Total Drama Zombieland

by Blazerxz

After weeks and months of travel, the three groups of Total Drama alumni have reached their destination: the United States. With danger nearly behind them, will any of them get careless at the very end? How will they adapt to normal life? And will any of their reunions be less than happy?

14. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Total Drama, Zombieland, The Walking Dead, 6teen, Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Left4Dead, Scott Pilgrim and anything else I ended up throwing in here that I'm forgetting are not owned by me in any capacity. The only things that are mine are the OC's, the general premise of the story, and the plot itself.

Well, here we are, the end of the road. Each section will be from the perspective of the group leader denoted at the header. Let's get on with the show!

---

Noah's group (Current time: 5 weeks since splitting into groups)

After about a week or so of traveling, we had reached Niagara Falls, figuring that as a major tourist destination, it would have both a larger point of entry and more soldiers defending the border. We were tired from our journey, but with the end in sight, we kept pushing forward. Things had been going well since we had left Toronto, all things considered. Though the loss of Leshawna was tragic, we were able to hold strong since then. We knew we would have time to mourn for our fallen, but right now there were more important things to worry about, like surviving.

As luck would have it however, we didn't run into many of the undead as we went. Those we did find were quickly dispatched, as we had continued to hone our fighting skills. It didn't help that we continued to learn what our strengths were and played to them while we traveled. DJ and Eva were our strongest and with a little bit of improvised armor in the form of some leather jackets we scavenged, they were able to essentially hold off numerous zombies at once. Scott, Ramona and Harold were all adept with their melee weapons, able to make calculated strikes with max efficiency. Katie and I used our size to our advantage, able to slip in and around the undead to stay safe, as I'm the shortest of our group and Katie's the most petite. And lastly Daryl was always an exceptional marksman with his crossbow, but it feels like he's only gotten better since we knew him. Maybe we just got lucky, but with our combined skills and some smart decisions along the way, we managed to make it this far without further incident.

Currently, we were standing on one side of a bridge spanning the length of the river. We stared out at the falls, the water flowing all the same despite the chaos that was on one side of the mighty force of nature. Katie grabbed my arm and said, "You know, I had always wanted to come here, it just always seemed so romantic."

I nodded, "There is indeed a beauty to it that makes it feel that way."

Daryl grumbled, "It's just some dumb water."

DJ clapped the Southerner on the back and said, "Let them have their fun. After all we made it through, I think they earned it."

Scott looked to his girlfriend, "So I'm going to follow your lead here. You used to live here, I don't know what to expect."

Ramona shrugged, "Don't worry dude. New York's a lot like Toronto. Just way busier and more rude. Assuming you want to live in New York, that is."

Harold tapped his chin as he pondered, "I wonder where would be the best place to set up my new dojo."

Eva raised an eyebrow, "You were serious about still doing that?"

Harold nodded and said, "Of course! Plus think of the new training regiments I can add now that we know zombies are a thing."

Eva grunted, "Dork." Despite this, she had a small smile on her face.

On the American side of the bridge, some soldiers were keeping watch and saw the approaching group. One of the soldiers fumbled for a minute looking for a megaphone after which he said, "Uh, hello there survivors! We would like to ask that you please keep your weapons holstered as you approach. We will need to do some testing and examinations and should you all pass them, you will be allowed entry."

Everyone looked to me and I raised an eyebrow, "What are you looking at me for? This is what we've come all this way for, right? Let's do what they say and go from there."

Putting away our weapons, we approached the barricade, where the soldiers were scrambling a bit, somewhat unprepared by our presence. Daryl grunted, "What's the matter with ya'll? Weren't expecting anyone?"

The soldier that had addressed us before shook his head and said, "No, we weren't. It's been a couple of weeks since anyone living made it over here."

Harold whistled and said, "Must make the job easy then. What exactly have you guys been doing here?"

A female soldier groaned and said, "It's easy, yeah, but it's just so boring. Not even many of the dead wander this way anymore. One of the advantages of the falls I guess, it masks our sound."

I tapped my chin, "Never thought of it that way. Maybe we should have stuck closer to rivers more."

One of the other soldiers asked, "This is a tough thing to answer, but did you lose many of you along the way?"

DJ frowned, "We started with a group of eight, three of us didn't make it."

Eva nodded, "There was someone else we ran into on the way, they didn't survive either."

Daryl shrugged, "I joined up with them later, but I didn't lose anyone before I met them."

Scott looked down and added, "A couple of my friends and my sister didn't make it out of Toronto when it fell."

Ramona sighed, "If we had stayed we wouldn't be in much better shape."

The first soldier raised a hand and said, "Hold on a second, did you say you came from Toronto? We heard from survivors that cities were overrun."

Harold held up his keys and said, "They were staying at my place, which was on the outskirts. And they managed to make a little fenced off safe zone for themselves."

Another soldier remarked, "Man, that's just crazy."

Katie bit her lip slightly and asked, "So like, what exactly do we have to do?"

The female soldier perked up, "Oh right, sorry about that. Just it's been so long since we've been able to talk to someone that isn't ourselves. So it's a two step process. We're going to do a physical examination of your body, to just check and make sure you aren't trying to mask any bites. We have separate semi-private areas for men and women, as well as individual examiners. We are going to ask that you strip down to underwear, but that's why we have the area as private as possible."

I nodded, "Seems reasonable enough. What's the second step?"

The soldier that originally addressed us said, "We're going to take blood samples. It should be obvious if you weren't bitten when we look you over, but we want to examine your blood. There's still a lot we don't know about whatever happened, so scientists think analyzing your blood might help in some way."

DJ nodded and said, "Sounds good. Then what happens?"

One of the other soldiers remarked, "Once we clear your physical exam and blood test, you'll be free to go. If you have family somewhere or a place you know you want to go to, we can provide transport there. Similarly, if you don't have anywhere to go, we have a program to help the refugees get settled."

Harold scratched his chin, "What about temporary arrangements? Some of us were part of a reality tv show in Canada and the host owns some property here in the states and set a point for us to meet up. However I don't know if he'll let us live there forever. Can we get contact information so if we need help in the future, we can get it?"

The group of soldiers looked among themselves before one nodded, "Within reason, yes. We've been told that we aren't expecting any more survivors after a certain point. I think the estimate was the end of the year. So as long as you reach out by then, it shouldn't be a problem."

Scott pursed his lips in thought and asked, "What about money? I mean, I didn't have a ton in savings by any means, but I still had something."

The female soldier chuckled, "Great thing about the internet, bank information was able to be transferred. Lucky for you the Canadian secretary of the treasury was in the states for business when everything went down. I don't know how he did it, but he was able to pull bank information for all Canadian banks big and small. They're all set up somewhere here in the states."

The first soldier said, "We have a bunch of helpful information and contacts to give you once you pass the inspections."

Daryl cracked his neck and said, "Let's get started then. We're burning daylight."

The soldiers led us over to two separate tents where Katie, Eva and Ramona went into one and DJ, Daryl, Harold, Scott and I went into the other. There we were met with a pair of doctors who one by one had us undress down to our underwear. They looked over virtually every inch of our body, looking for any signs of infection. If I didn't know the danger of letting us go unchecked, I would be severely creeped out. Hell, even knowing why they were doing it, it still felt a little unsettling. I never did do well with doctors.

Anyway, after each one of us got checked out, they drew some blood for study and then let us put our clothes back on and directed us to their mess hall, where we could get a good meal. We mostly ate in silence, too busy eating a freshly cooked meal to bother talking. Once we were done, we all sat around, waiting for the soldiers to tell us that we were free to go.

DJ let out a belch, his face turning red with embarrassment, "Oh man, excuse me."

Ramona chuckled, "Don't sweat it dude. You guys have been on the road for like a month, right? Live a little, you've earned it."

Daryl looked to the side and remarked, "Yeah, but there were others that weren't so lucky."

Katie looked down sadly with tears starting to form in her eyes and remarked, "Yeah, like Sadie."

I pulled her in for a hug, whispering to her, "It's okay, let it out if you need to."

Harold's shoulders slumped and he said, "I failed to protect Leshawna."

Eva rolled her eyes and said, "I guess I miss Justin. Sorta."

Ramona groaned, "Ugh, I totally didn't mean to bring down the mood."

Scott cleared his throat and said, "Hey guys, we've all lost people. I lost my little sister and one of my best friends. And yeah, I'm sad about it. But I've got a second chance to live a normal life. I'm not going to take that for granted."

Ramona drummed her fingers on the table and said, "Yeah, don't get me wrong, it's alright to be sad about the people you lost on the way. Just make sure you live your lives for them so their deaths weren't in vain."

Clapping came from the entrance to the room, and we all turned to see one of the soldiers from before. They stopped clapping and said, "Sorry, it's just, that was a wonderful little speech. It's nice to see some people focusing on hope instead of despair."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Not to be rude, but did you come here for a reason?"

The soldier nodded and said, "Yes, we've finished the necessary testing, and you all are free to go. I'll take you to an area we set up for helping ease survivors back into society and after we give you all the helpful information we can, you can tell us where you're all headed. We'll get you wherever you're going. It is getting to be on the later side, so if you want to stay the night, that's perfectly fine too. It won't be the comfiest bed in the world, but I'm sure it's better than what you're used to."

We were led to another area of the makeshift base where a soldier we hadn't seen before started to walk us through all the support programs that had been set up, as well as how to access their benefits. The entire time Daryl kept telling them that he was from the states and had been just visiting, but every time they would respond that everyone who crossed the border had to be debriefed, due to their protocol. When they were done, we decided that since New York City wasn't that far away, we would head there today. The soldier that was with us said he would prepare transport, as some of the soldiers stationed had the upcoming weekend off and would go with us. We explained our situation with the building Chris owned and he was able to give us an address to it, as well as a map of the city so we could find it once we were dropped off.

Within an hour, we were on a bus along with a trio of soldiers that we hadn't met before and were on our way to New York City. Many of us, myself included, ended up nodding off at some point in the nearly seven hour ride. By the time we reached the city, it was late evening, around 7pm, and the sun was setting. The soldiers that had gone with us pointed us in the right direction for our destination and we were on our way. I'm sure we seemed strange to the citizens of New York, a bunch of tattered, smelly people lugging various bags and such through the streets. Or maybe this was a normal occurrence for them by this point, who knows how many refugees from Canada came here? Not to mention the many homeless people that live in the city.

In any event, we made our way to McLean Towers, as Chris called it. It was a modest skyscraper about fifteen stories tall, almost out of place considering the hundreds of stories some of the other nearby buildings were. We entered the building and saw a rather standard lobby. There was a receptionist at a desk in the back as well as a couple of offices on the sides. The lobby had some furniture in it as well, presumably for people waiting for appointments or others. The receptionist was a young woman only a little older than we were with neatly kept black hair and glasses. I approached the desk and she took note of my approach, greeting me, "Hi there, welcome to McLean Towers. How can I help you?"

I cleared my throat and said, "Uh, hi. A little over a month ago, Chris McLean allegedly told you guys that if any former Total Drama competitors showed up, we would be able to get a place to stay here."

The receptionist nodded and said, "That's right! He was able to get a call out to here before all the communication from Canada was cut off. Isn't it just so horrible what happened there?"

I let out a small chuckle and said, "You don't know the half of it lady."

Realization seemed to dawn on her and she gasped, "Oh my gosh! You don't mean you all came from Canada, do you?"

I blinked and asked, "Wait, you mean you don't recognize us? Or at least some of us? I know we're all dirty and disheveled, but I didn't think we were that bad off. Most of us are from Total Drama."

The receptionist blushed in embarrassment slightly and said, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I admit I never really watched the show when it was on here. It wasn't exactly my kind of thing. Give me just a second and I can get you all set up."

I glanced back at our group and asked, "We've got a couple of people not from the show, can they stay here as well?"

The receptionist nodded and said, "Yes, that's quite alright. Mr. McLean's instructions, while short, were quite clear. Anyone with the contestants could stay here as well. And you can all stay for as long as you like. How many apartments will you need?"

My mouth opened in surprise and asked, "Apartments? I figured it was like a hotel or something."

The receptionist shook her head and said, "No, Mr. McLean wished to lease apartments, but due to the tragedy in Canada, he was unable to finish the necessary paperwork to start leasing."

After looking back to see if anyone would be sharing, I turned back to the receptionist and said, "In that case, we'll need six apartments."

She nodded and said, "Very good. Lucky for you each floor has exactly six units. We'll set you up on the fifth floor, if that's all right with you?"

I nodded and said, "Sounds good. Say, has anyone else from the show gotten here yet?"

She shook her head and replied, "No, you are the first ones to arrive. Hopefully nothing bad has befallen the rest of the Total Drama cast, but without a means to contact them we can't say."

I looked to the side and said, "I see. Thank you for the information."

The receptionist stood up and said, "I'll be back in just a moment with keys to the apartments. In the meantime, please make yourselves comfortable." She went into a back room and I went back over to the others.

Daryl looked at me and said, "I don't know why you got me a place here. I ain't gonna stay here for long. Cities just aren't my thing."

I shrugged, "Even if you aren't staying for long, I figured you would appreciate having your own place. We'll miss you if you leave though."

Daryl snorted, "I'm sure you will. But I need to get back home, make sure my brother hasn't been arrested again or something."

Katie pouted, "But if you leave, we might never see you again!"

Harold nodded, "It's true. After everything we've been through, are you really just going to up and leave us?"

Daryl shook his head and said, "Look, I might not have made it here if it wasn't for ya'll, won't deny that. But I got people to get back to. I'll stay for a few days, maybe a week, did always want to see why people loved this city so much. But I can't stay forever."

DJ frowned and asked, "Well can you at least tell us where you're going or give us some contact info or something? I'd hate to just lose touch with you forever."

Daryl nodded, "Yeah I can do that. Remind me later once we get settled or whatever."

Eva looked at Scott and Ramona and asked, "What about you two?"

Ramona shrugged, "I used to live here before I moved to Canada, I can manage. It's Scott here I'm worried about."

Scott looked confused and said, "Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I lived in Toronto, this city can't be much harder right? On the other hand, maybe it's time I finally gave suburb life a try. Though I would need to learn how to drive for that."

Harold put his hand on his pupil's shoulder and said, "I would be more than happy to teach you Scott. Though for now, maybe we should all live here until we're able to get on our feet elsewhere."

I nodded, "Not a bad plan. I'll admit, cities aren't really my thing. Too many people. Then again, unlike some of you, I'm not the only one making the decision."

Katie playfully stuck her tongue out and said, "That's right! Who knows, I may really like the city."

At this moment the receptionist returned and said, "Alright, I've got the keys for the six apartments on the fifth floor. The units come with utilities and internet access, and have toiletries and linens stocked as well. No food I'm afraid, as we had no idea how long it would be for someone to show up, but there's some basic cooking implements and utensils. As I understand it the banks were able to migrate things over to the states but they're likely all closed for the day, so just let me handle any food deliveries tonight and we can get you in contact with the banks tomorrow so you can get on your feet better."

DJ smiled and said, "That's very kind of you. Thank you."

The receptionist smiled back, "Don't mention it, after you had to manage for over a month now, it's the least I can do. Now, take these ID cards as well, they allow elevator access. And if you need anything else, there's always someone stationed down here so either myself or whoever is on duty should be able to assist you."

I took my ID card and apartment key from the receptionist and said, "Thank you, I'm sure you'll hear from us very soon." The receptionist nodded and headed back to her desk while we went over to the elevators. We went up to the fifth floor and made our way to the apartments that were labeled on our keys.

I hesitated for a moment before opening my door and said, "Hey guys? I'm sure everyone wants to get settled or whatever, but I'm also sure we're all going to have trouble adjusting. This might seem out of character for me, but if any of you want to hang out or grab something to eat, just let me know."

I heard various agreements from the others and then looked to Katie, who nodded. I opened the door and walked inside the apartment, Katie right behind me. As the door closed, we took a look at our new home. It opened into a large living room, with a kitchen off to the side. Part of the living room seemed to be set up as a dining nook, as it was part of the room, but there were slight walls that made it separate. There was a short hallway leading to a bedroom, with a small office, bathroom and closet that contained a washer and dryer on the way to the bedroom. The bedroom also had a larger bathroom attached to it.

I whistled as I looked around, "Wow, this really is something. Can't believe we can live here for free."

Katie nodded, "Oh, I know! Who would have thought Chris would give us a place like this?"

I chuckled and said, "Almost makes me want to hope he doesn't make it." Almost immediately after I said that I sighed, "Sorry, that was awful of me to say."

Katie nodded, "Yeah, it kind of was. But I doubt you were the only person to wish Chris was dead before all this happened."

I let out a mirthless chuckle and replied, "Since when were you so blunt?"

Katie hugged me and said, "Must of picked it up from you."

It was quiet for a few moments before I asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Katie sighed and while still holding on to me, replied, "If I'm being totally honest, I'll be okay, but I don't think I'll ever be the same. Sadie was such a big part of my life, that it feels like there's a piece of me missing now. Yeah, I'll be able to move on, at least partly, but it's always gonna feel like I'm not complete."

I continued to hold the embrace and said, "Well I'll always be there for you. I might not be able to fill the void, but I'll damn well try."

Katie broke the embrace and looked at me, tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. She leaned down and kissed me and said, "I love you, you know that?"

I had a smile on my face as I replied, "I do. And I love you."

We shared another kiss before Katie turned to look toward the bathroom and said, "Okay, as nice as this is, I've waited long enough. It's been so long since I had a shower."

I raised an eyebrow and sarcastically asked, "What? I thought you liked being covered in dirt and grime."

Katie giggled, "I may have gotten used to it, but that doesn't mean I liked it."

I shook my head but was smiling as I said, "Alright then, go ahead. I'll take one after you're done. I should start looking into food. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

Katie paused and said, "Oh, I guess you could do that. I was going to suggest you join me for my shower."

I sputtered for a moment before I said, "Well who am I to deny your request?" Katie giggled and led me to the bathroom. We had made it at last to a safe haven, and we could have our lives return to something normal. It wouldn't be easy, but together, I knew we could do it.

---

It was a week after we had made it to New York that Daryl got us all together. Luckily for him we were all around because we all had ordered furniture for our apartments and were awaiting delivery. I looked at the Southerner and asked, "So you're sure about this? There's nothing I could say that would change your mind?"

He shook his head, "Nah. Much as I like you guys, I got family I got to get back to. I gave you contact stuff for me though, so if ya'll are ever near Atlanta, let me know."

Harold shook Daryl's hand and said, "We'll miss you. You are a truly reliable guy."

Daryl smirked and said, "You ain't too bad with a sword yourself. Good luck on getting your gym or whatever back up and running."

Harold sighed and said, "It's not a gym, it's a dojo. You know, for martial arts and stuff."

Scott clapped Harold's shoulder and said, "Don't worry master Harold, I'll help you rebuild."

Harold turned to Scott and said, "Thank you Scott. In fact, given your skills and performance in the apocalypse, you are no longer just a mere student. You have earned the position of master. If you so wish, I could use your help in instructing new students when we manage to reopen."

Scott's eyes widened and started to tear up in a cartoon-like fashion and he sniffled, "Harold, it would be my honor." Ramona shook her head but she had a bemused smirk on her face.

Eva playfully punched Daryl in the shoulder and said, "While I was surprised by how well these guys were able to handle themselves, it was good to meet someone that didn't need any help in defending themselves. If you ever come back this way, don't be a stranger."

Daryl chuckled, "Heh, I'm not exactly one for cities, but I might find a reason to make my way up this way. If I ever do decide to come up here, I'll let you know."

DJ gave the Southerner a smile and said, "Well stay safe, alright? Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if after everything you went through, you get hurt or die from something stupid?"

Daryl shook his head and said, "You don't got to worry about me. My brother Merle's the stupid one in the family."

Katie gave Daryl a hug and said, "Thanks for taking us in that first night we met. If you hadn't, we might not all be here right now."

The Southerner replied, "Hey, ya'll got me back here. I'm grateful for that. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to save your friends that didn't make it."

I mused, "It was thanks to our combined efforts that as many of us survived as we did. Who can say how things would be different if anything had changed? In any event, we'll miss you Daryl. But happy trails in the future. And hopefully this won't be goodbye forever."

Daryl looked to me and after a moment, said, "I'll miss you guys too. And hey, I'll do what I can to see ya'll again. I just won't promise it'll happen anytime soon."

Just then a man entered the lobby and said, "Hello, car service to JFK Airport for a Mr. Daryl Dixon?"

Daryl raised his hand and said, "That's me. Just give me a sec to say bye to my friends, alright?"

The man nodded and said, "Of course sir. I'm right out front."

He exited and Daryl shook hands with everyone (or hugged in Katie's case), before picking up his bag. He gave a slight nod to us one more time before he walked outside to head back to where he called home.

Ramona looked around and said, "So I know Daryl leaving is sad and all. So I propose a little night out. Something like getting dinner and then like bowling or something. There's some places I know of from when I used to live here just over in Brooklyn. What do you guys say?"

I looked to Katie, whose eyes lit up at the idea of a night out and said, "Well if Katie's reaction is any indication, I think we're in."

Eva smirked, "I'll take any chance I can get to prove I'm the best at anything athletic."

DJ nodded, "Sounds fun, count me in."

Harold nodded as well, "Well I'm not about the be the odd man out. Besides, I used to be quite the bowler when I was younger. I won the possum scouts bowling jamboree three years in a row."

Scott nodded, "Sounds like a plan Ramona. When should we go?"

Ramona shrugged, "It's only noon, I figure we can leave about five. I'll make a reservation at this place I know. I hope you guys like sushi."

Despite being sad that Daryl left us so soon, we knew it wouldn't be forever. Besides, we had each other to keep our spirits up and now that we were no longer in mortal danger, we were willing to let things return to normal. Still, I could only hope that the other groups would show up sooner rather than later, and hopefully they wouldn't have lost too many people on the way.

---

Chris' group (Current time: Just under 2 and a half months since splitting into groups)

It had been a day and a half since we had left Montreal when we were stopping about twenty minutes from the border. Chris and his team were taking the events of what happened in Montreal harder than the rest of us. That was understandable, given that they had known Bill longer than we had. The thing that was impacting my group, the original part of it that is, was Ezekiel's return. Even after he explained his situation in his somewhat broken English, many of us were still confused. Still, glad to know one less person died I suppose.

Anyways, when we had stopped, Chris gathered everyone and said, "Alright, here's the plan. We're reaching the border near Plattsburgh, New York. My team will go ahead of the rest of you to basically give the soldiers there a heads up to what we're bringing. You guys will go in on foot, as we need to check in with the commanding officer here with all of our equipment. We will do what we can to speed up the process for you guys. Any questions?"

Trent gestured with his missing hand and said, "Should I be concerned about this?"

Chris rubbed his chin and said, "Given the circumstances, they may want to do some testing with you despite what we tell them. You ought to come with us, just to be safe."

Jonesy asked, "What about the rest of us?"

Frank walked over and said, "Like Chris said, we have to brief them on the situation. They thought we might encounter a couple of people, not ten of you. To get complete clearance for all of you will be difficult, so just head toward the normal checkpoint and we should be fine."

I shrugged, "Fair enough I guess."

Jill smirked, "Hey, don't look so glum, from what you told me you've been walking a ton so far, what's a little more?"

Cody tapped his chin and asked, "You aren't planning on having us walk from here are you?"

Leon revved the engine of one of the trucks before sticking his head out the window and joking, "I'm just kidding, we'll drop you off closer to the checkpoint."

Jen pursed her lips in thought and asked, "What about Ezekiel? I mean something like that should probably be given special attention, right?"

Chris mused, "While yes, his condition is something we need to inform them of, I think it'll be for the best if he goes with you. If we can prove he is acceptable to be around a group of people, I have a feeling they will be fine."

Ezekiel tilted his head and asked, "Promise not enough?"

Jill sighed, "Probably not, no. Even though it's not quite the same, you still look close enough to a zombie that without a bigger group around you, we can't guarantee safety."

I crossed my arms in thought and said, "So you'll take Trent while you check in with the troops. Meanwhile the rest of us will walk over to them? That the gist of it?"

Leon nodded, "I mean, I think it's a good plan."

Jude shrugged, "As long as we're all cool here, then we shouldn't have any issues yeah? Let's just go for it."

Frank nodded, "Then let's get moving. We'll drop you guys off about a half mile from the checkpoint." We all got back into the trucks and drove for another fifteen minutes or so when we stopped and dropped off my group, minus Trent. The trucks drove off and we started walking toward the border. A couple of us were keeping an eye on our rear, as we wouldn't want to run into any trouble now of all times.

Jen, who was one of the ones watching out, said, "We've got trouble."

Without turning back, I asked, "How many are we talking?"

Jen replied, "I count five, no wait, six."

Ezekiel sniffed the air and said, "More than she sees."

I adjusted the stuff I was carrying and said, "Alright, let's pick up the pace. If they follow, the border guards can take care of it."

We kept moving, faster now. Some of the more athletic people, like Tyler and Jonesy, ended up leading the pack. Jen and Ezekiel kept an eye on the zombies that were now following us, more joining in. We continued to pick up our speed as we approached the border. As we turned a corner, we saw a handful of soldiers standing guard.

One said with a megaphone, "Survivors, Chris Redfield has said we would be expecting you. Please report to us so we can get you through safely." We were now running towards the soldiers that were beckoning us forward, the handful of zombies giving chase.

I grunted, "Man, what I wouldn't give to have Frank or Leon or someone here right now. I know why, but why did they go ahead of us?"

Jen passed me and said, "Just be glad they vouched for us. Something tells me they would have to examine us or whatever normally."

Jude panicked, "Can we talk about things later? Just run!"

A small group of us had already reached the soldiers at the checkpoint when a voice called out, "They're within our effective range, the rest of you, hit the deck!" I dove to the ground, and saw Ezekiel to my left, covering his head.

A barrage of gunfire flew above us from the soldiers for a few seconds before it stopped and some of the soldiers ran past to establish a perimeter or something. A few of the soldiers stopped at those of us on the ground to help us up. As they did so, a soldier said to me, "Fancy running into you here, Mr. McLean sir!"

Recognizing the voice, I looked up, "Brick? Is that you?"

The soldier helping me had a helmet on, but I could see from his face that he was indeed the fourth season contestant. He saluted me and said, "Brick McArthur, reporting for duty!"

I returned the gesture and said, "What are you doing here?"

Brick chuckled, "Well after my performance during my season didn't turn out the best, I returned to what I was doing before and finished my training in the states. Imagine my surprise when not only do they say zombies have taken over Canada, but we get asked to maintain the border."

I shook Brick's hand and said, "Well I'm glad to see you're doing well."

Brick nodded, "Likewise sir. Now, let's get you back to the rest of your group."

I nodded, "Sounds like a good idea. I was told by some of the others we were with that they would help speed up the process for us."

Brick confirmed, "That's right sir. Mr. Redfield talked to us and said he had already cleared you and your group regarding infection. So you can skip the physical examination part. We still would like to debrief you on the various programs that were set up to help the survivors though."

I blinked, "There's multiple programs that were set up?"

Brick nodded in confirmation, "Yes sir. I won't go into specifics, that's what the meeting later is for, but to make things short, there's things in place for the banks, getting people set up living wise, and other things meant to get people back on their feet."

I was in surprise by this and remarked, "Well, that's much more than I was expecting."

Brick agreed, "I have to admit, it was more than I thought as well."

At this point, we had walked back to where my group was meeting up. I looked at the group and asked, "Everyone accounted for?"

Sierra nodded, "Well except Trent, I think he's still being looked over or something."

Brick nodded, "Yes, we were told about him. The physician on hand is looking over him. He should be released soon."

Nikki raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do we need to worry about anything? Redfield and the rest of his crew said they would try and get us cleared easier or something."

Brick nodded once more, "Yes ma'am, he was able to get clearance for your group. In lieu of our normal testing, they vouched for you. With that said, may I be the first to say, Welcome to the United States."

Another soldier came over and said, "If you all would like to join us, we're about to have lunch at the mess tent. Once you're done, your friend should be out of his examination and we can debrief you on the situation and help get you all set up."

I interjected, "We'll be heading into New York City. I own an apartment building there that I'm putting us up in at least for the time being."

Jude's eyes widened and he said, "Whoa, dude, are you serious?"

I nodded, "Of course. You guys may not have started with us, but we became one big group, didn't we? If nothing else, think of it as my thanks for taking us in when we first got to the mall."

Jen suddenly hugged me and said, "Thank you. I wasn't exactly sure what any of us were going to do, but this at least will give us somewhere to stay until we figure it out."

Jonesy looked at the soldier and said, "Did you say something about food? That sounds good to me, I'm starved!"

The soldier led us to their dining area where we were able to eat a real meal. When we were finishing up, Chris and his team arrived in tow with Trent. I waved them over, "Hey guys, glad to see you could make it."

Chris walked over, "Glad to see you had no issues yourself McLean."

Once Trent got food and sat down, Cody asked, "So what's the prognosis?"

Trent gestured with his missing hand and said, "Docs say that I should see a surgeon once we get where we're going if I want it to heal as well as it can, but I would be able to get by as is."

Nikki smirked, "Not too shabby for a spur of the moment job, eh?"

Jill nodded, "You did a good job, both in how quickly you acted and in your course of action."

Frank agreed, "She's right. You should be proud, Trent's alive because of you."

Jonesy put his arm around Nikki and pulled her in close to him and said, "Yeah, my girlfriend is pretty awesome, isn't she?"

I looked at Chris and his team and asked, "So what comes next?"

Leon shrugged, "We go back to our superiors. Give them our intel and evidence and hope it's enough. You guys, do whatever you want. As far as I'm concerned, you're free to do what you want now."

Sierra looked sad and asked, "Will we ever see you guys again?"

Chris looked at Jill and Leon and said, "Doubtful. Besides Frank, we're all government agents in some form. We'll likely be moved to new assignments on other tasks. But who knows, if we ever get some down time in New York, we might swing by and see how you're all adjusting."

Frank shrugged and replied, "You might see me more often. I'll probably be working various investigations for the foreseeable future, but one of my big contacts and clients is in New York. If I'm in the area, I'll drop by."

I asked, "So does that mean this is goodbye?"

Jill smirked, "For now at least. Who knows, you've all proven yourselves capable. If you don't mind going back into danger, we might toss your names in for recommendations if we need another team member."

Jude leaned back in his chair and said, "Well good luck with your stuff dudes and dudette."

Jen nodded, "Yeah, we may not have known you guys for long, but I still feel like we can call each other friends."

Leon smirked, "You guys aren't so bad yourself, for a bunch of kids."

I stood up and shook their hands and said, "Well, I hope you guys are successful in your mission."

Chris shook my hand back and said, "And I hope you all land on your feet after all this. We may not see each other again after this, so if we don't, I wish you all the best of luck."

Brick walked over and said, "Sir, if I may? None of the men stationed here have leave coming up. If you are at all headed toward New York City, would you be able to provide Mr. McLean and the others passage?"

Frank chuckled, "Guess we aren't out of each other's hair just yet."

Chris nodded, "We were to report back to Washington, so we can give these guys a ride. So long as they don't mind sitting in the truck for another day."

Ezekiel shrugged, "What one more day?"

Tyler cracked his neck and asked, "Do we have to leave immediately?"

Jill tilted her head and remarked, "I mean, what are you thinking? It's only a six hour drive, give or take. So you guys can be there by tonight if we leave soon."

Sierra replied, "If it's only going to take that long, maybe we should get going today. I'd rather sleep in a real bed than in the truck again."

Cody nodded, "Yeah, I can put up with it a little longer if it means we'll be where we're going."

I looked to the rest of the group and asked, "Any objections to heading for NYC today?"

When nobody spoke up, Chris said, "Well we have a couple things to take care of still. Mainly paperwork and the like. So give us an hour and a half and we can get on the road?"

Brick saluted and said, "Mr. McLean sir! We need to brief you and the others on what sort of help they can expect getting back on their feet."

I gasped, "You're right, I completely forgot about that. Okay, we'll do that and we should be ready to leave when it's done I think."

We went to the information session, and lucky for us they gave us all the info in writing because they threw so much at us I know I wasn't going to remember it all. Anyways, after a little over an hour, which had flown by, we were out of the meeting and waiting for Chris and his team to be ready.

Brick approached me again and said, "Well Mr. McLean sir, this is where we part ways I'm afraid to say. I'm not due for leave for another couple of weeks."

I shook Brick's hand and gave him the address of my building and said, "It was good to see you. If you're ever in New York City, come find me, I'll treat you to dinner or something."

Brick saluted and said, "Sir, it's been a pleasure. Glad to know you made it out all right."

Frank walked over and said, "You guys good to go?"

I nodded, "I think so. Say, make sure the others know that you guys can stay at my building tonight."

The photojournalist raised an eyebrow and asked, "You sure? We won't mind dropping you off and getting a hotel somewhere."

I shook my head and said, "After everything you guys did for us, consider this my way of thanking you. I don't think the apartments are that well furnished, but there's at least comfy beds and clean showers."

Frank laughed, "After the less than ideal conditions we've been in lately, I don't think you'll hear any complaints. Anyways, grab your stuff, Chris wants to head out in ten." I made my way back to the rest of the group and told them to get their things, and within ten minutes, we were all ready to go.

Chris looked us over and said, "Ready for one last drive?"

I nodded, "I think we're as ready as we're going to be."

Leon stuck his head out of the cab of one of the trucks and asked, "Can we get a move on? I heard something about a hot shower and a warm bed and I honestly can't wait for that."

Jill smirked and replied, "That sounds like something I would say Leon."

Leon grumbled and Chris said, "We'll head for the city. We'll stop at a rest stop or something just outside, then you come up front to guide me, alright?"

I nodded, "That sounds good to me."

Chris smiled ever so slightly and said, "Thanks for putting us up for the night, I appreciate it."

I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and said, "Hey, after all you did, I'd let you stay for as long as you liked. But you have your job to finish, so I get why you wouldn't be able to."

Chris nodded and said, "That's right. Anyway, let's get moving."

My group got into the trucks and we began our trip. It was largely uneventful, but due to it being late summer by this point, it was almost dark by the time we reached our destination. I thought ahead when building my apartment building, as I made sure to include some limited parking behind the building. Since I hadn't been able to start leasing yet, the rather limited space wasn't an issue yet.

We parked the trucks and as everyone got their things, I said, "Alright, who here is going to share apartments? So I can give my receptionist an accurate number."

Jonesy wrapped an arm around Nikki's shoulders and said, "We will!" Nikki rolled her eyes, but her amused smirk and lack of a vocal response indicated she did not object.

Sierra hopped up and down and said, "Oh, Cody and I will too!"

Jen looked at Jude and asked, "Do you want to share Jude? I mean we are boyfriend and girlfriend, right?"

Jude's eyes widened slightly for a moment before his normal expression returned and he said, "I'm good with it if you are Jen. I don't want you to be uncomfortable and think this is moving too fast or whatever."

Jen shook her head and said, "No I am! That's why I asked."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "So is that a yes?"

Jen's face turned red and she quickly nodded before hiding behind Jude, despite her being taller than the skater. I turned to Chris and his team and asked, "What about you guys? Separate rooms?"

Chris asked, "How well furnished are they?"

I tilted my head in thought and said, "I think I told the manager I hired to get a bed for the bedroom and I think pullout couches as well."

Frank folded his hands behind his head and said, "We can get by with two then, right?"

Leon shrugged, "I guess so. I just hope I'm not the one that ends up on the couch."

Trent looked over at Tyler and said, "Hey Tyler, mind sharing a place with me? I feel like I'm going to need help because of the whole 'missing a hand' thing."

Tyler nodded, "Yeah man, I got your back."

Ezekiel looked at me and said, "Chris help Ezekiel? Get back to normal?"

I ruffled his hat and said, "Sure, sure, you can stay with me until you get better. I do still owe you some money, don't I? Okay, so that's what, 7 total apartments, with two being temporary? I'll go let them know."

I went around front to the entrance and upon entering, a receptionist greeted me, "Welcome to McLean Towers. How can I-" She trailed off a moment before exclaiming, "Mr. McLean! You made it!"

I laughed, "Yes, it wasn't easy, but I did in fact manage to survive."

The receptionist immediately stood up and said, "How many made it with you? How many apartments will your group need?"

I approached the front desk and said, "We'll need seven units, though two are only temporary. Some companions we met have business in Washington but I told them they could stay the night as thanks for helping us get here. There's fourteen of us in total."

The receptionist gasped, "Wow, you must have come across quite a few others."

I nodded, "Yeah, a group of six, plus there are four that are staying just tonight. Remind me, your name's Sandra?"

The receptionist shook her head and said, "I'm Kathy sir."

I snapped my fingers and said, "Dang. Sorry about that."

Kathy shook her head again as she headed for the administrative office and said, "Don't worry sir, you've been through so much I'm sure. We only met the one time before all this happened, so I'm not surprised you forgot my name. The stories I've heard from some of the others make me so thankful that nothing like that has happened here."

I perked up and looked at her retreating form and said, "Others? Some of the others have made it here first?"

Kathy nodded, "Yes, one other group. Let me get things set up here and then I'll tell you more."

The rest of the group made their way inside and I said, "So it seems another group made it here before us."

Trent raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do we know who?"

I shook my head and said, "Kathy, the night receptionist, was about to tell me but when to get us set up first."

Suddenly the elevator door dinged and as it opened a sarcastic voice asked, "What's with all the commotion out back? Sounds like a monster truck rally or something?"

A gruff voice added, "Did you really just try to compare that to a monster truck rally? Have you even been to one?"

The first voice was going to respond, but locked eyes with all of us and said, "Well aren't you all a sight for sore eyes."

I asked, "Noah, Eva, is that you?"

Noah rolled his eyes, "No, I'm just Noah's undead corpse that's beginning to regain some of my humanity."

Cody shook his head, "Some things never change."

Eva scanned her gaze over my group and said, "Well you picked up more people than we did, that's for sure."

Noah hummed in agreement and said, "Though it looks like you guys lost a couple people too. And wait a second, is that Ezekiel?"

I nodded and said, "It's a long story. You want to grab the rest of your group? Maybe we can share stories for a few?"

Noah nodded to the elevator and said, "Katie's already on it. Harold and one of the other guys we picked up aren't here right now, they've taken to going to the gym. But everyone else should be here shortly." Sure enough, the elevator dinged as the doors opened and DJ, Katie and Ramona exited.

I looked at their small group and asked, "It's been so long I don't remember who was with who. Who did you guys lose?"

Noah sighed and said, "We lost Justin and Sadie a couple weeks in. And then Leshawna sacrificed herself to save us in Toronto. There was another guy we ran into on the way but he didn't make it either."

I nodded and said, "We lost Alejandro and Lindsay, as well as a couple of other people we met in a city roughly two days or so from Montreal. Heather also left the group voluntarily after Alejandro died."

Frank nodded and said, "Yeah, she stole my helicopter. Well, the government's, but I was cleared to fly it. Good thing I'm not footing the bill on that one."

Ramona looked over and said, "What's the deal with all the extra bodies?"

Jill raised an eyebrow and said, "I could ask you the same thing. You look a fair bit older than the rest of them."

Ramona ran a hand through her newly-dyed red hair and said, "My boyfriend, who is with Harold, and I were living in Toronto when we ran across Noah and the others."

Jen raised her hand before gesturing to Jude, Jonesy and Nikki and said, "My friends and I were living in the mall we spent basically all our free time at when we found Chris and the other Total Drama guys."

Chris nodded and said, "The rest of the adults here are part of a special mission we had to perform. I can't tell you more unfortunately."

Kathy came back into the room and said, "Mr. McLean, I've readied your apartments. There was a unit that was vacated on the fifth floor about a month ago that was cleaned and ready for a new tenant, so I picked that and the six units on the sixth floor."

I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Someone was here and left?"

Noah spoke up, "Someone else we ran into on the way, he was from the states originally so he went back home after a week."

I nodded, "I see. Well, should we catch up a bit before we all retire?"

Noah shrugged, "I've got nothing better to do."

I looked at Kathy and said, "Would you mind ordering a bunch of pizzas? Might as well make a meal out of it."

Kathy nodded, "Sure Mr. McLean. I'll get right on that."

Everyone got comfortable in the lobby and I asked, "So when did you guys get here?"

DJ answered, "It was about five weeks ago I think. It only took us a little over a month to make it here."

Eva nodded, "It was pretty uneventful, with a couple of exceptions. Funny, we only really ran into anything major when we encountered other people. There was this one town he hit early on, where we met this kid about our age. He didn't make it unfortunately, but we found this strange tunnel in a house that led to like a research lab or something."

Chris raised an eyebrow, "Research lab? You find anything that denoted what they were doing?"

Noah shook his head, "Place seemed pretty cleared out. We found some old memos from a couple years ago that said something about an infection they were studying."

Jill had a look of concern on her face and said, "Did you notice anything else?"

Katie gasped, "Oh, the generators or something ran out of power and the place self destructed!"

Leon groaned, "Sounds like one of the optional sites we could have checked."

Frank shrugged, "If it was abandoned for a couple years chances are we wouldn't have found anything. You should all be lucky you got out of there in time."

I spoke up, "You mentioned something about someone here that left you guys? What's up with that?"

Noah nodded, "His name was Daryl, said he was in Canada for some type of hunting excursion, but was originally from down South. Nice enough guy, if a bit blunt. Was a crack shot with a crossbow. We ran into him maybe a week or so after that last city. Whatever you guys were up to, seems like the town we found Daryl in was somewhat connected. There were warehouses with the logo of the research lab there."

I gulped and nervously asked, "Geez, how far does that company reach?"

Chris sighed, "I think I mentioned it before, they're international. That's why what we were doing was so important."

Katie frowned and added, "Well whatever the case, we lost both Justin and Sadie there. I wasn't exactly the most stable for awhile after that."

Tyler sighed and said, "I get the feeling. I'm still not over losing Lindsay."

Jen pat her fellow athlete's shoulder and said, "It's still fresh Ty, I don't think anyone expects you to be over something like that."

Ramona added, "I can't speak for anything these guys did before they found me and my boyfriend Scott, but they ran into us maybe a little under two months ago now? That sounds right. Anyway, we were living at Harold's old martial arts dojo. Harold and the others dropped by since he left some supplies and they convinced us to come with them. Leshawna unfortunately didn't make it out of Toronto. She has my respect however, as she sacrificed herself to save the rest of us."

DJ solemnly nodded, "I should be glad that we only lost a few friends, but I would have rather lost nobody."

I agreed, "I hear that DJ. We lost more people than I was hoping for too."

The door to the lobby opened and a delivery boy said, "Well the size of this order makes sense now. Guess it's Pizza Time."

I waved him over and said, "Bring them here. You didn't happen to bring plates and napkins, did you?"

The deliver boy nodded, "Yes sir, the order requested them. They also made sure to pay in advance with a rather generous tip. So thank you for that."

I took some of the pizzas and said, "No, thank you. It's been rough for a lot of us lately. Canadian refugees. But this pizza, it's something special, I can tell."

The delivery boy finished making his delivery and said, "Well I'm glad you guys were able to make it here. I can't imagine the things you had to go through. Anyways, I gotta be going, but welcome to America and good luck."

The delivery boy left and another voice said, "You guys ordered pizza without us? Wait, who are all these people?"

Ramona waved, "Hey Scott, Harold, just in time."

Harold walked over and said, "Good to see you made it out safely Chris."

I nodded, "Likewise. It wasn't all pleasant, but let's eat and we can tell you our story." And eat we did. After a couple of months of scavenged and non perishable food, an unhealthy pizza really hit the spot.

Once we were done, Noah asked, "So, what sorts of horrors did you guys encounter?"

DJ nodded, "I don't need to hear the horror stuff, but I am curious how you guys found Ezekiel."

Cody recounted, "Well it was pretty uneventful until about six weeks ago or so. Around the time you guys got here I guess. We found a mall that seemed to be fortified, or at the very least the undead hadn't made their way inside."

Sierra nodded, "We hoped that there was supplies that we could find and take with us."

Jonesy grinned, "They found us instead. But we were nice and took them in."

Nikki shook her head, "Things were normal until about a week ago. I don't know if we got careless or what but a bunch of zombies broke into the mall. More than we could possibly handle."

Trent gestured with his remaining hand, "We were split up and separated, trying to escape the mall. All I know is Alejandro died inside but I don't know how."

Tyler scratched the back of his head and said, "He was driving this big riding lawnmower, using it to mow down zombies. He somehow lost control and he and Heather were knocked off of it. Then it blew up, but he shielded Heather from the blast. And then he threw himself at a bunch of the dead to save me."

Noah raised an eyebrow, "Alejandro sacrificing himself to save others? Yeah right."

Jen nodded, "No, it's true. I was with Tyler and Lindsay when he did it."

DJ shook his head, "Always knew he had some decency deep down, just wish it hadn't taken that for it to come out."

Harold raised an eyebrow and asked, "So you left the mall, but then what happened?"

Nikki sighed and said, "Me, Trent, my boyfriend Jonesy here and our friends Caitlyn and Wyatt escaped out a different exit from the rest of them, but as we were meeting up with them, Caitlyn tripped and was overrun."

Frank butted in, "I met the others near the bigger entrance they were taking. I had a small helicopter I had landed near the entrance and while I was talking to these guys, that Heather girl took my helicopter and flew off. She's probably dead right now unless she knew how to fly a helicopter unfortunately."

Chris then spoke up, "I was across the city on classified business so Frank and the others made their way to me."

Cody sighed and said, "We had split up into groups of two as we made our way through, to make sure we wouldn't all get overrun."

Sierra solemnly nodded, "Unfortunately, Cody and I saw Lindsay and Wyatt get completely swarmed."

I continued the story, "The rest of us made it to the rendezvous point, and barring Trent getting knocked out by something, we made it out without incident."

Jill brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "As far as I know, they made a beeline for Montreal at that point, which is where they ran into Leon and I, as we were holding down the fort for Chris and Frank."

Leon nodded, "We took McLean with us to finish our mission in the city, where we unfortunately lost another member of our squad, Bill."

Trent raised his stump arm and said, "While they were doing that, we were defending their base from zombies. I was knocked down by Ezekiel, who was looking for Chris, and when I was trying to regain my bearings, I was bitten on the hand. Nikki helped take care of it and keep the infection from spreading."

Eva grunted, "I was wondering about homeschool. I think everyone assumed he died."

Ezekiel spoke up in his broken English, "I revert somewhat. Help me survive. I find Chris, make him pay up."

Katie tilted her head, "Pay up? For what?"

I shook my head and said, "Way back, before we split up, I had promised a million bucks to someone who could clear the way and Zeke here took me up on it. He's spent this whole time tracking us down to make good on my offer. Which I will do in the coming days once we get settled."

Harold nodded and said, "Well, glad to see another friend make it through all this. Things could be worse, we could have lost more people."

Trent nodded, "We really lucked out, didn't we? I mean, yeah we lost people, but we could have lost a lot more. Makes me worry about the last group, considering they aren't here yet."

Noah shrugged, "I wouldn't worry too much. They've got Duncan, Izzy and Chef, so they should make it sooner or later."

I rubbed my chin in thought and said, "They were going to Quebec, right? So they had the most ground to cover."

Jude blinked and said, "But didn't you guys crash at Galleria Mall with us for like a month?"

Chris shook his head and said, "You lot made up a lot of ground by hitching a ride with us."

By this point, the pizzas were eaten and my group was ready to retire for the night. After Kathy gave us our keys and id's, we got ready to go to our rooms. I pulled Chris aside and asked, "When are you guys leaving tomorrow?"

Chris shrugged, "Late morning. Around 10 maybe. We'll make sure to say our goodbyes before heading out."

I nodded, "Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning then." I then went up to my apartment, seeing Ezekiel already making himself comfortable on the couch. After making sure he was going to be all set, I retired to the bedroom, weary from the last couple of months but ready to finally put that behind me.

---

The next morning, most of my group was seeing Chris and his team off. We were in the parking lot out back as they were checking the last of their supplies. Chris walked over and said, "Well, seems we're all set here. McLean, thanks for giving us a place to stay for the night. I'm glad we were able to get as many of you here as we did."

I shook his hand and said, "Thank you for taking us with you. I'm sure we would still be a ways from Montreal without your help."

Frank grinned, "Hey, I'm all about helping people in zombie scenarios, so don't mention it."

Cody nodded and said, "Well good luck with whatever is left of your mission. We don't know much, but I'm sure you're doing good work."

Leon groaned, "The best part is left, the paperwork. Can't wait to deal with all that."

Jill laughed, "I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think."

Jonesy laughed as well, "Oh man, I do not envy you right now Leon."

Leon grumbled as he got into the truck. I turned back to Chris and said, "Well, good luck with what comes next. And let me know if you or any of the others are ever in the area. You'll always have a place to stay."

Chris nodded, "Thanks. Good luck with adjusting back to normal life. You and the kids will need the help I feel."

With that, he got into the truck along with Jill while Frank got into the truck Leon was in. We waved them off as they proceeded out of the parking lot for the building and went on their way.

Jen sighed, "I know we didn't know them that well or that long, but I'm going to miss them."

Sierra nodded her agreement, "Oh I know. I feel like we owe them a lot that we won't ever be able to pay back."

Trent spoke up, "Just live a life worth living. Do that, and I'm sure they would appreciate it."

Jude grinned, "We got plenty of time for that later dudes. We're in one of the biggest cities in the world and we lived. I say we party!" I shook my head but had a smile on my face as I wondered what exactly I had gotten myself into with these teens. Still, I could only hope we get word from the last group sooner rather than later.

---

Duncan's group (Current time: 5 months since splitting into groups)

Two soldiers were standing in the middle of a road that ran through a forest. They were stationed in a gap in some defensive fortifications that ran through the forest on both sides of them. The walls were sturdy, but there was evidence they were hastily built. A sign in the distance read "Welcome to Canada! Customs Checkpoint is just ahead." The road turned a corner just past the sign.

One soldier turned to his companion and asked, "Hey Davis?"

Davis looked at the other soldier and said, "Yeah Johnson?"

Johnson asked, "You ever wonder why we're here?"

Davis looked in thought for a second before saying, "That's one of the mysteries of life, isn't it? Is there a God and we're all following his plan? Or is it all just a series of coincidences that led to this point in time? Or maybe we're all just pawns in a game played by beings that we can't even comprehend. It's certainly something to think about."

Johnson stared at his partner for a few seconds before he said, "What? No, I mean why did Command stick us at this outpost? Like what did we do to be put in the middle of goddamn nowhere."

Davis blinked, "Oh. That's what you meant."

Johnson continued to rant, "And when are we getting proper fortifications? Because once the snow starts, these walls aren't gonna hold for long!"

Davis looked concerned, "You alright there buddy?"

Johnson sighed, "Yeah, sorry. Just needed to vent. What was with that stuff about God? Didn't take you for the religious type."

Davis scoffed, "The dead are walking the Earth. Or, you know, Canada. Makes one want to reconsider things, you know?"

Johnson muttered, "Yeah, like joining the army."

Davis looked over, "What was that?"

Johnson shook his head, "Nothing."

The two were quiet for a couple minutes until Davis spoke up, "Hey, do you hear that?"

Johnson sighed, "You're going to have to be more specific than that."

Davis turned and looked further inland and said, "It sounds like a tank."

Johnson turned as well and said, "A tank? Don't be stupid. Why would the top brass send a tank here of all places? We haven't seen one of the dead in over a week."

Davis said, "Don't yell at me. You said I had to be more specific, I was. It sounds like a tank. I don't think it makes any sense either, but that's what it sounds like."

Johnson sighed, "Ugh, whatever. We're probably going insane from spending so much time out here."

Davis turned around and said, "I don't think we're going insane, but it's not a tank."

Johnson said as he turned around, "You're still on that? You're probably just hearing…things? What the hell?"

Johnson and Davis could only stare in confusion as a tall mansion-like house had rounded the corner, it moving on giant treads not unlike a tank. Just before it reached the wall, it ground to a halt. Johnson held his gun up and pointed it at the house, to which Davis said, "What are you doing?"

Johnson kept staring at the house, "We don't know what's in there! We could get attacked."

Davis turned to Johnson and said, "What, you think zombies drove this house here? Don't be stupid dude. It's obviously some survivors."

Johnson's posture relaxed slightly as he said, "We haven't seen survivors in these parts for months. What could have taken them that long?"

Davis looked at the house and said, "Well that thing does look pretty heavy. I mean it's basically a tank you can live in. I'm not surprised it took them so long."

Johnson groaned, "What is with you and tanks?"

Davis turned back, "Dude, tanks are awesome. They can blow shit up and they can take a beating. It's probably the safest military vehicle you could be in."

The doors opened and a voice came from inside, "Hey, survivors here! Don't shoot!"

Johnson shouted back, "How many of you are there?"

The voice replied, "Eight. Unless you count the two robots, then ten."

Davis looked impressed, "Dude, they have robots? That's sick! They're already way more interesting than you."

Johnson grunted, "Shut up."

Davis shrugged, "Just saying."

Johnson shouted, "I'm going to ask you all to please exit the, uh, house, and come here for inspection."

The voice responded, "One of us has a leg that's pretty messed up. Broken bone and got some kind of infection. The normal kind, not the zombie kind. She can't really move much from her bed."

Davis looked at Johnson and asked, "You want me to call Command? Get a med team over here?"

Johnson nodded and said, "Okay, we're going to radio our superiors for some medics. Wait there for them and then we'll figure out what to do with your house. I have a feeling our walls won't hold if you try and drive that thing through."

---

Inside the house, I drummed my fingers on my crossed arms as I waited for whatever medical support the guards would be bringing. As I waited, I thought back on the recent events our group had experienced for what felt like the millionth time. It had been about two weeks since Quebec, as true to Zack's estimates, we needed to slow down to save on fuel. It was rough for all of us, as losing Chef, Izzy and Owen all at once was a hell of a demoralizer. Of them, I think everyone felt the least remorse toward Chef, as not only did we have less than pleasant memories of our time with him on the show, but him trying to kill me to take over didn't exactly earn him any favors. Not that it matters now that the bastard is dead.

Owen and Izzy's deaths were much more impactful to us however. Most of us left were friends with at least one of the two, and even if we weren't friends, losing a close companion like that is never easy. Courtney was dealing with it the best, though she was never really close with either of them, so I get it. Bridgette on the other hand, well she was friends with everyone, at least among our group, so she was taking things the hardest. Which coupled with her pregnancy, wasn't exactly the best for her mood. But we managed to keep her from feeling too much doom and despair. Gwen and I honestly had the same opinion on things. We were both friends with Owen, though he would annoy us from time to time, so we missed him quite a bit. And Gwen and I tolerated Izzy but we would miss her all the same. As for Heather, while she was more familiar with Owen and Izzy than Courtney, she also was never on good terms with them. That said, she was still shaken by their deaths and I'm sure would rather them have lived than died.

Divine and Zack were also taking the losses hard, as their whole mission to get as many people out of Canada as possible kept getting less successful. Of the two, Divine was the one to never see the bad in people so I'm sure she was taking the deaths harder. I wouldn't be surprised if she mourned for Chef, despite what he tried to do. Zack was the more pragmatic of the pair and I think he knew that while losing them all sucked, at least in Chef's case he was someone that needed to go. And finally Alfred was also taking the losses pretty hard. With him being alone for so long I'm sure any and every interaction was important for him so losing three companions all at once was huge. It didn't hurt that he probably got along with Chef the most, so it was like losing his best friend or something. Then again, he understood the situation when we explained it to him so maybe it didn't sting as much as he thought.

A knock at the door jostled me from my thoughts, and I went over to it and opened it. Standing there were two soldiers and a doctor with an assistant. In the distance I could see a number of other recently arrived soldiers setting up a perimeter. The doctor introduced himself, "Hello, I am Dr. Stevens. I'd like to assess the condition of your injured companion personally before we make a decision about where to go next, if you don't mind."

I nodded and said, "Sure, let me take you up to her room."

One of the soldiers said, "You don't mind if I escort the doctor, do you?"

I raised an eyebrow and replied, "Uh, I guess so? What, you think we're going to attack you or something? I think we've had enough fighting for a lifetime."

The other soldier scoffed, "I told you Johnson, you're worrying too much."

Johnson rolled his eyes, "Shut up Davis. There's nothing wrong with being cautious or thorough."

Dr. Stevens interjected, "If I may, the sooner I assess your companion's condition, the sooner we can get you all situated."

I motioned for the group to follow me and I led them up the two flights of stairs to where Heather was located. Opening the bedroom, I said, "Alright Doc, here she is."

Heather looked over and said, "You guys got a doctor to come here for me?"

Johnson spoke up, "Once we learned you were injured in some way, protocol dictated that we bring a doctor to you as opposed to risking infection by bringing you to them."

I leaned against the back wall and said, "Well if you don't mind, I'm going to hang out here. So long as you're okay with it Heather."

Heather had a relieved look on her face but in her usual tone said, "Do whatever you want, I don't care."

Truth be told I was staying for the same reason that the soldier accompanied the doctor, to keep an eye on these strangers. The examination took about fifteen minutes, after which Dr. Stevens turned to me and said, "Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is despite the infection, there is no irreparable damage to her leg. She may need either a brace or a cane or something along those lines to help her walk for the rest of her life once it heals, but she likely won't be confined to a wheelchair or need amputation."

Heather raised an eyebrow and said, "Hello? I'm right here. You can talk to both of us, right?"

Johnson raised an eyebrow and I said, "Don't get too offended there, she talks like that to everyone."

Dr. Stevens gasped and said, "Yes, terribly sorry miss. It's just, with all the groups I've helped, many of the people I've looked at are in much worse states and I just got used to informing the leader of each group. You are the leader, yes?"

I sighed and said, "I guess I'm what passes for a leader here, yeah."

Dr. Stevens directed his attention to Heather and said, "Yes, with proper care you should have minimal impact to your ability to walk in the future. The bad news however, is in order to get you the proper care, we need to act fast. Tell me, did you all have a plan once you got here?"

I shrugged, "My original group planned on heading for New York City. We ended up linking up with some other people though, no idea where they were gonna go."

Dr. Stevens nodded, "Yes, I see. I see. Well miss, I must recommend a different course of action for you. Instead I suggest you go to Boston and get medical care there. They have some of the top hospitals in the world and would be better suited for the surgery that I believe you need if you wish to walk relatively normally again."

Heather's eyes widened and said, "When were you going to bring up surgery?"

Dr. Stevens sputtered again, "Ah! Apologies! I'm so used to giving grim diagnoses since this all started, I'm a bit out of form."

I tapped my chin in thought and asked, "Okay, so like the surgery should be done in Boston. Is it possible to relocate her to New York after it's done? If you're cool with that Heather."

Dr. Stevens hummed and said, "After the initial period of treatment following the surgery I don't see why not. The recovery and physical therapy could be done elsewhere."

Heather sighed, "Not like there's much else I can do."

I walked over to an intercom device on the wall and pressed it, saying, "Yo Zack, Divine, Alfred, mind coming up to Heather's room real quick?"

Johnson questioned, "Divine?"

I shrugged and said, "That's what she called herself. I never understood it but didn't question it. Anyways, I want to run this by them first."

Alfred was the first to show up and said, "Hey man, what's up? Oh, hello to you military dudes too."

Dr. Stevens smiled warmly and said, "Hello. Your friend here needs surgery. We wish to take her to Boston and then after the procedure is done there is talks of relocating her to New York."

I rubbed the back of my head and said, "Yeah, I wanted to run it by you first. Had no idea what your plan was."

Alfred chuckled, "Dude, I didn't think I would end up here in the first place, you think I would have a plan for after? I'll stick with you guys."

Divine poked her head in and said, "What's this about sticking together?"

Zack groaned, "Don't tell me you plan on jumping ship now."

I waved at the pair, "Oh, hey guys. Long story short, Heather needs surgery, we're going to Boston so she can get it, then going to New York. Wanted to know what you had planned."

Divine's eyes lit up and she said, "Boston? Like MIT Boston? Ooh, I've always wanted to go there!"

Zack chuckled, "Well I'm not exactly sure we had a concrete plan once we got here. If the compound hadn't been overrun, we probably would have tried to establish a town somewhere with all the people we had saved, but we never really discussed a backup plan. But it sounds like we'll at least do some sightseeing."

Johnson spoke up while gesturing to Heather, "We can put you up in a hotel for a few days in Boston while she gets her surgery. If you have something arranged in New York then we can get you out there as well once she's ready to be moved. I can't promise the accommodations will be incredibly luxurious, but it'll be comfortable."

I nodded and said, "Sounds like everyone is in agreement on going to Boston for a few days then going to New York."

Divine asked, "Oh, what about my house? I understand if it can't be moved immediately, but I also don't want to leave it behind forever."

Johnson tapped his chin and said, "I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I can contact my superiors and we can try to figure something out, but it might take some time. Certainly not something we can just do this afternoon. I think the barricade is supposed to eventually get replaced, so then would be a good time, but I don't know when that is. And even then, I have no idea where you could put this place."

Zack mused, "Can we leave some form of contact information with you and have you guys reach out to us when you have something figured out? We can take the essentials and leave this parked just outside the barrier for the time being."

Johnson nodded, "That can be arranged I think."

I turned to Divine and Zack and said, "Sounds like you two are sticking with us, at least for the time being. I'm sure at whatever McLean has set up in New York you guys can join us."

Dr. Stevens interrupted, "I don't mean to interrupt, but if we're going to get you all here to Boston, and your friend here into surgery, then I need to make a couple calls. It should be a couple of hours before we can get air support here to take you all, so I'll send a couple of soldiers in to brief you on the programs the government set up to help refugees such as yourselves. If you'll excuse me."

The doctor exited the room with their assistant and Johnson said, "If you want to gather the rest of your group, we can do this in here or in another part of the house if there's a better place for it. To discuss the programs should only take a half hour, maybe forty five minutes."

Heather waved her arm and said, "What about me? I can't exactly move much."

Johnson said, "I'll make sure we get a separate person up here to brief you as well. I'll be back in a few minutes, I need to find the information pamphlets they gave us. Congrats on being some of the lucky ones that made it."

The soldier left the room and I said, "Well, might as well get everyone and see what they want to say. You want someone else in here Heather?"

She shrugged, "I won't say no, but it's up to you. I'll admit, I'm glad you stuck around before. I wasn't entirely sure they wouldn't just kill me before, so having you here put me at ease. But now that they know I'm clean, I feel like they won't try anything."

I shrugged, "I'll float the idea by the others, see what they say."

Alfred spoke up, "Actually, I don't mind staying up here."

I went to exit the room and said, "Suit yourself dude."

A couple of hours later, after we were told a ton of information by the soldiers, helicopters could be heard approaching. The pair of soldiers that had first spotted us stopped by again to get us and we made sure to have our belongings. As we stood around outside, a team of medics from one helicopter went inside to get Heather. Davis was near Divine and was saying, "You're telling me this is your house? Man, it is seriously awesome!"

Divine laughed and said, "Well thank you, but I can't take all the credit. My grandfather is the one who built the place, driving mechanism and all, he just taught me how to drive it."

Zack shook his head and said, "You don't need to worry about maintenance. We've got a couple of robots that can help maintain anything inside for the time being. So once we've been given the all clear we'll lock her up and it should be fine until we come back."

Johnson walked over to me and said, "Alright, once the medical team is set we'll load the rest of you up into two copters. I'm staying here, I don't know what arrangements in Boston have been set, but my CO that is going with you should know."

I shook his hand and said, "Hey man, thanks for everything. I appreciate everything you guys have done for us. I hope you find more survivors."

A short ten minutes later and we were in the helicopters, on our way to Boston. It was an uneventful trip, but man was it kind of cool. Guess I can say that's one more thing I can say I've done.

---

That night, in New York, Chris McLean was in the lobby of his building, reading a newspaper. He normally wouldn't, but the headline caught his attention, so he bought the paper to read it. The headline read "Umbrella in hot water? Possible links to Canadian outbreak uncovered". Under the header was a second line that read "Pharmaceutical company denies, deflects allegations, claims Canadian branch went rogue".

Noah and Katie entered the lobby, the pair dressed in more winter clothes, as it was late October by this point. Noah saw Chris and said, "Didn't take you for a newsprint guy. Always figured you would get news online."

Chris folded part of the paper over to look at the bookworm and said, "Well, normally you'd be right. But since it's somewhat public knowledge now, the headline here is about what the other Chris and his team were doing."

Katie read the headline and gasped, "So that's what they were doing! They did seem to be very skilled."

Chris nodded and said, "Oh, you have no idea."

A phone was heard ringing and a moment after it was answered, the receptionist in the room spoke up, "Um, Mr. McLean sir? You might want to take this."

Chris groaned and said, "I've already told you that telemarketers aren't worth the time Sandra."

Sandra shook her head and said, "No sir, this is a Duncan that wishes to speak with you. He didn't give me a last name. Said, and I quote, "McLean knows who I am".

Chris perked up and threw the paper to the side as he approached the reception desk. Noah raised an eyebrow and said, "So the last group finally made it?"

Katie nodded, "I guess so. Glad to hear. Hopefully they didn't lose too many people."

Noah mused, "Sure, but the amount of time it took worries me. Even though they had a farther distance to travel, it shouldn't have taken them way longer."

Katie tapped her chin and said, "Well, Chris and his group spent a month at that mall, right? Maybe Duncan and the others holed up somewhere too."

Chris walked back over and said, "So Duncan and his group are in Boston. Someone from his group was in bad shape and needed surgery, and Boston was the closest place. He said they'll be here in about a week."

Noah crossed his arms, "Did he say how many people he had, or who was in the hospital?"

Chris shook his head and said, "Nope, didn't have a lot of time. He was using a phone at the hospital. We'll find out in a week I guess."

---

Our week in Boston was relatively uneventful. Everyone spent some time resting and relaxing, and we all took some time to sightsee a bit and be tourists for a change. Me, Zack and Alfred were even able to score some cheap tickets to a Red Sox baseball game. I wasn't much for baseball, I was more of a hockey guy, but getting to see any live sports is better than nothing. It was October, so I guess they were in the playoffs or something, which makes it even more incredible we got the tickets in the first place. Like the soldiers said, the place they arranged for us wasn't overly luxurious or fancy, but it got the job done. It was even right along one of the subway lines, which made our time getting around all the more easier. It was also just down the street from the hospital where Heather was, and once she got out of surgery, everyone made a point to see her at least once.

Still, the time came for us to head to New York, and some government agents met us at the hotel to take us to our method of travel. They escorted us to a bus station, where we would get a bus to New York. From there, we had the directions to McLean's building, so it was just a matter of walking there. Heather was being transported separately, and we were told what hospital she was being transferred to, so we could visit her tomorrow. Her surgery had went well, and doctors thought she would be able to be checked out of the hospital within a month. We all got situated on the bus and it soon departed Boston and headed for New York. I was sitting with Gwen, Courtney and Bridgette were across the aisle from us, Divine and Zack were behind us and Alfred was behind Courtney and Bridgette.

Gwen leaned back in her seat and sighed contentedly, stating, "I'm not going to lie to you Duncan, it feels good to be back in civilization. Never thought I would say that."

I chuckled and said, "That's true, you've always hated people in general."

Gwen replied, "I wouldn't say hated, just strongly disliked."

Divine popped her head around the corner of my seat and said, "I have to agree with her though, it's nice to be somewhere normal."

I snorted and replied, "Yeah, I guess so. By the way, did you guys enjoy Boston? I know you were excited to see it."

Divine nodded and said, "Definitely! Zack and I were even able to inquire about attending MIT next year. I was able to connect to the house so I could show them the robots left and they were very impressed. So no guarantees, but it seems like chances are good."

Zack added, "Yeah, we could probably get by without the prestigious degree, we are somewhat prodigies when it comes to robotics, but having that pedigree on a resume never hurts."

Gwen closed her eyes and said, "Well glad to hear you guys enjoyed yourselves. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to nap for a bit. Road trips always made me sleepy."

I chuckled and said, "Oh, you should never have told me that."

Courtney was checking up on Bridgette, who had the start of a baby bump showing, "Let me know if you feel nauseous or anything Bridgette, I'll take you to the bathroom in the back."

The surfer shook her head and replied, "I honestly think the worst of it is past me at this point. Thanks though."

Alfred stuck his head over the back of the seat and said, "If you do need anything when we get to New York, don't hesitate to ask though. I was a delivery boy before everything happened, so I'm pretty good at picking things up."

I shook my head as the bus continued down the highway, knowing the final leg of our journey was nearly done.

---

Several hours later, we had arrived in New York. Despite it being early evening it was dark, the cold October night making me glad we picked up some coats during the past week. We made our way through the streets of New York, following the directions I had been able to obtain to McLean's building. After an hour of walking, we finally made it to the modest fifteen story building. Approaching the main entrance, I pushed open the door to find a crowd of people socializing, many of them being people I recognized.

Chris turned his attention to me and the rest of my group as they filed in and said, "Duncan! You guys finally made it!"

I put my stuff down off to the side and said, "Yeah, well it's a hell of a story why it took so long."

Noah surveyed my group and remarked, "I'm guessing it's part of why your group is so different from when it started."

I looked down, some sorrow in my eyes and said, "Yeah."

Chris waved everyone over and said, "Well grab some food and put your feet up. I know you guys were in Boston for the last week, but you still deserve to rest."

I chuckled, "Believe me, we've been resting better than you would think."

Kathy walked over and said, "Before you begin, I'll get started on getting your apartments in order, how many will your group need?"

I quickly counted, "Five for now. We'll need a sixth eventually, we got someone in the hospital right now, but they should be out in about a month."

Kathy nodded and said, "I'll get to work on getting you all set up. Glad to see as many of you made it as you did."

She walked away and everyone ended up getting into a big circle to share stories. Chris looked at me and said, "Alright, I think the rest of us are dying to know what happened, pun intended."

I rubbed my arm and said, "Well it all started a week or two in, I think. It's been so long I forget how quickly it happened. We came across like a giant fortress that moved on massive tank treads."

Divine waved and said, "Hi, I'm Divine, I ran the compound that Duncan's talking about. My family has always been full of eccentric engineers and inventors and they built fortifications into the ground to make a giant mobile base of sorts. We had a large number of people under our watch."

Zack gave a slight salute and said, "I'm Zack, I'm Divine's boyfriend. We picked them up at some point and then continued along for about two months I want to say, maybe closer to three."

Divine continued, "We unfortunately had an incident where I guess someone was bitten and returned to the compound. As I'm sure you can guess, it caused things to go to hell very quickly. I don't think we ever found out the true cause for the incident."

Zack shook his head and said, "A lot of innocent people died that day. I wish we could have saved more of them. We got as many as we could in the heat of the moment though. Luckily Divine's family home was built similarly to the town, so we could continue along in that."

Chris rubbed his chin, "So that's what took you so long. You were in a giant moving house." Zack and Divine nodded their confirmation.

I was about to continue the story but Bridgette beat me to it, saying, "As we were escaping, Geoff got bitten and we had to leave him behind. But not before I told him that, as I'm sure you can all tell by looking at me, he got me pregnant."

Katie shook her head and said, "I thought as much, but I didn't want to assume anything."

Harold solemnly nodded and said, "I wish it were under better circumstances, but congratulations all the same."

I finally resumed retelling our tale, "So after Divine's compound fell and we left Geoff behind, we traveled for a few weeks in the house, making better time than before."

Gwen piped up, "While some of the group was making a supply run, a small horde ended up at the house, pinning us inside. We started to fight to thin the numbers, and the supply runners started attacking it from behind."

Alfred waved and said, "Hey, I'm Alfred, I saw the commotion and went over to help out. And then these guys brought me in as if I was an old friend. Speaking of, I know I've said it before, but thanks guys, I really appreciate it."

I continued, "Besides bringing Alfred in, we managed to fight our way out of that horde, but we had some real close calls. It was then quiet until we hit Quebec, about a month later. Which was about three weeks ago now that I think about it."

Zack sighed, "We decided to head into the city to scavenge a bit. Duncan, Gwen and I went into a couple of buildings that looked like good candidates for supplies."

Courtney brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "To be fair, Duncan found a lot of useful supplies in his building. I was keeping an eye on the area from an upper floor of Divine's house, in a makeshift sniper perch. Unfortunately, we were beset by a huge number of zombies."

Alfred piped up again, "Chef, Izzy and I went out to help thin their numbers a bit and keep the front of the house clear. As we were fighting though, we got flanked by some of the dead and they got Izzy."

Bridgette started to sob and said, "Owen and Izzy were getting back together I think, and he rushed out to help her, but they got him too."

I grumbled, "All throughout our journey, Chef was slowly becoming upset with the way I was doing things, and this pushed him over the edge. He tracked me down in the store I was scavenging and tried to kill me."

Gwen rubbed her arm and said, "I got word that Chef went after Duncan, so I followed after him and killed him before he was able to kill Duncan. I'm don't regret what I did, but I am sorry I had to do it."

Chris sighed, "While I was hoping he would make it, I'm not surprised he tried to take control. I may be upset he's gone, but I don't blame you for what you had to do. Seems everything changed him and he wasn't in his right mind."

Noah pointed out, "Wait a second, when you called last week, you said something about someone in the hospital. But all of your original group is accounted for. Was it someone else you picked up along the way or something?"

I nodded, "You could say that yeah. Gwen found them though, so care to explain?"

Gwen playfully punched my shoulder, "Way to pass the buck you jerk. But yeah, in the apartment building I was scavenging, I found this crazy guy that was keeping his undead friends in cages so he wouldn't have to kill them. I ended up killing him, putting him out of his misery. While searching the other apartments, I came across Heather of all people. This guy was keeping her prisoner and her leg was seriously messed up."

Chris sputtered, "Heather? She survived after stealing Frank's helicopter?"

I snorted, "She got lucky, that's for sure."

Trent mused, "Man, talk about a crazy coincidence."

Eva raised an eyebrow, "So she's in the hospital I take it?"

Courtney nodded, "Yes, her surgery in Boston went well. She'll be recovering in a hospital here for awhile. We can go visit her tomorrow if anyone wants to."

Divine sighed, "After the three losses in Quebec, we traveled for about two weeks and reached the states, then spent the last week in Boston so Heather could get her treatment. And here we are."

DJ sighed, "Sorry to hear about all the people you guys lost, but hey, the entire Total Drama cast is accounted for now, be it alive or dead."

Jonesy quipped, "Hell of a silver lining there."

Cody was counting on his fingers for a moment before saying, "Considering there were twenty six of us when we started, the fact we only lost ten of our original group is really good. Even if we count people we met on the way, collectively our groups only lost fourteen."

Divine sighed and said, "Not quite, my original compound had a lot of people. The losses from just the compound are about forty by themselves."

Jen had a sympathetic smile and said, "You did the best you could do, given the situation."

Zack nodded, "She's right, we did the best we could. And hey, we helped the Total Drama gang, as well as Alfred. It might not be nearly as impressive a number, but it's still better than nothing."

Chris clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and said, "Alright, now that you guys have regaled us with how you made it here, rest and relax. We can tell you what happened to us if you want."

And so both Chris and Noah's groups told us their tales of survival and about their losses along the way. When we were finished, the secretary of the building gave us our keys to our apartments and we headed upstairs to get settled.

In my apartment, I was sitting on the bed while Gwen was throwing stuff into the dresser. I thought aloud, "So it's finally over."

Gwen turned to look at me, "Getting sentimental on me?"

I shrugged it off, "Nah, just after so long being on the road and all that, it's hard to think that it's actually done. We can have things go back to normal."

Gwen sat next to me and said, "Well, whether things are normal or not, I'll have your back."

I looked at Gwen and said, "Thanks babe."

---

Several Months Later (Noah's POV)

The next few months were rather uneventful for most of us. At the beginning of December, Heather had been released from the hospital, her leg treated but also weakened, as she had to use a cane to get around. The doctors apparently said getting a metal plate along her leg might allow her to walk without assistance, but the US government wasn't willing to foot that bill, so she passed on it for the time being. I think we should be lucky they paid for her prior bill, from what I know of US healthcare, it wasn't cheap.

Ezekiel returned to normal rather quickly, besides his skin tone. He was still fairly pale, but after a few months, he's begun to have a normal hue once more. His speech patterns and mannerisms were back to normal right around the time Duncan's group joined us. I don't know if Chris ever made good on his promise to pay Ezekiel, but considering Chris hasn't turned up dead yet, I have to assume he has.

Speaking of Chris, he continued to make TV appearances, mainly on talk shows, but he also started to take up management duties for the apartment building. That included setting up events for all of us, notably he did things for Thanksgiving and Christmas, regardless of if people celebrated the holidays or not. He also ended up throwing a New Year's party, which I invited Daryl to. To my surprise, he accepted and spent a few days on either side of New Year's with us. It was nice to see him again, even though it was only six months or so since we parted ways. Also of note at New Year's Eve was Scott proposed to Ramona, and she had said yes. Scott's been working with Harold, who has just started the process of opening a new dojo to train people in martial arts. Ramona meanwhile has picked up a new job as a delivery girl. She says it's what she's good at, so who am I to question it?

The mallrats, which is the name I gave to Jen, Jude, Jonesy and Nikki, found a new mall to be employed at. I'll admit, their commitment to spending most of their lives at a mall is impressive. I mean, they're around our age and you don't see any of us spending our whole lives at a mall. Then again, many of us have found jobs and have been working, or have other commitments to keep us busy. For example, I'm writing a book chronicling our collective tales. I have no idea if it'll sell, but it seems like a good way to help process things. I wouldn't say I experienced a lot of trauma, and I suppose I'm lucky in that regard, but having an outlet of some sort is healthy even when you didn't have much trauma, or so I'm told.

Bridgette's also been preoccupied with life. In late March of this year, she had her baby, a healthy boy. Naturally, she named him after his father. She's been kept busy caring for him, and luckily for her Courtney has stepped in to help her out. I think Courtney was even named godmother, if I'm not mistaken. Alfred and Eva became fast friends, the two frequently training and working out. Eva was more than happy to have a workout partner that could somewhat keep up with her, and Alfred was glad to have someone keep his skills sharp. He was convinced that despite the best efforts at containing the problem, the undead would eventually spread, and he wanted to be ready. If you asked me, I wouldn't be surprised if the two eventually hooked up.

Scott and Ramona were not the only couple to become engaged however, as Cody and Sierra ended up furthering their relationship. In a move that both doesn't surprise me in the slightest and also one that was unconventional, Sierra was the one to propose to Cody. That happened very recently actually, only about a month and a half ago, as part of a showering of various gifts that Sierra gave to Cody for his birthday. DJ started work on helping the many stray animals of New York, partnering with a number of small rescue groups. He was actually the driving force in establishing a coalition between the smaller rescue groups, getting them to help each other. I could easily see him running an even bigger animal rescue operation if he keeps it up.

Zack and Divine kept working on their robots, which I'll admit fascinated me. They showed me the feed from their house to see what one of their completed ones looked like and to say that it was more advanced than I expected would be an understatement. I would often joke with them that they're creating Skynet and the zombies are the least of our problems. They also spent less time in New York these days, as they were finally able to move their house. Once things warmed up in Maine where they crossed the border, they were able to get the house and move it into the country. They were even granted some land in New Hampshire to put it on, so they've been splitting time between there and here. I imagine once some of us move on with our lives and move out of here, they'll move up there permanently.

Tyler had one of the hardest times adjusting, as he still had not gotten over Lindsay's death. He was doing better, but there would still be days that it's rough for him. Not even Katie, who lost her best friend for life, was suffering as much, though I imagine I had something to do with that. In fact, I think Bridgette is the only one that could rival Tyler in grief, but she was distracted with her pregnancy and her baby. At least Trent's been able to help distract Tyler a bit, as he's had issues adjusting to life with only one hand. Trent needed help with a lot of things when they first got here and while he's gotten better in the interim, there are still some things that give him trouble. Zack and Divine actually offered to build him a robotic prosthetic hand that they could apparently hook up to his nervous system so he could control it like a real hand. I think he should go for it, not only to make things easier for him, but because that sounds awesome.

Duncan and Gwen, who were among the least disturbed about what they had to do to survive, seemed to have the hardest time figuring out what to do with themselves now. Duncan had tried to join a group that does graffiti art legally, but he doesn't seem to be very satisfied with it. Something about it not having the same thrill when it's legal. Gwen on the other hand has bounced between a couple of jobs, trying to find something meaningful. All the things she's tried have been retail, so I wish her luck. Though she's working at a music store now and seems to like it enough.

So that just leaves Katie and myself. Ever since Scott and Ramona helped get her out of her Sadie-less depression, we've been doing great. It almost feels mean and bragging when I put it that way. If I'm being honest, even though our relationship is still somewhat new, I'm thinking of asking her to marry me, things are going so well for us. Though perhaps I should wait to see how serious she is about the relationship before making that plunge. We both plan on staying in New York for the time being, as do most of us that survived. Seeing as we were college-aged when everything happened, many of us applied to local colleges during the past few months since we got here and a fair amount of us are planning on attending classes in the fall. I can only imagine how things will go when people find that they have not only reality tv stars, but also zombie survivors in their classes. I guess that's one thing I won't be looking forward to.

---

As I finished the first draft of the book I was writing, I looked at my calendar, looking at the circled date at the end of the week specifically. The date in particular was part of the American Memorial Day weekend, but for all of us Total Drama survivors, it had a much more important meaning. While we may never know when exactly the dead started to rise, this was the first anniversary of that weekend retreat when we learned our world had changed forever. Though I thought it was like tempting fate, Chris wanted to hold another party, but with our new friends that we found along the way invited as well. Unlike last year however, the media and government were keeping an eye on what was happening and there were reports either daily or every other day on remaining survivors or spotted numbers of zombies. Either way, the number was never very high, so as long as vigilance was maintained, I was fairly confident things would be fine here.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the door to my home office opening. I turned to see Katie entering in the room. She giggled and said, "Hey there, working hard or hardly working?"

I chuckled and said, "Right now? A little of both. I just finished the first draft of my book, so I figured now's as good a time as ever to slack off for a bit."

Katie ran over and hugged me and said, "Oh my gosh, that's great news! I'm like so happy for you."

I hugged her back and said, "Well, if anything, the easy part is done. Now I need to either find a publisher or figure out how to self publish, and then I'll need to edit it down. While I'm sure people are curious what it was like, it can't be too long or people won't read it. Either way, now is the perfect time to take a break and celebrate."

Katie pulled away from me and looked into my eyes and asked, "Oh? And what did you have in mind?"

I looked back at her and said, "I was thinking something along the lines of us going out for dinner and then catching a movie or something. Though if you'd rather something more romantic, I'm sure I can come up with something."

Katie kissed my forehead and said, "Whatever you think of will be fine. Just give me a few minutes to get ready."

I smiled at her and said, "Sure thing. Say, I was thinking, do you think Chris hosting another party this weekend is weird?"

Katie paused, halfway outside the room, and asked, "Weird? How so? Isn't this a holiday weekend here something? Parties on holidays aren't that strange."

I shook my head and said, "Yeah, you're right. I guess it just feels weird to me, it being a year since the whole zombie thing started."

Katie bit her lip in thought and said, "When you put it like that, I guess you're right, it does feel a little weird."

I sighed, "I'm making a big thing out of nothing. You're probably right, it is just for the holiday. Still, it'll be weird to be reminded of the last time we were all together."

Katie sadly smiled and said, "Yeah, I know. I still can't believe that ten of us died."

I shook my head and said, "I'm honestly more surprised that only ten of us died. I figured about half of us would have made it in the end." After a moment, I sighed, "I'm sorry Katie, I didn't mean to bring down the mood."

Katie walked back over to me and hugged me again and said, "It's alright, when I'm with you I don't think I could be in a bad mood."

I hugged her back and said, "You're the best, you know that?"

Katie playfully stuck her tongue out and replied, "I know, but feel free to keep saying it. Now, if we're going to go out, I should get ready. Unless you wanted to have a romantic night in?"

I smirked and answered, "That is very tempting. At the same time, I've been craving that Japanese place a few blocks away for awhile now, and what better way to celebrate the first draft of my book?"

Katie giggled before winking and said, "Sounds like a date. And maybe once we get back we can do something for our anniversary."

I gasped, "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I almost forgot our anniversary was coming up."

Katie giggled again and said, "Don't worry, I get that it's been a hectic year."

I scoffed, "That's putting it lightly."

Katie winked at me again, "Give me a few minutes and then I'll be ready."

As she walked away, I glanced out the window of our apartment at the bustling city that I now lived in. It was strange to think that, even after almost a year, I was living in the city that never sleeps. Me, Mr. Anti-social, living in one of the busiest cities in the world. And yet, being here has also made me appreciate my friends more. I guess living through a zombie apocalypse will do that for you. Still, my mind drifted back to the last time everyone was together, and how happy we were to see everyone. How naïve we were to what we were going to endure. And yet, I think we came out stronger for it. While we lost numerous companions and friends along the way, we won't forget them. If anything, we'll work harder to succeed and live our lives to the fullest. It would dishonor the lives of those lost if we didn't.

There was a knocking at the door to the office and I turned to see Katie standing there, a pair of sunglasses now on her head and a purse slung over her shoulder. She smiled at me and asked, "You ready to go?"

I smiled back and nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

I got up and left, Katie by my side. I'm not sure what to expect from life going forward, but I know whatever happens, we'll face it together.

---

And with this, Total Drama Zombieland is finished. This epilogue took a bit longer than I was hoping, but it ended up being longer than I was expecting too, so it balances out. Everyone who was still alive made it out safely and regrouped, though some have started to go their own ways. I did like framing the chapter chronologically as to how the groups would have arrived, but then again, I don't think there's another way I could have done it. I certainly took enough time to figure out the general timeline of events. To sum it up quickly it would go something like this: Groups split up - First Noah chapter - Duncan and crew arrive at Divine's compound - Chris and crew arrive at Galleria Mall - Second Noah chapter - Third Noah chapter - Noah's group arrives in US - Chris and crew escape Galleria Mall - Second Chris Chapter - Third Chris Chapter - Chris' group arrives in US - Divine's compound falls - Second Duncan chapter - Third Duncan chapter - Duncan's group arrives in US.

There's really not much to say here, as I feel like the chapter says it all itself. Everyone has made it and they have started to move on with their lives. I skimmed over what happened to everyone, but I feel like Noah's inner monologue was enough. Scott and Ramona as well as Cody and Sierra got engaged, Bridgette had a son that she named Geoff and ultimately everyone is getting by. Even the Umbrella subplot got touched on, though not resolved. It was never going to be resolved, so as to let you decide what you think happened. Maybe they were eventually prosecuted, maybe they weaseled out of it, maybe they took responsibility and redeemed themselves. Overall, I think I did well tying things up. The only thing I feel like I could have improved on was making the survivors feel more sorrow over each other's tales. Like nobody really showed sadness over the deaths that happened. You could chalk it up to everyone being numb after what happened, but still. Chris in particular, after finding Chef was killed, really didn't have much of a reaction. I didn't want to have him kick anyone out, but I'm not sure how else he would have angrily reacted, so he was apathetic.

I hope everyone enjoyed the end to this tale. Counting only named characters part of any group at any point, fifteen people died, but thirty people survived, not a bad ratio. The final count of the dead is Beth, Danny, Programmer Chris, Geoff, Alejandro, Justin, Sadie, Caitlyn, Wyatt, Lindsay, Leshawna, Izzy, Owen, Chef and Bill. Kyle and Ken, part of Divine's initial crew I did not count because they did abandon the group prior to dying. Sorry again to any fans of the dead, but in a zombie story, people will die, they were just the unlucky ones. As for what comes next? Well this story is complete, so at the very least it'll be complete. I have ideas for a potential sequel, but I don't know if I'll write it at the moment. I've worked out a general framework for a sequel, but haven't given any thoughts to who would die or anything like that. That said, I want to work heavily on the sequel to Total Drama High School first and foremost, so it might be awhile before I work on a sequel for this, if I work on it at all. That said, never say never, we may get to visit the undead wasteland again one day. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!