AN: So this is the last chapter. Let me know what you think. There's an epilogue in first person left but this little bit of weird is almost over. Thank you to my support group you're all awesome. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Ten

While Cristina had Callie out of the room, Arizona told the remaining members everything she had encountered while she was trapped in the Hospital and on her road back to base once again, and in more detail. Alex and Meredith listened on without question, Teddy however, was still having a harder time believing that Arizona didn't have brain trauma or suffer some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Teddy still couldn't shake her suspicion of Callie and had maintained her reasoning to Arizona that the only reason she was allowed to leave the Hospital was because of the 'screechers'' attack.

Arizona continued with her defence of Callie, that she believed that she was protecting her and she would have let her go when it was safe to. It did nothing to diminish Teddy's fear that she'd developed compassion - some sort of messed up feelings for her captor.

"Her physical structure is in excellent condition." Cristina barged into the room once again with Callie trailing slowly behind her. Teddy caught the smile that appeared on Callie's face when Arizona mouthed 'hi' to her.

Teddy inspected Callie from her position next to Arizona. With the clean gown on and the mud washed from her skin, she really didn't look that threatening and her hard stance softened. She really did come alive whenever she saw Arizona. Teddy watched as Cristina struggled to help Callie up onto the bed once again. Teddy moved over to help without a second thought. As she took Callie's arm, giving her the support she needed to get up onto the bed, she locked eyes with the infected woman.

There was something there just under the haze - a softness. She instantly offered Callie a shy smile. One that Callie returned. The door opening had everyone turn to see the broad shouldered Colonel followed into the room by Miranda Bailey.

"Arizona, my sweet girl. I was so worried." His steps were wide as he strode up to the side of the bed and, surprising Arizona, enveloped her in a hug that made her slightly uncomfortable for a second before she melted into his touch. Her father was not a hugger, well, he hadn't been since she was a little girl. A soldier never shows emotions… emotions could be used against you. She smiled brightly at him when he kissed her forehead.

"And you… Thank you so very much for bringing my daughter home." Everyone looked uncomfortably at the Colonel as he made his way quickly over to Callie and held out his hand. There was a collective intake of breath as no one could think of a way to stop him getting close to Callie.

Callie looked at his outstretched hand and tilted her head as she inspected his hand. The skin looked hard and rough, different to Arizona's, bigger. When she remembered what Cristina had told her to do earlier she gave him hers and they shook hands. "Strong grip you have there," he responded as the smallest smile appeared on Callie's face. The room seemed to deflate, even though the Colonel continued to hold onto Callie's hand. His grey eyes' continual inspection didn't go unnoticed.

"Daddy?" Arizona saw that her father was inspecting Callie too much and tried to get his attention. Cristina quickly attached the dummy wires to Callie and Meredith flicked the on switch for the monitor. As the stats monitor jumped to life, the green line zig-zagging across the screen seemed to take the Colonels attention before he turned back to Arizona. "Daddy, this is going to sound crazy, but the infected are changing, some of them anyway. Actually some of them saved us…" Arizona briefly looked at Callie before looking back to her father. His eyebrows scrunched and he looked as though he was about to speak. "Just hear me out, sir. Please?" He ran his hand over his mouth and then nodded for her to continue. "There is a new threat sir, they are stronger and don't differentiate between alive and dead…"

"Arizona, I'm so pleased you made it back home. Your father has been worried sick about you. I've just been unable to console him, he's been distraught." The tall red headed doctor walked into the room and went straight over and kissed her father's cheek. Arizona felt her skin crawl as she watched her father smile at the touch.

Arizona glared at the woman and continued on with her findings. "I know where these new breed of infected came from." Arizona continued to stare at Dr Carter, she was talking directly at her. Arizona almost smiled when she saw recollection flash in the doctors eyes.

"Daniel, maybe we should let Arizona rest, it sounds as though she's been through an awful lot and the…" She picked up the chart that was sat on the end of the bed. "She's been given a very high dose of morphine, she'll be loopy and won't make any sense."

"Loopy? Is that what you're calling me with that educated brain." Arizona hissed. "I know what you did! They clawed themselves out of the ground Carter…"

"Arizona what are you talking about?" Her father voice was firm, but he asked calmly.

"The accident in the lab. It wasn't, was it? It was you! It always confused me how you weren't in there. You used them didn't you? Karen and Matthew… sixteen accidental deaths were actually murders. You killed them. What, did you infect them to watch how quickly they would turn? Why would you even want to?" Arizona could feel her anger boil, that's why the screechers looked black - charcoaled. Did they scream as they burned? Their last moments as humans, all the pain trapped in that scream, that was all that was left of them.

"That's quite the accusation Ms Robbins." Bailey questioned. Her voice came out loud and abrupt but no hint of anger.

With all eyes on Arizona, Carter panicked and grabbed the Colonel's gun. Backing away back toward the door. "It was a mistake." Her voice trembled and the tears fell. "It was suppose to control the infection."

"Darling, it's alright, lets talk about this." Daniel lifted his hands in an unthreatening manner as he took a step closer. Carter looked around as though she was a trapped animal but suddenly her demeanor changed back to what Arizona was used too.

"You know what? Fuck it!" Carter smirked as she looked at everyone in the room. "That idiot of an intern managed to infect himself and I gave the order to give him the strain I believed would would eradicate the virus. The opportunity presented itself to watch it first hand and I wanted to learn from it. Unfortunately, it didn't control, it metastasized."

"Give me the gun Doctor Carter, there's nowhere to run to." Bailey's tone was short and to the point. "It may have started an accident but you took their lives! Protocol, we have it in place for a reason you damn fool."

"What and let everyone know what happened? For you to throw me in a cell. Be judged by you morons. You didn't think I was sleeping with you, Daniel, because you make me squeal, make me shudder? You are the one that everyone listens to, Bailey included. Seriously, it was so easy to bend your ear… Whisper ideas to the man in charge. Why do you think no one went looking for you, Arizona?" Alex shifted in his chair and Carter shook her head and pointed the gun at him. "I will shoot you." Her smile intensified as a plan formulated in her head. "The way I see it, the stranger that Arizona brought into the base was infected and she attacked you all, I managed to escape and had to lock down this section of base. A fire broke out and there was nothing I could do for you all." Carter made her voice tremble as though devastated before the smile crept back onto her face. "That would leave me the most senior member of the base and who do you think they'll seek protection from?"

Karev stood quickly to charge at her, but within seconds she shot and he hit the ground groaning in pain. Meredith and Cristina dropped to their knees around his fallen body and tried to stop Karev from bleeding out. Callie, quietly as she could, got out of bed while Carter was distracted and made her way over to stand next to Arizona protectively. In very much the same way the Colonel had seconds before. She slowly moved toward Carter putting herself between the gun and everyone else. "Ah, thats sweet! She must have been some lay." The space between them began to close. "Stop! I will shoot you." Carter began to raise the gun higher as Callie in that moment rushed her.

Two bullets hit Callie square on the chest but didn't slow her down as she wrestled Carter to the ground. The echo from the fired weapon mixed with Arizona's scream as she desperately tried to get to her but Teddy kept her firmly in her grasp.

With a thud, Carter hit the ground and the weapon dislodged and scraped across the floor allowing the Colonel to retrieve it and aim it at the doctor.

Callie slowly got to her feet. I feel weird. She turned and smiled at Arizona who began to laugh nervously. Her father turned to her with confusion on his face and then back to Callie who was swaying slightly.

"Why is she not bleeding?" Bailey barked pointing her finger at Callie and backing away in shock.

Teddy joined Arizona with their inappropriate laughing as Callie tried to walk back to Arizona. When she stumbled slightly and grimaced both women's delight plummeted. Callie looked down at the two bullet holes in her chest. Hey, look at that, I'm bleeding! "Hurt!" Callie touched where the bullets hit her chest. All of a sudden the gown began to soak up blood that appeared from the wound and was quickly becoming saturated. Not the thickish almost black goo that clogged her veins before, red, bright vivid red. "Crap!" Callie said as she gripped her chest, she began taking violent gurgled breaths as more red steadily poured from her mouth and she fell to her knees.

"She shouldn't be bleeding this much!" Cristina's voice was loud but stayed steady as she and Teddy rushed to Callie's side. "I'm not sure what to do here." Callie could feel Cristina and Teddy's hands on her as they helped lower her to the ground and then tried to stop the bleeding.

"Don't touch… infection." Callie protested and swiped at the arms applying pressure. The glare from the lights above her hurt, but she was determined to keep her eyes opened. Though she couldn't keep them focused, everything blurred and the lights merged into one big bright white light. Teddy and Christina's movements above her, dark shadows dancing against the white backdrop. She felt euphoria as she lost the fight with her heavy eyelids, they wanted to close and finally she felt like she might die. How she had wished for this before, so many times but this time it scared her.

"Callie, don't you leave! Stay with me. I've just found you, please don't go." Arizona's tear laced voice was the last words Callie heard before all sound just grumbled into one constant hum.

Bleeding out felt good, almost calming because she felt alive again. She had finally found something worth living for. And as she plunged into the awaiting darkness, Callie knew she wasn't ready to be gone just yet.

Arizona sat on the edge of the small stage watching as the crowd developed on the court in front of her. She could just about hear her father and Bailey talking with each other behind her as the noise continued to grow, all bustling about each other. Hushed whispers mixed with excitement and uncertainty. The seating around them already filled, so many eyes looking to the stage for answers.

They continued to filter slowly into the small arena they now used for training, crammed in like sardines. Before the outbreak, it had been used for entertainment. A gym during school hours and at night a place to watch or participate in whatever sports won the coin toss. A distant memory it housed music, laughter and fun.

Avoiding the sea of eyes, her own locked onto the not so white and crumbled cigarette between her fingertips as she continued to play with it. She didn't want to be there, she wanted to be at Callie's bedside, but her father demanded that she'd be present. Everyone had heard the story of how Arizona had returned home – for what they were about to do, she was the proof that they were safe.

"That's a disgusting habit and a disgusting mess, how long have you been holding that? I hope that isn't going anywhere near your mouth." Arizona straightened in hearing the voice over the background ones. She managed to get her brain to tell her casted leg to stop the excessive tapping against the wooden panelling on the side of the stage.

"I'm nervous. This could go very wrong." she sighed. "It's a bad habit I used to have, but I don't smoke...anymore, for years I haven't. I just like to hold onto it at times that I'm nervous…" Arizona turned her head to look at Teddy and smiled brightly. "It reminds me I'm strong… willpower and all that…" Holding up the bent and broken thing so it was on show, they both laughed at the state of it.

"Why are you nervous anyway?" Teddy straightened her attire before looking out at the crowd and gulped. "You don't need to stand up in front of them…"

"Okay, folks," Bailey shouted to make herself heard above the assembly. A ring of sharp 'sssssh's' circled around them and then everything was eerily quiet as everyone's attention directed to the front where Bailey and the Colonel stood.

Arizona looked around again, there was a large attendance, but not everyone. She'd figured there would still be folk that were… uncomfortable. No doubt behind locked doors with guns drawn. She didn't blame them, she just hoped that they'd eventually come to terms with it all. It was after all the reason for this little show and tell.

"Let me assure you again that you aren't in any danger. We have assigned guards who will be with them constantly." Bailey signalled for Teddy to come over. "Ms Altman the room is yours." Bailey nodded to the guard at the back of the stage and he opened the door. A collective inhale of breath sounded as the opened door, framed a dark figure who was engulfed in the bright light from behind.

"Come on in." Teddy waved at the figure to step on to the stage. The crowd's murmurs grew as the clumsy footed, but almost straight male stepped out, followed by three more. Teddy moved over to them showing no fear, there was a collective gasp when she held out her hand and placed it on the male's shoulder while she addressed the crowd. "We are in no way telling you that every single one of them out there will not attack you, there are still ones that will attack. The situation has changed. We can't be so quick to shoot. Everyday there are more of them, almost trying to cure themselves, they remember pieces of who they used to be and we are close to helping them." Turning and facing the male, Teddy smiled brightly. "Hi there."

"Um… hello." He gave her a slight smile back. His lips were thin, greyish and slightly hidden by a short beard. Not as good condition as Callie had been, but not terrifying.

"Can you tell everyone your name?" Teddy slightly bounced on her heels as she looked to the crowd, her smile widened when she saw the shocked faces, the whispering tiding over the crowd as the zombie before them spoke. The first time they'd ever heard a zombie speak.

"My name is Mmm…ark" His voice was low and smooth. "And you…very pretty." Teddy's smile reached her eyes at the compliment and she couldn't help the giggle that followed.

"You have all heard about Callie." Teddy cleared her throat and looked sadly at Arizona who adjusted her position awkwardly. "Three weeks ago she helped Arizona get home. It's because of her that… well, we have hope again that we can beat this plague. That we can help them. We are setting up an area for them to stay. We are going to help them learn again. I'm here today to ask for volunteers. Some to go out and look for others and some to help me teach."

Silence.

Teddy looked out at the crowd. The silence was awkward. She was just about to give up when one hand rose into the air, then another and it started a chain reaction of arms and voices raised.

Arizona smiled at her friend, as she watched people from the crowd come up onto the stage and introduce themselves to the zombies. It was weird. Really weird, but also soul comforting.

The hand on her shoulder startled her and when she turned her head she was met with Meredith face inches from hers.

"She's asking for you."