It didn't take long before the modified bus became an island in a sea of infected people. This resulted in two things, one good and one bad. The good thing was that Bulk Biceps was now too far away from the bus to do any damage due to the amount of infected people between him and it. The bad part was now each of them were pounding their fists against the metal and more have even started to rock the bus from side to side, making everyone inside struggle for balance.

"It's okay, ya'll." Applejack said while trying her best to stay standing. "This bus is too heavy for them to flip onto its side."

"I don't understand." Principal Celestia said as she sat on the edge of the driver's seat away from the window. "The engine was somewhat fine when we came here. I don't know what's causing it not to start."

"I wouldn't know either." She replied. "I'd have to go outside to look."

"Are you crazy? It'll be suicide if you go out there now." Adagio said as she pointed toward the front of the bus. The people on the outside were trying to pry the small doors open, with Rainbow and Spitfire being the only ones stopping them by holding the lever for the doors in place.

"Adagio's right, Applejack." Sunset said while she was crouched down beside one of the metal cabinets before opening one of the doors. Inside were several clips of ammo, boxes of ammo, and a few melee weapons like knives, machetes, and several other items for defense. "There's no way anyone is going out there without getting infected."

"So what are we going to do?" Twilight asked as she sat in a seat, keeping herself away from the window.

"Simple." Sunset replied before loading a new clip into her AK. "We fight."

"Do you see the amount of infected out there?"

"Got any other option for us then, Twilight?" Sunset asked. The humanized alicorn slowly turned her head to look outside just as an infected pounded on her window, frightening her as a result. She then looked back and quickly shook her head to Sunset. The former unicorn proceeded to nod before looking at the rest of her friends. "Now I don't know about the rest of you." She said as she stood back up. "But I did not come this far just to get infected now."

"I'm with you, Sunset." Bull said as he started walking forward toward the cabinet, losing his balance slightly as the infected continued rocking the bus. "No way these bastards are getting any of us if I have something to say about it." As he started getting the ammo needed for his shotgun, Sunset looked out of one of the windows into the horde of infected around the bus. Many of them were people she never met. But suddenly, her eyes caught sight of a familiar face in that crowd.

"Is that..... Principal Cinch?" She thought to herself before she saw the former Principal of Crystal Prep tilt her head up and back slightly. Her eyes widened as she spat a stream of green liquid straight toward the top of the bus. "Get down!" She called out as the liquid landed on the roof, making everyone quickly get down onto the floor. Each of the bus' occupants then looked on in horror as the liquid quickly dissolved the solid steel roof, creating a large hole. Sensing the need to stop her before she did that again, Sunset quickly got to her feet and opened one of the windows on the side where Cinch was on.

"This is for what you made Twilight do!" Sunset called out before opening fire on the former Principal. The sound of the AK echoed across the area over the groans of the hundreds of infected. Cinch caught a bullet right between the eyes before she fell backward onto the ground, making a few other infected cry out in pain before Sunset saw them create a bit of space between them and Cinch.

But just as the sound of her gun firing stopped, a loud thud could be heard on the roof. All eyes looked up before a small, yet very familiar looking infected dropped down through the hole in the roof. "Snips?!" Sunset cried out in thought as the little infected quickly jumped onto Soarin's back and started to make him move uncontrollably.

"Get this thing off of me!" Soarin called out while struggling to get the little creature off of him as Snips made him start moving toward the back of the bus. Sunset looked on as she aimed her gun at him, but she couldn't get a clean shot at her former lackey without shooting Soarin.

"I can't get a clear shot!" She called out.

"Me neither!" Bull yelled as he had his gun pointed at Soarin. "I can't kill it without shooting you!" As soon as he said that, Snips made Soarin run straight into the back door, more specifically the lever which opened the door. Soarin's weight plus the momentum of his forced movements were enough to push the lever in, making the door open.

"No!" Soarin cried out before Snips made him fall out of the bus, and into the crowd of infected who wasted no time in converging on the lone survivor. The sound of his agonizing cries of pain were loud, making everyone that was still in the bus shake in horror. Soon enough though, his screams died down, creating an uneasy feeling as the infected turned their attention to the now open door and started to try climbing inside.

"Don't let a single one of them in!" Bull called out before opening fire with his shotgun, making one of the intruding infected fly backward. Sunset soon joined in, firing non stop to keep them from getting inside. Soon, some of the other occupants started to follow in their footsteps and proceeded to grab their weapons. Rainbow and Spitfire, horrified by Soarin's demise, continued holding the lever controlling the side doors in place. But they couldn't keep it up forever as the space between the doors slowly started to widen.

"Get a gun." Spitfire said to her friend. "Then hold the doors shut long enough for me to get one. We're gonna make these bastards pay for what they did to Soarin." Rainbow nodded before letting go, making Spitfire use more of her strength to keep the doors from opening as she went to the cabinet and quickly spotted Sunset's spare desert eagle.

"Mind if I use this, Sunset?" Rainbow called out to her friend. Sunset looked back for a bit to see what Rainbow was talking about as her friend held her spare gun.

"Go ahead, Rainbow." She replied, making a devious grin form on Rainbow's face as she quickly snatched up as much ammo as she could for it before returning to Spitfire's side. Once her hands were back on the lever, Spitfire let go and quickly grabbed a weapon of her own from the cabinet before returning. Rainbow saw that she had chosen a shotgun, similar in style to Bull's.

"Alright." She said over the sound of the others firing their guns while loading her own. "On the count of three, let go of the lever." Rainbow nodded for a response. "One. Two. Three!" Upon hearing that, Rainbow let go of the lever. The doors flung open just as the two of them had their barrels pointed at the infected. "Eat lead, motherfuckers!" She called out before opening fire, causing the infected in front of the door to fly back.

Rainbow started firing off her gun as well. Since her gun was smaller, she could aim it more accurately than she could with her old gun. Thus, she was able to put a bullet in the head of each infected she aimed at. One by one, the duo made quick work of each infected that tried climbing onto the steps.

As the two of them were keeping the infected toward the front at bay for the moment, Bull, Applejack, and Sunset continued defending the back. One by one, each enemy that tried climbing on board was quickly dispatched by one of them. But as they continued, Bull noticed that Bulk was getting closer to the bus.

"We need to take out the big guy!" He called out. "Or else he might rip this bus apart!"

"Got anything in mind?" Sunset asked. But before Bull could answer, an arrow flew through the space between them and out the door before striking Bulk square in his left eye. Bulk immediately hollered in pain as he covered his face before withdrawing from the area, disappearing around a corner of the school. Both Bull and Sunset's facial expressions were that of shock and amazement before they turned around to find Adagio reloading an arrow into her crossbow. She gave both of them a confident smirk after her eyes looked up at them.

"Such a shame." She said before pointing the end of her weapon toward the open door. "I was hoping for a bit more excitement than that." After saying that, she fired again. This time, the arrow struck an infected woman smack dab in the center of her forehead. She instantly went limp and dropped down onto the floor of the bus before gravity pulled her lifeless body down to the ground. Sunset was amazed by how accurate Adagio's aim was. It was practically on par with Bull's.

"How is she that good?" She asked before firing her AK out of a window, spraying bullets into the crowd around her side of the bus.

"All those hours at the target range really paid off." Bull replied. "She's the best person I've seen use a crossbow." He then fired his gun at an infected man who tried climbing in. His presence wouldn't last long as he was sent flying backward. "Then again. She's the only person I've seen use a crossbow. But I bet she'd still be better than anyone else to tried."

"Aww." Adagio said as she turned to look at Bull, her cheeks slightly turning red in response to the compliment. "Thanks."

"No prob." He replied. "If we get out of this alive, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

"I can't wait to know what that'll be." She replied before a thud coming from the roof made each occupant look up toward the hole to see Snips had returned to try his luck once again. But as soon as he dropped down to the floor, he was met with four guns pointed directly at him by Sunset, Bull, Applejack, and Adagio. Seeing this, Snips tried backing away while giving an innocent smile until Adagio's crossbow fired an arrow, striking him directly between the eyes. The little infected staggered until the rest of the people focusing their attention on him opened fire and sent him flying out of the back.

"Sayonara pipsqueak!" Bull called out over the sounds of gunfire. But as soon as he said that, another thud came from the roof. Again, each occupant looked up before seeing another infected drop down through the hole. Only this one was one that some had seen before.

"Flash?" Sunset asked as Flash Sentry was just a few rows in front of her with a wound on the right side of his head. "How is this possible? I put a bullet right into your skull!" Flash just growled in response as he looked at her before turning his attention toward Bull.

"Oh. You up for a rematch, eh?" Bull asked before pointing his gun directly at him. "I don't know how you're still here. But this time, I'm gonna make sure that you stay down." After saying that, his finger squeezed the trigger. However, the expected result didn't happen as it would seem his gun didn't have any shells loaded. "Well..... fuck." He said before Flash jumped straight at him, taking him down onto the metal floor. Each of the survivors looked on in horror as Flash started punching Bull directly in his face. As this was happening, Adagio raised her crossbow and pointed it at them.

"Hold still for just a bit!" She called out as she aimed her crossbow at them. But each time she thought she had a shot, they'd move. This made her growl slightly in frustration as this happened over and over again. "What do we do?"

"I could.... use some help..... right about now!" Bull cried out as Flash kept hitting him repeatedly. From a few rows down from where this was happening, Twilight looked on in shock and horror. Her hands started shaking as each punch from Flash landed directly against Bull's skull. She then looked to find Applejack, Sunset, and Adagio pointing their guns at both of them, but none of them could get a clean shot without shooting and possibly killing Bull.

"What are we going to do?" She thought as she saw blood starting to drip out of Bull's nose. If something wasn't done soon, she was going to witness the death of the person who saved her life. She continued to think until she saw something in the corner of her eye. Looking down, she could see moonlight being reflected off of the few remaining polished spots on the blood stained steel of the sword given to her by him. It was at that moment that she knew what had to be done. "I'm sorry, Flash." She thought as her hand grabbed onto the hilt of the blade. "But it looks like there's only one way to stop you."

Twilight then stood up and slowly walked out into the aisle, directly in front of the three guns.

"Twilight!" Sunset called out. "What are you doing?! Get out of the way!" Upon hearing this, Twilight turned her head back to look at her.

"Trust me, Sunset." She replied before turning to look at Flash and Bull once again. She then looked at a few infected who were still trying to get in through the back exit. "Can I have one of those uh... pipe bombs?" Sunset and Applejack looked at each other for a bit before the fiery haired one reached into her jacket and pulled one out before tossing it to her.

"You remember how to use that, right?"

Twilight just nodded before her thumb pressed the red button on the side, making the little red light begin to flash. Seeing this, the humanized alicorn threw it toward the open door as hard as she could, sending it flying out of the bus. The infected trying to get in reacted as they did before and instantly started chasing the explosive device before it detonated several yards away, taking dozens of infected out.

Soon enough, the remaining infected around the bus decided that the risk was not worth the reward and started to break off their attack, scattering in different directions until the only sounds that could be heard was the sounds of Bull and Flash as they continued fighting on the floor of the bus. Seeing that the two were still at it, Twilight stepped forward while mustering all of her courage with the edge of her blade pointing out in front of her. Flash had seemed to get the upper hand on Bull as he had his arms pinned to the floor with his knees just as she stopped just a few inches behind them. He didn't seem aware of what was going on as his focus remained toward the man who knocked him out. But as he raised his fist to punch Bull again, it was then that Twilight announced her presence to him by slicing his hand off.

Flash cried out in agonizing pain as he brought his arm in to find blood pouring out of where his hand was. He then turned his head back just as Twilight had the blade ready to strike once again.

"Please. Forgive me for this." Twilight said before she swung the blade with all of her strength, striking Flash directly in the neck. The metal sliced cleanly through his flesh before it came out the other side, causing his head to fall down onto Bull's chest as his body fell to the side. Finally, the area was silent, the only sound now being Twilight as she breathed heavily with a few tears streamed down her cheeks before she wiped them with her free hand.

Shocked yet amazed by what her friend did, Sunset slowly walked over and placed her hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"It's okay, Twi." She said in a comforting tone. "You did the right thing."

Twilight sniffled before she turned to look at her friend. She then instantly clung to Sunset in a tight hug as the amount of emotions she was experiencing made her break down and cry uncontrollably.

"That's it, sugarcube. Just let it out." Applejack said as she and the others came to her side, each one putting their hands on her back in their way to help comfort her as Bull slowly got up and tossed Flash's head and body out of the bus before closing the door. Once that was complete, he turned around into a hug from Adagio.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" She said as she looked into his eyes with a few tears coming out of her own. "I don't know what I would've done if you had died."

Bull just held her close as she clung onto him. After a few minutes, both Adagio and Twilight calmed down before each turned to look at the other.

"Thank you." Adagio said before offering her hand out to her. "Thank you so much for saving him."

Twilight just sniffled again before a small smile appeared on her face. Soon after, she took hold of Adagio's hand and pulled her in for a hug.

"You're welcome, Adagio." She softly replied before she let the former siren go.

"So what's the plan now, Sunset?" Bull asked as he walked up and put his arm on Adagio's shoulders.

"Well...." She replied before turning to look at Celestia. "We need to take advantage of this moment and get this bus moving again." She then turned to look at Applejack. "How fast do you think you can get it working?"

"Depends on the problem." Applejack replied. "But I should be able to quickly figure it out."

"Alright." She replied. "Then while you're working on the engine, Bull, Adagio, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, and I will form a perimeter around the front of the bus. That'll give you some protection and cover in case the infected start attacking us again."

"Sounds good to me." She said before each of them turned toward the front of the bus. As they approached the steps, Celestia opened the doors, pushing aside a few dead infected in the process. Seeing all of those bodies made Spitfire and Rainbow smile as they stepped over them to get outside. Once everyone was out, Applejack made her way to the front of the bus and pulled on the hood, moving it up before the rest of the people formed a little semi-circle around her. "Alright." She said while walking around to the driver's side. "Let's see what the problem is."

Minutes passed by as she looked over the engine. Every minute or so, she'd ask Celestia to try starting it, only for the same result to happen. This was making Applejack frustrated as she constantly found herself looking over every square inch of the engine that she could get to. As this was going on, her protectors were keeping their guards up in case any infected tried to attack again.

"See anything out there?" Sunset asked while looking around.

"Nope." Bull replied.

"I got nothing over here." Adagio added as she stood by Applejack on the driver's side.

"We don't have any activity over here." Spitfire said as she and Dash stood on the other side facing toward the school in case any infected tried to run out.

"Any luck with that engine, AJ?"

Applejack sighed in response. "I think I might have an idea." She replied. "But without my tools, it'll be tough to fix."

"What's wrong?"

"The bolts on the battery cables are loose." She replied. "Anyone got any pieces of cloth I can borrow so I can tighten them without getting shocked?"

"Sure." Bull replied before taking off his jacket and putting it on the ground before removing his shirt, earning a whistle from Adagio who stared at him with a seductive smirk.

"Easy there, Dagi." Sunset said as Bull gave his shirt to Applejack.

"Like what you see?" Bull playfully asked as Applejack began tightening the bolts securing the battery cables.

"Why yes I do." She replied in a playful tone.

"Alright." Applejack grunted as she tightened the bolts as much as she could before looking up toward Celestia. "Try it now!" Celestia nodded before she turned the key. But this time, the engine started on the first try. Everyone immediately started celebrating in response, from jumping around for joy like Sunset and Rainbow to Bull and Adagio giving each other a comforting hug.

"Here ya go, pardner." Applejack said before handing Bull his shirt back. "Thanks for lettin' me borrow it."

"No prob, AJ." He replied before putting it back on. He then turned to look at Adagio who smiled back at him. "At least we're finally getting out of here."

"I know." She replied before following him and the others around the front to the side that the door was on. "I just can't wait to get back."

"And when we do get back..." Bull said before turning to get on. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time."

"Oh yeah?" Adagio asked as she turned to get on. "What's tha-"

"Adagio!" Sunset called out, making Bull turn back around to find her tied up and quickly being dragged toward the school by two infected who seemed to have her tied up with their respective tongues.

"Adagio!" Bull shouted just as the two had her in their grasps before running around the same corner of the school that Bulk disappeared behind. "Adagio!" He shouted again before chasing after them as fast as he could with his gun in hand.

"Bull!" Adagio's voice cried out as he rounded the corner just in time to see Adagio be dragged inside the building through an open fire exit door before a blue colored arm reached out and slammed it shut. As soon as Bull got to the door, he could hear Adagio's agonizing screams of pain on the other side.

"Adagio!" He shouted as he tried opening the metal door. But it wouldn't budge. He kept pulling on it, her screams motivating him to try harder and harder. But as hard as he pulled, the door would not open. "Adagio!" He called out. "No!" Eventually her screams faded, signalling to him that she was gone. "No." He quietly said while falling to his knees with tears forming in his eyes. "No. It can't be. I.... I....."

As this was going on, Sunset and the others appeared around the corner to find him like this. Each one of them gasped as they immediately knew what had happened.

"I swore I'd protect you....." They could hear Bull say. "I promised you that you'd survive...."

"Bull?" Sunset said as she and the others slowly approached him.

"I failed you!" He cried out before breaking down completely.

Author's Note

What's up everypony?

So I hope you guys enjoyed reading this new chapter. I struggled immensely with trying to capture the emotion of the situation. Hopefully, I got it relatively close to realistic. I do apologize for the long delay between this and the last chapter. I just wanted to put some attention toward some of my other stories.

If you enjoyed the story and haven't done so already, a like and fave is greatly appreciated. Also, this is my best explanation as to why all of the special infected look the same in the game. They never truly die. They just regenerate their health and come back for more.

• Harms Way