My little Dayz: Zombies Aren't Magic

Chapters

Day one: To Pavlovo
Day Two: Sunburst and Flarefire
Day Three: Pavlovo to Kamenka Pt. I
Day Three: To Kamenka Pt. II: Ambush
Nightmare of a Past Life
Ambush, explosions, unicorns, oh my!
Hit Hard
Big Risk, Big Reward
Murphy's Law
Right here, right now
What a Coincidence
It's the Army!
Necessary Sacrifice
I Don't Even Know Her...
Eavesdropping

Day one: To Pavlovo

Obsidian took step after step, and had a steady pace. He knew it was risky, but he followed the train tracks. Occasionally he scanned the treeline, or horizon, and checked behind him. 'Never be too careful...' he thought to himself. He felt his stomach screaming for food and checked his gear.
Baked Beans
Two cans of Colt-a-Cola
Several M9 magazines
Chemlights
And a single Road Flare

He had scavenged good pickings from the bandit he encountered earlier. He put up a fight, but it was rather easy for Obsidian. Being one of, if not THE, most skillful survivor in Chernarus, Obsidian didn't have much trouble trading lead with others: it was something you got used to. So he canned him without a second thought. But it was always around this time, after having time to think about it, he would have second thoughts about shooting the poor lad. Who knows why he was out there, maybe you could have helped him. Then his mind went back still to Karlos: An innocent young stallion who, in the end, robbed him of everything he had. It was something his mind always tried to shut out, keeping bad memories away, and any good ones left inside. He shook his head, and tried to focus on other things. He recognized this area of the woods, and realized that if there was still a deer stand near here, it would be wise to pay it a visit.

Sure enough, just seventy-two paces later, there stood a tall, wooden stand. It looked like something built in under a day, flimsy and unstable, but they held up through all kinds of weather and other forms of punishment. He went prone, scanning the nearby field and wooded area for zombies. He knew there had to be at least one or two. He took his M9 out of the holster and checked the ammo. Twelve left in the clip, good for now. He inched forward, keeping his eyes and ears tuned to signs of life. Rather ironic, he thought, that-- *huff, hurrrgh!* He froze. He knew he heard something, and it wasn’t friendly. Looking around, he could HEAR the hoof steps echoing out, but couldn't exactly find them. The zombie kept grunting until he could finally see it. It was coming through the treeline into the field to his right. He took aim, holding a steady bead on its head, waiting for the perfect second... *kow! His shot rang out through the woods and fields around him. A red mist fell from around the zombies head, which had a hole the size of a bit through it all. Brain matter spilled out as the lifeless body and fell to the ground. Obsidian held his breath, waiting for more snarls or howls... silence. He thanked the Sisters for that. He made his way to the stand, checking around to see if there was anything scattered about. Nothing. 'Well, that's normal, let's see whats left upstairs.' He thought to himself, and walked up the stairs to the elevated platform. Another can of Colt-a-Cola, a watch, a box of matches and a... He stared down at the long, wooden rifle in front of him. The black metal scope glistened in the moonlight, with the covers still over the lenses.

"A CZ550!" he said to himself in excitement. This was the thing with Obsidian: He loved guns. Very much. Hell, some of his best friends have been guns. And a sniper rifle is, to him, the kind of friend you talk to to get stuff off your chest, that you can always count on. He needed one of those. But then, a cold slap of reality hit him: Was there a clip? A gun is no good without ammo, and he couldn't just take the gun with him, without ammo. That’s a waste of space, which was always at a premium. He searched frantically, in every corner, under some towels and in all the pouches there were, but with no luck. He knew that it wasn't smart to waste space with a gun he cant even fire, but he gave in to the temptation, and placed it gently in his ALICE pack. He reached in a side pouch and pulled out a map. Unfolding it, he saw the town of Pavlovo wasn't too far from his current position, and he gave himself a travel plan for in the morning. But for now, he was exhausted as always. He curled up in a ball in a cozy corner of the stand.

Obsidian stretched and opened his eyes, but was blinded by a piercing light from above. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes, and realized it was just the morning sun. He stood up, gathered his pack, pistol and map, heading north to Pavlovo. He looked up at the sky and saw it was a day much more clear than usual. The sun was out, and he could only see one wispy, fluffy cloud being blown over by the wind. He held his gaze at the cloud, and made out an elephant, another pony, and even a bit symbol. But nothing after that, the wind was blowing the cloud apart. He looked back to Earth, and could see a small cluster of houses not too far away. 'Must be Pavlovo. Quaint.' He thought to himself. He wandered through to a row of backyards and houses, and realized there were no zombies, nor survivors. He walked to the only road that ran through the town, and looked both ways: Nothing. "Hmph... Well, guess it's all mine." He said to himself in an upbeat tone, grinning slightly as he opened the door to the first house.

In only fifteen minutes, he cleared every house and every shed in the town. He had set up his stuff in the kitchen of the last house he cleared, planning to stay there for the day. He had books, he had a drawing pad... Hell, he had the entire town! But he decided to read and nap for the majority of his stay. He looked over at the pile of loot he had gathered from the town. Nothing really worthwhile except a compass, but he already had one of those. He'd keep it, though. Stuff like that is good for trading when you find another survivor on the wastes...

Day Two: Sunburst and Flarefire

It was morning, and Obsidian heard voices. Not the kind in your head, nor his gut, but voices from outside the house he made camp in. He quickly, but quietly, took his M9 and an extra clip, and made sure it was ready to fire. He inched closer to the wall, pressing his ear against it in a futile attempt to make out words. He could only hear one voice for a while, but eventually the first voicewas interrupted by voice another. He could tell they were moving around the house, as if they knew he was there. Obsidian looked around his room, wondering what he'd do if they came in. He's trapped in a corner in here, and there aren't many things that can be done like that.

"Friendly?" One called out. His first thought was to call friendly back, but there was always the chance that the others were't actually so nice. Obsidian could hear the voices still circling around the house, and realized they were right by the door.

"Friendly! I'm friendly..." he yelled out. "If you come through the door, have any weapons lowered." he called, aiming his M9 at the doorway, expecting one to start shooting.

"Easy now, friend. We don't want any trouble. We don’t HAVE any weapons, but my brother here needs a bandage bad, we just came from Kamenka. A sniper got his left wing, and it's... it's messy." One of them said. Obsidian thought for a second. The worst thing that could happen here is he is shot and killed, and this was a whole setup. 'But what else is new...”'He thought. "Alright, come in slow. There's a table we can get him on."

He saw the shadows in the doorway before the ponies themselves. They were both Pegasi, one had a light orange coat and brown mane, and had another Pegasus slung around his back. The injured one had a dark gray coat with an azure mane. His brother was right: it was messy. The bullet had sheared through the wing, leaving ripped sinew, busted blood veins, and fragmented bone in an open wound. The wing itself hung down at an awkward angle, dangling by about a quarter of a stump.

"Damn... Okay, set him on the table, wounded wing up." Obsidian set his M9 down and walked to one side of the table. The Orange Pegasus complied, easing his brother down, and taking a small step back. Obsidian took a small pack of gauze and bandages and ripped it open. "What's your name, kid?" He asked.

"S-Sunburst, Sir." He replied, shakily.

"Don't call me 'Sir'. Call me Obsidian. Now, where were you two when you were shot, again?" He asked, taping a bandage over the bullet hole, and wrapping gauze around it three times to keep it secure.

"Kamenka. We had just made it to the supermarket when he took the shot. I flew across the street we were on, got him on my back, and fled the town. We were walking for about an hour before we came across this town. And I'm Flarefire, by the way." He said, looking down at his brother. "He's going to be alright, right?" Flarefire asked, wiping away a tear. The kids were scared; Obsidian could tell it was nothing major, he assumed it was equal to getting shot in the arm or leg. A wing is just another appendage.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. Ill see what I can do." Obsidian said, attempting a reassuring smile. He was never the best at comforting ponies...

" Well, you're bandaged, and should be okay. The wing itself... Well, I'm no Pegasus, but I can tell you I wouldn't use it for a while. And just in case, here are some painkillers. Broken bones will hurt like Hell after a couple hours." Obsidian said, and rubbed his shoulder, remembering a past incident.

"Thank you so much, Obsidian. Good to see somepony with a heart out here. Here, we found these not too long ago, and have no use for them, maybe you do." Flarefire said, reaching into his ACU pack. he shuffled things around for a minute, and pulled out two CZ550 clips. Obsidian gave a small gasp: not expecting something he wanted to much, it was almost like Christmas. He took them and set them beside his M9.

"Well, I will put a bullet in that sniper for you both now, ill be heading that way soon." Sunburst chuckled.

"Tell him it's from Sunburst with love for me." He said, smiling. "And thanks... a lot. I know that's really all anypony can say, but you just don’t know what these kind of things mean to ponies like us." He told Obsidian, who smiled and nodded in return.

"You guys, hang on." He said, walking to his ALICE pack and pulling out a Makarov PM and a clip. "You may want to have SOMETHING to have at your side out there. This is a good one to start with." He said, handing it over to Flarefire. "Unfortunately, I only have one clip. But they're pretty common, you should know it when you see one." Obsidian told them. They said goodbye one final time, and Obsidian watched them walk off, back into a wide-open deathtrap. He wondered if he should have gone with them, maybe they could make it out here together, but, deciding it was too late, he took the rest of the day off. With no more distractions, he planned to take a nap and head out at dusk.

Day Three: Pavlovo to Kamenka Pt. I

Obsidian woke up in a cold sweat. His heart raced itself out of his rib cage, and his mind questioned itself. He looked around, trying to remember his surroundings.

"Pavlovo..." He whispered to himself, nodding. He listened for anything outside, or inside, but didn't hear a peep. All he could do was assume it was a nightmare, and a bad one at that. He got up, checked his map for the route to Kamenka, and gathered all his loot, ready to start the day. He looked out the windows to the street he'd planned to exit onto. A lone zed wandered aimlessly in a yard across from him. When it reached one side of the yard, it bumped into the fence, startling itself. Then, it'd turn around, and do the same thing on the other side. 'That's just pathetic.' Obsidian thought to himself. The more he watched it, the funnier it was, though. He scanned every yard, up and down the street, including the nearby treeline for anything before he headed out. It was clear. Looking at his compass, he got his heading, holding close to the fence's lining down the street and out of town. Every once in a while, he looked back to make sure it didn't notice him. The funny thing about zombies, is they may look and act dumb in a natural state, but when they hear, smell, or see anything living, their sense of direction increases twelve fold. And they're fast. But not as fast as a Pegasus. Sadly, Obsidian was NOT a Pegasus. He WAS, however, very stealthy, cunning, intelligent, and an overall hard nut to crack.

He was well away from the town, and was taking his planned route through the forest. He was near a large clearing when he heard a stick break, with a loud *snap*. He hit the deck, looking around for anypony with a gun aimed at him. He had his M9 ready, as always. *Snap* went another stick. He turned to the direction, and there it was. A goat. Obsidian chuckled to himself, and shook his head. But he could never be too careful. As soon as he turned around, that point was made even more valid. A survivor with some sort of rifle was sprinting through the clearing, but not in his direction, not noticing Obsidian a mere fifty meters to his left. Obsidian tracked him, trying to figure out where he was in such a hurry to get. All he saw was a tent, set up on the other edge of the forest. Then his eye was drawn to another one, and another. Then it hit him: A camp. He held his position and counted three tents, a standard number for a survivor camp. he could tell they weren't bandits because of weapons: low grade civilian weaponry. But any weapon is dangerous out here. He thought it best if he navigated around the clearing on the opposite side, but that would tack an extra ten or fifteen minutes onto his travel. Not much compared to a potential bullet to the head, he thought. He got up and turned around, and was greeted by the barrel of a Lee-Infield rifle.

"Drop the gun, now. You planning to raid that camp? Who're you with?" The Unicorn was harsh in her questions, but with good reason. Obsidian complied, setting his M9 on the ground, and stepping back from it.

"I'm just trying to get to Kamenka, friendly if you are, and all alone out here. Thought you were bandits, and was going to navigate around the clearing, opposite of your camp, but... well, surprise." He said, trying to lighten up the tensions. It was well-received with the Unicorn. She had an almost bleach-white coat with a two-toned purple mane. She smiled and lowered the rifle a bit.

"So, you're friendly, and trying to get to Kamenka? Walk to the camp, in front of me. Ill take the M9 with me, you can have it when you leave. 'Better not let her know about that CZ in my pack.' He thought. Obsidian nodded, following the orders. "Hey you two, we got ourselves a visitor!" She called to her fellow survivors. Both the tents opened up, and in each, a head popped out, staring Obsidian down. "Sit down by the fire." She told him. The others, an Earth pony and a Pegasus walked over and took seats across the fire from him.
The first thing he noticed was the age of them all: No more than sixteen could they all be.

"Okay, well... I suppose I'll kick this off. I'm Obsidian, and I’m friendly if you are. Just trying to get to Kamenka right now." He said, looking to each of them, waiting for a response. The orange Pegasus spoke up first.

"Well, then. I'm Scootaloo, this is Applebloom," The beige earth pony gave a wave. "and that is Sweetie Bell. We are the Cutie Mark Survivors." She said. A puzzled look came across Obsidian's face.

"You all have a camp name? And it's what now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Long story, don't want to go into it again, honestly. Anyways, you want to get into Kamenka? Well, there's a sniper in there, who apparently never runs out of bullets. I was planning to go and take care of him alone, but... you look well-equipped, you want to help out? We've got some loot you can have that we don't need if you tag with me." She explained, and motioned her head to a pile of four or so bags, filled with who-knows-what.

"I might be interested in that. What kind of gear would you be taking along?" Obsidian asked

"I'd be using a Lee, same as Sweetie Bell's. And you?" She asked, looking down at her rifle. She added a nice touch to her gun by staining the wood and giving the metal a chrome accent, the contrast only complimenting the rifle's long length and design. Obsidian reached in his pack, and took the CZ out, carefully placing his precious treasure against the log beside him. "This would be my first choice." He said, giving an 'I-have-a-bigger-gun-than-you' look to Scootaloo.

"Whoa, dude... that's awesome. So, looks like you'll take the shot that drops him. Grats to ya." She said. Obsidian smiled, remembering Sunburst.

"Well, I got a friend who'd want that anyways. So, do we have a plan, exactly?" He asked. Scootaloo took a second, as if she was making one on the spot. Obsidian reached in his bag and pulled out a map of Chernarus, unfolded it, and levitated it in front of Scootaloo . "Ah! Now, if we head directly South, we wouldn't stand a chance. HOWEVER: If we each split up a couple hundred meters, and each sneak through the East and West, and hit him from both sides, we would have a roughly three times better chance of success. But we'd need to sneak past the Zeds." She said, looking up from the map to Obsidian, who gave a small smile. "Sneaking around Zeds is what I do for a living, so I don't see much of an issue there. We headed off at twenty-two-hundred, make sure you have everything you'll need. Healthpacks, food, drink, ammo, bandages, whatever-have-you." he told her. He took his watch out, making note of how long untill they make their way to Menkar. About seven hours if his watch was still set correctly. Obsidian could always check if it was correct by himself, but it always took a while and was just a chore in every aspect.

"So how long you been alone out here?... and what was your name again?" Applebloom asked.

"Again, it's Obsidian. And I’ve been out here since... shit, how long ago did all this start? I want to say eight years, so there's your answer. What about you all, I’m assuming you all've stuck through everything together?" He asked knowingly. It was obvious: They trusted each other too much to be torn apart after all this. But he could tell this was going to be a time when he'd have to start the talking. He kept feeling like there was a pair of eyes on him at all times, as if somepony never looked away. He tried his best to ignore it, repressing that paranoid voice in his gut that told him it was a bad idea to stay where he was.

"We've been through it since the start, like you. We're a family out here, though we may not look it." Sweetie Belle told him, looking to each of her friends. Obsidian smiled, remembering his family. Memories started to resurface from what seemed like a past life: Memories of long summer days spent with friends, memories of restless nights spent with his young love... Scootaloo watched a tear roll down his matte black cheek, and moved beside him, wiping it away.

"Hey, you gonna be okay there, thoughie?" Scootaloo asked, hoping Obsidian wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Yeah, I-I'm good... Thanks. Well, to get to the more important topic here, we have seven hours till go time, I'm going to take a nap." And with that, he rolled out his sleeping bag, curled up inside it, shut his eyes, and fell back into the comforting grasp of sleep.

Day Three: To Kamenka Pt. II: Ambush

Obsidian felt a hoof shaking him awake. His eyes popped open, and looked up to the orange-coated, purple-maned Pegasus he had met earlier that day. He could feel he had another one, another nightmare.

"We ready?" He asked, giving a yawn shortly after.

"Yeppers. I have a route plan for taking both sides of the town laid out on our maps, use it when you get into the town." She instructed him. Obsidian didn't really respond, but got out of his bag and rolled it up, setting it back in his large duffel.

"Well then, let's move out" he said in a shaky tone. "You okay? You sound a bit nervous, or something." She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, i'm just really bad with mornings... Ill be ready in just a minute." He said, sitting down, leaning on his bag.

"Well you don't LOOK alright... but if you say so." She said, and walked back to the campfire. She never noticed his shaking or sweating.

Obsidian was plagued by these nightmares of what seemed to him to be a past life. He was a soldier in the Great Equestrian Civil War, when Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi all rebelled against each other. He was a Pegasus for some reason in this past memory. He could never remember much of anything after he woke up, but he knew the Pegasus was in pain, either physical or mental was still unclear to obsidian no matter how many times it replayed itself in his mind. One part of him was intrigued by this, and wanted them to occur more often, but on the other hand... that was the only real thing that scared obsidian. You can kill a zombie, and you can even try and talk it out with another survivor: you just gotta be aware and quick on your feet. But you cant kill memories, and no matter how long you prayed, they would never stop. But he knew it wasn't something that would slowly degrade his sanity, thankfully. There were other things out there to do that for him. He realized he was probably taking too long, and should get moving with Scootaloo, so he got up, shook it off, and started the trek to Kamenka.

They walked in utter silence. Obsidian felt like there was a tension between them that wasn't there when he arrived at camp. The air around them had an invisible current running through it, and nopony was exactly raring to touch it. And so, they were both left alone to their thoughts, to think to the sniper awaiting them in town, or to contemplate the chance of the other backstabbing you when you aren't looking. There were a lot of hard things to do out here, and survive was only the second hardest. Trust took first on this list. To trust somepony was to give them your life, in a way. The second you turn your back, thinking that oh-so-freindly pony you met in the town you raided was covering you, he already had you at the business end of his gun. Yet something about the triplet he encountered seemed... comforting. He dwelled on it, and would continue to do so. He finally had something to say, but something caught his eye that made him freeze. , He could see... a light, moving across the field a ways ahead of them.

"Hold on... You see that?" He asked. Obsidian quickly identified it as somepony with a blue glowstick on them, but it was still strange to see that faint blue aura gliding over the earth in front of them.

"Crap, I see him." Scootaloo said, kneeling into the grass, watching the pony dart through the same clearing.

"Every once in a while the sniper'll run down, from the deer stand to scavenge from the town. He's heading to the town now, look's like. Obsidian had this instant of a 'what-if we...' thought that, for some reason, pushed itself out into the conversation.

"Why dont we go and wait in his stand? He has a sniper rifle, we have, like two snipers with my Lee and your CZ: that's a pretty one-sided fight in my opinion." She said, giving a chuckle. Obsidian motioned for her to follow him, and started sneaking around to the tower.

"Wait, we're actually doing this?" She asked as he caught up to him. Scootaloo scanned the town to see if the sniper was already on his was back.

"Well, why not? Better then trying a sniper versus sniper, am I right?" he asked her. There was a feeling of honor when you duel a sniper, but this... while fun in some twisted way, there wasn't any honor in it. But, by the same token, since when did bandits ever have honor?

"Well, there it is!" She said, slowing down to a canter. "If you didn't know it was a bandit's nest, you'd think it was deserted, wouldn't cha?" Scootaloo climbed up into the deck of the stand, and looked around it while Obsidian climbed up. "Well, nothing too great here, maybe better on him. Now, we wait." She said, hunkering down so she could see through the treeline, keeping a sharp eye out for their awaited target. Obsidian had his CZ550 out, his scope trained on the town, holding his aim steady on a particular building he thought he had seen movement in. He could see shadows moving across the windows, but that led to him wondering if the lone sniper was really alone. Then he saw them.

Two bodies walked out the door, sneaking out and away from the town, into the clearing Obsidian and Scootaloo had just made their way from. The hairs on his neck stood on end, his mind racing to come up with a backup plan. He followed them with his rifle's scope, and they didnt seem to notice him. But they were making serious headway in the direction of... 'Oh damnit, this was a bad idea!' his mind blabbered, thinking of the other two at the camp being ambushed and gunned down, their bodies saved for looting then discarded.

"Scootaloo, im not... worried, or anything, but... it looks like two bandits are racing towards..." he stopped, a rock in his troat stopping him from finishing. Who knows how she'd react?

"Damn, to where? Can you get a shot on them?" She asked, standing up and looking for them.

"They're headed to camp, it looks like. That's exactly the path we took to get here." he pushed out, looking up to her. Before he could suggest anything, she was halfway down the ladder, rushing into a deathtrap in Obsidian's eyes.

"Wait up, you'll get killed one-on-two." he said, and jumped out of the deer stand. He used a quick levatational spell to cushion his landing, and sprinted out towards Scootaloo.

"Do you even know what you're gonna do when they see you charging at them? Or is this a totally-just-wing-it kinda moment?" Obsidian asked her, starting to get a tad heavy on his breathing.

"I'm gonna get their attention, then take cover behind a tree. You're going to do a quick check on who has the biggest gun, and take him out first. Then we'll both target the last." She said, with a surprisingly cool voice under the pressure. Obsidian nodded, and looked ahead to their targets. They had just broke into the clearing, while Obsidian and Scootaloo were nearing the treeline.

"Okay, improv time. Just use common sense and follow what I said." She said, and took off to the left. She Held behind a tree, and Obsidian took a prone position under an uprooted tree, behind some brush. Scootaloo turned around, took aim at the general area of the two bandits, and took two potshots. They were both close enough to not only draw their attention, but to make them draw weapons. Obsidian looked through his scope, and saw a rather backhanded miracle. One of them had an AKM. Obsidian craved an automatic weapon to take up space in his pack while the CZ wasn't needed, and took aim right dead center of the unicorns head.

And squeezed.

A fine rain splattered on the ground, turning green earth red, and sending blood right into his sniper buddy. One thing every soldier knows is that you can wash blood and dirt off; the more important thing to do is get to cover,because whoever shot your buddy is probably aiming at you now. This sniper was clearly not a soldier. The second he looked down to wipe his face and arm, another shot from Scootaloo's Lee rang out. Yet again, more red paint was spilled on the Earth's green canvas. The shots echoed for a while, giving a satisfying and repeated crack across the forest.

"Nice shooting there..." She called out, taking the first steps out of cover. Obsidian cralwed out from under his sniper hole and switched his weapons.

"And same to you. let's see what we got here." Obsidian said. He walked over to the sniper and opened his Coyote pack. Some baked beans, pasta, an M9 mag, and three AKM mags in his chest pouches.

"You want this AK? I dont take anything made in Stalliongrad." She said, giving it a small kick away.

"Hay yeah I do! And, ummm... Not to rush, but i think it'll be a good idea if we made our way back to camp. I'll spend the night there, and leave in the morning." Obsidian said, folding the stock on the AKM in and making a place for it in his ALICE pack.

"Sounds good to me." She replied happily, the thrill of the fight coming on strong. Obsidian gathered the food and walked with Scootaloo to camp, and they talked all the way. When the duo arrived, everypony had dinner, swapped survival stories, and headed to a well-earned night's sleep.

Nightmare of a Past Life

The Earth smoked, drowning in waves of fire that scorched the crust. Handfuls of desperate souls ran hysterically across the plains that the battle had just taken place on. A pegasus floated some odd meters above the ground, looking for any movement. He had made it through the battle, bruised and cut, but it wasn't over until everypony suffered. In his eyes, the Pegasi weren't responsible for this war that had claimed so many innocent lives. Earth ponies had very little to do with it, but were still a wildcard at this early point in the war. It was all the Unicorns fault: Their magic tainted their brain, ingraining the urge to raze and burn all towns and cities in their army's path. They put the Pegasi's capital at the time, Wingorrah, under siege. Fireball after fireball, lightning storm after lightning storm, and death after death, the town finally surrendered. And all who survived were dismembered and left in a mass grave. He saw it all happen, and was left with this burning desire to make any and all Unicorns he saw suffer for their horrifying war crimes. The memories replayed in his mind, bringing a tear to his eye. That's when he saw one.

A unicorn, much larger then most. He swooped down, retracting his javelin blade. It was stained a dirty crimson, after almost three months of constant fighting. He leveled out his descent at head level, and steadied out his path. The Unicorn was totally oblivious, wandering aimlessly across the field. He drew closer, taking a breath to brace for the impact of blade on bone and flesh. He watched the Unicorn pass right under him, just a foot too high. He wasn't oblivious to him now, and when he circled around, the Unicorn had an arrow drawn back, and was aiming right for him. He went into some crazy maneuvers, looping, twisting, and circling around him, trying to throw off the Unicorn's aim, waiting for him to release the arrow before he began another pass on him. That's when it hit him.

The arrow sliced right through his gut, lodging itself in his stomach. The pain was intense, like a pickax being slung right into him. he tried to maintain flight, and pull the arrow out. He looked down for a second, trying to see just how bad it was. When he looked up, the world was hurtling towards him. He slipped in and out of conciseness, and writhed in pain every time he came back. The last time he awoke, the Unicorn was standing right over him, a snarl on his face. He took hold of the arrow with a spell, and ripped it out with great force. A river of red rolled from the gaping hole in the Pegasi's body, and as he looked down at it, struggling for breath and fighting tears, everything went black.

Obsidian woke up, a scream on the verge of exploding in his mouth. He was in his worst cold sweat yet; it looked like he had just gone for a swim. He was tired and terrified, and a little bit confused. He still didn't know a single thing about who anypony was in his dream, but every time, it seemed to become more of a memory and less of a nightmare. His head hit the pillow again, taking deep breaths to calm himself, and tried to have better dreams this time.

Ambush, explosions, unicorns, oh my!

The morning sun was a welcome sight for Obsidian. He gave a yawn. Or, was it more of a sigh of relief. He was still tired - a sign he had another nightmare he wasn't aware of, but he was used to it by now. The skies were dark and gloomy, and grey clouds hung low overhead, and a soft growl of thunder echoed a ways away. He rolled up his sleeping bag, and set it in his pack. Scootaloo was awake, and prodding at the campfire, keeping it alive.

"Mornin'" Obsidian said, taking a seat across from her.

"Morning, you alright?" She asked in a concerned tone. Obsidian raised an eyebrow and cocked his head.

"Yeeeeah? Why do you ask?" He said confusedly.

"You were thrashing around in your sleep, it kinda looked like you were fighting somepony. Just wanted to make sure you weren't going insane, or anything..." she said, giving a lazy shrug.

"Nah, nothing like that. I have these... visions, in the form of nightmares to me, of a past life from the Great War. I cant fully explain it, nor do I want to right now. However, I--" Obsidian was interrupted by Sweetie Belle giving an alarm of some sorts.

"Eleven o' clock, I count seven bandits headed this way!" She ran down from her post in a makeshift tower of sorts, leaning against some weighted boxes. Her Lee was out and ready, and she disengaged the safety.

"Aw hay, we all just woke up... Obsidian, could you give us sniper cover?" Scootaloo asked him in an anxious tone. He could, in fact, give them cover, but he would be spotted running to a new position, and that didn't make it a comfortable 'Yes'. But at the same time: He was armed with a CZ sniper and an M9. It WOULD be more effective for him to move further out. Then gunfire broke out.

But it wasn't aimed at them. A Light blue unicorn was darting through the treeline, weaving through the great wooden giants, towards the camp.

"Friendly, friendly!" She called to them, taking cover behind a very thick tree trunk, waiting for permission, it seemed. Obsidian motioned a hoof in his direction, and she hauled flank through the hail of lead and dived into their cover.

"Thanks a lot man, these sons-uh-bitches have been chasing me for the better part of a week now..." she explained, cringing every time a bullet impacted the wall of ammo crates all around them. Scootaloo and her two partners had started to trade fire with the group that had moved in to under a hundred-fifty meters away. 'Well shoot, my M9 would work well here.' he thought to himself, and looked for his backpack. By his tent. In the open. With both his guns inside.

"Motherbucker!" He yelled, slamming a hoof to the ground.

"What now!?" Scootaloo called out. "My guns're in my tent over there, can't get to them.

"Yo, over here!" The light blue unicorn called to him, handing him an AK-74. The mag was full, and one extra was taped to the stock.

"Thanks a lot, you wanna tell me why they have such a grudge against you?" Obsidian asked, taking aim at a Pegasus to the far left. He pulled the trigger, and hit his mark. The left shoulder popped in a stream of red, and body twisted on an invisible axis. The Pegasus fell motionless in the tall grass, and he moved to a new target. But they were closing fast. He turned around and sat under the cover.

"Anypony got ah 'nade!?" Applebloom called out.

"Yeah, hang on!" Scootaloo called to her, and started to make her way over there. Obsidian had a split-second thought and held her back.

"Hang on. Blue! Get over here! Okay, I want everypony besides me to make a retreat into the treeline behind your tents. They wont be able to see you, nor hit you that way. Ill take the grenade, and when they come to raid the camp, I'll drop it in an ammo box. That'll send EVERY bullet in all those... twenty or so boxes into action, and make one HAY of a crossfire. Then you take anyone out who could have survived." Obsidian said, taking the grenade "But you have to move, like NOW." He said, pushing each of them out, and made sure they ran out of sight. "Oh-kay.... why the buck did I suggest this?" He asked himself, and ducked behind the large stockpile of ammunition, and held the grenade close.

The bandits were still firing shots into the area, thinking they were still there. Over time they slowed down, and eventually stopped altogether. Obsidian knew they were moving in, and held the pin of the grenade in his teeth.

"Good job, I think they're all dead." One said. "Then.... where are th' bodies, boss?" Another spoke up. "Ran away? Who cares, it's all ours now..." Said the first one. Okay, four tents... well there're four of us left. Pick a tent, rummage through it, and meet at the ammo boxes." Nopony said a word, but Obsidian could hear hoofsteps make their way to the tents. 'Alright, let's make some noise.' He thought to himself, and peeked out from his cover. Coast was clear. He waited another five seconds, pulled the pin, and dropped it in a random box. He took off at full speed, and he knew the bandits heard him running, and that was a good thing. They'll step out jut as the grenade pops and all that ammo tears them to shreds. He saw his friends at the top of the treeline, and ran up to them, turning around to see the action.

"I can't believe that you talked us into this..." Scootaloo said. Obsidian chuckled, panting hard.

"It should go off any sec--" He was interrupted by a huge bang, and a flash of fire at the camp center. Then: an even louder, pop. All the gunshots wet off at the same time, and it was pretty spectacular from their point of view. The ponies down below all were torn apart instantaneously, and the tents were shredded apart at the exact same second, as if it was before and after an entire battle in the blink of an eye.

"Woo!" Scootaloo yelled, happy with the end result even after her dismay at the plan.

"Damn, that was pretty friggin' awesome, gotta hoof it to ya. What's the name?" The light blue unicorn asked him.

"Thanks much, and it's Obsidian. Whaddabout you?" He asked, giving a smile and excited sigh. The burst of action took away all the tiredness and made him genuinely happy, the shot of adrenaline coursing through his veins at records speed.

"Colgate, and it's no problem. Listen, I take you for a pretty self-sufficient guy to be out here, but it never hurts to ask. You want to go as a pair out there? I've been looking for someone to share some exploits with as of late, and those guys didn't seem to accept me too much, so... Yeah." She said timidly. Obsidian had pondered that very same idea every once in a while, but no opportunity really presented itself to him. Well, here it was.

"I'd be willing to gear up with you for a bit, sure." he said, giving an approving nod.

"Dawww, ain't they cute? Ah wonder how long it'll be 'till they have their first kiss!" Applebloom said jokingly, making a kissy face. The others cracked up, and Colgate gave a smile.

"When was YOUR first, huh?" She asked Applebloom.

"Mine? Well.... uhhh..... I can't quite remember..." She said.

"Uh-huh, sure..." She said, giving a chuckle.

"Oh, she's onto you, Applebloom!" Sweetie Belle said, giving her a nudge. "Hmph..." Applebloom sighed.

"Oh, don't take it too hard, kid. It's a joke." Colgate said, giving an easy smile. "Hey, i'm gonna go see what's left of my stuff, ill be right back." He said, and trotted back down to camp.

"Wait up!" Scootaloo called after him, walking back up to him. "If there IS anypony still awake down there, it'd be good to have somepony with ya." She said. Obsidian nodded, and walked down the hill with her.

"So, you and.... whatsherface, huh?" She asked, giving him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"It's not, nor will it be like that, c'mon." He said, chuckling to himself.

"Suuure, ill just go with that..." Scootaloo said, looking the other way and smiling. Obsidian sighed, and they walked to his tent in silence. He rummaged through and found his pack unscathed.

"Alright, i'm heading back, you want me to wait for ya?" He asked. "Nah, it was all crap anyways. Been good having ya though, maybe we'll see you again out there." Scootaloo said as they trekked back up through the treeline

"That'd be nice, you and your group are pretty cool ponies." he said, giving her a pat on the back. She smiled, and walked to her friends, and Obsidian walked to Colgate.

"Hey, I can repair that AK you gave me, it's in my pack for whenever I have some free time."

"Go ahead, and keep it. Happy birthday, Celestimas, and what-have-you." She said, grinning.

"Well thank you very much. Do we have a plan yet, or are we just... wandering?" He asked. She took out a map, and held it up for a second.

"Wandering." She told him, folding it back up. "Well, wandering with a purpose. Eventually we'll come across a town, and we'll stop there for a while. You set?" She asked. Obsidian looked back to the trio, who had already started the opposite way from him. "Yep, let's go." He said.

He knew not what would come, but he was anxious to find out.

Hit Hard

They walked. Obsidian wondered how far this town Colgate mentioned was from where they were. How long had they been walking? Some tens of miles, Obsidian thought to himself. And through the entire trip, he kept thinking he saw something moving in the shadows, but never saw a single thing. He pushed it aside, not giving any clear thought on what it could be.

"Okay, seriously... How much farther is the town you said we'd come across?" Obsidian whimpered. His hooves and legs were burning, screaming for a break. His stomach screamed for some food, but he knew they had to ration all they had.

"Well, if we've walked..." Colgate's voice winded down to muttering to herself. Obsidian studied the look on her face, wondering why it was taking so long for an answer. "Two and a half!" She blurted out.

"Miles?" He asked her, a wave of disappointment crashing over him. But he didn't have a choice but to be disappointed. He knew that it would be longer than he wanted to walk. "Well, can we stop for just five min-" He broke off the end of his sentence and darted his gaze to a tree over to his right. Colgate gave him an awkward stare.

"Is everything alright? Like... in your head?" She asked, giving him a joking grin. Obsidian gave his head a fitful shake and looked at his hooves.

"Ive been seeing things in the corner of my eye, and they're never there when I look. So I'm ever-so-slightly paranoid that there IS something and it's hiding every time i-" He darts his eyes to the right. "-look at it..." Colgate gave him a chuckle and a pat on the shoulder. "Let's... Okay, umm..." She wandered off, staring at something behind him.

"What? Zeds?" he asked, looking up at her. "No. Definitely not. I don't think.... I HOPE not." She said confusedly.

"Could be bandits. Keep an eye out." Obsidian tossed the warning over his shoulder. He took out his tattered map. As the days drug on, his trusty map was getting harder and harder to use. Could be the moths eating it, could be the extensive daily use, could be the-RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT! Gunfire shattered the air.

Obsidian hit dirt, scrambling for something, ANYTHING to hide behind. Automatic weapons fire marks the end of many an unaware or unprepared pony. A large oak tree appeared to be his only option at this exact moment. He raced towards it, tripping over his own hooves in a frenzy for protection. He slammed against the sturdy wood with a thud, bracing himself for splinters and bullets to start raining down upon him. But the bullets weren't following him. Visions of that pale blue mare went through his head, she was probably totally blindsided by the attack. He peeked from behind the tree, and met a pair of dark brown eyes. 'Brown eyes? That can't be right..' he thought, before the reality of the situation hit him. WHACK! The butt of the rifle knocked him to the ground in a daze. The grass was far greener from down here...

"Hah! Look'a dis poor bastard! How much fun ya figure we can get outta 'im before he dies?" The larger earth pony said, with an accent so thick a well-sharpened machete couldn't cut through it. Obsidian heaved a rough sigh, his head pounding. 'Where the hay had Colgate ran off to? I knew she wouldn't stick up in an ambush.' He thought, a bitter mix of regret and despair slowly engulfing him. He writhed around, trying to formulate some kind of breaking-out-of-capture like you saw in the movies. Nothing lept to mind at this exact moment, unfortunately. TAKKA-TAKKA-TAKKA! More gunfire. This time, the bullets were pretty close to obsidian. Even closer to the would-be bandits, much to the joy of Obsidian. A red mist fell upon the ground, splattering the thick green canvas with red, and he heard somepony trotting nearer to him. He held his breath.

"You okay there, Obsidian? You weren't hit, were you?" A voice called to him. He exhaled with great relief.

"Yeah, I'm all good. Kinda dizzy, but fine otherwise. You?" he asked back. He slowly worked his way back onto his hooves, in a tight battle with his current lack of balance.

"That dude hit ya pretty hard, huh?" She asked him, smirking just enough for Obsidian to notice it, but not enough to be blatantly rude. "No worries, we can camp out here for the night. It's getting kinda dark anyways." She said, and started towards a partially destroyed rock wall. Obsidian watched her, the way she moved, her AK-74u bouncing off her legs... And she had some good aim with that thing, too!

"Hey!" He called out to her. She turned around, one eyebrow raised in attentiveness. "Thanks for taking ca-" He started to lean to far to one side, and clumsily corrected himself, looking like a foal just learning how to stand. "Thanks for taking care of those bandits back there." He said, giving a smile.

"Of course! Make sure you'd do the same for me if I ever need a hoof like that." She said, giving a small giggle. "Now come lie down before you fall and hurt yourself even more."

Obsidian laughed at that. Not a forced laugh. like those towards a cheesy joke told by one of those half-educated traders trying to make friends. No, this was a genuine laugh. The kind of laugh you have around friends, good company, and family. He stumbled over to the bedroll like a drunk and got comfortable.

Big Risk, Big Reward

The early morning air was cool and crisp. A light breeze whistled its way through the tree, the leaves rustling overhead. Obsidian soaked it all in. His calm, quiet, peaceful little patch of the world. For now, at least. He could still see the moon in the sky, and he took it in for the better part of who-knows-how long.

"You don't get much quiet time, do you?" A soft voice asked openly. Obsidian snapped back to Earth again, and looked over to Colgate.

"Not as often as I'd like, no." he said, stretching his legs. "How long until we should pack up and head out?" he asked, rolling up the bedroll he had slept in. Colgate took her map out, laying it neatly on the ground. Obsidian took another inventory of his backpack.
M9? Check.
AKM? Check.
Mags for both? Yep.
Food, water? Yes and yes.
Matches, hunting knife.... his mental list went on.

"Okay, I say that we could be there by midday of we start moving in the next ten minutes or so. I'm ready when you are." She said, tossing her backpack over a shoulder. Obsidian got his backpack on tight, holstered his M9 and they set off on their way.

"You know you way around Chernarus at all?" She asked him.

"Not as well as my town back in Amareica, but i'm learning my way. How about you?"

"Not really... at all..." She said, giving a chuckle. "If I didn't know how to read a map, I would have been lost and killed years ago."

"How long have you been our on your own?"

"Well... When it all started, I stayed in one of the big cities. Cherno, Elektra, you know. But about a year ago, I thought it'd be interesting to go and try to survive a night outside of the city. After that got kind of boring, I decided to try a couple nights. eventually it grew into just... packing up and leaving. Haven't been back since I left that day." She said, taking the map out again. "Yeah, i'm still learning the land. Survival isn't the issue, really." She explained. The sun was just breaking over the horizon, a vibrant yet soothing orange. Obsidian heard the birds chirping around them: a sign that no danger was near. Assuring as it was, the fear you get when they all fly away is something he never got used to.

"Why do you always have your rifle in your pack, the M9 isn't as powerful?" She asked, glancing down at his holster. Obsidian smiled, how naive she was.

"In the right hooves, any weapon is as powerful as the next. I can kill just as easily with this little thing as I can with my AK. It's all in how you use it." he explained. Any conversation made the trip seem shorter, so any questions were like blessings. When the conversation ended, there was an uneasy silence upon them.

"The birds aren't chirping anymore..." Obsidian said quietly. He started scanning everything: the tree line, the horizon, behind them.

"Yeah, so?" Colgate asked, confusedly.

"If the birds have flown off, then someone or something is nearby that looks hostile to them. Could be a bandit, running through a forest, could be a zed. Can't be too safe, so I say we head into forest a bit, we're kind of exposed out here." he explained, making a dart for the forest off to their left. Colgate followed suit without hesitation.

When they got a ways into the forest, Obsidian scanned around them continuously, looking for any movement whatsoever. His M9 was drawn and ready.

"If you see any movement, tell me, alright? We're gonna keep a slow pace towards the town, but keep your head on a swivel." he said, with a commanding attitude.

"Gotcha." Colgate said obediently. The quiet was nerve-racking. Obsidian knew that SOMETHING caused those birds to fly off. Could be a friendly survivor, but the chances of a bandit or a zombie were much higher to genuinely consider that. Best option was to consider everything alive out here as hostile until you are 100 percent sure and then some. Out of the silence, something was happening. There was a growing rumble, as if...

"Colgate! Eyes on the road!" Obsidian ordered, turning to the street that ran along the coast. The rumbling was getting louder now, and it seemed to falter at random intervals. "We got a truck of some sort coming along." He explained.

"Should we raid it?" Colgate asked impatiently. Obsidian was taken aback by her willingness and want to launch an assault like this.

"You in a hurry to get pumped with lead?" he asked her sarcastically. "We'd be mowed down."

"Yeah, if we stand in the middle of the road, sure. Not if we surprise them with a full-auto assault." She explained. "I'll go down to the boulder over there, by the road. You'll take cover behind the bush that way. We'll both open fire when they're stuck in the crossfire of our guns." Her plan was well-formulated, Obsidian thought. 'Worst case scenario, we both get erased in a hail of bullets. If it works, who knows what kind of loot we'd find?' he asked himself in his head.

"So, it's getting closer, you know, If we're going to do this, we need to move. Now." She said in a rush. Obsidian gave her a nod, and darted for the wall of shrubbery. Colgate took her position behind the boulder. Obsidian took his AKM out, and trained it on the segment of road between their positions. Adrenaline started to flow faster and faster, and time crawled slower and slower. Any second now....

WHOOSH! The truck rode past Obsidian. In one perfectly synchronized move, both Colgate and Obsidian turned their guns to the truck, and unleashed a spray of lead into their target. The driver was killed instantly, a mix of shattered glass and bullets flying into his face. Any passengers in the rear compartment were annihilated by the storm of fire the pair was laying down. The truck turned into Swiss cheese; it was absolutely shredded to bits. The engine smoked, cloaking the truck in a thick screen, and the firing died down.

"Think we got 'em?" Obsidian shouted to Colgate with a smile. He looked at the truck, which was utterly demolished, The smoke was clearing and, no surprise to either of them, there was no movement. The canvas cover on the back mocked a tattered banner, torn and covered with holes, waving lightly in the wind.

"Hay yeah! That was AWE-some!" She yelled back, pumping a hoof in the air. "Let's go see what we can salvage!" She said, and they headed towards the truck. Obsidian, always the cautious one, had his M9 at the ready, just in case some lucky bastard lived through that onslaught. No signs of life. It was only when they got closer that they were able to see the exact extent of the havoc they wreaked.

The driver's compartment was a mix of buckets of blood, spattered all across the dashboard, steats, rear window, and shattered glass that glistened red with freshly spilled blood. The passenger compartment was littered with bodies who's owners twisted and turned in a panicked attempt at escape. They wound up falling in a wave of crimson blood into strange positions and angles, to rest. It reeked strongly of death, blood, and bullets. The blood was still giving off light wisps of steam it was so fresh.

"Well, we aren't going to get to those boxes with all the bodies in here..." Obsidian sighed, and reached to drag one of the corpses out of the back. That's when it grabbed him by the throat, and rolled him out of the back of the truck.

"You thought you had me, huh? Thought you shredded me up, HUH!?" The Bandit yelled in his face. Obsidian couldn't feel anything above his neck, where the Bandit was chocking him. He tried to wheeze out a sentence, but it was too late. KA-KA-KOW Shots rang out, and Obsidian was hit with a spray of warm liquid on his face. The Bandit's limp body fell on top of his, motionless. Colgate walked over, and kicked him off Obsidian, who sat up and breathed again, after what felt to him like and eternity.

"You good?" Colgate asked him, kneeling in front of him. She stroked his mane, made sure he didn't hit his head too hard when he was pushed out of the truck.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm good I think... He scared the crap outta me, but I'm fine." He said, looking over at the Bandit's body. He gave a chuckle, getting up and dusting himself off.

"Well, then. Let's make sure they're all actually dead, and get to the loot." He said, reaching in for another body, slower this time.

"BOO!" Somepony screamed, and Obsidian jumped back, his pistol aimed at the truck. Nothing. Colgate rolled over, laughing herself silly.

"You didn't..." Obsidian started.

"Haha! Yeah, I did... Oh, ooohhhh.... Okay, sorry, I couldn't help it." She said, still cackling between words.

"I'm going to shoot you one day..." he told her jokingly. "Can we actually get to the loot now?"

There were four very large boxes the moved out of the truck and into the camp they had set up for the day. Speculation was abound on what could be in them, of course. But the time had come, and the first box rustled open. The anticipation was palpable, and they finally looked inside to find....

"What, the, buck?" They both asked themselves.

Murphy's Law

They were both blinded by the glory, the awesome presence of it's majesty. Their legs trembled as they stood, their hearts curled up in their throats. Military-grade weaponry: M249 SAW's, RPK's, G36's, AS50's, and all the other goodies that were both myths and menaces to the lone survivor. Or even, a group of survivors. And that was just the first box, although all boxes had the same glorious loot. Neither of them knew where to start. It was, as if all their troubles leading up to this moment, this particular instant in time, were all forgotten. For now, the present and future would be so much easier! Oh, how just perfect! Too good to be true! And that other, smaller box, it was packed with remote explosives! And they were already armed!

Wait.... They were... ALREADY ARMED!?

"Colgate, we need to get out of here, NOW!" Obsidian yelled, frantically. He tipped a box over, and started dragging as many weapons as he could away, as quickly as he could.

"What, why!? Look at this!" Colgate said, motioning to the boxes of guns.

"There are ARMED explosives in that box, you need to MOVE!" He ordered, moving behind the destroyed body of the supply truck. Colgate looked down to the box of C4's, and landmines, and grenades, grabbed some random guns, stuffed them messily in her bag, and made a wind sprint for Obsidian.

'Oh Celestia, please let those go off after she gets here, I don't wanna-' BAROOM! The sound obliterated the air around them, as Celestia-knows-how-many pounds of explosives went off at once. Colgate was swept off her hooves, and careened off into the field behind the truck. Obsidian, without thinking, ran over to her.

"Colgate, c'mon, you're alright." he said, kneeling beside her. She had landed on her back, and her eyes were closed up towards the sky. Obsidian couldn't see any blood, a good sign. "Wake up, you're good." He said, thinking of something to do besides repeating what may or may not be a lie to a pony who may or may not be conscious. She heaved a grunt, and held out a hoof. Obsidian helped her up.

"Well, that... was a lot of explosives." She said, wincing as she got her bearings again.

"You hurt at all?" Obsidian asked her, looking over her front side to make sure she was okay. 'Stupid question...' he thought to himself immediately after the words left his mouth.

"Yeah, the big city isn't too far away, I say we should go by the hospital in case we get another incident like this." She told him, and Obsidian agreed. But as Colgate turned around to pick up her guns, the harsh reality of the situation became evident.

"Colgate..." he said, quietly. She turned around cautiously.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Now, don't be alarmed when I say this,"

"What is it?"

"You got hit by some shrapnel from the explosion."

"How bad is it?"
That was the problem. Her back resembled bloody ground beef: shredded and lacerated, veins cut and flesh dangling from the blast. Obsidian felt sick just looking at it, and realized they were going to have to haul flank to the hospital.

"Well, if you shot a cow at point blank with a shotgun, you'd wind up with the same outcome, I'd think." He explained. "Let's just get you bandaged up for now, but we're gonna need to move it to the hospital." He said, and pulled some gauze bandages out of his bag.

"Great... I don't think this could get much worse, do you?" She asked him.

"Oh, never say that. That's asking for Murphy to some along and screw us over even more..." Obsidian said, with a chuckle

"Murphy?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"You know what Murphy's law is, right?" He asked her. She shook her head. "Okay, it states that, essentially, everything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong. The unspoken rule of this is that is you say it CAN'T get any worse, it WILL get worse." he explained. And just as he finished tying the knot on Cogate's bandages, they got a prime example of this.

"That's a zed..." Colgate whispered. Obsidian looked up, and saw Murphy.

"That's a group of zed's... okay, here's what we're gonna do. creep down to where the water meets the sand, down to our right. We're gonna sneak down and around them." He explained, creeping slowly down that way. Colgate followed close behind. Now, they just needed to be quiet and stay unseen. It wasn't that much farther, maybe twenty feet before they could start mading an escape... Fifteen feet.... Ten feet.... SNAP! A branch broke beneath one of their hooves.

They ran.

Right here, right now

'They're running. They're faster. They're gonna kill us. Eat us. ' The thoughts raced through Obsidian's mind, repeating over and over again, a cynical reminder of how it will end for them. He could hear the horde behind them, their bloodthirsty screams and grunts fueling the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Colgate was still keeping pace as they ran towards the city, they just had to get inside, just get away. It wasn't that much farther now, and they both could see the open door, the safe haven. One final push through pain. Colgate was doing her best not to shake the knot that held her bandages loose. The building appeared to be a two story apartment complex, and Obsidian started taking the lead, making the path for Colgate to follow. She took the hint, and copied his dive through the doorway into the first room.

Immediately, they drew guns, and sent a hail of lead through the doorway, creating a fleshstorm of blood, corpses and bullets. Still, the stream of zombies shambling through to them seemed endless. Bullet casings fell around them, covering the floor almost entirely. Corpse after corpse piled up, until they finally managed to eradicate their hunters. They just sat in the silence, panting and sweaty.

"You good? The bandages are still tied, right?" Obsidian asked, wiping his brow. Colgate turned for him to check the knot. "Yeah, it's fine for now. But we're gonna need to do a blood transfusion..." he said.

"How urgent is it?" She asked him, reloading her RPK. She only had two more drum mags for it, but the RPK could also take regular AK mags, Obsidian made a mental note.

"Like, today. You're actually close to passing out from blood loss. And sprinting away from those zombies only made it worse. Way worse." He said, getting up to look around the building. There were a few piles of supplies littered around the first floor: chem lights, road flares, scrap metal, Makarov clips, and other assorted goodies.

"You wanna head up to the second floor?" She asked him, getting back onto her hooves.

"Eat this," he said, handing her a can of sardines. "And sure, want me to head up first?"

"Sure, I'll follow your lead."

The stairs were old and wooden. They creaked with every step, giving the impression that they were going to just split down the middle, sending the duo down to who-knows-where. The house was in rather good order, the stairs aside. The wallpaper was well-maintained, the paintings were all hung properly, and so on.

"Man, we could live here. This place is nice." Colgate said, her attention drawn to one of the paintings. It was a lighthouse, on a rocky island. The sun was setting, casting a warm orange glow across the sky and earth. The waves were crashing over the rocks at the bottom, and the light from the lighthouse shone far into the sea.

"You like that one?" Obsidian asked her, looking at the painting.

"It's almost exactly what I see in my dreams sometimes. It's just me usually, sometimes I have a friend, and it's always beautiful and peaceful. No zombies, no death, no.... worries. Then I wake up back here, and I long for that peace again..." She said, smiling. Obsidian looked at Colgate. Her smile was so genuine, so unadulterated. Her eyes were as deep and as blue as the ocean in the painting. This was Obsidian's peace. He smiled, feeling those butterflies in his stomach he got when he saw his crush once more. It may have only been a moment, but it seemed like an eternity that they stood there, each in their own happy place.

"The past wasn't good, and the future doesn't look too bright. But right here, right now... This is nice." he said, soaking up every second of this serenity and peace.

"How quickly things change, huh? Not ten minutes ago we were running for our lives, now here we are."

"I think we should do this more often." He said,chuckling. "Let's go. We still need to find a hospital."

"And back to the grim reality that is our life." Colgate said, flat and dissapointed. Obsidian sighed in agreement.

"It's just down the block according to the map I've got. Thing is, we'll need one more pony to help with the transfusion.

Then they heard hoovesteps coming from upstairs.

What a Coincidence

"Y'all lookin for some help?" A voice called out to them, with a southern accent so thick a steak knife couldn't cut it. "I'm freindly, jus' so ya know..." He said, peeking his head out from around the corner of the stairway.

"We're friendly if you are. We need some medical help, if you could." Obsidian said, trying to make out the pony at the top of the stairs, who was still hiding behind the wall.

"Well, i'm no doctor, but I can get y'all to the hospital lickety-split." He said.

"Thanks, mister... And would you stop hiding from us? We're not gonna hurt you." Colgate said, motioning her head down the stairs. "We'll be waiting for you downstairs."

"Alright, Miss, I'll be down in just a second." He said, and whipped out of the doorway, trotting to another room in the house. Rustling noises, bags being rifled through... scraping, like someone moving a piece of furniture... Trotting again, he was on his way down.

"Well, y'all ready to go?" He asked. He had a coat of mixed browns, like a patch of tilled soil. His mane was a flat platinum, hairs torn, dirty and ruffled. Obviously a South Equestrian boy. obsidian looked to Colgate, who gave a nod in readiness.

"How far away is the hospital?" Obsidian asked. He checked ammo on his MK 48, half this box plus two. And the CZ. And the AK, And the M9. And all of Colgate's weaponry. They were doing pretty well, all things considered. Just lacking in medical supplies.

"Oh, you know... about a block and a half. SO long as y'all don't go out making a big ruckus, we'll be fine. And by the way, the name's Cletus, by the way." He said, holding a hoof out.

"You're awfully trusting to a group of strangers, ya know." Obsidian told him bluntly. "not the safest thing to be." He added, bringing up his hoof.

"Well, I figured with the state of your lady friend over there, all bloody on the back, you guys wouldn't be in a position to try that." he explained. "Let's go while there's still a bit of daylight outside."

Obsidian nodded, and looked back to Colgate, who had sat down on the couch.

"You alright?" he asked her. she seemed very out of the moment, kind of mentally sluggish.

"Yeah, i'm..... feeling kind of light headed and tired. Could.... could we get some more blood soon?" She asked him, quietly.

"Hey, we might want to get a move on." Cletus said, tapping Obsidian's shoulder. "We'll move her to the bed upstairs, shut all the doors, and make our run." He said. Obsidian agreed on the plan, and they moved her up.

The streets were empty of life, just like they were since the day the epidemic took place. No zombies shuffled around at this moment and it was startlingly quiet. No birds chirping, no leaves scraping across the pavement, no... nothing. The coast appeared to be clear. The two shut the door behind them and make their way along the side of the building. They could see the hospital, it was maybe a block from them. Still no zombies. Every few feet, Obsidian checked their six and scanned the buildings, always on alert. When they reached the front doors of the hospital, they were welcomed by unlocked doors.

"Could this be any easier?" Cletus said, ecstatically.

"Keep your head on a swivel, this seems to be TOO easy..." He warned Cletus. Something was definitely wrong here. They found some medical boxes, not even opened. Blood bags, EpiPens, bandages, heat packs, all kinds of goodies. The two loaded up two boxes, and set out to make their way back to the apartment. They didn't notice the group of bandits ever enter the hospital behind them.

It was a group of four, including the leader. They were well armed, with military grade clothing, armor and armament. They almost HAD to be military.

"Well, well, well. What a coincidence. You were looking for medical supplies, too?" The leader of the group asked. "That's funny. Well, I suppose we can just take those boxes off your cold, dead hooves, how does that sound?" He asked, them, unholstering and pulling the hammer back on his magnum. The other bandits loaded their guns.

"Look, man, we don't want any trouble. We just need to get some supplies to our friend. She's losing blood pretty steadily, is there any way we can work this out quickly?" Obsidian asked.

"Quickly?" The leader asked him. In an instant, his magnum rose up, and Obsidian was sprayed with warmth, and the smell of blood filled his nostrils. Cletus fell to the ground beside him. "Was that quick enough for you? I could make it slower, more painful, if you want." The leader said, walking up to Obsidian. His heart started beating against his rib cage, his mind raced on what to do. Run? Submit to their wants? "HEY!" He yelled in Obsidian's face, spitting on his cheek. "You want it to be quick or slow? Up to you. I don't think I can make it quicker than you friend over there.... Take a look at him." he said, pushing Obsidian's face towards Cletus's body.

"No thanks, I'm good." Obsidian said, holding his head firmly against the push.

"Oh, you think so? Well, I kinda like you. You've got an attitude. Kinda like your friend. You were right, she was slowly losing blood. But don't worry, we got the rest out of her for you." he said, pushing Obsidian down to the ground with great force. The box of medical supplies rolled over and its contents tumbled out. He could feel the tears starting, thinking of how he left Colgate, as injured as she was, defenseless and on her own. "So I guess there's no point in me keeping you any longer. Get out of here, before I decide to end you, ya worthless sonofabitch." The leader ordered. Obsidian took his time getting up, rubbing his knee, and maybe grabbing a blood bag.

'Just make it look like you've got a hurt rib, they wont think twice...' He thought to himself, trying to play it off. 'Just limp out the door.' He thought, as he pushed it open and walked out. He kept his act up until he was inside, just to be safe.

He slammed the door behind him and raced upstairs, running straight up to the room Colgate was in. He took a deep breath, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. He slowly creaked the door open. She rolled over and looked at him.

"Obsidian, if that's you, stop playing games. You get any supplies?" She asked. Obsidian walked in.

"We were ambushed. Cletus didn't make it, there were bandits demanding we just give them our boxes of supplies. He killed Cletus for no reason, and gave me a hard time, but I managed to get something." he said, holding up the blood bag. "I'll get you fixed up." he told her, stroking her mane.

"What's wrong? Besides being ambushed?" She asked him.

"Nothin', why?"

"Something's up. What else happened?"

"They said they killed you, trying to get me to break down."

"Stupid bandits. Hey, get me patched up, alright?" She asked, rolling over onto her stomach for him.

"Already on it." He said, preparing the blood bag. He unraveled the bandages,set the transfusion up, and within minutes, everything went smoothly.

It's the Army!

His ears rang, his mind struggled to make light of what was happening. Concrete bits and pieces flew everywhere, bullets flew through the walls at random. He looked to Colgate, who was giving him a look of intense fear and confusion -- matching Obsidian's. He army crawled over to her.

"Go! Get out of this room!" He yelled over the chaos. She cocked her head and pushed one of her ears forwards to hear him better, and he repeated himself. She started moving over. Slowly but surely, they made their way out of the ambush.

"The MG's are still in there." She said, picking up her M16. Obsidian cocked his AK, and rushed to the window facing the attackers who were still laying down fire into the room.

"Take them out!" Colgate said, nudging his rifle up a bit to prompt him. He took his position and rested the front of the rifle on the windowsill. The two were easy targets, just sitting there distracted by their current task. He took two shots, and there were two less bandits in the world.

They walked back up to the bedroom to retrieve their machine guns, and the radio if it was intact through that ambush. The curtains were absolutely shredded, the walls were reminiscent of Swiss cheese, dust was still settling around.

"You stay here, there's a lot of broken glass and sharp fragments of concrete." He said, treading lightly into and out of the room. The MG's were unharmed, just covered in concrete dust. Obsidian gave a little cough, slinging his MK 48 over his back. "We should get out of here, there's still a gunship on it's way here." He remembered. "We better get a move on."

"That's risky, isn't it?" She retorted nervously.

"Only if we're caught out in the open. If we can make it to the forest, we'll be fine." He said reassuringly. "Let's pack up what we're gonna take and make a break for it."

"Food, ammo, weapons, and map?."

"Check, check, check and.... Check!"

"Well then, I think we're good. Let's make a run for it." Obsidian said, and they took off out the door. Colgate noted that there were still no zombies, and it was still just as creepy as the first time she realized it. Zombies were the norm, without them, it seemed far scarier to be in a town. The way they came in, with tens of zombies trailing them was now as clear as ever, and so were the skies. For now, at least. Obsidian slowed down a bit, looking back to make sure they weren't being followed. Colgate kept making progress towards the treeline.

"I think I can hear it, let's get up there!" he said, turning and going into a run. Colgate picked up her pace as well, the treeline was only twenty yards or so. The chopper was definitely getting closer. They hit the treeline, and went prone facing the town, waiting to see what would happen.

And they would find out sooner than they thought. Just minutes later, and chopper buzzed the town, circled around and hovered over the city center. Obsidian took his binoculars out to get a better look.

"What do you see?" Colgate asked. No reply, just silence. "Is it bad, or what?"

"Let's go check it out." he said, curiosity getting the best of him.

"What!? There were just soldiers dropped in there. Trained, armed soldiers. If you have a death wish, cool, but ill stay up here." Colgate said, sitting down and crossing her hooves in defiance.

"Oh come on. We're gonna sneak in just far enough to see what's going on and we'll bounce back out. No biggie." Obsidian said, nudging her towards the city.

"Fine, let's just make it quick." She gave in with a sigh.

The soldiers were in the middle of town, which meant that if they could make their way back into the house they slept in last night, they could watch everything from the second floor. Obsidian went in first, and Colgate followed closely behind. Their view out the second story window was perfect: they could see every soldier that was dropped. Some were setting up tents, others were moving crates that were dropped over to one location. The makings of a military outpost, and they already had a town's worth of buildings to boot.

"Come on, we've seen what they're doing. I don't like this." Colgate said, tapping Obsidian's shoulder

"Yeah, just a sec. I wanna see if I can make out what's in the boxes..." obsidian said, intent on finding what they were holding in the crates.

"They're full of rubber chickens. Can we go?" She said impatiently, and obsidian reluctantly got up. They went down the stairs in total silence and were about to make a break for their equipment up on the hill, but that's when they were held at gunpoint by a group of soldiers.

Silence. Obsidian counted eight soldiers, each with either an M4 or M16 aimed dead at one of their heads.

"Is there any chance we can talk out whatever's about to happen?" Obsidian asked, giving an easy smile. He took a small step forwards and was met with a rifle butt to the his leg, sending him down to the ground.

"No, I'm afraid the chance of that flew out when you trespassed in on official military business." One of the soldiers said. "Don't bother getting up, I'll just whack you again." He said.

"We didn't know what was happening, we were just looking for food." Obsidian lied, trying to get some pity out of the soldier.

"Oh, really? Funny, you weren't looking for food when you shot our scouts, were you?" the soldier asked Obsidian, getting right in his face. "Well, after we take care of you, maybe you'll learn not to get in business you don't have any right to even be aware of. Obsidian was about to say something else when his world went black.

Necessary Sacrifice

Everything sounded muffled, and all was black. His head throbbed with pain, his mind was faring no better. He was in some kind of truck, but that's all he could figure out in that instant.

"Colgate?" He called out, his voice raspy and throat dry. "Colgate?" He called again, louder.

"Shut up! Prisoners don't talk!" A harsh voice ordered him. A cloth bag was over his head. He tried to remove it, but found his hooves bound tight. No moving anytime soon.

"So, you want to explain what happened back there?" A the same voice calmly asked. Obsidian remained totally silent. The tension in the truck escalated rapidly. "I'm talking to you, dammit!" he said, leaning in closer to Obsidian's face.

"Prisoners don't talk..." He explained. He smirked at his reply, chuckling under his breath.

"We can make it so you NEVER talk again, if you want, shitbag." A rough, deep voice piped in. Obsidian stopped smirking.

`"Let's not start calling each other names, now. Keep whatever civility is left here. My partner and I had been travelling for a long while, and we were sure that there were some bandits following us. When we saw your scouts outside town, and thought they were the bandits. Simple mistake." he explained calmly. He was met with what felt like and uneasy silence. "So, I'm going to assume that you guys understand the mistake?"

"Oh, sure. Never mind that we lost X number of good soldiers; it was just a stupid mistake by a stupid survivor... We're all peachy keen."

"I felt some sarcasm in there."

"You'll be feeling a lot more later. You can be quiet again, now." He barked angrily. Obsidian felt movement beside him, a hoof brush his side.

"Colgate?" He whispered under his breath.

"You know it." She said. She rested her head on Obsidian's shoulder.

"Just relax, we'll get out of this somehow." he said, trying his best not to let the worry and fear seep into the façade of reassurance he put up. She let out a light sigh.

"Okay, listen up you whelps. We will be stopping here for the night, we will be at the Facility by afternoon tomorrow. All prisoners will remain in this truck. Any unauthorized movement or communication will be met with execution." The rough voice barked out from the silence. "Soldiers can move out to the tents, lights out for the night." He finished. The guards got up, and most made no attempt to step around Obsidian or Colgate, who wound up being stepped on and kicked to a fare-thee-well. After the commotion, the prisoners spaced themselves out somewhat comfortably.

"How many are in here?" Obsidian whispered under his breath.

"Just you two and I, if I'm correct. The name's Tulrik." he said. Even from his whisper, Obsidian could tell he was a soft-spoken individual. "Hold still." He muttered. Obsidian felt the rope around his hooves tugging and pulling, then it went completely slack. The bag over his head was quickly jerked off to reveal the face of a teenage colt. His eyes shone brightly in the moonlight that found its way through the tattered canvas covering on the back of the truck they were in. He moved to Colgate, and freed her as well. She sat up and rubber her legs where her ropes had been tied a bit too tight. "Here's the plan: I've counted four soldiers including that big gruff dude. They're all sleeping, which means we can sneak up on them and take them out quietly. When we're done, the loot and truck is ours!" He said, proud at the plan he had formulated.

"Slow down there, Tiger... Problem one: Who made you captain of this operation. Number two: Who said there would even BE an operation!?" Obsidian asked him firmly.

"Nobody on both accounts. But do you really wanna find out where they're taking us? They got all your gear, too, ya know. Here," he said, sliding a dagger to Obsidian. "I smuggled these in, hid them under the floorboards when they threw me in here. Two for you, two for me. You down for this, man?" he asked. Obsidian nodded, and they quietly slipped out of the back of the truck.

"See the tents over there? Two to a tent."

"How do we know which one the big guy is in, he'll probably be a problem for one of us."

"Well.... we'll find out when we get there, now won't we?"

"I like your style, kid." Obsidian chuckled. In the light, he could finally get a look at this kid. He had a coat of bleached blonde that shimmered in the moonlight. His mane was long and flowing, the kind of mane that all the mares at school would swoon over. He was the stereotypical high school stud. He motioned for obsidian to follow, nodding his head to the left for him to take the tent to their left.

Obsidian sneaked up to the flaps to enter the tent. He could hear two distinct snores from inside, and rattled the tent just enough to wake them.

"Woah.... did you feel that?" A voice asked, groggily.

"Yeah.... go check it out.

"What? You do it."

"I'm pulling rank on you, and now it's an order. Go."

"Fine..." There was rustling of sleeping bags and gear being shoved aside. Obsidian moved to the side of the tent, dagger at the ready. The flaps to the tent swung open, and a head popped out. Obsidian took his chance, and brought the dagger down into the skull of the unsuspecting soldier, who crumpled, dead instantly.

"What the fuck!?" A voice called out. Obsidian, thinking on his feet, dove into the tent and tackled the soldier inside, stunning him for a few precious seconds. He took a pillow, and smothered the bewildered soldier's face. He struggled, kicking and punching but to no avail. The fight inside him slowly died down, and Obsidian looked through the gear in the tent. He spotted his and Colgate's bags both still locked and took them both back to the truck quickly.

"C'mon, we're about to get outta here." He said, sliding her bag towards her.

"Where'd the kid go?" She asked him, just before a bloodcurdling scream of horror and pain filled the air.

Obsidian whipped around, and saw the largest stallion he'd ever seen dragging Tulrik out into the open by the campfire.

"I know you're out there, worms! Surrender, and I promise we won't treat you that badly... Or you can run, and leave this scrawny little prick to his fate... Your choice!" He said, taking out a revolver and putting it to Tulrik's head

"C'mon guys, surrender and let's get this over with..." he said, locking eyes with Obsidian, who was frozen by the truck.

"Colgate..." He said softly.

"What're we gonna do?" She asked as if she knew what he was going to ask.

"Lets just get out of here."

"What!? We're just going to leave the kid to be shot!?" She asked in a mix of anger and confusion. "Why would we do that?

"Being executed would be a lot better than what would probably happen if he was to go his own way... He knows that. Now let's take the truck and get away from here. Set up camp and get some sleep." He explained, putting a hoof on her shoulder. She hung her head and sighed. "It's a necessary sacrifice."

"Alright..." She said, and Obsidian walked up to the drivers door of the truck. He looked back to Tulrik, and mouthed an apology.

"Wait, what? You guys can't leave me here!" he shrieked, clamoring to his hooves. The stallion with the revolver took aim, and Obsidian shielded his eyes as a gunshot pierced the air. Without looking, he got into the truck, turned it on and drove away with fear in his mind and regret in his heart.

I Don't Even Know Her...

The silence only added to the already high tension in the air. Obsidian was torn right down the middle, filled with both regret and relief. He took a quick glance at Colgate; she was turned away from him, facing out the window. Sleeping? Admiring the decaying scenery?

"Listen, I don't like what I did, but in all honesty... better him than us." He said, hoping she was, in fact, awake to hear him. She twisted and turned around, looking straight up at the roof of the cab they were in.

"I agree with that, but that doesn't make it any easier to see it happen." She said, finishing with a depleted sigh. "Do we have a plan right now, or are we just gonna wing it?" she inquired. Obsidian ran a hoof through his hair, searching for any memories of a refuge buried deep in his memories. Then came the light of an idea.

"Okay, so... this is probably not the greatest idea, but I don't have much else. So we're gonna take a small risk." He explained,

"When you say small risk, you mean there is the potential that both of us get shot and killed almost instantly?"

"Well, when you put it like that, yes. I had a couple friends, they used to be musicians. One of those friends was lost within the first day of this apocalypse, and the other is deeply scarred by the memory, so she is rather skittish until she knows who she's around. She should recognize me, but I'll introduce you." he said, pulling his tattered map out, unfolding it, and laying it on the steering wheel. "Okay, follow this road three and a quarter miles... the old pathway should still be there." he said to himself, yawning. He set the map down across the dashboard.The truck sputtered along loudly, the rattling of the engine and squealing of old metal filling the cabin of the old rustbucket.

They drove on... and on... and on some more, until they came to an opening in a wall of trees. Colgate could hardly see the dirt road for the overgrown grass and weeds. Obsidian turned the hulking truck onto the road, and pushed through the bumpy ride until they came to a log cabin in the middle of the woods.

"How quaint." Colgate said, smiling. "I always liked log cabins."

"Yeah, It's a nice old house. Now be real careful around her, when I say she's rather skittish I mean it..." He warned her again. Colgate nodded in acknowledgement, and hopped out of the truck.

"Hey, Vinyl! It's Obsidian, you remember me?" he called out to the house, not going too close to the front steps. "Listen, I know you're in there and I know you can hear me. I'm here with a freind, we need a place to stay for a day or two. We've had a string of bad luck recently, could ya open up?" He asked. As if it was on command, the front door swung open, crashing against the side of the house and a unicorn came out wielding a massive shotgun aimed directly at their faces.

"Yeah, I know you, but who is SHE? You bringing stranger into my house!?" Vinyl asked, brushing right past Obsisdian and directing all of her attention to Colgate,

"I'm Colgate, the friend he literally just mentioned... You must be Vinyl, it's nice to meet you." She said, extending a hoof out to Vinyl.

"No, don't do that!" Obsidian said, jumping for Vinyl, who was taking out her knife and getting ready to strike Colgate's arm.

"She's okay, man! She just wanted to introduce herself.... Listen, I wouldn't being anyone here that I thought would hurt you, alright?" Obsidian said, driving home the point. She nodded, refusing to make eye contact. "Okay, good. Now I'm gonna let you get up, and you can introduce yourself, ok?"

"Sure, sure..." Vinyl sighed. Obsidian grinned, and helped her back up.

"And please put that knife away, the poor girl's been through enough already.." he added.

"Yeah, of course. I didn't forget, or anything!" She said. Colgate saw her slipping the knife back into her right boot. "The name's Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch. You might have heard of me some years ago, i was a rather well-known musician with Octavia. You're Colgate, then?" She asked, putting an arm around Colgate's back, making her wince in pain. "Oh, crap! I am so sorry, I didn't know that was there... Listen, you get on inside and I can see about patching you up a little bit." Vinyl said, rushing up to the door and holding it open for her.

"Thats, and you didn't know about it. No biggie." Colgate said as she walked in.

"Heh, at least I didn't do more harm.". She looked to Obsidian and mouthed 'I had NO idea!'. Obsidian shook his head and walked up the stairs.

"It's all good. How've you been, it's been too long?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh, you know. It's all good in the hood over here. You?"

"Been better, been worse. You can fix her up a bit more? I did my best but knew that i'd need to find someone with a bit more experience than me to do a solid job."

"Yeah, i'll get her patched up. Let's go see about that now, actually." She said, and they both made their way inside.

Eavesdropping

The midmorning air was warm, a welcome change from the cooler air of days past. The birds sang again, a few puffy clouds blew past, shining in the bright, early sunshine. Colgate loved to try and make things out in the clouds, if she looked long enough she could always find something. It took her mind away from the dismal reality what was this epidemic. She could head some groans and muffled barks, sure sounds of some zeds shuffling about. Even after the rough day she had yesterday, she was anxious to get up and out, to move on to somewhere new. She rolled away from the window, and out of the bed. Yawning, she trudged across the hallway to the room where obsidian had crashed after giving her the transfusion. She slowly opened the door, and there he was, sitting by the window with his sniper rifle aimed out.

"What do you see?" She asked him cautiously. He shushed her and waved his hoof for her to sit by him.

"A group of Pegasi have been hanging around the shed about... seventy-five yards. Give or take. If they make a move into the city, i'll move down to cover the doors until they pass, and we can skidaddle out." He said. He make tiny, precise adjustments to the scope of his rifle, light metallic clicks with every knob he turned. She looked out the window and could just barely see them moving around the building. Colgate looked around the room. A few valubles scattered around: rifle mags, a suppressor, and a HAM radio. She walked over to the radio.

"You know how to use one of these?' She asked him. He cut his eyes over to the radio.

"Yeah, why?"

"Dunno, we could probably use it if we took it, though." She said through another yawn.

"Maybe... You wanna carry it if we take it?"

"Not especially..." She said, flipping some switches and turning knobs aimlessly Nothing but static...

CRRRRSH....Come in, Blackbriar......Loud and clear, Blackjack, loud and clear.....krakRRRSH....... What's your Charlie-Papa, over?.... The radio flared to life in a mix of static and voices. Colgate jumped back, obsidian jumped out of his seat.

"Turn that thing down!" He hissed, regaining his aim on the Pegasi.

CRRRRSH...We are awaiting the go, we have a bird en route to the city....CRRRRRSH....... Confirm you're green on ammo and move in to secure a foothold in the city.... Bird ETA is seven Mikes, how copy?......Roger-Wilco, moving in The radio died down.

"Did... they say they had a bird heading to the city?" Obsidian asked. Colgate could see the look of worry on his face.

"Yeah, but it's probably not our city. No worries."

"It is this city."

"How do you know?"

"Because those Pegasi are moving in now..." He said, the blunt truth sinking in.

"Well...I suppose i'll go cover the front door." She said, taking the initiative. Obsidian shot her a grateful nod.

"Are we taking a shoot to kill on sight policy here?" She asked, a machine gun on her back and assault rifle slung across her chest.

"That'd be the best idea. Kill any and everyone, no worrying about freindly. Take 'em by surprise." He confirmed for her.

"Well, I'm gonna cover the front. Shoot straight." She said, walking down the stairs and taking a position behind the counter. Her rifle was trained on the pair of pegasi making progress towards the city.

'Just gotta wit for obsidian to take the first shot...' she throught to herself, her rifle trained on the one to the right. Silence, anticipation, tension.... *CRACK!* His sniper shattered the silence, and the Pegasus on the left fell. Pure instinct took over, and Colgate pulled her trigger, sending one single shot straight into the other Pegasus's brain. Dead silence again.

"Nice shot!" She called out to Obsidian.

"Same to ya. Now I guess we're just waiting for the Huey to fly over now." he said. "C'mon up."

She took a seat by the window by Obsidian. Both their ears were as sensitive as a stethoscope, just waiting for the first sounds to fade into the room. Minutes passed, and Obsidian had a small realization.

"Weren't there two groups, the one we took out and then... the one that was on the radio first?" He asked openly.

"Yeah, but they're coming through the opposite side of the city, aren't they?" Colgate asked, fidgeting a little.

"Nah, we're good. Keep an eye out for them, though." He said,

And it was as he said that, the room exploded in a storm of shrapnel, bullets, and adrenaline.