Overcome By Darkness

Chapter 5 Community Nine (Lindsay)

How has she made it that far? How did she survive Austin after the gates broke? How did she manage to live all on her own?

Nopony actually asks her these questions, for fear she’ll do something to you. She’s not some girly girl whose into makeup and fashion. Or, at least, not anymore. People call her The Gypsy. She never stays in one place. Two weeks ago she was in Dallas. Three weeks prior she stayed in Hoofston. Now she’s back on the road. And she doesn’t linger.

She’s in one day, out the next. No trail. Nothing to track her down.

The Gypsy sat down against the car’s rusted side. She could hear the train puffing smoke every few moments. It was weak. She was in one of the back cars. The mare rested her head against the wall, admiring a bit in her hoof. It was worth enough to buy a pint of milk in the normal world. Or the Used to Be World as she called it.

But it wasn’t anymore. If The Gypsy had known the world would be so difficult and unforgiving, she never would have complained or groaned. She wouldn’t have moaned about dumb things about fashion or about poor service or about stale food.

The violet mare sighed and tightened her black hoodie’s hood. Should she go to bed? The train wouldn’t stop. But what if the stallions who raided this train found her? She had to remind herself that she wasn’t alone and said people who were with here weren’t on her side.

“Why can’t life go back to normal? What would I have been doing now?” She wondered. It was March 11th. “Two months, one week, 41 hours.” She said to herself quietly. “So close. So close.” She closed her eyes. In two months, one week, 41 hours she would have been Mrs. Lindsay Jones.

But that was another thing that the stupid infection ruined. A peaceful life with her husband would have been nice. Maybe start a family, a son or a daughter. Lind-The Gypsy liked fantasying about her used to be life. It would have been nice.

The Gypsy shook her head. “Stop.” She berated herself. “That’s something Lindsay would do. You are NOT Lindsay anymore.” She hated telling herself this. She still wanted to be the quiet, funny, cat-loving, innocent, caring Lindsay Tuggey. But the world had made sure to eradicate anyone who wasn’t selfish or who wasn’t able to survive without killing. She wasn’t innocent anymore.

She had killed. Killed many, too. Not just zombies. The Lindsay inside her burned when she saw their faces. The scared faces of people who didn’t want to die. But the freaking monster inside her pushed the old her aside.

“Just rest. You’ll feel better later. And if they find you, so what. You’re The Gypsy. You ain’t afraid of anything.”
. . . . . . . . .

Chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga. Woot! Woot! Chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga. Woot! Woot! The Gyp-Lindsay smiled. Once and awhile she could overcome that stupid person in her brain. It was nice to just relax. Repeating the train’s hoots reminded her of some kids TV show.

Michael used to watch a kids TV show. Specifically My Little Pony. His favorite was Fluttershy. He had once said, “She kinda reminds me of you. You’re both quiet and sweet.” Lindsay stopped herself from crying. As Lindsay, she wasn’t a killer but the world had still taught her to be tough.

“Ouch,” Lindsay felt her wound on her neck. It was the stupid ‘7’. She had been given it a while ago. Sometime short after the accident. She had been lying out in the woods with Kerry, Chris, and Barbara. She had been marked.

Gosh…Lindsay wondered where they were now. They had gone separate ways looking for their families. Kerry had told her she could have gone with him but she denied. She would look for Michael. She knew he was alive.

Nothing hurt Mogar. Nothing killed Mogar. He was Michael ‘Rage Quit’, Mogar, Boi of Gavin’s, Jones. Also, her fiancé.

Lindsay felt a migraine and clutched her head. “No!” She shouted quietly. The Gypsy was trying to come back. She didn’t want her to, though. Lindsay gritted her teeth and banged her head against the wall. “Stop! Go away!” The pain lessened.

A good two minutes later, it went away. Lindsay shook her head and smiled. She had beaten it. She had beaten them.

[Flashback]

“Ah! Ms. Tuggey!” Lindsay opened her eyes. She was strapped to a metal table, leather buckles ruining any chances of escape. She could move her head but that was it.

The room wasn’t big. It was plain and dull with solid gray walls. The floor and the ceiling had similar designs. One iron door say lonely in the middle where two guards stood. They certainly weren’t royal guards. They were black tuxes and were equipped with some type of electrical weapon that Lindsay could only guess was a Taser.

The pony speaking to her, however, was not one of the guards. It was stallion in front of her.

He was kind of lanky but had an undeniable confidence, one you wouldn’t normally see on a pony like him. His mane was a blue fancy comb over and his tail matched the design. His fur was a light gray like a rock. He had big brown eyes and a goofy grin. Though it looked devious.

He turned his head towards the guard. “Boys, you may bring Lance in.” He beckoned at the door. The two stallions nodded and opened the door. A Pegasus began to walk in. His fur was a very dark red like the color of stained blood. His hair was wild and short and messy. A lone strand of white stuck out against the sea of dark brown mane. His eyes were the purest blue and gleamed eerily.

“Ms. Tuggey, this is Lance Humpton-,” as funny as that name might have sounded, Lindsay knew by his appearance that he was no laughing matter. “-a Pegasus from Manehattan. He’s been all around the world to Canterlot to Fillydelphia to Trottingham and even Saddle Arabia!” The gray unicorn bounced. Lance eyed him down with annoyance.

“Who are you?” Lindsay asked the bouncing stallion. He stopped and faced the purple mare. “Why my dear I am Barack Obama! And Muhammad Ali! I’m also Justin Bieber and Walt Disney and Lance-,” he tried to wrap a hoof around Lance’s neck but the Pegasus quickly shook it off. “-and your best friend!”

Lindsay questioned this unicorn’s sanity. Why would he say he was all of those people if he clearly wasn’t? “What do you mean? Are you crazy?” Lindsay questioned. “Maybe. Maybe not. Quite possible. Highly illogical.” The unicorn smiled at her. “Disagree with yourself. No, nope, never. Yes indeed. You’d be surprised by how fast you can strike up a conversation with yourself.” Yup…this guy was definitely bonkers.

“Can I just know your real name? You’re driving me crazy.” Lindsay said. The stallion shrugged. “Fair enough. My name is Caine.” He said nothing else on that matter and began to circle the strapped Lindsay.

He beckoned Lance over. Now seeing his side, Lindsay could see a belt full of knives or bullets. His cutie mark looked like some type of gun, maybe a silencer. “Ms. Tuggey, I bet you’re wondering why you’re here.” Caine tapped his hooves excitedly. Lindsay huffed in response. “Oh come now, there’s no need to be so angry-,” “Angry! You’ve got me strapped to a table. Of course I want to fucking know why I’m here!” Lindsay didn’t curse often but when she did, it was because she was angry.

Caine didn’t look very please. “Settle down, Ms. Tuggey!” He composed himself and made sure to slick back his slightly ruffled mane. Lindsay remained slightly.

“Being a rampant monster or a negative Nancy is not going to help. No one wants to spend their life with someone like that.” Caine said. Lindsay raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘spend the rest of their life with’? Who am I spending my life with?”

Lance remained silent the entire time. “Your alternate self, your split personality of course!”

“My split personality?”

“Indeed! See, I need to test my theory on some ponies-,”

“Sorry, what? Theory?” Lindsay was ignored.

“-and I can’t have weaklings as my test subjects-,”

“Test subjects?!” Lindsay seemed alarmed but her comment was lost in Caine’s rambling.

“-So I learned you’re strong enough to handle it. A regular pony would commit suicide on the first day.”

“SUICIDE?! What!? What do you think I am? Some…some type of-of-of test monkey? I didn’t agree to this!”

“Calm down! Simmer down! No need to panic. I said you’ll be able to handle it. You’ve handled many tough things, Ms. Tuggey.” He smiled. Lindsay didn’t like the sight of it.

[End of Flashback]

Lindsay winced. It wasn’t her most cherished moment.

But there was something Lindsay couldn’t fathom. Why was she number 7? Six before her? Did they live? What if they were worse now? Who were they? Were they people she knew? Why had-

“Stop it, bitch.” The Gypsy growled. Damn. Too late. Lindsay fell back as The Gypsy jumped forward. “Just go back to sleep. Don’t ignore me. You can’t.” The Gypsy grumbled and leaned against the train side for the hundredth time today.