Season 1 Episode 1: Sergey
Main character's POV.
...готово!
Проверка, раз, два, три.
Работает!
Ahem. Well, this is audio record number one. Recorded August fourteen, year two thousand fifteen, three fifteen p.m.
You are probably wondered why would Russian record this in English. The reason is quite simple, really. It is simpler to speak and write in English, and it is international language.
Ahem.
My name is Sergey Cherniy. I am currently in Russian Federation, city Novosibirsk, Soviet Disctrict. This record of mine was made for you to learn about what happened. Well, if there will be anyone to hear this.
So, I'll tell you about myself, then. As you already know, my name is Sergey Cherniy. I was born on a night of twenty second of September, year nineteen ninety seven. I was born in Novosibirsk. I was studying in school number five, then went to the Berdsk's electromechanical college where I had been studying for two years. There will be no third year, though.
Well, time to get to the main event.
In the end of July, strange things started to happen somewhere in Western Europe. Short version — the dead rose to fight the living. I don't know what it is, neither anyone else do.
What matters is that this infection quickly spread to my country. How can a human get infected? Apparently, getting your own body fluids to infected's ones is a very bad idea. You become sick and die, only to be reanimated minutes, hours or a day maximum later, waking up as the undead, longing for flesh.
The undead bear no mind. They are animals who seek food.
However, "fresh" undead tend to be almost as intelligent as a human, though not communicating in any way. Many of fresh ones can use weapons, from melee to guns. Once the body begins to rot, a week or so later, the undead become slower and slower, more and more mindless. Those cannot use any kind of weaponry and rely on their hands and teeth instead.
Damn, I feel like a scientist, explaining all the shit... Whatever.
The humanity was not ready for this. Military bases were overrun by refugees and infected. There were too many of them, so the disease spread fast. Crowded military bases were destroyed first, as far as I know. Yet there is some military left, I think. Secret, hidden bases, like command centers of "Perimeter" system.
Having no good weaponry, the police couldn't protect the citizens. There was too many undead, chaos reigned.
So, we're fucked. A lot.
The infection was spreading fast, and soon it reached my city. People panicked, and lots of them died painfully. I am smart, well, smarter than most, I hid inside my apartment with plenty of food and other supplies which my grandparents stored. Fortunately, my parent's didn't throw out canned food that grandparents stored. You see, they lived through terrible days of Second World War, when there was little to no food. So they always stored extra food, just to be sure.
And, well, I've never went out of the apartment, hiding here for at least two weeks.
...
Well, huh.
What else can I tell? Oh, right! Weaponry. Sadly, I have no guns. I have a crowbar, an axe and a shovel. Shitty, eh? Our government didn't allow civilians to have any kind of weaponry, besides the guns for hunting. That sucks, a lot. I don't know where to find those even if I wanted, the hunter's shop just HAD to move to complete opposite side of the city just a couple of fucking months ago!
So, two weeks have passed since the beginning of the apocalypse. Autumn is coming soon, I must find shelter for the winter before it gets too late. Winter is cold and harsh here in Siberia, so I must take care.
Although the beginning of autumn will be warm, as far as I know, yet I have no idea what is to come next. Weather forecast is not avaible, and it is unlikely that the winter will not be as cold as usual.
So, I need to get out of the city and move south. It is the only way I don't freeze to death here.
Well, what do I have?
A sleeping bag, check. Big backpack for everything, check. Melee weapons, check. A tent, check. A shitload of food and water, check. Compass, check. Shitload of batteries, check. A flashlight, check. Spare flashlight, check. Spare, rechargeable flashlight, check. Watches, check. A pair of combat boots, check. Another pair of combat boots, check. Bootlace, check. Clothes, check. Underwear, check. Lots of socks, check. Warm socks, check. Warm clothes, check. Soap, check. Solar panels, check. iPad, satellite telephone and chargers for both, check. Cooking pot, spoons, knives, forks, check.
Well, it seems I have everything. Trying to put it on now...
Ugh... Damn... Kheh... Блядь! It is fucking heavy!
Damn apocalypses, why do they have to be so bad?
Nevermind, I am ready. I will make a new record as soon as something interesting or exciting happens.
Sergey out.
Canterlot, Canterlot Castle, the Throne Room.
"Sister?" Luna spoke, sitting on her throne. "Something is not right, we both feel it. Citizens of our capital feel it."
"I know." Celestia sighed and frowned. "I am afraid it is time for me to reveal something that no one must ever hear. Guards, leave us alone and don't allow anypony in."
The Royal Guards bowed and exited the throne room, leaving two royal sisters alone.
"Tia, what is it?" Luna asked worriedly. "You know what is happening?"
"Unfortunately, I do." Celestia answered, frowning. "It is time to tell you a story... A story I wish never was real..."
And Celestia told:
It happened on the first month of building of Canterlot. The workers dug further into the mountain side, setting up necessary support structures for the city.
They discovered a big and ancient hall, one so old that it's age rival ours.
Inside the hall, a big arch stood. It was made of gray stone, a stone so solid no tool or magic could break it. The arch was covered in ancient writings, the words so long forgotten in time no one knows their translation. The arch stands ten meters high and four meters wide, towering above all ponies.
It was discovered that the Arch is some kind of a window between worlds. It showed me great horrors: millions of soldiers marching to their death, falls of great empires, bloody mass murders, creation of a weapon so powerful it can wipe out all life, extinction of many species. There are so many terrible things the Arch showed me that I wish to forget.
Some other ponies saw through this Arch and died painfully, going insane from the things they saw. Only I could see, only I could still live after what the Arch showed me.
It seems the connection between our world and the world behind the Arch becomes stronger. Emotions of outsiders, the ones behind the Arch flow freely through it, spreading into the Hall and beyond.
Something is happening on the other side, something so horrible and terrifying there is no word to describe it and there will never be.
Luna was sitting silently, thinking about what she has just heard.
"And... What can we do?" she asked.
"There is only one way. We must go through the Arch and help those who are in need. Something really terrible happened on the other side, and the only way to heal the wound is to find the illness and destroy it before it spreads to our world." Celestia answered.
"But what about our country? Who will raise the sun and moon, who will guide our ponies?"
"There are ponies I can trust with my life." Celestia smiled. "I prepared my student, Twilight Sparkle. I knew it would come to this, and she is ready to take our roles. Her magical potential is one of the greatest, matching Starswirl's, and she has proven herself to be worthy of the Equestrian Throne. She and her friends will replace us temporary, or forever, if we do not return."
"I... I don't know..." Luna frowned, her ears folded. "What if we don't succeed? What if we fail?"
"No, we won't. We will succeed, my dear sister." Celestia walked to the window and looked outside. "Our nation depends on us."
"You want me to do WHAT?!" Twilight yelled at Celestia. "How... What? How can I rule Equestria?!" And raise the Sun and Moon?!"
"I have no doubt in you, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia smiled warmly. "You and your friends are known heroes. You deserve this place. And it will only be temporary. Month, years, maybe decades will pass, but we will return.
As for the Sun and Moon, unicorns can still move them, and you have a very strong magical potential. It is quite possible that you can raise both Sun and Moon with ease.
And even if I am not your teacher anymore, consider this as your final test. You won't fail, I know it."
"I... I am honored. We all are." Twilight bowed, her friends did as well.
"Good. In case you get lost in this, there is a secretary in the castle. She will help you and guide you until you'll be able to do everything yourself. With the help of your friends, of course. I wish you all good luck. May you be known as the best rulers Equestria has ever seen."
Celestia and Luna were standing near the Arch, each of them having a pair of saddlebags.
"So, this is the time." Celestia sighed. Luna nodded. "Let everything end alright."
"Let everything end alright." Luna repeated after her sister.
With the last words spoken, the two walked into the Arch, disappearing in it completely without any signs left.
The hall began to fall apart. Large chunks of stone fell from the ceiling, the Arch was being destroyed. Soon enough, the hall was buried under lots of rocks, leaving nothing but natural-looking cave.
This day will be remembered as the first and the last earthquake in Canterlot, and the beginning of Six Friends' rule.
Season 1 Episode 2: The Arrival
Sergey's POV.
Record number two, August fifteen, year two thousand fifteen, eight thirty a.m.
There is something strange happening. Even more strange than a zombie apocalypse. It seems like everything's wrong: the weather, the city, everything!
It had been raining really hard from midnight until sunrise. It was not so unsual for a rain to occur in August, yet so heavy ones are a rarity here, in Siberia.
And I've been listening to the radio for at least an hour. It's all static, yet there is something... Just something. Like a... Uh, like whispers... Or maybe I've started hearing things, heh. Uh, I don't feel alright. It's not that I'm sick or anything, it's just the feeling that something, somewhere is not right. Not a disastrous-type "not right" but something else... Like, if all your stuff in your room was moved a little bit. It seems the same, yet it isn't...
It's probably stress or something similar, I guess. I haven't talked to anyone in any way for half a month, and it starts getting to me. Uh, this silence is unbearable... And the moans from outside didn't make it better until I took care of them.
So, fifteen minutes ago I went out the apartment and killed all zombies within thirty meters radius. There is only silence now.
Uh, and I've remade my mind. I'm not going south, no way. Well, there is a reason for that. While it's warmer there, most of survivors will go there, and bandits will follow them. And, uh, when zombies will be frozen here, well, when winter comes, it will be easier to kill them. It's not like they wear anything good for winter, eh? So, the cold'll help, I suppose. Besides, I can't possibly move fast with everything I've packed.
So, uh, what've I been doing...
I reinforced and blocked the windows in my apartment, making it hard for anyone outside to look through them. I've left window leafs unblocked, so at least a little sunlight would light the apartments. And, of course, I kept the window leafs opened. It's fucking hot! Conditioner, of course, doesn't work now, so the only source of cool air is the open leaf, especially when it's night.
I've moved all of useless things to the room I don't use, the guest room. Computers, two TVs, lots of books, magazines, and a lot of other stuff that isn't needed for survival. So, now there is enough room for everything I need to survive. Thankfully, I had a lot of bottles of clean water, lots of canned food, batteries, candles. Well, I have everything to stay here as long as possible, not drawing any attention. And, thankfully, this building I live in has thick walls. Like, half a meter wide! It'll keep the cold out once the winter starts.
So, my plan is to clear this part of the district I live in, secure it, and wait for winter to come. And get some guns for self-defense, if it's possible.
It's pretty safe here, being the outskirts of Novosibirsk. Not so much people lived here, and they were mostly old men and women, along with their families. They're smart people, so most of them escaped, as far as I know.
Ahem, let's get back to making everything safe.
So, I locked the door of the porch, so there are eight apartments for me to take. All of them are empty, no one's inside, I checked. Everyone's left as soon as they heard news, it seems.
As far as I know, there are lots of food and water, some instruments and other useful stuff. And I found a safe! A long, sturdy safe, attached to the floor. It means that there's a gun inside! Well, if this safe is what I think it is.
Frankly, I've never fired anything besides AK-74 and Makarov, so I don't know how to properly fire a shotgun or a rifle. Well, it's never late to learn, right?
I'm going to open the safe in the evening. Right now, I could use some sleep.
Sergey out.
Celestia grunted in pain and opened her eyes. Everything around her was a blur, a big green blur.
Celestia was lying on her back. She rolled and stood up, unsteadily. She shook her head, focusing her eyes. She looked left and right and saw her sister lying near her. Celestia sighed in relief, hearing Luna's steady breathing. Finally, she looked around.
She found herself in a forest. She and her sister were lying on a path through it. Celestia looked left and right, and found this forest peaceful: birds were chirping, the air was fresh and smelled after rain of grass and wood. She deeply inhaled, enjoying the scent.
Finally, Luna moaned and opened her eyes.
"Tia?" she called, standing up. "Where are we?"
"I have no idea. In those visions I had when I looked through the Arch, I saw nothing like this... It's peaceful here."
"Yes..." Luna looked around and inhaled deeply. "That reminds me of a time when we were fillies... Do you remember running off into that forest near the city? It smelled the same."
Celestia smiled.
"I do remember. It was a pleasant time back then... But we must find out what happened in this world and fix it." Celestia's smile dropped. "Sometimes I wish everything would have stayed as when we were fillies, sister."
The two looked at the path. Celestia and Luna had only two options: move forward or move backwards. The didn't know if the forest was large or small, so they feared that they may get lost if they don't follow the path. So, they went forward.
Sergey woke up because of a sudden noise. He looked at the clock and found out that the time was 4 p.m. He yawned, stretched and got up from his bed.
Sergey was a white male, one meter eighty five centimeters tall. He was pretty muscular, wide in shoulders.
He had cleft and narrow chin, thin lips, sunken cheeks and low cheekbones, his nose was short and straight. His eyes were different from each other: the left one was dark-green, the right one was albino-red. His right eyebrow was white, as well as the right side of his short hair, most of which was black. His left eyebrow was divided into two part by a scar. The straight scar ran through the left brow and up the forehead to the hair roots, where it became thinner and thinner until there was nothing but smooth, undamaged skin to see.
Sergey had no facial hair.
He put on his combat boots and walked to the window to make a peek at what's going on outside. He was sure that something loud has woken him up from his slumber, and he was eager to find out what.
He found a lone zombie walking towards the forest. Sergey, being a smart man he is, put two and two together and decided to take a short trip to the forest to find out what's caused him to wake up.
Well, his block of flats, which consisted of four porches with eight flats each, stood at the edge of Akademgorodok, the farthest part of Novosibirsk. The block was surrounded by forests at two sides, while the other two faced the Akademgorodok and main road of it, Morskoy Prospect.
Sergey put on modified motorbike protection, as well as a ski mask and a full-view gas mask which used two anti-dust filter, the gas mask being GP-21. Sergey ensured that no blood of infected could contact his own skin, to minimize the chance to get himself infected. It was a little hot to wear all of this, yet the protection was full enough, restricting Sergey's agility just a little, maybe a little obstructing his view, but nothing that could put him to a certain death.
Sturdy motorbike protection was modified for a better agility. Sergey tested it on a zombie, and zombie couldn't bite through the protection. It covered Sergey's torso, his legs, arms and shoulders, making him look like a policeman from Latin America countries.
So, Sergey put on his tactical gloves and picked up his soviet axe. He jumped in place, then readjusted his gear to fit him a little better. He looked at himself in the mirror, nodded, opened the door to his flat and exited it, closing the door. All of this took him a little bit more than five minutes.
Celestia and Luna have been walking for quite some time, yet they couldn't see anything but the green of leaves.
After another five minutes of walking, they saw two wide pipes crossing the path and a metallic construction which allowed to cross the pipes.
"What is this?" Luna spoke, walking closer. "What are pipes doing in the middle of the forest?"
"Perhaps they were made to transport water or other liquid..." Celestia replied. "Here's two pipes. Perhaps one of them is for cold water, and another one is for hot water?"
"Well, there are some kind of white markings here..." Luna inspected the closes pipe. "Uh, I don't know the language..."
The 'marking' was 'Анархия - мать порядка!'
"And there's a strange sumbol," Luna continued. "Letter 'A' inside the circle. I wonder what does it mean?"
"I think we'll find out soon. Let's continue moving." Celestia suggested, walking on the metallic construction.
The two left two pipes behind and continued their walk on the path. They had seen a bike but didn't see its owner. They shrugged it off and continued walking. They started to notice that there is something behind the forest that looks like buildings.
"We're close, I think." Celestia said. "And..."
A raspy moan came from behind the trees and a lone, half-rotten zombie came into view. It's clothes were torn, his face bloodied, half of its left arm missing. Zombie turned to two alicorns, growled and started slowly walking to them.
Luna shuddered. "It looks like a... Zombie. Slow pace, blood, missing limb..."
"What are you talking about, sister?"
"Zombies are mindless creatures. I've read about them in sci-fi fiction."
"Are they hostile?"
"Well, they'll try to eat you..." Luna pointed her horn at the zombie. "And then you'll become one of them."
She tried to cast a spell, but failed, her horn sparkled and a headache appeared.
"Uh!" Luna exclaimed, stumbling. "Magic doesn't work!"
The zombie was close to the two. The sisters took a few steps back, keeping their eyes at it. Suddenly, a masked man appeared from behind the bushes and dashed to the zombie. It turned around, hearing loud footsteps, only to be met with an axe to its face. Zombie fell on the ground, upper part of his head missing.
Two sisters looked at the man in shock. He stared back.
"Охуеть, не встать!"
