Part 1
He made a critical mistake. He was sweating, and sweat in this weather meant certain death. But that’s beside the point; if he didn’t run he would be dead by now, so he made the “right” choice. He was panting now, and his legs burned. It wasn’t easy trudging through deep snow with a 30 kilogram pack on, but there was no other choice. He had been running for at least 15 minutes by now, yet the “wolves”, or Stenchbroods as he called them, were still right on his heels. He realized he wasn’t making any progress; they were right on his the entire time. It was time to stop and fight, or at least try to. He came to a rest in a small clearing with his hand on his knees. After a second or two he stood back up and unslung his trusty SKS. He sighed heavily at the realization that they had surrounded him. They kept a safe distance from him; but it was only a matter of time until one of the charged. One howled loudly off to his right, and he spun around to face it. He spotted it with its snout stuck in the air. The howl was blood curdling, and he shivered as a result. The beast lowered its snout and stared him straight in his eyes. He felt sick, the creature looked hideous; with its glowing red eyes, and it’s knotted black fur.
They were more suited for this environment, and were very dangerous. They had large claws, growing anywhere from 3-5 inches, and a nasty bite. They were also faster than him, bigger too, weighing in around 300LBS. Common laws of the forest were to avoid any conflict with one. But he had one advantage over them, the ability to launch tiny pieces of metal through the air at supersonic seeds.
He raised his gun and positioned it behind his sights. He clicked the safety off, and prepared to unload. The beast started to charge him, and he squeezed the trigger. The rifle slammed back into his shoulder. The unmistakable “ZISHH” of bullet on flesh contact could be heard. Yet again he fired another shot, and produced the same sound. The mutant wolf, which was in the middle of a full on charge, now slid to arrest just feet in front of him, leaving a bright crimson streak on the snow. But once again he had made another mistake.
He heard an increasingly loud roar behind him, and he knew he fucked up. He turned to shoot the incoming creature, but he was surprised to see that the Brood was already upon him. He put his left arm out to deflect it, but the momentum of the leaping Stenchbrood was too much and it knocked him on his back! His gun was sent flying through the air. He struggled under the weight of it. He tried his best to distance himself from it; pushing it away with his left arm, while trying to unholster his pistol with his other. The wolf was truly terrifying, it snapped its teeth rapidly at his neck, and struggled on top of him. Finally he was able to get his pistol out and he angled it straight into its disgusting body. He pulled the trigger as fast as he could. After about six rounds the beast seemed to lose strength, and he was able to push it away.
He quickly sprang up to his knees, but before he could stand up another one was charging in. This one was particularly big, and battle scars dotted its face. This one was the leader of the pack. It was too close to aim the pistol; instead he just fired in its general direction but only managed to squeeze off about 3 shots before it was upon him. He once again tried his best to deflect it with his left arm, but the Brood had jumped him at an angle. Luckily it went for his left arm, but it bit down hard and pulled him to the side, nearly dislocating his shoulder, and pulling him into the snow at an awkward angle. However the wolf’s own momentum had ripped it from its grip, and it tumbled into the snow.
He screamed from both pain and shock. He was allowed a few critical seconds while the Brood collected its self from its tumble. He aimed to the best of his ability, and was able to rack off another three shots before his pistol went “click”, but the beast seemingly remained unaffected. He shouted in anger, he didn’t have time to re-shoulder his rifle, nor reload his pistol. After chucking his pistol at it, he decided “It was knife time!”
He pulled it out, expecting it to do nothing, but he wasn’t just going to let it eat him. The Stenchbrood lunged at him, again knocking him over, this time much like the first wolf. First it clawed him in the face and he yelled loudly. The Brood then tried to bite his neck, but he was able to position himself in a more favorable position. He stabbed towards its head, and struck home. The knife met massive resistance, but he forced it in as hard as he could. Recoiling he stabbed again, and then once more. The Stenchbrood finally seemed to die.
He stood up, and looked around to make sure there weren’t any others planning to jump him. The others seemed agitated, but they didn’t attack. They receded back into the woods. It had killed their master. Their prey was more a foe, and they rather leave him alone. He retrieved his SKS, and holstered his pistol. He waited for another minute, standing there in the bitter cold, just to make sure they didn’t come back.
He finally tended to his wounds. He looked at his arm which was now releasing a massive amount of blood. He dropped his rucksack in front of himself, and began to rifle through it. He didn’t have any antibacterial soap, or anything along those lines, so if I didn’t bleed to death, chances were he’d end up getting a massive infection. He cleaned to the best of his ability by melting snow, and when his hand got too cold, he just used the icy snow alone. It hurt like all hell, but what could he do about it? He hastily bandaged it and took off his belt and tied it on his arm above the wound to further prevent bleeding. He turned his attention to the scratch wound on his face. It went from just behind his left eye all the way back to his ear. It wasn’t bleeding that bad, so he thought he’d save the bandages for a worse wound. He packed his shit back up, and set off through the deep, cold snow once more. Soon he would be in Judi Ridge, a small town, or rather a ‘colony’ about two miles out. Luckily the town contained a Cole Federation building.
The Cole Federation was made up of five major states and territories. It formed roughly a year after the “End of the World” took place, and since then had grown in strength. The nation, is amongst the most powerful and wealthy on the continent, and has a very strong military presence (which wasn’t actually that big). He worked as s courier for the CF, bringing food, supplies, money, guns, and everything in between to the cities and colonies. He generally worked one route. He was assigned a “cabin” to stay at, as well as a nice amount of supplies and weapons to protect both him, and the shipments. He got paid decently well too, but it came with downsides. Because the supply lines were so spread out, couriers were generally targeted by thieves, and the Dismas, a group of ruthless thieves who commonly used gorilla hit and run tactics. But his route was usually safe.
This time however, the Federation had sent him on a longer rout to Judi, to deliver “important” mail to a resident there. He was just lucky enough that a Federation outpost was in the colony. It would be hard for him to find shelter, and more importantly medical attention outside of a CF colony. Judi Ridge happened to be on the edge of one of the outermost colonies of the Federation, and there wasn’t much support for the Federation in this area yet. People here didn’t necessarily like the CF.
He suddenly realized though that he was in trouble. He felt very, very cold and woozy. It was hard for him to focus on anything, trees became a blur, and he became disoriented. He was starting to lose his balance. He tripped in the snow, and fell on his face, but he recovered and marched on, only to repeat the action. This time though, he gave up on it. He might as well stay on his hands and knees; he was only going to fall over again. He crawled on, finding it very difficult in the snow, but he could hardly balance standing up. His situation was becoming more and more frantic. The sky began to darken. The sun had started to go down, not that it made that much of a difference with the clouds, but it was as if he could already feel a difference in the temperature.
He came upon a ridge, and slowly crawled up. It was extremely difficult, and it seemed impossible to go more than two feet without slipping. He just crawled on, telling himself that he would be able to see the town from the top, but when he finally made it to the top there was no city, no lights, nothing but miles of icy forest. It was very dark now, and it was nearly impossible to make out his surroundings. With his hopes crushed, he moved about another two feet before collapsing in the snow. He was done for, and it was all a result of his own actions. He didn’t think this day would ever come. There was no way he was this foolish, but here he was, bleeding out in the snow, slowly succumbing to hypothermia. He laid there; face down in the snow, laughing at himself. After a few moments he moaned in disappointment at himself, and suddenly yelled out in anger.
After a while, a feeling of warmth over took him. Along with this new sensation he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. He rolled over in the snow, staring into the sky. He was happy now; he didn’t care about anything anymore. He didn’t care about the CF, or Judi Ridge, or the shipment. He just felt happy. “Sleep” overtook him in a matter of minutes.
November 25, 2021
Day 2350
I awoke this morning, in a green, warm, and very humid forest. I have no clue where I am, I don’t even know if I’m alive. Last I remember I was dying in a forest outside Rudi. Ha, I can’t believe I was so stupid, traveling alone on a route known for stench brood attacks…
My arm hurts badly. I checked my wound, and I fear it may be infected, or at least on its way. but who the fuck am I kidding, I’m not a doctor,
I already got up and walked around a little, examining my surroundings. The sun is at its peak, so it must be around noon here. I've never seen any of these trees, or fauna, and I think I’m in, well, I don’t really know. Another world? I must be, my wound still seems relatively fresh, and all my shit is here too. My pack, my guns, and that damned shipment I was supposed to deliver…
I wonder if this is the afterlife, or some shit like that…. Anyway, I think I’m going to try and get help…
November 25, 2021
Day 255
It’s been about 3 hours since my last entry, but I literally have no, fucking clue where I am! I wandered around a little, but the forest got really dense, and really dark. It’s like a fucking jungle. I hate jungles… anyway, I came to a clearing, or well, actually I assume it’s the edge of the forest. To my surprise, the area closely resembled the great plains. Nice grassy hills, and get this, in the west, huge fucking mountains. If this was America, I assume those would be the Rockies. Anyway, something caught my eye on one of higher peaks. Upon closer examination, there appears to be a castle on the side. So I started heading towards it, but I suddenly found myself in the midst of another civilization, but god help me, they aren’t humans…
I ducked into a bush, where I’m writing this now. I've only seen a couple of them so far, and they seem fairly intelligent. They are four legged, and come in bright pastel colors too, how interesting. I’m going to keep my ground, and maybe think about making a “fort” to stay in. But that means going back to that forest where no one is… I hate that place, there’s something off about it.
Anyway, I thought I would mention how disturbingly close their settlements resemble ours. The village itself takes on a European look. Kind of fucking creepy, it’s as if European colonists settled this area. I appear to be on the far outskirts of a village.
Anyway, a group of them seems to be coming towards me, I’m going to bug out….
A Royal Guard entered Celestia’s room. “Princess, we need to speak, something’s turned up outside the Everfree…” He explained.
Celestia raised an eyebrow “yes? Weird stuff always turns up near the Everfree…”
“No, this time it’s different ma’am. Officials in Ponyville requested we you to come take a look, in person of course.” Celestia, realizing this was more serious than she thought, nodded that she understood. “Does Luna know?”
“Of course, she was already informed…” the guard explained.
“I see. Well, report back to your station, and tell Shinning to ready a carriage for our visit to Ponyville. I want a full squad of Royal Elites to accompany us.” Celestia ordered.
“Of course Princess, right away, Princess!” The guard quickly left her room. She lazily rolled out of bed, half annoyed by the disturbance in the middle of the night. She walked out, and met Luna. Together, they embarked for the loading zone, where their carriage would be waiting.
