Decay

Chapters

Awakening
Conversations
The Wolfpack
Unfamiliar terrain
Prologue
The Creatures

Awakening

"Uggghhhhh....."

You opened your eyes slowly. The sky. You hadn't seen a blue sky like that for a long time. Puffy white clouds drifted lazily as you sat up. You were in a small clearing in a woods. Large evergreen trees cast shadows on the soft woods floor. It would have been beautiful if not for The fact that you had no clue where the fuck you were. You had no idea if a WD was lurking somewhere in those shadows. You checked yourself over. Combat knife and your handgun were still on your belt. You spotted your bag at the other end of the clearing. You walked over to it and slung it over your shoulder.

You had to find out where you were roughly. You scanned the horizon for the tallest tree. You spotted a pine that looked about 100 feet tall. You started walking.

You grunted as you hoisted yourself onto the top branch of the pine tree. There was nothing but woods in front of you. You looked the other way, and saw a mountain range. There was a small stream in the same direction. "Well isn't this a fucking paradise..."

Just to rub it in, you happened to look up and see a particularly vibrant rainbow cutting across the sky. "Fuck that.." You spat angrily. "I should be fucking dead right now and instead i'm in this fucking piece of shit woods, fucking meandering streams and rainbows and shit, what the fuck?"

You thought over that previous statement. "Then again, i haven't seen a single WD since i've been here... Guess that makes sense. No population. How the fuck did i get here anyway? Those fucking dickheads from that town must have fucking abducted me and dumped me here. But i still have all my gear..."

You suddenly remembered something. You checked your side where you felt certain that you had been shot. There was no wound.

You looked up. "And this fucking place is nowhere on the earth i know.." You remembered dark, ashy skies and the acid rain. After the outbreak, there had been all manner of shit going wrong with the ecosystem. The nuclear meltdowns and toxin spills did not help.

You scooped up your bag and headed in the direction of the stream. You could use a drink, and the water here seemed fresh enough.

As you walked through the woods, you began to notice the eerie silence. No birds chirped, no branches fell, and no Wind blew. It was a dead silence. This might have unnerved you at one time, but after the things you had seen a dark quiet forest just meant a safe place to scale a tree and catch some sleep. You continued your hike for another few minutes before you heard it- a branch breaking. It was the first sound you had heard in your entire time here. In one fluid motion you drew your handgun and had it pointed at the source of the noise.

"What the fuck?"

A pair of yellow eyes leered at you from the shadows. These were no eyes you had ever seen. WD eyes were glazed over and didn't shine. Animal eyes- well, animal eyes didn't look like this. You made an informed decision to squeeze off a round at the thing. You heard what sounded like wood snapping and a whimpering noise. The eyes disappeared. You heard heavy steps moving away. You considered pursuing, but you assumed you had showed it who was boss. "Don't come back unless you want another round to the dome, asswipe!" You yelled into the blackness.

You picked up the pace to the stream and kept your pistol drawn. At last you reached it. The water was crystal clear. You didn't even care enough to try to purify it- you had a drink. It was the most delicious thing you had ever tasted in your life. You took another big gulp of the water before rummaging in your bag for the canteen. You dumped out the stale old water and filled it with the stream water. You noticed it was getting dark out. Getting your rope, you ascended a tree. You hung your bag from a branch and settled into the crotch of the tree. You cushioned yourself with your hoodie, tied yourself in with rope, and fell asleep.

You awoke to something you had not heard in a long time. Voices. You untied the rope and slung it around your shoulder. Taking out your bandanna you tied it around your face and put your hood up. You drew your handgun and crept down the tree. You crouched low as the voices approached.

The voices were feminine and seemed rather small. You looked around. Nowhere to run. Not without crunching through too much undergrowth.

You decided you had to be offensive, not defensive.

You racked the slide, and jumped around the tree, legs bent, weapon up.

One of the quadrupedal creatures in front of you screamed. The others recoiled back.

You all stood there for a second. Studying each other. After a few moments, one of the creatures stepped forward to say something, but before it could another shot forward and attempted to strike out at you. Your honed reflexes allowed you to dive to the side and roll. When you came up you already had your knife out and in a Cqc stance. The creature who had assaulted you seemed ready to attack again, and you were ready for it this time. As the creature let out a growl and shot at you with seemingly supernatural speed, and you sighted in on it's center mass, you found yourself unable to move. You moved your eyes and saw that you were enveloped in a strange purple glow. The creature who had attacked you was also suspended, by the same purple glow. The source of the glow seemed to be another of the creatures. It stepped forward.

"What are you?"

Conversations

You sat crosslegged by your small fire, gun in your lap, can of beans in your hand. The beans were expired and probably would have tasted terrible, but you were so desperate for sustenance that you paid no notice. You'd already picked your tree for the night, about 40 feet from your fire. It would allow you a good view of the camp.

You remembered the creature you first encountered. It technically wasn't aggressive, but it had scared the shit out of you with the eyes. You would keep careful lookout for hostile creatures on the forest floor.

You remembered the other creatures you had met, and for the first time the magnitude of the days events set in. You had survived death, teleported, and made contact with aliens all in the span of a day.

"Jeez. If everyone wasn't fucking dead, maybe i'd get a nobel prize.." You mumbled bitterly. You walked towards your tree and dexterously scaled it. Securing yourself to a branch with the rope, you found a comfortable position.

"Come on!" You giggled as you stepped out of the car. She got out the passenger side. "Where are we? She asked. "Only the coolest place ever! Come on, follow me!"

You walked with her, holding her hand, towards the impressive woods looming in front of you. "It's a redwood forest. These are some of the biggest trees ever!"

She walked with you through the forest. It was completely serene. The forest bed was shady and cool and the forest was silent as you walked through.

"This is amazing..." She said as you walked.

"I know. I have always loved this place. It's so quiet. Whenever i need to think i come here."

"I love you.."

You awoke with a slight gasp. Drawing your sidearm you scanned the ground below you for any threat. You found none. As you got down from the tree and slung your bag around your back, kicking dirt over the embers of your fire, you reminisced about how you missed your motorcycle about now. It would make getting around in the woods loads easier. You decided to walk towards the mountains. You might be able to get a better view of the surrounding terrain from the top. The mountains looked to be about three miles away. You huffed and started walking.

As you stumbled your way through a bramble bush, you looked up at the mountains again. Much closer. You could for once see detail. You once had gone mountain hiking. You hoped you were more in shape now than you were then. As you continued walking you noticed the view of the mountaintop steadily decreasing and the gradient of the ground steadily increasing.

30 minutes later, you had reached the point where more and more rock was exposed. You paused on a steep granite slab and looked out at where you had come from. From the direction of the sun, you assumed that this was west. You could see much more now. The forest looked to stretch on for infinity.. But in the distance, you could make out an odd formation. It appeared to be unnatural, but it looked like no building you had ever seen. You decided to camp here, as the sun was already setting. You scanned for a tree. At this point, there were not many, except for a few small, stubborn evergreens. You wondered if you should bother making the trek back down. You shouldn't have anything to worry about, you hadn't seen a WD for the entire time you had been there.

"Fuck it."

You set your bag on the ground beside you and mentally complained about how cold the rocks were. You had nothing but a jacket and a sweatshirt. You could not afford to pack heavier. You had not yet had to deal with a harsh winter, and you hoped you didn't have to. A fire was stupid. The flames would be visible for miles around.

You sighed and once again fell asleep.

"Baby! Where are you?"

"On my way there now, stuck in traffic." You responded into the phone, trying to keep a level voice. Behind you, masked soldiers shouted muffled orders and erected barricades while others scanned the area, assault rifles up. A helicopter whirred overhead.

"Listen, i need to call you back. I'll be there soon!"

"Just..okay. Please, be safe."

"Don't you worry about that." You hung up the phone. A soldier, clad in MOPP chemical protection gear, spotted you and walked over to you.

"You, clear this area now! Martial law is in effect, get back to your residence!"

"I was just trying to, sir, what the hell is this anyway?"

"Biological hazard outbreak. Return to your residence now. Blockade yourself inside and keep all volume to a minimum."

"Why?"

The soldier looked at you.

"Looters. Now go-"

The soldier was cut off by a burst of gunfire. He and the others ran towards it.

"Shit! Charlie 1-4, sitrep!"

He turned back to you one last time.

"Get to your residence, NOW!"

The soldier sprinted towards the source of the gunfire. As he ran past an alleyway, someone lumbered towards him. The soldier pivoted and shot the person, before continuing.

You were stunned. They had just shot that guy. You moved towards the body, if nothing else to at least cover it.

It was no person.

Once again you awoke, drawing your weapon and scanning your perimeter. Predictably, nothing. You got up, picked up your bag, and started walking again. Living this way was starting to take a serious toll on you. You were always hungry, it was random if you could find a chance to bathe, your teeth were not doing well, and your back ached from your lifestyle of camping in trees. Sometimes you wondered why you continued to live like this.

You remembered the things you had met in the forest. That would have been a big damn deal back before. You reminded yourself that this was more than likely not earth, and you were also probably dead. Was this hell? You had no clue. It wasn't a pit of flames, but it wasn't a strip club with unlimited happy hour either.

You scoffed. You hated clubs.

They had said something about a town. You wondered what this could be. While the one had attacked you instantly, the others had only shown curiosity. Could they be peaceful? At least one was capable of immobilizing you.

You decided not to take chances. You didn't want to be studied. You did not want to be near any sentient creatures. You wanted nothing.

You took out your pistol and looked at it.

No, not yet. You saved that for if you were infected.

All day you walked. Down the mountain and back into the depths of the woods. No particular direction in mind. No point anyway.

You were really hungry now. You hadn't eaten in a long time.

This was a problem. You saw no wildlife in the woods. No squirrels. No chipmunks. No rabbits. No birds. No food.

You tried to remember edible plants. It would do you no good anyway, only grass grew on the forest floor.

Evening fell quickly.

You decided you didn't give a shit about the danger. You collected some dry sticks and logs and eventually had a decent fire.

You leaned back against a tree trunk.

Questioning once again why you carried on, you looked at the pistol in your hand. It would be so quick. Robotically you brought it up to your skull. One. Two.

"Mind if i join you?"

You snapped the pistol towards the darkness.

"Mind stepping into the damn light?"

You demanded.

A creature similar to the ones you had met before stepped into the flickering firelight. It was tall, almost as tall as you. It had glowing hair that seemed to be blowing, but there was no wind. A large horn adorned it's head.

"It seems like an awful night to be alone."

The creature sat down.

You did too. "I've spent plenty just like this."

"That seems a shame."

"Damn right. Now, why the hell are you here? I already told your little buddies to piss off.."

The creature smiled. "Ah, yes. My student always was too hasty."

"Was your student the jackass who assaulted me?"

"No, that was one of her friends. My student did the talking."

"Oh, so your student was the jackass who imprisoned me in a force field."

"As i said.."

"Yeah, yeah. So like i told them, I really don't feel like going anywhere, doing anything, or especially being studied. I'm dead already, but at this point i might as well kill myself a second time."

"Why is this place so bad?"

You thought.

"Because as shitty as it was back where i'm from, at least it was home. I was surrounded by the ruins of what was once a great civilization- a great species. People who i might have known were now dead. But it allowed be to remember what there was. Here, it's just a damn woods. I'm alone, and i'm literally dead. That's why."

The creature was silent. Finally it asked "how did you die?"

"Couple assholes shot me on a supply run. They were blowing off rounds and were going to bring down a pack of WDs on the town, so i created a distraction. They spotted me before i could get away and put a round through my gut. Then i woke up here. Bullshit."

"Why would they do that?"

"The fuck do i know? The only people that can survive now are fucking psychotic or really damn lucky. Like me. Or at least i was."

"And what is a 'WD'"?

"Whiskey-delta. That's what the military called the Things that infected people became."

There was another long silence.

"You must have been brought here for a reason, no?"

You thought.

"If there is a reason, i don't care. I'm just some fucking person with no damn purpose who managed to outlive everyone i know. So fuck this. I don't care why i was brought here."

You angrily brought the gun up to your head.

You attempted to pull the trigger, but your hand could not move.

You looked down. The firearm and your hand were encased in a glow.

You sighed.

"Why the fuck is it that you guys can do that shit?"

"It's called magic"

"That's a good joke, but fucking let me go, would you?"

The creature held a level expression.

"I can't do that. I cannot let you senselessly inflict harm on yourself. Not with you being the first of your kind here."

"i already told the other one, i'm not fucking interested in being probed in some stupid lab!"

The creature looked surprised.

"Our society is peaceful. We would not force anything on you if you did not want it. But i cannot let you do this."

The creature softly levitated the gun out of your hands and examined it.

"What purpose does this device serve?"

"It shoots bullets."

"I knew that.." The creature said quietly.

"Don't be a liberal. That thing is the only way I stayed alive. It may have killed people before, but now it only kills the monsters that people turned into."

"And now you intended to turn it on yourself?"

"As i stated, as far as I'm concerned, this place fucking sucks and i'm done with life!"

The creature looked you in the eyes.

"What have you seen of this land, other than the Forest?"

"Fuck all! .. But there was something in the distance. It didn't look natural."

The creature smiled.

"Our capital city. Where my sister and i rule."

You were taken aback, but kept a level tone.

"So your majesty walked all the way out here to see little old me? I'm flattered."

The creature flared out an impressive wingspan from it's back, causing the fire to intensify.

"Oh, that..."

The creature folded it's wings and sat down again.

You sighed. "How did you even find me out here.

The creature smiled a little.

I have my ways. I come here as a matter of great importance . And because it is the first time my kind has met yours. It would be best to have the leader present."

You scoffed. "Well, my leader is either holed up in a bunker somewhere, or roaming around the streets of the capitol, dead like everyone else. It's just me. And i am no damn leader."

"Do you represent the idealism of your kind?"

"Not really. The whole end of the world thing kind of changed what my species is about."

"If you are the only one of your kind here, then the responsibility of representing your kind falls to you, does it not?"

You sighed. "What you're saying makes sense and all, but i'm not really up to that. I've spent months evading crazy people and living dead, living in fucking trees and eating squirrels. I'm not ready to meet any damn aliens. I'm not ready to be any kind of representative. But i also don't want to live out my days out here, some kind of hermit, eventually starving to death or getting a disease or something."

The creature spoke again. "Our society is inherently peaceful and accepting of outsiders. You would encounter no hatred or discrimination. We only wish to learn from you. We would even be willing to integrate you if you chose."

"Well isn't that the choice of the century. Either come meet aliens and struggle to readapt to a society, or stay out in the damn woods. Well shit, i don't know. I'll consider it. What direction is your settlement from here."

"West. And if you wish to remain here, i will not stop you. But i must warn you. We have no control over this forest. Our magic holds little meaning here. There are carnivorous creatures that would not hesitate to attack."

It set your firearm back on the ground in front of you.

"I sincerely hope you do not use this the wrong way. Reevaluate your decisions. You may find more purpose than you think. The population in my land is.. Rather unused to violence. They tend to avoid this forest and it's dangers. If you wished to avoid them, this is the place for you. But be warned, the dangers that make them avoid this forest are the same dangers that will come for you."

You flashed back to the eyes in the shadows.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you..?"

The creature stood up.

"Celestia."

With that, it unfurled it's wings and shot into the sky.

You stopped and thought about the conversation you just had.

"What a stupid name..."

The Wolfpack

It was dark, and you sat high above the ground, leaning back against the trunk of a tree, looking at the starry night sky. You had been bullshitting the creature- the queen, or whatever it was. You had no intention of going there. What was the point? So you could sit there and go through all that first encounter shit? No, they'd study you. They wouldn't let you out of the damn lab. No sentient species would. You shivered as you remembered the decontamination procedures at Fort Bradley. Fuck that. You'd take your chances out here. You remembered the dreams you had been having the past few nights. You'd rather not have them. Although it couldn't have been more than 50 degrees out, you still felt cold.

Letting out a pained cough, you tried to make yourself as comfortable as possible as you once again settled into bed.

The streets were chaos as you sprinted towards the apartment. Gunfire echoed throughout the city and all around you were screaming people, pushing shopping carts with looted goods. A few soldiers and policemen tried to keep order as much as possible, but the number of panicked people far exceeded theirs.

"Holy shit, what is that?!?"

Someone screamed louder than everyone else and pointed at someone else in the pack of people. People tried moving closer to get a look at what it was that was causing all the commotion. Then, just as fast they all ran, pressing themselves up against the military barricade and screaming. You strained to look and saw that certain figures in the frantic mob looked different. Soldiers took aim at these figures and took shots, but were unable to reliably hit their targets. As the pack of people and other things drew closer to the barricade, the NCO panicked. You saw the man, faceless under his MOPP gear, flash a signal to the Browning .50 gunner on top of the humvee. With little hesitation, the gunner began firing randomly into the crowd.

You awoke. The sun was barely rising over the horizon. You prepared yourself to move, but you decided, fuck it, you were taking it easy today. You reached into the bag, secured to the branch next to you, and pulled out the most valuable thing you owned. A bottle of ibuprofen, a quarter full. You lustfully poured two pills out of the container and your canteen, which still contained some of that delicious creek water. You popped the pills and washed them down.

With that, you slowly made your descent.

Once on the ground, you stretched, grimacing at the back pain this caused. You were actually considering going to those creature's settlement if it meant seeing a chiropractor. Or stealing some pain meds.

You quickly purged that idea. Going there was out of the question.

You decided to stop sleeping in trees. At least for now. And if something got you in the night, fuck it. Hopefully it would be quick.

"Where am i going today?"

You had no plan. Back on earth, you usually did. You acquired a map of the area and used it to decide where you needed to go. Food? Wholesale store. Supplies? A supermarket, if it wasn't too looted. Ammo? Houses. Gun stores were pretty much cleared out. You were day to day. It was a miserable life, but you had a structure, and a purpose for living- to keep on living. But here, there was nothing. Just a forest, some strange fucking creatures and misery.

You were hungry. You had eaten nothing. If no cans of food were available back home, you could always hunt. Here, you had seen no edible wildlife. You chuckled.

"I survived the end of the world, and lived in the wilderness for months with billions of flesh hungry monsters after me. And i end up dying of starvation in some damn place that doesn't even have WD. Just some stupid flying horses. What the fuck."

Could you eat them?

They had TALKED to you. They seemed intelligent, even. Their leader had even come to see you. They had shown concern about you. But they were meat. Probably delicious meat. And you were hungry.

No, you couldn't. You would explore other options.

You looked at your pistol. You were considering offing yourself back there. Was it the right choice? You wouldn't have done it out of pain or sadness, only for an escape.

You shook your head. You didn't know what to do anymore.

You figured you needed a direction to go. Maybe the stream again, more water. You would follow it in the direction away from the settlement.

How long would you be able to? You would have water, but what food would you have? Were there fish?

You would have to look. It was your only hope. You were not used to fishing, usually eating preserved food from a can or small animals you managed to shoot. Did you even have the supplies needed to reliably fish? You rummaged through your bag. There was a bundle of parachute cord. You could use one of the inner strands for a line. Now, a hook?

You had read about wooden fishhooks, but you decided that you would use that last. It had to be sturdy. Was there some piece of metal you could use?

There, in the very bottom of your bag. An old pull tab from a soda can. It already had a hole in it. You could cut off part of it for a sharpened hook shape. Perfect.

You were set. Time to make the hike to the creek. You would have to head west to find it.. The same way as the settlement you were trying to avoid.

You would find it, then head east.

You shook your head. "I'm just walking all a fucking round, ain't i?"

Two hours later you were slashing your way through some brush, grumbling about how you hated the situation. Your stomach also growled, but it had other things on it's mind.

"I know, asshole, i know. Food soon."

You mumbled.

There. You broke through the trees and there it was. The creek.

Hungrily you got out your makeshift fishing equipment. You had gone fishing a few times before, but only with proper equipment- not a strand of 550 cord and a fabricated fishhook. You dug under some rocks, eventually retrieving an earthworm. Sticking it on the hook, you tossed it in and waited.

After a few minutes, you felt a tugging on the string. You jerked the string back to set the hook and slowly pulled it in.

Success. You had caught a small fish. You quickly snapped it's neck and looked at it.

Food. Actual food.

You wondered how close to the settlement you were. You hoped not too close, otherwise smoke from your cook fire would attract attention. You gathered firewood and soon had a decent fire going.

You crudely filleted the fish and tossed the unused carcass into the woods behind you. Didn't need it anyway. You stuck the fillets on a stick and cooked them over the fire.

It was delicious. As you swallowed the last bite of fish you heard a noise behind you. You upholstered your firearm and brought it to bear behind you.

You did not like what you saw.

Many pairs of the same yellow eyes you had seen your first day here.

A pair of the eyes moved into the light, revealing it's true shape.

It looked canine in shape.. But something was off about it. Namely the fact that it seemed to be made of wood.

You gulped as you noticed one particular detail. In it's left shoulder, it had a hole. About the size of a .22 bullet.

In it's jaws it held the fish carcass.

It dropped it and let out a terrifying, low growl. The other pairs of eyes moved out of the shadows too. More of the same creatures. Ten of them.

You tried to look as confident as possible as you readied your weapon.

"Back for more, asshole?"

The pack charged.

You let off three shots, dropping three of the wooden canines. As you brought your gun around to aim at another, they reached you.

Strong wooden jaws clenched around your arm and wooden claws raked your torso.

Grunting through your pain, you unsheathed your knife and raked it across the face of one, before lodging it in the torso of another. You snapped out your leg, your boot catching one of the creatures square in the nose. Through the chaos, you heard wood snap.

But there were too many. As they finally overwhelmed you, with two holding you down, the first preparing for a death blow, you started to black out.

There was a bright flash of light and the canine was flung to the side, smoking. The others looked at the source, then fled into the woods.

As you heard something approach, you could take no more.

You let the blackness creeping in to your peripheral vision take over.

You were finally getting near to the apartment. Screaming people all around, military men in chemical suits scanning the crowd, gunfire, helicopters and the smell of smoke.

As you looked up you noticed something strange. One of the Apache helicopters was flying strangely. It moved erratically through the air, weaving and spinning.

And then it stopped flying. It careened towards the ground, impacting a building in a massive fireball.

The building she was in.

Unfamiliar terrain

As you slowly became conscious, the first thing you were aware of was the pain. Your midsection felt like it was on fire, and your left arm had a sort of dull numbness to it.

You slowly opened your eyes, fully expecting to see angry wooden canines baring their teeth, ready to deliver a death blow. But instead you saw something entirely different.

You were in a bed.. Inside a room. A clean room.

You looked down at yourself. Bandages were wrapped around your torso and your upper left arm seemed to have a cast. Some kind of IV drip was attached.

"The fuck.. Am i in a hospital?"

Your inquisitive thoughts were cut off by voices from the hallway, coming your way.

Quickly you shut your eyes and slowed your breathing.

"--timber wolves, yes. Severe lacerations, bites, and blunt trauma. It's biological systems are different, but it all seems pretty standard. Heart, liver, kidneys, stomach, intestines.."

"Timber wolves? How many?"

"Entire pack of ten,i'm told. It had managed to take down seven before they overwhelmed it."

"So it must be adept at fighting."

"I would assume so. It used a knife and some other device to take down the wolves. Muscle development and body mass indicate this thing lived a pretty hard life."

"What is it, anyway?"

"We have no name for it yet. It's a biped. Those appendages on it's upper limbs are for grabbing and manipulating things, and they are highly developed. Very acute muscles and sensitive nerves. It's somewhat like an ape, although obviously less hairy."

"What does it eat?"

"I had a look at it's teeth. Sharp in the front, dull and wide in the back. Best guess is that it's an omnivore. It looked like it was trying to fish when the wolves ambushed it."

"Alright. Well, we have more blood work to run. We'll check up on it in an hour."

You heard the sound of the door closing. Fuck. This is what you didn't want. Fucking things had probed you.

You threw back the bed sheet. Your tattered pants were still on. A large, wraparound bandage covered your torso. You looked around the room. Your gear was nowhere to be seen.

With a groan, you heaved yourself up and moved to the window. You moved up the wooden blinds a bit and looked outside. You could see a cobblestone street outside. And walking on the street were creatures that looked just like the ones you had seen in the woods. In all manner of colors. Some flew.

"Shit... That means there's no escape from the window..."

You moved to the door window and peered out. The hallway was brightly lit. It was devoid of any activity. You slowly opened it and crept out. You were careful to keep to the extreme side of the hallway, in the shadows. When you came to a door you ducked under it. Finally you reached the end of the hallway. A set of double doors led to what you guessed was the back of the structure. You opened them and looked outside. There was nothing but strange, ancient looking houses. They were brightly colored,with straw roofs. Fuck. Was there any way out?

You weighed your options. You would normally run for it, but your injuries prohibited this. It would be nearly impossible to sneak in an area this populated. And those things would be back from conducting their tests in an hour.

You had no other option. You would simply walk out.

You stuck your hands in your pockets and kept your head down, fighting the pain from your arm. This was it. The center of activity. A town square, you guessed.

You boldly walked out.

The normally noisy square fell silent as a hundred heads turned to look at you.

"Mornin' fuckers." You said as you continued.

"What is that thing?"

"Is it hostile?"

"Should we call the guard?"

One large creature stepped forward. It clenched a large knife in it's teeth.

As you picked up a paving stone with your good arm and prepared to defend yourself, a familiar voice rang out. "Wait!"

You turned to see the purple creature from the woods running towards the town square.

"What are you doing out of the hospital?"

"Oh god damn it! Why can't you guys just fuck off!"

"You're badly injured! You have to go back."

"Yep, uh.. I don't need shit. But what i would like, now that you mention it, is my stuff back. You guys got it?"

"We have your things, yes."

"Any chance i could have it back? Cause as much as i'd like to be leaving, i won't get far without that stuff."

"You wouldn't get far with the nature of your injuries anyway."

The purple creature was right. You could barely move your left arm. The bite must have torn muscle, or if you were really unlucky, shattered bone. The burning pain in your torso made breathing and moving hard. You looked down to see patches of red soaking through the white bandages. You didn't have much choice. It was either stay here or go out there with the wolves. And while you were able to take out more than half their number last time, this time you would not be so lucky.

"Alright. I'll tell you what. I will stay in your shitty hospital until i can move my arm again. Then i want my shit back, and i am out of here. Got it?"

"Got it." It said back, with a level face. "You might as well come with me. I'll tell you a little about where you are."

As you followed the purple creature, the crowd, which had been silently observing, slowly dissipated and went back to what they were doing.

You walked alongside the purple one with a slight limp.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle and this town is Ponyville."

"'Ponyville'? You asked dryly.

"Yes. I live and work here."

"What do you do?"

"I am a librarian."

You chuckled. "Cool, man, cool. Can't beat a good library."

"As you probably know, my friends and i met you once before, back in the Everfree forest."

"Yeah. That place is a real shit hole."

The creature, you guessed it was a 'pony', flinched. "Must you swear so heavily?"

"When one's been living by himself for months, one tends to not give a sh-... One tends to not care about proper language anymore."

"I see. But, you must understand, there are small fillies here."

"Yeah, whatever. Now I need to talk to a doctor, and get a recovery time estimate. And then i'm out of here."

"Well, this way to the hospital."

You walked to the hospital. The front of the building bore a red cross. You walked through the front door, noticing the cowering receptionist.

"There it is!"

A cream- white pony ran down the hallway, flanked by two orderlies.

You recognized the voice from the room.

It looked like it was about to start yelling questions at the staff, but you spoke up.

"Are you some kind of doctor?"

It looked at you. Seemingly surprised at your ability to speak.

"I am a nurse, yes."

"Right, whatever. I need a rough diagnosis of the injuries, and estimate of the recovery time, and if you have them, a bottle of antibiotic and two bottles of high- grade painkiller."

Shakily, it replied. "W-well, you have multiple two-centimeter deep lacerations across your torso and a severe bite wound on your left arm. There are inch deep puncture wounds, but there is also shredded muscle and torn ligament. That will take at least a month to..."

"I don't have a damn month!"

"I'm sorry, but there's really nothing i can do!"

"Aren't you a damn doctor? Isn't there muscular repair surgery here?"

"Surgery is nowhere near that advanced!"

"What are you, friggin' stone age?"

"Alright, there's no reason to get upset!" The purple pony cut in. "I hate to say it, but you appear to be stuck here."

You let that sink in. Holy shit. Out of the frying pan, into the fire, then into a volcano, then the fucking sun.

Once again, you were helpless. You were at the mercy of these strange things... These.. Ponies.

The nurse took this opportunity to slip away.

You wanted desperately to be free again. But you couldn't. Damn wolves. Once you healed you would hunt them down and kill them all.

"Alright, well i'm hungry as shit for one thing. Would you guys happen to have food of some sort?"

"Sure! dandelions, hay..."

Oh shit. They were herbivores. This presented a problem.

"Right.. Well.. Would you guys happen to have any.. Uh... Meat?"

"Meat? As in, animal meat?"

"....yeah"

The purple pony looked frightened. "N-no, we don't eat meat..."

It looked at you with an air of caution.

"Chill. I'm omnivorous. I won't eat you. But i do need some kind of crop plant, flowers won't do. Beans, corn, cabbage, apple?"

It's face lit up when you mentioned the last part.

"As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine happens to work an apple farm."

"Fantastic. Do you use money here? Cause i ain't got squat."

"Normally, yes, we use money. But you aren't in a position to work. Don't worry about it for now"

"Right on. One other thing. I can't climb one handed. And i'm pretty sure you have my rope."

"Climb? As in, climb trees?"

"Yeah, that's how i sleep."

"That's horrible! How do you manage?"

"It's uncomfortable as hell, but it's better than the ground."

"Why?" Said the pony, incredulous.

"Because... Well, let's just say there were things down there that i would not want finding me in the night."

"Right.. Well rest assured, there are no threats here in town. I could probably accommodate you. Or one of my friends could."

"Riiight. Is there anywhere.. Like, outside i can go?"

"Why?"

"Habit, i guess. I'm just not used to houses. Or people. Or.. Ponies."

"I understand. We'll find something that works. You should try to meet some ponies! You're going to be here for a little while."

You shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah.. I'm hoping to do the opposite. I really don't want to be around anyone."

The purple pony looked at you sideways. "Why not?"

"Because i just don't! Fuck!"

"Alright, alright, fine. But at the very least you should meet my friends. They are the ponies from the woods."

"Oh hey, that reminds me. My fist and i have been meaning to have a conversation with that rainbow douche-bag."

The pony looked at you, slightly annoyed.

"I already told you i don't support her decision, but i would seriously appreciate it if you didn't go fighting in the middle of town, and especially not with your condition!"

You scoffed. "Probably wouldn't be a long fight anyway.."

"Perhaps. But you can't undergo any physical stress, or you'll rip your muscles worse!"

"Whatever. Now i'm going to wait till dark and everyone goes in, and then i'm gonna find my sleep spot."

"There's really nothing stopping you from sleeping inside, and i'm pretty sure that the doctors don't want you out there."

"I don't give a damn. I don't want to be here anyway."

"Can you be back here tomorrow? You're gonna be here awhile, and there's no sense in not being acquainted."

"Right, yeah.."

You were cut off by a sudden wave of hunger pains.

"Shit... You said your buddy runs a farm?"

"Yes, it's called sweet ap-"

"Right, right. I need some damn food or i am going to die of hunger. I don't think i've had anything substantial in four days."

"Well, follow me. It's on the outskirts of town."

You walked with the pony, once again through the streets. As it was getting later, there was less activity. Good. you hated attention.

As the houses faded and the trees began, you saw a goofy-looking red barn on the hill.

"This entire place is one huge cliche."

"What?"

"Nevermind."

After a few more minutes of walking you found yourselves among orderly rows of apple trees. Hearing a routine thumping, you walked over to investigate.

You found a light orange pony, wearing a motherfucking cowboy hat, kicking a tree. There were baskets set up under the tree. "Pff.. Seriously? That's how you guys go about harvesting? By kicking the damn tree until the fruit falls off?" You thought to yourself.

The pony gave the tree a solid kick, making all the apples fall off and land in the basket.

You whistled. "That's either the weakest fucking tree ever, or you're stronger than you look."

The pony turned to face you.

Speaking in a southern drawl that had you holding back laughter, it said "Well shucks, i do believe i recognize ya'll. Wasn't ya the strange creature we found in the woods?"

You chuckled and answered in an exaggerated accent. "Well, pardner, i'm gonna have ta say that was me."

The pony narrowed it's eyes at your mockery but it simply replied "what happened to ya'll? You ain't looking too good."

"Well, a pack of shitty wolves ambushed me because they were pissed that i shot one earlier."

The pony grimaced. "Timberwolves? Ya'll lucky to be alive!"

You laughed. "Should have seen them. I'm told their little confrontation with me didn't end well for about seven of them. And then there was some blast of light and another one dropped. The others ran off."

The purple pony cleared it's throat and looked at the ground.

You faced it. "You?"

"I.. I wanted to go back to the forest to look for you again..."

"Right... Well... Thanks, I guess."

There was a few moments of silence.

You broke it. "Anyway, I came here because i am hungry as hell and i need some of your apples."

"Well, shucks, i'd be glad to feed a stranger! Take some from the basket there!"

"Yep. Thanks. I got no money."

"Dun worry! It's on the house."

"Fantastic."

You loaded your pockets with a few apples.

You took a bite of one. It was really good. Probably the best apple you had ever had.

"Apples suck, pears are better." You mumbled under your breath.

"What was that?"

"I said, these apples are awesome, thanks!"

Prologue

You awoke with a groan, quickly snapping to attention and drawing your combat knife. Another dream. You've been having these for awhile. You sheathed the knife and undid the rope binding you to the tree branch. Trees were not the safest, not to mention not the most comfortable, places to sleep. Still, you were always good at climbing, you had no trouble with heights, and you were impervious to the WD up there. You surveyed the campsite below, checking for any unwelcome visitors. There was one, a raccoon rummaging through your bag. You smiled to yourself. "Little bastard would make a well balanced breakfast for a hungry camper such as myself" you thought as you drew the .22 pistol from your belt holster and took aim at the raccoon. You squeezed off a round, catching the raccoon in the head. The sound was muffled by the jury-rigged Maglite suppressor. The raccoon dropped instantly and you climbed down from your perch to claim the kill. It was skinny. Like everything was these days. "Might as well light a fire now that i have something to cook" you said to yourself. You retrieved the zippo lighter from your pocket, and some old newspaper for tinder. A few minutes later, you had a decent fire going. You took care to keep the smoke and flames to a minimum, so as not to attract any uninvited guests. Skinning the raccoon and separating the edible meat, you threw the rest of the carcass into the woods. Sure, it would attract vultures, flies, and WD, but you planned not to stay here anyway. You stuck the cuts of meat onto a sharpened stick and started cooking.

You licked your fingers as you took the last bite of meat. It was good. Best thing you had in a while. You grabbed your bag of survival equipment and threw it over your shoulder. You then walked over to your motorcycle, a four-stroke Honda. You had always loved these bikes for their legendary power and reliability. You'd been on the road, living like this for months, ever since Fort Bradley was overrun. You tried not to think about that. You folded your black bandanna into a mask, tied it around your face, and threw up the hood of your grey sweatshirt that you wore under a well-worn leather jacket. While dressing like this did make you look bad-ass, there was a more practical purpose- concealing your identity. There were some pretty unsatisfactory people out there in the world and they wouldn't hesitate to shoot you on sight. If you got away, they would hold a grudge and try twice as hard to kill you if they saw your face again. It also served as a filter between your lungs and the nasty shit in the air these days. You fired up the motorcycle and drove off.

After driving for some time along highway 12, you found yourself in a ruined town. It looked like the military had once had a presence here, as evidenced by the Abrams tank and the 4 Humvees parked in a circle. WD corpses lined the outside of the circle. Soldier corpses lined the inside. At least these men were trained. They knew enough to shoot each other at first sign of infection. You picked up an M4A1 with a reflex sight and a grenade launcher. You detached the launcher and chucked it aside. Dead weight. You hadn't had an assault rifle in a long time. Not that there was a shortage, but it was hard to travel with one and it was too loud. The suppressed .22 did just fine. You picked it up here because of the possible presence of live enemies. You left the bag near the bike and slung the M4 across your back. Drawing your pistol, you began moving through the rubble.

Avoiding the occasional WD, you slipped through a window into a house. It might have been a nice place once, but not anymore. The insides were a mess from looters. You didn't care about jewelry and plasma TVs though, you only needed canned food. You made your way to the kitchen pantry and liberated a few cans of beans. You put those i. Your hoodie pocket and proceeded upstairs. You entered a bedroom that looked like a kid's. There was an Xbox and some Call of duty posters. You smiled. You missed call of duty. Occasionally you used the small solar charger to charge your old cellphone. It was useless for anything now but playing some games once in a while. You were about to leave when something out the window caught your eye. Movement. You took a closer look. A human form was moving across the street. Another WD? No. The movements were too precise. Too crisp. And the figure held a 12-gauge shotgun. A WD stumbled around the corner of a house and shuffled towards the man. The man simply racked the slide of the mossberg, took aim, and blew it's head off. You tensed at the loud noise. The fucking idiot was going to bring a pack down on this town. You had to get back to the bike.

Too late. The man noticed your motorcycle and walked over to it. He sat on it and laughed before dismounting and kicking it over.

That was the last straw. You drew the M4, pulled the charging handle, and sighted on the man's center mass. You could get him from here. You were about to pull the trigger when the man yelled out something and waved his arm. 5 more people walked into your view. "Shit! I can maybe get 2, but the rest will be coming after me after that..." You thought to yourself. You had to resort to stealth. You crept out the back door of the house and fired three rounds into the air, before sprinting off to another building nearer to the men. "What the fuck was that? We're all here, who the fuck is shooting?!?" The men shouted confusedly. "This way! We'll find out who's shooting and make sure he doesn't shoot anymore! Let's go!" The men ran off towards the house you had just left. While they were distracted you sprinted towards the bike, grabbing your bag. You picked the bike up and frantically kicked the starter. It was flooded due to the man knocking it over. You swore, but then heard screaming and saw the men running towards you. You fired off a few shots in their direction and continued trying to start the bike. "Come on you-" your sentence was cut off by a piercing, fiery pain in your side. You let out a groan and fell to the ground. You looked up towards the sky as everything went black.

The Creatures

You were startled, but you managed to keep your voice even. "Uh... What?"

The creature tried again. "What are you? I've never seen anything like you!"

"Do you usually go attacking shit you don't know about?" You asked, starting to get angry.

"My friend's decision was.. Rather brash. I'll have to ask her to not be so quick to judge from now on.."

"Yeah, i'll say. Man, what the fuck? You assholes don't make a good first impression.."

You turned to the creature currently barring it's teeth at you.

"Hey, pride parade, pull that shit again and i'll put my steel through your damn eye socket."

"I'd have you on the ground before you had a chance!" The creature shot back.

You turned to the creature levitating you.

"And i don't know what the fuck you're doing to me, but i've had a shitty day, and i don't even care to know. Could you let me down now?"

The creature obliged. Without a further word you slung your bag around your shoulder and started walking.

"Wait!"

You groaned and turned around.

"What now?"

"Could you come with me? You're an undocumented creature and we need to study you."

You pretended to think about it.

"No."

You turned around again.

"But... Why?"

"I don't feel like it."

"Why not?"

"Cause there was a time not so long ago where i had to get examined a lot. I didn't like it. On top of that, i'm a little culture shocked here. I just want to find a place to sleep."

"So come back to town! Think about it.. A warm bed! A shower!"

You stopped. A shower. Shit, that was tempting. But you still couldn't. You couldn't stand these creatures already, and a population would drive you to put a round through your skull.

"That is tempting as fuck, but i'm not really a people person. So, can i be going? I need to collect firewood before it gets dark."

You briskly turned around and walked towards the thick trees again.

"Wait! Can i at least have your name?"

You froze. Your name. No one had called you by your name in forever. You barely even remembered it.

"I don't have one anymore."

You started walking again.

"And don't come back!" Yelled the blue one.

You didn't even care to respond.

You disappeared into the forest and didn't look back.