The C̸̞̙̭̽̌̀̈́̽̕̕ȗ̵̧̨̢̻̩̞̘͙̉̋̊͂͘ŕ̷͖̦̍͝s̵̫̪̋̍͂̆̆͆̄é̶̡̧̺͖d̸͎͒̒̿̈̀ Apocalypse

We walked the next five minutes at a rather slow pace. Many of us were tired, and hadn't gotten a chance to just stop and breathe without having to run or duck. That didn't stop us from being alert however. Jen and Abby had offered to watch our backs after I said I could pull the cart alone. The sun was risen fully now, and it's warm rays led us forwards. The night had seemed so cold.

This walk was different than the ones we'd been on before. Nobody had said a word the entire time. We were all paranoid, Abby and I especially. After the horrible encounter, I'd expected a gunshot to whiz by any second. There was a lot of open ground ahead and behind us, but there were still trees.

I shuffled next to Trixie. I wanted to start a conversation to loosen the tension so badly, but it was probably best to keep it silent so we could focus. Another half mile or so awaited us.

I saw something move around in a few desolate trees ahead to our left.

"Guys ..." I whispered.

Everybody stopped. Twi and Trixie had seen it too. We drew our guns and waited for more movement. After thirty seconds, there was none, but a quiet murmur of groans sounded in the distance behind us.

"Zombies," Twi said softly.

"What do we do?" Spike asked.

Twi thought. "I don't know. Let's just hide in those bushes for now," she gestured to a few of them opposite of the trees to our left. The pathway cut in between them.

We followed her. The groans were growing louder, which was nerve racking. Quietly, we entered the shrubbery. There were plenty of bushes covering the view of us. Looking at the path, the bushes curved like an arc flanking our left side, where the moans were coming from. Tall trees stood between them, giving shade to us. It felt like the perfect spot to hide.

"Everybody line up against these bushes and stay quiet. If one comes through them, we'll use the knife to kill it quietly. Okay?"

We nodded along. Something sounded wrong about their moans though. They didn't sound close, but their moans were echoing off in the direction of the hospital. They didn't sound simultaneous at all, even for echos. Twi stuck her head in the bush to see better, and came out seconds later.

"There's zombies on both sides." She nervously stuttered.

"Do we just stay here then?" Dash asked.

"There's really nothing else we can do."

She was right. Their moans had grown loud, and we could smell their putrid scent. I leaned in a couple inches in the bush and struggled to make them out, but they were definitely there.

Twi asked Trixie, "If they all come at us, can you put a shield around us?"

"I can try."

Through the bushes, I could see more movement behind the desolate trees. I shifted for a closer look. The leaves obscured half of him, but another boy stood leaned against one of them. There were also two bordering trees that he could use to stay hidden from both the approaching hordes.

"Twi," I whispered urgently.

"What?"

"Look."

She leaned in with me and looked at what I was pointing at.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Shh ..."

"Sorry."

"We can't shoot him, but we'll knife him if he gets too close."

The tree wasn't far away, so any drastic movement would cause him to take notice. Twi and I slithered silently out of the bush, greeted with nervous stares.

"There's a boy across from us," she told the others.

Trixie responded seconds later, "I think I know of a spell that can disable him."

"You do?"

"Yes. Should I warm it up?"

"Is it quiet?"

"Yes."

"I guess. Just be careful," Twi said after speculation.

She slowly lit up her horn and moved up right next to the bush, careful not to make noise. Her horn glew bright blue, but right before she released the spell, a loud gunshot bursted. The bright blue light of her spell evaporated as Trixie fell, squealing in pain.

Before Twi could tell me otherwise, I rushed quickly in the bush where I could see him, then let off at least half of the thirty round clip. He fired another round at me before collapsing, exploding in blood.

We had been so close to each other, that I could see almost all of the shots go right through his torso. Now his body laid lifeless. It'd be impossible for anybody to have survived that.

The zombie moans loudened, and we were in immediate trouble now. I backed out of the bush to help the others aid Trixie.

"She's been shot in the chest," Snow said.

"Damn it."

Knowing our cover had been blown, we weren't whispering now. The others stood up and readied their guns.

"Is she going to be okay?" Dash asked.

"I don't know."

"Behind us!" Spike shouted.

Twi was going to yell at him for shouting before her and I turned to see galloping zombie ponies sprinting for us.

"We're being surrounded!" Jen yelled.

"That's it!" Twi shouted over the moans. "Give them everything you got!"

Everybody nodded one last time before setting up shop and gunning down the hordes. Myself included, I emptied two clips behind us, wiping out just a dozen zombie ponies or so. They were advancing quickly, faster than we could imagine.

Despite the scary scene, I stopped after my clip was done, and drooped over Tixie. Snow had set her on her back, and was frantically working on her chest.

"Trixie? Trixie!"

She had already fallen unconscious.

"Come on Snow."

"I'm doing all I can!"

I backed off, letting her do what she did best. When I popped up, the mobs were only yards away from the bushes, and several of them had already reached the boy I'd shot dead. I could see them ripping him to pieces.

Gruesomely disturbed, I nearly vomited as I dropped the closest attackers. They were scary close now.

"Grenade!" Dash yelled.

Reloading, I glanced at her as she pulled the pin and threw it at the herd behind us. Very soon after, it backfired by bouncing off a nearby tree and landing in the middle of us.

"Hell! Everybody run!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Some of the others unaware, we all scurried in different directions when we saw it. I helped Snow drag Trixie through the bushes and stupidly ran into a couple of zombies while watching the grenade. I caught a glimpse of Blaze before it exploded violently, with a force more unimaginable that we had expected. It's blast was bright, and it threw Snow and I almost against the desolate trees. We'd lost grip of Trixie, and zombies now hovered over her limp body, ready to chew into her.

Still dazed from the blow, I fired a clip at the attackers before they could bite her, careful not to hit Trixie. Another unexpected explosion where the first one had occurred erupted, and even sent the cart in the air. It flew out until plummeting down, right on top of me. It dazed me even more, and now I saw stars.

The cart was pulled off of me by Snow, and I rose dizzily. Zombies were everywhere now. I couldn't locate anypony other than Snow and Trixie.

"Help me!" Snow hustled to Trixie. "Pull her on the cart! I got left leg!"

Quickly but clumsily, I grabbed her right leg and pulled her on the cracked cart with the help of Snow.

"Follow me! Pull her," she demanded.

I let my m4 hang on its strap around my neck, grabbed the cart's uneven handles, and followed her as she lifted her Scar-L and began paving a path inside the horde nearest the hospital. I spun my head around to check on Trixie and look for the others with no success.

Another grenade exploded, and it led to a chain reaction of at least a dozen more. Apparently somebody had forgotten to take their grenades with them. A tree cracked over the force behind us, and I looked back to see it fall in the middle of the path. It was big enough to prevent the other horde from breaking through, which was relieving.

Snow started reloading, and I shouted over the noise, "What about the others?"

She turned and stared dead eyed, before saying, "We have to leave them."