The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

The hard, rickety mattress did little to help Scootaloo fall asleep- especially after the past few days she’s had... She sighed as she heard a firm knock on her family’s apartment door.

With a slip under the door, Daisuke picked up the three sets of papers...

Sitting on the small table that all three of them could barely fit by, they read their new jobs...

Daisuke was assigned with guard detail, Riku was assigned with being a cashier, and Scootaloo opened her envelope...

Seeing soldier duty.

The three overlooked their own assignments before peeping over toward each other’s.

“That’s... a little strange. You’re barely 14, there’s no way they expect you to serve...” Riku said.

Daisuke stayed silent but glared at the piece of paper intently.

“So, we just got our baby girl back, and now they want her to fight for them?” He asked.

Scootaloo let out a sigh.

“Guys-- I did a few runs back at CHS all the time, it’s no big deal.”

“Yeah, but it was mostly other kids—this place has more than enough capable adults to fight...” Riku commented.

“Well, I should get moving—we're supposed to meet at 7.” She said, grabbing her papers.

Quickly returning to her small room and getting dressed, Scootaloo was eager to get back to work... something she never expected she’d feel after all this time. But putting her mixed emotions aside, she made her way out her family’s apartment and towards the staircase to the ground floor.

After a hearty walk, Scootaloo found herself in the middle of the ration line, where she stayed and waited for the line to even move. Time passed, and Scootaloo looked and noticed that it was already 6:40...

“Fuck this.” She sighed, marching out of line and towards the address on her documents.

She finally made it to her destination—an old police station. Evidentially, Townsville had a well-funded police department, with the station being three stories tall with a large fenced-in field out back, where countless recruits just like herself were gathered. As she knocked on the door, it swung open, and Scootaloo looked up to see...

“You’re late. Get with the rest of the fresh meat in the field.” Brick said to her, gesturing her to come inside.

Her blood ran cold for just a moment as she quickly listened and speed-walked inside without saying another word.

Finding her spot in line, Scootaloo stood at her best attempt at attention.

“Scoots?” She heard a familiar voice call.

She turned her head and saw Rainbow in line. As she looked, she spotted the others, as well, minus Kyle.

“Hey, Rainbow.” She nodded toward the very confused older girl.

“W-what’re you doing here?! Aren’t you, y’know-- a kid?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes at that remark.

“This again? Rainbow, I’ve done runs with you before. I know I can do this. Besides, they assigned me here for a reason...”

With the last recruit in line, Brick stood in front of them all.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and others... welcome to Morbucks Incorporated. As of today, each and every one of you will do, eat, drink, sleep, breathe whatever Princess Morbucks orders you to. And at this moment, we have one true order: Eliminate the Rage Infection. Some of you have enhancements that will make our objective easier... so starting immediately, you will all be divided into six squadrons, with one of the enhanced as your squad leader.”

One-by-one, the six girls made their way to the front, where they were separated into separate lines.

“You will be split into squads of four. Squad up!”

With that, small factions formed behind the six Canterlot girls. Scootaloo went to stand by Rainbow, but noticed her squad was filled.

“Sorry, squirt...” Rainbow sighed.

Sighing back, Scootaloo went towards Sunset’s squad.

“Hey, kiddo.” Sunset smiled.

“Hey.” She smiled back.

“Enough chatter! We fan out in five—I wanna see how much each of you know.”

One by one, the separate squads were led out to the parking lot, where a group of soldiers stood by running Humvees. The squads each entered different Humvees and were driven outside of the city gates.

Many recruits with Scootaloo looked out the windows in astonishment.

“Wow... we’re actually outside!” One of the said.

Scootaloo leaned back and shook her head.

“Yeah-- it’s crazy out here!” Another commented.

That drew a chuckle from Scootaloo.

“We said the same thing when we got inside.”

The two loudmouths turned to face their younger companion.

“You were from the outside?” One of them asked.

Scootaloo raised a brow.

“Yeah, you’re not?”

The second shrugged.

“I was in debt, figured this was the best way to pay it off.”

The first smirked.

“I decided why not? Don’t have much of anywhere else to go. I’m Perez, this is Garfield. And you?”

Scootaloo nods her head upward.

“Scootaloo.”

“Nice to meet you, Scootaloo. So, how about you? What made you enlist?”

Now she was even more confused.

“I... didn’t? I was assigned to enlist.”

The two looked at each other and back at her.

“Really? That doesn’t make any--”

Loud knocks rang out from the driver.

“Enough chatter!”

With that, the rest of the ride was silent. The ride was also relatively short, as the Humvees’ brakes squealed and brought the vehicles to a stop. Once everyone was outside, they noticed a row of unmarked buildings running down a desolate street.

“Ms. Morbucks has listed these buildings as sites for future development, and I see this is the perfect opportunity to see what each of you can do. I want you all to pair up in teams of two, and clear a building each.”

As soon as Brick finished his orders, Perez and Garfield laughed and high-fived each other.

Scootaloo sighed and walked over towards Sunset.

“Perez, you’re with Scootaloo. Garfield, you’re with Sunset Shimmer.”

The two bros looked at Brick in shock before making their way to their assigned partners.

“Make no mistake. This isn’t as simple as go in and kill infected. And no powers-- I wanna see how you work outside your comfort zone. Each of you will be given a combat knife to kill the infected inside with—teamwork, skill, and strategy will keep you alive... I suggest you get to work!”

Soldiers exited the Humvees holding platters with combat knives presented to the recruits. One-by-one, everyone knifed up. Once they were all armed, Scootaloo made her way outside the apartment with Perez.

“Please tell me you’ve killed zombies, already...” Scootaloo sighed to him.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve killed a couple. How ‘bout you?”

Scootaloo laughed.

“I’ve killed a few. Just dodge their first lunge and get them from behind.”

“Well, there’s two of us, maybe one of us grabs them, and the other knifes them?” Garfield suggested.

Scootaloo hummed at the idea.

“Sure thing. Who grabs, who kills?” She asked as she made her way to the door and knocked on it.

“Well, I’m bigger, no offense. I should be the one doing the grabbing.”

In moments, the door was suddenly pushed as angry growling roared out from the inside.

“You ready?” Scootaloo asked, putting her back to the door.

Nodding, Perez took her place and gently began opening the door.

“You got him?”

Nodding back, Scootaloo flipped her knife over and drove it into the zombie’s head. A bloody squelch rang out as the infected woman slumped against the door.

“Nice. Let’s move in.”

The door was opened, and the sound of infected arms pounding against alternate doors were heard.

“Alright, floor at a time?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, I like that.” Perez smiled.

The two searched the first floor together, Perez taking point with his knife in hand. After observing that it was completely clear, the two made their way upstairs.

“Hey, kid—how old are you, anyways?” Perez asked.

“14.” Scootaloo responded.

“No shit? Geez, guess Princess does child soldiers, now...”

Scootaloo scoffed.

“Oh, please—I learned from the best back home, I bet I can do this all on my own--”

Her bragging was cut off as a hand broke through the door next to her and grabbed her by her hood.

“Scootaloo!” Perez cried.

Acting fast, Perez stabbed the zombie’s hand, freeing his partner.

“Damn freaks... Wanna get this one?”

Scootaloo panted for breath for a moment and brandished her knife.

“Fuck yeah.”

“I don’t know if I should scold you or give you a five...” He said as he cracked the door open, adjusting his stance to compensate for the weight of the zombie’s body pounding against the wood.

With just enough of the zombie’s head showing through the crack between the door, Scootaloo claimed another kill for herself.

“Well done.” Perez commented.

They cleared out room by room, not running into any complications. With the last zombie stabbed, the two sheathed their weapons and made their way back outside to an observing Brick.

“Not bad—you two are the first ones done. Have any trouble?” He asked as he took their knives back.

“Not really.” Scootaloo answered.

“Good. Get back in the Humvee and cool off.” Brick said as he turned towards each of the houses, slowly honing his senses...

He started with Sunset and Garfield’s house...

“Damn it, Garfield, I thought you had that one!” He could hear her growl.

“S-sorry, sorry! He just... he just snapped at me. Won’t happen again, promise.”

Sunset let out a huff.

“It’s all good... just be careful where you grab. Come on, we got just one more room left.”

He sighed, turning towards Rainbow’s house.

He could hear a bloody slash along with a hiss as blood flowed into the air, with a startled yelp from Rainbow.

“Dude, careful! You almost infected me!” He heard her shout.

Her partner shrugged.

“Don’t stand in the way.”

Rainbow growled.

“Asshole.” Brick could hear her mumble.

Next, was Fluttershy.

“Hey, Fluttershy, wanna try to get this one?”

Fluttershy held her blade with shaking hands as her partner had their last zombie restrained.

“Okay... I can do this... I can do this...” She said to herself as she took a few steps closer...

With one attempted bite that was a bit too close to her arm, she yelped and stepped back. With that, her partner sent her blade into the zombie’s temple.

As its body hit the ground, Fluttershy audibly panted for breath.

“I... I’m sorry.” She uttered.

“Hey, it’s okay... you’ll get there.” She tapped Fluttershy’s shoulder as she made her way out the door.

He shook his head and glanced toward Pinkie.

“Pinkie? Where the hell did you go?!” Pinkie’s partner shrugged.

“Nom, nom, nom, hungry!” He heard her say in a goofy voice, followed by a stab into the approaching zombie’s neck.

“Uh... Pinkie? Aren’t we supposed to, y’know, work as a team?”

Turning to her partner, she giggled.

“Yeah, I know—just moving the story along!”

He didn’t say a word to that.

Brick listened to the others, but didn’t hear too much trouble. Rarity struggled for a bit when blood got on her clothes, but other than that she held the end of her partnership well. Applejack worked well with her partner, even making a game out of who could kill more.

One-by-one, the different parties exited the building, each with varying emotions toward their respective partner.

“Well done, everyone. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Garfield, the three of you stick behind. The rest of you, get inside and return to base...” Brick folded his arms as each of the squads began to leave.

Fluttershy nervously glanced at Brick while Pinkie and Garfield were minding their own business.

“Fluttershy, I couldn’t help but overhear that you were having some trouble in there... something tells me that you haven’t killed many of the infected?”

Fluttershy yelped for a moment after hearing her name and sighed.

“N-no...”

A long-winded sigh was his only response.

“Pinkie, you did well—but you need to mellow out. It’s one thing to kill infected, but to do it while blatantly neglecting those around you? That can be a problem. Understood?”

Pinkie stood tall and saluted.

“Yes, sir!” She said, her voice unnaturally stern and clear.

This response earned her a faint smile. One that faded once he turned to Garfield.

“And Garfield...” He took steps towards the older teen who instinctually took a step back.

“Yes, sir?” He asked him.

Brick clenched his fist as he set his free hand on Garfield’s shoulder. Gently, oh-so-gently, he began adding pressure on the boy’s shoulder.

“If you ever want a chance in this platoon, you will by no circumstances be as reckless as you were today, do you hear me?” His eyes burned themselves into Garfield’s as he only gulped.

“Y-yes sir.” He said, wincing in pain from Brick’s hand pushing down onto his shoulder.

After a moment of keeping his hand on him, Brick pulled away. Garfield exhaled as he rested his hand on his limp shoulder.

“That’s all. Let’s get back home...”

Brick took a breath and approached the doors of Town Hall.

“Hello, Ms. Bellum.” Brick said to her as he made his way towards Princess’ office.

Knocking on her door, he waited for a response.

“Come in, Brick.” He heard her voice.

With that invitation, Brick opened her door. He made his way to the spare seat and took it, sitting right in front of her.

“So, how were they?” She simply asked him.

“Rainbow Dash has potential, but we had a close call with her—her partner almost covered her with infected blood.”

Princess’ eyes narrowed.

“And what did you do about that?”

Brick sighed.

“I made sure he knew he fucked up. Scared him straight.”

Nodding, Princess waved her hand.

“Go on.”

“Most of them were fine, but Fluttershy seems to be hesitant about killing the infected.”

Princess didn’t respond.

“I... I just think that out there isn’t the right place for her. I mean, she can talk to animals for Christ's sake. I think she’s more useful in here than out there.”

Princess nodded.

“That means she’s good, right?” He asked her.

"Who else?" She asked, dismissing him.

Brick sighed and sat up.

“Pinkie is somewhat... energetic. She’s got potential, but she’s... all over the place. She’s going to need... I guess the right word would be tuning.”

Princess nodded.

“That’s good. Really good. And their Geodes?”

“I told them to operate without them. I wanted to see if they can hold their own without them... for the most part, they can.”

Princess smiled.

“That’s smart. I’d say put them in Operation STRIKE.”

Brick paused, his eyes widening a tad.

“You sure? Like I said, not many of their powers are, you know, effective--”

“Are you questioning me, Bricky? I suggest you don’t and do exactly what I say and put them in Operation STRIKE.”

A moment of silence passed over them as Brick observed Princess’ somewhat strange behavior.

“You’re using the X, aren’t you?”

She looked at Brick as her smile faded.

“What if I am?”

“Princess, you know that formula’s imperfect. Dexter just needs a little more time to get the actual samples--”

“I’m not talking about this with you.” She growled as massaged the bridge of her nose.

Sighing, Brick glanced out to the window and noticed Kyle going about his business.

Glaring out her window, Brick saw red light begin to grow and reflect onto the windows...

“You’re getting stronger... that’s good.” Brick smiled.

Princess didn’t return the joy.

“Yeah, no thanks to you or your dipshit brothers...”

Brick’s smile quickly faded. His body tensed as his fists were once again clenched, but now were visibly shaking.

“Aw, I'm sorry, did that hurt your feelings? Just know that it 'isn't personal'."

Brick's eyes widened for only a moment. Princess looked back over to Brick, a scowl forming on her face.

“Now shoo—I have a lot of work to do...” Princess opened a file on her desk and glued her attention to it.

Brick tried to speak, but submitted as he got up and walked out the door, crushing her gold doorknob with his hand as he did...

Back out in the apartment buildings, the slumped corpses were being picked up and dumped out the window by Morbucks soldiers.

“Man, why’re we on cleanup duty?” One of them asked as they grabbed another bloodied corpse.

His companion finished dumping his corpse and rubbed his hands together.

“No idea, man—but someone’s gotta do it. Besides, we’re getting' paid—what else matters?”

The first soldier made his way into the last room, where a zombie with a neck wound was slumped on the ground...

“Yeah, I guess, but I’m just saying, why can’t the rookies do this shit--”

Right as his hands were placed on the “dead” zombie, its eyes snapped open, revealing two milky white orbs as two rotting arms gripped the soldier.

As he screamed, the zombie pulled its head towards the flesh barely concealed by gold armor and took a hefty chunk of flesh...

“Hills? Hills!” The second soldier screamed as his friend’s screams were slowly gagged out as he quickly began snarling and twitching...

Desperately reaching for his gun, he opened fire into his friend’s chest and emptied his clip into the resurrected zombie...

Numerous holes were blasted into it, including in the chest, leaving a large hole where its heart should be. Enough bullets shot into its arm to cause it to fall right off, slumping onto the ground. All of this resulted in the zombie stumbling back, but not much else...

The remaining soldier backed away to start to reload, but another zombie wrapped its arms behind him as the first shuffled its feet towards him, its head leaning outward as it lunged at him.

Both zombies sunk their teeth into the soldier’s flesh, causing his screams to quickly gurgle out as his blood coated both rotting corpses.