The hospital had been barred shut with several ponies guarding the door and looking out fearfully. Applejack banged on the door. “Let us in! We’re not infected!” She yelled at them. They shook their heads fearfully and didn’t open the doors. Gear noticed one of the infected running at the two of them so he rushed out to meet it, flipping the knife around so he was holding it upside-down. At the last moment, he stepped to the side and stabbed it in the shoulder, neck, and head. The infected pony fell forward and flipped over onto its back without a noise.
“We need to get inside now!” He yelled back at Applejack. She nodded and turned back to yell at the ponies again but they were already opening the door. Blood was obscuring Gear’s view in the gasmask so he simply ripped it off and threw it to the side before entering. Once inside, the ponies re-barred the door and continued to watch for others. “We made it… what happened?!” He asked Applejack. She shook her head.
“I don’t know, we should talk to Twi, maybe she’ll know. Assuming she’s here that is…” She responded. Gear nodded and looked around the hospital as they walked. No pony was in sight, but he could hear whispers and some crying coming from some of the rooms. Somepony was rushed by them on a stretcher, it appeared the poor colt had been mauled and he was groaning in pain quite pitifully. The muffled noise of fighting outside didn't make it very far into the hospital.
The two of them walked through the hospital until Twilight suddenly stepped out of a room to the side. “Applejack! Thank Celestia you’re alright! Come on, Fluttershy is here too!” Applejack rushed into the room leaving Gear in the hallway. He entered the room after a moment to find the three of them hugging each other in happiness. They separated after a moment and Twilight looked over at him. “Oh! Gear, hi, I didn’t see you there, I’m glad to see you made it. You’re absolutely covered in blood.” She observed.
Gear nodded and sat down, partially exhausted. “So, any idea how the infected got in?” He asked her. She nodded and frowned.
“The wall wasn’t thick enough; they broke it down last night on the other end of town. As soon as I heard, I decided to run to the hospital thinking it would be the best place to go. It's a good thing I sent Spike to Canterlot last week...” Fluttershy nodded in agreement but stayed quiet and nervous, she appeared to be intentionally avoiding looking at Gear.
“What are your blood types, by the way?” He asked.
“B-” Twilight responded
“B-” Applejack said
“A+” Fluttershy mumbled.
Gear looked at Fluttershy pityingly. Not only was this entire ordeal getting to her, she wasn’t immune and would likely turn if exposed. He took a step away from her. “I should probably get washed off now.” He said. Twilight nodded and pointed at a nearby shower. Gear nodded and walked over to turn it on. There was a sudden loud noise like breaking glass coming from the hallway. “Stay here!” He told the three mares. He abandoned the shower and rushed out into the hallway, infected ponies had smashed through the glass doors and were advancing down the hallway, several ponies armed with knives and weapons he’d sold them were attempting to fight them off. Gear rushed forward to join the defense. His first opponent was a white unicorn with a purple mane, she seemed familiar to him but he didn’t really have time to think about it when she was attempting to rip his face off with her teeth. He stabbed her up through the chin with his knife and finished her off with a downward stab to the top of the head.
He finished off three more in this way before he realized they would be overrun if he didn’t do something quick. He pulled out the shrapnel bomb and pulled out the safety mechanism. “Everypony get back!” He yelled out as he tossed it into the middle of the infected crowd. He ran back a ways and turned to watch. Nothing happened for a moment making him wonder if it wasn’t going to work. Suddenly, a huge explosion ripped through the advancing infected, blowing a fair chunk of them to pieces and causing the ceiling to collapse, blocking the doorway. The few infected who were left were quickly dispatched by the defense. Gear sighed in relief and slipped the knife into his bandolier.
The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the bodies and reinforcing the other two doors with everything they could spare, including some of the corpses. Gear was finally able to take a shower and it felt great.
Day 12
Gear was awoken by Twilight, she and Applejack were the only two in the room. “Wha- oh, uh, what’s up?” He asked tiredly
“We wanted to go out and find Pinkiepie and Rainbowdash. We were hoping you’d come along since Fluttershy can’t.” Twilight said. He sat up straight and rubbed his eyes.
“Sure. I’ll go.” He said. Twilight sighed in relief as he spoke.
“Good, I’ll warp us over to Sugar Cube corner first.” She said. Gear nodded and stood, drawing his knife so he’d be ready for anything. Applejack pulled out her revolver as well. There was a flash of light and they were suddenly in a bakery.
He could hear somepony talking above them, but it was muffled and difficult to hear. It was quiet outside as most of the infected were most likely gathered around the hospital, trying to get in. He motioned for them to follow him up the stairs. As he got closer to the top, he began to be able to understand what whoever was talking was saying.
“Well of course you can have more tea! I made lots so we can all have as much as we want! What’s that? Yes you may Twilight, here’s the cake!” Gear frowned and looked back at Twilight. She seemed worried. He opened a door to reveal a room, covered from top to bottom in blood. In the center was a table with three corpses in chairs and four objects positioned around the table like a morbid party. At the head of the table sat a pink pony with a crazed expression on her face, her hair was completely straight and going straight down, blood was spattered all over her face and body. She was currently chopping up somepony’s leg with a cleaver while staring straight ahead, a tea kettle nearby was filled with blood, as were all the tea cups at the table. Guts were piled in the center in a shape that resembled a cake. Gear almost threw up.
“Oh my Celestia! What the buck!” Applejack yelped in surprise. Twilight turned and vomited on the ground. Pinkie looked over at them.
“You’re just in time! I was serving the cake! Mr and Mrs Cake and Rainbowdash and I have been waiting!” She stood and pushed a sack of flour off of a stool onto the floor and did the same with a pile of rocks. “Sit! SIT! What’s that Rainbowdash? *Gasps* they’re not?!” She turned to them with a look of anger. “You’re not my friends! You’re those things!” She yelled at them. Gear shoved Applejack and Twilight out of the room.
“Go! I’ll take care of this! She’s gone insane.” He said. He shut the door behind him and pulled out his knife.
“What did you do with my friends?!” Pinkie screamed at him as she lunged with the cleaver. Gear lunged with his own knife and caught her between the eyes, her meat cleaver, however, continued forward and sliced a fair sized chunk out of his shoulder. He gasped in pain and stepped back as Pinkie fell to the floor. “What… did you do… to my… friends…” She muttered before laying still. Gear pulled the knife out of her head and shut her eyes. He noticed a fire axe nearby and picked it up, placing attaching it to his bandolier for future use.
Outside he found Twilight in shock and Applejack trying to comfort her with a haunted expression. “We need to go, Twilight, are you well enough to warp us out of here?” He asked. She nodded slowly and in a flash, they were back in the hospital room they had started in.