0 - "Welcome to Trumbull Valley!"
Trumbull Valley... one of the most peaceful, quiet, and nature-blessed places to live in... has fallen. The once-quiet forests with the calming sounds of nature filling the air were now coated with multiple corpses, with some of them even shambling past the trees aimlessly. The once-busy streets of the neighborhoods were now filled with countless undead walking the streets, filling the houses; endlessly hunting for those who were unfortunate to survive their invasion.
The sounds of vehicles driving by were now a distant memory. Instead, the only sounds that were heard ranged from the moans of the zombies to the sounds of whispers of survivors hiding from their hungry gazes.
In the main city, however, there was commotion. The sound of a vehicle swerving through the streets, avoiding the zombies that pursued it, filled the air, only attracting several more of them. Finally, the vehicle flew through a horde of the zombies... and the vehicle was an RV. Inside the RV were five survivors... but only four of them were humans.
The driver was a Caucasian man with long, brown hair, a blue bandana, a blue checkered shirt inside a brown jacket, light khaki pants, and a pair of black boots. He also wore tinted glasses, a large brown backpack, and a small pouch on his waist that carried bullets for his Hunting Rifle. Holstered in his rightmost belt loop was a Pipe Wrench.
Next to him was their strange survivor from another world; a lavender-coated unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail; each with a pink stripe in the middle. On her flank was a pink six-sided star pattern.
In the back-left seat was a Hispanic man with short black hair, a red checkered shirt, blue jeans, and brown hiking boots. He was also wearing a short black backpack with a crowbar rested in his lap.
Across the Hispanic man's seat was a Caucasian woman with black hair, a pink hoodie, faded blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. She also wore a short brown backpack with an AK47 holstered over her right shoulder and a spiked baseball bat held firmly in her right hand.
In the center of the back seat was an African man with shaved black hair, a small goatee, a light blue t-shirt with a green vest over it, black jeans, and light brown hiking boots. He wasn't wearing a backpack, but did have a pistol holstered in his back pocket and a golf club in his lap.
Once the RV landed on the road again, the driver had to maneuver past another zombie as it dashed towards the front windshield, which had accumulated several scratches, cracks, and bloodstains in mere minutes. Unfortunately, though, the zombie managed to grip onto the front of the vehicle, despite the speed that they were going.
The Hispanic man told the driver, "Damn, Justin! What cereal box did you get your license from, exactly?!"
Justin rolled his eyes as he hit the brakes before turning towards his friend in the back. "Can it, Peter! You know as well as I do that I'm better off in regular cars!"
As the two friends ranted towards each other, the woman sighed before placing her right palm over her forehead. "Well... it looks like they're at it again, Connor." She turned towards the African man, who looked at her with a slightly amused expression adorning his face. "What?"
Connor shrugged his shoulders before relaxing on his seat and pulling a cigarette from his vest, and a lighter from his pocket. "Don't worry about it too much, Kate... I've got this." Then he cleared his throat, cupped his hands in front of his mouth, and called out, "Hey, dumb-asses! Y'all can circle-jerk each other once we're in a safer area! Don't forget y'all have passengers in here, though!"
Justin sighed before turning towards the road again. He managed to dodge another zombie before raising his right middle finger up at the man in the back. This only made him laugh, along with Kate and Peter.
The unicorn, however, looked at the zombies outside the RV nervously, still. Peter took note of this and leaned closer to her. "Um... you said your name was Twilight, right?"
The unicorn quickly looked at him before nodding her head. "Y-yes, sir... sorry, I... I-"
Justin lightly chuckled before gently scratching behind her left ear. "No need to apologize, Twi... and no need to be formal. We know you've been through hell... and I was there to witness it and drag you out of it."
She looked at him and weakly smiled before looking forward once more. "I... I still don't know why you four are being so... accepting towards me, though. Like... aren't you at least a little surprised? I mean... I doubt if any of you have even heard of a unicorn before... right?"
Justin shook his head before replying, "Actually, we have... in mythology." A zombie yelped as it flew past the door after becoming the victim of the passing RV. "But hey, as long as you aren't one of them, and have a mind that works like ours, we would be foolish to not let you stay with us. We could use every helping hand we can get... or hoof, in your case."
Twilight tilted her head confusedly. "But... what about me being a creature of mythology, though?"
Peter decided to answer. "Trust me, Twilight... zombies used to be a myth, as well. Seeing how they were here for months, well... let's just say the shock factor was diminished shortly after that."
Connor nodded his head and added, "Hell, tell me there's a flying pig somewhere in the sky, and I'll take your word for it."
Justin started to slow the RV down to take the next turn on the road, which lead towards a lone gas station. "A unicorn appears, and nobody bats an eye... the zombies appear, and everyone loses their shit."
Peter chuckled before turning to Justin. "Damn it, Justin... is your mind still on those internet memes?"
Justin shrugged his shoulders before replying, "Well someone has to keep the memes up... might have to write that one down somewhere, too. Maybe create an archive for someone's library." Twilight's ears perked up at that statement, which made him look towards her again with a smile. "Something on your mind, Twi?"
Twilight nodded her head and asked, "You have libraries in this world, too?!"
Kate rubbed her chin in thought. "Actually, yes... and come to think of it, a library sounds like it could be a neat place to search! Maybe we could find some books on survival in there... or if not, at least something for entertainment?"
Connor smirked before puffing out another puff of smoke from his cigarette. Luckily for the others who didn't smoke, the RV was hooked with a ventilation system, so the smoke wasn't as heavy in the room as it could've been. "Man, I could care less about a book. I was a natural-born athlete, and didn't have time for all that shit."
Peter rolled his eyes and turned to Connor. "What about sports magazines, though?"
Connor was about to reply when the RV's lights began to flicker. Everyone looked up and gasped before the lights went completely out. Shortly following that, the RV's engine shut off, and the RV was moving on its own down a long hill.
"Shit! Everyone hold on!" Justin shouted before firmly gripping onto the handle above his door. As the survivors screamed for dear life, the RV's right tire bumped into a large rock, tipping it to the side before falling flat onto the ground and sliding near the gas station.
"ACK! My fucking leg!" Peter shouted as Justin's vision started to become clear again. As he sat back up, he noticed three things. One: He was only lightly injured, due to the airbags protecting him.
Two: The others were barely injured as well, save for Peter, whose leg was under a fallen dumpster.
Three: The RV was totaled... and from the looks of it, complete garbage now.
"Shit, Peter! You okay?!" Justin asked before slowly standing back up to his feet.
Peter breathed heavily before shaking his head. "N-no... no, I think it might be broken! Ugh... c-can someone help me?"
Twilight quickly rushed up to him and replied, "S-sure! Give me a moment, please." She closed her eyes and lowered her head towards the dumpster. Her horn started to glow, followed by the dumpster itself. Then, miraculously, the dumpster levitated into the air, flew back a few meters, and slowly fell back onto the ground.
Connor, Peter, and Kate stared at the scene in disbelief, but Justin wasn't fazed by it, having already witnessed what Twilight was capable of. Instead, he was focused on tending to Peter.
When he lightly tapped Peter's leg, Peter hissed in pain before weakly moaning. "Gah! Fuck, that hurts!" he whispered out loud.
Justin sighed before nodding his head in confirmation. "Feels broke to me... someone's gonna have to carry you around for a bit."
Connor nodded his head and replied, "I'll do it. Justin, how 'bout you and Twi see if y'all can find us another vehicle? Kate can cover us from any zeds that show up."
Peter groaned before looking at them. "A-and... f-find some medicine and bandages, or something... t-this shit hurts!"
Justin nodded his head before looking at Twilight and lowering to his knees. Then he took his backpack off while Twilight trotted up to him and wrapped her forehooves over his shoulders. Finally he slipped his backpack back on with Twilight fitting her hind hooves through the straps.
After snapping the straps together with the middle one, he stood back up, with Twilight in tow. "Don't worry, we'll be as fast as we can."
Kate nodded her head and replied, "Just don't bring any zeds here, alright? And stay safe, you two."
With another nod, Justin and Twilight headed towards the city again, but cautiously, so as not to attract any attention. As they did, however, Justin quickly pulled out a small notepad and made a few edits to, what he referred to as, the "Survivor Checklist"... an idea that Twilight gave him to keep up with how everyone was doing.
Author's Note
SURVIVOR CHECKLIST
* Justin Daniels - ALIVE
* Twilight Sparkle - ALIVE
* Peter Marsh - INJURED (BROKEN LEG)
* Kate Harrison - ALIVE
* Connor Gray - ALIVE
