Walk The Aftermath

"Well, I suppose this is a good amount to return with. Hell, we can even use the carts themselves if we need to."

"Always bein' resourceful, aren't you Windy?"

"I try."

The two mares giggled as they loaded the last of the materials into the only shopping cart that wasn't broken in any way. FireStarter was keeping guard outside, aiming down the sights of his pistol. He turned back when he heard the two voices leaving the store, and holstered his pistol.

"Jeez, was wondering when you two would show yourselves again."

"Ah screw off, we got talking."

"About?"

"Mare talk. Ya wouldn't understand."

"Pfft, mare talk. So basically you just gossiped?"

"There isn't really much to gossip about. It's kind of the apocalypse, remember that?"

"Well, I guess you have a point."

Silence overtook almost the rest of the walk back to the compound, about five minutes from it, it picked back up.

"Alright, FireStarter, you wanted to know what was talked about, well here's the question I was gonna ask."

"Took you till now? Well, let's hear it."

"The question is, if there was one thing you would give anything to have right now, what would it be?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. I suppose having a chance to speak with my mother would be alright. Never was too close with either of my parents, wonder how they're fairing now."

"Hopefully well."

Windy Nights nervously assured. She noticed how Stone Temple was just walking along, occaisionally poking at the ground with a stick.

"What about you Stone? What's the one thing you would give anything for?"

"My sister."

The group went silent, making the crash from a nearby department store all the more audible. All three turned on a dime, and both mares drew their firearms.

"We checking it out Windy?"

"Yeah. FireStarter, you guard the supplies, we'll check this out."

"Ok, just for the love of everything, be quick."

Windy Nights nodded to FireStarter before turning to Stone Temple and motioning toward the door. The store looked to be small, and after slowly entering, they noticed the source of the noise.

"Son of a bitch."

"I can't believe it. The world is coming to a freaking end, and ponies are busying themselves with this."

The single room of the building was cleared out except for the one shelf in the center that had a zombified pony strung up across it. Windy Nights sighed and fired a round through it's head, before bowing her head for a moment. When they turned around, they saw FireStarter running toward the building, falling to the floor once he was inside.

"FireStarter? What the hell?"

FireStarter rolled onto his back and muttered a few gargled words as the mares crowded around him.

"Outside alleyway...Not the sniper...Something else."

"Shit. Stone, tend to him, I'll recon."

"Ok."

Stone Temple helped FireStarter to his hooves and moved him behind the counter, just now noticing the large gash on his stomach.

"Shit man, the hell got you that bad?"

"No clue, it happened so fast."

"You see anyone?"

"I don't think so, I don't think it was an assault, this was a trap."

Stone Temple didn't put the pieces together for a couple seconds after FireStarted layed down. Her eyes widened as she cursed under her breath and ran out the door. She skidded around the corner to the alleyway and saw Windy Nights walking down it, pointing her gun around while slowly walking forward.

"Windy!"

Stone Temple yelled, catching Windy Night's attention and making her turn around just seconds before the snare around her hoof picked her off the ground.

"Thank you."

StarFire said as she gratefully as she accepted the cup of loose tea that Stitch had given her. As he sat down across from her, he looked at the group of survivors that were suspiciously eyeing the conversation.

"So, you have any idea where this group is camped out?"

"Not, not from here. I've never seen this area of the city."

"They must've taken you pretty far then. You know how long you were out?"

"They have working cars, they could've got here and back fast."

"They got some of them working?"

As StarFire nodded, Stitch blew out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. When StarFire leaned forward to set her mug down, Stitch noticed a large smear of blood that had been left on the leather chair.

"Are you injured? Or do you need anything?"

"Do you have a shower? Or even a bathroom? Just somewhere to get cleaned up."

"Bathrooms right over there. Towels should be in their somewhere in case the shower does work."

"Thank you."

As StarFire got up and shakily walked over to the bathrooms, Stitch stood up and walked over to Redline, who was standing close to the two chairs.

"What do you make of that?"

"Think I got somethin'. That ain't her natural color if you get my meaning."

"Not sure I do."

"Think about it. What do zombies like? Us, and seems to be, they like the inside of us. Ya know, where the blood and guts and all that is."

"Ok, still getting nothing."

"She was in a trap right? A trap activated by zombies gettin' close to it."

Stitch still had a questioning expression on his face as he looked at him.

"Still nothin'?"

"No clue."

"She's covered in blood ya goon. Zombies was supposed to be attracted to the blood, but apparently they ain't."

"Ok, ok, so what your saying is that they covered her in blood with the hope that it would attract zombies, but it didn't."

"Yes."

Stitch looked back at the bathroom door, and thought for a moment.

"Hold on. If they didn't go for the blood, then how come the fuckers can smell us half a mile away?"

"It's gotta be livin' I guess."

"That's actually right I believe."

Once again, Stitch looked around the building, seeing that most ponies had resumed what they were doing. When he remembered the group of newcomers that was out on a run, he looked outside.

"Shit, where's that group we sent on that supply run? Heard anything from them?"

"Haven't seen 'em around, nopony else has neither."

"Shit. Can something go right for once?"

"Doubt it, track record shows that it won't."

"Ain't that the truth. Alright, I guess business as usual. If they aren't back in two hours though, I'm going to look."

"Sure you wanna wait that long? Nightime ain't exactly prime fer bein' outside."

"I'll manage. I just hope they get back soon."

"Well, isn't this magical."

"Can you cut it from upside dowj like that?"

"Don't need to."

Windy Nights opened her wings and started hovering right side up beside the metal beam that held the rope. She pulled the hatchet off of her rear leg and started slowly cutting the rope, just as FireStarter walked up, clutching his side.

"You know, hatchets are typically more effective on wood as opposed to metal."

"Nice one smart-ass, but I'm cutting rope up here."

"Why don't you use your knife?"

"I didn't think of that, now hush."

After cutting the rope off at the top and pulling the snare off of her hoof, she flew down to the ground and landed beside the others.

"As if the apocalypse wasn't enough."

"Think maybe those traps were for zombies, and not us?"

"You know, I really hope so, otherwise I'm gonna start hating this more and more."

Stone Temple chuckled at the Windy's Nights' last quip and started toward the

"I agree with you there. Either way, we'd better get FireStarter back so we can patch him up."

"Yeah, let's get going."

Windy Nights started pushing the cart again with Stone Temple and FireStarter walking together behind her. After a few minutes, they finally got back to the compound, where Stitch was waiting for them.

"Well well, not a bad run rookies. Oh shit, what happened to you?"

"I don't even know."

"Oh, great. Get him inside, Angel should be at her station."

"It's fine, I can walk. These two should fill you in on what's happening anyways."

Stitch nodded as FireStarter walked past and into the building.

"So, what exactly is happening?"

"I think we need to keep a sharp eye out."

"Why's that?"

"You saw the cut on his stomach, that wasn't an attack, and it certainly wasn't a zombie."

"Ok, so what was it? And, more importantly, who was it?"

"No idea who, but what we do know is that therebare quite the traps out there."

"Wait, traps? Did some involve thick gauge wire?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Redline and I just saved a mare from a trap that was set up over there, and it involved wire, pulleys, and an idea that lucky for us and her didn't work. I think we got a threat on us bigger than the infected for once."

"Great, as if the dead weren't enough of a problem."

"Well, that just means we'll have to put all this to use. Just wheel it over closer to the tower to the right, we'll work on that tomorrow."

Stone Temple and Windy Nights both pushed the cart over to where Stitch had directed, and the three walked inside soon after. Stone Temple looked around and just caught a yellow coated pegasus drying off her amber mane with a towel. Her mouth dropped open, as did the other mare's when they made eye contact.

"Stone Temple?"

"Sis?"

The two smiled at each other and quickly ran over and wrapped their hooves around each other in an embrace. After pulling apart, Windy Nights walked over and chuckled.

"So, Stone Temple, this is your sister?"

"Sure is. Is it ever good to see you, I'm so damn thankful you're still alive."

"I feel the same, I was so worried when this all started, I had no idea where I was, let alone where you were."

"I guess the good thing is that you're both safe now."

"Yep. Safe and sound. You already met the crew?"

"Just Stitch and, Redline I think it was."

"Well, allow me to introduce Luitennat Windy Nights."

"Windy Nights is fine, formalities don't really carry meaning anymore do they?"

"Guess not. Pleased to meet you Windy."

"Likewise. I'm gonna go check on FireStarter, you two enjoy catching up."

"We will, thank you."

StarFire smiled at Windy Nights before she walked off to the infirmary area. When she turned back to her sister, she was waved over to the sleeping area, where High Road was sitting.

"Hey, welcome back."

"Thanks. How you feeling?"

"Head's still killing me, but I'm alive. Who's this?"

"This is my sister, StarFire."

"Nice to meet you."

"Shame it had to be under these circumstances, right?"

"True, true."

"You guys got the materials for the towers?"

"Yep, and in good time, the sun's startin' to set."

The three mares looked out the window at the now pale-orange sky.

"Did you two hear the rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"At the compound I was at before, well, what got me here, I heard that the zombies get more dangerous at night."

"What? No way. I disproved the hell out of that. Spent a whole night jumping from building to building, had to kill like thirty of them. Which reminds me, High Road, where are Command Chain and Wind Up?"

"Hell if I know, probably still back at the old place."

"Wait, you just left them there?"

"Trust me, the choice between you and them was easy. By the way, the sentence is death if we ever show up there again."

StarFire gave Stone Temple a look of questioning, to which Stone Temple shrugged.

"Whatever. Hey, how hungry are the both of you?"

"Starving."

"What she said."

"Great, cause by the looks of it, dinner is ready."

Even later in the evening, after the sun had set, a few members of the community were sitting in a circle, telling stories from the old world. ThunderBolt was currently talking, and to his left was his daughter, who was more than distracted by Oscar. Windy Nights slowly rubbed her hoof alongside the dogs side as he layed and smiled. Stone Temple and StarFire were sitting beside each other, listening intently, and Angel Boulon closed the circle.

"So after that of course, security was on us like flies on the dead, and so we all run like 'ell all the way back to Killswitch's house, where I spent a good majority of the time therew whooping those two at a little something called drunk twister."

The group collectively laughed at the story as ThunderBolt took a long sip of his drink. Surprisingly it was non-alcoholic.

"Yep, sure do miss those days sometimes. But now I got this one, and that's all I really care about now."

A few ponies in the circle nodded and smiled warmly as ThunderBolt ran a hoof through his daughter's mane.

"Alright, that's anough for me, who's next?"

"I'll go."

Windy Nights said as she pushed herself forward slightly.

"So, back when I was just starting out in the army, I didn't know much about how the ponies there worked when we were just hanging out at base camp. Little fid I know, that pranking was something quite common, and pranking the only three mares there was the most fun apparently. So, me and the other two, we snuck out of our tents one night and set up what we needed to. Well, the next morning a couple hours after role call, I started talking up these gunshots I heard, and how I how I couldn't find one of the other mares. Of course they were skeptical, because none of them heard any, but just a couple seconds later, the mare that was 'missing' came stumbling around the corner, with 'bullet wounds', which the other mare made using some left over beet juice which will by the way leave a stain like crazy. So she pretends to drop dead right there in front of about five stallions, and oh boy the looks on their faces were priceless. So of course one of them gets down to chevk her pulse, and she jumps up and yells 'gotcha!'. Tell you what, we never got pranked again."

The group chuckled together again, with some softly expressing agreement. Shortly after, Redline walked into the building from the tower and walked over to the group.

"Thunder, 'ts yer turn for tower duty."

"Already? Alright, let me just put Bubble to bed."

As ThunderBolt stood up and picked the pink filly up, Redline took his place, completing the circle again.

"So, what're we talkin' 'bout here?"

"Stories from before, sweetie."

"Ah, I see."

"Got any?"

"Me? No, no, no. I was a pretty boring old stallion back then."

"Really, nothing interesting?"

"You can keep asking Windy, I ain't got nothin'"

"Ok, well how about something from this world? Surely something intersting has happened to you here."

"Unless killing a lotta zombies and running a bunch is share-circle worthy, I think I'm all out for post-apocalypse stories. Me and Angel was both together from the start."

There was a moment of silence as Angel Boulon moved closer to Redline and cuddled up beside him.

"Wait a minute, if you two were together from the beginning, then how come StarFire and I were far away from each other?"

"I as well would like an answer to that?"

"Well, I can't speak for any other cases, but proximity seemed to weigh in for us. We were in the same house before, and we were only a few floors apart in the same building after the matter. He eventually found me cowering in one of the closets, and we made our way here."

"Huh, so if we had been closer before this, we would have been closer when it started?"

"Perhaps, how far away were you two?"

Angel asked as Stone Temple and StarFire looked at each other.

"Umm, how far apart are Ponyville and ManeHatten?"

A couple members of the group chuckled a bit as the two sisters laughed with each other. Redline looked at the watch on his leg and started standing up.

"Well, I should be gettin' off to bed now, I suggest y'all do the same."

"Yes, maybe we should be. I'll be right behind you. I would like to stress that all lights ne out by ten thirty, and it is currently ten oh nine. I'll see you all in the morning."

"Goodnight."

As the couple departed and went to their cot, which they had earned through their various help around the compound, the rest of the group started standing up.

"Well, sorry to break it to you sis, but newcomers get the floor."

"Oh, I don't mind I suppose. Not like we haven't slept on the floor when we were younger."

"Ah, the good old days of blanket forts and smuggled cheez-its."

The two mares laughed as they left and followed the other two to the sleeping area, leaving just Windy Nights and Oscar.

"Well, you do what you want, I'm gonna go see how FireStarter is doing. You're welcome to come."

Just as her sentence ended, Oscar got up and walked over to the mat that she had laid out for him and curled up on it.

"You traitor."

She chuckled to herself as she walked over to the makeshift hospital bed that FireStarter was sitting on.

"Hey, feeling alright?"

"Alright is a relative term at this point. I think the general definition of alright has severely declined since this w-"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, yes."

FireStarter quietly said, looking down slightly. Windy Nights sat down at the end of the bed and sighed.

"Good. I guesd you are kind of right about what you were saying."

"How the world has gone downhill, and with it went our standards of feeling?"

"Yeah, that. You know, once this is all over, do you ever think, maybe it would be good?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, I mean, since we've been put through do much, maybe we'll be stronger afterwards?"

"Hmm, let's see. People have lost family, friends, and jobs; the economy is no longer existant; we're in a world that we don't even know the limits of; and to add to that last one, we don't know how far across wherever we are the infection has spread."

"Ok, so maybe the bad outweighs the good."

"What can be called good. Is there any alcohol around here that isn't disinfecting our wounds?"

"You drink?"

"Not really, but no better time to start."

FireStarter grunted as he pushed himself off of the hospital bed, Windy Nights soon following.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow, you and me, we'll go out and get a drink."

"What?"

"Yeah, we'll go and find a nice bar, and we'll sample whatever's left."

"Really?"

"Sure, let's do it."

Windy Nights held her hoof out for FireStarter to shake, which he did after giving her a smile.

"I'll see you in the morning, we'll go then. Goodnight."

"Wait, wait. Are you just gonna say that we're going out for a drink?"

"No, of course not."

Windy Nights nervously chuckled as she turned to start walking away.

"What then?"

"I'll, I'll say that we're going to empty out the pharmacy. Which by the way, we should actually do if we plan to go through with, you know."

"Right, I remember. Alright, sounds like a plan I suppose. I'd also go as far as to ask everypony around what they need, just so that we can actually do some good while we're at it. See you in the morning."

"So, you know anywhere to get a good drink in this place?"

"Considering neither of us even know what 'this place' is, no."

"Well, I'm sure if we look around long enough after this we'll find one. What exactly was it that StarFire said she needed?"

"Citalopram, also known as Celexa. It's a common anti-depressant. Kind of surprising considering how bubbly she seemed."

"That is a little surprising, actually. Maybe it's for somepony else and she was asking for them?"

"Maybe, but I really can't think of any of them that would need an anti-depressant."

"Look at the world FireStarter, we could all use one."

Windy Nights chuckled as she slowly slid open the glass in front of her and grabbed a bottle.

"Celexa, here it is."

"Good, grab some bottles and let's get out, I'm all done my list."

"Ok, just a sec."

Windy Nights quickly threw a few bottles into her bag and stood up, looking for FireStarter.

"Alright, let's head out."

As the two walked along the road leading north, which was both away from the compound and toward their initial base, FireStarter remembered something.

"Windy, wouldn't it have been easier if you had your rifle with you? What exactly happened to it?"

"When we were bringing the materials back and heard that noise, it was easier to draw my pistol, so I figured I didn't really need it. It's probably getting more use back at base."

"Hopefully."

There were about five minutes in between that and them arriving at a bar that was filled with nothing more than questions on what the nearest building was. After approaching the front door, pistols drawn, the two entered and looked around.

"Clear."

"Yep. Looks like this place hasn't been looted either."

"Great. I'll go hop behind the counter and see what I can find."

Windy Nights said as she walked over to the counter and slid over it. The back rooms were just as clear as the front from what she should see, so she opened the nearest fridge and looked inside.

"Oh right, no power. FireStarter?"

"Yes?"

"You think this place would maybe have a backup gen or something?"

"Um, possibly, I'll check."

As FireStarter went into a nearby room to check for a generator, Windy Nights looked over their options.

"Vodka, whiskey, rum, assorted imports. Not really the greatest selection, but I think we can make do."

Windy Nights was just about to close the fridge door when the inside light flicked on, and the fridge started to buzz. A smile spread across her face, and she started to laugh as she saw FireStarter enter the roof with a grin.

"They had one?"

"Sure did."

Windy Nights let out a joyous and rather foalish squeal of joy as she looked back to the fridge and grabbed two bottles.

"Here, let's start on these while the rest cool off."

Windy Nights set the bottles of generic crappy beer on the counter and hopped over it again. She took a seat on the stool next to FireStarter and cracked open her beer. FireStarter chuckled as Windy Nights took a long swig, smiling afterwards.

"Didn't realize you were a drinker."

"My dad was. He'd always take me out for a drink whenever I got back home. Rum and soda was his favourite. I'd either have a cheap beer like this or a couple shots of bourbon."

"Huh, sounds fun."

"It was. It wss nice getting back and spending some time with him."

"Good. That's good."

"What about you? What's your poison?"

"Not really sure yet. My mother was pretty well convinced that alcohol was a one-way ticket to hell, and my dad wasn't really around much."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine, it was for the better good, I believe."

There was a long silence as the two sipped on their drinks before the front door was pushed open, and the two inside drew their guns and spun to the door. Looks of shock came over their faces as they recognized the figure at the door. The sun barely gleamed on the military medals that adorned their chest, and the figure raised a revolver before speaking in a low voice.

"I see you two are doing well."