Surviving?by PMCChaptersEpisode 1- Sleeping In (Revised)Episode 2- Cacthing Up (Revised)Episode 3- Sin City (Revised)Episode 4- Purgatory (Revised)Episode 1- Sleeping In (Revised) Jester hoped into the back of the ambulance, shutting the door behind him. He sat down next to the driver and turned to the white mare,"So, any word on this..." "Bank holdup," the EMT turned the key, the sound of a engine signaled her to pull out of the parking lot and speed down the road,", some guy apparently was trying to hold up a bank with explosives, the cops are close to a breakthrough and I guess you know why we’re going there." “Just in case." He looked out at the rapidly passing buildings and lights of the night in Las Pegasus. Gamblers and high rollers frequented this city every day, most leaving with their pockets emptied. Rose rounded another corner, rather quickly, forcing him up onto the car door. Within ten minutes, they were outside the bank, police cruisers lined the entire front of the glass building. They pulled up behind one of the many cars, Jester jumping over to the back, pulling out the gurney onto the street once they came to a stop. Rose was the second to come out; she had a defibrillator strapped onto her side, checking out the situation. “Look, you see the pony in there?" She pointed a hoof over the cars at the chestnut colt inside the bank, levitating a pistol at the hostages. “Yeah." “How do you think this is going to sort itself out?" The mare had been an EMT for about five years now; she was used to seeing death, so she hardened into a pony with virtually no personality. Jester was not really used to the the sight of death as he only recently became an EMT. "I don't know honestly but I hope all ponies come out alive." He leaned over onto the police cruiser to get a better look at the situation. There were at least six police cars lining the bank, four cops per car, all unicorns wielding rifles. There was one car up front, a brown sedan with a pegasus bent over it's hood, the pony wielding a megaphone. Rose yawned and sat on the gurney, she was bored, her partner always picked up that she was bored when she began to braid her pink mane. "So you’re just going to sit there, not even going to keep an eye on the situation?" "Why bother, that's what we’re for." The stallion rolled his eyes and was about to turn to the bank when a shot rang out. Everything else happened to quickly for Jester to analyze, first, his partner jumped, cowering on the gurney, and hooves overhead. Next he felt a horrid pain at his side, and then he felt his body weaken, within seconds he was on the ground staring blankly at the night sky. The world around began to fade when a white blur hovered over him, it seemed to be yelling but he didn’t know. Inky blackness followed. The teal stallion woke with a gasp; his mouth was dry, lips chapped. He then winced and leaned at his side, the agony originating from his stomach. He met pitiful resistance, he looked to a white blanket, his legs underneath it. Jester was in a white room, two doors were included, one on the far end and the other a few feet from him which was open to reveal a toilet. He felt something weighted on his left fore leg, he looked at it to see an IV injector, the IV stand close by. What struck him as odd was that the IV bag was drained, empty. With further examination of the room he noticed a glass of water on a counter next to his bed, and he took it, gulping the life water to alleviate his dry throat. It took him about five minutes to piece together his whereabouts, a hospital, but which one? Jester didn't recognize the look or feel of the hospital room, which he had frequented in his own workspace hundreds of times. He sluggishly got of the bed, careful not to inflict more pain on his injure. There was a window on the far side of the room, with his IV pole close behind the EMT went for the window and drew the blinds. What he saw he wasn't prepared for. He wasn't in Las Pegasus anymore, rather in one of many of the roadside towns leading to the city, this town he didn't recognize because it was a hellhole. Buildings surrounding the hospital were on fire, empty cars were left in the streets and intersections. The small town seemed abandoned, nothing other than trash blowing in the desert winds moved. What the hell happened out here, the pony took in, the scene even taking longer to register. “Help!" He yelled at the open air, receiving no answer.”Nurse!” He was in... well he didn't know what he was in, so he had to figure out what, starting with the rubber needle in his leg. He put a careful hoof on the plastic injector, and slid it out, a thin stream of blood trickled down his leg. Tossing it to the ground he trotted over to the door on the far end and turned the knob and was rewarded with the squeak of bed wheels. Jester pushed with greater force on the door swung open, the bed on the opposite side bouncing off the wall. The white hallway was quiet, nothing but a few hospital beds littered the corridor. Some pony has to be here , He thought as he trotted down the hallway and turned a corner to a staircase. Looking through the stairway door window, the colt saw only darkness,Powers out, maybe I could find..., his green eyes wandered back toward the hallway, his opticals searching for a first aid kit, knowing a flashlight would be in its metal confines. + Jester began to explore the hospital with greater detail as he searched for a light source. The rooms were completely deserted; no doubt the rest of the hospital was too. He also noted there were numerous bloody hoof prints on the sterile white walls, accompanied with gunshot craters. There were also scorch marks near the receptionist’s desk, and obvious sign of fire. Within fifteen minutes he managed to secure a yellow flashlight, which he held in his mouth as he made his way back to the staircase. What could have possibly happened here?, the teal stallion questioned as he neared the staircase.Was there some kind of accident? Why were there gunshots on the wall? Why's the power out...,as all these questions swam in the colt’s head, so he half noticed he'd reached the door. Taking the flashlight in hoof and flicking the switch, he opened the blue door, guiding the white light down the staircase. On careful step at a time, he made his way down, casting the electric torches light forward. Within a slow five minutes he was on the third floor, about to travel down further until he heard a voice, distant but it was defiantly a voice. Jester cocked his head in the direction of the speaker, looking at the third floor door. "Is anyone there, help!” He yelled, his voice ragged and unused going toward the door. Once he placed a hoof on the door, he could tell he voices were getting closer.Finally I could get some answers. The hopeful stallion opened the metal door, it revealed a brown blur followed by the void. “Look he's bit, we can't trust him." “We don't know that, it could just be, wait, he's waking up." Jesters eyes opened to find himself tied to an all to familiar hospital bed. He strained on his binds and looked up to see two ponies staring down on him. One was a gray earth pony mare, her black mane tied back into a ponytail, the other was a maroon unicorn, his orange mane in a loose fashion. They both held weapons, the mare an axe, the colt levitating a pistol to the captives temple. "W-w-what the fuck?!" The bound Jester stuttered as he tried to edge away from the gun at his head. His eyes wide he stared at the his captors. "Were you bitten?" The colt asked, putting more force to the captives temple. "Bitten?" Jester questioned," What the hell are you talking about?" The gray mare pointed her axe head at the dressing on his wound." No, I wasn't," The teal colt tried to recollect what had happened to him,", I think I was shot." "See," the formal sounding earth pony remarked,", he just got hurt. Let him go." The pistol on Jesters forehead floated away and into a holster on the unicorn’s side. His partner slung her weapon over her head into a bag, jumping down from the bed, back on all fours. The unicorn summoned a small knife to Jesters binds and cut them, effectively freeing the EMT. He put the knife back in his pack and looked at the former captive, who was just lying there,"I swear on Celestia’s life if you give me one reason not to trust you, I'll paint this room with your brains. Understood?" Jester nodded and stared at the ceiling. The unicorn trotted out the room, the mare going over to the bed,"We got some food ready, you come over if your hungry." She left. Jester was beyond confused as he tried to piece together what happened in this room to rational thought and was unsuccessful.Bitten, why dose that even matter., he thought solemnly.She said there was food... With the thought alleviating his hunger, he climbed out of the bed and to the next room. Jester slowly walked into the next room, unsure about his captors intentions. Once he actually entered the room, he was greatest by the two ponies, sitting at a small plastic table in a hospital room, slowly eating what looked like vegetable chowder. At the sound of his hoof steps, they both turned to Jester, who was standing there rather awkwardly in one place. The unicorn sighed and shrugged at the empty spot on the table with a full bowl. The other colt quickly took a seat and practically guzzled down his portion," Hey, take easy on the rations. Eat it slowly now, it's all we got to eat for now. “ Jester wiped his lips, savoring the creamy soup. "What is this place?" He asked, receiving a confused look from the unicorn. "Hoofston." It took about five minutes for the gray pony to pipe up," Why?" "I... honestly don’t know where I am or what's going on." Now, at his raised tone, the maroon colt’s horn glowed but the mare put a hoof on his shoulder, the glow fading. “Where were you these last couple days, sleeping?" His former captor slurped some chowder,"You don't know about the dead?" “The dead?" Jester was now intrigued. “Well, I should really be saying the undead. Ponies just started coming back, from the dead of course, and sinking their teeth into any being, who ever was bitten was bound to come back as one of them, well, what was left of them anyways." The teal stallion was now scared, dead ponies eating ponies? How the hell is that possible? Every pony was quiet except the unicorn. "It all started a few days ago, reports of ponies eating each other. It kept escalating to a point where the dead roamed the streets; ponies that were alive were snuffed out and eaten. We were just lucky we weren't in Pegasus." "Wait," Jester piped up, putting two and two together,", so Las Pegasus is full of, those undead?" The unicorn nodded. "Might I ask for your name?" The gray mare asked. “Jester." He replied in monotone," You?" "Octavia." Replied the earth pony and she nodded at the maroon unicorn," He's Steven." ******** On the next Surviving? "Push!" Steven stressed as he applied ample strength to the car along with Jester. "Their coming!" Octavia panicked from inside the truck, turning the ignition. The dead lumbered toward the ponies as they made a futile attempt to move the blockage. "Push-" " AAAHHH!" Episode 2- Cacthing Up (Revised) Jester gagged and spat out as much gasoline as he could from the hose. He put the gushing end into the half full can, being cautious of the ever present undead. It had been three days since Jester had woken from his coma and met up with Octavia and Steven. While he was trying to accept his new way of life, he started to learn more about his allies. Octavia was a well-known musician, taking her cello on tour with all over Equestria. She arrived in Hoofston around the time Jester was shot, planning to stay in town for a few days until she arrived in Las Pegasus. When the plague reached the small town, they got hit hard, leaving Octavia in a literal city of dead. Steven on the other hand actually lived in Hoofston, owning a small shop on the edge of town. He always seemed to talk about his wife, who he sent to Manehatten when the plague escalated, hoping the dead never reached that far. When it finally hit Hoofston, he had already stocked up on ammunition and food, so he held up in his shop for a few days. They both met quite simply actually, Octavia ran past his fortified shop, looking for help. Steven took her in, them both providing for each other, but were set back when the dead finally found there location, forcing them to move to hospital with what few supplies they had. Now they were working on siphoning gas from the many cars for an ambulance they found so they can get to out of the undead nursery they lived in now. Jester slung the gasoline on his back, making a mad dash back to the hospital, trying not to attract the cadavers. He turned a corner, the building now in his sights, the entrance a few yards away. As he galloped to the entrance, waved a piece of cloth in his mouth, signaling as a friendly. A few feet from the metal door entrance, the doors swung open as he rushed inside, a familiar gray mare shutting the door behind him. Octavia slung the metal bar down, sealing the door and she turned to the panting scavenger,"How much did you get?" Jester slung the half full gasoline container to the ground, receiving a disappointed sigh,"This town is tapped; I doubt there's anything left out there." "Yeah," he slid down the lobby wall and rubbed his hooves together, ", the faster we get out of this place the better. I can't last another night." No power meant no heating for the frigid below zero temperatures of the desert. And there's no coat stores out here to scavenge, "Are we even close to what we need?" The musician shook her head,"We need about two more gallons." She tugged on her pack, going up the hospitals, the now non panting Jester following close behind. Once they reached the third floor, they were greeted by a levitating pistol, then it lowered as a maroon unicorn holstering the fire arm. "Tell me when you guys are coming up stairs, I prefer to keep what few living ponies alive." "You got it." Octavia snorted, walking past Steven to the next room,"What's her problem?" Jester flipped his spoils to the floor and Steven sighed. The teal stallion trotted over to the window, eying the lumbering corpses that walked slowly in haphazard patterns,"It's been a couple days now, there are only a few cars left, and our supplies are running low. I think we should go." “What?" The unicorn walking next to Jester, "We barely have enough gas to get down the interstate, where are we gunna go?" The earth pony just stared out window, thinking heavily. What were they going to do? They couldn't get what they needed here; the number of the dead here was growing. Wait... "How far are we from Las Pegasus?" Jester broke the silence. "Twenty..." Steven stared at the dreamer, " You can't be serious, that city is dead, if we go there, we die." "Well to my understanding we need gas, food, and water, an unpicked city like that will have what we need." "But how are we going to get back?" Jester smirked, " By the time we got what we need, we'll be able to go anywhere." Steven just looked at the risk taking colt, and broke that stare, partaking in observing the ruins of Hoofston. "We leave tomorrow." Surviving? “Watch it." Octavia grunts as her and Jester balance a box on their backs, it's weight shifting. They were preparing to leave the next morning so they were packing what little they had into the ambulance, which had been stripped of its gurney and most of its original medical supplies(which were contaminated) to make room for the supplies they would probably stow when they picked Sin City dry. Once the box slid of their backs into the back, they both stretched, Jester sitting on the bumper, wiping a loose strand of gray hair from his brow. “Any thoughts on leaving?", the colt asked softly as the mare put her pack in the ambulance, save for the fire axe she held in her mouth. She shook her head as she sat next to him and set the weapon down next to her," I'm just glad were finally leaving. Not saying that Pegasus is any better but it's a start I guess." They was an awkward silence, both ponies eyes shifting around the garage, until Jesters eyes wandered over to the axe at the mares side. He pointed a hoof at the weapon," You ever used that?" Octavia was taken aback by the question, a depressed look spreading across her face," Don't wanna talk about it?" She shook her head. The musician just sat there as Jester wasn't good with this kind of situation. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by the sudden and quiet sobs of the mare, tears falling to the concrete floor. Uh oh, um... “Are you alright?" His voice cracked when Octavia looked up, her tear streaked face was miserable. “How could Celestia let this happen?" She put her face in her hooves, sniffling, " For ponies to just eat each other, why the hell I would she let this happen?!" Now she leaned on to Jester, wailing, making the stallion incredibly uncomfortable. He looked over to the crying pony," I-I don't know honestly. But all I know is that ever since I woke up and saw the sun and moon rise every morning and night, I knew this would blow over at some point." And it gave me hope, what Jester would have said but didn't as Octavia now got down of the bumper and wiped her purple eyes, looking much more chipper. The earth pony just trotted out of the garage, leaving the Jester to process what just happened. ****** Jester smoked silently on the roof of the hospital, the moonlight his only illumination. He was thinking deeply about what happened with Octavia. One minute she fine, the next she breaks down crying like a child, wanting to hear his input on the apocalypse. She was obviously holding in a lot of pain, and when she finally let it out, it was explosive. He puffed out some milky white tobacco smoke, it's wisps dancing in the frigid night air. He also thought about what he had said, about the moon and sun. Could Celestia still be alive, there was the evidence of the sun and such but even that was still doubted. Then he looked down at the walking corpses at the ground floor, rage filling his body. They caused this hell he lived in today, they hurt ponies, they ate ponies. He spat the spent cigarette butt over the edge, the still smoking tube landing harmlessly on the concrete sidewalk amongst the cadavers that walked below. Jester just stared up at the moonlight, praying that they'd make it to Las Pegasus, alive. ****** “Breakfast!" Steven shouted at the sleeping Jester, tossing a levitating block of cheese on his bedroll. The sleeping colt took a minute to get up and wake up, eating the cheese in one bite. He looked around the empty hospital room, early morning sunlight spilling from the large window. He whipped his matted grey hair, loosening it, " What time?" Jester yawned. “Time to go, the dead are becoming much more active, we need to go now." Steven was adorned with a pack filled with what ammunition he had left, thirty 9mm rounds for his Glock. Jester was now awake and alert as they left the hospital room for the last time. ****** “This needs to be done quick and clean," Steven explained to Octavia and Jester, " they have no idea were here but there are at least twenty outside the hospital entrance. Octavia, your gunna drive but not immediately, me and Jester are going to sneak our way to the interstate and clear a path for the ambulance. Got it?" They both nodded in unison, Octavia climbed over to the driver’s seat, with Jester and Steven climbing out the back to the garage door. Jester had a crowbar stowed on his back strapped down to his back, his partner having his pistol levitating low to the ground. Both of them node and pushed the large doors open, but it was stopped mid swing, Jester looked between the space between the doors to see a small sedan blocking their exit. Steven took a look and crawled over the car to the other side, Jester following close behind. There were three cars in the way of their escape to the interstate, the dead seemed to void the area fortunately. Jester put his hooves on the along with Steven and applied all their strength. Slowly but surely the car was out of the way in a few minutes. They were both panting as the crawled slowly to the next car, and SUV. Oh boy. The stallions both attempted to move the car from the front but was unsuccessful. Steven tapped Jesters shoulder, " Open the doors, we can get a better grip." Jester nodded as he and his ally waked over to the other side. They both opened the doors on either side, only to be startled by the whine of a car alarm. They both literally heard the sickening growls of the undead as they migrated to the noise. They were fucked. Jester looked at Steven," Go get Octavia!" You didn't have to repeat that twice as jester galloped back to ambulance. Octavia gave a confused look as he slammed his hooves on the hood, but soon she got it. She turned the ignition, having Jester climb into the passenger seat as they drove the mere ten yards to the whining SUV."Stay here; keep an eye on the walkers." When Jester climbed out, he could see the corpses were at least fifty yards away, closing in onto the escapees. He joined Steven who, to his surprise, had moved the entire car on his own. Damn. "Next car, go!" This on was a medium sized sports car, it's red paint job had been flawed by the black of dried blood on the side door. Placing his hooves on the door, both colts prepared to push. "Push!" Steven yelled as he applied ample strength to the car, it hardly budging. "They’re coming!" Octavia panicked as the ever present dead now were walking alongside the truck, snapping jaws as they neared there potential meal. "Pu-" "Ahh!" Jester turned to see the mare being pulled by her hair by a coat less pony, it's innards displayed grotesquely. But the car started to move and was removed from the path. Steven turned and fired his pistol at the zombie pulling on their driver, exploding the things head, grey matter plastered the side of the truck, effectively freeing the mare," Drive!" She complied and drove ahead of them, stopping. Jester swung the back door of the truck allowing the unicorn to climb in along with himself, closing the door behind him. There was a surge of motion as the ambulance veered off on the interstate, leaving the mob of undead yearning for the taste of pony flesh. They made it, alive and unharmed, on their way to Las Pegasus, the situation waiting unknown. On the next Surviving? "Octavia," Steven whispered. "Hm" “Jester asleep?" The fully awake colt, heard a shifting of seats. “Yes. Why?" “We need to get rid of this guy, the first chance we get." Episode 3- Sin City (Revised) “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Octavia repeated as she drove down the interstate, Jester sat next to her in the passenger seat, panting heavily. Steven was checking his firearm, levitating it along with a trio of bullets and there magazines. They'd made it out of Hoofston by the skin of their teeth, hell Octavia nearly had her throat ripped out by one of the walkers. Five minutes into the drive, everything had toned down, Jester had his crowbar on his lap, Octavia focused on the road and Steven set his Glock on a box of provisions. But there driver didn't seem too calm, she seemed erratic as she hunched over the wheel, eyes wide with fear. “Octavia," Jester caught on," calm down." Octavia nodded quickly, nearly making her slam the back of head on her seat. She was obviously on edge from the entire even that took place, so Jester put a hoof on a shoulder; she looked at him and began to calm down sinking into her seat. Satisfied, Jester hoped into the back with Steven, who was leaning back, pistol now in holster. " So when we hit Pegasus," Steven asked," what spots are we going to hit first?" That gave the planner something to think about. There were the high population areas downtown that will have a ton of cars, along with the casinos that could supply us with some food along with some grocery stores, hotels and- Jester snapped back to reality with the clack of hooves. “What," Jester looked at the unicorn a bit dazed," Oh, we should go downtown first, gather gas and such there. Then go uptown were most of the grocery stores are." Steven nodded, climbing over to the passenger seat. The back was very roomy as only a couple boxes filled with water and food filled the re-purposed ambulance. So the EMT had plenty of room to stretch his legs and prop his hind legs up on the seat opposite of him. Other than the few bumps in the road, the teal stallion began to relax, his eye lids drooped a bit but he remain alert. “Octavia," Steven whispered. "Hm" "Jester asleep?" The fully awake colt, heard a shifting of seats. "Yes. Why?" "We need to get rid of this guy, the first chance we get." The 'sleeping' equine was surprised and confused. Why would he all of a sudden want to get rid of Jester? He resisted the urge to interfere but he didn't want to thrown out in the middle of the desert , so he kept up his act. " Why? What has he done, all he's done is help us so far?" "Nothin'. but two ponies are easier on our supplies." Are they fucking serious,Jester thought,they can't just throw me out, I mean Octavia can't approve of this, I was literally her shoulder to cry on. There was an awkward silence, Jester was a bit relived that Octavia didn’t respond, maybe she remained undecided. He wouldn't know for sure, all he could do was remain sprawled out on the two seats, remaining alert as he rode with two possible enemies . Surviving? “You mind setting that crowbar down?" Steven asked as he levitated a small barrel full of gasoline, strain in his voice," I could use some help." The group had made a stop at a small abandoned gas station, their destination on the horizon. It was around noon, the sun was high in the sky, the season of autumn doing little to deter the hot weather of the desert. Jester had his crowbar in hooves, sitting on the hood of a old sedan, watching the unicorn as he struggled to hold up the newly scavenged fuel from the few resident vehicles. Steven had assigned the earth pony to cover him as he looked through the abandoned cars and the gas station shop, Octavia sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to evacuate the group at any time," Hey you said to cover you, well I'm doin’ it." Jester had been wary of his two part-well he didn't even know if they should be called that anymore, but he tried to keep an eye on them if he could. The maroon equine grunted as he placed the barrel inside the back of their vehicle, “I didn't mean for you to take it so literally." They had about two gallons in that barrel, five in the tank. Jester quickly trotted over to the ambulance, weapon now slung into his pack, demolishing the possibility of them speeding off. In the process of climbing into the back, he nearly knocked over Steven, Hey, watch it. You alright." Jester tried to muster the straightest face he could muster, rendering it into a light scowl. “Just peachy." He mocked, shutting the ambulance doors in the betrayers face. This caught their driver, who turned to see the scowling Jester, setting his crowbar beside him. “Are you alright?" Her gentle tone changed the scowling colt into a sighing one as he leaned back, fore hooves behind head. “Yeah I'm just a bit tired." The musician chuckled," Tired? You slept for the entire ride." Jester blushed, shrugging as Steven took his seat next to the mare. Jester didn't trust Steven but he still had some trust in Octavia, maybe because she never gave an answer to the unicorn’s proposition. Maybe I- The teal colt quickly cast the childish thought aside, for the love of Celestia it was the end of the world, maybe it was just the stress and malnutrition getting to him. But he continued to think about the subject long after the truck sped off back onto the interstate, towards Sin City. ****** Las Pegasus was a city with a pretty interesting history. It first started out as a small town in old Equestria, a small speck on the newly formed nation. It stayed that way for a few hundred years before a farmer discovered a electric shard in his corn field, electric shards the smaller product of electric gems that powered all the machinery in Equestria, it making up backed it's economic growth. Then the Shard Rush occurred, having all fortune seekers heading northwest to try to get a piece of the gem mine that lay in the corn field. Few got their wish, others settled in the nearby town of Las Pegasus, making the small town of hundred into a sprawling city of a thousand. Soon the city expanded, becoming what it is today, casinos and bars dotted the desert landscape, with its grander of neon lights and signs which attracts tourist and high rollers. But the city Jester looked at from out the back window was the just another product of the apocalypse. The many casinos that made the gave the city its popularity now lay in ruin, there signs black in the afternoon sun and there glass entrances and windows smashed, their fragments spread out toward the unfortunately abandoned streets. Emergency signs lit by personal generators, led to nonexistent evacuees toward an unheard of evac center. Few cars littered the streets, those that did were either scorched or left with nothing but there aluminum shell. Black body bags were piled high on the side walked on every corner, even more populated the hospitals. “The city of the dead." Jester whispered, watching the slow passing of some buildings. The dead that were ever present in his past dwelling were nonexistent here, odd. They were circling one block downtown, trying to see if anything worth risking their lives were outside but that was a useless endeavor. So they began to freely search the city, eventually encountering an entire street pack with cars, even with the knowledge that he could be betrayed at any moment, Jester let a grin spread ear to ear. The street was a small on thought, retaining around ten cars, either side of the street having a store, its display windows smashed and a club, its disco lights long dead. Steven turned to Jester, who turned to him, crowbar in hooves," Me and you will work on the cars first, none of the walkers have showed up but they could so Octavia keep an eye out. Go" Jester knew better than to be alone with Steven, there were a dozen scenarios in his mind relaying how he'd be left behind, maybe shot in the head, or just knocked out in the mob of cars, the next meal for the ever hungry cadavers, who knows. But at this point he had to play along with him, if he acted too suspicious they might know, and it's two against one so what choice did he have but to let out Steven, sling his crowbar into his back and grab the hose and a small barrel, barrel in pack and hop out onto the street. Once they were outside they began the slow process of siphoning gasoline from each car, ending up with a full barrel, Jester brought it back to the ambulance placed it next to the on from the gas station and placed a new one in his pack. There was plenty surprise erupting in the colts mind, such as he hasn't been killed by Steven and no walkers have showed up yet, but he never left his guard down as he walked back to the their current car, a purple buggy, Steven levitating a pistol that was level with the car, wary that the dead might show at any moment. " Hey," Jesters ears perked up as he turned to see Steven, gesturing toward the ruins of the grocery store," I'm going to go check out the store over there, I'll be back in a few." Crap, the store was on the side of the street the ambulance was, he was about ditch Jester,they have most of the gas and they are about to ditch me, got to do something? He thee down the hose and empty barrel, replacing it with the crowbar. He quickly put it between his teeth, galloped right behind the trotting traitor and with all the strength he could muster, beat him in the back of the head with the blunt of the crowbar, causing the unicorn to fall to the ground, spread out, unconscious. Quickly, he stripped the unicorn of his gun, pack and ammunition, placing the contents into his own pack and slinging the unconscious colts pack with his own, grunting under the new weight. He was about to gallop back to car but stopped himself, looking back at defenseless unicorn. Celestia damnit. Out of pity, he slung the heavy pony onto his back, struggling under the extreme weight of two packs and a pony, about to give as he threw him onto the side of the ambulance, conscious that he now has to deal with Octavia. He slammed his crowbar on the side of the truck “Octavia, come over here, there something wrong with Steven!" He yelled. “I’m coming out! What's wrong?" Jester could hear the mare climb out of her seat and work her way to the back door of the car. "I don't know, just come over here!" Jester thought about how he would deal with the musician as he clenched the crow bar in his hooves, he couldn't mentally bring himself to strike the mare. Wait... Quickly, he whipped the pistol back into the stallions holster, set his pack next to him, set his weapon down and put his hoof on the unicorns neck as Octavia joined the two, the scene rather convincing. "Is he alright? What happened?" As quickly as she spat out her questions he answered," I don't know, he just fell, no reason at all. But he's still breathing so he might be fine." The quick answer a rose little suspicion but it was enough to sell the act as the mare let out a sigh of relief. "Help me put him in the truck." If the previous scene didn’t sell the lie then the concern in Jesters voice did as they tossed the large pony into the back, both Jester and Octavia panting afterward. "Well this is going to set us back isn’t it?" Octavia sat on the bumper of the truck for the late nod from her partner, his mind still abuzz with how fast the events that just took place happened. He sat on the out on the street, still panting heavily. This is only a temporary solution, maybe he wont know I knocked him out. I'm an EMT, I could come up with some bullshit explanation. As he thought this over, his partner just looked at him his face with a blank expression. “Um, hello?" But before Jester could even be snapped back to reality, a distant shuffling sound caught both earth ponies’ attentions. They both stood up, and turned to see a lone walker, dragging his upper body up the street, toward the two breathing beings. “At least it's only one." As if the universe sensed the irony in his voice, a huge wave of moans rumbled throughout out the city, all heading toward the survivors location, triggered by yelling," Why, damnit why?!" ****** Jester tried to jump start the car battery but with no avail. Of all the times the car battery of the ambulance just died as the mob of the undead neared, there moans and growls not aiding in Jesters futile efforts. Octavia sat back in the drivers seat, turning the ignition after every slam of the Jester hoof, signaling for her to try to start the ambulance but it still wouldn't start. The dead were less than two hundred yards away, moans escalating as they neared the panicking survivors. The amateur mechanic gave up and went over to the driver, opening the door," We need to get out of here!" She knew that they needed to leave," But Steven..." “We can't carry him without those things eating our hind legs first," Jester pointed over to the club at the side of the street," That place has no windows, and a metal door, let's go." Octavia didn't object as they were about to gallop over to the club but she stopped, looking back at the car," What are you doing, let's go." “I’m not going to let him be eaten alive!" Heroics don't work in this new world, they just get you killed or others killed. So when Octavia went back to ambulance, all Jester could do was run after her but stopped as he understood she wasn't going to carry him, but close the aluminum doors of the ambulance, sealing Steven inside, shielding him from a horrible fate. But the dead were only inches from Octavia, fortunately she was fast enough to evade the snapping maw of the walkers and join Jester as he ran into the club, waiting for the mare to rush in and shut the thick metal door, locking out the undead, as well as trapping them inside a club with no food or water. If the dead didn't get em, starvation would. On the next Surviving? "Hey, you see that?" Jester pointed on the top of the roof, toward a abandoned casino. "And? It's just..." Octavia gave the scene better inspection, “, there’s military down there. They could help us!" Episode 4- Purgatory (Revised)“DJ PON-3, the best DJ in all Equestria. Well, was." “You know what happened to her?" “Not really, we used to be roommates and we split a few months ago for our own reasons. Apparently she staged here, probably dead." Octavia stroked the creases on the banner with the name emblazoned onto it, it lies on the black marble floor, knocked down for some reason they'd never know. It had been a couple of hours since they had trapped themselves inside the small club to shield them from the outside where the dead walk. The club had no windows and a metal door, so it was pretty dim inside its confines, the only illumination being the glow sticks that behind the DJ's podium there use now to shine light rather than brighten it. Both ponies sat close together, Octavia on her stomach and Jester sitting a few inches away, now concentrating on the muffled moans and groans of the ever present cadavers that were trying to get to their meal. After a few minutes more, the stallion couldn't take it anymore, he got up and trotted right over to the door, bucking it hard ( luckily it pushed into the club and not out)," Keep fucking moaning your rotting shits, your gonna have ta fight for this colt!" There was an endless stream of profanities that poured out of the equines lips, his partner showing no objection, just looking at the banner, stroking it a bit too much. In his fit of rage, he uttered something he really wasn't supposed to, especially now," And you Octavia!" This got the musician attention, who looked up, puzzled but awaiting what the furious stallion had to say. “You and Steven were going to leave me behind, let me be eaten alive by the walkers. After all Id done for-" “You knew?" Now she was back on all fours, still reeling from this news. “Well yeah, I’m not an idiot!" Jester was practically boiling right now; multiple problems and irritants had now culminated into the explosive confession. “If you heard what we talking about, you should know that I never even gave an answer." “Well, how am I supposed to know you would have said yes?!" Jester was breathing heavily, glaring at the mare who stared back, unable to provide a response. Would have she said yes..., the teal pony contemplated, looking down, with a slight pang of guilt for yelling at the mare. “Dose that really matter now?" Jester looked up, his rage having died down and apparently transferred to Octavia," Were in some night club in a walker infested city surrounded by the corpses. You really think us leaving you behind matters that much right now? Steven is passed out in-" Her eyes narrowed," That was you, wasn’t it?" All Jester could do was look down in utter surprise and shame. He could hear the musician exhale with anger and walk away, going up the stairs to the roof, leaving the earth pony only with his thoughts. Surviving? Octavia leaned over the yellow railing on the tarred roof, her mane now free of its ponytail and blowing gracefully in the wind. The scene below wasn’t pretty. The decomposing, groaning corpses below tried with the haste of its numbers to achieve both it objectives. The primary was obviously being her location, at least fifty former ponies trying to bust the door down. The second was the swaying ambulance, it bucked up and down as a lesser twenty or so zombies tried to get to its captive. She are knew that they never be able to get into the aluminum tomb, but she questioned it locking Steven in there was a better alternative to the primary. He had plenty of food in there, but that will eventually run out and he could succumb to madness. No,The musician thought intently, he’s better than this, he'll get out of there, somehow. "Would you have said yes?" Resisting the urge to recoil out of shock, Octavia craned her neck to see Jester leaning over the railing, about a foot away. She sighed lightly, still a bit irked from the stallion’s outburst downstairs. And what kind of question was that? Would he even believe me if I said no? " Your still on this?" He let out his own sigh, scanning the city halfheartedly. " I just want to know." He replied," I don’t care if you said yes or no. Just tell me." " What’s the p-" " Octavia!" He shouted, but reverting back his calm state a second later," I’ve only been thrust into this world of undead for a little over three days. And I’m pretty sure there’s more dead ponies than living ones anymore, so I need to maintain some kind of trust with the ponies I actually know. So yes or no?" Octavia looked down at the dead below and back at Jester. Would ever even be able to cast him out like that. Not physically but... " No." When she said that word, it didn’t feel or sound forced, not a hint of distrust in that one word, it was sincere, true. Jester didn’t respond, he just shut his both of his eyes and let the warm winds caress him for a minute, letting the response sink in. There was a long silence as they both just scanned the city, looking at what was left of it. Anarchy seemed to have taken this place in a matter of days after the infection, graffiti was as numerous as the shattered glass that layered across the sidewalks, most reading things such as "WHERES CELESTIA?","FUCK THE ELEMENTS!" and even, “DISCORDS SECOND COMING!". No one knew where the infection originated, many quickly assumed it was Discord secretly exacting revenge and chaos on Equestria again, but who knew. The formally glorious casinos was now in ruin which pained the native Jester, not that gambling was his favorite pass time but he lived in this city his entire life, seeing as the casinos as what defined the city’s grander. They seemed to be just broken, looted, burned, looted, vandalized, anything that can harm these constructs had already been done. But something made Jester double take, shake his head and squint at the small figures below, two seemed to be clad in camouflage. There were three standing next to a military grade Humvee and located outside of a casino, located a few blocks north of the club, their area void of undead. One of the however, seemed to be wearing an officers uniform, an all black suit with navy blue trim, him wearing a dark blue beret. With this news, he tapped Octavia, who cocked her head in question, " What?" " Hey, you see that?" Jester pointed toward the abandoned casino. " And? It's just..." Octavia gave the scene better inspection," there's military down there. They could help us!" " Maybe." Jester looked around for a minute, departing from the railing. There was a small stage atop the roof, along with a few deck chairs and some lights the were strung up on some wire between the two buildings it was sandwiched between, none were lit. His partner also pushed of the rail and trotted a bit toward him, stopping, looking confused as he dug into small green bin. " What are you doing?" As an answer, he tossed a large white board beside him, digging into bin even further. " Trying to get their attention." The earth pony grunted as his hind legs practically dangled, the rest of his body submerged in the container. With a quick push, the colt popped out with a green marker clenched between his teeth, which he placed on the white board he had recovered and walked back over the railing, observing the trio of solider, who conversed blindly, confident the dead wouldn't find them. Octavia walked up to the busy stallion," You really think a white board is going to get their attention?" " No. Hm." He continued to look down below, noting seemed to satisfy his search. What could get them to look this way? With a sudden realization he pushed of the railing and spun around looking into the sky, making his mare companion follow his line of sight and realize he was looking at the lights that seemed suspended in the air only a few feet above them. ******* " What makes you think there might still be power in this place?" The mare questioned as the descended carefully back down in the club, only a single glow stick illuminating the way. Jester had proposed that they might be a power generator some where, already knowing that the entirety of Las Pegasus was out. " Well, clubs run tons of lights and music twenty four seven," He replied, taking a cautious step down, slowing his pace a tad," Simple outlets aren't going to power each one, so there has to be some generator around." Finally reaching the bottom, they both got a better feel for the small club. A small stage similar to the one on the roof, complete with a podium. There was also two hall ways on either side of the stage, all wrapped in inky blackness. Not much populated the room other than a single, old looking wooden chair and the pile of glow sticks the clubs new inhabitants placed there. " Lets check the hallways," he trotted over and picked up a glowing purple rod from the pile," I got right, you left." Octavia nodded sharply," And, be careful, we don't know whats in here." With another reassuring nod, the both set of on there assignments. Jester was the first to venture down his passage, clenching the rod tightly in his mouth. It was obvious, he was nervous, he didn't know what could lie in the void of the hallway. There could be a walker trapped behind a door, anything he could imagine could exist behind any door. As it happens there were three doors in the surprising short hallway, each of a dark wood construction, fitted with a brass doorknob. He walked to the nearest door, taking a deep breath, he placed a hoof on the knob, twisted and pushed it open, quickly jumping backward in the case of danger. But there was none, in fact, when the wary colt neared the room again, it was just a simple dressing room with nothing useful in the terms of power. With a sigh, he continued onto the next door, which when opened, was just a bathroom, the toilet just out right disgusting, making the EMT gag and shut the door as quickly as possible. With the breath of fresh air he ventured over to the last door, praying this would be the room. Hope in check, he opened the door with a quick push but immediately recoiled and nearly vomited at the scene inside, swallowing what came up with great disdain. There was a generator in that room, along with a few other card boxes, but what made him gag was the stench emanating off the corpse that lie face down on the ground, multiple bite marks covered what he assumed to be a mare unicorn. The body was slick with blood, making it almost impossible to distinguish what her coat color was. But her mane was easily able to identify, a rough blue mane with light blue stripes. This body had to have been here a few days, maybe even weeks as it emitted the smell of manure, the blood pooling around the body had coagulated and cracked. A pair of broken sunglasses rested only a few inches from the corpse, crimson smeared onto its lens. Jester regained his composure and looked at the current location of the generator, it was further into the small store room, the body nearly at the front of the entrance. Is she... Concerned for his future endeavor, he set the glow stick down and replaced it with a mop that rested near the end of the hallway and put it to bear, extending the cleaning end toward the bloody mess, it shaking erratically as it neared. He felt as if he couldn't breath, the mop now only inches firm the head of the dead mare. Finally, the mops extension stopped and its user was rewarded with a unmoving, non responsive equine. Realizing he was about to suffocate, he let out a loud exhale, dropping the cleaning instrument in turn, breathing heavily. Jeez, felt like I going to ha- A shallow groan announced itself from the room, petrifying Jester stiff. The corpse lifted its face from the checkered floor, which was covered in blood, eyes milky white, lifeless. The shuddering colt watched as the walker slowly rose from the floor, its growls intensifying, black bile dripping from its lips. Close the door. He didn't even move, to shocked by the now risen mare, it began making its slow walk toward its prey, exposing teeth of grey. Close the DAMN DOOR! Finally snapped back into reality, without a moments hesitation, he quickly grabbed and shut the door, too late for the walker to kick the pair of sun glasses into the hall, them bouncing off the back wall. The corpse on the side slammed on the door, making it shutter as Jester did when he heard the deep throated howling from the cadaver. The stallion cold hardly breath, he jut sat, trying to reciprocate from what he just saw. The blood covered corpse, those eyes, no life, no soul just...dead. He picked up the pair of glasses, examining the blood smeared on its lens, one missing. The traumatized colt heard some hoof falls from the beginning of the his hall, refusing to move," Jester, I found some-" She was looking over Jester, still holding the them, staring at it intently. She noticed the muffled growls and groans from the door in front of him and gasped quietly, piecing together who was being that door,"Vinyl..." ******** Gagging, Jester pulled his head out of the vomit filled trash bin, wiping the khaki bile from his lips, tasting the nearly vomit inducing liquid. Octavia sat next to him, who coaxed him as he threw up. “You alright now?" With a quick, jarring cough he nodded, pressing the back of his head against the black wall, looking at the ceiling. All him and the mare next to him could focus on was the snarling and growling from down the hallway, it digging into their very souls. “What did you find?" He asked, hoping that she found what he had found in the undead's room. The questioned sighed, " A few boxes of bar snacks and an old radio." First the stallion was going to question why were there bar snacks when a bar was absent, but that radio surfaced first. “Where’s that radio?" Jester now felt a surge of possibility, getting up and about to go down the hallway, green rod between his teeth. “Third door on your right." And with that, following her instructions, he returned with an old CV radio, fitted with a walkie-talkie, the radio itself had a worn wood finish. He set it down across from Octavia, who scooted a bit closer to, the retriever siting himself down. He took the walkie-talkie and gave it to Octavia, " I’m going to work the frequency you send out a distress signal." The radio operators nodded in unison and began, the distress putting the walkie-talkie inches from her lips. "If you are hearing this, we are in distress. There are two of us trapped in a club in downtown Las Pegasus. Please help us." She put the black box to her ear and received only static, so she repeated the message. She repeated the message over and over again, static there only answer. Within a half an hour, Octavia signaled him to stop and rubbed her temples, beginning to get a headache. "This isn’t working," the mare stated the obvious, ", what was in your rooms?" Jester just kept turning the dials on the radio, his eyes grown large. No there has to be something on this thing, someone, please don’t make me- "Jester!" Is what Octavia yelled to snap the broken colt back to Equestria as the radio crackled and became silent, breathing being heard on the other end. There was a moment of silence, both paralyzed by the possible receiver on the other end. Octavia acted first, "Hello?" “How many of you are there?" Was the question given by a heavy country accent on the other end. “Two, were both in a small club in downtown Pegasus." “Okay, were going to go look for you guys, whats your name and your friend?" “I’m Octavia and my partner is Jester, who are you?" “Colonel Macintosh of the EMC." ********* On the next Surviving With a metal clang, the delivery truck backed up into the front entrance of the club, and anxious Jester and Octavia taking no longer than a second to open the metal door and climb into the metal tube behind it. Once in, a large red stallion clad in a tattered black officers uniform brought the metal sheet behind them down. The stallion looked back at both of his new guests, his greying blond mane draped over his forehead, a gin plastered across his face," Well its nice to meet you guys person."
Episode 1- Sleeping In (Revised) Jester hoped into the back of the ambulance, shutting the door behind him. He sat down next to the driver and turned to the white mare,"So, any word on this..." "Bank holdup," the EMT turned the key, the sound of a engine signaled her to pull out of the parking lot and speed down the road,", some guy apparently was trying to hold up a bank with explosives, the cops are close to a breakthrough and I guess you know why we’re going there." “Just in case." He looked out at the rapidly passing buildings and lights of the night in Las Pegasus. Gamblers and high rollers frequented this city every day, most leaving with their pockets emptied. Rose rounded another corner, rather quickly, forcing him up onto the car door. Within ten minutes, they were outside the bank, police cruisers lined the entire front of the glass building. They pulled up behind one of the many cars, Jester jumping over to the back, pulling out the gurney onto the street once they came to a stop. Rose was the second to come out; she had a defibrillator strapped onto her side, checking out the situation. “Look, you see the pony in there?" She pointed a hoof over the cars at the chestnut colt inside the bank, levitating a pistol at the hostages. “Yeah." “How do you think this is going to sort itself out?" The mare had been an EMT for about five years now; she was used to seeing death, so she hardened into a pony with virtually no personality. Jester was not really used to the the sight of death as he only recently became an EMT. "I don't know honestly but I hope all ponies come out alive." He leaned over onto the police cruiser to get a better look at the situation. There were at least six police cars lining the bank, four cops per car, all unicorns wielding rifles. There was one car up front, a brown sedan with a pegasus bent over it's hood, the pony wielding a megaphone. Rose yawned and sat on the gurney, she was bored, her partner always picked up that she was bored when she began to braid her pink mane. "So you’re just going to sit there, not even going to keep an eye on the situation?" "Why bother, that's what we’re for." The stallion rolled his eyes and was about to turn to the bank when a shot rang out. Everything else happened to quickly for Jester to analyze, first, his partner jumped, cowering on the gurney, and hooves overhead. Next he felt a horrid pain at his side, and then he felt his body weaken, within seconds he was on the ground staring blankly at the night sky. The world around began to fade when a white blur hovered over him, it seemed to be yelling but he didn’t know. Inky blackness followed. The teal stallion woke with a gasp; his mouth was dry, lips chapped. He then winced and leaned at his side, the agony originating from his stomach. He met pitiful resistance, he looked to a white blanket, his legs underneath it. Jester was in a white room, two doors were included, one on the far end and the other a few feet from him which was open to reveal a toilet. He felt something weighted on his left fore leg, he looked at it to see an IV injector, the IV stand close by. What struck him as odd was that the IV bag was drained, empty. With further examination of the room he noticed a glass of water on a counter next to his bed, and he took it, gulping the life water to alleviate his dry throat. It took him about five minutes to piece together his whereabouts, a hospital, but which one? Jester didn't recognize the look or feel of the hospital room, which he had frequented in his own workspace hundreds of times. He sluggishly got of the bed, careful not to inflict more pain on his injure. There was a window on the far side of the room, with his IV pole close behind the EMT went for the window and drew the blinds. What he saw he wasn't prepared for. He wasn't in Las Pegasus anymore, rather in one of many of the roadside towns leading to the city, this town he didn't recognize because it was a hellhole. Buildings surrounding the hospital were on fire, empty cars were left in the streets and intersections. The small town seemed abandoned, nothing other than trash blowing in the desert winds moved. What the hell happened out here, the pony took in, the scene even taking longer to register. “Help!" He yelled at the open air, receiving no answer.”Nurse!” He was in... well he didn't know what he was in, so he had to figure out what, starting with the rubber needle in his leg. He put a careful hoof on the plastic injector, and slid it out, a thin stream of blood trickled down his leg. Tossing it to the ground he trotted over to the door on the far end and turned the knob and was rewarded with the squeak of bed wheels. Jester pushed with greater force on the door swung open, the bed on the opposite side bouncing off the wall. The white hallway was quiet, nothing but a few hospital beds littered the corridor. Some pony has to be here , He thought as he trotted down the hallway and turned a corner to a staircase. Looking through the stairway door window, the colt saw only darkness,Powers out, maybe I could find..., his green eyes wandered back toward the hallway, his opticals searching for a first aid kit, knowing a flashlight would be in its metal confines. + Jester began to explore the hospital with greater detail as he searched for a light source. The rooms were completely deserted; no doubt the rest of the hospital was too. He also noted there were numerous bloody hoof prints on the sterile white walls, accompanied with gunshot craters. There were also scorch marks near the receptionist’s desk, and obvious sign of fire. Within fifteen minutes he managed to secure a yellow flashlight, which he held in his mouth as he made his way back to the staircase. What could have possibly happened here?, the teal stallion questioned as he neared the staircase.Was there some kind of accident? Why were there gunshots on the wall? Why's the power out...,as all these questions swam in the colt’s head, so he half noticed he'd reached the door. Taking the flashlight in hoof and flicking the switch, he opened the blue door, guiding the white light down the staircase. On careful step at a time, he made his way down, casting the electric torches light forward. Within a slow five minutes he was on the third floor, about to travel down further until he heard a voice, distant but it was defiantly a voice. Jester cocked his head in the direction of the speaker, looking at the third floor door. "Is anyone there, help!” He yelled, his voice ragged and unused going toward the door. Once he placed a hoof on the door, he could tell he voices were getting closer.Finally I could get some answers. The hopeful stallion opened the metal door, it revealed a brown blur followed by the void. “Look he's bit, we can't trust him." “We don't know that, it could just be, wait, he's waking up." Jesters eyes opened to find himself tied to an all to familiar hospital bed. He strained on his binds and looked up to see two ponies staring down on him. One was a gray earth pony mare, her black mane tied back into a ponytail, the other was a maroon unicorn, his orange mane in a loose fashion. They both held weapons, the mare an axe, the colt levitating a pistol to the captives temple. "W-w-what the fuck?!" The bound Jester stuttered as he tried to edge away from the gun at his head. His eyes wide he stared at the his captors. "Were you bitten?" The colt asked, putting more force to the captives temple. "Bitten?" Jester questioned," What the hell are you talking about?" The gray mare pointed her axe head at the dressing on his wound." No, I wasn't," The teal colt tried to recollect what had happened to him,", I think I was shot." "See," the formal sounding earth pony remarked,", he just got hurt. Let him go." The pistol on Jesters forehead floated away and into a holster on the unicorn’s side. His partner slung her weapon over her head into a bag, jumping down from the bed, back on all fours. The unicorn summoned a small knife to Jesters binds and cut them, effectively freeing the EMT. He put the knife back in his pack and looked at the former captive, who was just lying there,"I swear on Celestia’s life if you give me one reason not to trust you, I'll paint this room with your brains. Understood?" Jester nodded and stared at the ceiling. The unicorn trotted out the room, the mare going over to the bed,"We got some food ready, you come over if your hungry." She left. Jester was beyond confused as he tried to piece together what happened in this room to rational thought and was unsuccessful.Bitten, why dose that even matter., he thought solemnly.She said there was food... With the thought alleviating his hunger, he climbed out of the bed and to the next room. Jester slowly walked into the next room, unsure about his captors intentions. Once he actually entered the room, he was greatest by the two ponies, sitting at a small plastic table in a hospital room, slowly eating what looked like vegetable chowder. At the sound of his hoof steps, they both turned to Jester, who was standing there rather awkwardly in one place. The unicorn sighed and shrugged at the empty spot on the table with a full bowl. The other colt quickly took a seat and practically guzzled down his portion," Hey, take easy on the rations. Eat it slowly now, it's all we got to eat for now. “ Jester wiped his lips, savoring the creamy soup. "What is this place?" He asked, receiving a confused look from the unicorn. "Hoofston." It took about five minutes for the gray pony to pipe up," Why?" "I... honestly don’t know where I am or what's going on." Now, at his raised tone, the maroon colt’s horn glowed but the mare put a hoof on his shoulder, the glow fading. “Where were you these last couple days, sleeping?" His former captor slurped some chowder,"You don't know about the dead?" “The dead?" Jester was now intrigued. “Well, I should really be saying the undead. Ponies just started coming back, from the dead of course, and sinking their teeth into any being, who ever was bitten was bound to come back as one of them, well, what was left of them anyways." The teal stallion was now scared, dead ponies eating ponies? How the hell is that possible? Every pony was quiet except the unicorn. "It all started a few days ago, reports of ponies eating each other. It kept escalating to a point where the dead roamed the streets; ponies that were alive were snuffed out and eaten. We were just lucky we weren't in Pegasus." "Wait," Jester piped up, putting two and two together,", so Las Pegasus is full of, those undead?" The unicorn nodded. "Might I ask for your name?" The gray mare asked. “Jester." He replied in monotone," You?" "Octavia." Replied the earth pony and she nodded at the maroon unicorn," He's Steven." ******** On the next Surviving? "Push!" Steven stressed as he applied ample strength to the car along with Jester. "Their coming!" Octavia panicked from inside the truck, turning the ignition. The dead lumbered toward the ponies as they made a futile attempt to move the blockage. "Push-" " AAAHHH!"
Episode 2- Cacthing Up (Revised) Jester gagged and spat out as much gasoline as he could from the hose. He put the gushing end into the half full can, being cautious of the ever present undead. It had been three days since Jester had woken from his coma and met up with Octavia and Steven. While he was trying to accept his new way of life, he started to learn more about his allies. Octavia was a well-known musician, taking her cello on tour with all over Equestria. She arrived in Hoofston around the time Jester was shot, planning to stay in town for a few days until she arrived in Las Pegasus. When the plague reached the small town, they got hit hard, leaving Octavia in a literal city of dead. Steven on the other hand actually lived in Hoofston, owning a small shop on the edge of town. He always seemed to talk about his wife, who he sent to Manehatten when the plague escalated, hoping the dead never reached that far. When it finally hit Hoofston, he had already stocked up on ammunition and food, so he held up in his shop for a few days. They both met quite simply actually, Octavia ran past his fortified shop, looking for help. Steven took her in, them both providing for each other, but were set back when the dead finally found there location, forcing them to move to hospital with what few supplies they had. Now they were working on siphoning gas from the many cars for an ambulance they found so they can get to out of the undead nursery they lived in now. Jester slung the gasoline on his back, making a mad dash back to the hospital, trying not to attract the cadavers. He turned a corner, the building now in his sights, the entrance a few yards away. As he galloped to the entrance, waved a piece of cloth in his mouth, signaling as a friendly. A few feet from the metal door entrance, the doors swung open as he rushed inside, a familiar gray mare shutting the door behind him. Octavia slung the metal bar down, sealing the door and she turned to the panting scavenger,"How much did you get?" Jester slung the half full gasoline container to the ground, receiving a disappointed sigh,"This town is tapped; I doubt there's anything left out there." "Yeah," he slid down the lobby wall and rubbed his hooves together, ", the faster we get out of this place the better. I can't last another night." No power meant no heating for the frigid below zero temperatures of the desert. And there's no coat stores out here to scavenge, "Are we even close to what we need?" The musician shook her head,"We need about two more gallons." She tugged on her pack, going up the hospitals, the now non panting Jester following close behind. Once they reached the third floor, they were greeted by a levitating pistol, then it lowered as a maroon unicorn holstering the fire arm. "Tell me when you guys are coming up stairs, I prefer to keep what few living ponies alive." "You got it." Octavia snorted, walking past Steven to the next room,"What's her problem?" Jester flipped his spoils to the floor and Steven sighed. The teal stallion trotted over to the window, eying the lumbering corpses that walked slowly in haphazard patterns,"It's been a couple days now, there are only a few cars left, and our supplies are running low. I think we should go." “What?" The unicorn walking next to Jester, "We barely have enough gas to get down the interstate, where are we gunna go?" The earth pony just stared out window, thinking heavily. What were they going to do? They couldn't get what they needed here; the number of the dead here was growing. Wait... "How far are we from Las Pegasus?" Jester broke the silence. "Twenty..." Steven stared at the dreamer, " You can't be serious, that city is dead, if we go there, we die." "Well to my understanding we need gas, food, and water, an unpicked city like that will have what we need." "But how are we going to get back?" Jester smirked, " By the time we got what we need, we'll be able to go anywhere." Steven just looked at the risk taking colt, and broke that stare, partaking in observing the ruins of Hoofston. "We leave tomorrow." Surviving? “Watch it." Octavia grunts as her and Jester balance a box on their backs, it's weight shifting. They were preparing to leave the next morning so they were packing what little they had into the ambulance, which had been stripped of its gurney and most of its original medical supplies(which were contaminated) to make room for the supplies they would probably stow when they picked Sin City dry. Once the box slid of their backs into the back, they both stretched, Jester sitting on the bumper, wiping a loose strand of gray hair from his brow. “Any thoughts on leaving?", the colt asked softly as the mare put her pack in the ambulance, save for the fire axe she held in her mouth. She shook her head as she sat next to him and set the weapon down next to her," I'm just glad were finally leaving. Not saying that Pegasus is any better but it's a start I guess." They was an awkward silence, both ponies eyes shifting around the garage, until Jesters eyes wandered over to the axe at the mares side. He pointed a hoof at the weapon," You ever used that?" Octavia was taken aback by the question, a depressed look spreading across her face," Don't wanna talk about it?" She shook her head. The musician just sat there as Jester wasn't good with this kind of situation. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by the sudden and quiet sobs of the mare, tears falling to the concrete floor. Uh oh, um... “Are you alright?" His voice cracked when Octavia looked up, her tear streaked face was miserable. “How could Celestia let this happen?" She put her face in her hooves, sniffling, " For ponies to just eat each other, why the hell I would she let this happen?!" Now she leaned on to Jester, wailing, making the stallion incredibly uncomfortable. He looked over to the crying pony," I-I don't know honestly. But all I know is that ever since I woke up and saw the sun and moon rise every morning and night, I knew this would blow over at some point." And it gave me hope, what Jester would have said but didn't as Octavia now got down of the bumper and wiped her purple eyes, looking much more chipper. The earth pony just trotted out of the garage, leaving the Jester to process what just happened. ****** Jester smoked silently on the roof of the hospital, the moonlight his only illumination. He was thinking deeply about what happened with Octavia. One minute she fine, the next she breaks down crying like a child, wanting to hear his input on the apocalypse. She was obviously holding in a lot of pain, and when she finally let it out, it was explosive. He puffed out some milky white tobacco smoke, it's wisps dancing in the frigid night air. He also thought about what he had said, about the moon and sun. Could Celestia still be alive, there was the evidence of the sun and such but even that was still doubted. Then he looked down at the walking corpses at the ground floor, rage filling his body. They caused this hell he lived in today, they hurt ponies, they ate ponies. He spat the spent cigarette butt over the edge, the still smoking tube landing harmlessly on the concrete sidewalk amongst the cadavers that walked below. Jester just stared up at the moonlight, praying that they'd make it to Las Pegasus, alive. ****** “Breakfast!" Steven shouted at the sleeping Jester, tossing a levitating block of cheese on his bedroll. The sleeping colt took a minute to get up and wake up, eating the cheese in one bite. He looked around the empty hospital room, early morning sunlight spilling from the large window. He whipped his matted grey hair, loosening it, " What time?" Jester yawned. “Time to go, the dead are becoming much more active, we need to go now." Steven was adorned with a pack filled with what ammunition he had left, thirty 9mm rounds for his Glock. Jester was now awake and alert as they left the hospital room for the last time. ****** “This needs to be done quick and clean," Steven explained to Octavia and Jester, " they have no idea were here but there are at least twenty outside the hospital entrance. Octavia, your gunna drive but not immediately, me and Jester are going to sneak our way to the interstate and clear a path for the ambulance. Got it?" They both nodded in unison, Octavia climbed over to the driver’s seat, with Jester and Steven climbing out the back to the garage door. Jester had a crowbar stowed on his back strapped down to his back, his partner having his pistol levitating low to the ground. Both of them node and pushed the large doors open, but it was stopped mid swing, Jester looked between the space between the doors to see a small sedan blocking their exit. Steven took a look and crawled over the car to the other side, Jester following close behind. There were three cars in the way of their escape to the interstate, the dead seemed to void the area fortunately. Jester put his hooves on the along with Steven and applied all their strength. Slowly but surely the car was out of the way in a few minutes. They were both panting as the crawled slowly to the next car, and SUV. Oh boy. The stallions both attempted to move the car from the front but was unsuccessful. Steven tapped Jesters shoulder, " Open the doors, we can get a better grip." Jester nodded as he and his ally waked over to the other side. They both opened the doors on either side, only to be startled by the whine of a car alarm. They both literally heard the sickening growls of the undead as they migrated to the noise. They were fucked. Jester looked at Steven," Go get Octavia!" You didn't have to repeat that twice as jester galloped back to ambulance. Octavia gave a confused look as he slammed his hooves on the hood, but soon she got it. She turned the ignition, having Jester climb into the passenger seat as they drove the mere ten yards to the whining SUV."Stay here; keep an eye on the walkers." When Jester climbed out, he could see the corpses were at least fifty yards away, closing in onto the escapees. He joined Steven who, to his surprise, had moved the entire car on his own. Damn. "Next car, go!" This on was a medium sized sports car, it's red paint job had been flawed by the black of dried blood on the side door. Placing his hooves on the door, both colts prepared to push. "Push!" Steven yelled as he applied ample strength to the car, it hardly budging. "They’re coming!" Octavia panicked as the ever present dead now were walking alongside the truck, snapping jaws as they neared there potential meal. "Pu-" "Ahh!" Jester turned to see the mare being pulled by her hair by a coat less pony, it's innards displayed grotesquely. But the car started to move and was removed from the path. Steven turned and fired his pistol at the zombie pulling on their driver, exploding the things head, grey matter plastered the side of the truck, effectively freeing the mare," Drive!" She complied and drove ahead of them, stopping. Jester swung the back door of the truck allowing the unicorn to climb in along with himself, closing the door behind him. There was a surge of motion as the ambulance veered off on the interstate, leaving the mob of undead yearning for the taste of pony flesh. They made it, alive and unharmed, on their way to Las Pegasus, the situation waiting unknown. On the next Surviving? "Octavia," Steven whispered. "Hm" “Jester asleep?" The fully awake colt, heard a shifting of seats. “Yes. Why?" “We need to get rid of this guy, the first chance we get."
Episode 3- Sin City (Revised) “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Octavia repeated as she drove down the interstate, Jester sat next to her in the passenger seat, panting heavily. Steven was checking his firearm, levitating it along with a trio of bullets and there magazines. They'd made it out of Hoofston by the skin of their teeth, hell Octavia nearly had her throat ripped out by one of the walkers. Five minutes into the drive, everything had toned down, Jester had his crowbar on his lap, Octavia focused on the road and Steven set his Glock on a box of provisions. But there driver didn't seem too calm, she seemed erratic as she hunched over the wheel, eyes wide with fear. “Octavia," Jester caught on," calm down." Octavia nodded quickly, nearly making her slam the back of head on her seat. She was obviously on edge from the entire even that took place, so Jester put a hoof on a shoulder; she looked at him and began to calm down sinking into her seat. Satisfied, Jester hoped into the back with Steven, who was leaning back, pistol now in holster. " So when we hit Pegasus," Steven asked," what spots are we going to hit first?" That gave the planner something to think about. There were the high population areas downtown that will have a ton of cars, along with the casinos that could supply us with some food along with some grocery stores, hotels and- Jester snapped back to reality with the clack of hooves. “What," Jester looked at the unicorn a bit dazed," Oh, we should go downtown first, gather gas and such there. Then go uptown were most of the grocery stores are." Steven nodded, climbing over to the passenger seat. The back was very roomy as only a couple boxes filled with water and food filled the re-purposed ambulance. So the EMT had plenty of room to stretch his legs and prop his hind legs up on the seat opposite of him. Other than the few bumps in the road, the teal stallion began to relax, his eye lids drooped a bit but he remain alert. “Octavia," Steven whispered. "Hm" "Jester asleep?" The fully awake colt, heard a shifting of seats. "Yes. Why?" "We need to get rid of this guy, the first chance we get." The 'sleeping' equine was surprised and confused. Why would he all of a sudden want to get rid of Jester? He resisted the urge to interfere but he didn't want to thrown out in the middle of the desert , so he kept up his act. " Why? What has he done, all he's done is help us so far?" "Nothin'. but two ponies are easier on our supplies." Are they fucking serious,Jester thought,they can't just throw me out, I mean Octavia can't approve of this, I was literally her shoulder to cry on. There was an awkward silence, Jester was a bit relived that Octavia didn’t respond, maybe she remained undecided. He wouldn't know for sure, all he could do was remain sprawled out on the two seats, remaining alert as he rode with two possible enemies . Surviving? “You mind setting that crowbar down?" Steven asked as he levitated a small barrel full of gasoline, strain in his voice," I could use some help." The group had made a stop at a small abandoned gas station, their destination on the horizon. It was around noon, the sun was high in the sky, the season of autumn doing little to deter the hot weather of the desert. Jester had his crowbar in hooves, sitting on the hood of a old sedan, watching the unicorn as he struggled to hold up the newly scavenged fuel from the few resident vehicles. Steven had assigned the earth pony to cover him as he looked through the abandoned cars and the gas station shop, Octavia sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to evacuate the group at any time," Hey you said to cover you, well I'm doin’ it." Jester had been wary of his two part-well he didn't even know if they should be called that anymore, but he tried to keep an eye on them if he could. The maroon equine grunted as he placed the barrel inside the back of their vehicle, “I didn't mean for you to take it so literally." They had about two gallons in that barrel, five in the tank. Jester quickly trotted over to the ambulance, weapon now slung into his pack, demolishing the possibility of them speeding off. In the process of climbing into the back, he nearly knocked over Steven, Hey, watch it. You alright." Jester tried to muster the straightest face he could muster, rendering it into a light scowl. “Just peachy." He mocked, shutting the ambulance doors in the betrayers face. This caught their driver, who turned to see the scowling Jester, setting his crowbar beside him. “Are you alright?" Her gentle tone changed the scowling colt into a sighing one as he leaned back, fore hooves behind head. “Yeah I'm just a bit tired." The musician chuckled," Tired? You slept for the entire ride." Jester blushed, shrugging as Steven took his seat next to the mare. Jester didn't trust Steven but he still had some trust in Octavia, maybe because she never gave an answer to the unicorn’s proposition. Maybe I- The teal colt quickly cast the childish thought aside, for the love of Celestia it was the end of the world, maybe it was just the stress and malnutrition getting to him. But he continued to think about the subject long after the truck sped off back onto the interstate, towards Sin City. ****** Las Pegasus was a city with a pretty interesting history. It first started out as a small town in old Equestria, a small speck on the newly formed nation. It stayed that way for a few hundred years before a farmer discovered a electric shard in his corn field, electric shards the smaller product of electric gems that powered all the machinery in Equestria, it making up backed it's economic growth. Then the Shard Rush occurred, having all fortune seekers heading northwest to try to get a piece of the gem mine that lay in the corn field. Few got their wish, others settled in the nearby town of Las Pegasus, making the small town of hundred into a sprawling city of a thousand. Soon the city expanded, becoming what it is today, casinos and bars dotted the desert landscape, with its grander of neon lights and signs which attracts tourist and high rollers. But the city Jester looked at from out the back window was the just another product of the apocalypse. The many casinos that made the gave the city its popularity now lay in ruin, there signs black in the afternoon sun and there glass entrances and windows smashed, their fragments spread out toward the unfortunately abandoned streets. Emergency signs lit by personal generators, led to nonexistent evacuees toward an unheard of evac center. Few cars littered the streets, those that did were either scorched or left with nothing but there aluminum shell. Black body bags were piled high on the side walked on every corner, even more populated the hospitals. “The city of the dead." Jester whispered, watching the slow passing of some buildings. The dead that were ever present in his past dwelling were nonexistent here, odd. They were circling one block downtown, trying to see if anything worth risking their lives were outside but that was a useless endeavor. So they began to freely search the city, eventually encountering an entire street pack with cars, even with the knowledge that he could be betrayed at any moment, Jester let a grin spread ear to ear. The street was a small on thought, retaining around ten cars, either side of the street having a store, its display windows smashed and a club, its disco lights long dead. Steven turned to Jester, who turned to him, crowbar in hooves," Me and you will work on the cars first, none of the walkers have showed up but they could so Octavia keep an eye out. Go" Jester knew better than to be alone with Steven, there were a dozen scenarios in his mind relaying how he'd be left behind, maybe shot in the head, or just knocked out in the mob of cars, the next meal for the ever hungry cadavers, who knows. But at this point he had to play along with him, if he acted too suspicious they might know, and it's two against one so what choice did he have but to let out Steven, sling his crowbar into his back and grab the hose and a small barrel, barrel in pack and hop out onto the street. Once they were outside they began the slow process of siphoning gasoline from each car, ending up with a full barrel, Jester brought it back to the ambulance placed it next to the on from the gas station and placed a new one in his pack. There was plenty surprise erupting in the colts mind, such as he hasn't been killed by Steven and no walkers have showed up yet, but he never left his guard down as he walked back to the their current car, a purple buggy, Steven levitating a pistol that was level with the car, wary that the dead might show at any moment. " Hey," Jesters ears perked up as he turned to see Steven, gesturing toward the ruins of the grocery store," I'm going to go check out the store over there, I'll be back in a few." Crap, the store was on the side of the street the ambulance was, he was about ditch Jester,they have most of the gas and they are about to ditch me, got to do something? He thee down the hose and empty barrel, replacing it with the crowbar. He quickly put it between his teeth, galloped right behind the trotting traitor and with all the strength he could muster, beat him in the back of the head with the blunt of the crowbar, causing the unicorn to fall to the ground, spread out, unconscious. Quickly, he stripped the unicorn of his gun, pack and ammunition, placing the contents into his own pack and slinging the unconscious colts pack with his own, grunting under the new weight. He was about to gallop back to car but stopped himself, looking back at defenseless unicorn. Celestia damnit. Out of pity, he slung the heavy pony onto his back, struggling under the extreme weight of two packs and a pony, about to give as he threw him onto the side of the ambulance, conscious that he now has to deal with Octavia. He slammed his crowbar on the side of the truck “Octavia, come over here, there something wrong with Steven!" He yelled. “I’m coming out! What's wrong?" Jester could hear the mare climb out of her seat and work her way to the back door of the car. "I don't know, just come over here!" Jester thought about how he would deal with the musician as he clenched the crow bar in his hooves, he couldn't mentally bring himself to strike the mare. Wait... Quickly, he whipped the pistol back into the stallions holster, set his pack next to him, set his weapon down and put his hoof on the unicorns neck as Octavia joined the two, the scene rather convincing. "Is he alright? What happened?" As quickly as she spat out her questions he answered," I don't know, he just fell, no reason at all. But he's still breathing so he might be fine." The quick answer a rose little suspicion but it was enough to sell the act as the mare let out a sigh of relief. "Help me put him in the truck." If the previous scene didn’t sell the lie then the concern in Jesters voice did as they tossed the large pony into the back, both Jester and Octavia panting afterward. "Well this is going to set us back isn’t it?" Octavia sat on the bumper of the truck for the late nod from her partner, his mind still abuzz with how fast the events that just took place happened. He sat on the out on the street, still panting heavily. This is only a temporary solution, maybe he wont know I knocked him out. I'm an EMT, I could come up with some bullshit explanation. As he thought this over, his partner just looked at him his face with a blank expression. “Um, hello?" But before Jester could even be snapped back to reality, a distant shuffling sound caught both earth ponies’ attentions. They both stood up, and turned to see a lone walker, dragging his upper body up the street, toward the two breathing beings. “At least it's only one." As if the universe sensed the irony in his voice, a huge wave of moans rumbled throughout out the city, all heading toward the survivors location, triggered by yelling," Why, damnit why?!" ****** Jester tried to jump start the car battery but with no avail. Of all the times the car battery of the ambulance just died as the mob of the undead neared, there moans and growls not aiding in Jesters futile efforts. Octavia sat back in the drivers seat, turning the ignition after every slam of the Jester hoof, signaling for her to try to start the ambulance but it still wouldn't start. The dead were less than two hundred yards away, moans escalating as they neared the panicking survivors. The amateur mechanic gave up and went over to the driver, opening the door," We need to get out of here!" She knew that they needed to leave," But Steven..." “We can't carry him without those things eating our hind legs first," Jester pointed over to the club at the side of the street," That place has no windows, and a metal door, let's go." Octavia didn't object as they were about to gallop over to the club but she stopped, looking back at the car," What are you doing, let's go." “I’m not going to let him be eaten alive!" Heroics don't work in this new world, they just get you killed or others killed. So when Octavia went back to ambulance, all Jester could do was run after her but stopped as he understood she wasn't going to carry him, but close the aluminum doors of the ambulance, sealing Steven inside, shielding him from a horrible fate. But the dead were only inches from Octavia, fortunately she was fast enough to evade the snapping maw of the walkers and join Jester as he ran into the club, waiting for the mare to rush in and shut the thick metal door, locking out the undead, as well as trapping them inside a club with no food or water. If the dead didn't get em, starvation would. On the next Surviving? "Hey, you see that?" Jester pointed on the top of the roof, toward a abandoned casino. "And? It's just..." Octavia gave the scene better inspection, “, there’s military down there. They could help us!"
Episode 4- Purgatory (Revised)“DJ PON-3, the best DJ in all Equestria. Well, was." “You know what happened to her?" “Not really, we used to be roommates and we split a few months ago for our own reasons. Apparently she staged here, probably dead." Octavia stroked the creases on the banner with the name emblazoned onto it, it lies on the black marble floor, knocked down for some reason they'd never know. It had been a couple of hours since they had trapped themselves inside the small club to shield them from the outside where the dead walk. The club had no windows and a metal door, so it was pretty dim inside its confines, the only illumination being the glow sticks that behind the DJ's podium there use now to shine light rather than brighten it. Both ponies sat close together, Octavia on her stomach and Jester sitting a few inches away, now concentrating on the muffled moans and groans of the ever present cadavers that were trying to get to their meal. After a few minutes more, the stallion couldn't take it anymore, he got up and trotted right over to the door, bucking it hard ( luckily it pushed into the club and not out)," Keep fucking moaning your rotting shits, your gonna have ta fight for this colt!" There was an endless stream of profanities that poured out of the equines lips, his partner showing no objection, just looking at the banner, stroking it a bit too much. In his fit of rage, he uttered something he really wasn't supposed to, especially now," And you Octavia!" This got the musician attention, who looked up, puzzled but awaiting what the furious stallion had to say. “You and Steven were going to leave me behind, let me be eaten alive by the walkers. After all Id done for-" “You knew?" Now she was back on all fours, still reeling from this news. “Well yeah, I’m not an idiot!" Jester was practically boiling right now; multiple problems and irritants had now culminated into the explosive confession. “If you heard what we talking about, you should know that I never even gave an answer." “Well, how am I supposed to know you would have said yes?!" Jester was breathing heavily, glaring at the mare who stared back, unable to provide a response. Would have she said yes..., the teal pony contemplated, looking down, with a slight pang of guilt for yelling at the mare. “Dose that really matter now?" Jester looked up, his rage having died down and apparently transferred to Octavia," Were in some night club in a walker infested city surrounded by the corpses. You really think us leaving you behind matters that much right now? Steven is passed out in-" Her eyes narrowed," That was you, wasn’t it?" All Jester could do was look down in utter surprise and shame. He could hear the musician exhale with anger and walk away, going up the stairs to the roof, leaving the earth pony only with his thoughts. Surviving? Octavia leaned over the yellow railing on the tarred roof, her mane now free of its ponytail and blowing gracefully in the wind. The scene below wasn’t pretty. The decomposing, groaning corpses below tried with the haste of its numbers to achieve both it objectives. The primary was obviously being her location, at least fifty former ponies trying to bust the door down. The second was the swaying ambulance, it bucked up and down as a lesser twenty or so zombies tried to get to its captive. She are knew that they never be able to get into the aluminum tomb, but she questioned it locking Steven in there was a better alternative to the primary. He had plenty of food in there, but that will eventually run out and he could succumb to madness. No,The musician thought intently, he’s better than this, he'll get out of there, somehow. "Would you have said yes?" Resisting the urge to recoil out of shock, Octavia craned her neck to see Jester leaning over the railing, about a foot away. She sighed lightly, still a bit irked from the stallion’s outburst downstairs. And what kind of question was that? Would he even believe me if I said no? " Your still on this?" He let out his own sigh, scanning the city halfheartedly. " I just want to know." He replied," I don’t care if you said yes or no. Just tell me." " What’s the p-" " Octavia!" He shouted, but reverting back his calm state a second later," I’ve only been thrust into this world of undead for a little over three days. And I’m pretty sure there’s more dead ponies than living ones anymore, so I need to maintain some kind of trust with the ponies I actually know. So yes or no?" Octavia looked down at the dead below and back at Jester. Would ever even be able to cast him out like that. Not physically but... " No." When she said that word, it didn’t feel or sound forced, not a hint of distrust in that one word, it was sincere, true. Jester didn’t respond, he just shut his both of his eyes and let the warm winds caress him for a minute, letting the response sink in. There was a long silence as they both just scanned the city, looking at what was left of it. Anarchy seemed to have taken this place in a matter of days after the infection, graffiti was as numerous as the shattered glass that layered across the sidewalks, most reading things such as "WHERES CELESTIA?","FUCK THE ELEMENTS!" and even, “DISCORDS SECOND COMING!". No one knew where the infection originated, many quickly assumed it was Discord secretly exacting revenge and chaos on Equestria again, but who knew. The formally glorious casinos was now in ruin which pained the native Jester, not that gambling was his favorite pass time but he lived in this city his entire life, seeing as the casinos as what defined the city’s grander. They seemed to be just broken, looted, burned, looted, vandalized, anything that can harm these constructs had already been done. But something made Jester double take, shake his head and squint at the small figures below, two seemed to be clad in camouflage. There were three standing next to a military grade Humvee and located outside of a casino, located a few blocks north of the club, their area void of undead. One of the however, seemed to be wearing an officers uniform, an all black suit with navy blue trim, him wearing a dark blue beret. With this news, he tapped Octavia, who cocked her head in question, " What?" " Hey, you see that?" Jester pointed toward the abandoned casino. " And? It's just..." Octavia gave the scene better inspection," there's military down there. They could help us!" " Maybe." Jester looked around for a minute, departing from the railing. There was a small stage atop the roof, along with a few deck chairs and some lights the were strung up on some wire between the two buildings it was sandwiched between, none were lit. His partner also pushed of the rail and trotted a bit toward him, stopping, looking confused as he dug into small green bin. " What are you doing?" As an answer, he tossed a large white board beside him, digging into bin even further. " Trying to get their attention." The earth pony grunted as his hind legs practically dangled, the rest of his body submerged in the container. With a quick push, the colt popped out with a green marker clenched between his teeth, which he placed on the white board he had recovered and walked back over the railing, observing the trio of solider, who conversed blindly, confident the dead wouldn't find them. Octavia walked up to the busy stallion," You really think a white board is going to get their attention?" " No. Hm." He continued to look down below, noting seemed to satisfy his search. What could get them to look this way? With a sudden realization he pushed of the railing and spun around looking into the sky, making his mare companion follow his line of sight and realize he was looking at the lights that seemed suspended in the air only a few feet above them. ******* " What makes you think there might still be power in this place?" The mare questioned as the descended carefully back down in the club, only a single glow stick illuminating the way. Jester had proposed that they might be a power generator some where, already knowing that the entirety of Las Pegasus was out. " Well, clubs run tons of lights and music twenty four seven," He replied, taking a cautious step down, slowing his pace a tad," Simple outlets aren't going to power each one, so there has to be some generator around." Finally reaching the bottom, they both got a better feel for the small club. A small stage similar to the one on the roof, complete with a podium. There was also two hall ways on either side of the stage, all wrapped in inky blackness. Not much populated the room other than a single, old looking wooden chair and the pile of glow sticks the clubs new inhabitants placed there. " Lets check the hallways," he trotted over and picked up a glowing purple rod from the pile," I got right, you left." Octavia nodded sharply," And, be careful, we don't know whats in here." With another reassuring nod, the both set of on there assignments. Jester was the first to venture down his passage, clenching the rod tightly in his mouth. It was obvious, he was nervous, he didn't know what could lie in the void of the hallway. There could be a walker trapped behind a door, anything he could imagine could exist behind any door. As it happens there were three doors in the surprising short hallway, each of a dark wood construction, fitted with a brass doorknob. He walked to the nearest door, taking a deep breath, he placed a hoof on the knob, twisted and pushed it open, quickly jumping backward in the case of danger. But there was none, in fact, when the wary colt neared the room again, it was just a simple dressing room with nothing useful in the terms of power. With a sigh, he continued onto the next door, which when opened, was just a bathroom, the toilet just out right disgusting, making the EMT gag and shut the door as quickly as possible. With the breath of fresh air he ventured over to the last door, praying this would be the room. Hope in check, he opened the door with a quick push but immediately recoiled and nearly vomited at the scene inside, swallowing what came up with great disdain. There was a generator in that room, along with a few other card boxes, but what made him gag was the stench emanating off the corpse that lie face down on the ground, multiple bite marks covered what he assumed to be a mare unicorn. The body was slick with blood, making it almost impossible to distinguish what her coat color was. But her mane was easily able to identify, a rough blue mane with light blue stripes. This body had to have been here a few days, maybe even weeks as it emitted the smell of manure, the blood pooling around the body had coagulated and cracked. A pair of broken sunglasses rested only a few inches from the corpse, crimson smeared onto its lens. Jester regained his composure and looked at the current location of the generator, it was further into the small store room, the body nearly at the front of the entrance. Is she... Concerned for his future endeavor, he set the glow stick down and replaced it with a mop that rested near the end of the hallway and put it to bear, extending the cleaning end toward the bloody mess, it shaking erratically as it neared. He felt as if he couldn't breath, the mop now only inches firm the head of the dead mare. Finally, the mops extension stopped and its user was rewarded with a unmoving, non responsive equine. Realizing he was about to suffocate, he let out a loud exhale, dropping the cleaning instrument in turn, breathing heavily. Jeez, felt like I going to ha- A shallow groan announced itself from the room, petrifying Jester stiff. The corpse lifted its face from the checkered floor, which was covered in blood, eyes milky white, lifeless. The shuddering colt watched as the walker slowly rose from the floor, its growls intensifying, black bile dripping from its lips. Close the door. He didn't even move, to shocked by the now risen mare, it began making its slow walk toward its prey, exposing teeth of grey. Close the DAMN DOOR! Finally snapped back into reality, without a moments hesitation, he quickly grabbed and shut the door, too late for the walker to kick the pair of sun glasses into the hall, them bouncing off the back wall. The corpse on the side slammed on the door, making it shutter as Jester did when he heard the deep throated howling from the cadaver. The stallion cold hardly breath, he jut sat, trying to reciprocate from what he just saw. The blood covered corpse, those eyes, no life, no soul just...dead. He picked up the pair of glasses, examining the blood smeared on its lens, one missing. The traumatized colt heard some hoof falls from the beginning of the his hall, refusing to move," Jester, I found some-" She was looking over Jester, still holding the them, staring at it intently. She noticed the muffled growls and groans from the door in front of him and gasped quietly, piecing together who was being that door,"Vinyl..." ******** Gagging, Jester pulled his head out of the vomit filled trash bin, wiping the khaki bile from his lips, tasting the nearly vomit inducing liquid. Octavia sat next to him, who coaxed him as he threw up. “You alright now?" With a quick, jarring cough he nodded, pressing the back of his head against the black wall, looking at the ceiling. All him and the mare next to him could focus on was the snarling and growling from down the hallway, it digging into their very souls. “What did you find?" He asked, hoping that she found what he had found in the undead's room. The questioned sighed, " A few boxes of bar snacks and an old radio." First the stallion was going to question why were there bar snacks when a bar was absent, but that radio surfaced first. “Where’s that radio?" Jester now felt a surge of possibility, getting up and about to go down the hallway, green rod between his teeth. “Third door on your right." And with that, following her instructions, he returned with an old CV radio, fitted with a walkie-talkie, the radio itself had a worn wood finish. He set it down across from Octavia, who scooted a bit closer to, the retriever siting himself down. He took the walkie-talkie and gave it to Octavia, " I’m going to work the frequency you send out a distress signal." The radio operators nodded in unison and began, the distress putting the walkie-talkie inches from her lips. "If you are hearing this, we are in distress. There are two of us trapped in a club in downtown Las Pegasus. Please help us." She put the black box to her ear and received only static, so she repeated the message. She repeated the message over and over again, static there only answer. Within a half an hour, Octavia signaled him to stop and rubbed her temples, beginning to get a headache. "This isn’t working," the mare stated the obvious, ", what was in your rooms?" Jester just kept turning the dials on the radio, his eyes grown large. No there has to be something on this thing, someone, please don’t make me- "Jester!" Is what Octavia yelled to snap the broken colt back to Equestria as the radio crackled and became silent, breathing being heard on the other end. There was a moment of silence, both paralyzed by the possible receiver on the other end. Octavia acted first, "Hello?" “How many of you are there?" Was the question given by a heavy country accent on the other end. “Two, were both in a small club in downtown Pegasus." “Okay, were going to go look for you guys, whats your name and your friend?" “I’m Octavia and my partner is Jester, who are you?" “Colonel Macintosh of the EMC." ********* On the next Surviving With a metal clang, the delivery truck backed up into the front entrance of the club, and anxious Jester and Octavia taking no longer than a second to open the metal door and climb into the metal tube behind it. Once in, a large red stallion clad in a tattered black officers uniform brought the metal sheet behind them down. The stallion looked back at both of his new guests, his greying blond mane draped over his forehead, a gin plastered across his face," Well its nice to meet you guys person."
