Soon, my world consisted of nothing more than my strangled screams and the ringing in my ears. That is, until I heard shouting. From which direction, I didn't know. 

I felt my body give way, crashing into the water to rest on the floor. I felt water filling my lungs, reminding me of my experience only a little while ago in the helicopter. 

I didn't know how long it took, but eventually I felt something stab itself into my arm; the pain was dull and barely there- probably a result of whatever poison had made its way into my skin. 

"Canary! Wake the hell up! Can you hear me?" 

My vision gradually started clearing, just enough so I could see the silhouette of someone's face. 

Ringer. 

"Where's Z-" I started. 

Ringer shook her head, impatient and clearly annoyed. "He's got caught up with some soldiers. He's fine. Listen, you're affected pretty badly by the poison. I found an antidote, immunity or whatever it's called. It's the same one Vosch and the other soldiers took before heading to the safe barracks. I don't know the lasting effects you'll have, but the antidote should help with the worst of it." 

My head started spinning, I wasn't sure if it was from Ringer's words coming out in a jumbled, almost incoherent mess, or if it was a result of the poison.

"Where's Cassie?" I asked. I slowly pulled myself off the ground, every inch of my skin tingling, sending signals of warning. 

Ringer pointed gravely behind me, and I spun around to see Cassie sitting in the chair. She was strapped into the chair, wires of varying colors attached to the head gear she was wearing. 

Her eyes were open still, blinking slowly as if she didn't render the chaos erupting around her. 

"What?-" 

"I'm plugging myself into Wonderland," Cassie said calmly, her words coming out in a sedated drawl. "To find out what happened to Evan," she said. 

I looked cautiously over at Ringer. "This wasn't part of the plan," I said. 

None of us knew exactly what would happen if plugged into Wonderland. 

And how exactly was she going to find Evan's information? Wonderland consisted of every individual's emotions and memories who had ever been injected with one of the Other's trackers. Information about all the child soldiers was in there, swimming freely. Wonderland was the essence of the humanity that remained. 

"To get Evan's information, she'll have to take it all," Ringer said quietly. 

Cassie nodded, still able to resist the pull of Wonderland. "I'll know everything," she said airily, her eyes finally closing as she succumbed to power of the Others' system. 

"She'll know everything about the base," Ringer clarified. "The layout, the codes. She'll be invincible- able to destroy the Others." 

I watched as Cassie started writhing and turning in the seat, her face screaming agony. Her eyes shot open, suddenly overtaken by the jolts of energy entering her body. Her fists curled and uncurled, her knuckles turning white. 

I tore my gaze away, unable to watch her in pain anymore. I couldn't help but feel slightly betrayed. Ringer talked as if this- Cassie downloading herself in Wonderland - was the plan all along. I wondered why I appeared to be the only one not aware of what was going on. 

"I'll explain it to you later-" Ringer said, cutting herself off when a yell of anguish erupted from the hall. 

Zombie. 

I rushed out into the hall, my legs moving in slow motion, still too weak to move at full capacity. 

Ringer dashed past me, throwing herself at the Zombie's opponent. 

My eyes widened. It was Evan. It seemed that Evan had found Zombie before Cassie had been able to lead us to the silencer himself. 

I took one second to observe Evan. His attention snapped to Ringer as he whipped around to face her with baring teeth. Evan wasn't Evan anymore. He was manipulated by the Others and stripped of his human self. 

"Go!" Ringer shouted at Zombie and I. She tore into Evan's flesh with the tip of her knife, paralyzing him for a moment. 

Blood started to drip from his torso, leaking onto his white shirt. Ringer kicked him in the back of his knees, sending him to the ground with a thud. For a moment, I thought about dropping to his side to make sure he was okay. After all, Evan had taken care of me - saved me when I'd needed him most. 

I shook my head slightly, urging myself to look away. That was not Evan. At least, it wasn't the Evan any of us knew. 

"Vosch and the others are leaving, in escape pods," Zombie said frantically, turning to face me. "We need to get to them. We can't let them leave. I heard a soldier talking about it. They're in Barracks 10." 

Ringer would beat Evan. She was advanced like him and maybe even more ruthless. Cassie would survive the download and then she and Ringer would shut down the system. But doing that still wouldn't take care of Vosch. Someone needed to kill him. 

I didn't think twice before nodding curtly. He was right. 

We ran down the hall, our eyes straight forward at the stretch of concrete in front of us. We didn't say a word to one another. It would be the two of us against Vosch- there was no reason to be afraid of one losing the other. 

The battle was nearly over. And it was ours to win. 

~*~*~*~

When we made it to Barracks 10, Vosch's voice could be heard over the speakers, bellowing demands and instructions to the soldiers. 

Zombie took a step forward, about to confidently stride into the room of Others. 

My eyes widened with surprise, grabbing him by wrist. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked, alarmed. 

Zombie looked back at me, looking down at my fingers wrapped around his wrist before letting his eyes lift to meet mine. 

"I'm going to kill Vosch," he said plainly. He pursed his lips in pure determination as he l"Listen, I know you want this just as much as I do-" 

"I do," I interrupted, trying to keep my voice dow to a low whisper. "But we can't 'waltz on into a room of Others. You and I can beat Vosch but we can't take down them all." 

Zombie's muscles started to relax and his jaw unclenched. "You're right," he said. When it came to Vosch, he knew that he acted impulsively. 

I nodded. "We'll wait. Until he leaves or we can get him alone," I said. 

We pressed out backs against the wall behind us and I carefully past the curve in the wall to look inside the room. 

The Others were preparing to leave, getting handed papers and instructions of how to get to and operate the escape pods. Vosch had stepped down from the speaker and was now weaving his way through the throng of soldiers, barking orders every chance he got. 

"He's coming this way," I breathed, leaning my head back up against the wall. 

Zombie's fingers found mine and I closed my eyes momentarily to take it in. We were so close. So close to being free. So close to it just being the two of us. 

I opened my eyes again and I pulled a knife from my belt, a hint of a smile emerging as I ran my fingers over the smooth grooves of the handle. 

Zombie pulled out a gun as I took another peak around the corner. 

Vosch was emerging from the room, taking a glance back to say something before stalking down the hall, toward the wall where Zombie and I were hidden. 

I dragged my fingers away from Zombie's, quietly tearing a strip of fabric from my shirt. 

It was now or never. 

I motioned to Zombie and then, just as Vosch took a step past us, I lunged onto his back, using the fabric I'd torn to gag him, stifling any hope he had to call out. 

I brought my knife up, ready to drive it into his neck. This was it. 

Before I had the chance to do anything, Vosch moved back, slamming my against the wall. I crumbled away from him, my grip slackening. He grabbed me forcibly by the waist and spun me around to shield him. 

Zombie had his gun up, his gaze bearing hard into Vosch's. 

"You thought it would be that easy? You humans are pathetic, just as you've ever been. We're going to win. Just like we always have. You won't be able to stop us," Vosch sneered, tightening his grip around me. 

My knife clattered to the ground as it got harder and harder for me to struggle against his grasp. 

"And you won't be able to stop me from killing her, Private Zombie," Vosch said, lifting me slightly so my feet were off the ground. "I know everything about the two of you. I know how you love her and I know how weak that makes you. You're going to watch her die. And then I'm going to kill you too. I'll win. Like I always do."

My hands grasped Vosch's arm, desperately trying to free myself. I carefully extended my hand to motion to Vosch's exposed hand, hoping Zombie would get my message. 

Zombie smirked a little, taking a threatening step forward. "You're wrong," Zombie said, his jaw clenching. "It's our turn to win."

He brought his gun up steadily, his face stoic, his eyes cold. 

Then he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through Vosch's hand. Vosch's grip slackened and I freed myself from his hold. I drew my knife from the ground, turning around again before he had the chance to recover from the blood cascading down his hand. I smirked before plunging it into his heart. 

"You think love is what makes us weak. But you're wrong," I said fervidly. 

Vosch sunk to the floor as blood poured unceasingly from his body. His eyes glassed over as he met the ground, his head colliding with the floor upon impact. 

I pushed his body away from me, glowering at the Other's lifeless form. "It makes us stronger." 

Then, I rose to full form and met Zombie's eyes. The shadow of a smile danced on his lips and light returned to his eyes for a moment. It disappeared all to quickly, concern making its way onto his face. "I don't hear anyone," he said, "Why didn't any of the other soldiers hear us?" 

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. We ran over to the room Vosch had emerged from only minutes earlier. We skidded to a halt outside the room, staying in the doorway. There, scattered throughout the room, and no doubt everywhere else in the compound, were the silent, dead bodies of the Others. 

"Cassie," I breathed. "She downloaded herself into Wonderland. She must've been able to activate some kind of kill switch." 

"With the trackers," Zombie confirmed, nodding stiffly. 

Then my breath hitched in my throat as my heart started to dramatically pound against my chest. 

"I know what she's going to do," I said, realization hitting me of what Cassie was doing. She knew everything about the Others now. She knew how to destroy them completely. She knew how to deactivate their entire operation. She was going to sacrifice herself to destroy the mothership and therefore, kill every Other in existence and any other future opportunity for them to return to earth. 

My eyes widened, realizing exactly what was coming next. "We need to get out of here," I said, just as the ceiling rattled, sending bits of concrete and dust flying. 

"That way," Zombie said, pointing down the hall, away from the room. I nodded, understanding. Then we ran, racing through the maze of halls to where light and day prevailed. Zombie threw open the door to the outside, just as the ground behind us began to fall into itself, dirt and debris erupting from the earth. 

As we ran, the base exploded behind us, mirroring the image of Wright Patterson engulfed in flames. The mothership followed suit, millions of pieces of shrapnal and scattering as the ship turned ablaze. 

Soon, I couldn't hear the bombs going off or the legacy of the Others being incinerated. I only heard the sound of my ragged breathing and my feet pounding hard against the ground. 

Ringer appeared at our sides, her eyes trained forward at the safety of the trees in front of us. There, waving, stood Nugget and Megan. 

"Cassie?" I found myself asking Ringer. 

She shook her head once, her lips turning into a thin line. 

I took a shallow breath, willing myself to continue running. I glanced quickly over my shoulder, just as the entirety of the mothership was obliterated into fire and dust. 

<><><>

This was the last chapter of "Perish"! Next will come the with some closure, as this chapter didn't close the novel by any means. 

Anyway, I would love to take this time to thank you all for sticking with me through these sporadic updates! I'm so happy to have great readers like all of you who have been so dedicated. I appreciate each and every one of you and am so excited to have you read the very very last update for "Perish" and find out how Canary and Zombie's story ends. 

Comment with your favorite scene from "Perish"/ what your favorite thing about Zombie and Canary's relationship is! 

I love you all and can't wait to finish this journey with all you by my side!