Until Dawn

Chapter Nine

Despite my screamed command for my friends to run, my own body refused to comply with my desperate attempt to move. I watched, as if in slow motion, as the undead men and women before me lunged towards the stairs. I stared into the cold blue eyes of the man closest, hardly even registering Janae's panicked calls as the man reached for me, arms outstretched. My mind hardly registered it when a pale hand extended past my shoulder, fingers wrapped tightly around the trigger of a gun. In less than a second, my face was splattered with blood as the man dropped to the ground, his eyes unseeing as thick blood pooled around the half blown off back of his skull.

Fuck, now is not the time to lose your courage or your fucking mind, Chapman, I thought to myself as Alex's hand grabbed my shoulder; the hand that wasn't holding the gun that had just saved my miserable life. She spun me around to face her, walking backwards up the stairs and attempting to drag me with her.

"Come on, Pipes! Move!"

My brain delivered a swift kick to my extremities and my legs finally moved, causing me to breathe a silent sigh of relief. I raced up the stairs behind Alex, who despite her well known hatred of running, could move pretty damn fast when she needed to. I glanced over my shoulder and instantly knew that we wouldn't make it to the door before we were caught. I pushed Alex forwards up the stairs even as one of my legs kicked blindly backwards, impacting with hard flesh. I spun around, watching as a zombie dressed in a ripped black suit staggered down the narrow stairs, knocking over the snarling line of undead behind him. With the torch still gripped tightly in my hand, I turned back around, shining the light up towards the door, only to see Nicky and Alex staring down at me in horror as Janae slammed her fists onto the door in frustration. A tough steel door, intended to keep a fire contained, which would be basically impossible to open if locked.

And it seemed that it had been locked.

No. Fuck no.

I watched as Alex started to move determinedly down the stairs towards me and quickly turned around to face the danger awaiting me. As I turned, I pulled my trusty screwdriver from my pocket and immediately drove it deep into the eye of a man standing directly behind me, his black lips pulled back in a sneer. With a gurgled scream, I watched as he pitched over the handrail to land with a bone cracking crunch on the ground far below. I didn't waste a moment as I unsheathed one of my handguns strapped to my thigh, immediately firing at the next zombie that dove towards me. It was a matter of life or death and there was no time for thoughts or doubts as I kept shooting, watching as the once human men and women continued to climb over the fallen bodies of my victims. I was vaguely aware of Alex behind me, taking down her own fair share of targets. I watched as one of her bullets entered the shoulder of a zombie standing behind the woman I was battling, her hands managing to swing past my gun and towards my face. Snarling in rage, he shoved the woman into me, just as I was leaning away from her outstretched fingers which were attempting to gouge out my eyes. The hard push, along with my momentary unstable balance, was all that was needed to push me into the low handrail and send me flying over the side.

I heard more than felt the hard, sickening crack as I hit the concrete floor and then everything was darkness.

/

It felt like hours but I knew it was only a matter of moments before I next opened my eyes, wondering if my head had been split open if the pain radiating in my skull was any indication. I tried to move and groaned as my body achingly complied, overwhelming grateful when I noticed that I could feel my legs, even if they were screaming in agony. My thoughts were stopped dead when I heard a yell, sounding almost animalistic in its rage and grief.

It was Alex.

I strained my eyes in the darkness, barely able to see Alex as she barreled down the stairs, followed closely behind by a determined looking Nicky and an angry Watson. I watched, almost fascinated, as the dark haired woman slammed into her opponents, discarding her weapons and using only her fists in a primal display of power that I never thought I'd witness from my ex-girlfriend. Black blood sprayed from decayed flesh as her knuckles crunched a nose, pushing the zombie aside to be finished off by Nicky's knife. She continued to move steadily down the stairs, the once seemingly impossible large number of undead dwindling beneath her hands.

I always said she looked like an Amazon, I thought to myself foggily as my vision started to tunnel. I could feel the pain trying to pull me back into unconsciousness and I struggled against it, listening as Alex continued to yell as she fought.

And that's when I realized that she was yelling my name.

"Piper!" I forced my eyes open once more at the desperate call, barely managing to focus on the tall form of Alex, who had just made it to the bottom of the stairs. She dismissed the few zombies still standing and immediately started searching the ground for me, her gray eyes frantic.

"Alex," I called weakly, watching as her head turned sharply in my direction. She moved swiftly towards me, dropping to her knees as she reached my side. I tried to move and hissed in pain and Alex's face softened in sympathy as she reached for the wound that I could feel leaking blood underneath my hair.

"Don't move, Pipes," she whispered, frowning as my blood stained her fingers. "You've done some pretty serious damage."

"So have you," I couldn't help but grin at her confused expression. "Who knew that underneath that soft exterior, lived a hardcore bad ass."

"I could same the same for you," Alex replied, smirking even as her sharp eyes strained to see my body in the darkness. "Nichols! Bring that fucking torch over here."

The light was blinding to my blood shot eyes as Nicky jogged over, wiping her blood stained knife on the shirt of a man as she passed him with a grimace. She dropped to her knees beside Alex, shining the light directly into my face, bringing tears to my eyes. I sighed at the pained expressions on their faces, knowing that I must look a complete mess.

"Shit, Chapman, you look worse than those guys that Alex just shanked," Nicky said bluntly, before grimacing as Alex elbowed her sharply in the ribs. I chuckled weakly, despite the pain searing through my skull.

It was then that we heard a loud scream that echoed throughout the room, causing all three of us to tense immediately. I saw Janae turn at the sound, her face splattered with blood as she yanked a knife out of the throat of a man who was lying limply on the floor. "What the fuck is that?"

"I don't know," Alex replied, scanning the room before she tilted her head upwards, towards the locked metal door. "It sounds like a fight."

It was then that we heard a high pitched voice, immediately recognizable, and I couldn't help but smile at Morello's angry words as they echoed through the room. "Move away from the door, you stupid bitch!"

"That's my girl!" Nicky laughed, shaking her head while Alex chuckled softly, leaning down to gently cradle my head, her eyes gently searching mine. There was a loud bang, followed by the now familiar sound of a body hitting the floor, and then a loud scraping sound before the door flew open. Torch light immediately flooded the room, and even from my position on the ground, I could see Lorna and Red's concerned faces.

"Hey!" Janae shouted, moving towards the bottom of the stairs, a large smile spreading across her face. "We're down here! Go grab a blanket or something, 'cause Chapman's hurt and we're gonna need to carry her outta here!"

"Nicky?" Lorna's voice squeaked as she leant over the balcony, shining her torch down towards us.

"I'm all right," Nicky called back, a ridiculously goofy grin on her face as she looked up at the dark haired woman. "Go get a blanket and I'll see you in a few."

I raised my eyebrow, turning my gaze to Alex who was smiling back at me in amusement. "Did something go on in the back seat on the way here, while I was sleeping?" I questioned with a grin, earning a snort from my ex-girlfriend and a glare from Nichols.

"Shut up, Blondie," Nicky replied, though she couldn't manage to wipe the smile from her face. "Save your fuckin' strength, would you? You can joke with Vause about me being a pussy later."

I smiled, letting my eyes drift closed as I quietly enjoyed the feeling over Alex's fingers riffling through my hair, despite the pain even that small movement caused me. It didn't take long until we heard footsteps rushing down the stairs and when I opened my eyes, Janae had joined us along with Morello and Red.

"We've got Taystee and Poussey guarding door," Red said gruffly as she parted my hair, wincing at the wound on my head. "They watching those bastards who locked you four down here."

"Someone locked us in?" I asked in confusion, my brow furrowing. "Why?"

"I don't think they wanted to cause you harm," Red replied with a gently shrug of her shoulders as she directed Nicky and Lorna to lay down the blanket beside me. "I think they just wanted to keep these things in here, which also meant keeping you all in here too."

"Assholes," Alex muttered as she gently grasped my shoulders, giving me an encouraging smile as I felt Watson grab my legs. "Okay, on three?

One.

Two.

Three."

I barely stifled a groan as I was lifted onto the blanket, feeling sweat break out on my forehead as my entire body screamed in protest. I could feel Alex's hands on my cheeks, gently wiping away the tears that squeezed out of my tightly closed eyes, as she whispered nonsense words into my ear in an attempt to comfort me. Despite my pain, I still managed to focus on Morello's voice as she spoke to Janae, her tone suddenly excited.

"Oh, Watson! Jones found another car, with a radio! There's a station sending out a message to all survivors, telling them to head to the military camp they've set up in Florida. Can you believe it? There are other survivors!"

"Are you sure?" Watson asked seriously, leaning forward and grabbing Lorna's hand. "What exactly did it say?"

"It said, anyone who isn't infected should go to the army base in Miami, Florida. There is food and supplies and other survivors, Watson!"

"The message was dated five days ago," Red was actually smiling as she spoke; her words sending a spark of hope through all of us, though it was short lived when the Russian's smile abruptly faded. "But they're sending ships to pick everyone up, and if my calculations are correct, we only have three days to get there before they leave."

There was silence as we all considered this and I felt a smile pull at my lips as the words sunk in.

"What the fuck are you all waiting for?" I finally rasped, causing everyone to turn to look at me with wide eyes. "Pick me the fuck up, get a bandage on my head and let's get moving! We've only got three days."

I grinned as hands quickly moved to the edge of the blanket, carefully lifting me off the ground and carrying me towards the stairs. I looked up at Alex, who was focused intently on her footing, my thoughts on the future for the first time since we escaped Litchfield.

Ships, I thought to myself with a dreamy smile. Maybe Cambodia isn't out of the cards just yet.