Chapter Twenty Six - Wasteland Survival Guide

“Seriously Twilight, you’re here for less than an hour and you’re already being an asshat.” I growled.

“You were walking around with that gun; you could have shot me for all I knew.” She retorted defiantly.

“That’s because I didn’t know it was you, it could have been a robber for all I knew.” I told her.

“Well, whatever, I don’t like guns, I felt like I had to defend myself from you.”

“Twilight, I may not like you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to kill you on sight.” I rolled my eyes.

“Well I was shot at in Chernobyl, so I just don’t like guns pointed in my direction, alright?” She snarled.

I tilted my head on one side.

“You were shot at? By who?”

“I don’t know, you dimwit; I was walking around when I heard gunshots and clumps of dirt around me burst up, so I left as quickly as I could.” She explained.

“You do understand there are no people in Chernobyl, right? It’s completely uninhabitable due to the radiation.” I pointed out.

“I don’t know, I didn't even get to look around the town, I teleported miles off course and had to walk for days just to reach the damn place, only for someone to start shooting at me as I arrived, thankfully he missed.” Twilight grumbled.

Twilight may be an arsehole, but I knew she wasn’t lying; her fur was dirty and her hooves were muddy, along with her mane being all over the place. Her eyes were wide and was evidently spooked, she had a genuine reason to be afraid and to threaten me with the knife, so I let it go, there was no need for yet another argument.

“You should rest.” I advised.

She looked at me blankly for a moment, clearly wanting to object to me, but the mare was exhausted and simply nodded.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the others and get you some food.” I said with a small smile, walking backwards towards the stairs.

“I would appreciate that…” She sighed, following me.

I turned around and headed up the stairs, Twilight tiredly lumbering behind me. I approached Oliver’s room and opened the door.

“Look who I found.” I grinned, opening the door fully.

“Hey guys.” Twilight mumbled, walking into the room.

“Heya Twiley!” Pinkie squeaked.

“Howdy Twi!” AJ greeted her, putting a foreleg over her neck.

The others all greeted her while I went downstairs to make Twilight a salad. In all honesty, I felt a bit sorry for her; she’s just gone to one of the most inhabitable places on Earth all on her own, and ended up almost getting shot. Bitchy or not, she was brave, and I admired that.

“Incoming faggot!” Oliver hollered as I entered the room.

“Ooh! You have food!” Pinkie squealed, running towards me.

“Sorry Pinks, this is for Twilight.” I apologised.

“Aww…” She moaned.

I went over to Twilight, who was sitting with Applejack in the corner of the room; I placed the salad at her hooves.

“Here, you must be starving.” I said sweetly.

“Thank you…” She mumbled, levitating some of the food and began to eat.

“Would you like me to run you a bath?” I offered.

She looked at me in thought, and then gave me with a face that said 'I want to say yes, but I don't want to admit it.

“I promise I won’t drown you, or hide a toaster in the water.” I teased.

She didn’t smile, but she raised her eyebrows in slight amusement.

“That would be nice…”

I waited a few seconds.

“Thank you…” She finished.

I dipped my head respectfully and left the room; I entered the bathroom and began to run the bath. I then came back into Oliver’s room and gave Twilight a childish smile.

“Would you like bubbles in your bath?”

“Please tell me you’re joking.” She groaned irritably.

“So… That’s a yes, right?”

“Just leave.” She ordered.

I stuck my tongue out and left the room again, chuckling.

After a while of waiting for the bath to fill, and checking the temperature was just right, I came back in to Oliver’s room to find they were all still watching A Million Ways to Die in the West, and much to my surprise, Twilight was actually enjoying it. The film was about halfway through and at a point where there was a musical about the advantages of having a moustache. The ponies found the song very amusing and for the first time, I saw Twilight genuinely giggle, and it was fucking adorable.

{There may be hope for her yet...} My conscience muttered.

“Hey Twi, hate to burst your bubble, but your bath is ready.” I told her, not intending the pun.

“Alright.” She replied, getting up.

She left the room and I showed her to the bathroom, where I left her to lock the door and get comfortable.

“What did I say about bubbles!?” She growled from inside.

“You didn’t say no!” I laughed.

“Incompetent... Dimwitted... Imbecile…” She muttered quietly, I only just heard her through the door.

I couldn't help but smile to myself and went downstairs to pour myself a glass of milk; I came back upstairs to hear a small splash, followed by a moan of absolute ecstasy from the bathroom.

“Dang… Bitch really needed that bath…” I quietly muttered to myself.

{Aye, perhaps too badly.} My conscience agreed.

I went into Oliver’s room and watched the rest of the movie with everyone else, enjoying my last day in England before we head off to Chernobyl, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to come home again after this...

One awesome film and a barrel of belly laughter later, we turned off the TV and headed back into my room; on the way I heard Twilight calling for some assistance, I went over to the door and gave it a knock.

“You alright in there Twi?” I asked.

“I need a towel.”

I couldn’t help but lightly chuckle to myself.

“Can’t you just use your magic?” I suggested.

“I have to save my mana, you tool. Otherwise we won’t reach Chernobyl.” She explained.

“Hm, good point; hang on.” I said and grabbed a towel from the boiler unit.

I opened the bathroom door and gave Twilight the towel, she dipped her head respectfully.

“Need help drying off while I'm here?” I teased, sticking my tongue out playfully.

“Don't make me hurt you.” She answered.

“As you wish; we’re in my bedroom when you’re done.” I told her and left the room.

I came into my room to find Rainbow Dash and Applejack laughing with one another.

“What’s so funny?” I asked cheerfully.

“Oh, don’t worry, just something we watched on your laptop while you were at your funeral.” Dash giggled.

“And what was that?” I quizzed.

The two of them continued to giggle loudly, before Rainbow Dash whispered something into AJ’s ear and they both burst into laughter.

“Seriously, what did you watch?” I chuckled, finding their laughter contagious.

“Applejack! What are you doing!? You can’t eat all those fucking apples!” Dash growled, pushing Applejack.

Applejack proceeded to pull a horrifying face and stick her hoof into Dashie's face.

“Fuck you, I can’t eat all these apples!” She spat.

She then went on to mimic stuffing her face with apples, making loud munching noises. The two of them collapsed onto the ground in fits of laughter.

“Oh dear god no…” I whispered hoarsely.

They'd watched a horrifying video online known as 'Apple.Mov', a cartoon parody of MLP made by a cartoonist called Max Gilardi.
Thankfully the crude humour of the video was abolished as Twilight walked into the room.

“Okay everyone, playtime over, we’ve got an orb shard to find.” She announced enthusiastically.

“Well, you’re in a good mood.” Dash pointed out, surprised.

“You’d be surprised how relaxing a hot bath is.” She replied.

Everyone in the room exchanged positive looks as we had potentially found the cure for Twilight’s bitchiness.

“Make no mistake; I still loathe your kind.” She said bluntly to me.

Or not…

{Well, at least she doesn’t just hate me specifically.} I thought merrily.

{Well, if it comes as any consolation, I hate you.} My conscience said with glee.

It took a lot of effort not to reply out loud and end up looking like a nutter in front of everyone, I ignored the Scottish entity in my head and focused on Twilight and the rest of the group.

“Now, I suggest we all restock our supplies and head out as quickly as possible.” She ordered.

Without a word, we went around the house, taking the supplies we needed. I had to completely refill my rucksack after the dicks in Brazil had looted everything.

I went into the kitchen to find all the crisps were gone.

“Pinkie!” I called.

“Yeeaaasss?” I heard her call back.

“Did you eat all the crisps?”

“They were Quavers okay!?”

I facepalmed, and just took all the tinned foods, such as beans, soup, and tuna. After that I went to Oliver’s room and got the gun belt and pistol holster from him; I then went into my room and changed into some dark blue jeans, a forest green plaid shirt, and a dark green baseball cap with a beige brim; I topped off the look with some dark brown hiking boots, they were strong and sturdy, yet flexible and comfy.

“Pretty badass there bro.” Oliver commented as I put on the gun belt.

I turned to face my brother as he entered the room, holding a large knife.

“Here, I thought you might need this.” He offered.

“Sorry bro, already got one.” I denied, pulling out Vladimir’s knife, which was bigger than Oliver’s.

“Sweet! Where’d you get that!?”

“The infamous Vladimir Kikashkov; I call it Kroksbane.” I told him.

“Crocsbane?”

“Yeah, but spelt with the letter K, in honour of Vladimir.”

“Why Kroksbane?” He asked.

“Because I killed a bunch of crocodiles with it.” I replied, looking smug.

I sheathed Kroksbane in the gun belt, as it had a knife slot next to Ingeo’s pistol. With a little skip I went to the other side of the room and picked up Wrinkleboom.

“You know, I’ve got a backpack with a slot for that.” Oliver smiled.

“You have an item of clothing for everything.” I chuckled.

He ran into his room and came out with a backpack similar to the old one, but it was slightly smaller and made of leather, on the sides were two loops for holding things. He passed me the backpack and I put it on, attaching Wrinkleboom to the side.

“Dude… No fucking way…” Oliver grinned.

“What?” I asked.

“You look just like that bloke from The Last of Us; that Joel fella!” He pointed out.

“Who?”

“Oh yeah, while you were dead I got a PlayStation for a few months to play it, it's such a good game. You look like a very young version of the main character.” He told me.

“Fair enough.” I smiled.

“Guys; time to go!” Twilight called from behind me.

The others came upstairs and we all tightened our bags, it was time. Oliver put a hand on my shoulder and sighed.

“Be careful out there little bro…”

“I’ll do my best.” I replied with a smirk.

We all walked towards Twilight, who was lying on my bed; when Oliver stopped me.

“This might be the last time I see you…” He murmured.

I nodded with a sigh.

“Can I take a picture of you guys, before you go?” He asked.

“No.” Twilight growled.

“It’s just for me, I swear! Not another living soul will see it!”

“I said, no.” She spat.

“Please! He’s my little bro… I just want one picture, just one…” He begged.

After a second’s thought, Twilight sighed.

“Okay, okay, you can take one.”

Oliver reached for his phone, and the seven of us gathered around into a tight clump.

“Say cheese!” My brother sang as he pointed the phone at us.

We all smiled and looked at the phone as he took the picture, and then showed us.

“Awesome!” I grinned.

“A photo full of gay, that’s what it is.” He teased, putting his phone away.

“Right, let’s go.” I said with a deep breath.

Twilight hopped off my bed and her horn began to glow.

“My mana will be very low after this trip, so don’t expect me to be a miracle worker.” She told the group.

Her horn grew brighter as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, I noticed her body tense up and I could tell this spell was difficult to cast, even for a unicorn of her level. The light emitting from her horn was almost blinding, when she turned around and fired it at the mirror on my wardrobe, the mirror flashed a bright white light, before going back to normal.

“Did it work?” Dash asked.

I walked over to the mirror, and poked it; only to have my hand almost sucked through it as my finger went right through it, the entire mirror wobbled like jelly and glowed purple for a moment.

“Yeah, it worked.” I answered.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Oliver muttered.

I went over to him and gave him one last hug.

“Chin up broski, when this mission's over, I'll see you again.” I told him, smiling warmly.

“Yeah…” He murmured.

I let him go, and took a step back, the ponies did the same and let me go first.

“Well, here goes nothing… ALLONS-Y!!!” I yelled at the top of my voice, charging at the mirror.

I dived into it headfirst and everything turned white and my body felt weightless, and then I blacked out.

Before I awoke, I felt a sharp pain in my chest, followed by the feeling of my entire torso caving in, my ears started ringing loudly as I began to regain consciousness; suddenly my vision came back to me and I woke up coughing. Without warning Fluttershy hugged me tightly, I looked around to see the six crowded around me looking worried.

“Oh thank Celestia…” Rarity sighed.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked me, looking into my eyes.

“Yeah… What happened?” I asked in shock.

“Well, you kind of, nearly died.” Applejack told me nervously.

“What!?”

“The portal needed a moment to configure itself, you jumped in too early and it took a few seconds to gather your atomic structure before reassembling you, momentarily stopping your heart and breathing; you’re lucky not to have brain damage.” Twilight told me.

I gulped nervously.

{Thanks for letting me know beforehand.} I thought angrily.

“You’re also very lucky Fluttershy knows CPR.” Twilight finished.

I looked to my side to see Flutters looking at me with a weak smile, slightly out of breath; I nodded my head in thanks and slowly stood up, Rainbow Dash came to my side to help.

“It’s alright, I’m okay.” I told her.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She sighed with relief and head-butted my hand.

“Dude, don’t do that again; you scared the heck out of me…” She said, trying to hide her emotion.

“I’ll try not to.” I replied, stroking the side of her face.

I found it rather strange, even though I was close to death, I wasn’t fazed or scared by it; I guess my time in Brazil had hardened me more than I thought. With that brief panic over, I looked around to see we were in a shack, only just big enough to house all six of us. I looked outside and gained a bearing of my surroundings, and was rather taken aback by what I saw; I knew how uninhabitable Chernobyl was, but I couldn't comprehend this. Everything was just dust and dead plants, the few trees were withered and black, it looked just like a scene from the game Fallout, it was just...
Wasteland…

“Jesus…” I breathed.

“It’s awful, isn’t it?” Rarity sighed.

In the foggy distance was a large town, which I guessed Twilight had come from.

“So, what’s the deal with radiation in the area?” I asked her.

“This shack is radiation free, along with the surrounding area, but the town's full of it.” She told me.

“And where’s the orb shard?”

“I located it on the far side of town, there’s a big factory with two great spires, the orb’s in there.”

“That’s the power plant, that’s what caused the whole disaster.” I explained.

“When did this happen?” Rarity asked me.

“Back in Nineteen Eighty-Six.” I told her.

“So, how many years ago?”

“Twenty eight.” I answered.

“Well, shit.” Applejack muttered, rubbing the back of her neck.

I looked at her with confusion, she looked down and started to explain.

“Well you see…”

“Holy crap!” Dashie interrupted, catching onto the conversation.

“What is it?” I asked them.

“Well, when the Titan’s Orb was sent here, it was done in secret and was only discovered twenty seven days later, and Princess Celestia chose us to retrieve it the day afterwards.” She told me.

“So…” I hummed, figuring it out.

“Oh gosh…” Rarity gasped, also understanding.

“The orb was sent to Earth twenty eight years ago.” I mumbled.

If the orb came here twenty eight years ago, and was inside the power plant, there was only one explanation.
The Titan’s Orb had caused Chernobyl…

“Oh Callum, I’m so sorry…” Rarity murmured.

I took a couple seconds to process the information, before turning to Rarity.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault. Besides, I wasn’t even born when it happened, so I don’t really have the right to be upset by it. It was a tragedy, but Earth's moved on and recovered from it, we just steer clear of the area due to the radiation left over.” I told her.

She hummed to herself as she thought about my opinion; meanwhile Applejack was talking to Twilight about something, I went over to see what the subject was.

“You two alright?” I asked.

“We’re just thinking about what to do with Pinkie and Fluttershy, it’s their birthday tomorrow and I don’t think it should be spent in radiation and danger.” Applejack told me.

“Perhaps they could stay here?” I suggested.

They frowned, not sure what to think of the idea.

“In all honesty, we don’t all need to go out there just for the orb shard; Flutters, Pinkie, and Rarity could stay here and enjoy the birthday, while we look for the shard. That way you don’t have to use as much mana on anti-radiation spells, with Fluttershy and Pinkie being able to enjoy their birthday on top.” I explained.

“You know, that’s actually a good idea.” Applejack agreed.

“Hm, you have a point;” said Twilight, “but I don’t want them left without someone strong to protect them.”

She turned to face Applejack.

“Applejack, I want you to stay here and keep them safe.”

A smile lit up the farm pony’s face.

“Fine by me Sugarcube; I sure as hay don’t want to go into that creepy place.” She replied.

The three of us went to tell the others of the plan, and they were all happy with it.

“Then it’s settled, Callum, Rainbow Dash and I will go into the town and retrieve the shard.” Twilight announced.

We exchanged a few hugs and were wished good luck, and we began to prepare ourselves; I took some shotgun cartridges out of my back and put them in my pocket, along with loading Wrinkleboom just in case. Rainbow Dash took off her bag and left it with the group to lighten the load; after that, we were good to go.

“Sorry we’re going to miss your birthdays.” Dash sighed to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“It’s alright, we’ll save you some cake.” Flutters beamed.

I looked at Twilight to see she was impatiently waiting to get a move-on.

“Right, let’s boogie.” I spoke, getting Dash’s attention.

She nodded and we all headed away from the shed and towards the town, looking back only once…

“Hold up, I’m detecting radiation.” Twilight ordered as we approached a few farm buildings.

We stopped and waited for her next set of instructions.

“I’m going to use a spell called Skinlock, it reinforces your body with an extremely thin layer of resistant fibre, it resists radiation and most types of poison. It doesn't wear off until you something breaks your skin, from there the radiation can start to leak in, so whatever you do, don’t get cut or scratched by anything.” She explained.

“Don’t get cut, got it.” I nodded.

“Being a human, you have an advantage as you wear clothes, but regardless, watch yourself, because I don’t have much mana left, so I can’t cast it more than once, got it?”

I simply nodded.

“What if it’s just a small cut, like a splinter?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I can repair that if I act quick enough, but don’t get any large injuries that properly break the skin.” She replied.

“Got it.” Dashie confirmed.

With the brief out of the way, Twilight lit up her horn and cast her spell onto Dashie, and then onto me. Unlike most of her spells, this sensation felt cold and I could feel a slight pressure on my skin before the feeling wore off.

“Right.” Twilight started.

“Left.” I interrupted.

She frowned and looked at me.

“Don’t do that.”

We walked past the farm buildings and reached a road leading into the town, we walked down the middle of the road in single file, with me at the front.

"Look at this place..." Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Fifty-thousand people used to live here... Now it's a ghost town..." I sighed.

“Do you think anything will ever be able to live and grow here again?” Dash asked me.

“No idea, the radiation has been disappearing at an extremely slow rate, but I doubt anything will be able to thrive here for at least a few hundred years.” I replied.

“Dang…” She mumbled.

We kept walking for quite some time, when I started to get the feeling I was being watched; I slowed down.

“What’s the matter?” Twilight asked.

“It’s quiet… Too quiet…” I muttered.

“I know what you mean.” She agreed.

We kept walking through the dead street when we heard a noise ahead, it sounded like a tin can being stepped on.

“Quick, move.” I hissed.

We all quietly ran to the side of the road and waited, not daring to move a muscle, we waited for a good minute before we kept moving along the street, when we heard another noise from further down the street.

“Where’s it coming from?” Dash whispered.

“If it weren’t foggy in the distance, I’d tell you.” I replied.

The fog wasn't too thick, and I could see a good fifty metres ahead of me, but it still caused a very tense atmosphere. We were just about to keep moving when I heard something very unsettling... A growl…

“There’s… Something… Over there…” Twilight whimpered.

I waited silently, before I heard a faint click to my right, and then HISS!
The bullet whizzed over my head and hit the bricks of the building on my left side, I jumped out of my skin and fell back into Twilight.
We were being shot at.

“What do we do!?” She squealed in fear.

“Into the building!” I ordered.

We turned to the first door we reached and I shoulder rammed it, breaking the lock and opening the door; we rushed in and ran into the first room, a kitchen.

“You weren’t kidding about the sniper…” I panted.

“No… You don’t say?” She spat sarcastically.

“He’s got a silencer too, sneaky bastard.” I grumbled.

I bit my lip, thinking about what to do, when I noticed Dash had left the room.

“Dash?” I hissed out of the doorway.

No answer.

“Rainbow Dash.” I said louder.

Still no answer, Twilight gulped; I left the room and looked into the living room, where Rainbow Dash was standing with her back to me, I marched up to her, annoyed that she’d walked off.

“We stay together Dash, alright?” I growled.

She didn’t even look at me, and kept looking at the ground, completely petrified; I looked at the ground, and realised what she was looking at. Lying in the corner of the room was a human corpse, it was only halfway through decomposing and had green and black skin, the chest cavity and belly were gone and the rotting organs were visible; I wrinkled my nose in disgust and stood in Dashie’s way, making sure she couldn’t see it any longer.

“Focus.” I ordered, clicking my fingers in her face.

She shook her head and looked up at me.

“How many people died like this?” She muttered.

“Thousands, I imagine.” I replied with a glum look.

“Fuck…”

I put my hands on her shoulders.

“Stay focused, we need to find the shard.”

She nodded and we re-joined Twilight, who was looking for a key to the back door; I rolled my eyes and walked towards the door.

“This, is, Sparta.” I moaned dryly.

I kicked the door down with one swift front kick, and walked out into a grassy courtyard; the building turned out to be a block of flats. I didn’t bother looking back as I headed to a gate on the other side of the courtyard.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, away from that fucking sniper.” I growled.

She couldn’t argue with that logic, and followed me to the gate, which thankfully was unlocked.

“Ladies first?” I joked.

“Move.” Twilight hissed.

I smirked and left the courtyard, we crept across the road and into an old barbers shop on the other side, luckily the door was completely missing and we could walk straight through; inside was rather tidy for the given state of the town, I guess all barbers had standards, even in death.

“Wait, do you hear that?” Twilight whispered.

I crouched down and listened carefully, and that’s when I heard it; the same growl from earlier.

“It’s following us.” I breathed.

“What do we do?” Dash asked.

I was done hiding; I stood up and took Wrinkleboom from the side of my backpack.

“We teach it a lesson.” I said gruffly.

I marched out of the barbers and held the shotgun tightly; I looked from left to right down the road and saw absolutely nothing. Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood opposite to me, making sure they had my back.

“We know you’re here poppet!” I sang, pointing the shotgun in every direction.

The growl, answered.

“Over there, look!” Dash gasped.

I turned to see a hooded figure stood next to a van, tilting its head at me, causing Rainbow to gulp.

“Is it human?” She asked.

“It looks human.” Twilight mumbled.

The figure squatted down and growled loudly, before jumping up onto the van like a cat, landing perfectly and continued to stare at me. There was no way a human would be able to jump that high with such ease.

“That sure as hell isn’t human…” I growled, tightening my grip on the shotgun.

The hooded creature crouched low and began to growl, I had a feeling it was going to attack. Without warning there was another loud hiss and the creature’s head suddenly jolted sideways and it fell off the side of the van hitting the ground heavily; it appeared the sniper had shot him.

“What the heck?” Dashie said with surprise.

“The sniper got him.” I told her.

“Where is it?” She asked.

“By the looks of things, on the block of buildings at the end of that road.” I said, pointing down towards the dead creature.

“So…”

“So we move around the bugger, and go that way.” I butted in, pointing down the road in the opposite direction.

We headed down the road, before I heard something far more unsettling than the growling and the sniper put together; the sound of someone crying. The three of us continued cautiously, trying to find the source; we didn’t have to look far as we turned the corner to see someone standing in the middle of the street, hunched over and crying to himself.

“Should we talk to him?” Rainbow suggested.

“Don’t be stupid.” Twilight hissed quietly, but not quiet enough…

The person turned around, and I was horrified by what I saw. The person was in a straightjacket, his skin a greenish brown, and his mouth took up the majority of his face; his eyes protruded from the side of his head and swivelled around to face us like a chameleon’s, the second he saw us he stopped crying and started to grunt angrily.

“Back away…” I mumbled.

We started to walk back, and he started following; we quickened our pace and he grunted louder.

“Stay back.” I warned the creature.

Wrong move…
The second I had spoken, the freak threw its head back and screamed at the top of its lungs; the sound was almost deafening as this thing screamed like an air-raid siren, I gritted my teeth as my ears began ringing painfully. Twilight and Rainbow Dash dropped to their knees and covered their ears with their hooves.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” I yelled and pointed Wrinkleboom at the creature.

It began running at me, still screaming, and I was left no choice but to pull the trigger. The sound of the shotgun was equal to the creature’s screams, the kickback however was very powerful and the gun almost leapt out of my arms. I looked to see the creature twitching on the ground, now silent.

“What… The fuck… Was that!?” Rainbow Dash shouted with terror.

Before I could answer, I heard screams and roaring from all around us. I heard a window smash and I turned to see someone charging at me, growling and yelling gibberish, I fired my second shot and he hit the ground dead.

“Oh shit… Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Twilight began to whimper as the surrounding yells and screams grew louder.

I heard more windows break and the ground began to shake ever so slightly; I looked back towards the dead screaming creature to see about thirty more people sprinting towards us.

“Back to the courtyard, NOW!” I shouted to the others.

“How many are there?” Dash asked.

I glanced back once and found the thirty people had become over a hundred.

“RUN LIKE FUCKING HELL!” I screamed in her face.

That seemed to answer her question pretty well as she turned around and bolted back towards the gate, Twilight cried out in sheer terror as more and more of these creatures came pouring out of every doorway and window in sight and began sprinting towards us. We were almost at the gate when three of the creatures emerged from the building in front of us and blocked out path; without a moment’s hesitation I pulled out Ingeo’s pistol and shot them. We rushed through the gate and I pulled the bar across to lock it, just as the horde approached and collided with it; the entire gate screeched as the metal bars were bent by the sheer force of hundreds of bodies hitting it at once. The savages stuck their hands through the bars of the gate and desperately clawed at us, there were five-hundred at least.

“That gate’s not going to hold if they keep pushing!” Rainbow Dash said with worry.

I looked to my left to see a flight of stairs that went all the way to the top of the building.

“Up those stairs, go!” I ordered.

The three of us shot up the stairs and went up all six floors, we burst out of the fire exit and onto the large rooftop; I turned around and slammed the fire door shut, sealing it with a nearby pipe. I then pulled two more rounds out of my pocket and reloaded Wrinkleboom; we then waited it out.
After a while, nothing happened, and we assumed the creatures had given up.

“That was too fucking close…” Dash panted, her eyes wide as dinner plates.

“I thought that was the end.” Twilight muttered shakily.

I looked over the edge of the building to see way more than five-hundred of these creatures, there were at least a thousand. They were now aimlessly wandering around as though they’d completely forgotten about us.

“What are they?” Dash asked, more to herself than anything.

The rotting skin, the mutated bodies, the screaming and shouting gibberish. These monsters were beyond mad; they were mindless, crazed, feral, they were savage.
After a moment’s thought, I could only describe them with a single word…

“Zombies…” I muttered.