To Run Away...

Chapter 33

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Alice was walking over a cracked sidewalk as two soldiers followed, armed with shotguns of course. The day was cloudy as a cool gentle breeze blew through her mahogany hair. She then stopped once she was just feet away from a man he was suppose to meet.

"So, you're Redmond Mann?" She asked modestly.

"Of course, Madame." He said with a smile as he reached into his pocket to pull out a cigar. "Your name is Alice Green, right?"

"Yes, yes sir..." She grimaced, looking down at her shoes. "So... you'll take me in as an intern. right?"

  He nodded, lighting the cigar and taking a few puffs. "Yep... you've been through a lot, and out of two hundred applicants, you were the most qualified."

  She smiled a little, lucky that she made it.

  After blowing out another batch of smoke skyward, he looked back down; finding her in that state, "Look, It'll be okay. Your family will get all the benefits they need to survive in this rotting land. Food stamps, Medicaid, et cetera, all because you worked hard to achieve this position."

  She nodded, returning to mope from her homesickness. "Yeah... I-It's going to be fine... I-I know it."

"Good." He grinned, patting her on the soldier. "Now, let's move on. I got a special office waiting for you."

  They began to walk again, until...

Cling! Cling, gle-ing, ling!

  She heard the sound crystal clear, and looked down behind her. There, she found a heart-shaped locket with the color of gold lying flat on the concrete. Like a cat's tongue licking milk, she picked it up and held it in her hand, not willing to let it go. In her head, she was scolding herself for dropping the valuable little treasure while caught off-guard."

"I'm sorry but..." Redmond asked, watching the whole incident before his eyes. "What's that in your hand?"

"Uh..." She can't keep a secret. If she does, it'll probably cost her the only chance at survival for both her and her family. It would be best if she just told him the little secret. "Um, it's a..."

  She placed her hand in between the two and opened it to reveal the locket. "... I-It's a locket, sir."

"Oh..." He said, sympathy increasing towards her. He turned around, and continued to walk.

  Alice was a little relieved that he didn't want to go into further detail on her possession. However, the thought of what she held inside that locket made her feel depressed as what got her to be here in the first place.

"Good Morning Comrades! This is your morning news flash, I'm Helene MacSinoh."

  Alice opened her eyes at the woman's voice on the radio greeting them as obnoxious as usual. "Uuuuggghhhhh."

"Today's a new day here in Doofania, so you know what that means... another work day! ..."

  She had no choice but to listen to the broadcast, for it was probably to loud to call in someone to lower the volume.

"... You know the drill comrades, get your breakfast ready, eat up, dress up, and wait for your designated bus driver to pick you up... if you live in the residential area, of course." The woman continued to speak. "In local news, funerals will be held for our fellow comrades who've fallen at the hand wretched infiltrators' wrath during their raids on the department of security, and now recently, at Aegnus city hall. Our hearts go out to family members of those men and women, and we promise them that we'll avenge their deaths by bringing those demons to justice.... in global news..."

  Alice wanted to say something, but the lady just wouldn't let her.

"... sadly, Republican forces in Arabia have razed multiple cities in the occupied nations of Yemen and Oman today, bringing fear to many across the middle east. The king, Israel, as well as the Arab league continue to plea with the US and the Soviet empire for military assistance; But, like always, they continue to deny them... and that is all for the morning news flash. Remember comrades, today's another work day. Expect another beautiful sunrise with the temperatures of seventy five degrees at this hour... this is Helene MacSinoh, signing off."

Click!

  It was now silent.

  Happy that that was so, she decided to look over to Thomas... who didn't seem that affected by it. He was somewhat awake, but he also looked a little bummed.

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes playfully. 'Don't tell me that the news was a downer for you."

"I want to say yes." He said, smiling a little. "But I'm afraid of what you'll do to me... just like old times."

"Yep, soldiers like you shouldn't be crying you know." She joked. "Just because the world keeps falling to apart, doesn't mean you should be woosing out."

"I beg to differ."

"Pfft, of course you would."

  He gave a little chuckle. "You'd always say that."

  She then chose to look at the window, just in time to see the sun begin it's ascension before her eyes. "Well, it was back when we hardly knew anything about life. Where we were just young and innocent... but times change. you know?"

  Thomas looked over to his wound. "Yeah... one day you're a kid enjoying his rations like a little puppy, the next you're the little apprentice of the dear leader."

  She nodded, "Of course, times are always changing."

"Yep."

  He joined her in her observance of the sunrise. "Hey, do you still have that locket you'd keep around with ya?"

  She looked back at him, nodding. "Mmm Hmm. In fact, it's on the nightstand."

"Oh."  He leaned over to find the locket sitting idly on the wooden furniture. "Nice. A good memory of our great country, is it not?"

  Alice wanted to cry there. She just couldn't understand why he couldn't remember. Fortunately, she was able to hold that urge with a firm grip and proceed with what she was about to say next.

"Yeah... I guess." Before muttering. "You dimwit."

"Hmm... So, about that mission you had-"

"Ugh, don't get me started on that." She said, annoyed at her failure. "I just hope that Redmond isn't too angry."

"Ugh, I'm not mad at her Walter." Redmond admitted as he smoked his cigar behind the window. "It's just that the 'infiltrators' keep getting tougher as the days gone by."

"Oh?"

"Yep... the pony shot Perry with armor piercing rounds, acquired dice from one of the vending machines, and tore thirty of my scoutbots and rocketbots to shreds in a blood rage... or in this cage, an oil rage."

"Damn, what a prick."

"Huh, if that pony never met subject A1, then they could've been in body bags already."

"Of course, sir. So, is there any plan around this?"

"N'ah, Alice will keep with the phase going. I just hope that she'll change tactics after she leaves the hospital."

"Yep." Walter nodded. "But do you think there's a weakness in the four?"

  He began to chuckle, taken aback by that foolish little question, this made the associate frown as he said, "Come on, Walter. Isn't it obvious?"

Knock! Knock! Knock!

  The three woke up the moment the knocking commenced.

"God damn it." Ivan mumbled before shouting. "Yes?"

"Time to wake up, my friends." Pierre announced from the other side of the door.

"Aw, Ponyfeathers." Haystack moaned rubbing his eyes with his hoof. "Rah'se n' shah'ne then."

  He stood up on all his four legs and faced the top part of the bed. "C'mon, Maribelle. Let's go."

  All they heard were soft groans from the little girl. Rolling his eyes, he reiterated with command. "Maribelle, 'Ah said-"

"No daddy, five more minutes." She groaned.

"Daddy?" Haystack whispered to himself, too flabbergasted to say it out loud of course.

  Ivan rolled his eyes, knowing that that was probably the tiredness talking.

  The pony then shook it off. "Ugh, get down here, or Ah'll cl'ahmb up the bed and pull ya down!! And 'Ah don't care if Ah'ther the bed, y'er back breaks, or both!!"

"Uh..." Ivan was shocked at his use of words, especially since he threatened to break either one. Ironically, that seemed to work, for the little girl squeaked in fear and would climb down the ladder and stand in front of the pony; giving him a cute little salute. "Sir, yes sir."

  Haystack grinned at the sight of her obedience before patting her on the head. "Now, let's go. We gotta eat."

  The three then went over to the door and opened it... to the sight of Pierre and Isabella looking at Haystack with gaping mouths.

"Howdy." He said calmly as he and Maribelle waved gleeful hellos.

"Um... okay then." Isabella was the first to close her mouth and put that incident aside. "It's best that you grab something quick to eat before they start mobilizing the people into the fields."

"Yes, Madame." Ivan said. "Let's go."

  The four were now on their way down the hall... but Haystack was suddenly feeling something tingle in his head... He was sensing something. But he couldn't tell if that was the case or if it was just a thought. Suddenly, in just a few seconds, all he could see was red. Well not pitch red, but that everything was the color red. It was strange, but he didn't have the desire to tell the others as they walked down the hall... then, another thing kicked into his head.

"Uh, may 'ah use the restroom." He asked.

"Sure." Isabella replied, "We just passed it. It's right down that hallway to your left."

"Oh, thank you." He said, before trotting in the opposite direction.

  Maribelle on the other hand, chose not to walk beside him. Something Ivan thought was strange because the last time they were apart, she would go on to kill multiple troops in order to get to him... but I guess since he was just going to use the bathroom...

"Hmm, at least the little girl knows how to give someone, or in this case somepony privacy." He muttered, giving out a nearly inaudible scoff a few nanoseconds after.

  However, the little girl had her own reasons as to why she let him go alone... well, aside from him needing to go to the bathroom.

"Hmm, this place his bathroom, huh?" Ivan asked, killing the silence between the group. "You people sure know how to build a resistance cell."

"Well, thanks." She smiled. "But it was all thanks to an old friend of mine, in truth."

"Oh." By the way she looked, he could tell by what he meant by old friend. It was best that he said nothing more after that.

  Down the hall, Haystack's need to use the restroom was somewhat the case... somewhat. He was looking at the mirror, staring aimlessly at his eyes, which were now red... along with everything else. He knew it was another hallucination, but his head was kept telling him to not say anything. He continued to rub his eyes with his now wet hooves before something appeared on behind him.

  It was his family again, so he turned around to greet them. He could care less if any of the humans thought he was crazy, but it was his family. But surprisingly, they weren't there.

"B-but... 'Ah-'Ah thought..."

"We're r'aght here Big Mac." said the orange mare.

  In an instant, he turned around. "B-but... how did ya..."

"That's not important, Big brother." said the little filly before looking down and gently kicking her left fore hoof back. "B-Big Mac, d-do you care 'bout us?"

"S-sure, Applebloom." He breathed, putting his hoof against the mirror where Applebloom was. That question has been hammered into him multiple times since the day he set foot on American soil; but just like those times, it was the same answer, "'Ah care a lot 'bout ya'll. That's wh'ah 'Ah came here."

  She looked back up to him with a determined look on her face, and it wasn't long before the others felt the same way as she, "Then you know what to do."

  The three began to dissolve from his sight, making him freak out, "What? Applejack! Applebloom! Granny! Where are-"

  He stopped his panic attack... or maybe it worsened once his heart began to race like a human running across the track. He grabbed onto his head once he began to hear deep breathing race across his head; and it was hard to tell if it was his own or someone else's. He closed his eyes shut, for he couldn't take what was being thrown at him. "Please... stop it."

  He opened his eyes again, to find that everything wasn't red anymore... it was all... normal. Unfortunately, the rapid heart-beating and the breathing in his head didn't seem to cease. Then, another unexpected event was thrown at him.... the bloody imprints of ponyshoes began to appear in front of him. All of which would form a trail with every appearance. The trail led to the door, in which Haystack followed without feeling any hint of remorse. Slowly, he trotted his way out as a new ponyshoe formed.

  He was now in the hallway, looking in both direction; hoping that no one was present to see this. Suddenly, whispers began to mix with the breathing as more of those tracks began to form to his left. Mouth open, and drooling, he resumed his trot over the blood red prints.

"It saddens me to see you like this." A voice called in his head. "But... I-It's okay... everything will be... um... everything will be okay."

  The imprints would lead him to another door at the end of the hall, which was open.

"Go on." said his little sister with enthusiasm in her voice. "Hop inside."

  Not saying a word, he pushed the door open with his muzzle and slowly trotted inside. The room was as small as the one they were sleeping in, only there was nothing inside but a... vending machine. It was another one of those mini-stores of power, and the pony was quick to remember that. His gape turned into a smile, his tongue began to dangle, and his own breathing mixed with the one in his head like a dog ready to drink some water

"Now don't worry, this machine in particular doesn't have any sound." Applebloom whispered. "You'll be just fine."

  Wasting no time, he rushed over to the machine, made the usual scan, and got to buying. But, surprising to him, he noticed that the amount of Gabe increased to nearly a thousand. But that didn't matter, he was going to win this war.

  By the time that was unfolding, the group had already arrived at the empty cafeteria.

  However, in spite of that, Maribelle continued to keep her head down as they entered. She was too busy trying to get to his friend. In her head, she continued to mumble. "Do not purchase Dice, purchase the body builders, as much as you can buy." over and over.

  Her own heart began to pump quickly as she felt her mental voice move around like rockets.

  Haystack was on the verge of heading to the Dice category until he quickly stopped. His mind was telling him not to buy it, because they'll know. So, he went over to the body-builders' category and bought what he pleased. And just like his purchase of "Emperor's strike", they were quick as well.

  Then, in a snap everything began to fade. The breathing in his head, the quick heart-beating, the hallucinations, all of them gone. The only thing that was left was a nose bleed in which it would go away in seconds.

  He then read the two labels on the bottles. The first one read, "Blood rage". The other, "Hawk eye". Both names were interesting; so without wasting any time, he drank them one by one. Fortunately for him, they did nothing to his vision. So all he did was get up, put the vitas away in his saddlebag, head to the door, check for anyone outside, head out, go to the bathroom, wash of the blood, and (since he was out for quite awhile now) gallop his way towards the cafeteria.

  As he did, he sighed, with a worried feel in his mind. " Ah don't know what the hay just happened, but 'Ah think it's f'er the best."

"So... uh... Haystack's been out for a-" The cafeteria door opened to interrupt Pierre's question and reveal the tan earth pony on the other side. "Oh, there he is."

"Now Haystack." Isabella instructed, giving the pony a piece of toast with grape jelly spread over it, "Eat as much as you can. We'll be leaving in ten minutes."

"Yes Madame." He replied, putting the toast on his hoof.

"And Ivan."

"Yeah?" The boy asked.

"Since we'll be leaving, I suggest that you head to the bathroom and wear this." She reached into her backpack and got out a folded overcoat and bulletproof vest.

"Um, why will I need those?" He asked suspiciously.

  The lady said nothing, all she did was point at his attire, which was riddled with bullet holes.

"Oh, right." He smiled, blushing.

  In the meantime, Haystack felt something tough his shoulder. Looking down, it was Maribelle, who was smiling at him with a relieved feeling... as if she knew what had happened just moments ago. Unable to combat that face, and feeling a bit regretful for his early actions, he said gloomily. "Um... Ah'm sorry f'er yelling at ya, lah'ke-"

"It's okay." she said gently, keeping that smile, and knowing exactly what he meant. "I forgive you."

"Uh, thanks." Haystack smiled back before they resumed to eating. In his head, with another touchy feeling building inside, all Haystack could say was already in his mind. "And Ah'll keep thanking you."