Without You

by Dustchu

Rating: teen
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Romance, Self Insert, Resident Evil, Adventure, Crossover, Human, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 112130

Without him, she'd be lost to the dead. Without her, he'd be lost to insanity. Together, a human and pony will come together to survive this monster filled hell known as Raccoon City.

It's a horrible city filled with monsters, horrible and deadly monsters. And an unlikely duo by the name of Dustin and Rainbow Dash will have to come together if they want to get out alive and escape this hell, known as Raccoon City.

As these two try to escape... one question rings through our heroes' minds.

Why me?

Part of the Snowverse

Huge thanks to Alex_ for the coverart :heart: Thank you so much buddy!
Feature Lite: 1/23/2018
Feature Regular: 2/15/2018

Here it is, since early 2014, it's finally been set free. Honestly, this story is... something important to me, something cathartic if you will, something I needed to get done, something that I should have gotten done years ago but let my own problems with self loathing and just general disregard for shit get in the way. Regardless... here it is, I hope you all enjoy.

Published 2018-01-24 03:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2021-06-28 20:36:07 UTC

01 - In The City

ooo000---000ooo

Panic? Check.

Gun? Check.

A pegasus pony that weighs about a hundred pounds?

Big fucking check mark.

I struggled to drag the heavy pegasus across the pavement, cursing up a hurricane and growling to keep her away from the zombies that were stumbling after the two of us. I had to tuck away my handgun—I needed both hands to drag the mare. I tried picking her up, but I was having difficulties with that, probably had to do with me being hit in the back by her.

Christ, I don’t think my back could have hurt any worse by that.

I rushed backward as the mare mumbled under her breath about something, I didn’t know what however, too busy focused on trying to keep us both from getting chewed on like steak!

I tasted horrible, I’m sure.

Shit, gotta move faster, gotta move faster!

My heart was beating so fast and hard that I was fairly certain it’d pop at any given moment. I kept moving however, passing by several vehicles and trying my damnedest to not focus on the noises surrounding me. It was hard though, cause I kept hearing gunfire, sirens, screams, people were panicking deeper in the city and here I was in the suburbs.

And those two zombies were chasing me, but thankfully, they were slow as fuck so I wasn’t going get eaten today, maybe.

I gotta hide us, like, right now! But where?!

Were any of the houses open? Were there threats inside? What about a car, could I hot wire one of them in time? Or maybe a key was already in the ignition? Too many chances to get fucked over!

Shit shit shit shit!

Damn it, I was getting nowhere with this!

I dropped Rainbow Dash and yanked out my handgun, aiming it forward and towards the first undead. My gamer instincts kicked in, as well as the gun training I had undergone to get my license. I aimed carefully, steeled myself, and then pulled the trigger. The handgun barked, my ears ringing as my bullet struck true.

The zombie fell back with a growl as I aimed for the other one, firing into its head. But I aimed too low, and took off half its jaw. Shit! I fired again, the round piercing its eye and popping it. It gurgled before collapsing onto the ground, dead like the other.

Should have just done that to begin with.

I slowly lowered my gun as the air around me suddenly grew silent. Smoke rose up from the barrel—my ears rang, my wrists hurt a tiny bit, and I realized I just killed two humans—former humans, mind you, undead, nothing more.

They lay on the ground with brackish blood seeping out of the holes I blasted into them. The smell was atrocious, but I ignored it—I’ve gotten my fair share of the smell of death and blood over the years so it didn’t bother me as much as you’d think. The bodies, they were people at one point, but now they had turned into monsters.

Shit, don’t start getting into an existential crisis about this, just get Rainbow and move damn you! A voice screamed at me. I took heed of its advice and tucked my gun away before attempting to once more, lift up Rainbow Dash.

Lemme tell ya, lifting up nearly a hundred pounds isn’t easy when your muscle mass is pathetically small. I had a lithe runner’s build, so I wasn’t exactly suitable for carrying heavy loads. But I tried anyway, and managed to get her halfway onto my back and her arms over my shoulders to lift her up and move on down the road.

“Grr!” I growled, legs almost buckling. I took a couple of deep breaths and started moving, half limping half jogging down the road with the heavy dead weight on my back.

Raccoon City felt just like it was in the games—a cold dreary atmosphere, the feeling of paranoia surrounding me on all sides, and worst of all, was the pure dead silence that surrounded me on all sides. It was just like in those old games; you never heard anything except the sounds of your footsteps across the ground. There was nothing but this incredibly unsettling silence that permeated your body, sending fearful shivers down your spine at whatever may be around the next corner.

You couldn’t escape it no matter where you went.

And right now I was feeling it, that cold unsettling fear.

And I couldn’t figure out how to stop it to save my damn life.

I hefted up Rainbow Dash further onto my back, grunting from how fucking heavy she was. Granted, she was basically half bird, so I’d imagine she wouldn’t weigh too much. Alas, she was still preventing me from moving fast cause of how heavy she was, bah. I should probably attempt to wake her up or something, maybe get her moving.

But if I did, how would she react to me?

Welp, there’s the stereotypical question most people in the HiE stories ask, what would Character A think of me? Though in this case it’s more of a Pony on Earth type deal, but not really? This isn’t my earth, fuck, I dunno. I know she’s not going to like this place if and when she wakes up. They didn’t have actual legit undead in Equestria as far as I knew, or humans—unless the Mirror Portal counted, that is—so how would she react to not only me but fucking zombies?

Well, there was the 28 Pranks Later episode...

Garbage tier crap.

I shook my head and continued on down the road.

Or I would have continued down the road, if a certain pony hadn’t stirred on my back, making me stop. I knelt down and let her slide off—a faint pained noise escaped her as I whirled around to face her.

The mare wobbly sat up and held her head with a hoof. Her wings rustled by her sides and her eyelids fluttered open, her bright magenta eyes peered in confusion at the ground, and slowly moved up to look at my chest and then my face.

Her expression of confusion immediately morphed into slight panic and I found myself being kicked back by a pair of incredibly strong hind legs and sent flying back with a yelp.

“Shit!” I ended up hitting the ground hard, my gun digging into my lower back from where it was tucked into the back of my pants. My chest stung, more specifically me fuckin’ ribs. “Aaaaah, not necessary.”

As I cursed the power of pony hooves, I heard Rainbow swear, “Ponyfeathers!” And heard the clip clop of her hooves on the pavement, “W-where am I? What’s going on?!” Her voice sounded confused and panicked. And then came the long awaited question of hers—I imagined her glaring at me when she asked it, “And who the buck are you?! What are you?!”

Ahhh there are the questions. I shook my head and sat up, still clutching my chest as I got a good look at her.

The way she moved her body, the way she looked at me with those big shiny eyes of hers, I was reminded of the animation from the MLP movie that came out in 2017. It was fluid, she was still cartoony to a degree but had just a bit of realistic flare to her colors. The smallest tufts of fur stuck out on her shoulders, and her ears had small bits of fluff in em.

Her wings was something that caught my attention the most. Sleek looking appendages, but the most notable thing were the long multicolored feathers that stretched to her flank, perfectly arranged into a pretty looking rainbow top to bottom from red to purple. They were shiny as well, obviously well taken care and were incredibly eye catching, you couldn’t exactly not spot them and stare.

Whoa...

I was... awestruck by them, but I was thankfully able to stop myself from staring too long. A shake of my head and I responded—I think—rather intelligently. “Wut?”

The mare huffed and snorted, standing up with her wings flared out and glaring daggers straight at me. She zipped up to me, her face inches from my own, “I said, who are you?”

The slightly spicy scent of her breath hit my nose and my heart pounded in my chest as her bright eyes tore into mine with the fury of a very peeved birb.

I was almost scared. “D-Dustin, but my everyone calls me Dee.” I responded after a moment of silence.

She wasn’t pleased it looked like, if her increasing glare was any indication.

Rainbow snorted and suddenly poked my chest with a hoof, “What are you, and what have you done with my friend?! In fact, where the buck am I?” She backed up with a flap of her wings, hot air rushing over me as she glanced around the immediate area.

I did as well, and I didn’t see much except an abandoned street, and some buildings that appeared to have boarded up doorways and windows. A couple of small businesses sat about, some small law buildings, flower shops, restaurants, typical small time businesses you’d find in a city like this.

A shake of my head and I brought myself back to the present to face her. Was she really suggesting what I think she was suggesting? “Wait, what do you mean your friend? You think I did this?”

Another huff of air escaped her as she hovered in the air in front of me, her powerful wing beats easily keeping aloft. She sneered slightly, looking me over, “How do I know you didn’t? You don’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before, you could be a spy!”

Pfft, wow, thanks. I rolled my eyes at the spy comment and frowned at that, “Uhm... I’m not spy, thank you very much,” I stood up slowly, dusting off my pants and glaring back at her. “Look, I’m not spy or whatever, okay?” I held up my hands as her expression somehow got more dangerous looking. “I’m stuck here in this city just like you are.”

Narrowed and sparkly eyes continued to glare at me as the moon rose up over Raccoon City, her wings still flapping and keeping her aloft and at eye level with me. There was a twinkle of something in those eyes of hers when she opted to land on the road with a clop of her hooves. “Hmmph,” Her glare softened a little, but she still looked a bit peeved, “Well if you’re not some kind of monster...”

“I’m not, at least not in the sense you’re thinking of.” I added with a pensive frown. I'm actually curious now, what part of the timeline is she from exactly? She called me a spy... doesn't narrow it down much though.

She continued, breaking me from my thoughts. “Then what are you? And where am I?” She rubbed her head, looking more confused by the minute. “This place feels wrong, what’s going on?”

I made to answer her, to try and clear up some of the air-

Crash

THUMP

-but something stopped us.

My head whipped to the right where I spotted an alleyway, blocked off by a chain link fence, half a police barricade, and some dumpsters. From the second floor window, the glass had shattered and half a body stuck out, rotted and mostly bloodied brackish flesh that was burned in places. And on the ground, another body, but this one was rising up with a hissing croak noise. I was quick to whip out my handgun again and aim it towards the undead.

Right... enemy territory, duh! I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“What the...?” Rainbow murmured next to me. I glanced over and saw her ears folded back, one leg raised and her body scrunching up like a cat’s when something spooked it. “W-what’s wrong with it?”

Oh boy, this’ll be fun explaining to her. “It’s a zombie, basically,” Maybe I won’t go into too much detai-

“A zombie?!” Rainbow gasped out, her voice cracked and for a moment she sounded scared. But her eyes flicked towards mine and she puffed out her chest, “I-I’m not scared! I just... w-wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

Ahhh, there’s that bravado she was known for.

Unfortunately, all I had to work with some barely contained fear, bullshitting, and no small amount of jackassery. “Uh huh, sure sure,” I replied while backing up just a tad. I wasn’t too keen on wasting another bullet, I had fired three already and I didn’t have a spare magazine with me. “I suggest we get moving, I-”

Moan

I whipped around to look down the road, and I spotted another undead shambling over to me as more sirens filled the air nearby. Cops must not be as out and about as I had originally thought, I didn’t hear as many sirens in the air, just a few.

I lowered my handgun and backed up. “We need to move, now.” I told Rainbow, hopeful she would listen.

I heard her make a noise of sorts and Rainbow backed into me. “I-I can fl-fly back to Equestria, get the Royal Guard here to help!” She jumped into the air, and I was scared that she was going to blast off. But she stopped, and turned to me, “Wait, which way is Equestria?”

“Uh... l-little problem there.” The growls filled the air around us, more of the undead approached. “Equestria ain’t around her-” I felt a hand on my shoulder. My body reacted on its own, and I spun around with my fist out, and white hot pain ran up through my fist and up my arm when it collided with the face of the zombies. A solid crack sounded from me breaking what was left of its nose and sending it stumbling back, before it fell backwards. “Shit!” I didn’t waste time before turning and making my way down the street away from the growing horde of monsters.

I had sprinted down the street when I heard, “Hey! Wait for me!” A whoosh noise and Rainbow was no doubt flying behind me. I could hear her wingbeats as I ran, rushing past a crashed taxi cab with a zombie trapped inside. “What the heck is going on here! Where am I?!”

I vaulted over a car hood and slid across it before landing on the other side. My shoes clapped against the pavement—a pained grunt escaping me once landing on the other side. “Ahhh! Don’t fly low!” I yelled back to her as I dodged the swipe of one of the undead. “And I’ll explain later, just keep moving!”

My eyes were quick to glance around for any familiar landmarks, anything I could use to help me figure out exactly where in Raccoon City we were.

But all I saw were cars left on the sides of the road, boarded up buildings and blocked off alleyways. But I could still hear the sirens in the distance, which meant that the RPD still had to be active in the city. How early on was this? Regardless of that, I kept running, fueled entirely by the fear of being eaten alive and turned into one of these things.

I was well versed in how the T-Virus worked top to bottom, so I did my best to avoid getting bitten by any undead that tried to grab onto me. All it took was one single bite, hell, maybe even a scratch would fuck me over big time. So long as they broke the skin, the virus would get inside and I was done, I had to be careful!

Shame I didn’t have any Anti-Virus on me.

We kept running until we reached an intersection and made our way down it. I kept my handgun gripped tight, looking for a place to hide or something! The city was massive, and I didn’t see anyone in the immediate area we were in, leaving me to believe this area had been completely wiped out, that or people were hiding inside away from it all.

After running further down the road my eyes caught sight of a small shop nearby with wide open doors, two stories tall, some kind of pawn shop? I didn’t know, but I yelled-”There!”-and sprinted towards it.

The two of us rushed the door, I ran inside and quickly looked around with my gun raised. I didn’t hear anything except the distant sirens outside and the clop of hooves behind me.

I was quick to whirl around and grab the doors, slamming them shut, throwing the locks and backing up from it before turning around.

Rainbow had moved away from the door, staring at it, staring at me.

I was glad the doors were made of wood, cause we both grew silent as the undead who chased us stampeded by, their viral cry filling the morning air. Once they had passed, we both ended up letting out a sigh of relief.

We were safe...

For now.

Author's Note

Edited 4/8/2018

02 - An Uneasy Alliance

ooo000---000ooo

The building we had ended up taking refuge inside of was in fact, a pawn-shop, so my hopes at finding some decent stuff to help us get out of the city had grown. The immediate interior was pretty dark, a single light on the ceiling cast a dim light down on the shelves and counter where the cash register sat. I saw bins of second hand clothes, shelves filled with little trinkets, and the counter itself was made of solid oak wood, more or less destroying my hopes of finding ammunition for my handgun.

Sure I had only fired three shots so far, but it’d help to have some extra ammo on hand.

Before I could attempt to find anything worthwhile in here, Rainbow stopped me.

“Okay,” She started, glaring up at me with a hard stare, “Look, buddy... you gotta explain what’s going on, right now.” Her tone brokered no argument either, so I couldn’t worm my way out of this one.

“Mmm,” I sniffled and looked around before I could focus on her again, “Where do I even begin...?” I honestly didn’t know where to start with this. The undead? The city? Who I am?

She narrowed it down for me, thankfully, “What are those things?”

Whew... alright. “Those things outside, they’re zombies,” I told her bluntly. There really were not that many words I could use to accurately describe them, and ‘zombie’ was pretty much a universal term and I knew Rainbow would know what it meant.

I was right. Her eyes widened a little, and while I knew I told her earlier, now that we were in a safer location, the truth of it all was no doubt going to crash down hard on us both. “Z-zombies...” She mouthed, slowly sitting down onto her rump, front legs in between her hind ones. She looked almost like a dog on her haunches, tail wrapped around her legs, prismatic wings nestled firmly against her sides. Her expression was one that told me she couldn’t believe what I was saying, and as if to reinforce that, “No way.”

“Better believe it,” I sighed and looked down at my handgun, I noticed my hand was shaking. “They’re honest to god zombies, living dead, undead, take your pick.” I glanced back up at her, curious to see what she was thinking.

She shook her head, an adamant expression of lol nope etched into her features. “That’s insane! Zombies don’t exist!”

“They do here,” I countered, frowning a little bit, “I don’t know about where you come from but... zombies exist here.” Which is a very sad truth. The undead should remain fictional, but... it’s kind of sad either way, when you think about it. It’s fictional to use, but real life to them, this is their reality, not mine.

Now it’s my reality.

“They’re one hundred percent undead monsters,” I said with no small amount of fear in my voice, why hide it? I was scared right now! I was trapped in a fucking city filled with undead monsters and was slowly falling apart minute after minute!

Rainbow stared at me for the longest time, and she looked up past me at the window, which I saw was heavily fogged over and stained, so seeing through it was difficult. I just moved over to the counter, peeking behind it and starting to root around, “What’s wrong with them... is it magic?”

“Nope, not any magic I know of,” I told her, scouring behind the counter for anything of use. Sadly I didn’t find much, just some discarded stuff, a leather-bound journal, papers detailing purchases, old receipts and some photos, basically junk. The register was closed as well, and I got curious. “It’s a virus, kind of like the flu,” I heard a noise stop halfway up her throat, but she said nothing, “It’s not airborne or anything, so we’re safe from contracting it and shit.” I went over to the register and looked over the buttons, humming.

“Where are we?” She questioned.

I smacked a few buttons on the register and caused it to pop open, booyah! Looking inside, I found...

Nothing.

I fucking retract my ‘booyah’ statement.

“Raccoon City,” I muttered sourly. Heh, even saying the name made me shiver, though I’m sure it was more out of fear than anything else.

“Raccoon... where the heck is that?” She walked over to me and reared up before placing her hooves on the counter, standing up and almost getting at eye level with me. “Is it south of the Badlands?”

“Uuhh... no.” I faced her completely, studying her for a moment.

Being this close to her gave me a good look at her facial features, her eyes weren’t as big as they were depicted in the show but were more relative to her head shape and size. Her entire head was... it didn’t look like a full on horse’s head, obviously, in the show their heads and faces were a lot different and this was no different. Her face was almost human in a sense but had the characteristics of an Equestrian pony, a short snout, shiny magenta colored eyes, her mane was well kept and silky looking.

Her body was similarly interesting. She had the body of an equine, but it more resembled the one from the show, and seeing how... weirdly realistic she looked, I was able to see how toned and athletic body was. She had a small amount of fluff covering her body; tiny little tufts on her shoulders, chest, and her ears. Her body was thin, aerodynamic, but strong with a tiny bit of curve to her belly leading up to the flanks.

Overall she had a very youthful and gorgeous appearance, making me wonder just how old she was.

I guess it was a little weird that I found myself attracted to her... hmm.

I shook my head and continued, trying not to get too side tracked by her looks, “Raccoon City isn’t exactly in your... world, methinks?” At her look, I clarified, “Uuuh, you know what earth is?”

Her pretty eyes blinked and she looked confused for a moment. “Uh... w-wait... earth?” She looked around, wings fluttering at her sides.

"Yeah, earth...?” I waved a hand around in a vague circle, "Planet, big blue marble, got a moon in the sky... ya know?"

"I..." She violently shook her head from side to side, eyes wide, "N-no! It should be Equis! Not E-Earth..."

Oh jeez. “Shit... well, I don’t think we’re on your world or whatever.” Man, this sucks for Dash... being stuck on a world like this? This had to be her first time as well, so this was a shitty way to start it off. “We’re somewhere in the Midwestern United States, on planet Earth... and if I had to add, in the year 1998.” Jeez, at this point in time I’d be around... three years old right now. I wonder if my alternate universe self is in Arkansas right now? I hummed as Rainbow’s eyes went wide.

“S-so... what, what are you saying...?” Rainbow’s face looked confused, her eyebrows were furrowed together. A flicker of something flashed in her eyes... fear?

“I’m saying, kid,” I put both hands on the counter, leaned down and said, “This isn’t Equestria, or anywhere near Equestria, sorry to say.” What else to say? Uhh... “We’re probably not on your world either, you know of any Raccoon City with my kind roaming around it?” She stared at me and seemed to be in thought, but after a few seconds she shook her head and I couldn't help but sigh. What could I even say to help make her feel better? Honestly... nothing. “We’re nowhere near your world, kid...”

I wish I didn’t have to break this kind of news to a person like Rainbow. For all her strength and courage, I have no doubts that if she did believe me...

Rainbow slid off of the counter, plopping down onto her rear and staring up past me like a lost puppy. Eyes wide, unfocused, her lips pulled back into a firm but small frown.

It was quiet, too quiet. Not a sound could be heard, no matter how hard I strained my hearing, I couldn’t hear a thing. It should have worried me to a great deal, but I didn’t listen to that part of my gut, which was automatically a bad thing.

She blinked again and finally mustered up the strength to use her voice; eyes narrowed and lips still in that little admittedly cute pout, she spoke, “So w-what... I’m trapped in some freaking zombie filled city?” The look she gave me was amusing, like she didn’t believe me. If I was in her position, I wouldn’t believe me either. “Monkey zombies?!”

My expression fell flat; an eyebrow shot up, “Really?”

“Isn’t that what you are?” She jumped back up onto the counter - actually jumping onto it with a loud clop and getting up past eye level with me, making me recoil a bit from how fast she moved. She looked me over, eyes sharp like an eagle’s as she sat down and then she...

Was she tugging on my ears?

“You even got the weird flat ears!” Rainbow’s hooves pushed my ears flat against the sides of my head, then tugged one of them outward, producing a light sting.

“Ow ow, hey!” I bapped her hoof away and rubbed my ear, wincing, “No touchie! And I’m not a monkey!”

She stuck out her tongue with a snicker, replying, “You sure do look like one,”

“I’m not a monkey, I’m a human,” I stressed to her, a wisp of a shadow whisked by the corner of my eye, but I didn’t pay it much attention to look over and see what it was. “Yeah, my kind look kinda similar, but we’re really not.” That made my mind go to certain fanfics where ponies would call humans monkeys, I guess I can sorta see the resemblance.

Rainbow just rolled her eyes, wings fluttering at her sides, “Whatever.” A kick of her hooves and she hopped back down, landing on the floor and huffing, “Great... how the heck do I get back to Equestria then?” She grumbled to herself, and I didn’t blame her.

I was in the same boat as she was! Both of us, souls from different worlds, who had normal lives, and now we’re trapped in this godforsaken hellhole called Raccoon City.

“This is just fantastic!” She whirled around, glaring at me, “I’m trapped here and I don’t even know how to get out of this place!”

“I mean... I’m kind of in the same boat as you are.” I couldn’t help but mention.

“How?” She snorted during her stare, “Isn’t there some way out of the city?”

That was a good question. “Uh... depends, I guess.”

“Depends? On what?” The mare waved her hoof in a vague direction, adding, “Just head towards the exit! Heck, we should both do that and get out of this freakshow!”

“Uh, I don’t think it’ll be that easy.” As much as I’d love to think it’d be easy to just pack up what we got and run for the city’s exits, there is no easy way out of this city. “All of the roads in and out of the city are probably blocked off to keep the virus from spreading out into the country.” I stared into her eyes, my hands propping myself up on the counter once I leaned forward. “You can fly out of the city no problem, obviously, but I can’t.”

Shame I can’t fly, I could just hop off the roof of this building and fly out, easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Rainbow scoffed, one eye narrowing, “So why’re we just standing here then? We should try and find a way out of this place!” Her look morphed from that slightly annoyed and scared look to a more determined one; eyes narrowed, lips firm and ears perked to attention, she looked ready and inspired a little bit of confidence in me.

“I’m not gonna argue with you, kid.” I snorted and pulled out my handgun, giving it a once over. I seriously needed to get some more ammo for this, the one magazine wasn’t going to last against a hundred-thousand plus monsters. “But if we’re gonna do that, we’re gonna need to move fast... those zombies we ran into? They’re just one kind of monster in this cit-”

CRASH

Our heads whipped over to the door near simultaneously, which had ended up getting knocked down by several rotting undead in torn clothing. Their moans filled the room, their graying eyes set upon the both of us.

“Fuck!” “Buck!”

We both yelped, backing up from the door.

“Shit shit shit, to the back!” I yelled to her and ran away from the front, praying that there was a back entrance to this damn pawn shop. If we ended up getting cornered...

Rainbow was close behind me, galloping across the hardwood floor as we weaved in and out of the shelves. The undead were super fucking slow, but that didn’t mean we were gonna slow down any. The sooner we lost them, the better!

My eyes scanned rapidly for any sort of way out, scanning the walls for the back exit. Most buildings had a fire exit, and if this one didn’t I am going to flipping rage!

“Ponyfeathers! How did we not hear them!?” Rainbow cried behind me, her hooves skidding along the floor whenever we made a sharp turn.

“No clue!” My eyes caught sight of a backdoor, the beautiful exit sign buzzing above. “There!” I sprinted towards it, closing in faster and faster.

I slammed into it shortly, grabbing onto the knob an-

Click click click

“Oh are you fuckin’ kidding me?!” I jiggled the knob, yanking and turning on it, pushing.

Rainbow’s panicked voice reached m years, and the moans were growing closer. “What? What is it?!”

I then growled out the words no one wants to hear in a hurry. “It’s locked!”

“What! Who locks a fire exit?!” Her terrified voice reached my ears.

“Fuck! Idiots in the nineties, that’s fuckin’ who!” I backed up and slammed into the door, but it barely budged, my weak frame doing fuck all against it. I whirled around, see the undead lumbering towards us before slamming into the door again, “It won’t budge!”

Shit, I was feeling no small amount of hysteria creeping up my spine and my mind was kicking into high gear. RUN! RUN AWAY! The fearful part of me screamed.

We were cornered like rats!

My gun held tight in my hand, I whirled around and aimed at the undead making their way towards us. I moved past Rainbow, and fired another round into the head of the closest one. Chunks of meat and blood went flying and Rainbow yelped. I thought I heard her yell something, but my ears were ringing; I had never fired a gun in a building with no ear protection, so I was paying the price.

Another target lined up, another pull of the trigger-

BANG

-he went down.

BANG

My head turned so fast I swore I heard a pop, behind me I heard the loud bang and I saw Rainbow reared up on her front hooves. Her back legs were coiled up so tightly, I could make out the muscles in her legs before they shot out like a blur and impacting the door so hard, I saw her hoofprints on the wood and heard something break off on the other side.

A hand grabbed onto me, forcing me back around just in time to witness an undead trying to rip into my face. “Shit! Ahh!” I threw a left punch, but that just made it growl at me.

I was forced back, losing my footing and almost my gun in the tussle. He was stronger than I thought he’d be, hands wrapped firmly onto my shoulders like iron, jagged finger nails digging into my jacket. I moved back and moved with me, and it took nearly everything I had to keep his snapping drooling jaws from latching onto bare skin.

BANG

CRASH-SLAM

“It’s open!” I heard Rainbow scream, but I was backed up against the wall, and saw the other rotted faces closing in on me like missiles.

My head turned towards her and something inside me screamed out, “Go! Get out of here!” The undead pushed harder, and his face grew closer.

Rainbow...

She didn’t run.

She sprang into action; kicking off the floor like a springboard and diving towards the two of us, the mare landed on the floor and spun around rapidly. Her hind legs pulled back, tail swishing through the air like a brushstroke of prismatic colors, and her hind hooves shot out like cannonballs.

The undead was ripped from my body as her legs connected with the monster, one hitting the knee and the other the hip, a sharp and loud crack resonated throughout the enclosed space. The zombie groaned as he was sent flying into a shelf, crashing into the hard wood.

i felt teeth on my neck collar a brief moment of panic, but it was Rainbow yanking me forward towards the door.

“’et’s go!” She growled out, pulling me forward until we were both outside in the darkened alleyway behind the store.

“Shit, alright!” She let me go, and with her flying down the alley and me behind her, we left the pawn shop behind and ran away, undead in hot pursuit of us.

Thankfully for us...

We were too fast for them.

ooo000---000ooo

Soon enough, the pawn shop was a distant memory in the back of our minds. We had escaped the alleyway and found ourselves on Battery Street with a clear path east and west. The sun was just beginning to rise as well, signalling either...

Fuck, I forgot!

I had no idea when this entire fucking thing was taking place, it could be the very beginning of the infection or maybe the ass end of it before the bombs dropped and the city was wiped off the face of the earth at sunrise!

Sweat poured down from my forehead and the air grew hot for me. Rainbow didn’t seem phased as we huddled down next to a Raccoon City News Van to catch our breath and try to figure out where to go from here.

“Y-you okay?” Rainbow saw fit to ask me.

Truthfully? I had no idea. I was almost bitten by that damn thing, so the thought of losing my life to a fucking bite of all things didn’t sit well with me. “Physically? Oh sure. Emotionally? Not so hot.” I admitted with a tiny squeak at the end, my hands shaking and causing my gun to rattle. Two more shots fired for a total of five out of fifteen. Those numbers worried me greatly.

Rainbow’s hoof patted me on the arm and I found myself looking at her. Her body was trembling ever so slightly, her breathing was shaky, beads of sweat trailing down otherwise unsullied cyan fur. “Y-... you killed them... didn’t you?”

I was shaking as well in my crouched state, and it didn’t exactly do my back any justice. I got into a sitting position, leaning back against the van after taking a look around, if only to alleviate my back-pain “...Yeah, I did.” That was something that shouldn’t have unsettled me, but it did. Monsters, not people. Monsters, no people. I told myself over and over again, but the feeling in my gut continued.

Her eyes were so full of fear, but she was doing her damnedest to keep it buried under that bravado she built up. She swallowed hard, and I knew she had to have been incredibly uncomfortable right now. “C-couldn’t you have just... I don’t know...” She looked down at the ground, unsure of how to word what she had going on in her mind.

Was she seriously going the route I think she was? I mean, it’s perfectly understandable, I guess. There isn’t exactly death in her world, not explicitly mentioned. I certainly can’t remember.

“They were people... weren’t they?” She glanced up at me again, a frown marring her features.

“They were once... but no anymore,” I told her carefully, “The virus destroyed all that made them human, they’re nothing but stone cold monsters now, intent on eating us both alive.” Her shakes got a bit worse, “I know this has got to be scary b-”

“I’m not scared!” She barked and stood up sharply, ears perked up and facing forward.

I recoiled back a little from it when her wings fanned outward, showing me those pretty rainbow hued feathers of hers. I held up my free hand, the other holding the sweaty grip of my handgun. “R-regardless, we can’t hesitate to fight those things if it comes down to i-it.”

She made a face and folded her wings back up, nestling them at her sides and sitting back down on her haunches. The mare turned and looked down an alleyway, her eyes narrowed and face scrunched up. I could only wonder what was whirling around behind those eyes of hers.

We need to find a way out of this city, but where do we go? Was my main question.

There were only three ways out in the Outbreak games I played; through the college from the firefighter helicopter, by the Raccoon City highway through the mountain side, and the Chinook helicopter at main street.

The helicopters were probably going to be a no go for the both of us. I didn’t trust the Umbrella mercenary who was flying the chopper, and I doubt the firefighters would let Rainbow on their chopper. Maybe she could fly out and we’d meet back up, but where could I tell her to go? I didn’t know of any locations outside that we’d both remember to meet up at.

As for the highway...

That might be our best bet, it was abandoned save for perhaps a few dozen stray undead and some vehicles. We could appropriate one, and drive out and away from this hellhole before the bombs dropped and Raccoon was burned away in atomic fire.

If not any of those? Then I honestly had no clue how the hell we were gonna get out of here.

Rainbow finally spoke up after my thoughts were finished, asking, “Where’re gonna go?” She turned to me, eyes zeroing in on my own. “Like... what’s our gameplan?”

I found it very hard not to stare into them.

A lick of my lips and I gathered my thoughts. Thankfully for both of us I felt calmed down enough to keep myself from flipping my shit and think properly. “Raccoon City’s a big place, but if I recall... there’s a highway that leads out of the city we could use, several, actually.” I shakily stood up and looked around, sadly I didn’t see any sign of it nearby. “But I’m not sure where exactly to go from here to get to it. If we can find one of them, we can get out of the city, and hopefully to safety,”

A nod of her head, sending rainbow bangs flipping about and Rainbow stood up with me. “Alright, so... what’s it look like? Maybe I can fly up and find it?”

That... that was a good plan, actually, huh.

“Uh, hmm... how best to describe it,” I pictured the highway in my mind, standing high, built out of concrete, “Imagine a sort of really big bridge made out of stone, might have some metal fences on it and a buncha these-” I hit my fist against the News Van, “-things on it.”

“Stone bridge, got it!” She flared out her wings, once again taking my breath away and blasting up off the ground.

I was forced back by the gust of wind she kicked up, but I was able to watch her fly up into the sky, leaving behind an after-image of herself in the wake.

She flapped her wings and hovered really high above me, maybe seven to eight stories high in the air if I had to guess. I had to strain my neck to see her as the blood red color of the sun washed over the city, bathing it in a sickly red hue. The sun’s rising in the east, alrighty. A shake of my head and I kept a look out.

Just cause the area looked abandoned didn’t necessarily mean that it was.

I was paranoid enough as it is.

The roads everywhere were littered in garbage, cars sat abandoned on the streets, and the blood...

“Hey! I think I see it!” Rainbow’s cry from above sounded.

I looked up, and saw her pointing south. Okay, south of here, that didn’t seem so bad. “Okay! Good job!” I gave her a thumbs up, shooting her a grin.

“Yep! I’m awesome~” She struck a pose in mid-air, and I had to fight back the laugh.

Silly sill-

I blinked and squinted up at Dash.

Despite my eyes being absolute gobshite, I saw something appear on Rainbow’s chest...

Was that a red dot?

Years of playing first person shooters came flooding back, the laser sights, the guns, the bullets!

My eyes shot open wide and I screamed out, “RAINBOW, MOVE!”

She looked down at me.

BOOM

But it was too late...

Author's Note

I find it truly amazing what I can get done when I pull my ass out of Discord... far too distracting.

Edited 4/8/2018

03 - Shot Through The Heart

ooo000---000ooo

I don’t know what hurt worse...

BOOM

The gunshot or the sound of my heart shattering into a million pieces.

Everything in that moment drew to a halt, and I wasn’t sure if my mind just... stopped, or if my perception of time just decided to skyrocket and slow things down.

Up above Rainbow’s body jerked as a spray of crimson exploded from her side, her face was wrenched in a painful mixture confusion and shock. She looked down at me, slowly, her face betrayed a dozen things in those first few moments.

Then she fell.

“Shit!” My voice sounded so wrong, my movement sluggish.

My mind shot into overdrive, what the fuck do I do?! Seven stories, maybe eight, and she weighs somewhere in the triple-fucking-digits! She’d probably die from that height! I don’t know!

Shit shit shit shit!

My fear was skyrocketing as her body plummeted from the sky, falling like a bag of rocks. I was petrified, unable to get my body moving.

She fell hard, nearly missing the side of the rooftop and slamming into an old air conditioning unit, crashing past it and causing it to break loose and plummet down. The cord got caught and it swung into a window, shattering it to pieces, glass rained down onto the ground. My heart sank when Rainbow hit an awning, breaking through it like it was made of nothing but paper.

The sickening thud that sounded once her body made contact with the pavement...

I think my heart stopped.

She lay on the ground unmoving, blood pouring out from the holes in her sides. My ears were ringing from the distant crack of a sniper rifle, and everything in my body was screaming.

GO! MOVE!

I finally broke free of whatever was holding me back and rushed over to Rainbow, gun being tucked into the back of my pants as I fell onto my knees next to her. On her side, her eyes were closed, wings spread out, and blood...

God, there was so much of it.

“H-hey, Rainbow?!” I shook her, but she didn’t move, didn’t make any sort of noise. I attempted to feel for any sort of pulse, but I didn’t have any fucking idea where the arteries in her body were! I ducked my head down and placed my ear against her body, the softness of her fur was mildly distracting as I listened.

...

...

Thump... thump...

Hearing that gave me no end of relief, but that was just one tiny drop of good in an ocean of bad. Rainbow took a heavy fall, suffered some bad injuries, I can't tell what though. I wasn't a damn veterinarian!

The blood oozing out of her gunshot wound was enough to make me grow terrified for her. I ripped off my jacket and folded it up tightly to use as some kind of deterrent against the injury; more of a temporary fix than anything else. I knew a little about first aid, but I didn't know if that would translate over to a magical pegasus pony.

Shit, I need to get her help, now! Moving her body around, I tried to tie the jacket around the bullet holes as best as I could. From what I could see from the quick glance I got, it seemed it had punched clean through her. But whether or not it actually hit any major organs, I didn't know.

Looking back towards the news van, an idea formed in my head. Pulling out my hand gun I rushed over to it. I could use it to carry Rainbow, where to? I had no clue, but maybe to the hospital if the roads were cleared up enough. Closing in on it, I saw the cab itself was empty, and opening it up proved the same thing, untainted by blood or any signs of a struggle. I quickly moved around to the side and gripped the handle, poised to rip it open.

I took a few quick breaths and pulled on it, opening it up and yanking it to the side and quickly jumping back, aiming my gun forward...

Nothing.

The inside was filled with stray wires, camera equipment, and some boxes, but no body or anything.

A sigh of relief, I relaxed and turned arou-

"RAH!"

I was slammed into the van and landed on the floor, my gun went somewhere as a body straddled me.

It was an undead, a tattered news uniform barely hanging on to the rotted body alongside wires.

It growled and tried to pin my arms down and get at my neck, but I struggled like any good survivor. I punched him in the jaw, once, twice, thrice, it just snarled and moaned.

"Fuck! Get off me you nasty cunt!" This was starting to get very old very fast!

I managed to keep his arms from grabbing my own to pin them down, and kept his jaws from getting close to my skin. My head whipped around from side to side, rapidly scanning the interior for anything I could use. My gun was missing in action, having been ripped away.

I needed something else! Something heavy and blunt! Or sharp and stabby!

"Rawr!"

I growled and yelled back-"Fuck off!"-and tried pulling my leg up, to get it under his chest and kick him off. He was being awful persistent!

The entire van shook during our tussle, causing equipment to fall down onto the floor. Wires, videos, cameras, spare parts, all kinds of crap that I spotted.

Closer and closer he got, inch by inch...

THUNK

Something heavy fell and caught my attention, it was a camera!

A nice hefty looking one too!

I moved my arms around, pulling my leg up further to hold him back. A swipe of his hand grazed the tip of my nose, nearly cutting into it with jagged fingernails.

My heartbeat was moving faster and faster, fear running up and down my body like sickly tingles. I was able to keep him held back as my hand blindly reached for the camera. And lemme tell ya; trying to hold off a nearly two-hundred pound adult man turned scum-sucking zombie ain't easy!

Come on! Come on! So close! My hand desperately reached for it, to grab the end, the strap, some part of it!

Just a few more inches and I'd have it!

One fuck up and I was dead!

"Come on!" I pulled back my arm, coiling it up against my side and shot it out forward, jerking my body further and further until finally...

SMASH

I grabbed onto it and with a roar, slammed it into the zombie's head as hard as I physically could, smashing off plastic and glass with each impact.

My eyes were wide and staring straight into the bloodied face of the enemy; someone who was once a man, probably in his mid-thirties at the most who was out in the thick of Raccoon City itself gathering a news story, perhaps on the mysterious disappearances of people near the Arklay Mountains and just in the city in general.

Now he was a wicked perversion of what he once was.

"Get! Off! Me! Bitch!" I chanted with each hit, the side his skull deforming and blood flying. An opportunity rose and I quickly pulled my legs up, feet near his chest, and mustered all I had into a charged kick, "Rah!"

He flew off of me and away from the van, rag-dolling into some trashcans in the alleyway he no doubt came out of.

I was quick to drop the camera and scramble out to try and find my gun, to find that familiar shade of black that I spent nearly six hundred bucks on.

On the ground next to the tire, I was swift and snatched it up.

Gotta keep a tighter grip on you. I told myself with a sharp growl.

The undead was slowly standing up, body trembling from the virus rampaging through his system and a hiss like moan escaping his blood covered lips. I turned my handgun's sights to him, but my aim was shaky despite using both hands. My chest tightened, heartbeat slowing down...

BOOM

Blood and gore spewed from the back of his head, showering the alleyway in virus-addled bits of brain and ooze. His body fell like a sack of bricks, collapsing with a heavy thud and allowing me some reprieve from what just happened.

The sun was rising higher and higher into the air, shining brightly down upon the city and what I just did.

Rainbow Dash filled my mind once more.

I tucked my gun away and rushed over to her as another faint moan reached my ears and a random gunshot off in the distance. I picked her up as best as I could, watching her wings and my jacket. I dragged her over to the van, arms burning and sweat pouring down every available part of me.

Christ, she's a heavy girl. Not a particularly gentlemanly thought to have about a lady, and I don't think Rainbow would appreciate being called such.

I was able to lug her heavy as fuck flank into the van, laying her on the floor and sliding the door shut. Satisfied with how she was placed, my eyes glanced around the area as I made my way around to the driver's seat.

Scores of undead pouring out of the woodwork and filling the street did little to bolster my confidence for future survival.

That is my cue to fuck on out of here! I rushed over to the van and climbed in, slamming the door shut and looking around for the key. It wasn't in the ignition, I just looked, so it had to be somewhere in the van, hopefully. If it wasn't, I'd have to book it on foot with a very heavy pony on my back.

I frantically searched around the inside of the van for the key, flipping over notebooks and junk, a jacket, shirt, some random junk someone left on the seat.

Something slammed against the window and I didn't need to look up to know what it was, the wicked moan was answer enough.

I need the key! Was the one thought running through my head as I flipped over another notebook, searching the floor, that spot in between the seat and control panel compartment thingie.

The zombie slammed against the window again and the sounds of limbs hitting the side of the van and rocking it hit my ears, forcing me to move faster.

I flipped the zombies my middle finger and yelled-"I get it!"-and kept looking.

Where the hell was the damn ke-

...

I slowly sat up in the seat, my eyes flicking up to the sun visor. I reached up to move it down, and the keys plopped into my lap with a jingle noise.

"...Fuck you." I grabbed them and proceeded to start up the van.

Within seconds the vehicle roared to life! I put it into drive and slammed on the pedal, speeding forward and running over a zombie, causing the entire van to shake.

I didn't let up either, I kept the pedal slammed down to the floor, smashing through the zombies and driving down the road as fast as I could go.

Rainbow's pained gasp sounded behind me, "B-buck, w-what?"

"If you're awake, I suggest-" One zombie slammed against the windshield, cracking it and splattering brackish ooze across the glass. "-holding on!"

The van, under my guidance, sped down the road and past the growing horde of undead monsters climbing out of the woodwork. The entire area was suddenly filled with them, and I just now noticed how the alleyways were blocked off, more broken down and beat up cars made driving at full speed a difficult task.

I chanced a look back at Rainbow, seeing her struggling to stand, "Rainbow, just hold onto something!" I yelled at her, whipping my head back around.

Right at the end of the street where it turned onto what I saw was Mission Street, I saw a giant blockade cutting off access. Buses and cars, police barricades, dumpsters filled with junk, and most of it was on fire as well.

And I was plowing a path straight for it!

"Fuck me in the ass!" I yanked the steering wheel hard to the left, slamming on the breaks. That proved to be a bad idea, cause it only took a split second for me to realize Rainbow was still a passenger and not buckled in.

Then again, neither was I!

I found myself flying to the right harder then I would have liked, the van slid hard to the right and smashed into the side of the burning wreckage and I went along with it.

My spine and the back of my head both cried out in pain, nerves firing off like rockets. My body was being flooded with pain; a ringing filled my ears, I blacked out for a split second, and every seemed to slow down.

T-that was my fuck up. I thought and shook my head, it felt like tossing around a one hundred pound weight!

Move! A voice cried out somewhere. Everything felt less sluggish, things cleared up, Quickly!

Gah! Another shake of my head and I saw horde of zombies outside the driver's side window, slowly lumbering towards the van. I hurried back into the seat amidst Rainbow's moan of pain.

"W-what the b-buck happened?!" She wheezed out.

"Just hang on to something!" I put the van into reverse and slammed down on the pedal, forcing it back and smashing into something immediately, causing it to go up under the van and jostle the entire thing.

Another smash and Rainbow yelped, falling down and sliding back towards the door. I don't know what I hit, whether it was a light post or something else, I didn't care. Putting the van into drive, I turned the wheel to the left and sped forward, turning back onto the road.

Okay, okay, gotta get out onto the main road, I drove forward past the approaching undead, knocking one aside and getting blood on the hood and windshield. Spotting another street north, I turned down it, only finding a small police barricade blocking it.

It didn't stand a chance at stopping me.

"W-where..." Rainbow's voice coughed out, and I heard her crawling up to the front. "W-why a-am I b-bleeding?"

A crash and the van went right through the barricade, splintering wood and sending it flying. I kept the van steady, driving down the end of the road while juggling my attempt at keeping my heart from exploding out from the inside of my chest. A few undead lumbered at the end of the street, and smoke from a burning car shrouded the path through, but I pushed on!

"You got shot," I told her, speeding up and slamming into the zombies. The van shook from them hitting the hood, and one of them went up under, I felt sick. I chanced a look at her, and she was sweating, pale, eyes full of confusion, "I'll explain when I get us to safety, just... just hold on."

I immediately yanked the wheel to the right, pulling out onto the main road.

The daylight was very helpful, because it gave me a nice view of the carnage the city was going through. Fires raged in the distance, I could hear gunshots going off in different directions, and I even saw some fire trucks blazing a path southward. In the air, helicopters were flying in and around the city I had no idea if they were Umbrella, Army, or some other force, however.

I drove as fast as I could, following the tram line leading south. Rainbow said the highway was south, so that was our goal right now, to blaze a path south and hopefully get out through the tunnel... assuming the passageways up here aren't blocked off that is.

I needed to get Rainbow some help, pronto!

But where?

My eyes drifted to the left, and I saw an old familiar sight; Raccoon City Hospital.

I remembered it very well, it was a location I had come to know and despise during my time playing the games and in fanfiction writing. It was a place that I struggled to deal with whenever I played Resident Evil: Outbreak, and to this day it's a place that just... brings back bad memories, because of the enemies within. Looking at the building, something deep in my stomach urged me to keep driving past it and to not turn onto the street that led into the Ambulance bay.

But where else was I supposed to take Rainbow? I didn't have any medical knowledge, and I doubt any of the vet clinics around here were even open let alone still in operation...

"Shit." I turned left once I was near the hospital, pulling up to the emergency door.

I let the van idle for a moment, eyes scanning the area.

The emergency entrance of the hospital was abandoned, with only a few ambulances sitting around with their lights still flashing on and off; a faint echo of what they once were filling the area with squawks and blips. Gurneys filled with blood were turned over onto the ground, and a couple were nearby with zipped up bodies laying on top.

I pulled out my gun and exited, heading out of the van.

I gave the area a quick check for any zombies or any other threat, but so far I didn't see anything except the bodies of those who didn't make it.

Satisfied that the area was safe enough, I rushed back over to the van and yanked open the door. "Come on," I told Rainbow once I spotted her, the mare laying on her side and breathing heavily. Blood covered the floor, the walls where she slid into... jeez. "Ahh fuck."

Rainbow gave me a pitiful look, huffing and her eyes filled with about as much energy as I had, "W-wh-" She coughed, struggling to stand up, but ultimately she failed and collapsed.

Cursing, I backed up and started looking around for an empty gurney, preferably a clean one. I was gonna have to use one of them to get her inside, no way could I carry her in that condition, not without causing her pain.

I managed to find one, relatively clean save for a few spots of blood. I wheeled it over to the van and lowered it down, quickly moving Rainbow onto it as gently as I could. She was barely moving and I knew the blood loss was starting to affect her badly, I needed to get her patched up.

So with my gun in one hand, and my other on the gurney, I wheeled Rainbow up to the entrance and moved into the Hospital...

Author's Note

Darkness encroaches upon us all.
A faint light in suffocating darkness.
Can you hear the angel's call?
or is it nothing more than your own madness?

Edited 4/8/2018

04 - Falling Into Madness

ooo000---000ooo

It was dark...

Really dark and I could barely move; my side was stinging like a bad crash through some trees, or I got kicked real hard by one of Fluttershy's animals.

I guess I landed near her cottage again, stupid, I could never stop myself from crashing over there for whatever reason.

It was my curse, I guess.

I tried opening my eyes, and it was hard to do. I managed after a few tries, but I regretted it right after when a bright light shone into my eyes. Loud noises filled my ears; crickets, murmurs, worried voices. I think I heard Fluttershy’s voice, timid and scared as always.

“Rainbow?” I heard her say.

Flutters...

“Rainbow?”

Crap, I must have messed up big this time...

“Rainbow?!”

My eyes shot open and everything suddenly came crashing back down to reality. I felt the stinging pain in my sides, the blinding ache in my wings, the sweat covering my body. I was being dragged across a smooth floor, and someone was pulling me.

“Wa-wa-wake u-u-up a-a-anytime n-now!”

That wasn’t Fluttershy.

Everything was a blur, flashing lights. My vision forward, I saw blurry shapes, brown and dark reds with gross smells along with them. And I heard growls, moans...

“Dash!” That guy’s voice, the one I met... Dustin? “Wake up! Wake up, girl, come on now! We gotta move!”

Everything cleared up for me after a few shakes of my head, and...

Suddenly I wish I was still asleep.

It was a darkened bloody hallway, turned over chairs and weird beds on wheels, flickering lights and this... creepy feeling surrounding everything. And right down the hall, barely lit up by the lights and packed tighter then a six pack of cider were dozens of those monsters.

Zombies.

“O-oh buck!” I don’t know how I managed it, but I was able to scramble onto my hooves. “Ahh!”

“Come on!” He yelled seconds before I heard a loud BOOM sound from him.

“Yah!” I yelped at the loud bang and started galloping down the hall, almost slipping on something and knocking over a chair. “Buck buck buck!”

Dustin panicked and ran right behind me, yelling, "Just go! Run run run!"

"I a-am running!" I screamed back.

"Well run faster!"

I can barely move as it is! I don't remember what happened. All I could remember was flying up to try and find that road, a loud boom sounded and suddenly I was... falling? Shit, I... I can't remember. Right now though, I had bigger problems on my hooves.

My body was feeling so freaking sluggish and all of my movements were off; whatever had happened to me was messing me up, bad.

Trying to stay awake was hard; my vision kept blurring in and out and my ears were ringing like a bad punch to the face. I could barely breathe and everything stung, making it hard to keep running and not pass out.

"Wha- -ove now!"

I blacked out for a brief second, leaning against the wall... or a cart?

"-hit!" Everything was so slow, was I even moving?

A pair of arms wrapped around me, and suddenly I felt weightless.

"-old on tig- -I'll ge- -elp!"

I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer...

ooo000---000ooo

"Rainbow?"

With a gasp, my eyes opened up.

I saw a pair of blue eyes staring into my own, that worry flickering around in them like starlight.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Fluttershy's sweet voice filled my ears with that one question.

I felt better now, truth be told.

"Y-yeah," I gave her a little smile and nod, and she returned it.

"I was wondering if you fell asleep," She tittered, sitting back and laying down next to me. Her smooth pink locks of her mane fell down on either side of her head, like sheets of silk. Those pretty pink tipped wings of hers were nestled at her sides, perfectly and delicately preened. Fluttershy always did take good care of herself.

"Ahh, well..." I rolled onto my side to face her, flashing her a little grin, "You know how I am~ I like my power naps!"

She giggled again, hoof held to her mouth. It was this cute little noise that only she could pull off. "I could tell," Her lips pulled back into that sweet smile of hers, "I almost didn't want to wake you up."

Gah... Flutters. My grin fell back into a little smile, "Eh, I don't mind." I shrugged. Truthfully, I really didn't mind much that she woke me up, it was better than that dream.

BOOM

I was startled a little by that and so was Fluttershy, she yelped as I looked up into the skies. Dark clouds loomed overhead, covering the once blue sky. I narrowed my eyes.

I don't remember there being a storm scheduled for today.

"R-Rainbow?"

Turning back towards Flutters, I was about to tell her we should head inside...

But when I turned to her, her cheeks were sunken in, her eyes growing bloodshot and gray, her mouth opened in a pained wheeze. Her pristine fur, wings and feathers, her mane, all of it looked ragged and rotten.

"F-Fluttershy?" What was wrong with her?!

I didn't get to ask her before she lunged at me.

"AHHHH!"

My eyes opened, I shot up on whatever I was laying on and looked around, ears trying to pick up anything. Where was I?!

"Hey, whoa now," I looked to my left, body shaking and I saw him... "Don't move so much."

The monkey thing, Dustin.

He was standing next to whatever I was lying on, eyes looking down at me with the same look Fluttershy was giving me... worry.

"You lost a lot of blood," He told me. It was only after he told me that that I felt so weak, like a bad night of drinking too much cider. "I patched you up as best as I could, but it's a temporary fix at best."

Glancing down at my body, I saw ripped up cloth wrapped tightly around my barrel stained with blood. I hesitantly poked it, wincing when it stung. "W-what happened?" I couldn't remember.

What did he want to be called, Dee, I think? He took a seat in a nearby chair, sighing and saying, "You were flying up to try and find that highway I told you about, so we could get out of the city." He looked over to me, eyes bloodshot. "You found it but... you got shot down by someone, I'm thinking a sniper or something got you in his sights and took the shot."

Sniper? "The heck is a sniper? And shot with what, an arrow?" It sure as Tartarus didn't feel like an arrow had hit me, but... I don't exact get hit with arrows often.

"Err, not exactly." He scrunched up his weird flat face a little, "You got hit with a bullet. If I had to guess, I'd say it was maybe a seven six two round? I have no idea."

I gave him a look, I was so clueless! What on Equis was he talking about? "A bullet? Seven six two?" I was getting confused, this sounded like some nerdy egghead stuff Twilight'd be burying her head in if she was here.

He stroked the patch of hair on his chin, eyes narrowing. "Basically a piece of small metal, propelled by gunpowder and fired from a gun," He reached behind him and pulled out a piece of black metal. His hands pulled on the top part, sliding it back with a click noise and causing a piece of brass metal to pop out. Dee caught it, and held it up, "One of these, but more pointy and bigger."

I eyeballed it and thought, one of those hit me? It was so tiny! How could one of those mess me up so badly? "Seriously? It's so small!" I didn't believe it... no way did something that small take me down.

"Yeah, seriously," Dee just nodded, putting the 'bullet' back into the weapon. "Better consider yourself lucky, if that bullet had hit any of your vital organs... we wouldn't be talking right now."

My eyes drifted back to my side and the makeshift bandage. My coat was stained with blood, now that I could see it more clearly. The cloth was also pretty bad, dark red with all of the blood it soaked up.

I didn't feel so good looking at it either; I felt sick to my stomach, weak, and I could barely move without feeling something wrong. My mouth was sticky and dry, my sides ached, and I felt like I was seconds from throwing up. Shame Twilight wasn't here, she could probably do something about this...

"Oh jeez." I held a hoof to my mouth and glanced around the room I was in.

I don't remember how we got here, but I guess he carried me in here after I fell or passed out.

The room was pretty big and had a lot of hospital stuff everywhere; charts and graphs, those weird little plastic things that showed you the inside of your body, lots of books that had titles I could barely understand. The whole color of the room was pretty plain, about as plain as a doctor's office or hospital could be. The only bright colors were a couple of books sitting nearby... looking at myself, I was probably the most colorful thing in the room.

I looked at where I was laying and saw I was on a hospital bed, stained with blood...

My blood, I hoped.

He was sitting next to me on a chair, holding that... 'gun' I guess and looking around. I still didn't have a clear idea of what he was. He said before that he was a human or something, and his name was Dustin. "W-what exactly are you?" He turned to look at me, giving me a better look at his face.

I guess he was kind of average looking—his skin was slightly pale from what I could see; but most of it was covered by all of the clothes he was wearing, a bloodied shirt and blueish pants, and some shoes. On his head, a bright orange hat sat, casting shadow across his face. He ended up taking it off after a moment, revealing his face.

Hazel green eyes zeroed in on my own, bright and curious. A patch of hair sat on his chin and some grew around his mouth, almost scraggly looking. He also had a lot of freckles, almost like that farmer pony I saw in Ponyville, heh.

"I told you before, but... I'm a human," Dee told me, leaning back in the chair and causing it to squeak, "I'm from Arkansas, originally, one of the fifty states of the country I was born in."

"Human..." I murmured; I think I heard that before from but I don't know from where. It sounded so familiar, maybe my mom told me? She always did like reading me weird storybooks from authors I didn't even know. I gave Dee another once over, but he didn't really look like the ones my mom had described in those books; he was pale skinned and had dark colored hair, the ones she told me about had colors like ponies almost.

"Yee, human," Dee nodded, rubbing his chin and still looking at me. He looked so strange to me... tall and pasty skinned, long arms and those spidery hands of his. "And I know what you are, if only from my world's mythology and legends, a pegasus." He snapped a finger and pointed at me, smirking, "Greek mythology, actually."

"W-wait, pegasi are a myth?" I scrunched my face up, doesn't that mean-

"Yep, so you're technically the only one in existence right now," Dee cut off my trail of thought with that. I was seriously the only pegasus in this world? "As far as I know, anyway. Not sure how you ended up here, but if any other ponies like you do like you did, then maybe there're others here... hopefully that's not the case."

"You're telling me..." I sniffled, laying my head down for a tiny bit and glancing over to him.

Dee rose an eyebrow towards me, "Whaddya mean?"

I shrugged a little bit, sniffling against the scents of the room hit me; old medicine and blood. "A lotta ponies aren't like me..." I thought back to my last few moments in Equestria, before everything went dark for me and I... I guess I ended up here? "I'm the only pony in Equestria that can pull off a sonic rainboom," He looked at me now, leaning forward in that chair he was in.

"Whew, damn," Dee swept his hand across his face, wiping away some beads of sweat. His eyes had a bit of a curious twinkle to them, and his lips pulled back into a bit of a frown as he looked at me.

"Yeah... and on top of all of that, I'm planning on joining the Wonderbolts and stuff, heh," The zombies filled my mind all of a sudden; their groans, the rotten smell, the blood... I involuntarily shuddered at the thought of them. "I don't think a lot of ponies would be able to survive if they were here."

I didn't know how many of those monsters were here, and yeah they were slow... but we almost died back in that pawn shop; getting cornered like we did, if I didn't kick down that door.

Dee patted his knees a few times and leaned back in his chair, he took his hat off and ran a hand through his messy brown hair, eyes looking up, "Maybe, but... well, you have four legs and a pair of wings, the zombies have two legs and are slow as hell. I think ya'll would do just fine," Looking back down towards me, he gave me a smile, kind of like the ones I've seen that AJ give me.

I looked down myself. 'Everythin'll be alright, sugarcube, trust me on that.' she'd tell me whenever I was looking down. She was a strong looking earth pony, that's for sure... could probably take on a whole bunch of these zombie freaks no problem!

"Everything'll be a'ight," I heard Dee tell me. I looked back towards him; he was leaning forward a little and his eyes were brighter, lips pulled back into that smile, causing his freckles to pop out a bit more on his cheeks. "Trust me on that, if there's one thing I can promise... it's that we'll both get out of this alive, yeah?"

I felt a bit of a flutter in my chest when our eyes locked again—from the way he said that, I didn't feel as... well I didn't want to think it, let alone say it, but I was kind of scared about this whole thing. But now? I... I didn't feel so scared anymore. It still lingered, yeah, but it wasn't as bad as before.

I managed a tiny smile, "Yeah..."

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.

Author's Note

Big thanks to FamousLastWords for looking this over for me, thanks fam :heart:

Edited 4/8/2018

05 - The Doctor Is In

ooo000---000ooo

It had been a few hours, maybe more since I woke up, I wasn't really sure. The clock on the wall was dead and I wasn't sure if it was even right.

I was able to get up off of the bed and actually walk around a little; being cooped up in bed wasn't something I was planning on doing. It was hard walking when my legs were so freaking wobbly and the first thing I did was hunt down something to drink...

I was really thirsty. But even after looking around, I couldn't find anything to drink in the room - no water, no cider... nothing!

"There're some soda machines in the hall," Dee broke me out of my search and crouched down next to me, "I... don't suppose ya'll can drink those, eh?"

"I-is it anything like cider?" The heck was soda?

"Uuhh, it's sugary and has caffeine in it, depending on the brand." Dee tugged at the hair on his chin and looked down at me, "Some are just pure sugar though and I know exactly jack-all about how your bodies handle carbonated stuff."

I had no idea what carbonation was but... it had sugar in it and that was good enough for me!

"I can have sugar... it should be fine." I nodded and swallowed whatever moisture I had left in my mouth, sticky and dry... gross. I was so weak I barely had any strength to move very much... maybe that 'soda' would help me, I know I needed something to help me get my energy back.

"Alright, uhhh..." He took out that gun of his and looked it over, pulling back the top part and making his way towards the door, "This'll take a moment."

I held up a hoof, "W-wait... aren't those things out there?" He was seriously gonna go out there?

"Ehh... I lost em down one of the halls and it's been super quiet for hours now," He pointed out to me, "I'm just gonna make a quick run to one of the machines and crack it open."

I was skeptical though, "W-what if they're being quiet on purpose? Trying to lure you out?"

"Nah, it'll be fine," He gave me a thumbs up and a smile. "I'm quick on my feet so no worries. Just huddle up in here and I'll be back in a flash, alright?"

His voice was so confident and his face was the picture of it... but I could see it in his eyes, the little bit of fear and doubt flickering around like little fireflies.

Dee was scared.

He didn't give me much time to tell him anything before he slipped outside into the hall, the door closing shut behind him with a click.

Suddenly I was alone.

The deafening silence didn't take any time before surrounding me on all sides; no clock to tick, no air conditioner to rattle and fill the room with some cool air.

Just nothing.

It was unnerving and I found myself tapping my hoof against the floor just to make a little bit of noise. I didn't want to admit it, but I was feeling really nervous. I had never really been alone like this, let alone in a place like this, it was...

Scary.

All of those monsters outside stumbling around, the smell of blood that I could pick up everywhere, and those moans - Luna protect me. They sounded so distant, almost muffled through the walls but I could hear them from the vent in the ceiling, carrying through from wherever it led to. My race had heightened senses for flying through the air, so I could hear a lot of things really well.

Right now I wish I couldn't hear that well.

I stopped tapping my hoof as a headache began to creep up on me, "Ugh," My throat felt even drier as the seconds passed. What even was that dream. I focused on that instead of my thirst at the moment. Fluttershy... no, she would never end up like that, no way. It was stupid! She might be the shiest thing in all of Ponyville, but she's got more courage in her than I would'a thought... it's just... hard to get it to come up. Flutters... no way would I let that happen to yo-

The door opened up and I got startled - pedaling back and looking up. My wings shot out and my ears perked up, did one of them get inside while I wasn't listening?!

"Sorry for taking so long," It was Dee and my heart-rate slowed, but damn it all, I was still shaky. He walked into the room with a bag in hand and a tiny smile on his face... but I saw blood on him, new blood splotches on his cheek. "The m-machine was b-broken and I had to c-crack it open, t-that went about as well as I'd hoped, h-heh."

I eyed the bag when I heard something clanking around inside, and my mouth began to water when he pulled out something bright red with some stylized words on it. "D-Dude, are you okay? You g-got blood on your-" I gestured to his cheek.

He stopped and touched the splotches, then pulled his hand away to look at his now bloodied fingers. "Huh... well, nothing to worry about." I gave him a look when we locked eyes, he held up a hand and waved it off, "I'm fine, trust me! J-just one of them got the jump on me, but he was slow enough that I could take him, so no worries," His lips tugged back into a smile as he walked over and handed me the metal thing.

It was small and cold when I touched it, shaped like a tin can but more... rounded. The top had a pull-tab on it and was silver, while the rest of the can itself was red and had the word 'coke' printed in big white letters. When Dee sat down in his chair I dragged the can over and scrunched up a little. "...What does it taste like?" I turned to look at him when he popped open one of the others he had, the same one I had.

I saw him fit his finger up under the tab and pull back, making a crack hiss noise. "U-uhm... sugary, for one thing, lotta caffeine, er... hard to explain fully." He told me and took a sip of his own, drinking down whatever was inside with greedy gulps.

Well... only one way to find out.

I reached towards the pull top and gave it a swift tug, cracking it open and listening to the faint hissing inside before it slowly faded. Well... it was better than nothing. I picked up the can and felt of the cool metal before bringing it up to my lips and taking a curious sip of the contents.

My tongue was hit with the burning bubbly sensation and the sweet sugary taste he mentioned, but with how weak I was it was a cool and refreshing relief, so I pushed aside the burn and gulped it down.

Wow that's strong, The burn was pretty strong, but it felt... pretty nice going down, and the taste wasn't too bad either. Before I knew it, the can was emptied and I felt pretty great, actually. "Whew..."

"Good, right?" Dee asked me with a snicker, reaching into the bag of his for something.

The sugar eventually hit me and the chill of the soda spread throughout my body, making me shiver slightly... it was a nice taste and that sugar hit the spot. I licked my lips... "Yeah, what is it again?"

"Coka-Cola," he reached into the bag and pulled out another one of them to hand to me, which I graciously took and popped it open. "Super tasty drink, popular all around the world and chock full of caffeine and sugar." Dee ended up cracking open another one of his own and pulled out... food? It was a little baggie of something that had Cheetos on the front, a bright orange bag. "Probably one of my favorite drinks, specially right now cause I need the caffeine."

I didn't know what caffeine was, but if it's what's perking me up... I think I'd like a bit more of it myself.

I sipped the newer coke this time, savoring the sweet taste of it. i watched as Dee opened up the bag, and something like cheese hit my nose. "So..." The dull silence of the room was only broken by the crinkle of the bag and Dee's chewing. "Dee."

"Hmm?" He looked up, shoving one of those cheesy sticks into his mouth and chewing on it.

"What... what's our game plan here? I don't know what we're gonna do here... or where to go," I admitted and took another sip of the drink. I didn't know anything about this city... or this world or... anything, except for the zombies.

He paused and offered me the bag... couldn't hurt to try one, so I took it and glanced inside, finding several more of those... cheese sticks I guess, and stuck a feather inside to grab one as he explained. "Well, we're trapped in here... at least for the time being... you need some actual medical help or something to heal up, and rest most importantly."

After pulling one out, I held it between my feather tips and looked back up at him, "I c-can move just fine." I murmured, taking a hesitant bite out of the food. A loud crunch sounded as I was hit with a tasty and lightly salted cheese flavor, my ears perked up and my stomach grumbled. I didn't waste time before grabbing a few more to chow down on.

They were really good!

I ended up hearing a snort from Dee and he said, "Rainbow, you say that but you took a bullet... a rather powerful one mind you, so-"

My ears flicked up... how did he know my name? I didn't tell him that, did I?

"-hink it'd be best if you rested for a little bit lon-"

"How do you know my name?" I narrowed my eyes at him... I didn't tell him, I can't remember telling him that... actually, he had said my name a bunch of times!

His eyes grew a little and his posture stiffened, "Huh?"

"I said, how do you know my name?" I was about to get up, how did he know? "I never told you!" Dee coughed and my suspicion only grew, was he actually a spy?! Was this all just a lie?!

Then he spoke, "Your hair."

I paused and kept glaring at him... "...My hair?"

"Yeah, heh," He nodded quickly, "It's colored like rainbows," He reached into that bag of his and pulled out another thing of food. He ripped it open and pulled out something akin to a yellow ring, "I didn't know your name and I forgot to ask, so... I figured Rainbow would be a nice temp name until I learned it..."

My hair... he called me Rainbow cause of my hair... I glanced back at my tail and saw the different colored rainbow hued strands of hair running from my tail and curling around on the floor. I took pride in my mane and tail, I was one of the very few ponies who ended up with a mane as rare as rainbows.

I sighed and shook my head, "Sorry, I..." I glanced back up at him, "Everything's got me on edge right now... and I don't know who you are... I still don't know if I can even trust you."

Thinking about it now, that was a scary thought. He was this tall lanky looking monkey thing and he had that weird looking weapon of his, and I didn't know anything about this guy! I didn't know if he was a good pony or if he had some dark plans for me... what if he just decided to ditch me to run off himself? I didn't know!

Dee just stared at me... or past me, I wasn't sure which, but he set down the food and climbed down into the floor with a groan. He pulled the bag of food and other goodies down with him, setting them to his side and looking back at me. "I can understand that," His voice had dropped to a whisper now and his eyes nearly blocked by bangs of curly dark brown hair stared at me, "Really, I do."

I returned his gaze and asked, "How?"

"You're in a new place, for one thing," Dee started quietly as some shuffling footsteps passed by the room, making us both shut up and listen. The silent groan of one of those monsters sounded in the hall and I felt that stupid fear bubble up in my stomach, but it shuffled away, probably off to find a meal somewhere in the hospital. Dee and I sighed in relief and he continued, "This place is sc-" he scrunched up, "It has a certain feel to it, one that would unnerve a lot of people. You're also alone... I don't know if you ended up here with any friends but..."

My heart skipped a beat and memories of the clouds came to mind, I saw the open sky and the city where I was born... and I saw him. "I... I didn't," I looked away from Dee, "I didn't have anyone with me."

Why lie to yourself? A tiny voice in the back of my head asked.

Shut up. I lost the courage to look back at him... luckily for me he didn't pry.

But he did say something that made me feel bad. "I don't have anyone in this mess either, no friends... no family," His voice was slow and quiet, "I'm all alone in this city, same as you."

I turned and looked back at him as the corners of my lips were tugged back and down. "But... what about the others of your kind...?" They'd be more likely to help him than me...

A weird noise escaped his throat, his shoulders trembling and I realized he was... laughing? He sat up and threw his head back, sending his hair flying, "Heh! Maybe, but there are a lot of people in this city who would kill me if they wanted to."

"Why would they do that?" That was stupid! He was one of their own... that wasn't right.

"Humans can be both amazing allies and immense assholes, you'd be surprised what happens in terrible situations like these." A lick of his lips and he pulled out that weapon of his and held it up, "We invented these things hundreds of years ago to make killing each other more convenient, only recently did we start using them for sporting, hunting, and other activities."

I gulped, looking at the black metal cautiously. "Seriously?"

"Eeyup, humans are funny creatures," He put the weapon down and huffed, "I'm sure I could find someone to help me out if I tried, but... to be perfectly honest, I'm terrified of going out there without some backup." Both of our eyes looked down at the gun, "I have this, yeah but... I don't have any more ammunition for it on me and somehow I doubt there's any inside the hospital… least nearby, that is."

He sighed and leaned back, grabbing his food again and pausing to eat some of it. I did the same, turning back to my drink and sipping more of it—unfortunately for me, it had gotten lukewarm and the bubbles assaulted my tongue badly. I ignored it and ate more of those cheetos along with it, savoring the taste and the silence.

It didn’t last much longer.

“My point-” Dee murmured quietly, “-is that despite that, I don’t know if there’s anyone that I could meet who won’t kill me out of either fear or just paranoia.” He shrugged and shifted on the floor. He didn’t look or sound like cared that much that he could die… why was that? “I don’t even know if there’s anyone still left alive in this city… let alone any friendly faces.”

I didn’t know what to say to that…

I just sat on the floor and went back to eating the food I was given, eventually finishing off the bag. A sigh escaped me after it was empty and I turned back to the clock, staring at it…

Everything suddenly changed when we both heard some kind of loud squealing noise in the ceiling, making me cringe and fold my ears back.

“Gah! What the-?” Dee looked up and furrowed his eyebrows.

I followed his gaze and spotted something in the corner of the room, it was some kind of boxy thing and the noise was coming from it. We stared at it before something spoke... “H-hello? Yes! You two!” I backed up a little… who was that? What was that?! “My name is Hersh, I’m a doctor in this hospital, w-would you terribly mind if I asked you for some assistance?”

I heard a noise from Dee and he said, “Huh… guess the doctor’s in after all...”

I didn’t know who this guy was or what Dee was thinking… but maybe we could get some help after all.

Author's Note

Big thanks to P-Berry for proofing this for me :heart: Give him some love.

06 - To Find A Nurse

ooo000---000ooo

"Alrighty... I'll help you out, but like I said, I need to know if there's anything in this place I can use to help heal her wounds."

He was really adamant about finding me help... I don't know why, he barely knew anything about me. I wasn't going to complain though, At least he wasn't trying to attack me or anything like those... freaks roaming around the place. I shivered again when one of the moans broke through the vents, but I kept my guard up... I wasn't going to let it bother me.

I was Rainbow Dash! I wasn't supposed to get scared!

"Ah y-yes, for the... equine?" I heard the voice speak of and caught the pause. "I believe there are some bottles of first aid spray spread around the hospital, even a few boxes if I'm not mistaken."

"Where's the nearest one?" Dee asked him right after, standing near the camera that watched us. He had pointed it out earlier and I got confused as to how it worked, who was using it? Was it some kind of magic? I didn't know. "You gotta know what room we're in, where are we in the hospital?"

"From what I can see here, you appear to be in one of the examination rooms on the first floor... near the emergency exit." The voice spoke again, his voice distorted and scratchy from wherever he was. "There isn't any first aid in the room you're in?"

"Fraid not, no," He told me he rooted around the room for something to help my injuries, but he couldn't find anything except something called a Hema... hemi... hemostat? Some kind of medicine that he said would help with my bleeding. Tasted yucky but... I think it helped a little, my side didn't ache as bad. "There's not shit in here we can use."

"I am sorry to hear that, uhm... t-there should be some in the Nurse's Office on the second floor. Coincidentally that is where I need you to go."

"What exactly do you need me to do?" Dee asked him as I stood nearby. I was getting tired of standing around, but I kept my cool... I didn't want to look weak despite how freaking tired I was.

"There is a nurse I need you to find and I believe she may be hiding there," He told us, "She's a young girl, blonde, her name is Theresa."

I shuffled and looked over to Dee—the human was looking like he was thinking. "Okay, I can do that," He shifted around a little and pulled out his weapon, giving it a look over before asking, "Why am I looking for her exactly?"

"The hospital is currently in lockdown due to the outbreak, the rest of the staff is in hiding and I need to get everyone out of here, but I can't do it alone. I know Theresa has the key card to unlock sections of the hospital, including the exit."

"Huh?" That got me confused, the way out was locked?

"Wait, what about the way we came in?" Dee asked him, tilting his head. I was wondering that myself... couldn't we just leave through that way? "We could just go out that wa-"

"I'm afraid that way is blocked off, both by a steel gate and a large group of those monsters," He explained.

Oh.

"Fuck, are you serious?" The brown haired human growled and sighed, throwing his head back and running a hand through his curly locks. "Damn it."

"Indeed, it is a rather troublesome situation. But I am confident that together we can escape this mess... hopefully intact."

"You and me both, pal," Dee sighed.

I just want to go home. I was really missing home right now...

"Alright, I'll go and find her... I don't wanna be in here anymore than ya'll do." Dee gave his weapon another check and looked towards the door.

"You're currently in the west wing of the hospital right now, it's locked down to prevent the monsters from overrunning the other sections of the hospital." The male added, "If you can find the keycard, you can get proper medical aid in the east wing."

A sharp turn of his head, and Dee spoke up, "Wait, there're still people alive here?" His voice had gone up a pitch and he sounded... shocked?

"Is that bad?" I asked him with a tilt of my head.

"Err... no, it's not, just..." A shake of his head and he waved it off before facing me—his lips turned up into a little smile. "Don't worry 'bout it."

"Alright...? So, now what... do we go to the office?" I really wanted to get out of here, and the promise of getting some help from actual doctors sounded too good to pass up!

"Well, I am, you're staying here." My eyes went wide—I glanced up at him and stared, he wasn't serious, was he? "You're still injured and the office is on the second floor, there's no telling what's between here and the office itself."

"What? No way am I staying here!" Not alone!

N-not that I was scared or anything, no... that's stupid! I wasn't scared!

I wasn't!

"Dash-"

"No way!"

I stared at him and he stared back... I wasn't backing down, I was not staying in here alone! Who knows, what if one of those monsters finds me? I don't know if I can even fight back with how much I'm banged up. Strength in numbers, right?

Dee stared at me for a long time before sighing, "Fine, but you gotta stay close and keep an eye out. I have pretty good eyesight and hearing, but I imagine your senses are way better than mine." He tucked weapon away and reached into his pockets, pulling out a small black handle and holding it firm. "So I need you to help me help you."

I nodded in affirmation, standing tall and biting back the pain that tried to flare up and keep me down. "I can do that."

"This is gonna be different then being outside," He went over to the door and held that little black thing tight, his thumb hovering over some kind of nub sticking out. "Tight corridors and no telling what's around any corner, so we gotta be careful... ya know?"

I was quick to move up next to him, the pain in my side a dull sting now. "Y-yeah... I got ya."

"I'll do my best to guide you down safe routes, but that will be tricky... you'll have to move fast, those things are everywhere."

"Duly noted doc." Dee took a deep breath and shook his body, causing his clothing to shuffle. "Second floor, nurse's office. We got this."

I took a deep breath myself and tried to steel my nerves. I didn't hear anything outside of the door, nothing in the halls... everything was quiet right now.

Hopefully it would stay that way.

Dee opened the door after a moment and we went outside into the beaten up hall...

Time to find our way to the Nurse's Office.

ooo000---000ooo

I could feel Rainbow right behind me as I stepped out into the hallway—that feeling of anxiety creeping up the back of my neck like a centipede trying to find an opening, to gnaw at my nerves and get me to lose what little of my cool I had left in me. The fact we had to go so far inside the zombie infested hospital didn't ease matters any.

"Which way?" Rainbow had whispered to me, creeping behind me.

"I saw some stairs this way going up, so chances are that's our ticket." It had to be if we both wanted to get some help. All throughout my body I could feel the tingles of dulled pain cropping back up, everything I had done so far was coming back to make itself known. I need to get some first aid, hopefully this'll be a swift trip. I had gotten pretty banged up, and not only that but I haven't gotten to rest like Rainbow had.

In fact, how long have I been awake for anyway?

I needed to get some sleep soon, but who knows how long it'd be until I managed that...

"H-hey Dee?" Rainbow caught my attention as I walked through the eerily silent halls—the failure of keeping back the infected was pretty apparent by the hastily made blockades constructed out of beds and trays, even some shelving.

I crouched near a door, peeking in and seeing several torn apart bodies and blood splatters. I shivered and glanced back at her—the mare was looking less pale than before, but still not to hundred percent. "Yeah?"

Her eyes traveled up to mine... we stared at one another for a moment and I could only wonder what was swirling around in that mind of hers, hidden behind pretty magenta orbs. "I don't know how anything around here works..." She folded her ears back, a slight huff escaping her as her eyes drifted to the side. "How does your... medicine work?"

Oh... fair question, I suppose. "Uh, how does it work? What do you mean?" I turned back to face the path forward, keeping my eyes peeled for any of the zombies... or anything, really. I honestly had no idea what could be lurking in this damn place. "Like the first aid we're going after?"

She nodded as we walked through the hall, stepping over paper and other discarded items on our way to the stairs I had found. "Yeah, like... what does it look like?" I could practically feel her glancing around curiously, as if trying to find anything similar to it, "Is it like those pills you gave me?"

"Err, not exactly," I crept up to the corner of an intersection, trying to listen to anything around me. I didn't see anything around the left route, or the right one, it was all clear. "I think it's more like a can of spray, laced with some stuff that'll heal up your wounds fairly well and get you back up and running... maybe not to a hundred percent, but it should help deal with the pain and keep any infections from starting up." If they haven't taken hold already, I didn't exactly have anything to sterilize her injury with. "Hopefully when we get to the nurse's office and we find some first aid, I can show you how it works."

"Alright," She sighed and I heard her hoofsteps still following behind me.

We kept moving up until reaching the battered vending machines I cracked open—it took some doing of course, they were locked up and I had to struggle to pop them open. Which I didn't manage to do, cause breaking a steel lock wasn't easy without any tools for me to do. I found some money that I used however, some quarters and dollar bills from some... helpful corpses laying nearby.

I spotted such a corpse laying nearby—an older man who had been slain by the undead, his limbs torn apart and his head torn completely off preventing him from becoming one of the zombies. I had looted his pocket and found a wallet with some money inside it, enough to spend on the vending machines to get some supplies for Dash and I. I tried not rooting through it further, I just needed the money...

I found a family photo that made me hesitate, made my mind wander to who he was and whether or not his family had actually made it out or not.

That was my mistake...

Damn it, you had one job and you failed it. That was one of the rules in these types of situations, don't let your emotions get a foothold and take you away from what you're supposed to be doing.

"Just a bit further to the stairs," I looked back and saw Rainbow still trailing behind me—eyes flickering back and forth between the doors leading into exam rooms and the bodies inside. The feeling of pity welling up in my heart was hard to stop when I saw her face, the look of horror in those eyes of hers was... unreal.

I come from a world where death is pretty much a constant—it was everywhere, you heard about it in the newspapers, on tv, the internet was an even bigger and more constant stream of information. I was used to it, while I haven't seen dead humans up close until I ended up here and while it was... shocking, I'm more or less over it, they're just meat carcasses.

Rainbow was another story entirely, and I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on inside her mind right now.

I stopped suddenly and after making sure it was clear, I turned around to face her completely and crouched down to eye level. But Rainbow ended up bumping into me with her snout, almost making me fall backwards as she gave a squeak—promptly followed by an immediate blush.

I had to really struggle to keep my composure.

"W-why'd you s-stop?" I noted her wings were just barely extended—and after a moment, shuffled a tiny bit and closed in against her sides.

"Do me a favor," Her ears flicked up and her eyes centered in on my face. Even if she didn't want to admit it... she had to have been terrified right now. "Take a deep breath, alright? Keep your eyes forward and stay calm, and keep your breathing calm... I know it's hard, but take a few deep breaths for me."

Even I was having a hard time doing that... but she didn't need to know.

Rainbow attempted like I asked—she swallowed hard and took a few shaky breaths for me, which I did along with her. Her breathing gradually became less shaky with each exhale, and the air around us didn't feel so chilly.

"Deep breaths," I reiterated and kept breathing along with her until she sounded calmer. "Yeah?"

She gave me a little nod and exhaled again, "Y-yeah."

"We just gotta stay calm... calm and cool," That was more for myself rather then her... and even then it was hard. "Good?"

Rainbow gave me another bob of her head as the distant moan of wandering undead alerted us once more to the fact that we were not alone here. There were still threats inside this hospital that I had no intention on meeting up with! So with a fresh rise in courage in our hearts, we set back out!

Finding the way to the stairs didn't take much longer—the stairs were clear of any debris or bodies, much to our relief and the signs pointed to the Nurse's Office being upstairs.

I went up first with my pocket knife in hand and flicked out the blade with a snap, causing Rainbow to make a noise behind me. A quick glance and she stared for a moment—eyes flicking up to me with the curious look that reminded me of a puppy.

Cute, I couldn't help but think as I continued up the stairs, taking each step slowly and keeping my eyes fixed on the steps and peering up to the second floor.

I didn't see anything that resembled a zombie, or any other form of monster. But I did smell something... it smelled like rot and that didn't give my mind any ease. Thoughts in my head were whirling around and around with the possibilities of what might be inside the hospital... in truth, coming here was a bad idea. Anyone with half a brain would realize that in a pandemic like this.

An outbreak of a deadly virus is killing and injuring people, sending them straight to the hospital where they turned into zombies and spread further... hospitals were bad places because the amount of bodies in them, both turned and about to turn. They're good places of course, but at the same time...

"O-oh Celestia..."

They were tombs...

There was no sugarcoating what we saw up here, and neither of us would ever forget it for a good long time.

The stench of rot hit me like a freight train and I had to fight myself not to retch—my eyes focused on what was in the hall and the sound of buzzing filled my ears. The bland colors of the hospital walls had been splattered with a gruesome coat of brackish ooze, mottled hand prints and smears from unlucky victims, and bullet holes. The smooth marble floors didn't escape either... if anything they were worse off.

The bodies of hospital staff and patients lay everywhere; lab coats were ripped apart and stained crimson; arms and legs were torn asunder, chewed on like chicken wings until they were nothing but bone; guts popped open and entrails pulled forth, littering the floors and oozing—an image of a chili burrito that exploded came to mind.

There were so many bodies around and not a single one moved and the smell... god, the smell was intense.

I couldn't shake the trembles that threatened to overtake me and cause me to collapse, almost couldn't fight the overwhelming voice screaming at me to just run and never look back.

Why was I here? What deity did I piss off enough to send me catapulting across the cosmos into this hell hole?

No! Stay calm! Snap out of it you fucking idiot! A little voice next to me screamed, it sounded like me but it wasn't—one of those inner voices of mine. You gotta keep moving!

I knew I had to... there was a nurse we had to find, get that damn keycard, get Rainbow help... get out of here alive.

My ears suddenly popped—I didn't even realize they were ringing until it was already gone, and the buzzing of the flies covering the bodies blasted through the disturbing silence that would've otherwise been there... behind me, I heard the retching of Rainbow Dash.

I chanced a look back at her and saw she had gone to the bottom of the steps—heaving and coughing up the remnants of what she ate earlier. I didn't blame her, I was having an incredibly hard time holding back my own bile from this mess. I've had my fair share of dealing with dead animals, but this was an entirely new thing for me. The brackish ooze, the overpowering stench of rot and iron...

It was almost too much for me to handle, but I held strong... I had to.

I went back down to Rainbow and saw her body quiver—I swear I heard whimpers escaping her mouth—terrified little noises and rapid fire breathing. "W-wha-" She couldn't even speak; her eyes were wide and teary, unfocused and staring at the floor in what I could only guess was shock. "W-why?!"

"Why...?" I kept my gaze on her.

Magenta orbs locked onto mine suddenly, she breathed out-"W-what kind of m-monster does t-this? W-why?"

I could only give her a sad look—the truth behind this entire outbreak was a long story of selfishness, money, and a god complex. The culmination of a sickened madman's desire to become the ruler of a new world order, one comprised purely of genetically enhanced and superior super-humans with him at the top.

I couldn't tell her... because I heard the moans from down below, and when I broke off to look, I saw a dozen zombies had suddenly filled the halls down below, falling upon the rotted remains of some poor sap.

"We gotta move," I knew we couldn't stay there for long, the Nurse's Office wasn't far now... we just had to get past the bodies.

Rainbow shot that idea down fast. "N-no way." She was still trembling when I looked back at her, rump pressed back up against the wall and shaking her head. "F-find another w-way."

"Dash, we have to move." There was no telling how long those things would stay down there before smelling us... if they even could to begin with. I genuinely had no idea if they operated purely on sound and sight, of if smell played a factor in their wandering.

"N-not through t-that." She shook her head rapidly, sending those silky rainbow strands flying around.

My aggravation and fear was starting to grow, the moans only growing louder down below. "L-look, I get it, you're s-scared but we have to mo-"

"I'm not scared!"

Her shout was loud—louder then I would've liked... and she knew it once I fell back and we both heard her voice echo through the halls. Her hooves slapped against her mouth and her eyes started bugging out...

My eyes caught movement to my left side and I saw one of the undead, lips ripped apart and showing bloodied teeth. He growled...

"Move!" I yelled at Rainbow, shooting up and tackling the undead to the wall on the other side. I heard her yell when I overpowered the monster-managing to keep it pinned. I kept my arms against its neck and with a flourish kicked it downstairs into a group of others making their way up! Fuck!

I whirled around and saw Rainbow was frozen! Damn it!

The moans of the zombies closing in spurred me to move over to her and yank on her hooves, pulling her up the stairs. She was still not moving, and I couldn't help but scream; "Move or die Rainbow!"

That got her moving at last with a loud, "Buuuck!"

We both turned and ran up the stairs as fast as we could, ignoring the smell and the splattering of blood as we dashed through the bodies to get to the nurse's office. The zombies moaned behind us and my panic levels only rose—would any of these bodies rise? Were there actually survivors? I didn't know!

A left turn sent us flying down a hall with battered lighting and bullet holes in the walls, beaten down doors and stretchers with body bags on them that jostled as we ran by. I could hear the sound of Rainbow's hooves thundering against the marble floor-the sharp clack clack-clack-clack was loud and echoing, but I kept running, with the focus on finding the nurse, Theresa.

The hall cleared up and we turned down another hall towards the Nurse's Office—which ended with me sliding hard during my turn and slamming into the wall like a sack of potatoes. I kicked off and started running again as Rainbow passed me by, sliding around the corner and kicking off towards the end of the hall.

"Where's the office?!" I saw Rainbow glancing at the corridor of doors with a panicked expression in her eyes.

I slid up next to her and quickly looked around at the doors, and along the one hall I spotted a desk blocked off by junk and a corridor covered with a makeshift barricade. Above the door leading into the room read 'Second Floor Nurse's Office' "Shit, there!" I ran over to the door and attempted to open it.

But it wouldn't budge.

"Oh are you kidding, me?" Did someone inside lock the damn door?! I slammed my fist against the door as Rainbow slid up behind me. "Hey! Open up!" I heard the moans of the zombies closing in from the halls we came through, and my panic levels only grew.

"Is the door locked?!" Rainbow sounded like she was in disbelief, as was I.

It was understandable, but come on! "Of fucking course it is! If someone's in there open up!"

We needed inside now! We were so close!

I didn't see any cameras - no functioning ones so Hersh couldn't see us or help us, not that he could to begin with.

I backed up to the other wall, and with a well timed movement I rushed forward and slammed my heel into the door itself, causing it to jostle but not open. Another kick caused it to shake, but it didn't open! "Fuckin' hell!"

I stumbled to the side when I saw Rainbow out of the corner of my eye spin around - hind legs coiled up and shooting out to slam into the door with a loud bang.

She had the leg strength but I wasn't gonna be outdone!

Just as she reared up and brought her hooves up, I jumped back and kicked off forward towards the door and with our combined efforts, we smashed the door open.

I stumbled inside and tripped over my feet; slamming onto the floor and losing the grip on my knife causing it to slide away, "Gah!"

Could've landed better.

I quickly recovered and pulled out my handgun - giving the room a quick scan, I didn't see any immediate threats and took that as a good sign. Rainbow rushed inside with a few panicked noises, "Close the door!"

"Alllready on it!" I grabbed onto the door and slammed it shut. For added measure I dragged over a chair to wedge up under the door knob, it wasn't much but it would give us a few seconds.

My lungs expelled a sigh of relief and I turned around to regard Rainbow with a look, I was going to ask her if she was okay...

Her wide eyes staring off to the other side of the room told me all I needed to know without asking.

Gun in hand, I slid over to Dash and aimed to where she was looking, prepared to fire - in those first few moments of staring down my iron sights, I realized I had forgotten one important thing about Raccoon General Hospital... and the reason why it wasn't on of my favorite levels.

I had forgotten about the horrid monster known simply... as the Leech Man.

Author's Note

Big thanks to P-Berry once more for proofing this :heart:

08 - Bloodsucker

ooo000---000ooo

I swear this whole thing was just painful for me, one wrong move and I was done for — both Rainbow and I were done. Her wounds had stopped bleeding for now, but it was only a matter of time before it acted up again and the blood attracted the Leech Man. That was one of the biggest cons of being in the hospital around this time, the Leech Man was hard to avoid as it is, but if you were bleeding you'd attract him no problem.

That's what happened when you dealt with a bloodsucker like him.

Rainbow trailed behind me as we ventured down the hall of the hospital — I had my broom in hand and my nerves calmed down slightly enough that I could actually move around and not jump at every noise there was. Every flicker of the lights, the skittering of rats and bugs on the floor, or even the distant moan of undead through the vents and the shaking of metal.

Leech Man had to be hunting us...

We were just walking bags of blood for him to suck on until we were just dried out husks.

Not a fate I planned on suffering, not for me, not for Rainbow.

I refused to let my fear take control, I couldn't let it!

I gripped my broom turned makeshift spear, having broken the end of it off until the end was decently sharpened and able to be used for thrusting. The wood was weak, it was cracked down the middle, and was old as hell itself, but it would do for a quick one off weapon against anything that came our way. It would help, because I needed to save my bullets for when we really needed them most.

"D-do you know what we have to do?" Rainbow's voice sounded from behind me as we made it to the stairs.

I took note of the shutters above and a small light next to the stairwell itself, which was turned off for the time being. "I know some of what we need to do, but it requires a lot of moving and shit, so we need to be careful." Venturing up the stairs and keeping my broom-spear handy, I thought back to the Hive Scenario from the game, what was needed to help us escape. "I don't want to have to escape through the sewers down below, hopefully we can escape through the east wing where Hersh and the others are."

The subtle differences in this world compared to what I knew from gameplay experience had me wondering if we were going to make it out — because I only knew about the keycards to the deepest floors, the codes for the computer room to unlock some other floors, the security room, and the rooftop. Hersh was supposed to be dead, we should have been the only ones in here, yet Hersh was alive and holed up with other survivors nearby.

Everything was different.

Rainbow didn't say anything, but I could imagine her nodding along with what I was saying.

The path upstairs to the second and third floors was clear of any zombies, thankfully, giving us a break from having to fight anything. The only thing we did find was debris and a few bodies, but nothing that would harm us.

Leech Man was still off somewhere else, either he found another meal or he was still hunting us, maybe he was smarter than I gave him credit for?

That wouldn't be good, I don't like smart enemies, especially when they're supposed to be zombies. The living were smarter then the dead, that's why they were still alive — because they outsmarted the undead, and thus were far more dangerous then anything else. Yet, right now we were faced with pretty bad odds, Rainbow and I. We were trapped in the west wing of the hospital with dozens upon dozens of undead, Leech Man himself, and passageways that were either locked down or blocked off by threats.

I had thirty-seven bullets left on me, but even so that wasn't enough to kill Leech Man, we needed fire and that was down in the basement where the morgue was.

Regular zombies were no big deal to me, just a nasty hit to the skull and they were done.

"Dee?" I turned to look at Rainbow, the mare's tired gaze locking onto my equally tired one.

How long had we been awake actually? I can't even remember if I had slept or not since arriving here.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah?"

Rainbow pawed at the floor with her hoof, scraping it with the underside and furrowing her brow a bit. "Do... do you guys always... kill?"

Honestly, I didn't expect that kind of question — seeing how I told her we had to kill Leech Man to move on, I guess I should have expected that. But hearing her ask that sent a shiver down my spine. A ball of lead formed in my gut once I realized I had to explain to her the reality of this world — and by extension, my own world.

I looked around again and gestured for her to follow me, which from the sound of her hooves — she was. "Not all the time, no," I started off and stopped at an intersection, looking down either path and making sure it was clear before moving on. "We're perfectly capable of refraining from killing, but in really bad situations... like this one, we usually have no choice." It was a harsh reality to live in, one where blood was spilled on a daily basis. "We have to kill, because if we don't, we'll die. It's kill or be killed out here, Rainbow."

Another look back at her and I saw that she was looking down at the floor, ears firmly pressed back against her skull.

What else could I say to her about that?

"Sorry..." I looked back out ahead.

We needed to keep moving and find a way into the basement, to the temperature control room.

The way down the hall to the elevator — from what I can remember, there were two codes that existed in the hospital, those being the code for the rooftop and the bottom most basement where the escape route was. But that implied we were escaping out through that way, which I hope we didn't have to. The Leech Queen was down there, lurking in the darkness and waiting for someone to venture down there into her trap.

I would not fall victim to that, nor would Rainbow.

We continued up the stairs to the third floor and down the hall, passing rooms and more of the destruction wrought upon the city by Umbrella.

"I never liked hospitals." I whispered to Rainbow, eyeing the open patient rooms with a look of disdain. I hated them. "They always got on my nerves... too clean, too orderly, plus they smell." A snort left me and I kept moving, taking long steady breathes to keep my nerves down. "Been to them one too many times in my life."

I didn't hear anything from Rainbow for a moment, but once we passed by several of the rooms she ended up asking, "Did you get hurt often?"

"Sometimes... but I never go to the hospital to get fixed up, I just tough it out." I looked up at the room numbers and saw we were approaching the three-hundred onward. "I never went in to get fixed up."

"But why?" Rainbow decided to question me.

Room three-oh-two appeared to my right and I stopped, gripping my broom. "Well... I don't really know why." I went over to the door cautiously, broom raised and listening for any noises. I remembered this room. "I guess I just didn't care enough to get myself fixed up right away."

Rainbow was quiet as the door opened slowly, hinges squeaking until it hit the wall with a dull thump. Inside of the room we saw a few beds, an old looking sink next to the wall, some lockers, and a locked up window. The floor was a mess of paper and other junk dropped by whoever was in here last. The bed sheets were messed up and the mattresses stained with brackish colors.

The window drew my attention and I walked over to it and saw it was barred up. It didn't stop me from looking outside and into the streets in front of the hospital, where Rainbow and I had been not too long ago. The sight of a thick crowd of undead piling in and around the entrance and filing in from the streets made me wince.

I tried not to think about it, but my mind was stupid.

These were all people at some point... just living their lives, going to work, spending time with family. It's all because of Umbrella Corporation that they suffer like this.

Just one nuke and boom, the city would be wiped from the face of the earth.

But how much longer did we have until then?

"Holy..." Rainbow was next to me and propped up on the window sill, looking down into the street. "A-are... are they all-"

I didn't feel like I needed to answer that, considering the sound we could hear.

That fucking moaning.

It was persistent in places like this, a never ending cacophony of deafening noise that was sure to drive anyone mad.

Ghastly as it was it didn't affect me that much. I had been dealing with annoying and overwhelming things all my life, so this wasn't that big of a deal.

Or that's what I wanted to tell myself, I wasn't sure.

Everything was a confusing mess, everything felt strange and I didn't feel like my thoughts were in the right place.

A thunk to my left and I saw Rainbow poking her nose into the locker next to us. The door opened up and she rummaged around, then backed up, staring at something on one of the shelves. When the door swung open completely, I saw what she was looking at.

"I uh... that's one of th-those... guns?" Rainbow looked up from the Beretta laying on the shelf and back up to me.

I nodded and walked over to her, leaning into the locker and picking up the handgun to look it over. This was the first weapon I've encountered since arriving in this world and it looked similar to my own - save for the lack of scratches. The magazine had a full fifteen rounds in it, unused by any of the previous owners.

Memories flooded my mind all of a sudden, a dark realization flooding my mind.

Getting this gun in the game trigger-

The vent cover slamming into the floor behind us gave me all I needed to know.

"Rainbow, move it!" I yelled at the mare, shoving her to the right out of the Leech Man's sight and I aimed the handgun towards the writhing mass of leeches once he landed.

Rainbow yelped next to me, crash landing near the door as instinct took over my body and I pulled out my other handgun, firing several rounds from both into the creature's body, blasting off a few of the disgusting bastards onto the floor and splattering blood everywhere.

it didn't do shit against him, just like I expected.

It screeched, rushing towards me and forcing me to the other side, opposite of Rainbow.

"Dee!" She screamed from the door, but what could I do?!

I was cut off and forced near the window, guns raised and ready to fire again, if only to stagger it!

It charged at me head on, I had nowhere to go.

Fear stalled my legs and gripped at my heart, I couldn't move.

My worst fears came to light when Leech Man slammed into me, knocking the wind out of me.

I heard Rainbow scream my name again once I hit the glass window, smashing it to pieces.

I felt weightless after slipping through the window, Leech Man grabbing onto me and pulling me down.

This was i-

CRASH

Author's Note

Don't give up.

09 - Alone In The Dark

ooo000---000ooo

I couldn't do anything as I watched Dee get shoved out of the window, the monster grabbing onto him and causing them both to plummet down. Everything happened so fast that I couldn't react fast enough, there was nothing I could do! "Dee!"

I heard his yell and the window shattering, and the last thing I saw was his feet disappearing from sight. His voice kept going and I rushed over to the window, my wings spreading — or at least they tried too.

My injured wing was still wrapped up and I couldn't fly and pain spiked up causing me to slip and roll onto the floor, smacking into the wall.

"Agh!" I shook my head and tried to get up, to get to the window and find Dee.

Something smashed the door open behind me and when I turned around to face whatever it was, I saw several of those monsters stumbling into the room.

Dead eyes locked onto me, hungry mouths opening wide to try and chomp a piece off of me.

I wasn't going to let them get the chance!

Kicking off of the floor I galloped towards the monsters, my fears forgotten enough that I could slip by them.

I was smaller than they were and much faster even on hooves, and was able to knock a few out of the way, freeing up a path into the hall.

I rushed down the hall with my hooves slipping on the smooth flooring. I was able to regain my hoofing and make a mad dash away from the room.

No way in Tartarus was I going to end up as some snack for some stupid monsters!

The hallway kept leading down past more rooms, ones I didn't bother trying to open. I didn't know anything about this place, where to go, who to trust. I couldn't even fly and I had just lost the only help I had in this whole thing!

My chest tightened and my eyes burned. Why did this have to happen to me?! I just wanted to train myself to be a Wonderbolt, I wanted to get the fame and glory! Not be chased around by monsters!

"Yah!" I slipped and tumbled from something in the floor, rolling into a wall hard and hitting my bad wing causing the pain in it to flare up badly. I barely bit back tears before clambering back up onto my hooves and continuing to run away.

Stop running away, you coward! My mind screamed at me as I rushed down the hall, kicking off of the floor and keeping ahead of the horde of monsters trailing behind me.

No thanks, I don't plan on becoming some monster's dinner! I screamed and turned down another hall, managing to keep myself from sliding.

I spotted a door to an open room and took my chance, bursting through the door and looking around. When I didn't see any of the monsters inside, I slammed the door shut and hid near one of the beds, taking a minute to catch my breath.

J-jeez, this is too much. I swallowed hard, trying to get my thoughts back in order. Dee... damn it! That stupid monster! Now I'm alone! I thought back to Dee's scream, when he fell out of the window three stories down. No way he would have survived that, and even if he did... he probably wished he didn't.

I didn't even try to help him...

No.

I did try to help, I was just too slow to get to him in time, and it was all because of my stupid injury! I had noticed it every time I've had to run, I couldn't move nearly as fast as I used to. Maybe if I wasn't hurt...

I sighed and laid my head down in my hooves, covering my head. I hated this, I hated it so much!

I just wanted to be a Wonderbolt...

ooo000---000ooo

Ever since I was a filly, being a Wonderbolt was my life's dream. i wanted to take to the skies and show off my moves to crowds of starstruck fans, I wanted to dazzle them with wonder, just like my heroes did. I could see it now, I could see myself soaring through the air at high speeds, breaking the sound barrier with a powerful flap of my wings, sending an explosion of rainbows cascading across the skies like a flood of color. The crowds below would shout my name, throwing up their hooves in excitement and crying out as I did my tricks and moves.

I pulled myself up and grunted from the exertion, where my hind legs locked into place on a bar in my closet's door frame. I was doing this to help build up muscle in my core, I knew I was going to need it if I wanted to do the tryouts, maybe not today, or even next week, but I'm going to get into the Bolts no matter what!

I didn't care how long it took me! This was my dream!

"All this training you're putting yourself through and you plan on using it to become a showpony? Bah." I heard the mare next to me speak up, and I could hear the tone of disapproval lacing every one of her words. "When I was a filly, the Wonderbolts were-"

"-Something to be feared and respected, not paraded around like toys." I mirrored my aunt's words and continued my inverted sit-ups, trying not to let it bother me. She did this whenever she visited our home in Cloudsdale, always checking up on me and questioning my dream, like it was a waste of time.

She even said it to my face plenty of times, telling me to do other stuff that wasn't so 'showy'.

"Why do you always do this?" I couldn't help but stare at the pink pegasus pony next to me, her eyes watching me as I curled my body and heaved myself up.

I could see how her gaze seemed to harden, and how her lips curling back as she brushed back her mane. "Because I don't want you wasting time trying to be a performer when the zebras-"

"This again?" I scoffed loudly and let myself drop down from the bar, twisting my body around and landing on the cloud floor beneath me. I turned to look at my aunt, mostly to give her a hard stare of my own. "Can you stop with the crazy conspiracy theories? The zebras have literally zero reason to attack us."

Her wings fidgeted by her sides as the pinions tightening against her barrel. "You didn't spend half your life in a bloody war." my aunt bit back, her eyes narrowed and lips pulled back into a firm frown. "You didn't watch your mates die all around you because of those filthy striped basta-."

"Hey now!" I heard my mom's voice in the doorway, cutting off my aunt before she could finish her slur. "Watch your language around little Dashie!" I blushed at the nickname, one both my parents used far more often then I'd like. "She doesn't need to be learning that, especially in this day and age!"

"You know it's true." My aunt turned to stare at my mom, eyes almost glowing from the anger. It was so potent you could almost taste it. "We may not be at war right now, but mark my words... they're not going to just give up because we won." Her voice was hard and venomous, and I swear I could see fire in her eyes as she stared.

After a moment she stood and pushed past my mom, leaving my mom and I alone to mull over her words.

Mom sighed heavily and walked over to me where she draped one of her wings over my back. "Don't mind your aunt that much, Dashie." She had told me. I just looked up at her, where I saw her eyes staring into my own. "She's a wonderful mare, she's just... suffering on the inside."

I didn't know how much I believed that, but I didn't care. My aunt was always like that when I was growing up, she was still like that. Even though she didn't want me to become a Wonderbolt, I had moved out of Cloudsdale a few years after that, moving to Ponyville to be closer to Fluttershy and keep up my training.

I was going to be a Wonderbolt, no matter what.

ooo000---000ooo

I shivered on the floor of the hospital room, and I could feel my body slowing down as the tiredness began to set in. When was the last time I even had some decent rest? I feel like I've been awake for days, unable to rest for even a second until just now. Things were starting to crash down around me. My mind zeroed in on the fact I was alone with no way to protect myself, and I had no one to turn to for help.

I always said I never needed help, I liked being able to get things done on my own, I wanted to prove to myself that I wouldn't ever need help.

But right now, I needed all of the help I could get.

It didn't take much longer until my body began to tremble as I pulled myself under the bed, and I could feel the drowsiness spreading over my body.

My limbs grew weak and my eyelids were getting heavier.

it was getting hard to keep them open the longer I tried staying up.

It wasn't until I collapsed on the floor completely that my body just decided to give out.

The darkness of dreamless sleep took me soon after, my last thought...

I'm alone in the dark...

10 - Tomorrow Is A New Day

ooo000---000ooo

The sun's touch graced my face, its rays warming my otherwise cold body. My eyes to slowly opened to spot the bright blue sky above me, the clouds drifting aimlessly and the sun itself a beacon in the distance. A calm wind brushed over me, tickling my fur causing a sigh to leave me.

Today felt really nice for some reason.

I kept laying on the ground and stared up into the sky before lowering my eyes, watching as a few ponies fluttered around aimlessly. I was looking for a specific one that had caught my eye. He was a stallion I had, once upon a time, seen in posters, wallpapers, and almost up close during shows and stuff. But I had never been able to get any closer to him, not once in the entire time that I've known about him. I was always let down that I could never see him up close.

It didn't help he was a famous pony and I was just... me, a young mare living in Cloudsdale who dreamed big and trained hard to become something great.

I wanted to create a legacy for myself as I grew up and worked my way up to becoming the top Wonderbolt, I wanted to climb the skies until I reached the apex of my career alongside my stallion.

I wanted to master flight and be the first to set new world records in flying and acrobatic flight, I wanted to be the first to set a new example for new recruits.

I smirked and opened my eyes, looking up into the sky again.

But I only saw cloud covered skies, burning such a fierce red I swear I they looked like they were on fire, that thought alone sent shivers down my spine. When I looked back towards the city I grew up in, I saw flames burning away at the buildings, I saw the ponies running and flying away from...

From...

My eyes widened when I saw some ponies stumbling down the street towards me, where I was laying in the park. All of them... their fur was patchy, their eyes grayed and milky. I saw the markings on their bodies, their necks and legs, the tears and rips from teeth.

When they moaned, that's when everything came rushing back to me.

"N-no," I sprang up onto my hooves and spread my wings, preparing to fly. "N-aaah!"

I was tackled to the clouds hard, landing on my chest and being pinned down.

When I turned my head to look at whoever was holding me down, my heart stopped...

It was him.

I barely had enough time to register his teeth sinking into my neck, and the burning pain that rushed through me.

I couldn't scream as I was piled on by them all, and torn into...

ooo000---000ooo

My eyes shot open and I jolted up, only to slam into the underside of something metal and give my head a good knock around. "Gah!" I felt dizzy and fell back down to the floor, holding my head and barely suppressing a whine of pain. "Ow! Stupid... bed." I grumbled and opened my eyes up, wincing from the light snaking in from the window.

But then I realized I wasn't in my bedroom, again.

I was still in this damned hospital.

My heart skipped a beat as I glanced around from underneath the bed, making sure the coast was clear before I scooted out and stood up. My legs shook and I felt lightheaded even though I was taking it slow, and all of my injuries decided now was the time to start acting up.

I don't think I've ever felt so weak before.

A small shake of my head and I wandered over to the window nearby, where I reared up onto my hind legs and propped myself up on the edges to look outside. I moved the curtain a little and peered out into the city, and saw the sun was slowly beginning to rise up over the darkened and burning skyscrapers that lined the city skyline.

And in the streets below, I saw them all wandering around aimlessly in search of their next meal.

N-not a dream... this is real. I touched my cheek with a hoof. It felt cold to the touch, making my shivers even worse.

This was the second nightmare I've had before I woke up, and was reminded that I was living a nightmare, one that used to be in movies and comic books. I remembered those horror stories my dad used to tell me when I was growing up, the ones I always asked for even if they caused nightmares. The spooky stories of monsters that ate the flesh of living ponies, necromancers and all that kind of stuff.

Was this the work of a necromancer? I know Dee told me that this was a virus, but... that was so insane!

I could only swallow and shake my head, this was starting to get to be too much. And that alone made me realize just how pathetic I sounded right now.

I was Rainbow Dash! I was going to be a fearless Wonderbolt!

Why was I being so scared? What's gotten into me?

I slapped my hooves against my cheeks a couple of times.

"I need to get my head together." I glared down into the street, eyes narrowed. "I can't keep chickening out! These things are just stupid monsters... right? T-that's what Dee said." I kept looking down at the two legged monkey things, I watched as they stumbled around aimlessly with only a few heading towards the hospital's front entrance. "Just stupid monsters... j-just like back home."

I swallowed hard and shook my head.

I wasn't going to let these things scare me!

I pushed off of the window and landed back on the floor, and I turned around. I needed to get out of this place, but how was I going to do that?

We needed to get a keycard or something, and that nurse had it on her. I had no idea where that nurse was though. Was she that monster that attacked Dee...?

His scream replayed in my mind when he fell, the look of fear in his eyes frozen in my mind.

I should have moved faster, but now he was...

I shook my head and slapped myself on the cheek. No, get it together, filly! I couldn't lose focus now! I had to find a way out of this place, I had to find a way home!

But where do I even start? I didn't know where to go or where to even look for that keycard!

And where was that stupid doctor anyway, why wasn't he trying to help us?

I haven't even heard anything from him... neither had Dee.

It didn't matter now though, I had to get moving. I had to find that keycard if I wanted to move on and get to a safer place.

Well, safe as I can be in this freaking nightmare.

I could still hear them outside, and my ears could pick up the faint shuffle of their movements in the halls. I needed to keep a close eye out for them, I didn't need to run into anymore of those stupid things.

Yet even as I moved down the hall, I couldn't stop myself from the thought of what happened to Dee.

I was stopped in my tracks when a sudden distorted screech assaulted my ears. I yelped and quickly glanced around, trying to find out whatever was making that noise and discovered it came from the ceiling. I saw one of those weird boxes that the doctor talked to us through, covered by a mesh. It made some kind of noise, but I couldn't tell what the heck it was.

Until the first voice spoke.

"They're breaking through the gate! We have to move!"

"W-what? But how?!"

I heard the voices yell and my worry began to grow, what was going on? One of those voices sounded like that Hursh person, but...

"No! Get everyone ou-SCREEEEECH!"

The next thing I heard over that thing was screeching, the moans of the zombies, and screaming.

Damn it! I shook my head and started to move again. I kicked off of the floor and sped through the halls and did my best to ignore the pain that grew in my legs and barrel. That gunshot wound had begun to affect me badly, it wasn't healing fast enough! I needed to get help, but with those noises I heard...

Something told me I wasn't going to get the help I was promised.

I kept up the gallop down the hall until I turned left down another route. I was stopped when several figures blocked my path, more of those humans.

Not more zombies! I skidded to a halt and was about to turn around, but something was off about them, they weren't covered in blood, they didn't immediately start moving towards me. They were all dressed in black clothes, the weird masks they wore had blue lights on them, and they held those firearms Dee told me about.

I froze when one of them spoke. "This is Lupo, objective Rainbow has been found."

11 - The Sun Rises

ooo000---000ooo

I could barely register what was happening to me.

Pain filled my body like sands through an hourglass, every tiny grain was a pinprick against my nerves. Painful memories of what happened flickered through my mind, little hazy images of the leech monster, shards of glass, the falling moon, and... Rainbow Dash.

I heard her scream.

When I opened my eyes I was met with the smell of acrid smoke filling my lungs, causing me to cough from both that and my injuries flaring up in pain. The sky above was growing brighter and brighter as the sun rose. I could hear the birds cawing overhead as they flew about, looking for a meal.

My whole body ached and tried to prevent me from sitting up. Every movement I made stung fiercely, especially around my chest and back. I didn't let it stop me from my attempts to get up, though.

Pain shot through me as I sat up and I got dizzy, but I kept my balance. I had to sit there and hold my head, but it was better than nothing.

I took a look around where I was, to try and get a better idea as to what in the fuck happened.

I watched as the sun rose over the hills in the distance, the bright light shone down with brilliant beams of orange and yellow that bathed the streets of Raccoon in its rays. The sky was clear of most clouds, save a few stray ones that floated lazily about. The streets of Raccoon were devoid of anyone, except for the undead and the crashed vehicles.

I was outside?

Okay? I shook my head, that isn't right... I should be in the hospital, how did I end up outside?

A flash of images passed me by and I remember Leech Man charging me, I was hit and tackled. I smashed into the window that was to my rear, Rainbow cried out my name, the last thing I saw was the moonlit sky above before I was out like a light. I trembled as that realization came over me, and I started to look all around me.

Then I saw the massive crowd of undead that surrounded the top of the platform I was on top of, which from what I could see was an older model ambulance belonging to the hospital. The crowd of undead was denser than I would have liked it to be, each and every one of the mutated bastards that surrounded me were trying to get up at me, but their lack of intelligence and basic motor skills for climbing prevented them from it.

I let myself relax a tiny bit from that, as long as they couldn't climb up I was safe, for the time being.

Off to the side of the ambulance I saw a small burning police car with a smashed in roof, and on top of it I saw a burning body. The smell was horrendous, and on the ground next to it I saw the wriggling masses of leeches.

Was that all that was left of him?

I guess he got knocked onto the car and burned up. If that was the case, then I was safe from him, for now, anyway. Another glance around and I saw the handguns I had were between my legs, not the most optimal place for them, but at least they didn't fall onto the ground. With Leech Man gone and burned up, there's not much else threatening the hospital... but if Leech Man had anything important on him, it's long gone now. I rubbed my back and looked up at the hospital, specifically the window where I had been launched out of.

It was high up, higher than I would have liked. Hell, it was on the third floor from the look of it, and I was knocked down from there to on top of this ambulance.

How in the hell did I survive that fall?

"No point thinking about it now, I gotta..." My chest stung and kept me from finishing. I gripped my shirt and grunted, and took several deep breaths. Even with the pain, I knew I had to find a way back inside the hospital.

Rainbow wasn't outside and she still couldn't fly, which meant she had to still be inside.

I picked up both handguns and shakily climbed to my feet. I fought the pain in my limbs and bones until I was standing up completely. "Rrrrg!" My legs tried to betray me, my lungs burned like there was a fire inside of them, and my heart was pounding in my ribcage. I had to get back inside the hospital and get Dash, we had to get out of this damn place and somewhere else that's safer.

I wasn't sure if getting to Hursh and them was even a feasible option anymore.

The second I said that, I saw the window on the far south side suddenly explode as someone flew out of it, a loud scream left them as they sailed towards the ground and smashed into the hood of a car, which drew the attention of several undead. The hospital wing to the far south was filled with flashes of light, the windows shattered and I could hear the distant screams of those inside.

From what I could remember, that had to be the east wing of the hospital where Hursh and the rest of the hospital staff and patients were holding out.

"Damn it." I didn't know what was going on, but it wasn't good. I had to get Dash and get out of that hell hole. Coming here was a mistake, and it was one I was going to regret for a while. "Bah, first things first," I glanced down and saw the hoard of undead surrounding the ambulance hadn't diminished at all, they had grown in such number that they were able to gently jostle the vehicle back and forth. "I need to find a way off of this thing and back into the hospital... that won't be easy."

Okay, think. How was i going to do this without getting myself killed?

I looked for any sort of path across the sea of undead that might have led to the hospital, but even through the dense mob, I saw little that would help me out. I didn't see any other cars I could jump on, no clear paths to use and speed towards the building. It looked like I was out of luck until I came up wit-

I heard automatic gunfire coming from inside the hospital on the third floor, it was muffled but I could hear the noise clearly enough. Some of the windows flashed with a bright light from the muzzle flashes, even a couple shattered from gunfire.

Regular civilians didn't have automatics, which meant... either they were military, or Umbrella.

"Shit, I gotta move." I had to find a way across this fucking moshpit!

An idea came to mind, and I cursed the thought.

I had my guns, I had a goal, I just had to make that first leap into the fray if I wanted to survive...

"Ahh, only one way out of this..." I looked down at the dense mob and swallowed my nerves, then with the possibility of me dying stupidly in mind.

I jumped off.

Memories flew by a million miles a second, the stupidity of the situation only grew like a lead weight in my stomach, and any regrets I had were thrown out the window.

Then my foot landed on top of one of the undead's heads and nearly toppled him over and threw me into the crowd. I didn't stop, I kicked off of its head with a yell and jumped forward, and landed atop another head.

My frantic heartbeat was fueling me to keep going, my fears of being eaten gave me the reflexes to keep moving.

This whole thing was stupid but it was working!

I was using the heads of the undead mob to get across to the hospital. I jumped from head to head in a panicked pace, kicking off of every head I landed on.

One wrong move and I was done for!

Keep going! Keep going!

Another head, another random snap, the sound of the moans only increased and I could feel every hand grasping at my pants legs in an attempt to pull me down.

But I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of eating me!

"Shit, oh crap, oh crap! LET GO!" I yelled frantically and continued to move across the sea of undead until the building closed in, and I could see the second floor and some of the windows.

The ledge was just barely in reach if I jumped, but I would have to gun it up that wall!

The mob thinned out the further I got. Soon enough, the crowd thinned out enough that I could jump down onto the ground!

"Rah!" I leaped off of the last undead and landed on the ground and swiftly fell into a roll.

No time had to be wasted, every second counted.

Once I recovered I pushed everything I had into my feet and sped off! What I lacked in physical strength I made up with speed, and I used every ounce of it to make it to the wall.

Gotta climb! No time to find a door, I have to get up top!

Even if I ran to either side to find a way inside, the doors were locked down from the security bars. My only hope was to climb up to one of those windows and bust my way inside.

"Just a little further!" I kept running and running until I made it to the wall. I tucked my guns away and jumped at the wall. I put everything I had left through my legs and feet after I made contact with the concrete and kicked up.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

My legs were giving out just I reached out to grab the ledge, I just barely managed to grab onto it with my hand, but once I was sure it was on I grabbed on with my other hand and scrambled up the wall.

I felt something try and grab my shoe, but I was too fast for them to get a good grip, and I managed to climb up after several heart-pounding moments.

With my nerves on edge and my heart trying to escape my chest, I hugged the wall and the ledge I was on before I peered down behind me at the ground below.

The mob had moved and followed me, like expected, and were now trying to scale the wall to try and get up at me. Of course, given how they are, they weren't able to get at me.

I was safe, until I got into the hospital, which I needed to do asap.

"Just got to smash open one of the windows, climb inside and find Dash." I carefully moved towards one of the windows with a plan brewing in mind. "Shit, we have to get out of this hospital and find another way out. Even if we took the route that was in the games, we'd end up in a place that's a lot worse than the hospital."

The Hive underneath the city came to mind, a place owned by Umbrella that was used for creating the damn T-Virus and experimenting on dozens of different bioweapons, dozens of which were unleashed in the city. If I remembered right, the city was being used as a sort of testing grounds.

We were all just guinea pigs to be used by Umbrella.

I reached one of the windows and brought my leg around before I kicked it, and smashed some of the glass in. It took several good kicks to knock it out, it was hard glass to break. I wasn't one to give up so easily, so I kept on and on until the glass finally gave way. I used my shoe to clear the glass around the edges of the window sill and carefully crouched so I could climb back in.

I landed inside a room that had a smashed open door, bloodied beds and the smell of death, and a couple of bodies were laying around. I froze and pulled out my handgun that had the most ammunition in it and moved forward. It probably wouldn't do much against whoever it was with the automatics, but it gave me something to rely on in a pinch.

And with a little over forty-five rounds on me, I was good for a bit.

I paused at the door that led outside into the hall and took a deep breath. When I listened in, I could hear the gunfire down the hall to the east wing, automatic rifles, shotguns, maybe an sub-machine gun thrown into the mix. I could only wonder what that meant, who were the shooters in the hospital and what happened to the east wing?

I wouldn't find anything out just standing here talking to myself, would I?

I steeled myself for the journey ahead and made sure my guns were loaded up, I switched out the magazines for full ones and divided up the four round mag I had left and put two rounds into the other, leaving me with two full pistols, one full magazine tucked away in my pocket, and two extra bullets left in the final magazine.

Whatever was ahead, I had to be ready for it.

I took a few deep breathes and peeked out into the hall, and saw the cost was clear. "Okay, time to roll."

With my nerves steeled and exited the room. I swiftly moved down the hall leading to the east wing of the hospital, closing in on the gunfire with every step I took.

It could be the Army or National Guard, now that I think about it. I continued to move as I recalled what I knew from the lore. They sent in two teams to Raccoon City, one of them came to the hospital... it could be a Delta Force, in which case, we may not be as screwed as I thought.

But whether or not it was the military or Umbrella remained to be seen, I was going to find out soon enough.

I eventually made it to a door that had been blown open and led into a large room, which I found was to be a large lobby that opened up to the third floor above and ground floor below. The gunfire was louder in here, more concentrated and echoing all throughout the atrium and no doubt drawing in the infected. I could see a dozen or so undead down below, snarling and growling... or it was a dozen until more poured in from the other rooms, tearing down doors and flooding the ground floor.

It didn't take much longer until it was packed full of undead trying to get upstairs, and see how the only way up was blocked off by a little metal shutter, it wouldn't take long!

"Shit, too many to take on by myself, and I don't have any other weapons on me." I looked around the atrium, and kept hearing that gunfire... it was above me. "Gotta fi-"

"Buck off you weirdos!" I heard a very familiar voice from the third floor, followed by a spray of gunfire and a yell.

I immediately kicked into gear and started running, my head whipped to and fro looking for both a way up and for any sign of that rainbow haired pegasus. "Rainbow!"

The gunfire grew louder and louder the closer I got to the stairs nearby, which was guarded by a couple of stray undead doctors. I didn't let them stop me, I aimed my handgun and fired off two rounds at the one closest to me, landing a hit in his neck and the other his head, knocking him down.

The other groaned and tried to stumble towards me, but I was too fast for him; I ducked beneath his outstretched arms and with my arm coiled back, I jumped up and shot my arm and fist out. My fist struck him in the jaw hard, and something cracked from the force and sent him stumbling back until he fell and hit the ground.

"Gah, that hurt." I shook my now aching fist and ran up the stairs, handgun at the ready.

Rainbow didn't answer my call and that only worried me. Was she hurt? Or worse, dead?

I climbed the stairs and arrived on the third floor with my handgun raised, and I swiftly checked my surroundings to see if anyone was around.

All it took was something crashing into me and knocking me back down the stairs. I barely had time to grab or retaliate whatever it was that hit me, but it was heavy and my vision flashed white and black once I hit the stairs themselves and tumbled down, with whatever it was that hit me getting tangled up with me.

We both hit the ground hard, a yelp sounded but I was too dazed to really figure out who or what it was exactly. I came to a stop soon enough and my head was a haze, my vision blurred and pain filled my body, pain I didn't want to meet again.

Knowing my fate in this world however, told me pain and I were going to become aggressive lovers into a non-consensual hate sex relationship.

And I was the bottom bitch.

I managed to recover after a few pain staking moments. Fuck, what the hell hit me? A shake of my head and I sat up, handgun still in hand and my eyes zeroing on whatever hit me.

And I saw the sky blue mare I had been looking for laying near me. She was covered in blood, her eyes wide and hysterical, and her bandages were torn and exposing her wounds.

"S-shit, Rainbow!" I scrambled over to the mare and checked her over, what the hell was going on?

She glanced up at me with wide eyes. Slowly, the magenta orbs became less and less dilated the more she stared, until she murmured, "D-Dee?"

From a quick look over her, I didn't see much that needed urgent medical attention; she had some scraps and scratches, and her gunshot was looking... better, in a sense, but I knew it needed something put onto it and soon.

We had to get to the east wing.

"Yeah, it's me, don't worry." I told her and ripped the bandages off, they had been torn and rendered completely fucking useless, so why bother keeping them on? I didn't have any new ones either, which meant we had to be careful until I could get some actual medical help, or at the least, some supplies to help her with. "Dash, what the hell is going on?"

I swear I saw a frantic look of realization flash through her eyes and she tried to stand up, her legs trembled and her wings twitched. "B-buck, we gotta run! They're go-going to kill us!"

"What? Who?" That got me to stand up and get my gun out again.

Then I heard the heavy bootfalls, the reloading of firearms that far outmatched my own, and the muffled breathing through gas masks.

Then they arrived and I knew we were both eternally fucked. Three men and three women, clad in black clothing and armor that I couldn't possibly hope to penetrate with my measly nine millimeter rounds, or the pocket knife I had on me. The most distinct feature of all of them was the bright blue lights that encompassed their gear, their helmets and masks specifically. They spread out, completely blocking the way up to the third floor.

It was Wolfpack, Delta Team of the U.S.S., hardened operatives who took no prisoners and operated with cruel and deadly efficiency that put anything I had to shame.

I recognized their gear and their masks from the moment they stepped down.

"Well well, what do we have here?" I heard the team medic, Bertha, mutter as she kept her gun trained on me. They all did. "A survivor?"

"Another unfortunate victim?" Spectre suggested as he zeroed in his sights on me.

I was outnumbered and outgunned here, even if I pulled out my other one I wouldn't have any time to fire them. Hell, I wouldn't even have time to blink before they emptied their guns into me.

I was fucked, and so was Rainbow.

"D-Dee, w-what do we do?" Rainbow murmured from behind me, and I saw she had moved to hide.

I didn't blame her one damn bit... she put on that show of being brave and courageous, but when you're faced against odds like these? How could you not be scared?

I was shaking, even if I did my best to keep a straight face while staring down six gun barrels.

"I don't know..." I couldn't lie to her, my mind was blanking and I had no idea how we were going to get out of this situation in one piece.

Or alive.

"Ahh, you know each other?" Foureyes spoke up next, her eyes narrowing behind her mask. "That changes things,"

Lupo put a hand to the side of her helmet and spoke, "Command, this is Wolfpack, we've encountered a survivor who has connections with the target, advise."

"The target?" I muttered and found Beltway's shotgun leveled at me. My hands were already up, and I did my best to not show any sudden moves.

Damn it, think! We need a way out of this, and fast. While that was the main goal, the other thing that came to mind was that they referred to Rainbow as a target, did they know about her beforehand? Considering their power, it's not too much to think they've been keeping tabs on the city through security cameras, hell, an Umbrella sniper might have been the one who shot her down in the first place!

"Capture both of them and bring them to the rendezvous point." I heard 'Command's' voice come through, cold and harsh.

Bertha pulled out some weird little gun and aimed it at me, and I barely had time to react before she fired it.

Something shot out with a thwip noise and hit me in the chest before that noise sounded again and Rainbow was hit.

My vision blurred once more and my body decided now was the time to slowly lose control and fall to the floor. My body felt sluggish, my mind was... it was going dark, I think I heard Rainbow struggling but she soon fell as well.

Before I hit the ground and darkness overwhelmed me, the last thing I heard was Bertha's sadistic voice as the rising sun poured in through the windows above.

"Nighty night."

12 - The First Boss Battle

ooo000---000ooo

I was surrounded on all sides.

No escape.

A single brass casing, some gun powder, a primer, a rounded piece of metal.

One trigger.

I can hear them now, all around me.

Groaning, screaming, trying to climb up to get me.

I hear the others, the mutant ones, they're moving now...

I can feel them looking for me, hunting me.

I was no survivor...

I was only pretending to be one...

ooo000---000ooo

I awoke to the sounds of muffled thumps and buzzing radios frequencies. I think I heard a couple of gunshots, muffled voices, maybe something else, I wasn't sure.

My head was aching and my body felt way too sluggish for my liking.

What happened?

My eyes opened and it was like looking through a blurred fog, but my hearing was just fine after a few moments.

"Goblin Seven-Seven inbound from the south, be there in twenty." I heard from a radio near me.

"Roger that, packages are secured and waiting." I noticed Lupo's distinct voice off of the bat.

Wolfpack, right... that's what happened.

We got captured by them, Rainbow and I...

Rainbow!

I shook my head to clear my vision and heard Bertha speak up. "Look who's awake."

When I was able to look around properly, I saw we were outside and on a rooftop. The sun had risen completely and I saw we were still at the General Hospital, guess they took us to the roof. All of Wolfpack stood around me, armed to the teeth in high tech gear and packing serious firepower.

To my right, sitting down, cuffed and tied down... was Rainbow Dash.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the mare. She had a bruise on her face, below her eye and cheek and barely hidden behind her bangs, blood caked part of her muzzle below her nostrils, I realized she had been hit. Her eyes were hard and staring down at the ground, her face a mask... I knew that look she had in her eyes.

"What did you do to her?" I snapped my head to Wolfpack and glared at them. It was obvious, but my anger was about to get a hold of me.

It was seeping through, I could feel it.

None of Wolfpack answered me, three of them kept an eye out while the other three watched us, Beltway, Spectre and Lupo, with Vector, Four-Eyes and Bertha respectively.

"Answer me!" I belted out and Vector walked over.

It was then my face was on the receiving end of his rifle butt.

I went down like a sack of bricks as pain shot through my face, more specifically my nose. My cuffed hands shot up to hold it, and I barked out, "You fuck!"

I only heard a grunt from the man, along with, "Keep quiet." He backed off after that and went back to the others.

I just held my nose and groaned. Fuck, I could feel the blood pouring from it, the taste of iron hit my tongue immediately, fuck!

"D-Dee, you okay?"

I opened an eye and looked towards Rainbow, and her eyes had regained a bit of light in them once she looked at me. Her ears were folded back, her lip had a cut on it, she looked worse off than I was.

My own pain dulled to a numbing sting like sensation, but it was still a painful fucking hit.

I gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Just f-fine, he hits like a bitch." I whispered to her and slowly got back up onto my knees.

I got the faintest rise out of the corners of her lips, but no more.

My hands moved of their own accord and I found myself just barely brushing against her cheek and pushing her bangs away... revealing more of the bruise she had been given. She barely flinched when my finger made contact with her, I didn't blame her. "What about you?"

The sunlight showed more of her injuries. Her wing was slowly healing, and her side was caked in dried blood and pus, a sign of infection which wasn't good. She was already pale looking to begin with, and on top of that, we were thrown into some heavily stressful situations. Her bruise wasn't too bad, but it was bad enough that I could visibly see it with the naked eye. The blood and bruise around her muzzle told me she had been hit as well, she must have gotten too rowdy and tried something while I was out.

Goddamn it.

"I'm f-fine." She murmured. I could tell she was trying to hide it, but the subtle shakes of her body and the way her eyes looked told me everything.

She was scared. Rainbow was always trying to hide that one simple fact, trying to deny it...

"Goblin Seven-Seven inbound, pop smoke."

A helicopter had to be coming to pick us up and evacuate us somewhere. Or at least, evacuate Rainbow Dash before disposing of me. I wasn't sure why they were keeping me alive, maybe it had to do with the two of us being together constantly? No other human has had any contact with her aside from me and it's been us since it began.

That was probably the only thing that was keeping me alive.

"W-what are they gonna do with us?" Rainbow's voice was quiet, nervous... her body was shaking even more.

The fear was starting to get the better of her, why wouldn't it? I looked at the situation we were in and I worried if we were going to make it out alive or not. Wolfpack didn't play around, nor did Umbrella, and right now I was defenseless. They had taken my guns, but I could feel that my knife was still in my pocket. Fat lot of good that did me in this situation, there was no way I would be able to get it out in time, let alone actually utilize it in a way to defend the both of us against highly trained soldiers.

"I don't know."

"Shut it." Bertha told the two of us as the sound of helicopter blades closed in from the distance.

We both remained silent from there on out.

My nose had kept bleeding for a bit, running down to my mouth and chin. I could taste it, smell it, feel it. I felt disgusting and I wasn't looking to have one of them hit me again.

The helicopter approached from nearby and both Dash and I cast our gaze towards the east, and saw the black aircraft close in. I immediately recognized what kind of chopper it was, a Sikorsky Black Hawk, UH-60. It was black in color and bore only the emblem of Umbrella on the side of it. This must have been what was going to transport us to wherever they planned on taking us both.

But it was still early in the outbreak, and Wolfpack wasn't going to leave the city right now. From what I could tell at a first glance, it was still fairly early in to the outbreak, they still had several missions to do.

As the helicopter closed in on the landing pad and kicked up dust and gravel, I was struck with the beginnings of an idea.

We weren't done just yet.

The Black Hawk landed on the helicopter pad nearby, and Lupo along with Spectre and Beltway went over to the chopper leaving the two of us behind with the other three members. While they discussed whatever it was they wanted with the soldiers, I kept my head low and swam through my thoughts. I planned as fast as I could.

The Black Hawk didn't have much room in the compartment, maybe a full fireteam at most. But if they were going to be carrying us to wherever they were taking us, then they'd need the room for not only me, but Rainbow as well. The mare was as big, a lithe and toned pegasus, yes, but she was still a pony and so she had a large body compared to some animals.

"Load them up." Lupo said and before I knew it, I was wrenched to my feet by Beltway and forced to walk towards the chopper. I had little choice in the matter, as did Rainbow Dash.

We were ''persuaded' to move to the aircraft with the barrels of several guns and not so subtle threats of being killed if we didn't.

We were shoved towards the aircraft under the rapidly moving blades and to the compartment, where we both climbed inside. Rainbow was forced into the seat opposite of me after I was forced down. My hands were still bound by zip-ties, and with me being forced down at gunpoint into my seat, I didn't have many options left. Two USS thugs entered the chopper with us, armed with MP5s and sitting down next to us. The doors slid shut and locked us inside.

The helicopter spun up its blades and I kept my head low as the radio chatter filled the cabin, nearly drowned out by the blades above. They were wearing headsets, so naturally I couldn't hear much of anything, not that it would matter.

I glanced over to Rainbow. She was sitting down on the floor, barely able to hold onto the seat as we took off, the whole craft shook and jostled once we were in the air.

She must have noticed I was looking at her, because she turned and locked eyes with me.

In her eyes, I saw something. Fear.

What were they going to do with us?

I could only imagine with Rainbow Dash. She was a colorful rainbow horse that could fly, and there was no telling what kind of properties her innate pegasus magic had. Umbrella was a mega-corporation with nearly limitless money and power, and employed some of the best the scientific world had to offer. If they wanted to find something to use from her, they would and there would be nothing either I or Rainbow could do to stop them.

I looked outside of the window and saw the city of Raccoon in greater detail, I could see smoke rising from a few buildings in the distance, see the firefighter trucks moving to put them out, I even saw a couple of police cars moving to and fro to deal with the continuing outbreak. How many people had died already? How many police officers were killed? How much longer was it until the city was destroyed?

I eyed the man in front of me, the USS thug and his armor, his helmet and mask. And the one next to me, who was armed and looked exactly the same as the one in front of me. They were both carrying MP5 submachine guns and Beretta handguns, maybe there were some combat knives on them somewhere. Aside from that, they were just regular men decked out in standard military gear.

I didn't hear any of the radio chatter coming from the cockpit, I only saw the pilot and co-pilot working on flying this thing.

Rainbow and I shared another look as we flew over the city.

I wasn't sure what really happened in those first few moments. Rainbow just looked like she was scared out of her mind, I had to have looked the same. But there was a flicker of something in those eyes of hers, maybe it was how the light bounced off of them from the sun, or the way she just looked at me.

Something resonated within my chest.

It wasn't long before I threw the first punch, sparking a fight inside the cramped quarters of the cabin, and Rainbow...

She wasn't hesitant to cause some mayhem.

Everything went by so fast, a chaotic blur of movement, screaming, gunfire. I threw punches and received my fair share.

The USS thug to my side tackled me against the cabin door and threw his knee into my stomach, forcing me back. I returned his hit with a double-handed smash into the side of his head and quickly pulled my leg up to my chest, and shoved him backwards. He tripped over the form of Rainbow, tipping over as Rainbow shot out both of her powerful legs into the other thug, causing him to fall into the cockpit.

The helicopter suddenly tipped forward and flung us forward. Rainbow roughly landed next to me, and at the angle we traveled she hit me and I had little choice but to grab onto and hold onto her as the aircraft did its acrobatics.

I swear Rainbow was holding onto me. We were beginning to spin out and something must have hit the side of the chopper, because I heard metal screeching and heard alarms blaring throughout the cabin.

We spun out faster and faster, i got dizzy and it was getting hard to properly focus.

We smashed into something and went flying around the cabin, glass shattered and gunfire sounded, something wet and warm hit my face and Rainbow was ripped from my grasp.

Everything was a blur of movement after that. I was flung around the cabin and into most of the passengers, hitting steel, the seats, maybe someone's firearm. The chopper had to have hit something during the flight, because the tough glass was smashed completely and the smell of smoke filled the aircraft.

We were spinning faster and faster, I heard the screeching of metal and during the chaos, the door to the cabin was ripped open.

It didn't take much more until I was thrown out without much warning.

I guess luck was on my side however. I ended up getting sucked out through the cabin and flung around, and I thought I was going to fall and hit something hard, then die right there from the impact.

Instead I hit the gravel of what I could only guess was a rooftop.

"Fuck!" I managed to land and skid across the rooftop before smashing into something metal, sending a shock through my system from the sudden stop.

I collapsed onto the roof and started coughing up what felt like a lung, but I recovered quick enough to follow the chopper as it made its way down. It smashed into a pillar of stone atop whatever building I crashed on, sending rubble flying before spiraling down towards the rooftop to my left, and then it hit yet another pillar before crashing down into the building.

The blades snapped off like twigs and went flying, two of them went off and pierced other parts of the roof, one went flying off of the roof itself into the street below.

The final one broke into pieces and flew right by me. One piece grazed my side by a inch, cutting into my shirt and flesh as the bigger pieces spun by me and cutting the air.

The roof gave out underneath me after a couple of moments and it was only seconds before I tumbled forward, falling along with the rubble and the chopper.

Rocks and debris hit me on the way down, somehow through this, I remained conscious as the breath was sucked out of me. I fell inside the building and directly into something that gave out under my weight, causing both to smash into the hard flooring below.

I was flat on the ground as whatever I hit fell on top of me. I could barely register every hit I took, but I took it and curled up as everything around me exploded, crashed, and was destroyed by the helicopter.

Fuck, my body...

Once the barrage of debris ended I struggled to stand up, which took plenty out of me.

I assessed the situation as best as I could once I could focus properly. My legs shook when I stood up, I coughed and immediately tasted blood. My hands were still bound by the zip ties behind my back, which meant I was fucked and unable to move them unless I got them off somehow. My knife was still in my pocket, so maybe if I could get to it...

I was in some kind of room filled with a ton of chairs, pews, all lined up in neat little rows. The stench of politics stained with an undertone of iron hit my nose. I could hear the whirring of the helicopter, along with the crumbling of stone and concrete from above.

I tried to see if there any undead around me, but luckily I didn't any inside of the immediate area. I was safe for the time being, but right now...

Dash.

I struggled to get my hands into my pocket and retrieve my knife, I had to cut these damn binds off if I was going to get into any kind of major fight. I couldn't do much in this state, and I sure as hell wasn't planning on fighting like this.

The chopper was laying nearby in a pile of rubble, stone and knocked over chairs surrounded it. Fire was beginning to spread and burn most of the chairs, filling the air with acrid smoke.

The knife came free from my pocket and I flicked it open, and turned it upside down to cut at the binds. It was tough to try and get a good angle, and during the time I was trying to cut myself free, I could hear the sound of the undead hoard outside the building. Even with the roaring flames and everything else, I could hear them surrounding the building.

After a few moments. a snip sounded and the binds came free. They fell to the ground and I turned to face the blackhawk laying nearby.

"Gotta find R-Rainbow." I had to find her and get out of here. We escaped the hospital, now we just had to keep fucking moving!

The chopper was completely and utterly fucked, it was laying on its side and in the midst of a pile of burning rubble. Smoke was quickly filling the rooms and the flames were spreading, the smell of jet fuel leaking also hit my nose, and I knew it wouldn't be long until the fire ignited it!

"Rainbow!" Immediately I rushed over to the chopper, to try and find Rainbow and get her away in one piece.

The cabin door was ripped completely open and the hull was badly damaged, the cockpit was filled with blood and small fires. I could see the bodies of one of the umbrella thugs who was with us, but the other one was gone...

And so was Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow! Call out to me!" I began looking around for her as the fire spread further, catching most of the junk in here on fire. I backed up from the fire and made my way around the crash, knife held tight in hand and eyes searching for that cyan mare.

When I moved past the chopper, I saw what looked like a stage and a couple of doors leading somewhere. And behind me, rafters and a bunch of construction equipment lay in shambles, covered in blood and torn apart bodies. Guess this was the site of a grizzly attack.

"Rainb-aggh!"

I was pushed up against the wall and held in place, when I got a good look I saw it was one of the Umbrella thugs! His mask was gone ,revealing a bloodied and angered face. He pulled back and shoved me back into the wall and I dropped my knife.

He didn't say anything before pulling me away from the wall and throwing me aside effortlessly.

I slid across the floor and hit one of the columns inside the room, but I was able to recover quick enough to get back on my feet and face him.

I threw out my arm out to the side and yelled, "I ain't got time for this!"

He said nothing and pulled out a small stick, but with a single flick of his arm... it extended into a baton.

I eyed it and that's when my nerves got the better of me. I lost my knife and I was up against a USS thug.

"Guess we're gonna make time, then." I muttered and loosened up my joints, before raising my fists and bouncing slightly from heel to heel. My body ached, my bones shook, my skin crawled and I was bleeding somewhere, but I wasn't about to stop here. "You wanna fight, then bring it!"

He met my challenge with force, he charged towards me and swung high, aiming for my head. I backstepped and dodged the hit, but he snuck in a kick to my stomach and knocked me off of my feet.

Scrambling for safety, I avoided another hit and rolled before getting back onto my feet, where I jumped straight at him. I pulled my fist back and threw it at him, and my fist struck him, sending him sprawling back before I landed.

Following up with a kick of my own, I aimed at his shin and got him to go to the side before turning and rushing away, and vaulting over one of the pews.

There were a lot of fights I could win, but this was one I was going to try and avoid as much as I could! At least until I could find a gun or something.

I heard thumps up above me through the crackling fire, but I didn't pay it much attention as I made a beeline towards the other side of the downed chopper.

I slid to a stop near the busted open cabin door and peered inside, and discovered Rainbow wasn't inside.

I did find the body of the thug though, and he was gripping an MP5.

I reached for it, needing a firearm seeing how mine were taken from me. But I ended up getting pulled away from my prize and thrown aside with a yell.

No gun for me I guess.

I landed off to the side and rolled hard. A quick move on my part and I rolled back up onto my feet and balled up my fists, and slid back a few feet to face off against the thug.

"What?!" I glared at the man as he twirled his baton and stomping towards me. "Still wanna fight then? Fuckin' fine!" I jumped back a few steps and kept my fists up. The guy had a baton and probably years of combat training under his belt, meanwhile all I knew was from watching action movies and video games... which amounted to practically nothing.

There wasn't much I could do except dodge and hope for an opening.

He attacked first, closing the distance and swinging his baton towards me and forcing me further back as the fire from the chopper wreckage spread, filling the room in smoke. I had to keep my footing and stay away from his hits unless I wanted to get decked. I dodged one of his swings, one that nearly clipped me in the cheek.

He moved faster then I thought he could, or I was moving too slow and he spun.

Before I knew what hit me, I was sent falling backwards into one of the pillars of the building, knocking the wind out of me. I growled and kept my eyes on him as he ran towards me. I tried moving but I wasn't fast enough to dodge him, and he tackled me, picking me up and carrying me back as I smashed my fists into his back to no avail.

I was pinned against a wall shortly after, the air rushing out of me as his fist slammed into my lower rib which was followed by a sharp pain.

I screamed and brought up my elbow, and slammed it hard into his back, his shoulder, trying to get free from him.

Then something smashed into his side and he was sent fumbling to the side with a cry of pain, crashing over a couple of chairs as I fell roughly to the floor.

I turned to face the attacker after I got my breath back, and I saw a bloodstained pegasus standing where he was, and an odd feeling shot through my being for a few seconds; that look in her eyes, the flared out wings as the fire from the chopper danced in her eyes like fireflies.

I struggled to stand up. "Heh, w-was wondering where you were." She didn't look too bad from the crash, filling me with relief. Aside from the blood covering her, and her battered wing being unwrapped, she looked alright for the time being.

She was breathing heavily, blood stained her lips and she had some cuts on her legs and neck. "I g-got thrown out," She coughed and wiped her mouth.

"You doing alright?" I watched the USS thug nearby and kept my guard up as he struggled to get back up.

Rainbow gave me something of a nod and wiped her mouth again. "Y-yeah... I'm fine."

I held my side and watched as the man stood up, having lost his baton. Both Dash and I kept our ground, and I asked her, "Think you can fight?"

I knew she didn't want to fight or even kill, it wasn't in her blood to do the latter. But in rough situations like these, you had to make that split second decision that either kept you alive or got you killed. She had to, hell...

I needed her help.

She just stared long and hard at the other man and tensed up, wings folded neatly at her sides after taking a huge breath. And surprisingly, I heard her say, "I... I think so."

I didn't question it, I just faced the thug in front. I yelled and charged forward, fist pulled back before jumping over a couple of chairs. He threw up his arms to block my strike, and I reacted to that quickly and crossed my arms before landing against him, and struck him with my elbows. I forced him further back.

After landing on the ground, I spotted Rainbow out of the corner of my eye; she rushed the thug had on, and before he had a chance to react, Rainbow spun on her forelegs and kicked out her hind ones.

I could practically hear the bones crack once she made contact with his armored chest, the thump of hard hooves striking Kevlar armor and sending him flying backwards with a yell. He slammed into one of the pillars hard, and I ran over just as he managed to recover and get back up. I jumped up, and with both legs stuck out, slammed both of them into him in a dropkick, sending him back into the pillar hard.

My hip stung when I landed on the ground. I heard Rainbow gallop over to me, and she was quick to help me get up onto my feet.

The fire from the chopper continued, and the soldier was struggling now...

Then he pulled out a knife from behind, a large knife with a sharp looking edge that glinted in the light.

"O-oh crap." Rainbow gulped and stepped back, I did as well.

Fighting with my fists and her hooves is one thing, against a knife is another thing!

That was the moment when I heard something, through all of the flaming wreckage and the panicked breathing of Rainbow, I could hear something that sounded unmistakably like hissing. That noise drew all of our attention, giving us pause for a brief couple of moments and ending the fight.

I shouldn't have looked up, but when I did... I saw them.

They crawled out from the vents on the ceiling and near the walls, snaking their way through with growls and hisses, leaving their deep claw indentations in the wood. I froze.

"D-Dee... what the heck are t-those?" She whispered, and I felt her press up against my leg.

"Nothing good." Was all I could say as the beasts began to land on the floor, slowly closing in on us.

Goddamn...

Lickers!

Author's Note

Big thanks to P-Berry for looking this chapter over and making it shine like a pearl he discovered within the deepest trench of the ocean. :heart:

13 - Escape To Kendo's

I shoved Rainbow forward and forced her to run.

We had to run, it was all we could do.

I could hear the screams of the U.S.S. thug as he was torn apart, ripped limb from limb by the Lickers.

If we didn't get out of here, we'd end up suffering the same fate!

"I hate this city! I hate these monsters!" Rainbow yelled to me as I could hear the thumps of the Lickers behind us. They jumped and leaped across the walls and flooring, hissing and screeching as they gave chase.

I didn't know there were this many!

"I know I know! Just keep running!" I wish I had a gun, any kind of gun, just something that had some fucking kick to it that I could use to help us out!

I rushed down the halls of the building alongside Rainbow, who was galloping hard to keep up alongside me. She may have had four incredible legs, but I had plenty of fear fueling my own.

"We have to do something!" Rainbow all but screeched towards me, and I knew.

"If you got any bright ideas, feel free to share!" I retaliated back as we turned a corner.

And around the corner were some stairs leading up, probably to some offices or something.

"Shit, head up and let's hide!" I told her and urged her on up the stairs. I dared to look behind me, and luckily for both of us I didn't see any of the Lickers immediately, but with how fast they moved it wouldn't be too much longer until they caught up.

"Where?!"

Once we reached the second level of the building, I spotted several doors, but only one was open. "There!"

We ran towards it, moving past knocked over plants and the remains of a body before bursting into the room. I slammed the door open and Rainbow slid inside behind me, and I shut the door behind us, quickly locking it before checking the room. Aside from some blood on the walls and floor, and some askew desks.

The smell... that damned smell.

"We should be safe for the moment." I breathed out and quickly started looking around for something, anything that I could use to fight with. Damn that thug for stopping me, I could have gotten that MP5 and used it! But he had to pull me away at the last second. Give me a zombie and I could probably win, but a Licker? No way in hell am I going to win against that thing with just my fists. "Damn it."

Rainbow sounded exhausted, and I shared it with my own heavy breathes. "B-buck, Dee... w-what are those things?"

Honestly, I probably could give her the abridged version. "Okay, those things, they're fucking... they're mutant zombies called Lickers." I told her and rooted through the desks, the chairs, everything trying to find something I could use to fight. Fuck, gimme a letter opener, something! "They're fast, deadly, and their tongues are incredibly long, they use them like whips to attack and grab their prey."

"S-seriously?! Jeez, your world is messed up." Rainbow muttered as she clip clopped around.

I couldn't really argue with that, it was messed up, both this world and my own.

"Yeah, heh... welcome to my world, sweetheart." I told her before glancing over to her, and I saw her look away.

Then we both spotted something on the far wall. A surge of hope went through my being when I spotted the body of a police officer laying up against the wall, torn into and left to bleed out.

"D-Dee?" Rainbow murmured as I stood up and slowly made my way over to the body. "I-is it... one of those things?"

I approached cautiously, a dumb move but if he had anything on him, I could use it. I knelt down by the body and I saw he had a hole in the side of his head, and his eyes were a bloodied dark brown. I brought up my hand... and closed his eyes, he killed himself before he turned, smart. "No, he's dead dead." I examined his body; he was wearing the typical outfit of a RPD Officer, torn to pieces from the undead attacking him.

The most important thing I noticed... the handgun he clutched in his cold dead hands.

I reached down towards his hand and plucked one by one of the fingers off of the grip, and pulled it free from him. I looked down at the handgun, and saw it was a Browning High Power, specifically the Mark III version. I pulled back the slide, saw a chambered round before ejecting the magazine and finding it to be shy three rounds of thirteen. After putting the magazine back inside, I put it down on the floor before undoing the man's belt.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow asked me, her voice curious.

"I'm taking his duty belt." I told her, managing to get it off him without much trouble. Once it was off, I readjusted some parts of it and put it on myself, complete with the handcuff pouch, magazine pouches, holster, it even had a flashlight on it. I checked the three ammo pouches and saw they were full, which gave me roughly thirty-nine reserve rounds to work with, on top of the ten I had in the gun already. "I'll need it more than he does..."

Once that was done, I picked up the handgun again and the flashlight, and flicked it on with a switch of the button. I looked around the room, but there was nothing else of interest.

I got lucky, it seems, the both of us did.

"We're gonna have to fight our way out, aren't we?" Rainbow spoke up after a moment, and asked the obvious question.

"Probably." I nodded slowly as the sound of hissing grew louder. I then gave her a look, a cautious one after adjusting my jacket. "You sure you're up for this?"

She looked down at the floor, as if searching for an answer to our problems there. Unless it was covered in blood, she wasn't going to find much in the way of a solution.

After a few moments of silence from her, she looked up and then to me, and she gave me a tiny nod. "Yeah... just... tell me where to go."

I gave her a smile and nodded to her. "That's the spirit." Holding up my handgun and the flashlight together, I started for the door. "Okay... the plan here is to get out, and we have to get out through either the front door or one of the emergency exits. I don't know where either one is, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find either of them if we're quick about it." The front entrance couldn't be too far, we just had to run straight for it... if I had to guess, it was back downstairs and on the opposite side of that room we both ran out of.

Swell.

A gulp and Rainbow took a deep breath. "Do these things have any kind of weakness?"

"Nope," I regretfully had to inform her. They didn't have one as far as I knew, not these types of Lickers. Maybe if we had an Acid Launcher or some kind of fire based weapon, maybe we could burn them, but alas, the nine-mil will have to do. "Alright, enough talk... we gotta run and run now... you with me?"

"Yeah... I'm n-not scared!" She declared, puffing out her chest and standing up a bit taller.

I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. Maybe she was finally starting to get used to the horrors of Raccoon City, It was a horrible place when in this state, filled with bioweapons that could rip your face off, but I was used to it for the time being. Then again, the only things we faced here were undead, Leech Man, and now Lickers, we hadn't faced any of the big tough bosses yet. Like Mr. X, tyrants like Nemesis or the others.

I shuddered at the thought of Nemesis, the chain gun and rocket launcher totin' monster sent after S.T.A.R.S. personnel.

Luckily I wasn't one of them, so he had little reason to come after us.

After a few seconds of preparing ourselves, we approached the door.

"Alright... let's do this." Rainbow muttered, swallowing hard.

I kept my gun handy, and safety off.

I bid one last look at the officer, and I gave him a two fingered salute.

You may have just given us a fighting chance... thank you.

I kicked the door open without a second thought and rushed outside into the hall, handgun raised and flashlight shining the way for us. Rainbow was behind me, quickly keeping up as I led the way down the other end of the hall.

The first screeches filled the air followed by a deep growling. The Lickers were agitated now, but I wasn't scared of them, no. I was armed now, it wasn't much against those things, but it would give the two of us a fighting chance to survive and get outside, hopefully to see the rest of the day in one piece.

I whirled around, shining my light as I backpedaled down the hall. The first one leaped into view, sinking its claws into the ceiling above and roaring at the two of us.

I turned my Browning on the first one and fired twice. Both rounds hit the flying mass of flesh flying towards me, causing it to screech and slam into a nearby painting, making it fall.

"Holy crap! that thing is fast!" Rainbow shouted as we ran, turning another corner.

I had to jump over a body as we ran, and I yelled, "That's how they are, they're fast and agile so keep an eye out! They might be anywhere!"

"These things are crazy!" She argued.

I didn't deny it.

We kept running until we reached some stairs heading down to the ground floor. We practically flew down the stairs, listening to the screeches behind us, which only fueled our fear and made us run faster.

At the bottom of the stairs we found a hall leading further into the building. Dozens of doors sat on either side, ajar with blood trails leading in and out of them, bodies lay on the floor, and the massacred bodies only grew the more we ran.

I nearly slipped and fell once we finally reached a door that had a giant 'EXIT' sign over it.

Wasting no time we burst through and back out into the light of Raccoon City burning sun, leaving behind the build we were in and escaping through narrow alleyways. The lickers would no doubt give chase, but for the time being, we could probably lose them in the alleys.

Or so I thought, until I ended up being shoved forward by something and thrown to the ground, hard, nearly smashing my face into the concrete of the ground.

"Dee!" Rainbow screamed, skidding to a halt.

I felt something heavy on my back, I panicked - naturally, "Fuck fuck fuck!" It had to have been a Licker! I could feel those claws, my sides and back tingled from where they were mere seconds away from ripping into me!

I nearly shit myself.

Had Dash not came to my rescue, and kicked the damned thing off of my back with a powerful buck.

I scrambled away with several noises I didn't even know I could make, and turned around, holding my handgun high and firing. I pulled the trigger as fast as I could while keeping my aim steady, aiming at the Licker who had hit the trash cans. Blood splattered onto the ground and walls, I hit its limbs, its head, face, one of its teeth, even its body until it finally stopped moving, and I had run dry.

Something tugged on my jacket sleeve and I was pulled along by Rainbow Dash, who didn't hesitate to yank me away and keep us running until we were in the safety of the confusing alleyways of Raccoon City.

We were safe... for now.

I hoped.

ooo000---000ooo

The two of us had run until we our legs gave out, I don't know how far we had run or where the hell we were. My body was about to overdose on fear fueled adrenaline, and I knew Rainbow had to have been the same, probably. She was heaving and huffing when we made it to the end of one alley, and we turned out into the street and ran for the first building we could find before heading inside.

I locked the door without a second thought once Dash had made it inside after me

"F-fuckin' hell." I muttered and gripped my shirt, which was stained from what I felt - blood and sweat, god... I felt disgusting. "I... holy shit." My eyes flicked up to Rainbow. The young mare fell down onto her rump a foot away from me and pulled her tail close to her, for a split second I thought I saw tears in her eyes. "D-Dash..." She glanced over to me...

I saw the tears in her eyes.

That unique headstrong confidence I had associated her with, that stubborn attitude that made her Rainbow, everything that made her what she was crumbled before me, like witnessing a steadfast tower being brought down by an ungodly horrific force. They spilled down her rosy red cheeks, her lips trembled as she tried desperately to hold them back.

But she broke down in front of me, her shield cracked and fell apart like glass.

Something in my heart tore in two at seeing her like that. Her shoulders trembled and shook, her head hung low and her tears fell to the ground as she hugged herself.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had reached out and pulled her to my chest, and wrapped my arms around her trembling form. Every choked sob that left her caused my heart to ache and my chest tighten. She didn't fight me when I hugged her. Rainbow buried her face in my chest and hugged me back, desperately clinging onto me like a vice.

I didn't say anything to her.

I didn't want to lie and say we'd make it out of here alive and in one piece.

Yet, maybe I had to say something, if only to give her just a little bit of hope in such a shitty situation.

Slowly, I rocked back and forth, keeping her close and rubbing her back. I could feel her fur through my fingers, every movement of my hand trailing up and down from her neck down to the middle of her wings, and just a bit lower before coming back up. My other hand rested in her mane, slowly rubbing it.

I did everything I could to try and ease her along, and made not a single noise. I knew what kind of girl she was, at least from what I could understand. She hated being seen as weak, and I could sympathize with that, I used to be like that...

Then she said something I didn't expect her to say.

"I-I'm s-scared..." She whimpered to me, muffled by my shirt.

I let out the smallest of sighs, and took off my hat before sitting it aside. I kept my hand on her head and pulled away slightly, and looked down into her teary eyes. "So am I... no point in denying it." I gave a curious look around, and it was only then I noticed the familiar setting of the building we were in.

It gave me a bit of hope.

"But..." I turned back to her, and I brought a finger up to her cheek, and gently wiped her tears away before leaning down, and I said, "We can't let that fear stop us..." Her eyes stared right into mine, ears perked up... I tasted her breath on mine just about, and I had to really try and focus myself to keep talking to her, to try and calm her the best I could. "As long as we got each other, we'll make it out of this alive, I promise you that. We just have to stick together, watch each other's backs, and we'll make it out of this together, and make it back to our friends, our families."

We had to make it out of this crap alive, together.

I wasn't going to let anything stop us, if I could help it.

I just sat there and held her against me, and let her slowly calm herself down. I didn't know if my words had any effect on her state, I could only hope what I said soothed her somehow.

I guess I'd see in a little bit.

After some time passed, Rainbow pulled away and wiped her eyes. She didn't dare look up at me for whatever reason, only murmuring, "S-so not cool..."

I couldn't stop the scoff. "What?"

Finally, her eyes went up to mine and immediately, she looked off to the side and puffed out a cheek. "..."

I put my hand atop her head and gave it a gentle ruffle, and her cheeks lit up. "Rainbow, it's okay to cry." I whispered to her. "it's not uncool or anything."

"I-it makes me look weak..." She argued, giving me this look. "P-proud pegasi don't c-cry..."

I shook my head... and after a second thought, thwacked her nose.

"Ow!" She recoiled, and held her nose. It was barely a 'hit', just a tiny flick of my finger against her snoot. "What'd you do th-"

"Rainbow," I shushed her up and made her look up at me. "Pride is a dumb thing sometimes, especially when it comes to your own emotions and how you really feel... trust me, I know how that feels, being prideful." I thought back to all of the times in my life, where I had those moments where I was just too damn prideful. "Bottling up shit doesn't ever end well... especially if you bottle it up for years."

I suddenly felt like I was looking at myself in the mirror.

I kept up the straight face as one of my hand rose up to gently cup her slightly fluffed up cheek. "It's okay to let it out sometimes... so don't feel ashamed about crying if you feel like you need to, there's nothing wrong with it."

If only I followed that same advice.

I left Rainbow to think about what I said and stood up, and my knees protested the movement with a loud crack noise in the joints. They felt stiff. Despite all of the walking I did back home, my legs were constantly stiffening up and I couldn't really do anything about it, least not in the current situation. I just had to bare with it until we got out of this damn place.

When I looked up and around the shop, the surge of hope that I had earlier dissipated the more my eyes scanned the shelves and walls, only to find squat on them.

We were in Kendo's Gunshop, and it seems like the lore held true. The stock was completely gone, there was no ammunition to be found, no firearms in sight. Kendo really did toss out all of his inventory to the citizens of Raccoon City, to help fend off the undead. Shame he couldn't have left a few guns, or some ammo.

But maybe I could find a few stray bullets or something?

Or so I thought until I heard a gun cock nearby, and I froze.

"Hold it right there."

I couldn't stop myself from shivering as my eyes flicked to the right, where across the smashed in counterspace I saw a slightly pudgy man in a yellow shirt aiming a triple barreled shotgun at me. He was staring at me with a look that suggested I had entered the wrong building, and he would be right. I may have made a mistake.

Thankfully, he lowered his gun and grumbled something, then said, "If you're looking for a gun, you came to the wrong place." He told me, and kept his eyes on me the whole time. "Everything's gone cept what I got on me... and you ain't getting that."

I just held up my hands. Hopefully he didn't see Rainbow, and if he didn't, I don't know how he missed her. She's probably the brightest thing in this whole city. "I'm already packing, and I ain't looking to start nothing, just needed to get inside somewhere safe for a few before moving on." I explained to him.

Then I heard Rainbow's hooves behind me and he raised his shotgun again.

"What in the hel-?"

I stepped in front of her, keeping her from moving any further as I locked eyes with the man. "She's not one of those things outside, I'll tell you that now..."

He didn't look as shocked as most people did when they saw Rainbow, if anything he just looked tired. After a bit, I began to recognize who he looked like, and it finally clicked.

"Kendo?" I murmured, and he turned to look at me, seemingly forgetting about Rainbow.

"You know me?" His hand tightened around the shotgun, but he didn't raise it.

"Aye, I heard about ya," I began, swallowing as my arms lowered, slowly. "Your brother does a lot of custom gun work, right? You supply the RPD with firearms and other stuff." If I was right, this wasn't the brother who made the custom firearms, like the Samurai Edge I was so fond of. This was the other brother, the one who was killed shortly after Leon and Claire made it into the city.

His shotgun stayed lowered, and he just eyeballed Rainbow and I, but didn't appear to be too antagonistic towards us.

We had this stare off for a good while before the silence was broken.

"What the hell is she?"

This was going to be a long day.

ooo000---000ooo

Kendo, Rainbow and I sat down in the back of his shop for some rest and to my immense relief, water that he had stored somewhere. Bottled water, alongside some rations, seems the guy had a prepper mindset and I couldn't help but appreciate the setup he had. A tiny pang went through my heart when I realized the amount of supplies here could feed three, it was even divided up evenly among us, no way would a guy need this many supplies... not by himself.

"A magical horse..."

"Pony," Rainbow corrected, sipping from a water bottle.

"...I must've fallen on my head or something," Kendo rubbed his head and sighed. "First zombies and now magical horses?"

I couldn't help but shrug as I drank from my own water bottle. I neglected to mention several details, mostly the things I knew about literally both of them. I could mention it, but then I'd have to explain a lot more to the two and... I don't know how I would do that without fucking it up, it was one of those kind of rules I guess. I could have abused it when we were still captured by Wolfpack, but what would they have done if they knew what I knew?

I knew too much about a lot of things.

I only told him what I 'knew' about Rainbow, that is select information of when the two of us first met and I let her fill in the details, as well as what happened to us over the course of our... what.

"God, how long has it been? Two... three days?" I asked myself in a quiet murmur.

"This outbreak's been going on a lot longer than that, kid." Kendo told us both. "Five days since everything went to shit."

"I uh... I wasn't in the city for that long," I told him with a gulp, "Came here to visit some family of mine and got caught up in some shit, bumped into Rainbow here and we've been together ever since, trying to get out."

"Yeah." Rainbow set down her bottle and rubbed the back of her neck as the light from above shone down on us.

I was still struck dumb by how different she looked compared to how I originally saw her in the show. The bigger wings, the tail feathers, the fluffy hooves, the markings and two tone coat color. It was so strange, but... I couldn't really bring myself to hate it, she was color looking, like a bird, but a pretty bird.

I shook my head and looked back towards the duo. "So yeah, we're still trying to make it out of this hellhole alive and I got a few ideas." I looked towards the wall, thinking. "There're a few roads leading out we could use, steal a truck and plow through anything in our way. If not that we could try the river... find a boat for it. If that fails, well, there's the mountains and forest, but that's a last resort. I'm hoping there're some evacuation choppers somewhere in the city."

The forest would be a nightmare to get through, I had no idea how to traverse the mountains and no idea where any of the roads there led. If we ended up going through there, we'd be chased down by whatever BOW's escaped the city and still lurked into the mountains. The forests were old and dense, there was no telling what dwelled in them.

"Evacuating? Heh, good luck with that." Kendo muttered to us, and I only stared as he gestured to radio equipment he had setting on a desk. "I got a radio tuned in to military channels, and the city's been quarantined. Roadblocks have been set up all around the city."

"I figured they'd do that." I leaned back in the chair.

Rainbow looked over towards us. "They blocked the roads?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "The reason for that is to keep the infection from spreading to other neighboring towns and cities, if this got out, it could become global. If we want to get out of here, we gotta a way to one of the city exits, or get evac'd from somewhere." And it sort of worked, up until the city got nuked out of existence.

She looked down at the table in front of her, eyes narrowed and her wings fluttering.

"We're gonna get out of here, one way or another." I looked down at my handgun and focused on the plan in my head before pulling it out, and checking it once more. "We just have to keep going."

Then Kendo said something that gave me a bit of hope, and caused Rainbow's ears to perk up. "I heard there was an evacuation going on at the college on the east side of the city." He stood up from the chair and turned his back to us. "My... wife, daughter and I were going to head there, but..."

I didn't see anyone else inside, and from how he was speaking...

I was going to speak, only for Rainbow to beat me to it.

"Where are they?"

I really wish she didn't ask that, because I could feel the air just seize up and grow chillier. Kendo sighed heavily and looked to the right, towards the wall and we both followed his gaze, where there was some dried blood staining the wood. "They were bitten and turned..." He told Rainbow. "...I had to put them down."

I couldn't imagine how hard that had to have been. A wife and child, and having to put them both down?

I knew Rainbow didn't understand that just yet. How could she? Her world was perfect and flawless, it seemed like, there wasn't shit like this going on there. I looked at her, and watched as a bunch of different emotions ran across her face, too many for me to keep track of. "I... I didn't..."

"I ain't got nothing." I admitted and shook my head, as a sickly feeling began to fill my chest and stomach. "I can't even begin to imagine how that had to have felt..."

We were all silent for a time, up until Kendo turned to face the back window, into the alleyway behind his shop. Both Dash and I looked as well, and we could see the shadows of the undead lurking down them. "Best you two get moving while you still can."

We didn't argue.

By the time we left the backroom and reached the front door, we were stopped by Kendo who said, "Hey, kid."

I turned in time to see him throw something towards me, which I barely caught. When I got a good look at what he threw, I saw it was a couple of handgun magazines, they were for a Beretta however, which I had lost thanks to Wolfpack. "W-what are these-?"

"I don't have the gun for them, and you might find a better use for them." He waved us off and turned around. "Good luck... I hope you two make it out of here in one piece." He then left us alone.

I gave a look at the thirty or so rounds he threw at me and sighed, before I pocketed them in my duty belt.

"So... what now?" Rainbow asked and glanced up at me.

"Well," I turned and opened the door, heading back out into the city of Raccoon. "We gotta keep moving, but where? I don't know..."

As we both stood there trying to figure it out, we both figured out our answer when a loud siren that we had been hearing suddenly grew closer and closer, until a pair of SWAT Vans and police cruisers turned and sped around a corner, blazing a path down the narrow streets past abandoned cars and heading to our right, down the road towards Main Street.

RPD was mobilizing their forces, and headed that way?

It was then I realized what today must have been...

I knew it to be a lost cause, and yet, I couldn't stop myself from grabbing Rainbow's attention and heading towards the sirens, following the officers headed for Main Street.

September 26th, when Irons made the decision to have the majority of the RPD killed by having them face the horde of undead, head on at Main Street, with little to no backup.

Which meant...

We had five days before Raccoon City was destroyed.

Author's Note

Big thanks to P-Berry for looking this over like the true bro he is.

Also, for a reference as to what Dash looks like, well, you can blame Hioshiru for this.

Ever since they made up these new designs, I've fallen in love with them, especially Rainbow Dash's.

That's what she looks like in this.

14 - No More

ooo000---000ooo

I didn't know what had gotten into Dee when he said we had to follow those police carriages, but I didn't get much of a chance to really voice an argument before we were sprinting down the sidewalk and following them.

The streets were clogged up with other cars and even a few small roadblocks. Thankfully, nothing was too bad that it blocked our way out, we managed to keep moving non-stop. We got lucky too, because we didn't run into too many of those monsters, what few we did we just ran past or around. They were too slow for us, especially me.

I may have been groundbound, but I was still the fastest pony in Equestria!

However, I didn't go too fast, and stayed by Dee's side the whole run.

My eyes watched Dee as he moved during the run, and I noticed he was pretty agile despite being on two legs and not four. He jumped over obstacles in his way, slid over and dodged a lot of grabbing arms with agility I didn't know he had. A few times he ended up getting grabbed, but he managed to slip from their grasp, moving with a sort of frantic speed only an animal caught in a trap would have.

"Why are we following them?!" I yelled to him once we turned down an alleyway, taking a different route to get to wherever it was we were headed too.

I jumped over a body in my way as Dee caught up, knocking over a bunch of garbage behind us to slow down anyone chasing us. "Because! Safety in numbers!" He kicked a monster out of the way and kept running, still following the sirens and the carriages... er, the cars, I mean that drove down the road and made sharp turns up ahead, turning down a larger road. "Those are all cops and swat members, we'll be safe with them!"

We had police ponies back in Equestria, with carriages and sirens. He might be right, and we could get help if we followed them! "Alright!"

The road eventually ended with a giant roadblock cutting off any routes to the south, and to the north we saw the cars continuing on, not stopping for anything, not even debris in the road. The fronts of those bigger ones had big plows on the front, so maybe they were built for that?

My nerves started to get the better of me, and as much as I hated to admit it, I started to feel scared the closer we got to wherever it was we were headed to. I could sense those monsters nearby, smell them in the air... worst of all, I could hear them, those creepy moans of theirs carrying down the alleyways. It didn't bother me as much as it did way earlier, I was starting to get used to it... the blood, the bodies. I was still scared out of my mind but I didn't feel like it was going to cripple me.

I... I didn't know how to feel about that, was this normal?

We stopped running when the road ahead was blocked off by a dozen of those human cars, most of them police cars. The bigger ones were sitting in the middle, doors on the back opening up and letting a bunch of guys in armor file out. I heard something in the air from not too far away in the air, something that sounded like blades cutting through the air really fast. I quickly scanned the night sky and saw a bunch of giant airships flying over the city tops.

They hovered above the crowd of humans gathered in the middle of the street, and I saw a dozen of them drop ropes and rappel down, armed and ready to fight.

Then out of the alleyways, I saw the zombies stumble out into the open, and begin to zero in on the crowd of police officers.

"Shit," Dee cursed and pulled out his handgun. "They're starting to come out of the woodwork."

I didn't know about this, there were a whole bunch of those zombies now, not just a few! I could hear the loud pops and cracks of gunfire, and the zombies moaning filled the air. And it got louder and louder with each second that passed. It only made me even more nervous about this whole thing.

"Dee, what exactly is the plan here?" I didn't know what he had in mind for this, but I hoped it was a good plan.

He held up his gun and said, "We're gonna help them out."

I took a look at the growing number of zombies filling the streets and felt my heartrate spike as more and more poured out. So many gunshots and so few of these things were being taken down!

"How are we gonna do that? There're so many of them!" We couldn't fight them all, could we?

Dee didn't look like he was scared... he just stared ahead with this look in his eyes. My heart calmed down, but it started making me feel funny when I saw him stare ahead, face set in a determined gaze like a hardened pegasi knight. "I know how to kill those things."

Was all he said before rushing into the fray, and leaving me to stare at him.

What got into him?

I turned around and saw a bunch of zombies closing in, and beginning to close up the street, cutting off any route back the way we came. The only way was forward, where Dee ran off too. I could still see him charging into the fray, handgun pulled and ready for a fight.

I still felt my bones ache, my wings were sore, and I was exhausted.

Was I even ready for a fight?

I guess I'd find out.

Dee rushed on ahead and I kicked off the ground, galloping after him. These things might be all around us, but I had speed on my side to help me win. Plus I took martial arts back in Cloudsdale, so I was able to hold my own, I should be able to help out... somehow. It's time I stopped being so scared.

I had to fight if I wanted to get out of this.

I just gotta be like Commander Hurricane, I gotta fight to make it back home. I galloped after the human, eventually catching up to him as he ducked into a nearby alleyway away from the gunfire.

He crouched and held up his gun, checking behind him and out into the street. "Okay."

"So what, we're just gonna jump in and hope for the best?" I looked up at him and saw him adjust that dirty orange hat of his, turning it backwards.

"I'm going to take out as many as I can, and try to get them to retreat back to the police station." Dee zipped up his hoodie and took a couple of deep breathes. "Because what they're doing right now is only going to end horribly."

I looked back at the chaos unfolding in the street, at all of the armed police officers and their swelling ranks. "How? They look like they got this in the bag." Why would they need help? They had so many of those guns, some that fired faster than others!

Dee shattered that thought of mine pretty quickly, saying, "They don't know how to fight off the zombies. They're just shooting at them and hoping for the best, but the undead need more than just a storm of bullets thrown at them to take them down." He looked out into the street and stared for the longest time. "They're going to lose, and we gotta help them out."

"How do you know that?" I felt confusion beginning to creep up my spine as I saw his eyes dart from the street behind us to me.

"Err... t-the numbers don't look good," He wiped his forehead. "More monsters than there are cops right now..."

I turned and scanned the street for myself. I saw dozens of those police officers, frantically fighting against the monsters that continued to swell with each passing minute, pouring out of the buildings and the alleyways, and tanking every hit they were given like it was nothing. Fireballs exploded from their guns, blood covered the cars and ground, and they were being forced back.

He was right, there were so many of them, all of them hungering and ready to hurt anyone in their path. Dee wanted us to help them, and he probably could, he knew how to fight them, but myself? I could fight, but... I wasn't sure if I could actually kill.

"I... Dee, I don't know if I can do this." I admitted and felt the fear and shame well up in my stomach, bubbling up like a dormant volcano.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard Dee speak up. "I'm not sure if I can either, but we got to do what we can."

My body was shaking at the thought of actually fighting, I hadn't fought anything since the Pegasi Self Defense School back in Cloudsdale, when I was a filly. It had been a long time, and I only ever did it to protect myself, never actually hurt anyone.

"Dash, lemme put it this way." He turned me around to face him, and I was forced to look up into his eyes. "What if it was someone you cared about?" I froze, wings locking up at my sides. "What if it was your best friend or even family?"

"Rainbow, you're silly sometimes, you know that?" I heard Fluttershy's voice whisper into my ear... and that nightmare I had came flooding back to me, of her turned into one of those monsters.

"I..." My family crossed my vision and I felt panic begin to well up in my chest, my mom, my dad... turned into those things.

"I know we don't owe those guys over there anything, we could just run right now and never turn back." He continued, and I only began to feel more and more scared. "I won't blame you if you decide not to... but I can't just sit by if I know I can help somehow."

I focused again on his face; the determined fire burning in his eyes, the steely face of his, he was serious about doing this. "You're really gonna f-fight?"

"I gotta, I know the risks and I'm not dumb enough to think I'm not gonna get hurt... but I have to try, somehow." He let me go and stood up, and pulled back the slide on his handgun before stepping out, raising it. I watched him walk out of the alleyway and heard the gunfire coming from him, as he joined the impossible looking fight taking place in the street.

Heh.

I had read stories with my mom once, about how pegasi fought battles for the nearby cloud villages before the Great Tribal Unification. Sometimes they fought against impossible odds just to protect their families, their friends, even ponies they didn't know or liked. They just...

Fought for what they believed in.

I thought back to my home, where Fluttershy was, my parents.

I couldn't stop the shaky breath that escaped me, and I couldn't keep myself from trembling either. I was terrified right now and I hated it! I didn't want to feel scared! And here Dee was, going out even though he was scared!

I stared up into the sky and narrowed my eyes as a storm rolled in from the north, and I heard the distant clap of thunder...

Maybe it was time I stopped being scared.

I steeled myself and walked to the edge of the alleyway, and I saw Dee firing his gun, fighting against monsters for people he didn't even know. Then behind him, I saw one of those monsters shamble up behind him, slowly closing in and he didn't notice him, too busy fighting off others to keep an eye on his back!

My legs moved on their own and I rushed into the hailstorm of bullets and chaos, and closed in on Dee.

Just as he looked back towards me, and in time to see the zombie.

I had jumped up into the air and tackled the monster, and I hit him as hard as I could to send him stumbling back away from both of us.

He was sent flying farther than I thought.

He smashed into the side of a SWAT vehicle as I landed on all four of my hooves, and I whirled around to see Dee stare at me.

I saw a smile on his face, and he gave me a nod.

I returned it, and I joined him in the fight.

It was time I stopped letting my fear control me.

It was time I started fighting back.

ooo000---000ooo

As the battle in main street raged on, with bullets flying to and fro, the undead fell one by one thanks in part to the combined efforts of Dee and Dash, R.P.D., Swat, and the UBCS who repelled in. Throughout the city, the gunfight could be heard from blocks around by survivors and mutants alike, the latter of which swarmed to swell the numbers of their infected allies. The entirety of Raccoon was engulfed in chaos, firefights, and battles for survival, but none as vicious as the one taking place right now.

Raccoon City

Overhead, a helicopter flew into the city, a Chinook owned by none other than Umbrella Corporation. It carried a massive cylindrical pod underneath, held on by thick steel cables. It dangled and swayed from the intense winds as a storm brewed in the north, heading further south and sending thick clouds that rumbled with power. It didn't stop the Chinook by any means, as it flew ever onward.

As it reached a central point in the city, it descended for a bit before leveling out above a random street. Inside, the pilot hit the controls to release the pod, which snapped free from the cables and sailed downward towards the ground, before smashing into the street and creating a spiderweb effect in the concrete. Hermetically sealed bolts blasted off and pierced whatever was nearby, breaking windows, denting the side panels of cars, before the front of it fell forward and a veil of white mist descended onto the road.

The Chinook flew off, leaving behind the pod as the creature inside opened it's solitary eye and stepped out.

Heavy boot-falls sounded as it stepped out into the streets of Raccoon for the first time, and it immediately scanned the surrounding area. Once it deemed it was where it was supposed to be, it hefted up a massive weapon, a large rocket launcher far too big for human hands to wield effectively.

He started walking down the street, launcher loaded up and ready to fight. And in a guttural and inhuman voice... he uttered one thing.

"S.T.A.R.S..."

ooo000---000ooo

Main Street was afire with the sounds of gunfire and fighting. Fires broke out from grenades exploding and gas canisters going up from stray bullets as bodies fell left and right, both human and infected. But the more everyone fought the more the fight seemed to grow more desperate.

I knew that much.

Come on Dee, keep going! I told myself and open fired on the next zombie I saw, putting him down with a couple of well placed shots to the cranium. For every one of those damn things I killed, another four took its place and swelled their numbers, and my hopes of saving the group of officers began to falter. Thankfully the UBCS showed up, but even they were having trouble despite being armed to the teeth with military grade hardware.

"Get out of here!" I heard one of the officers yell at me, waving me off.

i had been yelled at to run constantly, but I didn't listen, I just kept fighting alongside them. "No can do buddy! I'm here to help!"

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" The same one yelled back at me.

"You guys are going to die if you don't get out of here, this is a losing battle!" I whirled around and shouted back at him as I saw Rainbow run behind the officer, slipping past him and dashing towards another one of the zombies. "You all need to get out of here and back to the station!"

He stormed towards me, but I didn't falter. "You are a civilian, you're interfering with a police operation!"

"Look around you, you idiot!" I gestured wildly to the desperate situation, the indefensible location, "You're out in the open and surrounded on all sides! You are all going to die here!" I yelled as loud as I could over the deafening gunfire, hoping that some of them would see that I was right.

The street was open, their only defenses being the vehicles that made up a shoddy fortification and surrounded them all and blocked off a few parts to hold back the seemingly never ending tide of undead. They were managing to adapt and kill the zombies, but there were more coming from all around, slipping in through the alleyways, down the road in thick droves. None of them would last long here, as per Chief Irons plan to wipe out most of the force for Umbrella.

I didn't have to change anything, I would gain nothing from this, but... something was telling me I could change this, that I had to try even if it meant I would fail.

"You have no defenses and these things are coming from all around the city! You have to retreat!" I all but screamed at him.

He glared at me, shotgun trembling in his hands as a few others took notice of our screaming match, those that could before having to turn back to the fighting. I could see it in the eyes of the men and women around, the nervousness in their eyes at the situation, this was beyond anything they were trained and prepared to do and Irons sent them to their deaths.

"Captain! We're running out of ammo and these things aren't stopping!" Someone shouted out, and it just dawned on me that I too, was running low on ammunition. I had a couple of magazines left for my handgun, and the two left for a gun I didn't even have.

I was about to say something, only to see the Captain's eyes go wide as something grabbed onto my shoulder.

They say time slows down when you're hopped up on adrenaline, that you see everything moving slower and your reaction time kind skyrockets.

When I felt something sharp sink into my neck, and felt the cold burn of blood rushing to escape, and heard the snarl of a zombie behind me...

Well, you can't believe everything you hear, right?

Panic set in and my handgun flew up, and I jammed it into the eye socket of the zombie behind me and pulled the trigger several times, blasting off messy chunks of brain and skull from the zombie as I fell back with it. I think I screamed, I didn't know.

Everything moved too fast for me to comprehend, the fiery lance of pain stabbed my neck and shoulder as my head began feeling light, and dizzy. I fell to my knees hard, clutching my neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I heard a ringing in my ears, felt bile bubble up in my throat as the realization sunk in.

I was infected.

Author's Note

Big thanks again for the ever so lovely P-Berry for proofing this :heart:

15 - First Aid

ooo000---000ooo

"Move move move!"

"Load up the wounded, let's get out of here!"

"Dee!"

They listened at fucking last. Now we were loading up into what vehicles that were left and getting the hell out of dodge.

Rainbow... I saw her rush over to me, dodging a few officers to make her way over. She ducked down to get up under my chest and help me stand up, which took a bit of effort on both of our parts. The growing sound of the moaning zombies surrounded us as Rainbow led me towards one of the SWAT vans. It was so far from the damn van, I didn't realize how far into the thick of it I was.

I made a mistake.

Through the dense horde, I heard gunfire on the other side of the massive crowd that had filled up main street, the dense crowd had grown beyond our control just like I had expected it to, and it seemed to force the other officers to finally realize this whole thing was a fucked up mission to begin with.

Several of the officers rushed from nearby, two of which helped me along with Rainbow.

"What the hell is that thing?" One of the SWAT officers questioned as Rainbow took a spot beside me.

My neck was bleeding badly and I could feel it staining my shirt every second that passed. Rainbow sat next to me, helping me stay up by offering me not only her shoulder, but her body to keep me from falling over during the drive. I swallowed hard and looked at her face, and she may have tried to hide it, but I could see the worry etched into her face.

"She's a friend..." I muttered, keeping a hand on my bleeding wound. No one said a word to me about it, but they kept a wary eye on both Dash and I... more so Dash than anything else.

When I took a look back at the massive and ever growing crowd of undead, I heard something in the distance... an explosion that had gone off and began a chain reaction that erupted from underneath the road, sending dozens of flailing bodies flying amidst flaming hellfire and concrete debris, killing hundreds in several massive explosions that rocked the street. Glass shattered, the road cracked and warped as bodies were engulfed in intense flame.

The moaning slowly began to cease as most of the horde was blown apart, incinerated down to atoms while others were turned into little more than piles of bones and meat, twisted and broken apart, flung into walls so hard their skulls cracked open and their bodies warped, trauma that would kill any normal man...

We stared before turning a corner, leaving behind a burning Main Street.

As we drove away from main street, heading back to the station, I couldn't help but feel like I had lost. I was bitten, which meant I was now infected by the very virus that my childhood self feared. Looking out of the door, which had been left open, I saw the other cop cars retreating alongside us, filled up with other officers and even some of the UBCS who joined to escape. I could also see the dozens of undead roaming around, giving chase.

It wouldn't be long untilI became one of them. and I didn't know what could be scarier than that.

The looks I was getting didn't help my nerves at all. How many knew the virus was transmitted through bites? It had been a good while since the infection began, someone had to have figured it out by now.

Rainbow stayed by my side the whole time, shaking, covered in blood and struggling to hang on as the swat van lumbered down the road and made sharp turns that almost threw us against the walls. I tried my best to stay calm... even if a part of me knew that I was done for.

ooo000---000ooo

It took maybe twenty minutes for us to navigate a safe path to the police station, as all of the roads were barricaded and blocked off in random locations that did more harm than good. But once we arrived, we pulled into the parking lot of the station and slowed to a stop, and I had to fight both my stomach and my willpower to not throw up everywhere. All the while the sensation that the virus was moving through my bloodstream like a parasite was not lost on me, I couldn't escape the feeling no matter how hard I tried.

Despite it all, I honestly couldn't believe that what I did earlier had actually worked out like I hoped. I got all of the officers to retreat before they were lost, alongside some UBCS mercenaries who decided to join the retreat. They may be packing better hardware, but even they couldn't hold out for very long against such a dense horde.

I laid back against the wall of the swat van as everyone filed out, some helping others and checking the parameter as Dash and I were left behind. They didn't know us, but they were probably wondering who we were, after all... maybe, I honestly had no idea what was going on in their heads aside from possibly Dash.

She's a bright blue horse who can fly, and has rainbow hair, how can you not wonder?

"You gonna be okay?" Dash had asked me as I tried climbing out of the van.

I had to keep my hand firmly planted on the bite mark on my neck as I clambered out of the vehicle, still a struggle even with Rainbow's help in getting me out and onto the ground. A less graceful landing if I ever had one. I looked down at the mare and I gave her the best smile I could manage, "Yeah. I'm just... hurting a bit, need to get this fixed up." Her face scrunched up and her eyes were zeroed in on the blood on my shirt. Her wings fidgeted and her tail flicked. "I swear, I'm fine."

I wasn't fine.

When I got my bearings I glanced around the parking garage of the police station, which was filled with a couple of cruisers and a few personal cars owned by members of the force. There were some boxes of equipment placed near some of the police vans that had been left behind, along with a few emptied guns and shell casings. And when I looked off to one side, I saw a few kids wandering over to glance inside at the officers who were spreading out.

I forgot the station had been used as a refuge for survivors.

"Where is Chief Irons?" One of the officers asked another remaining officer, probably one who stayed at the station to watch the refuges with his comrades.

"He's in his office," The one officer replied and looked to everyone of the surviving officers, alongside the UBCS soldiers who filed out and checked the area. "What in the hell happened?"

"We got our asses beaten, that's what." The captain grumbled and stormed off towards one of the doors. "I need to have a talk with the chief, get everyone back up to the lobby and make sure the station is secure." He ordered and left the parking garage as everyone filed out, slowly helping those who were hurt during the battle and getting them up to where the lobby was located.

I remained down in the garage with Rainbow as everyone went their separate ways. Only a few remained down below, some in small groups talking in hushed tones, while others wandered off.

I had to take a seat after a moment to catch my breath. My neck was pulsating, and the ache only grew the longer it went untreated. I needed to find a medical kit or something to fix it up, if I didn't it'd get infected worse than it already was. My mind filled with thoughts of the T-Virus flooding my body, and every second that vanished was another second the virus had to spread through me, slowly corrupting me cell by cell.

I could almost taste it.

Rainbow tugged on my jacket sleeve, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Dee, what's up?"

Well, I'm infected with the t-virus and I'm probably going to die before the city is blown to hell. I shivered as that realization didn't stop filling my mind, I was going to die. "I'm fine," I nodded and pulled my hand away—best as I could anyway, it stuck and when I pulled it stung. I grunted and looked down at the bloodied palm and grimaced.

Rainbow reared up and propped herself up on the bench I was sitting on, and she leaned in close to me. I froze for a moment and looked towards her, wondering what she was up to. I wasn't expecting her to get this close to me, let alone the gash in my neck. "Egh, that's gross."

"Well... yeah, I'd imagine." I felt the tickle of her breathing on it, and a slight sting... but it didn't bother me as much as I expected it would. "Fucker tore a chunk out of me... bound to look nasty."

"Well, let's go inside." She got off of the bench and gave a swish of her long tail before looking back up at me, and giving me a smile. Despite being covered in a minor amount of blood which stained her fluffy coat and her face, and mostly her hooves, she still managed to keep a smile. "See if we can't get you patched up...?"

It was better than sitting around in the garage, besides... I needed to find some things.

As Rainbow and I left the garage and navigated the hallways and stairs leading to the lobby, I couldn't stop the thought that entered my mind. I watched Rainbow's movements, watch how she looked at things, how she moved.

Rainbow might be getting used to this horrible shit, and I don't know if that was a good thing or not.

The Raccoon City Police Department was fairly clean and well kept despite the chaos that had been going on in the city, the windows were intact, the floors clean, and from what I could see, some classical and modern—by the nineties standards anyway—artwork that lined the walls and the tables that decorated the hallways. It was different from what might have regularly seen in a Police Department, which would usually be filled with equipment, bland walls, maybe a few paintings and awards alongside posters and plaques that promote of law and order.

The two of us found a few paintings of previous police chiefs mounted on the walls, along with a couple of walls dedicated to a few noteworthy police officers, and those who passed away. One was fairly recent from what I could see, one wall had been turned into a memorial for missing and deceased officers lost in the line of duty since the chaos started.

Dash and I found a few officers gazing at the wall, lost in thought or silently mourning.

We stayed silent and moved on down the next hallway, heading towards the lobby as gunfire erupted from outside. We paid it no mind, figuring the officers that had remained were holding off whatever undead had gathered around the station alongside ensuring what few refugees that were here stayed orderly.

"What happened here?" Rainbow was looking out of one of the windows, gazing down. I followed her gaze and saw we had made it up to the second floor, and down below I could see the remains of the refugee camp, which was a mess of parked cars and people desperately trying to figure out what to do. Off to the far right, behind a hastily blocked off gate, a dozen or so undead attempted to break it down through sheer numbers.

"Refugee camp." I told her and leaned against the wall, still holding my neck. "A lot of people flocked to the police department to find safety, but the whole city is in chaos right now." The officers down below tried their best to keep order, but I could see the fear in the eyes of all of those people. No one was trained to handle this kind of threat, what could they do except hold out in the hopes someone comes and helps them? "There's no telling how long this place will last."

Rainbow looked down at the mall long and hard before she turned to me, and asked, "Are we going to be safe here?"

"...I don't know." The words felt bitter leaving my mouth. I knew how this was going to end, even with the officers returningto the station and everyone having plenty of firepower, I didn't have high hopes that everyone would last much longer here. The city only had a few days left before it was nuked to hell and back.

Rainbow let out a heavy sigh and glanced back out into the camp below. "I want to go home."

"So do I, Dash, so do I." I was getting sick of this running around for my life, and bleeding out. I've been beaten up and down so many different times, I don't know how much more my body could take.

We moved on shortly after that, and continued through the station past empty offices and rooms on our way to the lobby, or wherever the hell it was we were going. First aid was the first thing on my mind, for the both of us to get. Rainbow was looking better physically, but she was still hurt in a lot of places, specially from the gunshot wound she suffered a while ago.

Eventually, we wound up on the second floor of the main lobby area, where the majority of people were loitering around, both civilian staff and police, alongside some of the SWAT and the few UBCS who followed us. There was little commotion, only the sound of guns being reloaded and whispers. The windows were unbarred, some of the doors were bashed down, and blood pooled on some of the floors, and from the looks of things... they had an outbreak inside the building, probably several from the looks of the empty shell casings and blood stains.

One thing of note was the computer a girl was looking through below, I didn't know what she could have been looking at, but it couldn't be very useful.

Maybe?

It was hard to focus, I felt dizzy the longer I had to stand.

Ignoring the pain as much as I could, I continued through the station in search of something to help us.

ooo000---000ooo

We wound up in the offices of the station, where papers were strewn about in a haste to find something. A few police officers were inside, mostly female ones looking over documents in the main office itself off to the side.

Dash and I wandered in, and that was when I couldn't move much further and had to sit down.

As I sat down, Dash looked up at me. "You gonna be okay?"

My breath was taken away and dizziness hit me, so I snagged one of the nearby office chairs and fell down into it with a sigh. "Just need a moment."

I pulled my hand away from the wound—wincing because of the sharp burning pain that immediately came, and I glared at the blood staining my palm. A light crimson hue, smelling heavily of iron, covering my whole palm, fingers, it made me queasy to look at.

Rainbow sat next to me and looked up at me, she looked pretty off put because of the blood, but she didn't look away. "You really need to get that patched up." She looked around, scanning the room we were in.

A hiss next to me, followed by a tsk. I looked up and spotted an officer walking over to me, a man of Asian descent carrying a small medical kit in his hand. "That's a nasty wound," He commented and set the case down on the desk next to me.

Rainbow sprang up from my otherside—his blind side, "And who're you?" I watched her expression morph as her eyes narrowed, and I swear I saw her tail feathers flick along with her bushy tail. Her wings as well loosened against her side, as if ready to spring out at a moment's notice.

The officer spotted her and he visibly recoiled as his hand flew to an empty holster. He stopped and took a breath, and asked me, "What the hell?"

I looked at Dash and a tiny smile made its way onto my face. "This is Rainbow, pegasus pony," I waved a hand towards her and turned my attention back to him. I could feel the stares from others in the room, they noticed now. Only time would tell if anyone did anything violent. "She's a friend of mine."

"I... pegasus?" He looked so distraught, his whole body looked tense and he practically reeked of nervousness. Seeing a colorful animal like her had to be unnerving. "She talk-?"

"She talks, aye," I cut him off and nodded towards that medical kit. Rude as it was, I was eager to stop this bleeding, maybe get something for the pain. "So uh..."

A shake of his head and he opened it up, "Err, right. Anyway, bite?"

As he began to give me aid, which he started by cleaning the wound, I felt the pain come back, alongside the realization that I was basically dead. This bite was going to be the end of me, and I knew it. "Yeah, got unlucky at Main Street, one of them took a chunk out of my neck..." It was still fresh on my mind, I couldn't get it out of my head. The feeling of teeth sinking into my flesh, the ripping sensation... it made my hairs stand on end. "Was too caught up in everything going on, I guess."

I felt like such an idiot for letting that happen, but there was nothing I could have done. I was too into the fight going on, and let my guard down.

"Well, you're not the only one." The officer reached into the kit and pulled out a few items. "A lot of folk here have gotten bitten or clawed by those damn things outside," He then picked up a bottle and a roll of bandages. "I don't have much, most I can do is clean and bandage it, don't think I can close it up... ran out of needles and thread."

"Better than nothing," I slowly took my shirt off my jacket and ripped up shirt, I bundled the bloodied shirt up and tossed it to the floor. My jacket I sat on the desk beside me and let him get a better look at the injury. "Fuck."

"Hold still, I'll do what I can but this is going to hurt."

He didn't lie...

it stung like a bitch.

I focused on the important things at hand while he fixed me up, the most important being...

Where do we go from here?

Author's Note

Big thanks to Clopficsinthecomments for looking this over for me and improving it.

Also thanks to B_25 for looking over the story itself and giving me some advice on how to improve it.

Also yeah, an update, shocking ain't it?

16 - New Threads

ooo000---000ooo

After getting patched up by the officer, I felt a little bit better, especially after he pulled out one of those First Aid spray cans that Resident Evil was known for having to heal wounds. The pain was alleviated after a few minutes and I could move around again. Rainbow was relieved to see me up again.

After resting for a little bit longer, I stood up and began wandering around the station with Rainbow by my side, who had some new bandages on her wounds. She was looking better as a result, especially after the last of the first aid spray was used on her gunshot wound. She visibly improved and was moving around a lot better. It's amazing what a lot of pain can do to a person.

Right now, I needed to find some new clothing.

My shirt had been ruined by the blood, rips and tears, and all I had to cover my upper body was my jacket. My pants were in decent enough shape, but the stress of fighting so many battles had begun to wear and tear at them until rips and tears appeared around the shins and knees.

I doubt anyone here would care if I snagged some spare clothing from the equipment room, wherever the hell it was.

"I told you to hold the line!" A yell reached my ears, prompting me to halt in the hallway.

Who was that?

"What's up?" Rainbow asked me.

"Sir, with all due respect, we would have died out there." I heard the captain's voice argue. "Main Street was completely overrun by those damn things, and I lost several good men because of this!"

I peeked out beyond the wall and saw the Police Chief's office, which was wide open and inside, Irons and the Captain were speaking.

"It doesn't matter!" I heard Irons yell. "I gave you a direct order, one you clearly disobeyed." Outside of the office, I saw a few other officers standing outside, listening in. "You were to fortify and hold Main Street!"

"There were too many openings!" The Captain slammed his fist on the table, "The alleyways, the streets, the buildings, there was no way we were going to hold out there let alone survive! I had no choice but to retreat back here."

I crouched down to make my profile less known, and listened to the two argue back and forth. He must have been banking on the hope that everyone would get killed, that was his plan to begin with. I glanced down at the handgun on my belt. Didn't expect an outside force to make them all see reason, so now how is that going to affect everything?

"He's mad." Rainbow muttered next to me, having leaned up and over me to peek out herself. I wasn't expecting her to get so close, let along climb on my back and over my head. "Real mad."

I wasn't complaining though.

"Get out of my office, Captain... you're dismissed." Irons grumbled and the captain left, but not without slamming the door behind him and storming down the hall with the other officers who followed him.

The hall now emptied, I saw the door to Irons' office open and swing back open slowly. Inside, I saw the chief himself pouring a rather generous serving of some kind of booze before downing it. The man looked worse for ware, his hair was ragged, his clothing was ill-kept, and his eyes were wide and wild.

No surprise, considering the current situation, but everyone else seemed to be handling it with varying levels of success. Irons looked ready to break... or was already broken.

Not wanting to get caught, I backed away and continued my search for some new threads.

"Why was he so angry?" Rainbow questioned, causing me to pause slightly. "A lot of people managed to survive, isn't that a good thing?"

You'd think. I looked ahead of us. Outside a thunderstorm brewed. Thunder rumbled across the skies, and lightning lit up the windows. "Holding Main Street wasn't a good idea, too many openings, too many blindspots, and more undead than there were officers. The whole idea was suicidal, and Irons should have known better." I turned to Rainbow and saw her perked up ears, and her eyes focused on me. "There were more disadvantages then advantages, and holding it would have completely drained law enforcement of resources they could be using elsewhere, like the station."

"Really?" Rainbow tilted her head and looked down, lips quirked out to one side.

"The police station is a defensive position, thick walls, iron wrought gates, on top of having what I hope is a fully stocked armory." Maybe I could find something in the armory?

"Are we going to stay here and wait for help?" Rainbow sounded curious. I saw her expression turn to a grimace at the question, was she not happy about the idea?

I wasn't happy about it either. The station — while it could be easily defended, it wasn't a place I wanted to stay long, especially considering we only had five days to get out of here before it was destroyed. "Probably not, no... we'd be better off trying to find a way out of this damn place. You saw Irons, the guy from earlier? He's the police chief here, he's just about lost it."

"Can't we help out?"

"Not him... no." I wasn't ready to tell her why that was... not yet, I was hoping we could get out of here before that happened. "Our best bet is to get out when we're properly rested and geared up... well, geared up in my case, you can hold your own pretty well in a fight." I couldn't help but praise. I saw her fighting off the undead pretty well on her own.

i saw her face light up and she puffed out her chest, and smiled. "Well, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I took martial arts back in my hometown!" She chuckled, and gave a cursory look at her damaged wing, which was starting to look a bit better. "If I was able to fly, I could do a lot more damage."

Being a pony had its perks, I could only imagine what she would be able to do once she had the ability to fly again. And from the looks of her wings, she was slowly getting there.

The mare yawned after a moment and ruffled her wing and tail feathers. A shake of her head, and she sniffled, "Man, I'm beat." She looked a little relaxed now, maybe the healing factor of the spray was helping her out.

I shared her sentiment, I was starting to feel exhaustion creeping up on me as well. I had lost track of time during the whole escape from the hospital and the fight with the horde at Main Street. I could feel the burning in my legs. Sleepiness crept up in my mind shortly after, and it was then I figured we should probably sleep and rest if we were going to make any further attempts to escape.

"We should probably get some sleep." I told her and maneuvered towards one of the rooms we passed by.

I opened the door cautiously and peered inside, and saw it was an office of sorts, abandoned, and it seemed someone had rooted through it recently, as papers were tossed everywhere and one of the tables turned over, books thrown aside. Someone was looking for something in here, but what? Well, it didn't matter much to me, I wasn't here to solve a mystery.

I walked inside with Dash behind me and I closed the door behind us, throwing the lock on and letting out a tiny sigh as I took off my jacket. I sat down on the floor and against the wall.

Rainbow sat next to me, and it was again I noticed we were at eye level when sitting down.

The room we were in had a decent enough light so I could make out her face a lot better than I would have been able to before. And I think she said something, but I found myself getting lost in her face.

Rainbow's eyes were sharp, focused despite being exhausted from what happened today. The light from the lamp bounced off of her bright magenta irises, and accentuated the colorful lighter blue surrounding her eye, as well as the sharp pink lines behind her eyes. Under her chin and going down to her chest, and to her belly, with separate rings around her fetlocks, the same lighter blue fur color around her eyes added this pretty contrast to her normal cyan fur. Her wings were large and fluffy, full of this soft plumage that was a mixture of soft blues and purples that grew darker the further they went down to her feather tips.

She was relaxed and against the wall, and a soft smile touched her lips as we made eye contact.

Fuck, she's pretty.

I blinked when Rainbow's expression grew more visibly concerned, her lips moved and i finally heard, "-u alright?"

"Huh?" I blinked again and rubbed my head.

She shook her head and a light snicker left her. "You were staring at me for a bit dude, you okay?"

"U-uh, yeah." Fuck, was I staring? I wasn't, clearly she was delusional. "Just uh..."

"Being mesmerized by my awesomeness?" A smirk tugged at her lips and she sat up a bit taller, though not by much and puffed out her chest fluff a little.

I wasn't sure what the hell I was feeling right now, but mesmerized wasn't too far from what she was saying. Instead I smiled and poked her snoot with my finger. "You are pretty awesome." I winked.

Her face lit up and she laughed a little. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned against the wall next to me, still smiling and looking at me. "You know..."

I got comfortable and rested my back against the wall as I kept my eyes on her. "Hmm?"

Her head bobbed up and down, and she said, "You're alright... for a weird monkey guy."

I responded with a roll of my eyes and lightly punched her in the shoulder. "Human, for future reference. But yeah, you're alright yourself... for a midget horse."

She blinked and blew a raspberry before punching me back. I just snickered and she joined in right after with her own scratchy giggles. I could see the smile on her face, and it only made mine grow further. I wasn't expecting to feel this good during our escapades through Raccoon City, but it made me think that even in hard times like this, you can still find a precious moment to enjoy life and the company of a friend.

We settled into the room fairly easily. The light dimmed, and the storm outside only grew worse as time went on. I wasn't too worried about anything from it, but from the station itself? I was worried about what would happen while we were out.

I only had so much ammunition left for my pistol.

I wasn't able to sleep though, despite laying on the floor for a good few minutes. Rainbow nudged me back out of my stupor, and brought my attention to her.

I shot her a curious look and she just laid down next to me. "Sleeping on the floor is rough, dude, you sure you're cool with that?"

"I uh... I'm used to it." I chuckled and looked away for a brief moment. "i grew up sleeping on the floor back home in Arkansas, never had a bed, so..."

When I turned back towards her, she shook her head and moved up against me. Her good wing opened up, and despite there being a hint of pink to her cheeks, she nodded towards herself. "The floor's hard dude..."

My mouth moved to form a word, but I wasn't sure what to say.

She spoke before I could. "Just... don't tell anyone, okay?" She adopted a stern face, though it was ruined by one cheek being puffed out. "I still have a reputation as being super cool, ya know."

I couldn't help but chuckle a little and shrugged before laying down next to her. She moved her head and craned her neck up under mine, allowing me to lay on her in a rather comfortable if awkward position on the floor.

This was one of the few times I've been in physical contact with her. At least this time we weren't running for our lives, nor was I forced to carry her body somewhere because she blacked out, or was unable to move.

I liked it.

Needless to say, I managed to fall asleep fairly quickly, despite the worry about my bite.

It was nice knowing I had her next to me.

Almost like a dream come true...

ooo000---000ooo

When I woke up, I saw Rainbow had gone missing.

Naturally I grew concerned and wondered where she ran off to. Considering where we were, I didn't think it was prudent to split up, let alone without letting me know where she was going.

So I was in a panic, at least until I found a note she had hastily scribbled.

'Hey, in case you wake up before I get back, I needed to find the little filly's room real quick, a girl's got needs you know! I'll be back shortly!'

Huh, guess that answers... that question, they do go to the bathroom.

I relaxed, as much as I could given the circumstances of where we were. Instead I focused on my previous mission when we arrived here and I got fixed up.

I needed new clothes.

I got up and left the room. The hall was devoid of anyone, and I couldn't hear anything except for the AC system that kept air continuously moving throughout the building. To my left, the hall we came from which led back to the lobby and Irons' office, and to my right I spotted a directory which drew my attention.

After giving it a look over, I had a better idea of where everything was.

Specifically the station's armory.

I turned and began making my way there. I also did my best to ignore the burning pain in my shoulder and neck, the bite was still bothering me and only caused my concern to grow. How much time did I have before I turned? I wasn't sure what kind of rules I was being forced to operate under, but so far I was feeling fine and it was a new day.

Which also meant we only had four days left until Raccoon City was destroyed.

I hurried my pace along and scoped out the halls leading to the armory. I half hoped there would be something still left inside of there, alongside some clothing, or maybe even armor, some kind of gear. A lot of officers were probably killed before they could come in and get their equipment, or most of it was spread out amongst the survivors. Knowing Irons, he probably hid most of it with that stupid plan of his to try and confuse the people inside the station, and make fighting the undead harder.

We had more people now, the plan changed and not only did Swat and a good chunk of the force survive, but also a few UBCS teams were here as well.

Which meant Irons was outnumbered and wouldn't be able to effectively carry out his plan.

I made my way downstairs and down a hallway, one littered with papers and garbage. The walls looked shot up, like a firefight had gone down inside the building. I had no idea how long ago.

The door to the Armory was unguarded, with only a single camera above the door that hung uselessly by a few wires. Guess it was broken, but I doubt anyone was really keeping watch on the cameras. So I wasn't too nervous about being found out. I needed to scope out some gear, and with everything going on, I could probably snag some stuf-

"Going somewhere?"

I whirled around towards the voice, and spotted the Captain that I had spoken too last night, during the main street fight. He stood with his arms crossed, eyes zeroed in on me.

"Uh... y-yeah." I straightened up a little, which caused my duty belt to jostle slightly.

His eyes flicked down to my waist, and he said, "Where'd you get that?"

I briefly wondered if I should lie, say I got it from a pawn shop or something. But... I sighed. "I found a dead officer a while ago, had a gun and belt on him... looting's a bad thing to do, and against the law, I know, but during this kind of situation, and considering what he had saved my friend and I's life." I tapped the belt. "I owe that guy a debt I can't ever repay."

The captain never broke eye contact from me, but he did start walking towards me. My nerves only got worse, and I was half scared he was going to arrest me or something. I was surprised when he brushed by me and opened the door to the armory, and beckoned me inside.

I couldn't help myself and followed him.

Once we were inside, I got to see the insides of the armory. The walls used to be lined with several police issue rifles and shotguns, sub-machine guns and a dozen or so handguns and revolvers, but now it was devoid of most firearms save a few stray ones that looked to have been broken or stripped for parts. Boxes of varied ammunition was in small stacks off to the side, sitting above larger boxes that carried powerful higher caliber rounds for the bigger guns. Some body armor was also sitting off to the side, swat armor, and so on alongside emptied magazines. Just about everything you'd expect to be in an armory.

The Captain crossed his arms and was silent for a time. I grew worried about why he brought me in here, but it did give me a chance to scope out what all was inside the armory.

Despite the constant fighting going on around the city, it seemed they had a rather decent stockpile of ammunition and weapons lying around. At least for the time being. How long would these supplies last with the current infection growing out of anyone's control?

"Chief Irons has lost his mind." The captain muttered as he took a seat in one of the fold out chairs nearby. "I don't know what is going on inside his head right now, but he's lost it." He shook his head and looked down at his hand. "I heard nothing but good things about Irons when I joined the force, but now... with this outbreak, he's delusional with his plans, and short tempered."

I wasn't expecting this.

"I... yeah, I overheard the argument you two had last night..." I cautiously leaned against the wall. "Getting out of main street was a good idea, now ya'll can worry about evacuating what survivors there are somewhere else."

"We could evacuate them from here," The captain began, and pointed to the roof. "We have a chopper, we had two but the first one was destroyed in the mountains, some kind of incident... but with what's going on now, I think I have an idea why the chopper never came back." A scoff. "Flight complication my ass..."

"So wait," They did have another chopper! Maybe we could get out of here safe and sound after all! "Why not take the chopper and evacuate the survivors from here? It'd only take a dozen or so trips, maybe less if we put as many as we could onto the damn thing." If we could get that thing running...

"Irons won't permit it." The captain told me with a bitter tone, and my hopes fell. "We have to save the fuel we have for another 'operation' he's trying to plan right now."

I curled my fingers tight against my palm. "Damn it, we're so close to getting out of this damn city." So close for a lot of people, including Rainbow... It annoyed me that we were so close.

I was too eager to speak, as the captain said something that gave me hope. "I plan on changing that, but I may need your help... you and your friend." The captain leaned back in his chair and gave me the most serious look I'd ever seen on a man before. "Chief Irons is no longer suitable to lead the department... and I have to make sure he's stopped before he does something irrational and dangerous to my officers." He then looked around the armory, and I followed his gaze. "If it wasn't for you and your friend, we probably would have died on main street."

He then turned back to look at me and stood up, before he made his way to the door.

"Take whatever it is you can find from the armory, because if things go as sour as I think they will... we might need the firepower." He then opened the door and exited the room.

The door swung shut with a dull clack, and I was left alone in the armory.

I turned and faced what few armaments were at my disposal, and wondered if I had made a mistake.

I decided instead to focus on getting armed up. Because from the sound of things, the captain planned on starting a coup.

A few minutes passed as I went around and looked at what little the armory had to offer, which was a couple of things. I still had the browning in my duty belt, and a few magazines for it. I didn't find any more for it in the armory, unfortunately. But I was able to find a Beretta on the wall, probably the last one in the whole armory. I picked it up alongside a spare shoulder holster, which I sat to the side on a table nearby alongside my other gun.

Maybe it was time I took stock of what I had for the escape, just in case.

After some more searching, I discovered a shotgun on the wall. I plucked it down from the wall and gave the hefty gun a look over. The wooden furniture and the length of it gave me some ideas, and a further look told me it was an Remington 870, a decent enough shotgun to have in a situation like this. Crowd control would help me out in this situation. And luckily enough, I found a couple of shotgun shells in a box nearby. The shotgun even had a strap on it, which meant easy enough carry for me in case I needed to switch out for a backup.

I sat it to the side with my handguns and other stuff.

I took a look at the armor on the wall next, and the spare uniforms that were displayed on the table. Neatly folded duty shirts and pants, shoes even, most too big for someone of my size. The armor looked used as well, torn from claw markings, some even had bullet holes in them from high powered rounds.

A lot of it was useless.

Though out of the corner of my eye, I saw a locker was left open. I found myself drawn to it, and I decided to check it out. "Hmm... wonder what's in here."

I opened the door to the locker and peered inside.

I found something that brought back memories of the older days of playing Resident Evil. Inside of the locker I discovered a very familiar uniform with padded armor on top of it. The uniform was charcoal in color, a nicer color than the blue I was used to, with the armor on the chest and shoulders being a darker shade. It looked brand new, as if it was in here for a new officer that was going to join the force. A curious look on the outside didn't show a name attached to the locker, so I decided on taking the uniform out and giving it a look.

I checked the tags, and saw it was a medium, which was a perfect fit for someone my size.

After I made sure no one was going to come inside, I decided to strip down and wear it.

The shirt fit like a glove around my upper body — though it was a bit tight around my gut, the pants slid on comfortably and the pockets were easily accessible, and the boots easily replaced my beaten up tennis shoes by being sturdy and comfortable. After making sure everything was on tight and firmly in place, and it looked nice.

I looked up and into the mirror that the room had.

I couldn't stop the smile that grew on my face.

I never thought I'd find myself wearing this uniform, let alone standing in the very place where my journey into undead obsession began, yet, here I was.

I stared into the mirror in the locker room of the Raccoon City Police Department's cleaned out armory, where I had found a set of the R.P.D. armor and uniform in one of the lockers. The armor was something both Kevin and Leon wore when they were on duty, and it varied depending on the time the games were made, with different iterations of the same special armor design, one being black and the other blue respectively.

The armor fit me pretty well, a lot better then I had expected it to when I decided to throw it on, if only to see how it fit. I was too curious and it was in a locker with no name on it, so I assumed it was a brand new one, if only from the smell and feel of it alone. The uniform was around my size, and the armor was heavy but I liked how it fit on my body. It felt snug, wrapped around me just right, and I felt something... good, while wearing it.

A sense of pride, a sense of duty. It felt right somehow, wearing this uniform. I had cleaned myself up a tiny bit, so I wasn't as bloody or injured as before — luckily there was a small rag nearby for me to use. I looked like a pretty clean cut officer of the city, what with my handguns strapped to my belt and the shotgun lashed around my back.

I straightened it up the best I could, which included tucking the shirt into my belt and smoothing out wrinkles in the shirt and such. Call me OCD but eh, I wanted to look nice.

"Wow."

I whipped around to the sound of the voice and saw Rainbow standing in the doorway, her body still covered in the new bandages I got for her. Her pretty eyes looked me over, inspecting every detail of me from head to toe in what I could only guess was fascination? Curiosity, maybe? I wasn't sure, but it was enough to cause slight embarrassment to course through me.

I had completely zoned out and didn't expect her to pop up, let alone look at me like she was.

"H-huh?" I swallowed hard.

Her eyes roamed over the uniform I was wearing, going from my boots and slowly up to my face, and I couldn't help but stare right back at her until our eyes met and she moved into the room. I had never worn so many clothes in my life and yet I felt so naked as she looked me over, it made me feel so weird.

"That uh..." She gestured towards me as she entered the room in a slow walk, her eyes going back to dancing across the armor I wore. "That's a pretty cool looking uniform," She had the smallest of smiles on her face and there was something about her eyes that lit up when we locked eyes again. "Fits you pretty nicely."

I turned and looked back at the mirror for a moment as Rainbow stood next to me, admiring it as I was. I had to sit down after a moment, my leg was killing me after City Hall. "Heh, yeah... found it in one of the lockers and figured it'd suit me pretty well for defense, plus my other clothing was ruined so I needed something else."

I honestly liked how it looked on me, and with how my other clothing had been ripped to shreds by everything I came across. The undead, the Lickers... It was a good thing we made our way to the station when we did after Kendo's.

"I like it..." I felt Rainbow's hoof on my shoulder, drawing my attention back to her. I saw her run it down the sleeve, smoothing out some creases I had missed from earlier. It lingered for a moment on the patch for the police force, and I looked back up at her face. It was only then I realized how close she was to me, our bodies nearly touched. "It uh... it looks pretty cool on you, dude."

With the mare this close to me, and hearing her say that caused my heart to swell a little and I smiled. "You think so?"

Now that I thought about it, it had been a while since we had a proper conversation, at least one that wasn't in a place where the threat of death loomed around the corner.

Rainbow nodded her head and leaned back a little. "Yeah, you look super cool!"

I rubbed the back of my head and shook my head. "Ahh stop, you're making me blush."

"Just being honest~" The mare nudged me and kept that cute smile of hers going, and said, "You look good, dude..." After a moment I felt my face heat up again, and then she said, "B-but I mean that like... ya know," She held up her hooves and waved them around, "Like you look cool and stuff! I'm not saying you're like... hot or anything."

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that... but I'd have been lying if I said I didn't like that.

"Well, thanks, Dash." I turned back to the mirror and focused on myself for a moment as I put my jacket and hat back on.

I looked pretty damn good.

Author's Note

Another update, going slow with this and it's mostly because of exhaustion and a convention coming up next week.

Hope you enjoyed this week's chapter, and stay tuned! :heart:

17 - Faded and Broken

ooo000---000ooo

Walking out as strapped as strapped as I was, seemed enough to get my nerves to act up. I had a pump shotgun on my back and two handguns, my knife, and a pony by my side. I mean, she's not really a weapon but she's got some hella power in those legs of hers. But regardless, heading out made me nervous; the Captain didn't seem to care much, but the other officers I wasn't sure about.

Unless they were in on what the captain had planned for the day, that is.

A coup was probably about to happen, and Rainbow and I were gonna have to fight... depending on how it played out.

If it does go as he says, and the majority are on our side... then irons is gonna be outnumbered and outgunned. I grew confident as Rainbow and I walked down the hall. I was strapped as it was, and while there might have been maybe one or two on Irons' side, there were hopefully more people on our side who wanted to get out of this damn place.

Just as I thought about that, the bite I had completely forgotten about suddenly flared up, the sickly burning sensation reminding me of the time limit I found myself with. I don't know how much time I had left but I could feel it just about... the virus was slowly taking over my body, killing cell after cell. I guess I wasn't paying any attention to it before, I had forgotten that I was infected. Now I was starting to feel sick; my stomach churned and my limbs ached, and the bite mark.

It burned.

And with that burn came a lot of itchiness and irritation.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to not start scratching or picking at it.

"How's your bite?" Rainbow's sudden question brought me back.

"Honestly?" I gently placed a hand on the bandage wrapped around my neck and shoulders. It felt warm even though I wasn't touching the bare skin. "It feels like shit, burns and itches like a bitch." I glanced down at her and saw her lips drop into a frown, and a look crossed her eyes.

I'm honestly glad she doesn't know about how the infection works... seeing her worry like that was enough to get my nerves bundled up into a mess.

We kept moving before reaching the lobby where the majority of people seemed to be gathered; police officers, SWAT, and what few of the Umbrella mercs that survived the fight. I saw a few civilians around, huddled up in their own little circles away from the windows, which had shutters dropped down, probably a security measure.

One I hoped would hold out for the time being.

I saw the captain down below. He had gathered a small posse of officers, all of them armed with pistols and a couple with shotguns, and he appeared to be going around and speaking with several others. He glanced up and we locked eyes for a brief moment, an unspoken conversation drifted between us.

"Be ready." His eyes told me.

The coup was probably going to happen soon, I had no idea when but we didn't have much time left... we needed to move and fast. I had no idea how it would turn out, but best to have a plan in place in case things did go sour.

"Hey, Rainbow... we need to have a little talk about something real quick."

I felt her eyes turn to me. "What about?"

I beckoned her to follow me away from any prying ears, and when we reached the far corner, I knelt down and took off my cap for a moment. Rainbow sat next to me and tilted her head, kind of like a curious puppy and listened. "Something serious is about to go down, involving Irons and everyone else in this building."

"Like... what?" She narrowed her eyes and turned to look down into the lobby.

I followed her eyes and saw a group of people moving around, talking in hushed tones. All of them were probably trying to figure out what to do next, little did they know how much time the city had left before...

"The captain down there... he's planning on ousting Irons and taking over," I explained slowly and turned my attention back to her. Rainbow's head turned so fast I almost heard a pop. "I don't know when, it's probably going to go down today... and odds are we're going to get dragged into it whether or not we like it."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow didn't look particularly happy about that.

I didn't blame her.

"We're gonna have to fight, Rainbow." I held up my handgun; the Beretta. "Irons has gotten people killed, and he has to go..."

"Y-you want us to fight other pon-I mean... other people?" She looked down at the group of people in the lobby again, and began to shake. Why?!"

I sighed and placed a hand on her back, above her wings. As I did, I could feel the sweat began to form on my brow, it was really hot all of a sudden. "Because Irons wants everyone dead," I thought about Irons and his plans, to kill every soul in the station to keep the truth of Raccoon City from getting out. I couldn't keep my body from trembling.

I had Dash's attention now, fully. "Wait, what? What?!" She gawked at me, looking at me like I was talking crazy. "Why would he do that? I g-get he's being a jerk bu-"

"He doesn't want the truth of what's going on in the city to get out," I could feel the burning getting worse in my shoulder. I didn't feel quite right, but I didn't focus on that, instead I continued, "This whole outbreak... it's being kept a secret from the outside wo-world-"

"D-Dee." She looked ready to say something, but I didn't stop.

"Irons wants to kill everyone in here, b-because Umbrella... they're paying him to silence any survivors he comes across, which means all of us."

Rainbow's eyes were wide in shock. At least I think it was, could have been anything truthfully, I wasn't able to see her face properly, my vision was blurry as hell from the headache and dizziness. "Wait, how do you know this?!" She asked me.

How did I know what? I shook my head, she was asking stupid questions! I kept my hand from scratching the burning on my shoulder, and just kept explaining. "L-look, that doesn't matter! W-we just need to kill Irons, o-okay?" He held up my pistol and pointed it to the side. Rainbow recoiled. "If he's left alive, we're all going to die here like rats!"

I was resolute and unwavering in my plan. I just had to get the captain and his people together, and we'd storm Irons' office and oust him, and if it came down to it, I'd kill him right then and there!

No... no, he has to die, no talking!

"D-Dee, come on." Rainbow tugged on my arm. "Y-you're acting really weird."

"He ha-has to die... die now."

Yes, yes he had to die! Irons has to die now!

Before I knew it, I was standing and Rainbow was leading me away from the lobby.

She was helping me? Finally, she understood! Yes, she understands why this has to happen!

Rainbow gets it!

The halls around me were long and tiring, my legs hurt. And the paintings were all staring at me, their beady black eyes followed me wherever I went, neverending stares. I felt dizzier the more I stood up, and hungry, really hungry.

Before long we entered a room and Rainbow closed the door.

She pushed me into the middle of the room, and finally spoke again. “Dee, what’s wrong with you!?”

I blinked and focused on her, as best as I could anyway. “Wrong?” What was wrong with me?

“You’re acting like a bucking lunatic!” Rainbow stomped her hoof against the floor. “Why are you so focused on killing him? We should try to get out of here, not try and kill people!” She reared up, and her hooves were on my stomach to brace herself as she stared into my eyes.

“No!” I shook her off, forcing her back. I yanked out my shotgun, I had to kill. “He has to die! Or we die!”

“How do you even know that?!” Rainbow hissed. I felt hotter the more I was standing up, and it only told me that the more time I wasted, the more time Irons had to follow through with his plans!

I growled and tried to move past her, but she held strong and kept me from moving.

She pushed back against me.

“Move!”

“I’m not moving until you explain!”

I felt the sting of something across my face; Rainbow used her wing to slap me!

My arm moved before I could, and connected with her face.

Rainbow fell back onto the floor, holding her bloodied snout with a yelp.

I stomped past her, ripping open the door and storming into the hall as fast as I could. I couldn’t let her stop me!

I was desperate.

Irons had to die!

“Gods damn you, you stupid human!” Rainbow screamed. A glance back, and she was standing in the hall, blood running from her nose and covering her lips. “F-Fuck you! You’re just as bad as they are!”

Dumbass horse.

I kept going, storming through the halls and ready to fight...

ooo000---000ooo

There is no escape ...

ooo000---000ooo

Moments later, I arrived at Irons’ office, and the door was wide open.

I didn’t let a second go to waste before I stormed inside, shotgun aimed at the desk and where Irons would be.

But he wasn’t there, in fact, the office was completely empty.

I started to look around the office; looking for any sign of him, seeing if he was hiding! The place was empty, he wasn't here, he must have left!

Damn him! I’ll find the fucker soon enough!

The lights above went out, and outside I heard a thunderstorm brewing. Rain pelted the windows in the hall, and it occured to me the storm must have tripped the breaker. Being in the darkness like this only increased how much I was getting stressed.

I was getting sick of this shit.

I heard another thump, muffled from the outside. Another one sounded, and another, another… then I heard the screams both outside and inside.

“They’re inside!”

They’re inside.

That must have meant.

I swiftly turned and bolted out of the room. Irons must have let them inside! Too many people to kill off one by one, so he went for the only other option.

He had to have, the bastard!

Shotgun in hand, I made it back to the lobby just in time to be overwhelmed by the sound of gunfire and blood curdling screams.

The lobby was a scene of pure fucking chaos. I began to sweat as I watched as dozens of police officers and civilians were pushed back by a literal tidal wave of undead who flooded in from the front doors. Someone fucking opened the door!

Beyond that, the front gate was wide open, allowing even more of them to stream inside. I shivered and cursed.

Someone let them inside.

“Everyone move to the second floor!” Screamed someone, and I realized it was the captain I had met a while ago. He was near the ladder and helping up anyone he could. “Get a move on, now! Move!”

My eyes danced across the hundreds of bodies writhing down below, every man, woman and child who had been brought here was being slaughtered mercilessly, and those who tried to fight back were brought down.

A few managed to make it to the ladders, but people were moving too slow, especially the elderly and the sick, and children.

I aimed my shotgun at the closest undead, and fired.

The kick of the shotgun was manageable, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. I kept firing anyway at every damn monster I had in my sights.

All of them were inside because of him!

“Move it people! Move!” The captain bellowed, and fired into the crowd himself.

I even saw some of the Umbrella mercs helping out, but it didn’t take long before they were brought down, especially once the hounds made their way inside. The mutant dogs were swift to maul anyone who wasn’t fast enough.

Damn it all to hell!

I had to find Irons, and stop that bastard before he did anything else to hurt these people!

I turned on my heel and bolted away from the lobby as the screams behind me turned to bloodthirsty growls and snarls.

“Irons!” I bellowed and started busting down doors to rooms. I had to find that bastard before it was too late! “Where are you?!”

Whispers… I heard fucking whispers in the air, and I felt a dozen eyes upon me.

“Everywhere and nowhere.”

I heard, and pumped a fresh shell into my shotty before heading down the darkened hall again.

No lights guided me on this dark path of mine, no sounds could be heard except for those that grew more and more muffled the deeper into the station I went.

“I’m going to kill all of them, and then I’ll be rich!” I heard Irons’ voice chuckle. “They’ll never find out about Raccoon City!”

All of this pain and suffering, all of these people were dying because that bastard was being paid money. He would never even get to use any of it, because he was going to die, whether by my own hand or by the mutant claws of Birkin.

I’ll be sure to put some holes in him before Birkin even gets here!

Ahead of me, someone came winding around the corner; an officer wearing a black uniform and staring straight at me.

“You,” he muttered, and held up his flashlight. “You must be the one who brought everyone here…”

“What of it?!” I grumbled out. I had to fin-

A sudden boom and an impact against my chest knocked me back onto the ground. I yelled out as I slammed into the ground.

“We would have been rich if you hadn’t gotten in the way!”

The fucker shot me!

I scurried back as he closed in on me, and luckily I was able to draw my sidearm before aiming, and I returned fire. He ducked behind the wall at the last second, the fucker! I clambered back to my feet and grabbed my shotgun again, and aimed at the wall before letting off another shot.

“You motherfucker!” Boom went the shotgun, blasting off part of the wall. “I’ll kill you!”

“I found the target, he’s on the second floor!”

Another blast as I rounded the corner, and I saw him running down the hall.

“Die!” I shot at him again, and nicked him in the leg causing him to trip and fall forward.

The bastard yelled out and hit the floor hard, and his gun and flashlight went flying forward as well. I closed in on him, shotgun leveled in his direction as he scrambled for his gun.

Another pump and pull of the trigger, and the shotgun blast impacted the back of his shirt and armor, shredding his fucking skin and knocking the air out of him.

I stepped over and past him before retrieving his handgun and the flashlight. I looked at my chest where he had fired, and saw the bullet had hit the vest head on, but got stuck.

Luck of the draw.

I turned back towards the officer I had downed, and he was struggling to get up. I spat, and made my way over to him before using my foot to turn him over.

Aiming my handgun at him, I stared into his eyes.

“Where the fuck is Irons.” I didn’t ask, I was demanding to fucking know.

The cop coughed up blood, and glared at me. “I’m n-not telling you sh-shit!”

I could hear growling from down the hall, and that told me the damned monsters had found a way up here.

Rainbow.

The name crossed my mind, and I felt angry before backing up.

“Have fun being someone else’s meal then.”

I turned my back on him and ran away, shotgun aimed for ready fire, and my handgun holstered as my new flashlight shined the way for me.

I heard the cop behind me beg, trying to get me to stop and don’t leave him behind.

Once I ran around the corner, I heard the growling focus on that one point…

His blood chilling screams filled the hall as he was devoured.

“Irons!”

I arrived at one of the halls leading towards the outside, probably the fire escape leading up to the roof.

At the end of the hall I saw him, the fat son of a bitch himself, Chief Irons. He had his back to the window, and in his hands I saw a small rectangular device.

“You must be the bastard who put a wrench into my plans,” Irons growled out as I aimed my gun. He held up the device he was holding. “Ah ah ah~”

“It’s over, Irons.” I told him, shotgun leveled at him. “You’re not killing anymore people.”

“Bit late for that,” He chuckled and pressed a button I didn’t see on the object he held. “Hahahaha!”

The building shook as an explosion sounded, from where I didn’t know. “What did you fucking do?!”

“Now there’s nothing to stop them from coming!” Irons backed up towards the window, that insane smile still on his fucking face. “They’re all going to die, and I’m going to be rich!”

“What did you fucking do?!” I pumped the gun and loaded in a new shell.

He just grinned wickedly at me.

And behind him, outside of the window, I saw the bright orange red light of fire spreading, and could see black smoke spiraling upwards.

“I’m doing my job!” He whipped around and jumped out of the window, bursting through it. He landed on a fire escape outside before heading up.

“You shit!” I gave chase, quickly running down the hall before jumping out of the window.

I landed outside in the pouring rain and saw the source of the fire. One of the large walls that surrounded the station had been blown apart, and the smell of burning gasoline was so damned strong, it almost burned my nose.

He set an explosive down there, and now with the resulting explosion, it was letting in even more of those fucking things! All of them flooded in from the outside and descended on the refugee camp, on the innocent civilians who gathered here for safety.

“No!” I screamed at Irons, who was running upstairs. “You’re a fucking monster!”

“Hahaha!”

I sprinted up the steps after him, firing my shotgun at the railing as I tried to get a bead on him, but I kept fucking missing! Or my shot didn’t land!

“Get back here you coward!”

I chased him up several stories as we arrived on the rooftop, far away from the helicopter that was still sitting there.

I didn’t find Irons until something hit me upside the head, knocking me aside and making me drop my shotgun.

I landed on my side, but managed to roll and recover myself before getting back up.

Fucker!

Irons stood in front of me, Iron Pipe in his hands.

“This is it boy.” He chuckled as smoke rose from all corners of the city, and fires burned out of control. “You’re going to die here, just like the rest of them!”

I had three handguns on me, and I pulled out my beretta and aimed it straight at him. “That’s where you’re wrong!” I screamed at the man, and closed in. My vision grew blurry when I did, and my neck and shoulder burned like fucking fire. “Nng!” I gripped onto it, momentarily losing my focus.

I heard Irons running, and before I knew it he had swung at me, and got me in the back.

I was knocked to the ground and wasn’t given any chance to get back up before a foot connected with my chest.

I grunted and was sent flying.

His fucking kick was strong!

I landed on the ground nearby, “Hrrrg!” I coughed up blood and gripped my stomach, that bastard!

“Hahaha!” Irons cackled once again. “You’ll die on this rooftop, die just like the rest of them! You cretin!”

I struggled, and the pain in my neck and chest only got worse. I couldn’t fucking move as fast as I wanted to move, and it was annoying me to no end.

I had to get the upper hand here!

I spat out blood and fought off the pain in my body, and stood up. “You fat fuck!”

“Still got some fight in ya? Well, come on!” Irons goaded me on, swinging his pipe. It made me wonder why he wasn’t using his pistol.

My eyes focused on him, tunnel vision took over and before I knew it I was charging him. He swung at me, but I dodged and ran straight into him.

I hit the fat fucker with everything I had and knocked him down into the ground, and quickly straddled him before throwing a fist right into his face.

Blood flew once it made contact, and he yelled and growled, but I didn’t let up and threw another punch, and another.

I kept punching him with everything I had, each hit landing on his face and pummeling him into the roof’s hard gravel surface.

“Ahhhhh!” I yelled during my fist throwing spree.

A single hit from him knocked me aside, and he had the upper hand this time. He got up and kicked me as hard as he could in the side.

I tried to roll away, which proved difficult enough already. The rain had caused the roof to become slick, making moving quickly fucking hard to achieve.

I still tried!

I managed to get back onto my feet just as Irons closed in on me with his pipe; I dodged a swing from him and swung my leg into his chest.

When my leg connected, I followed up and tackled him again; but instead of bringing him back down to the ground again, I kicked him hard in the chest and spun around on my heel, bringing around my leg and smashing it into his head.

He stumbled back but managed to stay on his feet. His nose began bleeding, the rest of his face was getting bruised, and he was growling.

I have to kill him!

“You had to ruin all of my plans!” He screamed as the rain poured down even harder. “You bastard!” He began to laugh as a hand slapped at his face. “I could have been rich!”

“You’re trying to kill innocent people!” I yelled, and threw a fist at him. He backed up just in time and shoved me away, and I almost slipped on the rooftop.

“They’re all dead anyway! Hahahaha!” He cackled, and somewhere, I heard the sounds of something starting up. “This city is doomed, doomed! You’ll never make it out of here alive!”

I only just then noticed he began reaching for his revolver.

“Shit!” I ducked away and yanked out my other gun from my belt.

We both raised our guns at the same time, yet I was faster on the pull.

My heart pounded in my chest as my finger pulled the trigger. My sights lined up with his chest as his revolver beared down on me.

I saw his sickened face glaring towards me, that twisted smile of his as the fires behind him burned, fueled by the explosion and whatever was down there.

My pistol kicked, the bark of the round exiting the chamber sounding even over the rain. The first bullet hit him in the chest and he managed to get a shot off, and grazed my shoulder armor.

I almost slipped again, but slammed my off-center foot into the ground to steady myself before firing again.

Again.

Again.

And again!

Each one hit him dead on in the chest and stomach, blood spewed forth and onto the rooftop and he collapsed backwards, landing against the railing that kept people from falling off.

Storm still coming down, I took several deep breaths and closed in on him.

He struggled to stand back up as his grip on the gun loosened, and he dropped it onto the ground. Legs buckling under his weight, he collapsed onto a knee as blood oozed from his lips.

My heart was beating in my ears, drowning out much of everything around me. My bite wounds were burning fiercely, throbbing and pulsating as the virus spread further, and all I could focus on was killing this son of a bitch.

Irons chuckled and fell onto his ass as I closed in. “H-heh… hehehe,” He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, an ear to ear grin on his face. “I-”

My handgun spoke for me.

It was over so quickly it almost didn’t feel real to me. He slumped over as the hole in his head oozed crimson. One of his eyes went cockeyed, mouth agape in a cut off sentence… the light faded from his eyes, and soon enough.

Irons was dead by my hand.

I felt a pair of eyes on me after a minute and turned to my right.

The door leading down into the station was wide open, and standing in the cold downpour was…

Rainbow Dash.

I saw her lips move, but i couldn’t hear a word she said over the rain. I could only imagine what it had to have been.

A sudden sharp pain in my shoulder forced me onto my knee, “Ahh!” I gripped my bite wound and struggled not to pass out as a wave of intense pain washed over me. Nausea took hold of my innards, dizziness flooded my being.

My mouth filled with something oily and tasting of copper, and I spat it out onto the ground in front of me, and felt a pain in my stomach. Brackish blood stained the ground in front of me, and the rainwater diluted it, making it run down.

S-shit… not much time left for me.

I heard Rainbow approaching me, “Dee?”

K i l l h e r

F e a s t o n h e r f l e s h ~

N-no!

My gun raised before I could even think and I aimed at her. I flicked my head up to meet her gaze, and stared at her through the bangs that escaped my cap.

She stood stock still, body frozen and eyes wide. I could see her wings spread out wide and she looked ready to say something, but she didn’t.

Neither of us did anything, or said anything for a good few minutes.

Everything in my body burned like hellfire, and I knew the virus was slowly closing in on completely eradicating any semblance of my humanity.

I could feel it, deep in my soul as it began to fade.

“D-Dee...”

“N-no.” I growled out. I held a hand against my face, and it felt cold to the touch. “Stay b-back.”

“J-just… come on! We gott-”

The loud clap of my handgun drowned out whatever it is she was trying to say.

Rainbow still stood, her eyes wide as a trail of blood trail down from her cheek.

I grazed it, whether on purpose or by accident, I didn’t know, I…

I shot her.

That cold realization as the only thing on my mind. I just shot Rainbow Dash, I missed entirely but…

She slowly backed away, her wings were spread.

“W-wait, Rainbow I didn’t-”

She kicked off of the roof and gave one hard flap of her wings before propelling herself up into the air, through the rain. She disappeared into the storm, leaving me behind on the rooftop of the station.

She can fly again.

I was halfway to standing, and I collapsed back onto my knees.

“Aahhhhhhhh!” I slammed my fist into the roof. I was so numb I didn’t even register the pain.

The thunder rolled and clouds loomed over the city like thick blankets, covering the city in a torrential downpour of bone chilling rain. The street lights flickered and buzzed around me from previous damage from car crashes—somewhere a fuse box exploded in a flash of light and sparks, briefly lighting up the roof and what lay in front of me. Lightning struck somewhere-a metal tower most likely and sending sparks flying.

I just sat on my knees after the fight. My clothes and armor were soaked from the downpour and weighing me down, it felt so overwhelming to be like this, but it wasn't just the clothes weighing me down, it was everything else in my life that decided on coming back like a flood; the dam of emotions I kept locked down was finally starting to break apart, piece by piece.

And all I could do was stare at the gun in my hands, the loaded Beretta I had found a while back.

It was heavy in my hands—heavier than before, but that meant it was ready for whatever; killing an undead and the others behind him, taking down an armed assailant with a powerful shot.

Or maybe something a little more friendly.

I felt another part of me come crashing down like a tower—I felt the pain of my past failures flooding through, everything that had beaten me down; the weight of my sins and promises; the burning fires of rejection; the hollow feeling of loss.

I wanted to throw up, but I couldn’t.

I don’t know how long I had sat there, everything whirling around inside of my head like a whirlwind. I felt dizzy and could barely focus, I felt sick to my stomach and wondered how much longer I had until the virus took over completely.

After a while, I heard a helicopter take off from nearby, and the sound of the blades cutting through the storm passed overhead before I saw it; the police helicopter everyone was on, the captain and the others must have gotten it started and grabbed who they could to evacuate. I saw them fly out towards the southeast portion out of the city. I could see a few souls giving me a passing glance as they made a circle around the building.

Many of them were hurt, suffering from either bite wounds, bullet holes, or the loss of friends and family.

But no one looked quite like the magenta eyed mare who flew next to the chopper.

She looked the most hurt out of all of them as she flew alongside them, leaving the city and me behind.

Another dizzying few minutes and the chopper was out of sight, flying away from the station as the horde of undead crashed against it like a tidal wave.

We only had one way out of this place and there was no hope for a stand-off with the horde of undead below. Irons made sure we didn’t have any chance of survival with those bombs of his, and with me saving those people at main street, I got even more people killed as a result, another failure of mine to chuck onto the pile. I was too blinded by the adrenaline, too overconfident in my abilities to lead people and get them to safety.

I thought if I knew what was going to happen, I could change things, but I made things even worse somehow.

I failed them and I could barely stomach it. Everything was starting to crash down on top of me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I cracked completely and fell apart.

I didn't deserve to survive this long while so many others died horrific deaths.

I've been running off of an incomprehensible amount of luck this entire time, sapping it from others to keep myself and Rainbow going, that was the only explanation I had for my still being alive. How else could I have survived being thrown from a chopper when it blew up, or jumping across a horde of undead and managing to keep myself from getting bit, or falling from a second story window!?

In my chest I felt it... the icy fingers clawing up to grab at my heart, to try and squeeze it. There was nothing I could do to actually stop it. My skin prickled inch by inch, my eyes burned, god my heart hurt so bad, every throb sending a pulse of pain through my being.

Rainbow.

I hurt her... I hurt her so many times and I could never forgive myself for that.

i was so goddamn stupid, I was always stupid and this time my stupidity got the better of me until I actually hurt one of the closest people to me in this godforsaken hellscape. I protected her and she protected me, I wanted to keep her safe, I wanted to see her smile, I wanted to get her out of here and away from this fucking nightmare!

I had the gall to snap at her like a damned fool, to lose my senses and attack her like a bastard.

I called her a coward... a coward for running away.

Why was I any better?

I hung my head and brought up my hand, and the cold bite of metal touched my forehead. I opened an eye and saw the top of the beretta.

Maybe this was a sign or something.

Maybe I was meant to come here, to Raccoon City, meant to come here and suffer for my sins.

Maybe this was my own personal hell.

The hammer pulled back, and locked into place with a click.

What was I going to shoot?

The body of Police Chief Irons lay a few feet from me, his head blown off after I had executed him. Dumb bastard deserved a slower death for what he wanted to do, the only other regret I had was that I didn't make him suffer for what he had planned, not just for the station but for those inside of it.

I hated a lot of things.

But I hated dirty cops even more.

I felt the cold and wet metal slide across to my temple, moving the end of it up and down as the gun nut in me screamed that this was a bad idea, and yet, I couldn't bring myself to listen very well.

I trembled. The gun shook in my hand as the sounds grew louder all around me, every drop of water, every crack of lightning, scream, gunshot, moans of the undead, the shrieking of monsters.

"Don't give up, not now!"

I could feel it in my heart, growing more hollow and empty by the second.

Everything grew hazy to the point I couldn't...

I just couldn't focus on anything.

"Please... don't..."

Off in the distance, I heard that voice, soft like a whisper...

Begging and pleading with me.

I felt something against my temple, flat and pressing against it.

My finger barely grazed the trigger.

And then.

"NO!"

I pulled.

BOOM

Author's Note

"Maybe... I should just do it."

"Nobody will miss me..."

"I'm sorry, Rainbow."

18 - A New Hope

This was it, nothing left to fight for now. I ended it. One bullet to the brain and I was gone.

Not surprised this is how it ends, in all honesty. I expected it, and was trying to fight it off for so long up until now. I guess the city finally broke my defenses. I couldn't fight it no more. I thought as I drifted through the white plains.

You have so much to live for, my child. A voice spoke to me, echoing through my ears and into my head.

No, I really didn't.

Please... trust me.

No, I don't have anything to live for.

Your family? Your friends? Your lover, even?

They'll all move on... I'm nothing special.

They will, but... are you so willing to put them through so much pain?

Why should I care? I'm nothing. Not a goddamned thing that matters.

No one really cares about me, not a damn soul.

I'm just a pawn in the game of life, and I've been knocked over at long last.

My time has come, whoever the fuck you are.

So just take me away already, hell or heaven.

You are so very wrong. You are so blinded by your own emotions you can't see what's right in front of you...

What could possibly be in front of me that would matter?

Someone who does care for you... far more than you could ever know.

ooo000---000ooo

A Second Chance

ooo000---000ooo

I didn't feel right when I woke up. Nothing sat well in my stomach. I didn't even know I had passed out...

Was this all a dream?

When my senses came to, I felt soaking wet and cold. So either I was pranked, or...

My eyes opened slowly. The rooftop of the Raccoon City Police Department came into view, the moon lit sky, and the smoke from burning fires greeted me, alongside the sight of a body laying against the railing. An overweight man covered in blood, with a gaping hole in the middle of his eyes; Police Chief Irons.

I couldn't move, and for a moment I wondered why.

Moving my head felt like lugging a fifty pound sandbag, but I managed to raise my head up enough to focus on what was in front of me.

Or rather, above me.

It was Rainbow Dash, and she had me pinned against the ground with her hooves planted firmly against my shoulders. I saw her eyes glaring into my own with a fury I could barely comprehend, forcing my nerves to freeze my body up. Her mane, soaked with rainwater fell down one side of her face, and towards my own. In her mouth, clamped down between her teeth was my hand; blood ran from how hard she was biting down and she trembled.

No matter what I do, I couldn't tear my eyes from the intensity of her own.

My hand finally fell from her jaw. She took a breath, and kept me pinned down to the ground.

I had a feeling she didn't intend on letting me up anytime soon.

My whole body hurt, especially my shoulder where I had gotten bit. Either Rainbow forgot about it, or she knew that and was applying more pressure there.

"R-Rainbow, my s-shoulder..." I pointed out.

She finally snapped to attention. Fury in her eyes, she screamed, "w-what the buck do you think you were doing?!"

I felt her push down on me even more as her face closed in on mine, and I couldn't escape her stare. "R-rain-"

"You humans are so bucking stupid! ALL OF YOU!" She bellowed and I felt droplets of something fly onto my lips; spittle? "I c-can't believe you'd be that st-stupid to try something like this!"

Rainbow brought her hoof back up, and slammed it back down into my shoulder hard enough that I swore I heard something pop. I almost yelled from the pain but kept my mouth shut.

"W-why didn't you come with us!?" She picked me up and in one quick movement, slammed me back down onto the rooftop.

"Hrk!" I had half a mind to fight her off... but I couldn't find the strength.

"We could have gotten out of the city! But you stayed!" She screamed and I thought I saw tears in her eyes, little beads trailing down her cheeks and towards her lips.

I gave up.

"You c-could have left." I told her as I relaxed. There was no saving me now, I could feel my bite throbbing in pain, the burning sensation spreading. "Could have gotten to safety..."

How much longer did I have left before I turned?

Her head began to shake slightly, and she muttered softly, "Without you?" She shook her head again, mane swinging back and forth. "W-why would I do that?"

I stared for a good few moments; my heart skipped a beat from the way she said that, and it cut deeper than any knife I could think of.

"Y-you... you're my friend... right?" Her voice was quiet, hesitant. "Friends don't leave each other behind..."

I suddenly felt like shit.

How could she think of me like that? I'm her friend... after what I put her through? I couldn't believe she thought of me like that, let alone after... I almost killed her.

I brought up my hand to her hoof; the one on my injured shoulder and gently moved it aside. She got the message and unpinned me, allowing me to sit up and against the wall behind me. Once I was settled, I groaned from the pain I was in.

"Friend... huh?" I questioned.

She frowned at me, and took a moment to look down at the ground. "Friends don't let their friends kill themselves..." her eyes flicked up to stab at me. "...And you're not dying until you explain everything... now."

I held my shoulder and winced. She really did a number on me.

Honestly? I deserved it.

I struggled to stand up, gripping my shoulder and glancing down at her. "You want me to explain? Then fine, I will... but firstly, I need a fucking drink." I told her.

"A d-drink?" She tilted her head. "What do you mea-?"

"I'm not explaining anything sober." I wandered around the rooftop for a fair bit, gathering up my discarded weapons and stealing Irons' revolver which I tucked away in my pants.

I was already sick and tired.

Once I had everything I needed, I limped towards the door leading back downstairs into the station. Behind me, Rainbow followed slowly.

Hopefully I could find one of the nearest bars, I needed a fucking drink.

ooo000---000ooo

Getting out of the station was actually far easier than I thought it'd be. The undead were too busy swarming outside after running survivors, and gunfire attracted the rest to somewhere else. Any survivors we ran across were already long goners, bitten or in the middle of turning, or torn apart with no way to save them.

Rainbow was able to bare it somehow. She was getting used to it, and I honestly felt sorry for her. Having to become used to horrors like this couldn't have been easy for her, but she was getting there, and it would ultimately help us get out of this mess.

Once we made it out onto the street, I immediately began wandering; but wandering where? No idea, just walking in whatever direction felt the best. Luckily, for the most part the streets were barren of any infected or people and allowed us to wander without much fear of being attacked.

"Where are we going?" Rainbow asked after a while.

We passed by an alleyway blocked off by a police barricade, and behind it, some undead were hunched over a corpse, feasting on it. I didn't pay it much attention other than to keep an eye out for potential threats. "Bar."

"A bar?" Rainbow's voice went up an octave for a split second, and I detected a bit of interest in her tone.

"Yep."

And just our luck too, as we approached an intersection I discovered a place; Black Jack's Pub. It was a small hovel nestled on a small street, blocked off by a bus that lost control and crashed into a nearby flower shop. Some bodies lay around, none moving or attempting to get up and eat us. A few cars sat around on the sides, abandoned by their long deceased owners. I saw a few that caught my gaze, maybe we could use them if I could find the keys.

I armed my shotgun and proceeded towards the front entrance with Rainbow, where some stairs led down to the door inside. We descended the steps carefully and once we reached the bottom, I gripped onto the door handle before tearing it open. I aimed my shotgun inside, and kept my eyes open for anything inside.

The lights were still on inside. I could hear faint rock music playing from a juke box, something by an old favorite of mine, I could hear the whipping of the ceiling fan blades as hey circulated air throughout the building. Moving inside, I saw the place was mostly untouched, save for abandoned plates and bowls of food, some left behind beer bottles and shot glasses. The TV in the top above the bar wasn't playing anything, the static droned on and filled the bar alongside the music.

We moved inside and I closed the door, once Rainbow moved in, and I activated the deadbolt, locking it up tight.

We were safe for the time being, and with that done.

I immediately made a beeline for the bar's selection of hard liquor.

"Dee!" Rainbow chased after me and as I vaulted over the counter, landing on the other side and immediately grabbing a bottle I spotted.

"What?" I turned to look at her before pulling up a chair and plopping my ass down into it.

"Y-you got your drink or whatever now..." She grumbled and sat down on the counter, tail swishing to curl around her front legs. "Time to start talking!"

I popped the cap off of the bottle and flung it aside, and gathered my thoughts for a moment. "So... everything, then?" My mind began to whirl as the images and thoughts flooded my mind of this world, my world... and her world.

She nodded firmly. "You know more t-than you're telling me, I know it." Rainbow grumbled and stomped a hoof into the counter. "And you're going to expla-"

"This whole world is a video game." I cut her off and left her with her mouth open. "Raccoon City, all of the zombies, the monsters, the people we've met? The city is a video game location, the monsters are enemies, and the people are all characters written by people from my world."

Rainbow looked like she was at a loss for words for a good long while. She worked her mouth and looked straight at me, maybe trying to make sense of this new information. "W-wait..."

"Yep." I told her.

"So... a-all of this," Even though we were inside a building, Rainbow still gestured to the world around us; the city that was currently on fire, the undead that flooded the streets, everything that around us both. "it's all some kind of... fantasy world? From a game?"

"To a degree?" I struggled to find the words to describe this to her, it was harder then I'd thought it'd be. It might have been easier for a lot of people I knew back home, but for me? I... it was suddenly so hard once everything I knew had to be explained to her. "I... Raccoon City is a fictional city where I'm from. It doesn't exist on my world outside of fiction and fantasy. This particular franchise is by a company called Capcom, it was a video game called Biohazard in the original release, but in the United States—my home—it was called Resident Evil, and it featured a city being besieged by a virus that was intentionally set loose, one that turned humans into flesh eating monsters."

She looked so shaken by that, I mean... who wouldn't be? Just the thought alone was enough to send shivers down my spine.

Rainbow's demeanor had dropped from curious to something else, and it was hard to figure out what. "So what, humans play this kind of stuff for fun?" She glanced around, struggling to take everything in. "B-but there's so much death! So much blood... I mean, we have games and stuff but they're nothing like this!" She finally glanced back at me. "You can't be serious!"

"Where I'm from, humans enjoy a lot more extreme stuff," I countered and sniffled as decided to take a swig of the vodka. The burn washed away any foul taste in my mouth, and I sighed. "Mmm."

"I..." Dash murmured.

"We have all kinds of content we consume and enjoy, we even write stories about them with our own interpretations for fun. Stuff about wars we've suffered in the past, present, even what we imagine to be the future. Throw in some magic, fantasy, chaos, destruction, slice of life, it doesn't matter what." I let out a bitter chuckle and groaned as my bite wound began to burn. "We humans are a creative bunch, we created a lot of fictional worlds, with characters, creatures, universes, worlds, lands, all of it imagined and designed within our minds and brought to life on paper and mechanical constructs purely for shits and giggles." I snorted. "Besides... this shit is popular with people who love being scared shitless and like a good story... though it depends on your definition of a good story, it's all subjective."

Rainbow wiped her eyes, hooves on her head and her eyes darting from side to side on the ground. I couldn't imagine being in her place... but I hadn't even told her the other thing...

About how I know so much about her.

But it seemed fate picked up on that thought, and Rainbow slowly looked up until we locked eyes again.

"W-wait... way back when we fi-first met," She started, and my heart started to beat faster as she closed in one what I could only assume... "I remember you calling out my name, but... I never told you it," I could see the gears turning in her eyes, as she slowly put together the pieces that had been laid out before her. "You said it was because of my mane-" Rainbow never looked away from me, as she said, "-but you were lying, weren't you?"

There was no avoiding this now, so I just spilled everything I knew. "Your name is Rainbow Dash, the only child of Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof. You're a mare who aspires to be a Wonderbolt someday like her childhood heroes, Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot, and the rest of the Bolts. Your parents were those kind who pushed you towards your goals, they constantly told you how much they loved you, adored you, how proud they were of you." I started, keeping eye contact as her eyes widened. "You felt embarrassed and smothered by them to such a degree you moved away to Ponyville with your childhood best friend, Fluttersh-"

"Stop!" Rainbow yelled, hooves to her ears and slouching forward. "J-just stop... p-please, no..."

"Your world is a cartoon show back on mine." I didn't stop, I was already dying from this virus, so why should I care how much of this I tell? The T-Virus was slowly coursing through my body, and it was only a matter of time until I turned into one of those things. "You're a fictional character from a show called my Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic... and on top of tha-"

"Dee!" She all but screamed at me and my head snapped to the side when I felt something connect. My voice left my body, pulled from it like a ghost from a haunted house. My cheek stung and my jaw ached when I turned back to face Dash. Her eyes were wide and in them I could see the confusion, the struggle she was going through trying to comprehend everything I just dropped down on her. Her hoof was raised as well... she slapped me?

Her whole world was torn asunder in a matter of seconds by me, and everything she knew about life, her goals, reality, all of it was shattered by me like nothing.

"Y-you can't be serious... r-right?" She feebly threw that at me, but I could tell from her shaky voice that even she didn't believe the crap coming from her own mouth. "Y-you gotta be from my world, m-maybe you are a spy!"

"That's bullshit and you know it." I gave her a hard stare and she recoiled. "I know your entire fucking life story, kid." I leered. "I know all about your childhood friend, Fluttershy, want me to tell you what i know about her?" Rainbow was silent. "About her special talent involving animals? That she's so cripplingly shy she can barely hold a convo with strangers?" I tilted my head as Rainbow's body began to shiver. "How about how I know you got your cutie mark... the Sonic Rainboom of myth and legend, you preformed it during a race against a pair of bullies when they were going after your sweet little friend, purely on a whim."

I finally relaxed and held my wound, deciding instead to drink more of the vodka I had snagged.

Christ, so now she finally knows. I just listened to the music playing in the background. Outside, I saw light beginning to bathe the city as the sun rose again over the horizon. Another day had come and gone, which meant it was... I think the twenty-eighth of September, and if I remembered my timeline correctly, there wasn't much longer until the bomb dropped down onto the city and we were blown away.

Rainbow could have been out of here by now, but she chose instead to come back for me.

Cause we were friends...

When I focused back on Rainbow, she was looking down at her hooves with a look I could only describe as confused horror, the face of one who had everything they knew about life and reality suddenly warped beyond their understanding. I sort of understood, but at the same time I didn't exactly feel the same way she was about this. I could only guess how she was feeling and how she was digesting everything I just explained to her.

I knew everything about her, her friends, her family.

The burn of the vodka rushed down my throat when I upended the bottle and drank as much as I could. For the moment, I didn't care about the possibility of there being undead about to bust down the door, or some monster tracking our scent, or even Umbrella coming down on us. Right now, all I needed was the sweet burn of alcohol in my gut, drowning the pain and misery that was starting to bubble up inside my stomach.

This was probably one of the worst decisions I've made so far in the city, but at least it was keeping my mind clear.

...to a degree.

I heard a bottle pop open next to me while I was staring off into space, and when I focused on the noise I spotted Rainbow on the floor - she had hopped down when I wasn't paying attention and had grabbed a bottle of something. The cap was off, and she had the thing upended and was starting to sip away at it. Her face screwed up from it, no doubt turned off by the strong taste and burn, but she kept going and going.

I had to give it to her, first time trying human booze and she was guzzling that fucker like it was water.

The buzz was starting to hit me before I knew what was happening.

Didn't take long for my body to start feeling sluggish.

"S-shit." I held my head and leaned back against the chair's back rest.

Which didn't exist, it was a bar stool, so I promptly fell back and slammed into the floor with a yelp. The impact made me lose my grip on the bottle, which decided to shatter off to the side and spill what remained on the floor.

"Ooooh, my back." I laid there on the floor for a good bit.

"What the hay dude, you were on a s-stool."

"I knooow..." I murmured.

"T-then why'd you lean back?"

"Iunno, uugh, fuck me."

I heard a snicker beside me; Rainbow's shoulders were shaking from the laughter she was experiencing. Looking over to her, her cheeks were bright red and the bottle she had grabbed next to her on the floor, half empty. "Hehehe," she finally turned to look at me and shook her head, "you're dumb."

I just stuck out my tongue at her. "Whatever, ya horse..."

"Pony." She chided and blew a raspberry.

"Meh meh pony nyeah." I stuck out my tongue again at the mare.

Rainbow just let out a loud scoff. "S-stupid human."

"Smelly pony."

"I'm not smelly!"

Though after a few seconds of silence, I looked over and saw her raise an arm.

"So what's the v-verdict? Heheheh~"

"Sh-shut up!" Rainbow grumped as she crossed forelegs across her chest. "I-it's been a while since I last had a shower."

I just giggled and remembered how long we had been in this city. Running around, getting thrown out, landing in muck, fighting off monsters and getting covered in blood, mud, and other unmentionable things. It was no surprise that the both of us probably smelled something fierce.

I began to feel a bit grimy myself, sticky too. I didn't want to see how bad I smelled, I knew I did.

"Hehehehe," I just laid back on the ground and sighed before bringing up a gloved hand. "Fuck me..." I was so fucking tir-

"I'm not d-drunk enough for that." Rainbow commented quietly.

Wait... drunk enough for what? I scrunched up my face as my booze addled mind got everything circulating. I said... fuck me, and then she said...

I could usually feel when I was embarrassed, my body felt funny and my face in particular began to heat up. And that is exactly what I was feeling at the current moment.

I just laid there and tried to keep myself under control.

Well, least I know ponies actually fuck and not asexually reproduce through some cartoon fuckery. I forgot if I had found that out early on in our little adventure, or what, but now I know. Also now I know Rainbow isn't drunk enough to fuck me, that's nice to know.

I heard something fall down somewhere in the back, drawing my attention. Rainbow's ears perking up told me I wasn't hearing things. Suddenly I regretted my choice to chug down vodka, but I was already a fucking goner, so why bother staying sober?

Even so, I managed to climb back onto my feet and reached for my handgun. I pulled it out when I heard heavy footsteps in the back, slowly moving. Even as buzzed as I was, I could still tell the difference between a shuffle and a walk, and this was a survivor... I hoped, preferably a really heavy set survivor who was friendly.

"Y-you heard that?" Rainbow stood up, but only just barely as the alcohol moved through her system. From the blush on her face, she was already looking pretty dizzy, but she was still able to stand and get behind me as I crept forward.

"I did," I didn't like it either, but I moved up and fought back any fear I may have had.

I peered around the corner into the door leading into the kitchen, and I didn't see anything at first. I stepped out, handgun charged and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

I just had to hope my buzz wouldn't fuck me up too bad if I had to start shooting.

I saw a yellow flannel shirt come into view from the kitchen, followed by a man wielding a pumpshotgun and carrying a small pack.

It was Robert Kendo.

He spotted the two of us and lowered his firearm, and I did the same.

"You're both still here, huh?" Robert asked the two of us as he exited the kitchen.

I kept my handgun low as Robert looked the both of us over, probably noticing the changes in the both of us. "Yeah, trip to the police department didn't end well, got rough but we managed to escape the attack." I told him and remembered the bandaging around my neck and shoulder, which was partially hidden by the armor and jacket I was wearing. "We're resting up here before moving o-out..."

"With bottles of booze?"

I glanced down at the bottle I still had in my hand. With a grumble I set it on the counter space with a sigh. "We're... having a difficult time, right now."

"Booze ain't the answer, kid."

It really wasn't the answer, but I turned to it regardless. I looked down to Rainbow and saw her fold her ears back. She began pawing at the floorboards, a look of embarrassment on her face.

Honestly, I felt a bit of shame fill my heart as well. He was right, yet here we were, lamenting our woes over a bottle of expensive vodka and whiskey.

I felt so dirty all of a sudden, shameful. Pretty sure from how Rainbow was looking at the floor, she felt the same.

"I... know." I gave up immediately, I was too tired to come up with any excuses. "But I'd rather be drunk and knocked out before the end comes for me."

I could feel Rainbow's eyes on me. "The end?"

"What're you talking about, kid?" Robert questioned.

I unclasped the armor near my shoulder, and yanked down my shirt to show the bandages around the bite. Robert's eyes widened, and Rainbow? Well... she just looked confused.

"Y-you got bit, so what?" Rainbow maneuvered around to stand in front of me. "I-it'll heal, right?"

I forgot if she even knew about the virus, and how it transmitted. I didn't tell her, did I? Or maybe she forgot?

"She doesn't know about the bites, does she?"

I shook my head and plopped down into the nearest chair, exhaustion suddenly decided to get the better of me. I could already tell having to explain this next was going to make things even worse, somehow. Between the secrets I kept from her about what I knew, and now this?

"Wait... are you hiding something else?" Rainbow approached me and sat down in front of me and glared, even in her buzzed state, the mare still focused on the question.

"Not really hiding, so much as trying to ignore it." I turned to regard the torn flesh on my shoulder, and lifted the shirt back to reveal the bandages. "The monsters outside, the infected? They're all the way they are because of a virus that was released into the city... do you know how viruses work, Dash?"

"I-I think? Kinda like the feather flu?" She asked aloud. "So... do-does that mean-?"

"I'm infected, Rainbow." I just said it. I was getting more and more tired by the second. Her entire expression dropped, slow realization growing as I added, "It's only a matter of time until the virus takes over, and I turn into one of them."

She trembled out of the corner of my eye, guess it was hard to swallow. "No." Rainbow shook her head and stomped her hoof on the floor. "No way! You're lying!"

"My family... they suffered the same way," Robert mentioned and brought back the memories of the game to mind. How his family turned into the undead, though in that instance, he killed them before killing himself.

He hadn't this time, that changed from the original timeline.

"I made sure they didn't suffer, kid," He told me, and when I looked I saw him glancing down at the shotgun, no doubt the one he used to end his family before they turned from the contaminated drinking water. "I can't do much, but I can stop you from turnin-"

"NO!"

I was bowled over by Rainbow. I didn't have the strength to really stop her from knocking me over, but I did have enough to whine profusely.

"I already h-had to stop him from trying to do that! I'm not letting anyone else do it either!" A loud stomp sounded, followed by a crack that echoed throughout the room, emphasizing her point.

"If you don't, he'll become one of those things." Robert argued.

Soon enough I would, I didn't know how much time I had left before it happened.

"It can't end like that, there's gotta be a cure!" Rainbow growled. A twitch of her wings and her tail flicked about, she looked agitated. Then she looked back towards me with a shine to her eyes. "D-didn't you say you knew a bunch of stuff about this world?"

Damn it... don't give me hope. She had done it now, cause now I could see Robert's eyes focusing on me.

"You said you knew what the virus was!" Rainbow whirled on me and grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. I couldn't tear my gaze from hers as she asked, "isn't there a cure or something?! There's gotta be!"

"There is a cure... a vaccine called Daylight, it can completely eradicate the virus in my system." I remembered the vaccine. "But we're too far from it... there's no way I'll get it in time."

A violent shake of her head and she glared at me. "I'm not gonna le-let you turn into one of those things!"

"Rainbow, there's no point in even trying... and I told you before, you should just go." I grabbed onto her hooves and pulled them from my shoulders. Her visage changed from hopeful to anger, but I didn't really focus on that, I just wanted her to get out of this damn city. "Just leave me behind."

She punched me in the chest and yelled, "why in the hay are you so quick to quit!?" The mare punched me again for good measure, forcing me back a tad to avoid her blows lest my injuries grow worse. "Why?!"

"Maybe I'm tired of fighting, that's why." I pushed her off of me and slowly attempted to stand. "I'm getting real fucking tired of this."

She wasn't having any of it from me though. Flaring out her wings and flying up to eye level with me, she poked me in the chest, "there's still a chance to save you, you idiot!"

"What does it matter?!" I yelled back and poked her back.

"Friends don't let friends die!" She countered and growled out, "so if there's a chance, then I'm willing to take it!" She sounded so adamant, and it infuriated me to no end.

Goddamn her...

"I'm not letting you die like that, I'm not letting you turn into one of those damn things! You understand me?" Her hoof hit my shoulder with each word. Her eyes were afire and her body trembled as her wings spread out wide. No matter how deeply I looked into her eyes, I could tell she wasn't going to back down and just leave me.

"You're annoying, you know that?" I grumbled out and struggled to get back onto my feet, which took some doing. She watched me the whole time and let me stand.

"What, cause I don't want to let you die?" She asked me, and she was quiet for a bit before throwing a question at me, "why... why are you so willing to die?"

For a moment, I looked at my hands, all of the dirt, mud, and blood covering them. How long has it been since I landed in this city? I had made it so far in this damn place and fought a lot of shit up to now, was I seriously willing to give up so easily because I was bitten? It was my own fault of course, but I did it to save lives... lives that were snuffed out by Chief Irons and his greed.

I didn't know why.

"I don't know." I curled my fingers into a tight fist. This virus in my system was beginning to change me, already I could see how it was affecting my skin; turning it pale, even making my already visible veins more prominent along my arms. If that wasn't enough, I could... feel something in my stomach, a sort of emptiness I didn't notice until now, or maybe I had noticed it but I didn't put any thought into it.

I felt hungry... so so hungry. Was I getting closer to the insatiable hunger the zombies outside felt?

"This virus is messing with my head," I took off my cap, dirtied as it was and ran a hand through my hair. So much sweat and grease covered my hand afterwards, was it hot in here? As I put my cap back on, I turned to Rainbow, "Even if we did go after the vaccine... who's to say it will even work? There's a certain point where no amount of vaccination or cure will save someone."

She didn't falter. "I say we give it a shot, besides..." Her expression fell suddenly, eyes shimmering with something. "You did so much to keep me alive when I got hurt. I want to pay you back, I want to save you like you did with me, Dee... please."

Rainbow's eyes focused on me a bit more.

"Let me try and save you, Dee."

I'll never understand why.

I'll never understand why there are people like that, who are willing to risk that much for someone like me.

A long sigh and I relented. "Fine, but I'm not going to hold out any hope, Rainbow." Her eyes lit up and she smiled warmly, I held up a hand, "We'll go, but we need to be careful... especially around the college, got it?"

"Crystal," She nodded.

I turned to Robert and gave him a nod, and turned to leave through the back door; it being a more appropriate route as it faced east and the college sat on the river. And Just as we were about to leave, something from Kendo stopped us. "You know, I lied earlier when I said I didn't have anything left in my shop." I heard him say as Rainbow and I stood near the exit.

I paused and glanced back towards him, "you did? Well you had the shotgun but I do-"

When he pulled out a handgun from behind him, I shut up. I looked it over when he held it out to me. I took a hold of it to give it a closer look and see what kind of gun it was, and I saw the make, model...

It was the staple of S.T.A.R.S. forces, a handgun that was specially customized for each member, with different slides, barrels, calibers, and capable of putting out a lot of damage.

The Samurai Edge.

"It's not the end for you just yet, kid." He told me before shouldering his shotgun and started for the front door. "Get out of this city, and live."

I blinked, was he just giving me this thing?

Rainbow perked up and asked, "wait, what do you mean?"

Robert paused by the doorway, back turned to us. "I was ready to give up... then you two came along," He looked back at us. "I don't know why, but I'm not ready to give up just yet." He seemed to regard something in the corner nearby, but I didn't see anything worth noting. "My wife and daughter wouldn't want me to give up..."

I looked back down to the handgun, and my mind wandered.

"Get that cure, and escape this city... live."

Robert exited through the front door, leaving the two of us alone in the bar with only the dull sound of the ceiling fans to break through the silence.

I sighed and turned around.

"Let's go."

ooo000---000ooo

After leaving the bar through the backdoor, we made our way into the city once more.

"Why didn't you tell me at first?" Rainbow asked me as I holstered my new Samurai Edge. We began walking away from the bar and down a nearby alleyway filled with garbage and blockades. If I was remembering the layout right, heading for the college on the east side of the city would be a breeze. "About... what you knew?"

I looked down at her. "About...?"

"About me... my world, everything." She muttered and kept her head low, avoiding my gaze. "Why did you lie to me...?"

It had been so long I nearly forgot why I had lied to her. Why did I keep everything hidden? Did I really think she wouldn't be able to handle it? Or was I trying to just keep her from being fucked over by what I knew? I searched my mind for the reasons why, my motivation for keeping her in the dark like I had, but nothing surfaced.

"I'm honestly not sure," I couldn't remember. My reasoning for why was slipping away from me, like trying to grab a fish out of water. "I... I think I was trying to protect you."

She gave me a funny look, and I felt a bit of embarrassment begin to flood my chest. "Protect me...?"

"Yeah," I couldn't think of another reason, let alone a good one. "You're... you're one of my favorite characters, one of my favorite ponies from the show." It felt so weird to talk about this so openly now, about what I knew. Rainbow looked a bit out, but she didn't fight me on it either. "I guess I just... wanted to try and preserve whatever innocence you had left when you came here, keep you from learning the horrible trut-"

"Dee?"

"...Yeah?"

"Shut up."

I was stumped and unsure of how to respond. She just told me to shut up? "W-what?"

"Dee, I'm... I'm not a little filly," She told me as we walked down the alleyway, and approached the opening to a street where a barricade had been busted down. We passed by a mangled body, and Rainbow didn't even look phased by it, not like she had been before. Looking down at the mare, I saw her giving me a hardened look, this wasn't the rainbow I used to know. "I've seen a lot of messed up things in this world and my world, a lot of horrible crap, but..."

I continued walked out into the street before pulling out my shotgun. I gave the way ahead a check, once it was clear we kept moving at a much faster pace.

"I have to be strong," She told me point blank. "I can't be... eaten up by the fear, paralyzed by it so much that I can't move my body." Her posture straightened up, her eyes hard, and she looked out ahead into the city of Raccoon. "if I'm going to make it out of here alive, if we're going to make it... I need to be strong and fight, to make it back home to my family."

The smile that appeared on my face felt strange, especially after everything we've been through the past couple of days, but ya know what?

The feeling that came with it felt really good...

The feeling of having hope for survival.

"We both have to be strong." I told her and sped up my pace. "I was an idiot for acting the way I was, an-"

"Dee?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"...Duly noted."

We shared a chuckle and continued on.

Our next stop.

Raccoon City University.

Author's Note

I'll be honest, this chapter gave me some trouble, but regardless.

Hope you enjoy folks.

19 - Raccoon University

ooo000---000ooo

He was getting worse.

I lost track of how much time passed since we took shelter in a bakery, but after we left the bar, we had made a beeline to the college where that... Daylight was supposed to be at, and with the more time that passed, the worse Dee was getting. His skin was pale, his eyes were bloodshot and he was having trouble breathing, he was struggling to move around as it was.

He complained about hunger in his sleep, being so hungry that it hurt his stomach.

There was some food in the bakery he managed to scarf down with water, but he said it didn't help at all.

I was worried.

I sat behind the counter where Dee was resting. He was resting against the wall, covered in a cold sweat and shivering. It wasn't even cold this morning. What he told me about the T-Virus in his system just made me fidget; it was starting to get worse and I had no idea where the college was in this stupid city! He just said it was east on the river!

If we didn't get that vaccine in time, Dee would...

He'd become one of them.

What would I do if it came down to that? Should I run and escape? That would be the only thing I could do if it happened.

I shook my head.

No, stop it! He's not going to turn into one of those things! I couldn't think like that! Just hang in there a bit longer, Dee, please.

During the time we spent hiding and moving east, I kept hearing gunfire from around the city; explosions, screams, there was so much fighting going on. In the skies I saw weird chariots flying around, dropping giant hunks of metal that crashed into the streets nearby. I don't know why they did that though, or what they did it for, some kind of weapon?

It wasn't really anything for me to worry about. The only thing I tried to focus on was getting Dee the help he needed, the vaccine at the college; Daylight.

"Shit," Dee muttered from beside me. "I'm not gonna be able to fight well in this state." He started to cough, and it was so weak sounding, as if his energy was draining little by little. "I'm so... tired."

"Just a little longer, we gotta be getting closer to the college." I didn't like our odds... I could carry him if it came down to it, but fighting by myself would be hard.

"Ju-just a few more blocks, I think." He told me.

I looked over and I saw him struggling to get onto his feet, so I rushed over and helped him the best I could.

"We gotta move faster." I grumbled once he was on his feet; but only barely. "If we wait any longer..."

He knew exactly what I meant, his face said it all.

"I k-know." He hefted up that shotgun of his and limped around the counter, every step he took there was a wheeze, or he stifled a groan of pain.

He had a lot of difficulty moving around, but forced himself to stand and move.

Dee had so much strength, more than I would have thought something like him would have. He was injured badly, but he willed himself to keep moving for both our sake, to find that vaccine at the college.

I just hope it was there.

"Dee." He grunted something of an affirmation, and I asked, "so what is Daylight, will it completely cure you?"

"I-it should, yeah." We made it outside into the sunrise lit streets of Raccoon, which bathed the chaotic city in this bloodied orange color. "Daylight was d-developed in the underground laboratory of the university when the T-Virus broke out into the city, as a means to combat the virus." As we moved through the streets; slow a pace we were going, we paused by a corner. He peered out, and I followed his gaze. "Daylight should work how I need it to work, and completely eradicate the virus in my system, saving me."

We didn't see anything out in the street except more bodies, more of those crashed vehicles, nothing that drew our attention or looked like it was worth going after. "It's at the college?" I had to make sure, I needed to know it was there.

"Yeah, b-but there's a hitch in our plan." I quickly looked up at him and his pale face, the bloodshot eyes of his. "The vaccine needs th-three base components to fully work, and they're all a bitch to get your hands on. I'm kind of banking on the hope that it's al-already made, but my luck as of late h-hasn't been all that great." He stumbled forward and ended up against the side of a big boxy vehicle. "Shit... it's not much further now, but hunting down those components, let alone mixing them? if it comes down to that, I may not have the strength in me."

He was right.

Dee was weak enough as it was.

There were so many monsters in this city, big and small, things that used to be normal everyday critters, now turned into vicious monsters. Dee could barely move, the virus was moving through him, slowing him down, dulling his senses, he wouldn't be able to fight anything if we got into trouble. Maybe those slower moving ones, but anything faster?

But... if I knew what the things we needed looked like, I could...

"Are we getting any closer?"

I heard the voices in a nearby alleyway first, and Dee was next to hear them. Despite the pain he was in, he was able to move into cover next to a taxi. He slumped against it with heavy wheezing breaths, and I took a spot next to him and kept my ears perked up to listen. I didn't know there were other survivors nearby.

"This is either good or bad." Dee whispered.

"It's just a block or so down the street, we're getting closer, Jim." A voice replied, "don't worry."

"Easy for you to say." Spoke up another voice, a female. "I'm tired of this shit, I just want this nightmare over with."

Dee moved up towards the front a bit and peeked out. I followed him to look and see who was there, and I saw a couple of other humans making their way from the nearby alleyway; they were armed with a bunch of different things, nothing quite like what Dee had though. "Are they friendly?"

Glancing down at him for a second, his head bobbed up and down slowly. A shine appeared in his eyes and he relaxed. "I k-know them," He started to stand up, albeit slowly and glared in the general direction of the other humans, "survivors, they're headed to the college to find a cure to the virus, and an escape route out of the city."

He was struggling with standing, but he managed to get onto his feet with a growl. He was so weak, pale, and losing more energy as time passed us by. But he kept going, willing himself to move forward.

It gave me shivers. So much pain, but he kept going.

The group of humans spotted us right away, and two of them aimed their guns at us before Dee held up his hands, and shouted, “we’re not one of them, don’t shoot.”

One of them turned to regard me, and grumbled out, “what in the hell is that thing?”

“Long story, b-but I don’t really give two damns to explain. She’s with m-me, so don’t fu-fucking touch her, got it?” Dee waved his hand in vague motions towards them before leaning on the car hood, he spasmed through a coughing fit, but managed to keep himself standing. “I n-need your help, if you’ll g-give it.”

There were several humans, one wore a full brown suit, the other wore a blue shirt and matching hat, and the last one was a woman in a red outfit. Two of them carried handguns and the third an iron pipe. They looked tired, weary, ready to escape from this nightmare we were all trapped in.

They had to have been like us; sick and tired of the constant fighting, running, and wondering if the next corner we turned would be our last.

“Were you bitten?” The older man looked over to Dee, and the bloodied bandages.

“U-unfortunately.” Dee nodded and gripped his shoulder. I noticed the woman in red gripping her gun tighter, so I wandered closer to Dee. “I heard that t-there was a vaccine at the college, so I’m heading there to get it, before I turn into one of those damned things.”

The college should be up ahead, if Dee’s directions were right. We were so close, I didn’t want us to lose this now!

The older man pulled out a small bag I didn’t see from behind him, it was a small brown messenger bag. “I don’t have anything to stop the infection completely, but from what we’ve encountered in the city leading up to this point, I’ve acquired some medicinal items to help slow the infection rate.” The bag opened and he fished around inside of it.

We watched him pull out a small container; he ripped it open and pushed out a small pill before walking over and handing it to Dee. "It's an Anti-Virus pill, it helps slow the infection rate for an hour or so."

"George, you sure about just handing those out?" The woman asked.

Dee stared at the pill as George spoke up, "if I can help save even one life, it'll be worth it." The man smiled at the two of us, and I saw a kindness in his eyes I didn't expect to see.

"T-thank you." Dee offered a little smile before throwing back the pill dry. He gagged a bit on it and I almost worried, but he gave us a thumbs up. "Blegh, tastes like ass."

"They really do, but they help!" The other - who I figured was named Jim spoke up. "Saved my ass plenty of times..."

"Wait, are you infected too?" Why else would he take them? Was there another cure Dee didn't tell me about, or...

"We all are, been bitten quite a few times before we figured out exactly how this virus worked." George started to explain. We turned back onto the main road and headed due-north, following the path to the college. "Thankfully we've managed to gather a few supplies to help us combat the virus, and develop our own medicines to fight against it."

"Those herbs we find are incredibly helpful," The woman let out a huge sigh and kept her firearm up, aiming past George and into the darkened skies of Raccoon City. "They're everywhere in the city, it's weird... guess everyone liked growing them or something."

"It's awfully convenient, but I'm not going to question it." George kept his gaze forward, leading us to the college.

In the back of my mind, I thanked Celestia that we ran across them. That anti-virus or whatever would hopefully help Dee out a lot. It wouldn't stop it, but it would slow it down, buying us more time to find that vaccine.

The path ahead kept going until a line of walls appeared past several trees, and behind them, a large building standing several stories tall. I had to guess it was the college where we needed to go. A lot of wrecked cars stood in our way, but we moved past them and kept a watchful eye out for any of the monsters, those zombies that flooded the city.

Dee and George led us through the wreckage, with the woman - who I learned was named Alyssa, at the back with Jim. I was flying above, deciding to keep my eyes up high and catch anything up ahead to tell the guys down below. I didn't see much ahead except for bodies... lots of bodies. Only a few shadows moved through the lingering shadows near alleyways and behind the cars, stumbling undead waiting for their next meal.

"I see a few of them up ahead, those zombies." I spotted the entrance to the college nearby, blocked off by a really big... truck thing, that looked like it had a cannon on top of it.

"I swear, no place in the city is safe." Alyssa's comment reached my ears and I frowned; at the negativity and the fact she may be right. "This whole damn area is crawling with those fucking things, if not the zombies then those fucking mutants." Her body quivered. I could only wonder what she meant.

"The city is full of a lot of things, Dash and I have seen them, not all but... a fair amount." Dee looked up at me and I him. He was starting to look a bit better after taking that medicine, which I was glad to see.

I hoped it would hold until we found the vaccine.

We made it to the entrance with no issues; the group managed to take out any stray undead and were able to climb over with some assistance from yours truly. We all landed in the parking lot of the college, and it looked abandoned; there were no undead, no survivors, nothing. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, hopefully a good thing.

I just wanted this all to be over with, I wanted to go home.

"My colleague should be somewhere inside, he can help us with the cure." George explained as we explored the parking lot; looking for any sort of items that could help us.

"Your colleague?" George was headed for the main building, Dee and I were straying from the main path.

"He is a close friend of mine, he left me a note and said I needed to come here," The doctor would pause and eye me for a moment. "He has important information to give me."

"You said it's something for the cure, what did you call it- Daylight or something?" Alyssa questioned, as she pulled out a small book and pen. She scribbled something down in it, notes? "It's a cure to this virus going around, but how do you know if it'll work?"

"The guy he works with was working alongside a man who was one of Umbrella's top researchers," Dee's voice wheezed out. "Greg Mueller rebelled against Umbrella because of his Thanatos project, he held the T-Virus project hostage and would destroy it if they didn't leave him alone. Being one of their chief researchers, he'd be able to do some hefty damage to all of their plans."

"Wait, what? How on earth do you know that?" Alyssa questioned, pausing from her writing and looking up at us. "Thanatos? T-Virus?"

"The virus is what caused this whole outbreak, it was developed by Umbrella Corporation as a bio weapon to sell to the United States, a weapons project gone wrong." Dee told us.

People could make these things as weapons? The thought alone was scary to think about, that some eggheads could create something this dangerous and set it free. "People... make these?"

Dee was quiet for a little bit, avoiding me when I looked to him. "Humans are capable of a lot of things, creating and using bio weapons is just one of our twisted accomplishments." He looked back at the city and I followed his gaze.

I couldn't help but wonder what the fact of the city would be after we leave. So many people died here because of this virus, some turned into monsters and others eaten alive like wild animals. It was so crazy to think my journey in this place is almost over, that I'll finally be able to get away from the horrors and rest, if only for a short while before I would try and find a way back home to my world.

Home; Equestria, my family, my friends. I wondered how long it had been, it felt like it had been so long but a week probably hasn't even passed in this city. So many things happened in such a short time, and none of them were good, not a single damned thing. Lives were lost and there was blood on my hooves, literally.

I looked down at them, caked in dried blood from those monsters I had fought. I felt dirty all over, so much dirt and grime, my own blood and others. We were so close to getting out of this city now, we just needed to hang in there and keep going.

I needed to keep going if I was going to make it back to my family alive.

"My friend is inside of the main building, let's head inside." George announced and led the group inside.

Dee hobbled behind the group, and I with him.

A thought came to mind, and I looked over to the human. "Hey Dee?"

"Yeah?" He returned my gaze.

"What do you plan on doing after we finally escape Raccoon?"

With us being so close, I had to ask. I was wondering what he wanted to do, if anything.

"Shower with a bottle of Smirnoff." He told me and I tilted my head. Smirnoff? "Then cry myself to sleep for a week straight."

I blinked and continued to follow him.

That honestly sounded like a good idea.

20 - On Her Own

ooo000---000ooo

God, everything hurt.

Once inside of the college, George and the others began to look around for any stray items that may have been left behind by the previous occupants. It seemed no matter where any of us went, there was something laying about somewhere that could help us out somehow. The inside of the main entrance hall was abandoned as I had expected, not a soul in sight save for our group. Not a single sound to be heard except for our echoing footsteps, hushed whispers, and the wing flaps of Rainbow Dash.

I kept my shotgun close as I looked around, this was it... the 'final level' before shit got real. I knew this place intimately, top to bottom, the story, history, and the final boss we were no doubt going to face at some point. I could all but feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, I felt a wave of anxiousness wash over me, and my fingers gripped the shotgun tightly.

"You okay, Dee?" Rainbow had flown next to me, hovering at eye level while we moved onward.

"No."

I was doing better physically and mentally, because my head was in a better place. The anti-virus capsule George had given me was helping cope with the virus that was fucking me up so badly, slowing down its progress for a time before it rampaged through my system once again to turn me into a monster. Even now, I felt so strange; my body burned in places I didn't know existed and my limbs ached, I felt sticky and disgusting.

"Peter should be around here somewhere, I'm not sure where we were supposed to meet up." George muttered and cupped his chin, before glancing around the interior with a careful gaze. "Hmm."

As they roamed around, I did what I could to keep my mind focused on finding the damn cure to this stupid virus coursing through my body. I knew where to get everything for it, but it was a matter of not getting killed while retrieving them.

"Dash, come on." I started for one of the side doors off to the side. I had the map of the area in my head, everything was slowly coming back to me now that I could focus more. It was foggy, but the hallways, the doors, everything took shape inside my mind like a 3d image, helping me see where I knew we needed to go.

"Huh? Where're we going?" Dash caught up to me in a trot, her long legs easily keeping up with me.

"To find the things we need for the cure." I explained as I approached the door. I tried the knob and found it give, and I pushed open the door and into one of the many hallways inside of the building. I gave it a quick check for any undead, and upon finding it empty I would move start moving again. "Daylight isn't gonna be in a vial waiting for us somewhere, gift wrapped and ready. As much as I'd fucking love that. We're gonna have to make the damn thing." I think we still need to gather the ingredients for the vaccine, I don't know what all's changed since we've been here. So much is different already, for all I know the stuff we need isn't here, or it's already been made... who knows.

"Is it hard to get them?" Still trotting next to me, she followed me outside into the hall and kept her ears alert. God she was useful to have around, those big ears of hers would no doubt catch anything trying to sneak up on us. "I don't really much about uh... this geeky stuff."

"Two of the three components should be easy to get our hands on... er- my hands, your hooves... whatever." I shook my head and continued down the hallway. "We need to find V-Poison, T-Blood, and P-Base, V and P should be easy to find, though the V-Poison will be hard to get cause it's far underground."

"Underground? Like in a cave?" Rainbow perked up.

"It's an underground laboratory the university used to store and research some things, maybe Umbrella used it too, I'm not sure." I explained as we continued until we looped around another passageway, where I saw dangling cables sparking above pools of water. How convenient of the building to have something so dangerous hanging from above. "It's kept in an underground wasp hive, we need to get some of it to make the vaccine with."

"Wasps? No big deal, we might get stung bu-" Rainbow started to say and as much as i would have liked to agree, I shattered her hopes.

"Did I mention that they're mutated so they're about as big as you are and they can probably kill both of us with a few stings?"

I looked down and saw her face scrunch up. I let out a small chuckle and continued forward as my bite wound started to ache again, either the anti-virus wore off or something else, I wasn't sure.

"T-that's not something to laugh at!"

"Dash, I'm just so done right now." I told her as we approached a door. I kept my shotgun up and moved closer to it and steadied my breathing, I had to be ready for anything. "At this point I don't even care what happens, I just want this over with so I can finally rest."

We continued through the door and into another abandoned hallway that led down to the exit, which in turn led out into the university's yard near the pier, where there had to be boats. Shame none of them were in any usable shape, I'd steal one and we could sail out of this damn place. I don't know how to sail but I'm pretty sure I could figure it out.

Did any of the rivers even go out of city limits?

There was plenty of blood on the ground and walls, bullet casings nearby, a broken pipe. Evidence of a fight, but who and versus what. But more importantly, were they still around? I could see the blood continued down the hall where we were going, drag marks that turned into bloodied footprints with an odd gait; probably an undead by now.

I paused as Rainbow put a hoof on my leg. "I hear something outside." Her ears were perked up high, and moving around to focus on the noise outside. I kept quiet and listened carefully, and I could hear distant pops and cracks muffled by the concrete.

"Gunfire, close too." My mind wandered and I wondered if it was the UBCS team after Thanatos. It was a definite possibility, in which case, that meant he was out and about, hunting down everyone and everything in the university. An enraged monster ready to kill, perfected to be unstoppable. "I guess that means he's out."

"Who's he?" Rainbow looked to me as we kept moving, at a more brisk pace than before, all too eager to get things over with.

"He would be Thanatos," the thought of encountering that fucker gave me shivers. We had managed to avoid any big boss like battles since we got here, but fighting Thanatos, especially in his mutated form would take everything we had, if it was even enough. In the game its easy! but this was now real life, shit had consequences, we didn't have save points in this shit. If we died, we died. "He's a specially engineered Tyrant, a big fucking mutant monster, a super soldier. He's impervious to most damage we can do, from what I remember, he's fast, lethal, and can kill us in a good enough hit."

I could already see Rainbow's face turning white from the thought. "W-why? Why would anyone..."

"Money, Rainbow... money and power," I kept my eyes on the windows, remembering how the mutant jumped through them to get at the survivors. If we weren't careful, he could get the drop on both of us. "Umbrella Corporation is led by a man who wants nothing more than pure unfiltered power, to control the world! To do that he has to twist and maim those standing in his way to suit his needs and his desires. So end up dying a lot, but that's just how this world works, its how most worlds work and won't change anytime soon."

"M-mine isn't like this..." Rainbow murmured as we entered yet another hallway, finally approaching the exit to the building. "Friendship, magic... ponies l-live in harmony! We get monsters and stuff but... n-nothing like this!" She folded her ears back and held a hoof to the side of her head. She looked tired. "There's no murder, death... I can't... I don't understand any of this, how anyone can do things like this and not..."

"You will, soon... but if things go right for us, you'll be able to go home and get away from this shit." I approached the final door and took hold of the handle. "We're almost through this... just a little further, okay?" I turned it and opened up the door.

A cold wind greeted us as we exited out into the yard outside of the college. I saw the sky above choked in clouds, both from nature and the fires burning down the city around us. Not much was left, I imagined, some buildings were already starting to crumble from what I could see. Some vehicles sat out in the parking lot, abandoned by long dead college faculty and students. I could see the APC nearby, blocking off the exit to the road, inoperable from what I know.

As we walked out into the lot, Rainbow murmured. "The city... so much fire."

I followed her gaze and nodded. It was really bad, thousands of people were murdered and for what? The pursuit of immortality and endless power, it was so fucking twisted the things we've witnessed in this city, everything was violence, a massacre that ended so many lives. We were almost out of here and I couldn't be more happy.

I couldn't believe that a younger me would have wanted this... to come to this place in some sort of wish fulfillment filled adventure, to save the day? Yeah right... I only got people killed, I murdered a man for what he had done and I only felt hollow.

Jesus Christ, everything I had done... was so fucked up.

"Dee, you keep spacing out..." Rainbow flew in front of me, snapping me back to reality.

I offered her a pained smile, my eyes locked with her own. "Just thinking... about what happened up to this point." I turned to look at her, then out into the water before wandering over to it. I stayed a fair distance away, cause I knew those mutant sharks were dwelling under the surface, waiting to snap their jaws at anyone unlucky enough. "All of the people, the monsters, everything is just deciding to hit me all at once. Can't believe we've come this far already... we're almost home free."

After hovering for a tiny bit, she plopped down onto the ground and sighed. her body turned towards the waterfront, and she watched the waves gently lapping at the docks. "I want out of here already... I wish I had never come here."

I clicked my tongue and made my way over to the docks, wary of the water for previously mentioned reasons. "Like I said, you'll get out of here soon enough, hopefully by the end of this we'll find a way for you to go back home."

"I know..." Rainbow flapped her wings again, taking off into the air above me. She stayed a good distance above and kept an eye out all around us with those sharp eyes of hers as I made my way across the docks, heading around to the other side.

Needed to get those samples, so we could cure my ass and get out of this damn place alive.

ooo000---000ooo

It wasn't long until we found the parking lot where Thanatos had been, and the corpses of the UBCS were laying everywhere, guns left behind and gear abandoned.

I couldn't really help myself and ended up pilfering them for ammo and firearms, which ended up with me getting my hands on an MP5 with some spare magazines to go with my shotgun, and my other handguns.

"Robbing the dead..." Rainbow commented as she landed on top of a car next to me. "I still can't believe..."

"Kill or be killed, Dashie." I told her, reloading my guns and making sure I was ready for whatever fight was to come. "These guys lost that fight, so their gear is as good as min-"

"Wait..." My head shot up to her, and I saw her ears twitching. She craned her head backwards and started looking around, wings rigid and tail flicking to the left and right. She was stock still except for those movements, listening.

What the fuck is she hearing?

I stuffed my handguns away, slung the MP5 over my shoulder and pulled out the shotgun. I scanned the buildings around us, and did what I could to ignore the pain in my abdomen and chest, especially my shoulder. The burning was flaring back up, the pain kicking in as the virus was slowly returning to its original state of tearing through my body.

Nearby, a loud roar sounded, followed by gunshots and a scream. Something shook, crashed, and slammed into something else followed by others screaming to run. I heard thudding falls every couple of seconds, and it didn't take a genius to tell that was Thanatos, probably after some survivors, or maybe more UBCS.

"What is..." Rainbow started as the thudding was closing in on us.

"Thanatos, the God of Death." I groaned and readied my shotgun. "The 'perfect tyrant' bioweapon, a fucking monstrosity that I don't really have high hopes of fighting against and winning."

I didn't expect him to be out this early, guess things decided to go a different route then canon, lucky me I guess.

Rainbow Dash had taken flight and hovered above me, flying up just a bit higher and scanning the area with her keen eyesight. I just kept a lookout on the ground, eyeing up the few zombies roaming the premises, waiting for people like me to stumble into their line of sight. I instead focused on the noise of the Tyrant stomping around nearby, and hoped it wasn't coming our way.

"What do we do about it?" I looked up to Rainbow as she asked, and she craned her head down to look at me.

The burning in my abdomen and shoulder was getting worse, second by second I felt it eating away at me. I didn't have much time left. "Nothing." I told her and looked towards the "It hasn't noticed us, so I suggest we keep moving."

We had to make our way to first of the ingredients used to make Daylight.

To make that damn cure, heal me, and we can finally get-

Everything in my vision suddenly started getting dark around the edges, my body grew hot and I felt weightless. Before I knew it, I had dropped to my knees, pain flooded my body.

S-shit, what the hell?!

"Hey, Dee, what's wrong?" Like an echo through my head, I heard her voice.

I'm getting tired of this blacking out shit. I struggled against everything fighting to bring me down, and I turned to look at Rainbow who had landed next to me.

The look in her eyes told me everything, the worry, the fear... of what was to come.

I was going to tell her... tell her to run.

But I couldn't.

ooo000---000ooo

I watched Dee collapse onto the ground without a word.

I rushed to his side, "Dee!" I tried to wake him up, tried shaking him to get him to get up and moving, but he wasn't responding. I shook him again and again. "Dee wake up, come on! We gotta move!"

I saw those monsters had heard us and were moving in, shambling towards us with outstretched arms and opens jaws, ready to tear us limb from limb!

"Dang it, no no no! Dee you can't die here!" I grabbed onto his jacket with my mouth and dragged him away, flapping my wings to give me the extra pull I needed! "I told you you're not dying here! I'm going to save you!"

I needed to save him, I had to save him!

I pushed against the ground and flapped my wings hard, almost lifting Dee up off the ground. I had to him get away from these things!

I heard a door nearby slam open and I almost dropped Dee to look, but I held firmly onto him and flicked my eyes over.

I saw it was those other humans Dee had mentioned before, George and the others!

Him and the others rushed outside as the monsters closed in, two rushing in with pipes as the other; the police human aimed his gun, and with a pull of the trigger had sent a few bullets flying.

George ran over to where I was and grabbed onto Dee's arm. He hoisted him up off the ground and headed back for the college door, "let's get back inside, it's not safe out here!"

I'm not gonna argue with that.

I helped him how I could and made sure to keep an eye and ear out for those undead monsters, I had to make sure they didn't try and follow us. Kevin and the others were doing a decent enough job at that, killing the ones who got too close before we headed back inside, hauling Dee down the hallway and back to the lobby.

I was worried... he told me the virus was going to turn him into one of those things, were we too late? Was I too late to save him?

"The Anti-Virus must have worn off." George's voice reached my ears as we made it into the main hall, empty and silent like the rest of the city at this point. "He doesn't have much time left, I'm afraid." I watched as George laid him down on one of the couches nearby and knelt beside him, and grabbed his wrist. "We still don't have the vaccine yet, and it will take some time-"

"I'll get it." I told him, stepping forward and drawing his attention. "Dee told me the thing needs like... three things for it to work, right?" I asked George, "just tell me where they are and I can go grab them in a flash!"

"I... I don't know where they are," he told me, "we found some documents detailing the Daylight vaccine, and what the components are, but getting them all in time before your friend here turns? That will take too much time."

I spread my wings and took flight, hovering in the air. "I'm the fastest pegasus alive." I told the human and looked over to Dee, who was still out. "The stuff is here in the college, isn't it? All I gotta do is just fly super fast to find everything, and we're golden!"

George let Dee's hand go and focused on me. "Do you even know what the components look like?" He stood up. "There are three hidden throughout this area, the group I'm with have split up but we've found nothing so far, and the only clues lead to the underground areas."

"The underground?" I rose an eyebrow. "One of them is underground?"

"From what I've discovered, two of the base components are underground, but I've no clue wher-"

That's all I need to know!

"Thanks!" I flapped my wings, and in a burst of flight I shot off towards the door leading outside.

I heard George's shout, but I didn't really listen to him. I had to get underground, that's where two of the things I needed were at? No problem, I'll just... look for whatever looks important! I'll bring them back up here, find the third one, then I can save Dee's life!

I have to!

Sadly it wasn't going to be that easy...

22 - War

Nemesis, almost ten feet of pure mutant muscle and aggressive homicidal tendencies crammed into a single body, supercharged by a mutant parasite to top it all off and completely controlled by Umbrella itself. Even as a prototype weapon it was something to fear, something to run away from if it came your way.

Why the fuck is it here? It should be destroyed by now, or hunting down S.T.A.R.S. members! Not at the college!

"I suppose your little future sight didn't tell you about this, did it." The man chuckled while Kevin and the others gawked at the sight of this monstrosity lumbering into the lobby, carrying with it a massive fucking chain gun, it looked like it had ripped it right off a fighter jet and decided yeah, this is about my size. "It completed its mission and with nothing better to do, I called it here to assist in this operation."

Completed its mission... Jill, no way.

Its original mission was to wipe out S.T.A.R.S. and basically clean up the police station, on top of just killing anyone in sight. But he didn't succeed in the games, he was killed by Jill, but here he was on what was probably the last day, completely intact and his mission was complete.

"Bullshit." I spouted, but even I couldn't deny the sheer fact that Nemesis was standing here in front of us, armed to the fucking teeth, menacing as fuck.

"Say what you will." He just pocketed his device and looked around. "Now, how about you drop the weapons, you and your friends are coming with us."

The chain gun spun for a moment.

I'm not afraid to admit I almost shit myself at the sound.

With no other choice, we went to drop our guns.

At least until the windows shattered nearby, showering the floor in sharpened pieces of glass and debris. That wasn't planned, because it drew the attention of the USS thugs and the man in black and their guns.

An opportunity if I ever saw one!

I raised my shotgun quickly and open fired on one of the thugs, sending a blast of pellets right into his gas mask and snapping his head back before sprinting for it.

"FUCKING SCATTER!"

I screamed, and my adrenaline kicked in, giving me that extra burst of speed I needed to get away from the group as they opened fire on us, and thankfully they were piss poor shots.

I managed to slide into cover near the staircase, where we had been led to and slid another shell into my gun. As the USS thugs started firing, I heard the chain gun spin up and couldn't help but peek out to see what had broken in.

The amorphous blob that was Nyx, having already swallowed up a Tyrant and several bodies, more than what I had seen in previous iterations. It stumbled in through the broken glass, as the undead corpses that made up part of its body wriggled and moaned, even the Tyrant growled and roared as it was forced to be used against its will.

Nemesis open-fired with its chain gun, spitting out 30mm rounds faster than I could really make out.

Whatever USS thugs survived ran away to get away from the blob as it absorbed every round Nemesis threw at it. Chunks of flesh flew off and splattered onto the ground like wet putty, but the chunk didn't exactly stay still on the ground, instead it slithered around like a snake.

What the fuck is Nyx doing here? Nyx, Nemesis, and Thanatos was running around outside somewhere, probably hunting down Rainbow and Yoko. That thing shouldn't even be at the college, it shouldn't be here, nor should Nemesis! Why is everything suddenly so damn different? Kevin did say a helicopter crashed nearby... it might have been carrying Nyx now that I think about it.

The portion that was blasted out jumped back onto its main body, assimilating it like nothing happened as it closed in on Nemesis, who stood unwavering and continued mag-dumping thousands of high-powered armor-piercing rounds into Nyx until the monster closed the distance between them.

The man in black ran up the stairs with two of his thugs, leaving the rest of us alone with what was about to happen next.

Nemesis drew back its chain gun and swung it forward, heaving its mass with the intent to knock Nyx back. But instead of making a solid impact, several tentacles shot out and wrapped around the spinning barrel, tearing its meaty appendage apart before getting hung inside of it, and eventually, the gun stopped, before spreading up and around Nemesis' arm, and up to his shoulder.

The hulking mutant threw a fist right into the center of Nyx, but it didn't do much aside from cause it to wobble.

I saw where this was going and only fear bubbled up through the sea of panic and confusion.

Nyx was absorbing Nemesis and despite his hulking size and obvious power... Nyx was gaining the upper hand. More tentacles shot out and slapped against the body of the pursuer mutant, pulling the two closer and closer. It was like watching fleshy goo falling over a person, and growing larger as a result. Nyx grew larger after pulling in Nemesis, and I swore I could hear bones cracking and snapping clean in two.

I remembered Nemesis had a unique infection going for it... that being the secretions of the parasite that enhanced its already mutant body, with Nyx absorbing Nemesis and possibly damaging the controller that kept it from mutating out of control...

We were utterly fucked.

The body of Nyx started to grow larger, more disfigured even as it moved the body of Nemesis around inside until the chain gun moved around to face the USS goons.

The chain gun spun up.

Yeah, we're utterly fucking boned.

Meanwhile: Down Below

My body burned, and so did my new wounds.

That girl was hiding with me in this train car after we got chased down here by Thanatos, but that wasn't the only thing going on right now. I could hear them outside the train car, skittering around and hissing, stuff I had seen before back in Equestria, stuff that would send skittish mares into a panic.

Giant spiders, and if that wasn't bad enough, those giant wasps that Dee had mentioned to me were buzzing around.

They were trying to get inside the train car, but luckily, we could lock the doors and keep them out.

I swallowed. I had heard about giant spiders and wasps back in Equestria, huge and ugly, dangerous too. I guess this world was no different, or maybe this was just another case of that virus mutating them into monsters.

What doesn't this virus infect and turn into a monster?

Yoko, the girl, made sure that the container with the blood in it was safe while I looked around the train car inside for anything we could use. But there wasn't anything I could find, except for one of those human guns, but I couldn't use it, I didn't know how! Something told me I wouldn't be able to anyway, with how it was shaped.

I swallowed and looked at the next train car, where a body laid on the floor of the car. Unmoving, like everything else we had run across, and no step closer to finding those other components.

Damn it. I slammed a hoof into the seat beside me.

"If I'm not wrong, the passage nearby should lead to a hive full of those wasps," Yoko told me and stood up before walking over to where I was.

A hive? Right, Dee said that's where one of the things would be. "Dee told me about that, we need something from there?" I turned to look up to her, and she nodded.

"Yeah, V-Poison." She aimed her handgun and moved into the next car, where the body was.

I was prepared to say something about that, how she knew where everything was.

But the glass shattering behind me told me I wasn't going to have a chance to.

The buzzing sound of those wasps filled the car, and glancing behind me I saw the wasps zipping inside towards us.

I shouted, "Go go go!" To the girl and she started to run towards the exit.

I kicked off the floor and went after her, but it was so cramped I couldn't go as fast as I wanted, at least until she opened the door and we were able to jump out onto the tracks!

I flew up and out, and whirled around to see the spiders crawling on top of the train and glaring at us, they started to move after us as the wasps burst forth from the windows, stingers primed.

Yoko had to backpedal towards the tunnel leading further underground, and she fired at the spiders, drawing their attention as the wasps decided I was a nice enough target to go after.

The buzzing was causing my heart to speed up and watching them zip around was confusing me, but I was faster than they were.

I zipped out of the way of one of their charges, avoiding its stinger before flying out of the way of another, as two more came from behind and tried coming at me.

They're fast! I ducked and spun around to avoid them. For good measure, I sped up my flight and dive-bombed straight down towards one of them, tucked my head down, and rolled in mid-air before slamming my hind leg down on top of the one wasp. I struck it hard enough that I heard a crack.

It fell to the floor with a wet smack as I landed beside the entrance to the tunnel where Yoko was. She had already run inside, and I turned tail to follow after her, to get away from the remaining wasps and the spiders giving chase after us.

Yoko ran off ahead of me and towards the door up ahead, the one that had a sign above it that read 'Emission Tower'.

The vent above exploded open, and more wasps swarmed out after Yoko and I, and I had to skid to a halt as they cut me off from her. She screamed and kept running ahead, slamming through the door and out of sight.

Meanwhile, the wasps that swarmed towards me cornered me in front and behind, leaving me with nowhere to go.

In a panic, I ran to the right where the hall led to a dead-end and a single door on the left wall. I didn't think about it and ran for the door, opening it and slamming it shut the second those wasps gave chase after me.

Once I was inside of the room, I made sure the door was closed shut and I tried to relax, but that was easier said than done. My heartbeat was skyrocketing and felt like it was about to explode, and I didn't like it. I was struggling to swallow, and panic was overtaking me on top of the exhaustion, I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep this going.

I paused. A-am I really thinking about that? I... It hit me while I was looking around the room. This wasn't like back home, where I could just fly super fast and beat all my problems with speed, where I could just jump headlong into things. No, if I did any of that right now I'd be hurt, or worse... I'd be killed and turned into a monster if I was lucky.

It felt like I was just now realizing the situation I was in. I could die at any time because of some stupid mistake, all of us could, and I had made a mistake coming down here. I could die, but helping Dee was at the front of my mind, so I didn't think twice about flying underground, where monsters were around every corner just waiting to get their claws on me.

I shivered and shook as fear welled up in my stomach. I couldn't deny it, not that I wanted to.

I was terrified.

I could die if I wasn't careful with my actions. Seeing all of those people dead or dying back at the police station, everything leading up to this point only reaffirmed that I was a fool to think I could just speed through everything.

I had to use my head.

I walked away from the door and looked around the room I was in. It was full of desks with weird devices on them, and a lot of boxes with glass on the walls and stuff that glowed, and showed images of colors and words I didn't understand. I didn't see anything in here that would help me, except for a plant nearby, colored green.

It seemed weirdly out of place, so I went over to look at it. It was a pretty ordinary-looking plant, but something about it... I don't know, it seemed important. I reached over to it and plucked it free from the pot it was in and tucked it away in a part of my mane, maybe it'd come in handy later.

Next to the pot though I found a piece of paper, it caught my eye and I decided to give it a read.

September 17th - We don't have enough V-Poison for the compound. I vaguely remember there was a wasp's nest in the emission tower nearby, but I shouldn't just recklessly wander over there to grab a few samples.

Granted that, I'm stuck without the necessary components needed to create Daylight.

I guess I'll head there after I get equipped with some protective gear.

Daylight? V-Poison? That's what I needed! It was in the wasp nest after all, and whoever wrote this had to wear protective gear.

I looked around the room, but I didn't see anything like that, let alone anything that would fit me.

I was a pony, not a human!

I was screwed with nothing to protect myself, and those few I had fought outside were already dangerous enough, and now I had to go into an entire nest full of those things.

I came down here to help Dee, but I wasn't so sure I could do this.

I was too scared to even think about going down there any further.

A distant roar shook me from my thoughts and I shivered again, Thanatos was nearby, he had found a way down here and was probably looking for us, looking for me.

I had to get out of here, out of this place, find a way out!

I slapped myself in the head and shook it.

No! I came down here for a reason! S-stop being so scared! My legs kept shaking and my wings were taut against my sides.

I wanted to run away, I wanted to fly.

I couldn't, though, I had to buck up and get that other component.

The roar again from outside, and I swallowed as I realized it was getting closer.

I took a deep breath and looked at the door, and rolled my shoulders and neck, loosening them up and spreading my wings. The door held back the wasps for the time being, and I was about to fly headlong right into them and down the corridor, and through the door out into the tower, and if that paper and Yoko aren't lying, then the next thing I needed to grab was going to be in the tower.

I had to go.

I gotta.

I blasted off from the floor and shot towards the door, where I spun around and kicked the door open. I hit it with enough force to cause the Wasps on the other side to be flung back by the swing, I even hit a few of them and sent them flying backward.

I shot out into the crowd of wasps hovering up above and stayed down low, and using every bit of my wing power that I could muster to avoid every one of the bugs. All of their stingers were primed and ready, and a few of them tried to dive-bomb down towards me and hit me, but I was too fast for them to hit.

I weaved out of the way of Celestia-knows how many of them before taking a sharp right turn towards the door leading into the tower. I burst through the open door Yoko had left wide open, and I burst out into the tower.

It was wide and open; perfect for flying around in unlike the tunnel from before, with plenty of open space.

But the room was also chock full of hives for the wasps to thrive in, there were dozens of them in here! All flying around from one place to the next, and when I appeared in here with a gust of wind in my wake, kicking up dust and sending papers flying.

I basically kicked the whole nest and woke them all up.

I dropped straight down onto the floor and zipped forward, and quickly scanned around for anything that looked like it could have been the V-Poison.

If it's like the blood, then maybe it's in the same container!

I rushed around, avoiding the wasps as they tried closing in on me from every direction, but even with my speed, it was hard to do. A dozen of them had dropped from the ceiling as I was making my way up, all of them dive-bombing at me, it was a literal wall of pain.

I couldn't dodge it in time, there were too many and no openings!

I just closed my eyes and shielded my face as best I could, as I flew upwards into the swarm.

It didn't take long before white-hot pain flashed through my torso, and the piercing of my skin. Another and another, I tried not to but I couldn't hold back the scream of pain.

"AHHHH!"

I lost control and spiraled through them, wings slapping a few of them and knocking the ones who had hit me away, but I still flew up and lost my speed before crashing into the wall.

One of them was stuck and I crushed it against me, before collapsing onto the metal floor.

Everything burned!

"Ahh!" I kicked and flailed, wings flapping wildly to bat them off of me. I reared up and punched the nearest one that had followed, and the next, but another had latched on and stung me from behind. My eyes shot open as I felt the stinger pierced my body, and a hot flash rushed across my body, my nerves felt like they were getting fried!

I shouted and screamed as I fought off all of the ones that flew at me, it was like a cloud of pain.

My vision was starting to blur, and I felt something in my gut, some kind of sensation in the middle of the pain.

Burst.

My eyes closed and I felt something burning in my hind legs, and my whole body reacted before my brain did. The buzzing from the dozens of wasps was drowned out by this ringing noise in my ears, everything went white for me as I flapped my wings, and I felt my body move. A loud crack-boom resonated through the silence and the rushing of wind past my ears, and I was flung forward through... whatever this was.

I felt weightless and out of control, I couldn't do anything about my movements at all, and nothing I could do could stop it. My eyes opened, but I didn't see anything except white, and glowing lights all around me, every color of my namesake flashing all around me. The lights formed into a proper rainbow before turning to streaks and I was falling, faster and faster like a nosedive.

It was like tunnel vision.

W-what's going on?! T-the pain... e-everything hurts so bad.

"You still got a job to do, kid."

I heard someone speak, all around me.

"W-who is that?" I shouted.

"Just a friend, kid, here to get you back on your hooves and moving!" The voice told me, and I felt myself going faster. "Your friend is counting on you right now, so you gotta keep moving and get that last piece of the puzzle."

I struggled to focus, and I could almost make out someone ahead of me, but I lost them. "P-piece? But I don't even h-have the second one!"

"That's where you're wrong, kiddo. You have both of the pieces, now get yourself out of this damn place and find that third piece, and escape this nightmare!"

A thunderclap and my eyes shot open, and the next thing I felt was my fur standing on end. I felt static electricity running up and down my body and I was breathing heavily, my lungs burned and I tasted blood in my mouth. I smelled something in the air, like copper. Everything burned, everything felt wrong, my bones felt so brittle it hurt to stand, and the stings... goddess it hurt so badly.

I felt woozy and sick to my stomach, that I almost dropped what I was holding.

I blinked, and fighting through the pain I looked down at my hoof and saw I was holding onto something, a large container full of sticky-looking yellow liquid.

It was the next component!

I wish I could have felt more excited, but the wounds those wasps had given me made everything hard to focus on. I felt some weight next to me and I saw Yoko's pack I had slung over my back... where did she go? I heard some rattling around inside of it and figured the other container was inside. Wait, how did I even get the container, where was it to start with?

I swallowed the knot in my throat and looked around, before peering over the edge and to the ground below. I just now noticed the burned corpses of the wasps all lying at the bottom, scorched by something.

I don't see Yoko anywhere, so how did I get her pack? For that matter, how the heck did I get the other container?! I was confused now, where was she at and why did I have her pack?

I shuddered and pulled the pack off and opened it up, before putting the container inside of it next to the other one.

"Seems I forgot about you."

I blinked and whirled around to the voice.

I saw another human stand on the far side of the tower, near those empty hives. They were dressed in a pretty fancy-looking red suit, one hand behind their back as the other pushed up their sunglasses.

"W-who are you?" Just looking at this guy gave me the creeps. "T-this place isn't safe."

He just smiled and my creep radar started going off. I zipped up the pack and threw it over my shoulder, and backed up. We had some distance between us, mostly the gap and the big tower in the middle with the box in it, but even so, I kept my distance.

"It most certainly isn't safe, least of all for a specimen such as yourself." He spoke up and pulled something out of his jacket pocket and held it up, and a flash of light came from it before vanishing. It blinded me for a second, but went away after some blinking, a camera? "Interesting you've managed to make it this far in one piece, but with all of those wounds, you don't have long I'm afraid... shame, I was hoping to work on you while you were still alive."

My eyes widened and I spread my wings, damaged as they were and as much as they hurt. This guy was definitely bad news, all of the red flags were going off in my head as he put the camera away. Who the hell is this dude and what does he mean? "H-haha, work on me, y-yeah, good joke..." I smiled awkwardly and backed up again, and started looking around. I need to get out of here and fast!

"I have the subject cornered in the Emission Tower." He said suddenly and when I looked at him, I saw he had his fingers to his ear, who was he talking to? Was he using telepathy? "Understood." He reached into his jacket again and started to pull out something, it looked like a gun with a glass tube on top.

Oh shit!

I jumped to the side and flapped my wings, taking flight as he tried to aim at me.

I almost missed it when a loud bang went off and the man stumbled to the side, hitting the wall and dropping his gun. He had been shot!

I looked around for the source and I saw Yoko halfway up a ladder, bleeding and holding her handgun. She looked pale, and hurt, badly. "G-get out of here!" She yelled at me and finished climbing up the ladder, keeping her gun aimed at the man in red.

"B-but what about you?" She was hurt really bad, her clothing was torn open by those wasps, she had been stung just like I was, but... worse. She wasn't going to make it much longer, but neither was I.

"Don't worry about me." She groaned and a hand flew to her side, where blood steadily flowed out. "J-just get those chemicals back to the others, we h-have to make Daylight, no matter t-the cost."

Was making Daylight that important? I knew it was going to help Dee, but she was willing to stay behind and die for it? My body was burning up, and I could feel myself getting covered in a cold sweat. Whatever was in those stingers was starting to mess me up, and bad, I needed to keep moving and find the last component for Dee, to keep him from dying.

I stared at Yoko and the man in red as he stood up, and rolled his neck to pop it. He turned to face Yoko, and his smile came back. "Yoko Suzuki, one of Umbrella's finest... a shame it had to come to this, you were one of Birkin's brightest."

"S-shut up!" Yoko yelled and kept her gun on him, her hand shaking as sweat trailed down her brow. "I'm g-going to put a stop to this, no matter what it t-takes!"

"From the looks of it, Ms. Suzuki, you're not long for this world, those wounds are fatal." He looked at her, still smiling as he looked down below at the corpses of the wasps I had killed. He walked towards her, not even bothering to try and stem the bleeding from his gunshot wound. "This particular breed of wasp is quite poisonous, from what I understand, how much longer do you think you have anyway?"

The pain of having to stay hovering was starting to get to me, it hurt with every flap, and everywhere I had been stung was starting to zap my energy. This wasn't like a regular sting, this was something that was eating away at me, I could feel it, we had both been stung badly by those things.

I swallowed hard and felt myself wobble in the air. My mouth was starting to get dry, and my vision was blurring. Was this it? Was I really going to die like this? I had come so far.

Then suddenly, a familiar voice spoke up again, "Hey kid! Keep moving!" it was her again. "You're stronger than you realize, don't let something like this stop you! Save her, save your friends, and get out of there!"

A burst of energy filled me all of a sudden; my second wind, and I glared at the man in red.

I'm not dying today, not like this.

I flapped my wings and kicked off from the wall near me, and shot towards the man in red. I slammed all of my weight into him and knocked him down, and grabbed onto Yoko. I didn't slow down in time and knocked her away a bit, but I managed to keep my hold on her before flying up and away from the platform.

"What are you doing?" Yoko cried as the man yelled, and tried getting back up.

I flew up the tower, where I saw an opening through the top of the tower. I kicked my wings into overdrive and flew up, faster and faster past hives and stray wasps! "I'm not leaving you behind! That isn't how I operate!"

I kept going faster as Yoko held on, and that opening turned out to be smaller than I was hoping. The top of the tower was blocked off by wasp hives, but they weren't that strong, and I wasn't going to let that stop me from getting out of here!

I flew faster and faster!

I closed my eyes and tucked my head down just as I connected with the hive itself, and it gave way. I burst through it and up, into the warm air and smoke-choked skies surrounding the campus. Once we were free and away, I flew away from the tower to get away from any wasps that might chase us, and over to a clearing down below.

I was breathing hard, carrying Yoko didn't help either.

"The city... my god," Yoko murmured, and I looked out into Raccoon and saw the fires had spread. So many buildings were on fire, and with my eyesight, I could see dozens if not hundreds of humans slowly moving this way, crowding every street and alleyway. They weren't regular humans, I knew that.

As I started to float down, and the streets and everything became blocked out by smoke and debris, I swallowed.

We need to get out of here and fast.

I landed on the ground and let Yoko go, and she collapsed onto her rump as soon as I let go. I followed her lead and sit down, letting myself take a breather. I let the pack I was carrying slide off and sit it on the ground and looked up into the sky as smoke began to fill it. All of the fires burning out of control were starting to choke the sky, so many...

So many bodies.

"I found... the s-second," I told Yoko and looked at her, and wiped the sweat from my forehead, and she looked up. "Wh-where's the third?"

Yoko looked at me, still holding the wound she had on her stomach. "It's underground, in the water treatment facility for the college." She told me and pointed to a door nearby, in a building opposite of the one we had just escaped from. "That's the last one we need... for the cure."

I took a look around as the burning pain subsided in my body for a tiny bit, and I saw we were back where Dee and I were before he collapsed. We weren't too far off from getting one of the first pieces to the puzzle, but then he passed out and those zombies swarmed us.

Now that I think about it, I didn't see them anywhere... maybe they wandered off?

The bodies of those army guys were still here, and I walked over to one of them.

It burned itself into my mind; the way the limbs were broken and contorted, the blood that covered his clothes, the smell of iron, and death. I stared for so long at him, unmoving, his life was just gone. I never dealt with death like this before, I can't even remember the last time it came up. Was this what death was really like in this world? Mine?

I heard moaning from nearby that caught my ear, it was one of the undead. The same threat we had been dealing with this whole time, the things that filled this city and devoured the innocent, the weak, and frail. I had fought off a few of them, face to face, but it was quick and I never stayed on one too long, least in all of the fights I've been in since I was here.

I was in so much pain but it didn't stop me from eyeballing the thing; I didn't feel sympathy anymore, I didn't feel sad, all I felt...

All I felt was hatred.

I hated these stupid things, so much...

My body reacted before I could think, and I blasted off from the ground and over to the monster. He didn't even see me coming, not that it would matter.

Time didn't slow like it usually did.

I just slammed my hoof right into the side of his head, I didn't stop moving either so I sent him flying. A snapping noise filled my ears, and I felt the side of his face crumple under the force in the split second I made contact.

I watched him fly until he hit one of those cars; slamming into the side and knocking it back a fair bit.

I wasn't nearly finished.

I don't know why but I lost control.

I slammed my hoof into his face again, and again until I heard a sickening squelch, and his face caved in, but he still moved. Every hit, every impact, he just kept struggling and gurgling up blood. His sounds muffled as the solid hits became meaty thumps, every hit was wetter and wetter until I was smashing my hoof into a gooey chunky mess I couldn't make out.

I finally managed to stop myself from bludgeoning him into a messy pulp long enough to pull away.

I felt sick after that.

Why did I even do it? I couldn't find the answer, and my eyes were just looking around for something, like an answer to it.

I couldn't find one.

I just felt anger and hate.

I sniffled and flicked my hoof to the side, sending a chunk of something flying before stumbling off of the body. I looked back to where Yoko was and saw she was staring at me. She turned away when we locked eyes, probably scared of what I had just done. I would be too if some random mare just turned some monster's head into goop.

I looked away from her and over to the door I needed to go into, limping as the poison in my body spread. On the ground nearby I saw a couple of potted plants, nothing special, but I saw ones that looked like the green one I had taken; the two I saw were green and purple.

These have to be useful. I plucked them free and tucked them away in my mane, as good a place as any.

With that done, I looked at the door...

Only one more to go.

2nd-F Passage

Blood was in my mouth, my joints burned and ached, but somehow I managed to keep myself from collapsing.

I peered out of cover, using a statue I had taken cover by to stabilize my newly acquired M4A1 Carbine, and fired off a few shots at the enclosing USS thugs that followed after me.

I could hear gunfire from all around, muffled through the walls of the college as we were basically at war with Umbrella.

I took down the first thug as the second slammed into the room nearby, getting away from my gunfire.

Time to run!

I could hear the chaingun of Nemesis, or Nyx, whatever the fuck it is- Nyxmesis I guess, going off nearby. It revved up and even from downstairs, wherever it was, I could hear the rounds ripping clear through the walls and shattering glass, wood, and tearing apart many meaty things; most likely stray undead or hidden survivors.

Hopefully the former more than the latter.

I don't know where the others had gone, but when Nyxmesis became a thing, we all just ran for it while the USS thugs dealt with it. But now there were more, way more than I had thought there was originally, and they were armed to the death and trying to capture me and kill the others.

A stray round from the floor tore open the carpet and took off my cap. "Fuck!" I stumbled back and ran for it, grabbing my hat as it fell and running away from the random spray of gunfire. Didn't that thing have a fucking limit to how much ammo it had? It was tearing through the damn building and if he was lucky, killing people!

I was lucky he didn't have the rocket launcher on him.

I slid around until I reached a door, and took cover before checking the M4. I had a dozen rounds or so left in the magazine, and my handguns and shotgun still on me. I was still alive, but not for much longer. Sweat soaked my clothing, and it felt like I had the flu; my nose was trying to run, my eyes were itchy and I was nauseous. I was surprised I was able to keep moving like this.

As I looked up towards the door, I got back up and headed for it.

Once my hand touched the knob, everything in my vision went black, flashed white, and I stumbled through. I didn't have any control over my body, my energy was gone.

Images of what was in front of me flashed by like a movie skipping scenes. My heartbeat filled my ears until it stopped briefly; pain shot through my body, like a white-hot lance.

"Gah!"

I gripped my chest through the armor, dropping my carbine and stumbling through the door onto a metal walkway.

My heart rate increased what felt like tenfold, everything was shaking and my vision had gone dark around the edges, and I saw red.

"Already on the ropes? Sad, I was hoping to have some fun with you."

I looked to my left and someone else I didn't know appeared seemingly out of thin air; it was a woman in a short-cut white dress, stark white hair, and sunglasses. She was looking right at me with this look in her eyes that just sent the weirdest vibes down my spine.

"Who the fuck-"

"You're in the presence of a lady," she cut me off, and I immediately felt ticked, "you should mind your manners."

"Fucking eat my ass." I spat out, blood in my mouth. It tasted horrible and was almost thick like soup. I had to cough it up, and I felt a burning in my chest; like heartburn.

"Someone will have to teach you a lesson."

She strode over to me faster than I would have liked, and I barely had enough time to lift my carbine to shoot-

I didn't get the chance to.

She kicked my gun to the side and knocked it down to the first floor down below. She then grabbed me by the shirt and slammed her fist right into my throat.

My breathing practically stopped as she spun around in a circle, and with a flair had kicked me over the railing.

I slammed into the floor with enough force to take the rest of the air out of me.

I blacked out briefly.

Fuck, bitch packs a wallop.

I gasped and my eyes shot open as I was able to breathe again, and rolled onto my side before slowly getting back up. I heard her moving around above and grimaced.

She's a lot stronger than I would have thought, and she's the second weirdo I've seen... who the fuck are these people?

I looked around for my carbine and was about to go grab it, but I heard a thump behind me, and whirling around she had jumped down to walk towards me.

Shit!

I took on a defensive stance as she approached, but she got past it easily enough; she jumped into the air and swung her leg around, and knocked me to the side before landing, and started to throw blows at me. She was too fast for me to react or even defend right, each impact was zapping my strength and I couldn't get any punches in.

She pushed me back with each blow, it was getting harder and harder to hold up my arms.

That's when the anger finally hit.

"GrrraaaAAAH!" I finally pushed back, hitting away her arms and kicking her in the gut, causing her to stumble back before charging in. While she was stumbling, I managed to move fast enough to send my fist crashing into her face.

She was caught off guard long enough for me to tackle her, running and picking her up with a yell. She slammed one of her fists into my back, again and again, but I kept moving.

I ran her and myself right into some pipes against the wall, it was hard enough that she yelled.

In true brawler fashion, while my blows were sloppy, I was still punching her in the sides and stomach as hard as I could.

I pinned her against the piping and just wailed on her as much as I could, random punches and even bringing up my knee to slam into her stomach.

She managed to get free however, bringing up her legs she wrapped them around my neck and swung to the left with all of her body weight, bringing me down with her, but one swift movement with her body and it was me that was sent crashing down to the floor and her getting back up.

She spat and adjusted her glasses as I struggled to get back up. "Just like a man, to hit a woman."

I spit onto the ground and glared up at her, as she reached into her jacket. "At least I don't have a whole stick up my ass." Uppity bitch.

An explosion rocked the building and some pipes nearby fell, and steam started to escape from a loose pipe nearby, causing the already hot room to get hotter. Another explosion did the same and it sounded much closer, but I had no idea what the hell it could have been.

The woman pulled out what looked like a taser from her pocket, and flicked it on, causing it to snap and crackle violently. "Hmmph, I don't know what the Director sees in you."

The Director?

I tried to crawl away from her and the taser as she approached me, very intent on using it.

"Time to-"

The wall next to us completely blew open, sending debris flying as a huge gray humanoid rushed through, plowing right through the woman in white and through the next wall leading outside. I heard the roar from him, the trembling of the floor as he ran, and the scream of her as she was... pushed away or whatever it was.

I watched, eyes wide at the scene.

I found myself licking my lips and standing back up from the destruction. I dusted off my pants and peeked out of the hole, through the crumbling stone and concrete, and the pipes he had torn down.

Thanatos had tackled the fuck out of her.

I didn't see him, or her for that matter.

"I suppose I'll take that as my cue to leave." I coughed again and shook off the pain before grabbing my M4, and continuing down the hall. I was stuck on the first floor, so I only had one way to go, either outside around the back or in front to face down Nyxmesis.

I groaned and looked behind me, and I saw that the door had been busted down from the opposite direction, and undead were pouring in; mostly students and faculty members that came out of hiding.

Guess they decided to join the party.

Looking outside again, I saw a few stray undead wandering in from the north, crowding the area behind the building.

Shit, there's a lot of them outside. I didn't know how many, but I wasn't about to find out. Panic was starting to set in, not many places to go, and Rainbow was still unaccounted for, we were in a losing battle and the evacuation chopper wasn't even here, to top it all off we had a massive mutant outside and an even bigger one inside. This is going to hell in a handbasket, and we all need to get the fuck out of here, and quick!

I rushed for the door leading back inside and bashed through it, back into the lobby.

Shell casings littered the floor everywhere, as did the torn remains of USS goons here and there. I didn't see the man in black anywhere, but I saw Nyxmesis lumbering towards the stairs right in front of me. Somehow he hadn't seen me and took the first step, and the immense weight alone from his mass crushed the wood and caused it to groan under his weight the more he put down.

I could still see Nemesis and the other tyrant, the former struggling still to break free from his fleshy prison, but it was a losing battle. He wasn't as active as he was before, and I wasn't sure why.

Nyx must be zapping his energy somehow, not like it'd help us in the fight to begin with. Fuck's sake, so of course this happens. It made no sense, but I didn't have any time to really dwell on the matter, I had to get moving!

I ducked and headed right, opposite of where the lumbering behemoth was going. I had to avoid him until I could get my hands on some major hardware, but from where, I had no clue. The rocket launcher could be anywhere, and it might be all we got to stop this fucking monster and get out of here.

If he can take a chaingun and keep going, who's to say the rocket launcher will do any good? Not to mention Thanatos is still here.

I heard a howling noise from the front door, followed by clawing noises at the wood. Snarling and barking told me all I wanted to know before someone upstairs started running.

"Seems your plans fell apart." The man in black shouted, and I saw he was headed into the left-wing of the school. Was he taunting me? "Even with all of your efforts, everyone has perished!"

"You keep on, I'll make sure you're one of them!" I took aim and fired at him, but even with full auto I missed him and only chipped the wood railing as he ducked out of the way. "Motherfucker!" I backed up and tried to get a better shot, and kept peppering the railing above but he kept dodging.
"Stop moving!"

I kept missing until the gun clicked empty, and I growled.

He just peered over at me with that self-satisfied smile on his face, like he was untouchable. I threw down the carbine and glared up at him, before reaching into my holster, and pulling out the Samurai Edge that Kendo had given me, his last gift before leaving Rainbow and me.

'Get out of this city, and live.' He had told us.

I planned on it.

I took aim and fired, without even thinking.

He ducked out of the way, but I managed to nick his shoulder and cause him to stumble back.

"You're fucking dead, you hear me!" I shouted up at him; I didn't know what it was, but another burst of energy had filled me... it was time to fucking end this.

I ran towards the stairs as Nyxmesis tried climbing them, and then falling over with a roar. The floor shook from the impact, the windows nearby shattered, and the moans of the undead could be heard from outside.

Even then, I heard chopper blades from outside; the evacuation chopper?

I didn't pay attention to it, and instead, I ran up the stairs to the second floor to follow after the man in black as he ran through a door, leaving behind a trail of blood in his wake. Every step was like a hot knife plunging through the soles of my boots, but I kept moving and chased after him, through the left-wing of the college.

The Water Purifying Facility

I flew into the building and was immediately hit with the sound of rushing water, and humming human machines. The place was huge; lots of huge pipes going from one side to the other, bridges across a pit in the ground full of water and tubes going down into it, and no windows. I saw a few of the undead in here, wandering aimlessly like the others, probably trapped in here.

I looked to Yoko who stumbled in here after me and sighed before looking at my own wounds. I didn't have anything to heal these with, no magic, no potions, no bandages... everything still hurt, still burned, but I was still moving. "D-do you know where it is in here?"

"I-I'm not sure, I remember it was here somewhere." Yoko groaned and leaned against the wall, "I know that it's not in a container."

I looked back at Yoko. "What do you mean?"

"I m-mean, unlike the V-Poison and T-Blood, the P-Base we need i-isn't... it's not contained." Yoko sniffled and wiped her forehead, before continuing, "we have to extract the P-Base ourselves and seal it in a case like the others before heading back."

I slapped a hoof against my forehead before dragging it down. It just couldn't be easy, could it? It seemed like everything was trying to stop me! I was so tired of it!

I flew up and looked around, and I saw a bunch of huge containers nearby, across the pit of water we had to get across. There were a couple of bridges, but one of them had fallen and the other was blocked off by a fence and some boxes; Yoko wouldn't be able to get across, not as hurt as she was.

"I have to do this alone." I looked at Yoko, who was already sweating really badly. She was as beaten up as me, and I was feeling it... but I don't think as bad as she was. "I... I'll be back, j-just... just stay here, maybe I can find something to heal both of us."

Yoko slid down the wall and clutched her gun, and just gave me a tiny nod. "J-just hurry, we don't have much time left."

I know. I swallowed and flapped my wings, fighting through the pain as I made my way over.

The pit down below was full of dark and murky water, and I saw some bodies floating in it; it made me sick to look at, even worse were the bubbles I saw arising from the wat-

Bubbles?

The surface of the water broke and out a mutant freak appeared.

"Ahh!" I tried to get higher than it had jumped, but I overcorrected my wings and lost some altitude; just enough for it to jump up.

I felt teeth clamp down on my leg, felt the hot pain of it piercing the skin as I was dragged down.

I flapped my wings hard! This thing had gotten a hold of me and was dragging me down! "Let go of me! N-!" I felt the water rush around my body, and it wasn't long until my wings hit the water and got soaked.

I couldn't flap them hard enough to escape.

I couldn't kick the thing and get my leg free.

"Nnng!" I tried and tried.

I was under the water before I knew it.

I was dragged down deeper...

Deeper...

No... this can't be... it...

Author's Note

Big thanks to Shakespearicles for editing this and providing some amusing commentary on the chapter.

23 - Saviors Come In All Flavors

The medical college of Raccoon City was a sight to behold, perhaps the last bastion of hope the city had. The majority of the city had fallen into ruin as the streets were clogged building to building with undead monsters, tens of thousands upon thousands of them so densely packed together. What few survivors there were in the north were forced south, and as more closed in from the west, they would head east, and if they were in the south, north... all of these surviving people had gone through hell and back.

Fires burned and cut off many paths, cars packed bumper to bumper and turned over, acting as barricades, cutting off many from heading the way they wanted or needed to survive. Despite it all, they fought tooth and nail to head towards the college nearby, as it would prove to be their only escape from this hellish nightmare they've been trapped in, as thousands upon thousands descend upon them all.

Many of them would not make it, but the few who would, found themselves at the medical college, their last chance to escape from the city.

Even fewer would already be there...

West Wing of the Medical College, 2nd Floor

I was fucking exhausted, and it showed. I leaned against the wall as I chased after the man in black, breathing heavily as outside, fires burned and I heard gunshots, more of Umbrella's goons had arrived to secure the building, to outnumber us and take me and Rainbow away somewhere. The idea made me angrier by the second; they knew about Rainbow, they knew about me, and what we had talked about because of those stupid cameras around the city.

I chased down and tracked the blood that Black was leaving in his wake, past doors and through the sparsely decorated halls. I could see a lot of the doors had been busted down and some had been blocked off entirely by junk. He hadn't gone into any of those rooms, he was headed towards the farthest side of the college for some reason, and his blood trail told me that.

It was hard to tell considering that most of the blood was mixed in with the blood of others, but this was fresh and I wasn't stupid, I was able to track him. Also helped I could hear him running ahead of me over the gunfire around me, slamming through doors and trying to get away from me.

"You think you can escape me!?" I shouted and burst through the door and spotted him. I quickly aimed and fired two shots at him, but I missed and nailed the wall next to him while the other grazed his leg. "Irons thought he could escape me, and so did his lackeys! They're all dead, and you're fucking next on my list, Black!"

I fired again as he exited through a door, and I cursed.

Fucking asshole.

I collected myself and moved as fast as my dying body would allow.

Slamming through the next door after him, I saw him approaching some stairs heading up and he started running. His injuries should have slowed him down a bit, but desperation can make a weakling strong and fast.

"Yeah, you better keep running, you bastard!" I am going to kill this guy, I swear to god.

I ended up stopping for a moment to rest. My heart was beating way too fast and every throb was like a dagger in my chest, twisting it deeper. Sweat was pouring down from my head and somehow making the heat inside the damn building even worse. My body felt saggy and my vision was starting to blur again, it even felt like my blood was hot, boiling in my veins.

I ended up falling against the side of the stairs going up and struggled to breathe in what air I could.

Shit, how am I even still going.

The way up the stairs seemed like a journey; long and daunting of a task, but there were only three floors to this building, and a momentary glimpse through my memory of what was at the top of these stairs came to mind; he was headed to the laboratory where the Daylight was created, if I wasn't mistaken, the place that made the cure for the damn virus that caused this whole mess.

Why head there? None of us had any of the necessary components needed for it, so why head there?

A last stand? I reached up and grabbed onto the railing. I pulled on it to hoist myself back up onto my feet and start moving up; one step at a time. I was still gripping my handgun, just barely aiming it towards the hall above. No, why head up there, it was a dead-end unless he knows how to get out of there.

I managed to force my way to the top of the stairs and the halls; empty and devoid of any people or undead, and the blood trail led to the door at the end. That had to be the laboratory, where Daylight could be made, where my salvation awaited me, as soon as the components were found, which I didn't even know the progress on.

We needed three things, and I hadn't even seen them yet, not a single one.

Too busy dying.

I walked down the hallway and avoided the doors on my left. The windows to my right let me look out onto the front of the college campus below; the tall concrete walls surrounding the building still stood tall, and a few vehicles blocked the entrance. I looked at the gates that marked the official entrance; I wasn't surprised to see the horde of undead slamming against it and tearing it down. I saw hundreds, if not thousands of undead freaks down there, all of them pushing against one another to try and get inside the place.

Even beyond that, what little I could make out showed the majority of undead had found their way down here and were trying to get in, overrun the few survivors that still survived this chaotic time.

I swear I even saw a few survivors outside, but it could have just been running zombies or something.

I looked back towards the door at the end and approached it, gun raised and ready for action, and placed my hand on the handle. With a deep breath, I pushed it open and looked inside the room.

I spotted the man in black standing in the room, one hand around his wound and the other holding his gun up and towards me.

He pointed his gun at me, and I had no choice but to carefully enter the room as he spoke, "How about we have a chat before we start shooting at one another, hmm?"

A chat? I had half a mind to blow his fucking brains out right here and now, but he had the gun aimed right at me and any move I made, could spell my end, and all this work for nothing. He had the upper hand here, and I was too weak and fucked up to try and make funny moves; I couldn't do anything except listen to him talk out of his ass.

I entered the room and allowed the door to close behind me. Outside, I could still hear helicopters buzzing around, flying by the buildings; for what reason I didn't know, maybe Umbrella getting ready to extract what remained of their people before bugging out. "W-what do you even want?"

The man smiled and stepped over to the door leading to the laboratory itself. "What do you hope to get out of struggling, fighting?" He asked me. "You and that horse you have with you, you want to go home? What if I could make that happen."

I stared at him. "Make what happen...?" I had a sneaking suspicion about what he was leading on about, but I needed to hear it for myself.

He just smiled. "I can send you back home, but you have to let me have the one you call Rainbow Dash."

Saviors Come In All Flavors

"R-Rainbow, I don't know about this."

"Come on, Shy! It'll be fun, just trust me."

We were flying around the pool near my house, I think, in the park. Fluttershy was so scared of it, scared of her own shadow most of the time, and trying to get her to practice flying with me was like trying to get my parents to stop worshipping me; it was impossible.

"W-what if I fall in the water?"

"If you do, I'll be there to save ya!"

I didn't expect the roles to be reversed; she soared right over the small pool we had at the park near my house, landing in a heap on the other side. It was a big success for her! I was so proud of her. But when I flew over?

I didn't expect the wind to suddenly change and blow me so far off course, or to make me hit a branch of one of the trees.

I was the one falling into the pool that day, right into the water.

I was small, I barely had much muscle in me to help keep me afloat. I remember Fluttershy screaming for help, everything flashing before my eyes; my short little life as a reckless kid.

I forget who saved me that day, some stallion... he was big, saved my life that day.

I still remember seeing his shadow as I lost my strength and fell under the surface, and everything started going black.

I swear I saw his shadow again as I fell under the water. My leg burned from the mutant chomping down on it, I swear I thought I felt something give. The lights above flickered and everything grew darker, and I felt pain as my lungs burned; I needed to breathe but I couldn't.

I can't move.

I thought I saw a shadow in the water above me, someone diving in, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing things or not.

M-move! Come on, move!

I tried to kick the monster who was dragging me down, but my hits were dampened by the water and how slow and weak I was.

I felt something wrap around my upper body; long appendages, strong ones too, was something else trying to eat me?

The water rippled next to me and the mutant grabbing my foot let go all of a sudden, and whatever was holding onto me was dragging me up? I couldn't focus on what it was.

Everything was turning black.

When we emerged from the water and air hit me, I took in a huge breath of air. My eyes snapped open, and I realized I was free from the monster!

Someone screamed, "hur-! ----erywhere!"

Gunshots sounded in the air, violent ringing that reverberated in my ears and made me dizzy, really loud noises that echoed in the room. I heard the splashing of the cold water, more gunshots, and people shouting. I managed to open my eyes and I felt I was being held by someone; being dragged through the water.

"Claire!" I heard the voice closest to me shout.

Some grunting and someone grabbed onto my arm, and yelled, "I got her!"

I felt myself being pulled up by someone now as more shots filled the air.

I was out of the water, and the little bit of strength I had left, I used to clamber up the ladder I found myself near and up back to where I was before I got dragged under.

I gasped for air and got as far away from the water and the edge as I could. Everything burned, I was sucking in air like I was going to lose it again, and with how things have gone for me so far? I believed it.

"Leon!" A voice behind me shouted.

"I'm alright!" Another cried, followed by a groan. "I'm just wet."

I gasped and sat down, before shaking my head around to get the water out of my mane and ears. My leg was still burning and a quick look at it revealed a really nasty bite mark around my hip and knee, and it was bleeding. I felt sick looking at it; my stomach churned at the sight of the blood staining my pale cyan coat and the bandages I had around older wounds.

"Is... is that a pony?" I heard a younger voice speak up, and it drew my attention from my leg for a second.

Looking away from my gnarled leg and at the humans surrounding me; I saw one was dressed kind of like Dee was, with the RPD armor, but it had seen better days and was torn in a few places, and he was wrapped in bandages. There was a girl too, in a red jacket and pants, with red hair and carrying a big gun. Another smaller human was behind her, a human foal? Or kid? I'm not sure what they called their young.

"I... guess?" The redhead muttered and looked to the other human, in the armor, "why'd we save her again?"

The man looked me up and down, before turning back to her, "Umbrella wants her for some reason, back in the NEST I saw they were planning to get their hands on her, I'm not sure why."

I looked over to where Yoko was and I saw she had made her way over to where we were. She looked even worse than before. "She's trying to help us, my group," Yoko told them, "we're trying to gather things needed to create a cure, f-for the virus."

The two adults' eyes lit up. "A cure? You mean there's something else?" The woman asked.

Yoko nodded. "Yes, b-but the last thing we need is across that bridge, P-Base; it's the final component we need to create Daylight," I remembered the bag I was carrying and unzipped it, and checked the containers I had inside.

They weren't damaged as far as I could tell, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "I have two of them here, but the last one we need."

The two looked at one another and I could see the gears turning in their heads, they were working something out.

"A cure for the virus, you know what this means, Leon?"

The man; Leon, nodded. "It means we have a fighting shot at taking down Umbrella." He turned to me and down to the bag, then to Yoko, "just one more component, and we can make this cure or whatever?"

"Yes." Yoko groaned and held her wounds. "We get it and head back to the college, there's a laboratory on the third floor we can use to synthesize a cure, once it's done we can all get out of here!"

Leon nodded and messed with the big gun he had, racking the slide back and turning around. "Claire, you stay here and keep an eye out... no idea if Birkin followed us, hopefully not."

I swallowed as Leon started across the bridge towards where the P-Base probably was. I just rested; he would have better luck, and he was actually armed and didn't look too worse for wear. I was more worried about what they had said; about Birkin? Who was that? I bet Dee would know, but he's not here...

I hope he was okay.

Just hang on a little longer.

"W-wait, Birkin?" Yoko stuttered. "William Birkin? Why would he be following us?"

Claire turned around to face us; I had seen human faces change a lot with how they felt about certain things, mostly Dee's, and I had seen Claire's change into an expression he had not too long ago.

Fear.

"He's... turned into some kind of monster," Claire muttered, "Leon told me he injected himself with something called the G-Virus and it's changed him into a huge monster..."

The little human next to her whimpered, I could only guess why.

I didn't know there were more viruses, but with how this world was, Dee probably didn't tell me because it was just more bullshit to add onto the pile we already had to deal with. This G-Virus sounded bad if it scared this human that bad, and with all of the other monsters we had to deal with, I couldn't even begin to imagine what it looked like.

I heard gunshots from across the bridge, and I saw lights flashing from the hallway.

Claire looked towards them before turning to the smaller human. "Listen, Sherry, stay here with uh..." She looked at me and Yoko, and I swallowed.

I pointed to myself, "I'm Rainbow Dash," I told the girl, and pointed to the human behind me and said, "that's Yoko."

Claire nodded in thanks and said, "stay with them, I have to go help Leon, alright?"

Sherry nodded and ran over to me as Claire ran off, slapping the side of her gun before running off down the bridge. We were left alone as those two humans fought against mutants and zombies nearby, and I sighed before running a hoof through my mane. This whole thing had turned out to become such a hassle, a fight for survival against things I didn't even know existed until now.

It was insane.

Dee, just hang on... please.

I heard more gunshots, a few shouts, and nothing else after a bout of silence. I licked my dry lips and hoped they would find the last thing we needed, I wanted to get out of here, back to the college with the others, and finally get out of this stupid place once and for all.

I heard a rumbling noise from nearby, thumping sounds that made my heart beat faster; I thought, oh please, don't let it be who I think it is.

I didn't have the energy left in me to run after that, and I had Yoko injured nearby and a human foal next to me, plus those other two humans! Too many people and I had no idea if that was going to be enough to fight that thing.

Leon and Claire eventually came running back and I saw something in the human male's hand, it looked an awful lot like the container in Yoko's pack; that was it! I dared to let a smile pop up on my face as my wings spread out.

"You found it!" I couldn't believe it! We had all three of the pieces! "Now we can finally-"

I shouldn't have said anything.

I shouldn't have fucking said anything.

The wall behind them near the rooms on the far end exploded, sending chunks of concrete flying away. The ground shook and my ears rang from the roar I heard screeching through the smoke and dust that blew our way. I could only make out one word from it, from the garbled mess that came rushing forth.

"Sheeeeeeeerrrrrrrrry!"

X Gon' Give It To Ya

I stared at the man in black for the longest time, rolling around the words in my head.

I'll send you home, but only if I give him Rainbow Dash.

He apparently had that power? I had no idea who this guy was, but I knew he had to belong to Umbrella. He knew everything about what Dash and I talked about, our worlds, but how could he have that power, that kind of ability?

"Bullshit." I spat out; my vision was starting to bounce between blurry and clear, and given my eyesight already sucked there wasn't much difference except it made it more difficult to focus on Black. "There's no way you could have something like that just lying around, ready to use." I know Umbrella didn't have anything like that, they were biological warfare, not alternate dimensional travel or any of that bullshit. Even if they knew about Dash and me when we first got here, there's no way they would have had time to construct or even test prototype tech to teleport people.

Black chuckled. "You never know, what could it hurt."

I narrowed my eyes and kept my gun aimed at him. "No dice, buddy... even if you were telling the truth, I wouldn't take it. Rainbow's my friend, and you don't ditch friends, not like you'd know anything about that." I grumbled as gunshots sounded nearby. Someone's closing in. "You were probably the loner kid in school weren't ya, no friends and bullied; you look like the type to be pushed around you fucking toad-"

The flash from his gun nearly blinded me, but I was more worried about the intense pain that shot up from my leg as the bullet made contact.

It made my leg wobble and give way, and I fell onto my knee with a shout, "fuck!"

Black glared at me with a still-smoking gun. "You could have made things a whole lot easier, it's always fools like yourself that insist on making everything difficult!"

I dropped my gun as I felt my second wind leave me. I was out of gas, and no matter how hard I struggled to get myself moving again, something told me I wasn't getting any more chances to be fighting this guy off. I need... Daylight or I'm done for, for real this time. I looked up at Black as he pulled back the hammer on his gun and took aim at my head. Shit.

"If you won't cooperate, I'll just end this little game here-"

The door nearby slammed open, as did most of the wall it was connected to. Chunks of the wall showered the two of us and even caused him to stumble back, which I took the opportunity to fall over and crawl away, gun in hand. Once I managed to drag myself out of the way and over to one of the desks, I looked at who entered the room and felt my heart drop.

It was one of the many Tyrants that had been set loose to fuck shit up in the city for bio-weapons testing, but this one was dressed in a long black coat and wearing a fedora atop his head.

Mr. X had decided to show up, it seemed.

Damn it, does that mean Leon and Claire are dead? Shit had changed so much in this universe, that most of the heroes are either dead or turned into fucking zombies. I looked down at my handgun and pulled back the slide a bit, and saw the brass-colored round inside. I still had ammo left, but no strength left in me to really fight.

Mr. X stomped into the room and zeroed in on Black, who fired his handgun at him and it did about a well as you'd expect; rounds bounced off his bulletproof coat as he stomped towards Black, forcing him to run towards the exit we had both used to enter the room, and making Mr. X chase after him with a grumble, completely avoiding me entirely.

Maybe he knew I was on my last legs and that I wasn't worth the effort?

I didn't know, I just watched them leave until I was all alone, only the gunshots and explosions outside kept me company. The gunshot wound I suffered was a dull burn in my leg, and I felt pale and faint to the point I couldn't hold up my handgun anymore. My limbs were shaking and for a bit there I figured I was about to go into shock, as my body started to shut down.

I heard footsteps through to my far right, from the other door that led to the next room. I heard murmuring, a woman's voice and I thought the woman in White had decided to follow after me after getting plowed by Thanatos.

I managed a bit of energy to look up at who approached me, I half expected a zombie.

I saw someone I thought had been killed.

"Shit... he's wounded badly, Carlos, come over here and give me a hand."

Carlos crouched next to her, and said, "Jill, I think this guy is done for."

Jill and Carlos are alive? I thought...

"This is the guy Umbrella's trying to get their hands on," Jill said and pulled something out from behind her, a small white container. "We have to make sure this guy survives, he can probably help us."

As she aimed the container at me and hit a button, I felt relief hit some of my wounds; first aid spray I guess.

Maybe we have a fighting chance after all...

"H-hey, hey! Keep your eyes open!" Jill shouted and I felt her hand slap my cheeks a few times. "Don't... hey!"

Shit...

Too Late

Second wind, third wind, I don't know which wind I was on but I was thankful I had so many! Pegasi magic for the win!

After we had gotten the final thing we needed, a monster called Birkin appeared, and no one explained what it was before we started running. With Yoko and me being injured, it made it harder for us to actually move, but Leon and Claire were able to hold off Birkin while we ran for it.

As good as we could anyway, I wasn't able to walk so I had to fly using my beat-up wings.

Sherry was the human foal's name and she was riding on my back as I flew alongside Yoko, but mostly kept up and away from the battle. I didn't like letting anyone ride on my back, but I didn't care in this kind of situation.

That Birkin thing wasn't going down even with all of the bullets being thrown at it; I saw bullets tearing chunks off of it, ripping its clothes to shreds and it just roared and charged, just barely missing the two humans who ducked and rolled out of the way, jumping away before resuming the fight. It was a huge monster, swinging around its huge arm and crushing the ground beneath it, the cars it got near, and didn't let up as it chased us towards the main building.

This is insane. I felt the girl on my back hold onto me as we flew, and I made sure to keep an eye on the battle below as Yoko limped her way to the main building. I had given her the backpack to carry so I could carry the kid; Claire begged me to and in the heat of the moment, I accepted. Watching this Birkin stomping around and swinging his massive arm was making me nervous, we already had that Thanatos thing, now Birkin?

What else was there left that we had to fight off!?

I turned my head and looked out into the city, and I got a better look at the flames raging around the buildings; some had crumbled and even more caught on fire. The fire spread as a hoard of those undead monsters wandered through the flames, spreading the fire even further and choking the sky in blackened smoke. I didn't hear many gunshots anymore, no more sirens, none of that, it was silent except for the moaning of the dead that took over the city.

I swear I saw survivors, but it could have just been my eyes... I wasn't sure.

"T-there are so many of them!" Sherry whimpered on my back, and I craned my head to look at her.

I frowned and looked away. She was just a kid, and she had to deal with this whole thing, where were her parents at?

"C-come on, inside!" Yoko yelled as she reached the door inside, and Leon and Claire ran for the door. They had managed to down Birkin, but he was starting to get back up and he looked angry, really angry.

I was going to fly down before the building nearby rumbled; the wall exploded and who appeared? Thanatos, that Tyrant that had been chasing us around. He ran into the open and spotted Birkin, who likewise locked eyes, and for a second I thought we were about to have both of them chasing after us.

I watched as Birkin roared out something, I couldn't make out what he said but his big eye was staring up at us, but why? I saw Birkin get tackled by Thanatos and the two fell into a heap as the mutant started beating him up. He swung hard and knocked Birkin to the side and I saw blood fly, heard bones crunching and snapping under the impact of each hit. Birkin roared and swung back, knocking Thanatos off of him and jumping up, then swinging his clawed arm right into Thanatos' body and sending him flying.

"Let's run while they're fighting!" Leon shouted, and I took the opportunity to listen for once.

I zipped down and landed beside the other humans, pausing so Claire could grab Sherry and we all ran inside as the two monsters outside fought.

Inside the college gave me a feeling of relief, especially once I was around a bunch of survivors who weren't trying to kill or turn me into some kind of monster. I smiled, we finally had everything we needed to make the Daylight cure, and that meant we could finally get out of this stupid place!

We rushed down the halls and some tight corners until we made it to the door that led into the main hall where everyone else was before I zipped off to find the other components.

Leon was ahead of us and slammed through the door, out into the main hall with Claire and me right behind him and Yoko closing in on the rear. We entered the main hall and I expected to find George and the others, and aside from the bodies of humans in black clothing, and a lot of those shell casings, I didn't see any of the other survivors in here.

Leon and Claire looked around and I shouted, "George! Dee?" I waited as everyone looked around, but I didn't see anyone or anything. A lot of the windows had been blown open letting in the air, and the sounds from outside. The front door had been busted down by something, and on the front campus, I saw a few zombies wandering around. "Where is everyone, they were right here!"

Were they attacked? All of these bodies, the shell casings, and the blood everywhere.

I watched Leon examine the bodies and he spoke up, "Looks like something attacked these guys, Umbrella's USS." Leon looked around, and he checked his gun. "Where were you supposed to go to make Daylight?"

"Third floor, there's a laboratory up there we can use to synthesize Daylight and cure the virus," Yoko spoke up, and we heard gunfire from the second floor.

"George, run!" I heard one of those other female humans yell, I think her name was Cindy?

"Let's go, now!" Leon shouted and ran for the stairs and we all followed him upstairs, and we found a few of those USS guys had turned into zombies.

I flapped my wings and flew ahead as one of them closed in on Claire from a blind spot, and even though I was in pain, I still swung around and kicked the zombie towards the railing and knocked him over and onto the first floor.

The hit stung and made me rethink fighting for a second as everyone kept running, heading for the west wing of the college where I heard all of the commotion, namely gunshots and shouts.

When we made our way into the west wing, I saw the whole crew Dee and I met were in there. The West Wing's first and second floors were swarming with zombies and everyone was fighting them off and trying to get away. Leon and Clare jumped into action and quickly open-fired on the undead filling the room; near the stairs, Kevin and Mark were taking potshots at the undead near the base of the second set of stairs and trying to get the others up top. Down below I saw David was protecting Cindy and Jim; the latter was fending off who he could with an iron pipe.

I'm going to regret this I bet. I took a deep breath and flew into the fray.

I flew down to the first floor near Jim and Cindy and I shouted over the gunfire, "take my hoof! I'll get you guys up to the second floor!"

Jim and Cindy looked up at me, and Jim shouted, "What the-?!"

"She's a friend!" Cindy cried and took the one hoof of mine, and I kept flapping and held out my other hoof to him.

"I ain't riding on no got damn cotton candy-colored horse!"

"I'm a pony! Now grab on!"

He looked between the zombies and me, and whined loudly, "ooooh goddamn alright!" He grabbed onto my hoof, and with as much power I had left in my wings I lifted them towards the second floor.

"Don't let go!" I cried and struggled, they were both so heavy! But I was strong and I was fast, I'm not going to let these injuries stop me! I pushed up and up, harder and harder until I made it to the second floor. I let them down and they both dropped down, and I had to rest against the railing as I watched David pull out a knife from somewhere.

He moved fast, relentlessly even as he cut through the zombies and made his way to Mark and Kevin nearby.

George was also nearby, near the third-floor stairs. I flapped my wings and rushed over to him and landed on the floor next to the human.

"Where is Dee at? I didn't see him in the main hall!"

He fired his gun at one of the zombies down below and turned to me. "We were attacked by Umbrella, I'm afraid, we got split up when a monster arrived and started attacking all of us."

I froze. "W-where-"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

I couldn't believe it, or I could, but... damn it! Where was he?!

I had to find him!

I rushed away from the battle and flew upstairs, maybe he ran for the laboratory or something? It was the only place I can think he would actually go! I just hoped he was still kicking, we had everything and we were so close to getting out of this stupid place!

I landed by the door that had been left open, and I saw blood on the floor leading inside. I gulped before pushing the door open and peering inside, all of the torn apart desks, papers, and the glass nearby were forgotten once my eyes set upon Dee laying against the wall, eyes closed.

"Dee!" I rushed into the room as I heard people running after me from behind.

I didn't pay attention to them, I just ran over to Dee.

He was against a desk, eyes half-closed and breathing heavily. He was bleeding all over and his bandages were soaked in brackish ooze, I could even see his veins were super visible around the wounds and spider webbing across his skin. He slowly moved his head up to look at me, and he cracked a smile.

"H-hey."

"What the hell is that thing?" I heard behind me, and I saw a woman and one of those guys I had seen bodies of, UBCS I think?

I looked behind me and saw George rush into the room where he spotted all of us, and he spoke up, "she is an ally of ours." He saw Dee, and I moved aside to let him through. "This is bad, he's in far worse condition than he was before."

I gulped as George checked his wounds, and I winced from the noises made. "C-can we save him?"

Yoko was next to come into the room, and she took off her backpack. "Keep him stable, I'm going to synthesize the cure."

"Wait, cure?" The one UBCS guy asked.

The others eventually entered the room, and it started to get a little cramped. Kevin and David remained near the door. Everyone else spread out in the room, armed, and ready for a fight and to get out of this place.

"I'm going to try and explain things," George started, gathering everyone's attention, "there are a bunch of mutants out there right now, trying to kill us all. I imagine it's the same for you-" he gestured to Leon, Claire, and the other two I didn't know, "it would seem we've led all of them here by coincidence. My group is here to develop the cure for the T-Virus, which is what turned the remainder of Raccoon City into cannibalistic monsters." He looked down at Dee, and sighed, "it would seem our paths have crossed for a reason."

I heard some noises from where Yoko was standing, where she was messing with some big blocky-looking device with flashing lights. I hoped it would be finished soon, Dee needed that cure and fast.

"I d-don't think I'll b-be making it out of t-this one." Dee wheezed and leaned back. His eyes were glazed over and he was covered in sweat, and his breathing was so labored. "Fuck."

I slammed a hoof against the wall beside him. "D-don't say that!" I shouted. "We finally got what we needed to save you! Don't quit now! We're so close!"

"I'm tryin'..." He swallowed hard and he did what he could to focus on me. "K-kinda hard." He was wheezing now, and his eyes kept glazing over like he was trying to keep focus, but he was losing. I tried to keep those thoughts out of my head, I tried so hard but I knew what was happening right in front of me. He was losing the battle against the virus tearing him apart and I couldn't fly in and save him, I couldn't help him fight this thing any longer. "Dying and all, y-you know how it is."

I tried to keep my eyes from tearing up, but they broke free and ran down my cheeks. "D-Dee, come on... we're so close!" I tried to tell him, tried to get him to hang in just a little longer. We were practically there, the machine was right next to us, the vaccine was right there! "J-just a little longer!"

George kept an eye on Dee, and I watched as he shook his head. "I am not sure if the vaccine will help, even now, his condition has worsened... it may be too late."

I swung around and slammed my hoof again into the floor, and I shouted, "no! I-it can't be, everyone was talking about this stupid cure and we've already come so far! It can't be too late!"

Suddenly I heard Yoko yell, "it's done!" I turned around and I saw a vial of glowing white in Yoko's hands, and a weird-looking gun she loaded it into. I flapped my wings and moved out of the way as Yoko stomped over, and she fell to her knees before grabbing Dee's arm. Lifting his arm, she jabbed the needle end of it into his skin before pulling the trigger.

The glowing white liquid in the vial started to disappear into Dee's arm, barely a second passed before it was all gone and inside of him now. That was it, that's all we had to wait for, right?

I went back over to Dee's side and sat down, watching him. "T-that'll fix him, right?" I turned to Yoko, and then to George, both looking away from me. "That's it? Right?"

George sighed. "All we can really do is wait and pray it works, we may be too late. With how far gone he is, it'll be a miracle if he survives this."

"W-we tried..." Dee whispered finally. I saw one of his eyes open and flick up to mine, a green-hazel orb locked onto my eyes, and his mouth turned into a small smile. "I told y-you I'd try, I d-didn't promise t-that it would w-work."

The look in his eyes caused a weight to settle inside my chest, in my heart. I couldn't stop my lips from quivering as I reached out and placed my hoof on his shoulder, I felt even more tears escape my eyes, I couldn't even hide it anymore. "D-Dee, no... w-we made it, we're almost out of here, you just-"

His hand rose and rested on my hoof, and I felt his grip tighten around it. His smile lingered on his face as something in his eyes began to fade, the color began shifting from the green I was used to, to something duller, greyer even. "Get out of this f-fucking city, Dashie... d-don't end up like me, p-please..."

I heard a long breath leave his lips and his eyelids fluttered close. Dee's grip on my hoof loosened before sliding free and landing in his lap, and then he slumped over against the table.

I stared at him. I...

I felt a hand land on my shoulder and heard a voice, but I barely registered it.

He can't be dead, no... no no on. My wings tightened against my barrel as the voice spoke again.

"We tried." Yoko's voice finally reached me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared down at Dee, unmoving, just like every other body I had run across in this city. I barely felt anything as the footsteps of the people gathered in the room began to walk out. Why didn't I feel anything?

"So this is it then?" I meant it to come out differently, but it sounded like a rasp coming out of my chapped lips. "This is how it ends?"

"Rainbow, was it?" George was next to me, I almost forgot he was there. "I'm sorry. Losing a friend is never easy, especially in times like these," he told me and I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder. "I know you want to grieve, but we need to escape the city before we're overrun." He stood slowly and backed away, as I heard everyone file out of the room. "Take what little time you have left, and join us... if you wish."

I heard the door open and then close, slowly, until it clicked and I was alone.

More tears rushed down my cheeks and that empty feeling in my chest grew. It felt like a hole had opened up inside of me, and I couldn't close it no matter how hard I tried to.

"We came this far, and we were still too late?" I muttered as the tears fell to the floor. My eyes burned and I felt my body starting to shake. "This is such bullshit!" I choked out and slammed my hoof into the floor, once, twice, and then one more time for good measure, each one echoing through the room. "I was t-too fucking slow! I'm the fastest pegasus alive! I could have saved you!" I shouted at him, at Dee.

He didn't respond, he just... laid there.

I was the fastest flier alive, the fastest pegasus in existence! No one could outmatch my speed, no one!

I thought I was the fastest, that’s what my parents told me, that’s what I told myself! What's the point in being the fastest alive if I can't even save my friend?

I spat onto the ground nearby and stood up, and fought back the sorrow threatening to drown me. I looked down at him, the human... maybe my only friend here. We had gone through so much here in such a short time, even with all of the things we'd gone through, I saw him as a little more than just a random human, I saw him as a friend.

"I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough, Dee." My ears dropped to the sides and I inhaled deep, before letting it out in a shaky sigh. "Maybe if I had been faster..."

I looked down at Dee's hat that fell on the ground, the orange cap he had been wearing the whole time he had been here. I picked it up off of the floor and put it back on his head, where it belonged.

"I'm sorry..."

I turned towards the door and walked towards it. As I made my way out of the room, a tiny part of me hoped Dee would pull something and wake up, make some smart-ass comment about leaving him behind, giving me some relief so that everything wasn't for nothing.

Just sounded like something that he would do.

He didn't get up or say anything.

I left the room and all was silent as I rejoined the others outside the room...

My hopes were crushed.

Our Last Stand

I was useless in a fight.

My body was beaten up and I couldn't even kick without my legs hurting. I could fly, but what good was that when there were close to a dozen humans around me? I could take maybe two of them into the air with me, max, and that was pushing it in my current state.

"So you're telling me there's more of those things?" Leon was talking with Kevin and the others about what we should do, and it was only then that I learned that Thanatos and Birkin weren't the only monsters here.

George nodded. "Nyx, Thanatos, Nemesis, Birkin, and Mr. X, an unusual lineup of names but they are still valid threats."

"Jesus Christ." Claire slammed her palm against her face, and her eyes flickered with something that put me on edge. "How many fucked up monsters does Umbrella have up their sleeves?"

"They seem to have quite the menagerie of creatures, from what I've gathered," George commented.

Jim was pacing around the room we were in, sweat trailing down his brow. "This is a fucking nightmare, yo! I-it was okay with just the one monster, but now you tellin' me there's a whole fucking A-Team of giants out there that wanna kill us?!"

"Pretty much." I felt it was time I threw in something, anything to keep my mind off of earlier. This situation wasn't any better, but it was not Dee, and that helped... a tiny bit. "There are a whole bunch of these monsters that Umbrella has, and they're not gonna stop until we're all dead."

"To make matters worse, that big blob-looking one?" Kevin had taken charge of the group, and he stood nearby. "It... absorbed the one with the minigun-"

"Nemesis." Jill threw in.

"-Yea, Nemesis, and it got even bigger. I can't even begin to wonder what'd happen if it ran into the other three and absorbed them somehow..." Kevin finished and all of us were left with only one thing from the information.

"We're screwed," Claire said what everyone was thinking. "We're completely screwed unless we get out of here."

Mark, the older man, sighed. "I hate to say it, but it's not looking good, folks. We're outgunned and outnumbered."

Cindy decided to speak up next. "There has to be a way out of this, there has to be!"

A shake of his head and Leon said, "we need to get out of the city, as fast as we can, but we're trapped on all sides here." He walked towards one of the windows and peered out of it and into the college grounds below. "Zombies out front, and all of those giants wandering around, killing anything they can get their hands on, and Umbrella goons to top it off."

"What can we do?"

It wasn't looking good for any of us. We were all tired, injured, and we had just lost one of our own. The fact we were surrounded on all sides by monsters of every shape and size was enough of a blow to our morale that I couldn't even find a reason to keep going. We were all trying to get out of the city, but what could we do against a force this big and unified?

Mark was right, we were outnumbered and outgunned.

"We're not getting out of here alive." David's raspy voice sounded from the rear of the group. I could feel his piercing gaze on all of us, cold and calculating. "We're cornered like rats with no way out, even if we got out of the college we have an entire burning city full of freaks to get through... and even then."

As much as I hated it, he was right. There had to be hundreds of thousands out there right now, bearing down on us; humans and animals, mutants and monsters all wanting to get their bloodied claws on the last survivors in the entire city. We were all that was left in the city, and no help was coming for us as far as I knew.

Dee said the college would be our last chance, but now he's dead and I don't know how we're getting out.

"It appears as if our last hope of getting out of the city has become our last stand instead." George pulled out the handgun he carried around, and I heard him sigh deeply as Jim walked over to a wall, and fell to his knees. "An institution for teaching medicine has become our refuge against the hordes of monsters, and will perhaps become our tomb."

"This can't be it." Jim whimpered out. "This can't be it, man! No fucking way!"

I tore my gaze from Jim and over to Kevin, who was loading up a shotgun, shell after shell sliding inside. "It's only a matter of time before they break into the college." He told everyone, and I could tell he was scared. He was hiding it well, but the way his eyes flickered in the dim lighting told me otherwise. "I don't plan on hiding up here and waiting for them-"

"What are you planning on doing?" Yoko stood, only to regret it a second later. She had been bandaged up and given an antidote; turns out those plants I was carrying were useful after all, and healed up both of our poisoned wounds, thanks to Cindy.

"I'm going down there." He loaded up the last shell he had and stood. "No point in waiting for what we all know is coming." Kevin ran his hands over his gear and nodded.

George turned to face the man as Leon and Jill approached. "It's foolish to head down there, and you know it, Kevin."

Kevin's gaze flicked to the floor and he shook his head. "It was foolish of me to go out drinking instead of being at the station, so I could try and save my buddies from getting slaughtered like fucking animals." He remarked and looked back up to look George in the eye. "Between Leon, Jill, and I, we're the last cops in the whole city. I wasn't able to do anything to save my friends, I was too busy drinking away while the city fell apart around me, and I didn't even know."

His head turned towards the door and he frowned. Outside, I could hear gunshots, and I had to guess it was probably Umbrella.

"What the hell is Protect and Serve supposed to mean in this kind of situation?" Kevin asked and turned to look around at everyone in the room. "I wasn't always the best cop around, but I did my best... but that wasn't enough, and now here we are, trapped like fucking rats waiting for these fucking things to come get us."

He jerked his hand and the shotgun made a loud chik-chik noise.

"It's time I actually made use of this badge while we still have time." He looked at everyone again and spoke a little louder. "Get everything you guys have and get ready."

"What are you planning on doing?" Jill asked finally.

"My duty as a police officer," Kevin replied. "I'll go out there and draw away as many of them as I can, and you all escape while they're drawn to me." The officer turned and walked towards the door. "It's stupid, I know... but if it means giving anyone here a chance at getting out of here alive, I'll do whatever I can."

"You're crazy!" Jim shouted, finally turning from where he was on the floor and facing Kevin.

"You can't face them all alone." Leon held out a hand to Kevin, only for Kevin to just shake his head.

"I don't plan on making it out alive, I'm just going to draw as many of them away as I can." Kevin stared Leon in the eyes before switching his gaze to Jill. "Leon, you were the rookie we were getting, damn shame this had to be your first time on the job. Pretty shitty, I know, but it wasn't bad." He shrugged and added, "I'm not your commanding officer, but I need you to lead everyone out of here. For a rookie to make it this far, you got a good head on your shoulders... I want you, Jill, and Carlos to get everyone out of this damn place."

Was he really serious about staying behind?

Dee would probably have a fit if he was... I shook my head and looked up at the human. "You're really just going to sacrifice yourself so we'll probably have a chance of getting out of here alive?"

He just nodded and gave me a small smile. "We made it this far, and there's no way we're all getting out of here without a fight. I might as well try drawing their attention while you guys get out alive."

Leon looked around at everyone, along with Jill and Carlos. He looked to Claire finally, and the young Sherry, the only child among us. Afterward, he turned to Kevin and held his hand out. "It was an honor serving with you, I wish we could have served under less extreme circumstances."

Kevin looked down at his hand before taking it and giving it a firm shake.

"Maybe in another life, we would have been partners." Kevin chuckled before the handshake ended and he turned towards the door again. "For what it's worth, everyone." He gave everyone one last look and smiled thinly. "It was fun, I'll see you all on the other side." He gave us a salute, and left the room, leaving us all alone.

I could hear his footfalls grow quieter and quieter the further away he got. We were left in silence after he was gone, and it was deafening for the longest time. I didn't dare break it, because of how tense the air had become, how stuffy it was.

I did stand up though, and I made my way towards the door leading out, which had been left open. I peered into the hall, and the windows on the opposite side let anyone see down into the campus grounds, where the hoards of monsters had gathered, waiting to find a hint of survivors anywhere.

"I suggest we take what little time he'll give us and escape this wretched place." George chose to break the silence. I heard the slide of his handgun pull back, before sliding back into place, ready to fire. "Gather up your belongings and let us make haste. Leon, I take it you'll be leading us?"

I turned around to look at the group, Leon looked nervous, but he nodded and pulled out his own shotgun. "I'll take point."

Jim had stood up and wiped away his tears. "What e-exactly is our game plan here? Ju-just run and hope for the best?"

"Maybe not?" Carlos spoke up next, drawing the attention of Leon. "Jill and I found some buses on our way here, just behind the college. They're big enough to fit all of us, don't know if anyone here can hotwire them but if they can, we might be able to use them to drive out of here."

"It's as good a plan as any." Leon nodded and gave a nod to Jill and Carlos. "We'll head there, hotwire one of the buses and drive out... hopefully, the roads aren't too blocked, and we can drive towards the mountain pass out of the city."

"Then it's settled, everyone... let's move."

I stood and watched everyone start to move, armed with their weapons before heading towards the door and leaving. I watched them go, and I tried to gather my thoughts, tried to find the strength to will myself to start moving, and all I could do was think about Dee in the room behind me, how close he was and how far we had come before he died.

I still don't know why I wasn't bawling my eyes out over it. Did I just not care, or was I numb to it all?

Mark was the only one left in the room with me, and he looked really tired of everything. He picked up the big black rifle he was carrying and looked towards me, and then the door.

"It's a whole lot of shit, ain't it." He muttered, I barely caught it. "I fought in a war before all of this, everything I've seen up to this point has only brought back horrible memories... shit I never wanted to experience again." He hefted up his gun and sighed. "I know what it's like losing someone, kid... it leaves you feeling empty, it feels like something was torn out of ya. That kind of pain doesn't ever go away... you just get used to it."

I listened to his words, but I didn't know what to really make of it. I came to that conclusion on my own... the first part, anyway. "I... I know, but-"

"You living on keeps his memory alive," Mark told me and fixed me with a stare. "I've fought with all of these people here, they practically remind me of my old unit... never did like that Kevin kid, what he's doing is stupid... but he's got heart, so I can't fault him for that." Another sigh and he made his way to the door and walked through it. "You feel numb now, but it will hit you... and it'll hit harder than anything you've felt before, and you can't let it get to you now. Keep yourself together until we get out of this damn warzone... then you can grieve."

He left me alone, and I was left to think about what he said.

I looked towards the door where Dee was, and my heart started to beat faster. He said when he was bitten, he was going to turn into one of those zombies and that we should kill him before it happened. No one touched him after he died. Even though we got him the vaccine, I had to wonder if he had turned, or if he was just going to be in there until the city was destroyed.

I frowned, and rose a hoof to my chest, and inhaled. "Goddess damn it all."

I turned towards the door leading out of here and started to leave.

Goodbye, Dee... I'm sorry I couldn't save you.

Our Last Stand

Kevin had already left and I could hear the gunshots outside, along with his shouts and screams; thankfully not bloodcurdling ones. He was fighting just like he said he would, which was drawing the attention of all of the monsters outside to wherever he was.

Leon was leading the battered group through the college, and I was flying above them all. I couldn't do much, but I could at least act as some kind of support. I'd fight to the last if it came down to it, that's what I had to do to keep these people safe, it's what Dee would have done. I know he would have, even now, if he was still injured, he'd be fighting with everything he had left in his body.

He did that anyway, now that I think about it.

"Through the back of the college!" Carlos shouted to Leon, who was at the front. Jill and Carlos were behind everyone, acting as the rear guard, Mark was on the right and David on the left, the two in agreement to protect those in the middle who weren't as good at fighting; namely to protect the girl, Sherry, and Claire, who was with Jim and George and Yoko, the latter still recovering from her wounds from the wasp hive. "The buses are all parked out there!"

"Does anyone know how to hotwire them?" Leon called back as we rushed down the stairs and headed for the halls leading to the back. "I doubt a key is just going to be lying around somewhere!"

I flew above the group, ears up and eyes peeled. I guess they needed some special way to activate, typical human stuff I guess.

"We'll just have to hope we get lucky once we get outside!" Jill added as the gunshots behind us continued.

We kept moving until we reached a hall that led straight out the back, through a service hall full of exposed wires and pipes that hissed steam. It was a tight squeeze and we had to move fast, but thankfully nothing followed us or came out of hiding to attack us. I counted my lucky stars once we approached a door and Leon approached it. He kept his gun up before putting his hand on the knob and twisted the knob, and pushed it open before heading out along with Jill and Carlos.

I flew out after them and quickly scanned the area.

The whole area was empty, thankfully. Just a lot of junk and construction equipment sitting around, some vehicles, and a few footpaths leading around the campus. it was clear, and the sounds outside were louder now that we were outside; all of the moans and gunshots made me shiver. Kevin was probably surrounded by those things, and he was fighting them alone.

Carlos gestured to the east with his hand and kept fanning around with his gun. "They're just up ahead, down the path there."

Leon nodded. "Let's move people, stay tight and keep your eyes peeled."

I kept flying in the air and watched the area ahead. I could see a few long vehicles ahead, the buses we were headed for, but I saw a small group of figures wandering around near them. "I think I see some zombies by the buses," I told Leon down below, and when I tried to get a closer look, I saw one of the zombies was... waving? "Wait-"

"Hey!" I heard shouting from over there, and a few of the others over by the buses were waving too. "Over here!"

I swear I thought they looked familiar. "There are survivors!"

I flew a bit faster as Leon started to run, leading the group closer to the parking lot across the way.

Once I flew closer, I saw there were at least a couple dozen people gathered around the buses on the ground. They looked familiar, and it took until I was flying overhead that I found out how I knew them.

"Good to see you're still alive!" Shouted the police captain from the station, the one Dee and I had saved alongside goddess knows how many others. "We thought you died at the station."

I landed on the ground and smiled. "Honestly, likewise," I told him and looked around, and I saw so many people; police officers, those mercenaries, even some regular people! "There was so much going on, D-Dee and I ran, and the chopper..." Wait, the helicopter! "What happened to the helicopter, I thought you guys..."

He shook his head with a frown. "Someone had sabotaged the fuel line to the chopper, it crashed before it could land... lost a few people in the crash, so now we've been on foot this whole time." He looked at me and then at the others. "We wound up here after being chased, we're hoping to use one of these buses to get out of the city with."

I blinked, and a chuckle escaped me. "We actually had the same idea."

When I said that, I heard Leon and the others arrive, and when I looked and saw the surprise on Leon's face, it was nice to see, weirdly.

Leon approached and he looked between the captain and everyone, and I swear I thought I saw relief in his eyes. "I thought I was one of the only cops left alive." He commented before walking over to the man and held out his hand.

The Captain took it and gave it a quick shake, before letting go. "You're the rookie? I heard about you, how'd your first day go?"

"With all due respect, sir?" Leon looked at the burning city in the background, and he nodded slowly. "Could have been worse, I suppose."

"Ha!" The captain chuckled and shook his head, before looking at me and then back to Leon. "I see we all have the same idea, with as many people as we have, we'll need to use two buses maximum to transport everyone." He told Leon as the others filed around. He looked from person to person, and I could tell who he was looking for. "Say, where's the man who was with you?"

Right.

I felt my ears fold back and my gaze dropped to the ground. "He didn't make it..."

A stabbing pain shot through my chest, and I realized that by now, he had probably turned and was wandering around the college, joining the hoards. I wish I could have done something for him, but I couldn't do anything, I was powerless.

When I looked back up to the Captain, his gaze fell and he nodded. "I see, I'm sorry. He was a good man, saved a lot of lives."

"He did..." I murmured and looked around at the group gathered around, most were carrying a weapon of some sort and others were helping tend to the wounded. All of these people were alive thanks to Dee and I, we went above and beyond and risked our lives for them, him especially. I wish he could see this.

"We need to load up these buses right now." Leon turned to the captain again. "We don't have much time."

The Captain nodded as he stepped towards the buses. "I agree, but we don't have any keys on us and no one knows how to hotwire the damn things." He crossed his arms and looked at the large vehicles.

"Shit." Leon shook his head and looked around, and I followed his eyes and looked at the group we were with.

I noticed something after looking at the survivors, I didn't see the gruff looking guy, David, anywhere. Did he run off?

"Where did David go?" I asked and looked at the group. Heads whipped around, looking through the crowd of survivors, but we couldn't find him anywhere.

"Damn it, did he run off like Alyssa?" Mark wondered and looked around, before someone cleared their throat.

In the crowd of the survivors led by the Captain, I saw someone in a red outfit approach. Thankfully not the same one I had fought with Yoko, this was a woman with blonde hair. "I didn't run off, old man." The woman told him and brushed aside her hair. She looked worse for wear, made me wonder what she had been up to. "I decided to do a little investigating, and ran into the cops here."

"But where did David go?" Cindy walked up and looked around, eyes flicking from one head in the crowd to the next. "We can't leave him behin-"

A loud chugging noise followed by a rumbling noise filled my ears and grabbed all of our attention, and we all turned to look at one of the buses. White smoke billowed out from behind it and the frame itself was shaking before the door opened up, and in the driver's seat I saw David was sitting inside.

He grunted and gestured for us to enter.

"Looks like we have our ride." Leon commented.

Something crashed nearby, back where the college was. Our moment of celebration was ruined by the loud monstrous roar from in the distance, followed by another loud crashing noise. I heard the roar grow into an insane shriek, a loud and piercing sound that caused my fur to stand on end and my wings to flare out. Something primal had awoken in my gut that told me to run, and it seemed I wasn't the only one who felt like this, because everyone was starting to look scared.

Leon suddenly shouted, "everyone onto the buses, now!" He told them as he ran towards the path we had come from, and I had to follow.

I zipped into the air to get a better look at the college from where we were, and the amount of zombies roaming around the area nearly gave me a panic attack. There were hundreds upon hundreds crammed together in the campus, some even breaking in through the windows. Except that wasn't what really grabbed my attention, what really did was the huge monster that destroyed the side of the college wall, smashing through solid brick, rebar, and mortar and sending debris flying into the crowd.

I froze in midair as I watched this massive creature escape into the open; it was massive and I could make out the body of Thanatos fused into one side of it, and my eyes caught sight of the forms of Birkin was also inside of the blob. The eyes had spread around the area he was fused into, his limbs dangling as he was ripped apart from the inside. I could hear his screams, the roars of Thanatos, and another large mutant who was half buried in the mass of slowly growing flesh.

Massive tentacle-like appendages sprouted from the back and top of its massive body as it lumbered out of the college on all fours, pulling along its heavily mutated body like some kind of slug with legs. The tendrils swung around, twisting and squirming against its body as a dozen huge bloodied eyes rapidly flicked up, down, left and right, as if looking for something. Its maw was something out of nightmares, like a split maw full of jagged and razor sharp teeth-like protrusions. It rumbled and grumbled like a walking earthquake, the sounds it made like a messed up whale call,

The huge monsters it had absorbed were slowly ripping apart, tearing them limb from limb and absorbing their power like a leech or something. It just... kept mutating from what it took into its body, and it only grew more into a nightmare.

Then its eyes flicked towards me, specifically the survivors.

I had never felt anything like this before, the terror coursing through my veins.

I didn't even know I was screaming until someone else screamed.

"Everyone load up, now! MOVE IT!"

I heard shouts and screams as people loaded up onto the bus, cramming inside of it and another one someone had managed to hotwire; I think it was Alyssa.

The engines rumbled and before long everyone was on board and the buses peeled out of the parking lot. I kept my eyes on the monster as it locked eyes with me, and a roar that shook the ground left it as it turned and began to lumber towards me.

I turned tail and ran, there was no way I was going to be able to fight something that big!

None of us can!

I pumped all of my power into my wings and flew after the buses as they plowed through the streets, ramming through stray undead that blocked the way and whatever cars happened to be there.

This is fucking insane, nothing like that should exist! It shouldn't! How could anyone expect to control something that huge!? I could hear it behind us, tearing through the streets with its ghastly shriek of hunger and desperation chasing after us all. We were the last survivors in this entire city, and it was going to stop at nothing to get its teeth in us, at any cost.

I chanced a look behind me and saw it was moving faster, a lot faster than I hoped it would. It slammed through the walls of the college campus and slid out onto the road with a roar, smashing into some buildings before recovering and slamming its appendages and digging its claws into the ground to pull itself free and pull itself after us. Any undead left in the road were crushed under its weight, and absorbed into its overall body and torn apart quickly. Whatever it sucked up into its body that was flesh just added to its body.

I don't know if we'll survive this. This was beyond any of us, beyond any of our skills! How in the fuck were we supposed to fight this thing, or escape it!? Dee said the city was going to be destroyed, that may have been our only chance of stopping it, but... gods. Dee, fuck! I need you here, I need your help!

I kept following the uses as they turned a sharp corner, slamming into some more undead and a few roadblocks. The bus almost tipped over from the turn, but it kept speeding ahead and down the road. I turned around the corner and flew up higher, and saw the road they were traveling on was clear enough that they wouldn't get stuck.

Ahead of them I saw a big elevated bridge that passed through the city, and it went up and over a huge wall that I noticed surrounded the city to the east. It passed through it and into the forest nearby, and went up into the mountains nearby and a tunnel that had to be the way out of here. We just had to keep moving and make it there, and we’d be alright!

I nodded and let out a breath. "Okay, come on Rainbow." I hit my cheeks and shook my head. "Come on! You got this!" I kicked off of the air and flew ahead towards the bridge, I had to check it and make sure it was clear enough for them to get to!

As I approached I saw a roadblock had been set up on the far left, and a huge snarl of cars had been abandoned there. Leading out of the city, the only way we had out, I noticed there was a huge gate that was closed. The ramp that led up to the bridge and led to the gate was cleared, but the gate looked tough, I don't know if we were going to be able to get through that. I could, but the buses...

I growled and spat. "It's always something." I hovered as I examined the gate, and tried to see if there was a way to open it. It was flanked by towers on either side and a footbridge that ran over the top of it. I didn't see anyone on it, and no undead were around the gate, it must have been abandoned. I flew in closer and looked around either side of it, but I didn't see a lever or any kind of button to open it. I even flew up and into the towers and landed before looking around, but I just saw discarded weapons and junk, nothing that told me about how to open the gate.

"Is there seriously nothing here? Are you kidding me?" I slammed my hoof into a chair, knocking it aside with a, "graaah!"

There was always something trying to stop us! Always something.

Burst.

I blinked as my mind drifted to that word, Burst? I heard it back in the fight with the human in red, with Yoko and the wasp hive, moments before I just... did whatever it was I did. That thing that killed all of the wasps, whatever it was.

"Maybe... wait." I flared out my wings and blasted off from the room I was in, zipping outside and towards the gate on the side where the buses would arrive. I looked at the huge metal gate, it stood tall, it was super thick too. I didn't know how to open it, but maybe if I could do that Burst move I had done a while ago, maybe it could slam it open!

I didn't know how to activate it though.

"Shit..." Just like the Sonic Rainboom I had done when I was a filly, I didn't exactly train enough to achieve it. I just know I had to go super fast.

Super fast.

I blinked and looked behind me at the stretch of bridge that went through the city, it went really far in a straight line, right towards the gate. I saw the fires forming a backdrop across the cityscape, but there was just enough clearance that if I really tried, maybe, just maybe there was a chance I could do it.

Sonic Rainboom or a Burst, I don't know which, but either one will do! I slammed my hind legs into the ground and kicked off before flying down the highway. I flew past burning buildings and hundreds of abandoned cars, bodies, and tried to ignore the moans of undead filling the streets underneath the bridge.

Once I made it to the end where the bridge dipped down and connected with the roads below in an incline, I whirled around and looked back to where the gate was. It was far away, and I locked eyes with it as I heard the road of the monster in the distance—it was closing in on the survivors, and we only had this one way out of the city, this was our last way out, and I had to make sure they got out.

"Okay Rainbow, it's all come to this." I told myself and ran my tongue over dry lips, and swallowed. "Everything, all of your training, all of your power... your parents didn't raise a quitter, they raised a winner, and that's what you are." I landed on the ground and bent forward, and spread my wings wide. I focused on the route ahead of me, and took several deep breaths to calm myself down. I ignored everything happening around me, and I pictured only the gate ahead of me. "You got this, Rainbow... you got this!"

I felt my legs burn the second I started to gallop down the road, and flapped my wings to give me more speed. When I felt I was going fast enough, I kicked off of the ground once more and zipped through the air and started to flap my wings harder, faster gaining speed through the hot smoke filled air.

I could have choked on it, but I pushed through the burning pain in my limbs and kept going as fast as I could. Everything was starting to blur around me as the wind picked up, blowing from the west and pushing me, guiding me through the air. I used it to gain altitude and fly straight up into the air, a straight vertical climb into the sky above. I lost a little bit of speed, but what I was going to do next would ensure I got as much as my body could handle.

I flipped backwards after going as high as I felt I needed, flying upside down and then I dipped backwards and fell down. I let gravity take control for a bit and pumped more power into my wings to help my fall gain more acceleration, and used it to angle myself into a straight line down towards the gate.

Come on, Sonic Rainboom, you got this! No other way to open the gate, so this is for the win!

I felt something familiar in my body as I started to go even faster, a sort of electrifying sensation in my limbs that spread through my body. I could see the air around me distorting and forming a tunnel vision as I reached speeds I only hit once before.

The air felt like it was cracking around me, I saw my vision narrow and focused in on the gate ahead, which was rapidly closing in. I kept my hooves in front of me like a spear head, piercing through the air as a cone formed around the front of my vision. I felt my body straining against the forces, trying to slow me down or push me off course.

N-no! I'm not going to fail, never again!

My vision turned white, and a loud boom shook my body.

I cleared my eyes and saw ahead of me and how fast I was moving, and I saw I was still flying down the bridge. I quickly angled myself into the air and flew around, and twisted my body to see what I had done.

The gate was completely gone; it was blown open and turned into a pile of scrap metal that was warped outward from the sheer force of my Sonic Rainboom.

The air around the gate was shimmering in rainbows, a solid ring forming around the now open gate and letting the buses speed on through.

I did it.

"Goddess, I did! i fucking did it!" I shouted and threw up my hooves as the trail of rainbows from the ring traveled up to where I was, and quickly began to fade away. "I can't believe it! I can do a Sonic Rainboom! Yeahahaha!"

I can't believe I did it! I can do it! I opened the gate with it, I blew it up!

I felt so happy, but it was brought right back down to reality when I saw the monster still chasing after the buses.

It had turned that sharp corner and slammed into the massive walls surrounding the area, keeping anything from escaping. It roared and shrieked before using its huge mutant claws to tear into the buildings and ground, forcing its way across the ground after everyone.

I watched the buses drive down the highway out of town; which looped through the forest and led up the mountains nearby, where the tunnel was. I watched them go, and flew up to look at the city.

I let my gaze fall to the monster, and reminded myself the fight wasn't over... not by a long shot.

I turned and looked towards the rising sun in the distance before turning towards the buses driving away, and I twisted my body around and blasted off towards them. it wasn't over yet, we still had to escape the monster, we still had to get out of the area before it was destroyed.

I don't remember how Dee said it would happen, but with how he talked about it, something told me it wasn't going to be great if we were caught in the blast.

We're so close to getting out here... I just want this all to be over with! Please! I don't know how much more of this I could take. I was reaching my limit, it was a fight from start to finish and I was so damn tired of it all.

The roads were abandoned and empty, no cars, no undead, but behind us the monster continued to follow us. It was persistent, like a starving dog desperate for its next meal, and it sickened me to my core.

I kept an eye on the buses down below as they sped along the road, pushing the engines to their limits. I wasn't sure how they worked, but they were pushing these vehicles to the limit to escape and go up these hills. Everyone on board was probably panicking, scared, ready to get away from it all, and escape was so close, but a nightmare was chasing all of us down the road.

We needed to stop it, but how?

Come on Rainbow, what do we do, how do we stop it? What do we do? Everyone had weapons, but could they do anything against something that huge? Would bullets even work?

It wasn't until we reached the hill going up that I saw a problem, one I missed during my thinking.

I saw another roadblock made up of barriers, small ones made of stone, concrete, and sandbags and razor wire. Some abandoned jeeps sat nearby and a couple of big trucks, but there was no one around, no soldiers, no police, nothing. The buses pulled to a stop, and it was here I felt anxiety starting to well up in the back of my mind.

"Damn it!" Several people had filed out of the bus now, and the barrier wasn't going to be moved anytime soon, and it would take forever to even try moving them or getting rid of the wire. "Now what do we do!?"

"It's getting closer, oh god, oh god!"

"We have to get away!"

"What do we do!?" "God help us!"

Panic was taking hold of the survivors now, we were cornered again. I whirled around and saw the monster was slowly getting closer, a massive looming threat on the horizon that was hungry for all of us, and wasn't going to stop until it got to sink its teeth into everyone, swallow them whole.

We could get everyone over the barriers, but that would leave us all on foot while this thing chases us. Would it be enough? I looked down at the survivors, and I noticed more than a few who were covered in bandages and incapable of moving fast enough. We weren't running from this thing on foot, we'd be caught before we reached the tunnel. Damn it!

I hovered down towards the ground before landing, wings spread. I stared down the beast as it kept moving. I could hear its rumbling gurgles and rumbles, I could feel the ground trembling with every step it took to reach us. The monsters it absorbed along the way only continued to mutate it further and further into something that was beyond any of our understanding, something that was so alien, it was hard to believe this thing was created by human hands.

I swallowed as its tentacles swung out to either side like wings, twisting and wriggling around to make its already massive size even more imposing somehow.

I felt someone approach from behind and I heard a click from a gun.

"Guess all that running was for nothing." I heard Leon say, and when I looked I saw him holding his handgun and staring straight ahead. "We came this far, and we're so close... and now we're cornered."

"This isn't the end." I told him, and continued glaring at the monster. "We didn't come all this way for nothing."

I heard someone else approach now, and heard Jill's voice, "even on foot, we won't make it far... at least we won't, everyone else might."

"I doubt we can do much against this thing with the way we're equipped." Carlos spoke up next, having joined us. "A few shotguns, handguns and some assault rifles against that thing?"

"It ain't much, I doubt we'll put a dent in it."

I hated this so much. I'm so fucking useless in a fight in this world. I wish I could fight... I wish I had a better way I could help everyone. "I'll stay behind then." I stood as tall as I could manage, with my chest puffed out and wings standing out. "I think I can fight it, just... focus on getting everyone out of here, over that barrier..."

"We've lost enough people today." I heard Leon say next to me, but I shook my head.

I thought back for a moment, and recalled what happened with Umbrella, when they had gotten their hands on me. "I know what will happen to me if I escape this city." I told him, and turned to look him in the eyes. "Umbrella tried to capture me a while ago. They wanted me for something, I don't know what for, but I know I'm the only one of my kind in this world, if I escaped here, I'd be running for the rest of my life from people who'd want to take me apart and find out how I tick."

I didn't know how true it was, but it made a weird bit of sense now that I thought about it. If Umbrella stopped, why would other people not try and kidnap me? How long could I run away from people and escape horrible situations before I was finally captured and turned into a lab experiment for some eggheads?

"I don't want to keep running all my life in a world with no friends, and no idea who I can trust." I swallowed. I had lost my only friend here, and while these humans were nice to me... I didn't know if I could trust them completely. "I'm all alone here."

I flapped my wings and took off into the air. I hovered above the others as the smoke from the city clouded the skies, and the horizon burned a bright fiery red, forming a nice little background for the gigantic terror that was still approaching us.

"If I'm going to die, I want it to be on my terms, just get everyone out of here... don't let everything Dee, Kevin and the others be in vain."

I blasted off from the air, leaving behind the humans as I flew to face the monster on my own.

I hoped they would listen and get out of here. I wasn't sure how much time I could buy them, if any, but hopefully it would be enough.

"Do you really plan on fighting this thing alone, kid?" That voice from before spoke again, and I frowned.

I don't have any other choice. I covered the distance in a pretty short time, and flew as high as I could so I could quickly avoid any attacks from it. Those tentacles were long, and it could probably use them to grab me if I wasn't careful.

"You've done well so far, kid, but this isn't how your story is going to end."

I blinked as the monster roared and glared up at me with a hundred eyes, each one bubbling and pulsating. It was so unnatural, but what the voice said got my attention the most. It isn't? Just who are you?

This is only the beginning of your story, Rainbow Dash...

An explosion shook the trees nearby and I heard something rumbling through the trees to my left, and it tore my eyes away from the monster just long enough that I noticed something with bright lights was blasting through the forest. I heard another explosion from within the forest followed by a bright flash of orange light, before something flew out past the trees. It was fast and it ripped right through a tentacle, severing it before impacting the side of the monster and exploding in a brilliant shower of fire.

Something exploded from the forest soon after, something huge with six wheels that roared. It was a steel monster, some kind of human vehicle with a cannon on the front that blasted its way through the forest before it drove up to a hill at full speed, and then jumped the gap between it and the bridge. I watched it fly up and over the guard railing, smashing through chain link fencing and landing on the road. The vehicle slid to the side with a screech of its tires before the cannon swung around, and a loud boom shook the barrel as it slid back, and a huge piece of metal was flung from it at speeds that I barely caught.

The shell flew through the air and hit the massive form of the creature, splitting apart flesh and the dozens of bones that made up its form. It roared in pain as blood and goo splashed down its body, and it slammed one of its appendages into the bridge to the side, smashing through the concrete.

I twisted around and flew away from the damn thing before flying up and over the vehicle, and I landed down on top of it as it backed away and fired again, another loud explosion from the barrel sent a shockwave that went back towards me, causing my mane to fly back before the vehicle came to a stop.

I jumped off and landed on the road beside the tank and looked up as someone climbed out of the hatch.

A human with a backwards orange cap stood up and out of the vehicle before standing behind the huge gun mounted on top of it. He turned to look down at me, and flashed me a smile and a thumbs up, before he grabbed onto the gun and shouted as loud and proudly as he could. It was something I didn't expect to hear again, but it made my face break out into a smile.

"Eat lead motherfucker!" Dee bellowed and cackled before he pulled the trigger of the massive gun, and sent a spray of brass rounds flying into the massive creature across from us..

The massive mutant behemoth had destroyed its way from college and rampaged its way here to kill us all, only for Dee to show up out of nowhere somehow with this tank, and fight back. I felt a smile spread across my face, somehow I felt like everything was going to be okay and I nodded.

"Alright!" I flapped my wings and flew up into the air and flipped before hovering above.

Despite everything we've done so far, the monster didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. The bullets were ripping into its body like daggers, tearing apart flesh and bone and splattering blood across its form. Dee maneuvered the gun and peppered its body in heavy bullets, but it didn't seem to be doing much, at least until the cannon fired again with a loud crack-boom. Another shell flew from the barrel and right into the mass of flesh, splitting open a large hole in its body and showing bloodied muscle.

It roared and I saw its muscles contorting inside of its body, rippling across its form like bloodied gore covered waves of mutant flesh. It started to grow even larger as more tendrils exploded from the surface like parasites, sending showers of blood raining down nearby.

This thing was out of control and it wasn't stopping. It had absorbed all of the bodies it crashed through and grew bigger. Its tentacle-covered form was starting to grow even more horrifying to behold, every twitch and spasm it had was causing the bridge to struggle under the immense weight.

"Dee!" I shouted to him and flew up towards the tank. "This thing won't stop, it just... keeps getting bigger!" I told him.

He just kept grinning before the gun ran dry, and it clicked. He spat, but the grin stayed on his face. "This ain't how our story ends, Dashie." He climbed up and out of the tank. He paused and reached down, and someone handed him a big metal tube. "We're gonna win this, and we're gonna win it together." He told me and stood on top of the tank with the tube over his shoulder, and he flicked a button and held it tight. He took a stance and aimed it. "I got a promise to keep, Rainbow... I don't break promises."

Dee clicked a button and the tube suddenly made a loud thunk before a weird tube shot out of the end of it. A blast of fire came from the rear of it and it went flying off like a rocket—it was a rocket! It soared towards the mutant creature before flying right into its mouth, down its throat. It swallowed the rocket and roared, and only a second later did a loud explosion shake the whole creature to its core. The explosion rocked it and caused it to wobble as fire erupted from its mouth like a flaming belch, causing bloody chunks of gore to fly out.

"Kevin, back us up!" Dee shouted and tossed the launcher aside before looking at me, and he nodded. "Let's finish this, Rainbow!" He climbed back down into the tank.

"W-wait, what kind of plan do you have? I don't-"

"A Sonic Rainboom!" He yelled back at me with a wild smile on his face. "I saw you do it earlier, I know it was you... sonic rainboom might be a good way to end this thing once and for all!" He picked up a shell and loaded it into the gun, and he slammed it forward before pulling the trigger again and sending another explosive round into the creature before the wheels on the tank screeched and began backing up. "We got one chance here, and we have to make it count!"

I watched him back up and then turned to the creature as Dee fired another round at it.

A Sonic Rainboom, huh. I looked up into the clear blue skies as the sun started to rise further. I think I can manage that.

Supersonic

I don't know how I survived, but I was sure I was done for.

Yet here I was, fighting off a nightmare with Nyx at the fucking controls. I never thought I'd end up being the lucky son of a bitch to encounter Thanatos, let alone actually end up fighting not only his mutant form, but the combined mutant forms of Mr. X, Birkin, Nemesis and Nyx all crammed into one, like some kind of fucked up toxic burrito.

I wasn't built for this kind of fight, but goddamn it, after everything Dash went through for me; like hell I was going to let this son of a bitch be the end of everything we've fought for!

I slammed another 37mm shell into the Greyhound's main anti-tank gun, I primed it and aimed at the mutant's mass as Rainbow took to the skies above. I watched her for a moment and once I was sure she was clear, I fired another shell and sent it right into one of Nyx's eyeballs. It hit home, and caused the eyeball to warp before expanding outwards, and splitting down the middle and sides into a fantastic show of gore.

Nyx reared up and back before letting out a bellow of a cry, and it made me realize I had done some real damage there.

"Come on you fat fucking bastard, I know you got a weakness." I muttered and reached for another shell.

"We're running out of rounds down here," Kevin told me as he drove the M8 backwards, avoiding the tentacles that Nyx sent flying towards us. It was angry now and using the 'features' it stole from the other tyrants against us. They slammed into the ground near us, expanding outward like springs and hitting the road. "We gotta take it down quick!"

"I know! I'm trying to find a way to do that." I told him and growled. There had to be some weakness here we could exploit, some way to take him down or weaken him!

That Sonic Rainboom I told Rainbow about doing, it might help... somehow.

Birkin, X, Nemesis and even Thanatos all had weaknesses, Nyx was just to slam as much damage against it as you could and hope for the best. But with all of the biomass it absorbed on the way it, it made me wonder just how much we had to attack before it finally fell and died.

Fucking Umbrella.

The M8 spun around to avoid a tendril that came crashing down, a much smaller one that nearly clipped us. Kevin slammed the armored car into a different gear and sent us flying forward towards the buses as Nyx tried to move towards us. I had used up most of the M8's armaments firing on Nyx, but nothing had done much except for the cannon and rocket launcher, but we didn't have any more of the latter and the former was running low.

I turned my gaze upward and spotted Rainbow flying straight up into the air, barely a bright blue speck on the horizon. She had to climb up for her Rainboom to work right, to gain as much speed as she could before reaching supersonic speeds to break the sound barrier, and thus, create the rainboom.

I don't think it was like a regular sonic boom, it was more powerful and had magic behind it. I hoped and prayed it would do some damage to show us a weakness, or at least damage him enough.

Come on Dashie, you got this. I looked back towards Nyx and watched him slam a huge meaty claw into the concrete, splitting it open and pulling its mass towards us with a roar. We were faster then he was thank Christ, but we didn't have much space left between him and the buses full of survivors.

I heard gunfire from in front of us and I turned, and I saw Leon with the others open firing on Nyx from their position. Rifles, shotguns and pistols all firing at the massive blob of mutant flesh, I doubt it would do much but as much as we threw at it as possible, the better our chances.

I saw we only had a few shells left so I grabbed one and loaded it up, and primed the gun before spinning the turret around. I ducked down and aimed down the sights, and I centered in the sights on the thing's massive arm. I pulled back on the trigger and heard the loud boom to my right as the shell flew into its arm, slamming into it hard enough to knock a big chunk of flesh off and shatter the bones within. It stumbled with a shriek, and I grinned.

Let's see how you like not having an arm anymore. I quickly loaded up another shell as Kevin slowed the car down, before stopping. It was then I realized we were near the buses.

After loading up the other shell, I centered the sights and fired again, and then I loaded up the last shell and fired once again. Both of them soared right into Nyx's arm, tearing through its arm and severing it. The arm broke apart and it fell forward with a shout and it tried to stabilize itself, but its massive weight made it difficult before it fell right into the ground, hard, causing the whole bridge to shake and tremble under its weight.

I swear I could hear the support columns below struggling to withstand this torment, and it wouldn't be long before it suddenly gave way.

I climbed up and out of the tank, armed with my carbine before leaping out. "Leon!" I yelled, grabbing the rookie officer's attention. "get everyone through the barrier! Now!" I told him before slamming my fist against the car, and that told Kevin to do what we planned.

I figured there would be a barricade this far out, but with this car's armor and how heavy it was...

Kevin backed the truck up, before he angled it to the left a bit and slammed on the accelerator and sped forward. The speed it had gone on the road was pretty decent, and I heard the sound of it slamming through the barricade and opening up a path. It cleared a big enough path for the buses to go through, and that would give everyone a chance to get moving.

"Everyone get moving! Now!" I shouted and aimed my carbine at Nyx, before pulling the trigger. A burst of 5.56 was sent flying, and I'm sure I hit some of Nyx' eyeballs, because I saw some of them pop. My goal was to blind this fucker as much as I could, because once Rainbow was ready, she would need the advantage. "Rainbow and I have this!"

I watched Leon and the others rush into the buses, they didn't fight us on this. This was their chance, their final chance of getting the hell out of this fucking nightmare, and I was giving it to them.

We had no time for fucking up here.

I emptied my magazine into Nyx and focused on all of his eyes, splattering and popping them like zits. It was fucking disgusting, but with every eye I took out, the less he was able to see in every direction. The bigger ones I had to focus on more, and I had to dump a magazine before loading in a fresh one, and pulling the trigger again.

"Come on you fuck!" I shouted, the bark of the carbine getting to my ears and making them ring. "I'm right here! I'M RIGHT HERE! COME AND FUCKING FIGHT ME!" I roared and approached him, step by step, I fired another bullet into its eyeballed speckled face.

I heard a crack boom from above and followed where the sound was, and looked straight up above, maybe a mile or so into the sky. I saw a blue speck rapidly approaching like a missile sent from heaven, across the red colored skies she was gaining more and more speed, second by second. I swear I heard her crack the sound barrier already but I didn't see any rainboom.

Not until she fell even faster, her small form shrieking like a banshee through the morning air. I saw a contrails leaving her form as she dropped from the highest point she could reach, a streak of lightning accompanied her form before another crack filled the sky like a gunshot.

Rainbow blasted down towards Nyx with an explosion of Rainbows billowing out from her form into a circle, growing wider and wider, with a trail of color following her form. If she was screaming, I didn't hear it over the jet plane-like shriek she was making with her speed.

Nyx didn't stand a chance.

Only seconds later did Rainbow's form curve at an angle above me and pull up slightly, and she slammed right into Nyx's mutant form. He tried to hold up one of his arms to block it, but she blasted right through it with such intense speed, his arm practically disintegrated into little more than a fine brackish-red mist of bone and gore. She impacted his body, blasting right through his corestraight into the bridge's concrete structure. I was blown back by the sheer force of it as a plume of magical energy shot upward into a cloud, and the bridge trembled violently, like an earthquake.

I landed not soon after being blown back several feet, and I was able to luckily land on my feet in time to see the sharp angle that bounced right back up through the rest of Nyx's form and into the sky, where Rainbow was flying up. She just fucking ricocheted right through him, and caused his form to explode from the force of it.

Nyx roared in pain, having been torn asunder as his inner core was no doubt fucking destroyed.

I didn't decide to let up either, as I ran with my carbine and with a shout, I mashed the trigger of my gun down and fired every round I had left in the gun towards his open wounds, towards anything that looked important through the hole Rainbow had made. When my carbine clicked dry, I reached towards my belt and produced a grenade, several, and pulled the pins on all of them before charging.

"Bite this and fucking die!" I screamed before curling back my arm and coming to a stop from my sprint, and slamming my left foot down, I brought my arm up and around and threw the grenades as hard as i could across the hole in the bridge Rainbow had made, sending the grenades - one incendiary - right towards Nyx's open wounds.

As blood and gore rained down from the holes, the grenades landed in his sensitive wound and exploded violently; shrapnel and flames joined together into a cacophony of bright lights and fire that began assaulting his form.

He was still moving through all of that, but with the opening Rainbow had given me, I knew it was time.

I reached into my side pouch and pulled out a capsule shooter and slammed a large white vial into it, one filled with the same drug that had saved me from the T-Virus; Daylight, this would for sure kill him, if nothing else. I loaded up the Capsule Shooter and made sure it was primed before rushing up closer, I only had a few shots of this to use, and I had to make them count!

I leapt over the chasm created by the destruction caused by both Rainbow and Nyx before aiming my gun, and I fired it right into Nyx' open wounds. The gun formed a capsule made up of Daylight and flew right into the bloodied wound, and almost immediately I swear I saw it taking effect. The flesh started to turn white and pulsate, and its body trembled from top to bottom. It growled and roared as bile exploded from its mouth, splashing onto the ground below as the Daylight made its way into its system.

I cackled and loaded up another, and I aimed and fired the second shot right into another part of the open hole, causing the Daylight to grow even worse in his body. It was starting to tear him apart from the inside out. The massive amount of T-Virus in his body was being attacked brutally by the Daylight, which was tearing a path through his body and killing him. The way vaccines were meant to be, and it was glorious to behold.

I still wasn't done as his form began to disintegrate before my eyes, his strength being taken from him as his power dwindled to little more than nothing.

I pulled out the Samurai Edge that Kendo had given me, his last gift before he had hopefully escaped the city.

Nyx's form began falling apart, flesh and bone and muscle from the hundreds of bodies it absorbed coming apart like melted butter. The mangled bodies and gore gave way to show Thanatos, the only still intact Tyrant monster we were originally going to fight, slowly rose from the melting flesh, covered in blood from head to toe. It had been heavily damaged from the process of Nyx breaking apart and absorbing his power, but he was still alive. Nemesis, Birkin, and X were beyond dead, just torn apart bodies with no life left in them.

I screamed wildly as I leapt over the hole and towards the mountain of flesh where Thanatos stood at the top, the god of death.

I swear I heard a noise in the air, of something flying, but I couldn't focus on it.

I only focused on landing on the remains of Nyx and running up his form to Thanatos, who was trying to get up.

Still screaming at the top of my lungs, I ran to the top and leapt across a large hole, and bounced off of a mangled piece of flesh and launched myself right at Thanatos.

"FUCK-"

I pulled back my fist as far as I could get it, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Rainbow had quickly joined me. She looped back around and joined me on my other side, pulling back her own hoof.

"-YOU!"

We both shouted and slammed our fist and hoof right into Thanatos' face as hard as we could, with all of our energy, our fury, our might combined into a single hit.

Thanatos's head snapped back with enough force I could have sworn it cracked.

He fell backwards, and I grabbed onto his mangled heart and the tubes connected to it, bringing me with him. I jammed the barrel of my Samurai Edge into his eye, I broke through the grey of it and shoved it into his skull before pulling the trigger.

"RAAAAAAH!" I fired every round I had in that gun into his skull, blood splattered onto my shirt, my face, but I stared him down as I mag dumped right into his fucking skull.

When my gun ran dry I ejected it and slammed another one into it. I grabbed onto tubes in his heart and ripped one free, before slamming my gun right into the meaty and doing the exact same thing. I pulled the trigger again and again, sending round after round of 9mm straight into his heart, blasting apart his one vital organ meant to keep him alive.

I could feel it starting to die, I felt Thanatos' life leave him as swiftly as it had begun.

My Samurai Edge clicked empty again, and Thanatos didn't move, didn't so much as twitch as I finished my attack.

I stumbled back with a heavy breath as my gun hand shook. I turned to look towards Rainbow, and I gave her a smile and a nod. "Rainbow... let's get the fuck out of here."

I stepped down from the mountain of flesh and jogged away from it, and jumped over the hole in the highway before running across the road. I felt Rainbow beside me, gliding along without a word. Ahead of us was the barricade, blasted apart by Kevin and waiting for us, escape was right at our fingertips and I was so close to letting relief flood me.

As we approached the barricade, I heard an engine approaching from behind us. I paused to turn and look, and I spotted a Chevy Blazer approach from the city. It drove past the carnage we left behind and drove over the still intact part of the road before screeching to a halt beside us, and the door opened.

I saw a familiar face inside, the man who helped us out a little bit. "You two look like you could use a ride." Kendo's form sat in the driver's seat and he gestured for us to climb in. "Let's get out of here."

I let myself relax just a bit before I climbed in first, and Rainbow in next. It was a tight fit, but we both decided to get into the back seat for more room. Once we were in the truck and the door closed, Kendo put the truck back into gear and drove down the road past the barricade, and we drove up the road towards the tunnel where everyone had already escaped.

Kendo didn't waste time putting the truck into gear after gear, speeding down the highway as I leaned back in the seat with Rainbow next to me. I felt so lightheaded, so goddamn tired, but now it is finally over...

It was finally fucking over with.

I found myself getting lost in the trees as we drove on, my mind wandered as I ran over the events in my head. We finally defeated that giant fucking mutant with our combined might, we managed to save everyone and get them out in one piece. We had changed so many events by just being here, and we saved so many people.

It had been maybe a few minutes since our last combined attack against Nyx and then Thanatos, one of the few big bad bosses of Raccoon City that stood in our way alongside Birkin, X and Nemesis. Between the force of the Sonic Rainboom she unleashed with the force of a hurricane, and impacts from the rocket launcher I had found by chance, they were far behind us down the road in a smoking pile of twisted and mutilated flesh and bone, never to escape this city.

My armor was completely devastated from the fights leading up to now, ripped up a bit and suffering a bit but otherwise holding up. My body, damaged as it was from the constant fights and shit, still going strong somehow. My energy was slowly restored thanks to the Daylight, and I wondered how Rainbow managed it all, I'd have to ask her.

It was thanks to her and the others I survived, and that we defeated the monsters.

I just sat in the truck as we drove up the road, and eventually into the tunnel. My line of sight changed from the trees and burning city, to that of the concrete tunnel full of dull orange lights.

All it took was a rocket launcher, all of the amo in the M8 Greyhound, and a lot of perseverance to finally end this fight, once and for all.

Rainbow was still next to me, practically leaning her whole body up against my own. The way her eyelids drooped and how heavily she was breathing, I wasn't surprised she was finally starting to wind down after everything that's happened so far. Between the constant fighting, the near death experiences, and almost losing people she cared about? I'd be tired as fuck too... I was honestly too damn tired.

I heard her sigh and she laid her head on my shoulder.

Silly horse.

"We did it." Rainbow muttered and I felt her shaking against me. I raised my arm and reached it around her, and pulled her closer. Didn't fight me on it, and accepted the physical contact. "We finally escaped."

"We did." I let out a sigh of my own as we left the tunnel at last and drove through a heavily forested road. I saw the sky begin to grow brighter, second by second. "We got real fucking lucky, heh." I couldn't believe we actually did it either. We fucking beat them all, after... god knows how long of a fight. "Damn, I didn't know you could pull off a Rainboom that good, pretty impressive."

She actually managed a chuckle before she looked up at me with slightly beaming eyes. "I'm the fastest pegasus alive, dummy, and I'm totally awesome to boot, so of course I can do that~" Rainbow winked and stuck her tongue out.

Silly cute horse. Even as tired as she was, she was still super damn cute.

The truck we were in eventually pulled out to an overlook nearby, and it was there I saw the two buses with the other survivors. We pulled into the parking lot there, and Rainbow and I separated before climbing out to greet the others.

I saw Leon, Jill, Carlos, Claire and even Sherry, as well as the Outbreak crew, on top of the captain from the police station. Everyone here had survive by some stroke of luck,

We just laid there on the concrete for a while, basking in the victory of our battle. I was fucking tired, my energy was all but gone and I wasn't sure I could summon much more energy to fight if something were to happen. Nearby, I could hear Jim jumping for joy as Kevin wrangled together the rest of the Outbreak crew. I saw everyone was finally resting after such a long fucking time, and people were really excited to see us.

All of the words they said passed over me and I found it hard to really focus as my line of sight drifted to the city of Raccoon City.

I looked just in time to witness four large missiles drop down from the sky and impact the city center. I had seen explosions on TV and games, but seeing one in person?

It was nothing short of insane.

I watched the missiles impact the city and watched three to four separate fireballs suddenly explode into existence, engulf every square inch of the city, block by city block the fireballs grew to such a massive size and took out everything. The loud boom that sounded was distant, yet still loud enough to reach us from miles away in the mountains, and the shockwave managed to reach us after a minute of passing through the forest.

Raccoon City had been destroyed, engulfed in an inferno that burned away every single trace of the viral outbreak that would send this world spiraling into a state of global bio-terrorism and warfare.

I stepped away from the scene and collapsed onto a bench nearby as everyone started to do the same, and relax, finally letting themselves let go. The nightmare was over at long last, and everyone was deciding to celebrate. I let myself relax after so long. I put my hands to my face, and leaned forward as the warm wind blew over the area from the north. I felt so tired, dirty, I just wanted to sleep, rest, and finally go home, or something.

Rainbow approached me and jumped onto the bench, and I felt her nose me like a curious puppy. I had to hide the chuckle before pulling my hands away, and I looked at her with a smile. "We're safe now, Rainbow... how's it feel?"

The mare smiled at me, before she reached over and hugged me. An action I didn't quite expect from the character I knew and loved, but it wasn't unwelcome, and I was quick to return it with a hug of my own. It was something we both needed after such a long and stressful time, and I was more than happy to receive some kind of affection after all of this bullshit.

"It feels great..." She spoke softly into my ear and pulled back for a moment to lock eyes with me. Bloodied and banged up as she was, her smile was still the brightest thing I had ever seen, and I loved it. "It's a lot better than I was hoping it would be."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? How so?"

Her eyes softened and so did her smile, and her light blue cheeks grew a sort of red tint. I noticed her wings shuffling on either side and she said, "you survived and escaped with me, that's why it's better." She leaned forward and buried her face in the nape of my neck, and I felt myself heat up from the contact. "You really scared me, Dee, but... you survived, somehow, and you kept your promise."

I felt my heart starting to beat faster, but I tried to ignore it and calm myself down. "I keep my promises, Dashie. I do whatever I can to not break them."

"I know." She pulled away and I felt her fur tickle my skin. A tense second passed as I felt her breath on my cheek, and only a second later did I feel her lips press against my skin.

It was the briefest contact I've ever had like that, but god...

It felt like an eternity passed, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

She eventually pulled away and I saw her eyes staring into mine, and that cute little smile of hers lingered. Her smile turned into a tiny grin and she chuckled, "did I break you?"

I pursed my lips and felt a lot of things rushing through me, confusion, anxiety, and maybe... a little something more.

"M-maybe a little bit, actually." I admitted and she chuckled again.

She leaned against the bench's backrest, and kept looking at me. "I guess I'm not known for doing that from that uh... cartoon?"

I shook my head and found myself smiling a little. It took me until now to realize my hand was on my cheek, how long had I touched that spot? "N-no, actually... you're a really headstrong character, stubborn, really self-confident, but you're also brash and mischievous, maybe a bit over-confident sometimes."

Rainbow blinked and brushed her mane aside. "Really?" When I nodded, she looked away for a moment, and made a grunt. "Huh..." She shrugged and smiled regardless, and looked back towards me. "I am pretty cool, but... after all of this, everything that's happened?" She glanced beyond me and towards the burning ruins of the city. Her smile faded into a frown. "I'm not as strong as I thought I was, or as fast... or as brave, I wasn't fast enough to save yo-"

I quickly put my hand over her muzzle, and caught her eyes glaring at me all of a sudden. "Don't go there, Dash." I let the words settle in her mind, and I let my hand drift to her cheek. "Don't let that kind of thinking consume you, okay? It doesn't matter... none of it matters now, because I'm here, alive, thanks to you and the others, and we're both here. We're both alive." I stared her dead in the eyes and let a smile grow. "You're alive, I'm alive... focus on that, and let's be happy, yeah?"

Rainbow's eyes misted up and her ears folded back. "B-but..."

"No buts, silly pony." I pulled my hand away and stuck a finger out, and booped it against her snoot. "We got out of there alive, and I'm gonna survive because you risked it all to save my life." I pulled my hand away and leaned back, and let my eyes drift up into the trees above. "We survived hell on earth." I let my gaze fall back to Rainbow and she was still looking towards me with those bright eyes of hers. "You're still one hell of a girl, and I'm glad you were the one I got stuck here with."

Rainbow's cheeks took on a reddish hue, and she fluttered her wings a bit before looking away. "Yeah, we-well..." She ran a hoof through her mane, ruffling it up a bit. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Pfft, that's it? I'm not so bad? Come on!" I blew a raspberry. "I just said you were one hell of a girl, and complimented you on top of it and that's the best you got? Sheesh."

"Oh whatever." Rainbow stuck out her tongue. "You know what I mean!"

"Not really, why don't you spell it out for me a little, help me understand."

She scoffed. "Are you that dense?"

"I'm like you, Dashie, I'm hard headed~" I stuck my own tongue out at her. "Sometimes it's hard to get stuff through my head." I accentuated that and rapped my knuckles against my head.

"No wonder you survived so long, I guess that thick skull of yours is good for something after all."

"That's not all that's thick."

I saw her blush grow brighter and she nearly spat. "O-oh bite me you weirdo!"

"Hey now, don't be threatening' me with a good time."

"P-pfft! I, w-what? I don't-" Rainbow's face was so red, and I don't know why but that was so fucking funny.

I couldn't help it and I started to laugh.

Probably the only really joy - aside from the kiss - I've felt since I arrived in this fucking hellhole. Rainbow paused in her stuttering, but she lightened up and ended up joining me for a laugh. We both shared that laugh together, just some banter between friends... and it felt so fucking nice.

The laughter died down before I turned towards the burning ruins of the city, of which I had a front row seat to it with Rainbow. I watched the burning pyres collapse building after building, and I had to wonder how many poor souls had been left behind. It wasn't my problem anymore, I rescued who I could, but now?

"Hey Dee." I felt her move across the bench, and she scooted closer to me.

I tore my gaze from the city and looked at her. "What's up?"

She was looking out towards the city as well, and I could see the fires flickering in her eyes like candlelights. "Now that we're free... what do we do now?"

As the sun rose high into the sky and shone down on all of us, I let another smile grace my face before looking up. I felt Rainbow follow my gaze, and I could only think of one thing we could do.

"You wanna get drunk and take a shower with me?"

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Massive thanks to Shakespearicles and AJ Aficionado for looking over this!

Thus, after several years, we have reached a conclusion that has been a long time coming, and I'm glad people stuck around to read this. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has followed me over the years, dropped likes, comments, faves, and bugged me to finish the stuff I've started.

This one was difficult to finish, and it shows with the updates between chapters. I had a lot happen through my life during the development of this story; I went through a horrible breakup, a brief encounter with suicide, job searching, as well as some incredibly difficult issues with my mental and emotional health.

It's been a rough road for me, but having finished this, I feel a tremendous weight lift off of my shoulders.

This isn't the end, this is only the beginning.

00 - Arrival

BANG BANG

“Run! G-Go!”

“No! I’m not leaving you!”

“Just f-fucking go you i-idiot! Please! I’m not fucking worth it!”

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

Was it too late for us? I didn’t know. Was it too late for her? I hope not. Was it too late for me? Yes, yes it was. I prayed, begged and pleaded to every deity I knew there was, prayed that it wasn’t too late for her to escape this hell fire. But she was just there, on her knees in front of me and her arms outstretched, ignoring my pleas for her to escape.

Why?! Why wouldn’t she leave me?!

Please, God... please... get her out of here. I begged, blood running from my mouth, my arms, my neck... anywhere I had been injured.

He was getting closer, step by step he closed in, and she still wouldn’t fucking leave! She just... she just stood there!

The pain was so much, but I still had the strength to scream at her.

“Just go! Get out of here now!”

“I-I can’t...” Was all she could say to me.

Then he stood over us, this monster of thinly veiled shadow.

His claws came down.

”No!”

CRUSH

Arkansas

Eyes snapping open, my chest rose rapidly with each panicked breath. I threw off the covers and swung my legs off the bed, hands gripping the sheets in an attempt to keep myself from falling off into the floor. I felt so exhausted all of a sudden. A thin veil of cold murky sweat was draped across my body like an unwashed bed sheet. My heart wouldn’t cease its infernal pounding either, a stab of panic rolling through me from head to toe. Shit... another nightmare. I sighed and rubbed my face.

It had become a regular thing with me over the past few months, these frequent nightmares that plagued my sleep and threatened to fuck with my psyche.

I stood up from my bed and made my way to the bathroom. I reached for the handle for the sink and waited for it to spit out the first stream of water before I cupped my hands under it and quickly splashed my face with water. After I was done washing my face quite thoroughly, my hands rested on the sides. I raised my head to gaze at my reflection; pale clear-ish skin, bloodshot hazel eyes, yep... perfectly normal, least for someone like me.

I shook my head and dried my face off with a towel as I moved back into the bedroom. I noted it was 2:00 PM and groaned heavily. Despite the current time, it felt like it was too early for me.

Ugh.

Ever since I moved to the northwest portion of Arkansas a few months ago, I’ve been having these weird nightmares nonstop. All of them centered around some kind of monster attacking me and this... this woman who wouldn’t leave no matter how hard I begged her to leave me and just escape.

This has been happening so much and it confused me.

Why? Why is this happening so constantly? What does it mean, if anything?

I didn’t know what it really meant. I looked online and read web articles, I read books at the library, I even asked some of my friends and told them about this, but none of them really knew how to explain it or help me out. Pfft, I mean, it’s just a recurring nightmare, but... the same thing, over and over again, same scene, same girl, same voice. And it always reached the point with that crush noise from whatever attacked us both, ending the nightmare.

I just shook my head again as I wandered through the bland hall to get into the kitchen proper. Just stupid nightmares I told myself again and again, just stupid nightmares and nothing more. As much as the paranoid and fantastical part of me wishes that it actually meant something, this has been going on for a long while, so I wasn’t exactly holding out hope that it did mean something.

It was just another one of those things that gets my hopes up I suppose, you know the trope right? Guy or girl has recurring dreams or nightmares and it eventually leads into something crazy? That’s what I was hopeful for.

I went over to the fridge and pulled out a jug of orange juice before flipping on the TV in the room, letting the sounds of the news drown out the silence. I filled up a glass half full and proceeded to down it as I saw some report on TV, it was talking about some storms coming in from the southeast, probably another hurricane was headed for us. Wouldn’t be the first time, nor the last, hurricanes seemed to sprout up like cockroaches.

Storms... it was always storms, endless clouds that covered up the sky for miles around and let loose a downpour of ice cold rain, freezing my bones and making the day feel just a little dreary to continue staying awake. Though, sometimes, I’d stay awake and huddle up next to the window to watch it happen.

Crack boom

Speak of the devil, and he shall come.

I glanced out the window and saw it, the first drops of rainfall. My legs moved by themselves and I found myself opening the door to my balcony to step out. My glass was set down on the table next to some lawn chairs I had bought in lieu of actual relaxing chairs as I took those first steps out into the rain. I wasn’t wearing shoes, so my feet were assaulted first by the rain and slowly my whole body became drenched in rainwater. I looked out across the balcony’s edge and into the city I lived in, watching as the rain fell down and drenching everything in bone chilling water.

My clothes, a tank top and some shorts quickly grew heavy from the water. My legs were already a bit weakened so I sat down on the balcony, leaning back against the wall and letting the rain wash down across my body. My eyes closed, I didn’t move as thunder rumbled across the skies, and I didn’t move when lightning had crackled through the clouds, threatening to strike me.

I just sat there and let the rain soak me to the bone.

Some days I did this whenever it rained, just sit outside in the rain and think about life. My body would get cold, I’d end up with shivers and if I’m lucky, just a little cold that’ll last a week. Some might question me on this course of action; why risk getting a cold just to sit out in the icy rain during winter time to think? Good chance I’d die if caught something way worse than a little cold.

Maybe I just liked the feeling... maybe the chilling sting made me feel something other than the crippling boredom.

The pain of yesterday faded as the pain of today took over, making me wonder what the point was. It was one of those typical mindsets someone gets when they’re down and out; they’re confused and they’re angry at themselves for being confused and not knowing how to fix it. Or at least, know a good way to fix it, anyhow. My whole life has had its ups and downs, so it wasn’t exactly anything new that I was thinking like this.

As rain water trailed down my face in icy tingling trickles, my thoughts ceased to wander aimlessly across the landscape that was my mind. My eyes opened up and looked up into the sky. The rolling rumble of thunder, the rain pouring down onto me, it was calming in a way.

Until...

”Hey! It’s Rainbow Dash here, leave a message for Dustin at the beep!”

BEEP

I heard the distinct sound of my cell phone’s customized answering machine. I had actually managed to find someone to make one for me, it was pretty neat. They sounded just like my favorite pony, a lucky find if you ask me. I sighed and stood up as I heard the voice on the other end of the phone speak.

”Still using that dumb pony voice for your answering machine? Dude, you need to move on from that.” I heard the voice of one of my friends, Steve Thorten. ”MLP’s not really as cool as it was before, it’s all about that Chunichi Boku Banana dude! The girl on there is a lot better than your garbage waifu.”

Christ. I wandered over to my cell phone that was sitting on the counter and picked it up, then hit the answer button. “Yeah, fuck you too, Steve, leave Dashie out of this.”

”Pfft, Rainbow’s garbage tier and you know it,” Steve told me, and my blood just boiled. He always did that to get a rise out of me... and sadly it tended to work half the time. ”Anyway, I called you cause I wanna know if you’re up for hanging out with me and the guys tonight, you free?”

I just stared at the fridge in front of my counter, staring at the calendar which was pretty much in the red from days I’ve crossed out. My entire week was clear... not a thing on there. “I’m busy...”

”Oh... uh, next week then?”

I didn’t have the strength for next week either, but I replied, “Maybe...”

”...You alright man? I was just fucking with you abo-”

“I’m fine.” I cut him off, “Next week... I promise.” I told him, I think I heard something of a question come from him, but I was too busy staring at the fridge and hung up my phone. I let it clatter to the counter and just stared.

”I’m fine.”

Was I fine? Was I really fine?

I mean... I was sorta well off when it came to finances, I had food, electricity, a roof over my head. I made plenty of money to pay the bills, a sub par job that supplied said money. I had my YouTube channel going strong, and I had my friends of course. In all aspects and sense of the word, I should be fine, perfectly fine, no problems at all.

But I felt like something was missing from my life... and I didn’t know what it was.

I sighed... and a breeze of cold air reminded me that I was sopping wet.

Fuck.

A quick change of clothes and I was sitting on my couch, glancing at my TV and watching some commercial play in the background. All the while I wondered what I was going to do today. I had used up all my hours for working this week, and I wasn’t itching for some overtime. And I had told Steve I wasn’t free so... what the fuck was I going to do?

Fuck me... I shook my head before getting up, the rain had let up so... might as well go for a walk or something, clear my head.

It didn’t take long before I was outside my apartment and walking outside, wandering around the area aimlessly. I passed by some other buildings, a gas station, a grocery store. Some people walked around the area, not even giving me a passing glance or acknowledgement. I didn’t really want them to, more of an observation on my part.

Bah... what has my life come to where I’ve become such a damn mess? I needed something in life, it was... something my body yearned for, something my mind said was obvious, but what?

What?

I needed an escape.

My little walk had ended with me wandering up to the park nearby which appeared abandoned today. No surprise, considering how rainy it was earlier. I sniffled and made my way over to a bench—I promptly sat down on the wet wood, leaning against the backrest and watching the city. My hands rested in my pockets, little drip drops of rain fell onto my hair... I was promptly bored.

I need a new escape in my life. I realized. For the past couple of years I had fanfiction to tide me over, to help me get away from the problems of real life... to help me live out these adventures that realistically I’d never be able to go on. Life simply was not as interesting as my story ideas.

Some of what I wrote was... typical of a fanfiction author, wish fulfillment and power trips—though on occasion I’d post something that was insightful or catching the eyes of my readers. Though I never did get around to writing a heartfelt adventure story or a romance with an amazing plot, I simply wasn’t talented enough, I never was.

Afterwards I just... drifted out of writing fanfiction, my heart didn’t feel up to it anymore. I still kept in contact with dear friends and fellow writers of course, but trying to write a story nowadays just felt... incredibly difficult, it was hard to type words and keep to the set plot line I had in mind. And despite repeated attempts I just burnt out, I couldn’t keep going and thought; Hey! I just need a break is all.

It’s been a year since I said that, and I haven’t so much as thought about slapping my fingers against a keyboard to create words and a story.

I just stopped writing, painful as it was.

I’d get a comment on occasion from people asking me when I was going to post something new or update one of my older stories, and I’d tell them I was on break... but in reality, it just an excuse to stave off the metaphorical mob of angry pony lovers.

That won’t ever happen, obviously, I wasn’t that good of a writer, I wasn’t exactly a prominent name in the fandom, Dustchu was just a handle that a few may have heard of in passing. So any chances of people literally hunting me down were slim.

Anyway.

Without my writing to escape into, I had ended up delving into depressing territory. The feeling of loneliness, despair, and just general anger encroached on me from all sides, closing in like walls and suffocating me. It made me angry and scared. As pathetic as it may sound to some, I could only handle so much before I broke down—regardless of how cheery and friendly I was, deep down was a... really angry and stupid child who didn’t know what he wanted out of life.

My hand suddenly found itself smacking against my face, knocking me out of my thought process. My cheek stung, my fingers felt hot, and overall I felt really stupid.

“Fuck me sideways.” I muttered, leaning back and letting my head hang backwards, forcing me to look up into the graying skies. I could faintly see a rainbow forming, and smiled a tiny bit.

Rainbow.

Another sigh escaped me and I reached into my pocket, pulling out my cellphone and turning it on to gaze at the wallpaper. On it was a pony, specifically Rainbow Dash, the cyan colored rainbow haired pegasus mare that I enjoyed looking at and thinking about writing. Though my mind tended to make the story ideas with her something that just didn’t feel... right I suppose. I spent most of my time fantasizing about her, thinking about meeting her, becoming her friend. That usually ended up becoming a story idea I wanted to explore.

Sadly, I never truly got around to actually writing out those fantasies of mine, so they just remain in the back of my head, locked away in a sad little vault of forever unrealized dreams.

Dash... It made me feel so pathetic to feel so strongly about a fictional character, and just thinking about makes me realize just how goddamn cringy I am. Goddamn it. I made to tuck my phone back into my pocket—before I bit the proverbial bullet and drowned my sorrows in fried chicken—my phone suddenly rang.

My eyebrow shot up as I yanked it back out with a flourish and saw an unknown number. I was contemplating hitting the disconnect button, I didn’t recognize the number or the area code for that matter, which was 417, huh.

Fuck it. I hit connect, the call picked up and I put the phone up to my ear, “Hello?”

I heard something, but I didn’t know what. Sounded like a AOL dial up being raped but another dial up. “Gah!” I pulled the phone away from my ears, rubbing my now aching ear. Goddamn it, was someone pulling a prank on me? That shit probably fucked up my damn speaker!

”Hello there.”

I glanced down at my phone’s screen now, and for some reason the wallpaper was spinning around, my apps disconnecting and swirling around, twisting and warping. Looked like someone took a hammer to the screen or something. I panicked out of fear of losing my old but handy Nokia, and scrambled for the disconnect button, but it didn’t even show up on the screen. “Fuck fuck fuck.”

”Aren’t you a scared one, panicking like you are.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Who the hell? Could they see me?! I glanced around the area, but all I saw were moving cars and no people outside. I was surrounded by tons of tall buildings, were they looking at me from one of the windows? Bringing the phone back up to my ear, I could hear that faint screeching that was AOL devil spawn, “Alright, who the hell are you and why are you fucking with my phone?” I growled. I didn’t need some hi-haw-larious hacker messing with my phone.

Stupid wireless shit.

I made to head back home, if only to grab my gun for reassurance. I took shortcuts, one hand drifting into my pocket for my knife. ”You lack manners, hmmph... speaking with such vulgarity, didn’t your mother teach you any better?” The distorted voice questioned me.

I was nearing my apartment now, and I switched to my keys. “My mom is just as vulgar as me.” I commented, I needed to get to my phone and call the cops, make em trace this shitstain.

As I opened the door and entered the building, I hastily made my way through the lobby to the stairs. ”What about your father, hmm?” The voice asked me... and a spike of subdued anger rushed through me. ”Oh right, you’re merely the bastard child, am I right? Abandoned at birth~”

I froze once I reached the door to my apartment. My heartbeat filled my ears... I didn’t exactly make that particular knowledge about my estranged father public, save for brief conversation between close friends who may have asked me about my parents, or if I was just sneaking in an self-insulting joke. “What?”

”The bastard son of Robert Booth, if I’m not mistaken.”

My hands ripped open the door of my apartment, and I rushed inside, tossing the phone onto my couch and running into my bedroom. I heard the faint laughter, but it only served to make my blood boil, as well as send waves of pure panic coursing through my body. I skidded into my room and over to my closet which I ripped open.

Down on the floor was a small safe, I knelt, and quickly put in the code to unlock it.

THUNK

It opened up, and I pulled out what lay inside. A Beretta 92FS Inox, chambered in 9x19mm with 15 rounds in the magazine. I gave it a check, making sure it was loaded. Satisfied, I stood up.

SKREEEEEEE

I heard from my living room. I held up my gun and ventured back into it—after making sure to lock my door of course, and saw my phone. The screen looked as if it was being fucked by the Warp, with a purple colored whirlpool of death, swirling around and around and around, never ending.

”How do you feel?”

I frowned as my eyes flicked over to the windows—which were shut up tight after I had left. “I’m doing... just fine.” I muttered, Who is this cunt? And what’re they doing to my phone?!

”You look... tired, perhaps you should take a nap.”

They can still see me?! “I’m not tired!” Was my apartment bugged? Why? And wh-

THUMP THUMP

My head throbbed in pain—I felt lightheaded, woozy, almost like I had drank a fuckton of whiskey before doing a dozen shots of vodka. I stumbled, falling onto my knees and grasping my head. S-shit!

”Nighty night my sweet prince~”

Fuck me... I collapsed onto the floor, darkness took me...

Unknown

”Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock.”

”He could very well be... but are we certain?”

”I say kill him, kill her, kill all of them... more trouble than they’re worth.”

”Now now... don’t be so hasty~ The fun hasn’t even begun!”

My eyes shot open, a gasp of air and I woke up from whatever just happened.

I saw a nighttime sky above me, filled with stars and clouds. I was having a bit of trouble focusing at the moment, but I was able to focus enough that I realized I shouldn’t be outside. The phone call I got came back to me and so did some torture movies I watched years ago.

Oh jeez.

“Ahh... my everything.” I slowly sat up—also taking note that my hand was still gripping my handgun. A shake of my head to clear the hazyness, son of a bitch... I must have been drugged or something, shit.

I managed to gain enough of myself back so that I could look around.

If I was drugged however, why would they leave me my gun?

I was in a dark dank alleyway, with some disgusting trashcans, boarded up doors and newspapers strewn about. I stood up, gripping my handgun tightly and trying to figure out where I was.

Looking out into the city, I realized I wasn’t in my city, in fact... I didn’t know where the fuck I was. This part of the city was unfamiliar to me, I didn’t recognize any of the buildings, the streets... nothing. Well, not recognized from my city that is. A curious glance into the streets, I saw some cars parked next to the sidewalk, a lot of older looking vehicles too, old ford trucks and some muscle cars, sedans, station wagons.

Didn’t put too much thought into it... but that changed when I noticed just how quiet the city was, not a sound to be hea-

BANG

I jolted—collapsing to the ground and huddling up against the wall and gripping my only source of protection like it was a life raft. Shit! Someone shot someone... or something, I dunno. But the silence was destroyed as more of those sporadic pops and cracks filled the air around me. Not like... the occasional gunshot, but more like a fucking war zone. I could hear automatic gunfire in the distance, alongside random booms and pops, the difference in gun types was obvious.

To me anyway, I played a lot of games and watched a lot of movies, so the noises were kind of ingrained into my mind.

Dang it, where am I? Detroit? A snicker escaped me, a timeless joke... a very pathetic timeless joke. A shake of my head and I slid up the wall until I was standing and gripped my gun carefully.

I peered out into the streets, still not seeing anyone. There were some car crashes and street blockades—police barricades coupled with strategically placed vehicles to block off some roads. A few fires were raging from a crash ambulance, a police car, and a bus that ended up in a fender bender of sorts down one street.

I got nervous.

I slipped out of the alleyway and crept down the street, hiding behind some of the newspaper bins that looked older than I would have thought and slipping behind some old 90’s era sedans.

There’s a lot of fucking old shit here for a big city like this, I’m fairly certain I’m not where I think I am.

And by that, I mean the era, all of the police cars were incredibly older models, same with the taxi cabs, ambulances, and every other car.

I ignored it, and focused instead on finding some answers.

Just keep calm, stay alert,

I thought in my haste to move through the streets and hopefully avoid any unwanted detestable vagabonds. more of reassurance to myself that hopefully I wouldn’t get killed by whatever was currently causing this mayhem.

My hasty movements brought me up to a small small inner-city park type deal, a small little area with a playground just a little ways away from a suburbs looking place. I saw some swings, slides, typical shit you’d see there...

The dead body that was currently being torn into by a few bloodied chaps was a very colorful addition that I’m pretty certain doesn’t fit in with city park regulations, though.

My eyes locked on the two grown men feasting on the body of a teenager, ripping and tearing into his body like he was some kind of buffet. All I could hear was the munching and chewing, the gurgling rip of sinew and muscle being torn apart and shoved down their gullets.

I was grateful for my somewhat strong stomach.

Something fell over behind me, causing my heart rate to spike as my head whipped around. A cat yowled nearby before darting off, and I saw it had knocked a trashcan over. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around—I thought it was gonna be something bad or something.

But when I faced the two men, I saw them staring at me now and a sudden chill ran down my spine. Their eyes were a milky white, their skin mottled grey, clothing torn and covered in blood. I was reminded of a franchise I had gotten into at a young age called Resident Evil, and I remember playing the first couple of games. I was truly terrified of the graphics it showed me; PS1 knew how to fuck you up horror wise.

And these fuckers... everything fell into place.

The old cars and buildings.

The newspaper bins.

The old shit I was seeing everywhere and that odd feeling of nostalgia-

CRACK BOOM

-And the... rainbows?

Up in the skies, a giant explosion of rainbow parted the clouds, exploding outwards in a ring like waves of prismatic wonder. A trail of the bright color began flying downwards towards where I was at, aimed at me like a heat seeking missile. Nervousness crept into my gut—I backed up, hearing the moans but being too focused on the small blur that was currently flying towards me at ‘Mach I’m Probably Gonna Die’

“Shit shit shit!” I backpedaled, making to turn and run for it as those two fucking obvious zombie looking motherfuckers. I was not feeling in the mood to get murdered by either them or the rainbow blur currently locked onto m-

SMASH

“FUCK!”

Annnd it hit me anyway.

I went flying across the pavement for a short amount of time before landing in a very painful roll, which ended up with me skidding across it and smashing into the side of a taxi cab. My back, arms, and shoulders cried out in pain and I was barely able to keep myself from yelling. I was still awake though! Stubbornness probably being the one thing keeping me from going insane, I swear, I must have been kidnapped or something and thrown into some kind of sick experiment shit by that hacker.

My eyes flicked up and I saw a small crater in the road, jeez. Must have hit harder than I thought, that or I got super lucky, how was I not dead? Looking in the crater itself, however, presented me with something that ultimately got my mind moving and helped me realize that, I must have been killed and this was some kind of weird purgatory I was experiencing

Laying in front of me and smoking slightly from her rather explody entrance through the skies was the incredibly familiar equine I had as my phone wallpaper, a character I had grown attached to from the moment I saw her. Cyan fur, a pair of fluffy wings, a very distinct prismatic mane and tail of multiple colors, and about as big as a large dog was none other...

Than the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash.

And if I wasn’t mistaken, looking around the area, with the current zombies coming at us, the vehicles, and the newspaper I saw lying next to me.

Well... we were stuck in motherfucking Raccoon City, from Resident Evil.

Goddamn it.

Author's Note

Hey guys, uhm... this story, not sure if anyone even reads this author's notes of mine but I felt the need to emphasize something about this story.

This is something I've been struggling to write and perfect for several years. And in a way it's also a way for me to vent years of pent up frustration and anger at the fact that I failed in my one desire to see this story come to light.

I've been wanting to write this for so long and post it, to see this universe I've worked on for years and years burst into existence like the big bang.

This was actually supposed to be my very first self insert on the site. It was something I wanted to write, just something I wanted to do with me and Dashie in it, and it's been something important to me to post.

So... finally, here it is.

I hope you all enjoy, the Starfire Legacy begins... now.

Also next chapter is the 2nd of February, so... stick around, yeah?

07 - Nothing's Ever Easy

ooo000---000ooo

Leech Man... all of the things in here, it had to be fucking Leech Man.

On the other side of the room he stood over a body of a doctor who had been slain, surrounded by the sickly dried up bodies of doctor and nurse alike... Leech Man... a writhing mess of leeches covering a human body, not only making him look more horrible then an undead could possibly look, but making it pretty much bullet proof. My gun was useless here, any weapon I had on me was fucking useless!

"W-what the buck is that thing?" Rainbow hissed out from behind me.

"That... is Leech Man." I gulped as Leech Man slowly but surely turned around. I watched as several leeches fell to the ground with a sickening splat noise, almost screeching as they scurried off to the underside of the desks or chairs. "We gotta go."

"B-but what about th-"

"I'm pretty sure if she's in here, she's already dead." I argued, backing up towards the door... not only was a horde of undead outside that door, there was an even bigger threat inside the room, one I couldn't fight unless I had fire.

Hospitals weren't known for their abundance of flames.

"That thing don't discriminate 'tween people." I held my handgun tight in my hand even though I knew it wouldn't do anything against the thing in front of us.

Fuck, we needed to make a move! What were we going to do?!

The undead monstrosity across from us suddenly turned and it didn't waste time before running straight at us.

"Ah shit, out of the room, out of the room!" I cried and ran towards the door, ripping it open and back out with Rainbow trailing behind me. I'm not letting that thing get a hold of me, it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens!

We rushed out into the hall again and away from the nurse's office, past bodies and turned over carts.

Where were we headed?

Who fucking cares, so long as it was away from that thing!

My mind told me I had seven bullets left - even if I had a full magazine and some backups, no way would I put a dent in it. In the game, if I used any sort of firearm I had on me at the time against it, the rounds were completely useless, nothing worked on him. The only way to kill him... was with fire, something I was sorely lacking in right now!

"Go go go!" I slipped down another turn Rainbow followed me down. I had to think fast!

We needed to kill this thing, find the keycard and get the fuck out of here!

"What do we do, Dee?!" Rainbow was beside me now, galloping alongside me as we rushed through the hall, passing by doors to either offices or exam and patient rooms.

"We gotta get away from that thing first!" I told her as we turned down another hall leading to the stairs, swerving around a corner.

We rushed for the stairs and back down to the first floor, passing by bodies and damaged medical equipment before reaching another door, one I plowed on through before shutting up tight once Rainbow passed through. We turned and kept moving, we had to get away from that thing as quickly as possible, we needed time to plan!

"Ahh buck!" Rainbow was scared out of her mind, even if she didn't want to show it.

I was too.

I led her into one of the patient rooms - sliding inside and slamming the door shut before taking a moment to fucking breath. I gazed around the room, and thankfully there wasn't anything inside. "Heh... heh... fuck." This was too much for my heart, if this kept up I'll probably end up with a heart attack or something.

Rainbow ended up turning to me and giving me a wild and scared look, her pretty eyes burning bright with that primal fear... "W-what the heck are we going to do about that thing?! I-it was covered in those things!" She stuck out her tongue, body shivering in what I could only assume was disgust.

"Heh, those were leeches." Nasty little things they were. "Bloodsucking leeches, they cover his whole body and only make him stronger... nothing I got on me is going to kill him, or even hurt him for that matter." Which would be an issue... a big issue. "Shit."

Now we needed to work out finding a way to fix this fucking mess we're in.

"D-Dee... i-if we can't... h-hurt it, what's the p-plan here?" Rainbow gave me that questioning glance of hers... she really wanted to know whatever plan I had in mind.

Did I have one?

No.

"I got a plan," I gulped, shakily pulling out my handgun and holding onto it... more to reassure myself than anything that I wasn't pulling shit out of my ass. "We gotta kill him."

Yeah, that's a good plan, very good plan.

"K-kill him?!" Rainbow sounded like she choked on her own spit. "W-wha-how!? You saw that thing!" She squeaked, face red and eyes wide, "W-we can't kill that thing!"

I agreed to some degree, but that thing was deadly... and I had no intentions on letting it live if I could help it, yet at the same time I was all for leaving this hellhole and just running for it. "W-we need to take it out, Dash." I told her, looking down at my measly handgun, which was shaking - or rather, I was shaking. "We need to kill it so we can move on."

The only reason we needed to kill it was because that damn thing had a keycard on it, at least in the games it did. The keycard was used to access the sewers down below, the only escape route that was left for the survivors. Hopefully we wouldn't need it, I wasn't planning on getting ourselves fucked enough to end up down there, but if shit got too bad... we might just need the card as a backup.

Rainbow - bless her soul, she looked at me like I was insane, maybe I was. "A-Ahh buck... w-well how are we gonna fight that thing?!" She stood up a bit straighter and tried to look brave, but I saw the subtle tremble in her legs, the slight shuffle of her feathers and the beads of sweat running down the side of her head. Rainbow, for all of her courage and bravery in the show, was scared right now, even if she didn't want to show it.

It was painful to see in all honesty.

"O-okay, uh..." I swallowed hard and paced around the inside of the room, trying to get my nerves under control. Everything was firing off at once, panic was beginning to settle in and I was losing my train of thought. Shit shit shit, we gotta find a way down to the basement, lead it in-what was that? I looked up at the ceiling and my eyes caught sight of the vent system, sending a surge of adrenaline coursing through my system. Fuck, I forgot he can come through there! Shit!

I didn't hear anything except the clattering of the vent system... but it sounded distorted, my eyesight was off and everything was blurry, nothing felt right. I stepped back until I ended up hitting the wall, hand gripping the handle of my only means of defense. Was he in the vents? Did he follow our scent? I had blood on me, my own blood. Rainbow was injured too! What if it smelled her blood?

It could be heading here now!

Something muffled was speaking, yet my focus was completely fucked and I couldn't understand it - everything in front of me was blurred and only panic filled my mind.

Zombies, Lickers, what if there's a Tyrant down here?! There could be, this place is hooked up directly to the Hive. My heartbeat hadn't slowed at all, my breathing was uneven and I swear I was getting lighthead-

Something smacked me upside the head - the intense feeling of pain overrode everything else, anger bubbled up in me as I glared at... Rainbow? Her hoof was off to the side and she was shaky, staring at me with wide eyes and a frown. "W-what the fuck!?" I yelled at her, holding my cheek.

She had just slapped me?!

Her body was trembling, wings fidgeting at her sides and her eyes wide, Rainbow looked - dare I say it - scared, for some reason. "You were f-freaking out!" She said and hugged herself - as if to try and stop herself shaking.

I kept glaring at her for some time - but slowly, everything was back in focus. We were in a patient room, a vent sat on the ceiling off to the side, a locker was sitting next to the window, and blood stained the sheets and pillows on the beds. I was holding my handgun, fingers clenched around the handle in a death grip. Beads of sweat rolled down my face and my heartbeat began to slow the more I stared into Rainbow's eyes. My glare softened and I dropped my gun to the ground beside me, clapping my hands against my face.

"F-fucking hell..." I rubbed my face and tried to get my thoughts back.

"Y-you were staring at the vents, d-dude." Rainbow whispered, teeth practically chattering. I couldn't blame her - whether it was fear or the cold, mine were close to doing the same. "J-just staring at i-it."

I couldn't keep my nerves under control. My fear. I was so fucking weak. Weaker than I thought I was.

"I-I'm sorry." I swallowed hard and ripped my hands away to look at Rainbow again, who was still giving me this scared look. "J-just lost my cool... I'm fine." I wasn't fine. "W-we need to kill him."

"I know, you said that!" She squeaked out, voice cracking badly at the end. "B-but how do we do that?!"

Swallowing my fucking nerves and trying to regain some of my confidence, I stared her straight in the eyes. "We need to get him down into the basement in one of the rooms, and burn the leeches off of him. It's the only surefire way to kill him."

"C-can't we just... I dunno, f-find some other way?" She swallowed and shook as a distant siren sounded, passing by the building. Rainbow's eyes looked shifty as she moved from hoof to hoof. "Do we h-have to... k-kill it?"

I just nodded - the only way to get rid of that thing was to kill it, like most monsters in this world. And not only that, but Leech Man had a card key that we might need for the lower levels - if we happen to get that far down. I'm not sure if we will, but if so... I'd like to cover all of my bases before I move, but right now I didn't have such a luxury to plan before shit got bad.

Things were already as worse as they were going to get, but damn it... I needed to keep cool - losing my shit wasn't going to get us out of here!

Maybe that slap was what I needed.

"That thing has a keycard on it we might need to get out of here," I glanced at the door and picked my handgun back up. My nerves weren't as bad as before, the fear of the situation giving way to something that got me to stand up. "If we want to get out of here, we n-need to kill it."

That thing was standing between us and the way out of here... so we would have to kill it.

Gulping hard, Rainbow gave me a shaky nod and took a few breaths. "F-fine... what do we do then?"

I let out a heavy breath and inhaled - I was so fucking cold, I never got as cold as I do now... I didn't like it, it was the kind of unnatural cold that seeped into your bones, that made them tremble and your muscles ache, something primal. It was hard to not act on the instincts buried in my psyche, the screaming voices begging for me to just... run and don't look back.

I always thought I was tough and fearless, I guess that was never true.

"We need to lead him down into the basement, there's a room where we can handle him." I explained and tucked my handgun into the seat of my pants before moving around the room. Maybe I could find something useful in here that could help us get through this - first aid, a weapon, something. All I found was a wooden broom... better than nothing I guess. "But we need some codes for the elevator to take us down."

"A-alright..." Rainbow murmured, ears folding back and eyes looking up at me. "I tru-trust you."

Hopefully those codes were the same as before in the game...

Only one way to find out.

Author's Note

Proof-read by P-Berry! Give him some lovin'! :heart:

21 - Some Minor Changes

Speed.

That was my middle name.

Speed.

No one was as fast as I am, no one ever will be.

That didn't make things any better for me.

I had blasted off away from that human and left Dee with him, to go and find the ingredients to make that cure so Dee could live. I wasn't thinking, I was just focused on finding and getting the things, and they were in some underground place or something, like a cave or a basement. But where would that be at? Where would the entrance underground be hiding around a place like this?!

It wasn't like a bunch of hills or valleys I could search, it was a city like Manehattan! A maze of concrete and glass I had to look through. The area was small enough, so it had to be nearby if it was under the main building! I just had to find it, I just had to!

I blasted off into the air to get an eye in the sky and look at everything, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary from up here. I was so high up, I could see the whole city, and it was on fire; buildings were crumbling from the flames, those loud sirens echoed through the monster-filled streets, and from what I could see, it looked like entire groups of those things were headed this way.

It was a nightmare and I was living in it.

I have to find those things and get us out of here; if those things get here before then we're screwed!

There was no way we could fight them all off; they're too big, too packed together and I could barely fight!

I shook my head and kept flying around, trying to find the way to that underground thing.

He said we needed three things, P something, and uh... some kind of poison? Some blood I think? I couldn't remember exactly what they were, just that they were important. If they're so important I should be able to find them. No sweat!

As I was flying around, I landed near the water on a rickety-looking pier and looked around, maybe it was nearby?

I recoiled when one of the planks tried giving way, creaking under my hoof and weight. The whole thing looked like it had seen better days; the water lapped at the pillars holding it up, a few of the planks had already fallen into the water.

This thing is falling apart.

I couldn't let that stop me, and I kept moving across to get to the other side. It went around the water where a few boats were floating in the water, but no one was on board any of them. With the fog rolling in and the silence all around me, it made everything really spooky, and I couldn't stop the chill from going down my spine.

The water splashed nearby, I just barely caught the noise.

Another splash and the surface of the water was torn asunder with a mighty clap. A monster appeared from the depths of the water with a silent roar, its maw opened wide and showing its jagged razor-sharp teeth.

My body moved before my brain did, and I launched myself off of the pier and into the air, a powerful flap of my wings sent me flying backwards into the air to avoid him.

The thing slammed its full weight onto the pier, shattering and splintering the wood until it gave way and sank into the water below.

It was a shark...

A fucking shark.

How many creatures could this virus turn into monsters?

The shark plummeted into the murky waters, taking half of the pier with it and vanishing from sight. I swallowed the knot in my throat and kept myself in the air, even flew up a bit higher.

Of all the places to end up, I get thrown into this nightmare.

The aches and pains across my body just reminded me of everything I had gone through in this place, every wound I've received, every bruise I've gotten, everything hurt. I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer, exhaustion was creeping up on me and I could feel it with every movement and every burn.

I got to keep moving... I keep getting distracted.

I flew down towards the main building nearby, and I saw a door leading inside.

I took a moment to land near it and take a breather.

I'm so tired, shit. I blinked and shook my head, I was starting to sound more and more like Dee, with his curses. Heh, it hasn't even been that long and I'm starting to sound like him.

I blinked and felt sweat coming down my brow, and it hit me how hot it was outside, uncomfortable, sticky... I felt disgusting, and looking down at myself I was reminded of the bandages I was wearing, dirty and mucked with brackish stains. Blood, and most of it was mine...

Most of it was mine.

The blood on my hooves wasn't mine, that was... a monster's, someone that was alive, but turned into a monster.

I shuddered as I approached the door.

I heard something that made me stop, a thumping noise. It grew louder and louder by the second, faster too.

Debris flying by the side of my head after the wall caved in caused me to freeze up. In between the broken-up brick and stone, a huge grey figure was glaring right at me; with cold emotionless eyes.

Sliding out of the building, it kept stomping forward before sliding to a halt and turning around to stare at me again.

it was huge, hairless...

Once it hit me what this thing was, my body finally reacted to what my brain was screaming at me.

MOVE!

My wings extended and I shot up, flying into the building to get away from it.

I should have flown up and away, but I went inside! Stupid!

The hallway was narrow, and I could see a lot of bodies lying around, it took me a second to realize I couldn't keep flying in here, it was too narrow! Too many things hanging, too many of those things moving around.

I folded my wings to my sides and dive-bombed through a pair of those monsters, my speed kept them from grabbing me but I felt them brush by my hide. I spiraled and landed on my hooves, and slid forward before using the momentum to rocket forward and away from the monster behind me.

I didn't need to look behind me to know he was chasing me.

I kept fighting off the urge to look behind me, I didn't want to see it.

Fear gave way to reflex and I couldn't stop myself from glancing behind me.

The thing was charging through the zombies like a runaway train, he swung his arms from side to side and slammed a few of them into the walls, cracking the concrete with sheer force and muscle power. Every stomp shook the ground, the sounds he was making triggered my flight response and all I could think about was;

Get away! Get away!

The hallway took a sharp turn and I skidded to a halt, just barely avoiding a black rope hanging from the ceiling. I sped past it, almost slipping in the water that flooded the floor.

"Move out of the way!" Someone shouted.

In those few split seconds, I saw one of those other humans Dee and I were with.

The one in the green shirt and backpack.

She had her hands on a switch and was staring right at me, and at the beast closing in behind me.

My instincts fired up and I knew something bad was going to happen.

I flared out my wings and jumped up, took flight and kicked off of the wall, and twisted my body to avoid the thing from grabbing me from behind as he closed in.

The human had flung the switch hard, and the hairs on my body stood on end, I felt it in the air.

Lightning.

Pure lightning shot out from that black rope, and a loud pop crack crackled through the air as the smell of ozone filled my nose, and I just barely avoided getting hit by it myself.

I landed from my spin on the ground and spun to face the beast and the human, the water had conducted the electricity and traveled up through the giant's body, and even he couldn't stand such high voltage.

His body convulsed as arcs of white blue electricity danced across his mutated skin, frying him from head to toe. Smoke escaped his body as the current ended and he fell to his knees, before finally hitting the ground hard.

The human had rushed over to him once it was over, where she knelt down.

I swallowed and walked over to her. "W-what the heck was that?! You can control lightning?!" I asked her and peeked over her shoulder to see what she was messing with.

There was some kind of metal claw buried into the back of this thing, and a container filled with... blood?

"No, it was a loose electrical wire," She told me and pointed above, to the rope sticking out of the ceiling. When I looked back down, she had pulled the container free. "I just turned the power on and shocked him, to get this-" she held up the container to me, sloshing the blood around.

"W-what is that?" I grimaced, why would anyone need that? That's disgusting!

Her next words though, that's what got my attention. "To create Daylight, the cure for the T-Virus."

I balked, that was one of the things we needed to cure Dee?! He had told me there were three base components we needed to create Daylight, I didn't know that this was one of them...

Looking at the thing, I guess this was Thanatos, the Tyrant Dee was talking about earlier. This was one of those bioweapons someone had made, for money and power he told me, and I shuddered.

This was way worse than any sword or spear, even magic wasn't this monstrous; I don't see how anyone could do something like this and think it's okay.

She stood up and stuffed the container into her backpack before looking towards me. "George told me you're after Daylight, for your friend, right?"

My friend. I thought about Dee, and the pain he's got to be in right now. It was closing in how close he was to death's door, and if I didn't hurry, he was going to-

I swallowed and nodded my head. "Yeah... I gotta save him." I looked down the hall, and swallowed as I looked past the fencing and all of the junk lying around. "That's one of the components down, so now we need two more to make Daylight..."

"George found the blueprint for making Daylight in his partner's underground study, we need two more but the location of them isn't marked down anywhere." She told me and pulled out one of those handguns, and pulled the slide back. "If I had to guess, the other two are somewhere underground..."

I looked at the far wall, where a pair of old rusted doors waited. "How do you know?"

When I turned to look at her, she looked away briefly. "It's hazy for me... but—" she started to walk ahead of me, and I followed, "—I used to work for the Umbrella Corporation, the ones responsible for this catastrophe."

That alone caused me to stumble over my own hooves. She picked up the pace, and I tried to speak, "w-wait, what?! You worked for the guys who did this?! All of this?!"

"I did."

"S-so many people have died because of this!" I shouted at her, and she stopped.

"You think I don't know that?!" She shouted right back and glared. "I know what they've done... what I helped create! That's why I'm going to do everything I can to put a stop to them! So that this doesn't happen again!"

I glared at her, I wanted to yell at her more... but I backed down.

Any fighting we were about to do stopped when we heard a growl from where Thanatos was, and when I looked.

I saw him getting back onto his feet.

“Shit, run!” the girl shouted, raising her handgun and pulling the trigger—the loud booms causing my ears to ring before I turned tail and ran for it towards the metal doors.

Just our luck he wouldn't stay down!

I rushed for the doors and immediately noticed a problem, no door handles to grab onto!

How do you open this thing?!

I searched all around it, but no handle, except for some kind of panel on the side that had two triangles on it, and one was upside down.

I didn't know what it was but I hit the upside-down one.

It clicked and lit up, and the doors opened!

I rushed inside, ready to keep running, but it ended up a wall, what was this a closet?!

The girl had rushed in behind me, and I turned to tell her it was a dead-end but she hit one of the numbers I saw on the wall, and the doors closed around us, trapping us inside.

"W-what the heck! Now we're trapped in he-"

A thunk sounded and the lights flickered, and the closet we were in jostled, and my senses told me we were going down. This thing moved? I felt we were headed down, but to where I had no idea.

It didn't take long before there was a loud ding, and the doors slid open, and ahead of us was a completely different area. I saw a hall ahead of us, with old lights flickering on and off. It was a dreary-looking route, but it was the only one ahead of us, so we had no choice but to keep moving ahead and try to find those other two things we needed.

I took the lead and moved into the hall, and kept an eye and an ear out for anything.

I wanted to find these other two ingredients and get back to Dee, before it's too late.

Back Above Ground

I felt weightless and I didn't like it.

Everything around me burned like the fiercest flame, crawling up and down my skin. The sweat didn't help, making me feel sticky and clammy all over, and my clothes as well, the armor didn't help.

God, let it end.

I managed to open my eyes briefly and only saw hellfire, or maybe that was a ceiling? It was hard to tell with the virus tearing me apart from the inside out.

My stomach had other plans, and it was a short trip for me from whatever I was laying on to leaning over and puking up whatever was in my stomach, as hot bile ran up my throat and out onto the floor below me. I retched, dry heaving until it stopped and everything in my vision cleared up, and I saw where I was.

In the main lobby of the college, rather, below it, in the secret hidey-hole of Peter, George's colleague.

I spit and wiped my mouth before looking around, and I noticed George was nearby on the computer, likely rifling through his friend's files. The body of Peter was nearby, on the floor with a lab coat over him, the best they could do for him at the time. Kevin was in the room as well, and he had apparently gotten the same idea as me and had looted the bodies of the UBCS members, he was consolidating magazine ammunition together.

Cindy was next to me, and she had a worried look in her eyes. "A-are you okay?"

I spit again, away from her. "P-peachy." I struggled to get up, but the burning pain in my joints and the nauseating ache in my stomach fought against my efforts. "Fuck..."

"I'd take it easy," George spoke up from where he was. "The anti-virus wore off, so it's only a matter of time before the inevitable happens... the more you move the faster the virus will finish its intended purpose."

"H-hopefully it won't, if we just g-get Daylight," I muttered and coughed, before sitting up and shuddering. My body didn't like anything I was doing, and Cindy taking off the bandages didn't help, at least until she pulled out a piece of paper with powder on it, three colors mixed together. She gave me a look, and I just braced for it before she started to put it on my wound along with a clean bandage.

It burned like a motherfucker.

"Yoko is currently out looking for it, as are Jim, David and Mark. Kevin, Cindy, and I stayed behind to assist you." George told me, before adding, "Alyssa had gone elsewhere, I don't know why, but I hope she comes back soon."

I winced as Cindy finished bandaging my wound, and I let out a tiny sigh of relief as the concoction she made started to work, at least a little bit. I looked over to George, Alyssa was MIA? Weird she'd ditch like that when everyone was so close to getting out of here. I'm sure there was a reason why that was, but I had no fucking clue what it was.

I shuddered and tried to keep my shit together as Cindy stood to dispose of the bloodied bandages and used medicine in a trash can nearby. Even in an apocalyptic scenario, she keeps it clean.

It was funny. In a few hours or less, it wasn't going to matter.

I swallowed and checked myself, but aside from the infected wound I had, I was doing decently. I had a few bullet holes in my armor, the bite mark, but the bite was the only real injury I had.

I could still move, but it would take an immense amount of effort to do so. I was so close to turning, the virus was moving through me faster than I would have preferred it to. Daylight was still far off, as far as I knew none of us had any of the base components, and Yoko could be dead...

Wait.

I blinked when I realized something.

Rainbow wasn't in the room.

"W-where's Rainbow?" I looked at the group, and only George turned to look my way.

"That's the name of the uh... creature?" He asked, and put a hand to his chin in thought, before sighing. "She had rushed off to try and find the components to develop Daylight, and Yoko had gone after her. With any luck, they'll have found some leads and return with the components in hand." George didn't look so positive about his theory, however. "But we have another problem."

Shit, she went after the cure? That dumb idiot! "That problem is?" I had to ask.

Kevin decided to pipe up this time, "something called Thanatos got set free." He told us and racked the slide of the MP5, before setting it aside. "As if that wasn't bad enough, in the time you've been passed out, a helicopter crashed in the parking lot and there's a fucking... I don't know what it is." He looked disturbed, and that didn't help my nerves any. "Some kind of mutant blob lumbering around outside, gobbling up bodies and trying to get inside, we have no idea what it is."

"Another of Umbrella's sick experiments, no doubt," George commented and nodded. "A twisted amalgamation of human life set free to prey upon the weak."

"That's Umbrella for you." I struggled to get up off of the couch, and I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. Despite the fiery pain I was in, I still stood up. My third or fourth wind? Who knows at this point. "So we got two of those things on the loose, along with zombies... fantastic."

George finally got up out of the chair, and approached. "You shouldn't be standing, your wounds-"

"Look, I'm gonna die one way or another, I ain't going out lying on a couch like a bum." I looked around until I found my shotgun leaning nearby, and I grabbed it before racking a shell. "If I'm dying, it won't be in here... and right now my f-friend is out there and probably about to get herself fucking killed for my sake." I groaned and checked my pockets until I found some shells buried away, which I slid into the shotgun loading chamber with a click-clack. "I gotta go find her before she gets hurt, or worse."

I started for the stairs and made my way up, and I heard George about to protest, but Kevin stopped him. "Kid's right, doc. I'd rather go out fighting than waiting around, besides, the quicker we kill those things, the easier it'll be for a rescue chopper to land here, we can't exactly escape if the place is swarmed with monsters."

Once I reached the top of the stairs, I was about to make my way to the service halls that led underneath the facility, to try and find Rainbow and Yoko, maybe Alyssa as well.

The cold steel of a gun barrel being pressed up against my head, stopping me in my tracks.

I felt my heart leap up into my throat, and I froze as the sudden threat of death made itself known.

"Going somewhere, are we?"

That voice... it didn't sound familiar in the slightest. I knew every voice, I had almost everything in Resident Evil memorized, so why did I recognize this voice? Who was this?

My eyes flicked to the right where the figure stood, and I saw the business end of a Colt 1911, but the wielder of it was someone in a nice looking clean-cut black suit and tie. Their hair was black, slicked back, and they wore a pair of eyeglasses, and a pair of solid blue eyes peered out at me... they were almost unnaturally blue as well, and that threw me off.

This guy.

"Trying to," I replied to him, and did my best to steel myself. I turned my head briefly, and he slightly let off on the gun, but he kept it pointed at me. "Who the hell are you?"

I heard Kevin come up behind me, but I couldn't move to let him by, so he could only just stand there with his gun at the ready. I don't know if this guy knew about him though, so if we played this right, we might have an advantage here.

His mouth just stretched into an unsettling smile, and I felt dirty all of a sudden. "You've become a rather interesting individual to my employer."

An Umbrella thug? I swallowed again, and heard some shuffling behind me. "Your employer...?"

"I believe you already know." He told me, and ran his thumb over the hammer of the gun. "Did you really think you could talk about such things and escape from this city unscathed?"

"Say what exactly? I haven't said anything dude." I told him. He had to be some Umbrella thug, but how would he know I was the one talking about anything?

He answered my unspoken question. "This entire city is connected by a series of cameras equipped with audio capabilities." He explained and pulled the hammer back. "We've been monitoring everything that's been going on since it began, from day one... the release of the virus was intentional, but you already knew that didn't you?" He glared at me. "Your knowledge is impressive, but did you foresee this event?"

Shit... no one really knows about that except Rainbow. I had no idea about the city being rigged, guess that was something I missed, or I decided Operation Raccoon City was non-canon, I guess it is canon. He knows everything I've ever said apparently, and with their equipment they've been tracking me through the whole damn city. "So you've been tracking me, huh?"

"Since we discovered the colorful... creature you've been with, yes." He told me and stepped around to face me, and eyeballed Kevin behind me. "how about you and your friends come out of hiding." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers, and the sounds of a dozen boots filled my ears, and before I knew it we were immediately outgunned and outnumbered by a bunch of USS goons.

Goddamn it.

They were heavily armed too, they weren't using MP5s or any low caliber arms, it was all fully automatic assault rifles with underslung grenade launchers, tactical scopes and laser sights, full gear. I had to move forward, and then Kevin approached, gun in his holster and MP5 slung around his back, George and Cindy walked up next.

We were cornered.

I was surprised he didn't make us lower our guns, but with how this was going, even if we tried firing back we'd be torn to pieces before we could even blink.

"The thing that troubles me the most is how you know so much, despite not being a resident of this city, or even having accessed our records or files." The man spoke, before lowering his gun and allowing his men to take up that issue. "You are clearly no special agent belonging to the US, or any foreign power, yet you have access to information that is classified to individuals working at the very top of Umbrella's chain of command." He chuckled before he adjusted his glasses and faced me. "You are an interesting individual, and to top it all off, you spoke of being from a completely different world, as was the creature you were with."

I don't know why that worried me. It's not like he could do anything with that information, no one could, so why bother bringing it up?

"It's amazing..." He started to laugh, and his eyes widened. "To think there are other worlds out there with life... intelligent life." He tucked his gun away into his jacket pocket, and instead pulled out something else, a small black brick-like device. "All of this has been recorded, it will be interesting to see what we can do with such information... I'm curious to see what we can do with that equine you've been traveling with."

That struck a nerve with me, anger swelled up in my stomach and it took everything I had to keep it at bay. "You don't get to fucking touch her, let along look. You stay away from her."

"Much more interesting would be finding out how magic works." He chuckled gleefully, almost childlike as he continued to glare at me. "The way you and the creature talked about it, it must be so interesting~. I'll have to acquire her for Umbrella's usage-"

"Don't you fucking-!"

I screamed, and raised my shotgun. I was ready, ready to blast him to pieces.

My brain realized too late how stupid this idea was.

The guns being aimed at me stopped me, and I heard him clicking his tongue. "Ah ah ahh~ I wouldn't do that."

He clapped his hands before a beeping noise sounded, and he looked down at the brick he was holding, probably some comms device. He smiled, again and said, "I think it's time we wrapped things up here." He hit a button and the front doors outside opened up, and for a second I thought it was Thanatos coming in to fuck up our shit, maybe give us all a chance to escape.

It wasn't, it was something potentially even worse.

Cause first of all, he doesn't open doors.

In stomped a monster I wasn't expecting to see, let alone at the college and away from his programmed mission. At eight, nearly nine feet tall, covered in a protective and thick layer of cloth that was riddled in bullet holes and scorch marks, and carrying a massive weapon that no human could wield was a genetically enhanced monster built for one purpose...

Eliminating S.T.A.R.S.

Author's Note

Closing in on the ending folks.

Big shoutout to the madlads AJ Aficionado and Shakespearicles for helping out tremendously with editing and proofing this!

More to come soon! This time I mean it! :rainbowdetermined2: