A World Gone Rotten

Chapter 2

"Outbreak with a Side of Rescue"

Canterlot, Oregon

March 21st, 2015

0730 Hours

Breakfast was the usual fair of plain cereal and milk for Arthur, Samuel went with oatmeal, brown sugar variety, as the two sat at the island in the kitchen. They both ate in silence, enjoying their food and the silent company of each other. Soon being done, the two ready themselves to leave, Samuel driving Arthur to school now. The two of them hopped in Samuel’s truck, backing out of the driveway onto the road and taking off down the road.

“So you going to introduce me to all your friends, as well as your girlfriend, today?” Samuel asked.

Arthur checked his watch, “If we get there fast enough, we should have enough time.”

Samuel grinned, “Perfect, I can tell them all about your childhood. Including some bits you probably didn’t tell them.”

Arthur glared at Samuel with contempt, “Don’t you dare.”

Samuel shrugged, “Alright you got me, I wouldn’t.”

Arthur side-eyed him, not believing him just yet. The suburbs phased out, as they made way to the school, bypassing the more commercial areas on the way. Soon they arrived at the school, parking on the side of the street. Samuel took a moment to take in the sight, he never saw this many students in one school before, Arthur already was out.

“You coming or what?” Arthur quipped

“Yup lets go.”

Samuel exited the truck and the two made their way over to the open ground that covered the whole front of the school. Arthur pointed to and explained the various areas and objects to Samuel, with Samuel nodding or asking follow up questions. They eventually made their way over to the statue, the area wasn’t thronged with students yet, only about a third of the buses had arrived.

“So that’s pretty much it for this part of the school. At least a couple of my friends should be here soon.” Arthur said.

“Rog.” Samuel simply responded.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at that, “Rog?”

“Short for roger, picked it up in the army, picked up a lot of jargon and lingo,” Samuel pointed at some student trying to sneakily puff a vape, “Heard vapes be called douche flutes or a morale booster for example.”

Arthur snorted at that. Looking for his friends, he saw Samuel out of the corner of his eye pull a carton of cigarettes out. Before he could tell him to put it away, Samuel asked first if there was an area to smoke. When told no, Samuel put the carton away muttering under his breath about it. Arthur quickly pointed to seven specific girls all coming up the main pathway.

“Those seven are really special.”

Samuel smirked and curiously asked, “How so? You got a crush on them all or something?”

Arthur slapped his shoulder, “No you idiot. They are responsible for a lot of helping, organizing, all that type of stuff. Also for saving the school awhile ago.”

“Saved the school?”

Arthur just nodded, “Oh, by the way prepare yourself.”

Samuel was now confused, “Prepare, for what?”

Arthur grinned and took several steps back, “You’ll see.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow and then he got a gut feeling of something off. Looking to Arthur than looking back to the seven girls, now six, the pink one she was missing. Samuel’s vision was then filled with sheer pink.

“HI!” Pinkie yelled, being very close to Samuel.

“SHIT!” Samuel swiftly backpedaled before old drills kicked in and he tried reaching for a non-existent rifle. He quickly regained his bearing though, taking several deep breathes to calm himself.

“Please, for the love of god, never do that again.” Samuel pleaded.

“Ooopsie, sorry, I was just so excited to meet a new friend!” Pinkie gleefully said, bouncing up and down in one spot.

Arthur was laughing so hard, that he was wheezing, clutching at his stomach. The other six, approached. They had varying expressions on their faces, Rarity was the first to speak.

“Pinkie, don’t frighten the poor dear.” She looked to Samuel, an apologetic smile on her face. “Sorry about that darling, Pinkie is just rather eccentric meeting new people.”

“That’s alright, I just not expect that at all.”

Sunset Shimmer was next to speak, “Hey there, seems you’ve meet Pinkie now, are you new here? Seems a little late to be going to a new school.”

Arthur having finished his laughter, snorted and approached, “Yeah he is new, transferred all the way from Canada, right Samuel?”

The girls, all reacting in their own ways, introduced themselves, talking about how Samuel was going to love it here and etc. Far too fast for Samuel to get a word in edgewise. Once there was a brief lull, Samuel spoke up a little louder than usual.

“Alright hold up!” catching the girls off guard, in a more normal and civil tone, “I’m no new student, too old for that now thank god, I’m just visiting from Canada. I’m Arthur’s cousin, the little rascal, done for a bit than I head back home.”

That got a collective “Ooooohhhhhhhh” from the girls, Samuel looked at his watch. “Don’t you all have class soon?”

Arthur spoke up, “In fifteen minutes yeah, why?”

Samuel said, “Curious, also I need to go have a smoke.”

Some of the girls scrunched their faces in disgust, Twilight chimed in, “Why would you want to smoke? I assume you know the health detriments, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s a habit I picked up, army does weird things to you.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up a bit, “Really? Cool! Are you like special forces or something? That would be radically cool.”

A deep laugh by Samuel disposed such a notion, “Nah, nothing like that, was just a reservist for some years, learned a lot I won’t lie, but nowhere as cool as special forces.”

Rainbow just muttered, “Damn.” Samuel smiled at that, “So Arthur here, has told me a bit about you seven, quite the record you gals got.”

Applejack responded to that, “Aw shucks, it ain’t that impressive you know.”

Samuel just shrugged, and took a look at Arthur, giving a nod.

Arthur, “Well I gotta take Samuel for a bit more of a tour, so see you girls around.”

The seven girls and Samuel said their mutual goodbyes, and they went their separate ways.

The front grounds were much fuller now with students, making it a little more difficult to navigate. Arthur soon found Jennifer and his friends, introducing Samuel to them for the last five minutes before all the students, went in for class.

“I gotta go now, see you after school.” Arthur said as he walked away waving goodbye, Samuel doing the same, “Hey Arthur,” he looked back, “Stay safe.” Arthur nodding a bit confusingly.

Samuel walked back to his truck, and the moment he got in the truck, he pulled a cigarette out and lit it. Enjoying the feeling of the nicotine rush. Samuel pulled his phone out, the prior two days have been good, but info about this new disease has occupied some part of his mind constantly.

More articles and information have been coming out, alongside an mysterious increase in missing person cases, assault and murders. Samuel hoped in the end it would be resolved, but thinking to himself.

If this is the start of something, might be best to go get a couple things from the store, just a few in case items.

So he started his truck, buckled in and took a long puff of his cigarette. Off he went to the nearest store wondering if there were any special discounts or deals going on…

Arthur entered the cafeteria, lunch in hand, walked to the table that his friends were at, all looking at one phone playing a video.

“What’s going on?” Arthur asked.

Kenneth responded, “Sit and watch it, it’s fucked.”

Arthur sat down, and started watching the video. The video showed was on a body cam, a police officer being the source, was showing a vehicle accident on a highway coming out of Portland, the one that went to Canterlot. The camera focused on a woman in a stretcher, a paramedic who was going over her.

Then the woman began to move, bringing her arms up and grabbing the paramedic and bringing him down where she started to viciously start chewing into the paramedic’s neck. He was screaming as two officers ran up, one being the said officer with the body cam.

They approached from either side of the paramedic and tried yanking him off, causing the woman to hold on harder and double down on chewing. The paramedic screamed louder as a result, and the other officer grabbed his taser, jamming into it the woman’s chest, pulling the trigger as the two prongs went in.

The electric current made the woman temporarily lose her grip, long enough for the body cam officer to pry the paramedic off, the other officer also backpedaling away. The paramedic was taken by his buddy, allowing the officers to focus on the woman, who was now rising. Her gray, soulless eyes focused on them and she shambled toward them, mouth still filled with the paramedic’s flesh. The two officers pulled out their service pistols, telling her to stop, she didn’t.

As she got within ten feet, the officers unloaded into her, twelve rounds hit in the abdomen area, two in the left shoulder and one in the right arm. Fifteen rounds in ten seconds, she didn’t stop though and only being slowed, one of the officers then aimed for her head, firing two rounds, one grazing her head and the other hitting her square in the forehead. That finally dropped the woman.

The video came to an end, Arthur and his friends sat in silence, for a moment.

Jason spoke first, “Dude, what the fuck was that?”

Kenneth spoke next, very softly and slightly shaken “I don’t know man, it somehow got leaked and the official reports just say the woman was just, drugged beyond measure, but like it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Could it be that disease people are talking about?” Jack said concern in his voice.

They all sat in pondering silence for a minute, before Arthur spoke up, “Who knows, but I don’t think so, I haven’t seen anything about it giving people the ability to survive that many bullets, unless…”

He paused for a second, “Unless zombies are thing all of a sudden.”

Arthur felt silly about bringing that idea up, but nobody laughed, all looked at him with some seriousness at the thought.

“Well, I guess it could be possible but it does seem absurd doesn’t it?” Kenneth said.

Jason piped in, “It does, but I’m not convinced yet, it could be some drug.”

“God who knows, but I’m sure it’s going to be dealt with, and besides let’s not focus on this right now, we got a test soon.” Jack said.

That got a murmur of agreement across the table, so they dug into their food. Arthur took a look around at the other students across the cafeteria, it looked to him that a lot of others watched the same video and similar moods have popped up. He really hoped this would be figured out, and that his parents came home soon.

Samuel pulled up to Canterlot High School, parking off to the side. Waiting for Arthur in the truck, he thought about what he should do next.

Probably best to get Arthur’s parents on the line, got to see if they can get back, if not see from there. Make sure everything is squared away, also take Arthur shooting today.

Soon the students started filtering out; Arthur soon enough made his way over and hopped in truck. His mood a bit somber, Samuel picking that up quick.

“You alright? Seem a bit… off.”

Arthur sighed, “Yeah I watched something that was really off putting, I rather not talk about it much.”

Samuel shrugged, “Fair enough, lets go, got some shooting to do, right.”

That got Arthur out of his mood a bit, making him slightly smile. Samuel, smiled back and so they went home to get the guns, and go out to the woods.

Arthur held his father’s 30-30 lever action rifle, having a six round capacity plus one, in his hands, listening to Samuel’s advice on how to hold the rifle, how to work the action and so forth.

“Alright, you ready for this?” Samuel asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good, now aim at that target,” Samuel gesturing at simple circular target fifty yards away, “Follow the steps I told you and you’ll be fine.”

Arthur aimed down the sights, his cheek to butt stock forming a cheekweld, left support hand far as possible down the stock to give as much support as possible, knees bent and slowly pulling the trigger…

A loud bang sounded throughout the, Arthur controlled the recoil as much as possible but wasn’t entirely ready for it, Samuel had a hand on his back to support him.

“Shit man, didn’t expect that. How did I do?” Arthur asked, excitement gripping him.

Samuel nodded, “Decent for your first time, some things you can do better, pad of your finger on the trigger instead of wrapping the whole finger around, better stance positioning but otherwise good.”

“Let’s take a look at the target?”

“Not yet, put a couple more down range and we will see how your grouping is.”

Arthur did so, then they went to check the target. His grouping wasn’t terrible, five rounds in a semi-circle, four inches in diameter.

“Remember finger off the trigger, unless you’re shooting.” Samuel admonished Arthur.

Arthur quickly took it off, “Sorry.”

“All good, just remember it from now on.” Samuel looked at the grouping. “Decent grouping, not bad for your first time, we can do a bit more but your dad didn’t have much ammo so got to conserve it.”

After a couple more groupings with the 30-30, they put it away in its case. Instead bringing out the other firearm, a twelve gauge hunting shotgun, pump action, a two capacity tube magazine plus one in the chamber. Samuel explained to him how to use it, they had a lot more ammo for the shotgun then the rifle.

They shot for awhile, enjoying the fun and bonding experience, but soon they had to leave. Too little ammunition for an extended period of shooting. They packed up the firearms and ammo into the truck, and drove away from their area.

“So what type of ammo was that we were shooting?” Arthur asked, wanting to learn more.

Samuel replied, “Birdshot, its in the name for what its for, just a bunch of small pellets packed into it. I’m surprised by how much your dad has honestly, didn’t see any buckshot though. Those are just bigger, a lot more punch too.”

Arthur listened as Samuel continued explaining to him about firearms, eventually the conversation petered out. Which allowed Samuel to bring up Arthur’s parents.

“Call them?”

Samuel looked to him seriously, “Yes, see if they can get home sooner, for their sake, and you know why.”

“It’s the disease isn’t it? You’re worried about it aren’t you.” Arthur responded.

Samuel nodded, “I am, if it gets worse who knows what will happen. I actually already tried talking to them, they brushed me off though, maybe you can convince them.”

“They might shutdown the airports; it’s a disease so it would make sense, especially if it gets worse. Alright I’ll call them once we get home.” Arthur said, slight worry in his voice.

The drive home was short, the green landcape of forest and open meadows blooming with fresh flowers and bright green grass. It changed as they got closer to Canterlot, the urban landscape replacing the nature scenery. Soon rolling into the suburbs, Arthur spotted something off, an individual shuffling like they were high, but he saw them only for a brief second before they disappeared behind a shed.

I wonder who that was, they stumbled like that woman in the video, but I couldn’t tell. Could it be a zombie? God I hope not.

Arthur was very eager to get home after that thought, but they were close to home as Samuel pulled into the driveway. Arthur got out and immediately went inside to call his parents. Samuel brought the guns and ammo in first before he started unloading the various things he bought earlier, from the truck and bringing it all inside. Arthur’s conversation with his parents was white noise to Samuel as he brought supplies in, going in and out. Soon a pile of supplies sat on and around the island in the kitchen, Samuel was bringing in the last of it when Arthur finished his call.

“My parents are being stupid, they just told me it will be fine and they will see me once they’re done in Hawaii.” Arthur said with frustration.

Samuel gave a barely noticeable sigh, “I thought this would happen. I really hope to God they change their minds.”

Arthur murmured agreement, looking to the myriad of supplies on the table; he asked “So all this,” gesturing to it all, “I’m guessing is in case things go bad?”

“Yes, extra food, water, hygiene products and so forth. Stuff we will need if shit hits the fan.” Samuel said.

Arthur pondered for a second, “And if it gets resolved?”

“Then you got extra stuff to use later.” Samuel joked. His tone shifted with more seriousness as he went on, “We don’t know anything much yet. The news has been vague so far, so for us it’s wait it out, till something pops up.”

Arthur nodded but he felt he should tell about the video he saw, “Have you seen the police body camera footage that’s been leaked?”

Samuel said “No, I haven’t, is it related?”

Arthur nodded and took out his phone to show him the video. The two watched it in silence, Samuel blank faced as the video went on. Once it finished, Arthur continued.

“Some people are saying its drugs, others its fake, but no one really knows, a lot of people are saying its related to the disease and coming from it are… well zombies.”

Samuel didn’t say anything for a moment, “I see. I … didn’t think of that honestly. However till we know for sure what is happening, lets just continue on, nothing seems to be affected from the disease, stock market and shit like that.”

Arthur quipped, “Not yet.”

Samuel conceded to the point, before saying, “You got any plans tonight with friends or Jennifer?”

“My friends are out doing their own thing and Jennifer is out of town, so nope.”

Samuel smiled, “Then lets go to a really nice restaurant tonight, and eat like kings, if shit is going to hit the fan might as well enjoy something before it does.”

Arthur looked at Samuel in slight shock, “Really?”

“Really, really.”

Arthur smiled back, “Sounds good to me.”

The two went back to the truck, hopped in and headed downtown, for an evening of fine dining.

It was three days later after that evening of fine dining, as Arthur gazed out at the school as Samuel pulled up. He noticed how there was a lot less students today, as less were showing up now, its been that way for the last two days. Already two of his friends have not showed up, Kenneth and Jason, he been able to contact Kenneth who was staying home due to his parents insisting on it. Jason was nowhere to be found, even visiting his home brought nothing, the entire family was gone.

Arthur was worried, definitely not feeling like going to school today, but he forced himself to because Jennifer was still going. He saw that the Main Seven were still here but even from this distance he could tell the mood wasn’t great. Everyone seemed down today.

“You sure you still want to go?” Samuel asked.

The two already talked about it, Samuel thinking it wasn’t a great idea, but agreed in the end.

“Yeah, I don’t want to be here, but Jennifer is still going and I want to make sure she is ok. She hasn’t texted since about seven this morning, so I’m concerned.”

Samuel nodded, looking at the school and its much diminished numbers of students, “Alright, remember call if anything happens, I’m going to see about getting more supplies, even though the stores are running short, got to try.”

Arthur nodded in agreement and exited the truck; the two waved their goodbyes as Samuel took off down the road. Arthur went near the statue, waiting to see if Jennifer or Jack would show up. Only a few minutes later Jack showed up finding Arthur quickly. The two chatted about what is happening and their concerns. It wasn’t long till the alarm rang and the students started heading inside. Arthur lingered for a few seconds before following Jack in. Jennifer wasn’t there.

That made him much more concerned now, enough to make him text Jennifer again after the fifth time. Yet still no answer, an announcement was made, all students to the gymnasium for an assembly. That received a rolling sound of confusion as everyone made their way to the gym. Arthur looked at Jack who just shrugged as they walked.

As the students filtered into the gym, Arthur saw Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, in the front of the gym, alongside half the staff at the school, Celestia being in front of a podium. The two watched as everyone found a place to sit or stand with no real order to it. Once the last of the students entered, Celestia cleared her throat to begin speaking.

“Good morning everyone, as you can gather from your surroundings, many of your fellow students and much of the staff are absent today. You also no doubt heard of the disease going around. In light of these circumstances, the school division has decided to shut down our school and others until things are resolved. In accordance to guidelines out by the government, you will all be returned home or wait here until you can be picked up by family.”

The students were shocked by this, a loud murmur of conversation erupting as a result. Arthur looked at Jack and he looked back, the two looking in each other’s eyes, both them concerned and slightly scared. Celesta managed to get all their attentions back quickly.

“Please let all of us remain calm now. Several police officers will be here soon to provide protection, everyone now please gather your things and start going to your respective buses or wait in the front lobby for your ride.”

The mass of students obeyed, filtering out of the gym, heading to gather things from lockers and heading out to buses or mingling in the front lobby as they waited for rides. Arthur and Jack waited out in the front lobby; Jack was waiting for his mother to come pick him up. Arthur called Samuel, if he didn’t pick up, he would go on the bus, then head to Jennifer’s place to check on her.

He received a voice message, which was concerning. What could it be preventing him from calling?

Samuel was perusing in a hardware store, grabbing various things that could be used to fortify the house if necessary, his current cart was full. If the apocalypse was going to happen no point on keeping money that was going to be useless. He was in an aisle with various screws, nuts, bolts, nails and so forth.

That’s when he heard a commotion in the next aisle over, he grabbed his cart and moved down the aisle, feeling a keen gut feeling to leave now. Leaving the aisle, he briefly took a look down the aisle where the commotion came from, he saw a man walking with a stagger down the aisle knocking various things over. Most noticeable was large bite on his leg, with some flesh missing. That was enough evidence for Samuel to leave, so he headed to checkout, he would just prefer to leave but things were still somewhat normal, there was the security guard and the one cashier still in front, so no running off yet.

He started putting items on the till, with fast movement, as the cashier scanned the items far too slowly to Samuel’s liking, That is when the staggering man came over, having been alerted by the noise from the scanning, its grey eyes took one look at all three people and let out a hungry growl, shambling forward. Samuel slightly panicked.

Fuck, this is not good, damn zombies do exist now. Fuck!

The security guard walked several hesitant steps forward, before realizing the man wasn’t normal, it was too late. The zombie lunged forward with both hands and grabbed the guard, who was now panicking wildly, grabbed his extendable baton and started hitting it. The zombie didn’t care and the two went down, the zombie lunging in for a bite. Samuel prevented that, swinging a small two by four, he hit the zombie with a meaty whack. The zombie was pushed off course and its mouth missed, hitting the floor.

The security guard quickly used it as an opportunity to push it off and scrambled away, kicking the one hand that still gripped his left ankle off, got up and ran out of the store. The zombie started to get up, before Samuel pushed it into a display of paint cans, the zombie now temporarily out of action. Samuel looked at the cashier, who was staring in shock at the whole incident, and told him to run. He did so; Samuel grabbed his cart and ran out of the store after him.

Samuel looked around him as he went to his truck; the whole area was starting to delve into chaos. He saw more zombies just like the man in the store, shambling around on the street, in the various parking lots and stores, some chasing people or already ripping out flesh and devouring their victims. People were running around, trying to get away, or to get to vehicles, some already driving off.

Samuel went to the bed of his truck and started throwing all his items in, going as fast as he can, so he can get going.

Got to get moving, shit really has hit the fan now. Hopefully Arthur is safe at school or at home.

Finished loading the bed, he hopped in the truck and started it. He checked his phone; he saw three missed calls from Arthur. Swearing under his breath, he called Arthur and started driving away. As he waited for Arthur to pick up, he kept looking around, seeing the chaos around him. A sedan exiting an intersection at high speeds, having a zombie on the windshield trying to get in, the driver drove straight into another vehicle coming the other way, crashing totaling both, as several other zombies closed in on the accident.

Samuel saw a single woman surrounded by six zombies, she fanatically tried fighting, till they all converged on her and she went down in a gory mess. He continued driving, avoiding other vehicles driving, some very haphazardly, zombies or people. Arthur finally picked.

“Samuel? Is everything fine? I tried calling-“

Samuel interrupted him, “No, shit has hit the fan now; it’s getting worse, fast. Where are you?”

“I’m at Jennifer’s, she is sick, like really bad.”

“Fuck, does she have a bite mark?”

Arthur replied, “Yes she does. Wait are you saying…”

Samuel sighed heavily, “Yes, zombies are now real, confirmed. I’ll come to you, just stay put, stay safe and watch Jennifer like a hawk.”

Arthur replied shakily, “I will, you get here safe too.”

“I will.”

Samuel hung up and swore under his breath, stupid kid. He made his way to Jennifer’s, hoping to get there in time.

Arthur sat beside Jennifer’s bedside; the woman was sweating with a hot fever. Arthur was doing his best to keep her comfortable, wet towel on her forehead and a glass of water always on the night table on standby, was the best he could do for now. He was desperately trying to keep the thought out of his mind she might turn into a zombie.

Please for the of love god, please no. I don’t know what to do.

Jennifer spoke, very softly, “It’ll be ok, I know you’re worried.”

Arthur shook his head, “Do you even know what is happening?”

Jennifer gestured for more water, Arthur grabbed the glass and put it to her lips, she drank slowly, once finished, she continued, “A little. That disease, right?”

Arthur reluctantly spoke, “Yes, but… its more than that.”

Jennifer looked at him, “How?”

Arthur bit back a response not knowing how to tell her she may be on the verge of turning into a zombie. Something he still couldn’t accept. He felt Jennifer’s hand on his.

“You can tell me, no point hiding it now.” Jennifer reassured him.

Arthur squeezed her hand, “People that are infected are turning… into zombies.”

Jennifer looked at him with disbelief, “No, you can’t be serious.”

Arthur gave a sorrowful sigh, with a voice on edge of tears, he answered, “I am.”

Jennifer started softly crying, Arthur did as well. The two embraced each other, comforting each other as they cried, enjoying what time was left. A rumbling noise was heard outside, it stopped. Followed by someone entering the house.

“Arthur?” Samuel called.

Arthur relaxed a bit, thinking it could have been someone or something else. “Up here.”

Samuel came up the stairs, shotgun in hand and entered Jennifer’s room. He saw the two embraced, looking at Arthur “How is she?”

Jennifer blubbered, “Not .. good.”

Samuel nodded, “Are you bitten?”

“Yes…I am.” Jennifer blubbered again.

That was enough for Samuel, so he looked at Arthur and gestured to him in a “come here” gesture. He reluctantly came over, especially after getting a nod from Jennifer in reassurance.

“Has she been getting worse?”

Arthur nodded, “Are you gonna suggest… ending it? Cause I can’t do this man. Please.”

Samuel’s face was sorrowful, “Let’s ask what she wants and… go from there.”

They both looked at Jennifer, who was visibly getting worse. Samuel looked at Arthur; he was too emotionally unavailable for this. So he went to Jennifer’s bedside, knelt beside her and asked.

“What do you want, Jennifer?”

She looked over to him, “Can you… stay, please? Until… until I die?”

Samuel nodded, it was the least he could for her. Arthur came from the other side and knelt taking her hand into his. So they sat in silence, as Arthur comforted Jennifer as much as possible. Samuel prayed for her, whispering while doing so. It wasn’t long before she began to have deep gasping breaths. Arthur looked up at her, knowing it would be the end. Samuel knew too.

“Arthur, go outside to the truck. I’ll… make sure.”

Arthur looked at him in shock, “Please… no.”

“I know you don’t want this,” he came over and put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance, “But I know you don’t want the alternative either, so please.”

Arthur went back to Jennifer grabbed her hand, gave her one last kiss on the cheek and forehead, said “I love you” and exited the room in solemn frustration. Samuel looked to Jennifer, she was now breathing much slower before it just… stopped. He knew she was gone now, with one last look he raised the shotgun to her head.

“Forgive me.” Samuel softly asked.

Arthur heard the blast of the shotgun, as he neared the truck. Entering the truck, he began crying again, his heart crying for Jennifer. Samuel entered the truck, putting the shotgun in the back; he reached over and hugged Arthur. He returned the hug as he cried into Samuel. They sat for several minutes until Arthur finished.

“Let’s go home now, ok.”

Arthur silently nodded, and the truck was started, Samuel driving away, down the street for home. The scenery was pitiful, already there was bodies laying in lawns and the streets. Several zombies were seen, and wrecks were here and there. Smoke that went to the sky, centering from within downtown.

They rumbled home, pulling into the driveway. Samuel got out, taking the shotgun with and headed to the bed to start unloading. Arthur sat for several moments before getting out and helped unload. They unloaded quickly, the living room packed full of hardware supplies.

Arthur sat on the couch, Samuel joined him. Arthur didn’t say anything, so Samuel did.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

Arthur was silent before quietly speaking, “I know. I…I just wish it was different. I don’t blame you.”

“Thank you, Arthur,” he stood up and grabbed a hammer, nails and a couple pieces of plywood, “I’m going to start barricading the windows, take the time you need, I’ll be here if you need anything.”

Arthur nodded. Samuel went to work, one window at a time.

A couple hours later, Samuel made decent progress on fortifying; about half the windows were done. Arthur sat for a while before going to his room, sleeping for a bit. Samuel went to check on him, just as he did, Arthur jumped awake. Waking up in a sweat, he calmed himself quickly.

“You alright?”

“I’ll…be okay. I just remembered my parents.”

Samuel’s eyes widened, “Shit, you’re right. Call them, I have to do the same for my family.”

Arthur immediately grabbed his phone and his parents. Samuel went to do the same. Arthur waited as the phone rang; anxiety going up the longer it took. His mother answered.

“Arthur? Are you ok? Where are you? Is Samuel there still?” Arthur’s mom asked in rapid pace.

“Yes, mom, to all of it. We are both at home. What about you and Dad?”

“We are ok, just stuck in our hotel for now. We couldn’t get a phone call to you, at all until you called. We can’t get back either, all the flights are shutdown, and the military is all over the place.” She said sadly.”

“Can you get back at all?” Arthur asked with concern.

“I don’t know… What?...We are being moved?... By who? Where?”

“Mom?”

“We have to go, remember we love you always. Stay with…”

The phone disconnected, leaving Arthur alone again. With a frustrated yell he punched the dry wall, leaving a hole. Samuel popped in again, seeing it.

“Line disconnect?”

Arthur rubbed his knuckles, “Yeah. Same for you?”

“Yeah but things are sorted enough up there, no point trying to get there now, would have to cross the Rockies for that.”

Arthur looked to him and nodded. A phone rang, both looking to Arthur’s phone.

“Who’s calling? One of your friends?”

Arthur shook his head, “No, both are named contacts.”

Answering the phone he was surprised by who spoke.

“Hey Arthur, are you around right now? Need some help, kinda in a jiffy.” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie? Wait you need help? What’s wrong?”

“Me and Fluttershy are at Sweet Shoppe helping the Cakes, but some of those weirdos showed up and are now trying to break in. I phoned whoever I could and you picked up! So could we get some help, they seem to be getting closer…”

Arthur replied a bit in shock, “Yeah, yeah. Me and Samuel will be on our way. Just hold tight!”

“Okie dokie! Do try to hurry though, please?” Pinkie said, sounding a little scared.

“We will. See you soon.”

Arthur hung up and then rushed downstairs, Samuel following. Arthur explained the situation as grabbed his pack, a wooden baseball bat from his childhood days, and the lever action rifle. Samuel grabbed his pack, a crowbar and the pump action shotgun. Arthur was about to open the door before Samuel stopped him for second.

“Are you sure you’re up for this.”

“Yes. I can’t standby feeling helpless, not again.” Arthur responded, purpose in his voice.

“That’s fair, we might not be able to save everyone, but we can save some.”

Arthur nodded in agreement.

“Give me the rifle, you take the shotgun, it’ll be easier for you to shoot them with.”

Arthur agreed and they exchanged firearms, exiting the house and jumping into the truck. Starting it, they headed to Sweet Shoppe, Arthur giving directions as they went. Entering the area, zombies didn’t infest it but they was enough for concern.

“How bad did it sound, the situation?” Samuel asked as he dodged a SUV crashed in a lamp post.

Arthur checked his bat, still good, “Really bad, not once have I ever heard Pinkie be scared.”

“That means we need to be prepared for when we get there, we have to make it quick, the truck will draw them all in for blocks,” Samuel said seriously, his old drills taking over again, “I am surprised that she knows your number though.”

Arthur snorted, “She knows everyone’s number, it’s just a Pinkie thing.”

Samuel was about to respond, before Arthur pointed out Sweet Shoppe. There were six zombies outside, with who knows how many inside. Samuel got out quickly, Arthur a second behind. The six zombies turned to them and shambled towards them.

“No point in being subtle, blast the things.” Samuel said as he raised the rifle and shot, in the chest, swearing he worked the action and aimed at the head, two tries to take out the first. Arthur at the same time pointed the shotgun at another, shot it, the buckshot working its magic and killing in one shot.

They dispatched the rest, two with gun, the last two in melee. Rushing inside they saw another two, Arthur shot, missing twice before the third took one out. Samuel rushed in close and kicked it over, putting the rifle close to its head and blowing its brains out. Samuel looked to Arthur.

“Go upstairs to see if they are up there, be quick but careful. I’ll look down here.”

Arthur went up the stairs quickly, seeing a single zombie pounding at a door. He had his baseball bat out, shotgun slung over his shoulder, he yelled as he charged in and swung. Just as the zombie looked at him, the swing connected with his jaw and he fell. Arthur didn’t let up and swung two more times to kill it. He then pounded on the door.

“Hey Pinkie! Fluttershy! You in there!” Arthur yelled, adrenaline pumping in his veins.

The door opened and Pinkie was there, behind her Fluttershy was shaking badly.

“You’re here! Thank goodness!” Pinkie said in relief.

“You two alright? Are you hurt?” Arthur asked in an excited tone, looking them over if they were.

“Nope! We’re good. Where are the Cakes though?” Pinkie asked with concern.

“I don’t know. I’ll check the other rooms quick, grab anything you need, we got to go.”

Pinkie turned and got Fluttershy moving to grab their things as Arthur checked the other rooms. There was no one in the rooms. He heard fighting downstairs. Rushing downstairs he saw Samuel come out of a back room, crowbar covered in blood.

“You okay?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, there was two, no longer now. Are the girls up there?” Samuel’s eyes looking out to see if there was more coming.

“Yes, I think they are ready to go. Did you see the Cakes? Couple who own the place.”

Samuel’s eyes widened in surprise, “Shit. They’re gone, they were the ones that were getting eaten in the back room.”

Arthur swore as the two girls came down the stairs, backpacks in tow. Samuel told Arthur to break the news gently, him knowing the two better. Pinkie looked at Arthur and asked.

“They’re… gone Pinkie, I’m sorry.”

Pinkie lost all her colour, going to gray, her hair going from puffy to sheer straight.

“What? Oh no…” Pinkie began sniffling.

Samuel interrupted, “I’m sorry but we have to go, there is more coming,” he looked to Arthur, “get them in the truck, I’m grabbing some stuff and I’ll be right out there in a minute. Now go.”

Arthur gently guided Pinkie out, emotionally distraught as she was, Fluttershy following. As they got out to the street, Arthur got the two in the back of the truck. He took a look around, zombies were starting to close in. He racked his shotgun and fired at one, only fifteen yards away. It was followed up by another shot, drooping the zombie, the first one grazing the head. Samuel burst out of the building, pack bulging with items, with two flour bags in his arms.

“Get in the truck! We’re leaving!” Samuel yelled.

Arthur double checked around them for others, as he got in the truck. Samuel threw the flour and his bag in the bed, as he ran by, getting in the truck and slamming the door. He started the truck and stepped on the gas. Just as two zombies got close, hitting one on the way out. They headed back to home.

As they drove away, Arthur looked at Pinkie, she was sniffling and blubbering, Fluttershy was shaken bad, but she quietly provided comfort to her as best as she can.

“You handled yourself well Arthur, good job.” Samuel commented.

“I feel like I’m gonna be sick, I never killed something before. At least not… not like this” Arthur said, the adrenaline disappearing, he looked green around the gills.

“I know, first time for me as well, we will be ok, all of us.” Samuel said, looking at the two girls in the back.

Pinkie didn’t react, and Fluttershy gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. Arthur talked to them; they were going to be at his home soon. Samuel kept his head on a swivel, avoiding anything in the way. Arthur was doing his best, but he could tell he wasn’t doing much good.

They all arrived at Arthur’s home, as Samuel pulled in the driveway. Parking the truck he sighed in relief, getting out and making sure the coast was clear, he grabbed his pack and the flour. Arthur got out and opened the door for the girls, gesturing them to come out. Pinkie moved very mechanically as she got out, Fluttershy following closely.

Entering the house, Samuel headed to the kitchen to drop off the supplies. Arthur and the girls went to the living room, the girls sitting on the couch, Arthur in a lazy chair. Samuel soon followed, taking a seat too. The four rested for a moment. Samuel stayed silent before nodding to Arthur and off he went to continue fortifying, grabbing some two by four planks.

“Do you want anything to eat? Or anything really?” Arthur asked, trying to be gentle.

Pinkie didn’t answer, which concerned him, which was very unusual for her. Fluttershy softly replied, “No, thank you.”

Arthur nodded, “Alright, well if you need anything, just ask,” he went to go see about helping Samuel but first, “Fluttershy could I talk to you for a second?”

Fluttershy startled a bit, looking at him but she conceded. She left Pinkie, making sure she would be ok first, and then came over.

Arthur glanced at Pinkie than to Fluttershy, “I can tell she isn’t doing well, and I’ll try to help, but I’m guessing that won’t be enough.”

Fluttershy agreed, “I… don’t know what to do, usually the others would be here to help, but…”

“I know, just do your best, everyone at school knows about how the seven of you are special in your own way, that and how you always beat the odds.”

Fluttershy slightly blushed, but she nodded in thanks.

Arthur gestured upstairs, “You two can use the bedroom on the far right, for yourselves. Also any idea where the others are?”

“Umm, well, not right now. Last time was before we left the school.” Fluttershy said.

Arthur nodded, “Okay, well try to find them, I’ll try to help, Samuel will too, I think I can vouch for him. I’m going to go help him right now, do whatever you guys need to do.”

Fluttershy went back to Pinkie’s side, delving into quiet conversation between them. Arthur picked up some boards and went to help, one window at a time.