zombie diary

by bubdude

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5634

witnessing the beginning of the end, one stallion writes in his journal each day that he survives.

A stallion who just got a job as a scientist soon realizes that something isn't right. Before he knows it, he is fighting for survival as he records the events of each day. This story is simply his diary and that should be kept in mind as the lack of unneeded details should be obvious. I originally started writing this as a normal story before deciding to adapt it to ponies. There will probably be some things that don't make sense but i'm trying to get used to writing for ponies as this is my first "fanfic"

Published 2012-03-23 04:24:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-11 04:11:45 UTC

day 1-10

Day 1: Subject 23 has begun to show some symptoms. He has started losing brain control and he isn't willing to eat any of the food that we gave him earlier. His skin has been looking very pale as well. This may be due to a lack of blood flow but he seems to be relatively living still. How he is still alive, i'm not sure, but he hasn't moved for about an hour. I will report more symptoms as they arise.

Day 2: He still doesn't seem to want to eat anything that we try to give him. He was eating just fine before we started these tests. Whatever it is that we were told to give the subject, it's having a very negative reaction. If this keeps up, I believe that the subject will be dead on the floor when i get back tomorrow and a dead body is the last thing that I want to clean up on my third day here. I'll have to see if I can get one of the janitors to do it.

Day 3: Great, now I have a headache and I feel slightly creeped out. All I heard all day was the subject in the chamber banging his head against the glass and screaming. I really hate it when i'm wrong sometimes. The only time that he responded was when we tried to send somepony in for testing. The subject instantly charged at my assistant when i sent him in and bit him a couple times on his front left leg, tearing off some of the skin, before we knocked our crazed subject back. I really hope that Checks is alright but, that is a pretty bad bite. I think that the subject has become a cannibal. Maybe later we can send someone that is more protected in there to clean the blood off of the glass. It has gotten very difficult to see in there.

Day 4: I heard when I got to work that Checks is showing similar behavior to subject 23. They had to tie him down when he tried attacking a few of the doctors that were watching over him. He managed to scratch some of them but that is about it. That doesn't sound very good at all though, especially given the fact that Checks was perfectly fine until he was bitten. He is under extreme medical testing however, so they are trying to find what actually caused this.

Day 5: I walked into the observation room to see broken glass and the subject kneeling next to the remains of one of my partners. The experiment has turned him into a full-on cannibal! He charged at me but was knocked back by some guards. Thank Celestia they were nearby to detain him or else I might have ended up like Checks. I don’t know what is going on here but one thing is for sure, I do not want to end up like my partner did. On another note, the ponies that were scratched began to show the same symptoms as Checks. They have been detained as well, so hopefully they can be cured. Whatever this is, it seems to be spreading faster than the cold.

Day 6: I showed up early to work today only to hear more bad news. The other ponies that were showing symptoms had somehow gained enough strength to break the straps that were holding them down and they proceeded to attack the doctors in the area. The victims could not defend themselves and thus all but one died in the attack. The survivor had escaped with a bite on his right hind leg. That area has been closed off for now and they took the injured man to a chamber just in case. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that he will be just like the others by tomorrow. The subject I have been studying hasn't shown any changes other than what looks like a slight increase in size. It may just be my mind playing tricks on me though.

Day 7: Surprisingly, there weren't many problems today except for I noticed that the gates and doors were acting kind of funny. They need to get that checked out as soon as possible, especially with the bad luck we have been having recently. Speaking of bad luck, the bitten doctor from yesterday has become just like the others. I'm really not surprised though. It's really a good thing that they locked him up as soon as they could. Hope we can find a way to reverse the effects before this becomes a bigger problem than it already is. I think that the pony I have been testing on is a little too far gone to help but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to help the ones that were recently changed by this sickness. He still hasn't been eating but nopony is fearless enough to try and force feed him. It is probably just another effect of the disease so I figured I’d take note of it.

Day 8: I knew that there was something wrong with those doors but of course they won’t listen to the scientist that has only been here for a week. The closed off area malfunctioned and opened up. Since they couldn't shut it, the ponies that were contained went on a rampage and a lot of ponies were bitten or eaten alive. This place has turned into something that one might see in a nightmare. The only way that i survived was because i was getting something from the janitors closet when it started. So now all i can do is try my best to stay away from these "things". I have hid inside of a medicine room with a pipe that I found near where the mechanic was working. I will survive this... I won’t become one of them...

Day 9: I found some more help pretty quickly. I obviously have to find a way out but, with nothing on me, I have to get things from around me. While I was looking for some supplies though, I found two survivors. They have probably been running into some of those “things” as well because I almost got hit. They say their names are Atom, a red unicorn mare that i assumed was a fellow scientist from her cutie mark, and Gates, a green stallion that was more than likely late for the job of fixing our doors, and that they weren't able to find much except for an ax and a small hoofgun from area 2. Unfortunately, it didn't come with any ammo so we'd have to see if we could find some along the way. We searched for a while longer before heading to a safe room but still found nothing but clipboards and medical tools. Tomorrow we have to find food and what better place to get that than by heading to the lunch area for this floor?

Day 10: We were able to make it to the lunch area without much trouble but there were some more of those "things" hanging around the area. We couldn't really search much of the lunch area if we wanted to stay alive but that didn't stop us from trying. Atom and I found nothing while Gate found some non-perishable food that could hold us off for the next couple days if we ration it right. We are still short one weapon though, because we can’t seem to find ammo anywhere. I know that this is a lab but you would think that at least one other pony would have something for self defence. Maybe it will be more cleared out tomorrow so that we can search a little more.

day 11-20

Day 11: I think it lost us... The lunch area was a pretty clear so we decided to try searching it again. While searching we found some more food and a saddle bag to carry things in. By a completely unfair vote, I am the one that has to hold the carry the bags around. Both are quite helpful but, Gates accidentally dropped something shortly after we found them. The loud noise alerted the few “things” that were around the area and a particularly fast one came rushing through. We ran as fast as we could but Gates couldn't keep up and was caught. He dropped the gun as he was surrounded. There was nothing we could do and as such, Atom levitated the gun into the saddle bag and we ran and hid in an armored room close by. Having that horrible image in my head doesn’t exactly make me feel at ease. We could be next for all we know...

Day 12: It found us again and this time it took Atom with it. We were trying to find a way up when it came out of nowhere. She was so close to the safety... As Atom was running for the door, that monstrosity tackled her and they both went tumbling right passed me. In an unsuccessful attempt to save her I took the ax in my mouth and swung as hard as I could. The swing definitely hit the mark but Atom had already had a chunk taken out of her neck. Once again I was unable to save somepony. I’m suffering more now than I was at the start.

Day 13: Another survivor has been found. He says his name is Hault and thankfully he hadn't been bitten anywhere. I almost hit him because it seemed like he came out of nowhere. It really doesn't help that it's hard to see him due to his grey coat and even darker grey mane. Oh and he also had a hoofgun on him. All security guards were issued one but they get a very small amount of ammo to go with it. I'm letting him use the pipe for now since he didn't have anything for close range other than bucking them. I've learned from experience though that it would be best not to give them a chance to get that close if possible. We came across a blueprint that maps out this floor while checking around and from the looks of it, it is very detailed. They seem to have put a small storage close by so I hope that somepony else hasn't raided it already. Tomorrow we're stocking up. Until then, we rest.

Day 14: This has to be the most fruitful day I have had so far. Hault has found another survivor named Red. I'm sure that you can guess his color. Now Hault doesn't recognize him but he has the basic security vest on. He also had a shotgun with him and it was quite obviously well used. From the marks on the mouth grip, i'd say that he has been pretty busy. I found a few drinks from a nearby soda machine to quench our thirst . The storage, however, is closed tight for now. We tried to get it open but it's shut tight and nopony knows the password for it. We’ll have to pass it up for now i suppose. Maybe if we are lucky, we will find somepony that can get us in there.

Day 15: Now we are up to a group of 4. Some mare named Aero was already looting the storage when we got there. It was a bit of a shock to see a pegasus down here seeing as how it's an underground lab but I doubt that it hasn't happened before. I have only seen earth ponies and unicorns here. She seemed to be the only one that had been in there though so I can only assume that she is the reason that it's open. Turns out that it was a storage for even more guns. For a lab, this place had a lot of guns. You would think that this could have all been prevented if somepony just opened this storage. The place had plenty of ammo as well, but the weapons looked like they were meant to be non-lethal. Anything is helpful though so we stocked up on all that we could and headed to another secure room. None of those "things" are going to stand a chance now.

Day 16: The trip to the armory made a lot less of a difference than i thought it would... In one day we lost both Red and Hault. The worst part is that only one of those "things" was involved. It was stronger and faster than any of the other infected ponies that i had seen so far. Red and Hault couldn't keep up when we made a mad dash to get away from it and we haven't seen them since. Aero did find something interesting though. It was about someone called subject zero. I guess i'm glad that I at least have something to read tonight because I doubt that i'm going to be able to sleep.

Day 17: Still no signs of the other two, but we did find another survivor, a white unicorn mare in fact. Her name is Page and she said that she used to organize all of the files that came through this floor before all hell broke loose. She was hiding in a room to avoid the hordes of infected that were around. It's a good thing too because she didn't have anything on her. By the way, I can barely read the notes that we found. However, I was able to read that his name was Noah. I wonder if that is of any importance.

Day ‎18: We found them, but unfortunately Hault was just a dead body. Red had managed to find a green unicorn mare named Fizzle though. On top of that we gained yet another survivor named Roger, a light blue unicorn. We definitely needed his assistance as he claims to be good will all kinds of weapons. The group is getting to be a decent size now so we should be able to cover more ground and get out of here faster. No doubt there will be a lot of those "things" in our way, but we can do this.

Day 19: We have decided to split into two groups of three. Team one is Roger, Fizzle, and I while team two is Aero, Red, and Page. We figured it would be more efficient and it seems to be working. On our way closer to the stairs team two found some more food. We really needed more food because of how big the group is getting. If we are lucky then we should be able to reach the stairs by the end of tomorrow. One step closer to safety, but just a small one if you think about how little progress we have been making. It's been a little over 2 weeks since this all started and we haven't even left this floor. Of course, we don't want to rush and risk getting one of us killed either. The slightest slip up or scratch could mean immediate death. As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race.

Day 20: This group idea is working pretty well. We are able to clear rooms much faster than before. We finally found the stairs too. We had been on basement floor 2 for about three weeks now. Trying to get out this way isn't going to work unfortunately because the main floor was blocked by debris as if it were purposely barricaded. It's a very smart move but now we are out of luck. We are going to have to work our way around to the elevator. Something tells me that "they" have been moving up as well and that just means that we will have that much more to deal with...

day 21-30

Day 21: We lost Page… The teams separated to search a few rooms and my team found what looks to be some medical documents. Before I could get a good look at them though, we heard a lot of gunfire coming from the other room. By the time that we got to their room, the firing had stopped and Page was slumped against a wall, bleeding. According to Aero, they opened one of the doors and before they could react, a couple infected came through the doorway and one of them bit Page. We brought her along a little ways but in the end, she began to turn like the rest and I had to kill her before she endangered the group. I’m not in a reading mood anymore for today. We are going to bring the group back together until we get somepony else...

Day 22: We found a scientist that was just recently bitten when we reached him. He knew he was going to die one of them so he gave us the medicine that he had left and asked us to kill him. Of course, I once again got voted to do the dirty work. Before I got a chance to pull the trigger on him though, one of the infected broke through our group and it threw Fizzle with much more strength that any normal pony should have. It doesn't take much to bring somepony down when four ponies are shooting at it, but that didn't help Fizzle's situation. When she was thrown, she hit a wall and instantly died from the force. At least she died quickly unlike like almost everypony else that is going through this same hell. I went back to fulfill the scientist's last request before we moving on but even if it was his final wish, that still doesn't sit well with me. I hope this pattern doesn't continue because the last thing we need right now is less firepower.

Day 23: Thankfully, there were no injuries or deaths today. We have mainly been clearing rooms all day while on our way towards the elevator. We found a couple more saddlebags finally so now i don't have to carry everything. You would be surprised how much harder it has gotten to do that though. I’d hate to see how many of the infected are on the main floor. Also, about those documents a few days ago, they were useless to me but roger said he would take another look to connect some dots. Hope tomorrow goes this well.

Day 24: A red stallion named Chase has been added to our group after we found him searching some desks in one of the rooms. I gave him the weapon that Fizzle was using for now since the best that he has was a broken piece of a seat. I don't plan to tell him where we got the gun yet, just in case he might flip out and not use it. Also, I think Roger has come to the same conclusion that I did. Those documents don’t really tell us anything other than how the virus affects a pony's health after being infected. So basically, it's telling us what we already know. There are really only a few ways that they could have gathered that information and one of those ways is by having multiple test subjects for this. That would definitely explain how the virus spread so fast at least.

Day 25: The power went out earlier today which I must admit made me just about hit the ceiling. Having a unicorn hasn't been more helpful than it is now.Roger knew a light spell and used it almost out of instinct. Chase also had a few flashlights in his saddlebag just for such an occasion. Sure it's not very much light but it is far better than walking around in complete darkness. One of the infected took the opportunity and snuck up on Roger. Before we could react he got a really nasty bite on his right hind leg. Now what is surprising though is that he claims to be fine. Other than walking funny, he seems to have been unaffected. I can only come to one conclusion as to why he isn't turning and that would be that he is somehow immune to it. I don’t want to test our luck with another bite though no matter what caused roger to survive. We will have to keep an eye on him just in case. Also I think we are close to the elevator so we should be able to make it there soon. Slowly but surely...

Day 26: Well we definitely dodged another bullet today. Two infected came running out of the darkness and if it weren’t for Red and Aero, we might have lost somepony again. One came straight at me and other charged at Chase. Red stopped the one coming at me with an almost point blank shot, sending blood and chunks of it's head flying everywhere. Chase panicked just swung the pipe that he was carrying and Roger shot it a few times as it stumble backwards. I'm really going to need a shower whenever we can find one because unlike Red, blood sticks out like a sore hoof on my coat. On a good note though, we are just a little ways away from the elevator. Main floor here we come!

Day 27: We made it to the elevator finally! After all of this time, the elevator had better give a way up. There was a dark brown unicorn trying to pry open the doors when we arrived. He said his name is Breaker and he also has what looks like a make-shift shield and a shotgun. Nobody knows what is up stairs though, so we are resting in a room near the elevator for now. Breaker will definitely help since he can lead the charge with his shield. Tomorrow we make a break for it.

Day 28: That elevator was quite difficult to open. We used the pipe as leverage and even then, we had to have a couple of us pushing it. Inside we found just a single infected and the remains of its last meal. A single shot took of that problem. Now obviously, with the power off, an elevator won't work. I don't know what I was expecting to happen but I tried pushing a button just in case. Thankfully, there was an escape hatch in the elevators ceiling. We pushed it open and went one by one through the hole. It didn't take long to get everyone up to the main floor. Aero flew Breaker up first just in case any infected decided to come after us and Roger helped by making everyone as light as he could when their turn came up. As Aero brought up the last pony, we were lucky to find that the entrance had already been pried open and our path was relatively clear. We gathered quickly and made a line as follows: Breaker, Roger, me, Aero, Chase, and finally Red. We all rushed forward towards the exit, killing anything that got in our path. There most likely would have been more, but since the entrance had already been opened, a lot of them must have left. When we finally got outside, we saw a small store a little ways ahead and wasted no time in rushing to it. The sun was almost blinding after being in the dark for so long. The store was covered in numerous posters saying things like "get a gun!" and "the next best thing for protecting yourself is finally here!". We are going to stay here for the night and search this place up and down because we are almost out of supplies.

Day 29: On the road finally. We were able to get about a weeks worth of food and drinks from the store. A road map was also inside so that should come in handy. I find it kind of ironic though that a store covered in gun posters didn't have a single gun in it. The lab was set out in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere but the next town is actually kind of close. We should be able to get there before the end of the night if we just keep walking. We are going to need to find a better way of transportation though if possible. A buggy might work, that way we can just have a couple of us pull it at a time and swap out as they get tired. Hopefully we can find one soon.

Day 30: We made it just like I thought we would. There doesn’t seem to be very many of those infected here but there aren't any living ponies here either... Not much of a surprise that whatever this is had gotten to here by now though. I'd imagine that this swept through rather quickly because so many things were left behind. Food, working utilities, things we could actually use. Going without a bath or anything clean at all for a month makes this kind of thing quite the luxury. Even the food that we found around here tastes amazing in comparison to what we had been eating. Unfortunately the food was far from nonperishable so it wouldn't last very long if we brought any of it with us. Even so, we will enjoy this night and get cleaned up. It's hard to keep track of the team when everyone is a different shade of red.

day 31-40

Day 31: We are back on the road and heading to the next town. We spent all morning searching for anything that we could carry with us. We didn't find very much, just another pistol and some more food, but it's better than nothing i suppose. I've also been pretty worried about something... How long have these things been out of the lab anyways? We really have no way of knowing how far this has spread and each day, it spreads even farther. My family is only a couple cities away so I wouldn't be surprised if it has already reached them. I just hope that they are alright still. I guess I’ll just have to find out then.

Day 32: We made it to the next city a few hours ago so we haven't done very much scavenging so far. With all of us having to walk, i'm still stuck carrying most of the stuff. Sure, everybody else has to carry their own weapon but there is still plenty of weight to go around. This place is much more infested and the power seems to have been cut off as well. Who knows though, there could be some things we can use here. We stopped at the edge of the town to rest in a small store. We want to be at our best if we are going to be doing anything around these "things". One slip up and somepony is going to get themselves killed. We will start searching once the sun is back up.

Day 33: While searching through some of the buildings we found what seemed to be a broken down stronghold. The ponies inside had a small stock of weapons and some rotten food. I can only assume that . One of them also seemed to be keeping a journal like mine. It's actually quite sad that it is only a few days long. This is the kind of stuff that makes me value the group that I have right now. We quickly traded out some of our equipment and moved on to the next building. It would seem that Roger prefers a rifle so he will be our designated sharp shooter. We also found a few more saddlebags so we have been trying to split the weight up as evenly as possible. Aero, being a pegasus, gets the lightest since he still has to be able to fly well. Some ponies are just that lucky.

Day 34: I’ve been reading the dead groups journal and it has more in common with this one than I thought. What they talk about sounds a lot like the more developed "things" that we encountered in the lab. Somewhere deep inside, I was hoping that all of the abnormal ones had been taken out by now. We have to keep moving through the city though, because if we stay in one place for too long then we might end up just like the other group. I doubt that anypony wants to have that happen. Breaks almost over, have to get back to searching.

Day 35: We woke up to gunfire this morning. When we got to the source of the noise, we saw somepony holding out in a gun shop. We ran in to help the the best that we could, despite the fact that he was basically a one pony army. It didn't take long to plow through all of them. Apparently, he is the owner of the shop, Trigger's triggers, and thought it would be best to go down with a ship that is full of weapons. He was carrying at least one of each gun on him so he is quite strong at least. Being a unicorn that specializes in weaponry it must be a breeze for him to be able to use all of them at once. He let us in and told us we could get any weapons we might need as long as he can join us. Sounded like a great deal to me. He even has a vehicle that we can use! Now that we are upgraded, we have an even better chance. He really didn’t have to bribe us though...

Day 36: There has been one question that has really been bothering me; What happened to all of the pegasi up here? I got the answer the hard way. Red was keeping watch when an infected pegasus caught him off guard by flying over him. Apparently, pegasi that still had their wings in good condition when they died, could still fly. The commotion woke us all up but it was too late because he had been bitten. Unlike Roger, he wasn't the slightest bit immune to the virus. He took it upon himself to lock himself in the building and told us just to keep going. The gunshot as we walked away was really the only proof that we had of his death. There is a silver lining though, at least we know to watch the skies as well.

Day 37: This whole thing is driving everypony insane! We were searching a building today when we found some food. When we went to grab it though, a small group with an assortment of blunt weapons blocked our exit. I have to give them credit for their bravery though, because they didn't run away screaming until we shot a few times at their hooves. I know it’s for survival and all but why can’t anypony be smart enough to just join a good group? We could have shared a little... maybe... Anyways, we are leaving now. I really don’t want to stay any longer than what we already have.

Day 38: Back on the road. With Trigger’s vehicle stocked, we'll be more than fine until we get to the next city. I can’t wait to see how my family is doing. I really hope that they are alright and the hordes missed the area but I already know that it's very unlikely. Knowing how they were able to find us so many times, they probably made a bee line straight for it. Chase was saying that he has some family there as well. I feel kind of bad for not know it before but then again, I didn’t know Chase until this all started and any time I’ve had a chance to ask, the time was better spent preparing for the next day. I guess that just happens though when you are living day by day like we have been.

Day 39: Bad way to start off the day. We got to the town only to see infected everywhere. They all seemed to be going to one place though so we figured that we might as well see what was going on. Aero did a quick swoop over them and spotted a dark blue stallion held up in small house. Seeing as how that fit my dad's description, I didn't think twice about rushing into there, trying to get to him. Thanks to trigger's guns, we were able to breeze through them but at the cost of a lot of ammo. We had to take precautions just in case he had been bitten, so the beginning of our reunion was mainly guns pointing at him. After we made sure that he was clear he gave me some bad news. My mother didn’t make it... We rushed to Chase's house but his parents were dead long before we even got here. Well at least one is better than none...

Day 40: Chase hasn't been doing very well today. He seems to be quite depressed due to the loss of his parents so we had him stay with my dad at the vehicle. My dad has been tinkering with the vehicle so that we can make more use of it. Unfortunately, that means that we have to bring him a bunch of stuff, specifically a bunch of metal. We managed to find a screw driver and a few screws for him but nothing more. At least it’s a little something to check off the list. We will have to see if we can find a scrap yard around here somewhere. Perhaps in the next town.