AN: Howdy guys, we've finally reached the last chapter of this story! I want to thank everyone that has followed this story through the very, very long months it's taken me to write it, and who continued to follow it even after weeks of waiting for the next chapter to be updated. This has probably been my favourite story to write out of all of the OITNB fics that I've posted on this site, since it's kind of got humour, romance, drama, angst and horror all wrapped up into one story, not to mention I just love zombies. Thank you to everyone that has left comments and continued to encourage me to write this story, once again, you'll never know how much it means to me. This final chapter is quite a long one, and I hope that it satisfies you guys.

Enjoy!

Until Dawn

Chapter Eighteen

I ran down the street as silently as possible, sticking to the shadows as I listened to the sound of the zombies finally entering the building I had just escaped. The window I had climbed out of shattered behind me, and I was suddenly sprinting once more, back in the direction of the camp, where I hoped that my group would be waiting for me, preferably with a car or two.

I turned around a corner, and skidded to a complete stop when I found myself suddenly face to face with Alex.

Her pale skin glowed in the darkness, and a brief flash of light reflected off her cold, angry eyes as she stared back at me. I felt my heart stop in my chest at the expression on her face, and instinctively took a step back from the dark haired woman, my hands automatically rising in a defensive gesture. A flicker of confusion flashed in her gray eyes and I felt my panic and fear recede at the display of emotion as I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I'd been holding.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Alex hissed furiously, her eyes flashing with anger as she gripped my wrist and pulled me further into the shadows. "You could have gotten yourself killed, you little blonde shit, and me too, since I was fucking stupid enough to follow you! What were you thinking?"

"Alex," I glanced over my shoulder, listening as footsteps started to race in our direction, but Alex was on a roll.

"Honestly, Piper, since when did you decide you were going to be all self-sacrificing?" Alex continued to growl as she started to pull me down the street, berating me like a naughty child. "The one time you decide to think about someone other than yourself and it has to be the fucking day when we get attacked by more zombies than we could possibly handle. I thought after your little stunt in DC that you would be over that and I wouldn't have to worry about you anymore, but oh, you proved me wrong, Pipes. I hope you're fucking proud of yourself."

"I kinda am, actually," I murmured, despite the dire situation we were in, since I was indeed still alive and so was Alex. "My plan worked, but if you don't move your ass, it's all going to be for nothing."

Alex glanced over her shoulder at me in confusion, but her eyes continued passed me and caught the figures that were beginning to race out of the darkness. Her gray eyes widened behind her glasses and suddenly we were running for our lives, with Alex's fingers still wrapped firmly around my wrist.

"Fucking WASPs," I could vaguely hear Alex panting curses and other obscenities at me as we ran through the streets and back towards the camp. I could see the bright floodlights that lit up the camp in the distance, but it seemed impossibly far as I spared a glance over my shoulder, just able to make out the faces of the undead men and women chasing us in the darkness. I gripped Alex's hand tighter, hoping and praying for a miracle, which presented itself in the form of a dark blue four wheel drive racing towards us and a flash of red hair sticking out the window.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, I reverently whispered in my mind to whichever deity had heard my prayers. I forced my legs to move faster in the direction of the car speeding towards us, followed by a sleek, silver BMW that was serving and skidding around any object in its path. Red's head was sticking out of the window of the four wheeled drive, a look of deep concentration on her face as she aimed her shotgun in our direction. My eyes widened and I ducked instinctively, pulling Alex down with me as the Russian woman pulled the trigger and the bang echoed in the night, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.

"Jesus fuck," I heard Alex curse as we pushed up from the pavement, our momentary stop bringing the zombies closer to their prey. The cars were looming closer and I pushed myself impossibly harder as the back door opened, offering safety. I didn't dare turn to look back as the car skidded to a halt, and moved to push Alex inside, only to be stopped by the dark haired woman practically throwing me into the back seat.

"Oh, no you don't," Alex growled as she followed me quickly into the car, slamming the door closed behind us. "I think we've had more than enough of your self-sacrificing bullshit today, my dear."

I opened my mouth to respond, but only managed to let out a high pitched squeak as the car was suddenly moving and Alex and I were both thrown against the wall. Shadowy figures slammed against the side of the car as we turned back in the direction of the camp, but Red just laughed grimly as they were caught beneath our tires.

"Take down as many of 'em as you can," I heard Watson's voice as Red once again stuck her head out of her window. "We don't need any more of those fuckers followin' us to the ships."

I leant forward in my seat, paying no attention to the strangers in the back of the car as Alex rested her hand against the small of my back to steady me. I stared out of the front windshield, taking a moment to return Janae's grin as I watched the silver BMW racing through the streets before us.

"Good job, Chapman," Janae smirked before turning the wheel sharply in an attempt to follow the erratically moving car in front of us and almost throwing me to the floor. "You saved the fuckin' day, again."

"Don't encourage her," Alex responded before I could, with a dark scowl marring her attractive face.

"Who is that?" I asked curiously, attempting to change the subject as I pointed to the car in front of us. "They're driving like a fucking crazy person."

"Who else but Nicky?" Red chuckled quietly in response as she turned around in her seat to reload her gun. "She thinks this is all some game, ten points if you run over a zombie, twenty if their head explodes."

We were finally driving back through the camp, with the zombies fading into the darkness behind us as we sped down the street that would lead us to the ships. There were still no sign of life on the main road, minus a few zombies which were taken out by Nicky, who went completely out of her way to run them down. I felt the tension slowly begin to build in the car, my muscles flexing as we got closer and closer to the ships in the distance, and I instinctively moved to make sure all my weapons were in place. I felt a small bit of hope at the sight of the ships, grateful that they hadn't left without us, but that hope vanished in an instant at the sight that greeted us as we turned around the last corner.

"Fucking shit," A woman voiced my exact thoughts from the seat behind me as we all stared out of the front windshield.

Fucking shit, indeed, I agreed in the privacy of my own mind.

Far out in the ocean, the ships were waiting motionless for their passengers and in the shallow water, closer to shore, smaller boats were being loaded with survivors. There were hundreds of boats lining the shore, but less than a quarter were being filled, since the survivors were cut off from safety by the zombies in their midst. Without weapons, the civilians were relying on the soldiers, who had finally decided to abandon everyone but themselves and were racing towards the boats, with most of them falling to the zombies before reaching their comrades waiting for them on board. It was a bloody mess, with the ground slick with blood and bodies lying haphazardly over every inch of the ground, their eyes unseeing as they stared up at the night sky.

A crackling sound interrupted my horrified thoughts and I turned my head to watch as Janae slowed the car and pulled a walky talkie from her pocket. "Hello? Nicky?"

Nicky's voice, distorted and strained, came quietly through the speakers. "Holy shit, man, the fuck are we gonna do?"

Janae paused in her answer as she pulled up behind where the silver BMW had parked in the shadows, her eyes locked on the devastation before us. With her finger still on the button so that Nicky could hear our conversation, Watson turned to face me with a questioning look. "Do we get out and run for it, or do you wanna just drive straight through 'em?"

My mouth opened and closed as I searched for an answer, feeling sick to my stomach at my friend's question. "W-we can't just drive through them, there's people down there!"

"The people will move, at least, the smart ones will," Red added thoughtfully. "We don't have to drive fast; maybe we can even clear a path for them."

"We won't have a chance running through 'em," Nicky's voice crackled through the device in Janae's hand. "We've had some luck in the past, I won't deny it, but this is a fuckin' death sentence, guys. At least we have a chance if we stay in the cars."

All eyes were on me and I scowled in response to the questioning looks directed at me. I hated the responsibility that was resting on my shoulders, the title of leader that I didn't feel I deserved. I didn't want to be the one that held all these women's lives in my hands, or the one that determined the fate of the innocent people outside. I was saved from making a decision by Alex gently resting her hand on my shoulder, leaning forward to look out the window.

"We drive through them," Alex's voice was strong and determined as she spoke, once again the cold and ruthless woman that I had met more than ten years ago. It was a side to her that I didn't particularly like, but one that I was grateful for in these types of situations. "Nicky's right, this is the only way."

Watson tilted her head in acknowledgement at Alex's words, her eyes glancing to me before turning back to face the front. Nicky's voice crackled through the speakers once more before the connection was cut off. "We hear you loud and clear, Vause. Watson, take the lead, 'cause size definitely matters in this situation."

The car rumbled to life as we pulled out of the shadows, with the silver BMW falling in to place behind us as we sped towards the destruction that awaited us. Watson swerved constantly in an attempt to avoid the bodies that littered the ground, but it was futile, and I winced every time I heard the sound of bones breaking beneath the wheels. I gripped Alex's hand in mine as we came closer and closer to the masses of bodies racing through the darkness, lit up by the high beams of our four wheel drive. We slowed as we reached the first wave, and I watched as people turned to look at our car; zombies with cold blue eyes and sneers marring their pale faces, and survivors with eyes full of fear as they dodged out of our path.

I followed Red's example as she began to roll down her window, just enough to fit the barrel of her shotgun through the slight gap. I rolled down the window on my left side, as I heard Alex roll down the window on my right, and carefully slid the barrel of my shotgun in to place and took aim. I focused on the faces in the darkness, unwilling to take a chance and accidently hit a civilian, and waited for the flash of blue before pulling the trigger. It was with grim satisfaction that I watched a woman drop to the ground, her hold on the young man that she was attempting to feast on, falling away. I took a moment to take in his grateful expression before turning to my next victim, once again aiming carefully before pulling the trigger.

I clamped my jaws down on a scream as the car violently shuddered when we drove straight into a group of the undead. A zombie hit the front windscreen and the resulting crack that echoed in the car was enough to set off the panic that had been building inside of me. The strangers in the back seat were screaming, and I fought the urge to yell at them to shut up as Janae swerved in attempt to dislodge the man that was snarling on the hood, his hands smearing blood across the cracked glass. His fists slammed into the windshield repeatedly, cracking the glass further with every beat of his hands, and I knew that it wouldn't take much more for it to shatter completely and cover us into its sharp fragments.

"Close your eyes!" I yelled, hoping that my command would be heeded without question as I unsheathed my black hand gun and pointed it at the windshield. I pulled the trigger and was immensely relieved when the bullet only made a small hole in the glass, instead exploding it into a thousand pieces. The man rolled off and onto the ground with a thump, and our view was once again clear.

But not soon enough, because we were heading straight for a dilapidated building and the impending crash was inevitable.

Alex managed to grab me just before we collided with the wall, one arm wrapping firmly around my shoulders while her other arm wrapped around my head protectively. I relaxed instinctively in her embrace, gripping her forearms as she buried her face in the crook of my neck. Janae's yells echoed in my ears, along with the sound of glass shattering and the crunch of metal as the car's bonnet was crushed against the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut as we were all thrown forwards, only to have myself abruptly pulled back as Alex pushed her feet against the floor and held us in place with pure will power and determination.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," the screams seemed to be coming from miles away and all I could hear was Alex's soft cursing in my ear as she held me tightly in her arms, her entire body shaking. "Shit, Piper, are you okay? Talk to me, kid."

"Considering the circumstances," I murmured into the soft skin of Alex's chest, a smile tilting my lips as the dark haired woman shivered at the feeling of my warm breath on her skin. "I honestly couldn't be better."

Alex's husky chuckle was like music to my ears as she loosened her hold enough for me to pull my face reluctantly from the haven of her breasts. I returned her soft smile before turning in my seat to look at the other occupants in the car, and my smile instantly faded. Red was moving feebly in the passenger seat, reaching out slowly to lay her hand on Janae's arm, whose head was resting on the steering wheel. Her eyes were closed, and I felt my heart stop in my chest at her unresponsive face as Red gently shook her shoulder in attempt to awaken her. The women in the back seat were conscious, their panicked words falling on deaf ears as I pulled away from Alex's arms and turned completely to face my friend in the driver's seat. Red rivers of blood dripped from her open mouth and from her ear, and her body was slumped lifelessly in her seat, her temple resting against the steering wheel with her head turned towards me at an awkward angle.

No, no, no, no, no, the word was a whispered mantra in my brain as I leant forwards and placed my hand on the side of Watson's face, feeling the warmth of her blood on my thumb as it skimmed her lips. "Janae..."

"Pipes," Alex's voice was quiet but determined as she rested her warm hand on my shoulder. "Piper, we have to go."

I ignored her, unable to turn away from Janae's lifeless face and the lingering warmth of her skin. I could not lose another friend, not when we had lost so many already and not when we were so close to safety. I could not leave another person behind. "Janae, wake up." I shook her shoulder gently and received no response, except a soft sigh from the Russian woman in the passenger seat. "Watson, wake the fuck up, you pussy. I swear to God, I will kick your ass and leave you looking worse than Doggett if you don't open your fucking eyes right now."

"Chapman," Red's voice was full of sorrow as she lightly touched my hair. "She's gone."

"We can't stay here, Pipes," Alex continued desperately, just as something smashed into the side of our car. "We need to leave."

I stifled a sob, knowing that Alex was right, as more and more bodies started to collide with the side of the car, shaking the vehicle violently. But I couldn't give up.

"We're almost there, you stupid fuck, don't give up on me now," I attempted to growl the words as my anger and desperation built, but they came out more choked than anything. "Wake the fuck up!"

I punctuated my words were a firm hit to Watson's shoulder and was rewarded with a strangled moan and a hiss of pain as the woman's dark eyes fluttered open. She glared at me reproachfully in her dazed state, but I couldn't care less as my body deflated against Alex's in complete relief.

"Oh, thank God," I whispered as Alex pressed a gentle kiss against my temple.

"What the fuck, you Taylor Swift ass motherfucker," Janae groaned as she pushed herself away from the steering wheel and leant back in her seat. Her eyes cleared of their confusion as the car continued to shake and she turned her head painfully to stare out of the window. "Oh shit."

"We need to move," my voice was shaky and Alex scoffed at my words, having said them less than thirty seconds ago, only to be ignored. "Can you move, Janae?"

"I can feel my legs, so that's a good fuckin' sign," Janae grumbled as she pushed herself out of her seat and crawled into the back beside me, with Red following shortly behind. "I have a headache that would take down a fuckin' elephant though."

"Just hold on a little longer," I encouraged her as Alex rested her hand on the door handle with her free hand gripping her gun. "It's not far to the boats and then we'll be safe and I can fix you up."

Watson grunted in response as I loaded my shotgun, before resting my hand lightly on Alex's back to inform her that I was ready. She glanced over her shoulder and gave me her familiar cocky smirk, before she was pushing open the door and immediately firing a bullet into the face of a zombie waiting outside. I followed the dark haired woman swiftly out of the car and we were instantly surrounded by a hoard of zombies, with hands reaching for our bodies and lips pulled back in feral snarls.

I lashed out with my foot and kicked one electric blue eyed man in the chest, giving us some space to maneuver in while the other women clambered out of the ruined car behind us. With one of my double barrel shot guns in one hand, and the handle of my dagger gripped firmly in the other, I fought through the crowd of zombies with Alex at my side. It was extremely close range fighting, and more than once I felt a pair of hands clutch my body, only for that hand to fall away when it was met with the sharp edge of my blade. I could hear Alex grunting with exertion beside me, as she fought with both weapons and her hands, managing a wicked right hook to the temple of a man that sent him reeling to the ground before lodging a bullet between his eyes.

"Chapman! Red! Over here!" I could distantly hear a familiar voice yelling over the screams and growls that were echoing in my ears and I instinctively turned my head in the direction of the sound. I frowned as I caught a flash of Nicky's wild mane over the crowd, the top half of her body sticking out of the window of the silver BMW. She was waving wildly at us with one hand, while the other held a silver handgun that was continuously being fired into the zombies surrounding her car.

"Nicky, get out of here!" I heard Red's thick Russian accent from where she fought behind me, and I nodded in agreement with her words. "Get to the boats! Go!"

"Ma!" Nicky protested, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared back at us. "No! I can't-"

"Nicky! Go!" I shouted over the noise, my eyes locking with my friend's horrified gaze. "Make a path! We'll be right behind you!"

I watched as the blonde haired woman struggled with her indecision, the same emotions reflecting in her eyes that I had been forced to deal with only minutes ago. I could see that she didn't want to leave us behind, as I hadn't wanted to leave Janae, and I completely understood how she felt, but she was putting herself and Morello in more danger by waiting for us. I watched as she smashed the butt of her gun against the head of a zombie that got too close, cracking it's head open in her frustration.

"Get out of here, Nichols!" It was Alex's shout that finally caused Nicky to slide back into the car completely, her face determined and angry as she gripped the steering wheel. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I continued to fight for my life, saw the tires of the BMW spin madly as she slammed her foot down on the accelerator. She turned sharply, less than a few feet away from us, causing the back of the car to skid around, and took out a large group of zombies before speeding towards the boats only a short distance away.

Her little stunt had opened up a significant space free of the undead, and I pushed passed the last few zombies in my way to follow the path that Nicky had opened up for us. With Alex's hand on the small of my back, I started running, keeping my eyes focused on the silver BMW that had finally pulled to a stop only a few meters away from the water's edge. My vision was momentarily obscured by a zombie stepping into my path, but with a flick of my wrist, it fell to the floor with my dagger buried deep in its throat.

So close, so fucking close, I thought to myself as the concrete beneath my feet turned to sand, which flicked up beneath my boots as I ran. I didn't dare to look behind me, too afraid to see what was following me and more importantly, who wasn't following me. The doors to the BMW swung open and I watched as Nicky and Morello hurried out of the front seats, followed by strangers that I didn't recognize. Nicky spared a glance over her shoulder at us before sprinting to one of the waiting boats that were still bobbing in the water, scrambling onto the back and helping Lorna gain her feet beside her.

Almost there, water was splashing beneath my feet, chilling me to the bone as it rose above my ankles, until I was almost waist deep and my hands were scrambling for the ladder that led onto the boat. A hand gripped my wrist and I looked up into Nicky's smiling face and felt as if I was going to burst into tears as she hauled me on to the deck. There was a heavy thump as someone landed beside me, and I turned my head with my cheek pressed against the floor to look into a pair of familiar gray eyes.

"Fuck," I breathed, staring into Alex's eyes, and surprised us both by bursting into uncontrollable giggles. Alex's eyes softened with understanding and relief as I fell apart on the deck of our small boat, as people moved around us and side eyed the two women who lay side by side on the floor, gripping each other's hands.

"It's finally happened," I heard Janae's mocking voice from somewhere behind me, though her tone was tinged heavily with relief and amusement. "Chapman's finally lost her fucking mind."

"What are you talkin' about? Chapman's always been the craziest bitch in the joint," Nicky responded mildly. "Now, you got any ideas on how to start this fuckin' thing, Watson? 'Cause the sun is rising and I want to get to those ships before they decide leave without us."

I rolled onto my back as my laughter slowly subsided, and looked up at the sky to see that it was indeed getting lighter. Leaning up on my elbows, I looked towards the shore where chaos still ensued, though I could see that more survivors had finally made their way to the boats. I listened as our own little boat roared to life, glancing around at the familiar faces that surrounded me as I felt a warm body slide up against my own. Nicky and Janae were both at the front of the boat, arguing on who would steer, while Red sat a few feet away, watching them with amusement, joined by a quiet Morello. I also glimpsed the faces of the two women that had been in the four wheel drive with us, along with the woman that we had saved earlier in the night, before turning to look at the dark haired woman beside me.

Alex's face was lined with complete and utter exhaustion, and a frown marred her brow as she stared out at the destruction back on shore. She must have felt my gaze, because a moment later she turned to look at me, and the frown slipped away to be replaced by a soft smile, which I readily returned. I soothed away the lines on her forehead with my thumb before gently caressing Alex's cheek, smiling as she leant into my touch.

"We made it," I whispered softly, completely focused on the dark haired beauty beside me and her sparkling gray eyes.

"I told you we would." Alex grinned in response, giving me a lazy wink. "I don't break my promises, Pipes."

"Do you think we could convince the captain of the ship to take us to Cambodia?" I found myself slowly inching forward as I spoke, until my body was completely pressed against hers, barely even noticing our saturated clothes as my eyes dropped to her lips which were so close. I licked my own lips as my gaze flickered up to Alex's, only to find her watching my tongue as it traced over my lower lip.

"We can try," Alex murmured, before she leant forward and captured my lips in her own; leaving me completely oblivious to the cheers from our friends or the boat that was moving steadily in the direction of the ships in the distance.

/

Six months later...

It wasn't Cambodia, but honestly, Brazil was really the next best thing.

The sun shone brightly above us as we lay on the sand, our dark sunglasses protecting our eyes as we basked in the warmth of the sun and each other's bodies. My head rested comfortably on my girlfriend's shoulder as I snoozed in the late afternoon light, taking comfort in the sound of Alex's heart beating strongly beneath my ear. Nicky was currently playing in the ocean with Morello as Janae walked along the edge of the water, while Red was off preparing lunch in the nearby communal kitchen and I took this time to just relax in the safety of Alex's embrace.

It had been six months since our escape from Florida, and another few weeks before our ship dropped anchor in Brazil. Hundreds of tents had been erected upon our arrival, until the survivors and soldiers had banded together and had begun to build more permanent homes for the hundreds of people that had escaped with us. Our stay in Brazil had been comfortable so far, but it was far from permanent, as Alex had already started talking about moving on. Indonesia and Rome seemed to be in the cards for our near future, though there had also been talk of returning to America, once the government had completed the task of eliminating all the undead that still walked the streets.

My head snapped up and to the side as I heard a scream for help, and I looked down towards the end of the beach where I could vaguely make out the form of a man falling to the ground, his body jerking as if he was in the midst of a seizure. My eyes widened as I watched a group of people surround him, wondering if he had eaten something poisonous or was having an allergic reaction.

And suddenly, the way he was jerking and the noises he was making seemed all too familiar and I could feel Alex's warm body tense beneath me as she slipped off her sunglasses and our eyes met in a moment of silent communication.

"Shit," Alex deadpanned before she was scrambling off the towel we had been sunbathing on and was racing towards the water as fast as her long legs could carry her. As her feet kicked up sand, I pushed myself to my feet and hurriedly grabbed our things, my eyes still on the man that continued to spasm on the ground. A piercing scream reached my ears, and I berated myself for having left my weapons back in the house that our group shared as the noise echoed in my brain.

It had been stupid to believe that my life could continue without any further complications, I thought to myself as I watched the man launch from his position on the ground and reach for the person standing closest to him. I met his cold, glowing blue eyes from a distance as he buried his teeth in his victim's neck, and felt a chill work its way down my spine, just as my friends came splashing out of the water and up the beach towards me.

"Bali?" Nicky questioned as she raced passed me, gripping the hand of a frightened and confused Morello. "Bali sounds pretty fuckin' good right now!"

"We are the bad luck!" Morello wailed as she was dragged in the direction of our recently built house by her crazy haired girlfriend. I couldn't help but smirk, despite the dire situation, as I caught Alex's eye, and reached out to take her hand. I broke into a run as the screams grew louder behind us and the golden sand turned red with blood and wondered what the weather was like in Bali at this time of year.

The End.

AN: And it's over, finally. I'm seriously considering writing a sequel to this story, since I already have the plot figured out for it, but if I do, it probably won't be updated for a while. I hope that you guys enjoyed this story, and that it helped you cope with the months in between the end of the first season and the start of season two, which is just a few short days away now! I am so ridiculously excited for the next season, and I probably won't post anything else on here until I've finished watching it. Thank again for following, and lets all cross our fingers for a sexy Vauseman reunion in the second season!