For when the dead rise, heroes will fall
The sun shone like any other day, peaceful white clouds drifted by, the fresh scent of morning dew filled Chilled Accords nose.
She sat up and rubbed the sleep away in with a hoof. She looked around before smiling as her gaze met the window. She slid out from the covers, re-made the bed and went to the bathroom.
She lifted a fore-leg and sniffed, shrugged and got her toothbrush. She made sure to brush her coat and mane. She had a coat of light blue with the occasional white stripe. Her mane was a deep black that she kept behind her ears but let it fall over her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark purple, the left eye partially obscured by a loose strand of hair.
She spit the mint foam out and rinsed, cleaned any excess off her lips and exited.
She went to the kitchen, grabbed her picnic basket, went through the living room while nearly knocking over the vase.
"I swear, that thing will be the death of me." She said as she put it back on the small table.
She opened the door with a quick flash of magic and closed it.
She smiled, looking around as the usual Sunday traffic began. People and ponies walked together, a few of them trading by the market. She took a deep breath and began trotting to the park.
"Hey! Hey Chilled!"
She turned and saw Johnathan running at her.
He was a fit looking, dark skinned man, he was wearing a pair of jeans and an orange shirt as he approached.
"Hey John, what's up?" She greeted with a white smile.
"Nothing much," he shrugged. "So, I see it lives. When did you decide to join the living?" He laughed.
"When I smelled brains, but it's clear you don't have any." She laughed.
"Funny, so, what are you doing today? Going on a little picnic?" He tried to grab the handle but she slapped it away. "Aw, come on." He crossed his arms.
"No, these are for my friends." She said pointing a hoof at him.
"Oh, I'm hurt. I thought we were friends, but it seems fate has other ideas. Listen, I'll see you later, I need to get to the bakery before the bread get's burnt. Fredrick always burns them."
As he jogged away, she turned her focus back to the nearing stretch of greenery. She saw her friends, Madison a red headed human girl in a white shirt and jean shorts, Jason the twitchy camo colored Earth pony with a white mane, Jason a twitchy human wearing a black shirt three sizes too small, a belt with the end hanging off from his side while it held up a pair of camo pants. He lived with the other Jason, and Oak Feller, a green pegasus stallion with a brown mane that hung everywhere.
"Hey, I'm here and I brought the sandwiches." Chilled said as she set the basket down.
"That's good, I was afraid I'd have to eat Jason." Madison grinned as the two Jason's gasped.
"Which one of us?" The pony Jason asked as he narrowed his eyes. "I'll take you out before you get a single tooth on me!"
"I'm not against cannibalism." The human Jason warned as he pointed a bony finger at her.
"You two always over react." Oak Feller rolled his eyes.
"No, if we did that, when you'd knock on our door, we'd set off the self destruct in our house." The pony Jason laughed evilly. "We have enough C4 and Napalm to take out four city blocks, and it's all rigged to a special switch in the basement."
"But don't tell anyone, it's a secret." The human Jason laughed.
"Are you two serious?" Madison asked backing away. "Remind me to drop your mail on the doorstep."
"Oh don't worry, we wouldn't do that." The pony laughed. "Unless we had to." He said becoming still with a frown. "And we will before we die."
"I'm moving to Canterlot." Madison said averting her eyes.
"So," Chilled began taking sandwiches out. "Have you two done anything illegal the past few days?"
"Do you have to ask?" They replied with grins. "We just finished the tunnel system running throughout the town. We even made sure to put in supports this time."
"This time?" Oak feller said.
"I got trapped one time." The pony Jason laughed. "I couldn't breath at all for an hour! And you all said subterranean survival was stupid."
"Although, there were a few complications." The human said scratching his shaved head under his baseball cap. "We hit a waterline, broke into our armory, our back up armory, our smaller explosive charges last week and-"
"Wait, last week?" Chilled interrupted. "That earthquake was you two!? I lost my water for over three days!"
The human and pony looked shocked and scooted away before shakily, but, quietly eating their sandwiches.
"So Chilled, what have you been up to?" Oak Feller asked.
"Nothing, just helping out at the ice cream shop, helping Johnathan out with the frozen pastries like the ice-cream sandwiches, ice-cream cake, ect." She shrugged before taking another bite from her sandwich. "What about you Madison?"
"Me and Johnny are going to hit it off," she said getting gasps from the others. "Were going to Manehatten for the wedding."
"Johnny, he doesn't know a ting about how to treat a lady right." The human Jason spat. He took and apple from Chilled and began to peal it with a hunting knife. "Doesn't have any manners, always looking at other women, bah! Get rid of him before you get a broken heart."
"I didn't know you knew how to treat a lady." She said. "Well, what would you do then, prince charming?"
He stopped and raised an eyebrow before scratching his stubble erratically with the knife.
"Ask her out, go see a few plays, have dinner, kiss once, wait a while, go to dinner, see some plays, have a vacation and ask her to marriage there... I'd say, over the course of a year?" He said in a breath. "Basically, treat her how she wants to be treated, listen, when she's sad make her feel good by being with her, and... Defend her when she's in need." He nodded before cutting the apple in half and handing it to Jason.
"I'm impressed." She nodded. "I never took you for the romantic type."
"I'm not." He stopped to grin, letting his cap shade his features as he licked the knife clean. "I'm still a trained killer when I need to be, and I'm not letting something as trivial as love stop me from doing what I love."
The others except for the pony Jason stared at the madman as he dug out the core of his half.
"Well, if anypony wants to know, I got promoted to the head of the operation over in the Everfree." Oak Feller said getting praise from the others. "The boss thought that-"
"Shut up!" The pony Jason yelled, making them all stare at him.
"What was that-"
"Shut up! Listen..." He said, his eyes scanning every bush and tree around them.
He was crouched down on the ground, his hackles raised like a feral animal, one ear was raised while the other was splayed back.
They stopped talking and listened, everpony and human in the park stopped and looked towards downtown. Screams tore through the air, the picnickers stooped and looked at each other.
"What do you think is going on?" Madison asked getting up. "It... Looks like a mob is coming towards us."
As the mob drew closer, the moans and screams became louder. When in a short distance away, Madison gasped and screamed.
"Fucking run!" She yelled, dropping her food and picking up the human Jason.
They all looked and saw the mob was tearing some residents apart if they caught them. The two Jason's yelled at them before charging to the left, each of them pulling a knife. The others ran away from the mob, temporarily looking back to see the two Jason's hacking, quickly, and lethally, their way through to their neighborhood.
Oak Feller took to the air and flew up to the clouds where a few other pegasai were taking refuge. He took a turn with a cloud in grasp and followed the two Jason's.
"What the hell do we do!?" Madison yelled as she and Chilled ran with the other living towns residents.
"My house!" Chilled yelled back. "We can go there and hope-"
She was cut off when someone ran into her. She got up and looked at Johnathan, his face was in a state of horror, his usual white apron was stained with a crimson fluid.
"Johnathan, get up and bucking run!" Chilled yelled as she got up. "Follow us! Were going to my house!"
He merely nodded as he got up and ran with them. They didn't bother to look back as more screams were heard.
Chilled unlocked her door and the two humans ran in, she nearly shut the door on her tail as she locked it back. She closed all the curtains in the living room and then slowly made her way back towards the couch where Madison and Johnathan were.
"What the hell..." Johnathan said, tears were going down his face as he ran a hand over his bald head. "What the hell is that shit!?" He pointed at the window as a wall of shadow began to pass.
"H-How should I know?" Madison said as she curled up on the couch. "All I saw were those things, people, ponies... Tearing others apart. Oh god... I knew some of them."
"Do you think... Do you think the Jason's made it?" Chilled asked.
"Jason and Jason?" Johnathan said. "Hell, those two would probably blow us all up just to see those things burn. Yeah, their alive, I know it."
Chilled gulped, turning away from the shadows she went to sit by Johnathan, but she stopped and looked at his hand.
"John, what happened to your hand? It looks like somepony cut a few fingers off." She said trying to keep bile down.
"Yeah, I got bit by one of those fuckers. Took some skin, so, seeing them walking around with who knows what... I took this here and..." He raised a knife to the stubs and made a chopping motion. "Hurt like hell, but it gave me time when one of them went to gnaw on them so I could run away."
"Gnaw... On your fingers?" Chilled said in disbelief. "What's happening...?"
"If I had to take a guess, quarantine."
They all stopped, looked around and paused as they saw the human Jason standing by the window, two bloody knives in his hands. His ballcap turned back letting the light show all of his sunken face.
"Jason?" Chilled said. "Where did you come from? I locked the door! We even saw you a few minutes ago go into that mob!"
He raised one bony finger, not even looking back at them, but she saw the skin on the sides of his cheeks curve showing he was smiling.
"Weren't you listening? Me and Jason said we'd just completed our tunnel system. You know the one that runs directly under each house?"
"You dug under my house? Of course you dug under my house!" She said. "So, where's the other one?"
"Back at the base, he said something about making some pies. Or was it bombs? I wasn't listening at the moment. Well, come on, were going to be stuck in town for a while."
"Why is that?" Johnathan asked.
"Quarantine." He pulled the curtains away to show a blood spattered window and street. "The guards are lowering a large dome on the town as we speak... Ooh, I just saw a whole dozen of those things get crushed by the edge. Messy." He laughed in awe.
The others cautiously walked up to the window and their faces paled.
The horde of creatures were clawing at a large dome that was covering the town. It went up above the clouds, cutting off any pegasai from exiting. A white light coursed through it once before disappearing.
"Well," Jason slung his lanky arms over all of them. "Get what you need and follow me down the fireplace. And Chilled, Oak feller is a the base too, just so I'd let you know."
She put a hoof to her mouth, tears streaking down her face as she looked out into the street.
Blood was puddled on the cobblestone, carts were overturned, bones and pieces of flesh littered the ground. She felt a wetness on her head and she looked up and saw Madison crying into Johnathan's shoulder.
"I-I'll get some food and medical supplies, maybe some blankets too." she said.
"Take your time," Jason said letting out a sigh. "Because were in for a hell of a nightmare. And I'm not talking about the erotic picture of her under Jason's bed."
He looked at his friends expecting a small smile, but saw tears and horror, he shrugged before climbing down into his tunnel.
"Come on Madison, let's go while Chilled packs. We don't want to be here if those things come back." Johnathan said as he shut the curtains.
Chilled turned away and watched as her friends went down her fireplace, she shook her head before going up to her bedroom.
She grabbed her pillow, the blanket and few others, setting them on the bed she went to her closet and pulled out a basket. She stuffed them inside before taking the handle in her mouth and dragging it to the kitchen.
She went through the cabinets, taking out canned food, a few fruit filled cups, granola bars, and some water. Satisfied she went and dragged it back to the living room. She froze as she saw shadows moving across the curtains, she gulped before dragging it around the couch.
She felt her flank hit something, she froze and turned just in time to see the vase shatter. She looked at the window and saw one shadow standing at it, it put a hand to it.
She gasped sharply, seeing the light go through the hole in it's hand. She began screaming as it punched through the glass.
It slung itself in and stood, glass shards falling from it's belly as it peeled back it's lips to reveal blood stained teeth with flesh and fur in them. It snarled as it limped towards her, both arms outstretched.
"Help! Anypony help!" She screamed.
She backed away as fast a she could, watching it slowly limp towards her. She saw a large piece of her vase and grabbed it in her magic, she held it out in front of her.
"Stay back! I will cut you!" She screamed. "I said stay back!" She made the piece go flying, it hit the man in the chest and he flew back from the impact.
He immediately started to get up, a bloody cut in his shirt.
"Maybe I should have used the sharper edge..." She whimpered.
Just as it was standing, an arm wrapped around it's neck and a knife cut off it's bottom jaw. It was turned around before having a knife cut it's throat. It fell to the floor as the human Jason stepped over it and picked up Chilled's bag.
"We need to hurry, your little song is bound to attract more." He said going to the fireplace. "Oh, here they come now."
She bolted next to him, watching as he calmly walked to the fire place and dropped the bag in. She jumped down and landed on hard earth, she looked up and saw him pull a cover over the hole, shrouding them in darkness.
He pulled out a lighter and illuminated each other. She gulped seeing his face deepened even more by the pale light. He grinned at her expression before putting a finger to his lips.
"Come on, Jason has already led your friends to the base, you follow me." He said quietly. "And keep the talking to a minimum, they might hear us."
She merely nodded as he stood in the tunnel. He picked up the bag and started to walk.
She flinched whenever she heard a moan from above, or when a rock was kicked free from under her hoof. She watched the small flame flicker with each twitch of the man's hand. The darkness surrounded them, he stopped every once in a while, muttered something under his breath, and began walking again.
"Are we close to your house yet?" Chilled asked, wanting something other than silence.
"Yeah, we should be there as soon as we make this corner." He replied.
She merely nodded before seeing a light ahead, he ducked and entered it, blocking her view. When he moved she was nearly blinded by it, she put a hoof to her eyes as she felt cold concrete against her hooves.
"Oh, it seems he was making pies after all." Jason said as he set the bag down.
Chilled looked around, the floor was a flat slab of concrete, metal shelves lined the walls and some space, bunk beds were gathered on one side of the massive room, large lights hung from the ceiling.
"Well, here we are. The base." Jason said. "make yourself a bunk bed, well bring dinner out in a bit. You can go play with you friends in the corner, see?" he pointed down the wall they were at and she immediately ran to them. "Not even a goodbye..." He muttered as he shut the hatch to the tunnels.
"Guys!" Chilled yelled as she pounced Oak.
"Hey! I didn't think we we're that close." he chuckled. "It's nice to see you. Jason's been making us eat cherry pie ever since we got here."
"You know, I could use something to eat." She said. "I only had half a sandwich when..." She trailed off, shaking her head of any thoughts she gave a friendly nuzzle to his shoulder before getting off.
She saw her other friends smiling at her, each with a Styrofoam plate. her mouth watered when the pony Jason trotted over with two plates, two forks and one spastic grin. he gave her one and landed back down on three hooves, he sighed and chuckled before throwing his fork away and eating it from the plate.
"Thank you Jason," she said. "Thank you too Jason, for saving me, and... Well for letting us in here." She said with a sniffle.
"Hey," the human Jason said, a frown on his face. "What are friends for? We need to stick together, especially in a situation like this."
"Yeah, we might run out of food and then we could eat you!" The pony Jason laughed. he was silenced with a quick hand to the back of his head. "Too early?" He asked.
"Sorry about him," the human said. "He's just coping with the horror by telling jokes. he'll be back to normal in a few hours. So, while we wait for him to recover, why don't you," he nodded towards Johnathan. "let me fix up that hand. We don't want anymore fingers coming off. Well, if we can avoid it." He winked before going to get the medical supplies.
"I've suddenly lost my appetite." Johnathan said sliding his plate over.
"So, what do you think is happening?" Oak asked. "It looked like-"
"Zombies?" Jason interrupted.
"No, I was going to say... I, don't know." He sighed. "But their not zombies."
"Than what else are they?" He asked. "They eat the uninfected, they can sustain mortal injuries, they can take damage others could take that would kill them, and they constantly moan. What else could they be?" He asked again.
Oak merely shrugged.
They ate in silence, the only noise was Jason as he sloppily ate his pie. They all jumped, Jason pulling a knife, when the human Jason slammed the medical kit down on the floor.
"Sorry, i slipped on a cherry." He said kicking the accused fruit across the floor. "Now, just put your hand over here and let me take a look."
Johnathan shared a look of unease with his friends, Jason rolled his eyes before grabbing the man by the writs. he tried to pull back but the lanky man held on strong, his face was a picture of calm as he tsked at the wound.
"Whew, you certainly did a number. Your lucky," he said opening the med kit and pulling out some alcohol. "You could have lost your whole hand, or maybe your arm if you let this get infected. Your lucky I'm here, now, this is going to sting."
He dabbed some alcohol on a cotton ball before pressing it to the stubs. Johnathan gritted his teeth, trying to pull back but Jason held his arm in place, narrowing his eyes he made Johnathan sit back down whenever he stood.
He took off the cotton ball before pulling out a needle and stitching string.
"Now, this is going to hurt." He said. "I know from experience." he lifted his shirt and revealed a chunk of skin that curved in towards his body. "Word of advice, don't let him handle the machetes." he jabbed a thumb at Jason. "I was bleeding like a stuck pig because of him."
"Hey, I bought them, so I can do what I want with them." Jason replied before licking his hoof clean. "It's not my fault I forgot you need a grip on it."
Jason shrugged before putting the needle in the mans flesh, he felt the muscles tense but kept on. In a few swift minutes Jason cut the string and nodded, wiping his brow where a drop of sweat had formed.
"Thanks." Johnathan huffed as he wiggled the stubs. "I wouldn't know what I would have done without you."
"Probably keep hacking away until you reach your neck." He said casually. "Well, why don't you go rest while me and Jason go report in to the princesses?"
As he got up, he stopped and face-palmed. Smiling he turned back to the shocked visitors.
"I think I've said to much," he said. "Listen, have you heard about how the princesses wanted each town to have... A small military force to guard it?"
"Yeah, I heard about that. They let a small group of ponies and humans into a town, establish a base... And help fight if an emergency arises." Johnathan said. "Don't tell me..."
"That's right!" The pony Jason laughed. "We're all that Ponyville's got! Since they saw how well we fight, plan and train, they just sent us! Were the best of the best!"
"I suddenly don't feel as safe." Chilled said. "We can be stuck outside with those things, or with you two. I'm debating whether to leave or stay."
"You leave, your dead, you stay, you live." The human shrugged. "Come on, do any of you want to help with the report? She said she prefers eyewitness accounts."
