OutLive

by Lyraah

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Sex, Tragedy, Crossover, Dark, Alternate Universe, Roseluck, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flitter and Cloudchaser
Length: 46506

When Experiment 71 leaked into Equestrian grounds. Many were killed and civilization was scattered. One particular survivor was determined to uncover the truth as of how it really happened. She discovers a shocking twist... and must make a choice...

Inspired by games like "The Last Of Us". Focused strongly on background ponies.

Eve was among the many who managed to escape the worst of "Experiment 71". She learns to survive the harsh environments of Post-Apocalyptic Equestria. Upon meeting one particular pony, she discovers that this whole 'experiment' thing was more complicated than everypony thought. With her new friends and allies, Eve journeys across the wastelands to uncover the mystery as of who could have done such a thing and she had to make a choice...

The harsh wastelands takes a toll on everypony, at what cost was this worth? A mere survivor, surrounded by broken cities, broken communities, will she pick up the pieces, or will she falter? Ponies fighting among themselves... not knowing the true enemy within them.

Published 2013-11-14 15:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-15 14:06:21 UTC

Prologue: Finem Temporis

In a broken world, a broken empire. The pieces of civilization lay scattered and stagnant. Pieces of our empire lay buried in asphalt. Our dreams twisted in aerosol...

"Experiment 71. Within just a few days, everything spiralled out of control. It saw to the breakdown in essential institutions, civil disorder and massive civilian casualties. It has revealed just how vulnerable we are. Our lifestyle, our security, our safety. It all depends on a delicate and unstable economy; we've created something so complicated and dangerous that we are unable to control. We live in a complex world, the more complex it is, the more fragile it becomes. We are a house of cards, remove just one, and everything falls apart. From the first second 'Pathogen Zero' starts to spread, many ponies will be infected. From this point, the breakdown will happen fast."

Day 1 - hospitals will reach capacity, panic will strike.

Day 2 - quarantine zones will be established, resources will be rationed, transport will go into lockdown.

Day 3 - International trade will stop, the oil will dry up, the stock market will collapse.

Day 4 - the power will fail, the shelves will be empty, the taps will run dry, and once hunger and despair take hold, ponies will anything for survival.

By Day 5 - Everypony will be a potential threat.

Our complex world is primed for breakdown, and once the chaos strikes, there won't be the resources to save us all.

The real question is, what will it take to save what remains?

*** *** ***

I saw it all.

That day, I’ll never forget what I've seen…That very day where everything fell apart, that very day where a blanket of darkness covered the land. Cities, ponies, hope, everything seemed to vanish. Life goes on, a different life. We adapt, we change and we fight to stay alive. How I see it, the end of the world, so to speak, was not the end. It was merely the start of a nightmare and many continued to fuel that nightmare. Violence, Greed, ponies will do anything for food, water, power.

Many deemed our sworn nation of Amareia in the South responsible for this act of terror and war. For over 20 years, Equestria and Amareia relations were uneasy and all it takes was a little spark for it to rage into a full blown war. I have really not understood much about that but I don't think it matters. All i know is that Equestria and Amareia are not really the closest of empires.

Since then, many leaders rose up, claiming of this “New Equestria” that they will rebuild. Many chosed their sides, many did not. This lashed out into conflict almost instantaneously, many were brutally murdered and slaughtered, forced to fight for their “Order”.

What is my purpose here? What is my ultimate goal? I am just but a survivor, barely somepony who can change the outcome of Equestria’s fate. But something changed when I met this pony; I was determined to seek the truth, for I know it is not that simple. I have not always done the right things, make the right choices and i regret some of it, but at least i tried, i really did. What are we without angst? Where would we be without a desire to fight for what we want and combat the things in this world that we find wrong and terrible? Fucking nowhere, that's where. Pick up hooves and use them to hold up your beliefs. Don't be afraid to flex them. We all have to fight for something.

Oh, maybe I should introduce myself, get to know me better. My name is Eve and I work as a security guard pony for Central Security Front of Vanhoover , before everything went to shit... I get deployed on all sorts of events, Art Exhibitions, Parades, even as the Mayor’s bodyguard at some point during her speeches. I had some basic training as an enforcer. Let's say i am proficient with weapons, although i have not had to use one in a particular job.

To be honest, my job isn’t as exciting as many claims to be. Just standing at one spot for the whole day can really be unbearable. I’ve seen many colleagues go down under the hot sun due to heatstroke or exhaustion. I have no idea why I chose this job, but I like it all the same. I don't even know if that makes sense.

My hobbies are nothing special, I love playing video games and reading. I lived alone in a small town on the outskirts of Vanhoover, in a small neighborhood. There is nothing special about where I live, except Vanhoover is apparently one of the most livable cities in the world, not anymore.

Anyway, a pleasure for you to come in this journey with me, but before I tell you that story, it is appropriate that I tell you this one, what really happened on that fateful day…

Author's Note

My first fic, so I've decided to sit down and type something once and for all. The first pony perspective is harder to write but I did it anyway. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated :) A little reference here if you could find it :p

Chapter 1: A Good Night's Rest?

"I promised... Please... Don't do this to me..."

“Sigh.” I rolled over and buried my head in my pillow; I had been working all day, doing absolutely nothing, as usual. I wrapped my hooves around my pillow as hard as I could.

“A massage would have been good, hmm…” I yawned, stretching my stiff body.

I glanced at the clock, 2 A.M.? It felt like I’ve been awake for years. I squinted my eyes on the television screen; a crude horror movie was being shown. The crap is that? I purposely switched off all the lights in the house to add to that eerie atmosphere, to be honest no horror movie have really freaked me out at the slightest, maybe just this one… Ah, that’s not important.

I already began dozing off on my comfortable pillow when my TV starts to go crazy and burst out in static; I immediately jolted out of my relaxed state.

"Wha-" I sprung out of my sofa and landed face first on the carpet. Such graceful reaction, to think I'm a trained enforcer, really embarrassing. I picked myself up and looked around; it was dark except for the TV which was still flashing. As if it wasn't creepy enough, my phone started ringing as I stared at it in horror.

"Eve, stop scaring yourself. That only happens in horror movies." Wait what. Only happens in horror movies? Great, that didn't help at all, I was feeling really edgy now.

Hesitantly, I levitated my phone up to my ear,” Hello?” I tried not to sound like a ghost.

“Eve, something horrible has happened!”

“Red Star? What? Why do you sound so flustered?” I casually asked.

“Of course I’m flustered! There’s an epidemic!” Red Star yelled through the phone, exacting her utter exasperation at the moment.

“Huh? Flu epidemic? SARS epidemic?” As you can tell, I’m not really the brightest, probably due to tiredness at that point.“Unless…” I managed to snap out of my confusion. Zombies?!

“Yes! You get your car; meet me at my place stat! I’ll tell you more later.” It seemed like she could read my mind for a sec. For Celestia’s sake, tell me it isn’t really…

"Zombies don't exist honey." I calmly replied.

“Of course it exists, I've seen everything! now GO!” Red Star screamed.

"Hello?" The line went dead.

My mind immediately went in all directions. What now? How? When? I know it was not the time to be panicking, but a zombie outbreak? That's unreal. I quickly got my coat and swiftly trotted to my garage. I opened the trunk and got my holster (don’t ask why I put that there), slipping my nightstick in it. My service pistol is in service, that’s one way of saying it, such luck. I strapped the holster around my hind hoof and got in my car. I paused for a moment, waiting for the garage shutters to lift, my mind scanning through all the zombie movies I’ve watched and games I’ve played. It still scared the shit outta me knowing that is was really happening. If it really happened...

I started up the car and drove out of the garage.

*Click* *Click* Radio’s not working, damn. I peered out of the windscreen; it was an utter mess, ponies running, packing their luggage, screaming. Ponies were calling for help, waving their hooves wildly trying to get somepony’s attention. It all seemed so real, I couldn’t believe it and I was actually not prepared for it. Nopony was. I let out a deep sigh. I could tell it was going to be a long night. My hooves were cold from the air-conditioning, cold sweat dripped down my forehead as I tried to make out the current situation. Red Star’s place was only at the end of the street and she was waiting. I stopped the vehicle and she quickly got in the passenger seat. I looked at her, I was concerned but also confused.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Red strapped on her seat belt.

“But where to?”

“Just go, I’ll fill you in along the way.” Red Star had a worried look in her eyes.

“Haven’t you seen the news? Some ponies working in the National Bio-Chemical Institute of Vanhoover got this ‘virus’ and started attacking innocent ponies…” Red said, eyes filled with anxiety.

Yep, we’re screwed, it’s definitely zombies.

“Too much bath salts?” I quipped.

“You’re still in a mood to joke about this? This is serious! There was like an experiment leak or something, Vanhoover isn’t the only city to be hit, Manehatten, Hoofington, Baltimare, and so on. That’s crazy! Its spreading fast as rabbits could breed. Almost half the city went mad.” Red Star was austere. I looked at her, keeping my hooves on the wheel and pedal.

“Only the city?” I asked. Red nodded.

“The research facility is in the city; of course it’s only the city that is affected.” She explained placidly.

“Look, I’m taking us into town, get some gear and find a military checkpoint or something.” I suggested.

“Gear is not mandatory and, just saying, what if there is no checkpoint?” Red Star added.

“That’s why we need gear.” “We can’t always rely on the military.” I pointed out.

“Right… Okay…” Red Star whispered despondently. “I just…”

“Look, we’ll be fine, okay?” “I promise you we’ll get out of this.” I assured her. I was just saying that to look calm, I was actually pretty frightened myself, but I didn't show that.

“Alright…”

*** *** ***

“The town’s a mess…”

I have never seen anything like this before. Police vehicles drove past, sirens blaring and flashing. Ponies were running, screaming. From a distance, I could see thick gray smoke billowing into the sky, flames greedily engulfing a shop house. Windows crack and splinter as sounds of more explosions could be heard.

“The hell was that?” Red Star asked.

“The pressure and the fire must have set a few gas cylinders off.” “That’s not good…”

Needless to say, the entire situation is a total chaos. Ponies could be seen scrambling around and running for their lives, shoving and pushing. Others are breaking into shops, conflicts erupted throughout the block. There was a stallion with a huge gash on his torso lying on the ground. Ponies running by took no notice of him, only fearing for their own lives.

“Look at that.” I peered out of the window. A few “zombies” were chasing after some ponies; some were feeding on dead bodies that littered the streets.

“Gross.” I mumbled.

“Eve! Watch out!” Red Star nudged me. I slammed my hoof on the brake. The car smashed into a container truck. I should have been focused on the road there. I tried reversing the vehicle.

“Doesn’t look too bad, hang on, I’m backing up. You okay?” I turned to Red.

Before she could say anything, a pony smashed the car window on her side, CRASH! Broken glass littered all over the dashboard and my coat as Red ducked, shielding her face from the shattered glass. “Get out! Don’t try anything stupid!” I was greeted rudely by a grey stallion, hovering a gun up my head. He was looking at me in an impatient manner, fidgeting and glancing over his back constantly.

“Okay… Get out…” I slowly got out of the vehicle and signaled Red to do the same, keeping my eyes on the hijacker. Just my goddamn luck. I can’t do anything about it as much as I would like to smash his face in. We stood back while he drove away with our only chance of survival.

“Now what do we do? You could have taken him thought, disarm him and get his gun.” Red asked with a frustrated look on her face.

“It is harder to disarm him when he is using magic to hold that gun.” I remarked.

“Anyway, we can find another way, I’m sure we can.” I patted Red on the back and hurried down the street. It felt more chaotic out here than in the car, more vulnerable and much closer to these mindless flesh-eating zombie-ponies.

“Um… Eve? Those things can run.” Red nudged me again, I turned down the street and saw a huge horde of ponies running towards our direction, both infected and not. The infected were screaming and howling viciously, bent on tearing everypony apart.

“We gotta go.” I blurted and pulled Red in the opposite direction. Red began bolting in front of me. Calamity ensued, ponies grabbing their belongings and making a run for it. Some infected managed to get their hooves on several unlucky individuals. Police units were firing and trying their hardest to push back the infected. Vehicles were crashing all over the district; ponies were bleeding and looking for their loved ones.

“Red! Look out!” I shouted as a compact vehicle came smashing through the light pole, narrowly missing Red and plowing at top speed against a SUV. The front of the car was crushed beyond recognition and repair. The windows and windscreen were shattered and parts were flung all over the vicinity. Red stumbled and fell but quickly regained composure.

“I’m fine… That did scare the-” Red stopped mid-sentence as an infected ran straight for her.

BAM!

A shot punched right through the zombie-pony’s head and down it went. Blood and gore splattered on the asphalt road. I quickly pulled Red from her daze.

“Behind you!” I yelled at the gun-wielding pony that saved Red’s life. She jumped and pointed her gun at the infected running towards her.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Two went down, but one managed to knock her down to the ground. She dropped her pistol and struggled with the zombie. I saw the incoming horde and made a split second choice…

I levitated the pistol and slotted it in my holster, replacing the nightstick with it.

“C’mon.” I muffled under my muzzle, nightstick between my teeth.

“But… what about…” Red looked back.

“I’m sorry, we must go now!” I dragged Red into the alley on the left.

“But she saved my life!” Red protested.

I stopped for a second, looking deep in Red’s resentful cyan eyes, “Look, I just want us to be safe, at any cost. You are my best friend… I don’t want anything to happen to you. Believe in me… I will get you out safe.” Great. My heart felt deep into the void, leaving a pony to die, what was I doing? I cast my thoughts aside and focused on finding a way out of this hell hole.

“Eve… I…” Red wrapped her forehoof around me and let out a deep sigh. “Thank you.”

“Let’s get going.” I lifted my head up and gently pushed her away, my determination to survive grew stronger as I slammed the fence gate shut and hurried down the alley. Red followed swiftly.

BOOM!

An explosion rang out, a much larger one than the ones I heard in the car. Screams and the incessant blaring of sirens could be heard throughout the street. I pressed my back on the edge of the wall and took a peek.

“Everypony fall back to the Eclipse District!” A pony wearing body armor and carrying a SMG shouted. “We have lost the west end of the town, pushing back now over!” I hear him speaking through a receiver. He fired a spray of bullets down the street and retreated.

“Hey!” I called out.

“Go! That way! We’ve locked down that district, you should be safe!” He pointed towards the museum and shoved us aside.

“We have to get in the museum! Eclipse District is on the other side!” I galloped as fast as I could, Red noticeably lagging behind. She was panting and shivering like mad.

“What’s wrong? You alright?” I rubbed my face on her wings, nudging her forward. Damn she was freezing cold.

“I… I can’t go on, it’s cold…” Red trembled violently, she was clearly fatigued.

“The fires and intensity of this whole situation should be enough to warm you.” I tried to push her. “Anyway, here, put this on.” I took off my coat gave it to Red.

“Thank you… Eve?” Red stammered diffidently as she received the coat.

“We HAVE to go! We’re close!” Red nodded as she put on my coat. We made a break for the museum; my heart was palpitating rapidly against my ribcage. This is it. We will be safe at last.

*** *** ***

“In here, now!” I shot a glance into the disarray of the streets outside. Red ran in and I shut the entrance doors behind us. I pressed my back on the double doors, breathing a sigh of relief as I tried to catch my breath.

“Are we safe?” Red asked, her eyes filled with hope and concern.

“Yeah… Ye-“ My eyes went wide as I saw a zombie creeping up on Red, it hissed menacingly, bearing its teeth at me.

“Get down!” I shrieked, pulling out the pistol with my hoof. Red squeaked and threw herself to the marble floor. I focused my magic on the trigger and aimed down the sights.

BAM!

The shot lodged itself in the zombie’s dome and it fell clumsily, blood splattering on a display case like tomato sauce. I holstered my gun.

“The door!” Red pointed to the entrance. A few zombies were clawing and lunging at the door, eager to get to us and chomp down on our flesh. They were attracted by the loud gunshot, probably. The doors shook violently.

SHIT!

I slammed my back on the only barrier between us and the infected. I could hear the furious moaning and growling of the zombies outside.

“Red! Find… me a lon- Damn it!” I let out a grunt as I focused all my weight on the doors. “Long stick thingy!” I finished my sentence. Seconds felt like minutes, and I’m really exhausted, I can go down anytime and I would not want that to happen… Not with Red still in danger… I can’t…

“Here!” I snapped out of my weariness as Red threw a metal golf club at me. Who keeps golf clubs in museums? I did not bother to ask. I caught it with my magic and braced myself, took a deep breath and separated myself from the door.

Ahh! I forcefully shoved the club between the golden handlebars. Done! I heaved a deep sigh of relief as I wiped a sweat of my brow, the zombies outside still trying to get to us. I was drained of all energy in me and I gently plopped myself on the floor.

“That was really close!” Red sat down next to me, nuzzling me on my shoulder, her breath brushing lightly on my fur. I could hear her heart beating briskly in her chest. At least we were safe…

“C’mon, we gotta go, it’s not over yet.” I motioned for us to move.

SCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCH!

What. The. Fuck. I froze in place, unable to move. My ears are ringing. We are definitely not alone, and this place is definitely not safe.

“Stay close to me.” I instructed, inspecting the surroundings. The air was unusually cold and stale. It doesn’t help that the museum was pitch-black. I hovered my pistol to my neck level, keeping it pointed within my ‘cone of vision’. Red Star hid behind a display case, still shivering from fear and the cold. My magic was faltering; I can’t go on like this forever. The blue aura enveloping the pistol is flickering and my eyelids are slowly drooping. A loud screech tore the silence apart.

“EVE! HELP!” Red screamed at the top of her lungs. From the corner of my eye, I could see an infected charging straight for her. It slammed her on the hard marble floor, attempting to take a bite of her.

“NO YOU DO NOT-“ I rushed to her aid and gave the zombie a powerful kick to the side of the face, staggering it. The zombie screeched in fury as I targeted my gun on its head, I took a deep breath, and-

SMACK!

I was flung off my hooves by another zombie and thrown several feet away from Red, I lost my focus and dropped the gun beside her. The infected pony pinned me on the floor, hissing and chomping its jaws at me furiously as I directed my face away from its sharp fangs. I could see Red still struggling with the former zombie; she shot me one look and slid the gun to me. I was appalled, why did she do that?

I grabbed the gun with my hoof, retracted my hind legs, and gave the zombie restraining me a mighty buck in the abdomen.

SCRRRRREEEEEE-

BAM!

I fired a shot which tore through its legs, immobilizing it.

BAM!

Another shot pierced through its eye, killing it instantly. I turned to Red.

“GET THE FUCK-“I pulled the trigger, “-OFF HER”

The next thing I know, the infected pony was dead. Red was whimpering in pain and agony as I knelt down beside her. I saw the scratches on her hoof and I instantly froze on the spot.

“No…no…nononono, NO!” I propped Red against the display case. “Red, no…”

“Eve… I’m sorry. I… really am.” Red held my hoof up frailly.

“Why did you DO THAT? You could have defended yourself!” I was sobbing uncontrollably; tears flowed down my cheek in streams.

“I wanted to defend you… I did not think about saving myself… I can’t just leave you…” Red sputtered, a sudden twinge made her twitch in pain.

“I… I promised you… We will get out of this, I will protect you! I don’t want anything to happen to you…We are so close…” My tears are smoldering my eyes, I was trembling, and my whole body is quivering. “No… We will find a way, C’mon, I’ll carry you…” I wiped away my tears and flexed my hooves.

“NO! Just… just leave me…” Red looked right into my eyes, knowing that there was nothing left for her.

“I won’t leave you!”

“Eve! You saw what’s out there, this is fucking real, I am bit and I WILL turn… I just…” Red closed her eyes. “Please… please don’t leave me to turn…” She continued, a tear trickling down her cheek. “Please…”

“I can’t do it…” I looked at her, my face warm with tears. Why does this have to happen? It’s all my fault. I could have done something…

“Promise me, I can’t stand the thought of turning… Promise me you’ll do your best to survive out there. I believe in you... Believe…”She added weakly. I reached for my gun, hooves shaking vehemently.

“I… I can’t…” I dropped the gun, “I just can’t bring myself…”

“Eve. I would rather die than become one of those monsters… This is my final wish…” Red was adamant, “You are my best… friend, don’t weep for me… I… I love you Eve…” I couldn’t contain myself anymore, my lips quivered as hot tears coursed down my face. But I knew what had to be done, I snapped out of it. I pulled back part of my coat she was wearing, revealing the huge gash on her shoulder, crimson red blood soaking her fur. I cringed.

“You saw it… It’s getting worse… Please…” Red was almost begging me.

“I… I love you too; I won’t ever forget you…” I picked up the gun once more, hooves still wobbling and numb as I lifted the black handle of the gun with both hooves.

“Eve, I want you to have something...” “Under my wing…”

Huh? I gently lifted her fragile wing, Red shuddered. A photograph fell out from between her coverts. I remembered this photo… It was taken a long time ago, the Eve and Red Star in the photo was smiling, and they were happy… It was a picture from a few years back...

“You… You kept that with you?”

“Yes… I want you to know, that every time… you feel down, feel… hopeless and lost… Take a look, remember all the happy times we used to share, remember that in the dark, there’s always a light… And I’ll always be with you…” Red took a long deep look at me with her cyan eyes and took a deep, painful breath. I sniveled and slotted the photo in my holster.

“I will always remember you…” I held the gun up, a weak magical aura forming around the trigger. Things could have been different, everything could have been fine. Why do this to me? I gazed at her for one last time. She smiled at me and shut her eyes.

I pulled the trigger.

Chapter 2: Sound of Thunder

When these painful memories flood your head, it is embedded like a nail hammered into a tree. It takes a few hits to strike it in, but impossible to pull it out.

*3 years later*

I woke up.

“Ow… Dammit.” I sat upright; my eyelids were as though they weigh a ton, my head pounding like crazy… My eyes darted from one corner of the room to the other, slowly adjusting myself to the brightness. After a long 10 minutes, I decided to get up on my hooves. The room I was in was a decrepit state, window panes were shattered, rubble and dirt strewn all over the floor, paint was stripped off the wall and wallpaper torn. The sofa I was lying on carried the smell of rotten leather. The floor made a cracking sound as I placed my hooves on it. Such a mess…

I went over to what’s left of the kitchen; the cabinets were broken and hung from the wall, threatening to fall apart. The fridge wasn’t working, as much as I would love it to, hasn’t been functioning for years now. I grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip off it, Bleh. Tastes like crap.

“Hey! Miss Eve.” A blue earth-pony stood by the door, signaling for my attention.

“Don’t you ever knock?” I glared at her.

“I’m sorry miss, Rose is waiting for you out by the District gate.” She answered apologetically.

“Alright, it’s fine. You can go.”

The earth-pony scurried out of the door. What does Rose want? I wonder. I levitated my nightstick and spun it round and round, I gathered my ID and put them in my hoof-holster. I went outside.

The whole District area was disheveled and disorganized. Litter and garbage were scattered all over the place. Apartment blocks were unkempt and decayed, moss and creepers growing on the brick walls. A few ponies were chattering in one corner as a Humvee drove through the basalt roads. It was peaceful at least, the 15 meter high concrete walls and the numerous guard towers kept the infected and bandits out of the districts.

In the distance, a few soldiers carrying rifles were conversing with one of the citizens.

“Get on the ground!” I could hear a gruff Pegasus soldier yell. A unicorn pony was scanning the captive who was pinned to the ground.

“I’m not infected! I’m clean!” He retorted.

“Negative.” The unicorn showed the scanner to the soldier.

“Alright. But he’s coming with me.” He gestured for his comrades to take him away. I continued along the road.

I’m nearing the District Checkpoint, Rose should be somewhere around here. I skimmed the area quickly. Another Humvee rolled past and stopped near the checkpoint.

“Hey Eve…” Rose tapped me on the back, I jumped.

“This is the second time somepony scared the crap outta me today!” I took a deep breath. “And that creepy voice, I almost died!”

“That always gets you, you never learn, Eve.” Rose chuckled. “Anyway, there’s something important I need you to do.”

“What is it?”

“You ever heard about the Orient?”

“Yeah, everypony knows about them.”

“Looks like they’re making a move soon.” Rose walked towards the checkpoint, I followed.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“I went out just now.” Rose casually swayed her tail from side to side. “And-“

“You went outside the walls alone? Are you MAD?” I hooted at her.

“Quiet, you dumb lass. If the guards hear us,” Rose hissed back, “then we are D-O-N-E screwed!”

“What exactly you find?” I whispered.

“Oh… Lots of things girl, lots of things.” Rose said in a psychotic tone. An evil smile creeping along her face. I shuddered.

“Just get to the damn poi-“

BOOM!

I was cut off by an explosion and a cacophony of machine gun fire.

The shell landed on an apartment building in the next sector and it blew a huge hole through the side, leaving a huge burnt crater. Soldiers were shouting and firing back.

I stumbled and fell back, hooves covering my ears with my hooves. That was loud! My ears were ringing. I caught several guards rushing to secure the checkpoint; the metal gates dividing the District were slammed shut.

“Get up you dumb bimbo! Unless you want to die!” Roseluck pulled me off the ground and ran behind a concrete divider.

“What was the PLAN?” I turned to Rose, vaulting over the divider.

“Plan? We were going to District 3, fucking Orient got the jump.”

What? Orient is attacking us? Why? I became more confused.

BOOM!

Another blast tore the checkpoint gates clean off.

“Alright, here’s the plan. Orient decided that they would attack us NOW, instead of ‘soon’. So let’s the hell out of this city, get it?”

“Outside of the walls?” I asked, keeping my head down.

“For fuck’s sake, how many times…” Rose facehoofed, I realized what I just said and blushed a little. “Look, I’ve got no time for this shit; I’m gonna go pay their little hideout a ‘visit’, settle some… debts. They did owe me some shit.” Rose put her hoof up in the air, as though to curse someone. “I’ll meet you in the New Saddle Outpost 1.”

“New Saddle? Do you know anypony there? I don’t even know where the Outpost is!”

“Look, I have everything prepared. Just get out of here through the broken drainage pipe in the next district.” Rose pulled me towards the crossfire. She grabbed a rifle off a fallen soldier and pushed me through the open gate.

“You’re not coming?”

“I’ll catch up with you; I need to handle some stuff, like I said.” Rose shot me an annoyed look and shoved me aside, firing at the incoming Orient forces.

“GO!” She pointed me towards the pipe, and ran off to assist the soldiers. Amongst the chaos, I made a break for the abandoned warehouse and managed to get inside. No one saw me; at least I don’t think anypony did. the pipe was concealed by a trapdoor well hidden in the storage room. I have been out of the walls many a time helping Roseluck with her crazy ‘errands’, so that secret route was no secret to me. I lifted the trapdoor with my magic and slipped down the ladder.

I ended right in the drainage system, the pathways damp and slippery under my hooves. The filthy and murky sewage water smells of rotten dead corpses. Further down the sewers, I spotted a crate sitting on slabs of broken pipe fragments, left intentionally and recently. It wasn’t a surprise as Roseluck has the tendency of stashing secret equipment in the most coincidental of places; she was either paranoid or just provident.

“Roseluck… You are full of surprises.” I remarked.

I opened the crate, uncovering an Arcana Telekinetic Aid (ATA), a small bangle-like device worn on the forehoof. Like its name suggests, it helps non-unicorn ponies to perform simple levitations when worn, with a bit of practice of course. Is Roseluck mocking me? I wore it on my hoof anyway and continued digging at the contents of the crate: a body holster, worn around the torso and capable of carrying up to two sidearms. A Colt 1911 pistol with an extra clip, I slid it in my newly acquired holster. Last but not least, a black leather coat, not really the best kind of armor, but that’ll do. I was ready for anything now. I reached the end of the pipe; it was broken and dangling off a 5 meter drop. I had to be careful; the guards on the towers could still spot me in the open area but I reckon they are too preoccupied dealing with Orient. It all seemed so strange why they would attack now. Casting aside my thoughts, I dropped into the soft grass below and galloped for cover.

*** *** ***

The outside was breathtaking, its been a while since I've been outside. Massive skyscrapers stood in the distance; most have collapsed from the mass bombings a while back. The Hotel of Serenity was tilting precariously and leaning on one end. Most of the surrounding districts were leveled. I carried on pushing forward; New Saddle is a few hundred miles away from Vanhoover. Honestly, I have been on the outside for a while and I’ve never even taken a step as far out as Ponyville and I’ve seen many horrible and grotesque scenes there.

I figured that I would need a car, walking would be impossible.

I trotted through the streets, kicking about bits of stone as I racked my brains trying to figure a way to get a car. You must be joking Eve! A car! I sighed.

The warm breeze brushed against my coat as I cantered about aimlessly, I was lost and scared. I’ve seen the many dangers of the wastelands but I wasn’t afraid of them; I was more terrified from being alone. I stopped dead on my tracks and gazed into the distance, trying to make out where I was. Most of the shop houses were burnt and wrecked beyond recognition, vehicles were flipped and cluttered about every corner; their tires were stripped and moss slowly grew on the exteriors, the seats were decayed and the engines missing. That would have been too easy.

Suddenly, just as all hope began to fade away. I felt a rumbling beneath my hooves and it was gradually becoming more evident that some sort of vehicle was headed right for me, I caught glimpse of a rust-covered jeep of some sort turning from a corner; I quickly dove into a ram shackled store. What’s left of the sign was a picture of delicious-looking bread and that certainly made me hungry as I realized I have not eaten today. I hid behind the counter, bits of broken glass and debris stuck to my torso as I laid down flat on the floor. I could literally feel the passing jeeps as fear sank deeper into my stomach. I peeked over the counter and observed not one, but a convoy of jeeps rolling by. I counted three vehicles. That’s a little too much than I would like. I can’t take down a whole convoy by myself, I reassessed my options.

“Screw it. I’ll find another way…” I haltingly clambered out of the bakery. My head hung low in disappointment as I continued down the street; it was high-noon and the sun shone down like needles piercing through my skin. I looked up into the sky, avoiding direct eye-contact with the blinding sun. On spur of moment, I caught something shining from an apartment roof, a glint of light flashing at my face. If I learnt anything about unusual glinting, is that it anything coming from it could potentially tear your face off.

I instinctively threw myself behind the wreckage of a van.

PHISH!

I felt a shockwave as the road behind me shattered into loose fragments, almost splintering me. A clear trail connected the rooftop with the impacted surface. A sniper was clearly aiming for my head. I shifted my position to the window and tried to pinpoint the sniper. Huge mistake. I almost felt the full impact of the projectile as a shot punched the car door right of its hinges, inches from my torso.

That gave me an idea, a horrible idea. I hovered the door in front of me and galloped as fast as I could towards the apartment. If I could get in his blind spot, then I would still have a chance.

PHISH!

The shot punctured the door, throwing me off and causing me to stumble, the door was flung several meters away. That sniper was a professional, that’s for sure. I was completely exposed now. Another shot rang out, striking mere centimeters away from my hind leg. I recovered quickly and slid behind a 4x4, catching my breath, hooves still shaking from the shockwave. That is one powerful sniper and I want one of those. The apartment was just across the road junction, I had to go for it.

Levitating my gun, I took a deep breath and vaulted over the 4x4. I blindly fired a few shots while running towards certain death. The blind firing seemed to work as the sniper pony did not fire a single shot then. I took one last burst of speed and barreled my shoulder against the front door and took it clean off. I was inside the apartment, but I was not safe yet. I hurried up the stairs to the roof.

Bang!

I forcefully kicked the gate open, pistol at the ready. I scanned the area quickly. There wasn’t a single soul around. Anxiety started to kick in as I saw the massive anti-materiel rifle, mounted on a bipod. And no one was ‘attending’ to it. I walked towards it; there were a couple of cartridges lying beside the metal beast of a sniper.

“Very tempting, isn’t it?” A voice behind me said sardonically. “Drop it!” I felt a gun poking against my head. I dropped the gun.

“How very obedient.”

I felt the gun pressing deeper into my skin. For a second I thought that that was the end of me.

“That’ll make things easier…” The voice whispered into my ears. I shivered.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I swiped my left leg backwards, my confidence rose as I felt a hit. I jolted to the right and punched the sniper-pony on her right hoof. She was wearing an ATA and the strike disrupted the device, causing her to drop the gun and stunning her. I recoiled and grabbed the nightstick from my hoof-holster, flicking it into full length as I smashed it across her neck. She fell backwards onto the floor, rubbing her neck delicately. I could see that she is a pegasus, her cutie mark is of a scope of some sort.

“You’re good, I’ll give you that.” She spat, “but not good enough.” She pulled another pistol from her holster. That’s not fair! I could hear her laughing maniacally inside her, although only a smug grin appeared on her face.

“Why the long face?” She stared deep into my soul and slowly put the gun down. “I was just messing with you.” She snickered.

“You’re not gonna kill me?” I looked up into her eyes.

“Do you want me to kill you?”

“No…” I answered bashfully.

“That’s cute; I think I’ll keep you, name’s Thunder Spark. Nice to meet you.” She held out her hoof. Keep me?!
I shook her hoof reluctantly, “And I’m Eve.”

“I thought you were a bandit there, walking round with that coat. I was trying to get the bandit convoy back there.” She explained, brushing aside her fringe.

“Then how did you find out I’m not a bandit?”

“Bandits can’t fight for shit, you held yourself pretty fine back there.” Thunder continued rasping her neck, a clear bruise forming. “You don’t look like a filthy bandit close-up either.”

“Sorry about that…” I sat down, fiddling with my hoof.

“I’ve sustained much worse, don’t worry about it.” Thunder gathered her gun and holstered it, “here, catch.” She tossed me my pistol.

“Thank you.”

“What are you doing out here, all by yourself?” Thunder slung the sniper rifle on her back and took a seat of the ground. She bit the cork off a bottle and started gulping down its contents.

“Erm… I’m looking for a car.” I told her truthfully.

“Then you’re in luck, I’m after its contents, they’re usually valuable and I want them.” Thunder put up a confident simper. “Well, they’re not for me.”

“Who are they for?”

“A friend, in New Saddle.” She responded.

New Saddle? That was a bloody coincidence.

“I’m going to New Saddle too!” I leapt off my feat, elated.

“I can take you there.” Thunder smirked and handed me the bottle.

“Can you aim properly whilst drunk?” I took the bottle and downed a sip, that was some strong shit. “Bleh, I was never good with alcohol…”

“Me neither.” Thunder answered snappily, a leering smile inching up her face.

“Erm…” I looked away. “Shall we go intercept the convoy?”

“Right, alright. I know where they’ll make a stop, we’ll ambush them, and take whatever we’re after. I’ll fill you in when we’re there, C’mon.” Thunder trotted down the stairs and I proceeded.

*** *** ***

“So, where in NS are you headed?” Thunder poked me a hoof.

“This Outpost 1, my friend told me to meet her there.”

“Wow, that’s exactly where I’m going,” She remarked.

Looks like our paths are really meant to cross. That’ll be interesting.

“What for?” Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked intently at me.

“It’s about Orient. They attacked District 2… and 3.”

“Ha. Orient is looking to expand, are they? This friend of yours, I might know her, or him, or it, whatever.” I giggled a little as she fumbled with her words.

“We’re here, keep your head down.” Thunder beckoned me behind a bus. The convoy was there, in an open parking lot. It was filled with debris and well, cars. The line markings were scraped off and grass was protruding out of cracks on the concrete ground.

“Here’s the plan, I’ll take the first shot up there.” She indicated her position on the second floor of an apartment facing overlooking the lot. “Flank them; don’t shoot until you hear the thunder.” She smiled and left the cover. Pun was definitely intended. I got out my pistol and reloaded it with a fresh clip. Keeping my head low, I dodged from cover to cover until I was directly behind them, that was easy, seeing how there was this huge mass of vehicles scattered all over the place. They won’t know what hit them, I thought. My hooves were sweating as I awaited the sound of thunder.

FOOM!

A huge gust of air followed by the screams of the bandits told me it’s time to strike. I emerged from cover and blew five shots at the dazed marauders. I managed to take out three in rapid succession.

FOOM!

Another shot tore through the torso of a poor bandit, killing him instantly. I pulled the trigger again. Somehow seven rounds in a pistol is a meager amount. A bandit dropped his gun and retreated and was running straight for me, but he hadn’t found out where I was yet.

I whipped out my nightstick and clapped his knee, he tumbled to the ground and I put a bullet in his head.

“There’s another one!” Shit, they saw me. I threw myself behind a car as shots rang out, riving through the rusted frameworks of the vehicle.

FOOM! FOOM!

Two continuous shots resounded in the air and I could feel the chilling shockwaves caressing my dry fur as another two fell. It felt satisfying, although not as satisfying as Thunder, that lucky filly, I mean mare.

The last bandit dropped his gun, hooves is the air,” Please don’t hurt me!” He begged. I slowly got out of cover, my gun hovering and aiming at him.

FOOM!

Thunder is not really the most gracious pony around. His head exploded as bits of his brain were spewed all over the lot.

“Headshot, bitch!” Thunder yelled and waved at me. I waved back at her, looking at the numerous bodies and gallons of blood spilt all over the parking lot. Thunder landed beside and folded her wings,” That was easy, wasn’t it?”

I nodded in contentment. “Still, four jeeps is a bit of an overkill, isn’t it?”

“In exchange for four jeeps worth of equipment, I don’t think so.” She whipped her tail from side to side. “Help me with the crates, Eve”

In no time, all the crates were stacked and tied down on the back of the jeep wrangler. Thunder gently set her sniper rifle on the back seat, along with her saddlebags.

“C’mon, I’ll drive.” Thunder got in the driver seat and started the ignition.

I tried to make myself comfortable but the torn leather seats and cracked dashboard really put me off. Thunder stepped on the accelerator and we were off to NS, finally.

“I’m gonna take a nap, don’t kill me in my sleep please.” I farced.

“I don’t promise anything though.” Thunder replied sarcastically.

That was the last thing I heard before I swiftly dozed off....

Chapter 3: Outpost 1

"Twisted in supply lines, execution is key."

“Hey, wake up. We’re almost there.”

My mind was fuzzy, the last remnants of a dream being chased away by the realization that I am awake again. It was a nice dream, something about sitting in a big oak tree in a meadow full of flowers but the details are fading fast even as I try to recall them, that was three years ago. With a mental sigh I allow my brain to focus and cautiously open one eye. The bright yet calming hue of red cuts the horizon in half and I see dust-motes dancing in the light. I tossed to the side to keep the light out. It’s not going to work; my brain is awake now and already worrying about where are we.

“Huh? What?” That was the most derpy response ever. I facehoofed mentally.

“Y’know? Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. That means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time,” Thunder took a deep breath. “How would it feel? I remember wondering, to be always together yet forever apart?”

I stared at her as she carried on gazing at the sunset, after a few seconds she looked back at me. “What?”

“You don’t look the stoic kind of pony.” I casually remarked. So basically the rest of the journey is us talking about the most random and weirdest of things, but at least helped break the ice a little. The huge amount of empty wastelands and bright colors made the sunset really beautiful. Several buildings stood desolated in the distance as we drove through the barren and dead highway.

“We should there just before nightfall, in about one or two hours, so sit tight.” Thunder flexed her wings and sat back, her dazzling yellow mane shone directly in my eyes, I blinked.

“Look, no hooves.” Thunder removed her hoof from the steering wheel and laid them on the dashboard.

“Why not take that bracelet off?” I suggested beguilingly.

“Alright.” Said as she began to pull off the ATA.

“Wait what, no!” I took back everything I said.

“I’m not that stupid Eve, still as gullible as the last time,” Thunder chortled. “Still, this device is pretty interesting, it’s like it becomes a part of you, like a portable horn but not really a horn, but it’s still a horn even though it’s not a horn because it’s like a horn, but still…”

“I get it, T.” I rolled my eyes.

New Saddle appears less desecrated than Vanhoover up close; I guess that’s a good thing, the streets look about as unsettle as any other, but this city doesn’t have that… that heinous feeling, it just felt free.

“See, that hotel there? The Mareridge Hotel, Outpost 1 is situated around that area.” Thunder pointed out.

“So the hotel is like the central headquarters of Outpost 1?” We are now turning into the Ma-Relantic Expressway, the massive Absconse Bay sat next to us.

“Yeah, we’ve got a bar and rooms; you’re going to love it there. The chief’s going to love you; she might be a little mental sometimes but I’m sure you two will get along just fine.” Thunder affirmed.

“I guess… can’t wait to meet her.” Actually the thought about her being mental isn’t really the best, if it’s the Roseluck kind of mental I suppose it’s okay.

“Anyway, this friend of yours, what’s her name? I might know her.” Thunder inquired.

“Um… Rose.” I was reluctant at first, but I knew she was one to trust.

“Oh, that crazy redhead.”

I tried to laugh at her description of Roseluck but nothing came out.

“That’s a new one.” I commented.

“Yeah, we used to do runs against the Orient, until she went to Vanhoover two months ago.”

“What’s with all of you and the Orient?”

“They wanted to take Equestria as their own, be the new leader that will lead Equestria to all greatness and glory that kind of bullshit,” Thunder began.” Attacking innocents, pillaging refugee camps, employing slaves to do their work, sending them to their deaths, yeah, that’s great.”

“So?”

“We are an independent community and we can’t risk Orient taking over one day, and add to the fact that they assail our encampments, cut off our supply lines. It’s beyond no doubt that we must retaliate.” She justified.

“Are there other areas that are in your control?”

“No, ‘our’ control,” She smiled.” We have an outpost in Hoofington and Canterlot and allies in control of Ponyville and the Hoover Dam.”

“Oh, okay, that’s interesting.” I was immersed deep in my thoughts for a while.

We stopped in front of huge metal gate, spanning the width of a medium street road. Two guard ponies holding rifles were on lookout on two small guard towers on either side.

“Supply!” Thunder yelled at one guard.

“Who’s this gal you’ve brought in Thunder?” He yelled back.

“She’s with me, let us through.” The guard nodded and signaled to someone.

With a loud screech and hiss, the gates were pulled opened and we drove right into the outpost.

“This looks quite deserted.” I looked around the streets; there was not a single pony to be seen, except for the guards. I could see the gates being shut as the outside world disappeared from my sight.

“This is the warehouse block, where cargo drops off that kind of stuff, the area near the beach is more populous and that’s where we’re headed,” Thunder explained.” It’s good to be back…”

“One more thing, where did you get that sniper rifle?” My tongue was literally hanging out of my mouth and drooling, that was weird.

“Ha, M95 AMR, and I didn’t get it, I took it. It was a souvenir.”

“Huh?” I stuffed my tongue back into my mouth, confused.

“You know what I mean Eve,” Thunder beamed at me.” You’re drooling a little.”

I promptly wiped off my saliva.” I was just hungry… I haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“There will be food, don’t worry.”

I really hope so.

The warehouses and apartment blocks were fading into medium value houses and buildings, the hotel was in plain view now and ponies were going about their businesses. The beach was jam-packed with encampments and vendors selling all sorts of stuff.

We pulled up to the hotel driveway, in front of what was a fountain, now cracked on multiple sides and covered in moss. The whole driveway was in a fogyish state but the entrance seemed quite well maintained. Thunder got out and grabbed her rifle; it was almost the size of her. I wonder how she could carry that all over the place constantly.

“Do you mind carrying this for me?” Thunder looked at me and unslung her rifle. I took one glance at the rifle, and back to her, lost for my words.

“Ah, sure,” I half-heartedly agreed.” But will it be heav-“

I didn’t get to finish my sentence as Thunder strapped the rifle on my back, pulling me down as my legs wobbled violently, trying to balance myself and withstand the weight of the rifle at the same time. I slowly followed Thunder inside the hotel.

“It’s on the fourth floor, elevators not working until we get the generators up.” Thunder smiled at me manically, trotting up the stairs.

“How… Can… You even… drag… this thing?” I hoisted the rifle up as I painfully lugged it up the stairs.

“Gimme that.” Thunder said as she took the rifle and cantered up the steps as if it was nothing. How? Wha- I don’t even want to question her anymore. The state of the interior was in a passable state, apart from the ripping wallpaper and bent railing etc. it was remarkably well preserved.

“In here.” Thunder gestured and knocked her hoof on a lofty door. With a metallic snap, the door clicked open. Thunder went in first, whipping my face with her tail as she went.

“Vio, I’ve bought a friend of your friend.” Thunder uttered to a unicorn sitting beside a bookshelf as she shut the door. Her coat was frost white and her mane was violet in color, she was looking right at me with her placid, orange eyes.

“Oh, okay. Take a seat.” She waved her hoof at us. She doesn’t seem as crazy as Thunder described and that makes me uneasy. Thunder put down her rifle and sat down in front of an office desk, I sat down next to her.

The white unicorn sat down and placed some ledgers on the desk, she was staring intently at it, her eyes narrowing as she flipped through a page.

“What did you find?” She looked at up Thunder.

“Lots of useful equipment, those bandits sure has quite the supply.”

“Ah good, what’s your name?” She turned to me.

“Eve.” I blankly answered.

“Good to meet you Eve, I’m Violet, and I’m guessing you’re that girl Roseluck mentioned.” She continued looking at me, making me a little nervous, it’s almost like an interview of some sort.

“Yeah.”

“Roseluck said you were good, very good,” Huh? What? “And I need something done.” She looked under her desk for a second.

“How can I help?”

“It’s about Orient, and the New Equine Republic, there are in cahoots with the Amareian Front. Fucking traitors.” She said curtly.

“How can I help?” I repeated my previous question.

“I want you to blow up their cargo train.”

What? To be honest I was quite flabbergasted at her response.

“We just met and you want to me to blow stuff up.” I lifted up an eyebrow.

“I like you already, I take that as a yes?” Violet plonked down a map and a few photos on her desk. I leaned forward and so did Thunder, the map was marked on the Crimson Canyons, and the photos depicted some kind of cargo train on a monorail system.

“Here’s what you’ll do, I want Thunder Spark to go with you, and I’ll be sending a few of my operatives to sabotage the train. All you need to do is go over to this location here,” Violet pointed to the cross marked on the map.” Watch over them and blow the train off its hinges.”

“My team with set charges on here, here, here and here,” Violet pointed to the photos.” Once the train falls down the canyon, your task is done, I’ll send somepony to salvage the cargo.”

“How does that train even work?” I peered into the photo and noticed the train was of a unique design, now I can see what Violet meant by blowing the train off its ‘hinges’.

“That’s making use of the ‘iron wheel on an iron rail’ mechanism, the suspended weight on the rails make it move more swiftly. You’ll need to shoot off the cable hooks to detach the train off the line.”

I see.

“Go get some sleep, Thunder will show you to her room.” Her room? Don’t I get my own? Considering the amount of rooms in this hotel.

“You’re lucky if you get to sleep in the hotel.” Thunder remarked.” Luckier still you get to sleep with me.” Thunder shot a leering look at me.

“I’m a little hungry, do you have any noms?” I changed the topic as my stomach began rumbling.

“Ah, Sparky, show Eve to the café and bring me a few bottles of scotch.” Violet waved. There’s a café? Holy Celestia, fuck yeah.

Dinner was nothing fancy, but enough to satisfy my hunger, I’ve never had this much to eat in a loooong time. Thunder’s room was quite spacious, the bed was soft and comfy and the sheets were exceptionally clean, they also carried a faint lavender scent that made me drowsy. I pulled the blankets up to my face and closed my eyes.

“Did you spray some sort of perfume on these sheets?” I asked out of interest as Thunder slid under the blankets beside me.

“No.” She let out a soft sigh as she shifted herself towards me. I switched off the lights with my magic as the room went pitch black.

“You know… I’m bored.” Thunder poked me under the blankets.

“Go to sleep then, you won’t feel bored.” I was tired, and I don’t like where this is going for one. I couldn’t even hold my eyelids open; I tried to cast all thoughts aside and focused on trying to get some sleep.

“Alright. Goodnight Eve.”

“Goodnight…” I drifted off.

*** *** ***

“Hey, wake wake.” Thunder tapped me on my cheek and rubbed her wings on my chest. That tickled. I tried to sit up but she managed to pin me down to the bed.

“Thunder, I need to-”

“Get up you bastards, it’s time.” Violet suddenly barged through the door and tossed the gigantic rifle at us.

Oh shit. Thunder swiftly flew up and caught the rifle,” C’mon, we’ll have breakfast at the canyon.”

Sounds good, I hopped out of bed and followed Thunder out of the room.

“Wait for me in the jeep, I’m gonna go talk to Violet for a while.” Alright, I can do that. I got in the jeep as I waited, I got out the map Violet gave me and began analyzing it. I also noticed that the cargo on the back was gone; I suppose they have been taken to the armory.

“So the rail runs along the canyon, that’s pretty precarious.” I muttered to myself.

“Let’s go,” Thunder appeared from behind, setting the rifle on the back seat.” I’ve got a new toy, try it.” She then tossed me
a pair of binoculars?

“Tactical Binos. Try them.” That’s quite fancy, I was going to ask her where she got them, but I did not. I assume they come with the rifle.

Thunder started up the jeep and we were on the road once again. I fiddled with the binoculars for the entirety of the trip, they had options for thermal vision, metallic vision etc. It also had a built in distance sensor, which was very cool.

If there’s any place in this wasteland that really shows the grandiose of Mother Nature, the Crimson Canyons is the place. The rocks are crimson red and the formations are ever changing constantly. Carved by nature over millions of years, the sheer magnitude and density of the canyon are hard to fathom. There are endless places to stand and gaze upon the beauty of the canyon, we stopped at one spot overlooking the train rails about five hundred meters away. Thunder set down the anti-materiel rifle on a bipod and laid down on the red sand beside it.

“I’ll let you use it, I’ll guide you.” Thunder took the binoculars. I slowly held the rifle on its grip and settled down on the warm sand, luckily we had a bipod, it would be a pain to carry and shoot at the same time.

“We wait, a team will stop the train directly in our sights, then we can begin. Do you know how to use this thing?” Thunder beckoned to me, who was busy admiring the rifle more than anything else.

“Yeah, of course I know how to fire a weapon.”

“You might want to hold it more securely.” She rolled her eyes, clearly not amused.

“Tug firmly on the rear grip with your left hoof and pull it down, make sure you feel the weight on your shoulders.” I followed her instructions and surprisingly, it felt more stable. I looked down the scope, hoof rubbing the trigger lightly. I could tell the rifle will have a powerful kick.

“Get ready, there it is,” Thunder looked through the binoculars.” Zero your sights to erm… six hundred meters.” What? I looked at her, confused. The train in the distance coming to a gradual stop.

“You don’t know how?” I shook my head. Thunder let out a heaving sigh, got up on her knees and tweaked the sights.” There, you see our team?”

I shifted the rifle and caught a small group of ponies firing at the Orient forces.

“Yes.” I knew I had to cover them.

BOOM!

Sand flew all over the place, Thunder was laughing like a mad pony and my hooves were wobbling from the impact. The shot tore through an enemy, sending him flying off the train. I could see the team was holding out quite well, I pulled the bolt and fired off another shot.

BOOM!

The shot penetrated through a steel cable, piercing one of the ponies and crippling her.

“They’ve set down two of four charges.” Thunder reminded.

“How are they gonna get off the train when it falls?” I raised my voice a little due to the intensity of the shockwave.

“Violet isn’t stupid, she sent an all pegasai team.” That cleared up all my concerns.

“See the first cabin? Shoot off the rail hooks!” Thunder directed.

BOOM!

The shot splintered the hook, tearing off the supports; I re-chambered another round and took aim. The next shot shredded the hook, although I could not hear it, I imagined a loud metallic clanking, the cabin hanged precariously like a limp snake, the carriage behind it only just prevented it from imminent doom.

“Looks like they’re bailing,” “Shoot the charges.”

BOOM!

I took out another pony, splattering his brains all over the rails.

Click!

Damn, I pulled the bolt and removed the magazine, before slotting in a fresh one. I forcefully jammed the bolt back and took a shot.

BOOM!

The initial shot is followed closely by a muffled explosion, taking out the cable hooks of the back compartment. One by one, I shot off all four explosive charges. With a muted hiss and crank, the train detached completely and tumbled down into the depths below, a huge cloud of smoke masking the rails where the train once was.

“That’s it, good riddance bitches,” Thunder waved at the destruction I’ve caused.” How’s it feel? To bring down something massive?” She wrapped a hoof around my neck and brought me up for a hug. My hooves were still trembling from the recoil, hot damn.

“That feels… good. But we haven’t had breakfast yet, have we?” I only just realized that we have not eaten.

“You just blew up months of food supply for the Orient and now you’re hungry, that’s just cold. We’ll eat in the car, c’mon.” Thunder winked at me and swooped up her rifle, tossing it in the back of the car.

“The Orient will not be happy.” I said sardonically.

“Oh they will be flippin’ furious, that’s sending a message, a train worth of cargo’s message.” Thunder sneered.

As we rolled up the driveway of the hotel, I noticed another jeep parked near the broken fountain.
“Who else might be here, I wonder.” Thunder got out and grabbed her rifle. We proceeded to Violet’s office for debrief.

“Vio, it’s done.” Thunder threw the rifle on a stand as she waved at Violet. She was conversing with a pony, who was leaning on the desk. Rose?!

“Roseluck? You’re alive!” I could not believe it; I threw up my hooves and pounced on her.

“Whoa, careful. Of course I’m alive, no need to go all crazy on me.” Rose giggled as she threw me off, who was pinning her on the floor.

“Erm… I don’t mean to break up your gay reunion, but really, good job on the mission, looks like Rose was right.” She turned to Roseluck.” You two go catch up with each other you gay bastards, I need to have a word with Thunder.”

“Let’s go Eve, I’ll show you around.” Roseluck seemed unusually cheerful, which freaked me out a little, who knows what she’s up to. I followed her closely.

“Eve, Rose! I may have something for you both later, so yeah.” Violet yelled.

One of her crazy devoirs, no doubt.

Author's Note

A bit fast paced, i must admit. Next chapters onwards will be more in-depth.

Chapter 4: Through the Dark

"Nice to see you again my friend!"

“I didn’t expect you to be alive and kicking.”

“Why not? Don’t you miss me Eve?” Rose lashed her tail at my neck.

“No… Of course not! I mean, of course I miss you… What exactly did you ‘do’ back there?” I looked at her with sincere, disquiet eyes.

“Let’s just say that the military was not very pleased with Orient.” She smirked.

Well that could only mean she had help killing everypony there, such a surprise. We were trotting up to the makeshift shelters build on what was once a crowded beach.

“How did you manage to get a vehicle, took me quite a hard time to ‘get’ one back in Vanhoover.”

“Well there was three free jeeps just waiting to be taken, and I could only take one. So I stripped tires and parts from two and took one.” Such a selfish mare Rose, you should be ashamed of yourself.

“Were there any dead bodies lying around?” it struck me that she might have taken a jeep after Thunder and I had massacred the bandits back then.

“Yeah, pretty mutilated, only Thunder’s AMR would be able to shred somepony to pieces like that,” Rose poked me.” You left all that mess behind? Haha, that’s fine. Infected were attracted to the corpses though, I had to dodge them.”

“That’s an impressive rifle, I must say.”

“C’mon, to the armory, you might get yourself something better than the crap I left you.” Rose entwined her tail around my neck and pulled me along. There were vendors selling a variety of useful and not so useful gadgets, there were food vendors too but the large percent of the campments were for residences. We were walking towards a warehouse at the far end of the beach, across a road. That must be the armory, I assume.

The metal door creaked opened as Rose went inside, I followed. A brown earth-pony was behind a counter, cleaning a revolver.

“Access to armory.” Rose waved at him.

“Go right in.”

Rose pulled the sliding doors aside and went in to the main armory storage.

“Hey Sparkler, good to see you here.” Rose called out to a unicorn leaning on a workbench of some sort; her fur was light purple and she was dismantling a small pistol with her magic. She looked away from her work and gave us a little smile.

“Rose? It’s really been quite some time since I saw you, looks like you’ve bought a friend.” She said in a smooth and affectionate tone.

“Eve, this is Amethyst Star, just call her Sparkler,” I reached out a hoof and shook hers.” Sparkler, this is Eve.”

“Nice to meet you Eve.” She smiled at me in the most sweetest manner that has ever known to exist, I shuddered as my face went red. That smile really brightened me up immensely. I smiled back.

“Don’t be shy, choose whatever you like,” Roseluck poked my cheek.” We can always send the bill to Violet.”

Uh-huh. I looked at the table; there were sidearms of different designs and sizes laying on it. I had a hard time choosing, but I eventually picked a pistol with a stubbed-nose barrel.

“FN Five-seven, good choice. Clip size of twenty is pretty good for a standard sidearm. Instead of the parabellum cartridges most pistols use, the five point seven times twenty eight millimeter round makes the pistol more controllable, its velocity results in high penetration… blahblah.” Sparkler driveled. She’s the expert after all, I held up the pistol, it felt more comfortable in my hooves than the Colt, I must say.

“So… Do you like it?” Sparkler leaned on the table, staring at me in anticipation with her shining purple eyes, like a girl scout selling her first cookie. I looked at Roseluck, she was busy browsing the shelves.

“Yeah, I like it.” I nodded in approval.

“Send the bill to Violet.” Whoa, that response was quick; Roseluck came up to me with a hoof-holster.” You’ll need another of those. For the extra peashooter.” Peashooter? I put on my newly-acquired hardware.

"Alright, we'll leave you alone for now, I'll come see you again soon!" Rose waved to her friend, walking out of the armory doors.

“Bye! If there’s anything, I’ll let you know~” Sparkler waved goodbye at us as we left the armory. Such a cheerful pony, I wish I had her blithe.

“So now we find Violet, she's bound to have stuff for us.” Rose looked up to the sky, daylight now slowly fading as evening approached.

“I bet she wants us to blow stuff up again.” I spat.

“Blowing stuff up is fun.”

“Only a crazy redhead like you would love blowing shit up.” I gushed as Rose looked at me and puffed up her mane.

“Don’t lie to me, you love blowing… stuff up, do you?” Rose face was deadpan.

“Who doesn’t like blowing things up?” I repudiated myself.

“VIOLET!” Rose yelled.

“I was taking a nap you dumb bastard.” Violet fell off her seat, landing on a pile of papers and books.

“Yeah?” Rose leaned her whole body on Violet’s desk, relishing the sight of Violet trying to clumsily get up.

“Get off my desk, redhead.” Violet doesn’t seem too upset, she maintained an impassive face as she rummaged through a drawer.

“HERE!” She slammed a piece of paper on the desk, inches away from Rose’s face.

“Wagh-“ Roseluck was taken aback, falling backwards and almost landing on me. Violet sat back, a massive smile creeping on her face.

“Good one.” Rose sat up, rubbing her mane.

“Shall I wait for you two to finish making out? What are you bastards waiting for, c’mere!” Violet shook her hoof. Damn, she’s mental. I push Rose back on her hooves and we both sat down.

“This is the Institute of Medical Research of Manehatten,” Violet pushed us a photo and map.” one of the places where the pathogen is leaked on Day Zero. Orient forces have taken the area and I fear they are hiding something about the Lab, I want the both of you to infiltrate the Lab and recover any useful intel.”

The Lab building is to the North of Manehatten, I took a closer look to the map; it was marked with labeled perimeters showing restricted areas and quarantined zones.

“There will be infected, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, of course.” Oh Celestia no.

“You sure there will be ‘intel’? You think they wouldn’t have searched the whole place already?” Rose inquired.

“They are using the Lab for experiments and crap, they must have something hidden within.”

“How do you want us to do this?” I queried.

“You will go in under cover of night, which is tonight. No sleep for you bastards,” Violet smirked at us.” It’s best to stay undetected, that’s for sure. Other than that, there’s nothing else.”

“Oh wait,” Violet uttered in forthwith.” When you’re done, blow the place up.”

I rolled my eyes at Roseluck.

“I had a feeling... you’ll ask us to do something like that.” Rose seemed enthusiastic, redheads love blowing things up, i thought.

“Thunder will give you some equipment you’ll need, C4 and gas masks…” Violet stared at us," She'll meet you by the jeep."
Rose shot a look at me, as if waiting for me to say something. The room went silent for a moment.

“Get out of my room you bastards.” Violet finally broke the silence and with a click of a button, the metal door clacked open.
Roseluck took the map on the table and whispered to Violet,” considered it done.” She put much emphasis on ‘done’. At least she’s going with me, it’s been a while since we went on a job together.

As we went down the rickety stairs, Rose seemed to be occupied in her thoughts; she lowered her head and let out a contented sigh. Her eyes were half open and they had a rather sad look to them.

“You okay Rose?”

Rose jumped out of her cogitation and said in a deep soft voice,” I’m fine, I’m just a little tired.” I’m not buying it; I wish I knew what she was thinking about.

“You remember when I first met you Eve?” Roseluck said in a gentle voice.

“Yeah, you saved my life back there.” I recalled.

“You were the first pony I met that didn’t try to kill me.”

I was going to say you’re welcome, but I felt its best not to. I put a hoof around Rose,” Let’s do this, together.”

She nodded and punched me lightly against my shoulder. “You are a good friend Eve.” “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Nothing will happen to me, don’t be so melodramatic.”

“I’m seeeerrrriioosss.” Rose hugged me, rooting me on the spot. She rubbed her face on my back like a little filly hugging her teddy bear.

“What are you two doing?” Thunder Spark appeared in front of me, looking at us in a concerned yet amusing face.

“Oh hi,” Rose looked up, her face full of fur. “Let’s go.”

Thunder looked at me with a puzzled face and I shrugged, “Your stuff in the back of the jeep, good luck.”

“Right, we’ll be back before you know it.”

Rose set her hooves on the wheel, her eyes flaming with determination. Maybe it was a bad idea letting her drive, but I didn’t care. I sat down and looked at the hotel, which stood tall in the night.

Driving in the night was a different experience than driving during the day. Every dark corner may harbor infected and other deadly snags. The buildings went past us like shadows; the streets were dead silent and eerie. Overgrown foliage and moss wriggled in the cold wind, making me jumpy and nervous. I was relieved when we entered the expressway, away from the city area. The chilling breeze brushed against my coat as my mane swished to one side.

When the sun expires, the world envelopes in darkness. The sky is as beautiful as it is deadly, bright as your wildest dreams but dark as a nightmare. It can set you free, drunk on sky, or trap you in invisible barriers that confine and leave you heavy with desperation. Wispy clouds represent the merest strands of hope and the slimmest chance of survival.

But the sky is home. Once.

It felt relaxing, watching the dark sky filled with everlasting starlight whizz by, illuminating the dead wastelands and the vapid cities. I looked at Roseluck, she was a nice pony, a good friend, and she taught me how to survive. She never gave me up… She may look hard and tough, but she is just like me, just like all of us. I closed my eyes. For some time, I let the moment soak in, being alone and together at the same time, it felt surreal.

Rose looked at me, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight,” Eve?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Just… The night sky is really beautiful…” Rose held my hoof, keeping her other on the wheel.” You really remind me of my sister, I really… miss her…” Her eyes shining, tears forming around them. She let out a sigh, “Things will never change, I just…”

“I’m sorry… I lost many friends too, but we just keep finding things to fight for. We keep on surviving no matter what. Don’t give up Rose, I’ll always be there for you….” I tried not to cry, but it was difficult. My head was pounding, flashbacks of that day flared through my head, and I could not shut them out. The feeling of despair insidiously worked its way into my fibre.

Stop it. I could not take it…

“It’s been a long time anyway, let’s focus on the mission,” Roseluck wiped off her tears. I could tell she was still upset, despite trying her best not to.” Eve!”

I opened my eyes, I could feel the dampness on my cheek; I realized that I was sobbing. My chest felt heavy, “Huh?”

“I’m sorry I made you cry…”

“It’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself…”

The rest of the trip up North was in silence. The ruined city of Manehatten rose as dark shadows beyond the horizon. As we slid quietly into the outskirts, I could feel a cold presence around me; something tells me that it could go wrong in a matter of seconds. Roseluck killed the headlights as we drove into a dark tunnel, it was pitch black. Vehicles littered the tunnel, making it impossible to traverse. The walls were cracked and dirt was spilling through. The roads were leveled, leaving huge chunks of basalt sticking up the earth.

“The Lab is close by, we’ll walk.” Rose got out of the jeep and went to the back, leaving me to face the dark shaft ahead. The only thing illuminating the darkness is the ATA around our hooves, although the dim light doesn’t really help much.

“Take these.” Rose handed me a gas mask and a small saddlebag that would fit nicely underneath my coat and holster. She walked ahead of me, raising a hoof to light up the path. My hooves felt something wet on the ground, the tunnel was half flooded and the water reeked of rust and other filthy smells.

Roseluck vaulted over a car that lay indistinctly in my vision, I could only just make out the blinking lights from Rose’s ATA. My eyes were having a hard time adjusting to the dark.

“For… Damn.” Rose sounded annoyed. ”Really?” I reckoned she tripped over a piece of debris or something. I followed her, looking back and forth occasionally, I’m really scared that a runner might jumpscare me and chew my face off. There was no light at the end of the tunnel as far as I could tell, I felt as if we’re walking an infinite loop.

“Watch your step, water’s pretty deep.” Yep, I could tell. The water’s almost reached my elbow; I quickly hopped on the hood of a car to avoid sinking further. I shone my light on the wall, blood and guts were spread all over. I dread to think what may have happened here, it looked fresh.

“There’s always a bus in a tunnel, for fuck’s sake.” Rose walked around the huge ‘wall’ that stood in our way; the bus was wedged between the two tunnel walls. How does that even happen?

I looked up to the roof of the bus,” We could climb that.” I said suggestively.

“PPfft.” Rose spat as she leapt off the ground, doing a little wall-jump as she climbed to the top. That was impressive. She reached out a hoof, signaling me to be quick. I jumped and pulled myself upwards, in a matter of seconds, we were on the other side. It was now evident that we are close to the end, I could just about make out the faint moonlight seeping through small apertures. Great. The exit has collapsed, filling it with broken concrete, dirt and metal scraps.

“Really?” Roseluck does not seem too pleased. I investigated the area, hoping to find an emergency shaft; there must be one in the tunnels.

“Eve, come help me with this.” Rose waved the light at me. I trotted over to her to what looked like an exit, I couldn’t make out the faded words that should say ‘Emergency escape route’ or something of the likes. A metal utility cabinet was blocking the doorway, looks like somepony tried to seal off their path. With a heave and shove, we moved the heavy cabinet out of the way.

I went in first, wary of my surroundings. My eyes were twitching and I was cold despite the fact that I was wearing a coat. The corridors were confined and made me a little claustrophobic. The walls were full of messages scribbled on them, cries for help and profanities, riddled with bloodied hoof-prints. The corners of the corridor were filled with spider webs and skeletons. The air was putrid, especially in a restricted passage with no ventilation whatsoever. There was a utility room to the left of the corridor with potentially toxic mists diffusing into the corridor.

“Eve, close that door, quick.” Rose pushed me. I cantered up and pulled the door, shutting it. Staying in the mist without a gas filter could be dangerous. I exhaled forcefully, just to make sure.

I reached a metal door which I assume to be the exit, since it was the only door at the end of the passage. The door was stained with blood and hardened guts, I pushed the handle down. It was jammed. I held the handle and barreled my shoulder against the door. That hurt quite a bit. The door was not locked as I could just barely open it, a pipe might be wedged between the handles.

“Hold on. Lemme try something.” I pushed the door as open as I could and focused my magic on the jam. With little effort, I pulled the pipe off the handle. And… I realized that I was still putting my weight on the door. I twisted aside instinctively as I fell side first on the concrete path.

“That’s really smart.” Rose said in a half-sarcastic tone as she carefully trod past my body. She pulled me back on my hooves, looking around. We were under an overpass, the streets of Upper Manehatten to our right. That’s where we’re headed.

“Whoa, shit. That building…” I stared at the collapsed office building lying horizontally in the middle of the road, miraculously, the foundations were completely intact, and the building was toppled on its side.

“That’s convenient, we should be able to get into the campus grounds through that building.” Rose pointed to the upper levels, which was dangling over the next street where the campus is.

“Runners, we have to move.” Rose caught sight of a few infected on the roads, searching for food. We hid behind a car, the overgrown moss tickling my hooves. I could hear gunshots in the distance, we had to be careful. Rose peeked out of her cover, her pistol levitating beside her.

“We may be able to sneak up on that one,” Rose pointed to the runner directly in our path.” We take them out fast and make a break for the building.” Alright, I’m following.

Rose quietly arched the car and snuck up on the infected pony, with a swift and clean swipe, she pulled out her machete and sliced its head off, blood spilling everywhere.

“Unload.” Rose hissed at me, trying to be quiet and loud at the same time.

BANG! BANG!

My new pistol was loud! And powerful was well, I took down one while Rose followed up on another.

“Run.”

I slid the gun back and galloped as fast as my legs could carry, the cold night breeze chilling my bone. There was a gaping hole on the side on the building, and we ran straight into what looked like a conference room. The wooden conference table was broken apart, electrical wires were dangling all over the place, broken glass and rubble littered on the floor. We took a moment to catch our breath; I took a moment to look around. It was very disorienting, the wall was the ‘floor’ and the ceiling was the ‘wall’. The door to the next room was on the ceiling, it was terribly disconcerting. Rose was looking up at the doorway, feeling very confused as well. She jumped and climbed up, pulling me up after her. We are standing on the wall, the width of the corridor presented as a hole. It was quite a drop and this place could fall apart if we’re not careful.

“You can jump this, right?” Rose reared up, preparing to leap. She bolted over the other side efficiently. It was my turn now; I gulped and look down at the dark abyss below. Screw it. I made a running jump and just about managed to grip on to the ledge; Rose grabbed my hooves and pulled me up.

“Shit, carefu-“The building shook a little, dust and rubble sliding off the crooked interior. Crap! A computer monitor slid off a cubicle and smashed itself on the wall, missing Roseluck by inches. She quickly pulled me up and jumped aside as the wall gave way and tumbled into the pit. That was too close. I took a deep breath and continued onwards. I could see the moonlight shining through the huge glass windows, kinda like a skylight, since the windows were on the ceiling. We traversed through the rest of the office and slowly made our way to the upper levels.

I looked down the corridor; it was about a ten meter high fall from where we are to the campus grounds.

“Do we drop down?” I asked Rose, still searching for some way down.

She looked at me if though I am stupid,” We can probably use the wires to rappel down.” Rose suggested. Fuckin’ genius, why hadn’t I thought of that? But it could go horribly wrong if it backfires. Rose pulled out and untangled a power cord, it was pretty long. She gave it a firm tug and slowly abseiled down the wall, landing in the soft grass below.

I tried to do the same, but I was fairly bad at it. Halfway down, I felt my hooves slipping. Shit! My hooves were burning from the friction, and I had to let go. I closed my eyes and prayed that Rose will catch me.

“I got you.” I felt gravity again as I opened my eyes, Rose was holding on to me. She looked deep into my eyes, I blinked. I let out a sigh of relief as I stood back on my hooves. I checked my equipment to see if I missed anything.

“No one saw us, we better move quickly.” Rose looked at the research center, across the campus ground. I thought this place would be heavily guarded, but there was nopony in sight, it was dead silent.

“We should move to the central area, get a better view of the place.” I carefully trod on the concrete ground; it was almost completely overrun by weeds and grass. A container sat in the middle of the aqueduct, rusted and torn apart from old age. Moving further, we caught sight of a dormitory of some sort. The route was blocked off by a barbed wire fence, some old crap including a fridge and washing machine were all jammed against the fence. The wall of the dorm was blown open by explosives, given the shape of the hole. We have to cut through, there was no other path. Shattered bricks and torn fabric were strewn all over the interior. The windows were gone and the broken fluorescent light hung from the ceiling. It looked like a computer lab, the room. Rose kicked a cracked tile aside and went through the open corridor.

The corridor was in a more messy state. Cardboard boxes and trays lay in every corner. The walls were bloodied and paintings fallen off, the windows were boarded up with moldy wood, threatening to come off with a single pull. There were broken chairs lying on the floor, another exit to the end of the corridor was blockaded with wooden panels and a huge wardrobe.

We turned right into the next section, a water cooler with the tank intact stood in a corner beside several small wooden tables. The liquid inside had turned brownish red and I dread to even think of what was inside. The next sector, which looked like the main entrance block, was closed off by a shutter gate. Faint moonlight was permeating into the room.

“I got this, cover me below.” Rose rolled up her coat sleeve and pulled the shutter upwards. I crouched low, gun pointing into the next room. It was clear, no sign of infected and bandits. Roseluck held the shutter open as I crawled through; she then slid through and plonked the gate down softly. The main lobby was in a decrepit form, mold covered the walls and grass was beginning to grow between the tiles. I looked up to the second floor, it was a balcony looking over the main lobby.

“Great, an electrical gate. Whoever built this is a genius.” Rose remarked as she tried to pull the entrance shutters up. I could see a control panel beside the gate; a red wire was connected to it, dangling off of the second floor window.

“Must be powered from the second floor. Stay here, I’ll go activate the gate.” I was about to walk upstairs when I heard a muffled gunshot from the second floor. I flinched and pulled out my pistol.

“Somepony’s upstairs, I’ll go with you.” Rose perked up her ears as she scurried up the main lobby stairs, I followed closely.
The balcony corridor was like a reading station, books were all over the floor. The sofas were torn and rotten leather was exposed. The cupboards in the corner were ransacked and dismantled. I turned down the corner; I could see the main lobby from the catwalk. The railings had fallen off and I had to watch my step, I trotted briskly to a main room keeping my head below the windows to what seemed like a staffroom. It was dark and I could not see past the next room. I could make out some rubble left by a collapsed ceiling in the corner.

I slowly went through the doorway. Looking frantically around the room, I could see a few computer monitors and pigeonholes/lockers to my immediately front. Huh? From the corner of my eye, a pony sprung out front my left and smacked me across the face with a gun. She was wearing a surgical mask and levitating a gleaming silver revolver. I fell back, almost knocking my face on a pile of metal boxes. Shit, I’m dead.

“Minuette? What in Celestia's name are you doing here?” Rose called out. The blue unicorn shot her a rather shocked look and I took my chance. I regained myself and kicked the pistol out of her hooves, it flew and cluttered on the wall on the far right. I swiftly pulled out my gun and pushed it against her neck.

“Whoa, shit. Roseluck?” The blue unicorn was startled. I was surprised when Rose pulled my gun down, signalling me to ease off. I lowered my gun.

“Easy Eve, I know her. I thought you were dead, Minty.” Rose looked happy to see her. Long lost friend maybe? Looks like it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know… And no, I wasn’t dead.” Minuette backed up and looked at me in an embarrassed and apologetic face and pulled down her surgical mask, revealing herself. She went to the back of the room to retrieve her revolver.

“It’s okay, my name’s Eve.” I introduced. Rose was peering out of the window into an open yard.

“I’m Minuette, you can call me Minty, or Colgate.”

“What are you doing here anyway? In Orient territory.” Rose shot Minuette a queer look and looked back outside.

“I’m in search for information, if there’s any.” Minuette followed her.

"Alone?" Rose inquired.

"Yeah."

“Likewise, we are in search for information too. We can work together. Let’s power the generator and get to the Lab,” Rose walked up to the generator.” Where do you ‘live’? There must be an outpost of something you’re stayin’ in, or do you walk alone?” Rose cranked the generator a couple times, with a hiss and groan, it began rumbling.

“I’m staying in the Hoover Dam with a few friends, you should go there someday, it’s really beautiful. And I really appreciate your help.” Minuette slowly backed up. Actually I have thought of going to the Dam, I heard there's power and a proper community of survivors around the area.

“That’s quite far, do you have a car?”

“Yeah, a pick-up truck I fixed a few weeks back, but that’ll do fine.” We began trotting down the stairs to the gate, it was a surprise that no one heard us. I was told there will be heavy security. Not that I'm complaining...

“That shot you fired just now, were there infected?” I asked out of concern, punching the button in the panel.

“Yeah, they scared the shit outta me, but they are easy to take down.” Minuette floated up her revolver and slid a round into the chamber.

Roseluck ducked under the shutter and went outside, we were out into the dormitory blocks. The tract split into four routes, we were headed towards the left path, closer towards the research building. The brick ground was littered with dead leaves and weeds, a few trees have fallen and its wood rotting away. We went up the stairs; metal crates, trashcans and a fallen lightpole were obstructing part of the staircase. A rotting corpse was sitting in between the debris, dried blood staining on the bricks. We slowly crept up, wary of guards that might see us in the open area. The moon stared down on us intimidatingly. The gates leading into the college courtyard was blockaded by several roadblocks entangled with barbed wire.

“Really?” Roseluck looked up into the sky with an annoyed look, as though cursing it. “I really wish I could use the C4.” Said as she pulled a charge from her saddlebags, with a mischievous look on her face. I was going to stop her, knowing how crazy she could be.

Minuette pointed to a low wall beside the gates,” We can easily scale that, Rose.” Roseluck looked at the wall and back to Minuette. She made a face at her, sliding the charge back into bags. I climbed to the top, scoping out the main campus grounds. There was a huge fountain in the middle, surrounded by some brick brackets. Large quantities of dirt were spilled over the brick floor, grass and small flowers were growing on it. I saw some flashing lights coming from the campus building, they looked like flashlights. I dropped down and hid behind a fountain mounting bracket. Rose and Minuette saw the lights as well, hiding behind a divider to my right. I looked around for another way, the campus was large and it spilt into different unit blocks that surround the courtyard. There could be guards all over the windows and we would not be able to see them, we could be surrounded in an instant.

“Eve, to the right, there’s an underpass beside the main block.” Rose whispered. I glanced over, if we stayed in cover, we could avoid the lights. I was about to dash to the next cover when I heard yells and gunshots to the left block.

“The infected will keep them busy, this is our chance.” Rose vaulted over the divider and made a run for the underpass, we followed. Shortly, we were around the main building, the research lab stood tall and dark in front. We were in another dormitory block, which was more dilapidated than the previous. A huge chunk of the walls were blown off and the roof have caved in, leaving a huge mess of bricks and burnt rubble lying on the grass. There was another electrical gate blocking our path, hopefully the last. The area beyond it looked pretty clear.

The generator was intact but the power was cut, somehow we needed to get to the other side to plug in the wire to an electrical grid.

“We can’t climb this, there is barbed wire on the top of the gate,” Minuette pointed out. “We’d better be quick; the guards will surely come around here.”

I looked at the hole in the wall to our right,” I’ll go around and see what I can do.” I must be crazy, I thought to myself.

“There may be infected inside.” Rose warned her eyes full of disapproval.” We can go together.”

“We do not need three ponies to plug in the power; you two stay and power the generator when I’m done.”

“But I can go instead.” Rose held my hoof, reluctant to let me go.

I did a reverse grab and pulled her face close to mine,” I will be back, don’t worry.” I whispered in her face in the most sinister voice ever known that even I shuddered. Rose recoiled and let out a sigh.

“Be quick.”

I disappeared into the hole, it was misty in there and I don’t think it was the dust. I put on my gas mask and scanned the room, it would seem I am in a kitchen of some form, a vending machine stood in the corner, the glass panels were shattered and a disgusting liquid was oozing from it. There was a hole in the ceiling, leading to the second floor. I tried the door but it won’t budge, dust and mist flew everywhere as I pushed the door several times. I have to climb upwards. A toppled fridge was lying under the hole, alongside some cardboard boxes. I stepped on them and pushed myself upwards.

I could hear some groaning and cluttering coming from the next room, I kept low and listened carefully. I was in a small mess hall, I trod carefully over the pieces of broken dirt and wooden planks, not wanting to attract the infected. I went out into the corridor, poking my head from room to room. Not finding infected in them made me a little panicky, I was basically blind. Down the corridor, there was another hole in the middle of the floor. The doorway to the right was torn off completely, the door was punched off its hinges and it had fallen down into the first floor. There should be a way to the other side of the gate through the first floor, I slid down into the dark hole, my ATA was flashing every now and then, not able to penetrate through the thick mist. It was pitch-black and I could only rely on my eyes to make out the surroundings

I was in a small dorm room, the bunk bed was broken and the mattress was hanging from the supports. I checked the drawers for valuable items, I found a small knife and I took it for good measure. The groaning and growling was getting closer, I could hear infected in the corridor. I went through to the next room, still carefully listening for the infected. I could see one just stumbling through the doorway to my right. I hid behind an overturned desk and hoped that it can’t smell me. I got out my nightstick and waited for it to turn away from me, it turned down the doorway that I came in from and I went for it. I smashed the nightstick on its head, I heard a crack and I retracted. It was not happy, turning around; it bared its teeth and ran towards me. HAAH! Another swing right in the skull incapacitated it. That was close, I flicked the gore off my weapon and stuffed it back in the holster.

There should be a few left; I wanted to avoid them as much as I can. I went out into the corridor. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out the exit sign. GRAAH! Oh fuck, I should be paying attention to my back. I jumped around, pulling out the nightstick instinctively with my right hoof and swinging it across the infected’s face. Almost immediately, I grabbed my gun with my left hoof and fired a shot at its head. Fastest reaction I’d ever had, I must say. I made a dash down the corridor, knowing that I’ve attracted much attention. So much for being subtle.

I ran deeper into the dormitory; my plan is to stick along the side of the building, assuming that I could find a fire exit or something. The infected were hot on my heels, I had to shake them. I ran into a room to the left to what seems like a small library and hopped behind a desk, ready to face my adversaries. An infected ran through, I put two shots in its torso, a third hitting its dome.

I heard another runner in the corridor, it was not aware of my whereabouts. I waited for it to pass by me, it stumbled slowly across the corridor. I slowly snuck up behind it, levitating the knife I just acquired. When a clean slash and slice, I slit its throat and it slumped on the floor, dark red liquid oozing out of the wound. It lay lifeless on the ground. I walked past it, doesn’t seem like there were any more of those things. I looked out of the misty window; most of them were boarded up. Then I saw a sign dangling from the ceiling. The exit! I cantered quickly, I just want to leave this shithole behind. What I saw up front really, really terrified me. Hardened gore and body parts were stuck firm on all corners of the walls and ceiling. A long dead corpse lay beneath the mass of flesh; a large concentration of the toxic mist was being emitted. It must have been the body that had released all the gases, and it was definitely not the only nest in here.

The exit was right up ahead, I breathed a short sigh of relieve as I pushed the door. It was blocked. I peered through the hazy window and saw a heavy shelf backed up against it. I pushed the door with both my hooves until the gap was large enough for me to squeeze in, with a final shove I quickly inched myself inside and stepped beside the shelf as it fell back in place.

Looking around, I found myself in a storage room. There was a faded painting on the wall, a few cardboard boxes was stacked messily in the corner. There was a medical cabinet that have fallen off the wall, I opened it, two bandages and a shot of morphine. I put them in my bags and moved forward. A metal door separated me from the outside, I just hope that is was not locked or anything.

I pulled the handle and pushed the door, It opened, thank Celestia. I glanced around; and spotted the gate to the left. Did I really just circle around the entire dormitory? Looks like it. I ran quietly towards the gate, the area was as open as a field; I could very easily get spotted. I put my hooves against the gate, Rose and Minuette was sitting down on the soft grass.

I hissed at them.

“You okay? That took you long,” Rose got up and went towards the generator.” Alright, plug it in.” Was that a sex joke? That wasn’t very appropriate Eve, I reprimanded myself.

“I’m fine, there were a couple infected inside.” I took the wire and connected it to a panel on the right of the gate. Rose cranked up the generator and punched the button, with an exceptionally loud rumble and screech, the gate swung open. The whole block could hear us now, great, just fantastic.

The research laboratory was just ahead, I could see a few spotlights panning the entire area from the two guard towers. The entrance was fenced off and the way in through the front requires us to pass in between the towers. There were a few tents up front, surrounded by a wide array of barriers and sandbags. A few dysfunctional vehicles sat by the barriers, thick shrubbery and grass growing out underneath. We slid silently into a tent, avoiding the lights. The entrance was under heavy patrol, I could see at least five guards.

“No way we are going through the front door, there should be a path to the side.” Minuette pointed to the western wing of the building. I crawled out of the tent, taking cover behind a sandbag. I could see two more guard towers to the west, we had to slip past them somehow. I felt a tug on my coat as I turned around, Rose was signaling for us to move towards the west wing. I could see Minuette scouting up ahead, she jumped over a barrier and dove into some tall grass.

We were in the middle of a driveway, the tall grass keeping us hidden. The driveway leads to a loading bay, that’s one way into the building. The gates were held open by a dumpster and a lorry was parked to the side of the compound.

The cargo bay shutters were locked, I did try to open every one of them but it won’t open,” Look, there’s a way in.” Rose pointed to a hole in the windows on one of the floors. I looked at the lorry and then to the hole, isn’t that convenient.
Roseluck jumped and grabbed the edge of the lorry but was not able to get a firm grip on it; she shook her hoof and looked at me.

“Give me some leverage.” I knew what she meant. I positioned myself below the lorry; Rose took a few steps back and ran towards me. She took a jump off my back and propelled herself upwards, with a fairly loud clang, she landed on the top.

“Get up, quick.” She held out her hoof and pulled me up, followed by Minuette. I hopped up from the lorry roof to a small concrete roof panel, the hole in the window was within reach. The curtains was dancing in the wind and the room inside was dark, I wondered how are we going to find anything in such a big place.

I climbed inside, keeping myself close to the floor. I was in a lab room, metal tables were overturned, a few broken apparatus laid on the floor. The wooden boarded ceiling had come off and the concrete floor was cracked in many places, almost crumbling. Jagged pieces of glass were strewn everywhere, the window to the corridor were shattered and the blinds had come off, somehow. I went down into the room. I caught sight of a microscope sitting on a wooden table; cardboard boxes were stuffed under the cabinets. I took a look in the microscope, it was blurry but the adjustment knobs were stuck.

“You want to bring one of those back?” Rose said jokingly.

“Only if you are carrying that for me.” I shot her an intense look.

I stepped into the open doorway into storeroom. A metal cabinet filled with small boxes and books stood in the corner, some shelves hanging from the wall had come off. A shelved desk was back up against a window, there were a couple of clipboards on it. I took a quick glance of the few but one caught my attention, it was titled, ‘Ex71. Classified’. I took off the paper and stuffed it in my bag, I’ll take a look later. I rummaged through a few crates, finding nothing useful at all. Clink! What the hell? I looked back, finding Rose with a guilty look on her face.

“Whoops, that was a glass bottle.” Rose admitted. Of course it was a glass bottle. I sighed deeply, that really made me a little jumpy.

I opened the door on the right to the next room, there was a faint light being emitted from a desk lamp, sitting on a conference table. The light was shining on a whiteboard; there was a logo drawn on the board with a marker.

“Orient logo, that’s one way of knowing for sure,” Roseluck took out a C4 charge from her saddlebags.” Right there just for you bastards.” She stuck it right in the middle of the logo; I really liked Rose’s sense of humor, very dark indeed.

I looked around the room some more, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were broken, the bulb hanging from the tube sockets. The floor was in good condition, the chairs were pushed neatly against the table, somepony had been here. The row of windows were boarded up with cardboard, a metal cabinet was backed up against it. I searched the drawers, nothing. I should have known.

Minuette was examining at a few trays and crates leaning on the right wall, with the windows looking out into the corridor. I was about to head out of the doorway when Rose whispered,” Get down, lights.” Pushing Minuette to the floor, she shot me a look and up on the C4 she set, flashing away cheerfully. I pulled the charge off the wall and stuck it on the floor under the conference table, hiding behind it at the same time. That could have gone horribly wrong if they saw the charge. I peeked up, a few ponies carrying sub-machine guns with flashlights attached to them were trotting into the room where we first entered the building. I went out into the corridor and turned to the opposite direction to the left, Rose and Minuette slowly followed. The corridor was littered with trays, boxes and chairs. Several colored markings on the floor indicate different section of the level, there was a yellow line, a red line and a blue. I have no idea where each of those end.

I went into door directly on the right, immediately upon opening the door; I heard voices coming from the first story. I dropped to the floor. We were pretty exposed. We were in a part overlooking the first floor; lights were shining all over the place. We stayed away from the railings, sticking close to the walls. The floors were scattered with loose concrete and glass and we had to tread carefully.

The next room to the right was empty, thank Celestia. It was a large room, a lift lobby. I tried the door marked with the blue line, it was blocked and it wasn’t worth it making a ruckus trying to barge it open.

The only way was up the stairs. A trolley cart filled with luggage and boxed blocked part of the staircase. Minuette rummaged through a crate while I took a look at another clipboard lying on the pile. It was a map, a pretty obscure one. Not worth our time trying to read that.

“Nothing useful.” Minuette let out a sigh and closed the crate.

“Stay close, up here.” Roseluck went up the stairs.

“C’mon, we’ll find something soon.” I patted Minuette on the back and proceeded upwards. We found ourselves in another lift lobby, at least this time we are on the third floor and that makes traversing the balcony area less dangerous. The door at the end was marked with a three. Meaning third floor, I guess. Gah, I was thinking too much. I went in into the corridor; the layout of the level is similar to the one on the second floor. There were just junk lying all over the floor, flipped tables and metal cabinets were strewn all over. The floor and walls were clean, no blood or anything filthy, that’s a surprise.

“That looks promising.” Rose pulled me to the right. There was a mobile light tower shining into the next room. Surgical curtains were set up all over the corridor and there were trolleys filled with surgical tools on one side. Wires were leading into the room through the surgical curtains. We went through the corridor and into the next room. There was a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner in the middle of the room, a few X-ray photos were on the desks to the side of the room.

“And one goes right inside the hole.” Rose slid into the ‘donut shaped’ machine and set a charge right in the core of the machine. I cracked up a little. I looked through the tiny window on the door, and cautiously opened it. Looks like we’re in a huge lab, there was another whiteboard to the far end of the room. Tables were flipped over and the room is just in an utter mess.

“Keep going.” I went into the next room, it was a storeroom. The lockers were ransacked and pulled apart, a few metal boxes sat below it. Just like the other storeroom, there was nothing useful on the desks or drawers.

The next room was half blocked by a small desk, I pushed. It moved a little. I held the handle and pushed the door with my body weight, with a loud creak, I managed to push it aside. Phew, I looked around. It was a small office, there were a couple of shelves lying on the floor, the desk was broken in two and the chair was crushed by a fallen cabinet. The blinds of the window were shut, making the air quite stale. Ventilation isn’t really the greatest here.

“Eve! DOOR!” Rose pushed me towards the door on the right.

BAM! BAM!

Shit, they know we’re here. I slammed my shoulders on the door, it won’t freaking open! I stood back and threw myself at the door. ARGH! I smashed right through it. The door splintered off its hinges as the ceiling collapsed behind me, I rolled to the side as the metal desk blocking the door initially toppled towards me. CRASH! The whole doorway was blocked by the crumbling debris.

“Eve! Go! We can hold them off, try to find a way around!” Rose yelled at me. I was a little rattled, but I knew I had to move. I let out a soft grunt as I got myself up and headed for the exit. I went out into the hallway.

“She’s got a gun!” I heard a rough voice call out. I dove behind a metal desk, bullets splintering against it. I pulled out my gun and fired two shots blindly into the fray. I leaned on the table, guns aimed down the hallway. My foe in hiding behind a wall, and something tells me there’s going to be quite a few coming shortly.

BAM! BAM!

I fired at a pony running down the corridor, both shots landed in his torso and he fell clumsily. The pony behind the wall got out of her cover and blew a few shots.

BAM!

The shot pierced through her body as she fell back behind the wall. I ran up and kicked her in the face; she was not getting up anytime soon. I searched her bags for ammunition; I took her gun and grabbed a few 45. ACP bullets. I slid them in my bag.

BAM!

A shot rang out as I leapt behind a pillar. I popped out of cover to find my target, holding the gun up; I looked around to find nopony at all.

BAM!

A shot tore through my right forearm, I could feel my head screaming in agony as I clutched my wound, falling behind my cover. I could hear the shooter trotting slowly towards me. I concentrated my magic on the gun as I blind fired into the open; I emptied the whole clip in a matter of seconds. I could hear the shooter yell in pain as he slumped to the floor. I was bleeding profusely and my hoof was getting numb, yet I knew I had to move, lest they surround me.

I crawled into a room, shutting the door behind me. I pulled out the bandages with my magic and wrapped it tight on the wound, the pain was terrible, it sent chills through my entire body as I tied it. I sat behind a cupboard, trying to control the throbbing. I heard a bang as a door in the hallway swung open, lights flashing frantically, searching for me.

I dragged myself off my hooves, I was aware that the trail of blood I've left behind would come and bite me if I don’t move. I prayed with all my being that the door isn’t locked; I stumbled on the door, pushing it open and tripping over myself. At least I wasn’t trapped.

“The next room! Take her out!” Oh was I glad I fell. A loud crack rang out as the windows shattered behind me; I kept low and clambered through the room. I swiftly reloaded my pistol. I fired a few shots into the previous room, using the blinding lights as indicators. I ran out into the corridor and clambered through a broken window into a small laboratory. They didn’t see me go through, I think.

I caught sight of a small voice recorder on the desk; I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it in my bag. The door burst open, oh crap. I threw myself out of the window into the corridor. Shots clapped the air as I desperately rolled through the hallway of death.

A round punched through my coat as a fiery pain seared through my side. That hurt a lot! I lurched and slid under a desk. I hid there for a long time and breathing was getting very painful as the wound began to bleed out. I trembled violently, trying to look for a way out, my body was going into shock and that was not good. With an agonizing grunt I pulled myself upwards, my ears were ringing and my vision was fading. The stairs, I had to get down. With every ounce of strength I had left, I inched myself towards the staircase and rolled down the steps. I closed my eyes as I impacted on the hard concrete ground, ready to accept my fate and just fade off…

“Eve! Stay with me!” A muffled voice rang through my head. Shots were fired, flashes of intense light glared through my vision as I tried my hardest to stay conscious. Rose pulled out the shot from my bag and stabbed me with the syringe. The twinge made me shudder as I got up on my legs flimsily; Minuette was firing back as Rose helped me down the stairs onto the first floor. My head was swimming tumultuously; the pain was beginning to burn off slightly. I’d lost quite some blood and I will collapse for good if I don’t do something about it.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a light shining through the cracks of a door to the right,” Rose… Move!” I pushed her aside weakly and fell on the floor, pulling out my gun; I aimed at the door as it swung open immediately.

BLOM! BLOM!

The shots from my gun were muffled as a pony fell into the room, dead.

“Eve! Get up! I won’t let you die. C’mon!” Roseluck pushed me back up, dragging me across the floor. Ignoring the pain from my side, I marched through the hallway, Rose let me lean on her back for support.

“Just… get the door.” I got off her back and focused on standing upright. Rose opened the door to a laboratory and checked inside. I felt my hind leg giving way as I propped myself against the door, staining it with blood.

“Go, we’re clear for now.” Minuette went in, watching the rear.

Rose pulled the window aside as she helped me along the room,” Can you scale the window?” She vaulted over and waited for me. I nodded.

Putting both fore-hooves on the panes, I stepped a hoof up; I felt a hot stinging on my side as I lost balance, falling over clumsily into the next room. I felt my vision blurring as I rolled over on my side. The door opened and a pony with a shotgun stepped through.

BLOM!

Roseluck put a bullet in his head as I struggled to stay up. Crimson red blood was soaking my coat and dripping on the floor as I shivered.

“Eve, please stay alive, I’ll get you out.” Rose pulled me up on my hooves.

“I’m fine…”

“No you’re not! C’mon!” She scouted up ahead. I leaned on the desk, using them to inch my way forward. Blood staining on the wooden surfaces. I walked out into the corridor, following Rose. There was a double door with an ‘Exit’ labeled on the top. My hind legs gave way suddenly and I lost poise, putting my already injured right hoof on a toppled vending machine. I groaned in agony as I got up, breathing erratically and painfully. Minuette hoisted me up, pushing me into a hall. I Could barely make out the exit at the end of the hall, we were close.

“Stairs… Rose…” I saw a couple ponies coming down the stairs with SMGs, I pulled out my gun and lifted it up painfully. I felt my vision twitching as I fell, hitting my chest on a metal cabinet. I collapsed on the floor; gunshots were beginning to sound like they were shot underwater. Darkness and red lines began transuding from the sides of my eyes as I felt my heart beating painfully and acutely.

I lost consciousness.

Chapter 6: Veering Course

Our inorganic world, skeletal skycrapers and the truth, entwined in forgotten hopes of salvation.

“We’re almost out of fuel.” Flitter’s voice jolted me out of my drowsy state.

“Huh? Oh, you’re awake.” I looked at the fuel meter and back to Flitter.” Yeah, we should be- Ahem…” A splitting pain in my head cut me off mid-sentence. I shook my face, trying to shake off the pang.

“…You don’t look too good.” Flitter frowned and started to search through her bags, “Ah could be sure Eye’ve sum pain-pills somewhere…” Pain-pills. Or painkillers. I liked how she said that. I also have no idea how I managed not to crash horribly all this time. It was dark, and extra creepy, passing through the forest. I felt as if something lurking in the woods was spying on us.

“…Eye’m sorry, I coo’den find any…” She gave up searching and looked at me worriedly.” …Eye could take over.” She suggested.

I let out a soft grunt,” It’s okay, we’re close…” “You know how to drive a car?”

She pulled a not-amused face at me for a second and flapped a wing,” actually, no…” She admitted.

“…But, it doesn’t look hard! It should be easy, right?”

“Not really as easy as you-”

“It sure does look easy to me.” Flitter pouted her lips and folded her hooves. What a cute little expression. I can’t help but giggle a little. Flitter joined in and soon we were giggling like a bunch of fillies, my head hurts from the tittering but my brain wanted me to continue giggling. I didn’t know what to feel anymore.

We rolled into the town of Auvergne; the first obvious structure on the left was a motel, part of it had collapsed and the letters were dangling off the sign. The town was a different sight than the city, it was more… compact. If that’s the appropriate word for it.

“We’ll find a place to stay for the night. We can search for fuel at the gas station tomorrow.” I pressed a hoof on my forehead; my vision was getting blurry and my eyes tired. I need rest.

“Okay, you need sum rest Eve.”

Yeah, I do.

I drove the jeep into an open garage of a small house at the end of the strip. It would suck if somepony stole it, and I wanted to keep it locked down until we get more fuel.

“C’mon, we can sleep in the basement, if there’s nothing nasty in there.” I pulled the garage shutters down and gently hitched it.

“Hey! I could build a sound trap!” Flitter fluttered to the corner of the garage, grabbing a pail and other small nails, bolts and gears.

“Clever.” I remarked and trotted to the basement door, which was accessible via the garage. I could ignore the main house completely; the door leading into the house was locked anyway.

*Click* *Click*

Damn. The basement’s locked as well.

I turned to Flitter, who was setting down the trap; she set the bucket of junk precariously on the edge of the stool, with a piece of string attached to the pail and the shutters. One small push and the pail will fall, alerting the whole neighborhood.

“Eye’m guessing… You need help with the lock.” She stared at me, fluffing her wings. I smiled bashfully, acknowledging the fact I need help.

“It’s definitely easier with the Telekinetic Aid.” She leaned close to the door and hovered out a pick and tension wrench. Fancy. I leaned on the wall beside her, trying to force the ache in my head away.

“Taadaa~ there we go.” She swung the door open and did a little twirl.

“Where did you learn how to pick a lock? That’s neat.” I walked down the stairs with Flitter, locking the door behind us.

“It’s a useful skill to have, donchathink?”

“Yeah, didn’t think about that one…”

“I can teach ch’you.” Flitter offered.

“That sounds good.”

The basement was dark. Well, duh. The lights were not working, I could make out the wooden ceiling and pillars that held the basement. There were tools and huge containers on one corner of the room. Materials like wooden boards and glass panels leaned against the stone walls. There was a small rubber sheet/carpet on the floor, to prevent slipping, I would guess. The basement was quite clean, no signs of bodies and disgusting monstrosities.

There was a small mattress on the left corner of the room, with a small pillow and blanket. I can’t wait to just throw everything aside and fall into a deep sleep. I took off my coat and unbuckled my holsters; I had three, even though I had only one pistol with me now.

“Here, you should keep this for your pistol.” I tossed Flitter a holster as I plopped my head on the pillow. I kept my Five-Seven under the pillow just in case.

My head felt heavy and laying it on a pillow didn’t help. The pain throbs and pulses in my skull, like a dull pounding with a hammer over and over and over again. My brain feels like it’s on overdrive, I can’t process any thoughts at all. Images and ideas and plans run through my head, chasing each other round and round. My mind can’t seem to catch a single one, but rather being pounded with all of them at once as they ricochet and slam into the walls of my head.

“Eve… You’re sweating…” Flitter leaned on my body and put a hoof on my head. The heat surging from my body made me sweat more.” You can’t go on like this…” Flitter looked into my eyes anxiously.

“Eye’ll go find something for you…”

Flitter got up but I held her hoof,” No… Please don’t leave…”

“But you need medication…” Her tone of voice presents much anxiety and haste.

“I’ll just… sleep it out. Just… just don’t leave…” Flitter looked at me, uneasiness creeping on her face as she let out a little sigh. She laid down on me and caressed my cheek gently. That didn’t help the fact my temperature was shooting up.

Flitter leaned in and gave me a little kiss on my cheek,” If you need anything, I’ll be right here…” She fell beside me, hugging my forearm as she closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep of her own. I glanced up at the ceiling, the hotness from my cheek fading ever-so-slightly. I tried to get some shuteye. I looked at my little friend, who was grasping my hoof possessively.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That’s all I hear, all I feel. Each pound inside my head sends agony running through my skull. All I want is silence and to be left alone, but the voices in my head surround me. They yell and shout at me… Knowing I will never get away from this hell, I pushed away the pain and tried to ignore it screaming inside.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I could have sworn Flitter left at some point, but I didn’t have the strength to find out, my eyes were too painful and heavy to even open. Gosh I was pathetic.

*** ***

Consciousness came back to me. I was fuzzy, but feeling a little better. My muscles ached and I was tired, but I was able to sit upright. I grabbed my coat and snuggled with it, cold sweat was dripping from my forehead, I shivered. Flitter was gone, I scanned the basement. It was still quite dark; my eyes were adjusting to the darkness when I heard the door opening. Light poured into the dark room as hoof-steps clopped down the stairs.

“Hai, you feeling better?” Flitter chimed in. Another pony appeared beside her, her coat was white and her mane was a pale pink. She had saddlebags strapped onto her torso. She gave me a little hoof-wave.

“Flitter, come here.” I pulled my pistol out from under the pillow and raised it up slightly.

“Eve. Put that down…” Flitter restrained my gun-wielding hoof.

The white earth-pony looked at us sweetly,” That’s cute, looking out for your daughter like that.” I think she’s talking to me.

Flitter gave me a ‘do-I-look-that-old?’ face,” She’s not my daughter; we’re about the same age actually.”

“Oh, apologies. I’m Candice. You alright?” I nodded slightly and waved.

“Sorry… Eye sneaked out late in the night to try find medicine for you… And eye got into sum trouble, and Candice kinda saved me…”

“Yeah. Flitter told me that you’re sick, I gave her some medicine.”

“Thank you…” I laid back on the soft pillow.

“Here… eye bought you some beta-blockers.“ Flitter got out a bottle of what seemed to be pills.

“Beta what?”

“Oh… Sorry. Um… Ibuprofen! Yeah, that.” Flitter rolled her eyes upwards for a second and placed two pills on my hoof. “Hang on…” She started digging in her bag.

“So… I saw that jeep of yours. Flitter told me you need fuel, right?” Candice began.

“Yeah…” Flitter got out a bottle of water and handed it to me. “That sewer water?” I quipped.

“…No! It hasn’t been opened yet.”

I quickly downed the pills and water.

“We’ve got a settlement to the north of the town. You could trade with us… for fuel and… other stuff.” Sounds good.

“Alright, Lemme get my stuff.” I pushed myself off the floor and grabbed my holsters. I strapped them on and slotted my pistol inside.

“Aah-chu~” Flitter sneezed.

“You'll need the coat.” I went over and put my coat on Flitter.

“Ah’m sorry. It was cold in the night.” She smiled meekly.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Flitter removed the sound trap,” These may still be useful.” She showed Candice the contents of the pail and she nodded. I lifted the shutters, embracing the warm sunlight from the outside. I really missed the sun.

I got in the jeep and waited for Flitter and Candice to get in.” So… north of the town?”

“Yeah, we have barbed fences around the perimeter, you can’t miss it.” Candice got in the back seat and leaned forwards.

We drove out of the garage and onto the road. I took a left, back down the road where we first entered the town. I took a clearer look at the buildings; I turned the corner, the motel sliding past on the left.

“Go towards the fire station, we use that as a watch tower.”

“How many survivors are there in the settlement?” I casually asked.

“Hmm… Less than a hundred. But we got everything running fine.”

I continued down the streets, the fire station towering in plain sight. It was the tallest building in the vicinity. Most of the small houses and buildings were leveled, leaving the grid a scrappy skeletal mess of bricks and debris. Vehicles littered the roads, covered in rust and overgrowth. Vast mountains transcended beyond the horizon and grey clouds rolled by swiftly.

“Eye really miss mai ice cream.” Flitter glanced at a wrecked ice cream truck, which had burrowed itself in a supermarket.

“I can make some for you, if I had the right stuff.”

“Oh yeah. You’re a unicorn. You can freeze stuff.” Flitter rolled up her eyes, pointing out.

”Candice, so how’s your settlement doing in terms of… Y’know, infected… bandits… Um… Defense wise?” I turned to the white pony.

“The place’s not mine.” She chuckled. “My dad runs the place, and we have watch towers all around the perimeter. So I’ll say it’s pretty good. We’ve been staying there about half a month now.”

Candice put both her hooves on the shoulder of the front seats,” You could come live with us, I mean, we could use more friends and allies.”

“I’d love to, but… We er… Have some business somewhere else.” I stared at Flitter and she stared back.

“It’s okay.” Her tone showed signs of disappointment, but she remained pretty chill.

We stopped at a steel gate, a guard pony on the reinforced watch tower looked over at us through his sunglasses; he huffed and pulled a lever.

The steel gate slid to the side with an electrical hiss, revealing a small plaza filled with ponies going about their daily routines.

That’s awfully close to the outside.

I stopped the jeep in a parking lot; the markings on the ground were faded and or covered with foliage. I parked it in the middle of two other vehicles. We got out of the jeep and immediately afterwards, two fillies and a colt ran up to Candice and hugged her hoof. I stared at Flitter, who was pulling the sleeve of the coat up. She looked at her hooves and turned to me.

“Wat?” She sniffed and looked at Candice, who was trying to get the kids to go back to their parents. I gazed at the busy plaza; there was a bakery, general stores and couple of vendors selling a variety of items.

“What do we use to buy stuff?” I just realized we have no money, back in the Districts; we used ration cards and old money to purchase items.

“Anything. You could trade items with items… Or ration cards and coins and anything valuable really.” I knew it. I shouldn’t have left my cards behind.

“Eye has a few of those cards.” Flitter hovered out a stack of ration cards, rubber banded together.

A few.

“That’s a lot. How did you get them?” My eyes went wide at the sight of the stack. Talk about a fortune.

“Eye… kinda took most of them…” Flitter held the stack of cards on her hoof.”…But it’s not like ‘they’ needed it anymore…”

I got it.

“Feel free to buy anything. Meet me in the offices when you’re done.” Candice pointed to the gun store further down the plaza. Flitter nudged me on the shoulder and trotted towards the general store, the stack of ration cards held between her teeth. I followed her inside and took a glance around the shelves.

“Good mornin’, little filly, take a look around If you will.” The shopkeeper waved at Flitter, who froze on the spot, trembling with rage.

“EYE’M. NOT. A FILLY!” She spat out the cards and shook her hoof. I pulled her away and lifted the stack of cards up before she tries to punch the shopkeeper’s face in. I’m kinda glad I didn’t tell her how I mistook her for a filly when I first met her. Luckily there wasn’t anypony else in the store.

“Don’t worry! She’s just a little jumpy today!” I called out to the shopkeeper as I dragged Flitter to the corner of the shop. He shot us a comical look and went back with his business.

“Do eye really look like a filly?” She sat on the floor as I pushed the cards in her hoof.

“Yes… Wait, I mean no.” I covered my mouth. I totally screwed that up.

“Eye’m nineteen…” Flitter whispered in dismay. “Candice said eye looked like your daughter…”

“She’s just joking! C’mon, I’m nineteen too. Let’s see what we can purchase.”

“Oh! That’s good.” Flitter rolled her eyes up again. Such a cute little expression, gets me every time.

There were many useful items to be sold; among some are nails, pipes, and other tools. Nothing interested me in any way. Flitter hopped up beside me, with a cute little switch knife hovering beside her. Wait. Did I just call the knife cute? That was weird.

“Eye feels this might be better than the golf club.” She gave me a cheerful look.” Eye’m gonna sell the club.”

Wait, wait, wait.

“You’re gonna sell that… that branded golf club?” I asked in shock.

“It’s not like it’s mine anyway.” Flitter said sheepishly.” It’s too big and bulky for me.” Well, big and bulky isn’t really an excuse as pose to smashing a raider with thousands of bits of expensive gold goodness to their skull.

Flitter jumped up to the counter with the knife and gold club. She stared at the shopkeeper for the entirety of the transaction as he calculated the amount.

“I can charge you for less nice lady!” He had a terrified look on his face and was frantically pushing some ration cards on the counter.

“Thank you, random pony.” Flitter said flatly as she took the knife and her change. I couldn’t control myself anymore; I cracked up and trotted out of the entrance. Oh dear Celestia. Kill me.

“What a peculiar couple.” I could hear the shopkeeper mutter. I cracked up even more. Must've been the effects of the pills I took. Oh Celestia. Make it stop.

“Y’okay?” Flitter waved at my face. Tears were streaming down my face, I rolled on the ground. Oh crap, now everypony’s gonna think I’m insane.

Flitter rolled her eyes.” Did ch’you overdose on Nitrous Oxide or something?”

“Nitrous. Vroom Vroom!” Oh dear. I’ve really gone mad.

Flitter facehoofed.

“Alri- Alright… I’ll stop.” I got up on my wobbly hooves and pushed Flitter along,” let’s go… see Candice at the office.” My eyes were blurry with tears but I wiped them off swiftly.

“Hey! It’s good to see you two again.” Candice waved as she trotted over to a stallion sitting behind a desk.” This is my dad, he runs this place.”

I glanced around the office and back to the brown coated stallion,” Hello, Candice’s dad!” Flitter greeted. I glared at her.

“My daughter told me about you two. I really admire your companionship.” What did I do now?

“… Please make yourselves at home! This place is always welcomed for you.” He said jovially.” I ‘erd you need fuel for your trip down the region. Candice, show them in the armory. You’ll find useful supplies that’ll help you.”

Hell yeah.

Candice led us through a metal door into a room with ‘Armory’ labeled on the wall beside it. There were weapon racks filled with rifles and shotguns on the side of the room, workbenches and tool boxes on the other. There were crates filled with small firearms and ammunition all over the place.

“Restock on your ammunition here… I’ll meet you out back.” She waved at us before bouncing out of the back door.

I opened a green crate marked ammunition on the side. I flipped the lid, there was indeed ammunition in there.” Here, take these.” I tossed some magazines at Flitter as one got lodged within her flowing mane. She cocked her head to one side, trying to shake it off.

“Really?” Flitter muffled as her pale-opal mane fell on her face. She blew it up but it only managed to stay for a second before flopping down on her face again.

“I’d leave you to it.” I giggled, grabbing not more than twenty cartridges for my rifle off the compartments. I also reloaded the Five-seven with a fresh magazine.

“Let’s go see Candice out back.” I pulled Flitter out of the armory. We were in a small courtyard, I could see Candice hauling back
two jerry cans, full of petrol, I assume.

“Here is your fuel. Be sure to visit us when you have time.” Candice lowered the jerry cans, both strapped on a harness.

“That free?” I stared at her.

“No… of course not…” Aw… Nothing comes free these days, right?

“…I can give you a discount cos’ I like you both.” She lowered her head for a moment before looking back to us,” two cards? Yeah, that sounds good.”

Not a problem.

“You gotta… trim that long mane of yours… It’s not… very safe.” I told Flitter as she strolled beside me while I lugged the two heavy canisters to our vehicle.

“It’ll be fine.” She dusted off my words and got in the passenger seat. I sighed.

I took a few minutes to refill the tank while Flitter played with her knife; I was contemplating on where to head next on our road trip, hopefully someplace nice like this.

“Where are we headed?” Flitter sighed softly and looked towards me.

“We could um… probably cut through Ponyville… Through the White-Tail Woods, then we’ll be there.”

“Ponyville isn’t exactly close.”

“We’ll get there, hang tight.” I started the engine and stepped on the pedal.

We drove out of the outpost.

It was a nice, civilized place, unlike the places we’ve been. I think I’ll miss it.

I set a path for the highway.

Flitter got out a map from her bags. That’s really useful. Way to go. It will seem that she had all sorts of things in her bags.

“Three hundred miles to Raneigh…” She muttered, staring intently at the map.

“Wait, the map tells you that?” I looked at Flitter, her face half-buried behind the map.

With her face still behind the map, Flitter stretched a hoof in the air and said in an annoyed tone,” You went past a road-sign.” Oh, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.

“It’s going to be awhile then.”

“Yeah,” Flitter put down the map and stared blankly at the woods passing by us.

Then back at me,” Y’know what, I’m kinda bored.”

“Have a little read then,” I pulled out the piece of paper I’d torn from the Manehatten Labs and gave it to Flitter.” Tell me more about the parasite; I’d like to hear from an expert.”

“You don’t have to give me this if you want to hear from me.” Flitter stuffed the paper back in my bags.

“Basically…” Flitter began. Yay, story time.” Eye has no idea-“ Wait what?

“Just kidding,” She beamed at me.

“Dafuq. Look, I’m not a chemist like you, but I've always wanted to learn about these kinds of stuff.”

“Bio-chemist you mean? And eye don’t expect ch’you to understand most of what eye’m saying.” Flitter gave me a whimsical look. Great, I’m in a car with a science freak, a cute little science freak. I should have known better.

“Please continue.”

“Dis pathogen is a parasitic fungi, which had mutated due to excessive exposure to something… eye’m not so sure about what it is, but it is something…” Those things, especially the nests, do look like mushroom farms; I guess that’s a thing.

“…The parasite attacks the host’s brain, ponies infected show signs of hyper-aggression and they can spread the parasite through bites…” Well no shit.

Flitter looked down on her hooves, silent.

“It’s scary. It’s like we lose control of our body, but we know it… it’s just… frightening.” I remarked.

“Yeah, it is…” Flitter whispered.

“Try to get some sleep; you’ve been staying up all night.”

“But eye’m not even tired.” She whined, leaning on her hoof and glancing out in the distance. “Why don’t ch’you tell me more about yourself? We haven’t really… Y’know…”

I let out a sigh,” There’s nothing special about me, I’m just like you, trying to survive and do something good as much as we could.”

“No, eye mean like… before this, how did you get this far?” Flitter put the seat down and laid back, facing me.

“I um… I’ve actually been outside for about a year and a half since the outbreak… then I decided to take it easy. A friend brought me into the QZ in Vanhoover and I’ve been doing little supply runs. I thought we were safe… with four high walls around us and heavy military protection. But that’s not how it went, many ponies snuck out and many got infected… There were public executions almost every day.”

“So you decided to run away?”

“Yeah… something like that.” I nudged Flitter,” how about you?”

“It’s best we don’t talk about it.” She uttered with utmost finality.

“It can’t be that bad…”

Flitter’s eyes were full of despair and frustration,” …Everypony that eye’ve met had either died or turned into one of those things. Everypony – everypony except for you!”

My eyes went wide, startled.” I…”

“…Eye don’t want to be a burden to you, to be honest, eye have no idea how eye’d manage to survive all this time-“She paused.

“I’m sorry for your losses, but- I believe everything happens for a reason-”

“…Eye try… not to get too attached with anypony eye travel with, because eye know… eye know that it won’t last long- But ah can’t help it with you because the truth is eye’ll just get more scared… Eye feel… safer with you, you’re different, I just know it…”

“I’m not like them. Trust me, I promise I’ll look after myself… and you.” Flitter looked at me and gave me a warm smile, tears trickling down her face. “Please don’t cry… You’ll make me sappy and then I’ll cry and we’ll both be a crying wet mess.”

“Thank you Eve. Eye’m sorry I had to be that sensitive.” Flitter leaned forwards, wiping off her tears on her hoof.

“It’s okay, don’t think too much, and get some sleep okay? I’ll wake you when we’re there.”

*** ***

It was a long journey to Raleigh. About two hundred miles in, the forest slowly faded into lush and arid wastelands, and back to alpine forests once more, we passed by occasional abandoned vehicles. It was peaceful out here; no bandits, no infected, just the cool breeze and the serenity of the forest. Flitter had fallen asleep and was lying on her hoof, her fringe covering her face slightly. She looks so innocent, bless her.

Oh shit. I slammed my hooves on the brakes and softly pushed the accelerator.

“Huh? Whoa, easy-” Flitter rubbed her eyes and looked ahead. There was a checkpoint with guards up ahead and they were looking right at us, guns lifted slightly. It was fenced off completely with a sliding steel gate our only way through. The sign on the fence said ‘Camarillo Up Ahead’ in big white letters.

“Take it easy…” I muttered to myself as I slowly drove on.

“Wait… that logo. It belongs to the Orient.” Flitter pointed at emblem on one of the armored vans. Great. We can’t back off, that’ll sure to raise suspicion.

“Eye has an idea.” Flitter rummaged through her bag and pulled out an- ID? “They’ll let us through if they know eye’m a scientist.”

She gave me a little wink.

“What about me?”

“You can be mai bodyguard.” Flitter denoted. That’s actually a great idea. I got out my job ID card.

“CSFV? You are a bodyguard?” Flitter sounded almost surprised and she stared at me. I knew she was thinking what I was thinking. Perhaps it was meant to be.

Perhaps.

“Halt! Identification please.” The guard donning a armored barding ordered. At least he said please. We gave him our IDs and he went over to his friend, looking intently at them. He glanced at us every once in a while, checking if our faces match, probably.

“Do you have business here?”

“No, we’re just passing through.” I answered.

“Well, anyhow. Dr. Flitter, right? You know the drill; get out of the vehicle, both of you.” He returned our IDs and beckoned us out.

“I prefer professor, smart face.” I heard Flitter whisper.

We stood beside each other as the guard pushed a scanner to my neck.

“Hold still.” He grunted. I froze, cold sweat dripping down my forehead.

“Clear.” He proceeded to Flitter.

“Eh?” The guard had a hard look on his face. I looked at Flitter, who was staring at me with an I-don’t-know-anything-about-this face.

Oh no, I thought to myself.

“Sorry. Scanner’s out of batts.” He went over to his colleague, laughing slightly. I wanted to punch him so hard.

He returned with a brand new scanner and scanned Flitter.

“Alright, it’s fine. Go on through.” He signaled for the gate to open.

We drove on into the town of Camarillo. And into Orient territory. The looming Mt. Kinsky on the right overshadowed the small town. Right as we entered the town, two armored Humvees rolled past us, the gunners gave us admonishing looks as I tried to avoid eye contact. There was an absurd amount of guards patrolling both the streets and rooftops. A convoy of jeeps and a military truck was just leaving a bus depot; several LAVs were parked alongside some jeeps similar to the one we are in. This is more of a military stronghold than anything else. There was one building more heavily guarded than any other, a conventional radio tower had been installed on the roof, flickering lights dotted the tower.

“Hold on!” I heard a commanding voice call out to us. I stopped the vehicle to let a semi-truck with a massive container attached to its back pass through the street.

“Hey.” A pale white Pegasus leaned on my side of the door. “You look familiar…” She stared at me intently, pondering deeply. I stared back, going a little cross-eyed as I did.

“Sorry, I don’t recognize you.”

“Sure you don’t.” She smirked. “I know who you are…” That’s really creepy.

“… Alright! Go on through.” The random white pegasus yelled out. Flitter was giving me a comical look as I drove on.

“Who’s that? Your secret admirer?” Flitter whispered in my ear.

“Wha- No! I don’t even know her!” I felt my face flushing with hotness. “Maybe I do, but…”

“…Hmm?” Flitter leaned closer to me, anticipating my answer.

“Nothing.”

“Wha-“Flitter jumped back, sounding shocked beyond her words. “-That’s it? What’s wrong with you!?” She cried.

“I don’t know her!” I insisted.

“That’s sad… She must feel… so depressed knowing that her crush doesn’t even recognize her…” Flitter cried shamly. I rolled my eyes, hooves trembling with the urge to punch myself. I smiled widely at Flitter and put up my hoof inches from her face as I steered with the other.

“Okay. Okay, Eye’ll stop.” I think she got my message. I put down my hoof, still grinning at her like a madpony. Flitter wiped off the bead of sweat on her forehead and laid back with a relieving sigh. It was about a ten minutes’ drive out of Camarillo, I purposely took my time to get a good portrayal of the layout of the place should that come in useful later.

Flitter yawned and searched her bags for something,” Hey, you should have this.” She pushed a vivid-blue colored scarf in my hoof.

“My sister gave it to me, but eye think it suits you better.”

“Thank you, but it’s a gift from your sister. I shouldn’t take it.” I pushed the scarf back.

“Come oooon-“ Flitter whinnied, wrapping the scarf around my neck.

“Hey! I’m driving here!”

*** ***

“It really suits you.” Flitter stuck out her tongue, giving me a cute face. I can’t lie, it really does.

“But it’s spring, I wouldn’t need a scarf.”

“Ugh… Jussst weeeaar it…” Flitter groaned.

“You look really adorable when you’re frustrated.” I blurted.

“Really? You really think so…?” Flitter blushed, staring at me charmingly.” …Wait- You’re doing that on purpose?!” Her face immediately became cold. Oops, I think I’m done for.

BLEM! FWIP!

I heard several gunshots impacting the back of the jeep. I swerved to the left; my eyes sparkling as I glanced at the side-mirror, the reflection glaring right into my retina as I caught sight of a pick-up truck turning from the forest and onto the road. I had to do something fast.

“Take the wheel!” I pulled Flitter over to the driver’s side as I clambered out of the windowless door, swinging myself to the back seats. There were only doors on the front side of the jeep, so swiveling myself to the back was a piece of cake.

“B…But eye don’t know how!” Flitter grabbed the wheel with both her forehooves and stared blankly at the dashboard.

“Just keep your hooves on the accelerator and you’re good!” I yelled, unslinging my hunting rifle from my back. A few shots rang out, clattering on the steel frames and one puncturing the back seat.

“Eye got this. Eye got this…” Flitter leaned to the front, eyes flaring with determination as she took control of the vehicle.

I lifted the rifle and fired a shot. The bullet smashed right through the windscreen, leaving an obvious hole in the corner. My hooves shook from the recoil. Damn! First time firing the rifle and I already love it, it was powerful. I quickly pulled the bolt and stuffed another round into the chamber.

BLEM!

I fired another round, this time punching through the bonnet. The shooter popped his head out from the back of the truck and fired two shots at us. One of the shots managed to pierce through the windscreen, cracking it.

“Eve! Eye can’t see!” Flitter screamed, leaning her head out of the jeep.

“Punch out the glass!” Flitter nodded and lunged forward, the vehicle shook and jerked violently as I tried to regain my footing.

“Eye can’t!” Flitter bopped the windscreen, the glass remained intact.

“Shoot it!” I ducked as a bullet whizzed past my head.

BAM! BAM! BAM! CLANK!

Flitter fired three shots on the windscreen and it collapsed immediately into a million pieces, filling the dashboard and the seat with shattered glass. I switched my focus on the attacking truck.

Putting down the rifle, I switched to my smaller pistol. I reckon quantity over quality in this case was the best. I aimed for the driver.

“Eve! Sharp turn coming!” Flitter shrieked.

The warning came later than I could react.

“Turn where-?” My voice was lost in the wind as the jeep suddenly swerved to the right, throwing me to the left of the vehicle. Half of my body was hanging out of the vehicle as I stretched my hoof to grab the pistol which had fallen into the seats somewhere while holding on to the metal frame with my other hoof. Doors would have been helpful at this point.

“Cowards! Come face us if you dare!” I could hear laughter from the truck. If they want a fight, I’ll give them a fight.
I finally got hold of the pistol and took aim once more. I focused all my magic on the trigger and spammed the trigger.

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM-!

I lost count of bullets I’d fired.

Most of the rounds punched through the bonnet, some splintering on the frame of the vehicle. The truck sputtered, smoke seeping through the numerous holes in the bonnet. The tires in the front punctured shortly after and the truck skidded sideways before smashing an ice-cream truck on the side of the road. That truck won’t be getting back on the road anytime soon.

I climbed onto the passenger seat through the middle of the jeep, plopping myself on the glass-laden seat with a crunch.

“That’s sounds painful.” Flitter cringed.

“Huh?” I lifted myself from the seat, pieces of glass sticking onto my flank and fur. “Oh shi-“

I swept the glass from the seat and dashboard.

“Ah~ what a delightful afternoon.” I put my hooves behind my head and closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the sunlight soak in.

Flitter was not amused.” You’re lettin’ me drive?”

“Yeah, it’s not as hard as it looks? Right?” I smirked.

“It’s gonna be hard when eye crash.” Flitter smiled lewdly.

“Something else is gonna be hard if you crash.” I put my hoof up to her face, an evil smile creeping up mine.

“What’s that?” Flitter looked at me, totally oblivious.

“My hoof.”

“Oh.”

Well that wasn’t the response I’m expecting. But at least I got to rest for a while.

“Y’know what? This isn’t that bad, cruising down the highway, just the two of us, ruling the world…” Flitter blabbered.

“I’m not so sure about the last bit.”

“Maybe not, but that’s Raneigh up ahead.” Flitter pointed to the distance. I stood up on the seat, holding on to the metal frames of the jeep. My mane blew in the wind, flapping on my face. Raneigh was a maze of skeletal buildings lying amongst towering mountains that surround the boundaries. Nature had taken over the artificial landmarks that were once a teeming with ponies. The small city stood in a hue of green and rusted metal, desolated and dead.

*** ***

Capitol Beltline expressway.

Flitter pulled up on the overpass expressway, part of the roads had collapsed, leaving tons of asphalt on the road below and a massive gaping hole. Miles upon miles of wrecked vehicles lay on the freeway and boulevard. We can’t turn down the freeway nor go ahead, we had to back up.

I stood up and looked back where we came from. It was barren except for the overgrowth creeping slowly from the side of the concrete barriers. The distant buildings were covered in mild fog from the intense heat of the sun. We had to cut through the main square in order to get back on the other side of the beltline, which would lead us out of the city and onto the highway once more. Going through the main square means direct contact with the infected crowd or possibly more raiders, but we haven’t had much of a choice.

“Back up.”

Flitter nodded and pulled the hoofbrake, putting the vehicle in reverse. She spun the jeep around and gave me a little smile before shifting the gear, flooring the pedal as she did. The jeep did a sudden lurch and we were on our way, again.

We turned from an underpass and into a boulevard.

Flitter stopped the jeep about a hundred or so meters from a three-way street, her ears perked up.

“Why’d you stop-?”

“Shhh-“Flitter held up. I could hear muffled gunshots and shouts evidently coming closer towards us. Sure enough, several ponies were running from what seemed to be the infected, firing and yelling as they did.

“Let’s wait for them to pass.”

“Exactly what eye’m doing, mam’.” Flitter did a little salute, brushing her fringe aside.

BOOM!

An explosion rang out, blasting out a chunk of a shophouse in the corner of the street and spilling bricks and debris onto the road. The blast sent a gentle shockwave through the ground. A few ponies sprung out from the shophouse and began shooting across the street.

“Floor it, now!” I poked Flitter on her wing, eyes still fixated at the firefight ahead. The jeep reared up and hurtled forward, wheels screeching and sliding on the cracked road. We were bolting right towards an apartment building. Uh oh.

Flitter let out a silent groan and yanked the wheel to the right, smashing a hoof on the brakes. The jeep skidded on all four wheels and veered to the right, clipping on some debris left by the explosion and just barely making the turn. Raiders were dodging left and right, diving out of the way of an oncoming vehicle.

“Straggler!” A voice followed by gunshots rang out.

“Oh shit! Watch out!” I yelled, the jeep sideswiped onto the side of a bus, throwing me off balance for a moment, but it kept on the road.

“The wheels are jammed!” Flitter frantically jerked the steering wheel, the jeep still skidding perilously.

“Get down!” I shielded Flitter with my body as the jeep smashed into the entrance of a shophouse, wedging itself between the counter and some shelves.

I blacked-out for a second before Flitter jolted me back into consciousness.

“Get out, quick…” I clumsily pushed myself out of the door. Gunshots were still echoing throughout the block, firing at us and the infected that got attracted to all the commotion. I caught sight of a raider with a pipe galloping towards Flitter. I pulled out my gun and fired two shots at him, one piercing through his flank and the other missing him completely. He fell on the floor, screaming in pain.

I aimed down the sights and squeezed the trigger again but alas, I felt a hard metal pipe across my face, I stumbled and dropped my pistol, that hurt more than I thought it would, my head pounded and my vision blurred.

I felt a strong tug and the next thing I knew, a raider was dragging me across the floor, throwing me onto a window sill and pinning me down with her hooves, trying to strangulate me. I was struggling to stay conscious, staring into my attacker’s eyes; I kicked her in the groin and slued to the right, regaining my footing as I pushed her onto the sill. I punched her in the face and slammed the window sash on her throat. She lay there, grabbing her neck and sputtering. I shook my head, trying to bring clarity to my vision.

“Eve, help!” Flitter screamed.

I quickly rushed to her aid, swooping the pistol from the floor in haste.

BANG! BANG!

My pistol was sharp and shrill, punching straight through an infected pony, shredding its head, blood and gore splattered on the counter. I could see both infected and raiders scurrying towards us, the raiders were shooting at both the infected and us. I quickly pulled Flitter onto her hooves and pushed her out of the back door, into a half flooded street.

“Go, go!” I hopped onto a half-sunken truck, Flitter fluttering in the air.

“Boost me.” I set my sights on a huge broken window with golden carvings on the sills and borders. It must belong to a fancy place. It was about a five meter jump. I wouldn’t want to fall into the green, moldy and filthy waters that have been there for years.
I took a running start and leapt from the edge. Flitter swooped down and caught my hooves mid-air, flinging me towards the window almost immediately.

CLANK!

I crashed through the fragile grids and rolled into a lobby of some sort. The soft carpet softened my landing. Flitter flew in after me, a cautious look on her face.

“Teamwork!” Flitter held up a hoof, landing beside me.

“Nice job.” I completed her high-hoof.

I glanced around the lobby. The layout was terribly similar to the hotel back in New Saddle; same joint maybe? No, it’s not. The faded engravings on the reception counter spelled: Cheraton Hotel. It sounded like a famous hotel, with its fancy decorations and paintings on the walls, all torn apart and vandalized with spray paint and blood. It was in utter disrepair. Vines and ferns dangled from the skylight, climbers and weeds grew on the walls and through the cracks on the smooth marble flooring, beneath the carpet. There was a pillar completely torn off its foundations and the grand staircase had caved in in several parts.

“Eye could imagine this place filled with ponies, happy ponies. Well… that was like a thing of the past now, isn’t it...?” Flitter spoke in a deep silent tone. I took off the scarf and stuffed it in my bags, I don’t want it to get stained.

“I’m sure there’s someplace nice like this once used to be, ponies are always adapting. We’ll get there.” I wiped the blood stain off of Flitter’s mane, which had congealed a little.

“Nice drivin’ back there. Y’sure know how to drift, do you?” I casually asked.

“Eye’ve seen it in movies, but that wasn’t exactly the best drift…” Flitter cringed as I tried to pull the coagulated blood from her hair.

“You did your best, now…” I put a hoof on her shoulder and turned towards the grand staircase.” …We could cut through the city and walk to Cantersboro, then I… uh… ‘unno.” I shrugged. We’re really out of plans, especially without a vehicle.

“Alright… eye'll be right behind you.” Flitter flew up, scanning the area. I put a hoof up the steps of the grand stairs, it creaked and dust poured from the cracks. The path to the second lobby level had collapsed.

“You think you could lift me up there?” I turned to Flitter, who was staring at a painting of a skyline of a city.

“Yeah, sure.” She slowly grabbed my forehooves and I found myself floating in the air. Holy crap. With a heave, Flitter plopped me down onto the second level; I felt my hooves quivering before giving way as I fell face first onto the carpet. Flitter winced a little before giggling.

“Need a little help?” She offered.

“Nrrgh uh.” I spat, scurrying to my hooves.

There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, rusted and scratched. It looked pretty out of place amongst all the broken debris. There was a flight of stairs, presumably leading up to the hotel level. The wall in the corner had its concrete blown away, exposing the steel supports that has twisted and rusted over the years. I treaded carefully on the wooden steps and up to the second floor. We reached a lift lobby. The wallpaper on the walls had been torn off, the paint fading from age. There was a window to the right, which had been boarded up with planks. A potted plant in the corner had grown out of proportion, tangling with the walls and the window, trying to reach the sunlight. I turned into the hallway to the left, clambering over a few toppled drawers lying in the path. There were pieces of trash all over the floor. Plastic bottles and paper were strewn all over. The lamp shade had come off the wall; mold had invaded the sofa backed up on the wall.

“Hey, you heard that? Looked like patrol five had some trouble with infected back in Forth Street.” A gruff voice called out from the central hallway.

“Oh shit- Get down.” I ducked under an overturned sofa sticking out of a doorway.

“Huh, that’s not our problem. Chief had already sent half of us to deal with that shit. We’re to remain here and forage for supplies.” I heard another raider blurt.

“Look on the bright side, Razor. At least it’s not like that crappy museum the last time, fucking infected all over the place.”
This place is filled with raiders, or hunters, would be a more appropriate term. This city is full of them. I slowly trotted down the hallway, keeping myself as close to the wall as possible. I pulled out my gun as I saw a raider appearing from the corner.

BAM!

I felt a bullet as it grazed my shoulder, the wound burnt from the abrasion but it didn’t pierce flesh. I fired two rounds into the central hallway.

“She’s got a gun!” A raider took one look at me and ran down the corridor.

I felt my horn emanating with light as an aura of blue enveloped a wardrobe, toppling it as a cover. Two more shots rang out, cluttering off the wardrobe as I dove behind it. Flitter followed. That was an excellent call.

The raider shouting earlier jumped behind a sofa, he doesn’t have a gun apparently, but his friend does. I crept up from my cover at took two pot-shots at him. One bullet punctured the sofa while the other missed completely, hitting the wall behind him. The raider panicked and tried to run into the hotel room on my far right.

I fired two more shots. This time I didn’t miss, he fell face first onto the floor clumsily. At the same time, another raider was running into the room, she had a pipe between her teeth. I took aim and focused on the moving target.

BAM!

A stray bullet splintered the wardrobe before I could pull the trigger. I stumbled and made a break for a room in my immediate right. I pulled Flitter to the side and pressed my back against a closet, wary of the shooter in the hallway. I took a quick breath.

There was a small television in the middle of the room, sitting atop a dresser beside the doorway leading into the next room. The door was wide open. I cautiously trot through the doorway.

“Careful…” Flitter whispered.

To be honest, I expected that.

The raider with the pipe jumped out of the corner and swung the weapon at me, I dodged to the right, the pipe smashing onto the drawer. She was quick. Recovering swiftly, she swung the pipe back. I dropped into a combat defensive stance, effectively ducking under the metal pipe. I sidestepped to the right, punching my attacker in her gut. She faltered and I pulled the pipe from her hooves, striking her on the side of her face with it. I threw the pipe aside and grabbed her in the neck, pushing her out into the central hallway. My gun pressed against her head.

“You let her go! Drop it!” The shooter emerged from his cover, his gun pointing at his friend, whom I was shielding myself with. Flitter hid behind the doorway.

Screw it. I swiveled the gun and fired a shot at him. My captive jerked and my aim was compromised, the bullet missing horribly.

“Stay- still!” I hissed, my grip around my hostage’s neck tightened. Her friend popped his head out.

BAM!

I got him this time. His head burst, soaking the wallpaper behind him in crimson.

Clank! CLANK!

I knocked out my hostage with the butt of the pistol and dropped her on the floor. She didn’t need to die, however horrible these ponies might be, I haven’t turned into that kind of killer.

BLAM!

Another shot roared through the hallway. I suppressed myself under an overturned dresser. Flitter scooted under an upturned vending machine just beside my cover. ‘Fizzy Cloud Poppers’ the label read. I loved that drink, how I wish I could taste one again. Mmm…

Eve! There are raiders trying to kill you and you’re thinking about soda!?

I got up.

Click!

I felt the trigger going, but it wasn’t firing. Crap, what a horrible time to run out.

“Haha, I got you now! You think you’re smart? Oh so smart.” My shooter heard the click and stood up, feeling confident all of the sudden. He trotted slowly towards me, gun hovering beside him. I quickly looked around, searching for a weapon, but all there was were paper and pieces of broken concrete.

BAM! BAM!

Flitter fired two shots at him, one punching through the side of his torso and the other right in the side of his face. He’s not getting up ever again.

“Thank you… Flitter.” I stepped over his corpse, turning back to wait for Flitter, who was watching her step from the blood and debris on the floor.

“You can have the gun if you like.” Flitter floated the gun beside me.

“Wait. Shh…” I perked up my ears upon hearing shuffling from down the central wing of the floor.” You can keep it.”

I quickly pulled Flitter into a hotel room on the left. She backed herself onto the wall and pulled out her gun.

“Now what?” Flitter looked into my eyes, panting. I held out my hoof, signaling her to hold on. My eyes shot around the room. There was a dresser beside a bed, a few torn books and a broken lamp sat atop. The door into the next room was open.

“Down here, there’re two of them! Keep on your guard!” A voice boomed from the hallway.

“Eye see two of them…” Flitter whispered, leaning slightly out into the hallway.

“Stay back.” I pulled her back into the room.

I slowly crawled through the door into the next room when I heard the door leading from the corridor to said room coming down. Crap! I dived backwards and scurried behind the television cabinet. Hoofsteps were getting closer and closer. I shifted my sights to Flitter, still backing on a wall. I gave a silent countdown: one, two, three…

I jumped out of cover and grabbed whatever the pony was holding in his hooves, pushing him into the next room. I realized that it was a shotgun! It went off with a loud bang, splintering the hinges of the door, my ears ringing incessantly. We struggled for the weapon, twisting and trying to pull the gun from each other.

“She’s in here!” The raider turned his head out of the door, calling to his friend. I took the chance and pushed the shotgun away with my left hoof from my imminent demise and punched his face with my right. I spun around, tripping him with my left leg. He fell on the floor and lost grip of the shotgun as I snatched it from him.

I was about to shoot him when I heard Flitter yell,” Eve! Watch out!” From the corner of my eye, another raider charged at me with a metal pipe, a sharp shiv attached to the end glowing menacingly in the sunlight.

He raised the pipe and struck down at me. Instinctively, I swung the shotgun upwards, clipping the shiv attachment with the barrel of my shotgun and quickly sliding under the shaft of the pipe, I spun myself full length and yanked the shotgun to the left. The raider stumbled as I swung the stock of the shotgun, smashing him in the side of his face and knocking him out.

I turned to the previous raider.

“No, please! I don’t wanna die!” He pleaded. I coldcocked him. No need to waste ammo.

“Whoa, you weren’t lying when you said you were a trained bodyguard.” Flitter stepped over their bodies, sounding quite dazzled. I slid the pipe between the straps of my saddlebags.

“Work IDs don’t lie, Flitter. C’mon, let’s go before more of them show up.” I holstered the shotgun and trotted out into the hallway. There was a luggage cart to the right, filled with luggage and bags of all sizes. Cardboard boxes and suitcases littered the hallway. The floor was rugged with torn carpets and pieces of detritus. There was a barrel at the end of the hallway, which split into two different paths. The path on the right was barricaded with luggage carts and wardrobes, the doors had been boarded up and blocked with furniture. ‘Rooms 15-30’ the faded sign on the wall indicated.

There was a lift lobby to the left. There were a couple of vending machines backed on the wall: Sparkly Raspberry and Apple Cola. There were several empty water-cooler type containers lying in front of the machines. The window ahead was broken and the blinds hung from its strings, dangling in the wind.

Flitter went over to the Apple Cola soda machine and tapped on the button.

“Nothing works these days. That would’ve been too easy…” Flitter sighed. I let out a little grunt and walked over to the lifts on the left. One had been blocked by a sofa, the lift door tilted in an awkward angle. The other had been taped off with police tape. That’s there for a reason, I’d reckon.

“C’mon, we’ll cut through from upstairs.” I beckoned Flitter up the stairs on the right. There were cardboard boxes on the steps; a fridge had somehow lodged itself between the stairs leading down.

We reached the third floor and into another lift lobby. It was a similar layout to the previous one, except the vending machines were gone. The hallway into the hotel rooms were blocked off. There was a metal bed frame stacked with sofas and wooden furniture. The ceiling had caved in several sections, making it inaccessible. The gap at the top was too small for Flitter to squeeze through.

“Up the stairs then- Oh.” Flitter took one look at the flight of stairs leading up and covered her mouth. There was a huge cloth draped over the stairs, two closets were backed up against it. It was blocked on purpose, it seems.

“Holy shit, come take a look at this!” A voice shouted from the floor below. Oh no, we had to move now! We can’t go back down either, I ran over to the blockaded hallway and lifted the metal frame with all the strength I could muster.

“Flitter, through here… quick!” I focused all my magical energy and shoved the blockade upwards. Flitter quickly slid through the gap beneath.

Oh fuck! I felt the ceiling giving way, I fell back onto my flank and covered my face as dust and splintered wood crashed onto the blockage.

“Eve! Oh no…” Flitter tried to pull bits of metal from the wrecked mess.

“I heard something upstairs!” Oh crap.

I quickly looked around for a way out. I can’t jump out of window, that’s for sure. Maybe I could go through the elevator.

“Go; meet me on the other side! Go now!” I pulled out the pipe and went over the lift door on the right. Flitter took one last look at me before disappearing down the corridor. I latched the shiv onto the door and twisted the pipe; the door opened slightly as the shiv broke. Luckily I could fit the width of the pipe into the hole. I forcefully yanked the pipe and pushed the door open before squeezing myself through.

“There she is, in the lift!” They were bent on killing me. Several shots impacted the steel door as I dropped the pipe and fell about a two meter drop onto a jammed elevator. The elevator wobbled and shook violently as I hurried myself to my hooves. The police tape was there to probably indicate that the elevator was out of order.

I made a split second choice and jumped into the dark shaft below. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. A three floor jump won’t kill me, right?

Splash!

I landed in deep cold icy water. I trembled as coldness flooded through my coat, piercing my skin with a million needles. I frantically glanced around the dark shaft. The only light there were was from the small opening on a door. I blinked, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Down there! Shoot the cables!” A raider ordered.

A loud cacophony of gunfire roared throughout the shaft.

CRAAAANK! FLIP!

The lift snapped its cables and flew down the shaft in extreme speed. I thrusted myself backwards, away from the heavy metal lift that would crush me should it fall on me.

SPLASH!

The lift sank swiftly into the water. I held on to the side of the elevator shaft as the raiders peered into the dark abyss.

“Y’think she’s dead?”

“Can’t take the chance, we’ll head down and check.” They disappeared back into the lobby.

I was shivering; cold water dripped from my wet mane and my coat was soaked and heavy. I focused my magic and illuminated the dark with my horn, it faltered slightly as the cold sent chills up my spine.

I caught sight of a maintenance shaft to the side of the shaft. That would be my way out, but it was dark and there could be infected lurking in the shadows. I felt scared and lonely for the first time.

I swam towards the doorway, there was a metal cable blocking the path but I ducked under it and swam into the maintenance room. I felt my hooves touching the surface as I rebalanced my footing. I looked around. There were lockers all over the flipping place and the ventilation ducts had given way. Ferns were growing from the cracks on the ceiling, hanging down like vines. There were a couple of metal shelves on the side of the wall, carrying wooden boxes and crates.

The sign on the top of a doorway further down the room indicated an exit. I paddled towards it. Grabbing the doorway with my hoof, I pushed myself through and into a stairwell. Great, now I could get myself out of this filthy water. I held on to the railing and propelled myself onto the steps, plopping myself on metal stairs, I took a little rest and dried my coat. I panted softly as water dripped from my torso, leaving a puddle where I sat.

“Oh no, Flitter… I have to move.” I pressed myself and achingly shoved myself onto my hooves once more. It looked like I fell pretty far, the label on the wall read: Basement One. Which was upstairs apparently. My hooves made a clanking sound as I trotted up the stairs.

The door up ahead was wide open and spores were leaking into the stairwell. Infected, it can’t be any worse, right? I shook off the water from my gas mask and put it on, poking my head cautiously into the corridor. It was dead silent, except for the eerie ringing in my ears. I squinted down the hallway; there was a metal container and a portable light tower in the middle. I kept myself close to the ground and slowly crawled to the left hallway. There was a double door with an ‘exit’ labeled on top. I slowly stuck my head around the corner of the doorway.

Oh holy shi-

The hallway was filled with hardened fungi and rotten body parts, hanging from the ceiling and walls. Spores were spewing from the long dead corpses that stuck to the walls. The floor was sticky from congealed blood and other disgusting fluids. I had to stop myself from throwing up. There were long tentacle-like cordyceps protruding from the nest. I felt like one of them will reach out and grab me. They wriggle and spores poured from the tips.

I hurried down the corridor and reached the door at the end. I took a long look back and pushed the handle.

Click!

Huh? I turned back, hooves on the handle. I could only see darkness among the sickening nest. I pushed the door, POMF! It was not locked, but stuck on something. I shoved it a couple of times.

“Oh come-“I froze and looked back down the hallway.

CLACK! GRAAW!

Infected. Just great. I hovered out the shotgun and kept it at the ready by my side. I smashed my shoulder against the door but it didn’t budge. I chambered a round in the shotgun and aimed at the lock.

BLAM!

I recoiled as sparks flew in my face. I shouldn’t have shot it point blank, that was pretty dumb. The door burst open and an infected barged through, taking me by surprise and pinning me on the wall. I resisted, blocking her face with my hoof as she bore her teeth, drool and blood dripping everywhere.

“Get off!” I shoved her back, and levitated the shotgun between us. The infected pony wasn’t happy; she screeched and growled at me.

BLAM!

The shell punched through her body, shredding it and splattering blood on my gas mask, tinting it with pale crimson. She flopped onto the floor, dead. I holstered the gun and swiftly galloped through the door before more of them show up.

Thank Celestia there was a stairwell leading upstairs.

I took off the gas mask. The air was clearing up and no signs of spores. Walking through what seemed to be a storage area, I scavenged quickly for any ammunition. I had a crap load for my rifle, but a smaller weapon would suffice for close quarters. There were boxes filled with glass bottles and rotten apples, amongst other vegetables. Kitchen storage, that’s where I am. I picked up a bottle and put it in my bag, I have a feeling it might come in useful.

BAMBAM!!

I fixed on the spot upon hearing shots from the next room. I crept up the door and pressed my ear on it.

“Hey, nicely done.” A voice resounded on the other side.

“Come on, spread out. Let’s not miss any of ‘em, like the last time.”

“What about that tourist from earlier?”

“Keep your eyes open; we’re not lettin’ ‘er escape.” They’re still looking for me. I levitated a bottle on the floor and slowly pushed the door open. There was a huge oven shielding me from their vision, I promptly hid behind it and observed the raiders and the kitchen surroundings. There were boxes all over the floor, stoves and kitchen equipment on one side of the kitchen and shelves holding kitchen utensils and bowls, plates etc. on the other.

I saw a chance to break and scatter them. I unholstered both my rifle and shotgun and softly plopped them on the floor. Grabbing the bottle in my hoof, I focused my magic on a huge metal fridge and a tray.

Crash!

The fridge toppled, almost crushing a raider. I flicked the tray across the kitchen and hurled the bottle in their general direction. They were alarmed, eyes darting around the room searching for their perpetrator.

I swung up the rifle and took aim.

BLEM!

I fired a shot, hitting a raider through his head. Blood showered the metal counters.

“There she is!” A unicorn raider spotted me and quickly pulled out her gun.

BAM!

My shotgun went off, pelting her in the torso, crippling her. I quickly cocked the shotgun and slid a round into my rifle simultaneously. Another pony charged at me with a baseball bat. I fired the shotgun and his body exploded into a pool of blood. I cringed and chambered another round into the shotgun.

“Over here! There she is!” Two more raiders shot into view, hiding behind turned over tables in a dining area. I moved up to the counters with my shotgun hovering over it. I fired the shotgun as he popped his head out of cover. The impact sent him flying across the room, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

I switched to my rifle and took aim. I peered into the scope and waited for my target to expose himself.
“Come out!” I incited, my tail wagging impatiently. The raider let of a roar of fury and stood up, gun pointing at me. Too slow.

BLEM!

The bullet perforated him in the neck as he fell lifeless onto the ground. I slung my rifle and went out into the dining area, shotgun floating beside me. I promptly searched the bodies.

All of them had ammo for a nine millimeter; I collected them and the pistol it was for. I pulled the slide and holstered the gun.

The door in the dining burst open as my eyes met with a raider donned in armored barding. He took one look at the bodies on the floor and glared at me.

“You fucking monster!” He yelled, pulling out a sharp machete and raising it high, ready to stab the shit out of me. I aimed the shotgun at him and his eyes went wide at the sight of the muzzle. The raider dodged to the right, hitting himself on a table as I pulled the trigger.

Clack!

Oh shit! The raider heard that and a smile crept up on his face, rearing up and charging me full speed. I did not have time to pull out my other gun. He swung the machete down at me. I raised the shotgun and blocked his machete-wielding hoof with the barrel; I reeled to the left as I swung the shotgun to the right, his hoof going with it. He lost grip with the machete and it slid into the corner, tripping over his own hoof in the process and stumbling. I pulled the shotgun upwards and smashed him in the chin. He sputtered as I knocked him out with the stock.

I flipped the shotgun over and put it in between the straps of my bag. I should look for ammo for it too; I really liked it, although I’m using it more as a staff than an actual gun. I turned to where the previous raider came from and went through the doors. There’s nothing else here.

I found myself in another lobby; this was a grand looking area. There was a fountain in the middle of the large foyer, made of marble and engraved in gold. This must the main entrance receiving area, which means I’m on the other side of the hotel.

I leaned on the back of a sofa, catching my breath. That’s when I felt a gun pressing on my neck. Just gimme a damn break! I was feeling more frustrated than scared. My restrainer pushed my face onto the hard sofa back, searching through my bags.

“You do know what you’ve fucking done, do you?” A soft feminine voice spoke,” you’ve killed a lot, a lot of my friends.”

“You know what? I could kill you right now… But no, I’ll keep you for myself.” She whispered in my ear. I shivered. Was she going to rape me? What the fuck.

BAM!

I felt a shot whizz past my head. It surely wasn’t from my captor. She looked over at the origin of the shot, also as surprised as I was.

I swung my elbow backwards, knocking her gun-wielding hoof away from my head. The pistol went off, inches from my dome with a loud bang. I turned around and punched her in the face. While she was dazed, I quickly pulled the gun away from her and smacked her across the face with it.

BAM!

I put a bullet in her head.

“Eve? Eye’m so sorry eye missed!” Flitter cried, fluttering towards me. She hugged me tight, trembling.

“It’s okay, hey! Look on the bright side, you made it out. You sorta saved me anyway.” I pulled her in closer.

“What happened? Eye heard like gunshots and a loud bang! And… and…” Flitter blabbered with a terrified look in her eyes.

“I’m okay! C’mon, let’s move. It’s getting’ dark, we ought to find someplace to rest.” I pulled Flitter out of her embrace and set her on the ground, making my way out of the entrance.

“Oh shi-“I caught sight of a watchtower alongside a gantry just in front of us, it read; Raneigh Military Checkpoint: Screening of all citizens is mandatory! In big white letters on a green background. I ducked behind a shell of a car, Flitter huddled close to me.

“It looks pretty abandoned.” Flitter pointed out. Yeah, this city has been overrun by raiders for a long time. I zigzagged along the path of wrecked vehicles and reached the checkpoint gates. It looks pretty clear to me. The gates had been bent in and one had fallen off the huge metal hinges. A huge truck lay in the pathway. It was evident the truck was used to barge through the checkpoint at some point.

The sky turned into a deep blue hue, faint specks of silver decorated the sky. Night is falling soon, we must keep on moving.
We trotted right into the fence-off zone. Most of the booths and dividers had been overrun by thorns and weeds. The checkpoint dividers had collapsed, leaving a maze of metal and barbed wire in our path. A sign had been nailed on the fence: REM; Admissions wait until called to booth.

“It’s strange seeing a checkpoint with no military presence…” Flitter followed me through the winding checkpoint fences.
“There’s more like this, they abandon the zones when they can’t hold it anymore.” I explained, pushing through a gate on the other side. It creaked with the most obnoxious screech ever.

“We can’t rely on the military these days…” Flitter continued, cantering up to me.

“Yeah, we can’t.”

We entered an area which looked like a barracks. There were tents all over the place; there was one with a medical cross on the top and another open tent with beds. That must be the infirmary section.

“Should we search the place?” Flitter tugged on my hoof.

“Hmm? We’ll go through those tents to the front and search them in the meantime.” I pointed ahead, through an open chain-link fence. There were shells of vehicles with their parts removed laying beside the buildings the checkpoint was built around. What a waste, that could’ve been our way out.

I pulled the tent cloth aside and poked my head through. I felt Flitter’s wing brush against my side as I shuddered, feeling a little rustled. She looked at me and smiled sweetly. I looked away. Well, that was awkward.

There were several crates in the corner of the tent, of which one caught my sights. It was a black suitcase-like crate; it felt smooth under my hooves. It was locked, whelp. But that means nopony else had managed to get hold of its contents.

“Flitter, could you help me with this?” I pouted my lips, trying to sound polite.

“What do eye get in return?” She stuck out her tongue playfully, swishing her tail from side to side.

“You can have whatever’s in this crate.”

“Okai.” Flitter pulled out her lockpicking tools and began working on the lock.

Click!

“There you go~” Flitter pushed the crate to me.

“You can have it.” I pushed it back. Flitter looked opened the crate, her eyes staring inside. She pulled out a sleek black automatic rifle and a magazine. I blinked.

“…K two seven four… never heard of it. But it sounds really cool.” She stuck her hoof through the trigger guard and lifted the rifle,”…and light too.”

“It suits your size too.” I casually commented.

“Alright, now where to?” Flitter slung the rifle between her bags and got up.

“This place looks clear; we’ll head up and lodge for the night.” I peeked out of the other side of the tent, glancing up a staircase leading up into the second level. I clambered up the stairs and into a library. There were bookshelves all over the place, some were overturned and others were all piled up in one corner.

“That’s a whole load of books wasted.” Flitter flew over to a shelf and started flipping through the books. I walked over to a café in the side of the huge library. Rain was pelting on the skylight, making a soft ‘tap tap’ sound.

“Hey, so this is like some sort of lounge, right? Looks like a nice place.” Flitter hovered beside me, reading a book she collected from a shelf.

“Fifty shades of- You read that kind of books?” I gave Flitter a disgusted look as I saw what she was reading.

“‘Unno, eye hasn’t got a chance to read it yet. It has some interesting content, eye heard.” She kept it in her bag,” eye’ll save it for later.”

I stared at her, my face shuddering from the dirty thoughts that flooded my mind.

“Okay… let’s head on to the apartments and find a room.” I cantered out of the lounge, trying not to daydream about these lewd fantasies. Flitter doesn’t look the innocent kind, now that I think of it.

We entered an apartment at the end of the corridor and I shut the door after Flitter, shoving a drawer to block it. The downpour escalated, shrouding the window with droplets of rain like a small river. I patted a large sofa, dusting off the filthy lint. I took off my bags and holsters and hopped onto the sofa, laying on it sleepily.

“Er… what about me?” Flitter trotted over, glancing out of the window and back at me.

I looked at her with listless eyes and waved,” C’mon, you can lie beside me.”

“I…”

“Don’t be shy, C’mere.”

Flitter smiled and took off her bags, along with the coat, placing them beside mine. She climbed onto the sofa and snuggled beside me. She buried her face in my chest as my heart palpitated rapidly. I held her close and caressed her wing, pulling it gently like a blanket over my body.

“Eve… I…” Flitter whispered mildly and returned the embrace, huddling tight.

“…Goodnight…”

“Goodnight Flitter…” I drifted off into a deep peaceful slumber.

Chapter 5: Seek the Truth

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

“Ugh…” I opened my heavy eyelids, the pain from my side made me squeeze my eyes shut again. I tried to breathe slowly and glance up at the roof. I was lying on a back seat of a pickup truck; the vehicle rumbled and shook abruptly.

“You feeling better?” I heard Rose call out from the front, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

“I’m still alive…” I groaned softly, pulling my coat which was tucked around me. I felt my side; it was bandaged tightly, the pain still burning.

“Too bad you missed the fireworks,” Rose smirked.” The blast tore the side of the building off.”

“And?”

“The building collapsed,” Well, that escalated very quickly.” Most of it, anyway.”

“Where’s Minty?” I inquired, pulling my coat over me.

“She’s in the jeep following closely; I wouldn’t forget that, will I?” I tried to pull myself up to the rear window but the wound rendered me to the seat. I could feel a sharp sore from the other side of the wound; something tells me the bullet went through the other side. The bandage was stained in dark red, tied firmly around the injury.

“Try not to move around too much, you’ll still need antibiotics to prevent infections.” I heeded her advice and laid still, checking my saddlebags. I remembered grabbing a voice recorder amidst the chaos in the labs. I might as well play it; I levitated it in front of me and pressed play…

***

*Click*

“Alright… I will be recording the whole process, careful with that thing, you dumbass.” I could hear a gruff male voice.” Sorry. Anyways, we will be testing pathogen number seventy-one on a healthy subject number five…

*Click*

“It’s been… seven hours since subject five was inoculated… Doesn’t seem too good, sudden chills and high body temperature… Bollocks. We had him under containment, hopefully we’ll get some results soon…”

*Click*

“Twelve hours… I’m sorry I had to record this so late in the night. Subject five went out of control; we had to put him down. He… He fucking bit me, fuck, fuck! I didn’t know, I should have sent my employees instead, I really am dumb… fuck. Well… What can I say…? *Long Pause* I’ve put myself in the chamber, under heavy supervision; hopefully this will end fast… Ehem… For science, right? Bullshit.”

*Click*

“Dumb shit.” Rose commented. I shushed her.

“You thought that was my last recording, hmm? It’s been twenty hours since I’ve been bit. I’ve not gone crazy yet… No craving for pony flesh. Perhaps all these time in the experiment main labs have made me immune? Who knows? Anyways, they’ve let me out… Probably a horrible idea, or maybe it is. Do you know what this means…?”

*Click*

“I’m calling it right now.” Rose began, I shushed her again.

“I’m done processing the pathogen; wait till this shit ‘leaks’, eheheh…” He paused, laughing in the background.

“Um… Hello?” I heard another voice; it was a soft and a little stammery female voice.” Eye need to collect sum samples…” She stuttered.

“Did I tell you anything about knocking?” The gruff voice berated.

“Eye’m sorry…”

“I’ll take the samples down myself,” He paused.” I’m giving you a day off, Go visit your relatives or something… Just get as far away as possible.”

“But eye need to help in the lab…” The soft voice said apprehensively.

“The others can help, you go on a holiday, go enjoy yourself. Before I change my mind.”

“Okay. Eye’ll go naw.” I heard hoof-steps and the door sliding shut with a whisk.

“I’m gonna have to end this here, if you are listening to this, you’ve learnt something new. See you in a few decades? Maybe. Hah…”

*Click*

***

The recording ended there.

Roseluck was silent; she let out a little cough.” Called it.”

I was angry; I didn’t know what to say. I kept myself from cursing, lest I tear my wound open in a fit of rage.” Violet will want to hear about this.”

“Oh she will be flippin’ livid.”

I closed my eyes, exhausted, ‘Seek the truth, then you will know… Seek…’ I jolted upon hearing a voice in my head, the fuck was that? I shrugged in my head, throwing it aside; I focused on getting some shut-eye.

***

“Wha- Ow…” I felt a jab on my barrel. I forced my eyes open. Bad mistake. The blinding lights perforated the seams of my eyes as I blinked rapidly. I rubbed my eyes, my vision was returning slowly. I was in a warm bed, covers pulled up to my chest. Roseluck sat beside me, holding a syringe that she’s stabbed me with.

“That’s not very nice, Rose.” I clutched my side; the pain was less searing and was beginning to bleed off. I glanced around the room, looks like every other hotel room.

“How did I get here?” I asked, puzzled.

“I had to carry you upstairs.” Rose looked at me with an agonizing face and pounded on her back. I blushed slightly. I pulled the blanket over my face, trying to hide it from her.

“Was I heavy?” I said softly.

“Nah, it wasn’t too bad…” Rose lied. She moved closer to me, placing her hoof on my chest and pulling off the blanket with the other. I flushed even redder as I looked in her glimmering green eyes, peering deep into my own.

“Eve… I was really scared that you might not make it.” Rose ardently brushed my mane aside with her hoof. There she goes again.

“Um… Hello,” I turned to the door; Minuette was standing in the doorway.” Good to see you feeling a little better.” I looked back at Rose, who was clearing her throat with an annoyed look on her face.

“Rose, I’ll get going now.” Minuette waved.

“Going? Where?”

“Back to Hoover Dam, Come visit us sometimes.” “And, Violet requests for your presence.”

“Alright, I’ll see you soon.” Roseluck went over to her and patted her on her back.” Get some rest Eve, I’ll be back.” I nodded.

Roseluck trotted out of the doorway.” Eve, I’ve heard the recording you’ve found. Come see me at the dam when you’re ready.” Minuette gave me a plotting look and walked out of the room. When I’m ready? What does that mean? I didn’t think too much about it, I fell asleep unknowingly. With the lights on, of course. I was still dog tired after burning tons of midnight oil, too much oil, I have to be careful.

***

“Seek… Eve, seekseekseekseekseekseekseekseek. Believe… Believe… You are the catalyst. You have the choice. You are not them. Seek… And you will know…” The voice in my reverberated throughout my head, sending pulses through my entire body.

“Ehhh… Huh? STOP IT!” I threw my head up and screamed. My body was trembling in cold sweat. I looked around, I was still in my bed, and the room was dark, except for the light squeezing from under the door.

I fell back onto the soft pillow.” You had a bad dream?” Rose comforted, pulling me close to her. I felt cold, the sinister kind of cold; not the cold cold.

“…Yeah.” I sighed, sinking my head on her fluffy fur. I let out a soft sigh of relief,” You’ve been here the whole time?”

“I’ve seen you convulsing like crazy, you sure it’s alright?” Rose put her hoof on my shoulder, pulling me in for a hug.

“…Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you Rose…” I closed my eyes,” You smell like a rose.” I blurted.

“Well that’s a big surprise.” Rose giggled.

I dozed off immediately.

“You do know it’s three in the afternoon, right?” I heard Rose’s voice piercing through my head. I yawned, rubbing my face on her chest, making my mane all messy and ruffled.

BLAM!

The door burst open. I screamed like a little filly.

Violet was standing in the doorway,” Get up, you pussy lickers, to my office. We need to talk.” She reminded me of my commanding officer; back when I was in training school. I just could not catch a break.

Roseluck gently helped me off the bed. Taking into consent that my left forehoof is still sore from the bullet, and my side
is still smarting, I limped out of the room, and looked down into the lobby from the corridor on the first floor. Rose motioned me into the double doors in the middle of the two hotel wings, I recognized it right away. It was Violet’s room/office. I walked into the room seeing Violet lounging on the office chair, with a bottle of whiskey, vodka and merlot on the desk.

“That’s fancy.” I spouted. I really need to think before I say something.

“You want some?” Violet offered.” Help ease the pain a little.” I shook my head.

“So, anyways I heard the recording, pretty much could have guessed it.” She turned to Roseluck.” Rose, I want you to travel down south. Baltimare, Fillydelphia… The Orient is advancing, as far as we’ve known, they’ve taken Baltimare. We can flush out the real perpetrator if we work together.” “The Valkyrie from Hoover Dam and The Survivor’s Sorority from New Saddle and Vanhoover, among other smaller groups; they are our allies… form a connection with them.” We’ve got an alliance? Damn. It was beginning to sound like a civil war.

“What about Eve?” Rose said, eyes filled with concern.

“She’s good, she’ll stay with me.” Violet leaned on the desk,” I’ve got a good feeling about her.” The hell did that mean?

“Rose!” She turned back to her.” I’m sending Thunder Spark and you to the Hoover Dam with a few others. Give this to the leader; I have everything written on this letter.” Violet floated an envelope up in front of her. Roseluck grabbed the letter and stuffed it in her bag.

“What about Eve?”

“She’ll stay here for now.”

Rose looked at me, hesitance looms from her face.

“Thunder’s waiting for you downstairs, go now. I’ll have a word with Eve here.”

“Me?”

“Take care of yourself Eve, I’ll see you again soon…” Rose petted me on the head and walked out.

The door snapped shut.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as Violet went over to a map on the wall and began analyzing it. I looked around the loft; there was a small library in the corner with a couple of shelves. There was a bed beside the desk on the right, beside a few cabinets. The room was basically a huge living room.

“Do you have a marefriend? Or coltfriend?” That was a weird and random question.

Twirling my hooves around, I replied bashfully,” No…”

Violet looked at me as if she’s seen a ghost,” How is that possible? You’re such a pretty mare.” A sudden surge of hotness flowing through my body. If everypony could stop hitting on me, that’ll be great.

I looked away and whispered.” I get that a lot...”

“You feeling better?” Violet sat down and looked at my bandaged hoof.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” “I need you to clear out a nest.” I gulped, infected nest?

“No, not that kind of shit.” She read my mind.” A raider convoy to the north of the city was spotted by one of our snipers; I believe they are planning to hit the outpost and I’ll need you to wipe them out. Your wound is not that bad right?”

“Yeah... Don't worry, I can handle myself. How many do you think there are?”

“Our sniper’s counted about eight. You can’t miss ‘em.” What? Eight? To be fair I was expecting more, but I’m not complaining.

“That should be easy.” I boosted as I got up from the chair. A sharp pain from my side made me fall on the carpet.
Violet whistled casually.

“Stop staring at my flank, Vio.” I said coyly.

“I’m not.” Funny.

I jumped back on my hooves and cantered out of the door, flicking my tail dangerously at Violet.

*** ***

It wasn’t long before I hobbled down the stairs to the ground floor. Well maybe I took ten minutes. Maybe it was long, but that’s not the point.

I clambered into the jeep; that was the only vehicle left anyway, after Minuette took the truck and Roseluck with the other jeep.

I drove out of the outpost, my hooves wobbly on the wheel. I haven’t driven in a while now. The vehicle rumbled and jerked as I rolled over pieces of debris left on the road, to be honest, I was feeling quite lonely. The wind brushed against my mane as I quietly slid into the more run-down areas of the city. I was injured, but have decided to take this job up, I must be tired of living.

I turned the corner.

There was a huge crater in the middle of the intersection. A few apartment buildings were swallowed into the deep abyss; vehicles and furniture were strewn in the hole, leaving a huge mess of scrap and junk. I stopped the jeep and slammed my hoof on the wheel.

“…Fuck’s sake…” I muttered in a vexed tone. I contemplated for a whole five minutes before deciding to go around on hoof. Horrible idea.

Just as I got out, I heard a rumbling coming from the right of the intersection. A pickup truck rolled into sight. It was rusted beyond effectiveness and moss was starting to creep up the haunches of the truck. I dove into the shophouse through the front window but they have surely seen me, and the jeep right in the middle of road does look suspicious.
I pressed myself against the store shelves, keeping away from the windows; I think I saw at least three in the vehicle. I may be wrong.

“Two of you! Check the shops, I will stand ground!” I heard an anonymous voice call out. That was three, I assumed.
Sliding over to the window, I peeked at the truck. The pony on the back was carrying a hunting rifle of some caliber, and was looking in my direction.

I had a feeling he spotted me… No, I’m certain he spotted me. He took aim and I froze, taking a look at the gleaming scope and throwing myself backwards.

BLEM!

A trace whizzed past my head as I heard him shout,” Straggler! In the store!” Crap! I dove behind the shelves as the door slammed open.

“Come out!” A raider boomed. I looked around my surroundings; there was nothing that could help me, apart from a few bricks and shattered glass. Levitating a brick, I hurled it at him, missing him completely. At least I managed to catch him off guard a little. I swung the pistol up and fired a shot. It missed him horribly, ricocheting off the wall behind him. Shit! I was truly embarrassed at my attempt. That gave him a chance to return fire, rounds splintered off the edges as sparks shot off the metal shelves.

I was wary of the window; the rifle pony could climb in and fire a cheap shot at me from behind. I had to move. At the same time, he might be still aiming down at me from the truck. Then I have to stay away from the open windows.

Have you forgotten the double-tap? The pony in my head reminded. There’s no point aiming for the head if you can’t even hit him on the chest!

That’s right. Double-tap it is. I swung myself up and blew two shots in rapid succession. One stuck him in the torso, the other right in his head. Down he went. I glanced over at the open doorway at the end of the store. Another raider ran through and I took aim.

BLEM!

The rifle pony fired a shot, hitting the lights above me and shattering the bulb. Pieces of broken material rained down on me as I flinched backwards. The raider managed to dodge behind the counter. That was a horrible cover, I could easily pick him off, if it’s not for the…

BLEM!

A bullet punched through the shelf and lodged itself in the wall near me. Ignoring it, I fired a shot at the raider in the store. His head exploded, blood splattering on the walls behind him.

I ran through the store as bullets flew past me every now and then, I wanted the rifle for myself, I thought. It was very tempting. What I did next could be considered the dumbest thing I’d ever done. I leapt out of the window, charging at him. Unfortunately, I’d almost forgotten about the crater the in middle of the street. My hooves felt a loose piece of concrete as I slid slowly into the deep dark hole. But it was either sheer luck or mad skills; I grabbed the wire cable protruding from where a lamppost should’ve been with my left hoof. Instinctively I pulled out the 1911 with my other hoof.

The whole world seemed to go in slow motion as my eyes met with the rifle pony for a split second as he looked down the scope once more. I emptied the whole seven round clip on him; a few bullets penetrated the rusted metal, somehow he managed to get hit by some of them. He fell off the back of the truck, landing on the basalt road with a thud, blood oozing out of his lifeless body.

I slowly pulled myself onto the broken pavement and dusted my hooves. Score! I thought to myself. I stripped the rifle and the meager three bullets for it, I pulled the bolt; there was a round inside. Good. I should really search for ammunition; at least I have a reason to now. I had run out of ammo completely for the 1911. I slung the light rifle over my shoulder and walked down the street. It was quiet. Too quiet. Surely these guys would have some back-up.

I heard a shrill scream coming from an apartment building on my immediate left, it sounded like a little filly. The pony inside me was telling me to save her, I knew I had to.

“You should focus on the mission.” I told my brain.

Can you bear the thought of a little filly being torn apart by infected? Being murdered horribly by those monsters? Alright, alright. I get it.

I stepped cautiously into the building, avoiding the pieces of fallen wooden panels on the floor, it stank of damp wood. I looked at the paintings on the wall, it was faded beyond recognition. A tree has fallen into the lobby, taking out the walls and part of the ceiling, bright sunlight glared through the gaping hole. A few old corpses sat against the walls, dark red liquid stuck to the floors. I did not look around much, I just wanted to find this filly. I stomped up the rickety stair, every step made the wooden steps shake and creak. Parts of the stairs were canted precariously and the railings were practically crumbling to bits. I entered the doorway into a small apartment home. An L-shaped sofa was flipped, pieces of leather torn here and there. The television screen on the left was shattered and wires were coming out all over the place. The floor was made of wooden tiles, my hooves made a clopping sound on it. I looked further down the room; a shuffling noise caught my attention. The wall into the next room was blown apart, pieces of concrete and wood lay on the floor in a heap.

“Helllp!” A loud crash which sounded like a metal cabinet toppling followed. I rushed through the wall and spotted a young mare being pinned down on a desk by a raider.

Out-fucking-rageous.

They had not seen me. I fired at the raider’s friend, who was behind him, laughing maniacally.

“Huh?” The other raider turned back, looking at me with a shocked and angry expression as his friend went down.

Taking advantage of the fact that he wasn’t paying attention, the mare reached for some sort of rod and forcefully swerved it at the raider-pony. I cringed a little as I heard his skull crack. He collapsed on the floor, the little mare continued to beat the crap out of his lifeless body.

“Stop it! He’s dead.” I held her back, preventing her from swinging the weapon, which was a golf club. She eased off, taking a seat on the wooden floor.

The pale-grayish-blue pegasus put the golf club down; it was designer branded! It was electroplated with gold, the branding remained clear on the head of the club.

“Thank you… for saving mai life.” She saw me gazing with much covet at the club and smiled a little.

“Oh, it was nothing. I’m glad that I could help.” I shook it off, taking a good look at the young pegasus. Why did I think she was a filly, silly sod. Her eyes were gleaming a pale-raspberry color, her mane was pale-grayish?-opal and was long and flowing, with a cute little pink bow tied to it.

“Ah’m Flitter. Nice to meet chyou.” She introduced in a horrible accent. She must have guessed what I’m thinking and started clearing her throat fakingly.

“I'm Eve.”

“Great, dat’s good.” She flapped her wings and got on her hooves, sliding the club in her saddle-bags, strapped on her waist.

“You don’t seem at all bothered by that.” I pointed at the two raiders we’ve just murdered.

“Ah’ve seen worse.” She began, looking solemnly at the bodies.

“Do you have anywhere safe to stay? I’ll take you to the outpost, alright?”

“No… and NO! You can’t take me there. You can’t!” She protested firmly.

“Why not?” I got up and opened the drawer.

“You just can’t, Ah’m not going there!” She seemed pretty final about that.

“Alright, we’ll talk about it later. I have to clear out some raiders.” I pushed the topic aside.

“E… Ahem, Aai can help!” She seemed enthusiastic, I gladly accepted it. She looked the one to trust.

“So you’ve been out here long?” I trotted out of the apartment and into the hallway.

“…Yeah, Ah’m always alone… Always have been… Since the outbreak.” She shot me a lonely look, lowering her head slightly. She was trying very hard to smile. I really wished I could help, but I remained silent as I go through the cupboards for useful items.

We entered another apartment at the end of the hallway, the door had been torn off its hinges and it leaned against the wall beside the doorway, as if purposely placed carefully. The two walls overlooking the outside were blown off, with scaffolding surrounding parts where the wall should have been.

I vaulted over the railings onto the scaffold,” Keep your head down.” I stood upright and glanced at the open road.

“Oh shit.” I fell under the wooden panels covering the scaffold upon hearing voices coming from the first floor. Something about a patrol going missing, I was definitely not responsible for that.

Flitter knelt down beside me,” Now what?”

“Looks like this is it, I’m going to go down and take care of them.” I looked at the patrol; I counted about six or seven raiders.

“What about me?”

I pondered for a moment.

I unslung my new rifle and handed it to Flitter,” You’re gonna cover me, alright?” She looked at me with uncertainty and took the rifle.

“You know how to fire that?” I asked, placing the three spare rounds on the surface. She pressed her lips together and nodded in confidence.

“Pull the bolt back,” Flitter hooked the bolt and gave it a tug; it slid open, revealing a bullet. “Make sure you push the stock hard against your shoulder cos it’s gonna kick like hell.”

“Yah, I got it.” She pressed the gun on her shoulder and mounted it on the panel.

“Listen… Look at me,” “If I run into anything down there, make every shot count, you get it?” I spoke somberly. She nodded.

“Once you fire a shot, be sure to chamber another round quick.”

“Got it.”

“You need the scope? Looks pretty strong to me.” I just noticed the huge scope fixed on the gun.

“It helps.” Flitter peered into the scope and replied.

“Oh, one more thing.” I took off the ATA on my forehoof and put in on hers. “If you’re afraid of shifting your aim accidentally when pulling the trigger, use magic to help you do that.”

“You really trust me to cover you?” She said dubiety, looking at me intently.

“Yes, I do.”

She gave me a faint smile,” Eye’ll give mai bestest.” That doesn’t sound very convincing, to be honest, but I didn’t care. At least she’s trying to help.

I hopped down onto the road. It doesn’t look like a road at least; overgrown grass had taken over the asphalt, vehicles and concrete dividers littered the area and the road had this grassy, revolting stench. The metal scaffolds companied by wooden boardings hid me in the shadows. I slid into the tall grass and ducked behind the dividers.

“Guys! They’re all dead! Patrol two was wiped out!” A raider came running towards the others, yelling in exasperation. I moved along the divider and peeked over. A group of raiders were congregating in the middle, listening to what their friend had to say.

I took the chance and jumped out of cover. I fired two shots at them, one striking a raider in his head and the other in another raider's hind-leg.

BLEM!

A shot from the scaffolds pierced through the neck of the third raider and he collapsed clumsily. I fired another shot at the staggering raider I had wounded, it tore through her flank, killing her instantly.

I scanning the surroundings intensively, spotting another foe hiding behind a van. He was aiming at me through the side windows. I raised the pistol and fired a shot, missing him and impacting off the door.

I fell back under cover as two bullets from the far right struck the concrete divider, pieces of shattered concrete pelting on my mane. I peeked over at my shooter.

Another tracer hit the shooter right in the kisser, just as I was about to return fire. Flitter’s doing quite a good job covering me, I thought.

Clink! Fwoosh!

Bloody clopfest! I dove to the right as a Molotov exploded into flames just inches away from where I was.

BLEM!

A clear line connected from the scaffolds through the window of the van where the previous raider was hiding. Whoa. I asked you to cover me, not take my kills! To be fair, it didn’t matter. That’s one less enemy to deal with. She's a good shot!

I crawled through a hole in the divider further to the right, slipping behind another van and keeping my head low. The back of a police vehicle was ‘fused’ to the front of the van, creepers creeping on the rusting surfaces. I thought I saw a sniper on the balcony of an apartment down the street, but I didn’t dare find out for myself.

BLEM!

Another shot rang out as I caught the victim flopping over the balcony. I counted the four shots, Flitter was out of bullets, and I had to be careful.

Another raider was charging at me out of the café to the right, he was carrying a long metal pipe and was growling menacingly. He was bent on killing me.

“She’s the one who killed our friends!” What an outrageous accusation!, I thought to myself.

I pulled the pistol out of its holster and pointed it at my charging foe. I was about to pull the trigger when I felt a blunt metal object smashing on my gun-wielding hoof. I dropped the gun in sudden shock and pain.

I felt someone grab me from behind, locking my hooves in place.” Hit her!” The voice behind me yelled. I struggled frantically but to no avail. The pipe-wielding pony galloped towards me, metal pipe at full swing.

Screw it. I leapt off my hind-legs and aimed for the pipe. Holding my breath and ignoring the pain, I kicked the pipe aside. It swung to the left, smashing the window of the police vehicle. The raider tried hard to pull the pipe out but it was caught on the seat-belts.

My restrainer loosened his grip as I spun around and threw him on the floor. Through the corner of my eye, I saw the raider pulling the pipe free and was ready for another swing at me. I turned a sharp-left and grabbed the pipe with my hooves, jumping and kicking him in his pipe-wielding hoof as I did. He lost grip of the weapon and stumbled.

HYAAA! I swung the pipe back with full force, striking him on the side of his face and staggering him.

“No! Please!” He begged as I raised the pipe above him.

I finished him off.

Throwing the pipe on the ground, I turned to face the other raider.

“You monster! You killed all my friends you asshole!” He snarled at me, pointing a gun at me. His hooves were wobbling and I could feel the rage pouring out of his soul.

BLEM!

I did not expect that.

The raider fell on the ground, sputtering. He reached out a hoof, trying to grab me. I stood aside as he laid face first on the soft grass, blood slowly oozing from his lifeless body.

I went and collected my pistol on the floor,” Alright, you can come down!” I hollered. I went through the two dead raiders as I saw Flitter flapping down towards me, with the rifle in her hooves.

“I thought you had only four shots?” I asked, puzzled.

“Ah went through my bags when eye ran out, and eye found two more for the rifle.” She explained, smiling reticently.

“Thank you. You were a good shot. You didn’t miss anypony.” I pulled out two clips for the 1911 from the raider’s bags, and slotted one into the empty pistol.

Pulling the slide, I handed the gun and extra clip to Flitter,” I trust you, how about something smaller?”

Flitter gave the rifle back and took the 1911,” Yeah, sure. Thanks.” “What about the device?” She raised her ATA.

“You can keep that, I don’t need it anyway.”

“Okay.” She tapped on the blinking device.

“They’re here! Kill them!” I heard a deep rumbling as an armored jeep rolled into view. There was a machine gun mounted on the top; a few raiders ran alongside the armored beast.

Fuck they got here fast.

“Run!” I pulled Flitter and skimmed our available options.” The subway! Go! Go!” I ran as fast as my hooves could carry towards the flight of stairs across the road, leading down into the subway.

Ratatatatatatatat!

The machine-gun spun up and sprayed in our direction, shredding through the bricks and concrete as the cacophony of gunfire echoed through the street.

“Down here!” I hopped down from the piece of fallen roof that lay on the stairs, down into the subway. I could hear shouts coming from the surface.

We plunged into the dark metro, jumping over the ticket-machines. Taking a path on the left, we ran deeper into the subway. In the corner of the path lay another infected nest. An old corpse lay amongst hardened blood and gore, the same mist being dispersed into the dry air.

I swiftly put on my gas mask,” You have anything to cover your face?”

“Ah’ve been through the mist without a mask many times before…”

“What? But how?” I was confounded. I stared at Flitter in disbelieve.

“I’unno, Ah’ll be fine, trust me.” She pulled me behind a collapsed pillar,” Infected up ahead.” She pointed out. I looked out of cover, there were two infected ponies trotting about slowly, growling and moaning deeply.

I fired two shots at the first infected, the second shot punctured its head, killing it instantly. The second screeched in fury as it ran for me. I put two shots in its head and it collapsed beside the first pony. The subway was covered in a filthy brown mist, making it horribly difficult to see.

“Eye has a light.” Flitter popped a small pocket-flashlight on her saddle-bags and switched it on. Ah, that’s better.
“Through the train, quickly. They should be after us anytime now.” I trotted into the carriage; the only way was through the other side, access to the other carriage was blocked off by some scrap metal. We dropped onto the rails on the other side. The track had buckled and grass was growing on through the cracks. Faint sunlight shone through the cracks on the roof of the subway. We cantered deeper down the tracks, there was another train blocking the path; one of the supports had caved in. We had to go into the carriage from there.

“How did they get an armored vehicle?” Flitter distressed.

“Probably took it. Let’s just keep moving, alright?”

The carriage was dreadfully foggy and the cramp space made me queasy. Even Flitter’s bright flashlight did not have much effect in lighting the area. The next carriage had sunk into something; I was about to jump down when I realized it was flooded. I felt the cold icy water on my hoof as I sprung back. Contaminated water is the worst kind of taint.

“Flitter, could you get me something to cross over?” I pointed to the half-submerged carriage; the roof was the only part that was dry. I peered further down into the tunnel as Flitter flew off. The carriage was about three pony’s length in distance. I slowly dipped my hoof in the water, swishing it about as I waited.

“Dis was the best eye could find.” Flitter flew back, with a ladder.” You might need to touch the water a little.”

A little.

I could see no other way. I grabbed the ladder and held on to it as I slowly lowered myself in the icy water. Flitter landed on the carriage, pulling the ladder with me. The water was chilling me to the bone, I shivered, holding on tight to the rungs.

“Here, gimme your hoof.” Flitter put the ladder aside as she grabbed my hooves, and pulling me up as hard as her little being could. Half of my body was drenched, my coat felt heavy.

I got out of the water and felt for my equipment, none was lost, thank Celestia. I trotted carefully along the roof, the carriage wobbling with every step.

I jumped onto the maintenance walkway on the other side of the track and slowly ambled down the path. The walkway just ended with the rest of the path crumbled under the water. There was a rotting corpse right at the end. Doesn’t look like an infected.

“Flitter, the other side. Looks like an emergency escape.” She flew over to the platform, shining the light at the walls.

She turned back to look at me.” Need the ladder? Ah’ll go get it.”

Oh not again. I nodded hesitantly.

Flitter set the ladder down into the water, holding on to the end of it as I dipped myself in it. I hugged the top of the ladder, shifting myself forward ever-so-slightly. I was freezing stiff and my breath was blurring the gas mask; I closed my eyes tight, hoping that the chill would go away.

“You okay?” Flitter breathed gently on my hoof, the sudden warmth made me shudder. I opened my eyes and started to paddle forward.

Flitter leaned the ladder on the edge of the platform as I climbed up onto the dry platform, shaking off the water from my coat. I’d have a cold at this rate, and that’s not good.

I walked into the hallway marked ‘exit’ on the top. There were bits of an infected nest on the walls and ceiling, that was pretty gross. We were separated from the exit by a metal gate door. Sunlight was shining down the flight of stairs leading up. I pushed the gate and it swung open with a rusted creak. Yes! We were out of the subway! That’s always good.

Fresh air. Well, not really. We were finally out of the subway, no signs of an armored jeep trying to kill us, all is good. I took off my gas mask and sat on a mossy bench.

“Look, I don’t know what’s with you and being able to breathe in that crap.” “…And why you don’t want me to take you to the outpost.”

“It’s really complicated…” Flitter let out a frustrated sigh and looked off into the streets.

“I’m sure it is.” I talked back. “Look at me, Flitter. Look at me.” She shot me a dejected look. “I just want to help you, I’d ask you again. Are you hiding anything from me?”

“No.” She answered firmly.

“Then what the heck is this?” I pulled out the recording from the lab. I knew what was up from the start; the voice on the recording was definitely her.

“What is dat?” She reached out a hoof to take the recorder from me. I held it back, looking at her with my discontent, blue eyes.

“I found it in a lab. In Manehatten.

Flitter’s ears perked up slightly. “Eye can-“

“We will talk. In the car. You better think of what you’re gonna tell me.” I cut her off mid-sentence. Somehow threatening her isn’t going to work out, I do not want to hurt her more than she already was. I just wanted to know more, there is definitely something deeper to this.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… talked to you like that.” I apologized.

Flitter wiped off a tear,” It's okay, eye will tell you everything...” She said in a genuine tone.

“Alright-“ I heard the familiar deep rumbling of the armored jeep rolling through the street.

“…In here, quickly.” I dashed into a restaurant of some sort and hid behind the counter, Flitter laid down beside me.

“Hey! They ought to come through here! We’ll wait here and surprise those fuckers.” The jeep stopped in front of the exit and the raider sitting at the top of the jeep with the machine gun called out to his friends. That was close, if we stayed in there for even a minute, we would have been torn to pieces.

“Alright! I’ll stay up in the building and provide cover!” Another raider bellowed. I could see two ponies trotting up towards us, one carrying a shotgun and the other a hunting rifle similar to the one I had.

“Second floor, go.” I whispered, crawling on all fours into the kitchen.

I got up as soon as we are out of sight of the raiders,” Flitter, go upstairs and hide. I’ll be with you soon.” She gave me a brief nod and ran out of the kitchen from the back. We have the element of surprise, they have no idea what’s gonna strike them. I pulled out two knives from the knife rack and went to the back, but instead of going upstairs to the apartment level, I slid into the courtyard and hid behind the door. I waited for the raiders to go up the stairs, with a knife in between my teeth and another hovering close to me.

“You serious? The two of them took out like what? Ten of us? Do we stand a chance?”

“Don’t be a pussy. We have a machine gun; they can’t run from us now.”

Oh really?

I heard them cantering up the stairs. One of them was faster and has already got up to the second floor. I snuck up on the closest one and pulled him down the stairs. Before he could yell, I stabbed him in the neck and he fell, blood dribbling out of the wound. I plopped him down gently on the floor and clambered up the stairs. It lead directly into an apartment overlooking the subway emergency exit. I snooped over the door; the raider has mounted a rifle on the windows and was looking over at my direction.

“James! Where the fuck are you?”

“He met with an accident.” I jumped out of cover and taunted, throwing the knife at him. It flew straight out of the window.

Oops.

“Hey! Th-“He tried to yell to his friends but was cut off by a golf club to his face. Another swing rendered him to the floor as Flitter leaned on the golf club. I went over to the body and searched it.

“Is everything alright up there? Hello?” The voice below called out.

I dug through his bag, finding ammo for the rifle and an unlit Molotov.

“Eye has a light.” Flitter took out the lighter from her bags and lit the Molotov.

If I’m able to chuck the cocktail into the jeep, then our problem will be solved. I found an open window directly overlooking the jeep and tossed the cocktail with the help of my magic and skills. The Molotov landed right on the gunner’s crotch and burst into flames, the fiery blaze spreading down into the jeep, licking the interior hungrily. The gunner fell off the jeep, screaming in pain as the raiders in the jeep scrambled out, furiously trying to put out the fires that engulf their torso.

“Holy shit…” Flitter muttered.

“C’mon, let’s go.” I pulled her Flitter out of the door and we went down and out of the building.

“We should… Take the big gun. Don’t chyou think?” Flitter brought up. I just want to get back to my jeep, assuming no one took it.

“That would only weigh us down; let’s just get back to my vehicle.” I looked at the street signs, trying to backtrack where we’ve been; it wasn’t that far if I remembered correctly.

“Wai are you helping me?” Flitter suddenly spoke.

I turned to her,” Then why are you following me?” I continued trotting down the street. Flitter looked at the ground, not saying a word.

“I’m just kidding, easy there.”

*** ***

The jeep was still there, untouched. I got in and started the engine.

“So… where are we going?” I asked Flitter, who sat next to me, staring the dashboard. She glanced at me, pulling a dull face.

“We’ll talk, out of the city.” I reversed and plotted a route for the expressway that led out of the city. Flitter sat in silence, admiring the passing buildings and pondering about something deeply.

I stopped atop of the Ma-Relantic expressway bridge. Absconse Bay sat in a glimmering hue of red as sunset fell upon us.

“You’re gonna tell me why I can’t take you to the outpost?” I broke the silence.

“…They’ll kill me if you take me there.” Flitter let out a soft sigh as she looked right into my eyes.

“Why?” I pulled out the recorder.” Is it because of this?”

“Eye’m not responsible for the outbreak!” She cried out.

“I know. It’s not your fault… So you worked at the Labs?” I bit my lip.

Flitter wiped of her tears,” Yes. Eye lived in Cloudsdale and eye travel to work by train every day.”

“The voice in the recording. I need a name. What was his name?” I pressed.

“We call him Dr. Reinhardt. He was immune to the parasite…”

“Parasite?”

“Yes. He sent me away on the day of the outbreak. He spared my life.”

“But he destroyed Equestria! He was a monster! He caused the lives of hundreds and thousands of innocent ponies.”

“I could have stopped him… I didn’t know…”

I felt sorry for her. I knew I had to go with her, I knew what had to be done. I had a feeling this was the start of the real journey.

“Eye’m sorry! Ple- Please don’t leave me alone! Ah have nowhere else to go…” Flitter started sobbing uncontrollably. My heart wrenched repressively as I hugged the little pegasus.

“I don't plan to leave you alone. Do you have anypony you could contact?” I held her close to me. She shook her head. That’s just sad.

“…Ey- Eye haven’t seen my sister since the outbreak.” She sniffed. “But eye know she’s alive! She must be!” She intoned with much confidence.

I had to focus on gaining her trust; the outbreak had hit everypony hard. It wasn’t easy for a little pony to survive out in the wastelands alone. She needed comfort, she needed warmth. I threw the topic aside, it wasn’t important now.

“I won’t leave you alone. I’ll take you someplace safe and we can talk about this another time, alright?” I gently pushed her out of the embrace and held her shoulders.

“Thank you…” She smiled feebly, wiping off her tears forcefully.

“Now… I’ve a friend… Who lives in an outpost near the Hoover Dam. It’s safe there, and…” I told her.” I promise you… I will help you find your sister.” I reassured her.

She looked at me, tears glimmering in her eyes,” Thank you Eve, you’re a good pony, eye understand completely….” “Eye will help you find Dr. Reinhardt… I need a word with him.”

I smiled and stepped on the accelerator,” Go get some sleep. I’ll wake you up when we’re there.”

Flitter laid back and turned to face me, gazing at me fervently. She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh,” Eye feel… safe, with you~” She mumbled. I’m trying my best.

We were just out of the city. And my head was starting to throb violently; a feverish heat was slowly creeping throughout my body. I was sweating suddenly; it must have been from the cold water down in the subway. I felt my injured side; it was beginning to heat up as well. Ignoring the discomfort, I drove on; we were passing by a forest. The road sign on the right indicated a small town of Auvergne in about five miles. That’s our first stop for fuel and a place to stay for the night. The sky had darkened a whole lot; the moon had appeared in the dark blue shade of the sky.

My fever was starting to get worst.

I had to stop.

Soon...

Chapter 7: How Long Will It Take?

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

“Holy Celestia, your aim is getting awry.” I heard a sweet voice from behind. I put down the service revolver.

I sighed and turned to the white pegasus behind. “I guess I’m not on my game today…”

“Nah, don’t feel so bad, you are one of the best in the academy.” She tapped me on the shoulder as I took off the ear protectors, setting them on the counter.

“That’s why they put you with me, isn’t that right? You narcissistic little-“

“Good mornin’ mam’!” My pegasus friend greeted in a firm standing posture. I jolted and did the same.

“Hmm… Eve, you feeling a little edgy today?” My superintendent squinted her eyes at me.

“No mam’.” I promptly replied.

“Good, now. Eve and Skyla, I have an important job for the both of you. We should talk in my office.” She walked out of the range and we followed her into a pristine white hallway; ponies were going to and fro, chatting with their friends and going about their tasks…

“Hey, Eve.”

“Huh?”

“Dinner tonight?” Skyla poked me with her wing.

I stared at her with a hard expression then I felt my eyelids loosen.” If- we make it back in time.”

“Of course we’ll make it back in time, we always do.” She flapped a wing at me.

“Not always.” I hissed.

“Tinder, careful with the soda machine! You’ve already broken four this week!” The chief yelled at the pony who was ‘wrestling’ with the machine.

“Four? Bloody hell.” Skyla spat with an amused look.

“Don’t worry mam’, this is my last.” The stallion waved and carried on with whatever he’s doing.

We walked into the chief’s office, stepping over pieces of paper and boxes strewn on the tiled linoleum. The desk was filled with files and documents, covering part of the flat computer monitor on the side on the desk. She slumped on an executive chair and took off her aviators.

“This is an important one… The Equestrian Health and Biomedical Congress, held by Dr. Isenfield Reinhardt and representatives from various medical facilities… We’ve sent about twenty of our detachments but we need more hoof-power…”

“We’ll do it mam’.” Skyla spoke before she could finish, looking at me with a sanguine smile.

“Just the usual, isn’t it? Eve, any problem?” She chuckled, turning to me.

“Huh? Ye- Yeah, no problem.” I stuttered.

“Alright! Let’s go, agent Eve.” Skyla flew up and pulled me out of the office.

“Vanhoover City Hall Auditorium!” Chief’s voice echoed behind us.

…

“You can be really cute at times.” I felt Skyla’s mane of blue hair brush against my cheek. I sprung back.” And clueless…”

“Wear your jacket. And keep your pants on.” I threw the coat at Skyla, who was buckling a holster on her waist.

“…But I’m not wearing any.” Skyla looked at me suggestively. I put on my work jacket and took my revolver from the locker. I did not like where this was going.

“Do we really need a gun?” I changed the topic, flipping the revolving chamber and slotting it in my coat.

“Gah, it’s not like it’s your first day at work.” Skyla trotted out of the door, into the hallway.” Y'know, in case this, in case shit hits the fan. Come on.” She signaled.

“Do you think it will be boring like every other job we’re assigned? I mean c’mon, where’s the action? Y’know.” Skyla walked down the corridor as I followed beside her.

“I don’t think so; I kinda wanted to learn about medical sciences. It’ll be interesting, maybe…”

“Maybe, at least it’s an air-conditioned place. Not like that square under the glaring sun the last time.” Skyla jabbered with a half-annoyed tone.

We trotted into the parking lot, towards Sky’s black SUV.

“You remember that last job?”

“Which last job?” I asked with a puzzled look in my eyes.

“That one at the rich little shit’s party a few weeks back, Arcadius Monolithium, Los Pegassai. Have you forgotten?” Skyla enlightened me, hopping into the passenger seat.

“No I haven’t. What about it?”

“You got really tipsy on duty.”

“You don’t have to remind me of that.” I groaned, shutting the door as I got in the driver’s side. “I’m driving?”

“Don’t change the topic, Eevee. The host was like ‘Hey! Have some champagne! Have some scotch to top that! and some more whiskey!’ Oh dear… can’t believe you actually downed everything.” Skyla giggled, lurching all over her seat. The vehicle shook.

“Eevee’s a nice nickname, I like it.” I started the vehicle and drove for the exit.

“…You were like breakdancing and everypony was like-“

My ears went flat and I winced.

“-Don’t be so uptight. I didn’t mean it.” Skyla pulled her jacket tightly around her and opened the glove box, grabbing a book from it.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s just a novel I’ve been reading. It’s a detective noir kind of novel, it’s awesome.” She flipped the pages,” Seek the truth… only then shall you unknow the truth.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s just a quote from the protagonist.”

“Can I borrow it? I’d like to have a read for myself.” I asked.

“Sure.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

“Eve? You have to wake up!” A forced whisper and a soft nudge awoke me from my deep slumber.

“Ugh… Huh? What?” I mumbled, squeezing my pillow against my body.

“Eve, eye heard something outside…”

“Heard what!?” I opened my eyes wide and pulled Flitter up from my side.

I fell from the sofa and Flitter went down with me, landing right on top of me.

“Ow.” She moaned softly, planting her face on my fur as a warm fuzzy sensation spread across my chest. She stared up at me as I glanced around the apartment, taking a better look at the surroundings. Sunlight was pouring through the window; the rain from last night had made the air especially humid.

What a weird dream/memory.

“I don’t hear anything.” I tucked my hooves under Flitter’s wing, pulling her to my face. I was still feeling tired and sore from yesterday’s events. Even the hardest flooring felt comfortable against my back. My blue eyes connected with Flitter’s and I felt her wings stiffening as her face flushed in hot red.

“Ugh... wingboner…” Flitter lamented silently, lifting herself to her hooves.

“It happens, y’know.” I whispered loudly. In a creepy voice too, geez.

“Uh-“

PUM! PUM! Ratatatatata!! FOOM!

A muffled cacophony of gunfire echoed from the outside. I scurried onto my hooves and hurried to grab my stuff. I buckled my holsters and saddlebag and turned out of the door, my newly acquired nine-millimeter floating beside me.

“Eve, take your coat back, you’ll need it if you’re going to fight.” Flitter passed the coat to me and I put it on swiftly. It won’t provide me with much protection but at least I don’t feel so vulnerable in it. I cantered into the corridor, peering out of the windows into the streets below. Gunshots resounded and an explosion reverberated through the air. That must’ve been an intense fight, at least it sounded like it. If there were any survivors out there, we must help.

I pushed about half of my body out of the window, overlooking the opposite side of the checkpoint. I could hear more clearly the shots coming from down the boulevard.

“Lower me onto street level, will you?” I put a leg onto the window sill, about to climb over.

“Okai, here we go.” Flitter flew out of the window and grabbed my forehooves. I felt gravity taking over as I found myself suspended in a height of two floors.

“Whoa, it’s slipping.”

“Don’t worry, eye got it.” Flitter lowered me onto the roof of a van, the metal bent as my hooves felt it. I promptly hopped onto the ground.

Ratatatatat!!

Automatic fire blared and occasional yells could be heard.

“Keep your head down, sounds like its coming from the freeway.” I kept a defensive stance and cantered ahead, sounds of profanity and insults were getting thrown as we moved closer.

“How early is it in the morning?” I casually asked, yawning a little.

“It’s about five…” Flitter glanced at her Telekinetic Device, which conveniently is a hoof-watch as well. There is a small display in the corner of the interface showing the time.

“Hopefully it’s worth it.”

I quickly slid under the cover of the buildings. There was a lane converging into the freeway directly in front of us, littered with a multitude of cars, some stacked up onto of one another. A container truck had clipped onto a van, hanging off the divider on the edge of the road.

Bullets whizzed past the two sides of the lanes, a stray bullet ricocheting off the door of a car next to me. I dived onto the ground and pulled myself behind a post box, shielded by a crushed van.

“You flank them from the left side! We’ve got this, they can’t escape!” I could hear a thunderous shout from a pony in amongst the maze of vehicles. Who can’t escape? They couldn’t have spotted us already.

Flitter pulled out her assault rifle and knelt beside me. She put a hoof on my shoulder and aimed into the fray. Whoever’s the raider were attacking, they were putting up a strong resistance. We have to cut out the flank and help!

“Flitter, move up along the building and take out whoever’s passing. I’ll try to get an edge on the main attacking unit.” I threw out a directive and unslung my rifle.

Flitter nodded and disappeared over my shoulder. “Be careful, alright?”

“I will.” I assured, propping the rifle on the bonnet of the van. I stared into the scope.

BLEM! Click-click! Fwap!

I slotted another round into the barrel, the previous bullet striking a pony in her neck. I moved up onto a divider and readied for another shot.

A burst of automatic fire tore into the open, splintering several vehicles in the freeway. I spotted about four raiders appearing behind the cover of the vehicles, still firing frantically. I doubt they’ve spotted us.

I managed to pick one of them off before they realized they’ve got another foe on the battlefield. Rounds whizzed past me as I instantly ducked, the concrete shattering above me.

“Down the street! They’re flanking us!”

I may have blown my cover.

I slowly and carefully backed up where I came from and positioned myself behind the post box once more. I could see Flitter hiding behind a door stacked beside the door of another vehicle. She stood up on her cover and fired a burst into the open. The rifle fired with a crisp and hollow ratatat as her hooves shook from the recoil. I crawled to Flitter, dragging my rifle alongside me as I did.

BOOM!!

An ear-splitting explosion sent a massive shockwave through the ground, throwing both Flitter and myself onto the hard concrete. A huge cloud of smoke was pouring from the freeway. I quickly dashed to Flitter and pulled her up, vaulting over her cover and into another behind a container truck.

BLEM!

I fired a shot and it bounced off the hood of a convertible. Damn it. Flitter fired off a burst, hitting at least two raiders. It wasn’t clear if they went down. I gave up trying and made my way to the back of the truck, which was further down the freeway. It was a huge truck; that had to be said. The thick smoke was getting denser, still billowing from down the freeway. I coughed; tears were brimming from my eyes from the noxious smog. I could feel the heat searing lightly on my back, sweat dripped from my forehead as I focused my rifle into the open area.

Just as I was about to fire a shot, I felt someone grab me on my shoulder. My first instinct was to thrust my elbow back but she effectively tugged it aside, pulling me into the cover of the truck and covering my mouth with her hoof.

“Shh… friendly. I saw your friend over there firing at the hunters.” A soft feminine voice whispered loudly.” Go get your friend, we’re leaving. Go!” The unicorn released me from her grip. She pulled out a revolver and disappeared into the mess of cars. I looked back for a second and dashed to get Flitter, dodging from vehicle to cover and from cover to vehicle again.

“Flits, time to move!” I called out. She glanced at me and tossed her rifle at me, fluttering towards me.

She pressed a magazine onto my hoof,” Empty, and eye’m right behind you.”

I pulled off the empty clip and slotted the new magazine inside. It slid in smoothly with a clack.

Tatatatata!!

I fired a volley into the affray, several shots impacting on a raider as he collapsed on the ground.

“Quickly, I’ll try to get the car running!” The unicorn from earlier ran past us and the container truck. The raiders seemed to have held back temporarily, but they would soon be on us. I ran after her, twisting and jumping over the vehicles that lay in our path and closer towards the source of the explosion from earlier. The blue haired unicorn bounded up to a black SUV and pulled out a crowbar which was strapped on her leg. I pulled Flitter behind a small van.

“Hold them out while I’ll try to fix this!” She slid a shotgun on the ground at me as she pushed the hood of the SUV open with the crowbar, propping it up and staring into the engine. I magically grabbed the shotgun and passed it Flitter, who was cowering beside me. She looked at me and held up the shotgun, running her hooves on the rubbery plating.

“Roxxy! You stay in the car, you hear me?” Our unicorn friend opened the door and switched the ignition on the driver’s side. The SUV let out a rough hiss and went silent shortly after. I fired another burst at the raiders, the thick smoke and the compressed air from my rifle made it hard for me to make out if I’d hit anything, but I’d like to think I did.

“Fuck, you hear that? Infected will be swarming the place!” Yeah, I heard the screams and moans reverberating through the air. Soon, this place will be full of them.

“Flitter! Don’t let any of them through!”

“Eye’m trying mai best!” She shrieked, firing off the shotgun. I could already see several infected weaving their way through the maze of vehicles and scrap. There was a three-way battle underway, between us, the raiders and the infected; and victory goes to either one or the other two.

“Roxxie! Try starting it now!”

“I… I’m tryin’!” A meek voice sounded from inside the vehicle. It didn’t work.

I went over to the SUV doors and squinted down the sights, trying to get a better angle back here.

“Eve-!” I cocked my head to Flitter’s direction. Before I knew it, I was thrown off my weapon and being pinned onto the side of the vehicle by an angry infected pony; she clawed viciously at me, trying to bite me. I shielded my face from her fangs with my hoof, also trying to avoid getting bit on the hoof at the same time.

“Fucking hell!” I heard the unicorn yell.

BAM!! BAM!!

“They’re fucking everywhere!”

BAM!! BAM!! BAM!!

This was it. Are we going to just get overwhelmed and die like this?

I focused on the infected on me, shoving and trying to direct her face away from my neck. I tried calling for help but no words came out. At the same time, I really hope Flitter won’t fire the shotgun at us, as much as I would like to get this monstrosity of off me.

BUM!

Blood splattered on my mane and coat as the infected pony went down. I turned to look at my savior from the back of the vehicle. A pale pinkish-grey pegasus was leaning on the SUV with a pistol in her hoof, she was grasping her side painfully with her other hoof and was looking right at me with a wincing smile. Her wound was bleeding profusely and blood dripped on the basalt beneath her legs. She fell on her haunches and was struggling to get up.

I went over and pulled her up, lifting the rear doors and helping her into the back of the vehicle.

“Hang in there… And thank you.”

“Ha… I’m fine. I’m not dying… at least not today.” She said weekly.

“Oh no, you shouldn’t move around with that wound!” The little mare I remembered being called Roxxie crawled over to her and checked on her injury.

“Take care of your friend, I’m gonna go help out front.” I said before closing the rear door. I moved along the side of the vehicle, picking off another infected pony charging towards us.

“Yes! Get in, get in right now!” I heard a yell from the front. The blue maned unicorn slammed the bonnet shut, getting into the driver’s seat.

Flitter quickly stumbled into the middle seat and I clambered in after her, landing on her flank. The vehicle suddenly reversed, swerving to the right. I swiftly shut the door with my magic and regained my bearings.

“Sit tight, it’s gonna be bumpy.” The vehicle swerved again, almost smashing onto a burnt shell of another SUV in the middle of the road. The SUV plowed through a divider and spurred onto the expressway. Gunshots rang out from behind us as we strayed aside, avoiding the wreckages on the road.

We broke free! We did it, gosh was it intense. I tried to calm myself down.

“Fucking hunters, I shouldn’t have come to this craphole.” The unicorn griped, turning the vehicle into the next lane and onto the Capitol Beltline Expressway.

There was a short moment of silence as I stared at Flitter, who was sitting nervously with her hooves tucked between her legs.

“Ah, thanks for the help, although we could probably handle that on our own-“

“No we can’t Kya! You saw how many we’ve lost today!” Roxxy yelled out from the back of the SUV. Flitter took one look at the injured pegasus and swiftly climbed to the back.

“You’re right… We couldn't... I’m Kyara and that’s Roxanne and Blossomforth at the back. C’mon, take a seat beside me.” The unicorn introduced, beckoning me to come forward.

“I’m Eve and that’s Flitter at the back.” I said, scrambling onto the front seat.

“Hang on, eye have bandages…”

I looked back at Flitter, who was tending to the injured pegasus. She was wounded badly, but she’s still holding on.

I turned back to Kyara,” So what happened back there? It seemed pretty intense…”

She let out a heaving sigh,” Someone in our group had the idea of scavenging in a hunter infested city, you can guess what happened next. There were about ten or eleven of us, but all there’s left is the three of us… I shouldn’t have brought Roxxy along…”

“I’m old enough to take care of myself! …and I thought I could help.” Roxanne blurted.

“She’s still young… I promised her sister I’ll take care of her.” Kyara sighed again, her eyes softening.

“You don’t mind if we come with you?” I asked.

“We could use more allies, everypony we’ve met either wants to kill us or kill us. We have a temporary base in Ponyville and there’s about twenty of us there.”

“I thought that place was overrun by infected?”

“That’s only the central part of the town, we settled in the outskirts so infected is the least of our problems.” She explained. Flitter had climbed into the middle seat and was leaning of my seat.

“How’s Blossom?”

“She’s okay, Eye’ve patched her up but she will need sum antibiotics.” Flitter stared at me, smiling affably.

“That’s good, so Eve… What were you two doing in Raneigh anyway?” Kyara peered through the mirrors and then back to me.

“We had a vehicle but we were ambushed on our way in. We fought off a whole bunch of them and rested for the night in the abandoned military checkpoint, until the gunshots woke us up.” I explained.

“You two held out pretty good, looks can really be deceiving.” Kyara shot a look at Flitter through the corner of her eye.” Anyway, there must be somethin’ you two are travelling for. You don’t mind me prying, do you?” Flitter rolled her eyes and slumped back onto the seat.

“Nah, it’s okay. We were heading to the Hoover Dam, a friend is expecting well, me.”

“You’re part of the resistance?” I nodded in uncertainty.” That’s cool; our group is actually a detachment from Las Equine. Our frontier is just near the Dam so you’re in luck; we can drop you off nearby. I’ll speak with the forerunner when we reach Ponyville.”

Fantastic. Hurray!

“How far till we’re there?” I asked casually.

“It’s about a hundred miles to Ponyville, and two hundred from then on.” That’s fine. It’s quite a distance but I’m not complaining.
The SUV was just rolling into the auxiliary highways; tall buildings faded into rural and mountainous regions, towering hills and mountains loomed over us as the sun shone brilliantly in the horizon.

Route 70. We turned into the main highway.

I was getting restless; I tossed and fidgeted all over the seat. At least I didn’t have to drive; my flank was getting pretty numb. Flitter was sitting silently in the back, her face buried in the book she took from the library. Roxanne was at the back, tending to Blossomforth.

“Why do you fight for the resistance? What keeps you going? More and more ponies are getting desperate, flooding over to the South so that the Orient can take them in, pathetic if you ask me.” Kyara asked suddenly as I pondered deeply.” One day, one day… We could be free from this nightmare… as if the infected is not enough already.”

“I fight to stay alive, to protect all that I love, from the ones that would take it away from us. Don’t we all? What about you? What fuels your desire to fight?”

Kyara sighed, peering out into the open, as if looking out into the open sky.” I fight, not because I hate what’s in front of me. I fight because I love what’s behind me… Yeah, just like you.” I nodded. I reflected on her words deeply, staring blankly at my hooves.

Snapping out of deep thought, I turned to look at my little friend, who was still engrossed in her book.

“Is that what I think it is?” Kyara asked, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

“Wat, it's nothing!…” Flitter said meekly while hiding part of her face with the book, her eyes fixating on it once more.

“Well… we do get interested in that kind of stuff at some point of our lives.” Kyara chuckled, maintaining a straight face afterwards and pivoting her head towards me. I laid back, trying to get some rest. I don’t feel like sleeping, in fact, I’m dying for some action. But we all should appreciate some peace for once.

The vehicle began slowing considerably, before coming to a complete stop beside a gas station.

“C’mon, pit stop. I’ll check the vehicle for damage etcetera. You girls could get out and stretch for a while.” Kyara exited the SUV and I followed.

“I’ll stay and take care of Blossom.” Roxanne called out.

Kyara went over to the front and opened the hood, checking the engine intensively.” Why not go over and see if there’s any fuel?”

She pointed to the station. I trotted over to the pumps, stretching my hooves and neck as I did. I detached the handle and verified for any drops of liquid gold. It probably had dried up over the years; the feeding tube had a brown sludge stuck on it. In no possible way was there any oil left in the tank, even if there were, the pump was unusable. I threw the piece of junk on the floor and stomped back to the vehicle. I opened the rear door and sat down on the soft padding of the compartment. Blossomforth was lying at the back, bloods staining on the grey padding. Roxanne was lying against the wall of the vehicle beside her.

“How are you feeling?” I gently put my hoof on her bandaged wound, brushing it softly.

“It could be worse, y’know? I’m feeling good actually, just hoping nothing bad pops up on the way.” Blossom looked at me faintly with her bright blue eyes, putting her hoof on her chest.

“You get some rest, we should be there soon.” I got up and softly shut the rear door. I cantered up onto the empty highway, feeling as if no car in the world could stop me. Well, they can’t stop me because we’re the only functional vehicle in the middle of nowhere, a few miles out of the city. The highway stretched to eternity, the warm fuzzy sunlight blurring the horizon. Wreckages of vehicles, big and small, were strewn all over the sides of the roads, with an occasional one on one side of the road. Only the sound of the soft shuffling of the wind could be heard, I closed my eyes to let it brush against my fur.

“Hey! Eve, I’m done with the SUV. Come here, we’ll check our equipment.” Kyara yelled, slamming the hood and putting her bags on it. I swiftly bounded up and watched as she took out several gadgets, two pistols and the shotgun from earlier.

“What are those?” I asked, pointing to the small, box-like contraption among the other items.

“Oh, that’s useful stuff. You can have it, strap it to your hunting rifle. It’s an autoloader; the device scans your bag for suitable ammo and reloads your weapon for you.”

Definitely useful, I didn’t like digging for the scattered cartridges when I could be firing a follow-up shot quickly. I strapped the device on the underside of the barrel, tucking it beside the scope on the side of the gun. I slung the rifle back.

“Alright, ready to go?” I nodded, pulling the door and getting into the seat. Kyara got in, rubbing her hooves together before putting them on the wheel. We set off down the highway on onwards to the next part of our journey.

A beautiful lake stretched out on our left, glimmering in the sunlight and casting reflections on its smooth surface as the alpine forests rolled past us on the other side. At this moment, I really felt the vastness of this world, how there are no limits as long as we believe. Among all the bloody violence and conflicts, there is still beauty in Equestria. Nature is coming back at us. The sun hung high as its glaring needle-like rays insinuated into the vehicle.

“Steel creek, they say the reflection during sunset makes it look sleek just like steel.”

“That’s pretty cool, I’m sick of being in the city, the air’s as stale as bread left for decades.” That was obviously an exaggeration, but it was that bad. Probably the southern air is fresher.

“Oh my…” Flitter murmured with an embarrassed look on her face.

I turned back, staring at her in curiosity and disgust.

“Do you have important business in the Dam? You seem to risk a hell lot for this trip.” Kyara asked suddenly, turning the vehicle down a lane.

“I- er… It’s about something in the south, and Flitter.”

“What about her?”

I looked at Flitter and she nodded with uncertainty.

“She is important.” I replied with much deference.

“What do you mean? She’s like some sort of aristocratic upper-class billionaire’s daughter? Or maybe… she’s the key to curing this disease, a counteragent?” Kyara broached, with an intense look in her eyes.

“I’d like to hope it’s the latter, there’s only one such pony who possess this immunity to the parasite.”

“Oh? That’s not impossible…”

“He’s none other than the leader of Orient, but not many ponies know that.”

“Yeah, we know that a long time ago. We should kill him, chop him up and make a vaccine.” Kyara suggested, a smile inching on her face.

“I plan to do that.”

“Reverse engineering a vaccine is harder than it looks, especially when the virus had been around for so long.” Flitter spoke, putting her book down.

“That’s what everypony would’ve wanted, way to ruin this dream.” Kyara frowned.

“Wait, is it really impossible?” I said from my head, thinking blankly about how it would be done, but my lack of scientific knowledge does not help one bit.

“It will be difficult, the virus could have adapted and mutated. Just think about it, his genes were modified to have a resistance to the virus when he started experimenting with the parasites. That was before the outbreak happened.” Flitter explained.

“So if he gets bit now, it’s game over?” I asked.

“Oh-no-no-no-no-” Flitter rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed.” It doesn’t work like that… However may the virus have mutated, the chromatin’s chemical composition stays the same, that means whichever change in his gene that grants him immunity recognizes the virus, it is able to adapt quickly and eradicate the virus. It’s just like T helper cells and Memory T cells, Memory T cells can recognize an antigen even after years! They will send a signal to the helper cells; they recognize the antigen and will activate the Cytotoxic T cells, which will then eliminate the threat.”

“The fuck did I just hear?” Kyara blinked at me with a blank face.

“It’s true Kya, I take Bio in school and I remembered that class.” Roxanne popped her head out of the back seat and said.

“I think I get it, so his gene alteration allowed him to detect the pathogen and kill it before it kills him?” I tried to put everything together, piece it piece by piece.

“Yesh.”

“Then why can’t we reverse engineer a vaccine?” Kyara retorted.

“Eye didn’t say that.”

“Yeah you did.”

“No she didn’t.”

“Yes eye didn’t.”

“Yeah she did.”

“No eye didn’t.”

“Yes she didn- wait, stop!” I blared, hooves pressing on my cheek.

“Stop the car?”

“No!”

“Chill, I’m just joking.”

“Ugh-“

“Anyway, how did you know all this, Flitter? Were you that one pony who does hardcore science and scores top in school?”

“Eye work in a Biochemical research lab, so that’s something eye should know. It’s pretty basic.” Flitter prated, heaving a sigh.

“Really? Could you teach me what you know, I love science! I wanna be a scientist one day; it’s just sooo cool and stuff.” Roxanne climbed on the middle seat, tugging at Flitter.

“Uh- eye…” She stared at me, her eyes giving me an obvious ‘help-me’ look.

“Puhhh-Lease? I have a few books on the subject but some are too hard!” Roxxy pulled out two thick books and plopped the on the seat.

“…Fine, eye’ll just… take it as a revision.” Flitter sighed, flipping the book open.

I began pondering about the dream I’d had earlier this morning, the pieces and fragments of the memory flashed across my head as I tried to remember.

“Flitter, have you been to a medical seminar before?” She looked at me, confounded. “I mean… specifically a few weeks before the outbreak.”

“Yeah, eye have. But eye can’t recall most of them." She said softly, eyes looking intensely at the book.

I furrowed my brows,” Hmm, forget I asked that.” I waved off. It wouldn’t make any difference, meh.

Peering out of the window, I mooned over into the endless valleys that have started to loom into view, tall coniferous trees stretching along the two sides of the road. I have been to Ponyville before and the area had started to look recognizable, I’d just hope that the place was not as swarmed with infected like that last time.

“That’s Canterlot up there, bits and pieces are falling apart, but it’s worth a check-out, next time, of course.” I gazed upon the towering mountain in the distance, a faint grey-white structure protruding from the sides, the single mountain stood amongst a vast and thick forest. Ponyville should be coming up, a road sign at the side of the highway says: Ponyville 16 miles right.

One step closer to the Dam, let’s see how this goes.