I caught Ashaa before she hit the ground and lay her down on the concrete before frantically gathering all the medical supplies she had laid out beforehand. Unfortunately, there were no healing potions, So I couldn’t heal the wound or remove the bullet, only stop the bleeding.

At this point Shadow had made his way back to us, I could see the indecision playing across his features even with the red sunglasses covering his eyes.

“One of the charging raider’s bullets must have connected. Damn. Looks like she passed out due to blood loss. Get her as stable as possible and then we need to go. Those shots will be heard for miles, so pretty soon we’ll have quite a lot of undesirable company.”

He glanced towards the way we came, and then to the path ahead, indecision turned back into his trademark grimace.

“Marebon Street is closer, but they won’t have the medical equipment needed to save her. The trip to Celestia Laboratories is three days, we need to get there in less than two. Let’s go.”

As I finished with what first aid I could do, Shadow hefted Ashaa onto my back which made me grunt in surprise. Ashaa has always been more muscle than fat, but three days wasteland allowed me to count all of her ribs, not to say you couldn’t see all of mine, just that she was easy to carry,

We walked at a much faster pace than earlier, almost running. My mind pushed out everything save for the thought that I needed to keep going. The faster we walked the closer Ashaa was to help.

I barely registered the fact that I had been jogging with my sister on my back for almost five hours. I just kept walking until I was suddenly on the ground, my legs giving out. Shadow picked Ashaa up with his magic, allowing me to get back on my hooves. He gave me water and a small portion of food, what kind of food I couldn’t tell due to extreme exhaustion.

The next time I became aware of my surroundings it was nighttime, and raining. Shadow was still carrying Ashaa on his back as I trotted close behind, my fur and feathers completely soaked through. Shadow had taken off his red duster and wrapped Ashaa inside of it.

I had never seen Shadow without his duster and was surprised to see dozens of scars covering his black coat. Most were old bullet wounds, but others were large bite marks, resembling the jagged teeth of the vampires we’d faced a couple of days ago. It seemed he had dealt with more than his fair share of the vile creatures. But all that was just a passing thought. We had more pressing matters than how one pony could endure that many vampire attacks and retain their sanity. Ashaa was dying, and we had to keep going, otherwise, I don’t think I would have the strength to get up again.

I was shivering terribly when morning came and the rain stopped, the water chilling me to the bones. Shadow was somehow unfazed even though he was as sopping wet as I was. Ashaa was still wrapped up in his duster to keep her warm.

Why was this guy helping so much? He could have left me in good shape in Marebon Street and gone about his business, yet he stayed with me through the radio tower and even though he didn’t want to go into Celestia Laboratories he was willing to go there for us.

Just then I slipped on something and fell onto the cold, irradiated, ground. I had not the physical or emotional strength to get up and move on. Ashaa was dead, and there was nothing I could do about it. I barely heard Shadow urging me to stand, but I just couldn’t do it.

” Come on Blitz! You’re too awesome to die like this! And you’re so close, only a few more miles!”

What?

Who was talking to me? It seemed like the voice was coming from inside my head. But how?

Sweet Novo, I’m going mad.

“Not mad, just exhausted, cold, wet, and hungry! All of that can be fixed if you get up and go!”

Who are you?

“That’s not important right now. You need to go or your sister will be dead by morning.”

Will you leave me alone if I get up?

“Yes! Just get up! I have faith in you!”

Okay then.

I was standing, and the voice was gone. But I now had a surge of new energy, compelling me forward. As I started walking I realized Shadow was on my left, keeping me stable with his red magic. I smiled and nodded towards him, he gave a rare smile and nodded back.

Just as the voice had predicted Celestia Laboratories was only a few miles away, when we reached the perimeter fence it was once again nighttime. And raining. The place was huge, from what I could see it was at least five stories high and made of white concrete and steel with windows evenly dispersed at every level.

A massive sign above the front door showed a minimalistic image of Princess Celestia holding a steaming beaker and the words ‘Celestia Laboratories: We do what we must because we can.’ In faded black letters.

The giant gateway into the complex was locked down, but luckily someone or something had ripped a huge hole into the fence little ways to the right of the gate. As we walked towards it I hoped that whatever made the hole was long gone. Shadow must have noticed my apprehension and said,

“See the way the metal bends outwards and away from the building? That means whatever ripped up the fence was on his way out.”

“Yeah, alright. Let’s just get inside.”

“Sounds good to me. When we do you’ll be taking a rest while I dry off and find the medical supplies we need.”

I nodded in reply as we opened the grand doors of Celestia Laboratories and walked inside. Once I entered the main hall I promptly passed out.

When I came to I was dry and laying on a camping cot with a plate of food and a water bottle to my left. We were still in the main entryway, So Shadow must have found a stash of emergency supplies. To my right lay Ashaa in her cot, a fresh bandage on her chest and a blanket that covered everything but her head and chest. I looked down to realize I too had a blanket, soft and warm. As I sat up Shadow walked up behind me.

“Finally, you’re awake. We have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Just about everything useful has been taken by scavengers. If we want to get your sister medical attention we need to search the lower floors, which go for miles. I’ve located where a medical centre should be, about three floors down.”

“Has Ashaa regained consciousness?” Shadow shook his head.

“Not yet. But I found a gurney we can carry her on while we search.”

“Good, let’s get going then,” I said as I got off the cot. If this place had what we needed, we would find it.

Footnote:

New perk unlocked! Trauma Queen: You just went through a massive ordeal, you now have 20% better aim during shootouts.

Quest Progress, In a rich colt’s world: 3,075/10,000 caps Time limit: 28 days remaining.

Author's Note

Hello again! This might be the last chapter for a while since school has started back up again. Thank you for reading and if you have any suggestions or constructive criticism please comment!

-ABloodthirstyUnicorn.