Equestria of the Dead

A news helicopter had just recently taken into the air and was now flying over the city. On board were four people, the pilot, a tv producer, the camera man, and a busty female reporter. All of them were exhausted from running for their lives as the station was suddenly overran by the walking dead. "Y-You guys alright....everyone....alright?!" asked the producer.

"A-Alive and accounted for." said the cameraman.

"Man, I can't believe we made it." he said with a laugh. Looking out the window, the reporter watched the city below, and saw nothing but hundreds and hundreds of the undead covering the streets block by block with some buildings either on fire or burnt to the ground. If there were any poor soul down there, she doubt they'd survive for much longer.

"So many of them." she said; amazed at the situation down there. "Good thing we're safe up here." Suddenly, the helicopter shook. At first, they thought it was just wind turbines, but little did they know, it was something much worse.

"Hey man, what's going o....." The producer stopped right before he could finish his sentence. He noticed blood dripping from the pilot's arm before catching his pale face. "N-No." he whispered as pure unadulterated fear filled his entire being.

"Hey, what's......going.......on?" the cameraman trailed off; now looking at the pilot who started shaking. In front of their eyes, he was turning into a zombie, or rather, he'd already turned. Snapping his head at the produce, he growled and lunched at him; causing the helicopter to behave radically. The producer screamed in fear, but the cameraman hit the undead creature with his camera as hard as he could so that he could getaway.

"When was he bitten?!" yelled the reporter.

Using all of his weight behind the camera, the cameraman pushed the now zombified against the window to keep it from getting to the others. "SOMEONE GET THE CONTROLS!" he yelled. The helicopter was starting to go into a downward angle, but the reporter reached over and grabbed the control stick. The pilot, now a fully fledge zombie, got control of the situation, and used it's superior strength to push against the cameraman and bit him on the neck. He yelled out in extreme pain as blood shot from his neck.

"NOOOO!" screamed the reporter. In the chaos, she was hit against the control stick which sent the helicopter spinning around uncontrollably.

"GET OFF HIM!" yelled the producer as he started punching the zombie in the head as hard as he could. The undead creature soon had another target, and right as the produce threw a punch, it struck; biting down on his fist and sending blood everywhere. The reporter screamed as both of her collages were bitten right in front of her. The cameraman started to transform right in front of them, and the producer knew it wouldn't be long before the same thing happens to him. In one last act, he grabbed both of them, and opened the door. "R-Raven." he said before he coughed up blood. "L-L-Live."

Using the last of his strength, he threw himself out of the helicopter with the other zombies. Raven, tried her best to gain control of the aircraft, but nothing worked. "NO...NO....PLEASE, GOD, PLEASE!" she cried. "NOT LIKE THIS, NOT LIKE THIS! GOD, PLEASE!"

****************************

The drive on the freeway was quiet for Spike, Velvet, and Twilight. Twilight was still thinking that her mother and Spike still won't talk to each other because of what her brother did; not knowing the real reason why they aren't talking. The silence soon came to an end when Velvet looked up into the sky and saw a helicopter spinning out of control and coming down fast. "OH MY, GOD!" she yelled as she hit the breaks. They all watched as the aircraft came crashing down onto the freeway a few feet in front of them.

"Holy, shit!" Spike said as he got out of the van.

"Spike, wait!" Twilight called.

Spike immediately ran towards the wreckage just as the truck carrying Cream and the other stopped behind the van. Spike was amazed that the entire thing didn't explode, but the smell of gasoline and the sparks said that would be a different story real quick. He took a look inside the wreckage; hoping to find survivors before the whole thing exploded. He found a woman, badly banged up, but alive. "H-Help me....p-p-please." she said in a weak tone. Twilight caught up to him just as he climbed inside the thing.

"Spike, what are you doing!?" she asked with urgency; knowing that the whole was going to blow soon.

"There's someone in here!" he explained. "I have to get'em out before the whole things blows! You should get back to the others."

"But.......!" she started.

"Just go, I got this!" he said. Twilight started to run back to the other vehicles just as Spike got to the woman. He had to hurry, but didn't want to cause even more injuries to her than she was already suffering with. "Can you move your legs?" he asked.

"A.....A little." she managed to answer. Spike moved to get in front of her and kneeled down so that she could climb onto his back. The busty woman held on as tight as she could as she moved her legs to attempt to wrapped them around his waist.

"Oh.....I....l-love you.....I l-love you.....thank you.....thank.....you." she managed to say. She was clearly emotional right now, especially after her near death experience, however, Spike believed it was too early to be thanking him just yet as they still needed to get out of the wreckage. Carefully, he started to make his way out of the wreckage with her just as more sparks started to fall. The smell of gas was getting even more intense and he knew it wouldn't be long now. Outside, the others watched as Spike came out of wreckage and started running away from it just as the sparks hit the gasoline; igniting a fire. Within seconds, the fire started to spread all around which caused panic amongst the group.

"Let's hurry and get outta here!" yelled Rarity.

Spike placed the injured woman in the van before getting in himself. Velvet immediately put the thing in reverse and backed away along with the others in the truck. After some distance was put in between them and the wreckage, both vehicles turned around, and made a B-line for in the opposite direction just as the wreckage exploded. The explosion definitely alerted and entire horde of zombies, and since they couldn't continue on the path they were on, they had to somehow get off the freeway, find some way around the wreckage that blocked them, and get back on before the horde gets to that spot; which was easier said than done. "Who is she?" Twilight asked. "She looks familiar."

"That's Raven Inkwell from Channel 10 News." Velvet answer. "What was she doing in the helicopter?" A soft groan came from the reporter as though she wanted to say something, but Spike stopped her; not wanting her to exert herself. When there was a good enough distance between them and the wreckage, Velvet pulled over to the side so that Cream could drive up along side of them. "Is everyone alright?!" Cream asked. "How's that person Spike saved?"

"She's pretty banged up, but alive." Velvet explained. Cream started thinking for a moment, then looked over, out into the city before telling Velvet to follow her. Now, the truck was was in the lead; taking the entrance ramp to the freeway back down into the city.

"Uh, where are we going?" asked Adagio.

"There should be a place where I can properly examine her near here." Cream answered. "Hopefully, it's still in one piece." Both vehicles drove through the streets of and abandoned and ruined city. If the buildings weren't burnt to the ground, then they were definitely raided by people looking to either survive or just loot. Parked cars on the side of the road were wide opened and destroyed; some of which were filled with bloodstains and equally so with the streets. The bloodstains could easily have come from the people fighting back against the horde, or the horde getting their hands on the people. The group didn't want to think about what may or may not have happened right now. They had a destination to get to.

****************************

Outside a small clinic, both Spike and Button stood guard while inside, Cream used her nursing skills to help the reporter as much as she could. Thing is, there wasn't much to use inside the building as it too fell victims to looters, but still, she made due with whatever was there. Button, while standing next to one of the vehicles, noticed something from across the street. It was a bank, and there appeared to be someone inside it. Other survivors, maybe? Button wanted to check it out, but there were some things that prevented him from doing so. One of which was the possibly that someone inside was armed and willing to shoot anything that approaches, so for now, he'll just ignore what he saw unless something happens.

Looking over at Spike, he noticed that he was in deep thought. It couldn't be about his parents, cause he didn't have a depressing look on his face. It was about something else. "Hey, you alright over there?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just, being back in the city caused me to remember something." Spike answered.

"Remember what?" Button wondered.

"Well, remember when that zombie came out of no where and grabbed me?" he started. "Something weird happened soon after. It's grip started to loosen up; like it was going to let me go."

"You serious?" Button said with an eyebrow raised.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that wasn't the first time that's happened." he explained. "There was the time when me and Twilight were separated from you guys and I was tackled to the ground by one of those things. It's grip on me loosened up right before Twilight took it out."

"Maybe they're just coincidences?" Button tried to rationalize.

"Maybe." Spike said looking out into the distance; not too sure if it was or wasn't.

"Wait.....hold on." Button said with alert. "I've seen that look on your face before. Don't tell me you're actually thinking what I think you're thinking."

"It's just a thought." he said. "Besides, it's not like i'm actually gonna go out and look for zombie to test it out."

"Please don't." Button said. "If anything happens to you, it's my ass that's on the line." Spike chuckled before turning his attention towards the bank across the street. It was brief, but he swore he'd seen a child standing by the door. Also, there was movement by the windows, specifically, the blinds; as though someone was just peeking through them. It was clear now, they were being watched.

"You noticed it too, huh?" Button asked; catching on to where Spike was looking.

"Think they're friendly?" he asked.

"Possibly, they haven't attacked us yet." Button answered. "But at the same time, that could mean they're waiting for the opportunity to do so, or they're worried we might be the aggressors. I mean, we ARE heavily armed right now."

"Well, I would like to avoid any kind of conflict right now, especially with your mother tending to Ms. Raven's wounds." he said. "Let's just ignore them for now, if they wanna make themselves known, it's their choice."

****************************

Inside the clinic, Cream came out from one of the rooms along with Velvet who was assisting her. The two made their way to the front where Twilight and the others were waiting and planning their next move. "How is she?" asked Adagio.

"No fractures or anything serious, just a few heavy bruises." Cream answered.

"The fact that she was able to walk away from a helicopter crash like that is nothing short of a miracle." said Velvet.

"I know we can't stay in one place for too long, but I don't move her around too much." Cream added.

"So what was she doing inside that helicopter anyway?" asked Sunset.

"According to her, she and her colleagues were able to escape the tv station after it was overran by those zombies." Velvet explained. "Somehow, the pilot was bitten without knowing and he turned in front of them. He attacked her colleagues with one of them sacrificing himself to save her."

"Oh no." Adagio said in a soft voice.

"Everything just happened so fast, and by the time she made it to the pilot seat, the whole thing was in freefall." Cream explained.

"Does she have any family we can contact?" asked Twilight.

"None, both of her parents passed away years ago." Cream answered. "She said everyone at the news station were the only family she had left."

"And now they're all gone." said Velvet.

"Well, we can't stay here." said Rarity. "As soon as she's feeling a little better, we should get a move on; especially since Neighsay's men are out there."

****************************

Outside, Spike and Button continued looking out for anything that would seem suspicious when Twilight walked out of the building to give them the news about Raven Inkwell. After doing so, she noticed something from the bank across the street, but Spike pulled her away. "Is there someone in there?" she asked.

"We believe so, but just in case they aren't friendly, we're trying not to let them know we're on to them." he explained. "Last thing we need is a fight that would attract more zombies." Twilight nodded; understanding that time was against them the longer they stayed here, and getting into a fight is the last thing they need right now.

"Um....excuse me." came a soft voice. All three turned towards one direction and saw two young children standing in front of them. The young boy and girl each had to be around seven or eight years old, and judging by how the boy seemed to be taking a protective stance in front of her, they might be siblings; twins even.

"Where did you two come from?" Twilight asked; knelling down to greet them.

"We came from over there." the young boy said; pointing right at the bank. "Are you a doctor? Our mom's really sick, she needs help." The two kids were obviously scared for their mother's well being, but tried to put of brave faces. Twilight gave both of them a warm smile before giving them each a head pat.

"We know someone who could help." she said.

****************************

After getting Cream and telling her the situation, the entire group, save for Adagio who stayed behind to look after Raven, made their way across the street with the young children who led them to the side of the building where a door was cracked opened. It was clear to everyone that they left without telling anyone where they were going; a matter made clear when their father and a few others noticed everyone coming with them. He was about to give them a big scolding for going out by themselves, but the two kids hid behind Cream and Twilight before he could do so.

"So, how many of you are here?" Cream asked.

"20." he answered. "But who are you people?"

"Survivors, just like yourselves." answered Twilight. "We were just about to head out when these two came asking for help."

"Their mother, yes, it happened suddenly." he explained. "One minute she was fine, and the next, she coughing up a storm. It seems to be getting worse by the day."

"Is she the only one who's sick?" asked Cream.

"No unfortunately, there are several others who's in the same boat as my wife." he answered.

"Take me to them." Cream said. As she was lead away, the others looked over at the other survivors and were met with distrustful looks, which was understandable, you can't be too careful these days now that the world has gone to hell. Judging by the tired and worn out looks on their faces, they had to have been couped up here for quite some time. It was brief, but Button saw that some of the men had their hands over something that was on their person; indicating that they were all armed. The group decided to keep their distance as to not make an already hostile environment worse.

"I'm gonna go after mom." Button accused himself. He went into the back room where he saw nine people laying sick on the floor, while she was at work checking all of them. The father of the children kneeled next to his wife as she was being checked; hoping that it wasn't anything serious. She went around and checked on everyone that was there before heading towards one of the desks and grabbing a pen and paper. "Mom, what is it?" Button asked.

"I'm writing down name of the medicine I need." she explained. "Thankfully, what they have isn't life threatening, but we still need to treat it. The clinic across the street doesn't have anything, but there is one in the middle of the city that might."

"Diamond Pharmacy?" asked the man.

"That's the one." she said as she finished up writing. "While I figured it's been raided as well, i'm assuming that the people don't know about the secret department. That's where all the extra medicine his housed for.....certain people." She got up from the desk and started to head out; Button and the father following her. She made her way towards Spike and the others which caught the attention of the other survivors.

"Okay, some of us will need to travel to Diamond Pharmacy and pick up everything I wrote here." she said. "Inside the main office, there's a door with a certain passcode that needs to be inputted to access the secret department; i've written it down right there."

"How do you know all this?" Button asked.

"Long time ago, I use to work for them." she explain. "I couldn't take how they treated people who needed help, so I quit. The secret department is a place where the most advance medicine would be held in reserve for either the rich, or people whom they liked."

"Corruption." said Spike as it took the note.

"Three of us should go, while the rest stay here." said Rarity.

"I'll go." Spike volunteered.

"So will I." added Twilight.

"I'll drive you there." said Velvet.

They were all in agreement, and the trio headed out; rushing across the street and into the van where they soon drove off. The sooner they get this done, the sooner they can return to their own journey.