Metrot City Tale

The virus had only hit the past week, but the Manehattan City airport looked as though it had endured years of the chaos that came with an apocalypse. A camouflaged pony crept through the entrance to the ruins.

Carefully stepping over abandoned baggage, benches and corpses, Reagan levitated her rifle from her flank and checked the magazine, scanning her immediate area for movement. All clear, she thought. Ducking behind a counter, she removed her helmet and dropped a duffel bag she had been carrying on the ground in front of her.

Reagan opened the bag and took inventory. Satisfied with her scavenged supplies, her headset clicked and glowed orange for a moment. “Oi, you ready for takeoff, ‘enry?”

The small device buzzed and crackled. “I will be by the time you get here. How soon can you make it?”

“I’m by a metal detector near the entrance right now. Not sure if it still works or not, and tha’s a chance I’d really rather not take, so I’d say between twenty minutes to an hour.” A few high-pitched screeches pierced the shattered windows.

Reagan levitated her bag back over her shoulder. “Good timing, I guess...No point in not risking it, so I think I can be there in a few minutes,” the unicorn said as she passed through the arch, sounding the alarm. “Oh sweet Celestia tha’s loud!” More screeches could be heard, despite the blaring siren.

“I'd be able to hear that from where I am even without the headset!” The blue mare began charging through the airport ruins, bounding over suitcases, chairs and what remained of corpses. “I’m at gate twenty-nine, Reamun.”

The unicorn read the gate numbers as she dashed by them. Twenty-two, twenty three, twenty four. A loud crash came from behind. Believing she’d meet a painful and bloody end if she turned, Reagan kept her pace until she reached her destination. Oh ‘ell no, the gate’s not even open! she thought, panicking. No time to look for a switch to open this... Trying to magically pry open the pneumatic doors, the fearful mare glanced behind her.

A horde of undead were charging towards her at top speed, the limbs of some rotting off, leading them to be trampled under the hooves of others. “Oh Celestia ‘elp me.” Levitating her rifle back in front of her, Reagan took aim and fired. Each round struck flesh, and each pull of the trigger dropped singles or pairs of the zombified ponies. Click! The sound of the rifle jamming filled the mare with more dread than she had ever felt before. Dozens of charging dead, two hundred yards away.

Letting her rifle fall back to her flank, she put her hooves to work trying to open her escape route.

One-eighty yards.

Faith dwindling swiftly, she pushed herself as hard as she could. Nothing.

One-twenty yards.

The horde closing in faster than she’d ever seen, the blue mare’s fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Bashing at the door in an attempt to weaken it, the unicorn’s horn glowed brighter than before.

Fifty yards.

Finally, the doors gave way, and the unicorn dove through them, despair giving way to hope as she charged and slid through the plane's open doorway. “Close it, now!” Reagan slammed the door behind her. She had barely reached safety.

WINNERS: REAGAN R. REAMUN; HENRY AVAN ICEDAY

________

I threw my headset towards the nearest wall, hitting a passing blue pegasus in the head. “HOW!?” I yelled, shaking from anger.

Reagan laughed. “I tell you every time we play, Joey, you can’t beat me and ‘Enry.”

Raphael, Aubrey, Reagan, Henry - The leader of the Iced Colts - and I had been attempting to see who could last the longest in the popular survival horror game, The Trotting Dead.

“You know it was just luck that you got through that, right, Reamun?” Henry asked. “Your gun was jammed and had a small army of zombies swarming you,” The pink pony pointed out. “Hey, how’d you three die, anyways?”

Aubrey and Raphael hadn’t spoken since their eliminations. “I got blown out of the top story of a building,” I said crossing my forelegs.

The dusty unicorn grumbled to herself. “Bandits stole my stuff and gunned me down.” She scowled. Aubrey was the biggest sore loser I’d ever met, and such an embarrassing loss wouldn’t be taken well. Raphael nervously grabbed at his collar and loosened it.

“I, uh, took Aubrey's stuff and gunned her down before my buds...yeah.” The emerald pony got an angry look from the Diamondflank leader that said more than words possibly could have. “Hey, don’t you give me that look.”

“I’ll give you whatever look I want to!”

Reagan levitated a small phone from her pocket as she got up and stretched, Henry following suit. “Okay, Quartz, you got my support. Not many ponies can die in T.T.D in such a glorious way. I’ll tell Bonne she should let you into the Watchers,” the pink pony said before trotting off.

“I need your ‘elp with something, Joey,” the unicorn said, pulling me out of my seat and towards the elevator that led to the underground parking lot of the Iced Colt’s home.

The blue mare magically yanked me into the elevator. “What could you possibly need my help with, Rea-Rea?” I asked as the doors closed and the box started moving.

“I’m ‘ungry and broke,” she answered.

“So?”

“So, you’re going to be a good coltfriend and get me some lunch.”

“We haven't dated since highschool, Reagan.” The elevator stopping surprised me, and the unicorn lifted me into the air with her as she hopped off.

“Tha’s what you think, sweetie.”

“Hey!” I flailed around in the air, trying to break out of the levitation spell. After a few seconds, I gave up with a groan. “Well, do I at least get a say in where we go?” I asked.

“No.”

____

Quick note: I'm sorry this took as long as it did (and that it's so short), but due to schooling and the fact that I can only work when I'm alone (which is fairly rare nowadays), delays are sadly inevitable. I'll try and have the next chapter done within a week or two, but I can only guarantee that I want it to be longer than this one.

And please, if you have friends looking for a story to read, tell them I forced you to suggest this one.