A World Gone Rotten

Chapter 4

"Preparation Alongside a Revelation"

Canterlot, Oregon

March 29th, 2015

1400 hours

Arthur moved quietly as he could to the next house he was scavenging, another cookie cutter type house on his suburb block. This was the third house today, the scavenging missions being of top priority for them. Making his way to the backyard fence, he quickly found the gate, he gestured to Rainbow who was shortly behind him.

As she reached the gate, the two gave each a quick nod; they have started getting used to working with each other, what Samuel would call unit cohesion. Rainbow opened the gate and took a step back; Arthur did so as well, ready for any zombies to come out. They waited a moment, and once nothing came out they entered the backyard.

The backyard was empty; grass was already starting to overgrow. They passed the set of patio furniture and barbeque to reach the back door. Same process as the gate, no zombies again. Entering the kitchen they started to sweep the house, going room by room carefully, going from back to front and then upstairs using the same procedure.

Arthur opened the last room, the master bedroom, this time finding a lone zombie, a woman staring into a corner. Grabbing his knife, of the kitchen variety, he pushed it into the wall, just as it turned to face him. Pinning the zombie to the wall, he rammed the knife into the temple, where it shuddered before the brain finally died and he let the body fall to the ground.

I’ve gotten use to this quicker than I thought. Helps they are already dead, but still doesn’t take away they were people once…God I hope things get better.

He looked at the once human woman, for a moment before walking out into the hallway. Rainbow was there, cocking an eye brow at him.

“You all good, dude?”

Arthur sighed, “Yeah. I’ll be alright, it was just one,” he looked back to the room, “It’s something I’m still getting used to, you know?”

“Same here dude,” her tone shifted as she went on, “Like, it feels surreal, like being in some video game or something like that.”

“Sure does,” he took a deep breath, “Let’s just finish up here, last house on the trip anyways.”

The two started scavenging, starting upstairs Arthur started in the bathroom, and Rainbow in one of the bedrooms. Arthur took everything of use, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, a first aid kit, and a variety of over the counter pain relievers. Stuffing it all into the duffle bag he brought along to carry extra supplies, he was surprised how much a single house could have.

He moved to other rooms on the second floor, he found mostly standard household items, batteries, some cigarettes in a night table, a couple blankets he could fit. Once he finished, he could hear Rainbow already rummaging through something downstairs, going down he saw her in the kitchen cupboards, taking a plethora of canned goods, baking supplies, boxes of pasta, various spices and condiments.

Taking a moment to look around, he could see the living room had nothing of interest, so he moved to help Rainbow and the two loaded their backpacks and duffle bags to the brim. They grabbed whatever was edible in the fridge, some cleaning supplies from under the sink, and two bottles of wine.

“Good haul eh?” Arthur stated.

“Oh yeah, we’re bringing home the bacon,” Rainbow said with some cockiness, “Think there is anything else?”

“The garage. Should have something, it’s a garage for fuck sake.” Arthur said thoughtfully.

They checked to see if the garage was connected with a door to the inside of the house, there was. Setting duffle bags to the side they did their little door procedure, same result as usual. The garage was rather empty, just a non-descript sedan, some labeled plastic bins stacked in the corner, and random holiday decorations. Rainbow and Arthur looked at each other disappointed and just shrugged.

Leaving the house the way they came in, pausing to spray paint an orange ‘x’ on the door to mark it already being scavenged, the two proceeded back home, thankfully not too far away. The suburbs were already deteriorating, lawns were overgrowing, garbage was filling the streets and yards, corpses were sporadically all over the place, several vehicles crashed into trees, other vehicles or houses. Even the sky was gray with clouds, promising rain, adding to the gloomy environment.

Returning home, the two quickly got in; Twilight was already at the door waiting to open it. The two took a couple deep breaths, having sprinted home the last two house lengths with heavy laden bags. After recovering it turned into the usual routine of putting what they could away and organizing it. A couple other girls pitched in to help, speeding up the process. Once done Rainbow went over to one of the lazy chairs in the living room, perching her feet on the coffee table.

Rarity wasn’t having it and quickly shooed Rainbow off the coffee table. She was doing some sewing to repair a pair of jeans, along some other clothes, as clothes were already getting ripped and torn by the apocalypse. Fluttershy was nearby taking care of the animals, the good lot of them. While Twilight returned to doing something with Arthur’s CB radio, trying to cobble something together to improve it.

Arthur bypassed them all and headed to the backyard, where Samuel was with Pinkie teaching her to use the rifle and shotgun, only on how to use it though. No practice firing in this environment, where a single shot would bring much unneeded attention from the undead.

“Show me your stance again, remember what I told you.” Samuel said in an instructor tone, with an underlying patience.

Pinkie went into a shooting stance, shotgun in her hands, as Samuel watched with an inspective eye, looking for anything to improve.

Samuel nodded, “Much better this time, now continue your drills. Load.”

Pinkie did so with gusto, and for the next five minutes they went through the drills of loading, readying, unloading and what to do about stoppages, the best they could anyway without ammunition. Arthur watched the whole time, visualizing in his head doing the drills himself.

“Alright not bad Pinkie, hopefully we can get out target shooting to actually do the real thing. Then we can get you and the others feel the real thing.” Samuel said with approval.

Pinkie beamed at him, she was now much better, some time with most of her friends has done wonders.

“Thanks Sammy!” she said excitedly.

Samuel sighed but didn’t say a word, much too worried about accidently saying the wrong thing that could hurt her.

“No problem. I’m just glad you’re willing to learn. Anyways I’m going to get started on the barbeque. Mind grabbing the meat?”

“Sure, be back in a jiffy.” Pinkie said as she walked into the house.

Arthur just smirked at Samuel before saying, “Sammy? New nickname? How cute.”

Samuel shook his head, putting the rifle and shotgun to the side, “Very funny you little shit. I don’t know where it came from.”

Arthur went over, giving Samuel a pat on the shoulder, “You’re not the first and you won’t be the last,” his tone being rather humourus, “It’s Pinkie being Pinkie, don’t fight it.”

With a look of defeat, Samuel nodded and proceeded to get the barbeque going, the click of propane and the use of a lighter to get it started. Pinkie came over with a plethora of burgers, hotdogs and ribs. Including a small box of vegan burgers they found in a home, perfect for Fluttershy.

“Here you go Sammy,” putting it all on the side of the barbeque, “I’m guessing that is everything?”

“Yes, thank you.” Samuel replied.

“You’re welcome,” she then perked up, “I need to go check on my cupcakes! Bye!”

The two were temporarily surprised by how fast Pinkie took off. Rushing like it was the end of the world, or at least before it did. Samuel went into cooking the various meats, using the whole barbeque.

Cocking an eyebrow at Samuel, Arthur asked, “So why so much meat? We having a feast or something?”

“In a way yeah we are,” he flipped some of the burgers, “We have quite a bit, the amount people have…did have, that we have found. So we don’t have room in the freezer for this much, and once cooked we can eat it as necessary,” pointing his tongs to the nearby power line, “I’m also concerned that the power is going to go out soon. Surprising it lasted this long and still going.”

“Well we already have lost internet and cell reception, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost power and water today.” Arthur said deadpan.

Rotating some of the hotdogs and a couple ribs, he applied some barbeque sauce and continued, “How did the scavenging go?”

Arthur took a seat, “It was good, found the usual stuff, which we can never have enough of, of course. A couple zombies but easily dealt with,” his tone shifted with worry, “There is more wandering about though, enough it’s making it harder the further we go from home. Getting harder to be quiet and avoid them.”

“Good to know. Haven’t we scavenged the entire block?” Samuel asked.

Pondering for a moment, Arthur replied, “Almost, a couple more houses at the very edge of the block before the intersections. Plan on hitting them tomorrow,” snapping his fingers he pointed at Samuel, “After that we probably have enough to leave, we got at least two weeks of food and water for us all. We could then head to Sweet Apple Acres, be safer than here.”

The whole group had already discussed on how to proceed, including Applejack and Sunset via radio, they all agreed to meeting up at Sweet Apple Acres. Where they would discuss on where to go from there.

“There is one place I want to hit before we leave and not one of the houses.” Samuel said as he added some cheese slices to some of the burgers.

“What could you wanting to hit? We already saw that the downtown area is already overrun, and I wouldn’t be surprised that if more places were the same.” Arthur said confused.

“There is an outfitter store combined with a hardware store I learned of, saw a business card in some dudes wallet. I’m thinking we could get some much needed supplies from there,” he grinned, “What I’m really hoping for is guns and ammo, if not the camping, fishing and any of the hardware stuff could prove really useful.”

“Where is it? I never heard of any place that sold guns. Even after living here my whole life. ”

Finishing up the burgers and hotdogs, Samuel started putting them on a couple plates, “Right on the edge of downtown, unfortunately,” he now frowned, “But if it’s possible to get in, I believe it’s worth the risk. Me, you and Rainbow, we should be enough. But we will talk it about it further later. Supper is ready.”

Turning off the barbeque, he finished the ribs and the two grabbed the plates stacked with food, bringing it all inside to be set on the island. Alongside some cupcakes put out by Pinkie, as well as mashed potatoes and sliced carrots. Samuel grabbed some buns off the counter and condiments from the fridge. Arthur announced dinner and the girls started filtering in.

Everyone grabbed a plate and picked whatever amount they felt they could eat. They all took a seat at the table, which could be extended to accommodate more people. Fluttershy, who conscripted Rainbow into helping, fed the animals that were surprisingly patient, as long as it was Fluttershy, Rainbow got the short stick on that end. Once those two took their seat, everyone began to eat.

Conversation flowed and ebbed like a winding river, many a story was told of before the apocalypse began. It allowed for a sense of normality and somewhat peace, smiles and quiet laughter. About an hour later dinner was done, everyone pitched into clean up and people settled into routine.

The girls settled in the living room, chatting as they did, Arthur joined them. Samuel however went into the backyard to have a smoke. Taking a seat he grabbed a cigarette from his pack, lit it, and took a long drag before breathing it out.

God I wish I had a drink right now, some whiskey sounds really good.

A good drink helped him deal with stress at times, and a single one wouldn’t hurt. Too bad Arthur’s parents didn’t have anything. Few of the houses they scavenged had any alcohol surprisingly, and what they did get was wine or beer, hard liquor was rather nonexistent. Sighing at the thought he decided a can of Pepsi would be good enough.

Thankfully he had the forethought of bringing one with him, cracking it open he took a swig followed by “aaaaahhhh” at the taste. Sitting in surprising silence for some time, he took the time to appreciate it, before several gunshots sounded from a distance away. Hard to pinpoint with it echoing all over the place.

He heard the backdoor open, thinking it was just Arthur coming out. He was surprised when he heard who it actually was.

“Hey Samuel…I was wondering if we could talk?” Twilight said, not entirely sure of herself.

Samuel looked over his shoulder, seeing her standing in a nervous stance with Spike in her arms; he wondered what she could want to talk to him about.

Tapping his cigarette in the nearby ashtray, he responded, “Sure, come take a seat,” pointing to the seat next to him.

Pushing her glasses back upon her face, she quickly walked over and took the seat gestured to by Samuel. She took a few moments to compose herself, petting Spike helped with that. Twilight seemed to be trying to get her words out, but for some reason without much success. Samuel decided to take the lead, taking some pity on the poor girl.

Taking another swig, he started, “What’s on your mind Twilight?”

She responded “Well…I heard from Rainbow, that you, her and Arthur, are going on a scavenging mission. And I was hoping to…” taking a breath, she puffed out her chest in an attempt at confidence, “To join you on your mission.”

Samuel blinked, he wasn’t expecting that, putting his now finished cigarette butt in the ashtray, he asked, “Why? You haven’t expressed much interest before, so what changed?”

She laughed a bit uncertainly, “I was…hoping to…” her voice getting quieter, “To get…some things.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow, and then asked with a patient tone, “I don’t believe that, just be honest with me. What is the actual reason?”

What was left of her attempt at confidence disappeared, but she went on, “Ok, the actual reason is I want to gather information on the ‘zombies’,” her talking speed increasing, “so I was hoping to get some notes on their behaviors, capabilities and maybe some samples if possible. Then with those results, I can learn more about how they work, maybe even the virus or whatever it may be that causes this, and with that information we can better avoid or combat them. Maybe even find a way to make a vaccine or a cure! I would need to get more science equipment of course; some help would useful as well. But first I need information,” she gave Samuel a placating grin, “So can I come with? I won’t get in the way I promise.”

Taking a final swig of his pop, finishing it, he took a brief moment to think about it before answering, “Alright you can come with, on two conditions,” he popped one finger up, “First you will help with the scavenging, information gathering comes second, priority of work after all and only if there is enough time.”

He gave her a chance to respond, “That is reasonable, as long as I get something though, I won’t return without anything.” She said in a tone that brokered no argument.

“Alright that is fair, we will make something happen. But,” he popped a second finger up, “my second condition is that you will learn on how to use the guns, no excuses and no exceptions.”

Twilight slightly paled as Samuel said that, speaking with her nerves on edge “But…but…I never held one before! I don’t know anything about them and they are dangerous! Why would I need to learn about on how to use them?!”

Samuel took a deep breath, Twilight already made it know she wasn’t very comfortable around guns, but he felt everyone needed to learn about them in this new world. He spoke in a soft tone.

“I know, you already made it known. But I’ll ask, why? Were you told that they are dangerous, just because? Or is it more than that?”

Calming down a bit, Twilight responded, “Well no…it wasn’t how I was raised, but I was never exposed to them. But I read so much about them and how they are dangerous, just look at the statistics. Also you and Arthur know how to use them, why do I need to?”

Samuel just smiled before going on, “The reason you should know is you might have to use them, especially to keep yourself safe. There will be a day when you are going to have to fight, and I think you will prefer to fight at a distance than up close against zombies.”

Taking a breath he continued, “And you’re not wrong, they can be dangerous, but only if you’re stupid or untrained with them, that is why you respect the weapon. It’s also a new world we are in; I don’t think statistics are going to matter much anymore.”

Twilight nodded at his points, “But what if I do something wrong? I could hurt someone!”

“That is why I’ll teach you,” Samuel stood up, “Come. I promise we will take it slow, no rush,” he looked up at the clouds, they were getting darker, “Unless it rains but it’ll be fine.”

Twilight let Spike out of her arms, who went to find a convenient spot in the backyard. She stood up, following Samuel a bit out, who had the rifle with him.

“Besides some of your friends have learned. Heck Pinkie learned, so you can too” Samuel said with some humour.

Twilight gave a small smile at that, and so the two went over on how to use the two firearms. Samuel being a patient teacher, while Twilight slowly became more comfortable with the firearms and their usage.

Arthur stood watching out of a window, which allowed a view into the backyard. He was curious to see if it would start raining, the clouds proving to be rather ominous. He was somewhat surprised to see Samuel teaching Twilight on how to use the firearms. Explained where she went though. For a while he just watched, curious as on how this would go.

Rarity came over; Arthur noticed her from the corner of his eye. She stopped and looked out the window as well. She seemed surprised.

“Now that is a rather unexpected sight,” taking a sip from a cup of tea in her hands, “Samuel convinced her you suppose?”

Arthur shrugged, “Must be. He is adamant about everyone learning. Have you been taught yet?”

Rarity gave a small smile, “I’m afraid not darling. Even though I must admit I’m also reluctant, but I understand the reasoning.”

Arthur nodded, “You know it’s not that bad once you learn how to use them.”

“I do not doubt it dear,” she took another sip of her tea, “This may be a tad random but have you ever told Samuel about…certain events that took place?”

“If you’re referring to the whole Sunset thing, then no. Is it even relevant considering everything?” Arthur asked.

“I suppose not but perhaps one day then.”

Arthur gave a grunt in acknowledgement and the two were silent for a minute before Rarity spoke again.

“I must also thank you and Samuel for saving me and the girls again,” she said gratefully, “Who knows what could have happened.”

Arthur blushed but smiled, “You’re welcome, and I should say thanks for all your help. Especially fixing my clothes, amazing how they tear and rip at the most random times.”

“One reason for why I brought what I did, dear. You are welcome in return darling.”

That is when the sound of thunder came, catching both of them off guard, as well as Twilight and Samuel outside. They came inside rather quickly after that, and Samuel took the firearms to the living room. While Twilight stood with Arthur and Rarity, striking up conversation.

The storm approaching continued to get louder as time went on. The clouds in their ominous dark gray, promised heavy rainfall. It also stirred the zombies outside in the streets, making them aggravated and prone to sporadic movement with them wandering about more than usual. A concern for the group as some may wonder over to the house.

So for the first time a watch for the night was implemented with Samuel taking first watch. As he looked out at the street a lighting flash illuminated the night sky, but also showing an increasing numbers of zombies, some of them groaning to the sky. Rain proceeded to down pour. It was going to be a long night.

Arthur sat on the edge of his bed, sunlight coming through the window of his bedroom. The nightmares were with him again last night, Jennifer and his friends a major component of them. He didn’t have any more tears to shed though, he already used them all. At this moment he felt an impulse to get a smoke off Samuel, but he kept it under control.

It was a few minutes later when he decided to leave his room, a glass of milk on his mind. Entering the hallway it was at that moment he realized the lights weren’t on, and trying to flick the switch did nothing. He sighed; the power finally went out in the night. He also heard from the bathroom a voice of frustration.

Walking over curiously, the door suddenly opened and walked out Rarity. The first thing Arthur noticed was her hair was wet and straight, not her usual curls. She must have tried to have a shower but the water pressure didn’t hold out. That is when their eyes met, and Arthur quickly realized something else.

She had nothing but a towel wrapped around herself, and he noticed her figure with the way the towel fit her. He stared for a moment, a quick glance down and up before he forced his eyes to meet hers. They both began to blush heavily at the compromising situation. For a good moment neither could say anything.

“…Sorry,” Arthur said, barely audible to Rarity and he turned fast enough to almost give himself whiplash and he hurried back to his room, hearing Rarity do the same a split second later.

Arthur sat in his room for about half an hour to calm himself and also to avoid another potential incident. Once he felt comfortable enough to leave his room again, he popped the door open, taking a look left and right down the hallway. Checking to make sure no one was there, he finally made his way downstairs. Samuel and Rainbow were already eating when he came down. A collective “morning” sounded off, and they went about their business.

“Sucks the power went out last night,” Rainbow pointed out, taking a bite of her cereal.

Samuel finished his oatmeal before adding in, “Damn shame for sure, though it lasted longer than I thought it would. It’s also another reason we finish our scavenging today, we got to leave soon.”

Arthur looked over at the windows, “What does it look like outside?”

“Like absolute dog shit, that storm really did a number outside, and the zombies are still all riled up,” Samuel took a swig of juice, “Their numbers are also increasing and there was at least a dozen I could see when I checked. Now who knows?”

“We can still avoid them easy, like they aren’t fast.” Rainbow chimed in.

“True, are we going soon then?” Arthur asked.

Samuel nodded, “Just finish eating and we will get going, Twilight is just grabbing something and we head out.” He gave a small sigh, “I’m really hoping that we get lucky and find something good. Like how did we not find any guns what so ever in the houses?”

Rainbow and Arthur just shrugged, and the business went on. An hour later the group of four was ready to go. The gear was the usual for the three; however Twilight was going on her first scavenging trip, so she had a backpack with several easy to access tubes, beakers and other scientific equipment. As well as a kitchen knife, and an aluminum baseball bat.

The coast was clear enough that they began to leave, with Arthur almost last one out he took a quick glance back. He saw the rest of the girls watching them leave, his eyes meet theirs individually. His eyes stayed a moment longer on Rarity, the incident not entirely forgotten, a light blush seemed to appear but he couldn’t tell. He gave a nod, and left but not before he heard one of them say “stay safe”.

It sounded like Pinkie, he was sure it was Pinkie. Closing the door behind him and locking it, he went over to the truck which was parked by a red Jeep Wrangler and a black GMC Terrain. Two vehicles they have acquired for later use, Samuel’s truck was the preferred vehicle still for any outings.

As the truck roared to life, several zombies whirled around and began to shamble over, almost at a speed walk. Once more pulling out and down the street like all the other countless times, the group looked at their surroundings at the destruction.

The storm caused a lot of objects to be tossed over, even some branches broken off the trees lining the city, in some places blocking any vehicle that wanted to come that way. With the lack of day to day maintenance that a city required in just a week it was starting to look like a landfill, with shambling corpses walking around to add to it. More than once Samuel had to dodge or take a detour to avoid a variety of hazards, from fallen debris and vehicle collisions to large pockets of zombies.

It took a while to find the outfitter store, only having the business card with the address to go off of, the contradicting directions from the three Canterlot residents didn’t help, much to Samuel’s dismay. Turning down the street the outfitter store stood out among a host of organic grocery stores and hipster style restaurants, surprisingly there was only several zombies. The group thought that with it being this close to downtown there would be more.

Samuel parked the truck right in front of the store, and immediately got out to deal with the four zombies approaching. Rainbow and Arthur were right behind, while Twilight hung a little behind, not entirely confident in her ability to fight an undead. With the zombies spread out, they were quickly dispatched in melee combat, with Twilight immediately taking several samples from them as they were dropped, she looked green in the gills but she kept herself together surprisingly well.

“Alright let’s get this done, I don’t think it will be long before the paparazzi get over here,” Arthur quipped.

As they approached the front of the store it became obvious that it was already looted, the door busted wide open. Providing a good look to the inside, full of shelves toppled and bare.

“You got be kidding me!” Rainbow exasperated, “What are we supposed to find now?!”

“Surely something was missed in there we could take?” Twilight said hopefully.

Samuel proceeded to go in, to further discover what was left. As they guessed it was absolutely ravaged, he felt a slight linger of doubt pop up. With no power the store was darker especially towards the back of the store where the sunlight couldn’t reach. Grabbing the flashlight he had he lit up the store best he could. To check if any zombies were inside he clanged the flashlight on a shelf and waited a solid moment. Nothing came.

“Spread out and quickly search whatever might be interesting, and if it’s useful grab it,” he proceeded to mutter himself; “Hopefully some scraps were left for us.”

Rainbow went over to some shelves and rummaged through them, Arthur did the same further down. Twilight just stood for a second, reading the shelf labels before disappearing down an aisle where the shelves weren’t toppled. Samuel went to where the guns would be sitting, waiting to be sold.

Completely fucking empty, there is nothing left. Damn! I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising though.

He decided to take a look through anyways, empty boxes and other garbage strewn around the place. Making his way behind the counter, he proceeded to find nothing. Looking at the shelves longingly, the hopes of finding semi-auto rifles and shotguns completely dashed. Reaching the end of the length of the shelves he gave up finding anything. But as he turned his flashlight caught the suspicious look of a butt stock under some flyers, just under the edge of the counter in a hard to find place.

Removing the flyers he grinned at finally finding something. It was a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle, it obviously has seen better days the wood body cracked and discoloured, however it had all its parts after a quick inspection. Most likely knocked over and lost in the chaos, never being found. With a renewed hope he checked in any place that could be hiding something, but unfortunately he didn’t find anything else.

Returning to the front of the store, where a small pile of items were stacked from the scavenging. Some camping equipment, including a portable stove surprisingly, a few boxes of various ammunition to be sorted later, a camp axe, two hunting knives and a hatchet. He put the Mosin against the wall and went to see what the others were doing.

Arthur and Twilight were coming from the farther part of the store, the hardware part. Lugging some screws and bolts in small boxes to the front. Samuel nodded approvingly and went to the darker part of the store, using his flashlight he entered an area that seemed to have sold archery gear. It did not surprise him that all the bows and crossbows also have been taken, along with their respective ammunition. Taking a chance he took a look for anything, finding an unopened box of arrows, some target heads and some replacement strings for a compound bow.

Going a little out of the way he found a couple sets of binoculars, even a rifle scope meant for a .22 rifle. Bringing it all back to their now slightly bigger pile he placed them and Rainbow was there now, bringing two fishing rods and several lures with her.

“Hey you did find a gun. Is that it though?” Rainbow asked.

“Yup. Place is really cleaned out, this is probably it for things we will find.”

Rainbow smirked, “Sure about that?”

Samuel quirked an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Found a door that heads further into the store, I would have gone in. But I didn’t feel like hoarding all the glory, you know.” Rainbow said not very convincingly.

Samuel smirked at her; he didn’t believe it but didn’t point it out, “Let’s go find out what is there then,”

The two headed into a far corner in the store, both had their flashlights out, somewhat looking for anything else until they reached the door. It was a standard door with an “employees only” sign on it. Samuel opened it, surprisingly it was unlocked. Going in with Rainbow slightly behind him, the room revealed itself. It was a rather plain employee break room with an attached office. What drew his attention was a dead man, wearing clothes that suggested he was an employee here; he was rather young looking if it wasn’t for all the blood on him and the small hole in his head.

The cause of the hole was still in his hands, a single shot .22 bolt action rifle, the type meant for teaching someone how to shoot. Beside him was a backpack, probably with some items in it. Samuel approached and noticed a piece of paper beside him, picking it up he noticed the shaky writing.

“What does it say?” Rainbow asked curiously.

“It’s about his last moments. About several days ago in fact…how he came here to find anything left…him and a group…ambushed by zekes…and finally him ending it here, after getting bit.” Samuel said sadly.

“Fuck man…” Rainbow muttered.

“Shitty isn’t it? We have to keep going though, you understand that.”

Rainbow nodded and she decided to occupy herself by going into some of the cupboards. Samuel grabbed the .22 rifle form the dead man’s hands, apologizing for disturbing and thanking him for the rifle. The backpack contained a box of .22 rounds, some water plus food and a single handheld radio. Looking over to Rainbow he saw the look of frustration at the lack of anything worthwhile.

“Probably won’t find anything else back here. Let’s go” Samuel said.

Returning the front and putting what they had there, Samuel went to go check outside for any approaching zombies. Mentally cursing himself for not checking sooner, especially once he noticed how some of them were very determined to get over to the truck and more were filtering in.

He looked at Rainbow wide eyed, “We fucked around too long, and we got to go! I’ll start loading shit, and you go get the other two!”

Rainbow took off to find them and Samuel started to load everything, literally throwing it all into the bed of the truck that could be tossed with little regard, the more fragile items being lightly dropped or placed. On his third trip, the zombies were a lot closer, too close for liking. Throwing the items in his arms into the bed, he grabbed his lever action rifle, flipped the safety off and cocked the rifle. Three zombies within ten feet were the target, applying the sights to one of them he fired and a large whole appeared in a flash of gore. Working the action he switched to another grazing on the first shot and hitting on the second. The third zombie was almost upon him, as it reached with its arms he whirled the butt stock into its face with a meaty smack

Falling over, the zombie immediately tried getting up, even with a broken jaw. Samuel put the rifle close to its head and blew its brains out, plastering the asphalt. The three others popped out of the store with the rest of the supplies they gathered. Collectively they threw it in the bed and proceeded to hop in the truck. Samuel was coming around the front of the truck when he came face to face with an absolute juggernaut of a zombie.

The former man stood at least six five and was probably all of three hundred pounds, with a body builder physique. Its grey eyes met his, looking excited if such a thing was possible and a hungry groan sounded. Wide eyed and with a feeling of panic Samuel tried bringing the rifle to bear but the zombie was upon him. With a wordless shout of terror he went down with the zombie on top of him. The rifle fell to the side as Samuel was locked in place by the zombie, its bear paw like hands, cold to the touch, gripped with steel like strength.

Samuel fought like mad to keep its mouth of sharp teeth away from his neck, it having a hand gripping his head to the side for an easy bite while the other kept him pinned. Samuel used his arms to hold the zombie in place away from him but he was slowly losing. Not helping was the shortness of breath he felt from having the wind knocked out of him falling to the ground. Trying to get his legs up to push the zombie off was futile; he could see Arthur and Rainbow take a couple of swings at it to no effect before they had to deal with one or two other zombies almost on them.

The zombie’s mouth was almost at his neck; Samuel could smell the rot coming from it which made him give a roar of effort as he pushed with all his strength, muscles bulging with effort. He pushed it only a bit away from him and he could feel the burning in his muscles.

Fuck fuck fuck! I refuse to die here! Fucking cocksucker!

Samuel decided to take a risk and tried reaching for his knife in his belt, the zombie took advantage of one arm disappearing and pushed more in with undead vigor. He felt the handle, grabbing it and quickly thrusting upwards only for it to be caught in its neck, to no effect except blood pouring on him. The zombie was a mere second to taking a bite out of his neck.

A loud crack sounded, making Samuel deaf for a few seconds, before realizing the zombie had a large hole in its temple, now limp. Pushing it off with a huge effort, he saw Twilight standing to the side, with the lever action rifle in her hands, the slight amount of gun smoke coming from the muzzle of the barrel. She was shaky, wide eyed at what she just did, staring at the corpse. Samuel wheezed a “thanks” out and took several deep breaths to recover, getting to his feet he saw Arthur and Rainbow approach from the other side of the truck.

Arthur hugged Samuel hard. “I thought you were going to fucking die on me.”

“I thought so too, that fucking bastard.” He returned the hug, “Let’s go though.”

“Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow said softly, “Let’s get going”

Rainbow grabbed Twilight, still staring at the corpse and half dragged, half lead her to the backseat of the truck. Arthur and Samuel hopped in the truck too, Samuel started the truck, slamming the transmission into drive and stepped on the gas, with several zombies starting to pound on the windows they fell from the force, one dragged under the tires. Samuel avoided the rather uncomfortable amount of zombies that have made their way over, taking a street corner and accelerated down the street.

Taking a different route than the one they came, Samuel felt the spots the zombie had grabbed start to feel sore; no doubt some nasty bruises would form later. He looked back at Twilight who had a thousand yard stare as she looked out the window. Rainbow’s head was on a swivel trying to gauge any potential threats, but she was also torn trying her best to get Twilight out of her shock, without much success. Arthur was sitting just relieved that they were out of there and alive. Samuel was also feeling the same but felt a particular relief for Twilight’s actions.

“Hey Twilight,” Samuel said trying to engage her, looking at her via the rearview mirror. He had to say her name three more times.

Twilight looked at him with wide eyes, still in some matter shock, “Huh?”

“Are you ok?” Samuel asked.

Twilight took a moment, before speaking shakily “I-I killed someone…I’m a-a murderer…”

Samuel spoke with a conviction, “No, no you are not. You saved my life by what you did, make no mistake,” he sighed, “Besides it’s my fault that I didn’t an eye didn’t keep watch on outside. Especially with us being so close to downtown.”

Twilight seemed to just absorb the words, not really reacting to them. After Samuel finished, she looked back out the window, some of that thousand yard stare coming back. Arthur looked to Samuel, who just sadly shook his head. The trip was rather quiet from there on, as they returned home. It was when they started to reenter the suburbs, which Twilight stirred out of her thousand yard stare by Rainbow. They began a conversation low and soft, Arthur and Samuel tried being polite by ignoring the conversation.

The truck turned once more onto the street where home was and Samuel pulled in, putting the truck in park. The group was rather silent, all of them sitting in a relieved silence. A thought popped up in Samuel’s head, causing him to smirk.

“Hey Twilight.”

“Yeah…?” she responded meekly.

“I think we are even now,” he looked back at her, “Just a little bit though, eh?”

Twilight stared before a shaky smile appeared, and the other two in the truck began to laugh, before all four were a laughing cacophony. Finishing their laughter they began the unloading procedure, Fluttershy opened the door and as Arthur was halfway through the door with the fishing rods in his arms. When he saw a distant humanoid shape sprinting down the street, towards the direction of his home. He called to Samuel, while pointing at the figure, with Samuel grabbing a pair of binoculars from what they scavenged.

“It’s no zombie, if you’re wondering. A man, a man in uniform, military, full kit. Looks frightened, wounded too and he keeps glancing over his shoulder. Wonder why.”

Everyone looked at him and then glanced at the approaching man, who was rapidly covering the distance between them. Arthur grabbed his shotgun, Rainbow her pry bar, and Samuel grabbed his lever action. Samuel kept the binoculars up, wondering what was going on. Twilight was told to head inside, with Rarity coming out to guide her in. It was about two hundred feet when Samuel saw the reason the soldier was glancing back despite full sprint, two zombies were also sprinting this way, extremely determined to get the man.

“Oh fuck! The fuckers can sprint now!” Samuel yelled in growing panic.

That got him a look of wide eyed surprise by the other two, with Arthur the first to speak.

Arthur paused, “Say what? Sprinters?”

Samuel looked at him, “Yes…Sprinters.”

“Well shit! Can we shoot them at all from here?”, Rainbow piped in.

Samuel shook his head, speaking rapidly, “No, that dude is still coming this way, and would be in the way of fire. It’s still just the two zekes though.”

Arthur racked his shotgun, loading a shell of buckshot “They are almost here; they are still just zombies,” he waved to the soldier, “Hey! Over here!”

The soldier was already headed towards them, breathing heavily he pushed himself to make it. He ran past the three and tried recovering his breath as he slowed, wide eyed as looked back at the two zombies, clenching his side. Samuel leveled his rifle, using his truck as a rifle support, controlling his breathing as the two zombies reached four house lengths from them. The crack of the rifle sounded, hitting the one on the left in the shoulder, making it flinch but not stop. Working the action, he fired again, putting a deep gash in the head but not a kill shot. Swearing, he cocked it again, the undead only one house length away.

Trying a different method he aimed down at the right leg, firing the round hitting in the thigh, breaking the bone as the leg exploded in a mess of tissue and blood. The zombie fell with the grace of a limp potato sack, its momentum carrying it forward several feet before landing unceremoniously on the lawn. Arthur at the same time shot the second zombie as he came within ten feet, aiming for the head; he slightly misaimed the shot with the bead, buckshot tearing open its chest cavity. Arthur racked as the zombie was halted and thrown back, hitting the lawn. Both of them followed up by finishing them off with a shot to the head.

Rainbow seemed slightly bummed by being left out, but everyone’s attention was soon on the soldier standing off to the side. The said soldier was of average height and Hispanic, he was in full kit but with no rifle, clenching at a wound in his side, he was leaning to compensate.

“So…who are you?” Arthur asked.

Wincing at the pain in his side, he replied weakly, “I’m-I’m Private First Class…Lopez.”

Rainbow impatiently began asking questions, “What are you doing here? Where is the rest of the army? Why weren’t you here earlier? What...”

Her questioning went on as Lopez barely got a word in edgewise, Samuel and Arthur tried to get her to stop but Rainbow’s built up frustration and anger at all the events finally had an outlet, one she was taking full advantage off. A solid minute went on as this happened, the poor soldier growing pale from the pain and Rainbow’s tirade, until Samuel finally had enough.

“Rainbow! Enough! You aren’t going to get any answers with him like this!” Samuel yelled, not in anger but an effort to stop her.

Looking at Samuel with a deathly glare that gave him pause, Rainbow answered, “I’m going to get answers! He has them, I know it!”

“You can get answers after we get him inside and treated,” Samuel replied in a growling tone, “As I said he is no condition for this right now, look at him.”

Rainbow did and it dawned on her the extent that was necessary to help him first. Her combativeness backing off, enough for more reasonable dialogue to establish.

“Fine…But after that we get answers.”

Samuel nodded, his tone calming down, “Good, I have questions too. Just be patient right now,” Looking to Arthur who was doing his best to help the soldier, “Let’s get him inside, check his injury and patch him up.”

Samuel went onto one side of Lopez with Arthur on the other and they began to move Lopez into the house, Rainbow occupied herself with looking out for any incoming zombies that most definitely heard the shots fired, seeing some already come out of the nooks and crannies on the street. Fluttershy opened the door for them, the girls having watched the whole debacle through the viewports on the windows. Lopez was taken to a couch, laid out and Samuel took off the tactical vest and flak vest underneath to get access to the injury. Taking the helmet off for Lopez’s comfort, he put all his gear to the side.

Fluttershy already had a first aid kit in hand; Rarity was beside her to help. They discussed with Lopez the nature of the injury and the type. It wasn’t long before the two girls began to treat the injury, some type of bruising or something worse inside. Rarity soon shooed everyone out, to make some space. Everyone just huddled around the kitchen, speculation running wild among them, something Rainbow was finding frustration in.

“Seems like that he was in a car accident.” Arthur speculated.

“It’s most likely considering his injuries. The question is where are the rest of the soldiers?” Twilight inquired.

“They would be somewhere in Canterlot, at the very least the section he was with. Why though is my question.” Samuel said.

“Could they help us? Maybe get us out of here?” Pinkie said curiously.

Rainbow butted in with frustration, “But why now? Why didn’t they help us before and where were they?”

Samuel answered, “We will get answers for that later, once Lopez is better. But Pinkie might be right; maybe they can help us, if there is any military presence here.”

“Like get us out of here? To somewhere safe?” Arthur asked.

Samuel shrugged, “No idea. Could be the case.”

Rainbow snorted at that, “Whatever. We still got houses to scavenge and shit to do. Let’s go.”

She went to grab her gear and wait by the door, eager to do something to keep her mind occupied. Twilight and Pinkie were concerned for their friend, but Samuel gave a placating gesture, an unspoken promise he would deal with it. They both took the hint and went about their business.

“Arthur I’ll go with Rainbow scavenging. I want you to unload the rest of the truck, clean those guns, and organize it all.” Samuel said.

“I’m guessing you want me to keep an eye on Lopez too, I assume?”

“Yes, I doubt he has any bad intentions, but just keep an eye on him,” Samuel pondered for a moment, “Also Twilight too, make sure she don’t go off her rockers.”

Arthur agreed and Samuel went off grabbing his gear, nodding to Rainbow that they were leaving. Exiting the house the pair began their scavenging mission, heading to the last few houses on the block not yet scavenged.

It was a few hours into the afternoon when the pair returned, with a plethora of supplies. Entering the house, it was obvious that Rainbow was now more calm and collected. Putting the bags of supplies in the kitchen, Samuel went to the living room to check on Lopez. He was looking better than before, Fluttershy currently helping him with a glass of water, as he sat up to drink.

“How you doing Lopez?” Samuel asked.

“Better now…thank you.”

Samuel smirked, “Thank Fluttershy and Rarity, they were the ones who patched you up.”

Lopez returned the smirk, “I already did.”

Samuel looked to Fluttershy, “If you don’t mind, I need a minute to talk to Lopez.”

“Oh…Ok. Nothing bad I hope?”

“Nothing bad, just some basic questions.”

She nodded and left, not before pouring some more water into the glass. Once she passed Samuel and left the living room. Samuel went and took a seat, making Lopez give a questioning look.

“I did mean it when I said just some questions. I just want some information.” Samuel said reassuringly.

Lopez tried his best to hide it, but he seemed relieved, “What do you want to know? I’ll answer what I can, but I would like to leave as soon as possible.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow, “Why do you need to leave? Have somewhere to be?”

“Yes…We were supposed to meet up with some other units here. For what I don’t know before you ask. My section was in two Humvees when we got here…We got ambushed by a hoard…Crashed pretty hard,” he took a moment to breath, “I’m quite sure I’m the only one who survived that…got chased and here I am.”

“Got a rendezvous point then? We will take you there.”

It was Lopez’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “Why would you do that? You want something?” his eyes narrowed, “You also seem familiar with how things work, you a soldier?”

“I was, in Canada, infantry reservist. Got caught down here when shit hit the fan, but that’s a long story. But yes I do want something; my hope is a way out for me and everyone else here. Think it’s possible?” Samuel said hopefully.

“Explains things,” Lopez pondered for a second, “I can’t guarantee anything but I could try to give a good word, but the word of my rank won’t mean much.”

Shrugging Samuel continued on, “It’s a chance, which is enough for me. We will leave soon then.”

Samuel got up, bee lining to get things ready; everyone ambushed Samuel in the kitchen, desperately wanting a piece of the gossip before anything. With a sigh Samuel conceded and satiated their appetite for information. After that Samuel told Arthur, Pinkie and Fluttershy they were coming with, to a few people’s surprise. Grabbing gear and then helping Lopez to the truck, Samuel explained why as they went on,

“I’m bringing them cause it’ll help convince them we mean no harm; men are like that when they see women along.”

Rainbow groaned at that, “Come on!”

“I got something else for you to do anyways.” Samuel said.

Rainbow was about to go on tirade before getting caught off guard, “Wait, what could I be doing?”

“Get things packed in the vehicles and ready to go, I don’t believe we are going to be staying for much longer. You have Rarity and Twilight to help you. That and I need someone to keep an eye on things here. I know I can count on you to do so.”

Rainbow paused a second, before puffing her chest out at the compliment, “Alright, yeah I can do that. You’ll be surprised, I know it.”

“I look forward to it; we will be back soon enough.”

With that Rainbow immediately went off on her task. Samuel got in and they were off, heading to the edge of the city according to Lopez’s directions. The drive became one like a maze, plenty of detours thanks to the storm and the deteriorating condition of the city. The view of the Cascades and its foothills brimming with forest grew as they reached the edge. Reaching the end of the suburbs, they stopped in the middle of the street, staying in the truck for several minutes to make sure no zombies followed before getting out.

Leaving weapons in the truck, Lopez lead them to a random house, Arthur supporting him as he walked; Samuel carried his gear with Fluttershy and Pinkie following close behind, everyone a bit on guard. Reaching the lawn, a loud barking voice ordered a halt, and one was called forward to identify. Lopez walked forward till he was on the porch and was ordered to halt again. A quiet conversation was soon held, too quiet for the four to hear. A minute went by and nothing happened.

The door was suddenly opened and two soldiers in full kit, M4s in hand came out with one bringing Lopez inside, while the other kept his rifle in a low ready position in case of anything. The other soldier quickly came back out and called for Samuel. He approached the soldier until halted.

“The Staff Sergeant would like to speak with you.”

“Only if the rest of my group is allowed in, for their safety if anything.” Samuel responded, no argument in his tone.

One of the soldiers beckoned another from the house, relaying the information. It was another minute before an answer came.

“You can come in, slowly now.”

The four did so and they gathered inside the open living room, the two soldiers outside coming in. There was about a platoon of soldiers of differing branches in this house, many resting or performing maintenance where they could, others were sentry at the windows and other openings. A big burly black man, in full kit came up to Samuel, standing about three inches over him, Samuel saw the patch indicating this was the Staff Sergeant.

“So you were the ones who saved Lopez and brought him here. Am I right?” He said in an inquisitive tone, his accent raw Texan.

Old reflexes kicked in for Samuel, “Yes, Staff Sergeant. I also have Lopez’s kit here.”

He smirked, “Just put to the side we will make sure he gets it back. No need to call me by rank thoguh, not in the army anymore I was told. Name is Hutton.”

Samuel smirked back, “Samuel, last name Havel.”

“Well Havel, tell your civvie friends they can relax. Me n’ you need to have a chat though.”

Samuel nodded to the others and they found a place to sit, a bit awkward among all the soldiers. Samuel and Hutton headed off to a more isolated window on the second floor, the soldier doing sentry dismissed to get some rest. Hutton lit a smoke.

“You smoke Havel?”

“Of course,” and Samuel lit a cigarette of his own.

Taking a puff Hutton started the conversation, “Lopez told me you want a way out. Well I’m going to have to disappoint, there is nothing I can do for you.”

Samuel responded, “Why not?”

“Orders. We are to dig in and await pickup from some helicopters here, no room either I believe. No civvies allowed, sorry to say.”

Samuel sighed, “I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case but I’m not surprised either.”

Hutton looked out the window, “I wish there was something I could do for y’all. I’ve already had to abandon other civvies…It’s taken a toll on my troops. We’ve been running awhile now.”

“I could tell. I have also noticed you got a mix of branches and professions in your platoon. The marines, army, national guard even some air force. Truck drivers mixed with infantry to clerks with combat engineers. What happened?” Samuel asked.

Hutton was silent for a minute, “…It was bad where we fought the enemy.”

“Things were that bad? Mind telling what happened?”

Taking a long drag of his cigarette he continued, “Yes it was bad. My original platoon was assigned to combat the undead in Portland and establish refugee centers. It was chaos and an absolute clusterfuck. Stupid higher ups and politicians causing us problems. We couldn’t do our dang jobs because of them,” frustration was growing in his voice, “I lost a lot of good men in Portland. I don’t see why this matters to you though.”

Samuel nodded, staying silent for a moment, “It confirms what I believed, that the refugee centers wouldn’t work. Why did you come here though? Canterlot is a dead end.”

“We left, gathered whoever we could who was still kicking and headed east. Got brass on the horn and we were told to head here for pick up. Can’t tell you when and where, you understand why.”

“Yeah I understand. Security reasons.”

“I don’t think there is anything I can do for ya. I can however give you information.” Hutton said.

Samuel responded, gratitude in his voice, “I appreciate that. What can you tell me?”

“I assume you’re leaving this place?”, Samuel nodded, “Don’t go to the coast then, too many of those damn things wandering about now and the cities are all bombed to hell.”

“All of them? Were they bombed with napalm, cluster bombs, hell artillery?”

“Yup. From San Francisco to Vancouver, mostly napalm, but something of everything was used.”

“What about more inland? Know anything?” Samuel asked.

Hutton shook his head, “Same thing, just know avoid going south as well. Those states are having a refugee problem, too many down there now. There is some rumours going around that the Navy with the Marines and Coast Guard secured Hawaii, or that the Army is running trains out to…somewhere. However it’s just rumours, nothing solid.”

“Anything else?” Samuel asked hopefully.

“Some bases might still be up n’ running, but we are in the dark so nothing.”

Samuel nodded, “Well thank you. We should probably head out now. Best of luck Hutton I hope things work out.”

“Likewise Havel.”

Finishing the cigarettes they left the window and went downstairs, Arthur and the girls were chatting rather energetically with some soldiers. Pinkie especially was having good time. With a word the three said their goodbyes and got ready to go. Hutton grabbed an M4, four loaded magazines, a tactical vest and a helmet. He handed to Samuel who looked confused.

“Take it, one soldier to another. The soldier who had it won’t need it anymore.” Hutton offered.

Samuel blinked, “Well…Thank you Hutton. This will be really useful.”

Putting it all on, loading the magazines in the vest and helmet on, Samuel adjusted straps and buckles till comfortable. He put his hand out to shake Hutton’s and he returned it.

“Once again, best of luck Hutton. God speed.” Samuel repeated.

“Godspeed Havel.”

With that the four left and headed for the truck, all loading in. Samuel taking a long look at the house full of soldiers, wondering if they will make it, if anyone will. Putting the key in the ignition he started it and off they went back home. As they returned home Samuel told the three the information he learned, to mix reactions. All felt some hope loss from no help coming, but the information considering the other parts of the western United States was not inspiring. But it was agreed that it was time to leave, especially once they spotted a huge hoard only several streets from home.

Pulling in behind the Terrain, the process to start loading the vehicles was sped up, much already packed away. Arthur and Samuel started loading the truck with large bags of food and hardware supplies, even a generator. Pinkie and Fluttershy started loading other miscellaneous items into the Terrain. The Wrangler already loaded, it took the process about an hour for everything of use from the house to be loaded. After all the vehicles were loaded, everyone gathered around the vehicles. Arthur stood on the lawn looking at his home, Samuel beside him.

“Ready to leave Arthur?”

Arthur took a deep breath, “Yeah. It’s just…you know leaving my home. Especially after everything.”

“I understand, take the moment you need,” they stood in said moment in silence, “Did you get Applejack or Sunset on the radio?”

Arthur nodded, “Yes they know we are coming, they did ask we get there before dark however.”

Samuel took a look to the west, the sun starting to set, turning the sky red.

“Well let’s going then Arthur.” Putting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder and the two turned to leave.

Loading into the vehicles, Samuel, Arthur and Twilight in the truck, Rarity and Pinkie in the Wrangler and Rainbow plus Fluttershy in the Terrain. The truck took the lead, Wrangler in the middle and Terrain last in the convoy. Leaving the once safe haven they had, the convoy started the journey to Sweet Apple Acres. Arthur taking one last long look at his former home until it was out of sight.