Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7XR-dtexX0

Chapter 8

Cooper nearly jumped from the sound of Twilight's voice. He immediately dropped the can of tomato soup in his hands and unslung his rifle. With his heart pumping and adrenaline filling his veins, he sprinted toward the sound of her scream, his rifle up and at the ready the whole time. It didn't take long for him to reach the other side of the store, finding the sound of hooves scurrying on tile and men yelling to each other.

"Hold it down!" One of the scavengers yelled.

"I can't! It keeps squirming!" The other growled back.

"Cooper!"

The raw fear in her voice made an angry pit form in Cooper's heart that spurred him to action faster than his brain could keep up. He nearly transitioned to a full sprint as his vision turned red.

"What the fuck is this thing saying?" One of the men asked through a grunt.

"It keeps saying... Cooper..." The other replied.

Cooper could hear the struggling pony and the men as they started to move, but his tunnel vision made it difficult to focus on anything other than just moving as fast as his legs could carry him. He swiftly arrived at the other side of the aisle and brought his rifle up as he rounded the corner. Immediately, a hand grabbed the barrel startling him enough to pull the trigger, and sending a round through the next several aisles. Almost in the blink of an eye, he saw the black metal of a blade arcing around and toward his face as his assailant thrust the knife toward him.

Cooper reacted by bringing his support hand off of the handguard and into a forward 'L' shape, catching the man's forearm. The blade came to a screeching halt just a few inches from his face.

Without a second of hesitation, Cooper released his grip with his firing hand and punched his elbow out, right into the attacker's nose. A loud crunching sound filled his ears as the man's nose broke, forcing him to stumble back and release his hold on the knife as well as the rifle.

With his weapon now free, Cooper quickly grabbed it a hold of the pistol grip, only to immediately drop it once more as an arrow struck him right in the chest, stunning him for the briefest of moments. His plate carrier absorbed the blow, stopping the arrow in its tracks, but the impact splintered the shaft, sending fragments of wood up and into his face, nearly blinding him in the process. He stumbled back as his rifle fell to the ground and quickly wiped the fragments of wood from his face and eyes.

Just as he regained his vision, Cooper was knocked back by the first man as he tackled him into the wall. He slammed into the frozen plaster with a resounding *crack*, and leaving a large indent as well as a spiderweb of cracking. Stunned once again, he took a deep gasp of air from the shock of the impact, before grabbing hold of the man still latched to his torso with his left hand, and bringing his elbow down onto his back with his right. The impact knocked the man to his knees, and drove the breath from his lungs, forcing him to cough for air before Cooper punched him in the temple, knocking him down to the ground again.

Cooper pushed himself back to his feet. Now with a second of breathing room, he quickly looked over the aisle. Immediately, he saw Twilight's bloodied form laying on the floor just behind the man now running at him. Her chest was heaving rapidly, indicating that she was at least still breathing and possibly conscious.

The second scavenger quickly approached him armed with what appeared to be a large Bowie knife in his hand. With his time quickly running out, Cooper ruled out reaching for his rifle. It was simply too far away now, leaving him only a few scant options.

He pushed himself off the wall and toward the rifle, but deftly dodged to the side as the man swung wildly with the knife, narrowly missing his left shoulder. He swung again, in an wide arc, just barely missing once more, but leaving his right side exposed. Taking full advantage of this, Cooper swiftly hooked his arm under the mans right armpit and grabbed hold of his chest. Simultaneously, he reached around his back and grabbed his waist, effectively wrapping his arms around him in a bear hug. Cooper instantly leaned back and twisted as hard as he could to his left. He let out a feral growl as the motion lifted the man off his feet and into the air, before violently slamming him into the ground.

"GAH!" He cried out as the impact knocked the wind out of him.

Cooper pushed himself to his feet as quick as he could and turned around to see the other man getting to his feet. Without giving him time to fully recover, Cooper pushed forward and sprinted at the bleeding man. Within an instant, he tackled him much the same way he had been tackled, and slammed the man into the wall, breaking through the plaster in the process. The two of them fell into the next room, where Cooper stifled a groan at the force of the impact and landing.

However, the man below him fared much worse and seemed to be struggling to breath as Cooper pushed himself up to his knees. He turned around to face the other man just as he grabbed a hold of his rifle. Cooper's blood nearly froze in his veins as he watched, in slow motion, the deliberate rise of the barrel until it was pointed in his direction. As fast as his legs could move, he jumped to the right, and out of the way of the hole in the wall. Three deafening gunshots, made only louder in the enclosed environment, punched through the wall as the man fired blindly. All three barely missed Cooper as he dove to the side.

The scavenger now holding his rifle quickly pressed the attack, and entered the storage room through the hole in the wall. He found his comrade getting to his feet, but saw no sign of Cooper amid all the boxes and debris littering the room. He slowly swept from one side to the other, his finger glued to the trigger as he searched.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Y-yeah... Get that bastard... He went that way..." The other replied, pointing toward the boxes at the far end of the room.

He took a few steps forward, before firing wildly into the boxes, ripping cardboard to pieces and littering the wall with holes. After nearly emptying the mag and almost deafening himself, the man's ears picked up an a very distinct sound. A sound of something heavy falling to the floor just in front of him.

"I think I got him!" He yelled.

"Alright, make sure. I'ma go finish that horse thing." The other scavenger replied.

The second man got to his feet and made his way toward the hole in the wall as the first man headed toward the end of the room. As he approached, he kept the rifle ready and aimed at the source of the noise. He closed in until he reached the box in question, and slowly searched around it. Instead of Cooper's corpse, however, he found a sack of heavy jackets and clothing. A pit formed in his stomach as he turned just in time for Cooper to jump out of the box he was hiding in, and tackle him against the wall, firing off another round in the process.

With his assailant now pinned in such a way that he couldn't use the rifle, Cooper angrily headbutted him, before punching him in the kidney. He cried out in pain, prompting the other man to hurriedly rush back into the room. Before he could close the distance, however, Cooper grabbed the rifle barrel and pointed it at him. The man holding the rifle didn't even have time to resist as Cooper jammed his knuckle against his trigger finger, forcing the weapon to fire once more, and hitting the second man in the leg.

"Gah!" He cried as he fell to the ground.

"NO!" The first man cried, before kneeing Cooper in the groin.

Cooper cried out in pain before a swift right hook knocked him to the ground. He choked back the urge to vomit from the cheap shot as a horrible sight filled his vision. The barrel of his own rifle stared down at him, driving a spike of fear into his veins. Time slowed as the barrel stayed trained right on his head, and for a moment, there was only silence. Then, a loud, metallic click filled the air. The man holding the rifle twisted it in his hands, a confused look on his face, giving Cooper all the time he needed.

He grabbed his pistol from its holster on his hip and fired two more rounds, one striking the mans chest, and one hitting him in the head, putting a hole between his eyes and painting the wall red with blood.

"KYLE!" The second man cried, before launching himself at Cooper in a fit of rage.

Before Cooper could react, he felt the impact of the second man jumping on him and knocking the pistol out of his hand. He barely felt the impact of the knife against his plate carrier amidst the force of the man landing on him. He immediately moved to push the man off of him, but as his arm drew back, Cooper saw the shine of the steel blade in the his hand.

Cooper instantly moved his left arm to catch his assailant's forearm as it came down to his chest, stopping the blade just a few scant inches from his throat in the process. The man clamored on top of him and used his free hand to put more weight and pressure into the knife. Responding in kind, Cooper braced with his right arm, and held the knife back while he struggled for breath.

The man on top of him growled fiercely as he leaned forward, putting all of his weight into the tip of the blade, and driving it ever closer to Cooper's neck. For just a few tense seconds, they seemed to be at an impasse. However, just as Cooper was able to push back slightly, he felt the full force of a headbutt, knocking his head back against the concrete floor, and leaving him dazed as blood started to drip from his nose.

Taking advantage of the situation, the scavenger thrust forward with all of his weight, overcoming Cooper's stunned defenses, and shoving the blade deep into his shoulder, just a few inches to the left of his throat. Cooper gasped in pain, before crying out as he felt the sharp burning sensation all the way through to his shoulder-blade. He screamed in agony as the blade was aggressively wretched from his body, and brought up in a wide arc once more. He weakly held out his left arm to block the knife as he clutched the wound with his right arm. As he watched the sheen of the knife edge against the feint light, he tensed, preparing himself for the end.

However, just as that blade reached the apex of it's arc, a single gunshot broke through the air, and the scavenger dropped dead, instantly. He slumped over on top of Cooper as blood poured from the hole between his eyes. Under the dead weight, he gasped for air, struggling to move the man off of him. After a few moments, he was able to push the body off of his chest with his good arm, and turned his attention to the direction of the gunshot.

Standing there, still covered in a good measure of blood, and with her lavender aura enveloping his pistol, was Twilight.