The Fugitive

The words, or rather the stream of hysterical screams of the orderly who burst into the security post, became not just a complete, but also an extremely unpleasant surprise for the security guards who had just played solitaire. Cursing mercilessly, they hastily grabbed the rubber truncheons leaning against the walls and rushed after the intruder, sincerely regretting that he was leading, and not scrambling from them.

The only remaining unicorn in the room was a unicorn sitting in a comfortable chair, a hoof on a pull-out plate on the table in front of him, causing it to illuminate with bright lights, the glow of which was highlighted by six illuminated screens above them. The key points of the complex were displayed on those. Putting a cigar out of his pocket between his teeth and striking it with a lighter, the caretaker released a lingering cloud of smoke, immediately after starting to magically affect the barely noticeable panels on the sides of the screens themselves. Pictures on them changed with feverish speed. Until that time, until on the central right did not seem to gallop along the deserted corridor of the earthworms. The unicorn pulled up a luxurious mustache and pulled up a microphone that came out from the side.

''All operatives. Sector B-5. They are unarmed, but they are ready to kill...''

''Where are we?'' barely keeping up with the supernaturally fast filly threw the Fugitive.

''Power unit. Entrance doors and cell doors are monitored from it. If we turn off the electricity, we will create total chaos, and we will blame ourselves on the sly.''

''So, you propose to release all these psychos...'' the stallion squeezed out through heavy breathing ''Out?''

''I doubt that after those two you are at least embarrassed by something.''

''And that's true...and that's true. Oh yeah...you...didn’t introduce yourself''

''Oh, are you interested in my name?'' giggled filly not at all tired from a two-minute run ''Call me simply - Mistress''

'You are fucking kidding...''

''Ugh, how rude. Weren't you taught manners at all? - the runner winced ''Okay, since this is so important - Dust. Angel Dust''

''Well, what a name'' the runner whistled right after another convulsive sigh.

''A name, as a name...oh-oh, it looks like we have guests!''

A crowd of angry guards was already rushing towards them.

The filly pushed him, pointing to the two side passages ahead. The crowd and the couple were separated from them by a few meters.

''Then it's up to you! Run to the right - I will delay them!''

''Will you hold up? You? How?!''

''Women have their secrets...''

Having neither the desire nor the opportunity to argue, the stallion tensed and jerked with his last strength. As soon as he reached the turn, he collided face-to-face with a policeman who was swinging at him, immediately stepping aside and immediately hitting the filth with his hind legs on the ribs. There was a crunch that he had already heard, immediately followed by a cry pierced with sincere pain, accompanied by the crash of falling armor. The fugitive without looking back rushed into the passage that opened in front of him, upon a cursory examination it turned out to be an exact copy of the previous one. What he saw next jarred him. This is a dead end. Behind him, there was a quickened gallop of hooves clad in heavy metal.

And then the stallion remembered the nozzle, as it turned out, capable of being drawn into itself. Working on the principle of a switch knife, not too light, but not too heavy, it did not restrain movement at all, making it the ideal murder weapon. Although he had no idea how this thing worked. I had to learn on the go.

Finally exhausted, he turned sharply and threw the hoof covered by the device forward. The muzzles of the barrels, protruding with a loud click, rushed towards the policemen rushing at him. They realized their mistake too late.

A burst of machine-gun fire shot through the air, riddling the body of the nearest pursuer. Streams of scarlet ooze poured from the torn chest, along with a heart-rending scream, began to beat from the neck that exploded with disgusting stuffing. The first fell forward, smashing the remains of his face on the bloody floor. The second did not manage to stand much longer. A moment later, his brains knocked out of a punctured skull were already decorating the corridor behind the body that had collapsed near the rubble.

The Fugitive blew away a light smoke that hung over the satiated weapon.

Finally, taking a deep breath, he took hold of the barely visible protrusion on the drum placed in the center, opening the magazine cleanly shot. Perfectly. It's easy to find this unknown garbage somewhere, but as we give extra cartridges, we are not in business. Yeah, well. Now with this thing, except that the muzzle is crumbled - however, not the worst alternative. With a quick movement, the gunner pulled the machine gun back and put the hoof on the floor.

''I don’t believe in my life that she didn’t know about this fucking dead end'' he turned to the bare wall, almost intuitively taking his gaze to the right and lowering it down.

Lattice. Has there always been a lattice? Ha, at least it's here now. This girl is a devil...hmm, and when did it get so quiet? So quiet.

After looking at the blood-soaked deserted corridor for the last time and making sure that it would remain deserted, the somewhat puzzled Fugitive grabbed the edges of the barrier and, to his deepest surprise, without any difficulty, uncovered the tunnel immersed in darkness. In height, it was from the average foal, while the width allowed an adult stallion to climb there without any difficulty. And where could he go?

The caretaker had already been desperately trying for several minutes to restore clarity to the wrongly obscured screen. Cursing what the light was on the donkeys who created this misunderstanding, the unicorn unsuccessfully moved the panels and levers, each time getting the same result - the absence of such. However, very soon it became the least of his concerns.

Like a virus, interference began to capture the rest of the monitors. One by one, the screens plunged into a jumble of randomly glittering particles, emitting a disgusting, hissing ringing. The unicorn pulled away from the console.

''What the hell...'' from what he saw the cigar fell out of his teeth.

Just as suddenly, as the screens went out of order, the screens began to clear up. However, the caretaker saw not the intricacies of corridors and rooms. The filly, bared in a sinister smile, looked at him from all devices, with one glance awakening a wild, uncontrollable fear.

''Mister, do you know that prying is not good?'' came out at the same time female, male and somehow not at all amenable to description of the voice.

''Oh-hu-a-ana...'' the caretaker bleated frightenedly.

''Your behavior is striking in its tactlessness'' suddenly for himself the unicorn realized that he did not feel his own body. When only a faint moan came out of his half-open mouth, he realized that the tongue was no longer subject to him ''It seems that someone will have to punish''

The unicorn's head slammed into the console. Darkened in his eyes. The pain echoed in my temples with a pulsating shock. Suddenly the head was thrown back. And hit again.

• You are very. They behaved very badly.

The pain got worse. The world is stronger to see double. And again.

''It's a pity that you have to take such measures...''

There was a crackling sound. His horn snapped. The pain became unbearable. He had to scream. But he had no mouth.

''Unfortunately, there is no other way out''

With each blow, he banged his head faster and faster against the console, desperately watching it stain with his own blood. The only thing left for him was to dream of an early end to the flour. But she didn’t think it was coming to an end.

Time after time, without pity or compassion for oneself.

''However, I hope you learn today's lesson''

The head, crumbled into minced meat, rolled under the table, dragging the limp body behind it. The enemy lost his ears and eyes. But he only had to lose his mind.

He did not know how long he had been crawling along this pipe. He heard distant cries, the clatter of hooves and the omnipresent howl of sirens. But here they seemed such insignificant and distant details that they should not have been given any importance at all. It was worth giving to the stiffness that was beginning to get on the nerves, which he tried with great difficulty to ignore. By this time, the idea of climbing here had already completely disliked him. And therefore, as soon as a faint scarlet light dawned ahead, the Fugitive rushed forward with redoubled strength, reaching the same unfortunate side grill. Little, if anything, could be seen behind her. The room is almost completely immersed in darkness, illuminated only by a dimly burning lamp that outlines the silhouette of a massive door with its light. Exactly like someone squatting against her.

With a dull clang, an iron hoof slammed against the grate. For the third or fourth time, the grating fell down with a crash, and the exhausted Fugitive fell out after him, making a deft roll near the floor, which, fortunately, was not too far away. Already at the moment of the first blow, some kind of fuss began at the door. When the patient, who had jumped on his hind legs, rushed forward, he collided with a white man from the horror of an earthly scent, who, when he appeared, was striving with all his might to become one with the door. From the dirty brown fur alone, he recognized an old acquaintance.

''You?!'' came from his side.

There was a click. Terrified to death, the orderly felt the cold steel touch his throat.

''W-what is this?..'' the stallion squeezed out of himself in a stuttering tone.

''I don’t know myself. But believe me - it kills.''

''You...you won't p-p-use that?..''

''It depends on how useful you are. And now to the questions. Why didn't you evacuate?''

''Azur and I have almost...reached emergency exit. But then...then...''

''Then what?!'' a dangerous-looking acquaintance perceptibly shook the orderly. From behind the latter there was a screeching sound, immediately followed by a drawn-out, almost bestial roar. The fugitive felt his charge shaking with fear.

''D-d-don't know...but this is something...completely abnormal...''

''Let me guess, your brother in mind is scratching towards us?''

''Merciful Celestia...they're behind!''

He had already noticed how yellow lights began to light up in the darkness of the rest of the room, which grew more and more every second. Distorted silhouettes with growls and groans rose from the ground, staggering towards them. But he also noticed something else, which almost instantly gave him some thought.

''You have a problem place. And the fuck is it just you got a job here?''

''S-do something with them!"

''I don’t think so''

''W-what?! You're going to kill us!''

''Maybe''

Pale, peeling muzzles appeared in the light. Rotten flesh hung in disgusting clothes from the withered, bony bodies of creatures slowly moving in their direction, grinning predatory rows of razor-sharp fangs and emitting a lingering, animal howl.

''WHAT DO YOU WANT, SICK BASTARD?!''

''It's simple. Your life in exchange for a path to the power unit''

''Rrr...on the hooves''

The hoof, but already made of iron, crashed into the retractable plate to the right of the cutter. A bright light hit from under the rushing up partitions, which opened the windows previously hidden behind them, which in turn made it possible to see not only the neighboring corridor, but also the skinless face of Azur, who decayedly hammered into the glass with his snow-white skull.

''SIDE!'' the Fugitive barked a second before one of the creatures actually rushed in his direction.

The glass shattered with a deafening clink. The dead fell on top of each other, tossing and turning helplessly on the ground. Still alive, but hardly more lively than the last ones, they jumped out after them, and from all their hooves they rushed off, no one knows where, but no one knows why.

A few minutes later, they had already changed their canter to measured, but no less strenuous walking. The mumbling orderly clattered in front of him, while the patient held hostage walked behind, unsuccessfully trying to find meaning in the construction of this mad maze. They walked in silence, still moving away from a slight shock caused not so much by the fact of what they saw, so much by their own salvation from what they saw.

''Remember, if I have the slightest suspicion...'' the Fugitive finally dispersed the silence.

''I remember, I remember...and why the power unit worries you more...them?'' his own helplessness infuriated the orderly. But fear told her to shut up.

''When I’m there, you’ll know. Oh yeah, is it still far away?''

''Lucky for you - we are already there.''

''I’m lucky all day'' the patient chuckled, looking at the circular arch, behind which was a spacious hall with rows of sparkling lightning generators, fenced off from the central and only passage by a high grating. The passage itself led up by stairs to a small platform, the view behind which abruptly dropped off somewhere down.

''Am I free?'' with obvious hope in a slightly hoarse voice, the mud stallion threw to the companion.

''Not''

''How not?!''

''Nobody said that you can leave''

The muzzle, brown with caked blood, flashed ominously in another burst of beating energies. The orderly turned pale.

''So...'' he stumbled back ''Is this the end? Here and now?''

''You were wrong again. This is just the beginning'' the Fugitive pointed the muzzle at the stallion ''Forward. Cut off the electricity supply''

''You collapsed from an oak tree or just a suicide?..Without electricity there will be no light! Without light, there will be no turning back! Not only are these creatures wandering there, but they will also be supplemented by selected psychos from all over, her mother by the leg, Equestria!''

''You speak as if you are given a choice'' the mules looked inevitably and mercilessly at the poor fellow.

''Sick bastard...and then what? After all, we are in the same boat. Nobody escapes.''

''But this is a very big question. Enough talk! To the point.''

''In vain, in vain did the doc stand on ceremony with you...'' through tightly clenched teeth, the orderly who entered the arch hissed. Like an overseer, the Fugitive followed.

At a leisurely pace, they reached the extreme railing, climbed over the intricate interweaving of pipes that overlapped them, and found themselves on the very edge of the cliff, going into a humming and thundering abyss with constantly rotating mechanisms. Mud stood in front of the unit attached to one of the generators, opening the cover of that unit and peering at the control panel represented by the levers. No matter how he tried to find an excuse, he could not condemn so many to death. He had considered himself a dead man for a long time. If so, does this torment have any sense? If it's all over anyway? For me, but not for him. And how many more lives will this madman cut short? And they will all die because I was afraid to fight back?! So I became a weapon in his hooves ?! Not! I still have one more try. It is foolish to waste it on humble acceptance of fate.

A rare chaos reigned under the orderly's feet - bolts and gears were lying around, some tools clearly thrown in a hurry. Rebar pieces. With peripheral vision, he saw that the captive was somehow distracted, studying the abyss. That was where he belonged.

The Fugitive did not expect this blow. A steel blade pierced his body, making his throat shudder with a heart-rending scream. An iron hoof crunched into the orderly's rage-contorted face, tossing him against the pipes. Flying away, he tore out the rod from the Fugitive's body, forcing the scarlet goo to gush from the opened wound in fountains. Mad with pain, he rushed to the traitor.

''You are not capable of more?..'' the orderly hissed, spitting blood, when the hoof collided with a piece of reinforcement. He immediately kicked the patient's legs, knocking him to the ground and jumping up over the enemy. The bloody blade floated overhead, hitting immediately.

The Fugitive rolled to the side, knocking down the orderly already and grabbed the repair saw that fell under the hoof. Today has taught him to love saws. At the last moment, he dodged a rod flying in his direction, with a jerk ramming the enemy and chopping with blades from his shoulder. But instead of the neck, the spikes were cut through the pipe that appeared in its place. By inertia, he went down.

• AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

The stream of steam escaping from the crevice hit the orderly who appeared behind him in the face, which, covering his muzzle with hooves, recoiled to the cliff. Using the moment, the Runaway leaned on the stallion, throwing him over the railing.

The abyss extinguished the heart-rending cry of the one who flew away towards the gears grinding everything and everything.

The fugitive leaned against the lever of the switch, a few moments later falling to his knees near the steps of the ascent. He was rapidly losing consciousness. A dim gaze passed along the darkened passage after the entire complex, already bursting with distorted creatures weaving along it. There was no doubt that they had been following their trail all this time. And finally, they reached their goal.

He knew he couldn't escape. He has lost too much blood. Therefore, when the eyes glowing in the darkness approached him, he remained in place, humbly bowing his head in anticipation of an unworthy but inevitable death.

Imagine his surprise when, instead of attacking, the zombie that appeared before him froze, expelling a roaring semblance of speech from his mouth.

• Yoooou compleeeeeet YOURS miiisiion...SHE ordeeeered US! To taaake YOU!..OUTSIDE!

The stallion chuckled wryly.

''That's after all...a beast, kha!'' he broke into a convulsive cough.

''Oooon ME!'' the dead stallion put his side, as if inviting him to climb. Strange, but the Fugitive's eyes have already adapted to the darkness.

''Eh. And why am I still surprised?..'' he phlegmatically threw himself to himself, lying on the offspring with all the load of his pierced carcass. Oddly enough, the creature did not even budge, calmly stretched out to its full height and rushed back into the maze.

What was happening there could not be described in words. A cavalcade of mad laughter, hysterical crying and screams - endless and multi-tonal screams shook the complex like an earthquake. Dozens of silhouettes tossed about in pitch darkness, crushing, killing, or simply trying to escape from those who had recently been called to protect them.

He did not notice the chaos going on around him, rushing through the darkness on a rotting steed. Pain and echoes of thoughts occupied his mind, in no way creating a single, integral picture of himself. Everything that happened seemed to him some kind of feverish delirium, but every time he breathed in the scent of a galloping under him, he understood - all this is real.

Only one stood out against the changing background. The one that whirled in the midst of madness in an inexorable dance, enjoying every moment he generated.

A bright light dawned ahead. Gradually, light filled everything around.

The Fugitive stood at the edge of the cliff. Thunder shook the heavens, huge waves crashed against the tusks of black rocks and whirlwinds swirled over the seething water. The vast, storm-ridden ocean opened before him in all its terrifying grandeur.

This hostile, alien to everything ordered element was his ally. He knew this without knowing anything.

A whirlpool began to form on the changeable canvas. With each passing second, the funnel became wider and wider, eventually reaching an impressive size.

''Run, the one who will always run'' the wind sang over his head.

And he ran, dashing into the roaring abyss. And after him rushed:

''You are free! Free once again!''