Authors notes: we are making good time on the most recent chapters hopefully it will stay that way in anyway here is no.50

Chapter 50: The last mile

The survivors took off running the horde of infected charging from the shadows of nearby buildings as they gave chase screaming in fury and hatred, only a mile and a half long stretch stood between them and the bridge and then it was just a matter of getting to the helicopter waiting in the docking area, they turned on their heals and fired bursts of fire at the more ambitious members of the infected horde. However not once did they stop running, not ever when a hunter pounced from the shadows and a charger came bellowing from the darkness did they stop, 2 bursts of gunfire and both attackers were bought down with ease, this was it, everything they had been fighting for had led them up to this point, it was now or never. "Keep moving god damnit don't stop now!" Whitaker cried out over the roaring gunfire and the howling of the horde, the horde was now beginning to appear in front of them which the survivors took as a challenge, gunfire rose to meet that challenge, as they ran Whitaker remembered something a survivor had said to him on the boat after they had escaped Riverside, "I swear those things can sense hope and when they do they have to destroy it". He gritted his teeth and yelled as he open fired on the horde coming from all sides now, Heavies minigun spitting fire as it launched devastating lead at infected attackers dropping them like little flies, he then paused when he heard a scream of pain as Sam was caught by a smoker and was being dragged back towards the infected, "let go you piece of shit!" she screamed as the others turned around to fire.

The smoker released her and she collapsed to the floor, she gasped and looked up at the horde advancing on her, she closed her eyes and held her breathe, this was it she was going to die here and now, she then gasped as a Molotov was thrown in front of her and Jake scoped her off the ground pulling her to her feet, "you are not going to die here now get your ass moving!" he said sternly. She then ran to join the others Jake firing at a few more infected before running after her, they kept running as the fire of the Molotov died and the infected were once again free to give chase, time slowed as large chunk of debris landed on top of Jake he cried out in pain and the others turned around to see the hulking mass of a tank advancing after them. Jake tried to climb to his feet but a horrid pain in his left leg caused him to fall back down. Sam desperately pulled the younger man to his feet, and he began to limp along as the others turned back to provide covering fire, the tank roaring in anger as it charged after its intended targets murder on its mind, the others gritted their teeth and they squeezed the triggers of their guns to the maximum pumping bullet after bullet into the behemoth. Jake continued limping forward with Sam's help using her lugermporh with her free hand to help fire at the horde as they slowly made it closer and closer to the bridge which was now bigger then it had ever been before now, "we here we are really here!" Rick shouted as they finally made it to the east end of the bridge.

Whitaker went wide eyed as he there clear as day was the helicopter on a landing pad a half mile away from where they were, "go get to that damn chopper!" he cried unloading onto the tank as it and the horde gave chase, the others took off Heavy pulling Jake onto his back and running along with the smaller man on his back, Jake using his 2 pistols to fire as Heavy unloaded with the minigun Sam using her sniper rifle to blast off heads. Whitaker lagging behind as he unloaded onto the tank continuing to slowly move back as his team made it closer and closer to the helicopter, finally Heavy dropped Jake into the back of the helicopter as the pilot activated the engines the blades beginning to spin faster and faster. The rest of the group made it down to the helicopter and they all turned back to see Whitaker still firing at the horde, "Whitaker get your ass in this chopper right now!" Heavy cried rushing back out to the man who was slowly backing to the chopper, the pilot looked out to see the tank coming and engines were now fully primed and ready to go, "we are taking off!" he cried as Heavy darted back inside. Finally with a final surge of adrenaline Whitaker bolted for the helicopter as the tank now heavily covered in bullets and the horde gave chase, time slowed as the middle aged man dove into the back compartment of the chopper, the door closed as the pilot began to lift the machine off the ground. They all stared at the window as the ground below got smaller and smaller, the tank finally dropped due to the amount of damage it had sustained as the rest of the horde stared up at the chopper screaming in anger knowing that their dinner plans had been permanently disrupted, "Papa Gator this is rescue 7 you are clear to begin final buzzard run on bridge site over all lambs extracted over?" came the voice of the pilot.

"Roger that rescue 7 beginning final buzzard run return to base with your whisky deltas and report to me at once over" Papa Gator instructed the pilot nodding, "wilco Papa Gator over and out" he finished before switching on an intercom for the back of the chopper, "hold tight folks next stop home base!" he said with enthusiasm as everyone in the back began to cheer and celebrate. "God damn right touchdown folks we made it!" Whitaker said collapsing into his chair, as the others conversed Sam sat with Jake at the far end smiling at the young man as he held his leg in pain, "hey don't worry about me sweetheart ill be fine just a busted leg is all" he said forcing a smile as Sam found herself holding his hand blushing as she turned away. "Thanks for coming back for me" she said quietly, he smiled and put a hand to her face looking her in the eye as a small tear road down her cheek, "hey don't mention it, we all look out for each other no matter what, we are family now and we...I need you to stick around a little longer" he finished blushing and looking away causing Sam to giggle and brush a hand across his cheek. They then turned to face the others who were all celebrating with one another of their victory, meanwhile the area around the bridge lit up like fireworks as the bombing run began, the infected screamed in agony as they were utterly destroyed by the bombs 2 gunner helicopters raining lead from above on any survivors. At long last after everything that had happened it was over, they were safe, this was it the end of battle with the infected had come, the survivors had reached the military and were now rejoicing as they sat in the comfort of the helicopter that they were in, on their way to their new lives, their futures, the battle was over...and the infected had lost...

...

The survivors had all fallen asleep some time ago as the helicopter began to land at home base, Sam with her head resting on Jake's shoulder, they were all startled awake when the back of the helicopter opened and bright light filtered in a army soldier wearing a sergeants hat and a cigar in the left side of his mouth came marching in with 2 others behind him, "up and at em ladies its time to get moving!" he barked as they all climbed to their feet. "Please be careful with him he has a busted leg" Sam said to the soldier pointing at Jake as he came limping out of the helicopter, "once you've all been washed up and cleaned up well get him along to the medical unit" the sergeant said Sam smiling and nodded. "Where are we going" Rick asked, "you will be taken to wash areas and given some new clean clothes and then after that you'll be put before Papa Gator for debriefing on what will happen to you next" the sergeant explained causing Rick to frown, "what will happen to us next?" Whitaker asked causing the sergeant to sigh as they continued walking along a corridor into a large building. "Listen you folks may or may not know this but you are all carriers" he said causing them all to gasp in shock, "you mean weve been carrying the infection the hole time and there is nothing we can do about it?" Rick said the sergeant nodding, "you show no symptoms of the infection but you still carry the disease meaning you are liable to spreading it" he said looking back at the surprised looks he was getting. "Now in the past we would shoot carriers because we had nothing to do with them... but things have changed and now we have a plan that keep everyone happy" he said, "mind if I ask what this plan is?" Rick said frowning as the rest of his team look at each other in worry, "I could tell you but Papa Gator will tell you himself when he briefs you on what is going to happen" he finished as they finally arrived at the wash areas.

"Alright people here we are now go and get yourselves all cleaned up and then report back here when your done after that I will take you all for your briefing with Papa Gator" the sergeant said as the survivors stepped into their respective wash areas, Sam smiled as she dropped her clothes all outside the cubical and stepped inside the shower, the warm water was like heaven to her as all the dirt and blood she was covered in was washed away from her. After 10 minutes in the shower she emerged once again feeling like a normal human being, she looked around to found a towel on the side next to her cubical as well as note saying her old clothes were being washed and that new ones were provided. She picked up her new clothes and quickly got changed, she now wore a short sleeved red shirt with a black knee length skirt with red socks and black and white converse, she sighed deeply as Sian soon emerged from her cubical now wearing a light blue blouse over a black shirt with dark blue jeans and black boots on her feet, "I could get used to this whole changing clothes thing" she said as her and Sam laughed and exited the women's shower area. They soon regrouped with the men who were now all wearing different clothes, Jake now wore adidas trainers with blue jeans and a black medium sleeved shirt, he also had a pair of shades and had a cigarette hanging out of one side of his mouth. Rick now wore a dark blue suit that looked just like his black one but was in pristine condition with black dress shoes, "I like the way these guys provide decent clothing" he said, Heavy was now wearing trainers with blue jeans and a red and white short sleeved Hawaiian shirt, he had a white sweat band around his head with a pair of gold tinted shaded and a cigar once again in his mouth. Finally Whitaker now wore cowboy boots with jeans and a long sleeved red shirt with a star logo on it along with his trusty hat which had already been cleaned, "don't you boys just look fabulous" Sam said laughing as Sian admired Rick in his now pristine suit, "ive gotta say these army guys sure know how to provide clothing for a man and a woman" Jake said.

It was then that the sergeant returned smiling as he admired the survivors in their new clothing, "alright people its time to go meet the big man in charge, hope you've all been on your best behaviour" he said laughing as he began to lead them all out of the wash area and towards central control, they were lead through several rooms, most of which had soldiers and scientists all conversing amongst each other They then reached the end of the corridor and made it to a large door which had a warning sign on the front as well as the symbol for live specimens, "don't be alarmed the infected in here cant hurt you under any circumstances, "the sergeant said smiling as he lead them through the room. The group looked nervously around to see a hunter and a witch both in glass tanks screaming and bashing at the unbreakable glass, they then passed through into another room, this room was very large and had several scientists working in silence, "alright people now the person your about to meet has a little bit of a surprise for you all but I promise you there is no reason to be alarmed" he said as they walked into another room. This room had one man in it, he stood up smiling as he walked over to the survivors, they all gasped in terror however as their on his shoulder plain as anything was a jockey giggling manically as it stared at the survivors, "holy shit..." Rick said quietly. Everyone this is doctor Keith Richards, and this here is Einstein our friendly domesticated jockey, the all stared dumbfounded at the site before them as the jockey simply waved at them with tis little clawed hand, "good to meet you folks im guessing your going to see the big man upstairs" he said as he shook each of their hands, "well aint you an interesting one" Heavy said looking at the jockey who merely giggled at him and waved. "Don't worry about him Einstein here has been helping me develop a vaccine for the green flu, this caused them all to look at each other in surprise, "once its ready we will be able to make unimmune people immune to the virus" he explained as they all looked at each other with a feeling of happiness. "Now go on the big man is waiting for you all" he said laughing as the jockey and Keith Richard waved them goodbye.

Finally after passing through a few more rooms they entered a large room with several armed guards who took the survivors weapons from them which they had no problems with, and there in the middle of the room was a fairly large man sitting a large chair in front of a desk, "good to see you folks made it now why don't you all take a seat and we can discuss what's gonna happen next" said Papa Gator with a warm smile on his face.

End Chapter

Author's notes: well this is it, the end is (maybe) nigh, but thank you to everyone who has read up til this point its been a pleasure writing this much for you and with that said I will see you all in the next one

Adios