"Someone is talking."
'Drake is thinking to himself.'
Fear, for the last four months, that is all I have known. Six months ago, a deadly virus appeared in Africa, anyone who was exposed to the virus would get a bad fever and eventually die. Only, they didn’t stay dead. Shortly after their apparent death, they got up and started attacking any living person they came into contact with. Anyone who got bitten or scratched by an infected would fall victim to the virus.
When anyone heard that, they immediately thought of slow, rotting corpses stumbling around aimlessly looking for something to eat. But they couldn't have been more wrong. They were fast and vicious and while fairly easy to deal with one-on-one, were incredibly dangerous in groups, which was a big problem as they were usually in groups similar to a wolf pack, working together to find prey and even attacking other packs of infected if they crossed each other's path.
There were also strange mutations occurring among the infected making them much deadlier. One of the most dangerous mutations we’ve come across allows for the host to assimilate objects into its body, which makes them extremely hard to kill as they can assimilate your weapons and use them against you. We called them, assimilators. The only way we know of to disable them was to shoot them in the head. I use the term disable because this doesn’t actually kill them, it just causes their body to temporarily shut down while it repairs the damage. We use this time to either run away, or light them on fire, which is the only way to permanently kill them.
Within a month, ninety percent of the African population was infected and the UN came to a decision that the threat of the virus spreading was too great and, using a pheromone designed to attract the infected, drew the infected towards the center of major cities and used nuclear devices to cleanse the cities and sending in squads into the smaller settlements to eliminate the rest. They were successful in eliminating most the carriers of the virus, or so they thought. Two weeks after the nuclear strikes, there were reports of the virus appearing in several major countries, including my home country of Canada. The virus spread like wildfire and soon after, the world went dark.
My name is Drake. I am 19 years old, and am currently travelling with my best friends Dante and Chris in a military Humvee that we stumbled upon a few towns back. For the past four months I have been travelling with a group of other survivors who, like me, are immune to the virus. We had started out from Toronto with a total of forty-two survivors. But after numerous encounters with the infected hordes, there were only three of us left. We were heading north because we had heard a rumour that there was an old air-force base which would extract survivors to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean where we would be safe from the infected.
I looked over my shoulder at my friends as I drove along the highway. Dante was listening to an iPod and sharpening his katana in the back seat while Chris was sitting up in the passenger's seat checking our supplies. I have been with these two for most of my life and couldn't imagine anyone else to be surviving against the infection with, though sometimes I wish I could change their personalities a bit. Chris is quiet and stealthy, using silenced weapons so as not to attract much attention, while Dante is over the top, preferring to charge in guns blazing and managing to attract the entire town to us.
“Hey, how much further is it to this base anyway?” Dante asked.
“According to the map it’s only a few kilometres away.” I replied as I brushed a lock of my hair out of my eyes. 'Damn, I really should cut my hair next chance I get, it's really starting to get in the way.' I thought to myself as i ran a hand through my shoulder length black hair.
“Good. I hope this isn’t just some wild goose chase like the last time.” He said, reminding me of the false evacuation which was really a group of bandits using a transmission to lure people in and steal their weapons and food.
“Yeah, that was a big mistake. But this time we’re going to do some recon before going in, in case it’s another trap. What do you think Chris?” I asked, looking over at him.
“I agree with you, and I should be the one who does the recon as I am equipped for it and can manage to pull it off without being seen, unlike you Dante.” He replied looking towards Dante.
“What can I say, I love being the center of attention. It’s not my fault that you’re more timid around people than Fluttershy.” Dante said with a smirk.
“Yeah, but at least I haven’t nearly gotten us killed several times by making too much noise.”
“What? Name one time when have I nearly got us killed.”
“The mall”
“That wasn’t my fault, it was an accident.”
“An accident? You drove the dirt bike from that stand around the entire mall swinging your sword at any infected you passed by. How is that an accident?”
“Alright you two, enough bickering. But Dante, he does have a point. You do create quite a lot of noise wherever we go. Besides, we’re here” I said.
Dante and I decided to move up a hill on our left so we could get a good view of the base while Chris went on ahead to scout out the base. Looking through the binoculars, I could see that there wasn’t anyone outside but I also couldn’t see a plane or helicopter anywhere on the base.
“What do you think? Are we good to go?” Dante asked eagerly.
“I don’t know. It looks clear but we’ll have to wait until Chris gets back to be sure, but from what I’ve seen, there is no extraction and this was just a bust.” I replied.
“Damn. I hope you’re wrong but we should still check the place out. There could be some nice weapons in there and we are running low on supplies.”
“Yeah, I agree with you there I haven't had a decent meal in days, but for now, let’s just wait for Chris.”
I took out my iPod and put on one of my playlists. A Long Way From Equestria came on and I closed my eyes and thought back to before all this happened, back when all we were worrying about was the next big test at school. The three of us have been best friends since our first year of school and our friendship has only gotten stronger since then. I was the first one to start watching My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and found that Dante and Chris both liked it as well when I introduced it to them. We always had little get-togethers when a new episode came out so we could all watch it together.
I was pulled from my thoughts when Dante gave me a little nudge and pointing out that Chris was on his way back. We both grabbed our stuff and met him back on the road.
“So, what did you find? Is it safe to enter?” I asked.
“From what I can tell, it’s safe to enter but it looks like this place has been abandoned for weeks.” He replied.
“That’s what I was afraid of. Let’s go in anyway and salvage what we can, besides, there may be a way to contact the aircraft carrier if the transmissions were true.” I said as we walked towards the entrance.
“Damn, the door requires a pass code to enter. Hey Chris, think you can get this open?” I asked looking over at him.
“Sure, just give me a few minutes.” He replied, pulling out some tools.
“Hey, remember that time Chris hacked into the schools network and the Equestrian National Anthem to play instead of the normal one?” Dante asked.
“Yeah, how could I forget that? Our principal was pissed, but it was worth the two day suspension just to see her reaction.” I replied thinking back to that day.
“Okay guys, I’ve got it.”
“Good job. Let’s stay quiet, we don’t know what is in here. That means you especially, Dante.” I said pointedly.
“Alright, alright, I get the point. I’ll be quiet this time.” He said in an annoyed tone.
I pulled out my one of my machete's and 15 ½” fighting knife and went in, the other two following behind me. I do have a pistol with me but prefer to only use it as a last resort, especially in buildings where the sound of a single shot can resonate through the whole floor and attract the attention of any infected in the vicinity, besides, I always had a talent for close-quarters combat.
‘Something’s off about this place. It’s supposed to be an old base, but it looks like it was still being used.’ I thought to myself. All the lights were working and the place was very clean. I noticed that the computers and other electronics were all up to date and, for some reason, still running.
“Hey Chris, can you check the computers and see if there is any useful information on them?” I asked walking over to a computer.
“Sure, what do you want me to look for?”
“Try to find out anything about the evacuation and if you can, see what they were doing here. This place doesn’t look like it was abandoned to me so there might be some supplies in the lower levels.” I said while looking around to make sure we were alone.
“You got it, shouldn’t be too hard, all these computers are still signed into the military network.”
‘Something’s not right here. Why would all the computers still be logged in if the place is empty? They must have left in a hurry to forget something like that.’
“Hey Drake, come look at this.” Chris said.
“What is it? Did you find anything out about this place?” I asked.
“Yes. Judging from some of the their files, I believe that the transmission may have been a trap to lure people in.”
“But why though? What reason could they have to lure people in?” asked Dante.
“From what I’ve read, they are using the people to experiment on. They are infecting people with the virus and studying its effects based on blood type, gender, age, build, and race.” He replied.
“Shit, I knew something was wrong the moment we entered. But where is everyone though? Can you access the video logs through the computer?” I asked.
“One sec. Ah, here we are, this is the video log from two weeks ago.”
I looked at the screen and was sickened by what I saw. There was a highly mutated infected strapped to a surgical table while the scientists made comments about the mutation, while in the background, I could see a un-infected person being pushed into a cell with a mutated infected, which immediately attacked and killed him. The door suddenly burst open and the infected started attacking everyone in the room. We switched to different cameras and saw that this was happening throughout the base. Then the video ended.
“Shit, what do we do now?” asked Dante.
“I don’t know.” I replied. “But we need to take a look around and salvage what we can, with our supplies as they are, we would have no chance if we encounter a pack. Chris, I want you to get the codes to the doors and elevator so that we can access the lower levels." I said as moved to the computer beside Chris and started looking for a map of the facility.
"I've got the codes Drake, now what?" Chris asked as he got out of the chair and gave me a slip of paper with the codes I asked for written on it.
"Good, follow me." I said as I lead them back to the hallway.
"Wait, do you even know where you're going?" Chris asked.
"Yes, right now, we are on Level 1, which is the executive offices, the first area I want to search is Level 4, which is prototype weapons and equipment development." I said as I punched the code into the elevator and waited for it to arrive.
“So, what do you think will be down there?” asked Chris.
“Hopefully nothing, but with the way our lucks been, we’ll probably run into an entire pack down there.” I said.
“What, are you afraid of a few infected? Well don’t you worry, your uncle Dante will kill all the scary infected for you.” Dante said patting me on the head.
“I’m a year older than you.” I replied.
“Elevator’s here guys, come on.” Chris said as he walked in.
We took the elevator down to Level 4. When the doors opened, we slowly walked out, being sure to check out corners.
“Well, it looks like there are no infected down here.” Dante said with relief.
“We don’t know that for sure, just be careful.” I said looking around.
We walked down the hallway until we came across a room that looked like it had just been bombed.
"What do you think happened here?" Dante asked looking at the rubble that had filled the room from the ceiling caving in.
"Well judging from all the ammo cartridges scattered across the hallway, I'd say this was an ammo storage room." Chris said while picking up some cartidges to see if any were still usable.
"Shit, so much for resupplying of ammo reserves." Dante said as he kicked a cartridge down the hallway in anger.
"Come on, let's keep moving. There may be more than one ammo storage room in a place this big." I said, hoping I was right.
"Hey guys, come take a look at this." Chris said.
I walked over to him and looked at the door infront of him.
'What? This can't be real.'
"G1AD05 Inter-dimensional portal device? Obviously someone was playing way too much Portal when they named this thing?" Drake said wiht a chuckle.
"That's not important, what is important is whether this thing is real and if it actually works. Chris replied.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." I said as I input the door code and walked in.
In front of us was a stairway leading up to a platform. when we reached the top, we saw a control panel and a circular platform behind it.
"Chris, go see if you can get it working. Dante and I will have a look around and make sure that we are alone." I said as I pulled out my pistol and loaded my last clip.
After ten minutes, I can hear a whirring sound as the machine turns on and I return to the platform and see Chris looking at a menu on the main screen.
“Okay, I've got it working and assuming it actually can create a portal, where would we go?” Chris said looking to the two of us.
‘Hmm, where would we go? We could find a dimension where this virus never existed. No, then there would be two of each of us and that would just be a pain in the ass. Hmm oh, I know.’
“How about we go to Equestria? We all loved the show and I would love to live in a paradise like that after going through this hell.” I said.
“I’ve got to agree with you there Drake, it would be nice. What do you think Dante?
“I’m in. I’d get to meet Rainbow Dash after all and that would be so awesome.” Dante said while doing the so awesome face.
“Please don’t do that again. That face on you is the stuff of nightmares.” Chris said.
“Ha-ha, very funny.” Dante replied sarcastically.
Chris started inputting the details that would allow us to get to Equestria while I set some C4 that I had grabbed from the Humvee down on the computer and set it to go off in two minutes so that when we went through, the machine would be destroyed and the infected couldn’t follow us. I watched in awe as a portal formed in the center of the platform. It looked like it was made of water and I could tell it was working since I could see what looked like a forest through it.
‘So we’re going to enter through the Everfree Forest, how cliché.’ I thought.
“Okay guys, I’ve got it working. Now all we have to do is- OH SHIT! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!” Chris yelled as he pointed behind us.
I turned around to see an assimilator right behind me with a combat knife assimilated to its arm. It was already in mid swing and I had no time to block the attack as it slashed at me, slashing a deep cut diagonally from my left shoulder, down across my chest. The force of the hit made me fall back onto the platform. It raised its arm to finish me off but was interrupted by a bullet lodging itself in its head, knocking it off the platform and back down to the floor below.
“Shit, it got him bad, but we have to leave now. That C4 is going to blow in less than a minute.” Chris said as he lifted me up by my right arm and helping me towards the portal.
“I know, come on let’s go now before that assimilator gets back here.” Dante said from beside the portal.
We got to the portal and stood in front of it, each nervous about if this will actually work or if we’ll arrive in one piece.
“Okay, let’s go.” I said weakly and saw the other two nodding in agreement out of the corner of my eye.
We walked through and there was a bright flash of light. It felt as though we were falling through water until eventually, we arrived on the other side. The corners of my vision were fading to black and the last thing I remembered before I blacked out was the smell of the forest.
A Strange Occurrence from the Everfree
Twilight was just getting out of bed and stretching when there was a loud belch and burst of bright green flame from the foot of her bed.
“That’s odd. The princess doesn’t usually send me a letter this early in the morning.” She said as she walked over to the foot of the bed and picked up the scroll with her magic and opening it.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I’m sorry to interrupt you so early in the morning but this matter needs to be solved as quickly as possible. Half an hour ago, my sister and I felt a strange energy coming from the Everfree forest. It felt like it was near the edge of the forest near Ponyville. We don’t know what caused it and wish for you and your friends to investigate this occurrence. Please be careful as whatever caused this might be dangerous. I know this is asking a lot from you, but I would appreciate it if it was only the six of you investigating as I don’t wish to endanger more ponies than necessary and I know you are capable of defending yourselves should you find yourselves to be in danger. I await your response.
Yours truly,
Princess Celestia.
“Spike, take a note please.” She said as Spike got up and picked up a quill and scroll.
“Dear Princess Celestia, I will start preparations immediately and should be able to start the search before midday. With all of my friends helping, it shouldn’t take to long to locate this anomaly. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Did you get all that Spike?” She asked.
“Yup, do you want me to send it now?”
“Yes, and when you’re done, I need you to go out and find Rainbow and tell her to find the others and tell them to meet me here in an hour.” She said while grabbing the supplies they would need for their trip into the Everfree.
“Aw, do I have to? I was supposed to meet up with the crusaders soon and help them get their cutie marks.”
“Sorry Spike, but that will have to wait. The princess wants this done as soon as possible and I don’t have time to prepare and find my friends if I want to get started today.” She said.
“Alright, but you owe me one.” He said opening the door.
“How about after this is done, we can go to Rarity’s and see if we can get you some gemstones. Does that sound alright?” She said.
“Sound good. Well, I better get going if I want to find them all in one hour.” He said as he walked out.
“Good, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started.” She said to herself.
“Dante, this isn’t good, if we try to carry him out, he might bleed to death before we can even get out of the forest.” Chris said while using his jacket to apply pressure to Drake’s wound.
“I know, but what choice do we have? We’re out of medical supplies and are in the middle of the Everfree forest. If we hang around here too long, the smell of his blood is bound to attract some predators and I am almost out of ammo.” He replied.
“Okay, but if we have to carry him, we have to keep pressure on his wound. Give me your belt.”
“Sure, but what are you planning to do with it?”
“Since we don’t have any bandages, I will use our belts to hold my jacket against his wound. That way, we can keep pressure on the wound while carrying him. It won’t be much, but it will slow the bleeding.”
“Okay, but I’ll carry him since I am stronger than you and you know how to navigate better than me.”
“Sounds like a plan. Okay, crouch down and I will help get him on your back.” He said while lifting Drake up.
Dante did as he was told and crouched down. After getting Drake on his back and making sure he wouldn’t fall off, he slowly stood up being careful not to lean back or else Drake would fall off.
“Okay, where to now?” Dante asked looking over at Chris who was studying the bases of some of the trees.
“Well, one thing I remember from that forest navigation class is that moss will usually grow on the north side of trees and that we should try to find a river or creek and walk along it downstream so follow me and listen for the sounds of water flowing.” He said as he started heading north.
About ten minutes of walking later, Dante could hear the faint trickling sound of water hitting rocks.
“Hey Chris, wait up I think I can hear running water coming from that direction” he said pointing to their left.
“Really, I can’t hear it. Are you sure you’re not imagining things?” Chris asked.
“I’m sure I’m not imagining it. Man, sometimes I swear your hearing is as bad as your eyesight.”
“Shut up and show me where this damn creek is so we can get out of here, or in case you forgot, Drake is need of medical attention.” Chris replied annoyed with Dante for making fun of his eyesight again.
“You’re right, sorry. Anyway, it sounds like it’s coming from over there, follow me.” Dante said turning left and walking through the bushes.
After a couple of minutes, they arrived at a small creek and decided to follow it downstream like Chris said earlier.
All of Twilight’s friends were waiting for her downstairs while she finished packing what they would need for their trip into the Everfree. Through the door, she could hear snippets of their conversation which consisted mostly about why they were here.
Tightening the straps on her saddlebags, she opened the door and went out to tell her friends what she had called them all here for.
“Alright girls, I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called you all here so early in the morning.”
“Ooh ooh, I bet it has some thing to do with that weird feeling I felt coming from the Everfree forest this morning, right Twilight?” Pinkie Pie said.
“That is correct Pinkie, wait, how did you know about that?” Twilight asked looking over at the bouncing pink pony with confusion.
“My Pinkie Sense told me of course. An ear flap, hoof shake and, itchy stomach combo tells me that something strange is happening in the Everfree forest.” She said while eying the cupcakes that Twilight was putting in her saddlebag for their lunch.
“Well just as Pinkie just said, there was an unknown energy coming from the Everfree forest this morning and the Princesses want us to investigate it and figure out the cause.”
“But do you know where it came from in the forest?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Not really, the princess’s letter said that it was somewhere near the edge and was close to Ponyville.” Twilight said.
“But that could take forever. Why don’t I go see if some of my friends from the weather team could help us by patrolling the forest from the skies?” Rainbow asked.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that Rainbow, the princess said that whatever caused this could be dangerous and doesn’t want to risk somepony getting hurt.” Twilight said.
“If whatever caused this could be dangerous, why hasn't the princess sent some of her guards to assist us?” asked Applejack.
“The princess wants this investigated immediately and it would take at least a day for the guards to arrive all the way from Canterlot and by then, if it is something dangerous, it could have reached Ponyville by then.” Twilight replied.
“Alright, but what should we bring with us if we’re going into the Everfree forest? Applejack asked.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ve got everything we’ll need packed in my saddlebags. Now let’s get moving, the sooner we start looking, the sooner we’ll be back.” Twilight said while walking out the front door, the others following after her.
They arrived at the edge of the Everfree forest and Twilight stopped and pulled a list out of her saddlebag.
“Alright, Rainbow Dash, I want you to fly above the trees ahead of us and look for anything out of the ordinary. If you do find something, return to us immediately. Don’t confront it or go near it, okay?” Twilight asked looking over at the cyan mare.
“Don’t worry, I’m on it.” Rainbow said as she saluted.
“Fluttershy, I want you to use your ability to communicate with animals to ask any we come across if they’ve seen anything strange, alright?” Twilight asked.
“Okay, I’ll do my best.” She replied.
“Applejack, I want you to look for any kinds of markings or prints that look unnatural.”
“You can count on me Twi, if there are any tracks, I’ll find ‘em.” Applejack said, tipping her hat.
“Rarity, I want you with me to help with a scanning spell I know that might help us locate where the anomaly originated from.”
“Of course darling, I may not be the strongest unicorn when it comes to magic but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best.” She replied.
“And Pinkie, I want you to— uh, what are you doing?” Twilight asked looking back at Pinkie who was dropping pieces of bread down on the ground.
“I’m using breadcrumbs to mark our trail of course silly. That way, we can find our way back out if we get lost.” She replied acting as if it was the best idea she ever had.
“Uhh, yeah just keep doing that. Good idea Pinkie.” Twilight said while being partially relieved as she hadn’t been able to think of anything that Pinkie could do to help apart from just looking around and partly annoyed with herself for that same reason.
“Alright girls, you all know what you have to do. Let’s get going and find this anomaly.” Twilight said looking back at her friends.
“YEAH!” they all said together as they started into the forest.
