I faced outward, doing my best to ignore the harsh five stares I was receiving from my right.

'Shit, really, where is she? It's been at least three minutes now...'

Bored, and eager to get my mind off of the audience, I looked down at my rifle. Sitting on the road, I cleared the weapon and began to inspect my weapon. Over the years, it's received a few scars, but nothing new. I had three bullets left, Twilight still had my spare weapon magazines. At this point, my sidearm would be more reliable in a firefight than my M24.

The door opened beside me.

"Oh, there you are. You have my bag, right?" I asked. Facing her.

"It's all here." She handed the heavy kit to me.

Applejack shifted slightly, the rest stared at us in confusion.

Realizing the tension, I looked at my kit.

'My vest, it's open.' I looked at my field bag. 'And this is half unzipped? I left this closed as well.'

I looked back at Twilight, expecting her to explain. She was standing perfectly straight and motionless, almost robotic. Her gaze held fair for a few seconds, until her eye twitched.

'Right, let's see what she took...' I stuck my hands in the field kit, what I needed would be in there. 'Nothing stands out...' I moved my Uniform aside, note that at this time I had been wearing basically underwear and a T-shirt, both Sage Green, since the forest greeting. 'Aw fuck she took my butterfly, that knife was like my rifle's child. I'll swipe it later.'

I looked around the marketplace, meeting Elliot almost already across it, a small crowd following him. All holding their wounds, none appeared in any urgent condition. Those were probably already lost causes.

'There it is, when you get shot, get FAK'd.'

Removing the infantry first-aid kit, I ripped the Velcro and unzipped one of the pouches.

"Isn't that supposed to be on your bag?" Elliot yelled at me, almost close enough to begin operation.

"Yep, 'supposed to!" I answered, removing a few key supplies from the IFAK. "Made a slapping noise when I walked, cut it off!"

"So when you get shot I was supposed to guess you stuck it inside the pack?"

"When I get shot you haul my ass to someone I can trust with scissors." He crouched beside me.

"So how are we going to do this?" He asked.

"I hope she's okay..." I heard behind me.

"I'm sure she is, probably spooked is all." Another voice answered, the southern accent making her identity easier to spot.

I turned around, "Who are you talking about again? Yellow one, right?"

"Yes, Fluttershy, we think she went back home when all the noise went off." Applejack answered, shaking her head. "I should've kept an eye on her."

"Relax, do you know anywhere she might be? Safe spots, living space?" I inquire.

"Just her home, maybe she went up into the clouds, but she usually doesn't like flying a whole lot." She answered.

I look at Elliot, "Okay, Jimmy. Today we're taking a test. Fuck up and I'll fuck you up. Just keep them stable until I get back."

He nodded and started digging through the IFAK.

"Touch any of my other shit and you'll be in the worst condition here." I warned, walking away. Applejack trailing me.

I look over to her. "So, where's the place? How far is it?"

"Just down that way..." She pointed over at the forest almost a half-kilometer down the edge.

"That's not too bad. You want to follow? Or are you going to go someplace else?"

"I'd rather follow you then go back and see that again." She looked down, hiding her face with her hat. I haven't seen her with it off, it's plausible that she doesn't remove it very often.

"Well, I hope you're more fit than you look, because I'm running there."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She answered with haste.

In stead of answering, I slung my rifle back over my shoulder and picked up pace.

Approximately three minutes later, almost to the house

"Almost there, it's just past this last house, and right at the edge of the forest!" She yelled from beside.

"I can hear you fine, I don't think Elliot went this far. But there's still drops of blood trailing out here. I hope they were smart enough to follow Elliot's party." I looked down, realizing suddenly the trail. It was frantic spatters, very hard to mark where they originated and lead to.

She looked down, and lifted one of her feet, looking under it. It was sort of funny watching them run on three legs.

Setting it back down, she picked up speed significantly, ahead of me before I knew it.

Picking up the speed, almost to a sprint, I ran up beside her.

"What's the rush?" I ask.

She didn't answer, but continued on her much faster pace.

"Hey! I asked you something!" Looking back forward, I found another house built into a tree.

'Is this a fad or something? I wish I had a tree-house like this as a kid. Shit's badass.'

Stopping at the end of the trail, I look over at Applejack, about to confront her on the ignorance. Her face was glued to the rocks that lead to the door.

"What's gotten into you? Like a dog scared of thunder or some shit like that." I look to the trail, matching her shock.

The door was still ajar, slightly open, sitting at the end of blood unlike before. It covered the rocks, and some ran into the lawn. These were more prominent and obvious than before. Smears, direct transfers. Crawling.

Author's Note

I got an Iphone 6s! Finally! I had one of those phones with the sliding-keypad before. Couldn't download apps, and couldn't surf the web. I'm like a caveman discovering fire.

I love your comments! And encourage you to do so! I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas for the story. The plot is not fully written yet, so if you're unhappy with a chapter and post about it I can avert course to something more enjoyable.