Chapter 5

"The Exodus Begins

Canterlot, Oregon

March 30th, 2015

1900 Hours

The gravel road the convoy was traveling on had seen better days; potholes lined the road causing slow speed and a very bumpy ride. The road was still slightly wet from the storm, resulting in some mud being kicked up and dirty vehicles. They were getting close to Sweet Apple Acres, the various orchards lining the roads on both sides causing a limited view. Canterlot was still visible in the distance, high rise buildings in view, suburbs only ten minutes away but road conditions made it closer to twenty. The occasional zombie was spotted wandering about the trees.

Arthur pointed that out, “Seems like they have already started wandering out of the city.”

“It must be a response of some kind, perhaps due to people leaving,” Twilight mused somewhat absent minded, being a little squished in the back with all the supplies, with Spike sleeping on her lap, “I believe they are migrating in search of food, or finding more people to infect with the disease.”

“Have you been able to do anything with the samples you collected? Or figure anything out really so far?” Arthur asked turning to face her.

Twilight shook her head, “No, I still need the right equipment to do any proper testing. A proper lab would nice as well. So nothing so far.”

“Well maybe once we get set up at Applejack’s place, maybe you’ll have the opportunity to do something” Arthur offered hopefully.

Twilight adjusted her glasses, “Hopefully, it would take a while to set up an improvised lab however, especially with all the equipment needed.”

Arthur and Twilight discussed for a few minutes what would be needed and where one could find them. The house and barn of Sweet Apple Acres was glimpsed through the trees, signifying they were close.

Samuel was quiet for most of the journey, the day having taken its toll on him. He took a quick glance via the rearview mirror at Twilight, wondering how she was doing. He didn’t say anything though as his thoughts turned elsewhere. Particularly of the soldiers and Staff Sergeant Hutton.

I hope they find their way out, been enough death as it is. Wonder how my old unit is doing back in Canada, come to think of it?

He mentally shook the thought out of his head, no use worrying about something far away from where he was now. He saw the lane connected to the gravel road, now in sight, going all the way to household of Sweet Apple Acres. Slowing down, once more hitting a pothole that made everyone bounce around, Samuel looked to his left seeing a field in between the orchards.

“Twilight, did Applejack’s family own any cattle?” Samuel asked out of nowhere.

“I believe so; I think she mentioned owning a herd. Why?”

Samuel pointed a single finger to the pasture, Arthur and Twilight following it to the field. The field was full of dead cattle, at least forty heads, many had patches stripped straight to the bone or guts that spilled over the field. Much of the pasture was coated red, there was the odd zombie still gorging themselves on beef and organs, despite the corpses looking days old and in the process of rotting.

Twilight turned away the moment it registered in her brain, trying to prevent herself from being nauseous. Arthur stared for a solid moment in wide eyed horror before also turning away. Samuel only glanced before turning his attention back to the road.

“Did you have to point that out?” Twilight asked queasily, as she petted Spike who barely stirred.

Samuel felt a tinge of guilt at that, “No, I guess not…Sorry.”

The truck was silent as he turned on to the gravel lane, the house in sight across the lane even with the two bends and plethora of trees. Passing all the trees that were starting to bloom, the sun was almost set, disappearing quickly as it always does when the end of the day approached. Getting darker by the minute it came as a collective relief as the three vehicles pulled in, spacing out among the lawn.

They all noticed though the occasional corpse, which grew in number as they got close, just around the house and barn there must have been at least two dozen. The house had seen better days, thoroughly boarded up but with many boards torn, worn, splintered and covered in various amounts of blood, darkened from exposure. No light shone from the house, not the hard glare of electricity or the ruddy flame of lanterns and candles.

“Arthur when was the last time you heard from them?” Samuel asked concerned.

Arthur had his CB radio with him, headphones attached and on his head, “Just before we left and that wasn’t even an hour ago.”

Twilight, mostly recovered from her queasiness, piped in, “The house is mostly intact, and none of the windows or doors are open. I think it is unlikely that anything bad happened this quickly.”

Samuel responded, “Fair enough…Yet things can happen very quickly. I think we have become somewhat accustomed to that.”

“Unfortunately,” Arthur murmured.

While the three sat and discussed, the four other girls were already out, Rainbow was already heading for the front door, Fluttershy was attending to her menagerie of animals with Pinkie’s help and Rarity was rummaging through one of her suitcases for something. Samuel was more paranoid, earlier events being in his mind, making him take some looks around to see nothing concerning for the moment. In unspoken unison they got out, Twilight keeping a tight grip on Spike much to his frustration, as she looked around in an attempt of analysis of the farm. Arthur and Samuel spent a moment discussing about the radio.

Now at the front door, Rainbow cautiously raised a hand to knock however the door was opened by Applejack, with Sunset behind her. Both were looking ragged and exhausted, dark bags under their eyes, their hair dirty and messy, with clothes that had seen better days. It did not however stop Rainbow from immediately hugging Applejack in obvious relief and joy. The rest of the girls quickly joined in that resulted in a large group hug. The group of friends were finally reunited.

Arthur smiled at the sight, radio in his arms, taking a moment to enjoy this moment of peace, trying to stave off tiredness. In contrast while Samuel gave a small smile as well, exhaustion was setting in and the spots the zombie had grabbed were sore, he shifted in the kit he was wearing. Both of them stood by the truck, waiting in silence till the moment was over as quickly as it began. Rarity and Rainbow were ushered in by Applejack, no doubt to see Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo respectively.

The rest stayed on the porch talking or grabbing something from the vehicles of use despite growing darkness. Arthur was about to go over and join in, until Samuel got him to help with the slowly growing arsenal of firearm, to Arthur’s slight frustration. In this case it was just bringing the firearms and their respective ammunition over to the house. Sunset noticed and came to help, by taking Arthur’s radio.

“Long time no see.” Arthur said cheekily.

Sunset just rolled her eyes, “Aren’t you funny. But I am glad to see you guys and not just as a voice over the radio.”

Arthur smirked, “Likewise,” he took a look around the rather destroyed property, “You must been having a hell of a time though.”

A heavy sigh was Sunset’s reply before speaking, “You have no idea. It all started to get really bad just a few days in…We can talk more about it inside.”

Everyone proceeded inside, night having arrived fully. Samuel was craving a smoke, staying outside on the porch and sitting on the bench, setting the things he was carrying beside him. Grabbing one from his dwindling supply of smokes, putting it in his mouth and lighting it, he felt the familiar sensation of nicotine flow. He gave a sound of satisfaction as he puffed along and several minutes went by. He wasn’t surprised when Arthur poked his head out to check on him.

“You good?”

Samuel finished his smoke, “Yeah, just needed a moment and a smoke. You good though?”

Arthur shrugged, “I’m alright. Getting some food from the Apples for supper which is always good, may not be the freshest but it’ll still be good.”

“Home cooked food?”

“Oh yeah.”

With that they headed in, wiping their feet on the welcome mat, entering a cozy old living room which led to a kitchen, where everyone was sitting at a rather large table. Applejack gave them a glance, smiled and waved them over. They took a seat, the room lighted with some candles, enough you could read if you didn’t mind eye strain. The table was filled with mostly a variety of apple dishes, with some meat, soup and vegetables.

Everyone already had a plate and were helping themselves, Arthur dug in with teenage enthusiasm and Samuel did so after a moment of hesitation, not before a quick prayer though. Arthur knew everyone at the table from school, Samuel did not. Only being told the basics about who they were, he took a glance at them. The “Crusaders” as they called themselves looked much like Sunset and Applejack, tired and a mess, to Samuel they have seemed to have avoided the worst of the apocalypse when he looked into their eyes, some innocence still there.

The one other man at the table besides him and Arthur seemed to be the most tired of everyone here. Big Mac was eating with an almost death-like fatigue, struggling to keep eyelids open, Samuel knew the symptoms of severe sleep deprivation and Big Mac was showing them. Granny Smith on the other hand looked fresher than anyone else, but the same exhaustion was there just in lesser degree. She caught him looking at her and gave a smile; Samuel returned it with gratitude.

Quiet conversation, the clinking of silverware on dishes and barely noticeable chewing was the mainstay sounds for dinner. Continuing until almost everyone was finished eating, a more horrid noise sounded, the sound of terrified horses. One that made the people who stayed at the farm for the last week or so, perk up in horror. Applejack was the first up and rushing to grab a weapon, Big Mac soon followed.

“Were those the horses, Applejack?” Rarity asked with concern.

“Yes. Darn goons have been trying to get to them for the last three days.” Applejack replied in frustration at the situation.

Rainbow, Arthur and Samuel were up soon after, all reaching for a weapon. Samuel grabbed the M4 but before he could load, Applejack spoke.

“No guns, the darn things just keep coming once we start blasting them. Been a problem.”

Samuel gave a grunt of acknowledgment and grabbed his crowbar instead. The five were quickly out of the door, and onward to the barn. Big Mac and Rainbow were the only ones with flashlights, which would be needed on this cloudy night with little moonlight. Not taking long to arrive at the barn, two beams of light from the flashlights shined at the front door of the barn. Two zombies were banging and tearing at the door, with little success to get in. The light shined on them did however grab their attention, gray eyes looking to the group in hunger.

Both had their skulls pulverized several seconds later, allowing Applejack and Big Mac to head into the barn to calm the horses. While the other three did a quick round around the barn, killing one other zombie in the process. Finishing their round, they waited a minute while the Apples did what they had to do and after that it was a quick trip back to the house.

“You said this has been happening for the last three days?” Arthur asked as he closed the door behind him.

“Yup. Poor horses have just been terrified, especially since we lost three of them.” Applejack replied.

“What happened here? Like I thought you would have had it easier? Being out in the country and stuff.” Rainbow stated.

“Nnnope.” Big Mac replied exhaustedly.

Samuel spoke up, “What has been happening then? We saw the aftermath of what happened to your herd of cattle so I’m guessing nothing good.”

Applejack and Big Mac gave each other a look, Applejack spoke as everyone took a seat at the table again, “Nothing good is right. It started right after we got back…”

The table was cleared off as they talked; the Crusaders already were sent to bed, much to their protesting. Applejack told the story of how it went for them, with inputs from Sunset, Big Mac and Granny. It started with an initial attempt to keep the undead off the furthest edge of the property and away from their food and animals. It didn’t last long as the numbers grew, taking over the orchards and pushing closer to the house and barn. A large hoard came through which led to their cattle getting killed and a short siege that explained the condition around the property.

“So we lost all our cattle, most of our pigs, the ones that didn’t run away, and almost all our chickens. We got two horses and ten chickens left.” Applejack finished.

Silence permeated the kitchen; it was the hope of many that the farm would be safer, which was now dashed as the truth came out. Samuel thought for a second, before speaking.

“Are the chickens egg layers or meat breed? And what about the horses?”

“Egg layers. Quarter horses are what we have for the horses, really good riding ones, we have used them for going into some of the more difficult terrain around here.” Applejack replied proudly.

“You have a trailer for them?”

Applejack snorted, “Of course we do, what horse owners don’t after all.”

Samuel shrugged, “Fair enough. I’ll be back.”

Samuel got from his chair and went outside for something. Only a few got the idea of what he was grabbing.

“What is he doing?” Sunset asked.

“I think he is grabbing the map we found.” Twilight answered.

“Map?’ Applejack said confusingly.

As Applejack said that, Samuel was back in with a large paper map, he put it on the table and used some items from the table to hold the corners down. Everyone took a look; the map was a rather basic geographical map but contained enough information to warrant its use. It covered the entirety of North America, detailing major routes, the various states and provinces of countries, and basic terrain such as mountain ranges, rivers and forests.

Arthur was first to speak, “Is this for us to find somewhere to go, like you have been going on about?”

“Correct. I think it’s time we start thinking on where we might head. I think we can all agree that staying in Canterlot isn’t an option.” Samuel said with certainty.

Murmurs of agreement and questioning followed, except the Apples who were slightly more resilient against the idea, particularly Applejack.

“You want us to leave our property? Which has been in our family for generations?” Applejack said with a growing tone of accusation.

Samuel sighed quietly, “Yes, that’s the idea.”

That was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back for Applejack, exhaustion, frustration and sadness all combined making her want her to start arguing but a hand on her shoulder from Sunset and a look from her brother and grandmother made her calm down, shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Alright, I’ll listen. I would ask why we should leave Canterlot all together though.” Applejack asked in defeat.

Samuel scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, “I thought it was obvious, Canterlot is completely surrounded by mountains and thick forest with only one way in and out. Seems like a death trap.”

Sunset replied to that, “Not completely. There is another road that leads out of the city, to Camp Everfree, deep in the forest. It could be a good place.”

“How so?” Samuel said inquisitively.

“It’s far from the city, has plenty of buildings for use such as cabins, a mess hall and storage sheds.” Sunset listed.

“A lake too! For fishing and water to drink.” Pinkie chimed in.

“It’s still in a dead end though,” Twilight pointed out, “If the zombies find their way over in large enough numbers…we couldn’t hold them off.”

“That’s why we build a wall, duh.” Rainbow said in triumph.

“Around an entire lake and camp?” Arthur pointed out.

Rainbow thought for a second, “Right. Makes more sense now.”

“Could we isolate a smaller part of it then?” Samuel asked.

“I don’t believe so, not easily anyways.” Arthur replied.

Sunset announced after several minutes of debate, “I guess that settles that then. No Everfree Camp.”

“Which means we need to leave, not just Canterlot but also out of the state I believe.” Samuel said.

The ones who stayed on the farm were confused, that’s where they were told about what Samuel learned from Staff Sergeant Hutton.

“So the whole coast?” Sunset said in disbelief.

“Yup, the radio broadcasts I got also further prove it; a lot of people are now running from the coast.” Arthur replied.

“I doubt there is any significant government presence anywhere now. That would mean we have to start anew. Like a new civilization.” Twilight said a bit dreamily at the idea.

“Kinda like those apocalypse movies?” Rainbow asked.

“Exactly!”

“But where could we go, dear? The whole country is now crawling with the ‘zombies’.” Rarity said.

“That is why I took out the map,” Samuel stated, pointing east of Oregon, “I believe we should head inland to the east. With less population and with the mountains and rivers being a natural barrier it’ll help stop or slow any zombie migration.”

“Why not head north? Like Alaska, I watched a show once showing how some of those homesteaders lived; we could live off all the fish and crab. Or hunting, farming and ranching.” Rainbow offered as she traced a finger to the Alaska-Canada highway going from Seattle all the way to Anchorage, “We could drive so no need for boats.”

People mused on the idea, before Arthur spoke, “We would have to get through Seattle and Vancouver though. Which are probably filled with hoards of zombies in the way of us driving.”

Sunset chimed in, “The highways could be clogged too, just with the sheer amount of vehicles.”

Fluttershy spoke up once the opportunity arose, “Wouldn’t it be you know…cold?”

Samuel snapped his fingers, “Yes it would be, colder than any of you are used to.”

“Oh really?” Rainbow challenged.

Samuel nodded, “Remember I’m from Canada, the prairies to be exact, it gets really cold, minus forty Celsius or even below once you get further north. The amount of snow is also a concern; if we got trapped there is no way we are getting through, it sometimes snows as early as August or September.”

That got people’s attention, and the quick conversion of Celsius to Fahrenheit by Twilight, doubly so.

Twilight spoke more on the topic, “It could take us some time to get up there, far too late to do anything to get us ready for winter.”

“We couldn’t plant anything in time; we would be starving before spring arrives.” Applejack said.

It was then agreed that heading east was the best option.

“Where in the east though?” Arthur asked.

Samuel shrugged, “Maybe Montana.”

Sunset chimed in, pointing to the various states on the western part of the continental divide, “Colorado could be good, maybe Utah or Wyoming.”

“Maybe we should decide on a state after we get out of Oregon.” Arthur pointed out.

“Then we have a plan?” Sunset asked as she looked at everyone at the table.

Several minutes of deciding a route out of Oregon took place, but Samuel pointed something out first.

“We need to get out of Canterlot first, and with one road in and out, it won’t be easy.”

“But we don’t even know what it looks like darling, it could be clear for all we know.” Rarity stated.

Samuel gave a conceding nod, “Fair enough. We will need to go recce it then.”

Fluttershy spoke up, “Well there is some paths we could use they go over the mountains after all.”

“Those paths are of no use if we are using vehicles Flutters. Sorry to say.” Applejack countered.

“Agreed, it would mean we could only take what we could carry on our backs, which won’t be enough.” Samuel added.

“I guess that leaves the road our only option then.” Rainbow said.

Pinkie piped in, “How are we getting through, obviously we’re driving but what if we encountered the zombs or other people? Sammy?”

“Convoy style, straight line with at least several car lengths in between. Everything packed and easy to access, being able to fight if we have to. ” Samuel answered.

“We could have everything ready in what? Two days maybe?” Sunset implied.

“Including my chickens and horses, I hope?” Applejack said.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we, they will be useful as it stands.” Twilight replied.

An agreement was reached by everyone on how to proceed but before the impromptu meeting was ended, Fluttershy pointed one thing out, speaking quietly.

“What about other people? There must be some out there still.”

That got a collective blink in realization that there would be other survivors still.

“If we plan on leaving, wouldn’t it be good to tell others?” Fluttershy continued.

Sunset spoke up, “We could do something better, why not invite them to join us?”

Most agreed to the idea, Samuel and Rainbow were now the ones reluctant.

“But what if they are like spies for some gang, wanting to take our stuff or worse?” Rainbow said worryingly and aggressively.

“I understand your worries Rainbow, but when was the last time you heard of some gang causing problems in Canterlot of all places?” Applejack said, challenging Rainbow.

“Well…nothing really,” Rainbow muttered conceding to the point.

“There’s your answer then.” Applejack said triumphantly.

“I could try contacting people in the valley,” Arthur pondered, “I have already heard some of them on the radio, I just didn’t answer.”

“Was there many, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Several people, probably with others in tow.” Arthur replied.

Samuel caved, “Very well, we should still question them so we don’t accidently let someone in with evil intentions.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have more people, Samuel.” Sunset said.

“True, wherever we plan on going we are going to need people, I just want to err on the side of caution.” Samuel replied.

Sunset gave a small smile, “That is understandable, but I doubt people have become a bunch of neo-barbarians this fast.”

Samuel smiled back, “Fair enough.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses, “It sounds like we have a plan on how to get out.”

“Then we better get some sleep, lots to do to get ready.” Arthur said tiredness seeping into his voice.

Collective agreement sounded and sleeping arrangements plus watch duty were assigned. Some hope now being in their hearts and a plan to follow allowed the future to seem just a bit brighter.

Two days passed since the reunification of the two groups, most time was spent on packing the rather large amount of supplies from the farm, including food, feed and fodder for the animals and building supplies. Using two older trucks they have on the farm allowed them to pack much more than they once could. The horse trailer would be taken by one of the Apples trucks, as well as an open trailer, packed with their heaviest and bulkiest items.

Arthur had success in his recruitment of several people, some with family or friends in tow, a few rejected the offer out of suspicion or the belief they would be better on their own. A place was decided on the more outer limits of the city to meet up, today being the day. Samuel had already took a small group to recce the highway, basically it coming down to the one side going out of the city is absolutely clogged with vehicles, but the side going into the city is mostly clear, enough that a convoy could get through with little difficulty.

During those two days many hours of target practice took place, far from the farm of course, it was an unfortunate cost in ammunition but required to get people to learn the firearms they had. It wouldn’t turn anyone into crack shots but practice makes perfect or at least good enough to hit the target in some cases.

Finishing up cleaning the Mosin, Samuel slid the bolt back in, applying a light coat of oil and handing it to Rarity; she was surprisingly accurate with the old rifle, only after she swallowed her pride about its lack of good condition though.

“Rifle is the best it can be now; you’ll need to care of it from now on though, if you’re going to be its keeper.” Samuel said.

Rarity gave the Mosin a good look over before responding, “Very well, dear. I think I will keep it, despite its…rustic appearance.”

Samuel nodded before grabbing a box of 7.62x54mmR to give Rarity, “You have only ten rounds, use it sparingly.”

Rarity nodded, grabbing the rounds from the box and putting them in a pocket and then headed to the Wrangler where Pinkie and Sweetie Belle were waiting. As she jumbled with her pack, a ghastly thing in her opinion but one of great use, she noticed Arthur coming from around the vehicle. A brief memory flashed to the rather embarrassing incident from several days ago, she felt the blush coming in as she slowed her pace, both of them decided to never mention it, yet the memory lingers.

She recovered her composure as much as possible as she got to the Wrangler, taking a glance at Arthur, who was talking with Pinkie, and put her bag in the vehicle before tending to Sweetie Belle, sitting on the grass against the vehicle.

“All ready, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle, who was rather bored looking, responded, “Yeah…do we have to leave, though?”

“You know why already,” Rarity kneeled to be on Sweetie’s level, “I know it’s hard to leave, I also don’t like the idea. It will be alright though Sweetie.”

Sweetie grabbed a handful some grass to fidget with and spoke quietly, “You don’t know that. What if something goes wrong?”

Rarity thought for a second, “We will deal with it, just like we always do, Sweetie. When was the last time we didn’t, darling?”

Sweetie smiled softly, “That’s true. Maybe I’ll get to see something, like a road trip.”

Rarity smiled back, “Exactly.”

That is when Arthur approached, having overheard the last half, “Don’t worry, I’m quite sure we will be just fine, besides,” Arthur pointed his index finger at Samuel, who was geared up and practicing a couple stoppage drills with his M4, and then pointing to the various people in the group, “Everyone here will tackle problems together if they pop up.”

Pinkie popped beside Arthur with a grin and had a cupcake in her hand, “Here Sweetie Belle. Have a cupcake, I know you won’t say no, it’s freshly baked after all.”

Sweetie Belle beamed and grabbed the cupcake, with a thank you she gorged on it, fresh sweets having already become uncommon, worse as time goes on. People were finishing preparing for their journey, a long road ahead of them. Applejack was loading the two horses into the trailer, both standing roughly fifteen hands, with a buckskin coat, not panicking but much on edge with wary eyes, ears on a swivel, picking up every noise yet they obediently walked into the trailer. Samuel finished his impromptu checks, Fluttershy with her zoo, Big Mac was helping Granny Smith into a truck and Rainbow did some stretching to loosen some muscles.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom talked about some inconsequential matters, and soon the group formed around their respective assigned vehicles, a round of checks and affirmatives, Samuel’s truck would take the lead, Wrangler second, the two Apples trucks in the middle and the Terrain taking up the rear.

Arthur buckled in, “Ready to go?”

“Ready as we can be.” Samuel said as he started his truck.

Arthur looked back to Twilight who was once again riding with them again, “Twilight?”

“All ready.” She replied.

The convoy started moving, heading down the lane, driving as fast or slow as the road conditions allowed.

“Remember where we are heading?” Twilight asked.

“Yup, a greenhouse business in the west part of the city, slightly out of the suburbs.” Samuel replied, before speaking to Arthur, “Did you get in contact with the people who all agreed to our little escapade?”

“Almost everyone, four or so didn’t answer however, I’m assuming dead radio, if not gotta assume the worst.” Arthur replied firmly.

“Rog.”

Over the course of a half hour they made their way from the country into suburbs and drove cautiously to their destination, many a turn taken due to destruction and the increasing amount of zombies coming from the center of the city.

“We really do need to get out.” Twilight muttered quietly to herself, wide eyed at the amount having moved into the suburbs.

Soon out of the suburbs they drove onto a small complex of greenhouses, a corpse here and there, plus they weren’t the first to be here. A red Chevrolet Equinox and a green Toyota Corolla were off to the side, with their respective owners. One was a generic white family, two parents and their two children, twin boys by the look of it, the parents were currently repacking and rechecking supplies and the kids were playing with one another.

Two guys were beside the Corolla, friends in their case, they were going over their weapons, a handgun and a shotgun, their supplies seemed miniscule in comparison, the two guys didn’t seem well feed either. They all turned their heads to see Samuel’s truck and all the other vehicles in the convoy as they stopped.

“Any of them seem familiar?” Samuel asked as he placed the truck in park.

Arthur took a quick glance at them, fiddling with his radio, “Yup, seem like the ones I talked to…There is still some we are waiting, give me a minute to try and contact them.”

“Well let’s go introduce ourselves.” Twilight said with a look of determination.

Samuel shrugged and followed Twilight out, Arthur slower as he awkwardly maneuvered out with the radio, and putting it on the hood of the truck as he started fiddling with knobs. Twilight like the rest of her friends immediately went to greet the other survivors, the Crusaders following suit. Samuel went over to Big Mac who was loading his dad’s old hunting rifle, a M1903 Springfield with an old scope on it.

“Keep an eye out for any zombies coming, I’m going to quickly go check to see if we got any wannabe hitchhikers coming our way from the road.” Samuel said as he walked past Big Mac.

Big Mac simply nodded and proceeded to take a look to the fields on the outskirts. Samuel with M4 in hand walked past the convoy of vehicles and pausing at the turn off, scanning the asphalt and the suburbs for any movement as he lit a cigarette.

Can’t wait too long, we’re bound to get some zekes here soon. Can’t let them catch us unaware again.

Puffing on his cigarette, he caught sight of the human silhouettes that were already coming over to their stop. He swore softly, he was hoping for more time. He was relieved to see no sprinters, but he knew they would be here soon, he glanced back to check on everyone. There didn’t seem be any obvious issues as far as he could tell. He went back to looking at the area, hoping to get out soon.

Arthur was keeping a close ear to his radio, trying his best to keep in contact with multiple people. So focused he didn’t realize Fluttershy coming on his right side. He jumped slightly when she touched his shoulder to get his attention, Fluttershy not being able to get his attention verbally due to headphones; in return she jumped with an “eep” when he glanced in temporary panic at her.

A moment later after he calmed down Arthur spoke, “Yeah Fluttershy?”

She brushed her hair with her fingers as she replied, “The people over there wanted to speak to you about something.”

“Well ok.”

Arthur took his headphones off to speak to the man from the family coming over, standing slightly taller than him, brown hair with matching brown eyes, looking to be in his thirties, he was dressed like he was heading for a yearly camping trip with clothes he never used for outdoor activities, as he began to speak one could tell he was deeply urban.

“So you are the young man I was talking to over the radio,” The man said as he reached a hand out to shake Arthur’s, “Name’s Ken as you know.”

Arthur shook Ken’s hand, “Arthur as you would also know. And what about the rest of your family?”

Ken smiled as he gestured to his wife and sons still be the Equinox, “My wife Sandra, and my two sons Rick and Lee.”

“Well good to meet you finally.” Arthur said.

“Likewise, I am hoping to leave soon though. We are ready to leave when we can.”

Arthur nodded, “There is some more people we are waiting on but if they no show we will leave,” he checked his watch, “Say fifteen minutes.”

Ken looked at him funny, “Fifteen? That Sunset girl said half an hour.”

Arthur frowned for a second, “I’ll check on that.”

“We should be leaving now or in a few minutes, those zombies could be here any moment.” Ken sighed, “We already had to deal with several, thankfully with help from those two who were here, I forget their names but they were really helpful.”

“If I remember correctly they are Norman and Michael.” Arthur said somewhat absentminded.

“We can wait a little bit for the others; it wouldn’t be very nice if we left right now.” Fluttershy said with her input.

Ken hesitated for second before going on, “I know, but we got get out of this hell hole, so don’t mind me but I’m not allowing a chance for my family to be eaten alive.”

“Just give us a few minutes to figure things out, as long as you’re ready to go at moment’s notice.” Arthur said, trying to placate Ken.

“Fine, I already said we are good to go right away. I’ll give you some time, but I won’t be waiting forever.” Ken said with finality as he went back to his family.

Arthur shrugged before going back to his radio but not before asking Fluttershy to ask Sunset all about the wait period. She nodded and she went about her task. Arthur was closely monitoring for the survivors who agreed to get join them.

“Hello? Is this Arthur?” a voice hesitantly called out.

Arthur quickly answered, “Yeah this is Arthur.”

“It’s Chloe, I’m on my way there, just don’t leave yet ok?” Carol pleaded.

“How far are you out?” Arthur asked.

“Five to ten minutes maybe?”

“Alright. We will wait, just be quick as possible.”

“Ok I will try. See you in a bit”

Arthur changed his radio setting as he tried finding others on the channels, he glanced to where Samuel was standing at the road as he smoked. Then he saw Sunset came over, a rather indignant expression on her face.

“Fifteen minutes? Really?” Sunset questioned.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, “We gave people plenty of time to get here, most are on their way. I know that much, and most will be here within fifteen minutes.”

Sunset pondered for a second, “And if they get stuck or have to take a detour? Then what? We just leave them?”

“No but…” Arthur stopped as he saw Samuel jogging over, also getting Sunset’s attention.

“We got incoming and quite a few of them, I say five minutes before we get swamped.”

Sunset murmured to herself and Arthur cursed.

“I’ll tell the people to reroute. What was our stop point once we are outside the city? ” Arthur asked with haste in his voice.

“It was the overpass, about four miles out from Canterlot. If they see our convoy they can also join in that way.” Samuel responded with similar haste.

Arthur grabbed his radio and almost threw himself into the truck, as Sunset ran over to the others and announced the change of plans. Everyone got in their vehicles with gusto and the convoy was back on the road, with the two new additions taking up in the rear. As Samuel pulled onto the road he and everyone driving picked up speed, the zombies were closing in and fast, with several sprinters making their way over, covering ground fast as they parted through the grass like gazelles.

The convoy would be far away from them as they began their way on the outskirt roads of the city, trying to stay away from the downtown area. Arthur was keeping up as he frantically rerouted the other survivors.

“We are going to have to spend some time waiting for the others, plenty of detours and backtracking for them.” Arthur announced.

“We should be able to do that,” Samuel said as he maneuvered around a sedan and a SUV crashed together.

Samuel glanced back at Twilight through the rearview mirror, “Do you remember if we have to get through downtown at all?”

Twilight looked at him with slight relief as she spoke, “No, our next left turn will bring us onto the service road and it brings us all the way to our exit.”

Samuel nodded as he slowed for the turn, narrowing missing a zombie trying to grab the vehicle. The rest of the convoy followed suit with little difficulty as they began turning onto the service road. With the city on one side and fields of overgrown grass and flowers on the other. Another car joined their convoy Samuel noticed from his side mirrors.

“That car one of ours?”

Arthur responded, still focused on his radio, “Yes, that’s Chloe.”

The convoy went on and soon they were almost out, as Samuel began to round a corner he noticed something.

“Shit!”

It was semi-truck in that was blocking most of the road, having been flipped over with trailer in tow.

“It looks like we can still get around.” Twilight noted.

Samuel clenched his teeth as he slowed and tried seeing where he could get around. Then he caught movement on the other side, as two zombies wandered around the semi and locked their eyes on the truck. Loud groans sounded as they shambled over, something special about the zombies is they were in military uniform and full kit.

“Arthur take the wheel, I’m going to make sure we ain’t heading straight into an ambush.” Samuel ordered as he got out with his M4 and racked it.

Samuel fired three shots and killed the two zombies; he rushed forward, taking a wide gander around the semi to avoid any attempts from being grabbed. He saw the reason for the accident, two Humvees, one smashed into the trailer and the other flipped on its side. A quick inspection of the accident showed no undead. What he did see was a horde of zombies a little too large for his liking was blocking the way, quickly doing a visual on the distance; he guessed about seven hundred feet.

The problem is they were on their way, with five sprinters taking the lead. Samuel quickly went into a prone position, controlled his breathing and flipped off the safety as the pad of his finger pulled the trigger. The lead sprinter’s skull exploded and went down with a tumble, the one behind it tripping over its corpse. The new lead was taking down with a shot that shattered its jaw and exited out the back of its skull.

Samuel shifted his body a bit and realigned his sights, the ACOG proving useful today, and he fired again, hitting a sprinter in the throat to no effect but a large spray of blood. He fired again, the same sprinter losing a chunk off its skull on the top as it too tumbled dramatically. Two were left and one was getting much closer so Samuel popped up on a knee but he heard the crack of another rifle.

Arthur cocked his lever action and fired again at the one sprinter closing as it passed some hundred feet, the side of its face blown inward, as it tumbled into a somersault, smashing its chin into the pavement. The last one who recovered, in a violent twirl of limbs before once again sprinting down the road. Samuel put two rounds through its left knee, the zombie crashing with a lack of grace and started crawling towards them, before being finished off with a bullet to the head.

“Let’s get the convoy rolling. I’ll cover here; send at least a couple more bodies up here to help.” Samuel said as he ejected the magazine for inspection and reinserted it.

“Will do.” Arthur responded as he put a couple more rounds into his rifle and rushed back to the truck.

Samuel did a quick check of the two zombies he killed earlier, grabbing six extra magazines still loaded and a single frag grenade. The horde of at least eighty zombies when he did a better count, were still closing distance fast. He once again flipped the safety and he popped several heads before extra help arrived. Big Mac and one of the men from the Corolla showed up first, with bolt action rifle and handgun respectively. Samuel gestured for them to stay in an extended line on him.

Big Mac silently just started applying his rifle, slow but efficient. The other man checked the chamber of his handgun, let the action go forward and waited for the undead to get closer into effective handgun range.

The convoy started moving forward as the three pushed forward to give a bit of room, but the convoy had to halt. Resulting in several people rushing forward with firearms to give a supporting hand.

“Hey is that a machine gun?” said man pointed out, gesturing to the underneath of the Humvee smashed into the trailer.

Samuel glanced over, “Yes it is! Well go grab it!”

The man rushed over to it and grabbed it, somewhat unsure how to hold it. The M249 with standard iron sights, still had the box inserted, the belt flopping around.

“I’m Samuel. What’s your name?” Samuel asked as he fired a shot.

“Norman. Pleasure to meet.” Norman replied as he fiddled with the top cover and tried loading the machine gun.

“Do you know how to use that?” Samuel asked.

Norman paused, “No but I’m sure I can figure it out.”

“Have you used one before?” Samuel questioned with growing irritation.

Norman shoved it toward him, “I haven’t. So fucking take it then if you know.”

Samuel slung his M4 and grabbed the LMG, as Norman took his handgun and started firing. Popping up the top cover, he checked for a bolt, there was one fully forward making Samuel smile, putting the start of the belt into the feed tray, slammed the top cover down and he racked the bolt. He lined the sights up as the group continued shambling forward, having been whittled down to more manageable levels. Now being only seventy feet away.

Samuel gripped the LMG hard for the recoil and let forth a burst of lead, taking one zombie out with an explosion of blood and skull fragments and rounds hitting the one behind it. A cacophony of gunfire sounded as the group fired, more rounds being expended as near misses and grazes were common.

“All of you stay in a fucking line!” Samuel yelled, the improvised firing line being too shoddy, causing uncomfortable amounts of lasing and cutting off of firing arcs.

Once we get out of this, I got to teach these fuckers how to make a straight line!

“We got some coming from behind us!” Applejack cried out as she ran up to the frontline, inserting two more shells into her double barrel shotgun.

“We have to keep going then! Let’s just ram through them!” Rainbow yelled as she went back to her vehicle.

Jumble and confused talking made it take longer than necessary but the convoy started moving again. Just in time for the much diminished but still enough of a threat zombie group to make it close. Samuel, Norman and Big Mac found themselves on top of the semi-trailer firing down at the zombies. Some trying to reach for them and others grabbing hopelessly at the vehicles as they passed one by one.

“I’m out!” Big Mac called out.

“Last mag here!” Norman called out next.

Samuel used that as a reason to try and quicken his efforts to kill the zombies in the way. Burst after burst they fell like wheat to the scythe until he fired the last of the box and threw it away, performing an unload drill as he spoke.

“Ready to go!”

The other two gave affirmatives and the three jumped down onto the Humvee, scrambling off it and making a dash forward towards the convoy, Samuel’s truck having turned around to pick them up as the rest of the convoy continued onto their destination. Samuel quickly grabbed a spare M249 barrel he saw sticking out of the Humvee and hoped it was serialized to the LMG he had now.

The three sprinted as the zombies behind followed them, with the truck making a wide turn so the bed was facing them. All three hopped into the bed, landing rather uncomfortably onto the supplies loaded in the back. The truck surged forward down the road, almost making Norman fall out of the bed. The encroaching zombies groaned and moaned in ceaseless hunger, the once whittled down horde started growing in number again as more joined the endless march, growing smaller as distance grew between them and soon they were out of sight.

Gripping for dear life, the three men in the back tried finding a decent enough seat as the ride played out. Heading past a large buildup of still vehicles, sitting on the road out of Canterlot. Arthur maneuvered the truck around it, turning onto the road going in. The way ahead was clear as day with only the occasional vehicle that had to be skirted round.

Quickly catching up to the convoy, the truck settled in the rear behind Chloe’s car. Samuel took a huge breath in relief, finally free from the increasingly oppressive and constricting atmosphere of a dead city, lost to the dead.

The truck rolled along down the pavement, the valley opening up the farther they got from Canterlot. The long line of vehicles started thinning out, so many vehicles abandoned, yet many of their former occupants laid dead or now roaming among the vehicles. Arthur couldn’t help but wonder.

So many people wanting to live…Now gone. Did any make it? My friends or classmates? Probably dead like everyone else.

Arthur was shaken out of his thoughts by the sight of the overpass; the lead vehicle in the convoy began making its way up a ramp. The variety of vehicles parked where they could on the relatively clear overpass. Arthur stayed a moment in the truck to breath before hopping out like most of the others. Radio in arms he was already set to contact the few other survivors who haven’t made it yet.

Fiddling with the knob he listened closely for a response to his hails over the radio. It wasn’t a response from the radio waves he got but the distant sound of a car engine. Glancing towards the city he saw the source, an old pickup truck looking to be from the seventies. And over the course of fifteen minutes two more vehicles also arrived. A red Honda Civic followed by a blue Pontiac Torrent.

Arthur quickly talked to the new arrivals. The ones in the pickup turned out to be a Hispanic couple with their four kids, the ones from the Honda were an older couple in their fifties and five people in the Torrent, two teenagers, from Crystal Prep surprisingly and three adults. After talking with them Arthur knew they were the last, meaning at least four other survivors and anyone they had with them weren’t coming. Having not been able to contact most of them since yesterday and the last hail being from early in the morning, he assumed the worst.

Sunset and Samuel came over to Arthur as the rest of the other survivors intermingled with everyone, a couple on watch for anyone or anything.

“Is that everyone Arthur?” Sunset asked as she leaned against the truck.

“…Yeah. The last contact was this morning, about six. I’m going to assume they aren’t coming.” Arthur replied sadly, as he put his radio away to save battery.

A moment of silence followed before the conversation gained traction again.

“So is there anything else we should consider?” Samuel asked openly, “Everyone knows what the goal is now.”

“We should still brief everyone. To make sure there isn’t any confusion.” Sunset said as she motioned for the map.

Arthur grabbed it from the truck and laid it out on the hood, Samuel using some mags as paperweights to hold the map down.

“Is that machine gun still any use?” Arthur asked Samuel as he put the M249 beside him.

Samuel snorted in reply, “No. Unless we find more boxes and the belts need to be linked by the way, it’s useless. A big glorified stick.”

Sunset perked on eyebrow, “Saw in a video game I played that it used magazines. Is that possible?”

Samuel looked surprised, “Yeah you can,” showing a demonstration by shoving a mag into the magazine well, “But it is for the ‘oh shit’ moments when you’re out of ammo. I’d rather use a rifle.”

Taking the magazine out he continued, “Anyways. I’m thinking,” Samuel traced a finger north of their current position, “We head north before we make our way east. To this highway cutting through the Cascades.”

Sunset scrunched her face in thought before pointing a finger to a closer road through the mountains, “We should consider this route. Smaller road, but closer.”

“I haven’t heard anything on the radio about the roads heading into the interior but who knows.” Arthur added in.

Samuel sighed, “Which means we have to get information as we go or by word of mouth which is slow and damn unreliable if they aren’t relaying it real time. I foresee a lot of recces in our future.”

Sunset smiled, “We will manage. But north it is,” she turned to all the survivors, “Hey everyone! Bring it in!”

The group of survivors slowly huddled in around the truck as Sunset began to speak.

“I’m quite sure everyone already knows the plan, but I just want to check to make sure. So is everybody up to date on what we are doing?” Sunset announced as she looked to each person.

A round of silent nods, loud affirmatives or looks of understanding meant everybody knew. Sunset went on once she was confident in that.

“We are going to head north before cutting east. Then try heading for the state border. Any questions?” Sunset asked with a sweeping hand.

Ken was the first to speak up, “Yeah. How are we organizing this whole group anyways?”

“I’m not sure yet. We will figure it out once we stop for the night. Agreed?” Sunset offered as a peace offering.

Ken looked like he was about to say something but nodded at last. Norman’s friend was next.

“Could we get some food? Haven’t eaten much since the start of all this.” Michael somewhat pleaded.

Arthur spoke up, “Pinkie?”

Pinkie responded with haste, “Already on it!”

Rushing to the Wrangler she grabbed some food to share for those needed it, as she was doing it Sunset went on.

“We will continue the same way as we were before for traveling in a ‘convoy’. We should also make sure we are ready to fight any threats as we travel, everyone has a weapon to protect themselves.”

“But why? There seems to be enough people to fight anyways.” One of the Crystal Prep students asked, sounding very unamused.

Samuel decided to speak up, a scowl on his face, “She is right. Everyone who can, will fight if necessary. I absolutely will not allow us to be unprepared for any threats. And if you can’t fight you’ll be taught how. No excuses, no exceptions.”

The Hispanic man spoke up, “I will not allow my children to be forced into fighting mister. I will not stoop that low.”

Samuel’s face softened, “True, you’re right we won’t stoop that low,” his face hardened again, “Everyone else though will fight. As I said we have to be ready and in this new world we are in, we are going to have to fight wherever we end up.”

Samuel looked to everyone, some seemed to agree, others seemed to disagree. Didn’t matter much to him though. Pointing to the city he continued.

“You all know the zekes are my reason, agreed?”

To his perspective most seemed to have agreed, to Sunset however it was a different story. Sunset leaned over to speak quietly.

“Later Samuel. Let them settle in a bit before that.”

Samuel pursed his lips but stayed quiet; Sunset turned her attention back to everyone else, “Is there anything else before we go?”

Collective silence followed, Sunset allowed a moment before going on, “Ok then everyone. We should cover some ground before dark. Samuel your truck is in lead again.”

Samuel nodded and grabbed the map plus the LMG, hopping into the truck. Everyone followed suit, Arthur and Twilight with Spike in the truck as well. Using the radio, Arthur double checked radio connection for good communication between all them.

“All ready Sunset?”

“Yup. Let’s move out.” Sunset responded enthusiastically.

Arthur checked with everyone one by one and the convoy was off. The large amount of vehicles formed a long line, heading north.

“You know what’s funny?” Samuel said openly.

“What would be funny?” Twilight asked curiously.

Samuel grinned, “It’s like we are going on exodus like the Old Testament.” He continued in a deep non serious voice, “On our way to the promised land, you know.”

Samuel laughed after that, Twilight let out a giggle and Arthur a long chuckle. The convoy rolled onwards, and Twilight began to sleep just like Spike. Samuel looked to his cousin who too was nodding off.

“Sleep Arthur,” before Arthur could respond, Samuel pressed on, “Just leave the radio on and headphones unplugged, I’ll wake you up if anything is needed.”

Arthur did so, and he closed his eyes, quickly drifting to dreamless sleep as the truck and the rest of the convoy rumbled along.

Author's Note

I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far, I appreciate anyone taking the time to read this story. I would like to ask if people could leave any kind of feedback for me considering the story, even if it is just pointing out any grammar or spelling mistakes. I would love to know what you like and don't like. So thanks again for reading and have a good day/night.