Sargent Silverhoof looked back to check his squad as the crossed the ocean to get to land. There were five others, Strong Shield, Quick Draw, "Obsidian", Bold Wings, and Bob.(1) The Goddesses "parked" relatively close to shore, Just couple of miles( Nothing that the Royal Guard couldn't handle.). Sure there were some flooding, but that was a small price to pay for the purity of the Human race. Besides, the Princesses could surely clean it up, couldn't they?
They eventually arrived on land, near New York. Silverhoof stopped. Were were all the Humans? He had expected more than just one meandering its way to them, since you could see Equestria from land. He ready the potion for converting Humans to ponies. They were told to "Help the Humans make the right decision" if necessary.
Silverhoof motioned his squad to stay put, and trotted up to the human. "Hello."
As Silverhoof got closer, some primal instinct told him to run. He shook his head and smiled at the human. That smile fell once he got a good look at the alien.
The skin color was a pale-grey. That wasn't the color of skin he saw at the briefing. He also stank. He couldn't place it, but it smelled horrible. Combined with the stench of fish,( he never liked that smell) he almost vomited. Do humans ever bathe? The creature's eyes stared ahead blankly, covered in milky white film. It stopped suddenly, swaying in place. It slowly turned it's head down to look at him, still staring ahead. The instinct was becoming louder and harder to ignore.
It finally came to a head when the human's lower jaw dropped, revealing rotting teeth and moaned. The moan was something the ponies never had heard. It made his skin crawl.
The voice was frantically yelling at him to get away. He tried to but his legs turned to stone. The creature raised his arms and stumbled towards him. He got control of his legs again and promptly bucked the creature in the jaw, with a loud crack. Silverhoof then ran back to his squad mates. Only when he had reached them did he turn around.
What he saw made Nightmare Moon a pleasant experience.
As the "human" was getting up, Silverhoof not only saw that he had broken it's jaw (which was misshapen and crooked) but it's neck as well. It's head was cocked at an unnatural angle, with vertebrae poking out of the skin. Silverhoof couldn't believe his eyes. Fear made his heart race, unlike the thing that stood before them, which must have torn it's vocal cords as it was making unnatural keening sounds, which made it all the more terrifying.
It should be dead. But it was clearly moving, coming closer. He looked behind him to check on his squad. Bold wings looked like he was about to be sick, Obsidian looked impressively impassive, Bob (who strangely didn't like humans and was the only one who brought an actual weapon) had a look of anger on his face, while the rest looked at the creature with mute horror.
Bob hefted his spear and charged at the creature. Before anypony could say anything there were the sound of bones scraping on metal and wood splintering. The spear head broke off and lodged itself between the human's ribs. The wound did not bleed normally. Instead coagulated blood oozed out between flesh and blade.
Bob had a look of shock on his face, even as the human bent over and bit a chunk of flesh out of his neck. It must have torn an artery, as blood welled out of the wound. Bob made a gurgling noise as the zombie continued to eat him.
Silver hoof felt bile rise in the back of his throat. he turned to his friends and yelled "Run!"
The remaining ponies fled. Before he went with the rest of his friends, he felt compelled to look back at Bob. Bob was on his back lying in a pool of his own blood, dead. A look of terror and pain was etched on his face. The undead human had torn open the stomach cavity and was now eating the blood-slick intestine. Half of the colon was visibly hanging outside, while the tip of the bloody liver could be seen. Silverhoof managed to look away and flew.
badassgrunt presents:
The Conversion Bureau: The Dead.
Celestia smiled as scouting party moved up the throne room. That smile, unfortunately faded when she saw there were one missing. The frown turned deeper once she got a look at the remaining ponies. Quick Draw was silently sobbing, while Obsidian (who was GIGANTIC) allowed her to lean on him. Bold Wings looked sick. Strong Shield looked angry. Silverhoof worried her the most. He stared ahead blankly.
The five meandered to Celestia. The ponies bowed. Silverhoof took off his helmet. This undid the enchantments that made the ponies of the Royal Guard look alike. He was grey-coated with a rust colored mane. He had a silver birthmark on his hoof. "Your Majesty,"
Celestia nodded solemnly. "Sargent. What do you have to report?" she said, her face impassive with a slight smile.
Silverhoof had brief flash of anger at how Celestia seemed uncaring that one of his friends had died horribly, but was quick to smother the offending emotion. "Our party was...attacked," he stated. "We.. lost a pony." He then told her what had happened.
By the time he had finished recounting the encounter with the zombie, (they didn't know at the time that it was undead) the bodyguards that "protected" the immortal goddess looked sick. Celestia, however, looked down to hide the growing smile. If anypony had been able to hear what she had heard, it would be different that what the Sargent had said. Instead of how the party got attacked, she heard that most of humanity would gladly become ponies. Some part of Celestia's mind that was still rational(1) told her that Bob was missing and what she had supposedly heard didn't make sense. Celestia's eye twitched as she realized that she didn't know what Silverhoof had actually said
She smiled sadly. "Come, my little ponies, we need to go to the briefing room."
Silverhoof expected some sort of pity from the Princess about Bob's death, so he hesitated before putting his helmet back on and followed her. As they made their way to the briefing room, he slowed down to walk along Quick Draw; who was currently glaring daggers at Her Majesty's Royal Backside.
Silverhoof, though he would never admit this to her, (at least for now) had a "crush" on Quick Draw. The other males in his squad (they knew each other since boot camp) knew about it, but promised not to tell anybody.
"She doesn't care." Growled Quick Draw.
Silverhoof flinched at the malice in the voice. He was about to reply when Celestia stopped abruptly,making Silverhoof almost walk face-first into Celestia's buttocks. He heard snickers from behind, but he ignored them.
Celestia opened the door, revealing Princess Luna and Shining Armor. The briefing room was decorated like the rest of the castle. The only item of interest was the table that mapped "Earth" with Equestria on it.
As soon as the sun goddess entered the room, Shining stiffened and bowed."Princess Celestia." He said curtly but with respect.
She smiled sweetly. "Shining Armor. How is Cadence doing?"
Shining smiled in return. "She's doing just fine, your highness."
"Good," she turned to Silverhoof. "This is the Sargent who made first contact with the Humans. Would you like to share with them your encounter, Silverhoof?" This time she would make sure to listen carefully. He nodded and stepped up to tell them the story.
As he finished the story, Shining looked green, and Luna's brow furrowed. She turned to her sister. "You said that some humans were violent, but this....." she trailed off.
Celestia ignored her and looked down at Silverhoof. "Why didn't you use the potion, Sargent?"
Silverhoof looked down at the floor. "I didn't think of it at the time, your Highness." He then added in his mind 'I was too busy watching Bob get eaten alive.'
She sighed and gave him a forgiving look. "You may go."
Silverhoof curtly nodded. Before he turned for the door he noticed Luna giving here sister strange looks. As his group made their way to the barracks, Strong Shield spoke up. "Did the Princess seemed... off?"
"Which one?" Rumbled Obsidian.
"Celestia."
Obsidian pursed his lips and nodded. The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Then again, he was a grunt of the Royal Guard. Leave the heavy thinking to the higher-ups.
"She's different from what everypony said." Stated Quick Draw.
The group pondered this as they walked down the hall.
The noise from Equestira had attracted attention; not all of it from the undead. John was sleeping on a secured rooftop when it happened. The noise was akin to a sonic boom, though much louder. John shot up from his make-shift bed, wide-eyed. He sighed when there were no visible threats. There were no chance getting back to sleep now. He had to get sleep when ever he could since the plague, sometimes in the middle of the day. He was just an average man before the virus spread. He was single and had a job he was satisfied with. His parents were out of state at the time, and since the other countries lost touch with each other, he had no idea if they were safe or not. He hoped so. He got up with a groan and stretched. That's when he saw the island(2). He was sure as the dead were walking that it wasn't there before. He stared at it, dumbstruck. He rubbed his eyes. It was still there. He shrugged. 'After you have to kill dead people, not a lot surprises you.' He thought to himself. He was thinking about how it got there when a pink shield formed a dome around the island. Now he was curious. As far as he knew, the military didn't possess the technology that could teleport an entire island, or make giant force fields. He noticed there weren't colossal tidal wave. Curious. A look down told him the zombies took notice too. As he watched a few of them stumble towards the island, he remembered that he needed to forage for food. He could hit two birds with one stone and get a better look at the island, and get food on the way back.
He put on his newly acquired shark suit and slung his backpack filled with essentials on. He slung his M1 Garand over his shoulder and picked up his crowbar.
He unlatched the door and went down the stairs. He went out the back way leading to the alleys. He rounded the corner and ran face to face with a zombie. Or, what ever what was left of its face. It looked like God had taken a cosmic cheese grater to it's face. The eyes, nose, pretty much its whole face was grinded down to the bone. What was left of the eyes rested in the sockets. It was attired in a police uniform, which was brown with dried blood.
John reacted fast, and swung the crowbar overhead. It came down on the zombie's cranium with a squelchy crack, the hook going deep in the brain. The undead dropped like a rock, yanking John's crowbar out of his grasp.John simply wretched the crowbar out of the skull, dripping with coagulated blood and grey matter.
John grimaced. 'Gonna have to wash it when I get back.'
He peered around the corner to check for more undead. Seeing none, he continued on his way.
He reached the beach head without further incident. he checked to see if any undead were nearby before he pulled out his binoculars. He tried to see the new landmass, but the shield was too thick to see through. He cursed under his breath for the wasteful trip and turned to leave when something shining caught his eye.
To the left he could make out several silhouettes out in the distance. Some of them didn't look right. He looked through his binoculars and gaped at what he saw.
Several horses with...wings... wearing armor similar to what the Romans wore appeared to be...talking to a zombie. A part of his mind noted that the ghoul was in good condition, while the rest of his mind raced with questions. Were they aliens? Or were the Greeks actually right about pegasi? That didn't explain the island, though. Did they make it appear? Why on earth were they talking to a Zed? Didn't they know what it was? Did they seriously think that armor would help. All it would do is attract the undead.
His pondering was interrupted when the thing lunged at the horse. Luckily the horse was faster than the creature and, faster than one would think with all that armor on, dodged and bucked the zombie square in the jaw. The blow sent the Zed reeling with an audible crack that even John could hear. The zombie went down, but wasn't out.
The zombie clumsily got to it's feet, much to the horror of the aliens. One of them charged it with a spear, (how it had managed to hold it with hooves, John had no idea) and John had a small hope that maybe the alien was going to kill the zombie.
That hope quickly vanished when the alien stabbed the undead in the chest. John face-palmed. When he looked back he saw the Zed was already biting chunks out of the pegasus. The rest of the aliens was fleeing.
A moan drifting on the wind reminded him he needed to go soon. he took one last look back to see the zombie staring blankly at him. He swore, knowing he had to dispose of it before it attracted more Zack. John walked swiftly to close the distance. He readied his rifle. He couldn't fire it, that just attract more undead. He smashed the the butt of the rifle in the zombie's face with a crunch, knocking it off balance and making it fall down.
He straddled the creature and jabbed the end of his crowbar in one of the eye sockets. The eye, which was somehow festering, popped. John made a drilling motion with his crowbar, smashing through the eye socket and into the brain. The zombie twitched once, then laid still.
John wrenched the weapon free and glanced around. Spying the dead horse's helmet, he took it. It could come in handy as a distraction. He was about to leave when he saw them.
Zombies started to poor out onto the beach. No doubt they saw him, as their arms were stretched outwards and making "food" moans. He could probably find a place to hold a siege, but something held him in place. He wasn't a very religious man, but something told him to stay here. Maybe the aliens would comeback. He was only one man, and he surely couldn't take a full-blown horde on his own.
Knowing he was probably going to regret it, he pulled out his M1 anyway. He didn't have enough ammo for all of them, even if he got all one-shot kills.
He sighed as he loaded a round into the chamber.He was so tired with this game of life and death. He scowled. If he was going down, he was going down fighting. There was no easy way out.
"C'mon, you fuckers." He shouldered the WWII rifle and fired the first shot.
Strong Shield stopped suddenly. They were still walking to the barracks. "Something doesn't seem right." He muttered.
"What'ya say?" Bold Wing asked.
"I think we're missing something here, guys. Celestia told us that some humans were violent and omnivores, but what happened to Bob..." He trailed off, thinking. "I need to go back."
Silverhoof sputtered. "You want to..to do what?"
Strong turned to him. "You heard me. Besides, we have to get rid of that...thing.. before the coroners get there."
"Couldn't we let somepony else take care of that?" Stammered Bold Wing.
"Feel free to stay here. I'm going to kill that monster for Bob."
Before anypony could argue, Strong Shield galloped towards the armory.
Silverhoof acted fast. He turned to Obsidian. "Alert Shining Armor. We're gonna make sure Shield doesn't do anything stupid."
Obsidian nodded. As the group ran off, he sighed. Today was going to be a long one.
Important message at the end of chapter.
They heard thunder as they neared the barrier. Or at least it was thunder like. It was far too short to be thunder. It also didn't "rumble" like thunder usually does.
They had chased Strong Shield to the armory. They didn't even try to change his mind, since they knew all too well it was near impossible to change it (they never looked at honey the same way). They took their respective weapons: Strong Shield had a lance that fitted over the withers. Quick Draw had a crossbow. Bold Wing had an ax.
Silverhoof couldn't help but think of the human encounter over and over in his mind. The one question he couldn't answer, but was constantly thinking of, was why. Why had the human eat Bob alive?
His musings was interrupted by Bold Wing. "You ok?"
Silverhoof nodded. "Yeah. I was just thinking."
Bold was about to reply when the "Thunder" changed. It turned into a sharp crack. They had just passed the barrier when Quick Draw, who had been in the front of the group, stopped; her mouth agape.
The scene before them was the stuff of nightmares. A teeming hoard of grey and red and other colors writhed before them. Men, women, and even children(1) stumbled and made a cacophony of moans and groans that would make a grown stallion wet himself(2).
They all seem to be drawn to a lone human. The human was different from the horrors that staggered towards him. He had a tanish skin tone instead of grey. He had what looked like a stick that flashed fire at the end for a second, causing the thunder they had heard.
Since the human was apparently attacking the monsters, Strong Shield deemed that it wasn't one of them. Considering the size of the group of monsters, the human would need help. He looked at his leader, silently telling him what he was thinking of doing.
Silverhoof sighed as Strong Shield readied his lance and flew down to help the human.
Silverhoof led his squad after Strong Shield.
John knew he could run, but they would home in on him were-ever he would go. He would have to hold up in a place that could withstand a siege from those things to even have a chance of surviving. But, even then he would need help. One man versus a hoard of zombies; he wouldn't last long.
John heard somthing land behind him. He whirled around to see one of the aliens he saw earlier. He scowled at it before turning back to fire at the hoard. In his mindset, they were the ones that got him into this mess. Sure, he had his free choice to go or not, but they could have at least arrived quieter.
"What are you doing here?" He asked the alien.
Strong Shield flinched at the hostility in his voice. "We... came to help."
The human made a mocking laugh. "Really? And what would you do? Charge blindly at the zombies?"
"Hey," a new voice spoke. "don't talk about Bob that way!"
John regarded the hoard for a moment. Seeing if he went soon, he could escape and mount a defense in time. He turned to the new comer. "Your friend died because he was stupid. You didn't know what you were getting into?"
By that time Quick Draw and Bold Wing arrived. Quick turned green when she saw a child no more than ten with her intestines hanging out of a ragged hole.
John took notice at Quick's reaction and aimed at the girl. "You want to help? Well, they aren't gonna kill themselves."
Bold Wing looked at him in horror. "Kill your own kind?"
John frowned. "They aren't human anymore." He said as he fired. The back of the little girl's head exploded in a fine mist. The girl crumpled in a heap, limbs twitching. A young woman -who could have passed as a supermodel, except with her larynx torn out and and dangled out- tripped over the girl. Soon more and more tripped on the undead dog pile.
Quick Draw, who wielded a crossbow, aimed and fired. The bolt flew 50 yards before embedding itself in the throat of an one-armed man. He staggered before continuing trudging along toward food.
John quickly decided that this wasn't the best corse of action. They needed to get out of there. The only problem was Zack would follow them like a heat-seeking missile. That, and finding a place that could hold out against a siege. If they move now, they could out-monuver the hoard before them.
He turned to the aliens. "If you want to live, follow me. Or you could go home."
He didn't wait for them to converse. He shouldered his rifle and took running. The sound of hoof-falls following him told him they were coming.
As they passed through a less crowded part of the mob, one of the zombies grabbed Quick Draw by the tail. As she screamed, John turned around. He quickly put a bullet in the cranium. They started moving quickly again.They evaded the rest of the mob with ease.
John reckoned that the majority of the zombies in New York had been attracted to the noise the island had made. He estimated that he had about an hour to fortify once he found a suitable place.
He knew of a place that _could_ stand against a hoard of hungry zombies. There was a place he liked to call "The Workshop". It was basically a place that sold woodcrafting supplies. It was on a street surrounded on all but one side by buildings. It was also near a gun shop, which was a bonus.
As the group turned the corner of the street that had The Workshop, there two zombies in the way; a male and a female. John shouldered his rifle and fired. The ponies flinched at bang. The woman's side of her head exploded in a fine mist. "She" dropped like a stone. The man turned it's glassy dead eyes towards John. John aimed at him and fired. The round went off it's mark and tore off it's lower jaw. It stumbled while it made a gurgling sound from it's ruined maw.
John cursed and pulled the trigger. It clicked, signaling that the clip was empty. As he uttered a slew of obscenities that would make a sailor proud, he heard a twang and thunk.
He looked up and saw the zombie stumbled from a newly implanted crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, the zombie never once took it's dead eye's off of John.
John gently put down his gun down, since he didn't want to waste any more ammo. He pulled out his crowbar and jogged over to the monster. He was in mid-swing when he tripped on a rock. The weapon landed on the shoulder instead of the head, imbedding it self deep into the flesh.
The zombie leaned in to take a bite of flesh from John's neck,so he put up his arm; hoping to God that his armor would protect him from a bite.
Instead of a piercing pain that signified teeth piercing the skin, it was a dull one. John shook his arm free, and pulled the bolt free. He stabbed it in the zombie's eye and shoved it onto it's back.
He put one of his feet onto the thing's neck- electing a choked gurgle from it- stomped on it's head over and over again until it was little more than reddish pulp.
He looked back and saw the ponies looked back in horror. "What? C'mon. We'd better get moving."
He yanked out the crowbar out of the corpse. He loped to the door and tried it. It was locked. No problem for a crowbar.
After he opened the both the doors to the shops, he turned to one of the strange horses. "There's a super market around here, a Wall-Mart I think. Go and get food and medical supplies. As much as you can carry. If you meet any zombies, destroy the brain. That's the only way to 'kill' these things. And hurry. They'll be here soon."
The pegasus nodded and flew off. John opened the gun store, with an ever-growing grin on his. Gun of every model and size one person could ever dream of lined the shelves* . His eye spied a high power sniper rifle, and his grin grew wider. He saw a Winchester shotgun, and his grin threatened to split his face in half. He took both guns and ammo.
"Fuckin' A." He muttered to himself.
He went back to the Workshop and opened it. Almost immediately the stench of rotting flesh hit his nose like a semi, literally staggering him.
Since the apocalypse started, his nose had long since grew accustom the that stink. Just because he was used to it didn't make any more pleasurable.
The ponies, however, were not. Almost immediately John heard the ponies retching out the contents of their stomachs.
John frowned and quietly put down the guns.
That stench could mean one of two things. Either there was a decaying body somewhere, or a zombie. He readied his crowbar.
There was a flash of movement that caught his eye. He ducked out of the way of a zombie's swipe and turned to face the enemy.
To call the infected big would be an understatement. It looked like a sumo wrestler, but with muscles. It must have been from the first wave of infection from the state of decay. The eyes were sunken into their sockets, the skin on the head clung tightly to the skull. Some parts had split open, revealing grey bone. The body, how ever, was in fairly good condition.
How a monster of that size snuck up on John was beyond him.
He ducked under another swipe and backed away. The monster lurched forward after him. John looked to the ponies to see them tremble in fear. No help from them.
He readied his crowbar.
He side-stepped another attack and struck a blow to he back of the cranium. The zombie lost it's balance and fell. John finished it with another swing.
He looked at the others. "Help me with the body."
After he heaved the corpse out of the shop he ordered them to help fortify the place.
He sighed. Things were about to get interesting.
Bold Wing found the store surprisingly easily, considering. Getting _in_ was another thing. There was about 30 of those things( zombies, the human had called them) wandering around the entrance. The zombies were weaving in and out of what looked like metal lumps.
A few had noticed him flying when he had got there. They had their arms out and moaning at him. They were already attracting more. He needed to get in and out fast.
There only was one by the entrance.
He gagged when he saw the state that it was in. It had been completely disembowled. There were bite sized chunks of flesh missing. It's eyes were gouged out by who-knows-what. The lower part of the arms were gone, looking like they had been torn off.
To make it even more sickening, it was a foal. The gender couldn't be told the body was so mangled.
Bold Wing just hovered there, staring. 'Dear Celestia... What happened to this place?'
It was sitting against what looked like a large pane. The child's jaw was moving, so it was alive. Or what could count as alive, in this case.
He silently glided down and was surprised that the glass pane was a door.
He quickly stepped inside and readied his axe in his mouth.
The handled was a specific shape designed to fit comfortably in a pony's mouth.
The store was quiet, dark, and seemingly dead. A feeling dread washed over him.
A disturbing chewing sound echoed throughout the store.
Bold Wing gulped and stepped forward. His footsteps echoed. He saw a figure resting it's head on the conveyor belt in one of the check-out isles.
It moved. Bold Wings breaths became short and fast.
The figure lifted it's head from the blood-stained conveyor belt.
A loud thud came from behind him. He looked to see the girl zombie from before banging her head on the glass.
He looked back at the zombie at the check-out. It had a blue uniform. It shifted and fell down on the floor.
Bold Wing could now see that the monster was tied up with plastic hoof-cuffs. He hesitantly took a few steps forward to the now writhing creature.
In his training simulations he had thought he had seen it all: manticores, timberwolves, hydras, cockatrice, Changelings, even evil gods like Discord and Nightmare Moon.
But this...thing was different from his home dangers.
This moment was when he realized the full repercussions of what happened. The writhing women that kept staring at him with those soulless, dead eyes could have been a loving mother and wife. She could have taken her kids to the park and got them ice cream. Now? Now all that's left is empty shell, a dead husk, all that remains of what the woman was, or could've been.
And the girl. Bold Wing turned to stare at what was left of the girl. It continued to bang it's head on the glass door, cutting it self. It either didn't care, or could not.
Bold Wing imagined what the girl could have been. She could have been the ruler of this land, or a loving wife with kids.
No wonder the human had seem so hostile. Probably all his friends and family are dead...or worse.
Bold Wing noticed a metal cart with wheels. He went over to it and pushed it around. He frowned. He wouldn't to be able to fly with it. And he sure as Tarturuas wasn't going to walk out of here.
Then he saw a plastic hand basket. He thought for a moment, before putting away his axe. He bent over and picked it up with his mouth.
Bold Wing was born in Manehatten, so he knew what canned food was. He knew that it could last much longer than fresh food. So he stocked up as much as he could fit in his basket.
The sound of glass breaking was the signal that it was time to go. He flew out of the store, and back to base.
John was in the process of boarding up the windows when one of the aliens talked to him.
"Hey. We didn't get your name. I'm Quick Draw."
"John." He said bluntly.
Silence fell for a few moments before Quick Draw spoke up again. "What happened?"
"...people got sick. Then they died. Then...they came back."
"Came back? What do you mean 'came back'?"
"They got back up. But they weren't alive," he shook his head. "Oh no. They started to attack people. People tried to reason with them. But they were already gone. Whatever they were was gone. The only option left was to put them down."
He turned to Quick Draw with a serious look on his face. "If you ever get bitten, God help you."
She didn't know who "God" was, but she didn't speak her confusion. "Why? What happens if you get bit?"
"You turn into one of them."
Quick draw shivered, imagining how awful it would be to turn into one of them. "Don't you want to get away? We could go to Equestria."
John raised an eyebrow. "Equestria? You mean that island that appeared?
Halo: Memories.
