Such…SUCH JOY!" Richtofen cackled as he, you guessed it, headshot a zombie.


Team Metal and the rest of Alpha Force were in full-scale panic. Almost half of them had been taken by the things. There were so many that Frost didn't even have to aim to kill some. Some of them were pitifully slow, but others were as fast as a human. As they beat a hasty retreat, someone said, "Look! Hinds!"

Frost swore. "God damn it, it's not enough that they send us these monsters?" He, like others, immediately assumed the choppers were Phony.

However, a surprise was in store. The helicopters launched a missile salvo right into the midst of the horde of things. Chunks of meat fountained skyward in a gruesome display.

"Whoa! Awesome! They're on our side!" Truck cheered before hastily shooting a thing charging at him.

"We're not done yet! Keep on moving!" Sandman shouted. They were almost to the defense line that they had passed less than half an hour ago. It felt like decades since.

Suddenly, some of the creatures on the far left died with unearthly shrieks as bullets slammed into their bodies. A hail of lead ripped into the horde's flank. Frost saw a group of men emerge with guns blazing.

"Friendlies! They're friendlies! Thank you Jesus!" a soldier cried out. A cheer rang out from Alpha Force as the friendlies were assimilated into their ragtag line. Sandman, however, was shocked to see a familiar face among them.

"Price? What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass from these zombies, that's what!" Price replied. He grunted as he stabbed a marauding undead.

"Wha – zombies?"

"Yeah, I should tell you the story later. Oh yeah, glad to see no one here shot down our helicopters."

Sandman was about to reply when another cheer rang out. "Bravo Force is here!"

The master sergeant gritted his teeth in determination. "All right everyone, let's take these bastards down!" he roared. Buoyed by their reinforcements, the Allied soldiers cheered once again before attacking the zombies with newfound strength and vigor.

At first, the two parties seemed to be at a stalemate. There were still plenty of zombies charging at the Allies, but following Richtofen's advice and instructions, they prevented the undead from getting too close. Slowly, with help from the friendly Hinds, the zombies began to be pushed back. The Allies cautiously advanced, keeping a wary eye on the distance between them and the zombies. Corpses covered the ground, with pools of blood and meat chunks everywhere.

"We're doing it!" Truck said. "We're winning!"

The zombie killers hurled not only bullets, but also taunts and comments at the zombies as well.

"You meatheads too stupid to quit?"

"So much death, so quickly, like Eastern Front all over again!"

"I am warrior!"

"I long to bathe naked…IN YOUR BLOOD!" That one drew the questioning stares of many.

The Allies methodically continued to dispatch the undead, using their own aggressive nature against them. The Hinds fired round after round into them. Finally, the last small group of zombies keeled over, dead. Everyone stood in stunned silence, surveying the scene of carnage, death and destruction before them.

"Holy Jesus," Frost said. "We made it. We survived!" His Team Metal comrades nodded.

Task Force 935 also nodded. Then a sudden realization hit them all, and got blurted out in unison.

"We beat Samantha!"