Author's Note: Loyal readers, I'm sorry for not updating for more than half a year. Life happens and I completely forgot about this fic. To make up for it, I wrote and finished the rest of the story, including the epilogue or finale.

I was awoken when a blood cuddled scream pierced through the air. Several gunshots rang out. How long have I been out? Has Sinclair released the horde? I pulled out my diamondback and pulled out my combat knife and held it in my left hand. I slowly opened the door and peeked my head out. What I saw caused my heart to sink like a rock falling down to the bottom of the ocean.

Everywhere, there were the infected. There were corpses everywhere, both infected and uninfected. Gunshots were ringing out every few seconds. Several of the infected were roaming around what was left of the fort. Screams would be heard every few seconds. Ruined tents were being trampled on. Judging from the constant gunshots ringing in the air, there were still survivors out there.

It sounded like the gunshots were coming from the gate that served as the fort's exit. I hope whoever was there could hold out long enough for me to join them. I had to fight my way to the gate. I fired at an infected in the face that was in my way and stabbed another one that was getting close. This was going to be one hell of a walk.

Several Minutes Later...

After killing...god knows how many of the infected, I managed to make it to the gate. I also had to kill a Jumper on my way here. Bordering the gate on both sides was the fence gate that served as the barrier between the fort and the outside world and walkways where people could peek out into the world outside the fort. On the walkways were several survivors, I count about ten to fifteen of them. The infected could not, fortunately, reach them because the walkways were too high up. Among the survivors were some familiar faces. Hawkeye, Eleanor, and Alexis were there. They immediately saw me and started to wave their arms at me to signal at me.

I pushed and shoved the various infected that were in my way. I had to stab two of them that were close to biting me. Soon, I made it to the walkway. They had to pull me up in order for me to join them.

"Ryan! You're alive." Hawkeye said.

"How didja survived? We thought ya were a goner fer sure." Alexis said. She pauses to look at me and says, "Your forehead is bleeding."

"My forehead is bleeding?" I replied. I placed a hand on my forehead and felt it. Sure enough, she was right, it was bleeding.

"Anyways, I was knocked out when this all started," I said.

"Who knocked you out?" Eleanor asked.

"You wouldn't believe it, but it was Sinclair! He's the one that let the infected loose!" I said.

The other survivors, not just my friends, began to mutter words of disapproval.

"Believe it or not, it's the truth." I said. The other unnamed survivors started to talk amongst themselves. They didn't believe that Sinclair was the one that let the infected loose.

"I believe you, Ryan. You don't have a reason to lie." Hawkeye said.

"Do you guys know where he could be? I want to go have a talk with him." I said.

"I saw him on the fort helipad with my sniper rifle earlier. He's completely safe up there. The infected can't reach him." Hawkeye said.

"Alright, thanks...Alan." I said.

He smiles at me and says, "I'll cover you from here with my rifle as best as I can."

"Thanks Alan. Wish me luck." I said.

An unnamed survivor that looked about a few years younger than me had said, "Sir, if you're going down there, you might want to refill on ammunition." He said as he gestured towards an ammo pile that was lying on the floor of the walkway.

I nodded and said, "Thank you, don't mind if I do."

So, I took the next few minutes to refill my speed-loaders that I used for my revolver. As I was refilling, the survivors started to take out several of the infected that were getting too close. After I was done with refilling, I looked to Alan and nodded. He nods back at me.

"Alan, don't shoot Sinclair unless I give you a hand signal." I said.

"Are you sure? I could kill him now if you wanted to." He said.

"No, where's the fun in that? I said I want to talk to him first." I said.

"Alright, I'll hold my fire then." He said. I nodded.

"See you on the other side!" I said as I jumped off the walkway.

Those survivors must have been busy because the infected that were in immediate vicinity of the walkway were all dead. As I walked away from the walkway, my radio had suddenly sprung to life. I had forgotten about it. I took it off my belt and put it up to my ear. It was Hawkeye.

"Ryan, This is Alan. I see a small group of survivors on the other side of the encampment. You should probably go check on them. See if they're okay."

I placed the radio on speaker and said, "Alright, I'll go do that and then, I'll get Sinclair."

"Roger that." He pauses and then says, "We'll also go around the fort and try to neutralize as much as we can. Hawkeye out."

I nodded and proceeded towards where I hope the group of survivors were.

After fighting my way through the infected fort grounds, I found the small group of survivors that Alan told me about. There were five survivors total. They had made a small barricade out of garbage that were probably just lying around; I'm surprised the barricade stood a chance against the infected. The barricade was what separated them from the infected. Their backs were faced towards the fort walls, so they could not be attacked from behind. When they saw me approaching them, they got rid of the rest of infected that surrounded them. Soon, I joined them behind the barricade. Among them, I recognized Ted; he was there. In his hands was his Mac-10.

"Ted! I'm glad you're still alive!" I said.

"As am I. I would cry if you died." Ted said with a smile.

One of the survivors out of the group asked, "Why are there so many of them?"

I explained to the small group about Sinclair, Jerry, and the locked up infected. I also told them of what I'm going to do with Sinclair. They were shocked and surprised once I finished explaining to say the least. There were murmurs of disapproval and several whispers of approval of my plans. It seems they believed me when it comes to Sinclair.

"Alright, there are still survivors on the fort grounds; they're trying to clear out the fort. I need you guys to go help them." I said.

Ted replied, "Ryan, I agree with your plan. We shall help as best we can."

The rest of the small group showed several signs of approval like nods, gestures, and murmurs. With that, we all went our separate ways. I went towards Sinclair's location while the small group went off to help get rid of the infected.

It's time to settle the score...