Fallout: Lavender Wastelander

Crouching beside the firepit, Daniel stirred the remaining embers as the morning sun warmed his chilled bones. Looking over to where Twilight lay, she was on her side, back towards the firepit. She was wrapping herself with her wings like a cover. Beside her lay the old spiked tire that was part of her armor, along with a satchel.

It had belonged to one of the Raiders Twilight had killed. She hadn’t even looked through it. Perhaps she was afraid of what she might find. Daniel didn’t know, but what he did know was that Twilight had fallen asleep staring at the butt of her rifle as it leaned against the wall. The two tallie marks were dug deep into the wood. They were shallow compared to the wounds he knew he had inflicted on her.

It’s my fault she put those marks there. Like a dark cloud, the fact loomed over Daniel, sapping what little energy last night’s meal had given him. Lethargically he poked at the embers of the fire with a stick once again. A small flame leapt up from the coals into the broken twigs and old wood he had scavenged before the sun had even arisen. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do for a cooking fire.

Giving a cautionary glance at his Pip-Boy, his rad count was a meager ten rads. About to be more with breakfast. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. Twilight was barely moving, her soft snores and the occasional twitch of one of her ears the only hint she was alive.

I’ll give you five more minutes Twilight, you need the rest. I have to get breakfast ready anyways. Reaching into his bag, Daniel pulled out a tin of cram before he dug inside, shuffling a few loose items around. His efforts rewarded him with the last of the water bottles he had brought. Well, shit, I’m not used to packing for two.

Cursing himself for his own lack of foresight, Daniel set the cram and water aside for Twilight, choosing to warm his stiffly-cold hands with the fire. Twilight needed the food more than he did. The black leather jacket she wore did little to add to her miniscule bulk. She still looked as thin as the day he had found her.

Brushing off the somber thought, Daniel leaned closer to the fire as he took a seat in the dirt, checking his Pip-Boy again. Cram didn’t need to be cooked, giving Daniel ample time to plan their route into the city.

The soft sound of Twilight rolling over drew Daniel’s attention away from the screen on his wrist. She looked terrible, her thin face was haggard despite the fact she was asleep. Daniel’s breath hitched in his throat as tears began to force themselves out of Twilight’s eyes. She rolled again, this time onto her back. Even from where he sat he could hear her whimper in her sleep.

<>~<>~<>

MURDERER!

Blood painted those cruel words on the peeling paint of the wall.

“No, no I… please…” Twilight let out in a muffled cry.

The mutilated corpses of the dead were suspended on spiked chains that hung from the ceiling. Their crushed-in heads turned to face Twilight as she fell backwards, landing on the rotting, bloodstained carpet.

MURDERER!

Those same cruel words were written on the ceiling with blood, dripping onto Twilight’s broken and nude body.

“I had no choice.”

Two corpses grabbed her by the throat. One was missing half his face, the other with a fist sized hole in his chest.

“Murderer.” A chorus of voices whispered in her ear.

The world grew into a blurry haze. Her entire throat felt raw and tears dimmed her vision as hands kept hold of her.

“GET AWAY!” Twilight screamed.

<>~<>~<>

Twilight was screaming and kicking as Daniel tried to wake her up. He recoiled as her fist firmly impacted his jaw, right before a hoof caught him in the leg while he stumbled backwards.

Hissing in pain Daniel clutched his jaw with one hand and his knee in the other. By the time Daniel looked back to Twilight, she sat up, hiding her face behind her legs.

“Twilight?” Daniel asked, ignoring the pain in his knee and jaw. As he approached her slowly, a grim thought passed through his mind. She had a nightmare. And it was my fault.

Daniel was brought out of his self-pity by Twilight mumbling weakly through sobs, “I’m so… so… so sorry…”

Daniel guessed that she was apologising for hitting him. His jaw and leg still stung, but the pain was nothing compared to how he felt inside. To some, Daniel seemed like a tough-guy, to others a suave talker. To himself, at that moment, he felt like a monster.

I only wanted to teach Twilight… but what was the old saying Dad always said? Yeah, ‘The way to Hell is paved with good intentions.’

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Daniel tried to sooth her, closing the distance even more, “I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Twilight had calmed down enough to peek up at Daniel, her puffy, bloodshot lavender eyes were almost childlike in innocence and fear. “I-I was back in the house where you found me, but there were dead people an-”

“Say no more.” Daniel interrupted, finally close enough to Twilight to put a hand on her shoulder. “I had bad dreams the first few nights I was out here. After the first time I killed someone... it was a Raider.”

Twilight closed her eyes, her breath hitching slightly as she nodded in sympathy, or just the experience of going through the same ordeal as he had. “D-did you feel bad?” Twilight asked, her shaky voice cleared somewhat as her eyes drifted from him to her rifle. “Killing for the first time?”

Daniel thought back to the fear, the uncertainty, the smoking 10mm pistol in his shaking hands.

“Yeah,” Daniel said. It was a simple reply, but enough for Twilight who just nodded her head and rose to her hooves. What few tears that had been on her face were already drying in the cold wind that whistled around. With her thin, bony face and broken horn, as well as the spiked Raider gear she wore, Twilight looked as much a part of the Wasteland as anyone else.

Daniel could only describe Twilight’s expression as fierce determination. “Now that that’s over with, let's get Fluttershy back.”

Daniel looked over to the fire pit, and the can lying near it, then back to Twilight. “Are you at least going to eat breakfast first?”

It was at that moment, Twilight’s stomach decided to growl.

<>~<>~<>

Why do humans put meat, of all things, into cans? Why not a can of peaches or something? Twilight grumbled in thought as she followed behind Daniel. Breakfast had been a meal of cold slices of some sort of canned meat, which according to Daniel, was pork.

At least it wasn’t from a cow. The mere thought sent a knot into Twilight’s stomach. It’s okay, Twilight, the ones here aren't like the ones back home. Remember that Daniel said they’re as dumb as rocks.

Forcing herself to think about something other than her horrible breakfast, Twilight looked past Daniel. The city past the massive river was even closer than before, letting Twilight see more details. The scale of the destruction was breathtaking. Jagged monoliths of cracked concrete and glass stretched for miles left and right, while other buildings were canted over to the point they were smashing into each other like dominoes.

It’s hard to believe that all of this was from Humans fighting Humans in a single day. Twilight thought to herself before she passed by a half-buried skeleton. Twilight shuddered. It’s okay, you’re safe now. You are no longer in that town.

During their half-hour of walking, the dream had remained as fresh in Twilight’s mind as if she had just woken up. No matter how hard she tried to forget it, something reminded her of the dream, and the two Raiders she had killed.

It wasn’t my fault, I killed them in self defense. Twilight tried to rationalize, grinding her knuckles against her brow. I wouldn’t even have been there if Daniel hadn’t made me. If it’s anyone’s fault, it should be his.

Twilight crossed her arms in a huff. Of course it wasn’t her fault, Daniel had led her right into an impossible situation.

“All this silence is getting boring,” Daniel groaned up ahead. “Mind if I cut on the radio?” Daniel held up his left arm to show off that thing he always wore.

Twilight’s curiosity outweighed her anger. So it’s a radio? I never really asked him about that device.

“Sure,” Twilight said, a bit more roughly than she would have liked. She hadn’t totally forgiven Daniel, but she hoped that a little music would help forget her sour mood.

Before long Twilight could hear music playing out of the radio on Daniel’s arm. It was a noisy little tune about being naive and finding a wonderful guy. Twilight couldn’t help but hum along, her stress and anger melting away as she lost herself in the song.

After the chorus began to repeat, Twilight’s humming evolved into singing. “I’m as corny as Kansas in August, I’m as normal as blueberry pie. No more a smart little girl with no heart I have found- what!?” Twilight stuttered as Daniel laughed up ahead, “I’m just singing.” For some reason she couldn’t place, Twilight felt embarrassed.

Was my singing that bad?

“No-no, please, continue,” Daniel called back, not even turning his head to look over his shoulder. “I like your singing. It’s cute.”

If Twilight wasn’t blushing before, she knew she was now. “T-Thanks,” she stuttered.

Dropping her hand down to her side -- Wait, when did I start playing with my hair? -- Twilight cleared her throat and started to sing along once more.

“I’m as corny as Kansas in August, I’m high as the flag on the Fourth of July. If you’ll excuse an expression I use I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love… with a wonderful guy!” The music ended with a flare of trumpets.

Twilight looked up to Daniel, he had turned around to face her as he walked backwards, clapping and smiling. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but a familiar voice from the radio cut him off.

“Hellooo, Capital Wasteland, it’s meeeeeeee, Three-Dawg, how’s everybody doin’ today? Today’s forecast, cloudy with a chance of stepping on a land-mine, so look out below. Now for the real news.”

The only pause Three Dog gave was to take a breath, before continuing his broadcast, "It seems the Pale Horse of the Apocalypse prefers scotch if the reports coming in from Rivet City are anything to go by. Sketchy sources claim that about two weeks ago, a mysterious white-furred mutant by the name of Rarity arrived and shared a drink with someone at the Weatherly Hotel. Now, I’m only giving the rumors credit after seeing that Fluttershy girl right in front of my eyes fightin’ the good fight with our boys in power armor."

There was a brief pause and the sound of papers shuffling could be heard before Three Dog was back, "Seem’s that’s all I have for now kiddies, but listen up. If you see a mutant that walks on hooves like a brahmin, but has the figure of a gal out of your wildest Jet dream, think before you shoot. Now for some music."

“Into each life, some rain must fall~”

Daniel cut the radio off, his eyebrows raised, “Another one of your friends?”

Twilight could only nod in numb shock. Rarity was alive as well! Not only that, she had been spotted in a city, even had a drink with someone in a hotel. That’s definitely Rarity, Twilight thought, smiling in a warm haze of joy, always wanting to appear as upper-class as ever.

“We have to find her too, Daniel!” Twilight shouted in pure joy. “Where’s Rivet City?”

Twilight’s joyous mood deflated as Daniel shook his head, “I know where it’s at, but I’ve never been there. I’ve been trying and failing to get to the Galaxy News Radio station ever since I got out of the Vault.”

“Oh,” Twilight mumbled. Daniel turned back around and offered no retort, leaving Twilight in a dim haze of shock. Then Twilight felt her blood begin to boil. Rarity is so close, but so far away that it’s not even fair! At least I know she and Fluttershy are safe.

Twilight forced herself to end that line of thought with a little positivity. Attempting to distract herself from the lingering anger, disappointment, and fear at knowing where another one of her friends were, but not being able to reach them, Twilight focused on something else. Looking to the satchel she wore, Twilight remembered she hadn’t opened it yet. Part of her didn’t want to open it so she could keep herself from benefiting from the death she had caused.

A quick look at the sea of dry dirt and the ruined city ahead changed her mind. Well, now or never.

Pulling open the flap, Twilight carefully stuck her hand in while looking into the pouch. She didn’t know what a Raider might keep in their bag. Maybe broken glass? Used syringes? A severed head?

Twilight shuddered, cautiously taking out the first thing she saw. She at least had been right on the used syringe part. The proper procedure for dealing with used syringes would be storing them in a biohazard container. With no container available, Twilight discarded the used syringe onto the ground before returning to her search.

Her search rewarded her with two more syringes, but they were different. Where the first had been a grey metal syringe with a plunger, the other two were made of grey metal as well, but had a gauge on the top like a bicycle pump.

“What’s this?” Twilight asked, holding up one of the gauge-topped syringes. If she was reading it correctly, the needle was at full pressure. Or maybe the gauge was for how full it was? The lack of markings meant Twilight couldn’t tell.

Daniel turned around, “That is a stimpak. You want to keep as many as you can carry because you’ll probably need one sooner or later. Mends open wounds and speeds healing. Some fancy super-concoction of healing agents and antiseptics. Supposedly works on all blood types, too.”

Huh, so it’s like a potion you inject instead of drink. Betterto have it and not need it thanto need it and not have it. Twilight thought, attempting to stick with her positive outlook while trying to push away the thoughts of mending her caved in head or a hole-

Stop thinking about it.

Replacing the stimpak, and continuing her rummaging. The only other items in the bag were a new magazine full of cartridges that would fit her rifle, and a folded piece of paper.

The paper itself caught her eye, and she removed it from the bag. The edges glowed with a faint violet hue that was almost invisible in the light of the sun.

Twilight couldn’t escape the feeling that it was somehow important, and despite belonging to a Raider, she couldn’t resist the urge to read it. Opening the folded page, Twilight skipped over the crude scribbles in the margins to read the words to herself, immediately displeased with the colorful language.

August 8th, 2077

I fell into a goddamn hole, got ejected from the fucking castle, fell into another damn hole, nearly got shot by a jumpy trooper after emerging from a secret passageway, took the wrong fucking turn and ended up trapped for an hour, and then I got ejected from the goddamn castle, AGAIN! In short, I hate this place. I'm stuck as a horse, writing shit down with my mouth, the castle above us is booby-trapped to hell, and everytime I eat a ration that has meat in it, I get a case of the runny shits. Which is all of them.

Fuck it, I'm growing a farm if Command is going to have us do a long-term recon of this place.

"Being turned into a horse is an acceptable side effect of infiltrating Communist territory". Bullshit, I'd like to see Colonel Evans trot his ass through here.

Trot... trot... I used trot in a sentence because I'm a horse.

Fuck this place, I hate it.

Twilight read over the note two more times. The writer plainly described encountering traps in a castle of sorts, and that he had been turned into a pony, but the Raider shouldn’t have been able to make it into the Castle of the Two Sisters through the broken mirror, if she was interpreting that right. But then again, the writer had mentioned a Colonel Evans, as if he were under his command. That hinted he was part of a military of sorts.

Thinking back to the cave, realization hit Twilight as she thought back to what they had found inside. Armor and things from this world. From what the writer described, and the few references that he was military, Twilight guessed the person was a soldier… but that would have been before the war.

Twilight frowned at the thought. That meant the writer was dead for almost two hundred years. Folding the note back along the creases, Twilight put it back in her satchel.

<>~<>~<>

The sun was just beginning to reach midday when Daniel checked behind him to see if Twilight still followed. Something was wrong with her, Daniel could tell. She hadn’t spoken or asked questions about the Wasteland, and every time he looked at her she would frown.

Daniel decided to not push the subject and apologize when she seemed less - Daniel checked behind himself again, Twilight catching him with a glare - irritated.

“What is it?” Twilight asked in a harsh snap, speaking to him for the first time since finding out another one of her friends was alive. Daniel stopped and faced her, a low wind carrying with it the overpowering stench of carrion to the concrete they stood upon.

Daniel’s father, James, had taught him to read expressions in order to tell if a patient was telling the truth or not. Twilight was presenting emotions like an open book with her brow still furrowed and lips curled into a semi-frown. She was angry. He didn’t need fancy skills to tell that.

Daniel fully accepted it. He deserved Twilight’s anger in full, maybe even more. It was his stupid idea in the first place to take Twilight to that Raider camp.

“Nothing,” he lied, then added truthfully. “The metro entrance is just down here.” He pointed to the worn steps descending into the concrete ground.

According to his Pip-Boy, they were standing outside the entrance to the Farragut West Metro Station. Daniel had been trying to get into this particular metro for the past two weeks, but kept getting chased off. Thankfully the Super Mutants and Raiders had left.

After crossing the river where a thin tract of land poked above the water, then looping back towards the Metro, Daniel had seen that the Muties had moved on. The Raiders that had been harassing him were dead in the nearby parking lot, but Twilight hadn’t noticed them, or just didn't care. With the danger gone, it saved them the long trip of taking Gob’s route.

Without giving so much as another word, Twilight walked down the stairs towards the entrance of the metro, her flat hooves echoing on the concrete. The scissor-joint gates were open just a crack, allowing Twilight to enter without hesitation. Daniel followed, his eyes catching a symbol of three cogs behind a sword with an arrow pointing to the metro entrance. Painted along with the arrow and symbol were the words: To GNR Outpost.

Well, seems like we’re on the right track.

Inside the air was already several degrees cooler without the light of day gracing his skin. Daniel could feel goosebumps starting to rise underneath his synthetic-leather jumpsuit. He suppressed the urge to shiver.

The Metro entrance was a dimly lit tunnel. Instinctively, Daniel held a button on his Pip-Boy. Within seconds a pale green light beamed out of his wrist-mounted screen, bathing the dirty beige brick walls in a sickly green glow. With light cutting through the darkness, the refuse lining the slate-grey floor became clearly visible. Tin cans, old soda bottles, even pieces of the ceiling.

But that was nothing in comparison to the skeletons. Their pale bones seemed even more ethereal as the ghostly green light washed over them, like a taut skin. Some clutched each other, some just lay on the floor, one even lay peacefully on a bench, hands under their skull like a bony pillow. While the positions were different, their similarities were glaring. They all wore clothing from before the war.

This is where they died when the world ended, Daniel thought in numb shock. In his two weeks out of the Vault, Daniel had never been in a metro. He reached for his pistol, the sheer number of skeletons putting him instantly on edge, This is nothing like stepping out of the Vault.

Twilight was by a locker. She seemed surprised, but quickly brushed it off as she stooped over, picking up a helmet.

“What are you doing!?” Daniel hissed in a whisper, as if the dead could hear him.

Twilight discarded the skull that was inside the helmet with little care, placing the headgear onto her head and strapping it into place. Her broken horn put the helmet at an odd backwards slant. “Well, it’s obvious he didn’t need it.”

Looting dead Raiders was one thing… but skeletons. Something in Daniel's gut always resented taking from the really old dead, but Twilight was right. Still, it took every ounce of Daniel’s self restraint and a little bit of tongue biting to keep from saying what was on his mind. Daniel didn’t want to escalate Twilight’s bitter mood.

With that conversation stopped just as dead as the skeletons around them, Daniel took the lead. Following the tunnel, a few sputtering lights crackled overhead as a low hum filled the air. Generators. The sound of even more out of sight machinery and the rattle of pipes gave the unnerving impression of descending into something very alive.

The unnerving feeling was made even worse as a radio off in the distance echoed with a distorted hiss of static, “I don’t want to set the world on fire.”

Turning to look behind him, Twilight had drawn her rifle. Every trace of anger that had etched her face since her rude awakening was replaced with wide-eyed worry. Daniel noticed her eyes kept darting around from place to place where his Pip-Boy light didn’t reach in the inky black darkness.

Rounding a bend in the tunnel, Daniel passed more refuse and an old ticket gate before stopping. Up ahead his light fell upon a mound of rubble blocking their way.

Twilight was right beside him. Her questioning stare seemed to analyse every piece of the caved-in tunnel. “Collapsed,” She muttered.

Daniel could feel his heart beat faster. He was so close to finding where his dad had went, “There has to be another way!”

Twilight pointed behind her.

It was a blue door marked Metro Staff Only. A thought struck Daniel, filling him with renewed hope, “Maybe we can find a maintenance tunnel into the metro. Like back in my vault. There were all these side tunnels for people to fix the wires and pipes.”

Twilight was smiling, Daniel noticed, her smile shining just as bright as his light, “Yes! Let’s hurry!”

Before he could stop Twilight, she had already crossed the short distance to the door. As soon as the door swung open, an angry, inhuman shriek pierced Daniel’s ears. A split second of panic passed before he caught sight of the snarling creature on top of Twilight.

The pink-skinned mole rat was no larger than a dog, but it was just as dangerous as a rabid mutt with it’s oversized, razor sharp teeth.

Twilight’s scream could be heard over Daniel’s frantic running as he kicked the thing off of Twilight. Leveling his pistol, Daniel put an entire magazine into the mole rat before stopping.

“WHAT WAS THAT THING?!” Twilight yelled. Her panic was evident as her shaking hand struggled to pull her up.

Daniel took hold of Twilight’s other arm and helped her up. His voice shook with adrenaline, his heart beating like a drum in his ears. “It was just a mole rat. You hurt?”

Twilight shook her head, her chest rapidly rising and falling as she panted, “No… thanks.”

Twilight took one deep breath, then slowly let it out. She seemed less frazzled after that, her voice sounding almost confident, “Let’s keep going.”

<>~<>~<>

Somehow the maintenance tunnel was even darker and gloomier than the metro entrance. There were no lights set up, and the sound of machinery kept the tunnel filled with a constant hum as steam hissed out of ancient pipes. The air was hot, and the steam added to the humidity, making the tunnel feel like a claustrophobic oven as Daniel struggled to take in every breath.

Each one felt as if a wet fist was gripping his lungs.

Still, it was better than fighting mole rats. At least a little steam didn’t send Twilight into a panic. They had encountered only two more in their descent into the maintenance tunnel, and both had been killed by Twilight. She looked as miserable as he felt. Every part of her exposed fur was damp with sweat and caked in grime. She tugged at her collar, sweat glistening on her hands in the light of Daniel’s Pip-Boy.

Daniel decided to break up the mood, tapping Twilight on the shoulder and smiling as he said, “Want to hear a joke?”

“Sure,” was Twilight’s clipped response.

Daniel grinned, thinking back to a joke Wadsworth had recently told him. “Two atoms are in a bar. One turns to the other and says, ‘I think I lost an electron,’ the other asks, ‘are you sure,’ to which the first one replies, ‘I’m positive.”

The light from Daniel’s Pip-Boy wasn’t super bright, but it provided enough illumination to clearly see Twilight’s straight-forward expression as they walked side-by-side. The corner of her lips twitched, and Twilight started biting her lower lip.

It was a small victory, Daniel knew he wasn’t back on Twilight's good side yet, but at least she seemed to think he was funny. No matter how hard she tried to look straight down the service tunnel, that faint twitch was a clear sign she was hiding a smile and a laugh.

Despite Twilight not showing how she felt, just having someone to travel with and crack jokes to was good enough for Daniel. Even if she was a bit grouchy at the moment.

Letting out a near-silent sigh, Daniel accepting fully once more that it was his fault Twilight was angry, but his smile never left his face. Daniel certainly wasn’t going to let the small victory go uncelebrated.

Twilight pointed ahead, “Daniel, I think I see a light ahead.”

Daniel checked forward. There was indeed a light at the end of the hall. A flickering orange light. Extending his arm straight across, blocking Twilight’s way as he stopped, Daniel whispered, “We need to move carefully. It looks like it may be a fire, and fires usually mean someone is around to light them. There’s no telling who's ahead. And even if they aren’t hostile, I doubt a non-human charging straight into view of everyone dressed as a Raider would send the right message.”

Twilight scrunched her face like she had some retort, but stopped, then nodded in agreement, “I admit that mole-rat… thing... surprised me because I got overexcited.” Twilight gave a sigh and tapped a finger to her helmet, “And yes, I need new clothes. I don’t want to look like a Raider any longer than I have to.”

“Well, for now, save any bottle caps you find,” Daniel said, dropping his arm from Twilight’s chest. “That’s the currency of the Wasteland.”

“Bottle caps, seriously? The entire economy is based upon stamped pieces of steel that top soda bottles?”

“In layman’s terms, yes, but we can talk about that later. As for right now…” Daniel pointed down the tunnel.

“Right,” Twilight agreed with a sheepish smile.

The large, open area of the metro was a mixture of dark shadows and blinding columns of light. Scanning the area, Daniel could easily see that parts of the ceiling had fallen in. Sunlight cascaded down from the gaps to bathe parts of the room in warmth and light. About the only place shadows found total refuge from the light was by the walls, and the subway cars that were still on their tracks, forever unmoving as they waited for passengers that would never come.

Twilight walked beside Daniel, both of them looking cautiously around for any sign of life, passing the half-barrel someone was using as a firepit.

“I-I think I see a body.” Twilight said in a fearful whisper, tapping Daniel on the shoulder before pointing towards a broken escalator. The steps went from the waiting area of the station to a concrete bridge above the tracks.

Moving a little closer towards the body, Daniel could tell even at a distance that it was the corpse of a man. He had died with his back to the railing of the escalator. Daniel guessed that he’d been dead for a while. The skin of the corpse was taut against his muscles and bones, looking like it had a similar texture to leather. There wasn’t even a smell coming off the corpse.

Daniel stopped and tilted his head, studying the details. The corpse looked mummified, and with the cartilage in his nose decomposed away, it almost looked like Gob.

Jerking at the realization of not seeing the obvious sooner, by the time he recovered Twilight was halfway to the escalator.

“Don’t trust the corpses!” Daniel yelled, drawing his pistol before firing a round into the corpse's head.

The feral ghoul died with a throaty, gurgling, cry of anger; the lone pistol shot echoing off the walls.

A shuffling came from his left. Turning, he saw another feral ghoul was crawling out from underneath a pile of rubble, a few more coming around from behind a subway car.

Five, six… eleven! Daniel had never encountered so many feral ghouls, his only experience being a rogue one walking on the surface.

“What are they!?” Twilight yelled in horror, her rifle shots sounded like a cannon inside the metro. The unlucky ghoul that happened to be in her line of fire collapsed as an arm was torn free from its semi-rotten body.

Daniel dodged left as the ghoul that had crawled from underneath the rubble lunged at him. Spinning on his heel, Daniel shot the ghoul three times in the back of the head.

Not waiting around to watch the ghoul he had just killed hit the ground, Daniel quickly turned back towards Twilight. She had already shot dead two more ghouls.

The click from her rifle echoed just as loud in the chaos as a rifle shot. She was out of ammo. Three more ghouls were coming at her.

Daniel watched, rooted in place by horror as the first ghoul reached Twilight. In a desperate fury she clubbed the ghoul with the butt of her rifle. Stumbling backwards, the ghoul was bowled over by the other two behind it, sending them all to the ground in a tangled heap. The one Twilight had hit was missing its jaw from the force of the impact.

A ghoul jumped on Daniel’s back, its rotten breath was hot as it snapped at his ear. Grabbing the squishy wrist of the ghoul, Daniel moved like he was crouching and shifted his weight, throwing the ghoul off of him to impact heavily with the floor. His pistol did the rest.

Knocked out of his stupor, Daniel set out in a full sprint to close the distance between him and Twilight. The three tripped ghouls had untangled themselves from each other and all seemed to have forgotten how to walk as they rushed towards Twilight on all fours.

With his pistol, Daniel made sure they didn’t get back up.

By a subway car was another pack of three that had been keeping their distance, like they were letting the others do the hunting. Cheated out of an easy meal, the three growled and yelled as they charged. Daniel gave a quick sidelong glance, Twilight was fumbling in her satchel for something and came out with another magazine of cartridges in her hand.

The three angry ghouls were already in spitting distance. The first collided with Daniel, knocking him over as they both tumbled to the ground, his pistol was trapped by the ghoul’s surprising weight. Grabbing the knife by his side, Daniel stabbed the ghoul through the neck. It stopped thrashing only after a second stab to the side of the head.

Trying to throw the dead weight off of him, he could only watch from the sidelines as Twilight tried to push away one ghoul with the side of her rifle. The last remaining ghoul began to circle around behind her, like a wolf in the stories from his vault. Twilight’s magazine of ammo lay near her hoof. She hadn’t managed to reload.

Daniel pushed and rolled, finally finding the right leverage to get the ghoul off of him.

“Behind you!” Daniel shouted.

With a mighty shove, Twilight threw the ghoul in front of her away, her wings spreading wide as she lept in the air. By the time the ghoul behind her reached where she was, he could only swipe uselessly at her hoof.

The two ghouls stood under her, grabbing at air as Twilight was just out of reach.

Daniel raised his pistol. Two muzzle flashes later and the fight was finished.

Resting his hands on his knees, Daniel doubled over for breath. The fight had taken so much out of him in such a short amount of time, it felt as if his legs were going to give out from under him.

Looking up at Twilight, Daniel watched in a daze of amazement as she gracefully landed, her hooves making a soft clop as she did. His amazement fizzled out when he saw her expression, the sheer, terrified panic in her eyes as she shook, gripping her rifle tightly in her hands.

Seeing Twilight so unnerved seemed to remind his body that he was as tense as a wire. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest loud enough for him to hear it. His hands shook, and every subtle movement he made took an extreme effort as the adrenalin wore off.

All that remained was the sound of the wind blowing through the holes in the ceiling. Daniel tensed himself even more, ready for anything else to jump out at them and interrupt the silence.

Nothing did. Twilight and he were the only two left alive in the metro. She was still shaking, muttering to herself as she turned in a small, slow circle, gazing at all the bodies. Her horrified look only seemed to grow.

How could he explain what had just happened? The answers painfully eluded him. Daniel clenched his fists tightly before sighing.

Twilight was facing away from him as he reached out for her. She jerked in fright when his hand touched her shoulder and she spun around to face him. Her look was hauntingly lost, a mix of confusion and frustration.

“WHAT THE TARTARUS WERE THOSE THINGS!?” Twilight yelled, her confusion now scathing anger.

Daniel withdrew his hand, still looking for some way to explain to Twilight what happened. “They-”

“SHUT UP!” Twilight yelled, her purple fur was almost red with anger as the emotions she had seemed to bottle up exploded out, “All I have done while travelling with you is kill or nearly get killed. I’m done following you!”

Twilight spread her wings again before flying towards the bridge above the tracks, and the metro entrance it led to.

Daniel had no words. Twilight had flew away so fast it took Daniel a second to realise what had happened. When he did, it felt as if his legs were going to give out.

<>~<>~<>

Twilight landed once again, panting from exertion. She needed to keep flying to a minimum, it burnt too many calories.

But at the moment, Twilight couldn’t care less, her blood was boiling. All Daniel had done was lead her from one bad situation to another. First it was the Raiders, then it was an underground train station full of zombies.

Stomping a hoof on the ground, Twilight gripped her rifle hard enough that her knuckles hurt. Everything hurt. Her broken horn throbbed, every muscle ached, and her stomach pained with hunger. Nothing was right anymore. It was all wrong, everything!

With a heavy sigh, Twilight half-walked half-stumbled towards the light at the end of the tunnel, passing more bodies. Gripping her rifle, Twilight readied to defend herself at the slightest hint of movement, but nothing stirred.

It seemed like all of them were dead. Keeping a watch on the corpses, Twilight jerked in horror when she noticed a few fresh bodies.

They wore black armor and looked like the ghouls had torn them apart. Meat and gore decorated the tunnel towards the exit. The closest one to her was missing chunks of his legs, revealing bone. With a shudder, Twilight looked away. She thought she had seen teeth marks on the visible bones.

Beep, beep, beep...

Twilight looked down to see a beeping metal disk by her hooves.