The Zombie Chronicles: Road to Sanctuary

Inside Morbucks Manor, Princess sat on her bed, holding her head in her hands and struggling to maintain her breathing.

The last few hours' events replayed in her mind, from learning of Kyle’s betrayal to ordering the gates to be opened. Over and over, the sounds of Kyle’s hand being crushed down to nothing haunted her…

“Aw, having second thoughts? A little late for that…” A voice eerily similar to Princess’ said.

Princess jolted up as she looked around for the source.

“Who’s there?!”

Her eyes darted around her room, which felt increasingly claustrophobic by the second. Try as she did, she couldn’t find the stranger speaking to her.

“We don’t have to be what they made us… not anymore.” The voice said, this time from behind her.

Princess jumped and spun around, seeing her reflection through a mirror on the wall…

She slowly studied her own visage, noticing the blackness of the veins on her face and all over her body. As she watched, the reflection’s face suddenly changed, moving against its source.

“It’s not too late. Even now… you can still stop this.” Jennifer said, her black hair overtaking the red highlights as the veins on her face in the mirror disappeared.

Princess gasped and backed away, the reflection of Jennifer standing tall, watching her crumble.

“You don’t want this. I know you don’t… It’s the X. It’s scrambling our mind. It’s killing us…. and you know it.”

Princess tried to form an argument, but a vicious cough cut her off. She quickly covered her mouth with her arm and watched as black fluid coughed up and stained her bare arm.

“You read the warnings-- it wasn’t made for long-term use, remember?” Jennifer asked.

Princess snarled and shot a blast of laser vision at the mirror, melting through it and tearing through the mansion’s walls. Tiny embers filled the air, but none of them managed to catch fire.

“I don’t care what the doctors said! I’m perfectly fine, and I’m in control! I’m everything they never wanted me to be!” Princess screamed.

Through the shattered remains of the mirror, Jennifer reformed.

“Really? Is this what you call in control? You just doomed hundreds of thousands of people to die. That doesn’t sound fine to me. Was destroying Kyle’s hand the strong thing to do?” She asked.

Princess’ heart sank for a moment as tears began to form.

“Kyle was a traitor-- I should’ve executed him…”

“But you didn’t. Why?”

Princess tried to respond but couldn’t find the answer. Jennifer slowly chuckled at that.

“I think you know why...” She sighed.

“Shut up.” Princess scolded.

“On that note, this whole thing was so badly planned out. Starving people usually doesn’t help with making yourself look good. And now there’s a zombie problem. How exactly do you plan to clear them all out of town after this is done?”

“Shut up.”

“You know what I think? I think that you have no idea what you’re doing. And now, everybody in Townsville is paying the price for our trauma… Even the ones who still tried to be there for us, despite everything.”

“Shut up!”

“Mom, Dad, Buttercup, Brick… and now, Kyle. This needs to stop!”

Princess’ eyes ignited into a searing red.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”

Two bright beams tore through the walls and ceiling of the mansion as the survivors and soldiers outside could see the meltdown occurring inside.

Watching the scene unfold, Rainbow turned to the others.

“Guys, we need to get the fuck out of here…”

Sunset nodded, her eyes glued to the mansion catching fire.

“Okay, here’s what I’m thinking. Together, we jump one of the guards, get his gun, threaten the others, take a car and get to the hospital. From there, we pick up Scootaloo and search around for Kyle--”

“Rainbow, I can point out ten things wrong with that idea.” Applejack sighed.

“Well, at least I’m thinking of something! Guys, Kyle isn’t here and who knows what’s going on with him, now, and Princess finally flew out the cuckoo’s nest! We’re fucked unless we get out of here as soon as we can think of something!”

The others silently agreed. Rarity raised a brow and glanced over to Rainbow.

“Um, what do you mean something’s going on with Kyle?”

“Oh, you didn’t hear? Apparently, he stopped that riot at City Hall last night by himself-- they’re saying he hypnotized them-- by singing? Sunset, you were there. Did you see anything like that?”

Sunset struggled to form an answer, but thankfully, she was cut off before needing to do so. She spotted both Utonium and Dexter approaching them.

“Oh, thank goodness we found you!” Dexter said, marching to the others alongside Utonium.

“Uh, who the hell are you?” Sunset immediately asked.

“I’m Professor--”

“Professor Utonium! You’re the Powerpuff Girls’ dad!” Rainbow said, her eyes lighting up a tad.

“Uh, yes, that’s me… this is Dexter. We were Princess’ assigned scientists until very recently. Listen, where is Kyle?” Utonium asked.

“We don’t know. I was hoping you would…” Applejack said.

“Hey, we heard what happened at City Hall-- how did he do that?” Rainbow asked them.

Utonium glanced over at Dexter, and they shared a mutual nod.

“Kyle was tasked to assist us at Princess’ behest a few days ago. During his time with us, we discovered that he had a reaction to your gems-- he was siphoning small amounts of magic from them. We believe that with the right modifications, and a sort of filtration system for lack of a better word, Kyle can harness this power, and use it in a different way than all of you.”

The girls all shared shocked glances, save for Sunset.

“And there is more. After Kyle left, we tested with samples of his blood given to us from Processing. We discovered that something within Kyle’s DNA is shared within the Geodes. Some sort of gene that we have been unable to track. Whatever it is, it may be our only chance to stop Princess.”

There was a brief pause as this information was processed.

“Wait, so are you saying that Kyle is… Equestrian?” Rainbow asked.

“We need to talk to ‘em, now.” Applejack said, unsure how to feel about this information.

“Um, wait-- if he sang and stopped the riot, does that mean that he’s…” Fluttershy started.

Rarity’s eyes widened along with Rainbow’s.

“He’s a Dazzling?” They both said in unison.

Sunset hesitated to respond, but finally took a breath.

“Yeah. He and I figured that out last night.”

There were several gasps from the girls as Sunset held up her hands.

“He was going to tell you, but everything happened so fast. When we left that meeting, I went and got our stuff from the orphanage run. A photo fell out of his pack with Adagio, Ariel, and… the other one. I asked him about it, and he told me everything. But that doesn’t matter, now-- we need to get to him. Dexter, do you know where he and Princess went?”

“I do not know, but I know that Blossom was heading to his apartment. Perhaps we could slip out and--”

“Jennifer!” Buttercup’s voice suddenly called out.

Countless Enhanced immediately turned as they saw two silhouettes in the moonlight. They landed in the middle of the crowd, making sure that Sunset and the others were close by. Blossom acted fast, using the confused responses of the crowd to her advantage. She pulled out a set of keys and put them in Sunset’s hands.

“There’s a humvee right by the gates. Take it, and go to the hospital. I’ll be there shortly. Kyle’s there, he’s safe.”

Understanding, Sunset nodded. With that, Blossom caught up with Buttercup as they reached the end of the crowd.

Princess hovered out from the manor, floating towards Buttercup and Blossom.

“I see you survived-- good. I was getting bored. And you have your powers back! How exciting!” She smiled.

“Oh, no, I’m not fighting you… not this time.” Buttercup said, turning her attention toward the other Enhanced.

“There’s something you need to tell these people… something you did to them.”

Princess grew confused, tilting her head but allowing Buttercup to play this plan out.

“Princess Morbucks has been starving Townsville! Underneath the city, in the subway, is a surplus of rations, survival gear, and more! All approved and funded by the US Government!” Blossom said.

Confused murmurs resonated from the crowd as Princess stammered, watching them all begin to turn on her.

“Her plan was to starve the ordinary people out. That’s why she fed us the other day… she wanted to make it us versus them!”

Not only were the other Enhanced beginning to turn, but some soldiers lowered their weapons from the interloper, turning over towards Princess.

“W-what’re you doing?! You work for me!” She shouted, noticing their turn.

Princess nervously laughed as she began to realize that she was outnumbered, and most likely out-powered.

“Y-you have no proof! You say there’s some big bunker with food, but you don’t have any… what’re you trying to prove?” She asked.

Buttercup perked her head up at that.

“Oh? Wanna bet?” She asked, pulling out a singular MRE from her pocket, tossing it onto the ground by the Enhanced.

“Read the label! Morbucks Incorporated. Her father collaborated in the disaster relief efforts after the wildfires started last year. And now she’s hogging it all for herself and anyone she wants to keep around.”

As the people realized the truth, they began to turn.

“I knew there was a reason you fed us!”

“My family isn’t enhanced, do they need to die, too?!”

Several Enhanced began to approach Princess as she panickedly blasted a beam of heat vision. However, one of them stomped into the ground, raising the earth beneath them into a barrier that managed to take the light blast.

“Gonna have to try harder than that for us!” The earth-manipulator shouted.

Princess began to hyperventilate as the people marched closer to her…

“G-get back! I’m warning you! Guards, s-shoot them, or something!”

However, no one drew their guns towards the crowd. In fact, a few soldiers drew their guns on her.

“Who do you people think you are?! Do you know what I’ve done for you?! Did you forget who protected you when zombies became real?! When your neighbors were being torn apart?! Me! And this is how you all repay me?!”

During this confrontation, Sunset and the others made their way toward the gates. They were stopped by a guard, who stared at them through their helmet for a brief moment…

“We didn’t see anything.” The soldier whispered.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

“Garfield?” She asked.

Garfield chuckled, shrugging inside the armor.

“Let’s save reunions for later. Right now, you gotta go!” He said, carefully creaking the gates open.

They didn’t wait for another que as they bolted for the car.

Back inside, Princess’ back hit the manor as the angry mob approached her.

“You… you… fuckers!” She lunged towards the crowd.

Meeting her was Blossom. Pressing against her, Blossom kept Princess from attacking the crowd.

“Stand down, Jennifer-- it’s over! We can still fix this!” Blossom shouted.

“You think you can come over here and scare me into submission?!” Princess screamed, throwing Blossom into the manor.

Buttercup followed from behind, entering the rapidly-burning mansion. At this point, the whole building is ablaze, the three protected thanks to their powers. However, Princess’ sleeves caught fire, with her patting them out.

Outside, several Enhanced tried to run in and help, but the entrance collapsed behind the three…

Princess tossed Blossom on the unscorched ground, floating down and clenching her fists.

“You’re rusty, Blossom-- just like Buttercup!” She said, preparing to take a swing.

Buttercup soared inside and grabbed Princess’ arm, kicking her through the charred wall.

“Good thing we aren’t alone, then.” She said.

Princess heavily huffed, preparing another blast of heat vision.

Blossom rose from the ground, hearing the sound of the ceiling beginning to collapse. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled a pure icy mist, freezing the collapsing wood.

Princess took this opportunity to try and grab Blossom, only for Buttercup to yank her back.

“Blossom, how long are we doing this for?!” She asked.

“Long enough for you-know-who to get their ass down here!” Blossom responded, being very careful not to give Princess any hints.

Blossom knew that the two of them couldn’t take her on forever. Blossom was already on a tight time limit as she started to feel the overbearing heat tingle her skin. Buttercup was barely in fighting shape after the previous beating, and together they were only enough to keep her occupied…

The fight continued as the manor burned around them. After what felt like ages, Buttercup was out of breath and Blossom began to sweat immensely due to the heat of the room becoming too much, coughing on smoke…

“Aw, I guess they didn’t tell you-- the first dosage is the shortest… this was a fun trip down memory lane, but I think it’s time we permanently wrapped this up.” Princess smiled ear-to-ear, preparing a powerful blast of heat vision…

But suddenly, from outside:

“Cataclysm!”

The burning boards blocking the door were swiftly struck by an unseen force of dark energy, quickly disintegrating.

Princess turned towards the scene as she realized that each and every one of the Enhanced from outside were crowded at the doorway, ready to fight. Taking the lead were two figures. One donning a sort of ladybug-costume, and the other, a cat.

“Son of a bitch… of course you two came crawling back!” Princess growled.

Blossom and Buttercup looked at the two in absolute confusion as the cat one shrugged.

“I’m just shocked you thought we left.”

The ladybug-costumed hero took a step forward.

“It’s done, Morebucks. We actually don’t want to hurt you, which is more than you deserve…” She said, with a heavy French accent-- moreso than her partner.

Blossom and Buttercup struggled back to their feet. They knew that at the moment, they had the advantage… Looking at each other, they both shared a nod.

Together, they sped towards Princess, grabbing her from behind and pushing her and themselves out of the manor. Tossing her just behind the crowd, the two sisters readied for one last brawl. This time, however, the several Enhanced were the ones who took the initiative, stepping forward and preparing various powers…

Princess saw the army now turned against her, and growled.

“Fine, then… I guess I can work with a clean slate.” She huffed, preparing for a bloody fight.

Speeding down the road, Rainbow kept her eyes out for the way to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Daisuke and the others searched the vehicle for any useful weapons.

“Okay, we have a pistol with one mag, a shotgun with 20 slugs, and a few knives… we can make that work, right?” Sunset shrugged.

The group all nodded with Applejack handling the shotgun. Sunset was bestowed the pistol, and Rarity, Daisuke, and Utonium were handed knives.

“Alright, people… I know you all have questions for Kyle. I do, too-- but right now, they have to wait. If our Geodes can help stop Princess, then we have to do whatever it takes to make that happen. It won’t be easy. The streets are infested and we don’t even know what the inside looks like, so be careful. We only have so many bullets, as is. Understood?” Sunset rallied.

Mutual cheers were shared, and Rainbow screeched the brakes.

“Uh… guys?!”

Sunset made her way from the back to the front and looked out the windshield. Her eyes widened as she saw Kyle dangling from the hospital window with only one hand. Tied around his hospital gown was a small pouch stuffed to the brim.

“Kyle! Rainbow, park us against that window, now!” She shouted.

Rainbow nodded and parked the rather large car up against the window, watching a pack of Ragers spill from the exit and towards them.

“Shit, Ragers! Applejack, right side!” Sunset ordered.

Applejack opened the front hatch and climbed on the turret seat, shooting at the horde with the pump-action. Sunset hopped on top, as well, climbing just past Applejack.

“Kyle! We’re here, just hold on!”

Kyle heard her voice and laughed in relief.

“Sunset! They’re all over the building, everyone’s on the roof! Your Geodes are in the bag!”

Sunset smiled in relief.

“Alright, just hand it down, and we can--” Sunset cut herself off when she realized that Kyle’s left hand was completely gone.

Her eyes widened as she instinctually let out a horrified gasp.

“Yeah, a lot’s happened. Hey, any chance you can catch me? I don’t think I can hold on for much longer…” He asked as his hand began to slip…

Stammering, Sunset tapped at the hood of the humvee, telling Rainbow to move the humvee up just a bit. With that, she jumped off of the hood.

“Let go, try to land on the hood!”

Rainbow watched the scene unfold and wasn’t liking the idea.

“Uh, Sunset… I don’t think he’ll be able to--”

She was cut off as Kyle lost his grip, beginning to fall and landing right on the hood on his back. The fall knocked the wind out of him, but other than that, he was uninjured.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked, running over to his side.

“Yeah… thanks.” Kyle said, slowly getting up.

As soon as he was up, Sunset quickly pulled him into a hug.

“We didn’t know what happened. I thought she… I thought…” She mustered.

Kyle returned the embrace, leaning his head on her shoulder.

“It’s okay… I’m okay.” He assured her.

“Alright, y’all, this is real cute, but I’m almost outta ammo!” Applejack shouted, firing another shot.

Kyle smiled, gesturing to the bag on his waist.

“You won’t be needing any more!” He said back.

Sunset’s eyes widened as she quickly undid the bag from Kyle and reached for Applejack’s Geode.

“AJ! Catch!” She said, tossing the gem to her.

Applejack turned and quickly caught the Geode. Her eyes lit up like on Christmas morning when she realized what was in her hand.

“Why howdy, old friend…” She smirked, putting the necklace around her neck and cracking her knuckles.

As Sunset handed the Geodes back to the others, Applejack set the gun aside and hopped off of the humvee. Reaching for a nearby traffic light post, she hoisted it off the ground and swung at a row of Ragers, breaking various bones as they splattered across the pavement, too beaten to move.

Rarity was up next, using her diamond fields to seal the hospital doors until everyone else was powered up and ready to fight.

Inside, Daisuke sighed and shook his head, trying to amp himself up.

“Okay, buddy, I’m not sure how to summon you these days, but my family’s up on that roof! I know you know that, so come on! Come on out, Dark!”

Fluttershy watched this unfold with worry plastered on her face.

“Um, Mr. Niwa, are you okay?” She asked.

Daisuke’s eyes snapped open as dark energy resonated around him. In an instant, Daisuke was gone, and Dark resurfaced.

“Alright, alright! I’ll help out, you old bat!” He sighed.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as Dark turned to her and gave her an upwards head nod.

“What’s up?” He simply asked as he flew out from the humvee roof, assisting the others with picking off the remaining zombies.

Rainbow, armed with a knife, used her super speed to assist her in braining countless Ragers before they could even try and grab at her. She smirked to herself, happy that she has the advantage, this time.

Fluttershy took hers, but was unsure of what she could do with it. She had no clue on how she could help, but looked out the windshield and realized that another horde was closing in from the street behind the group…

Kyle, armed with the pistol, was the other person to see this threat.

“We got more from behind!” He shouted, drawing the gun and shooting one of the Ragers square in the head.

Fluttershy’s breath began to quicken, and panic began to overwhelm her…

Her gaze reached the others, who turned and prepared to fight, but the numbers of that horde were clearly too great for them to handle…

Fluttershy took a deep breath, doing her best to control her nerves. Taking the wheel, she revved the engine and sped forward.

“Come on, you motherfuckers! I’m right here, come and get me!” She squeaked, doing her best to yell as she drove into the horde, plowing through them as many of them turned and followed her as she honked on the horn madly.

The group paused to process what Fluttershy had just done, but had little time to do so.

“Rainbow, you should follow her-- make sure she gets out of there. The rest of us, get ready to move in.”

Kyle glanced over to Daisuke, or at least who he believed was Daisuke. It took him a moment to process his new appearance.

“Uh, Daisuke--.”

“Ah-ah-- name’s Dark.” Dark corrected.

Kyle paused and nodded.

“Right… Dark… you have those wings, you go up to the roof and make sure that everyone’s alright. You can take Sunset and me with you, and we can take out any zombies that try to get to the roof. The heavy hitters on the ground, us on the roof keeping watch. Got it?”

Dark nodded, preparing to carry two people to the roof.

“Rarity, at my signal, drop that barricade and get ready to do some impaling, and Dark, get ready to carry us..” Kyle instructed.

Rarity and Dark both affirmatively nodded, and Kyle looked at his pistol, realizing that he was no longer able to check the chamber. He settled for checking the mag, seeing that he only had three bullets left in the magazine.

“Okay… now!” He shouted, bringing his arm down.

With the wave of a hand, the diamond barricades dissipated, and the first few zombies sped out only to be either shot by Kyle or Sunset, crushed by Applejack holding the light post, or stabbed by Rarity in a flurry of blasts of diamonds, doing her best not to vomit at the sight.

“Move in!” Applejack shouted.

The two began to advance, pushing through the lunging Ragers. They did their best to maintain distance as to avoid blood splatter potentially spreading the infection. It did the trick as they began to pile bodies on the ground, Applejack making sure that they’re all down for good with a quick stomp to the head.

Meanwhile, Sunset and Kyle were both lifted up to the roof, Kyle refusing to look down again…

“So what do we do after this?!” Sunset asked Kyle.

“Once we have a base, we’ll all need to deal with Princess. Once she’s dealt with, the rest of the city will need to be secured!”

“Yeah, and what’s your great plan to deal with that psycho?” Dark asked.

Kyle chuckled, looking at the injector secured on his side.

“I have a plan…”

The three reached the roof, immediately running towards the doors that were barricaded with countless leftover hospital beds…

Sunset cocked her pistol and started pulling the beds aside, allowing the Ragers to start pounding on the door.

“Kyle… you still have Pinkie’s Geode?”

He nodded, gesturing to the gem around his neck.

“Good. Use it!”

Kyle instinctually nodded, but immediately did a double-take.

“Wait, what?! Sunset, we don’t know if that could work!”

“We don’t have a choice! It works on people, it has to do something to them!”

Kyle struggled to process the thought of controlling the infected, but had no time to dwell in it as the door began being pushed open, a loose Rager arm madly swiping around trying to get more leverage.

Desperately holding it up, Kyle turned back towards the others on the roof.

“Cover your ears!”

They quickly did so without asking why, and Kyle began to sing, the Geode pulsating with red light as he did.

Initially, there was no response to his singing as the barricades were starting to give. However, he shut his eyes and continued his melody, the glow of the Geode intensifying.

The door finally gave way, with Sunset quickly drawing her gun and the doctors on the roof backing away.

However, the Ragers didn’t spill out onto the roof.

Kyle cracked an eye open, seeing that the zombies in front were standing in place, the same tint over their eyes that was over the guards and rioters at City Hall…

“Holy shit.” He whispered.

He stepped toward the docile zombies, observing that they didn’t try to lunge at him. They were barely even twitching. They were only breathing heavily with the occasional quiet snarl.

Sunset’s eyes widened as from behind the horde, she could hear the others cutting their way through the docile zombies.

Kyle stood in awe as he realized the power that he had. The power that he never fully realized was a part of him until that very moment.

The girls finally slaughtered the last zombie, leaving a pile of corpses stretching down the stairs…

Applejack noticed Kyle’s awe and put the pieces together.

“Huh. Guess that’s one thing those girls can do that’s handy…” She said, removing her hat and trying to beat any excess blood out of it.

As silence fell, the team could hear the sounds of the fight against Princess from the manor.

“We gotta get over there. If I can get close, I can stop her from using her powers.” Kyle said, reaching to his side and pulling out the injector.

Sunset immediately pursed her lips.

“Kyle, you’re in no condition. You’re on your feet, but… well…”

“You got one arm, sugarcube-- we don’t need ya’ losin’ the other.” Applejack stepped in.

“And not to mention the questions we have for you-- why on Earth did Utonium and Dexter give you our Geodes?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, and why didn’t ya’ tell us that the Dazzlin’s were your sisters?” Applejack added.

“Is this really the time to discuss this?” Kyle asked.

Sunset looked at the growing tension.

“I actually have a few questions myself… but he’s right. We need to focus on the task at hand, here. We can talk about this after Rainbow and Fluttershy come back and we go back to the manor.”

Kyle nodded and looked over the roof, observing the remaining occupants of the hospital…

“This isn’t good… we should start clearing these bodies out-- we need to get these people back inside.”

Applejack nodded.

“Does anybody know where gloves are down there?” She asked the doctors on the roof.

As they started to get situated, Kyle looked out towards the direction of the manor, seeing at first one figure flying towards them. He couldn’t perceive much about them, but he recognized the red hair…

“Um, guys…” He said in worry.

His worries were somewhat alleviated, however, when he saw another figure floating beside her, carrying two others on her shoulders…

Sunset turned and saw the approaching figures and looked over at Kyle.

“They don’t look too good…”

Sure enough, the two Powerpuff Girls flew down, bloody, beaten, and bruised.

On Buttercup’s shoulders was a boy and a girl, both of them about Kyle’s age if not younger. They, too, were beaten to a pulp.

On Blossoms were Utonium and Dexter, still conscious and somewhat unharmed.

“We need beds!” Buttercup screamed, limping as she walked.

Blossom collapsed to her knees, heavily panting and wiping running blood away from her eyes.

Kyle helped a pair of doctors bring vacant hospital beds over.

Utonium looked over at Kyle, seeing his missing hand and gasping.

“Kyle, your--”

“My hand, I know… Princess caught on to us…” He said to Utonium.

Utonium hung his head, feeling guilty over what happened.

“Who’re these two?” Kyle asked Buttercup as she set them on the beds.

“I have no idea-- that one’s a cat, this one a ladybug.” She simply answered.

Kyle just nodded in bewilderment.

Sunset saw their state and grew increasingly worried.

“What happened…? Is it over?”

Blossom turned to her, a look of defeat in her eyes.

“They’re all dead… all of them. All dead…”

Kyle’s eyes widened as he understood just what she was saying.

“The other Enhanced…?”

“She slaughtered all of them. We barely got away… a few others escaped, but who knows where they went? Kyle, we need to run. We can’t stop her… not anymore.”

Proving her point, Blossom’s eyes rolled back as she passed out, Rarity quickly grabbing her before her head hit the ground.

Kyle looked out towards the manor again in horror, realizing what Princess had done. Without the Enhanced, what was she going to do next?

Who’s left that can stop her?

Looking at the Geode around his neck, and the injector still on his side, he willed himself, turning to the others.

“I need a change of clothes.” He simply said.

Driving full-speed down the street, Fluttershy madly drove and honked her horn, drawing a larger horde that was stampeding behind the Humvee.

“Okay… okay, I got this…” Fluttershy said, doing her best to control her breathing.

She glanced at each street, trying to find a spot to turn. However, every turn just greeted her with a new group of zombies to join the stampede.

Rainbow desperately sped through the horde to catch up with Fluttershy. Once she reached the side of the humvee, she pounded on the door.

“Hey! Flutters, it’s me!”

Fluttershy yelped as she briefly turned out the window and saw Rainbow struggling to keep up.

“Open the door and jump, I’ll be right here to catch you!”

“What?!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“You have to trust me! You’re almost at the gates, that thing won’t make it through! I promise I’ll catch you…”

Looking out the windshield, Fluttershy realized that she was indeed about to ram into a massive horde still resonating in front of the gates…

She took a long deep breath, undid her seatbelt, opened the door, and threw herself out of the driver door.

In that instant, time slowed close to a stop. Rainbow quickly did her best to coordinate where Fluttershy would be landing and moved herself to catch her. Slowly, she found herself slowly grabbing on to her, carrying her and cradling her neck to prevent whiplash.

For what translated into a nanosecond, Rainbow carefully moved some stray hairs out of Fluttershy’s face before looking out to the streets, seeing the almost-frozen zombies charging towards the humvee.

She spotted a nearby alley free of the zombies’ line of sight. Holding Fluttershy close, she stepped towards it, every step creating a flash of energy as her perspective of time slowly returned to normal.

They reached the alley with no complications. Fluttershy yelped at the sudden change of scenery, but Rainbow quickly responded by holding her close.

“Hey, it’s alright… we’re safe.” She said, observing the horde run on past them, still chasing the empty humvee as it rolled down the road.

They both could hear as the humvee rammed into a building down the road, the sound causing Fluttershy to jump again.

Rainbow looked at her Geode, seeing that it was beginning to glow brightly…

“Oh, come on, already?! Okay, we gotta get back to the hospital before this thing starts acting up… you ready?”

Fluttershy nervously nodded, and the two sped off again.

However, as Rainbow ran down the streets past the horde Fluttershy had gathered, she saw that it was so large that it was blocking the way back to the hospital…

Thinking quickly, Rainbow turned down an adjacent street and sprinted down it. Same as before, zombies were everywhere, making a way back to the hospital impossible.

“Fuck…”

Rainbow began to panic as everywhere she turned, she was cut off by zombies. She eventually spotted the police station. She raced her way inside and deactivated her Geode, quickly setting Fluttershy back down and reinforcing the door with a nearby chair.

“Um, this isn’t the hospital…” She whispered.

“No, it isn’t. Zombies are fucking everywhere-- we gotta lay low here for a while, okay?” Rainbow said to her.

She nodded, looking around the small reception area.

“Maybe we can reach out to Brick and his brothers-- they should still be close enough for the radio to work…” She suggested.

“Good thinking-- let’s go.” Rainbow said to Fluttershy.

They made their way deeper into the station, approaching one of the dispatch stations.

However, the sound of a heavy bag hitting the ground stopped them both.

“Come on, we gotta hurry! Fuckin’ things are everywhere!” A deep feminine voice said.

“I’m tryin’, not my fault Earth guns weigh a ton!” Another said.

Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, gesturing at her to stay put. Slowly getting up, Rainbow began to sneak closer to the sounds.

“How the fuck did this happen? I mean, wasn’t Princess supposed to keep that gate shut?”

“Azul, that bitch is off her damn rocker-- I thought you knew that by now. There’s no logic left in her, we just gotta go before she tries to kill us, too.”

Rainbow reached the hallway towards the armory, watching as a big duffel bag stuffed to the brim was tossed out, landing on top of a small pile.

She slowly made her way down the hall, approaching the doorway…

“Okay, this should be good, let’s get the hell outta here before we get swarmed.”

One last bag is tossed out right in front of Rainbow. Before she could back away, she watched as two figures stepped out of the armory and saw her.

The two women had bulky mechanical armor, one red and the other blue. Rainbow could best describe the armor as fitting a biker. As for the women themselves, they certainly seemed scary, especially as one formed an arm cannon out of her hand and aimed it at Rainbow.

“And just who the fuck are you?” The red one asked, a light of energy forming inside the cannon.