Death to Life

Among hearing the high pitched scream, I immediately jump over Rainbow and sprint down the stairs. Adrenalin shoots through my veins as I run towards the corner where my backpack and motorcycle are being stored. Living in the apocalypse for months on end tends to leave your sense on high alert at all times. Survival instincts start flowing back to me as I grab my revolver and bash my way through the door. Rain is pouring down in sheets and I can't see more than a few feet in front of me. Lightning lights up the sky giving me just enough light to see the source of the scream.

"H- Help!" A voice calls through the wall of rain. I run in the direction of the faint voice, almost losing the direction of the source over the roaring sounds of the storm above. I approach a yellow pegasus with a pink mane stumbling backwards. She runs into my leg and looks up at me in shock. She stutters a few inaudible sounds before pointing towards the Everfree Forest.

"Shit...No... no no no not again please!" I mumble to myself when I see just what frightened the poor mare. Four or five of the creatures that Twilight had described in the forest were stumbling slowly toward us. They look like pony versions of walkers, but according to Twilight they weren't infected, they were cursed. The similarities between these creatures and the walkers almost make me choke as I remember the hell I used to live in. Adrenalin once again shoots through my body as I raise a shaking hand up with my revolver in it.

I aim carefully through the sheet of rain until the sights land on their first target. I fire my first shot which hits the first creature in the throat, but it was enough force to knock it's head clean off. I take aim at the second, then the third creature, both of the bullets hitting home. I'm so overwhelmed with Joy and fear that I don't even notice when a fourth creature tackles me to the ground.

I fight against the creature, struggling to keep its mouth away from my neck. Memories of my first struggle in the bathroom back at the school start flashing through my mind. The creature, being a pony in nature, is much stronger than I am, despite it being undead. It's teeth slowly lower towards my neck, despite the force I put against it. If this thing bites into my Aorta, I'm as good as dead.

The creature is only centimeters if not millimeters away from my neck when suddenly all of the weight is lifted off of me in the blink of an eye. I jerk up to see Rainbow wrestling with the creature a few feet away. The walker pony is now on top of Rainbow, ready to take a chunk out of her. My vision is blurred and all I can hear is a ringing in my ears. I can tell I'm about the pass out at any second.

I shakily raise my gun and point it at the creature, taking two shots. The first shot hits the attacker in the leg which only gives Rainbow a slight advantage. My second shot hits the walker pony directly in the back of it's head. Blood and gore shoot forward onto Rainbow's face. Rainbow's expression is one of somebody who almost lost their life. My vision starts to fade and I can no longer hear anything. All of my strength was used to hold the creature at bay. As my last bit of energy leaves my body, I fall on my back and see four figures running over to me. Then my world fades into darkness.

"C'mon wake up..." A distant, raspy voice whispers. "Please..."

My senses slowly start to flow back to me. The first sense to fully return is my sense of pain. My muscles burn like hell and my shoulder hurts like shit. I realize the recoil of the gun had jarred my shoulder a bit, but it should be fine with some rest. I slowly open my eyes to see a wooden ceiling above me. Remembering what had just happened, I jerk up with a loud gasp, expecting to see more creatures attacking me. Much to my relief, when I take in my surroundings I see Applejack, Twilight, and the yellow mare all standing a few feet away from me, giving me relieved looks. Twilight has tear stains on her cheeks and the yellow mare is obviously still shaken up. To my left, with her head buried in my sheets is Rainbow. She's balling her eyes into the sheets, still unaware of my sudden consciousness.

Remembering how Rainbow had essentially saved my life, I grab her under her forelegs and lift her up on my chest. She lets out a yelp, obviously surprised to see have been suddenly grabbed. I hug her tightly against my chest and sigh in relief that we're all alright. Rainbow gasps when she sees I'm awake and returns the hug eagerly. We stay in the position for a few minutes before I speak up.

"You... you saved my life." I say as she lifts her head to look me in the eyes.

"What!? No! You saved my life! And you saved Fluttershy!" She says as she points to the yellow mare who I now know is named Fluttershy. Tears being to trickle down Rainbow's face. "We... we thought you were dead. You... Your'e heart stopped when you passed out. Thank Celestia that Twilight knew how to start it again." I look over to Twilight who blushes deeply. "It was nothing really. I'm just glad your'e all alright." Twilight says in a relieved tone.

I look back at Rainbow and realize that I'm a little closer to her than I probably should be. I need to ask Twilight something anyway so I take the opportunity to clear the room.

"Um, Twilight? May I speak to you alone for a minute?" I request. Twilight nods, a little surprised. The other three mares leave the room, though Rainbow is a little hesitant to leave me.

Once they're all gone I turn to Twilight, and slightly angered look on my face which takes her off guard.

"What the fuck Twilight!? I know you said those monsters exist, but you said that they lived in the middle of the forest! What would they be doing in the middle of town!?" I yell at her trying to get some answers out of her.

"I have no idea!" She retaliates. "The only thing I know about their movement is that they are linked together by the fact that they were undead. This allows them to somewhat communicate with each other, despite the ability to think. The only explanation for their sudden appearance is that there must be something that is undead, or something that could create such a thing." She explains in an educated tone. "Is there anything, anything at all that you have with you that could be described as being linked to the virus from your world?"

I think for a second before ultimately realizing what the source of the attraction was.

"Its... its me." I say as I realize what exactly had attracted the creatures. Back in the warehouse, one of our members died of a terminal illness that had nothing to do with the walker virus. Despite the fact that the woman had never been bitten, she came back as one of those things and almost killed Ed. We deduced that the virus was already in all of us, just waiting to take control of our bodies once we passed away. A bite from the walkers merely killed us, it wasn't what actually caused us to turn.

"I'm... I'm infected. I have the virus. They were attracted to me!" I yell as I start to shake in realization of what my current state meant for myself and the rest of the town. "As long as I'm here, those things are going to keep coming until they kill us or we kill them."

Twilight looks shocked yet seems to understand my situation. "This isn't good... this isn't good at all..." She mumbles to herself. I hop off the bed and look out the window. I focus on the Everfree Forest, a place where I know I'll soon have to face more of those creatures, except now I have a second goal. When we get in the forest, I'm going to kill every last one of those bastards. I refuse to let this world become like the one that I once knew.