How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter 14- Endings

A/N: I'm so sorry that this has taken so long! I hope you like it, thank you so much to everyone that has read, reviewed, and of course Rage, Hollow, Fluke, and Evanz (special mention to Gubi for his cameos). I love you all and hopefully I should have other fanfics to write in future. Also, I owe so much to Kia for being awesome and a brilliant proof-reader (FOR TELLING ME THAT IT'S JUST DESERTS NOT JUST DESSERTS GOSH I'M A FOOL), writer, and friend. Ok, on with the show…

"Josh?" a soft voice asked hesitantly.

He groaned and ignored the voice. Just five more minutes…

"Get the hell up you lazy asshole!" Josh decided that this voice was much less gentle.

He opened his eyes to find Annabelle and Will both sitting next to him. "What fucking time is it?" Josh moaned, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

"Around 8," Annabelle said, "and Will says that if we want to make it to the army base by nightfall we need to go now."

"Ugh… fine. Let's head out."

Annabelle headed over to where her backpack lay and began to sort their supplies so that the food they would need for the day was on top, alongside two bottles of water. Josh looked at Will and held out his hand.

"Team Undefeated Badmen?" he asked.

Will took his hand with a smile and shook it once. "Until the end."

"Ok, let's go." Annabelle said, interrupting their handshake. For some strange reason, referencing their Minecraft team made her want to cry. She looked over the weapons they had left: her broom, two knives, and two frying pans. "Fuck…" she sighed as she picked up the pack and swung it over her shoulder before picking her broomstick up off the ground.

Will and Josh moved over and both picked up one knife and one frying pan. The blonde shook his head. "I still don't completely trust you with that thing…"

Annabelle giggled, and Josh glared. "Come on man, really? After everything?"

"Hey, when there's an opportunity to make light of our fucked up situation, I'll happily take it." Will gave a small grin. "Come on, let's go."

The three of them headed out through the front door of the apartment, Will protecting their rear and Josh leading the way so that Annabelle and their supplies were kept safe in the middle. They quickly darted out of the apartment complex and into the street, checking the area as they moved. Josh pointed them along a street that was, thankfully, clear of zombies; they ran down the road as quickly as they could without making any noise to draw zombies' attention.

"How far is it from here?" Annabelle whispered.

"The RAF recruitment building is near here, only 20 minutes or so if we walk quickly," Josh said, pointing further down the road. "I just know the main route though, since I've only been past it a few times. We might run into some zombies."

"Well, we have weapons. We can clear out a few zombies without alerting a horde." Will shrugged. "Lead on, Josh."

The three of them walked briskly but stealthily, sticking as close to the walls of the buildings next to them as possible. Ten minutes passed in absolute silence (though whether it was because they were trying to be sneaky or because none of them knew what to say, no one could tell). As they turned onto a major road Josh put his hand out to stop them. Four zombies stood in the middle of the street, not doing anything in particular. Just standing. Annabelle cursed under her breath.

"I thought we might get lucky…" she murmured.

"We have two choices. Either we sneak, or we kill. Which?" Will muttered, shifting his grip on both his knife and his frying pan, the knife clasped tightly in his dominant hand, ready to swing and decapitate any zombie bold enough to fuck with them before they were ready. Honestly, the whole apocalypse thing had gotten really old really quickly. Like the sheep joke. He felt a pang in the centre of his chest as Evanz crossed his mind.

"Kill. It's four less to deal with later." Josh said. "Practicality dictates that when we get the chance we should get rid of as many zombies as we can." And if there was one thing Josh had learnt from the Walking Dead, it's that idiots eventually get their just deserts and if they wanted to stay alive, they needed to be as practical as possible.

The survivors crept up behind the zombies and immediately attacked, killing the four of them swiftly and silently and – best of all – not attracting any other corpses to the area. They hurried on, less careful now that they just wanted to get straight to the recruitment centre. They arrived at the brown brick building and pushed their way in through the unlocked front door. Their eyes scanned the large open room, and Annabelle spotted a solitary zombie in the corner. Josh stepped up, running over to the corner and stabbing the zombie through the neck.

"We need to find a storage cupboard, get some supplies, and see if they have anything here that might tell us about an escape plan." Annabelle said, setting her backpack and broom down on the floor. In the back of her mind, she knew that the hope of escape was very faint, but that didn't stop her from feigning a level of confidence that none of the three of them felt.

"Ok, this looks like a storage cupboard. Probably." Will pointed at a wooden oak door. He walked over, twisting the handle to see if it was locked. It swung silently open and Will staggered back, because although the room was filled with boxes, someone – or something – else had got there first. It was a zombie, same as all the others. Brown and green flaking skin, stooped shoulders, and a slow shuffling walk. But when it turned around, they realised this zombie was different.

Josh didn't know which he recognised first: the familiar brown eyes that used to be warm and bright, or the small airbending pendant that hung around its neck on a worn leather cord.

"Jake…" Will breathed, and the zombie stopped its movements for a moment, as though reacting to the name that once belonged to it. But then he growled, and began shuffling faster towards the door. Before he could reach it and grab Will, Annabelle darted forward and slammed the door shut, leaning against it as the corpse of Jake banged against the metal from the other side.

"We… we need to get the stuff that's in there!" Josh said, running his hands through his hair.

"But we can't get past Jake, and I'm not killing him!" Will yelled, gesticulating wildly at the door.

"I'd appreciate a decision soon!" Annabelle called as she held the door shut. One shove from what had been Jake sent the door flying open and Annabelle sprawling across the floor and into Will. Jake stumbled out, groaning and reaching for them. As he approached Will and tried to bite him, he paused for just a second, staring straight into Will's eyes.

"Jake? Do you recognise me? Jake?" Will cried, taking a small step back.

Jake grunted, as though he was trying to form words. "Wi… Joo…"

Then his head lolled forward, and he suddenly lunged for the nearest piece of fresh meat. Namely, Will. Jake knocked him to the floor and Will reached up to push against Jake's shoulders, keeping the zombie's wide maw as far away from him as possible. Josh ran over and kicked Jake in the ribs as hard as he could, sending the zombie skittering across the floor. Annabelle sprinted over, grabbing Will's frying pan from the ground as she passed and quickly bringing it crashing down on Jake's head. Josh and Will almost intervened, almost stopped her. Almost. But they knew there was no other way. They just stood and watched as a 14 year old girl stared down at the corpse.

"I… I had to. I'm sorry…"

"It's ok, Bells. We don't blame you, alright?" Will walked over and bent down so he was eye level with her. Josh didn't say anything, merely nodded in agreement with the blonde. The girl looked down at the destroyed corpse and gagged, putting her hand over her mouth in an attempt to cover the revolting noise.

"God, just the smell." Annabelle said, screwing her eyes shut as they had begun to water.

Josh nodded again, then walked into the cupboard that Jake had emerged from and began to search through the boxes. He pulled out a few packets of dried food and some cans, enough to refill their backpack. The brunette rifled through some more boxes in order to gather some more water and miraculously his search bore fruit. He returned to the main room and shoved his finds into the backpack as Annabelle and Will searched the rooms that branched off.

"This room's nothing important, just offices for interviewing recruits." Annabelle sighed, closing the door.

"Nothing in here either." Will replied as he shut the door on a small room exactly like the one Annabelle had looked at. Two chairs, a simple white desk, a window, and a water cooler. Nothing at all interesting.

"Where to now? We should…" Annabelle began, but trailed off as she looked out through the small window set into the wall next to the door. A horde of zombies were shuffling past. They remained silent and still, even holding their breath so as to not draw the attention of the zombies. A sudden and horrifying moan made the three of them jump and turn around. Jake was sitting up, his arms stretched out before him. The blow from the frying pan hadn't been enough. The brain was still intact. A second groan, louder this time, was enough to catch the attention of a few of the horde, who pressed closer to the door. They shoved against it, and before the door swung open the survivors were already dashing out to the interview room, scooping up their weapons and supplies as they scrambled towards the window.

Annabelle reached it first, shoving at the window latch as hard as she could, trying to unlock it. She screamed in frustration as the lock remained firmly in place. Josh moved her hands and brought the frying pan crashing down on the latch, hoping he could break it off. No luck.

They span around and backed up as the zombies began to slowly enter the room.

Tears began to dribble down Annabelle's cheeks as she, Josh, and Will gripped their weapons. They were surrounded. Their chances? Low. But still, they had to try.

"It's been an honour serving with you." Will said, giving a quick salute to his friends.

"As is has been with you." Josh returned his gesture. Annabelle wiped her face and set her gaze.

"Fight our way out; get to the coast; find a safe place; save the world. We can do it." She spoke with as much conviction as she could muster. The three survivors backed up slowly so that they were back to back, their weapons brandished fiercely.

"For Evanz," Will whispered.

"For Aaron," Josh replied.

"For Elise," Annabelle added.

Holding tightly to thoughts of their friends, their loved ones, and each other, the three of them launched themselves into the thronging horde of zombies.

THE END