A/N: Hi all my dear readers. Yes, I know... this is way too late and I'm sorry for the long time you had to wait, but as I promised before, I will never abandon a story. So please enjoy this last chapter!

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Arthur stared in shock at Merlin who was holding the lifeless body of Jenny in his arms. He didn't know what to say, or what to do. He knew that she could turn at any moment, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn't simply rip her out of Merlin's arms.

He tried to stay strong as he held back his tears. It was painful to see such a young girl lifeless in his arms, but at this point he knew that they could do nothing about it, they had to make sure that she stayed dead.

'Merlin?' The man didn't reply and Arthur sighed, he didn't know what to do so he just reached forwards, grabbing hold of Merlin's shoulder. 'Merlin, she will change, we have to make sure th-.'

'Don't!' The raven shouted as he looked up, his eyes blood red. 'I don't want to hurt her anymore than I already have.' He breathed out, the pain clearly heard in his voice.

'We will only help her if we end this, I'm certain that she never wanted to become... one of them. We have to do this, for her.' He said as gently as possible and he could see the hesitation in the other's eyes. 'I will do it, than we can bury her.'

Merlin looked down for a moment before he gave the blond a soft nod and Arthur didn't hesitate as he carefully took Jenny's body out of the raven's arms. Merlin didn't react, he didn't stop him and Arthur saw it as an sign of acceptance, even though he did not like it. He reached for the gun in his pocket and put it against her head, mouthing words of apology. He could already feel her body twitching beneath his fingers, it was now or never. He breathed in deeply once before he pulled the trigger. The twitching stopped.

'We will dig her a grave.'

Merlin just nodded as he stood up and took Jenny's body from the blond's arms. Arthur himself quickly stood up and rushed outside, searching the area for more undead before he made his way to the car and grabbed a shovel from the trunk.

They took all morning to dig the grave and hold a small ceremony for her. Merlin had mostly kept quiet through the whole thing. Staring with almost dead eyes down at the body and later on the dirt.

It was after lunch, that they took to the road again, not that Merlin had eaten anything. He drove because he didn't trust Merlin to do so.

It was a quiet ride for the first hour, that was until Arthur decided that it was time to talk. 'Merlin, how do you feel?'

The raven was quiet for a moment before he looked up at Arthur. 'I'm not sure... I still feel as if it's my fault that she's dead, I should have stopped her.'

Arthur mumbled that he understood and he glanced quickly towards his friend. 'You can't blame yourself for what happened to her, it could have happened to any of us...' He sighed as his eyes shifted to the road again. 'We have to go on in order to survive, can you do that for me?'

It was silent for a long time, till the raven answered. 'I will try.'

'Good.' Arthur mumbled, more to himself than to Merlin. They just had to stay strong for now and when they had finally reached their destination they could cry, but for now... for now they had to be strong.

Arthur too... because he didn't know how much longer even he could hold on.

xxx

They went on for the rest of the day, stopping only for a quick rest before they went on their way again, they were close, just a few more miles.

Merlin smiled softly, even after everything that had happened, the thought of finally being safe was a happy one. Still that didn't mean that he hadn't hoped he would be here with more people than just Arthur.

He looked forward to seeing Gaius again, his old mentor... at least he hoped he could see the man, if the settlement was still there, if his friend was still alive an-

He shot forward and the air was forced out of his lungs as his seatbelt stopped him from slamming into the window. Arthur had hit the brakes. He coughed harshly as he tried to catch his breath. 'W-wh-?' He started as his eyes snapped to Arthur, but the man's eyes were set on the scene in front of them. Which is why Merlin turned back to look out the front window and he finally understood why they had to stop so suddenly. Someone had made a wall in the middle of the road, fortified with bricks, cement and metal wire. They would probably have died if they had slammed into it. 'What's that?'

'A barrier.' Arthur mumbled and Merlin shifted his eyes, it wasn't only on the road, the barrier ran further through the forest. 'It's to stop the undead from coming in.' Arthur looked at him, a smile spread over his lips. 'It may mean that there are still people defending this place, they have set up barriers to protect themselves.' Without a warning Arthur pulled him into a hug. 'This is gr-.'

Something heavy slammed against the back of the car. Both snapped around, staring at a zombie, pounding against the car. 'We have to get out of the car before there will be more, we can't get past the barrier with it.' Merlin quickly hissed.

'You're right, the rest we can walk.' They slung their backpacks around their shoulders and he waited till Arthur counted off. '3...2...1, now!'

They swung open the doors and Merlin jumped out, plunging his knife into the first zombie's head before he made a run towards the barrier, Arthur not far behind him.

He glanced back once, seeing a horde of undead coming after them. 'Arthur.' He warned the blond and he could hear Arthur curse behind him.

Merlin stopped right in front of the barrier, for a moment panicking when he saw the barbed wire, but he quickly got over it, better to get some cuts and bruises than to be bitten. He was about to climb up when he felt a heavy weight underneath his thighs and he was thrown over the barrier.

He was a bit startled when he realized that he was on top of the barrier, but he quickly shook himself out of it. He reached down and Arthur quickly grabbed his hands and tried to pull the blond up. He gasped as he noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye, an undead was to close by. 'Arthur!' He warned and both released each other, Arthur quickly turned around to plunge the knife into the skull.

The other zombies began closing in and Merlin knew that there was no way he would be able to pull Arthur up fast enough. It was at that moment that Arthur also realized how quickly they were moving in and he quickly shot an apologetic look at the raven. 'Go, get yourself to safety, Now!'

'I'm not leaving you!'

'You have too!' Arthur answered desperately. 'Get the cure to the settlement, it's more important than me... and you have to live!'

The raven blinked at him as the blond turned around, defending himself against the oncoming undead. Merlin felt hesitation in his heart, on the one hand he did have the duty to bring the cure to the settlement, but on the other hand... he couldn't let Arthur die, not like this, not when they were so close... not when they were this close to safety.

The decision was quickly made and he didn't hesitate to jump down from the barrier. hissing slightly as he ripped open his hand.

Arthur turned shocked towards him. 'I told you-.'

'And I won't leave you!' Merlin quickly told his friend... and he meant it, Arthur was now the only person left that he cared for. He couldn't lose him, not like he lost Morgana, not like he lost Jenny.

He and Arthur stood back to back as they defended themselves and each other against the undead. Merlin couldn't help but feel scared, they were surrounded by at least two dozen zombies, they may not be quick or intelligent, but all it took was one bite, one scratch to turn someone.

Merlin plunged his knife into the first skull, pushing away a second one. He could hear Arthur doing the same behind him.

He growled deeply as he broke the skull of the fifth undead, barely managing to keep the others off him and Arthur. Behind him Arthur had already pulled out his gun, shooting two in the head as he had already killed at least another five with his knife.

He turned to the next undead, but before he could reach the creature he felt an incredible force against his side, throwing him to the ground.

Merlin yelped in surprise and fear as his head hit the ground and for a moment his vision blacked out. He felt the pressure of a zombie on top of him and he quickly pushed his arms upwards, feeling the biting motion as he held the creature's upper body away from him.

He heard Arthur yell a warning just before he could feel the body going limp and he quickly pushed it aside and Arthur pulled him to his feet.

They were breathing heavily, but they knew that they had to get through this. There was only a small part of the group left, but that also meant that they could not lose their attention.

Another one of them shot forwards and Merlin quickly jumped to the side, causing the zombie to run past him and allowing Merlin to drive the knife into the back of the creature's head.

It was the last one in front of him and he quickly turned around, wanting to see if he could help Arthur, but just as he turned around he saw an undead lunge for his friend while the blond was still busy dealing with his last opponent. He gasped, but didn't hesitate as he rushed forward, throwing himself onto the zombie because he knew this would be the only way to stop it.

xxx

Arthur glared at the last zombie in front of him, for a moment waiting for what the creature would do. He didn't have to wait long as the zombie lunged for him, he reacted quickly reaching forwards and driving his knife into the rotten skull with a sickening sound.

He had barely pulled the knife back out when he heard a yell and something zoomed past him. He could barely make out Merlin who was wrestling with an undead, both stumbling to the ground.

He gasped as he saw the snapping jaws near Merlin's face and he immediately reached out, pulling away the undead with a mighty pull and immediately driving his knife into the skull.

Arthur scanned the area, but it seemed for now there wasn't any immediate danger and he quickly reached for Merlin.

... but halfway to him he stopped. The raven was covered in blood, red fresh blood, not the sick brown from the undead, this was fresh. 'Merlin?'

The raven blinked at him, startled for just a moment. 'You okay?'

Arthur slowly sank to his knees, eying him with concern. 'I... I should ask you that question... D-did you get bitten?'

He saw a frown spread over Merlin's lips before he looked down at his hand, first showing terror, before it changed to relief. 'No, I cut myself when I jumped down.'

Arthur released a deep breath, one that he had been holding before he slapped the raven on the back of his head. 'You idiot!' He snapped, but he couldn't hide the relieved smile that crossed his lips. 'Now let's go before even more arrive.'

He saw Merlin's nod and he quickly helped the other up before he helped Merlin back onto barrier, the raven then helping him up.

Arthur quickly scanned the area, but it was clear that the field behind the barrier was clear of undead, still that didn't mean that they should let down their guard. He turned back to Merlin, smiling softly. 'We're almost there.'

Merlin smiled back at him. 'I know.' The other whispered before he looked forwards. 'Thank you for coming along with me, I couldn't have done it without you.'

He laughed. 'And I couldn't have done it without you.' No more words were needed as they looked into each other's eyes, they both understood the friendship they held between them and the strength it created.

It wasn't long, maybe half a mile, maybe even less until they reached a large stone wall with a gate not far from them.

They walked to it and Arthur couldn't help but grin at the shocked face from the guard that stood on the wall. 'Are you bitten?' The man eventually asked, narrowing his eyes as he glanced at the blood on Merlin's shirt.

'No, we're both clean.' He turned to face Merlin, who just nodded and he quickly added. 'And we brought a cure.'

xxx

A/N: And with that this story has ended. At the beginning I was planning on killing Merlin, but in the end, with the influence of my beta reader, I decided not to do it, not after all the others I killed off. I also planned on ending this here as it's the end of their journey.

So thanks for all the awesome reviews that I got from you guys and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.