Rainbow froze in her tracks when she saw a screamer and listener side by side, blocking their exit.
“What the f-“Spitfire started, but was interrupted by Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth. She leaned and spoke into her ear,
“Be VERY quite, and do NOT move or make a sound.” She hissed in Spitfire’s ear. She HATED being told what to do, but the orange Pegasus thought it would be best to oblige.
Rainbow looked to the other mares in the room and put her hoof to her mouth, and mouthed the words “Don’t move.” The other mares just stared at her with pale faces, which was good enough for her. She looked around the room to find her pistol and grappler on a table a few feet from her location. She motioned to the only unicorn in the room, and pointed at the table. The unicorn understood what she meant, and levitated the items to Rainbow. Once she had the grappler on her back and the gun in the grappler, she looked around for a silencer. The only thing that was near her was a thin blanket. Better than nothing, she thought.
The cyan Pegasus wrapped the blanket around her gun tightly, and looked at the two hoofers. If she shot the screamer, it couldn’t scream, and they wouldn’t be discovered by their captives. On the other hoof, though, the listener has amazing hearing, and might hear the shot. Rainbow thought this through for a moment, and made her choice.
She lined up her sights, and fired at Spitfire. The bullet grazed the side of her front left hoof, and entered her waist. Spitfire held in a cry as she collapsed to the ground in a heap of pain.
“W-what the hell?!” She exclaimed in a hoarse whisper as she looked at Rainbow, a mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes.
“Sorry, girl.” Rainbow started. She threw the blanket to the ground, turned to the hoofers, and shot the screamer. It let out a small shriek as it fell to the ground. She then turned to the one unicorn in the group, and shot her as well. The bullet entered her head, killing her instantly.
“When your life is in danger, you’d do the same.” She finished as she sidestepped the listener’s frenzy attack. It hit one mare in the side of the head with such force that it cracked her skull killing her. The infected, still on a rampage, tripped over the mare’s corpse, and landed on Spitfire.
“GET IT OFF ME!” She cried out as the listener begun tearing up the Pegasus. It ripped off her right wing, then made a giant gash down her back. Spitfire fought with everything she had, but the bullet in her side was still burning, limiting her with what she could do. The hoofer ended Spitfire’s life by sinking her teeth into her neck. Spitfire screamed as she felt the skin being ripped off her neck, and blood pouring out of the wound,
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In the midst of all the chaos, Rainbow went back into the vent where she had seen Sorian, hoping that the stallions in the room having their version of “fun” had cleared out. As she crawled, she could hear the screams of Spitfire and the other mares as the listener tore them apart. Rainbow was truly sorry for what she did, but the truth was in black and white: If she had tried to escape with all those other ponies, they would’ve been caught and chained down again.
She reached the final vent, and looked through it with relief that there wasn’t anypony there. Rainbow carefully removed the vent from the wall, and set it down on the floor as she got out and stretched her wings. At that moment, a loud explosion was heard, and the entire building shook. The cyan Pegasus struggled to stay standing as she heard a voice come from what she thought was a intercom.
“Attention all members! We have been breached by the infected! Repeat, we have been breached by the infected! Half of you will head to the armory to get armed, while the rest of you will go to our holding chambers and get our hostages! The more fit captives will help us fight, while the younger and older will be used as bait for the hoofers. Over and out.”
Rainbow now had three choices: Escape alone, escape with Sweetie Belle, or go to the armory to help fight. She could easily leave alone since she wouldn’t have Sweetie on her back, allowing her to fly, but would her guilt overtake her if she did?
Rainbow pushed these things aside, and ran ahead into a hallway with two halls to her left and right. A sign marked the left as exit, and right as armory. She trotted down the left hallway to see how the exit looked, but sprinted back when she saw a giant horde of hoofers were blocking the exit. Having no other option, Rainbow Dashed (No pun intended) down the hallway toward the Armory. As she turned the corner, she saw the metal door to the armory beginning to close with many stallions inside. Rainbow kicked into high gear, and sprinted down the hallway, avoiding the grasp of a few straggling hoofers.
Rainbow fell onto her back and slide under the door just as it closed and sealed shut.