Vacation

The medical trunk was in sight, and both mares knew they needed to acquire it for the lifeguard tower. The truck itself had been demolished in the front, where a four door sedan had plowed into it and crushed not only the engine compartment, but the cab and killing the driver inside. A few undead roamed around aimlessly, but other than that, the path there was clear.

Rainbow went down first, armed with her paddle with Limestone closing in behind. The duo reached the bottom and hid behind a bus bench, appraising the situation before formulating their plan.

“I’ll carry it back to the lifeguard tower.” Limestone was quick to take on the task.

Rainbow nodded and twirled her paddle around a few times. She took a moment to psych herself up for the fight ahead. She wasn’t too keen on the killing aspect--it was completely against the ideals of Friendship and Harmony, and she could scarcely imagine what Twilight would say to what she was about to do. But after what happened at the Tower with Dinky, and how she had to fight off the undead by herself...

As much as she hated it, a part of her was growing accustomed to the fighting and even starting to relish it. And that thought disturbed her most of all.

Rainbow held up three fingers and slowly peered out, and saw a couple of infected next to the truck, around the front end and ripping apart a body. It was a grisly sight, but having seen it several dozen times already, she was able to steel herself and not get nauseous.

She counted down to two and gripped her paddle, tightly.

Once she reached one, she immediately bolted out into the open and ran at the first infected, prepared to take them down as swiftly as she could. Behind her, Limestone covered the rear with her hatchet and made a beeline for the trunk.

Sensing her approach, the first infected turned and made a threatening growl before lunging right at her, arms outstretched and mouth open wide at the prospect of fresh meat.

But Rainbow was quick to react; with her paddle raised, she pulled back and planted her foot forward, swinging her weapon in a broad downward arc while using her wings to add force to the strike.

The wooden instrument struck with enough force to produce a dull thunk noise, and cause a split to appear atop the undead’s head. Half-coagulated blood oozed out and it looked dazed for a moment, knocked to its knees.

Recognizing the advantage was hers, Rainbow quickly followed up and swing the paddle a second time, bringing it back around and smashing it right into the creature’s head, knocking it askew as the second infected finally began to move.

To her side, Limestone quickly approached and forgot about the trunk for a moment to assist Rainbow. Twirling her hatchet, she moved past the pegasus as she brought her paddle down again on her second target. She wasn’t as successful this time, as the paddle only scored a glancing blow off the shoulder, but her earth pony friend took advantage of the distraction, blindsiding it as its attention was focused on Rainbow.

Having learned from experience that hesitation could be fatal and it not being in her nature to hold back anyway, Limestone didn’t even hesitate to strike the other infected; she swung up with her hatchet to hit him in the chin with all her force, cleaving its jaw and the lower half of its skull neatly in two as she quickly followed up with a front kick.

The resulting blows split the beast’s head open entirely, and sent him flying back into one of the cars. A nasty sounding crack once his head hit the windshield and blood splattered across the glass, and slowly began to flow down towards the hood.

Turning around, she found Rainbow dealing a finishing blow to her own undead. The former human was on the ground, laid up against the lifeguard truck and bleeding from numerous head wounds up until Rainbow struck him once again, finally breaking her paddle.

Breathing heavily, Rainbow tossed aside the stick she was holding and stepped back. She wiped her mouth, and from what Limestone could see, she was trembling slightly.

“S-shit...” Rainbow swallowed hard and shook her head as Limestone putting a steadying arm around her waist. “I don’t know if I can ever get used to that...”

“I’d be worried if you did,” she said as she helped Rainbow against the side of a vehicle, and then went over to the truck. She jumped into the back of it and knelt down to open up the medical trunk. “I don’t think any of us want to, but we will the longer we stay here.”

Rainbow turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Whaddya mean?”

After unclasping the locks, she lifted up the lid and smiled as she found the promised medical supplies sitting inside, untouched. “This whole island is fucked, Rainbow… there’s no way this thing hasn’t spread all around.” She eyeballed Rainbow and locked up the trunk. “The longer we stay here, the more we’re going to have to fight, and the easier it’s going to get… until we’re numb to it.”

Rainbow felt her stomach turn over at the thought of becoming numb to this; murder. But was it murder? She looked at the bodies off to the side, and it felt sickening to see such a sight, the grisly gore and blood staining the concrete. She still felt grossed out by it, but… was Limestone right?

Would she really start paying it no notice the more they lingered on the island? And if so, what would that mean even if they finally a way back home?

Unaware of her friend’s thoughts, Limestone eventually dragged the trunk out of the back and onto her back, before jumping out of the truck and landing with ease despite her load. Even minus the bulk of her earth pony magic, she was still an incredibly strong mare, and was able to heft up the trunk without issue.

It was then Rainbow noticed the muscles in her arms and shoulders bulging slightly. It wasn’t unseemly or overly noticeable, but she could see all of the work she did on the Pie Farm harvesting rocks really did improve her body a lot; she seemed to be nearly on Applejack’s level of strength.

She was impressed.

“Alright, let’s get moving.” Limestone grumbled and adjusted her hold on the trunk. “The sooner we get this back, the better.”

“Right.” Armed with only a crude spear in the form of a thick and sharpened stick--someone else’s discarded weapon, she guessed as she picked it up off the road, she clutched it nervously and led the way for Limestone, and kept her eyes peeled on the road ahead. They had the medical supplies now, which took a load off her shoulders.

She just hoped this would put them in a better light with the other survivors… once they got back.

ooo000---000ooo

Dee grumbled as he sat up on the bed, arms crossed and glaring at the mare next to him, who likewise glared at him in return.

“I feel fine, Lyra,” he explained as he rolled his hand in the air and gave her a general ‘It’s all good’ expression. “Honest.”

Lyra just crossed her arms under her bust, and ended up lifting it slightly. “I still don’t want to risk it… you got hurt really badly, ya know.”

Dee couldn’t stop the sigh of exasperation that escaped his lips; he enjoyed Lyra’s presence, to say nothing of the fact she seemed to have some actual interest in him, but having her treat him like a child was still a bit demeaning. “Lyra, h-honestly… I’m fine, I promise. My head doesn’t hurt, my leg stings but I’m sure I can walk… I just wanna go outside for a bit and get some air. It’s stuffy as hell in here.” It also didn’t help that he was beginning to get a bit of cabin fever.

The mare was ever watchful when he woke up, and she almost seemed to contemplate it. “Mmm.”

“Getting out might be helpful,” Jack spoke up from the desk, where he was sitting and nursing a bottle of something, a closer look revealed it was a bottle of expensive alcohol; he was reserving the cheap stuff for antiseptic purposes. “If you can move and stay with your group, we could use the free bed. Not all of my patients need to be on the floor.” He sounded a bit aggravated at that, but who could blame him given what he had to work with?

That just gave Dee all the more reason to sit up and rip the covers from the bed.

Doing so revealed he was wearing only boxers and covered in bandages. His chest, arm, and his leg where he had been shot. He grumbled and looked to Lyra, whose eyes drifted downward a bit.

His cheeks burned and he grumbled again. “What happened to my clothes?”

“They were uh… i-in the way of the bandages, needed to take em off to take care of ya!” Lyra told him with a bright and sheepish smile, though the blush on her cheeks betrayed her ‘true motives.’

“...Uh huh, gimme.” Dee made a grabbin’ motion with his fingers and hands, and Lyra just chuckled before going to the bag next to her to retrieve them.

After some searching, Lyra reappeared with a pair of jeans and a plain looking polo shirt for Dee, which he was slow to put on. She helped him get dressed, and during it, he felt her get ever so handsy with him, her hands roaming over his chest and ‘flanks’ repeatedly.

Oddly enough, he found he didn’t mind that much, and his annoyance at her quickly ebbed.

Finally dressed and able to move, he slowly moved away from the bed with Lyra’s aid, with the unicorn mare keeping a hand on his arm and her arm around his waist. His leg stung when he put weight on it, causing him to give one involuntary hiss, but it didn’t hurt to the point the couldn’t move.

He had dealt with far worse pain over the course of his stay; this was quite manageable in comparison.

With a few more halting steps, his abused limbs slowly got used to moving again. He found, to his relief, that his body didn’t ache as bad; the painkillers he had been given worked wonders and were still in effect for the time being.

With a deep breath, he moved past Lyra and began his somewhat painful trek out of the room. Lyra dropped off their bags with Derpy, who was still by a sickly Dinky’s side. She didn’t pay the duo any heed… didn’t even notice Dee’s pitying look.

Heading out of the room with Lyra close behind, ready to catch him in an instant if he fell, he passed by Vinyl, who was resting by a tree, quick to raise an eyebrow at both him and Lyra.

“I’m fine, honest.” He gave her a thumbs up, and despite the worried look in her red eyes, a quick confirmation from Lyra via sign language that he noticed was enough to let Vinyl rest easy.

The inside of the Lifeguard Tower was filled with survivors, blood stains, and random papers, magazines, and bags brought in by the survivors. He spotted some supplies around; cans of food, bottles of water and energy drinks, and some candy bars. Some of the survivors were in the other room, conversing with each other, mostly complaining about what was going on and what they were going to do now.

A few of them gave him and Lyra looks that ranged from mildly curious to outright hostile, ones he did his best to ignore as he limped his way outside into the sunny tropical weather.

A few more survivors were outside, one working on the red pickup truck nearby, another staring at a pile of bodies off to the side, covered by a tarp that did little to keep the flies away. He also saw Sinamoi standing nearby, with Marble gazing off into the ocean. “Well, at least he’s accepted Marble…” he noted to himself, taking it as a good sign.

The sun out, he was glad to see after several days of storms, and from where it was in the sky he figured it to be around noon-ish or so.

He soaked it in for a bit before giving a sigh, at which point he wandered over to a nearby bench and sat down. “Bah… fucking hell.”

Though surprised, Lyra was quick to sit down next to him, plopping down and placing her hands on either side of her. She turned to look him in the eyes and tilted her head. “What’s up?”

He vaguely swung his hand around the area. “Just this whole situation is fucking… aggravating to me.“ The bank truck caught his eye, and the splattered remains of infected on the front. He wrinkled his nose.

“Aggravating?” Lyra repeated. “I guess that’s one word for it…”

“Well, yeah. Death around every corner, trapped in this damn lifeguard tower with that… rat bastard, Liam.” He frowned and looked up at the second floor, where he could see the aforementioned man himself, talking with a small group of people. “I owe half my wounds to him. He’s trying to round up people to get us kicked out, I know it… and if he gets enough people scared, we might not have a choice.”

Fear was a strong motivating factor for a lot of people, if you knew how to use it that is.

Lyra frowned and leaned forward, before cupping her hands together. “I hope he doesn’t. I don’t think we can move Dinky just yet. She’s still hurt pretty badly, and we need more medical supplies to treat her wounds.” Her ears folded back and she shot a sideways glance towards Dee. “She still hasn’t woken up yet… and I’m not the only one who’s worried about the bite.”

The bite, he remembered. Dee frowned and leaned back, letting the warm tropical air wash over him as he began to think.

The infection was transmitted through bites, typical of situations like this, fluid transmission. There were infected ponies as well, from what he learned from Rainbow and Lyra, their airship crashed due to the infection getting on board somehow, and turning them into the monsters that surrounded them on all sides.

He also remembered that there was a good chance they were immune to the effects of the virus, if only because of certain blood traits, such as being O-Positive or something along those lines. Which meant anyone infected by the virus wouldn’t turn… or at least that’s the reasoning he had.

The memory of the end of Dead Island: Riptide entered his mind, where the heroes who had been bitten dozens of times and were immune began to experience side effects of the virus in their system, either finally becoming infected, or mutating into something else entirely, he wasn’t sure.

Dinky? He couldn’t even begin to wonder if she would remain uninfected, or if she would turn or not. He had no idea how pony bodies worked relative to humans… but if they could get infected, they would find out in due time.

“I know, but we can’t do anything about it right now, unfortunately.” He was sorry to say that, and he let it be known. “We have nothing to counteract the virus, and no way to get anything even if it did exist. Time isn’t on our side here...”

Lyra frowned deeper and ran a hand through her long mane. “Damn it… I hope she doesn’t turn, I… I don’t think Derpy can handle that, not now. She’s already lost her once, in effect, and if her foal actually dies...”

He grimaced at that. “I don’t know what to do, Lyra… I’m sorry.” Dee murmured and glanced away. “I wish there was something, but… all I can do is offer the gun Vinyl has for a quick and hopefully painless end if it comes down to it.” After a moment, he finally turned back to Lyra, who grimaced as well but also didn’t tell him not to. “If she does, the whole tower isn’t going to let us keep her here, there’ll be panic… people are already scared out of their minds, and Liam’s trying to use that against us.”

His greatest fear was not only Dinky turning, but all of them being thrown out and forced to survive without a safe place to go.

He wasn’t ready to be thrown out because of one of their own being infected.

Dee cast a long hard look at Liam up above, and this time, he sensed the stare and returned it. The malice in his gaze was almost palpable, and Lyra shared his feelings.

None of their group particularly liked the man, it wasn’t hard to see why.

“Open the gate!” Someone yelled from the front, drawing their attention away from unsavory things.

Lyra and Dee looked towards the gate, and they saw Rainbow - armed with a broken and bloody stick trying to get the gate open. Behind her, Limestone was carrying a large metal trunk on her back. She looked less tired than annoyed at having to carry it.

Lyra was quick to rush over, alongside Marble and a couple of others, who pulled open the gate and allowed the duo to come back within the safety of the walls.

Dee struggled for a few moments to stand, and he managed before he hobbled over to the group.

“We found the medical supplies up the road,” Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief as a few other human survivors came over and to the large trunk.

Lyra knelt down and unlocked the clasps, and popped it open to reveal several first aid kits, rolls upon rolls of bandages and gauze, healing salves, boxes of bandaids, and other medical items for healing burns and minor to moderate injuries. Most important, a dozen or so bottles of pain medication and antiseptics. Nothing quite extreme, but enough to ease the immediate worries of everyone in the tower.

“Well whaddya know, the horses pulled it off.” One of the men mentioned, looking down at the trunk with a look of awe in his eyes.

“Ponies.” Lyra glared up at him before turning to glare up at the man. “We’re ponies, not horses.” She emphasized and stood up.

“That should be enough to help the others inside...” The other of the humans muttered and looked to Rainbow and Limestone, and with a smile he nodded. “You guys really pulled it off, thank you.”

Rainbow flicked her nose with a finger and grinned. “Heh, well… couldn’t have done it without Limestone’s help, she did most of the work.”

At the mention of her name, Limestone just grunted as Marble ran up and leaped at her, practically squoze the life out of her.

It was an amusing sight to behold for Dee, seeing the toughest pie family member being doted on by the silent and adorable Marble.

The sound of approaching footsteps got Dee’s attention, and Sinamoi appeared in the corner of his vision. He walked over to the trunk and peered inside, and his eyes practically lit up at the first aid kits and other supplies inside.

“Goddamn, you two actually pulled it off and found the supplies, more than enough.” Sinamoi’s voice was filled with equal parts praise and relief.

Dee could only wonder how much these supplies would help the lifeguard tower. With how many injured people there were inside, they would need medical treatment - nothing requiring a hospital, but something to get them back up on their feet and to recovery.

He allowed himself a moment to relax as he wandered back over to the bench and sat down. He needed to let his leg rest for a bit longer, he figured.

“Looks like shit won’t be completely lost after all, heh.” He muttered and looked out towards the ocean.

Even from where he was sitting, he could make out the distant city nearby - whether or not it was Moresby remained to be seen. And even more important, was the island that housed the most dangerous criminals on the whole island, Banoi Max Security Prison.

Salvation awaited them all there. A helicopter that could hopefully get them off the island and to safety, assuming things played out the way he hoped--played out the way the game did, he corrected himself.

“H-hey, Dee.” Rainbow’s voice brought him out of his thought process.

He turned to face Rainbow, who had opted to take a seat next to him. Aside from the blood covering her pants, she looked relatively unharmed and in good health. Her eyes… betrayed how she really felt; they were near pinpricks, and her body was shaky.

“Hey yourself.” He offered her a small smile and a pat on the back, right below her wing. “So uh… how was the trip?”

She swallowed and turned her gaze to the ground. “W-well… we ended up taking the long way around, ran into a massive… horde of those things that chased us back to the hotel.” She explained as Dee listened with rapt attention, not immediately hearing anything in her description of events that would cause her reaction. “After we lost ‘em, we looped around the road and… we found survivors.” Her tremor got worse.

“Wait, really?” He hadn’t seen or heard of any new survivors arriving.

“Yeah, but we couldn’t do anything for them...” Rainbow’s voice dropped. “They were trapped in a gas station like we were, windows boarded up, door blocked off, but there were so many of them… just completely blocking any escape route out of there!” Tears welled in her eyes as she finished.

With that, he understood. When she mentioned the gas station, he knew exactly where they had been—near the lighthouse to the north, where another survivor encampment was holed up; survivors who split off from Sinamoi’s group and formed their own hideout. “So you left them?”

She nodded jerkily, her guilt etched all over her face. “Limestone and I just left them there, kept moving until we found the truck… and made it back here. We got the supplies, but...” the rest went unspoken.

“Rainbow.” Dee rested his hand gently on her shoulder, ignoring the pain in his side to speak. “With shit like this going on, it’s hard to know when you’re gonna make a right or wrong decision,” He started off delicately, waiting until she turned to glance his way. “Most of the time, and as horrible as this is going to sound… you just have to look out for yourself. There’s honestly not much you can do for them if there were that many, and if you’d tried, you’d’ve been killed. Or worse, become one of them.” He didn’t even want to think of what he would do if faced with an infected Rainbow.

Rainbow’s face contorted and she looked down at her hands, eyes flicking across the fingertips as she considered his words. “I… w-well maybe… there had to have been something I could have done.”

Dee patted her on the shoulder and just muttered. “We could sit here all day and wonder about the what ifs, but—” He paused as pain flared up, he grunted but managed to continue, earning him a concerned look. “—right now, we got other things to worry about.” Dee tapped her shoulder and got her attention, then gestured with his head towards Liam who was on the second floor.

The lifeguard was glaring down at the group surrounding the trunk of medical supplies. His own group stood beside him and they were talking; about what, neither of them could tell, they were too far away.

It wasn’t long before Liam’s eyes drifted towards the duo. Dee scowled as the pain from earlier in the week flared up again. Next to him, Rainbow glared right back and flipped him the bird, and kept it up for a good long while, causing Dee to smile--no matter what she was feeling inside, Rainbow was still Rainbow.

Eventually, the voice of Sinamoi caused Rainbow to put her hand down. “Hey,” he called as he walked over to them. “About the supplies you brought.”

Clearing her throat, Rainbow looked up at him. “Yeah?” She was still kinda fidgety, either from being caught flipping Liam the bird, or from what she had to do to get back here, either way, Sinamoi either didn’t seem to notice or saw fit to let it go.

“You two really pulled through for all of us here,” Sinamoi told her. “Risked your lives to help the people here. Lot of rumors going around that you can’t be trusted because of what you are, and we should just kick you out,” That got Rainbow’s face to screw up, but Sinamoi held up a hand. “But I’m not one of them. Far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter who or what you are—if you’re willing to do that, you’re good in my book.”

Sinamoi looked towards Dee next and drew his attention to him, “and so are you,” He looked back towards the bank truck currently sitting, waiting to be used again. “Bringing that bank truck here has given me some ideas.”

“Really?” Dee rose an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Sinamoi told him and looked around the tower. “We have a lot of people here, and our food supplies aren’t going to last long.” His voice grew quieter when he mentioned that, and it wasn’t long before the gate opened up again. “If we don’t get any outside help soon… I don’t want to think of what might happen.”

Dee sniffed and spoke up, “things will be alright, long as we’re careful and think things out carefully.” He told Sinamoi and Rainbow, who turned towards him. “That’s the one thing we have that those monsters outside don’t… minds and the ability to use them. We’re still alive and have the brains to keep it that way.” He nodded and stood up slowly, and groaned at the renewed pain in his joints. “We just have to keep it that way for as long as we can until we get off this damn island. And if that means a few more supply runs like the ones Rainbow here just launched, then so be it. She proved we can do it.”

He absently but affectionately laid a hand on her leg and squeezed, then froze for a moment, worried about her reaction. She looked surprised, but pleased, accepting his comfort for what it was--he truly didn’t mean it anything more than that just then--and squeezed it back, holding his hand in hers for a moment, taking what strength she could from him, surprised yet again that this strange stallion was taking the role a mare normally did--no matter how many times she saw the behavior, she still wasn’t used to it, but she was quickly deciding she liked it.

You know, if he was really was a stallion, I might just… she squeezed his hand back and was surprised to sense a sudden warmth and wetness between her legs.

Regardless, she knew it wasn’t the time to explore such thoughts no matter how easily this exotic male seemed to be working his way into her thoughts. The thought of making additional supply runs was disconcerting; she didn’t relish the idea of going back out again, while Sinamoi crossed his arms with a sigh.

“Right, well… hopefully rescue will be coming soon, because I’m not sure how much longer people can take living like this.” He paused and looked out across the ocean before speaking again. “I have a radio I’m trying to fix up, but until we can replace something with the satellite dish, we’re not gonna be able to have much luck.”

“Right.” Dee understood perfect that without the radio in good working order, any chance of contacting the outside world…

Is lost.

ooo000---000ooo

After the medical supplies had been brought back, several of the injured survivors were able to get slightly better treatment than before, thanks to the efforts of Rainbow and Limestone, who Sinamoi made a point of thanking publicly, letting everyone know what they had done. They got a bit of good rep for it and no one glared at them as hard as before, though a few, like Liam, remained stubborn in their distrust of the alien ponies.

The group of ponies and their one true human friend had retreated for now within the confines of the Lifeguard Tower, safe behind the walls and away from prying eyes inside of the garage. All that was inside was a workbench, and a single red pickup truck that was being worked on by someone who wasn’t there at the moment, allowing them to speak in private.

Rainbow, Marble, Limestone, Lyra, and Dee all stood in a circle save for the latter who was sitting down on a crate and resting.

“How bad is it out there?” Lyra asked, turning to the duo who had gone out.

“It’s bad… really bad.” Rainbow fell back and rested against the wall, and threw her arms together as to ward off a chill. “We ran into a massive horde of those things on our way to the truck, they chased us back to the hotel and bungalows nearby, we had to loop around through the hotel and along another road to lose them...”

“Those things are everywhere,” Limestone growled and kicked an empty can across the floor with her boot. “And one of them… when we were out front of the hotel, one of those fucking things blew up when I got close to it!”

Lyra’s eyes went wide. “B-blew up? What do you mean it blew up?” she asked with a look towards Dee, who she noticed was staring at Limestone, before turning her attention back to her earth pony friend.

“Yeah. And before that, the damn thing was… it was talking!” The normally hard-bitten Limestone showed a brief moment of unease; she clutched her arm and snorted. Marble came to her side and hugged her hard, Lime didn’t fight her on it. “Asked me to help it…”

“That’s fucked up.” Dee murmured quietly, as his mind filled with the image of the creature she described… one he was all too familiar with from the game. “First the walkers, now the runners… now there’s the exploding ones, not good.”

Everyone turned their attention to Dee, and Rainbow was the first to ask. “What’s up?”

Dee answered carefully, still not wanting to give away that his knowledge of this place actually came from a video game he’d played in the past. “This virus, or whatever it is… it’s evolving. As it spreads, it’s not only turning people and ponies into monsters,” Dee placed his hands on his knees and looked up at the mares in front of him. “But different kinds of monsters. Maybe it’s just a question of being infected long enough, but they’re mutating, and becoming more dangerous for it.” He held up a finger and added, “If that keeps happening, we’re going to have more than just Walkers and Runners on our hands.”

“M-mutating?” Lyra gulped and suddenly hugged herself with a shiver. She looked particularly disturbed by that. “Like, mutating how?”

“Limestone just said one of them blew up? That’s not something humans do; not naturally anyway.” He cupped his chin and thought about the creature some more, the Suicider from what he could recall from the in-game lore. “I don’t one hundred percent know how the virus works, but from what I can think of off the top of my head, it’s changing the body from the inside… turning them into something more than just… zombies.”

“Jeez, so you mean there’ll be more of those… explody ones?” Rainbow looked outside, and saw some people moving around.

“Maybe more than just them, hell… the body is fucking weird,” He gestured to himself, lifting up a shirt and exposing his pale skin. “The virus is changing people based on a bunch of different things, I imagine, like the size of someone, their amount of muscle… hell, maybe even some health problems could be turning them into something else. There are a ton of potential factors to consider, and we don’t know how this virus works, except for one simple fact:

“Like any virus, its purpose is to spread itself further, and it converts its hosts into forms that help facilitate that. One that calls to its victims with a human voice to lure them in close and then explode, wounding their victims and showering them with additional virus in the process would certainly do the job,” he concluded as the others listened to him in horror.

“That’s fucked up…” was all Rainbow could immediately see, scarcely able to imagine a magical curse back on their own world that could do such a thing.

Lyra shared the same thoughts, though she kept hers to herself. He’s calling it a virus, but is this thing actually a curse with magical roots given it seemed to hit our world as well? she couldn’t help but wonder. We don’t know on which world it started given it seemed to hit both at once, but if it’s ours, is it even possible that there could be a magical cure…?

Limestone and Marble looked equally uncomfortable at the suggested explanation, when the full weight of it hit them. The idea of a virus, magical or otherwise changing someone into something even more terrifying than a walking or running corpse was just… unreal. And something far beyond their experience or worse fears.

“Dinky…?” A softer voice spoke up from beside Limestone; it was Marble, who was hiding in her sweater, having pulled up the collar around her muzzle.

Dee frowned and turned his attention towards the door. He hadn’t talked with Derpy at all since everyone had met back up after last week’s events, given the skew-eyed mare was standing vigil over her daughter. He, too, was very worried about Dinky, unsure of how the virus would affect her, if at all.

Hopefully, like certain humans, she was immune to this whole damn thing. But he didn’t know that.

“I can’t say.” His voice filled with regret, he looked Marble in the eye sighed. “I honestly don’t know how this is going to affect her. She could be immune or she could be turning right now for all we know! I just...” He lowered his head fall into his hands, and those around him could hear grumbling. “I just don’t know. We just have to wait and hope for the best...” he looked down to realize that he was suddenly holding Lyra’s hand tightly as everyone pressed close to for mutual protection and comfort, the mares instinctively making a protective ring around him.

The group grew uneasy as the day dragged on, until eventually everyone moved around and settled back inside the Lifeguard Tower.

Being in better shape than some others, they settled towards the front of the building, the main room where the vending machine, some tables, couches and a desk sat. Some survivors had turned it into an impromptu living area, with sleeping bags and backpacks sitting in the respective areas they claimed for themselves.

Still recuperating and finding he tired quite easily, Dee collapsed onto one of the barren couches and rested on it with Lyra, who joined him while the Pie Sisters and Rainbow opted to check on Dinky and Derpy in the infirmary.

Watching them leave, he rested his back against the couch and took off his cap, and ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck… this is exhausting.” He closed his eyes, and relaxed for a moment.

“Hmm?”

Popping open an eye, he looked at Lyra, who was leaning against the backrest of the couch on her side. She had her upper body facing towards him, and the hoodie he had given her to wear was unzipped halfway, exposing the tight shirt she had been wearing underneath. With how her posture was, the hoodie had come undone a bit more, allowing more of her bust to fall naturally, its curves showing through clearly.

He had a difficult time not imaging how they looked naked; how perfectly shaped they appeared from the glances he had stolen. Lyra’s body wasn’t like most human females here, hers was something… exotic, to say nothing of outright enticing to him, same with Rainbow. Heck, even Limestone and Marble have some pretty generous assets going… he’d noted, suddenly and sorely fantasizing about the earlier scene with the four mares gathered close around for mutual comfort and protection. Yeah, like I would be so lucky! I’d just be happy with Lyra here...

He felt his cheeks heat up, but kept his cool, masking his suddenly sexual thoughts. “Just… all of this going on.” He gestured to the room, which was devoid of survivors for the moment. It seemed everyone was outside for one reason or another, letting the two have some privacy. Whether that was luck or not, he had no idea, or how long it would last.

“Not the trip you imagined, huh?” she asked rhetorically, stretching out slightly before him.

“You said it. I just wanted to have a relaxing vacation,” He griped and slumped down on the couch. “You know--chill out on the beach, have a few drinks, maybe meet some people...”

He could practically feel Lyra’s smirk. “Meet some cute human girls?” she suggested easily.

A moment and he nodded. “Yeah, actually.” Dee turned and added onto that, “I’d be lying if I said no! Ha!” He chuckled and scratched his chin as Lyra returned it with a giggle of her own.

“On the hunt for some fun times then?” She smirked and propped her head up with a hand, grinning as she gave him a flick of her minty mane.

Dee’s smile faltered and he shrugged, suddenly keenly aware of her gaze and presence. “I… maybe, I don’t know, hehe.” He looked around the room and focused on one of the magazines stands nearby, all of which were locations for hiking and camping on Banoi Island. Dee rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from the mare. “Maybe make a friend or something to hang out with, ya know?”

Lyra’s ear twitched and she studied him for a moment. “...You sure that’s the only reason?”

At the question, he stiffened, and went silent.

Lyra watched Dee’s face screw up slightly, his eyes avoiding her as they stared at the wall across from them. His happy demeanor disappeared and was replaced with an uneasy silence that made Lyra increasingly uncomfortable, leaving her wondering if she’d said or done something wrong.

What was he hiding? She wondered, but decided that for now, it would have to wait.

She didn’t know how, but she sensed trouble was brewing on the horizon.