End of innocence

-Autor's note: It has come to my attention that some of you do not know what the necromorphs mentioned, i will start putting links to pictures of them as they are mentioned, just after they are discovered by the main cast, i want to keep the 'fear of the unknown,' idea up. I would like to say that the chapters will start to be coming out at a slower pace because of school. Also another thanks to PinkiePiedPiper and Shadownamesro and all of you for the feed back!

You awake to find it is almost morning, and Hope is out cold next to you. Stepping out of the vehicle you take in your surroundings. First thing that comes to mind is that everything is so colorful, and on top of that the highway is nowhere to be seen. I guess that crazy old bastard was telling the truth. You take a short walk around to take in your surroundings. You see a small town about a mile or so from your location, an orchard with rows and rows of trees a bit further still, and a dark forest surrounds the entire area.

You move your car next to the woods and wake Hope up so the two of you can have some breakfast. After breakfast, you feel like something is watching you from the forest, so you tell Hope to stay in the car while you investigate, and as you step out and scan the forest your fears are confirmed by the most disturbing pair of bloodshot eyes coming from a bush five meters to your left. Reaching for your plasma cutter, you face whatever is in the bush, but you find nothing there. Severely confused by what you saw, you turn to face the car. What you see disturbs you even more than the pair of eyes; their owner. It’s a huge lion, but something is off… As it charges you, you see what was off; it has bat wings and a scorpion tail! What the fuck is this bullshit! is all you can think before it swats you with its paw. You fly a good 10 meters before slamming knee-first into the ground with a sickening CRACK! You scream in agony as your right thigh feels like it is on fire. Dizzy with pain, you manage to dodge the lion-thing’s tail as it digs harmlessly into the ground where you were moments ago. As it struggles to get its tail out of the ground, you see your opportunity. Raising your plasma cutter, you fire. The monster howls in pain as it is bathed in the greenish venom from the severed tail. Not thinking twice, you aim for the creature’s neck and with a pull of the trigger the creature goes limp, its head rolls to the ground in a bloody mess.

You manage to stumble back to the car. Hope, having seen the entire thing, was streaming with tears.
“It’s ok, it’s all over now,” you say as you try and comfort her in your arms, ignoring the severe pain in your right leg. At least, I hope it is, you think to yourself.

Know that the fresh kill will attract more predators; you look in your first-aid kit for some medical tape and resin. Finding the items, you MacGyver a rough cast for your leg, start your car, and head off to try and find a new place to stay.

Nearby

You are trudging through the forest, staying as close to the ground as possible. Hoping that the human won’t hear you sneak up on him. Ever since you detached from the underside of his vehicle you have been waiting for a chance to strike. Moving ever so quietly through the undergrowth, you get to the clearing. The human is gone! In his place though is a large decapitated beast. You do not know the species but think, this will suit me for my purposes for now, as you make your way out of cover toward the thing. But as you get to the edge of the woods you hear voices coming from you left. Not wanting to blow your cover, you quickly get back into the bushes just as six… horses approach the carcass. You can see that two of them are unicorns, one a lavender color and the other the brightest shade of white you have ever seen, both have a deep purple mane, above them are two winged horses, one is a light yellow color and the other was cyan with a multicolored mane. Then, one of the flying ones set down next to the carcass, she obviously upset and begins crying. An orange horse with a Stetson begins to comfort her, and an overly hyperactive pink horse is singing. The other three are just standing there, obviously dumbfounded by the fresh kill. Then, they all look up toward the sky. As you look up to see what they are looking at, you then see an even odder sight, two larger Pegasus/unicorn things arriving in a chariot. As they exit the chariot you see that one has a flowing, multicolored mane and is as white as the other unicorn; the other was a complete opposite, having a mane as black as night and a body equally as dark. As they begin to talk you climb the nearest tree to hear what they are saying. As you climb you think of how you will spread your kind across this oddly pastel-colored world.
First, I need to find a suitable host… preferably one that is dead, I don’t want to get myself killed over live prey. As you go through your plans, you know that those two Pegasus/unicorn creatures are going to become a problem, no matter how much you plan around them. You finally reach the higher branches of the tree, and climbing to the edge of one of the thicker branches, you listen in on their conversation.
“…. But I am sure whatever killed this manticore had a reason, Princess!” the cyan Pegasus was arguing with the larger unicorn/Pegasus thing.
“I’m sure they did Rainbow, but that does not negate the damage that whatever did this can cause! The fact that whatever did this has weapons capable of decapitating a fully grown manticore means that it is an obvious threat and must be dealt with as such!” the princess said.
“Listen to Celestia, Rainbow. Think of who could be next!” the lavender one said.

Intrigued, you move in closer. There could be useful information in this argument. The branch creaks a bit as you shift your weight. Freezing, you see that all of the creatures stopped what they were doing and looked in your general area, scanning for the source of the noise . Not wanting to be discovered before you can launch your plans, you retreat hastily but quietly into the forest, remembering distinguishing features to find your way back later. After about 10 minutes of sneaking through the forest, you find a cave; it’s cold and wet but livable. After checking for anything that might harm you while you rest, you lie down for the night. Losing most of the original host’s skin meant that you could not sleep due to lack of eyelids, so you just lay there thinking. It’s funny. I shouldn’t be able to formulate these complex plans. Most infectors like me can only infect, much less think about what kind of necromorph they want to make. How did I get this intelligence? The person that hosts me wasn’t all that smart. Am I a mutation? Or are there still remnants of my host left in me? You feel enraged as all of these questions ramble through your mind unanswered; completely forgetting what you were thinking about earlier; you just want to kill. As if on cue a zebra with lots of bracelets and other jewelry comes into view, obviously oblivious to your position in the cave, she, at least you think it’s a she, gathers up some flowers and other herbs. Perfect, is your only thought before you strike.

Near the orchard

You arrive at the orchard after the very long detour to avoid the town. Parking your car, you get your first good look at you broken femur. It is still bleeding, not as much now, but still bleeding. You can also see that your make-shift cast didn’t turn out so well after all. Seeing that it won’t hold for much longer you know that you best bet is to try and find a hospital or medical clinic, but the risk of this town being hostile was too great so you dismiss the idea. Your experiences back on Earth caused you to become a bit paranoid of towns, there were so many Unitology cultists that had tried to transform you into a necromorph to help trigger the convergence event. Needless to say, you did not want any of it, so you escaped and booked it out of there with Hope, who always managed to stay hidden in the truck. Looking at the sun, you see that it is close to four in the afternoon. Perfect time to start collecting dinner. You would have used the rations you have, but the promise of fresh produce was irresistible, plus you wanted to save those in case of emergency.

Before you head to the orchards, though, you collect some firewood for the night. When you return, however, you see that Hope is not where you left her. Panicking, you search the area but cannot find her. On the verge of tears of sadness for your lost daughter, you go over to the truck. What you find makes you heart drop. Hope is hiding in the back of the truck with a terrified look on her face. Walking up to the back of the truck and crawling into the bed next to her, you say, “Why are you hiding in the truck? I thought you hated lying in the back.”
“I heard voices nearby and got scared.”
“Voices, eh? Do you know what they were saying,” you say, testing your daughter’s hearing ability.
“Well there were two voices, one from a girl and one from a boy, but the boy only said, ‘Eeeyup,’ and, ’Nope,’.”
“Hmmm… and what did the girl have to say?”
“She was saying something about a ‘manticore’ being killed and a princess sending guards to hunt down whatever killed it,” she said, obviously not understanding how important this information was to our remaining hidden.
“Ok, that was very good. I am proud of how well you can hear,” you say, hiding your growing concern over the fact that you were being hunted.

You then tell her to stay in the car before you head out to the orchard. You look at the sky. It is growing dark. The darkness will prove useful for escaping anyone that might happen upon you stealing the produce. As you stalk through the forest, you see some beautiful blue flowers near the ground, but you think better than to trust a mysterious flower in a strange world. You reach a clearing as the ground inclines upward; gradually at first, but now it is getting steeper as you progress. When you reach the top of the hill you see a small grave. Distracted by your curiosity, you move closer to the grave. It looks new, for no new grass has grown back from where the ground was dug up. Leaning closer, you read the inscription on the headstone.

R.I.P.

Granny Smith

A mother, a grandmother, a caretaker, a citizen, and a friend.

We all miss you so much.

Giving the grave a wide berth, you move on to the orchard in the valley beyond the grave. Upon reaching the first trees, you see that, much to your relief, some of the trees still have… apples. Yes, they are apples. Oddly, though, you see hoof-prints on the trunks of the trees, “This is one of the weirdest uses for horses I have ever heard of,” you mumble quietly to yourself. Horses had been extinct hundreds of years before you were born, but there were old documentaries that you had watched as a child about them. they had told you that humans had either worked them to death or made them into glue.

Gathering as many apples as you can carry; you hurry back to the truck. The moon is up and full tonight, and you’d rather not be spotted in its bright light carrying a half-dozen or so stolen apples.

When you get back to the truck, you find Hope exactly where you left her, hiding in the back reading one of the few books that you had found looking for supplies. You ask her to come outside to warm up around the fire you are trying to start. When the wood lights, you and her lie down next to it in silence and you give her a dinner of two apples, yourself taking only one. The Moon is high above when you finish your apple, which admittedly took longer due to the fact that you were savoring the delicious apple and you are deep in though about what has happened so far in this world, So far, I have been attacked by a... Manticore? Yes, the voice Hope heard called it a Manticore. You're being hunted by guards and are currently in hiding. This is going to be a rough time living here, you think You see that, in the middle of your eating and thinking, Hope has fallen asleep next to you. So, following her example, you lie down and drift off into a peaceful sleep.