Applejack stood frozen in place….mouth agape….trying to process the sight before her. She watched as Burt kept his aim with the metallic object in his grip while breathing heavily and his eyes locked on the deceased human. She tried to find words to break the unnerving silence that had settled amongst the supermarket alongside the growing smell of death…

A zombie maybe…but another huma…

The notion jumped around Applejack’s head as part of her was mortified that Burt was able to…but another took in account the insanity…another reminded her that she herself had a hoof in the human’s…

She found her gaze lock with Burt’s who kept silent for the longest time. In between one of his breaths he nodded and Applejack nodded back as the matter became of what to…

“Ok…Hurry back to the vent on the roof…” The sound of Frank’s voice said from nowhere over the silence in the market as it had when Applejack was in the food court, “Otis and I will be right there…Just watch yourselves out there”

There was the sound of a loud click was heard once Frank stopped talking and the silence of the supermarket returned. Applejack slowly preceded towards the doors to leave but stopped when she found Burt wasn’t following. She turned to see him slowly walking over to…Aaron’s corpse. She watched him kneel down and stay there for the longest time. She caught the faint sound of…crying…coming right from Burt. Applejack used single hoof to take her hat off in respect allowing Burt to have his moment…in somewhat peace. She had the image of Aaron’s death flash in her mind…the kart colliding into him…the scream…

“Come on…let’s go…” She heard Burt say while drawing in a breath and choking back a sob.

She put her hat back on as she saw Burt get up from his kneel and walk right over to her. She pushed the door open for Burt as they exited the supermarket…hopefully for the last time…

Frank set the microphone down as he watched Burt and Applejack exit the supermarket. He sat himself down on the rolling chair next to desk still thinking about the sight he had witnessed. The woman he and Otis had saved was resting on the green cushions while Otis was keeping an eye on the duo in the mall but seemed to have something on his mind.

“Frank…” He said finally breaking the silence while keeping his sight on the monitors, “What’s the plan?”

“Once daylight hits, we’re heading back in there,” Frank began while pointing to the vents before he saw Otis turn towards him.

“No I know that but…how are we going to get out of here?” Otis finished with an uneasy look on his face, “No way are we gonna be able to walk out the front doors like regular customers.”

Don’t forget to come back for me…

Frank’s mind remembered the conversation he had with Ed Deluca and one particular part just before he made his leap of faith earlier in the day. The one part that stuck out was the…three days part...

“By helicopter,” Frank stated bluntly, “I came in with a hired pilot and told him to come back for me in three days.”

“Well that fixes that,” Otis began, “Also, tomorrow while you’re on your search for this guy. We’ll have to get supplies from some of the stores…if we plan to hold out.”

“Don’t worry, we will get him...” Frank said as he got up from the chair, “I better go wait outside for them.”

“Don’t go wanderin’ off now,” Otis called out as Frank exited the monitor room.

Frank let out a sigh as he exited the monitor room and proceeded towards the vents. He climbed into the entrance remembering the correct route like the back of his hand. During his crawl, he began to give the matter more serious thought. Being he was hell bent on finding the man from the roof, his mind was rushing with thoughts of determination on getting the man but…. He stopped for a moment remembering how big the mall was... He began to question the chance of catching the…

“No...” Frank muttered to himself before continuing into the vents, “I’ll find him. I’ll find him.”

Shoving his thoughts aside, he pressed on into the vents with determination floating about his mind. He would catch the guy and find out what he knew. He would find out what caused this outbreak. He would…find the story to this madness…

Applejack and Burt kept silent the whole way during their trip in park. Their eyesight, adjusting to the darkness thanks to the moonlight from above, proved somewhat reliable, but only enough to get them where they were going. They approached a familiar set of doors which they proceeded through after maneuvering through a crowd of zombies. They were greeted with a familiar area that once been filled with light but now the only light was from the moon shining through the windows that made up a portion of the wall on their right. Applejack kept her focus on getting back to Frank and Otis with Burt all in one piece. Once they made it safely across the zombie infested area, Burt was the one to hold the door this time as they entered another familiar narrow corridor that lead to the room with the two panels that slide apart. They both made their way down the corridor seeing the familiar sight of zombies and walking into the familiar area full of crates and boxes. They weaved through the maze created by the structures holding those items, and the scattered zombies about the area, before coming up on the two large panels. Burt pressed the same thing Frank and Otis had on a smaller panel off to the side.

“Look…I know what you’re thinking,” Burt began breaking the silence between them as they waited for the panels to slide apart, “You don’t need to dwell on it. I blew his brains out. End of story.”

“…but I kicked the kart at him...” Applejack replied nervously as the memory flashed in her head, “I have part of the…”

“I said don’t dwell on it…this place is already a big enough hell hole as is.” Burt interrupted while turning towards her speaking in a tone that hinted he was trying to cap off his temper before turning away.

Just as he finished, there was a ding sound before the two large panels separated and revealed the same windowless room. Applejack and Burt walked in and Burt pressed something on the other smaller panel inside before the two panels slide together. The room shook a bit leading into its ascension just as Applejack and Burt returned to their silence. Applejack kept to herself for the duration of the time in the room before it came to a shaking halt, another ding sound was heard, and the panels slide apart once again. Applejack followed behind Burt as they entered the moonlight engulfed roof taking a left once clearing the panels.

“Hey,” A voice called out them over their silence.

Applejack and Burt directed their attention to where the voice came from to see…Frank over by a step in the floor next to a section of the vents. Frank started to approach them with a slight frown as if he was going to say something to the both of them but not entirely angry though.

“Here you go,” Burt said while handing out the metallic object to Frank before he could say a single word.

Applejack stopped in her tracks as Burt walked past Frank towards the entrance to the vents after going over the step up to it.

“Don’t give him a hard time,” Applejack said to Frank keeping her voice quiet so Burt didn’t hear and become more agitated, “He lost a friend in there…”

“I can understand, but it’s not an excuse for going back in in there with that injury of his,” Frank explained while look in back at Applejack before turning back to see Burt climbing into the vents, “But…he’s in one piece still. Best thing to count on now.”

Applejack nodded in agreement before she and Frank started to walk towards the vents and retire for the night. Applejack was the first to hop onto the step up while Frank followed in suit.

“Listen…” She heard him say as he climbed the step, “In case you don’t get back to this…Ponyville…”

Applejack stop right in front of the entrance to the vents and turned to Frank with a frown but keeping silent.

“I have someone coming for us in three days,” Frank explained, “If it comes to it. It’d best for you to come along.”

Applejack's mind was wirling at the idea. She knew she'd have no other choice if what Frank was saying happened, but….wouldn’t Twilight come up with something….wouldn’t she get back….

“Ah’m mighty thankful, Frank.” Applejack said with a tip of her hat and a small smile as she tried to subside her wondering thoughts.

Then she and Frank entered the vents right behind Burt, whom was waiting patiently for them. The trio proceeded into the vents with Frank giving the directions every time Burt stopped and wasn’t sure which way to go. During the whole time in the vents, Applejack made a mental note of the ways and turns they took for future use. They came up on a familiar open section of the vent on the left side with bright light pouring right in. Burt was the first too exit followed by Applejack and Frank as they arrived back in the room containing another section of the vents and were greeted with Otis. Applejack let out a sigh of relief knowing she would be able to get some sleep after a very long day. Burt, however, took off into the back room as if to be alone. Applejack knew it was better not to bother him…considering what he had gone through. After entering through a door to leave the vent room, Applejack sat back down on her haunches ready to catch some sleep right next to the green cushions, which now home to a human whom appeared to be already asleep.

“You might want to go back there,” Otis suggested while pointing to the door Burt had gone through to the back room as he closed the door to the vent room, “We don’t want her freaking out in case she’s a little over the edge considering the circumstances...”

“Understood partner,” Applejack said while nodding and getting up onto her hooves.

She made her way over to the door with Otis, whom opened the door for her. Stepping past the door frame, she turned to look back, Frank was sitting in a chair in deep thought and at points seemed to be on the verge of slipping into sleep while Otis was walking away from the door leaving it open and sitting down with his back against the door to the vent room.

“Goodnight, you two,” Applejack said before going further into the back room.

“Goodnight.” She heard them reply as she continued into the back room.

She came up on a corner and around it was another set of green cushions but more separated from the floor thane the others. On these ones however was Burt, whom shifted a bit to come in eye contact with Applejack. His face bore a frown and lowered eyebrows further implying had intentions of isolation for the night. Applejack kept silent with her gaze locked with Burt’s however it didn’t last long. Burt closed his eyes and returned to his sleep without a single word. Applejack let out a sigh before lying herself down and curling up in a comfortable position on the floor. Closing her eyes, she hoped to quickly drift off into the realm of sleep and momentary toss her concerns aside for a needed period of rest from the events of the daytime...

Author's Note

Hello again everyone. I hope you’re enjoying the story. Remember to leave your feedback in the comments below and also now that this chapter is up. I'll be finishing up another chapter for Equestria, Sweet Equestria. So be on the lookout for that and as always. Have a good day everyone.