Vacation

ooo000---000ooo

The Royal Palms Resort was quite the spectacle.

A vast piece of property spanning from beach to beach with beautiful pools, luxurious bungalows and private cubbyholes, The Royal Palms was a five-star hotel with impressively done up rooms, boasting room service and exotic foods like you wouldn’t believe. It was a magnet for vacation-goers from all over the world, bringing guests and VIPs from every corner of the globe for one location to party hard on its sandy white beaches.

Sadly for Dee, he didn’t get to experience any of that. Instead, he got to experience what flying was like without wings.

He didn’t like it.

Dee had little to not time to react once the thug stomped over to him and swung his meaty arm, connecting with his chest. The wind and most of his consciousness knocked from him, his body felt numb and weightless after that, at least until he crashed through something - no doubt the window before splashing into something wet and sinking down below.

He realized he’d been lucky enough he hit the pool.

His senses returning, his eyes popped open and his muffled yell sounded from under the water. Despite the pain his bullet-torn leg was putting him through, he was able to kick against the water and swim up, breaking the surface to gulp down all that sweet oxygen.

“Fuck!” He gave his head a shake, flinging water all about and breathing heavily. Today’s gotta be a fucking Monday or something.

His eyes burned after opening underwater and a few rubs remedied it, allowing him to see the horde of undead nearby that slowly lumbered towards him, heading for the sound of his splash. Up above through the window he smashed through, he saw the thug shake, its mouth open wide before a roar filled the entire room.

When the screeching of the running infected filled his ears, he knew it was time to go. “No thank you!” A quick recap of what he had on him during his swim to the less zombie filled portion of the pool made him realize he had lost his axe from the attack. All he had left on him now was the handgun… and four bullets.

“Shit shit shit, gotta move faster.” He kicked and kicked against the pool water, propelling himself forward. His vision suddenly blurred - his eyes were beginning to burn again, there was an ungodly amount of chlorine in the water.

The larger infected up above roared once again as Dee’s hands grabbed onto the edge of the pool, pulling him closer until he was able to heft himself up and over with a groan of pain. His legs were tired, his biceps and eyes burned, his chest was badly bruised, and now he had to find his way back to Lyra without getting killed or leading a horde of undead back with him to the room.

Once he was up on his feet - leg hurting much worse than before, he pulled out his handgun and aimed at the approaching horde of undead behind him. There were too many for what little ammunition he had left, too many to shoot…

With that, he realized his only option right now was to run as fast as he could on his bum leg.

“Shit!” He turned tail and did just that, limping away with as much speed as he could put into his leg.

Every step was a burn fire for him as he left the pool area, cold, miserable, and in pain, with a dozen or more monsters on his ass trying to get at him. His head was being filled with the endless snarls and howls for his blood, his meat… for his very soul. He just had to fuck up and get shot; he couldn’t have pulled out his own gun and fired back, given him a chance to run. No , he had to keep running and get shot in the leg!

The route heading back to the room was the same, open doors, dead bodies, discarded luggage and battered down doors. He saw the stairs and up above on the catwalk, he saw the decimated body of the security guard who had shot him in the leg, completely obliterated.

If only there was more time, he could run up there and grab whatever ammo was buried in the blood and guts, but unlike in the game, where you could pretty much just absorb ammunition by walking over it, there were too many on his heels to effectively search.

Next time…

Dee kept moving through the hotel until reaching the hall to the stairs; if he remembered correctly, they were on the second level of the hotel, room 101. It wasn’t too far, he just had to lose the monsters, close the doors to slow them down, and get back to the room and hide inside until they passed by.

This hotel was a nightmare, and he knew they wouldn’t last long in here alone with no supplies, they needed to get out and find the others after healing up. While he would have preferred hiding out in a nice lush hotel room with tons of supplies and a couple of cute girls, he was instead stuck with an injured anthro pony, little to no supplies, and a busted, bullet-torn leg.

A few stray gunshots from somewhere else in the hotel, muffled pops from a handgun that sounded awfully close, but he couldn’t quite place where they were. Another security guard?

Hopefully not, I don’t need to get into another fight and get other own leg shot up!

He shook his head violently and kept moving! He couldn’t stop now, couldn’t die now! Lyra’s life and safety was on the line here, and so was he, he had to get back to the room.

Another loud gunshot caught his attention ahead of him. Now that his ears could focus, he pinpointed it as coming from where the lobby was located! He grimaced but kept moving away, using the wall as a way to support his weight.

He didn’t dare look behind him, he didn’t need another sight of a dozen or so undead faces coming at him.

Just as he exited the hall and entered the lobby, several things happened at once.

He tripped over a body he didn’t see, propelling him forward and smashing into the floor. His freshly jarred head began aching, almost making him lose focus on what was happening. And in front of him…

Vinyl Scratch, the DJ from Equestria, was alive!

The mare was surrounded by a couple of still moving undead and several bodies that looked like they were put through the wringer. His eyes stared wide at Vinyl as a surge of energy rushed through him, she was in trouble!

Just as he managed to get back onto his feet, he witnessed something that was… quite the show.

Vinyl Scratch backed up and dodged a swipe from the first undead, and with speed he could barely make out with his crappy eyesight, the mare spun around on her heel and swung her leg up high.

A vicious thump could be heard once her foot connected with its head, followed by a snap as it was sent flying across the lobby floor and flailing into a luggage cart.

She didn’t even take a brief moment to breath, she kept the spin going and kicked off of the floor into the air briefly, only seconds later did she come back down - dropping her entire weight into her leg.

The force of her dropkick was tremendous enough that it destroyed the undead’s collar bone into pieces. She quickly recovered and fell onto her hands. Just when he thought she was done, she fell back and suddenly springboarded both legs into the undead’s chest, sending him flying into the wall with a meaty smack.

She recovered shortly after, landing on her feet and dusting off her shoulders before spotting him.

He could only blink, and he would have made a comment about it, but right now wasn’t the time for small talk.

Besides, Vinyl was rushing towards him! He didn’t even get the chance to do anything before he was suddenly forced down until he was looking at the ground. He barely had time to register what was happening as up and over his back went Vinyl, the mare rolling over his bent-over form and using him as a platform to strike, propping herself with a hand on his back while kicking her leg out to smash into a monster, a loud crack resonating alongside the growls.

He was still being chased!

“Fuck!” He gathered his wits and pushed off of the floor, rushing towards the hall he knew led to the stairs going up, but not before tugging on Vinyl’s arms and pulling her towards him. He gestured wildly towards the hall, “We gotta go that way! That way!”

The horde was closing in fast, a sea of flailing bodies and gaping bloodied maws out for their blood and flesh.

Then Vinyl threw him onto her back and started running off to where he gestured to. “Whoa!” It was unexpected--he never thought she was strong enough to carry him on her back!--but it beat limping the way back to the room.

As they rushed down the hall, he chanced a look behind him and saw they were losing most of the slower moving infected, but behind most of them a few runners were trying to get through the clogged mass of their brethren to catch up.

Shit, we gotta get upstairs! Vinyl was booking it down the hall, going much faster then he would have on his own. And he knew he had to get her to go upstairs, but how was he supposed to get her to do that?

A sharp right turn jostled him from his thoughts. Vinyl had taken a turn down the hall leading towards the stairs, passing by an luggage cart and with a burst of blue from her horn, the cart was knocked over, spilling heavy bags and suitcases onto the floor.

That would slow them down for a bit.

Up ahead he spotted the door leading to the stairwell heading up, the same one he and Lyra had used. The bodies were still on the floor, filling the hall with the rancid stench of rot and iron, it was disgusting to smell even though he was used to it.

Vinyl, on the other hand, didn’t seem phased by the sights and smells around them. That, or she was too busy running to pay much attention to it.

He threw out his hand and pointed to the stairs, gesturing to it wildly. He saw Vinyl notice, look down the corridor to where he was pointing, then give a sharp nod before running towards it. That works! he figured.

Another look behind him revealed the horde was slowed down, but the runners were tearing a path through their slower brethren towards the duo. They were fast--damn fast; faster than the others he had seen, their eyes were red and bloodshot, veins on their arms and neck turning black.

“Go faster go faster go faster!” Dee urged Vinyl on, even though he knew full well she couldn’t hear him.

Luck seemed to favor them in the strangest form.

Dee saw a dark skinned man in a security guard uniform wander out from one of the adjoining halls, his body bloodied and handgun gripped tightly. He spotted the two, his eyes wide before he yelled, “YOU!”

It was Ken, the security guard that almost killed him back in the hall.

Dee’s face contorted in fear as Ken raised his handgun, he aimed at the two and he would have fired… had Vinyl pulled her hand out from under Dee’s leg where she was supporting him, and threw it out towards him. Something shot out from her hand, a pulse of blue energy that connected and sent Ken flying back into the corner of the wall with a yell, the impact stunning him.

With no way to save him without getting shot, Vinyl and Dee passed right on by, leaving him behind…

Dee immediately heard the screams right after as the infected fell upon him, he didn’t want or need to look back to see what happened.

Soon enough Vinyl kicked open the door to the stairwell and closed it just as the undead swarmed Ken’s body… Dee and Vinyl were given the perfect view of it.

“Geez...” Dee swallowed and shook his head. Looking down at the mare, he saw she was looking at him out of the corner of her red eye, and she gestured to the stairs as if to ask ‘up or down?’ “Oh, uh… up,” He pointed up and they proceeded up…

Towards safety at last.

ooo000---000ooo

Derpy had been flying for what felt like forever before finally reaching Baroki Town… and Celestia above, she was hopeful it was a safer place, maybe even in better shape.

Oh how wrong she was.

Baroki town was almost completely in flames. The buildings were falling apart and the air was choked in thick putrid smoke that made Derpy cough and struggle to breathe even from how high up she was. Down below, the roadways were cluttered with more of those vehicles - crashed and burning brightly, clogging up the roads, alleyways, and blocking off a dozen different routes in and out.

Other portions of the town were destroyed from the fires, houses and stores were gutted shells the further in towards the city center they were, where the most intense flames burned from a building that billowed black smoke.

She had no idea what had happened here, or where everyone was, but she had no intention on staying to find out. The air was rancid with that horrible smell, strong enough to make Derpy choke.

“No way they’re here...” She covered her face with her shirt and hefted up the heavy backpack she was carrying. If they’re not here… then where could they be?

The route leading up to Baroki was fairly bare of everything; there were no vehicles, no people, and worse, no sign of her friends anywhere. And Baroki looked as if it were completely consumed by fire, she didn’t hear anything except the roaring flames. With a sinking heart, she realized she had no hope of finding anyone here, monster or not. She could see a few black and charred things all over the place…

She gulped and turned right around, knowing that she would find nopony she knew nor sanctuary here. Baroki simply wasn’t a place to be right now.

Instead… she would have to try for the Royal Palms Resort and hope they were there, otherwise she would have to go further inland to the jungles and mountain areas. She had only visited a jungle once, and that was on a mailrun a few years ago… between the high humidity and canopy, to say nothing of all the bugs and occasional storms, it wasn’t fun.

Derpy didn’t start moving immediately down the road, however. Instead she flew a ways away from the town and landed on the deserted beach nearby, setting down the bag and relieving the stress it had on her shoulders and arms. It was a heavy bag, and with how it was made, she couldn’t quite carry it properly and it was beginning to take its toll on her upper body.

While she was used to heavy lifting from years of working as a postal service employee, she was already exhausted from everything prior, so this wasn’t helping her… or her headache.

She collapsed onto her butt on the sand and rubbed her temples; her face was contorted in pain and her eyes scrunched shut. Her head was in such pain right now… the stress of everything happening around her, the pain of not knowing what happened to Dinky or her friends.

It was almost too much.

They just have to be alright, they just have to be! Derpy tried to convince herself, Rainbow’s a a Wonderbolt! And she’s an Element of Harmony to boot, so she wouldn’t just… she doesn’t get beaten down that easily! Rainbow’s a tough mare, almost as strong as Bulk Biceps and twice as tough.

Just thinking about how Rainbow was made her shiver slightly… Rainbow could be very brusque sometimes, but she meant well, her heart was in the right place even if her head was usually still in the clouds.

Derpy let out a breath and adjusted her shirt… it felt really hot despite the rain that had come down not too long ago, which had let up now, letting her bask in the sun… what little of it that ever-so-briefly pierced the dark clouds. They still loomed over the island, threatening another downpour of tropical rainwater.

She was already wet enough as it was, she didn’t need any more of it drenching her clothing--and her--beyond easy drying.

After a moment she opened her eyes to gaze out at the crashing waves and distant thunderheads looming over the sea. Her ears flicked up, catching the faraway sound of lightning crackling and thunder booming. All around her, she heard nothing else except the waves and storms… she was alone, for now.

Dinky… please be okay. The mare rubbed her temples and did her best to try and curb the worry attempting to bubble up from her stomach. The anxiety was gnawing at her nerves and dredging up so many horrible possibilities as to what may have happened to her. There was too much that could have gone wrong to Dinky after she left… too much.

Such was the perilous life of being a single mother…

Just thinking about that made her even more sad. Derpy thought she would have it all, a good paying job, a loving husband and wonderful children, living in a nice house with a white picket fence - the curse of a teenage mare who dreamed too big and got herself into trouble.

I was so stupid… and I paid for it. A hand drifted to her stomach and her memories drifted back to those days… young and stupid…

The crackle of the storm brought her out of her thoughts and she sighed… she could only rest for so long, and despite her splitting headache, she had to keep moving to find Dinky and the others. There was only one place left to check they might be that she knew of…

The Royal Palms Resort.

The mare stood up and dusted off her pants, just a little further and she would find out if Dinky and the others were there or not.

Leaning down, she picked up the pack and strapped it on as best as she could, Turning her gaze out towards the road, she could barely make out what looked a tunnel of sorts that no doubt led to the resort.

If only this was Haywaii, she could be spending her time lounging on the beaches…

She wiped away a stray tear and started walking.

I’ll find you Dinky… mama’s coming!

ooo000---000ooo

“Fuckin’ finally… Christ.”

Was Dee’s first thought as they made it to the second floor hall where both of them sat down to rest for a minute.

He collapsed against the wall and Vinyl opposite of him, both heaving for air. Dee was tired, aching, his leg burned, his lungs hurt… hell, everything hurt and he hadn’t fought much. It only told him how much he needed to work on his body and fighting, as well as his stamina in general. He wasn’t much to look at when it came to muscle, but he had some from his physically demanding job back home.

Even with that, he was exhausted.

He rubbed his arm and winced from the injuries he had gotten, scraps and bruises, maybe some cuts from the glass, bruised chest and a cracked rib maybe, he wasn’t sure.

Dee looked over Vinyl and saw she was bloodied in places, but not from injuries. She had gotten that way from those she beat down with those… admittedly incredible moves she did.

He was still pretty shook by that, how she moved and decimated them with powerful kicks. Were those other bodies they passed ones she took down? He had no idea.

When he saw Vinyl pull out a handgun, he stared for a moment and watched her manipulate it… but she looked more or less confused about it. Was she the source of the gunshots?

Thinking for a moment he ended up pulling out his own, catching her eye for a moment. Slowly, he pulled the slide back, popping out one of the bullets and catching it. Vinyl blinked before doing the same thing, but the bullet popped out and bounced off of her snout.

“Snkrt,” Dee scrunched up his face and stifled a giggle as Vinyl’s cheeks turned bright red.

The mare rubbed the back of her head adorably, ruffling up her electric blue mane slightly. Her face was the epitome of sheepishness.

“Hehe, it’s alright,” He waved it off and spent a few minutes more showing her how the handgun worked - the safety, magazine release, the slide, the trigger, the hammer, and all of that. She nodded along to what he was showing her, and due to her… disability, he took it slow and did his best to show her by example.

He’d have to wait until they got back to Rainbow so he could explain it fully, maybe even teach them all about human firearms in case they found more of them. He knew by then they could handle themselves in hand-to-hand combat, but knowing how to work other things would be very helpful in this type of situation.

After his tutorial was over, they began heading to the room with what Dee had in his backpack. It had been a little over an hour since he had left, he determined after checking his watch several times.

I hope she didn’t wake up… wait, fuck, I’m beat up and have Vinyl with me, how will I explain that?

Seems he didn’t quite think this through.

On the way to the room, Vinyl stopped him with a gentle pat and gestured to him. He rose an eyebrow as he watched her eyes flick down to his leg, his chest, and back up to his face where a finger pointed to something on his forehead.

He reached up with a hand and rubbed the spot where she pointed, something slick covered his fingers and upon pulling his hand away, he saw blood. Vinyl gesturing to those spots among other areas where he was injured gave him some inclination as to what she was asking, and he just gave her a nod and a thumbs up.

“I’m fine, no worries.” Well, least she cares enough to ask.

She didn’t seem happy with that answer but nodded regardless, continuing to follow alongside him.

Once they reached the door of the room, Dee gripped the handle of the door and gave it a twist, opening the door and heading inside. For a brief moment, he realized he had been getting in and out of this room without using a keycard, which was odd… the door light was green, which meant it was open, maybe it only locked when it was on purpose?

He shook his head and limped inside, deciding it was a thought for another time.

Just as he entered the room he came face to face with Lyra, who was slightly bent forward, arm wrapped around her side and staring straight at him. The injured unicorn’s golden eyes blinked, flicking from him to Vinyl behind him before back to him… they traveled down to his chest, his legs.

“Oh… hey uh… how are you fee-”

Being yanked into the room by his shirt and held up magically caused him to eep instead.

Her eyes went from being curious to glaring at him. “Where the heck have you been?! You’re bleeding!” She gawked and looked up and down his body.

“L-look, I’m fine, okay?” Dee tried to tell her, holding up his hands and wincing once she let him down… back onto his aching leg, it was hard to hide his hiss of pain. “J-just fine.”

“You look like you got beat up!” Lyra groaned, holding her side.

Behind him, he heard the door closed and Vinyl came into his view, having moved into the room fully. Safety was now guaranteed, but safety from Lyra’s potential wraith? Not so much, he figured.

“Eehh… you’re not wrong?” She gave him a hard look and he had to wave it off, looking away as he walked over to the chair and sat down in it, groaning a bit.

His muscles were acting up now, burning now that he was resting, he pulled several on the way up there and back. And that wasn’t to mention everything else that was hurting, the scraps and bruises, the gunshot wound on his leg and whatever happened to his head.

Pain was gonna set in fully and it wouldn’t be fun.

He saw Lyra grimace and sit back down on the bed, her eyes drifting back to him. Her face was scrunched up, Vinyl’s was more or less the same. “Why did you leave? For what possible reason could you hav-”

Dee stopped her and took off his backpack, wincing before setting it in his lap and unzipping it. He also glanced over to where he left the note and saw it was untouched, she must have missed it. He let out a sigh once the bag was open, he reached inside and pulled out the Pneumatic Injector and one of the vials. “It ain’t much but it might help deal with the pain, at least for a little bit.” He told her.

Lyra blinked and looked between him and the injector, ears folding back. “What is it?”

“Morphine. I tried to find some decent first aid but the most I found were bandages and suntan lotion.” He grumbled, setting the bag down in the floor and the injector on the table in front of him along with the other vials of morphine. “That was the best I could do. I knew you were hurting and while it might be a bit strong, it’s something.”

Looking up for a moment, he saw Lyra was talking to Vinyl through sign language… did they all know it? He scrunched up his face a little, the only way he’d be able to talk to her is if he learned how to do it, which would be difficult. He only knew a few hand signs but that wouldn’t help much in this situation… using one one of them would be rather awkward, now that he thought about it.

Vinyl’s face suddenly scrunched up once Lyra was done and the DJ gazed over to Dee.

Then Lyra spoke, “Did… did you go out there just for me?”

He nodded and leaned back in the chair. “Well… yeah, why’d you think I left?” He stuck out his tongue and took off his jacket with a pained expression. “I left to find some first aid, didn’t go so w-well.” Messload of bandages and gauze, some aspirin, peroxide, the morphine… it’s not much but it’ll help out for a bit.

Lyra’s eyes fell and her ears went back further as Vinyl walked off to the bathroom, opening the door and going inside. The sound of water running caught his attention before shutting off and then Vinyl came out with a towel in hand. She went over to him and knelt by the chair, looking up at him.

Then he felt the warm and wet cloth press against one of the cuts on his forehead, making him wince slightly. He would’ve asked, but he figured she was cleaning up his cuts… so he just stayed quiet for now, letting her do her thing.

Several minutes had passed while Dee sat in the chair in complete silence, Vinyl next to him cleaning up his cuts. The mare was being careful about it, slow gentle movements and plucking out bits of glass, left over from when she was smashed through the window of the infirmary. He was thankful for it, but he could have done it himself if he wanted to.

Then came his leg… which Vinyl and Lyra both were pretty shocked at.

She had to rip up his pants a bit to get to the wound, they were ruined anyway so he would need to replace them. Everyone got a good look at the gunshot, a brackish wound with a sizable hole in the back of his leg dribble ooze, and in the front, another hole but just slightly bigger. Looking at it made his head feel woozy.

Both of the mares didn’t look too happy with this.

“Oh my goddess.” Lyra held a hand to her mouth, eyes wide at the wound itself. “That looks awful!”

Dee felt lightheaded looking down at it… now that the adrenaline was wearing off

Vinyl was quick to react, rooting through Dee’s bag for the bandages and gauze before pulling them out. She grabbed the towel she used and ran off to the bathroom again, the sound of rushing water beginning again.

“W-what caused that?!” Lyra gawked, a flicker of something in her eyes.

“Gunshot.” Dee answered with a sharp inhale. It was worse looking than he thought, and would need stitches, he wasn’t sure if it was that severe but from how big the hole were… “Was running from a guy and he shot me in the leg, my mistake for not firing back at him.”

The uncomfortable silence that followed was soon broken when Vinyl came walking back, new towel in hand and going over to his leg...

What came next was plenty of bone rattling pain and many attempts to not swat Vinyl’s hand away during her careful efforts to wipe away the blood on his leg, which had turned brackish from the blood coating his skin. The burn when she ran over the bullet holes themselves made him fidget.

“A-ah, be careful would ya?” She didn’t hear him obviously, but he still felt the need to vocalize it.

“That was from that weird flintlock of yours…?” Lyra spoke up after a moment.

Looking over to the minty green mare, he noticed she was looking straight at his leg… her face slightly green than usual. Dee sniffled softly… “Yeah, another survivor in the hotel had one and he shot me when I ran away… got me in the leg.” Fuck, that hurt… hopefully I don’t get shot at again; we better get off of this island before anything else happens!

After a while, Vinyl used some of the peroxide to clean it up a bit more, packed it with gauze and wrapped the bandaging around it nice and snug. The burn was quick and slightly painful, but it ended almost as quick as it began. Soon enough he was cleaned up and bandaged up properly, and feeling slightly better than before.

He saw Vinyl left him and started on Lyra next, but there wasn’t much she could do given most of her injuries were internal, bandages could only do so much for someone who had been hurt inside.

Dee sighed and leaned back… his eyes felt heavy and his body more so.

They were safe for now, but now came the bigger problem…

How were they going to get out of here alive?

ooo000---000ooo

Weary eyes opened up, ears picking up the sound of a worried voice…

“R-Rainbow?”

It was so soft, gentle… it reminded her of Fluttershy but, it wasn’t.

Rainbow rubbed her forehead and looked up… in front of her she saw Marble, the young pie sister giving her a worried look, her pretty eyes looking her over. Rainbow waved her off, sniffling and looking off into the sky for a moment.

“D-Dinky’s fine… j-just so much blood...” Rainbow muttered quietly, looking back to Marble. “She woke up in the middle of it… freaked out.”

Marble swallowed and nodded, shivering slightly.

Fuck. Rainbow looked down at her clothing, bloodied and ruined from working on Dinky to the best of her abilities. She didn’t know much about first aid to begin with save for what she learned from Wonderbolt bootcamp, so she had to make do with that and Limestone’s help.

She could only hope what she did was enough… and that Dee was hopefully wrong about the infection being passed through bites.

Her resting from the past hour or so of trying to fix Dinky was interrupted when she heard someone speaking in the garage.

“I checked the infirmary, aside from some bandages and gauze, there’s not much there I can work with in case one of us gets hurt… aside from the creature in there on the table, and Anne.” Spoke a man, an unfamiliar accented voice. “I need more medical supplies to be able to appropriately do something.”

Medical supplies…?

The man sighed, his tone one of exhaustion. “I don’t want to kill anyone, I’m a doctor, not a bloody executioner.”

A doctor!

Rainbow was quick to get back up and quickly moved past Marble, slipping into the garage and spotting the man. “You’re a doctor?” She asked causing the man to turn to her with a shocked expression.

“What the hell?!” He backpedaled as did several other people who decided to brandish a few weapons. “What are you?!”

Rainbow held up her hands, “I’m not a danger to anyone, but I need help! One of my friends was bitten an-”

“Bitten?!” One gasped.

“And you brought them inside?!”

That caused several people to get riled up, speaking to one another in hushed tones as a few others glared towards them. That wasn’t a look she wanted to see… she got enough of it back at the gas station.

“L-look, she’s not infected okay?! I just need someone to help patch her up, I can’t do it by myself!” She hated admitting she wasn’t good at things, but right now she put that aside from Dinky’s sake.

Some of the people around her didn’t seem to like the idea of there being a possible infected inside their new safe haven, some even spared a few glances towards the door leading towards the infirmary…

Any actions anyone wanted to take was stopped when the sound of the gate outside suddenly opening up caught everyone’s attention, along with, “We got more survivors!”

The lifeguard with the face tattoo turned and went outside as the other four humans who she and Limestone helped came out… hopefully they’d take their side in this squabble. But more survivors? That caught Rainbow’s attention, enough to make her go outside.

Could it be there? Lyra and the others? She moved past Marble again who was mostly keeping to herself, scrunched up in that adorable way of hers. Outside Rainbow caught sight of a truck… a familiar looking blue pickup truck parking next to the red one the others came in.

Rainbow’s eyes widened when she saw a human step out, covered in blood and looking relieved...

Then he locked eyes with Rainbow.

“You!”

ooo000---000ooo

Dee groaned… his hopes of napping the pain off were thwarted from the aggravating situation he was in, that being the pain in his leg and his sudden worry for Rainbow Dash and Dinky.

He was resting in the chair when it hit him; the thought of what happened to the duo after the crash. Were they okay? Did they make it to the hotel or did they go somewhere else?

Maybe they made it to the lifeguard tower in one piece… He rubbed his face and held his chest. His heart was aching and his head felt woozy… the stress and injuries were piling up.

Not only did he have them to worry about, but he also had to worry about how they were going to get out of here alive. How he was going to get them out alive. There were a lot of ways he could, but a lot of them involved getting to places he knew nothing about…

Specifically the garage below ground level; that was one place that came to mind. It was filled with vehicles left behind by both previous employees and guests visiting from across the world, he had no doubts they could find at least one working car down there, but the real question was how far was it and how long would it take them to get down there?

Even better… how many infected were down there, if any?

These were questions he needed to answer before they made a move.

The hotel’s a nice location to make a base in, if I’m being honest. It’s a nice place with some decent rooms and plenty of space inside of it to hold survivors. Hell, lock down the elevators and stairwells, and it could become a decent fortress… but we don’t have the manpower or resources to manage it. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Minus that, it’s ultimately a deathtrap. Best bet right now is to just escape and hole up at the lifeguard tower.

It was their only option.

Another shake of his head and Dee sat up, holding his side briefly when he looked over to Lyra and Vinyl. Vinyl was looking out of the window, arms crossed under her generously sized bust while Lyra was looking a bit relaxed… he had dosed her up with the morphine and she was looking rather dopey, but she did say the pain had lessened a bit.

Right now though, she was struggling with her shirt for some reason.

This prompted Dee to ask, “You alright there?”

Lyra let go of her shirt, grumbling in a half slur, “I w-want to change my clothes but my bag’s still at the airship.” She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at her clothes, which were scuffed up and ruined in places. Her shirt was even worse, it was bloodied and torn from the fighting up here, he figured. “Mostly my shirt… it’s r-ruined!”

“I see…” Her shirt was pretty messed up… not really suitable for wearing anymore. But luckily for her, he remembered he had an extra shirt in his backpack! Dee sat up and reached into his pack for a moment, rooting through some of the stuff inside before pulling out a shirt of his… a button up flannel he packed. “I have a shirt you could use if you want. It’s not really meant for a female, but it might fit you.” He offered.

Lyra looked over to him and the shirt. “A-are you sure? I don’t want to take your clothes if you need them...”

He just waved her off with a smile. “It’s fine, if I need more I can just find some more from abandoned rooms and luggage, so it’s no biggie.”

Lyra’s nose scrunched up in a cute little way that made him smile, and she nodded slowly. “Thanks. Then, um… c-can you, uh... help me get my shirt off?” she asked him with the barest hint of a blush.

Those were words every hot blooded man on the planet wished a cute girl would ask him, but in this context it was purely to help her put on something less bloody and ripped up without aggravating her existing injuries in the process.

Dee didn’t really question it as he stood up and limped over to the bed. His leg was feeling a little better now, enough to get him over to the bed and sit down. The unicorn scooted over a tad to allow him some space and he saw her fluffy ears were pressed back against her mane.

She turned her back to him, where a few slash marks could be seen across the fabric along with some faint scratches on her back, just visible through her mint-colored fur… any deeper and she’d be in even worse pain than she already was.

As he helped her with taking off her shirt—being mindful of her and his injuries--he was unable to keep his eyes from drifting across her exotic and beautiful form. Even injured, the mare had an incredible figure that he found difficult to tear his gaze away from; a smooth coat that stood out alongside her gorgeous silky two tone mane, one that reached all the way down past her shoulders like a waterfall. Her body was curvy in all of the right places as well, giving her that delicious and natural hourglass figure from top to bottom; from her plush and juicy rear leading up to her mouthwatering chest.

That was another thing he found his eyes locking on, the large shapely minty green bust contained within a black bra. The black lace only accentuated the natural curvature of her breasts, causing his nerves to act up even despite the pain he was in. He could see there was more than a handful of delicious plush flesh to grope, squeeze, and suckle upon. He couldn’t help but imagine burying his face in between them, nestled in between them like soft pillows once she got the shirt off completely.

That ended with him having to shift his legs slightly to hide a problem he was currently experiencing, and an awkward clearing of his throat. “So u-uh… how are you feeling?” he asked, amazed he could be aroused even after all he’d been through.

Lyra swallowed and let out a shaky breath as she was handed the flannel shirt, golden eyes flicked up to meet his hazel ones and she offered him a little smile. “I’m fine,” She slipped an arm through the shirt, the slightest of movements in her bra catching his eyes for a moment, “just a l-little achy...” She slipped her other arm through, inhaling a bit and causing her chest to puff out a bit.

He tried really hard not to stare, but it was difficult… thinking about it, he looked between both Vinyl and Lyra subtly… they were both fairly on par for the same bust size, big and natural-looking breasts that were certainly ample but not too big that they’d get in the way… there was just enough to nestle one’s head into, among other things.

“Enjoying the view there?”

His face had never lit up so fast.

He looked away and inhaled, puffing out his cheeks, “I wasn’t doing nuttin and you can’t prove shit!”

Clearly, the perfect defense, one that was apparently giggle worthy - he heard Lyra giggling next to him and when he looked, she had a hand over her mouth to try and stifle them. It failed though, and her cute little giggles filled the room.

“Oh shush…” Dee grumbled, feeling his cheeks burning.

Another giggle and she gently patted his shoulder. “You’re fun to tease~”

“Bah.”

Despite the blush on his face and how annoyed he sounded… he had the slightest smile on his face.

But enough of the giggles… right now they had to worry about other things.

“Seriously though… are you feeling alright?” He inquired, she looked less dopey than before… was the morphine wearing off already?

Lyra gave a little nod and wiggled on the bed, slowly laying back and sighing a tiny bit. “Y-yeah… that ‘morphine’ stuff works nice… can’t really feel any pain, except a couple of tiny pinpricks.”

He mentally noted that down and rubbed his chest, least she was feeling better. “Alright, well… take advantage of it to try and get some rest, yeah?”

He patted the bed and was about to get up, but Lyra grabbing his hand stopped him from moving much further. When he looked back down at her he found himself face to face with a pair of pretty gold eyes.

“Hey… thank you, Dee.” She smiled sweetly. Below, he felt her thumb running little circles around the flat of his hand… he shivered slightly.

He offered her a smile in reply and said quietly, “No problem, heh… least I could do for ya.” I wish I could have done more, but the stupid infirmary didn’t have enough of anything.

If need be he knew he would probably make another run to find something else, hopefully it wouldn’t come to that and they’d be out of here by then.

Vinyl came over next and signed something to Lyra, scrunching up her face and gesturing to the window.

Lyra thankfully came to Dee’s rescue for a translation; “She’s wondering if we have a plan...”

Dee sat back down and sighed… a plan. “Well… I know there’s an underground parking garage in the hotel, it’s full of cars like the one we drove.” He brought his hand up and cupped his chin in thought, it was better than nothing. “Trucks, cars, vans… hopefully we can find at least one in halfway working condition.”

But he also knew the only way to find that out was to head down and check out the garage for themselves… a dangerous trek down two floors, if not more, to a darkened tomb filled with metal coffins and bodies that would rise given the slightest inclination…

It was a risk they would have to take, however; they simply couldn’t stay there.

“V-Vinyl said she was down there…” Lyra suddenly told him, grabbing his attention. She was? “S-she said she saw a lot of those carriages down there… some weren’t in too bad shape.”

“Huh…” Suddenly… his eyes lit up and he ended up looking towards Vinyl, “Wait, ask her if she saw a big boxy looking one that said Bank of Banoi on the side!”

Lyra did a few hand signs to ask Vinyl. Dee just sat, hopeful as they had their silent conversation. If what he thought was down there was there, then maybe… just maybe.

He watched the duo with hopeful eyes… and Vinyl…

She nodded.

Dee’s lips stretched to either side in a grin.

“Okay… new plan.” he got up off of the bed, managing to ignore the pain in his leg to stand up. “That thing I just asked about is a bank truck, it’s used for transporting money and shit. It’s a heavy duty vehicle too, can hold a lot of people and supplies, and the infected can’t break into it… it’s a tank, just about. It might still have weapons in it, too.” He looked between Lyra and Vinyl, grinning still. “If we can get down there and snag it… we can get out of here no problem.”

“R-really?” Lyra groaned and held her head, eyes locking onto his own. “Can you d-drive it?”

He gave her a nod and put his hands on his hips, adopting a more… confident pose. “I can, I just need to get the keys for it and we’re good to get the fuck out of this place.” It was all so simple…

Go down to the garage.

Get the keys.

Drive out to safety.

He pulled out the handgun he had and checked it once again… the brass showed itself to him and he counted four shots left in the magazine, he had no idea how many Vinyl had left… but maybe it would be enough to get them out of here.

If they did this… they would have to make every shot and every hit count.

ooo000---000ooo

A gentle tug of the door and Dee peeked out from the room and into the hall…

Nothing was out there; nothing that he could immediately make out, that was. It looked clear, so he would take it.

A glance behind him and he saw Vinyl was ready to go, with Lyra firmly on her back still wearing Dee’s shirt and slightly doped up on the morphine. In his hands he held both handguns, Vinyl giving it to him as an added measure of defense for their move down below.

He had wrapped several torn pieces of cloth around some of his injuries, patching them up to stop the blood flow. His leg still stung but that could easily be ignored for now, the more important thing to focus on was getting the the garage and the bank truck… hopefully without running into more of those security guards, assuming any of them survived.

After taking a deep breath he opened the door fully and moved out, guns aimed down either hall and scanning for any threats, but none popped up.

They were safe for now.

He gestured for Vinyl to follow him and starting making his way down the hall with both mares in pursuit. He hoped they would have a safe trip there… but it wasn’t likely.

The area’s a hot zone of infection, this had to have been one of the first places hit aside from Moresby. He looked down at both handguns with a frown. I got fourteen shots, Vinyl didn’t waste many of them I guess so that’s good… hopefully they’ll last on the way down. We just need to find the keys and get to the bank truck in one piece.

The route down the hall took the trio past rooms with busted down doors and others left wide open, inside each room Dee saw carnage; torn apart bodies and pools of blood, bones, it looked like battles had gone on in most of the rooms against hotel staff, guests and infected alike.

There could have been some decent loot in one of the rooms, maybe more, but he wasn’t planning on staying long enough to search. He had one goal in mind and that was to get everyone out of here alive… no matter the cost.

The path eventually led them to the stairwell again. Signs pointed to the floors up and down and the subsequent locations of shops, the infirmary, the upper class suites on the higher levels, there was even a helipad on the roof - no doubt for high value VIPs and such.

Shame he didn’t know how to fly a helicopter… then again, there probably wasn’t one up there to begin with.

If the hotel was given enough forewarning, odds are someone would’ve taken any aircraft up there and flown out… before getting shot down by the military guarding the islands. He figured as they headed down the stairs.

Dee stayed just a bit ahead and kept a close eye on the duo behind him, making sure they were moving alright and that nothing was behind them both.

It was all clear heading down.

Find the keys, find the truck, blast our way out of here and to freedom.

A Simple and easy plan.

The path down was littered with a few bodies here and there, most of them torn into and others looking as if they had just laid down and died. Dee was careful stepping over the bodies - moving past them with caution and making sure the mares were doing the same, which they were - Vinyl specifically. Smart mare.

They continued down the path and down another flight of stairs, finally reaching the level that was mostly comprised of cramped concrete halls lined with pipes leading underneath the hotel into various areas, most were red and white pipes with a few white ones. There were also doors leading into servicing rooms, most likely for sewage and electrical.

Steam was spewing from one pipe, filling the whole hall with a thick veil of vapor that made it difficult to see. It also made Dee even more cautious - his eyes were wide open, ears peeled and guns at the ready in either hand as he slowly limped his way through.

Damn it. The path being fogged up like it was made it difficult for Dee to spot any potential threats, undead or otherwise. He could just barely make out the pipe lined walls on either side, the lights up above… it made him nervous; more than he’d like. We’re almost there I think, just need to keep moving, and keep our eyes peeled… no telling what’s skulking around down here.

The walkers, the runners, god forbid there was something bigger lurking in the darkness. He didn’t have the energy to try fighting anything that was bigger than he was. The regular infected were enough trouble for him, and with his injuries he wouldn’t last very long in a prolonged fight against much of anything.

Minute by minute he was losing more energy because of this trek… how much longer would he last before collapsing?

Glancing back at Vinyl and Lyra, he noticed the former attempting to use her magic, horn sparking but nothing happening… if anything it only made her look worse. She frowned and glared at her horn. “O-our magic isn’t working...” Lyra mumbled from Vinyl’s back, breathing heavily, “A-at least n-not enough to be h-helpful...”

Dee grimaced and nodded, “W-well… considering what all happened, you guys must be exhausted.”

“N-not that,” Lyra stopped him, looking up at him finally. “We haven’t b-been able to use our m-magic right for hours… V-Vinyl got a nosebleed when she tried stopping L-Liam with her magic, she g-got dizzy, that’s not s-supposed to happen, not to a s-strong magic user like h-her.”

Stopping for a moment to glance at the two…was that true? “Huh?”

Lyra swallowed hard and breathed out, “O-our magic isn’t as strong h-here, it’s a-acting weird.”

That made Dee’s nerves act up… thinking about it, having two unicorns with potentially strong magic could be of incredibly use in this world, but if their magic wasn’t working the way it was supposed to, then any plans of having them use their magic to help were ruined. Telekinesis was a useful skill to have, even their light magic, yet their powers were suffering from something they couldn’t explain.

Regardless, these were things to ponder later after they were hopefully in a safer location.

Continuing through the steam and moving through the halls and doors, they passed through a few maintenance rooms and reached a service entrance that led them to the parking garage. Once inside, the trio saw the flickering lights showing them the entirety of the underground - dozens of parked vehicles filled every space, some half out of their spots and others piled up in a horrible looking fender bender of crushed metal. Some undead wandered around, but not enough that they would be much issue.

Dee’s main issue right now were the infected he saw running around, screeching and growling as they pursued whatever it was they were after. They’re still alive to some twisted degree, so a couple of shots should take them down quickly enough… hopefully. He crouched near a car with Vinyl stopping right behind him. He scanned the garage carefully, looking for that wonderful vault of reinforced steel on wheels.

There were plenty of trucks inside of the garage, pickups and suvs, luxury sedans, even a couple of police cars nearby with flashing lights. No sign of the bank truck just yet, sadly for them.

“Nng,” Lyra drew his attention for a moment, she spoke, “D-do you see it?”

Another look around the garage, and still no sign of the vehicle in question he was hoping to get his hands on. It must have been further in or hidden away, or - god forbid - already taken by someone else who had the same idea.

“No… must be somewhere else in the garage, we gotta keep moving so stick close and stay low.” He said to both of them, gesturing to Vinyl on what to do. He may not know how to sign, but he figured she’d understand basic ‘stfu and stay low’ hand movements.

He saw Vinyl nod and tighten her hold on Lyra, to which Dee responded with his own nod before they began to move once more.

They stayed low and passed only when Dee made sure it was safe - aside from the wandering undead and distant screeches of the running infected, there was little to actually worry about. The vehicles around them provided an adequate amount of hiding places from any curious undead eyes, plus the lighting was nice enough to flicker out enough to give them the shadows to move in.

There were plenty of obstacles for them to run into of course, such as overturned cars and pile ups, maybe a small fire or even some suspicious looking bodies. Taking detours ate up their time, but when it came to this… it paid off to be better safe than sorry.

At least to Dee, that is.

He ended up seeing something that drew his attention, and it appeared to be a small work station for the hotel’s valets, individuals who took guests cars and stored them in the garage for them. No doubt there was a small locker with keys inside of it.

Dee led the duo past a couple of cars and a few torn up bodies to the door, which he opened up carefully and peered inside.

It was an office from the looks of the decor, a couple of desks, computers, and a box on the wall that was open, revealing several dozens upon dozens of keys.

Dee grinned and stood up, going over to the box and saying, “Jackpot.”

He opened the box up further and gazed at all of the keys, each one with a specific tag on it for the parking space it belonged to. Sadly for him, they were all fairly similar looking, car keys belonging to the no doubt hundreds of cars and trucks that filled the garage. None of them looked even remotely distinct from one another.

“Why’re we i-in here?” Lyra asked as Dee went about sifting through the keys, trying to find something that gave him some inclination of one being a bank truck key.

“The bank truck needs a key to start it,” He explained, tucking the guns into his waistband. He peered out through the door and didn’t see any infected nearby, and immediately went looking through the keys some more. “If we don’t have the key, we ain’t getting out of here.” A sad reality, one they might have to face.

He kept looking as hard as he could, but every single key looked alike! Was their plan foiled because he couldn’t tell what key was the one they needed?

“Damn it,” He sighed and turned back to Vinyl and Lyra, the latter of which was being set down in a chair and Vinyl returning his look.

He knew he couldn’t speak to her, but the look she shared was one he knew and returned with one of his own.

They needed to hurry up and find a way out.

“W-will any of the other keys work? W-what about the other carriages?” Lyra broke the silence as Dee shut the door slowly, making sure it made no noise.

“I mean… they could work, we might have to use one of them to get the hell out of here if we don’t find the key we need for the truck.” He grunted and began searching the office, ripping open drawers and file cabinets in search of it. I’d much prefer the bank truck, it’s sturdy as hell, it’ll be way more useful!

During their search for the key, Dee ended up in another room of the office and scrounging around anything of use. All he found so far was junk — empty candy wrappers, bags from some food joint on the island, and some other stuff that didn’t have any real use to him.

Slamming a drawer shut, Dee stood back and glared around the room till he locked his eyes on Vinyl. Seeing her strange serenity induced him take a couple of calming deep breaths; ones he needed to steady his nerves. And to his surprise, his eyes ended up drifting over Vinyl’s body, much like they had when he was looking over Lyra back in the hotel room.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, she was busying herself digging in a file drawer, completely unaware of his... examination.

Vinyl had a body type similar to Lyra; wide hips and luscious curves that were evident from head to toe paired with a medium length mane that was a bit shorter than that of her minty green counterpart. Her clothes were ripped up in a few places, though it looked intentional - her jeans were ripped in the knees and around her hips. The only noticeable differences Vinyl had when it came to Lyra was a noticeably bigger breast size, less muscle, and a plushier looking butt, which only made her earlier battle feats all the more impressive.

The tight clothes she wore made him think of the ideal club-goer or DJ - her shirt was tight but not too much so, and her jeans were snug around her hips and butt, showing off her curves decently. She was a showmare, so of course she needed to draw in the crowds… seems she already knows just the right way to do that!

A shake of his head followed as he attempted to tear his gaze from her. As alluring as Vinyl looked to him, he didn’t want to spend so much time gawking at the mare… she was hot, plain and simple, so was Lyra! They were both gorgeous mares with bodies that made the women he had seen back home pale in comparison.

Whew… I think it’s getting hot in here. He tugged at his shirt collar and let out a breath. Enough, dammit! This isn’t the time. Gotta focus on the key… the key. Dee reminded himself and started looking again, rummaging through drawers and less-likely locations like wastepaper baskets.

There weren’t many other places to look for things, it was looking like their luck was beginning to run out.

“Blegh, only one place left to check.” Dee grumbled, wandering over to a locker and grabbing onto the handle.

One turn of the handle… but it didn’t pop open immediately, it acted like it was hung on something. He grunted and grabbed the handle with both hands, bracing himself with a foot against the wall and pulling hard.

Suddenly, the door popped open, releasing what was keeping it hung.

It wasn’t pretty.

A body fell out of the locker with a loud - “Raaagh!” His eyes snapped open and he charged out of the locker, leaping at Dee.

Dee did the only thing he could think of.

Yell loudly.

“Ahh shit shit shit!” He stumbled back and tripped over the desk, knocking everything off into the floor, smashing glass and damaging the computer. He flipped over it with a yelp, smashing into the floor soon after as the infected screech once more.

He yanked out his pistol, trying to get a bead on the valet-dressed corpse and fire off a shot. A split second pang of fear of the sound it would make drawing in a hoard made him hesitate… and that hesitation cost him.

The infected jumped over the desk with a yell; mouth wide open and arms stretched out towards him. Dee threw up his arms just in time to catch the bastard, the jarring sensation of having a heavy body fall on top of him hurt his arms but the adrenaline kicking in helped with that.

His injuries however, were sapping what was left of his energy, and his hold on the rabid infected was weakening quicker then he could react.

“Nnnng!” He tried forcing what little energy he had left into holding the infected back, but it was hard! “Gah!”

“D-Dee!?” He heard Lyra’s panicked voice, but she still sounded out of it from the morphine.

Another grunt and he tried getting his leg up under the chest, but he was foiled by that when the infected suddenly swiped at his head, smacking him hard and making him lose focus for just a split second.

A sudden surge of anger rushed through Dee, snarling at the valet, he growled out, “Grrr! Fuck off!” He pulled his head back and with more force then he thought he had in him, he smashed his forehead into that of the infected’s, causing it to yelp and his grip to slacken.

The loosening of his hold gave Dee enough time to get both of his legs up under him and kick him up and behind him into the lockers, sending him sprawling into them with a screech.

He rolled onto his knees and scrambled over to where Vinyl was, who had finally caught wind of what was happening. She rushed over and helped Dee up onto his feet, her eyes wide as she stood in front of him.

“It’s just one, we got thi-” He had started to say before Vinyl shook her head, eyes narrowed and pushing him back a little.

Was she keeping him from fighting?

She poked his forehead with a finger before he could try saying anything else, and he felt his forehead sting. He grunted and put a hand to where she touched and felt something wet, pulling his hand away, he saw blood.

Shit, bastard must have cut me!. he realized, looking back up at the valet who clambered back onto his feet, growling at Vinyl and him. We need to kill this asshole and get out, hell, one of those smaller cars wi- His eyes caught the glint of metal on the valet’s belt, which looked like a pair of keys.

Vinyl suddenly rushed forward, forcing the infected to do the same. She easily ducked a swipe with little effort, countering it with a swift spin and throwing her leg up and around, smashing the heel of her boot right into the valet’s head.

His head snapped down with a screech and just when Dee thought it was over, Vinyl threw out both of her hands… horn lighting up a sickly dark blue color making him back up. Vinyl’s face suddenly contorted into pain, blood running from her nose before a sudden wave of… something blasted out, blasting over the valet’s body causing him to fly up into the wall with a sickening crunch.

Dee swore he saw him crack the wall before going limp on the floor, a gurgling hiss escaping him as he fell still.

Vinyl had decided to take that opportune moment herself to suddenly fall onto her knees, coughing and holding her head.

“Oh shit.” Dee swallowed, pulling his handgun out and going over to her. He knelt down to check her and he saw that her eyes were bloodshot, blood was running down from her muzzle onto her shirt. “Are you okay!?”

She looked woozy and unstable, her legs were shaky and her body swaying.

Shit, whatever she just did took a lot out of her… was that what Lyra meant by their magic not working right? He stood up and rushed over to the valet, kneeling down and flipping over the crushed body to get to the keys. Dee reached down to the belt and plucked them free, grinning when he saw the distinct shape of an ignition key. “Perfect… maybe this is the bank truck key?”

Shaking his head and stowing that away for later, he stuffed the keys into his pocket and went back over to Vinyl and grabbed onto her arm, gently helping her onto her feet. She made some kind of pained breathing noise but was able to stand.

“Okay, just lean on me and we’ll get out of here.” Dee patted her on the shoulder and lifted her up just a bit more, giving her a nod to lean on him. Her head bounced up and down groggily, her face pale with a hint of green tinting her cheeks.

Dee’s face scrunched up and he attempted to carry Vinyl out of the room, hopefully get her to a chair and let her rest for a few moments before they made a dash for the bank truck.

Just a little more. He had to keep moving and keep his head up, Dee knew that. But he also knew his body couldn’t take much more of this, it had been maybe two days? And between his lack of sleep and his mounting injuries, he was starting to feel his reaction times slowing, as well as his energy dropping bit by bit. We have to get out of here!

After getting Vinyl into a chair, Dee pulled out the one handgun with the most rounds left and kept watch while the injured unicorn regained her energy, or tried to.

Vinyl looked so sluggish looking, her eyes were unfocused and her muzzle had blood trickling from it, staining her fur and clothes.

Their magic isn’t working right, so Lyra said… if that’s happening, does that mean it’s also hurting them when they try to use it? If Vinyl’s condition is any indication… He heard a howl in the garage and froze, listening to rapid running footsteps and something smashing. Not a good sign, but they were close; he just needed Vinyl to get into a better state.

A sigh and Dee looked at the keys he now had… it was their only hope right now, all of the keys looked the same and the ones he held looked slightly different from the others, so hopefully these keys were the ones they were looking for.

Only one way to find out! he realized.

Soon enough he saw Vinyl wipe her muzzle on her shirt and take a few deep but shaky breaths, and he saw Lyra groan before sitting up and drawing her friend’s attention, then she did a few hand signs. “Are you okay?” Lyra said aloud.

Vinyl gave a shaky nod, managing to get up out of the chair and stand. Dee had stood and went over to her, giving her a thumbs up and a curious look, the former of which she returned with her own.

He nodded and looked over to Lyra, holding up the key he had found. “I think I found the key, if you guys are ready… I think it’s time we got the fuck out of this hellhole, aye?”

With what was no doubt great effort on her part Lyra was able to stand up, arm still wrapped around her chest where her ribs were. “W-we need to go.”

Dee couldn’t agree more.

The trio soon got ready for the final push out of the hotel. Dee had both handguns prepared for use and managed to find a decent hand weapon, a large wrench hidden away in the back room. Vinyl had taken up her role as Lyra’s temporary steed so that she didn’t have to move much, thus keeping her injuries from getting worse.

Gripping the wrench tightly in his hands, Dee pushed open the door leading back out and prepared himself - mentally and physically. He knew he couldn’t keep going much longer, but he was going to put everything he had into this one last run for safety.

Find the bank truck, and get the hell out of dodge!

A nod to Vinyl and he went out into the parking lot, wrench ready to fend off any of the infected.

He led Vinyl and Lyra away from the office and further into the garage, eyes peeled for the bank truck.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find, it’s a massive block of steel on wheels! He peered up and over some cars and past concrete support columns, still trying desperately to find the vehicle they needed.

A tap on his shoulder startled him and he whipped around, finding Vinyl’s head gesturing to the left, past some vans. On her back, Lyra groaned out, “D-Dee… the t-truck.”

His heart skipped several beats, once when she said that, and several more times when he actually followed their gaze… there it was, parked not too far from where they were hidden from view - a massive vehicle made of nearly twenty tons of light grey armored bulletproof steel, their salvation was so close.

And nothing was in their way!

“Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here.” He told Lyra, making his way towards the truck with only escape in mind.

Dee pulled the key out of his pocket, eyes locked onto the driver’s side door…

The last thing he heard were stomping footsteps to his right, he wasn’t able to react in time… and everything went black for him.

ooo000---000ooo

Lyra’s eyes had gone wide when she saw the massive… creature suddenly come out of nowhere and not only slug Dee, but send him flying into the side into the side of another vehicle, smashing its window and denting the metal.

Dee made no noise once he hit it, he had fallen silent and immediately slumped to the side like a broken doll.

“Dee!” She nearly started choking when she got a good look at the monster.

He was an easily seven feet tall humanoid, comprised almost purely of bulging muscle mass and covered in blood stained clothing that looked like a security guard’s uniform. His shirt was ripped to pieces, exposing a gnarled chest covered in bite marks and tears, even a few ribs could be seen through what skin, muscle and sinew was missing.

Lyra almost gagged.

“S-shit.” Lyra winced as Vinyl let her down onto her feet, freeing up her hands so she could talk to Vinyl. “What is that thing...” She had never seen something so big before, least of all a male.

The only other large male she knew about was Big Mac - and sadly for her (and every other mare) he was incredibly gay.

It didn’t matter now however, the only thing that did matter was that they needed to get past this thing! But how? They couldn’t use their magic!

That didn’t stop her friend from charging at the lumbering beast, “V-Vinyl!” She cried, but the DJ had already ran up to the thing.

Vinyl dodged a slow swipe from the monster, ducking backwards and falling back onto her hands. She pulled her legs back, muscles tightening and with a grunt, she shot up and springboarded her legs out.

Both of the DJ’s legs smashed into the jaw of the massive creature, a loud cracking noise filling the air as he stumbled back. Vinyl was quick to recover from the attack, backflipping away briefly and landing a couple of feet or so away from him.

Damn… I’m glad Vinyl is in good shape. Lyra watched as Vinyl ran at him again. That’s a kickboxer for you; she’s not a good puncher but she’s deadly with those legs! Lyra was no slouch herself when it came to fighting, of course, but she wasn’t in any condition to be of any use right now.

So she had to leave it up to Vinyl, who she knew was a vicious fighter when things got rough.

She saw Vinyl dodge another angry swipe with a forward roll, swiftly countering with a hard strike of her leg to his arm. Lyra heard a loud snap and watched the appendage dangle to the side uselessly, causing the beast to roar in anger.

Vinyl didn’t notice as she spun around on her hands, bringing both of her legs back around to smash into his chest, sending him stumbling back.

The mare jumped back onto her feet and springboarded forward towards the bank truck, slamming her feet into the side and running up before kicking off with a rapid spin.

A loud smash and her leg connected with the beast’s skull, blood flying from his mouth and a few teeth.

“Ung, get him Vee!” Lyra cheered her on, despite the latter obviously not being able to hear anything.

Cheering on a mare beating up a stallion of all things… if they were back home they’d be arrested and charged with assault, along with purposeful endangerment to a male. It made her cringe just to think about… but things were different here, it seemed.

Suddenly her senses were bombarded by a loud explosion and a bright light enveloped the garage briefly like thunder. Lyra yelped and winced from the loud echoing boom, her ears ringing while the sound continued to reverberate throughout the walls and ceiling of the garage interior

In front of her Vinyl was standing stock still, staring up at the male who had stopped moving… for good reason as well.

The top part of his head had come clean off, leaving chunks of skull, blood and something else to dribble down the front of his face like chunky and rotten yogurt. One of his eyes had popped, oozing goo down his cheek.

Lyra’s ear flicked, she heard heavy breathing from where Dee was. She looked over to the young human and saw him standing on shaky legs, blood running down either side of his face and one of his eyes were closed. In his hand, he held one of his firearms, smoke trailed up from the barrel.

“F-fuck you.” He gasped out, letting his arm fall to the side and slumping forward slightly. He coughed up blood onto the concrete, holding his chest yet managing to stand up still.

“D-Dee!” Lyra groaned and rushed over to him, wincing from her injuries. She ignored it in favor of going over to him, where she managed to catch him just before he collapsed completely.

She saw Dee put a hand to his mouth, coughing into it and covering his pale skin in blood. “G-get me to the truck, we have to g-go, now!”

Vinyl had ran over and gently took Dee’s other arm, helping him stand up fully as Lyra nodded, and gave a quick hand sign to the other mare. “To the truck.” She told her and the duo helped the human over to the vehicle.

As they approached the driver’s side door, Dee and Lyra heard a series of loud screeches fill the garage, echoing loudly, their heart rates increasing as they realizes that fresh infected had entered, attracted by the racket and sharp sound of a gunshot.

“Ung,” Dee pulled out the key, quickly breaking free of the two mares and shoving the key into the truck’s door… and he turned it.

A dull thunk sounded and he ripped the door open.

“Get the fuck in!”

ooo000---000ooo

They were everywhere… but he didn’t care, the only thing he care about was getting to the fucking exit and not crashing.

Dee and the two mares had gotten into the bank truck, clambering inside and buckling in as he took the driver’s seat. Thankfully it had a full tank of gas and working headlights, lighting up their way out of the garage’s darkened innards.

He didn’t waste time slamming down on the accelerator and sending the twenty ton monster rolling forward with a roar of its engine. A car was parked out in the way but that didn’t stop him from plowing through it, crushing the front end of it and causing debris to go flying.

The infected? He would have laughed if he didn’t feel like his ribs were shattered.

The armored truck wasn’t going to be stopped by any walking corpses in front of them, specially when said truck was a block of steel going thirty to forty miles per hour.

Any of the monsters in front of them were smashed aside, splattered onto the front like paste and sent flying away. Every turn in the garage he took was leading them to the exit, which was so close now, nothing was going to stop them!

Nothing could, he made sure of that.

Dee’s body was on fire right now, from the fear of the situation, the adrenaline coursing through his veins, and the agonizing pain of his injuries being worsened with the sharp turns and the speed bumps he neglected to slow down for.

A mistake on his part, as it made all of their pain worse and damaged the truck, scraping the metal and denting the top.

He kept driving however, one eye keeping an eye on the signs and watching out for any major hazards like parked cars or blockades keeping them from going further.

“Ung!” Lyra had cried out once they hit another speed bump. “H-how much further?!”

“N-not much further, just a little long - there!” He spotted it, the tunnel leading out. The sweet and bright light of the sun was like a beacon of hope, growing brighter and brighter the closer they got!

Dee’s eyes ached from the light and he slammed on the accelerator, switching to the next gear and driving faster, pushing the truck as fast as it could go!

They smashed through a few infected and shot out into the daylight… or what he thought was daylight.

Once they landed back on the road, Dee wrestled for control of the truck, scraping along the side of luxury sedan as he got a good look at the outside.

The sky was filled with thick clouds, rain falling down in sheets of intense tropical downpour. The wind was blowing sideways from what he could see, all of the trees were being violently pushed over, bent double to the point that some palms looked on the verge of toppling. Even some of the monsters they had fought were being pushed around, some tripping and falling into the pool out front of the hotel.

Even if there was a storm, they were safe inside of the truck.

He slowed down to a more reasonable speed and drove past the wreckage of the police car they had appropriated at the gas station, turning right and heading into the tunnel to the other side.

The slow speed he was driving gave him time to calm his nerves and get his thoughts in order, which was currently as much a maelstrom of chaos as was the weather outside.

Fuck fuck fuck… we barely made it out of there alive. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and took deep calming breaths, mostly to deal with the pain. His body was beaten, badly, and it showed from the blood covering him and the fresh bruises starting to form under his clothes. Think I might have some cracked ribs. , If that’s the case I’m done for a while. Lucky this thing has a full tank, so we’ll get to the tower safely in no time and can even use it more later

Another turn and he kept the truck blazing down the path to the lifeguard tower.

A feeling of elation trickled into the back of his mind, but his near overpowering exhaustion was keeping him from fully enjoying the moment. He was hurting, bad, and Lyra still needed someone with medical knowledge to look her over.

Driving past a bus and running over a hill jostled him from his thoughts, and he winced from the spike of pain filling his body.

“A-are we safe?” Lyra’s voice carried from the backseat, where the mares were sitting, buckled in safely--they’d learned quickly enough about seatbelts, at least.

Dee swerved down the curvy roads leading to the Lifeguard Tower, avoiding cars and the few stray infected that tried getting in their way. “Yeah… I think it’s s-safe to say we’re safe, Lyra.”

He swallowed, tasting blood and bile - he felt woozy and increasingly dizzy, worried he was on the verge of fainting. I can’t keep going… but I can’t pass out now! I gotta keep going, for just a little longer…

ooo000---000ooo

Derpy flew up and over the area she had discovered, carefully inspecting the resort with wide eyes.

On one hand, it was beautiful looking, a large hotel was nearby with pools and bungalows around it, a long stretch of crystal white sand with even more bungalows out on the water, huts and plenty of routes in and out. It looked like a tropical paradise!

On the other hand however… the monsters were here too, all of them wearing beach gear and swimwear; some were even naked. She saw the beasts were everywhere, wandering around in search of fresh meat; something or someone to tear apart like wild animals. In a few cases, they settled for animals; she caught one group snacking on the remains of a dog.

Derpy gulped and held the backpack she was given close to her.

She hoped Dinky was here somewhere, but safe and sound and not being torn apart… or worse, already eaten… by one of the monsters.

Worse still, she might have already become one of the monsters…?

She shivered at the thought. Celestia please, keep her safe. Another hard swallow and she started flying, trying to fight off the exhaustion that was threatening to down her.

It was so strange. She had been flying long distances for close to twenty years, carrying heavy packages from post office to post office and across the whole of Equestria! Flying from house to house, carrying important parcels they needed. She might not have been the fastest flyer - that honor belonged to Rainbow - but she certainly had the endurance for long-distance flying.

Derpy was many things, but she wasn’t no slacker!

Yet, for some reason she was getting incredibly tired now; her wings were straining to keep her up and her energy was getting sapped. Even when she had a sudden idea to rest on a nearby cloud, in hopes she’d be out of view and reach of the monsters below while recuperating, she couldn’t even touch it! Her body passed through it like it was smoke!

Whatever world they were in, pegasi apparently could not control its weather. And as a consequence, she needed to land, and soon.

But where? She wondered, looking around as she started to glide. Flapping her wings was tiring her out, so she opted to glide from the height she was at currently, which was pretty far up as she was able to see the whole resort and then some.

As she searched the area with her keen eyes, she ended up spotting a familiar face far down, standing in a small parking lot and seemingly yelling at one of those odd ape like creatures was Rainbow Dash!

“Hey!” She smiled and the mare would have started going down further had her eyes not caught sight of something moving rather fast down the road. “Huh?” Derpy paused briefly, eyeing the strange object…

It looked like on of those odd carriages the ape-like creatures drove, but much bigger and blocky shaped, it also appeared to be covered in a lot of blood.

Oh, no. Shaking her head, she switched her gaze back to where Rainbow was… and headed that way.

ooo000---000ooo

Luckily for Dee, it didn’t take much longer before they turned down the final curve to the tower, and there he saw it… the end of the road and the tower on the far left, along with its walls and the satellite dish on top. He slowed the truck down to a near crawl when he saw non-infected humans behind improvised barricades and every one of them looked like they weren’t going to let them in. But after determining he wasn’t infected, they let him pass. He turned the wheel and drove forward at a much more sedate speed once the gate opened up, and inside he saw a pair of pickup trucks parked off to the side tended by mechanics, who glanced up see the new arrival with smiles, appreciating the powerful new vehicle being added to their inventory.

Once the truck stopped and the gate closed behind them, he turned the truck off and leaned back, dizziness and pain filling his form. “Finally...” He groaned and pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened up the door, climbing out carefully and trying not to fall.

He tripped on his own foot though, sending him falling forward with a yelp.

Shit! He tried to brace himself, but it was hopeless.

However, he hit something else entirely - or rather, a pair of very soft somethings and felt someone’s arms wrap around him.

“Huh…? Dee grunted and felt his legs shake, unable to stand - he was just too weak.

“Whoa there, Dee?” He heard Rainbow’s voice, and the belated realization of where his face was firmly planted caused his ears to burn, feeling suddenly very disinclined to move. “You’re alive!”

He held back a cough, not wanting to stain Rainbow’s clothing with his blood anymore then he already was. “Y-yeah.” He murmured, struggling to stand with what little energy he had left in him.

When he was able to stand, his realization was only proven more concrete… he had landed first face into Rainbow’s chest, covering her shirt in the remnants of the blood on his face. He figured she’d be grossed out by it, but her eyes told him differently - he only saw concern and curiosity in them.

“A-are Lyra and Vinyl…?” She started as the door to the truck opened behind him.

He shook his head, leaning back against the truck. “N-no, they’re alright… we all made it out alive.” That was something he was glad about… making it out alive with the two alive and well, if only bruised and scuffed up.

Rainbow’s features relaxed and she let out a huge breath before gently slapping Dee on the shoulder, even giving him a grin. “Glad you’re alright, Dee.”

He nodded and shot a hand to his mouth, coughing into it. “Y-yeah.” Finally… we can fucking rest.

A voice - a completely new voice to Dee - suddenly made itself known, yelling from above, “Hey! Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow’s head shot up and she looked into the sky, then she broke out into a wide smile, “Derpy! You’re safe!”

Derpy? He blinked and managed to push himself off of the truck as Rainbow ran over to greet the mare in question, easily recognizable by her grey coat and blond mane under which peered her namesake eyes.

He wasn’t paying much attention to it however, instead he found himself looking at the group of human survivors who were talking amongst themselves, some looking at the truck in awe and at him, while others were sending looks that ranged from curious to outright hostile at the mares.

Hopefully no one starts anything… I need to rest, Christ. He leaned against the front corner of the truck and held his side, wincing.

“So… you’re the human Rainbow told us about?” Another voice spoke up to his side, and he saw a familiar and unexpected face approach him.

A mare about as tall as he was and colored a distinct shade of grey with lighter colored grey hair, and a pair of apple green eyes. She was clad in bloodied clothing and holding a hatchet, and looked both tired and pissed off.

Even in an anthro form, he recognized her instantly as both Pinkie Pie’s sister and a pony you did not want to anger in any way, shape or form…

Limestone Pie.

“I… I guess?” Dee shrugged, clearing his throat as the rain continued falling down, having turned into a light downpour. “I’m… Dee…” he at least managed to introduce himself, still leaning on Rainbow heavily, feeling the increasing torrent soak into his clothes and skin.

He didn’t care… it felt nice compared to everything else.

Behind Limestone he saw yet another familiar pony, identifying her by her mane and coat colors to say nothing of her mousy demeanor, it was Marble Pie! Unlike her sister, she looked very nervous and frightened… the poor girl.

Rainbow, Derpy, Dinky, Limestone, Marble, Lyra, AND Vinyl? Who else do I know that’s here from Equestria?

Dee put a hand to his woozy head and turned to Rainbow and Derpy, the duo looking like they were talking about something. He didn’t know what. At the truck, Vinyl was helping Lyra step out and over to the building.

He breathed a sigh of relief…

That relief was destroyed upon hearing, “So you’re alive after all, well whaddya know.”

The hairs on the back of Dee’s neck stood on end when that voice registered with him, and he turned around and spotted the lifeguard… Liam, standing not too far from him, holding his bloodied baseball bat.

“...Yeah, I’m alive,” He narrowed his eyes, staring past Limestone. “Sorry to disappoint, you didn’t hit as hard as you wanted.”

Liam’s face scrunched up and he scowled, eyes locked onto Dee’s own. The two stared down one another as the rain fell, fists clenched and everything falling silent around them.

“You know this prick?” Limestone asked him, turning to face Dee.

“Unfortunately,” Dee muttered, wiping his brow - which felt sticky with blood and sweat. “We were at the gas station not too far from here… we had an… disagreement that led to use getting separated.” And the shit kicked out of me, and almost dying.

Someone approached him from behind and spoke up, “He made it here after we cleared out the tower with some other survivors,” Rainbow told Dee, voice quiet. “Showed up and tried to get us kicked out.”

“Tried? I’m still trying to get you out of here you damn freak!” Liam yelled, pointing his bat at Dee and the mares.

Dee looked to his left, and he saw the Pie sisters, Lyra and Vinyl, and to his right, Derpy and Rainbow, with him in the middle. He growled and looked back to Liam, “They’re trying to survive, just like you and me, dirtbag.”

“They all attacked me and my group!” Liam suddenly yelled, eyes wide and furious looking, the veins on his neck and forehead looked ready to pop just about. “Forced themselves into our hideout and got my people killed! My family barely made it out of there alive!”

“We did not attack you! We were trying to find a place to hide!” Rainbow retaliated, stepping in front of Dee along with Limestone - he figured it was to protect him from Liam. Considering what happened at the station, he didn’t blame her. “You’re the one who wouldn’t stop calling us monsters and trying to get us killed!”

Dee heard Lyra pipe up next from where she was, saying, “We don’t want to hurt anyone, we j-just want to rest and get away from those monsters, p-please! W-we’re not dangerous!”

Liam swung his bat, clenching a fist and shaking, “Goddamn lies! If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have lost so many people!”

Dee had had enough and glared at them. “You almost got me and everyone else killed, you bastard! Both your group and mine!” He swiped an hand through the air, vaguely gesturing to the mares behind him, “None of us want to kill or hurt anyone! Yeah, we found that damn gas station and forced our way in, but what did you expect? For us to stay outside and get eaten?! Hell no!” he screamed, causing everyone to stare at them, “We weren’t going to stay outside and get turned into zombie food!”

Liam growled, looking like he was recoiling, “You should have gone somewhere else!” He shook his bat around and flung his hair back.

“There was nowhere else to go! We had to take shelter there!” Dee coughed and hunched over, blood covering his hands again. “Grk… fuck.”

He felt someone place their hands on his shoulders and pull him back, “Dee, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine, just fucked up from g-getting out of the hotel.” He wiped his mouth and stood up again, shrugging off her hands.

“Just back off, you dumbass,” Limestone grumbled, looking over to the lifeguard. “Shit’s past and we’re all here to stay, whether you like it or not.”

Liam growled as several people began leaving, seemingly losing interest in the conversation. “Grrr!”

Someone else piped up from the crowd, “Just let it go, man. We got other things to worry about.”

Still standing in the middle of the crowd, Dee held his stomach and chest with his arms, standing his ground despite the pain he was in. He wasn’t backing down from this… he knew they had gotten some people killed, but it was heat of the moment and he didn’t like the fact…

But he didn’t like the idea of dying either, and survival took precedence over hesitation.

“Damn freaks,” The lifeguard scoffed and gripped his bat, sneering at them… specially Rainbow. “And you’re the biggest freak!”

That got on Rainbow’s nerves, from what Dee could hear in front of him. “Hey! I don’t care if you are a stallion! You mess with him, you’re messing with me! So shut your damn mouth or I’ll fucking shut it for you!”

“Oh yeah? Make me, you rainbow haired cunt!” Liem stepped forward with his bat, his eyes glaring straight at them. “Time to teach you a lesson, but first, I’m kicking your ass!” He yelled at Dee.

F-fuck, I can’t fight like this!

Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to.

With Limestone and Rainbow were in front of him, Liem would have to go through both of them to get to him.

It wasn’t until Liem swung his bat that the fight swiftly began.

Dee was barely able to hold himself up, but he managed to keep himself standing long enough to watch Limestone sidestep the bat alongside Rainbow, the latter spreading her wings and kicking off of the ground, taking flight as the bat hit the ground.

Limestone was quick to act when Liem swung again, he aimed for the earth pony’s stomach or maybe her legs even. But she merely jumped back from it, and once Liem hit the ground, tripping over his own two feet she rushed in and grabbed onto his bat.

“Gah! Cunt!” Liem yelled, trying in desperation to keep his bat, but his strength was no match for the mare. She easily wrenched it from his grasp and held it away from him, and before he could even think about getting it back, she slammed the side of it against her knee and caused it to snap in two, sending splinters flying. “Y-you… you freak!”

He got up onto his feet and ran at her, fists balled up tightly and arm pulled back to deliver a punch.

Dee watched as he was foiled once Rainbow swooped in on Liem’s blind side, and she delivered three swift kicks against him, two to the shoulder and one to the head that sent him stumbling to the side. Just when Dee thought the duo was done, Limestone came in from the other side when Liem was dazed, and she brought out her arm.

Limestone’s arm connected with Liem’s neck, his eyes bulged out and a pained wheeze escaped the man once she struck him, sending him flying backwards and skidding across the pavement past a dozen or so onlookers. Once he stopped, he coughed up blood and didn’t move much after that, at least until his friend came over to check on him.

After that small fight, Dee saw that everyone was staring at the two mares with wide awestruck gazes. The whole area had grown silent after that, no one said or did anything save for George and Liem, the latter coughing up blood and spewing curse after curse.

Rainbow and Limestone just glared towards the lifeguard, causing those in their line of sight to move out of the way. “Don’t fuck with us again, you prick.” Rainbow spat, “And don’t fuck with him again, or you’re gonna get more than just your ass kicked.”

It didn’t take much longer until Dee’s breathing slowed down, and he gave both of them a thumbs up before his vision distorted again and he felt weightless.

Before he finally met with the ground, he had one final thought.

Yep, I’m in love...