Chapters Chapter 1: An aggressive welcome
Breaking Beans
by MelbTerminal
Author's Disclaimer: [This story is a crossover of My Little Pony, DayZ and other things that do not belong in either world.]
"and authorities have officially confirmed that there is nothing more they can do to resolve the situation..."
Breaking the silence that loomed over the road was the sound of wheels; 4 of them completing a revolution many times over for every metre it covered. The carriage the wheels were connected to was shaped differently; not like the wagons Equestria usually had. It was not built to look pretty, neither was it built for pegasus ponies to fly it across the Equestrian skies. No, it was built for practical reasons; half of it no longer needed for the days ahead. Its driver continued to push the carriage forward, pressing on a lever that spun the carriage's wheels faster. The driver needed to get home; before it turned dark. Before the night really turned into a nightmare...
*****
Rainbow Dash awoke with a start, lying down and finding her face partly dug into sand. She opened her mouth in fear. She coughed repeatedly, making grains of sand fly about around her muzzle and only making her coughing even worse. She tried to pull herself up, groaning over the pain that flared up from her body. She kept here head down, trying to overcome the burning headache that tried to pull her down and keep her on the sand. Breathing hard, she made one more push and finally getting herself to sit up on two hooves.
She blinked multiple times; each blink removing grains of sand in her eyes and clearing out the circular blurriness of colours. Her sight soon replaced the blurs with lines; forming into shapes of detail. She faced out towards the sea. It was dull and didn't look pleasing. It stretched endlessly out into the horizon. The sky was blanketed with dark grey clouds.
"Somepony hasn't been doing their job here..." she muttered in a raspy voice.
She cringed upon the pain that spread across her body as she tried to stretch out her legs and wings. She shook herself slowly to dry herself from the seawater that kept her wonderful rainbow coloured mane wet. She coughed and sniffed as she did her little exercises on the sand. She was a very strong pony, no doubt about that. But this was beyond what she had suffered before back at home. Most of the time she had her friends to comfort her if things went wrong; especially when she had to stay in the hospital when she broke her wings. Rainbow Dash smiled slightly, bringing back the memories of spending whole nights reading the books of Daring Do. Dash closed her eyes and let her mind wander into the world of imagination - where the tan-coloured pony soared across the skies of Equestria, not leaving Rainbow Dash's sight as she raced off after her. At one moment, she looked down briefly, where her friends were simply tending to their daily businesses in Ponyville. One by one, they looked up at her. They smiled and waved. Dash smiled back...
...and wiped it off her face as she re-opened her eyes. She was alone right now. There wasn't anypony around. Confirming that fact, she turned her head slowly to face the opposite side. Large green hills lined the horizon beside a wide gray road. Pine trees spanned from left to right. Just like the sea, it was just as depressing as it was. Not sparkly like Crystal City, or shined brightly like the trees in Ponyville. Nope...just dull.
Another groan came from a distance. Dash rubbed her stomach.
"Oh...I need food..." she thought.
The groan came again in a harsher tone. Dash looked up. That sound didn't come from her body. She turned to her right, where not far from her was a sight that really filled her mind with fear.
The creature had tried to sneak up on Rainbow Dash. Its eyes were bloodshot; wearing tattered clothing and two old boots on its hind legs. Its fur body was gray, with pink and red spots where small tufts of fur had been long pulled out. Streaks of dark red and scars all over it. Its right foreleg showed rotting flesh and bone. The biggest smear of red was around its muzzle. It opened its muzzle a little to release another raspy sound of groaning.
"No...it can't be a..." Rainbow Dash tried to think. Her heartbeat was now at a rapid rate. She breathed in and out faster and faster with each passing second. She tried to collect herself. It resembled a Timberwolf; but this one was gray. It bore the description of what had been written in the history books; stacked in one of Twilight's shelves; even in one of Zecora's mystery books. It was a...
Dash gulped and attempted to be polite and welcoming. "N-n-n-nice zombie-timerberwolf..."
The undead creature let out a scream and instantly charged at her with immense speed. Dash shrieked and turned away from it, jumping off the sand beach, onto the hard road and running for her life. She panted repeatedly, trying not to think of what it might do to her.
"Ok Dash... you can do this...just...fly away!"
She shrieked as a spark of pain flared in her wings. It made her stumble and stop suddenly. Her wings were damaged badly. She turned to see the zombie closing in on the gap.
She huffed once, before bringing out the real Rainbow Dash. Her scared face replaced with a determination look she once had when racing against Applejack. She picked up speed quickly, ready to put the zombie in the dust. She had already left behind her fear. She looked back once, noticing the zombie was keeping up. She sprinted faster. The zombie wasn't failing to lose speed. It kept up, making Dash try harder to run faster. She followed the road, where it curved parallel with the seashores. She stared away at the horizon of the road, not daring to look back. The screaming and rasping sounds of the zombie started to fade slowly. Only then did Dash look back; and noticed that she was getting away from the zombie. She let down her guard and slowed down a little, thinking that it couldn't keep up no longer.
Big mistake. It gained back the distance Dash had got between them. With a yelp, Dash picked up her speed again. It wasn't losing any speed at all; she was just too fast for it. She didn't want to fight back against it. If the books were right, it's not a sensible idea to go hoof-to-hoof combat with them, or otherwise an infection may occur and then in time...
Dash exclaimed her fear across the air as she thought about it. It wasn't long before her speed put a massive distance between her and the zombie. By the time it was simply a speck in her view, she stopped suddenly, hid behind a nearby rock and watched the speck. The small silhouette in the distance had stopped too. It was too far away for its groaning, rasping and screaming to be heard. Slowly it turned around and ambled away from Dash, before disappearing completely.
"It probably can't see me anymore..." she said to herself quietly.
Getting up on all four hooves again, she rested for a minute re-gain her strength.
"Ohhhhh....this isn't a nice welcome for me...I hope its all just a bad dream..."
She stared across the road, where a new feature stood out. She breathed a small sigh of relief as she saw the small silhouettes of homes and buildings. That town might be able to help me, she thought as she paced across the road towards it. The sky was darkening. Night was arriving shortly.
*****
The driver had returned to her home successfully before nightfall. Well, she called it home anyway. Her real home was many miles away. She had no intention of returning back home. She drove much more slowly, rolling down a window to carefully listen to the sounds around her. The carriage hummed quietly in stationary. She perked up her ears and looked about in her darkening surroundings. The darkness didn't faze her one bit - her eyesight allowed her to see clearly in the dark; as if she had permanent night-vision goggles.
No zombies in sight, but there were low sounds of them groaning, but that didn't faze her either. She was used to the zombies hanging around...often killing quite a few. Maybe a couple hundred.
She parked the carriage beside the road. Before getting out of it, she pulled out a set of keys and a small screwdriver. She looked at the carriage's steering wheel. She set to work on it, not rushing her delicate work of removing screws. With two screws in her paw, she put down the screwdriver. Yeah she had some genetic night-vision eyes, but it was far too dark for her to see the other two screws. She bit down on the canister of a black flashlight and turned it on, illuminating the steering wheel in a red glow. She resumed her work with the wheel and screwdriver. Eventually, all four screws were removed. The driver popped the screws into a small plastic packet and pocketed it. She kept the red light on the wheel as she grabbed the wheel with both paws and detached it completely from the carriage. She opened up the carriage's door, and stepped out, standing on only her hind legs; holding the wheel in one paw, the screwdriver in the other and the flashlight in her mouth. Detaching the steering wheel was a precaution for her. There were thieves and bandits were out there. It was an effective way to keep her carriage safe from possible theft.
Hiding the wheel in a shed beside the house, she pulled out her backpack out from the exposed back of the carriage containing all of her essential needs. Calmly, she set to work hiding the carriage from sight, covering it up from top to bottom with large dark sheets. With all of the precautions set in place, she walked into the house, unlocked the front door and stepped in.
The place was just the same as it was before. The red light illuminated the dusty walls and furniture that had been barely touched and used. She kept her things hidden, to make scavengers have a hard time looking for anything. Another precaution. Locking the door, she lifted off her black cap and propped it on a hat stand. She walked into the kitchen where she stripped off her black tactical vest. Manufactured long ago for military use, it had special armour plating sowed within the fabric and allowed the wearer to have an assortment of pockets. She propped the flashlight on the table, standing it up to make the blub shine its beam on the ceiling where with basic physics; the light reflected off and lit up the entire kitchen in a dim red glow. Taking off her backpack, she placed it onto the kitchen bench and opened it up to inspect her findings for today's scavenging period: Some cans of soda, two black boxes containing long brass cylinders, a tin can of beans and another broken device.
She sighed. A shit day today, she thought.
*****
A gasp leapt quietly out of Rainbow Dash's mouth as a sound of a twig snapped filled the deafening silence. The zombie not far from her flinched at the noise; made a gurgling sound before deciding to ignore it and stumbled its way into a house. Dash huffed a relief before blinking and squinting again to try and get a better look of the town. She was surprised to see no-pony was around...and extremely frightened when she found out the town had already been run over by zombies. With the thought of looking for a safe shelter to stay for the night, she pressed on; squinting often to try and see ahead of her through the darkness. She constantly flinched upon each sound: the moans, the rustling of trees and bushes, the distant sound of the sea...it all made her very conscious about her surroundings... and completely paranoid.
The zombies were however, docile. Dash found herself encountering zombies close-up, but as long as she kept quiet, they would simply walk away. It slowly occurred to Rainbow Dash that the zombies on this land only respond to sound and sight: and if its too dark to see anypony, then their sight during at night must be very low. A major advantage for Rainbow Dash...that is, if she had good night vision. Instead she stumbled around, bumping into trash cans, fence and into brick walls, looking about afterwards to ensure she hadn't attracted any zombies over.
Rainbow dash finally found herself in a large building - the dark hallway resembling a square tunnel with doors on either side. She glanced behind her, looking into the darkness filled with the moaning undead, before she stepped inside. She trotted into the first room on the side. There wasn't much in the room. A large wooden cabinet, some toppled chairs beside a table, piles of junk and a couch with a massive stain of dark red. Dash shuddered at the stain and began her first scavenging search. The piles consisted of empty tin cans and rusted cans. There were some things dash had taken that she assumed would be of use to her: Some bits of fabric and cloth that sewn together would make a nice saddlebag, a water bottle and some small red tubes that pleased Dash when she snapped one; forcing the chemicals in the tube to glow. Looking into the room's cabinet, she also discovered some large red sticks. Unsure of what their use was, she still took them with her.
Dash then spent the next few minutes sewing up a saddlebag with the material she had. While the job relaxed her, she contemplated on the events of today. For how on this land did it come to the point of zombies roaming about? Who was responsible for such a thing to happen? How did she even get there? Where was everypony else?
Why was she here?
Tying up the last stitch with her mouth, she tested the saddlebag's durability. Strong enough for her liking, she packed the things she had found within the room before slipping the bag on. It may not be much, but it was a start to get somewhere. She smiled.
"I'm coming back girls," she said to herself.
She was answered with a groan; coming from the hallway. She turned to see the blood-stained creature stepping into the room.
*****
The scream startled her. Having only gotten an hour's worth of sleep, she got up from the couch; clutching the rifle harder and raising it. With a kick of adrenaline she vaulted off the couch, got on all fours and propped the rifle into her mouth. There was nothing in the house but her. She sneaked over to the front wall of the house, before getting up and swapping the rifle to her paws and leaning onto the wall. She took one long huff to collect her mind before turning her head to look through the window.
It was dark, but from her perspective, she could distinctly make out the silhouettes of the homes, trees and hills. She perked up her ears and listened attentively. There was the pitter-patter of paws hitting the road, moans and screams coming from multiple sources. A soft huff and puff from a single one. A poor fellow is being chased.
She turned her head back and thought about her options. She was capable of helping; but running on an hour's rest would affect her and may put herself in danger. She turned the rifle in her paws. An AK-107, with a silencer attached to it. A weapon of violence; a paradox of hope and freedom. It couldn't choose a side. It didn't have a conscience. But there it was in her paws, questioning what moral choice she could give to it.
The sound of a spark diverted her attention to back outside. A large flare of red light flickered in the darkness, slowly moving through the streets. The light was attracting more and more zombies from around the town.
That drew the line. The light could attract others into the area. That's something she didn't need right now.
She drew the bolt on the rifle and went outside, putting on her hat. She patted her jacket, making sure she had a few extra clips of ammo. Skillfully, she weaved about the obstacles around the town, dodging all the zombies; not that they were paying attention to her anyway. The skills of her stealth was put to the test once again, as she moved closer and closer towards the flickering red light.
The source of the light suddenly changed direction. The flare flew up, flying over a large horde of zombies before landing into a garbage bin; the shining light soon blocked out by the mass bodies of zombies that went to attack and decimate the bin to get at it. She scanned the area, spotting a shadowed figure that jumped over a fence and ran behind a building, still chased by a few zombies. She followed by with both stealth and speed. It wasn't long before she caught up, where the zombies had trapped the figure in a different house. She flipped the rifle up and aimed at two that were about to break through the door. Two flashes came, putting the zombies down without their heads attached. One more was still alive, having gotten through the broken-down door. She clutched the rifle in her mouth, getting down on her legs and sprinted towards the door. Running on two legs was fast, but being on four was a lot faster for her. She dived into the room, crashing into a side table. It was enough to divert the last zombie's attention, having turned out of the room and snarling at her, with mixed saliva and blood dripping from its muzzle. She was slightly dazed from hitting her head into the table, but instincts kicked in as she grabbed the rifle with a paw and emptied half a clip into the zombie's face. Bits of rotted flesh, fur and blood painted the walls of the hallway.
She groaned as she picked herself up. She checked the clip in the rifle and made a quick count of the remaining rounds before setting off to find the source of the whimpering in the house. Aside from the whimpers, the night was silent again. The flare must've snuffed out, she thought.
With deathly-quiet stealth, she stepped into another room, where the bluish figure was lying down covering its face with its...legs? It slowly looked up, staring away at her. It was about to jump up and run away.
She responded quickly by firing a single shot into Rainbow Dash.
Chernarus
Kamyshovo
Day 0
Chapter 2: First impressions
"...and the Karkand Government has stated to the public that all evacuation operations are to cease next week, following the new operation suggested by the Siberian Military to..."
A wheezing cough came out of Rainbow Dash. She was awake at last, following a bad dream that came to her. She groaned with pain coming from her chest as she tried to get up from a very comfy bed. A blanket had been draped over her.
"Am I in a hospital..." she mumbled, thinking out aloud as she shifted on the bed trying to suppress the pain.
There was a sound of a fridge being opened and glass clinking.
"Ohhh Twilight, you're here..." Dash continued to mumble sub-consciously, "I had such a bad dream...there were...there were zombieponies...and there was a town. Full of them...I was so scared...and somepony shot me with their crossbow...I think I died...or something...."
A calm voice responded back. "No, you're not dead."
"I know, I know Twilight...I just...it felt all too real..."
"Maybe...because it was?"
"What are...you...talking about?"
"Sigh, snap out of it, will you?"
Dash opened her eyes. She was in a dark room. The curtains had been drawn to block the sunshine, leaving thin rays seeping into the room. The walls and furniture was in a poor state. Beside her on a table was a mess of bloodied bandages, strings and medical tools.
She screamed as she moved to the other side of the bed to get away from the table. A hoof stopped her.
"Don't. You'll hurt yourself more by moving."
She turned her head to see who was talking. She was expecting a pony's hoof stopping her; not a white paw. Slowly, her eyes moved up to the white wolf that stared back at her.
Dash gawped and tried to speak. "I...I...w-w-what are you?"
The wolf snorted and smiled. "I was going to ask you the very same question."
Dash continued to stare at the wolf. Her hair covered her right blue eye. A blue bow was tied to her left ear. She was wearing a gray jacket with a fur hood, stained with dark spots and tiny scratches. The wolf's face was scary, but it had a polite expression.
"Just stay still, ok? I'll be back soon."
"Why should I stay stil-" Dash widened her eyes as she lifted the blankets and saw a large set of bandages wrapped around her body, with a very large spot of red in the middle. Putting the 'dreams' and the bandages together, she realised what had happened.
"YOU! You sh-"
The wolf had already disappeared, the absence of her leaving that quietly and that fast made Rainbow Dash stop in mid-sentence. She slumped back on the bed, huffing with rage. She wasn't in a dream; it really did all happen. For what reason did the wolf had to do it?
As the wolf returned with a bottle, Dash pointed at her and exclaimed in anger.
"YOU SHOT ME!"
Dash screamed in pain as she tried to get off from the bed. The injury set her down back on the bed as the wolf calmly placed the bottle on the bedside table and tried to calm down Dash.
"I told you, don't move. You'll open up your injuries if you keep moving about."
Dash wasn't happy, but she calmed down and got comfortable in the bed, not wanting to be in constant pain. Seeing Dash relax, the wolf relaxed herself too as she dragged a chair closer to the bed and sat down. She picked up the bottle and biting the cap off, she took a long sip from it. Silent moments passed by with each sip.
Dash decided to break the ice first. "So...what are you, may...I ask?"
The wolf talked as she sipped her drink. "A lupine. Or a wolf. I really don't care what you could call me."
"Well...do you have a name?"
The lupine paused for a moment. "Whitney. And...your name?"
"I'm erm, Rainbow Dash."
Whitney stopped drinking and raised an eye. "It's not a coincidence you have that name...right?"
Dash looked confused. "Um, what do you mean?"
Whitney shook her head and looked away from Dash's mane. "Never mind, forget I said that." She resumed drinking once more. "What about you...what are you?"
"A pony. You've...never heard of us ponies?"
Whitney stopped sipping and raised her head. She was in deep thought, having heard of the term 'pony' before. Once in her life the word was spoken to her, but she regarded it as a foreign thing...that she would never hear it again or see something that had the definition of the term 'pony'.
"I...don't think I have..." Whitney finally stated, unable to recall that memory.
Dash turned her head so she stated directly away at the ceiling. "Oh...I see..."
There was a moment's silence as she the only thing that could be heard was Whitney slurping her drink.
Dash wondered about what had happened in these last few hours. She had woken up on a beach, without any of her friends. She had no idea how and why she had ended up here, where zombies roamed the lands. She was chased, did things that made more zombie chase her down, almost bitten and attacked, saved by a survivor who then shot her when she tried to get up. And now she finds herself lying in a room with the very same survivor, unable to move until her wounds have healed. She was in a bad state. There were things she didn't understand. Who were the Lupines, and how did they end up having zombiewolves everywhere? How has Whitney survived? Are there other survivors out here?
Why was she here?
Dash jumped to that thought. What in goddesses' name did she do to end up in a place like this? She tried to recall any memories before waking up on the beach. She closed her eyes and drifted off. Seas of memories flashed by. Some with her friends; others when she raced other ponies; the times of saving Equestria from evil...but nothing seemed to relate to how she ended up on this beach. Hang on...
This dull beach, a cloudy sky, very little colours...where was she?
"Where am I?" Dash said as she opened her eyes and raised her head off the pillows, looking at Whitney.
"Hmm?" Whitney looked up from her bottle.
"I want to know, where am I?"
"How can I put this..." Whitney propped her head on a paw as she thought of how to answer the question, "mmmmm, you're...in a magical land of happy things?"
Dash scoffed as Whitney chuckled at her own joke.
"I mean like, you know...what's the name of this land?"
Whitney spoke seriously. "The land of Chernarus. Zombified. Contained by everywolf else."
"Every...wolf else? Who else is here?" Dash now wanted to get as much information as possible.
Whitney finished the bottle before explaining it to her:
"Once upon a time, in this glorious land; the Lupines had discovered the power of industrial production. Together, they worked as one; like a giant unified pack, where each wolf was a cog in the machine that drove towards all the luxuries and essentials that would shape not only the land, but themselves. The Industrial Revolution; we called that period in history. Brought so many things here...
But it was not all good. With production came the tools of power. The tools making weapons. The weapons inevitably making a killing machine. The killing machine making more power. War broke out in separate places. The start of war brought the end to the Industrial Revolution. The unification had died; splitting into multiple packs of wolves that fought endlessly for power.
As quickly as the war began, it soon ended. A small pack of...well - eggheads, I would call them - still believed in the idea of unification and keeping the lupines together. They went to massive...and ballsy lengths to do that. I still find it interesting that they did pull it off...and finally getting the largest packs on the land to sign a declaration of federation...and all was well again, blah blah blah; outbreak happened in Chernarus, and everywolf here is either fucked or zombified."
There was another silent moment.
"And so what's is the place called, unified?"
Whitney smirked. "The Lupine Union. Interesting title, is it not?"
*****
Having checked to see if Dash was recovering well, Whitney left for another scavenging trip. Having told Dash to stay inside and remain alert, Dash had managed to get out of bed and sit on a chair; relocated beside a window so Dash can look over the town while staying out of sight. Beside the chair sat some painkillers and a gun. The gun was...sort of new to Dash. Some griffins she had met in Equestria had guns - mostly made of wood, they were sleek, elegant and had very detailed designs on them. They only fired a single shot, and the rounds used were small metal pellets. The griffins only used their guns when under attack by changelings.
The gun here though was miles away from a griffin's gun. Whitney had said it was a shotgun; capable of firing multiple pellets per each shot. Dash inspected a red and gold canister carrying the pellets with her hooves. She eyeballed it with interest, wanting to know how the weapon fired it. The gun itself was simple (A farmer's friend, Whitney said). The gun had a wooden stock, with two long metal barrels glued together. Putting down the shotgun shell, she took up the shotgun and inspected it. She broke the stock-end, revealing two shells already loaded in the barrels. Clipping it back, she lightly tapped the trigger. Thankfully, she could slip her hoof though the trigger hole and touch and grip it with ease. Whitney had no choice but to leave the gun for Dash to protect herself with. She knew Whitney was still being cautious and wasn't yet to trust her, but Dash wasn't going to betray her trust. She didn't want to kill, let alone shoot someone whom was being friendly to her.
Friendship is a magical thing, after all.
Rubbing her bandages, she watched the world outside her. Ever since she had been told that she was in a land that is not known to Equestria; not even written down in Equestrian History - everything she saw was so foreign to her. The houses were made of brick and stone; each one having a varied colour theme of gray, brown and red. Most of the structures were still standing; but having had no care or maintenance for quite some time, they stood dull; the paint on them peeling off small spaces. The zombies were out - some walking on two legs (which always creeped out Dash) other crawling about and some...hopping around (which also creeped out Dash as well). She observed the area around the town, seeing all the lush green hills and autumn trees and pines mixing with each other. The sun was shining under a patchy sky. Beside the main road leading out of town, there was a large sign, picturing hills, trees and sun rays. The line of text on it was in a different language, but below it was a line readable for Dash. "Sunny Chernarus. A place to be."
Dash smiled. Without the zombies, it would be Sunny Chernarus.
Plans rolled about in Dash's head. Once she healed well enough, she could take off and fly back to Equestria, from there she could gather her friends and contact Princess Celestia, to form a large-scale operation of returning Chernarus back to normal. Dash started writing up a mental list: Find a way back to Equestria. Find Twilight, Applejack and the rest. Form a large group to return to Chernarus. Make it sunny once more.
She smiled, looking over the imaginative list. It would be hard, but nothing she hasn't done in the past wasn't easy either.
*****
It was late afternoon when there was a patterned knock on the bedroom door. Dash had already seen Whitney coming in (and was shocked to see how swiftly she moved about in the town) but listened to the series of knocks she did: Three fast, three slow, two fast. There was a pause as Dash overheard Whitney whispering "Shit. Why did I do that, she doesn't know my code." before speaking loudly "Dash it's Whitney here, open up."
Getting off the chair and trotting slowly across to the door, it took a few tries to grab hold of the very high doorknob with her mouth before she managed it on the sixth try. Whitney poked her head in first, observing whether Dash carried a gun before she fully came into the room, her backpack larger this time. Its was a good day for her.
"I figured you'd might run away already, or something..." Whitney said, opening up her backpack on the bed.
"Well...you're the only...the only lupine I know around here." Dash said meekly. She trotted over to the bed and looked at each item that emerged out of the bag: some more shotgun shells, a few curved rectangle boxes, bottled water, some tin cans with pictures of beans on it, a large yellow tube with some sort of glass in one end and some bandages packed into small green packets.
Whitney began to re-order her equipment while Dash checked her bandaged body. She was healing well enough for her to start moving around without being in too much pain. The injury stung now and then, but Dash found it tolerable. She was a very strong pony, after all. Her wings were also bandaged. She unwrapped a few of the strips to check to see if she could still fly. Step one of the list would be to have good wings.
"Dash...can I ask you a question?" Whitney said quietly, not looking away from her stuff.
"Whuf is it?" Dash's mouth was trying to pull off the strips.
"You can...fly, right?"
"Mmmmf, yuh." Having pulled off the wraps of one wing, she began on the other wing.
"Ok...I would say though...don't try to fly, ok?"
Dash stopped. "Why not?"
Without turning her head, Whitney looked at Dash. "You might get shot. And I don't want that to happen to you."
As Dash continued, her heart had dropped a little. If she couldn't fly out of Chernarus, how could she get out?
She finally removed her bandages off both her wings. Standing up, Whitney watched her as Dash spread out her wings. She could only manage to flutter them before she sprawled down on the bed, moaning from the pain. Her wings hadn't healed that properly.
"Ohhhhh....why can't I fly?" she moaned.
"I don't know. Did you do something to get in here?"
"In where?"
"Here, in Chernarus."
Dash paused before answering the question. "I have no idea how I ended up in here."
Whitney kept silent as she finished loading her backpack. She pulled out her AK, checking and counting the new supply of rounds she had. Dash carefully observed the details of the rifle as Whitney pulled out a dirty cloth to clean it. Dash eyeballing the gun didn't go unnoticed.
Whitney smirked. "I suppose you want a gun like this one?"
Dash nodded. Her interest in Lupine firearms were growing.
"Well...I think we can find you one..." she lowered her voice until it was just a mumble, "maybe trade some BGMs for one at CorditeNation...and try to at least disguise...her body..."
Dash perked up her ears to hear a distant crack. Dash stood up, staring through the bedroom window; her heart beating fast once again as adrenaline and fear kicked in. Even Whitney was on high alert as she slid quickly to the wall below the window and poked her head up. Dash lay still from her position, waiting for Whitney's discovery. Whitney hardly moved, her body almost like a rock with an eye watching the town like a hawk. The only movement Whitney made was to shift her paw right on the trigger of her AK.
This could be very bad, Dash thought.
Minutes passed. Whitney was still like a rock. Dash lay down on the bed again, gripping her shotgun loosely in her mouth. There were distant sounds of doors opening, something running, the gurgling sounds of agitated zombies before muffled gunshots silenced them. It quickly dawned on Dash that there must be other wolves around...and that Whitney can't trust them. Having finally understood why Whitney shot her last night, she now questioned herself as to whether she had the morality to do such a thing - to not trust anything at all. It was easy for Dash to do that before back in Equestria, knowing what was right and wrong. Like differentiating an apple and an orange. The difference between good and evil.
"But nothing is right, and nothing is wrong here in Chernarus." Whitney had said.
As the sun set over the horizon, Whitney finally moved; taking her paw off the AK and moving slowly back onto the bed. Dash released her grip on the shotgun as she asked what was out there before.
"Scavengers, I presume. They got KWM equipment and some crap weapons. I'm glad they skipped this house."
"What w-w-would've you done if they came in?" Dash was afraid of the answer.
Whitney shrugged. "Tell to piss off. Shoot them if they refuse."
Whitney started to pack her remaining stuff around the room.
"What are you doing?" Dash asked.
"Well, I've planned out what we're going to do," Whitney said; slipping on her backpack, "look, we move out to Elektro; nice place...for the experienced really. But I know a Lupine out there who can get you some kit to survive out here."
Dash thought over Whitney's plan, wondering if this was a good idea at all, to be leaving this place. But if other lupines who could've been unfriendly had been here not long ago...
"...that's if you want to come with me."
Dash nodded. She didn't have another choice that left her not being alone.
Putting on her makeshift saddlebags, she also made a Muzzle Trigger; a contraption that had a strap wrapped around the shotgun's trigger, the other end of the strap having a mechanism that allows Dash to pull the trigger with her mouth. The shotgun was strapped to the side of her body. Back in Equestria, there were such things called a "battle saddle", allowing ponies to fire griffin-made guns, but since there wasn't any of that sort in Chernarus, she'd have to make her own. Or at least something that functioned like one.
Whitney had also given Dash some KWM equipment. Dash had learned that there was a neighbouring nation that tried to help Chernarus when the outbreak started. Their military airdropped supplies and uniform that would help identify survivors and would serve as a practical use to them. These boxes of supplies would mostly be a small backpack, painkillers, bandages, a flashlight, a black tactical vest that can carry lots of stuff in its pockets and a black hat. Whitney only had a spare black hat to give to Dash...and she wouldn't have been able to wear the vest anyway since it wasn't designed for ponies...
Supplied with a shotgun and some ammo, some of the essential kit in her saddlebags and a hat to hide her rainbow mane, Dash felt more confident. For once, since she woke up on the shores of Chernarus, she felt happy. Hopping off the bed, She took a step towards Whitney who was waiting for her. A step towards living for another day. Towards survival. Towards making an escape out of Chernarus.
Towards returning to Ponyville.
Checking the surroundings outside before opening the front door, Dash followed Whitney, both trying to use whatever stealth skills they learned. Well, Whitney's skills were from experience; Dash had learned hers from Whitney in a one minute lecture. Walking past the hidden vehicle Whitney had hid beside the house, she decided it wasn't the best idea to take it with her. It was one of those things that had to be left behind. Dash took no notice of this, and trotted forward beside the road, where Whitney turned and followed suit.
As the sky darkened, together they traveled towards Elektrozavodsk. With nothing to be afraid of.
Chernarus
Kamyshovo
Day 1
Chapter 3: Welcome to the Lupine Union
"...with all due respect General, don't you think supplying Chernarus with military and medical equipment is putting a dent in the Military's economy? I mean, it's it really going to make a difference in Chernarus? It seems to the public that it might just be a waste of money..."
"...oh, is that why the Lupines have that-"
"Yup."
"...I mean, ok...that's why your tone of voice sounds so..." Dash thought back to Zecora and her voice.
"Meh...its nothing. My dad already taught me Engli-...Eques...trian when I was born...Sovietwolf was kinda my second language."
"Can you teach me some?"
Whitney glanced at Dash through the darkness. "Maybe. Some day."
The dim red glow of Whitney's flashlight illuminated the road ahead. It was a starry night spotted with clouds. No moon. Something that comforted Dash a little. But without the moon, it was harder to see anything outside of the flashlight's radius. Often the crash of the waves would break the night's silence; forcing Whitney to perk up her ears and listen harder. She had to remain alert; for she knew there was a much bigger danger around than zombiewolves.
The road to Elektro was a short one. In Dash's perspective however, she found it long and tedious. She had been walking for hours now, her hooves starting to sting with pain. The shotgun constantly swung and scraped at her hide, having to make Dash stop for a moment to move the gun. Whitney hadn't lost any energy at all, constantly walking on her hind legs and sometimes on all fours. But she was losing something - her form of entertainment. There was plenty of it in her truck - on the road she would play with the dials on the radio, searching for any last remains of communication within Chernarus; all channels outside the borders had already been shut down. Sometimes, she would make up her own radio stations in her head, re-living the DJs and radio hosts that she heard before the outbreak. Her best moments was when she hummed a song she loved.
But without the truck, the need of keeping quiet waned, giving away to boredom. Hence why Whitney decided to answer all of Dash's questions. Even that wasn't enough for her.
"Hey, Dash...do you mind if I ask this now?" she asked politely.
"Um, what would it be?"
"You didn't...dye your mane...did you?"
Dash was confused. "I don't understand, Whitney. My mane's always been like this."
"Oh ok...'cause, I just wanted to...know..."
The red light revealed the giant canister of a fuel truck. The truck was laying on its side, already been burnt down. Whitney moved the light across the darkness. Some fuel pumps and a small red and white building were shown.
They had arrived to the outskirts of Elektrozavodsk. And already the situation was tense.
A loud shot rang through the air. With instinct, Whitney dropped all her legs to the floor, lying down as low as possible. Dash copied Whitney but at a slower speed. She needed to learn to react fast. The gunshot sound continued on, covering miles until it faded away after three seconds. It was enough to aggravate a few distant zombies away from the two, stepping up their pace a little and moving toward the source of the sound. Dash and Whitney stayed still on the ground, Whitney switching off her flashlight.
A minute had passed since the shot. "I think we should go now." Dash said, raising herself.
Whitney forced a paw down on Dash. "No, keep still."
They stayed there a little longer. All nearby zombies had disappeared, moving into the city. There was a burst of gunfire, much more quiet though. A few more shots of varied volume rang; and all was still after that.
Using the perks of a Lupine, Whitney analysed all the shots - where they may have come from, what guns were being used...how they were used. She made quick calculations in her head before making the decision to get up, but keep all paws on the ground.
"Should be ok to go; I don't think we're in too much trouble." she armed herself with her AK, carrying it with one paw.
Dash tried to control herself as she got up. She was shaken; thinking over whether this was a good option.
Whitney saw to it that Dash was scared to move on. She walked over and comforted Dash.
"Hey...it's allright, nothing to worry about." she spoke quietly.
"I just...I...I don't think...I...I...can't do this..." Dash's voice spoke of fear.
"Yes Dash, you can do this," Whitney said, "Think of your friends, what will they say?"
Dash closed her eyes for a second to see the smiles of the ponies she knew and loved.
"Ok...ok...I'll try..." Dash mumbled as she opened her eyes up and shifted her shotgun to 'shooting' position.
Whitney smiled. "Great. Let's keep going then."
*****
Elektrozavodsk is a paradox. A nightmare for all those who live within its borders. A playground for the bandits. A trap for the unsuspecting and uninformed survivor. A capital of supplies for those running low. A lot of action is concentrated here; two other places having the rest. In one moment Elektro can be a haven. The next moment its a war zone.
The sounds of gunfire had quietened down to a deafening silence that frightened Dash. She was paranoid, still trying to tell herself that there's no-one watching her. Sometimes she would stop, seeing a quick mental of herself with a bullet passing through her head. She'd whimper over the sight, assured herself it wouldn't happen; and catch up to Whitney whom was oblivious to Dash's fear.
The two moved on further into Elektro, where they discovered two lumps on the road. Whitney got on all fours and stalked closer to it beside the road. Dash followed behind with her eyes shut. She was getting more afraid of what she might see.
Whitney shone her flashlight over the two lumps on the road, revealing them to be dead survivors. Their bodies were riddled with bullet holes. Bits of flesh, fur and blood stained their clothing and equipment. The pool of blood around them was still expanding. Whitney shuddered and grimaced over the sight, but got over it quickly. She was used to seeing dead bodies. But rarely did she travel into Elektro...and discover something worse than what she had seen before.
Curiosity got the better of Dash as she opened her eyes to the horrific sight. Her eyes instantly widened and let out an ear-piercing scream.
Although that did not happen, for Whitney had seen Dash's expression and she had managed to shut Dash's muzzle in time. The shocked pony could only squirm and let out hummed muffles as she continued to stare away at the dead lupines. Whitney kept her grip on Dash until she calmed down.
Dash huffed and laid on the ground as she tried to speak.
"They....th-they didn't get-"
Whitney paused her. "Sorry Dash. They did get shot."
Dash whimpered and cried softly. She didn't understand it yet. The idea of lupines killing each other was something she couldn't bear with for now. For what reason would they just kill another lupine? She thought back to the times she had to fight off evil in equestria - Nightmare Moon, the changelings; she had a reason to fight back. These lupines didn't have that reason. Shouldn't they be all working together to stop the evil that is the zombie-lupines?
Should they?
Dash looked back up to see Whitney had started to scavenge off the bodies.
"Whitney!" Dash whispered loudly. "Isn't that bad?!"
Whitney answered back without stopping. "Not really. The dead aren't going to need it anymore."
Having nothing to excuse that, Dash shut her mouth up. She watched Whitney as she collected what she saw necessary. She kept pacing about on the road as she fumbled for loot in the pocket's the dead lupines, not trying to be in a stationary position for even just a second. Another precaution yet again.
Whitney stepped off the road and laid beside Dash, showing off what she had taken. Dash observed the exquisite Remington 870. Surprisingly, it wasn't stained with blood. It gleamed in the dim red glow of Whitney's flashlight, showing off the chome-coloured barrels and the pump. Dash snatched it up with anticipation of touching it. She sat up, carrying the shotgun with two hooves as she observed all the details of the Remington. Whitney watched her, picking up on Dash's interest of guns. Distinctly, she saw Dash smile and mouth two words. Two words she suspected Dash had said.
Whitney tapped Dash on the shoulder, drawing her attention away from the shotgun. "Come on, we've got a long way to go."
*****
Leaving behind the double-barrel, Dash had swapped it for the Remington; the strapped gun swaying about beside her body. It brought back some confidence into Dash, for which Whitney was pleased with. She didn't have to keep looking over her shoulder to see how Dash was going. If she wasn't afraid now, then that's one thing Whitney didn't have to keep track of now. There was so much she had to think about. She couldn't stop eying and tracking everything that Elektro had to offer. A quick distraction could mean death for both of them.
Two lights beamed ahead. The dim red one belonging to Whitney's flashlight that she carried in her mouth for now, the other one - yellow and bright - coming from Dash's shotgun. It had a little clip on the barrel for attaching a flashlight. The bulb was covered with a tissue tied over it, to dim the light a little. A brighter and long-distance light would give away their position.
The zombielupines were in mass groups tonight. No doubt the recent gunfire had brought them deeper into the desolate city. They walked in large hordes, ambling about beside the pathways, some crossing the roads and others walking into houses and buildings. The stray few would stare endlessly at a brick wall, venting their agitated moans on something that will not move for them. It was like a moving maze, where touching the walls would mean being eaten alive. The numbers were large enough for all survivors in Elektro to all pick up the same understanding: Don't make a noise.
Whitney and Dash moved through the city's undead population, using the darkness to blend themselves in and avoid being sighted. The experienced lupine guided Dash through what she must do: keep to the walls, lay low, move fast, stay in the darkness, avoid being out in the open for too long and avoid all high buildings. There were two different dangers here, after all.
There was one place in Elektro Whitney needed to reach. A lupine that might be able to help Dash in her survival. The problem being was that he and his team stood quite far away from where she was now. As she sneaked about beside the walls she reflected upon the memories of being there once, mumbling the significant landmarks and directions.
"Past the hospital...before the fire station...inside the church...drop weapon and salute..."
"Something wrong?" Dash asked, overhearing her thoughts. "Have we got to go back or something?"
"Huh?" Whitney looked back at Dash, pulling herself out of her daze. "I, uh...nothing...it was nothing..."
A gunshot broke the silence. Whitney got down to the ground, Dash still acting a little slower. The zombies nearby gurgled at the noise; no longer in their dazed state. The noise of zombies sprinting and screaming began the attack, with more gunfire splitting the screams and trying to silence the zombies. At the same time, voices could be heard. Whitney raised her ears and listened in to the shouts and voices.
"I've got to see what's going on, allright?" Whitney said, standing up and drawing out her AK.
Dash nodded, readying up her Remington and following Whitney as she sneaked across to the end of the wall they hid behind. Whitney stopped at the corner of the building and leaned over to observe the street. Within the darkness came the flashes of light flaring out of the muzzle's of guns. Some pointed towards the zombies. Some pointing at each other. Whitney observed the rest of her surroundings, discovering that some lupines were entrenched beside the road, defending a large rectangle building, with a faint red cross over it's entrance.
Whitney thought about what to do. She could sneak past the attack and pretend it never existed. She could pick off the zombies and then walk away, leaving the survivors to battle it out with each other. Or she could choose which side to help; the ones defending the hospital, or those who may have assaulted them in the first place. Then again, helping the wrong side may result in being back-stabbed. She wasn't sure if those guarding the hospital were always there. She wasn't familiar with Elektrozavodsk's hospital. She only remembered going past it.
...on that first day...
...dad shouting at me...
...a panicked and fearful expression on his face...
She shook her head. Not the time to daze off.
The zombies had closed in, trying to breach through the makeshift barricades. More voices shouted and laughed. The sound of bandits.
The sound that pissed off the white lupine.
She never liked bandits.
*****
"The fuck was that?" a bandit yelled over the gunfire, seeing his team-mate take a bullet to the head. Thinking that it came from the other side, he continued to suppress the hospital guards, pinned down by both the bandits and the zombies that were breaking down their barricades. The bandit's machine gun sprayed past the prone guards and into the hospital's walls. His accuracy was very poor. Not that it mattered to him; he was just having too much fun.
Another shot whizzed past him. He stopped abruptly, looking about to see where that shot had come from. Were the guards flanking him? He spotted a small group of zombies, making a run towards him. Swinging his gun around, he fired at the zombies, turning them into red goo. He looked about, trying to find the rest of his comrades.
"Guys? Where did you go..." he half-suspected that something went wrong.
He turned back to find a single white wolf in the distance, pointing a rifle at him. He pulled the trigger.
His eyes widened. He was out of ammo.
"Shitheads." Whitney muttered as she pulled out the clip, replaced the single bullet she used to kill the bandit before loading the clip back in. She looked up, seeing the last of the zombies finished off. The guards carefully peeked their head over the barricade, watching Whitney. Whitney still didn't exactly trust these lupines. But she made a response by lowering her weapon. The guards understood it, slowly getting up and lowering their weapons too, before Whitney slowly walked up to their barricade. A lupine with a bushy mustache greeted her first.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you for your help." he said in a deep voice.
Whitney shrugged and smiled. "It's not a problem." She looked up towards the building. "Do you defend this hospital?"
The guard nodded. "With our lives. We keep the place running; providing medical treatment to those who...deserve it. Most survivors who come here simply get treated and leave afterwards. Others come to sell us supplies or buy some. That being said...do you need help, or do you need to buy some bandages?"
Whitney paused. A lupine could never have enough supplies.
"Hmm, I could use a check-up. I'm kinda late for my appointment." she joked.
The guards chuckled at her joke before relaxing themselves; the situation no longer being tense. The guard smiled. Whitney turned her head and whistled in the darkness. There was a short silence before Dash stepped out from behind a corner. Dash still had a confident smile on her face, her mind still enjoying the moment of blasting zombie's heads off before. As Whitney climbed over the hospital's street barricades and into the main lobby, Dash followed along, struggling to get over the walls and trotting past the silent bewildered guards who all stared at her with surprising looks.
*****
The hospital's front lobby was somewhat a mess. The bandit attack had punctured holes in the walls and taken out some of the lights. It resembled the state of any scavenged building, Whitney thought. She waved to the guard who was hiding behind the reception desk before going around to enter the hospital's main wing. The main wing however, did not carry any patients. Behind all of its locked doors each one were named for they had. Guns, armour, equipment, explosives...it surprised Whitney. How could a small group of survivors manage all this? It was understandable then, that bandits would ambush the hospital if they knew they carried this much stuff...but where would the guards have gotten it from?
Another lupine who protected the main wing pointed towards a stairway, stating that patients were treated upstairs. Stating that all weapons must left behind here on the first floor, Whitney and Dash surrendered their weapons without hesitation and walked up to the next floor. Here, Whitney was startled by the state of it. The upstairs wing was clean. The lights were working and the furniture and walls were well maintained. There were no obvious post-outbreak modifications made unlike the first floor (steel bolt locks, reinforced windows and doors). And the smell of the place was beautiful. Whitney took a quick whiff of the scent, before she fully relaxed herself. She never felt so happy about this place. The same had gone for Rainbow Dash too, sniffing the air before she sighed a breath of relief. It was a pleasant change from the constant stank of blood, rotting flesh and sometimes cordite. This pleased both friends and had put them into a good mood. A a gray lupine nurse stepped out from one of the rooms, smiling and shaking paws with Whitney before gasping at the sight of Dash.
"Oh my...um...you must be...erm..." The nurse stuttered, trying to remember who Dash was exactly, "that...pony...thing..."
Dash beamed up. "You know what I am?"
"Yes...there's, erm...uhh...sorry, I uhh..." the nurse shook her head before continuing on, "erm...yeah..."
Dash smiled and looked at Whitney. "Seems like you just simply didn't know about ponies."
Whitney scoffed before looking at the nurse. "Any chance we can get a checkup, perhaps tonight?"
"Oh, I...yes...sure. We're not that erm, busy...tonight. The er, nurse in uh...uh...B3 is free...I um, I think..."
"Thank you." Whitney replied as she walked forward, turning her head to each door and room to find B3. Dash followed beside her.
"How did that lupine know I was a pony?" Dash asked Whitney.
"I don't know. Maybe she learned about them in school, or something?" Whitney didn't have an answer to that question.
Dash smiled again. "This place reminds me of Ponyville's hospital..."
The good feeling dropped with every opened room they walked past. Some patients looked like ghosts. Another was being treated for gunshot wounds; having taken three in his chest and two in his foreleg. One was asleep. Dash looked away when she noticed the patient was missing both his hind legs.
"You know...there was this pony I knew back at Ponyville," Dash explained, "she was so compassionate...so helpful...so thoughtful. She would always help ponies, no matter how bad or evil they were..."
Whitney smiled at that. "Seems like she has a good heart."
"She does. Her name was Fluttershy."
Trying hard not to laugh at the name, Whitney moved on from it. "Is she like you? As in...does she have wings or.."
"Yeah, she is a pegasus. She's yellow in colour though...nice pink mane too...she wouldn't think twice about helping lupines here..."
"mmm, I guess so." Whitney replied before stopping at the door of room B3. she knocked on the door before opening it and stepping in. The nurse inside was a little busy. She was preparing a drink for a sick pup. Whitney stopped dead, staring at the nurse. A surprised Rainbow Dash also stared at the yellow and pink pony who returned their expression.
Chernarus
Elektrozavodsk
Day 1