Fading Light

The trip back to their safe zone was long and tedious. The sun had already left it’s peak in the sky, and started to find a place on the horizon. This made John highly cautious, and they occasionally stopped so he could avoid the shadows.

Dash was still deep in thought. The image of her ending a life replayed in her mind over and over, with every minute detail. She could recall how a small bit of metal destroyed the plexiglass covering on the helmet’s visor without any effort, and how it ripped through his cornea, tearing it apart like as if it were a weak piece of cloth. She could remember the brutality of the bullet, with enough force to crack open his skull almost akin to breaking an egg improperly, causing a sticky and sickening mess of blood and cerebral fluid. And she remembered that all of this carnage was made with no more effort than a push of a button.

She thought about the why of it. The reason behind her actions. At first, she told herself that she did it to save a friend’s life. She remembered how her victim pinned John down on the desk, inches of taking his life away with the blade of his own knife.

But is he really a friend?

The dark thought echoed in her mind as she gazed at John, whose emotions were hidden by the facemask he wore. Was he really worth killing someone over? John glanced back at her for a quick moment, but his eyes quickly turned back onto the road, cautiously scanning the shadows of the buildings for hazards. After all, what has he ever done for you? She thought about her chances of survival if she was ever alone. She had an advantages than made her potentially strong enough to not only survive, but thrive. Not only did she have wings, she was very physically stronger and faster than some humans, but most importantly, she was immune to this thing. All she had to do was fly off to the other city John mentioned, find a map, and she would be home free.

“Shit.”

John’s outburst snapped her from her thoughts. Now aware of her situation, she noticed what John was wary of. Up ahead of them, she saw a small group of ghouls wandering around, protected by the shadows of the building. She felt more anger than fear, since they were the absolute last thing she wanted to see that day. “Great. Now what?” she whispered.

John pointed to the small section of the road. “We have to stick to the sunlight,” he said as he started walking. “Come on. We don’t have much time left.”

Carefully, they navigated on the narrow path of light, though not without bringing attention to themselves. John’s rucksack created a noise that couldn’t be silenced, but he didn’t seem to care. They continued to traverse the narrowing path of sun, but, once again, the scarcity of their luck was evident once more by a minivan blocking their path. Of course, Dash could fly over it, but John and Anya could only climb on top of it to get pass. With John’s bag weighing him down already, that was easier said than done.

John hoisted Anya up first before hastily struggling to climb it himself. The path of sun still declined at a rapid rate caused him to panic slightly; ultimately causing him to slip from the back of the vehicle face first onto the asphalt.

“Fuck!” he shouted in pain. Dash and Anya immediately came to his assistance. Dash lifted his face to see a bloody nose bent in a wrong position, obviously broken. Regaining some of his consciousness, he managed to unstrap the bag around his shoulders and handed it to her before he could stand up.

She took the bag from his arms and used her wing to strap it to her side in an awkward, but useable position at her side. John immediately stood up in a panicked state, spitting out the blood from his dripping nose and flesh he bit off from his bottom lip. He grabbed Anya and held her with her head looking over his shoulder, desperate to find a patch of sunlight as quickly as possible.

The monsters inched closer and closer as seconds went on, eager to tear them all to shreds. Dash caught something in front of them as they picked up their pace, and saw it as a miracle granted my Celestia herself. A good chunk of sunlight covered the entire way back to their safe point, and all they had to do was get there in one piece.

John picked up his pace to catch up with Dash, nearly against the wall of the building. It was only a matter of time before before he and Anya would be rendered into nothing more than scraps of flesh.

As if on cue, a hand with old and broken skin clung on to his sleeve in an attempt to drag him into the shadows where he would be slaughtered like a cow. He struggled to set himself free from the monster’s grip, fearing the failure of his goal to reunite with his children.

CRACK!

With another familiar explosion, John was free. Blood that didn’t belong to him stained his sleeve as he sprinted away to reach the safety of the sunlight. As he basked in the warm sun, he dropped Anya and took deep breaths of relief.

“Nice shot,” he said whilst gasping for air. Dash didn’t respond, but she looked at the weapon in her hooves. The same weapon she used to end the life of another being with sentience just hours before. Her mind tormented her with images of her friends asking a simple, yet horrific question.

“How could you do something like that?!”

“Come on, we have to get the fuck out of here. Now.”

John snapped her away from her trance and back into reality. She dropped the bag strapped to her side for John to pick it up and wrap it around his shoulder where it belonged. After making sure that everything was in order, they continued to trek to their sanctuary, hopefully, without anymore conflicts.

After slamming the garage door shut, John immediately checked to see if the windows and doors were secured tightly. Dash fell on the ground, exhausted from all the events that happened that day. She lost a friend, and a damn good one too. If it were under different circumstances, she would've loved to get to know him better. She wanted to meet his wife that he always bragged about, and wanted to see where he worked and lived. She wanted to remember him for his quirky smile and happy-go-lucky attitude, but all she could remember was his bloody face wearing a painful expression, and how his breath slipped away right under her hooves.

It was his murder that caused John to kill without remorse. And that eventually forced Dash to do the unthinkable: killing a man. Her victim may have not been innocent, but that didn't justify her actions. He was just trying to survive like everyone else. And she was responsible for his death.

A loud crashed interrupted her musings and gave her a small sense of panic. Almost instinctively, she grabbed her gun and searched for the source, ready to defend herself.

A wave of anxiety overcame her when she saw John pushing a large and heavy toolbox against the barred door. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked frantically.

“Securing our safety,” he grunted as he continued to push the box in front of the door. He stifled the pain from his misshapen nose as he attempted to block the door. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and help me with this, dammit!”

With an unpleasant sigh, she flew in to assist him with the box. It was much heavier than she expected, but they managed to move the box much much further than John would’ve moved it by himself. After they sealed the door for good, John walked back to the garage, still breathing heavily from his efforts.

Dash decided to rest for a while before following him. She really wanted this day to be over for good. She just wanted to go back home again, without the fear of possible death by a bullet if she flew too high. She wanted to show off her awesome skills with her friends again.

She was starting to realize that she may have taken those liberties for granted. Never in her life did she think a world like the one she was in existed. Where friendships were broken because there isn’t enough food. A world where kill or be killed was the main rule. Part of her accepted it. She already took a life without second guessing herself beforehand, so why should she care about his death? After all, her “victim” took away lives himself, possibly from other poor souls who had to take lives for their benefit as well. It started to become clear to her; if she wanted to see her friends again, she has to play this world’s sick and twisted game. She still felt guilt for killing, but she was only obeying the one main rule in this wasteland.

She has to survive. At any cost.

Gaining a bit of energy from her short rest, she returned to the garage to prepare for the sleep that she felt entitled to. John sat against the garage door, busy fixing his nose by wrapping it with medical gauze and tape from one of his first aid kits while Anya was sleeping on his lap. “Don’t you think you should be saving those supplies for something more serious?” she asked. A memory of a scene in a shitty zombie comic flashed in her mind. It had some rulebook in it about saving medkits for surgery such as amputation for when you got bit in the hoof. It was probably the only thing she liked from it.

“This is serious. The last place I want to get an infection in is the breathing part near my eyes,” he said while carefully applying the tape to his face. Dash could tell it was still sore due his cringing. “Besides, There is plenty more bandages in that kit, and Cody has... “ he trailed off for a painful second. “... had another unused one.” A somber expression washed over his face. For Dash, it was amazing that something so ape-like could show that much emotion.

“So, uh… what’s up with you wanting to “secure our safety” all of a sudden?” she asked, quickly trying to change the subject. She didn’t want to break out in tears again. John sighed.

“Those freaks aren’t suppose to be out that early,” he said dryly.

“Okay, and?”

“That means that either they wanted to witness the beautiful setting sun, or they have a controller with them,” he explained.

“A controller?” She sat down and yawned audibly, almost too tired to be intrigued by the new information.

“Those who have AB blood. They can influence a whole horde, and if one of them finds us, we’re fucked.” His voice cracked partly out of fear. He has encountered a controller before, and he wishes he would never have to again.

“And so your plan is to block them off with toolbox.”

“Well, that, and let’s just say that I won’t get a lot of sleep tonight.” He slid up against the garage door with his gun at his side. Anya shifted to sleep in a new position on his legs.

“Yeah, whatever,” she replied tiredly. Fatigue work wonders on her, as she easily drifted into a peaceful state of sleep once she laid down.

John kept staring behind him as if he could see through the metal door he rested on, stroking Anya’s head in one hand, and gripping his rifle tightly on the other. “We have to get out of here,” he whispered to no one in particular.

John stared blankly into his television with his children, letting his mind wander. Since his last, and maybe final fight with his wife, he has been in a less than somber mood. Even his children weren’t as lively as they should’ve been. The past few days of his life have been an absolute hell. Not only did his wife still have an addiction even after months in rehab, he was going to get a divorce, and he said so right in front of his kids. Since he was one of the top surgeons, and mom was out of the picture, he needed to find someone to take care of his children while he was at work. It was truly the definition of a chaotic week.

A familiar ring snapped him out of his thoughts. Sighing, he stood up to answer the door while the kids’ eyes were paying attention to the multicolored characters on the screen. He opened his door to meet his grinning brother on the other side.

“Sup?” he said nonchalantly.

“Hey, Cody. How are you?”

“Good. But I think I’ll be better if you let me in…”

John rolled his eyes before giving Cody some room to get inside the house. He strolled in confidently, as if he owned the place. He placed himself on John’s sofa and started to watch the tele with the kids. “Hey, guys!” he said happily. The children merely turned back their heads in acknowledgement, then back to their show. He was going to say something smart, but due to the recent events, he decided against it.

John sat back down next to Cody, whose usual gleefulness seemed to fade away. “So… What show is this?” he asked awkwardly.

“It’s one of their favorites. “My Little Ducky” or something like that.”

Cody chuckled. “Does it give you headaches?”

“No, actually, it’s quite enjoyable. Even with all the stupid duck puns.” There was an awkward silence for a small moment.

“Look. I know about you and well… you know.” He place his hand on John’s shoulder. “And I just wanted to say that I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks, but-”

“I’m serious. If you need me or Jen to take care of the kids for a while, just call us.” He patted his shoulder. “I’ll let nothing bad happen to you, and-”

“-I’ll let nothing bad happen to you.” A nostalgic smile washed over his face as he remembered the “code” they had when they were kids. “Thanks Cody.”

“No problem. After all, what are brothers for?”

John snapped awake, almost in a sudden panic. His hectic breathing slowed down a bit once he realized there wasn’t any immediate threat around him. Slowly and quietly, he moved towards the receptionist room took peek out the barred windows. His skill at stealth was proven by the still sleeping dog and pegasus.

As quietly as possible, he shifted one of the boards blocking the window just enough to see what was behind him. A faint smile of relief grew on his face as he saw the early morning sun in the sky.

As he returned to the garage, his mind started to run into “planning mode” for the day ahead of them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of any sophisticated plans in a short time span, and time was now worth more than just money. With a deep sigh, a light bulb flashed in his mind. “Fuck it.”

He grabbed his rucksack from the ground along with his rifle and shotgun. His new 12 gauge didn’t have a strap, so he just held it in his arms. After regathering his supplies, he gently nudged Anya awake. She quickly bursted with energy once she gained consciousness with her tail wagging side to side, and her tongue lolling on the side of her face. After one partner was awake, it was time to wake the other.

He turned around to see the winged pony in her slumber. Even though he counted her as a person, he still found her adorable in a cuddly stuffed animal sort of way. In fact, he almost didn’t want to wake her up, since it would disturb her peaceful and, admittedly, cute sleep.

Almost.

Casually, he strode over to her and attempted to resurrect her as gently as possible. After what she has been through, he didn’t want her to have a panic attack by abruptly disturbing her sleep cycle. At first he gently nudged the back of her her torso, cautious on how hard he shook her. It amazed him at how soft her feathers were, even with all the dirt they must’ve picked up.

Musings aside, he still didn’t manage to wake her up. A little frustrated, he shook her a little harder. “Come on. Wake the hell up,” he whispered. Dash groaned, but not in the way someone would out of annoyance. It almost sounded like it was from… pleasure?

Confused, John just shook her harder. “Just wake up already!" he nearly shouted. Dash woke up slowly, but as soon as she knew what was going on, she zipped away with an embarrassed yelp.

“What are you doing?!” she yelled with anger and embarrassment.

“Uh, waking you up?” John said stupidly. “What else could I be doing?”

“By touching my wings?!”

“So… what? Are they injured? You seem to be flying just fine to me,” he said, as if nothing was wrong.

Dash nearly facehoofed, but forgot that John knew next to nothing about her culture let alone a pegasi's “special spots”. “They're… sensitive,”she said with a flared face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you-”

“No! Not that type of “sensitive”...” Her cheeks became bright red, even showing through her coat.

It didn’t take long for John to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Oh… oh shit.” Blood also rushed in his cheeks. “I am really, really, sorry! I didn’t know!” His voiced cracked from the embarrassment. In his mind, he told himself that he just basically unintentionally molested her.

If John was a pony, he would've faced the full wrath of Rainbow Dash, but since he seemed truly oblivious of his actions, she couldn’t be all that mad with him. “Let’s just… forget this ever happened. And don’t do that again. Ever.”

“Agreed.”

Trying to avoid a painfully awkward moment, John grabbed a couple of tins from his bag, and opened them as quickly as he could. He scooped half of the contents from one of them on the floor, giving Anya her startup meal for the day. He handed the other full on to Dash before clearing his throat. “Eat up,” he said with his normal rough voice. “and make it quick. The less time is wasted the better.”

“What’s your plan for today?” Dash asked as she wiped away the tiredness of her eyes. Since she couldn’t use those clumsy human eating utensils, she decided to “drink” the can much like she did the last time.

“We’re gonna walk,” he answered simply.

“Really? We’re going to walk all the way to the next city?”

“Yes, we are. Is there a problem?” He was answered only by a short silence.

“But you said the next town is miles away.”

“Yes, I did.”

“But I thought you said we couldn’t ma-”

“I know what I said!” he snarled. He sighed, apologetically. Dash stared at him, both with concern and anger. “Look… we need to get out of here as soon as possible. If a controller is really here, then spending another night here can easily get us killed,” he explained calmly “So we need to move.”

Dash didn’t question him, being the big boss of the group, but instead quickly finished her bland and tasteless breakfast. Swallowing what was left of it, she grabbed her rifle, and pulled her hood over her head. “Ready when you are.”

“Good.” He clicked his tongue, grabbing Anya’s attention. With Dash at his back, and Anya by his heel, he opened the garage door, letting the sunlight banish the black shadows of the room. He took a deep breath of the brisk, cool winter air, mentally readying himself for the trek ahead. “Are you ready?” he asked Dash.

She nodded. “Better than staying here right?” she said rhetorically. She also prepared herself, which included fighting off the urge to zip on a cloud and nap when they traveled.

“Let’s march.”

The crisp wind played with the grass next to the road that they travelled in, creating a scene that can be painted. The sun didn’t radiate much heat, but it was at least a little warmer than the past few days, making it a little easier to move around.

Dash stopped hovering completely by this pointed. She may have been the fastest flyer in Equestria, but even she couldn’t withstand flapping her wings for about four consecutive hours. She also didn't complain at all at this point; an impressive feat for her, but, all good things must come to an end.

“Jeez, how long do we have to walk for?”

“As long as we have to,” John replied with an irritated tone. “We can at least find a petrol station eventually.”

“Yeah, and we’ve been walking for how long? And we still didn’t find any station. Ugh.” She could already feel a cramp building up in her legs. It baffled her that John could withstand that much punishment on just two legs. Since he started limping, however, she figured that he couldn’t take much more. “Come on, we're both tired so, can't we take a break?” She noticed that Anya wasn’t keeping a steady pace either. “Even Anya is working too hard.”

“No! We've come too far to stop now! There has to be a fucking rest stop nearby, there has to be!” It wasn’t long until his legs couldn’t take it anymore. He collapsed on his knees, pounding the asphalt out of frustration. “Shit…”

Dash caught up with him and sat on her haunches, giving her body the rest it needs. Anya laid on her stomach, and placed her head on John’s lap in an attempted to comfort him. He gently stroke her head once or twice.

“We’re going to die here,” John whispered morbidly. His voice was breaking into sorrow. “It’s over. This is how it fucking ends. On a roadway in the middle of nowhere.” He held the brass necklace around his neck, fondling it with his fingers. “It’s all my fault.”

Dash’s ear twitched. “What do you mean it’s all your fault? How did you cause this?”

John emitted a dead, quiet chuckle, one out of anger, mixed with sadness. “I should’ve made sure that the damn car was hidden efficiently. You know what, no, I never should’ve given Cody the order to stop at the city. I never should’ve FUCKING DONE IT!” He grabbed a nearby patch of grass, all the way to it’s roots, and thew it as hard as he could, scaring Anya in the process.

Dash simply watched him sit on his rear with his head between his legs. Clearly, the exhaustion of their trek was getting into his head. She had to snap him out of it. “I don’t know what the heck has gotten into you, but you need to stop! Seriously! You and I both know this isn’t your fault. Stop being so overdramatic!”

John slowly lifted his head to look at Dash. “Why can’t you see? I failed. I promised Cody to keep you safe. I failed. His dying wish was for me send his last words to his widow. I failed. I promised my own damn children that I would see them again. And. I. Failed. I have no one to blame but myself. Why can’t you get that through your head? Anything I say to you goes through one ear, and out the fucking other!” he snarled.

“Ugh, you are such an…” She knew exactly what she wanted to say, but it had trouble coming out of her mouth. “... an asshole.” She emphasised the word, so that she knew he heard it. “Jeez, you are more stubborn than Applejack! How do you know that you “failed” your promises yet? We’re still breathing aren’t we?” she sighed heavily. She had enough of him. “Is this what Cody would want? For you to just give up?”

John gave Dash a cold, but attentive look at the mention of his deceased brother’s name. He wanted to say something back at her, but nothing came to his mind. She was right. Plus he only now started to notice how ignorant he was with his attitude towards her. He also noticed all the times she could’ve left, but didn’t. And now she was his motivational speaker.

He took a deep breath, and look straight into Dash’s rose colored eyes. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

His response was not what Dash was expecting. “What?”

“You heard me. I’m sorry for being such an asshole, and I’m sorry for putting you through needless shit. Your right. Cody would bitch about me sitting here and giving up.” He sighed apologetically.

Dash wasn't one for touchy-feely conversations, and this was a really touchy-feely conversation. “It’s a’ight. I forgive you, dude.”

A look of astonishment washed over his face. “Just like that?”

“Yep. Just like that. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t forgive you.”

John stayed in a calm silence for a while. It amazed him at how sincere she was about her statement. Especially after how he treated her. He was hopefully going treat her with the respect she deserved from now on. “Thanks. That means a lot.” For the first time in what seemed like forever, he had a friendly smile on his face, even if it was bittersweet. He stood up on his feet. “Come on. We have to find shelter as soon as possible,” he said in his normal, bossy voice.

“Right behind you.” Dash responded. She was finally getting used to John’s orders, now that they didn’t seem like commands to a dog. Maybe things would be different from now on.

Another hour or two passed, and they still didn’t find anything that could be considered shelter. John stifled a groan, evidence that his patience was wearing thin. Dash was also in this same situation. She wanted, so desperately, to fly and see if they are anywhere close, just as an excuse to use her wings properly. However, after she knew what a sniper bullet could do to someone, she was afraid to. She was afraid to fly.

“Damn it!” John kicked a small rock into the field of grass. “How far can a Volkswagon go without refueling?!”

“Can’t we just go back to the city?” Dash complained.

“No, we can’t. We don’t have enough time to return to Essen before nightfall.” He growled once again. “I should’ve took the time to look for a damn map!”

A cold, biting wind blew over them, piercing through John’s heavy clothing and made him shiver violently. Dash felt it as well, but thanks to her coat and medium jacket, didn’t feel the need to shiver. Still, she felt the goosebumps form on her skin. It sort of reminded her of winter back at Ponyville. She remembered how she was responsible for making it sure it would snow every year, albeit not always right on time. Her boss would give her hell for that every year. Being a weatherpony was tedious at times, but just the very act of soaring through the air made up for it. She missed it.

“Stop.” John said suddenly. Dash shook of those thoughts of homesickness. She started to notice that they weren’t having such a big effect on her before, when she first arrived here. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Her ears erected, answering her own question. Of in the distance behind them was a low, growling noise; one made by a machine.

A smile, one of relief, grew on John’s face. “I hope that is what I think it is,” he mumbled excitedly. Sure enough a large RV approached them from behind.

“Are they going to stop for us?”

“They will if we stand in the middle of the road”

John and Anya stood on one side of the yellow line that separated the lanes on the road. Dash stood on the other side, silently hoping that the driver would see her especially, giving how large the vehicle was compared to her size.

The RV approached closer towards the trio. John flailed his arms in the air, shouting “hey”. It was kind of a redundant action, Dash thought. They couldn’t hear him.

The large automobile was notably going slower. John’s waved his hands even more, laughing with relief. “Yes. Yes!”A smile grew on Dash’s face as well, a genuine smile that she felt like she didn’t wear in a long time. John gave room for the vehicle to halt, which it did.

The door slammed open, revealing a kid, not older than sixteen from the likes, walked out with a strange gun strapped on his back. His face was dirty, but his skin was notably more tan than John. He also wasn’t wearing anything significantly heavy, such as John’s rucksack. Even though he was shorter that John, Dash was still small in comparison. She could go up to his chest at her full height.

John was taken aback at that. Clearly that couldn’t be the one driving could it? “Yo, wassup?” His voice was scratchy, clearly young. John also noticed that his accent was definitely American, which was odd.

John cleared his throat. “Um, we need transport,” he said awkwardly.

“Okay, okay… what else?” He was very suspicious, at least from Dash’s perspective.

“That’s it... “

“So you need transport.” He smiled. “Yea, I can hook you up. Maybe.”

Dash grew tired of him almost instantaneously. “Look bub, we went through a lot of crap to get here, so how ‘bout you stop screwing with us, and let us in?!”

“What the fuck?! A talking horse?!”

“I’m a pony!”

“Dash, quiet!” John ended the argument before it got too heated. “If we have to pay, we have food, water, meds...” he trailed off.

“I want it all.” he said threateningly. He aimed his gun at John. “Bag off. Now.”

John took out his gun and aimed back. “Over my dead body,” he replied. Dash was nearly horrified again. Killing bandits was somewhat reasonable, but this was a standoff between John and a kid.

The kid smiled. “I need some backup, guys!” Suddenly, four more kids, some off them very young, sprouted from the windows of the RV, rifles and pistols in hand. The all wore chopper helmets with the letters “CR” painted on them in red. They were a gang.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” John whispered.