The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Kyle tossed and turned in bed, the same image flashing in his mind.

The gunshot, the blood staining the car roof.

The body he set inside. The same body he sobbed over before limping away.

The body that wasn’t there when he went to bury her.

His dreams began to paint the image of what she’d look like—rotted, decayed, in pain.

The last thing his mind projected for him was her snarling and lunging at him.

With that image, he woke with a start.

He looked at his clock and saw that the time was 3:40. He sighed to himself but knew that he wouldn’t go back to sleep... He turned to his side, feeling his throat begin to burn as he recalled the last thing he said to his mother...

It's like you just stopped caring for me.

He tried to stop his tears, but they were already flowing...

Later in the morning, Kyle found himself inside Buttercup’s café, ordering coffee for himself and Princess. He sat slumped by the counter, struggling to stay awake. But, unlike most days, he was the only customer in the building waiting for his and his boss’ drinks.

“Hey, dude, you good?” Buttercup asked him.

Kyle jumped back awake after hearing her voice.

“Y-yeah, I’m good... just had a rough night.”

Buttercup nodded, understanding and relating with the look on his face. She turned back and bit the urge to say something, but she lost that battle.

“So, who was it?” She asked him, not glancing at him as she made his coffee.

Confused, Kyle looked over at her for a moment before understanding what she meant.

“My, uh... my mom.”

Buttercup nodded, glancing at him for just a second.

“I’m sorry...” She said, in a voice that was softer than Kyle had heard her talk before.

“Thank you.” He said back.

The two stayed silent for a moment, with Buttercup finally sighing.

“It was my sister.”

Kyle turned to her, a bit puzzled. But then, he remembered the three girls hung on pictures back in the Professor’s home.

“...Oh. I’m sorry.”

Buttercup nodded with a bit of hesitance as she finished the two coffees.

“Take care, Kyle.”

“You too.” He said, taking the two cups and walking out the doors.

Once Buttercup was sure she was alone, she set her head on her counter and finally released the tears she had been holding back. Her soft cries quickly became sobs as her tears dripped onto the countertop.

“You want me to give you what?!” Princess asked in astonishment.

Kyle gulped for a moment before recomposing himself.

“Just one day. I just need one day to try and find her--”

Princess let out a quick cackle. Then, she leaned into her desk and got closer to Kyle than he was comfortable with.

“Kyle, giving you a day off at the moment would be suicide for me—times are getting tough, and I need all hands on deck here... besides, who could possibly be that important?”

Kyle felt a twinge of rage but knew better than to act on it.

“It was my mother...” He said in-between gritted teeth.

As those words left his mouth, Princess’ entire stature changed. Her eyes seemed to soften as she sat back in her seat.

“...Oh...”

Kyle felt unsure how to react to her response, but she gave him no time to.

“One week.”

His eyes widened for a moment, trying to comprehend what she had just said.

“I... I’m sorry?”

“One. Week. But I want you back here not a day after, ready to work. Understand?”

He hesitated but quickly nodded.

“O-of course. Thank you...” He said, standing up and starting to leave.

“You can thank me by burying her here.” She said.

Kyle eagerly nodded as he started to bolt out the door, only to stop.

“I’m... gonna need an escort.”

Nodding, Princess reached into her desk and pulled out a piece of paper, signing it.

“Here. Give this to one of your friends to excuse them for the week... don’t make me regret it.” She innocently added, handing Kyle the sheet.

He carefully read it, seeing that it was a leave of absence form, with Princess signing it for one week of absence.

“Absolutely!”

Sunset sat inside the empty locker room, anxiously clutching her helmet. Ever since the truth of Operation STRIKE was revealed, she and the others were assigned to guard detail.

For the last few days, she had begun to calculate the best way to slip out. If she could make it back to Canterlot to secure a few things... She was never able to plan out anything concrete, but she wasn’t going to stop until she was able to make an escape.

“Shimmer!” Brick called out to her.

As his voice broke her train of thought, she sighed and rose up, putting on her helmet and approaching her superior officer.

“What do you need?” She asked him.

Brick saw her in uniform and shook his head.

“You won’t be needing that. Mayor Morbucks has given you a leave of absence along with Kyle Williams for a scavenging mission.” He said, handing her the signed form.

Sunset removed her helmet to better read the sheet of paper, seeing Princess’ signature.

“And what kind of scavenging mission is this?”

Brick smiled.

“Canterlot. You will have weapons and a vehicle signed out for you at the gate in 5.”

Sunset almost did a double-take as she processed what she was just told...

“O-okay... Alright! I’ll be there!”

Sunset raced back into the locker room and changed to her casual outfit—her purple t-shirt with her emblem and her leather jacket. Speeding outside, she saw Kyle alongside two soldiers holding backpacks.

“There’s enough in here to last you two a few days. You’re expected to scavenge what you can until you return.” One of the soldiers instructed.

Kyle nodded and greeted Sunset.

“Hey.”

Sunset smiled.

“Hey...”

They both hopped into the truck waiting for them, and with the push of a button, the gates began to creak open.

With the world before them, Sunset pressed her foot against the pedal, and the two drove off into it. A few minutes passed as the city behind them began to vanish from view.

“I think this is my first time outside those walls since we went inside them...” Kyle said, keeping an eye out the window.

Sunset nodded, somewhat aloof.

“So what’re we doing out here? Why’re we going back up to Canterlot for?” She asked.

Kyle hesitated before sighing.

“You read my mind, right? Back in CHS? What was it you saw?” He asked her.

Sunset paused.

“I... saw a lot of things. Some stuff before the apocalypse, some stuff after...”

“Did you see me with my mom?” He asked.

Sunset nodded, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Yeah. I saw that. I’m so sorry...”

Kyle paused for a moment.

“Thanks... But when she turned, I shot her in the heart... and now that we know they come back after dying...”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she put the pieces together.

“Then she’s still out there.” She whispered in horror.

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah. When I healed up after the wreck, I went back to try and bury her, but... her body wasn’t there. For the longest time, I thought that maybe they ate her or something... but no. She’s just walking around out there, rotting away... I haven’t been sleeping—it's all I think about, now. I can’t let her go on like that.”

Sunset nodded and made a turn.

“We have a week to find her... is it okay if we stop at Canterlot High while we’re in the area?”

Kyle glanced at her in bewilderment.

“You wanna go back? We don’t know if the Caribou are still around—we're taking a risk even going near the high school...”

“Kyle, there’s another Geode. One that Princess doesn’t know about.”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he realized whose Geode she was talking about.

“Twilight’s...? I thought the Caribou took it.”

Sunset shook her head.

“We found it on her nightstand that morning... they must’ve ignored it or they just didn’t care. Celestia had it locked in her office, there’s no way the Caribou could’ve found it. You with me so far?”

Kyle carefully planned both their course of action as well as his next words.

“Yeah... we can scope it out, see what we can see. Who knows? Maybe she wandered over there.”

With that, the two mostly stayed silent for the rest of the drive. Once they entered familiar territory, Kyle spotted signs for Canterlot High.

“So, I think we can start with your old neighborhood. I know you cleared it out already, but maybe it can give us a starting point. That and a few places to crash for the night.” Sunset said, signaling to the rapidly setting sun.

Kyle observed the sun and nodded.

“Yeah-- we can crash at my old base... feels weird calling it that.” He chuckled.

Sunset cracked a smile at that.

“I mean, we’ve seen zombies go back to places they remember—did you ever go back home after... y’know?”

Kyle hesitated, but nodded.

“Yeah-- I stayed there for a bit with--” He caught himself, a reaction that Sunset noted.

“...I stayed there for a few days until things died down. Our house was one story, so it wouldn’t have worked.”

Sunset decided not to comment on Kyle’s hesitance and hummed.

“We should start there in the morning, then.”

With that, the two made their way toward Kyle’s neighborhood. To Kyle’s surprise, nothing much has changed. Some new, withered corpses were laid out in the street, but other than that, it was all familiar sights for him.

“So, which ones are secure?” Sunset asked Kyle.

He thought for a moment and began glancing at each of the houses, mainly the ones with two stories. He spotted one with a green piece of cloth tied around the mailbox.

“There.” He pointed, making his way over.

Sunset spotted the cloth and let out an impressed “huh”.

“You did all this by yourself?” She asked him.

Kyle hesitated once again but nodded.

“Yeah. It took a while, but all I had was time.” He chuckled.

The two entered the house, and Kyle spotted the ladder he had left all those weeks ago. He set it in place and gestured for Sunset to climb up.

“Ladies first.”

Sunset chuckled.

“Sure thing.”

Once she was up, Kyle followed, pulling the ladder up behind him.

“How did you manage to do all of this?” She asked, staring at the splinters that remained of the staircase.

“There’s a hardware store not 3 miles down the road. That was one of the first places I went to after everything settled down. Got some essentials and just started removing the stairs...”

Sunset nodded and walked around their abode. The upstairs had four rooms—a master bedroom, an empty kids’ bedroom, a closet, and a bathroom.

Once they were secure, Kyle searched the surrounding rooms, finding a small stash of supplies, a fine layer of dust covering them.

Sunset observed their state as Kyle blew the dust off and brought them up to a table.

“So, who lived here?”

Kyle shrugged.

“No idea. I think I saw them once or twice, but I never really talked to them. I never really talked to anyone, here...”

Sunset studied that response but kept her worries to herself.

The sun had set, and the moon was in its place. Sunset found herself observing the rising moon.

“Everything okay?” Kyle asked her.

Sunset turned and sighed.

“Yeah, it’s just... how does it do that?”

Kyle raised a brow.

“What do you mean?”

“The sun! I mean, it sets and rises on its own. I still can’t wrap my head around it...”

Kyle nervously chuckled.

“Okay-- how does it rise and set in Equestria?”

Sunset smiled.

“Our princess, she rises and sets it with her magic.”

Kyle simply nodded.

“Obviously.”

Sunset let out a laugh and turned to him.

“You still don’t believe in it? After everything you’ve seen us do?”

Kyle shrugged.

“I mean, come on! Another dimension of pony-people? It’s a lot!”

Sunset thought for a moment and shrugged back.

“I guess it is.”

Kyle chuckled, and Sunset let out a long yawn. Sensing this, he gestured to her.

“Get some rest. I’ll take first watch.”

She glanced outside at the desolate streets.

“You sure we need to keep watch? Those supplies haven’t been touched— it doesn’t look like anything in the neighborhood’s been touched since we left it.”

Kyle thought about it and shrugged.

“I’ve slept up here for quite a few nights without any troubles... let me set the old sound traps up, then.”

Sunset let out an astonished laugh.

“Sound traps... of course.”

Kyle reset the ladder and hopped down. He reached the kitchen and opened the cupboards, finding a string of empty cans and a half-used roll of duct tape. From the stairs, Sunset observed him in hints of awe and bewilderment.

He set them by the door and tied one end to a radiator near him. Using the tape, he reached up and taped the other end as far up the door as he could manage.

“There... now let’s get some sleep. I’ll take the kids’ room.”

Sunset hesitatingly nodded.

“Good night, then...”

“Good night.” He said, climbing back up and pulling the ladder up before turning in for the night.

The two wasted no time the next morning. They ate, secured their remaining supplies, and began to drive toward Kyle’s old house.

“So, when was the last time you were there?” Sunset asked Kyle as she drove.

Kyle glanced out the window as he answered.

“Not since the beginning... I kinda wanted to get away from it all, you know?”

Sunset nodded and paused before asking her next question.

“So, we’re here for your mom, and I saw a bit about what happened to your dad... did you have any other family?”

Kyle’s eyes widened for a moment before he cleared his throat and responded.

“No, not really. We had friends who were like family, but... I think you saw how that went.”

Sunset nodded, the image of a burning orphanage returning to her head.

“Yeah...”

“How about you? Did you have family back in Equestria?”

Sunset felt hints of remorse and guilt that found themselves present in her tone.

“Yeah... my mom and my little brother.”

Kyle heard the sorrow in her voice and nodded.

“I’m sorry...”

Sunset sighed.

“Don’t be. They’re safe and sound back in Canterlot.”

Kyle turned to her in confusion, which Sunset noticed and stammered at.

“T-the Equestrian one.”

Kyle nodded.

“You know, now that you mention it... it’s kind of weird that we have so many horse-named stuff, here. I mean, Canterlot? A little weird.”

Sunset laughed.

“Yeah, I was always curious about that. I mean, there’re parallel people, here... so maybe parallel cities, too? I don’t know... it’s a little weird to think about.”

Kyle thought for a moment and shook his head.

“I mean, I don’t know... ever hear of the Multiverse Theory?”

Sunset chuckled.

“Yes, I read comic books.”

They both shared a genuine laugh.

“So, yeah—mirrorworlds and all that.”

Sunset tilted her head, and before their conversation could continue, Kyle’s eyes widened as a particular single-story house entered their view...

“We’re here.” He sighed.

Sunset rolled up to the parking lot and put the truck in park. Kyle slowly opened his door and went up the steps. A weak hand was raised towards the doorknob, and Kyle slowly pulled the unlocked door open.

The eroded state of the home was the first thing Kyle noted. Strings of cobwebs strewn throughout the halls connecting against the walls, decorative plant life that had long since died and withered away, and clattered desks and shattered plates and glasses that were possibly knocked over by zombies.

Sighing to himself, Kyle watched his step as he began searching room after room, searching for any sign of life or un-life. The kitchen and living room were both empty, and Kyle finally reached the corner hall that led to three separate rooms.

Walking down the hall, he started with the door closest to him. On the door was a poster saying “Keep Out, Rocking In-Progress".

He considered opening the door but considered leaving it alone.

Continuing on down the hall, he opened the next door, receiving a strange sense of nostalgia over seeing his old room again. He was surprised at the amount of dust that covered his old belongings—his game console on the dresser looked more like a nest of spiders and other critters.

He took one final glance before spotting a dust-coated picture on the nightstand. Seeing the multi-colored specks that were visible, he quickly grabbed it, blew the dust off, and pocketed it as Sunset turned the corner.

“She in here?” She asked him.

Kyle shook his head, holding his just-opened bag close.

“No... it’s uh... she’s not here.”

Sunset nodded, turning towards the other two rooms.

“You wanna check that one down there, and I can check this one?” Sunset asked, pointing at the unmarked door.

Kyle internally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yeah... I can do that.”

Eagerly stepping towards the opposite door, Sunset knocked on his mother’s.

Opening the door, Kyle was taken aback at seeing the decorated room before him. On the nightstand were several clattered coupons for a nearby taco restaurant. Countless musical CDs and sitcom DVDs were scattered across the floor and Kyle recognized the unmarked DVD case with only a ‘D’ visible thanks to the dust and cobwebs...

Hearing Sunset approaching, he quickly closed the door.

“No luck... anywhere else she might’ve wandered to?”

Kyle thought for a moment, but the most obvious answer hit him.

“The police station. She might’ve made her way over there—I never really went that way. Who knows what could be there?”

Sunset slowly nodded, taking in the information given to her.

“So maybe some guns could be there, too...?”

Kyle nodded.

“Yeah-- maybe we could bring some back with us? Y’know, try to make this more than a sentimental trip?”

Sunset hesitated to answer, considering giving a different answer.

“Maybe... we’ll have to see what’s waiting for us, there. For right now, let’s scavenge what we can and keep moving.” Sunset said.

Nodding, Kyle scurried to his old room and finally pulled the still-dusty image in his bag. Wiping the dust away with his sleeve, he saw the three girls behind him but in front of his father and mother. He smiled at the orange hair being used to form a mustache on Kyle’s face. He shared no emotions for the girl with two long purple pigtails who was too grouchy to crack a smile. But tears began to form at the blue-haired girl using her sister’s hair to give Kyle the mustache...

“Miss you.” He sighed, bagging the photo before moving on.

Inside the police station, the same Caribou soldier is tied to a chair, where the cloaked figure entered the room, closing the door behind him.

“You have an annoying habit of not giving me answers...” He said, taking a seat in front of the soldier.

The soldier didn’t meet the stranger’s eyes, looking at the table in silence.

The stranger removed his cloak, revealing a chiseled jaw with bright blue eyes and deep blue hair, completed with a grizzly beard.

“You can’t give me the silent treatment forever, you know... I’ll get what I need from you, eventually.”

The soldier finally looked into the man’s eyes.

“They’re gone... your wife? Your sister? You know that, right?”

The man grimaced as the soldier chuckled.

“I’ll give them this... they lasted much longer than I thought they would... but we broke them. We always do...”

The man’s hand reached for the knife sheathed at his hip, resisting every urge to pull it out.

“Where are they?” He asked between gritted teeth.

The soldier cracked a sinister smile, but added nothing more.

The man finally screamed and pulled the knife up, driving it into the soldier’s shoulder.

“Where are they?!”

After a pain-filled scream, the soldier chuckled.

“Even if I knew where they were, why would I tell you? Why wouldn’t I just take them for myself...”

The man gritted his teeth again.

“Think about it... two Black Collars? That would be too good to pass up on--”

The man finally gave in and pulled out a pistol, shooting the soldier clean in the head. Pulling his knife out of the body, he sheathed both and exited the room. Once he left, he looked into the adjacent rooms, where other soldiers were restrained...

“Maybe one of you will tell me...” He sighed, entering another room.