Walk The Aftermath

There she was again, back against the wall, screaming at the mare before her. Still no response, almost as if she was trying to scream but no air was coming out. Then the mare turned, and she was running. Being chased? No, no, it looked like she was chasing something. She ran after her, running through dark hallways that came to an abrupt stop beneath a single hanging light. There she was, lying dead on the floor, several bullet wounds in her chest. Nothing more. No scrapes, cut, burns, bites, scraches, nothing. She walked up to the body, and leaned in closer to it's face, just before it's eyes snapped open.

The zombie was barely able to get a groan out before Stone Temple's shot went straight through it's head.

"Just like that. Your turn. Magic or hooves, I don't care."

"Alright."

Angel Boulon took the pistol in her magic as Stone Temple attracted another zombie's attention.

"Alright, now just breath in, line up your shot, and squeeze the trigger. Or however it works with magic, I don't know."

Angel aimed the gun in between the dead pony's eyes, and was prepared to pull the trigger, but she couldn't. There was something inside her that told her that these were still living, thinking ponies, that they could be cured. Stone Temple saw that Angel had frozen up and grabbed a nearby 2x4, walking up and swinging it hard into the back of the zombie's neck. The blow both knocked it to the ground and Angel out of her trance, and she watched in horror as Stone Temple proceeded to beat the undead's skull into a pile of gore. Stone Temple threw the plank to her side and grabbed the gun out of Angel's magical grasp.

"Yeah, you may need to work on that."

"I'm sorry, it's just, I can't bring myself to kill anypony. It's so far out of my nature, it makes me sick to even think about it."

"Heaven forbid if Redline wasn't there for you through all your life."

"Excuse me? I can handle myseld perfectly fine you know. I don't recall ever having to kill anypony! This whole zombie thing, pretty damn new to me!"

"Well you're gonna have to learn then aren't you? We can't afford to have anyone untrained, it doesn't work that way anymore."

Stone Temple said coldly as she turned and started walking. Angel scoffed slightly and caught up to her.

"May I remind you that this was your idea?"

"Yeah, because you need to learn how to kill these things, not because I wanted to chat. What's your problem with it anyways? You've seen what they can do, that one kid and his mother died right in front of us all!"

"I'm well aware of what they're capable of, but as I said, it's not in me to take another pony's life."

Stone Temple stopped walking and turned to Angel with a sarcastic chuckle.

"You, you actually think that it's taking a life to kill these? They're dead! They probably died a long time ago, and they're coming back to kill, and worst of all, eat us! These are things that we need to put down, it's just a fact of life now."

Angel stared blankly at the mare, frozen where she stood. Stone Temple noticed the trance and turned around. She drew her pistol and shot the zombie down, it's body falling at her hooves. She started walking again, looking back at Angel to comment on the kill.

"See? Easy as that."

"I think you're also forgetting the fact that you're trained with firearms."

"Yeah, well, so are a lot of us. It helps to be."

"Let me ask this then, was it that easy for you then? Was it that easy to pull the trigger on that unarmed stallion?"

Stone Temple stopped again, looking to Angel over her shoulder with a cold stare before turning around fully and stepping toward her.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"That's right, I heard about that."

"Yeah, well you heard wrong, guy had a knife."

"That's not what the evidence said, and that's not what the reports said. So I'd watch myself if I were you."

"Or what?!"

Stone Temple screamed as she pulled her pistol out and aimed it at Angel's head. The standoff was deadly still for a moment, before Angel shook her head gently from side to side.

"Alright, just put the gun down, I won't say a word."

"That's right, you won't."

Stone Temple was just about to holster her gun when Angel took it in her magic, turned it around, and fired.

Most of the ponies at the compound were just finishing up packing their belongings into the RV, and Stitch was speaking with Shadow Spot and ThunderBolt about where to go.

"I hadn't seen anything out west before I found those other guys, so I have no idea what we're headed for."

"I can fly out if you want, check what's up, see if I can find out what's taking the other two so long."

"No, we need to stay and wait until they return. Unless... You said that this compound you two were at had vehicles? Working ones?"

"Yeah, what about 'em lad?"

"I hate to contradict what I just said, but we need ro go there."

"Why?"

"Don't you get it? They have vehicles, vehicles need gas to run, therefore-"

"They have gas, ok, I get it. But uh, just one thing there then."

"What?"

"Pretty sure they aren't gonna be all happy and excited about trading gasoline with the ponies who drove through their gates, killed almost all of their guards, including their leader, and rescued two captives. Three if you count me. Also, we stole a bunch of their guns thanks to Redline."

Stitch looked down in contemplation, thinking of another way to achieve the direly needed fuel.

"Then we do stealth op. Send in two ponies who have never been there, posing as survivors in need, then they steal gas when they can."

"Question, over here."

"Yes Bolt?"

"Yeah, um, are you crazy? Because A, I'm pretty sure they've seen almost all of us. B, we-"

"Wait wait wait, the only ones who were here are dead, so anyone who was never at their compound is still safe."

"Options then, who does that leave? Redline is out, you two certainly are, the elder couple, they are out. So, Angel, Stone Temple, High Road, and, what was his name, FireStarter."

"Guess it's the last two then, cuz Angel and Stone are still gone."

"Yes, so it is. You go with them, lead the way, then cover from the back. Do not engage the situation."

"Wait wait, we're sending two untrained ponies to a potentially still dangerous compound?"

"Well, I'd be with them."

"Behind them, not with them."

"Either way, I'm sending it. Get them ready and out there."

The stallion sat down in a foldable chair, just a few feet away from the mare, a table in between them. The area was only lit by the lantern upon the table, the rest shroudes by the dark of night.

"So, do you, remember anything? Names, locations, anything?"

"No. No, I-I don't."

"I was afraid of that. From what I was able to find, your name is Windy Nights, do you remember that?"

There was a long pause before Windy Nights shook her head. The stallion sighed and motioned for Windy Nights to stand up. He walked her over to a small fold-out table with several items scattered about it.

"Remember any of this?"

Windy Nights looked everything over very carefully. There was a pistol, an SMG, a hatchet, and knife, and a pair of dog tags on a chain.

"Nothing is very familiar."

"Try this. Close your eyes and gently feel the objects with your wing."

Windy Night's followed the command, closing her eyes and delicately running the feathers of her wing across the objects.

"Now, does anything feel familiar?"

"This...this one does."

Windy Nights grasped the pistol in her wing and held it slightly above the table. The stallion nodded, and moved closer to Windy Nights.

"Now, do you remember how to use it?"

Windy Nights took a deep breath, moving slightly where she stood. Passing the gun in between her hooves, eyes still closed, she turned around slowly. She held her wings steady and brought the gun up to her eyes level, aiming it at the horizon. When she heard movement in front of her, her wings jerked toward it and she shot. When she opened her eyes, she saw the clay pigeon shards on the floor, and the stallion's grin.

"Well then, it seems that part of the military training has made it's way back. We'll continue in the morning, let's get to bed for now."

Stone Temple panted slightly as she looked at herself. She watched the zombies fall close to her, and scrambled to get up.

"I...I did it."

"What?"

"I pulled the trigger."

"Yeah, well you almost pulled it on me!"

Stone Temple grabbed the gun from Angel's magic and quickly holstered it. She started walking away, but when Angel followed, she stopped and turned to her.

"No. I'm not bringing you with me now."

"Look, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking at all. And fairly, you drew it on me first!"

"Yeah, but I wasn't gonna pull the trigger!"

"Well how could I have known that?"

Stone Temple thought about a response, but knew that her past would probably overpower any arguement she had.

"Alright, listen. We both know what I did back then was wrong, and I do feel guilty about it. Let's just not speak of it again, because if we get mad at each other, it'll only cause more problems, alright?"

When Angel didn't respond, Stone Temple turned around. Her eyes widened when she was the large group of zombies moving toward them, and she reached for her gun. She pulled the trigger, but her gun was empty.

"Can't catch one break."

Stone Temple grabbed Angel's hoof and led her to start running. When they were farther away from the group of undead, Angel snapped fully out of her trance.

"Well? What's the plan now?"

"I'm working on it."

Stone Temple looked around at the building, looking for one that would have an alternate way out. Up the road and to the left was a large warehouse that Stone Temple thought would suffice.

"Come on, in here!"

The two quickly reached the building and ran inside, Stone Temple closing the door behind them.

"Alright, that'll buy us some time, let's get the hell out of here."

The mares started running through the maze of shelves and boxes that towered high above them. Only a short bit in, they stopped and turned when they heard the door open.

"Huh, weak door."

Angel remarked as the two startes running again. Angel spotted a door that she thought was an exit and started running toward it.

"Out here!"

When the two ran through the door and closed it, they were shrouded in darkness.

"Um, this may not be an exit like I thought."

"Really? And your first clue was?"

"Just find a lightswitch or something. Least we can do is wait it out in here until they all leave."

"Or we could, you know, leave?"

The zombies that had broken in started walking around, and pushed over the shelves as they shambled around. Unfortunately, one of the shelves fell just in front of the door, preventing it from being opened. Angel eventually found the lightswitch and turned it on, basking the apparent storage room in a dim low.

"Huh, surprised power still works here."

"Yes, that seems rather odd actually. Either way, let's not question it."

"Yeah, let's just get out of here."

Stone Temple pushed the door open, but it only opened a small amount before the fallen shelf blocked it. She tried again, and again, before stopping and sighing.

"Well, isn't this great."

"Is there any other way out of here?"

"Maybe. Could be some sort of roof access hatch or something."

"Something like back at the mini-mall?"

"Probably. Let's go see."

After a few seconds of searching around the room, Stone Temple found a ladder that led to the roof.

"Here. How didn't we notice this?"

"I don't know, but let's just go."

Stone Temple statred climbing the ladder when Angel motioned for her to go first. The hatch at the top took a bit of effort to open, but Stone Temple was able to get through.

"Anything on the roof?"

"Nope, we're clear. Come on up."

When Angel got to the roof, she walked over to the edge where Stone Temple was standing.

"Woah, it's a lot farther down than I expected."

"Yeah, that might be a problem since you can't fly."

"Aren't there any other buildings we can get down to?"

"Didn't look like it. I think the only way we can get out is the way we got in. Forget it, I'm starting to feel a little sick anyways, let's just go back inside."

"So, how far away is this place?"

"It's like, half a minute away man, just stop asking."

"Can't blame him, I've been freaking out this whole walk. How do you know they haven't gone fully hostile since the attack?"

"Well, all the ponies that were left were basically civilians as far as I know, so I don't see any reason for that."

The trio continued walking for just another minute until the compound was in their sight.

"Alright, I gotta stop here. I'll keep an eye on you two as much as I can, but you're on your own for a bit."

"Great. This can only go horribly."

"Windy was right, you really like being condesending."

"Do what you're good at I suppose."

"Alright, alright, just go."

Shadow Spot aimed her rifle at the compound as the other two approached it. T her surprise, they reached the gate and motioned for her to come over to them.

"I got a bad feeling about this."

Shadow Spot holstered her rifle and ran over to the doors of the compound. The fact that they were wide open, and the fact that High Road was moving back with a hoof over her mouth made Shadow Spot regret walking inside.

"Holy shit."

"What the hell?"

FireStarter and a weary High Road walked through the doors after Shadow Spot. High Road was the first to wretch at the sight and smell that assaulted them. Any survivors that were left after the raid were lying in twisted, bloody piles on the ground, many of them missing large chunks of flesh and several body parts.

"They're dead, all of them. They got ripped to shreds. Who in the hell could've done this?"

"I believe you mean what in the hell, look."

FireStarter pointed to a lone mare's body to his left, and it was revealed to have giant claw marks along its abdomen.

"You think an animal did this?"

"There is a possibility that the infection affects other animals that may be around, bears, deer, whatever this place has to offer."

FireStarter stood up, drawing his pistol and walking toward a group of tents. Shadow Spot looked at High Road, who had her back to the whole thing, and walked over.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's one thing to see zombies dead on the streets and stuff, I can handle that. But these ponies were just trying to survive, like we are. To see them massacred like this, it just got to me."

"I understand. It sucks to see innocent ponies dying from something we can't even understand. But, there isn't much we can-"

Shadow Spot was interrupted by a scream and a shot going off from behind her, which soon sent her running to the tent FireStarter was running out of.

"What, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but something's in there!"

"An animal?"

"No way, has to be some kind of zombie

"Shit. Forget it, let's go. Did it-"

Shadow Spot cut herself short when she saw the gash on FireStarter's stomach, and stepped away from him. She drew her rifle and aimed it at him, continuing to step backwards.

"Please...please no, I swear I'm not infected!"

"I'm sorry, but you know what happens if they touch any kind of open wound."

"Maybe this one's different. I went in there, it attacked me, but it didn't follow me out. That doesn't fit with what we know about these things!"

Shadow Spot looked for at High Road for a moment, then started walking backwards toward her again.

"Fine. But you're carrying the gas home, and if you show one sign of turning, somepony's putting you down. Garage is over there, jerry cans are just to the right."

"And....draw."

Windy Nights pulled her pistol out and shot the zombie down instantly after the command. The stallion nodded and patted Windy Nights on the shoulder.

"Very good, your training seems to have come back very well. We'll have to work on, well, just about everything else as we go along. Come one now."

The stallion motioned for Windy to follow him to a nearby department store. When they reached the door, he raised his hoof.

"Go."

Windy Nights kicked open the door, shooting the three zombies inside down while the stallion closed the door behind them and barred it.

"Very, very impressive lieutenant."

"Please, call me...what did you say my name was? It was, Wi..Windy, Windy Nights, right?"

"Ah, yes. It's surprising to me that you were able to remember that, as I only said it once, and you didn't recognize it before. Does it, feel familiar?"

"I...I don't know. Say it again, but as if you're talking to me."

"Very well. Hello Windy Nights, it's nice out today, isn't it?"

Windy Nights put a hoof to her head and closed her eyes. Something about the name resonated with her, but she couldn't place it.

"Didn't you say something about me being in a group? Before I woke up?"

"Why yes in fact I did. Do you happen to remember anything about it?"

Windy Nights tried to picture the ponies that she had been around before she lost her memory, but once again, nothing happened.

"No. Do you, have any names or anything?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

The response made Windy sigh and holster her weapon. She sat down on a nearby milk crate and put her head in her hooves.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's just, how did this even happen?"

"Well, from what I gathered, you risked your life in an effort to save your fellow survivors. In said attempt, an unexpected explosion went off, and, though I'm not fully sure how, you lost your most of your memories. Motor and language skills seem to remain untouched however."

"Did...did it at least work? The distraction?"

"Yes, it seemed to have worked as far as I can tell."

"You sure say that a lot."

"Well, remember Windy Nights, I'm an observer. I watch from a distance and record my findings."

"So what were you before all this? A scientist or something?"

"I worked at an animal science lab, working on disease cures for dogs and other pets. Nothing special really, just standard new-age Equestria era technology."

Something in the last part of the sentence struck Windy Nights as odd, and she stood up.

"Wait wait wait, say that last part again."

"Standard new-age Equestria era technology."

"Equestria...p-pony, Ponyville? That was in Equestria, right?"

"Yes, you must have been from there. Do you remember any other towns or cities? Any other landmarks?"

"Not, not at the moment. What about you, where were you from?"

"I'm a ManeHatten stallion myself."

Windy Nights stood up and pointed at the stallion, a slight smile on her face.

"ManeHatten! My, mother was from there! She, she, she moved there, after, after meeting my dad."

"You're remember more significant parts of your life now, may wanna slow down a bit."

"Why? I'm getting my memories back, I can go back to my friends, maybe I can remember, why all this happened. Why would you want me to slow down?"

"I'm afraid that this all may cause a problem, woth the memories returning too hastily."

"That, that doesn't make any sense, how could it possibly-"

"Because, the equine brain is a complicated thing Windy, it's hard to understand! That's why ponies study it."

Windy Nights backed away from the stallion as he leaned on a shelf below the window, looking outside.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. Let's just get what we need to get and go."

Stone Temple swallowed the two small, white pills with the last of her water and threw the empty bottle aside.

"Oxycodone, that's, that's rather serious, what's the condition?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're locked in a closet in the middle of a zombie apocalypse."

"Well, I suppose yes, but you had it before this, so what was it for then? And also, how often do you take it?"

Stone Temple shrugged and put the pill bottle back in her bag.

"Every few hours. So what, I like to take some Oxy every now and then, sue me. Helps nowadays, you know?"

Angel stayed silent but nodded as the other mare tilted her head back. They had both resorted to sitting on the floor, backs against the wall, facing each other. Most of the zombies had departed, distracted by other noise or simply because they wandered off. Stone Temple closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"You know, this would be much easier if you could fly."

"Right, I'll get right to that."

Stone Temple chuckled a little bit before turning herself and laying down with the top of her head against the door.

"You and Redline. Now how the hell'd that come to be?"

"You know, he may have the whole tough exterior, but he's actually a total sweetheart once you get to know him. Once we got past the initial bumps in our relationship, he was the sweetest thing. Always surprised me with gifts or sudden dates, always something so well thought out."

"How did you two meet? Seems like he certainly wouldn't just be walking around the yarn store, or whatever you do."

"Well, to be completely honest, I was tasked with following him."

"What, like a stalker or something?"

"Reporter, though the two seem to get lost in translation sometimes. Anyways, he was on our 'suspicious' list, and well, I just happened to volunteer. Then, well, you know."

"Can't say I do."

"Well, we started going out. There's more to it-"

"Obviously."

"But, yes, that's about it."

Angel slid down the wall slightly, her now faded grey beanie getting pushed off of her head.

"You know what I could really go for? A good old-fashioned shopping spree with the girls. Haven't had one of those in a while. Just going out and spending our hard-earned money on spoiling ourselves for the day. Those were the days, weren't they?"

"Yeah, if you're into that kinda stuff."

"I'm assuming you weren't then?"

"Hell no, I hated all that girly stuff. My sister was kinda into it though, ever since she moved to ManeHatten for whoever knows why, maybe have a talk with her."

Angel was about to respond, but stopped herself when she heard a sound from outside. She stood up, re-adjusting her beanie and raising her head.

"Do you hear that?"

"Nah, my ear's kinda ringing right now, somepony must be talk-"

"Shhhh, listen."

Stone Temple rolled her eyes and stood up, listening for the sound. She made a face when she too heard the sound, and started up the ladder. When both mares were back on the roof, the sound was much clearer.

"Are those, church bells?"

"Doubt anypony's getting hitched right now. Wonder who's ringing it."

"Or why."

Stone Temple looked around for where exactly the sound was coming from, and then the memory hit her.

"Shit, the old warehouse!"

"Pardon?"

"Back before Windy, FireStarter, High Road, and I met all of you at the mini-mall, we had a place in a warehouse. Kinda like this one actually, but a little smaller. Beside it was church, and it had a bell tower, of course. That place was rignt over there, where the sound is coming from!"

"You think somepony's still alive in there?"

"Not any of the ones from before, they're all gone. But, maybe there are new one's that found it! We gotta go check!"

"Well, love the enthusiasm, but we still have to get down from here or out through down there if we want to check it out."

Stone Temple thought for a second, running a hoof through her mane.

"Ok, so, I got a plan, let's get back downstairs."

Stone Temple pushed the final cabinet near the door and sighed.

"Ok, you see what's going on?"

"Not at all."

"We can't break through the door, because I only have a knife and it's metal anyways. So, if we break down the door, we can move it out of the way and climb out."

"Ok, so what's with the cabinets?"

"I need something to hold me in place while I kick it down, and this was about all that's in here. When those hinges break off, you need to be ready for any zombies in case I'm not."

Stone Temple said calmly as she walked over to Angel, holding her pistol out to the other mare.

"Can I trust you with that?"

Angel took in a deep breath before looking from the gun to Stone Temple and nodding before taking the firearm. Angel aimed at the door, not knowing that it was empty, and Stone Temple got in position at the door.

"Ready?"

"As much as I can be."

"Ok. One, two, three."

Stone Temple raised her hoof and kicked at thelower section of the door with all her might, making thw rusty hinges creak and groan but not break. After the same countdown and another kick, the bottom hinge broke, and the door leaned out. Stone Temple smiled and moved herself to get a better shot at the top hinge.

"Ready?"

Angel nodded again, aiming at the door before Stone Temple kicked it, this time being successful on the first try. The door broke off the hinges, but the two zombies on the outside pushed it back into the room. The door jammed itself between the shelf outside and the cabinets, staying just above Stone Temple. Angel tensed up, and started to freeze, but slowly exhaled and pulled the trigger.

"Shit, I'm out of bullets!"

"Do something else then!"

Stone Temple was holding the door from falling on top of her, while the zombies tried to grab her. This time, with no idea what to do, Angel froze up.

"Guess I'm up."

As the shelf outside the room slid away slowly, Stone Temple waited for the right moment. Just as the weight of the door was about to overpower her, she let go and rolled oit of the way. When she stood up, she threw her knife into the first zombie's head and kicked it against the wall. Now unarmed, Stone Temple knocked the second zombie down and tipped the cabinet onto it's head, crushing it instantly. Stone Temple sighes from both relief and exaustion, sitting down on the tipped over cabinet. Angel had snapped back into reality at this point and hung her head slightly.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever, you tried at least. If you had more bullets, you could've done it. You just need to work on using your surroundings."

"By the look of things, you have no trouble with that."

Stone Temple looked at the floor beneath her and chuckled slightly before pulling the knife from the first zombies skull.

"Well, maybe not. C'mon, let's go."

Redline paced nervously, waiting by the front door for two specific mares.

"Come on now Red, they'll be back."

"Yeah, I know that Stitch, but that don't mean I ain't worryin'"

Redline looked out through the glass again, and saw the group returning from the enemy compound.

"Well, there's fifty percent."

Redline remarked as he walked out the front door and opened the gate for the other survivors.

"Well, ya got the gas, that's about all I'm askin' for."

"Yeah, well, we got a problem."

Shadow Spot muttered, walking past him into the building. He looked back to High Road and FireStarter, each carrying a jerry can.

"What's'is problem she's talkin' 'bout?"

"I'm sure it's nothing, but she's a little worked up. Here, you go in and get checked out, I'll put these around back."

FireStarted gave his jerry can to High Road and walked inside, followed by Redline.

"So what the hell's goin' on?"

"Look."

Shadow Spot pointed to FireStarter's abdomen, where the area around the gash from earlier was starting to turn red. Redline immediately turned his rifle on FireStarter, aiming it directly at his head.

"Please don't, I swear I'm not infected, or I would've turned by now!"

"What the hell even did that, that don't look like no bite!"

"It was something different, if you could just give me a moment I can tell you about it!"

Redline looked around at the ponies who had been drawn to the scene and put his gun down.

"Fine, but make it quick."

"You were just about to, so I will do you the same kindness. The creature that I saw was one of us, that was clear. However, it seemed to be mutated to quite some degree. It had claws growing out of it's hooves, boils, blisters, you name it. Drooled like a dog too by the way, and I suspect that some sort of radioactive materials may be uncontrolled out east, hence the rumors."

"Yer ramblin'"

"What you're seeing is just an open wound with slight radiation burns, nothing with to do with the virus at all."

"How can ya be sure?"

"Because, we all know roughly how fast it takes to turn. The walk back from that place is at least five minutes, I would've turned two blocks from here if I got bit."

Redline sighed as Stitch walked up and nodded to him.

"Fine, you're safe this time kid. Just be careful out there for fucks sake."

"Trust me, if I could be out there less, I would."

The group dissapated, and ThunderBolt ran over to FireStarter.

"Hey, can I talk to you, in private?"

"I don't see why not."

"Good, meet me out back."

ThunderBolt ran out the back door, and FireStarter soon followed. When he got outside, FireStarter soon saw ThunderBolt leaning against the fence. ThunderBolt seemed to notice him coming outside, but didn't turn to greet him at all. When FireStarter approached ThunderBolt, the other stallion turned around and aimed his revolver at him.

"You need to leave lad."

"Woah woah woah, what the hell is with this?"

"Listen kiddo, I saw how them things you described worked, kay? Saw it myself, don't need to see it again, and none of them do either."

FireStarter scoffed a little as he backed away a few steps.

"So what, you're just gonna kill me in cold blood?"

"Dammit, didn't you hear me? I said that you need to leave, and whatever happens out there is all you. And I'm sorry to say it, but the thing's tracking you as we speak. You're basically dead already."

"Wait...they, they do what?"

FireStarter looked down at his wound, then back up to the stallion aiming a gun at him. ThunderBolt seemed to be showing remorse, but at the same time seemed dead set on evicting him.

"How, how does it work. How do you know this?"

"Know how I've been ducking out recently? I been watching them ever since I saw the fuckin' things. The claws they got, it's what they use to track. If they don't have a confirmed kill on you, or they aren't feeling up to it or whatever, they'll claw you, and inject one of the claws into you. Something in their blood I guess, I have no fucking idea. But trust me, they'll come back for you, and they sure as hell won't be alone."

There were a lot of moments that passed by without either of the two saying anything. ThunderBolt sighed and put his gun down and nodded towards the building.

"Come on then, you gotta go tell them. I sure ain't doin' it."

FireStarter nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of his hoof as he turned to walk inside. When the two walked back inside, many of the faces inside were already looking at them, and FireStarter sighed before waliing further into the building.

"Everypony, if you would please."

The ponies inside the building stood up and moved toward the stallion. Looking around at the faces surrounding him, FireStarter sighed and hung his head.

"It has been brought to my attention that I am quite possibly endangering the inhabitants of this compound. Therefore, it is now my decision to leave."

A few gasps erupted from the gathered crowd, and Stitch walked up.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"As ThunderBolt has informed me, the creature that attacked me has some sort of tracking power through the claws it embeds in it's victims. Then, it comes for you later, and with many others."

"But wait a minute, that doesn't fit what we saw at the other compound, there's no way!"

"Yes, it does fit. That thing could've tracked one of them without them knowing how it operates. When the group wasn't expecting it, a horde of them attacked. Surely there were also many other, regular zombies. And I hate to say it, but part of me wants to think that something else, something worse could've been there too."

"Well hold on, there is no need to leave, we can get through this."

"Listen Stitch, if what Bolt says is true, then I am putting you all in danger! We don't have strong enough defenses, nor do we have enough ammo! Not to mention the fact that we're short a few ponies!"

"What if we kill the source? We go back and kill the zombie that planted it inside you."

A grim idea hit FireStarter, and he slowly reached for his knife.

"Or, if we plant it somewhere else."

As he lifted his knife with his hoof, Stitch, Redline, and ThunderBolt raised their guns.

"Careful now FireStarter."

"Put the knife down kid."

"Don't worry you two, it's not for anyone but myself."

Before anyone could stop him, FireStarter drove the knife into his side, pulling it across his abdomen to re-open his wound. Many looked away, and ThunderBolt ran over to shield Bubble Blitz's eyes. As FireStarter dug around in his side, he slowly fell to the floor. First to his knees, then rolling onto his back as he threw the claw and the knife aside.

"Somepony get the medkit!"

Stitch called out as he ran over to the stallion's body and examined the cut. It had gone deeper than was needed, and had caused significant damage to his internal organs. As Redline ran back with the medical kit, FireStarter began convulsing, and Stitch backed up. As the body on the floor convulsed and writhed on the ground, Redline walked forward and shot a single round through it's skull.

"I'm sorry."

Silence overtook the whole building for a long time, while silent goodbyes were said and the few who didn't watch could turn to the scene.

"How..."

High Road said, looking up at ThunderBolt with tears falling down her face.

"How did you know? Why didn't you say anything before?"

"What do you mean? I told the kid what happens, I tried to get him out!"

"You were just gonna throw him out by himself?"

"What else was I supposed to do?!"

"You could've told him that someone else would remove it and we'd be fine!"

"It ain't that simple!"

ThunderBolt's outburst and now closer proximity to High Road made her shudder, and she choked on her words a little.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Once you're tagged, there's no way out. These one's, the one's that did this, they're like snakes. Saw some poor bugger at that other compound rip one out of his side the other day, yet, look what happened. I'm not shocked at all by what you guys found. You want my advice, we either need to get the hell outta dodge, or gear up for a serious fight. So what's it gonna be?"

Stitch and Redline looked at each other and both nodded before turning back to ThunderBolt.

"Let's gear up."

"Let's leave."

The responses came at the same time, and ThunderBolt groaned as the two looked at each other in shock.

"Red, we need to leave, the sooner the better."

"Ok, counterpoint, Angel and Stone are still out there, and this place can survive whatever's coming, easy."

"A, we barely scraped by last time, may I remind you who we lost? And B, we can find them on the way out, but we can't stay here!"

"You heard Bolt, it knows where we are, it'll find us no matter how far we go Stitch!"

"I hate to say it, but Red's probably right, we can't risk that thing having a lock on us. We don't have much of a choice this time. I got at least twenty rounds total left. Everypony else? High Road, what's left in that rifle?"

"I got about a mag and a half. Pistol's got one full clip."

"That's good, that's good, StarFire?"

"Umm, I think, fourteen rounds left?"

"Not great but not terrible, Shadow, Red?"

"Two clips, fourteen total."

"I got eighteen rounds."

"That's a combined thirty-two more, that's a good number. And you two, you don't own any guns?"

"No sirry, we don't."

"Ok, fine, you two go now and help Shadow Spot pack whatever isn't already into the RV, keep the door open and yell for us if need be."

"Will do."

"Everypony else, get into position, I want Red and StarFire on the towers, High Road in the front gate, Stitch and I will cover the back. Let's go!"

"Well..."

"Well, if somepony was here, they aren't anymore."

Stone Temple remarked as she looked at the total emptiness of the building. Wood dust and debris lay on the floor, and the only other things that were left were bodies or useless junk.

"Looters, that was this was. Came here, wanted to find out what was in the boxes, took what they wanted, rung the church bells to cover their escape."

"As much as I almost don't wish to admit it, that's pretty clever."

"Yeah, maybe we can use that to our advantage later."

"Either way, looks like nothing's here, so let's jus-"

"What about that room?"

Stone Temple looked at the room that Angel was pointing to, and started towards it.

"That, that was FireStarter's room. Had a bunch of techy stuff in it. Hm, that's weird."

"What?"

"Whoever was here didn't break in. Must've though breaking it down would make too much noise."

"Well, did he have anything in there we could use?"

Stone Temple stepped back from the door two steps and took in a short breath.

"We're about to find out."

Stone Temple raised her hoof and kicked the door, it surprisingly breaking down. The room was dusty, clearly nopony had been in here since they all had left.

"Huh, it's all still here."

"Plasma cutters, laithes, moniter array, what was he doing in here?"

"Who knows? Crazy ass had the door closed and locked every second of the day, never came outta here unless he really needed to."

"Huh. Did he by any chance have a few guns around here?"

"Maybe. Don't know how he even knows how to shoot that well, must be all the video games."

"He was into those was he?"

"As far as I know. StarFire and I had an old computer, but we didn't use it that much. What about you?"

"I've really only used a computer for work. Redline likes a few of those video games, I've just never seen the fun behind them I guess."

"Well, we're basically living in one now aren't we?"

"I guess we are. Guess this is the time all the gamers like FireStarter would thrive then isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

There was a moment of silence as the mares searched before Angel walked over to the computer and pressed a few buttons. A small button lit up beside her hoof, and she looked at Stone Temple.

"Well, go on, press it."

"If we blow up I'm blaming you."

Angel remarked before pressing the button. To their surprise and relief, they heard something unlocking instead of blowing up. Stone Temple walked over to the now slightly ajar compartment on the side of the desk and looked inside.

"Oh my my my, what do we have here?"

Stone Temple laughed as she pulled the lever-action shotgun out of the compartment and flourished it in front of Angel Boulon.

"Holy, that could fit in their?"

"Apparently, thing's longer inside than it looks I guess. Who cares though, mama got her a new toy!"

"Alright, alright, let's get back to base before they send somepony to find us."

Redline was calmly serveying the area around the mini-mall, watching for the horde they felt was now imminent. Aside from that, he was looking around for where the two missing mares were.

"C'mon you two, gotta come back sometime soon."

StarFire was less intensely looking around, but was worried for her sister. Her ears perked up slightly when she heard something going on inside.

"You go check that out, I can cover."

StarFire nodded at the stallion, who was still looking through his scope, and ran into the building. This time, unlike the last, the building wasn't already being swarmed with zombies. She looked around at the situation that she jumped into with her mouth agape. ThunderBolt was aiming his revolver at Stitch, who was aiming his SMG right back at ThunderBolt.

"Drop the fucking gun Stitch. I don't want to hurt you man, but I will if I gotta."

"It is you who needs to put down the gun, I saw the bite, now let's just do this quickly."

"Fuck you for two reasons dude, I got that days ago, and it wasn't a zombie."

"What else would it be?"

"Remember when I came back that night after the thunderstorm? Remember, I got shot in the leg?"

"Yes, and?"

"Before that, on our way back, we tripped one of those traps, you know, and she got hurt. Found something to sterilize the wound, but I told her it would hurt, but we couldn't make too much noise. Gave her my wing to bite down on while I fixed her up. That's what you do when you're helping someone else, now put down the fucking gun!"

Stitch took a moment to slowly holster his gun and walk closer to ThunderBolt once he did the same.

"Look, you may have taken control for now, but once we secure a location elsewhere, I can assure you it'll shift."

"Really? We'll have to see about that then, won't we?"

"That bite turns out to be something worse than it seems and maybe we won't have to."

"You really gonna be the one to do it Stitch? Huh? You wanna put a bullet in my skull then fucking do it! Come on!"

ThunderBolt pulled his gun out and aimed it against his own forehead, shoving it into Stitch's grasp.

"ThunderBolt, cut it out!"

"Do it."

"Bolt, fucking cut it!"

ThunderBolt turned to look at Shadow Spot after her second exclamation, and took his gun back.

"We'll see."

He said coldly, walking away from Stitch and over to his daugher who had run away from the tense scene. Stitch shook his head as he walked away, and Shadow Spot walked up to ThunderBolt angrily.

"What the hell was that? Huh? Do you suddenly have a deathwish?"

"We don't get glory without guts Shadow, remember that."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"Look, my gun was empty the whole time, I just needed to know what kind of pony he really is. He didn't pull the trigger, which is good for him, but also means he's growing too attached. We can't do that nowadays."

"What the fuck Bolt? What the hell's gone and made you so serious?"

"The world is changing, Shadow. It's the farthest thing from what we used to know. Bad enough that winter's coming in a few months, even worse that the dead are just fucking waltzing about the earth. If it seems like I'm having a hard time coping with all this, maybe it's because I am."

"Ok, but that doesn't mean you can go around starting shit with everypony else. And what do you mean we can't get too attached nowadays?"

"Let's face it, we're all gonna die, and none of us the right way. We need to learn how to let go before any of it happens."

Shadow Spot looked down, a tear rolling down her face.

"What happened to you Bolt?"

The question was left unanswered when Shadow Spot walked away after asking it. Outside, High Road was looking around from her designated spot in the chain link fence. She flipped the safety off when she saw a zombie come around the corner and start walking past the building.

"Just one, I should do it quietly."

She drew her knife, letting the rifle hang on it's strap beside her.

"Hey, over here. Come here boy, come on."

She jokingly singsonged at the zombie, attracting the zombie's attention and drawing it to her. Just before it reached the fence, she heard a distant but still very loud gunshot, and the zombie fell to the ground with a sizable hole in it's head. High Road stepped back, stunned by the suddeness of the shot.

"Red?"

"Yeah?"

"That wasn't you, was it?"

"Not a chance."

High Road looked around, raising a hoof to her forehead to minimize the glare of the sun. As she squinted, she could she the faint glare of a rifle scope atop an in-progress high-rise.

"Son of a bitch, I really can't tell who's side that fucker's on."

"Well, seems he don't got our number like I thought, unless 'course he was aimin' for you and missed."

"Thanks Red, always the first one to comfort me."

High Road chuckled to herself, the last part of it being said to herself. There was a short moment of the regular ambience before another shot was heard, and another, and another. High Road eventually put the pieces together as she saw a large group of zombies appear around the same corner as the other one.

"Shit, Red!"

High Road didn't even need to alert him, as Redline had already shot down two by the end of her exclamation. The ponies inside hear when High Road started shooting carefully spaced shots into the horde.

"Guess we're on then. Ce on everypony, let's get going!"

ThunderBolt ran over to the farthest tower and knocked on the door. After a fee seconds, StarFire came down and opened it.

"Yeah?"

"Come on, we need you down here, those two can cover."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, let's go!"

The two ran through the building and out back, where the rest of the inhabitants were piling into the RV already.

"Go ahead and stand out front of the RV, Shadow will need help defending. I've gotta check around in here real quick."

StarFire nodded, and ThunderBolt ran back into the building after mirroring her action. He quickly ran around and collected a few of his own personal belongings, then proceeding to run into the front gate. When he burst through the front door, he gasped at what he saw. The zombies had broken through the gate and were feasting on High Road, one of them being the creature that had attacked FireStarter. It noticed ThunderBolt's entrance and stood up and away from High Road's body, which now convulsing with acid dripping from the mouth. ThunderBolt took in the creature for a long moment, every grotesque feature. It was smaller than a regular pony, it's mouth dripped with an acidic bile, and there were all kinds of blemishes along it's entire surface, just as FireStarter had described. ThunderBolt took a moment to look at High Road, who was staring into his eyes, and he knew what to do. Drawing his revolver and firing a shot into her head no more than a second after, ThunderBolt let a single tear fall. After he watched the mare's eyes close, he ran inside, the tracker zombie soon following him. It crashed through the glass, and the shards poked through it's skin and stuck out of it's body.

"Jeez, you are one ugly mother aren't you?"

ThunderBolt pulled out his revolver and fired at the disgusting creature, missing it as it started to run at him. He was able to dodge the zombie's attack, and started running around frantically to get a better shot. Three more shots missed, and ThunderBolt was out of options. Suddenly, the back door was burst open, and Stone Temple walked ran in, shooting the zombie in the chest, which sent it flying across the room. She turned to the front door and shot down the three sprinting ones that made their way into the building. She finished her kill spree with a double tap to the tracker zombie's head when it leapt at her.

"Liking the new gun?"

"You could say that."

"Well, thanks either way. Please, do me a favour and go get Redline. We need to go now."

"On it."

The two ponies seperated, and StarFire ran up to the tower the Redline was in. The stallion was still focused, firing at the zombies, never missing a perfect headshot.

"Red! We're going now!"

"Just a sec'nd."

Redline shot one last bullet, shooting one zombie straight through the skull and hitting a second one clean in the eye. He looked up from his scope with an acomplished grin before starting to dissasemble his rifle and put it away.

"Always wanted to do that. Alright, let's go."

The two quickly turned and started running down the stairs and into the main building, where they were met with a large amount of zombies.

"Shit, back room, back room!"

Redline shouted, directing Stone Temple to the room where the ladder to the roof was. Redline slammed the door behind them and held it shut as the zombies tried to push their way in.

"Go on then!"

Redline yelled, making Stone Temple quickly scramble up the ladder and onto the roof. She ran over to the edge and looked at the back lot of the mini-mall where Shadow Spot, Starfire, ThunderBolt, and Stitch were all keeping the horde at bay.

"ThunderBolt!"

The pegasus took a short break from shooting to look up at roof to see Stone Temple and soon after, Redline.

"The hell are you doing uo there?"

"Buildin's overrun, we needs a way out!"

"Fuck. Everypony in the RV! Now! You two get out front, we'll meet you there!"

ThunderBolt ushered the gunners into the RV and jumped in the drivers seat. As the two ponies on the roof watched the vehicle drive out through a small swarm of zombies and away from the mini-mall.

"Well, we's about as screwed'sa two'b'four with Bolt at the wheel."

"Yeah, and how does him pulling up front get us down?"

"We gonna have to jump. Roof to towers to RV."

Redline stated wearily, exhaling before noving to the opposite edge of the roof. After a few seconds of waiting, the vehicle pulled up to the front of the building, just past the edge of the towers. A few of the passengers aimed their guns out any open window to try and keel the zombies away from the vehicle.

"I shoulda retired."

Redline muttered before jumping from the roof of the building to that of the tower, then jumping onto the van and climbing inside.

"Come on Stone, just do it."

Stone Temple holstered her shotgun and prepared to jump, just before she saw another tracker zombie climb up on the side of the roof.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me."

She pulled out her shotgun again as the cretin ran at her. She fired one shot that ripped through the being's shoulder, and went to fire a second at it's head, but it had reached her. Stone Temple stepped back, her hoof sliding off the edge and sending her tumbling off the roof of the building. The fall was more or less straight down, with the only thing absorbing the impact being the roof of the tower, which even then fell apart beneath her. The main body of the tower collapsed next, sending Stone Temple through a blizzard of rubble until she landed on the ground, one of her legs emitting a gut-wrenching snap. Stone Temple cried out in pain, and Stitch and Blue Roses quickly jumped out to help her. Out from one of the rubble piles jumped a zombie, and it immediately sunk it's teeth into Blue Roses' leg. She shook the creature off with a look scream of pain, and hurried back into the van.

"Go go go!"

Stitch yelled, prompting ThunderBolt to slam on the gas and turn around to drive out West.

"Clear the bed, she's wounded!"

Stitch ordered, helping Stone Temple onto the bed in the rear of the RV. Meanwhile, Blue Roses approached her husband, and silently showed him the bite. The look on Ivory Spark's face was that of pure devastation.

"You, y-you got bit?"

Blue Roses nodded, tears filling her eyes as the two embraced.

"Turn left, left!"

Angel was shouting directions to ThunderBolt as he frantically piloted the vehicle at top speed through the streets.

"Bridge, take the bridge over there!"

"Bolt, we's got some comp'ny!"

"Angel, you know how to drive?"

"No."

"Well, now's a damn fine time to learn. Take this."

ThunerBolt let go of the steering wheel, and Angel quickly moved to correct the vehicle's path.

"Wait, well, what about the pedals?"

ThunderBolt finished loading his revolver before making a short whistle sound, which brought Bubble Blitz to the front of the vehicle.

"Pedal on the right, go ahead and hold that all the way down for me, ok sweetie?"

The filly nodded and jumped down, doing exactly as she was told by pressing the pedal down all the way. ThunderBolt swung his hind legs up and out the window, holding himself out just enough to shoot down the three sprinters that were just keeping up with them.

"There we are."

He smirked as he pulled himself back into the drivers seat and sighed.

"Good job kiddo, go ahead and get somewhere safe back there."

Bubble Blitz nuzzled up to her father for a quick second just before jumping back into the other section of the RV. ThunderBolt chuckled as he looked over at Angel Boulon, who seemed to be shivering.

"What, are you cold or something?"

"Aren't you?"

"Kinda, probably just the radical wind chill I just experienced. Either way, we're off the bridge, so start looking for a place we can shack up. I mean bunker down, shack up sounds kinda....misleading."

"Classy Bolt, super classy."

"Whatever."

Back in the bedroom of the RV, Redline and Stitch were examining Stone Temple and trying to help as much as they could.

"This isn't all that bad. Minor scrapes and cuts, one slightly worse gash, but her leg seems to be broken, possibly a compound fracture."

"Oh, yeah, not too bad he says."

"Both of you shut up, and someone please get my bag."

Stone Temple was nearly passing out from the pain, so Stitch complied and gave Stone Temple her backpack.

"Water. Water, quick."

"Here."

Stone Temple quickly pulled the few remaining oxy pills from her bag and downed three of them with a gulp of water. She let out a sigh an leaned back further into the bed.

"That's better."

The vehicle suddenly turned a hard left and stopped, making Stitch run up to tee front.

"Problem?"

"Nothing we can't handle, but let's do it quietly. You, me, and Red. Angel, go check on Stone."

"On it."

"Alright, let's clear. Red, let's go!"

The three stallions jumped out of the RV and made quick work of the few zombies gathered outside, proceeding to force their way into the building. The building was a large, gated manor, an incredibly lucky find for the group.

"Come on, let's move!"

All those still in the RV scrambled for their bags and quickly ran out and in past the front gate, Redline and Stitch slamming it shut once everyone was in. ThunderBolt quickly counted heads and did a quick look around.

"Wait, where's your wife?"

"I...I needed to talk to you about that. You too."

Ivory Spark motioned for Redline and ThunderBolt to follow him over to a planter that had some rotting foliage on it.

"What's goin' on?"

"Now listen, let's keep it quiet. My wife, she...she didn't make it out of that place unscathed. I told her to stay in the vehicle because, well, I didn't want anypony to do what I need to."

"You're, you're not saying..."

Ivory Spark nodded slowly to ThunderBolt, tears starting to roll down his face.

"Now, all I need is one thing, and since you two seem to be taking a lot of action, you're who I'm asking."

"Name it."

"I need the vehicle."

"Yer takin' the RV?"

"Think about it this way. Those monsters will be drawn here by the fact that we drove here. Driving it away will leave you without a vehicle, but it'll also lessen the heat for a good while."

ThunderBolt ran a hoof through his mane, a shaky sigh escaping him.

"Do you, you know, have-"

"I was given the proper tool for the job a while ago. As much as I wish it would never come to this, it seems that's what I'm faced with."

Redline was silent for a moment before nodding gently to himself.

"Take it. If there's anythin' else ya need, it's all yours."

"Well, there's really only one more thing I need from you, and I'll be on my way."

"What is it?"

Ivory Spark leaned in and whispered something in Redline's ear that evoked a very questioning look.

"Please."

"No trouble. It was... It was a real pleasure meetin' ya."

"Likewise."

Ivory Spark and Redline shook hooves, and when he turned to ThunderBolt, he was met with an unexpected hug from the stallion.

"Goodbye."

The RV pulled to a stop, zombie's starting to pool aroudd the still idling vehivle. Ivory Spark stood up, walking over to the table of the RV and sitting down across from his wife. He looked at the walkie-talkie to his left, and let out a deep, pained sigh.

"Well, it really has come to this hasn't it? I always figured we would both grow old and die together, the natural way. We sure did the first part though, didn't we? But um, somewhere along the way you start to really figure out who you are. While I can't explain exactly who I am, what I do know is that I don't want to be whoever I am without you."

Ivory Spark shakily took the miniature firearm from his shirt pocket and looked at it for a moment. He took the walkie-talkie and put it on the top of the table, holding the button down as he aimed the pistol at the barely conscious mare across from his.

"Goodbye. I'll see you again soon."

Back at the manor, Redline heard one shot go off, and another soon following it.

"Now."

ThunderBolt quickly lit a match, and threw it through the wrought-iron gate to land on the gasoline trail. The trail ignited, and after soon enough finding it's way to RV, caused an explosion that both destroyed the RV and wiped out most the zombies around it. The occupants that had gone inside to clear and put their things down had now come outside, and looked at the distant smoke plume with solemn faces. There was at least a full minute of silence before Bubble Blitz ran out of the manor, and looked up at the sky, letting the flake fall gently into her hoof.

"Are those, ashes?"

ThunderBolt asked, walkng over to the filly and holding his hoof out to catch one. The flake was white, and melted when it hit his hoof. Then itball made sense. The sudden thunderstorm in the summer, the cold that Angel had felt; these weren't ashes, winter had arrived, and it was snowing. The group watched the sky grow whiter and whiter as the snow grew more and more intense.