Day 1

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I stepped lightly, wincing whenever the gravel crunched underneath my boots. My winchester was gripped tightly in both hands, loaded and ready to fire. The contents of my coyote pack, a revolver and some ammunition, rustled as I continued toward Berezino. My goal was to find some medical supplies, and hopefully some food.

Getting into town, I headed straight for the closest supermarket, running into a few stray zeds on the way there. Luckily, my Winchester wasn't a very loud weapon, so I was able to shoot a couple in the head and get by without pissing off the rest. The place had a good deal of the bastards, so I had to stop a few times before I finally reached the store. Checking the windows, I wasn't really surprised to see they were broken. I could see my face reflected in some of the larger shards, black hair and emerald green eyes staring back at me from a face that didn't really belong in this hell, because it looked too normal.

Climbing through the hole, I relaxed my grip on the Winchester and looked around. The place had been searched alright, but whoever searched it had been in a hurry. Taking my time, I found a good deal of canned food and water bottles laying around, though some had been crushed or emptied. Picking up a can of sardines, I scrunched up my nose in disgust, but I couldn't afford to be picky.

Taking a few cans of various food and a few water bottles, I stuffed them in my bag next to my revolver. Thinking ahead, I checked my canteen to see if it had any water. When I found it didn't, I picked up another water bottle and emptied its contents into the container. Twisting the cap back on, I looked around for anything else that could be useful. My eyes lit up when I spotted an instantly recognizable can. Growing hopeful, I picked it up, delighted when I found it hadn't been opened.

"I can't remember the last time I had soda," I said, listening to the fizz as I opened it. Drinking it slowly so I could savor it, I stepped back out of the store and started to head for the hospital, stopping whenever I came across any zeds in my way. There were a couple close calls, and I had to use an empty soda can that I had found on the ground to lure the zed away from my hiding spot one time.

By the time I finally reached the hospital, it was around five o'clock, though I wasn't sure since I didn't have a watch. Stepping through another broken window, I made my way through the rooms, taking sips of my soda as I searched through cupboards and drawers. I managed to find a few bandages, some painkillers, a morphine auto-injector, and surprisingly some antibiotics. I saw a few blood bags on my way through, but they were useless since I didn't have any companions. Finishing off my soda, I placed the empty can in one of my pockets, knowing that it could be a useful distraction for zeds.

Running out of room to store my loot, I decided to go through one of the apartment complexes nearby to check for ammo for my Winchester and revolver. Making my way past groups of zeds, I had to hide a few times when the groups were too large to try and take on by myself, but I managed to make it to the complex without any major problems.

I was about to open the door when I heard a gunshot. It was loud enough that there was no way the zeds couldn't hear it. Diving to the side out of reflex, I landed in a bush and froze. The sound of footsteps reached my ears, and I turned my head to see a swarm of zeds storming into the apartments. More gunshots went off, though not as loud this time. When the stream of zombies stopped and I couldn't hear any more gunshots, I got to my knees and made my way inside, making the least amount of noise possible.

There was no telling whether the owner of the gun had won, or if the zeds did. Climbing up a set of stairs that was covered with the bodies of zeds, I started walking down a hallway with rooms on each side. Suddenly, I heard whispering coming from one of the rooms, so I pulled out my winchester in preparation. Peeking around the side of the door, I saw a bandit crouched next to a dead survivor, going through his bag and pulling out cans of food and other valuable resources. I ground my teeth and tightened my fists. Bandits pissed me off with the way they didn't give a shit about others, opting to kill on sight and loot the corpse.

"Fucking zombies," the bandit muttered, not noticing me as I took careful aim. I pulled the trigger, ending his life just as he ended the lives of god knows how many others.

"It's not enough that we have the dead to worry about," I said. "We have to worry about people who are willing to kill you on sight if it means that they survive."

Hiding the bodies to ensure nobody could get their gear, I searched through the room for ammunition. Luckily, some of the citizens in Berezino had been gun nuts, and I found a good deal of Winchester and revolver ammo. Stuffing as much as I could into my pockets and backpack, I exited the building and headed for the forest. Thankfully there were less zeds than when I had made my way into town. I was just passing by a broken down car when I heard a sniffle.

I instantly snapped to attention, pointing my Winchester at the rear driver's side window. The sniffling continued, and I hesitantly reached out a hand to open the door. Throwing the door open, my Winchester dropped from my hands as I gasped in shock. Laying on the floor in front of the seat was something that seemed like it belonged in a cartoon. Judging by its height and shape, I was guessing it was a pony, because you would have a very hard time fitting a horse into a car.

She (and I say she because the features pointed her out to be a mare) was shivering in fear, looking at me through what appeared to be a pair of shades. Her mane, comprised of cobalt blue and cyan stripes, was disheveled, as if she had been sleeping in the car. The part that struck me as the most strange was the horn sticking out of her head. There was no way that unicorns existed, but yet here was one sitting in the car in front of me.

"Um, are you okay?" I asked, taking a tentative step forward. The pony crawled back, trying to stay away from me, but she did look slightly less afraid.

"It's okay," I whispered, hoping that I was using a comforting tone. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're not one of them, are you?" she asked quietly, sending the rational part of my brain for a tailspin.

"You can talk?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Yeah, now are you going to answer my question?" she asked, a little bit louder than her previous words.

"What do you mean, 'them'?"

"Those monsters that are walking around everywhere."

"No, I'm not one of them," I said. I reached my hand toward her, and she recoiled at first, but after a a few seconds she somehow grabbed my hand with her hoof and hauled herself out. I noticed that she had some sort of tattoo on each side or her flank. It looked to me like a backwards musical note, a double quaver if I remembered correctly.

"Do you have a name?" I asked, looking away from the tattoos.

"Vinyl Scratch."

"That's a nice name." I crouched down in front of her, my Winchester slung over my shoulder. "I'm David. Now we should probably get out of here. Come on, if we can get back to my camp in time, I can try cooking us some food." She seemed to like that idea, because no sooner had I started walking than I heard her walking beside me.

My campsite wasn't particularly close to Berezino, but I found that it was safer to be as far away as possible from towns. The spot I chose was luckily far enough so that the walkers weren't attracted when I lit a fire. The terrain itself wasn't very bad, mostly smooth with a few hills that we had to trudge over. In the hour it took to finally get within view of my tent, Vinyl was panting slightly, probably due to lack of energy. I sped up my pace a little, smiling as Vinyl tried to maneuver through the bushes that littered the area.

"Well, here we are," I said, sitting down next to the empty fireplace.

"Why do you live all the way out here?" Vinyl asked.

"The forest is really the only thing close to a safe haven these days, what with those walkers in the towns and cities," I replied, lighting up a fire and bringing out the food that I had.

"Where are we anyway?"

"We are in Chernarus, and the town we just left was Berezino. Place got hit by some sort of virus that turns everyone into fucking monsters." I scowled, remembering how my hometown of Elektro had been in the first few weeks. "May I ask how you got here?" She nodded and started recalling what had happened.

Apparently, she was a well known DJ (which kind of explained the shades and the name) where she came from, going by the alias DJ PON-3. She had been working at a club when another unicorn named Twilight Sparkle (I had to stifle a chuckle at the name because of how odd I thought it was) showed up with a few friends and started drinking, a lot. By the time she was done, Twilight could barely stand up. She had then offered to use a spell to increase the power on Vinyl's speakers. Vinyl had denied the offer, knowing that magic and alcohol don't mix well, but the persistent unicorn wouldn't take no for an answer. She cast it anyway, and the spell ended up sending Vinyl to Chernarus, where she hid in a car after being chased by zeds.

"Is there any way of getting back?" I asked, not particularly keen on letting this pony live in this hell.

"I don't know," Vinyl replied, shrugging. "Twilight might be able to think of something, when she sobers up that is."
I nodded, knowing that being drunk could seriously fuck up your train of thought. I had been quite the heavy drinker before the outbreak, which is one of the reasons that I'm surprised I'm alive today.

"So, what do you want to eat? I have pasta and beans, and I doubt you would like any form of meat."

"Yeah, no meat." She thought for a moment. "I guess I'll just have some pasta." Grabbing a pot out of my tent, I poured some water in it and set it over the fire, waiting for it to boil. Reaching back into the tent, I grabbed a piece of meat that I had cut off from a cow I had killed. I noticed Vinyl gag at the sight, so I hastily put it back.

"Sorry, I'll wait until you're taken care of." She tried to say something, but I shushed her with a finger, pouring in the can of pasta and stirring it with a spoon I had 'borrowed' from a house. We were both quiet as I let Vinyl eat, watching in curiosity as she used magic to levitate the bowl and spoon. She ate pretty fast, and soon the pot was empty

"Feeling better?" I asked when she finished, taking the bowl and spoon and setting them in the tent.

"Yeah," she replied, "thanks David."

"No problem. There's a blanket in the tent if you're tired." I had noticed her yawning, and I could only imagine how much sleep she had lost from the shock of being in this place. Yawning again in reply, she headed into the tent and I could hear her getting under the blanket.

I waited a few minutes to make sure she was asleep, then grabbed the piece of meat again. Popping it into the pot, I cooked it until it was as ready as it would ever be. Thankfully the leftover residue from the pasta gave the usually bland meat a bit of flavor, so I didn't feel like I was chewing on cardboard for a change, though I really wished that I had some salt. Eating it as I went, I got up and checked the forest around me, looking for any signs of other survivors or animals. The few bear traps I had set up had not been activated, and I almost stepped on one when I went to check them.

Assured that the area was clear, I decided to head back to Berezino while I could. Putting most of the supplies I had gathered into the tent, I jogged the hour long walk to Berezino. When I got there, I was hyperventilating slightly, but thankfully I had been athletic before the outbreak, so I had a large bit of stamina. I wanted nothing more than to take a nap at that moment, but it would have to wait.

Heading for the supermarket again, I dodged past zeds and shot those that didn't provide me any other options. I quickly gathered more food, mostly pasta and beans for Vinyl, and jogged in the direction of the apartments, slowing down whenever I spotted any zeds. The place was devoid of life except for flies, which buzzed annoyingly around the corpses of the zeds and survivors alike. Speeding through rooms, I found plenty of ammunition for my weapons, and even managed to find a map. I took it, even though it wouldn't be much use to since I can't tell exactly on a map where I am.

Stepping back outside, I froze when I saw a motorbike sitting next to a wall. Looking around, I cautiously walked over to it and looked it over. It was in perfect condition, and had a few jerry cans of fuel to go with it.

"Stop right there!" someone snapped. Instinctively, I threw my hands in the air.

"Turn around," the person demanded. Going slowly, I turned to face a man around my own age, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, wielding an M1911 and pointing it at my skull. "Are you friendly?" he asked.

"What?"

"I said, 'Are you friendly?'"

"Yes, I was just getting supplies when I saw your motorbike." Stepping around me, the man looked through the equipment on the motorbike, sighing in relief when he found it all there.

"Sorry, just can't be too sure anymore," he said, lowering his pistol and offering his hand.

"I understand," I replied, "I would've done the same."

"My name is Dmitri."

"I'm David. Where are you heading?"

"Airstrip near Krasnostav. Hoping to find some good gear while I'm up there."

"Good luck with that, and if you don't find what you need, you can always search Krasnostav or come back to Berezino."

"Yeah, this place has decent supplies, but I want one of the bigger guns that the airstrip might have."

"Okay, well like I said, good luck."

"You too David, it was very nice to meet you," Dmitri said, getting onto his motorbike. "Maybe we'll see each other again."

"Maybe we will," I replied, waving as he revved it up and drove away. By the time the walkers reached the spot where he drove away, I was already on my way back to the camp, cans of food and ammunition weighing me down. It took me about forty five minutes to get back since I was jogging. Vinyl was still asleep in the tent, so I counted myself lucky. If she had woken up to find me missing, there's no telling what she would've done.

Putting my new supplies in the tent, I sat next to the fire for a while, watching as the sky turned from blue to black as it switched from day to night. Chernarus was a bit chilly at nighttime, so I always tried to be back at my campsite before then, so that I don't risk getting a cold. The worst thing that could happen to a survivor was an infection, signaled by coughing that could potentially infect others. Luckily, I was more of a loner, so I didn't have to worry as much.

As I sat there, my mind wandered back to before the start of the infection. In those days, Chernarus had been a much better place to live in, with friendly neighbors and plenty of wilderness to explore. These days, neighbors were considered enemies until proven friendly, and the wilderness is where you had to live if you wanted any kind of peace.

I remembered the first few weeks of the outbreak, mass hysteria and people dying all over the place, turning into undead monsters that people began to call zeds. They kill any survivor they see, and once your dead, you come back as one of them. When it started, I had been living in Elektro, while my parents resided in Berezino. My first priority had been to make sure they were okay, but all I found when I got here was an army of undead monsters. I had lost most of my hope at that point, but I was still determined to survive. I gathered supplies, weapons and ammo, and anything else I would need to survive.

It's been almost a year now, and I'm still alive, scavenging from towns and cities all over the place, but I always come back here. It's like something draws me back toward Berezino, though I'm not sure if it's the general lack of bandits and other survivors, or the hope that my parents may still be out there, trying to survive like me.

Breathing a deep sigh, I decided to check my traps one last time before turning in for the night. Most of them were empty, though the last one I checked had managed to snag a rabbit. Gutting it with a hunting knife that I had found a few months ago, I put the small amount of meat in my coyote pack and headed back for the camp.

Peeking into the tent, I saw Vinyl sleeping soundly with her shades resting next to her. She was an obvious blanket hog because it was wrapped around her like a cocoon. Chuckling a bit to myself, I pulled my head back out and went to stomp out the fire. There was still a bit of burnable fuel left, so I wouldn't need to get as much wood as I usually had to every night. Walking around, I gathered up some sticks and chunks of wood for a fire tomorrow, opting to do it now rather than wait until the last minute.

Setting up a little pile next to the fire pit, I yawned and walked over to the tent, kicking off my boots as I did so. Crawling inside, I made the least amount of noise that I possibly could so I wouldn't wake Vinyl. When she didn't stir, I took off my coyote pack and set it in the corner, along with my winchester and revolver. Reaching into the pack, I grabbed a spare blanket and draped it over myself, thankful for the bit of warmth that it gave me.

I almost jumped when I felt Vinyl touch my arm. Looking over, I saw her mumbling in her sleep and wrapping her forelegs around my arm, hugging it closer to her. I smiled and left my arm where it was, knowing how easy it could be to wake someone when you remove something that they're clutching. I myself was a light sleeper, which is a definite advantage in this hell. Being able to wake up quickly can be the difference between life and death. Thinking about sleep was only making me more tired, and my eyes started to grow heavy as I looked at the ceiling of the tent. Letting them droop, I fell asleep with Vinyl still clinging to my arm.

Day 2

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They say dreams mean something. If that's true, then what does seeing your parents get mauled by undead monsters mean? I've been having the same dream for the past month, and frankly I'm of sick of it.

When the horror of it finally made me jolt awake, I found that Vinyl was still clinging to my arm. Carefully moving one of her forelegs, I pried my arm loose and poked my head outside to look around. It was early morning, and the sun was barely poking over the horizon. Pulling my head back into the tent, I reached over and gently shook Vinyl's shoulder, trying to get her to wake up.

"Five more minutes," she groaned, turning over and pulling the blanket up.

"Come on Vinyl, wake up," I said, shaking her shoulder again.

"Fine." She yawned and opened her eyes, revealing them to be a bright red that I actually liked. Putting on her shades again, she started looking around.

"What do you need?" I asked, getting up and grabbing my boots from outside.

"Do you have a comb?" she asked. In response, I pointed to my coyote pack. Just because it was the apocalypse did not mean you should stop caring for yourself. Pulling my boots on, I crawled outside and stood up, popping my back and knuckles as I did so. I reached back in, grabbing my winchester and revolver while I waited for Vinyl to finish combing her mane and tail. When she was done, she levitated the comb back into the pack, then levitated the pack to me. I grabbed it from the air and made sure it had everything I would need. I put a few of the medical supplies I had gathered in there as well, just in case.Stashing a few cans of food and water bottles in it as well (you never know how long you're going to be gone), I made sure to leave room for anything useful we might find.

"So what are we going to do now?" Vinyl asked.

"We're going to head into Berezino again. Going to look for a vehicle and, if we can, repair it." I had gotten the idea from Dmitri, thinking of how easy it would be to drive back to camp rather than walk or jog the whole way.

"Okay, what do you need me to do?"

"You could levitate any replacement parts for the vehicle if I run out of room to carry them"

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Good. Now, while we're there, I want you to stick close to me at all times, understand?" I said.

"Got it." she replied, giving me a sarcastic salute that made me chuckle. Making sure my weapons were loaded and double checking my supplies to make sure I had enough, I started heading for Berezino again, Vinyl close on my heels now that she was well rested.

"Think you're rested enough to jog?" I asked. She smirked and ran ahead of me in reply. I took off after her, barely managing to keep up. "No fair!" I shouted. "You have four legs!"

"Should've thought about that before you asked!" she called back, laughing as she stayed ahead of me. At the pace we went, we cut the travel time from an hour to thirty minutes, though we were both breathing hard when we got there.

"Remind me," I gasped for air, "to never run the entire trip ever again."

"Gotcha," Vinyl replied, breathing a little easier than I was. When we caught our breath again, I started into my usual routine for going through towns, generally sticking close to buildings, walls, and any bushes or trees that I could find. Vinyl stuck close to me, just as I had asked, but I could see her tilt her head in the direction of the zeds that we passed.

Berezino was a large town, and the warehouses we would need to search for parts were located near the coast to the northeast, a good deal away from the hospital and supermarket that I had raided yesterday. We hadn't even gotten far into town when I spotted a set of tire tracks. I scanned the road, looking for any zeds that might spot me. I could only see a pair of them, but they were too interested with an unlucky corpse to notice me, so I stalked forward and inspected the tracks. They were fresh, and they seemed to point in the direction of the warehouses.

"Maybe we're in luck," I said, getting back into cover.

"What makes you say that?"

"Those tracks look like they're pointing up the road toward the warehouses. Maybe the driver needs new parts." Getting hopeful, I sped up our pace a bit, eager to get there before the vehicle's owner had time to get the parts, fix the car, and drive away. Judging by the tracks, I would say that they had driven through about ten minutes before we got here, so they'd likely be searching for parts or fuel. Our advance to the warehouses was only impeded once, but it was a road full of fucking zeds, and they were heading northeast.

"That can't be good," I muttered, finger near the trigger of my winchester. Seeing as how they were heading the same direction we were, I decided to follow them and see what alerted them. The going was slow, as zeds don't move very fast until they get pissed off. These guys were just investigating, looking for the source of some disturbance.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Vinyl asked, looking up at me as we moved along.

"Not one bit," I whispered. "I think these guys may have heard the car, and are going to investigate." One of the bastards must have heard me, because he paused and turned toward us with a groan. I quickly dropped to the ground and locked my sights on his chest, finger on the trigger. Vinyl dropped as well, though it looked kind of strange to see a pony with her legs splayed out like that. The zed looked around, groaning a bit before turning around and continuing with the horde.

"That was too close." I got back up to a crouching position and continued after them, staying a little farther back this time. Eventually, the zeds began to slow and disperse, going back to their usual routine of wandering aimlessly. They must have lost interest, which wasn't really surprising. I've gotten rid of zeds tailing me simply by running around a corner and hiding in a bush before.

A gap opened up in the horde, allowing Vinyl and I to slip past undetected. We were sneaking for what seemed like hours, dodging behind houses and into bushes whenever a zed got too close. It was worth it though, because we rounded a corner right into the vehicle I never expected to find. Sitting in front of us was a GAZ, and if it wasn't for the horde of zeds nearby, I would've shouted for joy. Instead, I hurried to the driver's door and pulled it open to take a look inside.

"This thing has been cleaned out, and recently," I said, finding not so much as a toothpick.

"Maybe whoever drove it here took it all," Vinyl suggested.

I shook my head, doubtful. "Why didn't they just keep driving?" I soon found the answer, in the form of a fucked up engine and no fuel. "We're going to need quite a few parts to fix the engine, then hopefully we can find some fuel nearby." I closed the door and looked around, checking for a clear path to the warehouses. A shape in the tower of the church caught my eye, followed by a flash of fire.

"FUCK! GET DOWN!" I shouted, tackling Vinyl to the ground. A rocket roared over our heads, barely missing the car and hitting the ground about fifteen yards away. The resulting explosion made my ears ring and sent shrapnel slicing through the air. Unfortunately, one of the pieces hit my leg, going in deep before stopping. I couldn't even yell, seeing as how it took all my willpower to avoid blacking out from the pain. I could see zeds turning toward us and running. Clenching my teeth, I moved into a sitting position and pulled out my winchester. Vinyl huddled next to me, frozen from the shock of the explosion.

My finger started tightening on the trigger when the closest zed's head exploded, sending a bit of blood and guts onto my shirt, shocking me into dropping the winchester. One by one, the zeds started dying, going out in bloody sprays as their heads exploded. When my ears stopped ringing, I began registering a loud crack that accompanied the exploding skulls. I stared in surprise as the number of zeds quickly thinned until there was nothing left but headless corpses. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I pulled myself up to a stand and looked at my leg.

The sight made my stomach churn. A piece of jagged metal was lodged in my thigh, and it was already bleeding like crazy. Reaching into my bag, I retrieved the roll of gauze that I had grabbed from my tent. Setting it on the hood of the GAZ, I gripped the piece of metal and pulled, struggling not to scream.

"David, are you okay?" I looked over to see Vinyl inspecting my leg, her expression hard to read with her shades covering her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine if I can get this out of my leg and bandage myself up," I replied, putting on a fake smirk as I yanked again, managing to get it most of the way out. Hissing through my clenched teeth, I glanced up at the church tower, noticing the lack of the shape I had seen.

'Probably only had one rocket,' I though, pulling on the shard and finally getting it out. My vision was starting to fade, but a quick slap of the face woke me up long enough so I could wrap the injury in gauze.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Vinyl asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I replied, though from the look on her face she could tell I was lying. With my leg bandaged and my head a little clearer, I picked up my winchester and scowled in the direction of the church, ready to give the rocket firing asshole a piece of my mind, and maybe a bullet to the forehead. Making sure my gun was loaded, I marched over to the church and took cover next to the door.

"You stay out here," I said, making sure Vinyl understood by pointing.

"But-" she said, taking a step forward.

"No! No buts." I snapped, startling her. "I don't want you getting hurt." Without waiting for a reply, I pulled a SWAT turn and stepped into the building. Taking careful steps, I maneuvered toward the ladder leading to the tower.

"Come out, asshole!" I shouted. I heard some shuffling, and a man stood from behind the front row of seats. His body was covered in a ghillie suit, and I could see an SVD Camo protruding above his head. His hands were raised, and his legs were shaking slightly. Eying him warily, I looked him over, noticing the slight way that his right leg shook less than his left, meaning that it bore more of his weight. When he made no moves, I edged forward a couple steps, still aiming at his forehead.

"Are you the bitch who shot that rocket?" I asked. He shook his head and reached down, stopping when I tensed up. Continuing, he pulled a corpse from behind the seats, a bandit with a rocket launcher slung across his back, a bullet hole painfully evident in his head.

"You were the one shooting the zeds, weren't you?" The man nodded. "Do you have a name?"

"Martin," he said, barely loud enough for me to hear him.

"Well Martin, thanks for saving our asses."

"Not a problem. You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?" I reached into my bag and tossed him a can of beans. I was reaching in to grab the spoon when I heard him pop the lid. When I looked back, he had the can turned upside down and was eating the beans as fast as he could.

"Jesus man, when was the last time you ate?" I asked, watching as he sighed and dropped the can.

"About five days ago."

"God, I'm surprised you can stand. Come on, we can give you a ride anywhere you want once we fix up the GAZ."

"Do you think I might be able to stay with you two?" he asked timidly, looking at me through a pair of glasses.

"Sure," I said, giving in to the helpless stare, "we could always use more help." Limping back outside, I had a bit of explaining to do when he spotted Vinyl. He didn't react as I thought he would, being only mildly surprised at her presence. Ignoring it, I introduced him to her and explained the situation. With that out of the way, I led the way to the warehouses. Martin was surprisingly helpful, albeit a little distant. The engine parts and fuel were relatively easy, but some of the rocket shrapnel had hit a tire, and it took Martin and I both to carry the replacement since we couldn't move it very far individually, what with my fucked up leg and his lack of energy. Together, along with a bit of Vinyl's magic, we managed to get the GAZ back into working condition with enough fuel to go a long way.

"Too bad this thing is total shit off road," I said, admiring our accomplishment.

"Yeah, but it's better than walking," Martin whispered, wiping sweat off his brow.

"What are we waiting for?" Vinyl asked. "Lets get out of this place!"

"Good idea," I replied, getting in the driver's seat and turning the key. The engine roared to life, and I smirked as I shifted it into gear and drove us back toward the camp site, making a lot of zed pancakes on the way.

"So, Martin, where you from?" I asked. "You're sure as hell not Russian."

"I could say the same to you," he replied.

"Touche, smartass. I was born here, but I don't have the accent. So where are you from?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Ah, brings up bad memories or something?"

"No, I just don't want to talk about it."

"Okay then."

We spent the rest of the drive , which ended up being around maybe half an hour, in a particularly awkward silence. It would've lasted longer had I not stuck to the roads until we had to drive through the grass and dirt. The reason I avoided off road driving as much as I could is because the GAZ is not exactly a tough vehicle. Anyway, we reached the camp with a good deal of daylight left, so we had an opportunity to just relax for once. Stashing the car in a few trees with a tarp thrown over it for good measure, I showed Martin our camp and sat down to take the weight off my leg. Martin, in the meantime, immediately pulled some supplies out of his own pack and began building a tent. Vinyl rested next to me, laying down with her legs bent inward so they rested underneath her chest.

"God, my leg hurts like a bitch," I said, reaching into the tent to grab a bottle of painkillers.

"Just change the gauze every so often and make sure the wound is clean," Martin said, pulling back the hood of his ghillie suit. "You should be fine."

"I'm just lucky it missed the artery." The artery was on the inside of the leg, and the piece of metal had hit me on the opposite side. I would lose a lot of blood, but I would survive as long as I took care of it. Popping one of the painkillers in my mouth, I swallowed it with the help of some water.

"I'm glad we got out of there alive," Vinyl said.

"Yeah, though we'd probably be dead if Martin hadn't been there."

"It was nothing, don't mention it." Martin said, still working on his tent and occasionally jerking his head back to get his long hair out of the way. My hair was cropped short, making it a lot harder to grab. If a zed managed to get hold of Martin's hair, he'd be done for.

"No, it wasn't nothing. You saved our lives," Vinyl insisted, making Martin's cheeks redden, though I don't think she noticed because she had tilted her head toward the sky.

"Where did you get the SVD anyway?" I asked.

"Found it around a month ago, along with a ton of ammo," Martin replied. "I think someone had been stockpiling it, but I never found any sign of a survivor."

"Maybe one of the soldiers left it there on accident. It's a good thing you're a crack shot with that thing."

"Yeah, I used to hunt a lot with scoped rifles. Turns out it came in handy."

"I can imagine. I'm a decent shot with a sniper, but I can't do long ranges worth shit, so I just stick with my winchester."

"Yeah, they're reliable guns. Pretty common around here too from what I've seen."

"It's rare that you'll find someone in Russia who doesn't own a gun," I said, chuckling as I remembered my parents, two perfect examples of gun nuts. I swear, they had more guns in one room than most people did in their whole house. When I first arrived at Berezino after the zeds showed up, the guns in my parents house were all gone, most likely taken by bandits. I never found any bodies, or blood for that matter.

"So what's next?" Vinyl asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. For now lets just relax."

It was quiet for a moment, then Martin stopped what he was doing and looked around. "Something smells like smoke," he said.

"Don't be paranoid, it's probably just the fire pit," I said, pointing at it, though now I was starting to smell it as well. What was odd was that the smell seemed to emanate from my tent. Taking a peek, I was surprised to find a pair of headphones and a roll of paper sitting on Vinyl's blanket.

"Hey Vinyl," I said, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"You don't happen to own a pair of headphones, do you?"

"Of course I do, I'm a DJ. Why?"

"Would this happen to be them?" I knew they were, even before I handed them to her, because of the engravings that matched the mark on her flank.

"What the? How did you get these?" she asked, turning them around and looking them over. Lifting her shades to get a better look, I was surprised to see her eyes were magenta.

"What's wrong?" Apparently I had been staring.

"Your eyes changed color," I said. "They were crimson this morning."

"Oh, that's because of the spell I put on my shades. Keeps them from getting scratched or broken but the side effect messes with my eye color. It wears off after a few minutes of having them off."

"That explains it. As for how I got your headphones, they were in the tent, along with this." I tossed her the note, which she easily caught with her magic. Opening it, I could see her eyes scanning back and forth across the page.

"It's a letter from Twilight," she said, levitating it over to me. Stifling another chuckle at the absurd name, I grabbed the page and flipped it over to read it.

Dear Vinyl Scratch,

I'm so sorry for what I did. I should've known better than to start drinking like that, but Rainbow Dash convinced me to try it. I'm currently trying to trace the spell I cast to find where it sent you, but for now I'm only able to send you this message. If you get this, know that I am doing my best to fix my mistake and bring you back.

Your accidental teleporter,

Twilight Sparkle

PS: Sorry for the smell of smoke, I had to get a little help from Spike to send this.

PPS: Spike accidentally transported your headphones earlier, and they didn't appear to the princess. I hope they made it to you and not somewhere else.

"Well, she certainly knows when she fucked up," I said, handing the note over to Martin.

"Yeah, but at least now I can listen to my music," Vinyl replied. I was about to ask how, but she clamped the headphones over her ears and I could hear the faintly recognizable beat of techno music.

'Headphones powered by magic?' I thought, scratching my neck absently. With her music restored to her, Vinyl seemed a lot more relaxed, kicking back and closing her eyes while she bobbed her head to whatever song she was listening to. Shrugging it off, I hummed to myself to take my mind off the events that had transpired so far. My thoughts ended up turning back to the note. It was obvious that Twilight was distraught about what she had done, so she would be doing everything in her power to bring Vinyl back.

I found myself wondering what it was like where Vinyl lived. Wherever it was, it was probably far better than the hellhole she currently sat in, listening to music as if it was just a normal day. No one there had probably even heard of a zed, let alone killed one. Judging from Vinyl's reactions to the rocket and my Winchester, I figured that the ponies didn't even have guns or explosives. I envied them to be honest, being able to live their lives free of the kind of war and destruction that we humans go through.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my leg.

"You wanna listen?" Vinyl asked, levitating her headphones in front of me.

I shrugged. "Sure, why not." Taking them, I adjusted them until they fit snugly over my ears. The instant I put them on, a song started playing. It started off slow, then got faster and louder. By the time the song was over, my ears seemed to vibrate from the bass.

"Real nice," I said, taking them off to let my ears return to normal.

"Thanks, I composed it myself," Vinyl replied, smiling as she readjusted the headphones and slipped them on again. Looking over, I noticed Martin had finished setting up his tent. When I didn't see Martin himself, I took another look around until I spotted him walking away through the trees.

"Where are you going?" I asked, catching his attention.

"Oh, I just thought I'd go for a little walk," he replied, turning to face me.

"Okay, try not to get yourself killed."

"I'll be fine." He turned back around and continued walking, eventually passing out of my sight.

I checked my injury, taking in the blood soaked gauze that covered it. Pulling out the roll again, I undid the bandages to replace them. Earlier, I didn't really have a good chance to look at the injury, but without the gauze, I'm kind of glad I didn't. Where the shrapnel had hit was a huge gash, as if someone had taken a swing at my leg with a sword. I gagged at the sight, but I had more important things to do than get sick. Taking out my hunting knife, I cut away the parts of my pants that clung to the bloody gash. Luckily Vinyl wasn't paying attention, so she didn't have to see it. When that was done, I splashed some water onto it (which, for the record, stung like a son of a BITCH) and waited for it to dry a little. By the time I had wrapped the injury back up, a little over twenty minutes had passed since Martin started his walk.

---
1 hour later

I looked around, still waiting for Martin to get back.

"Where is that bastard?" I asked myself, checking every direction possible. I was about to give up when I heard a bell. Looking in the direction of the noise, I spotted Martin. He was riding a bicycle and laughing like a maniac.

"What the fuck has gotten into him!?" I said, taking a few steps in his direction. It was then that I noticed the horde of zeds chasing after him, around ten to fifteen of the freaks. He was a good deal ahead of them, so they didn't pose a real threat. I lost sight of him as he led the zeds over a hill.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Vinyl asked, standing next to me with her headphones around her neck.

The characteristic crack of a sniper rifle sounded. "Yeah, he'll be fine." A couple minutes later, Martin rode back over the hill and headed toward us.

"You're crazy, you know that?" I asked, chuckling slightly.

"Hey," he replied, panting slightly, "it's not my fault. A zed jumped me when I found this mountain bike, so I had to push him off and ride like hell. Good thing there were some bushes over that hill. All I had to do was hide in one then pick them off as they reached the top."

"You're just lucky that you had enough energy to go faster than them."

"Yeah, and they had some good stuff on them." He pulled out an item that made my eyes widen. "One of them used to be a soldier," he said. "I found this strapped to his belt." He handed me a PDW, along with ten clips to go with it.

"Wow," I said, "I haven't seen one of these in a long time."

"Me neither, though I saw something else that I need to go back and get."

"What could that be?"

"Oh, you'll see." Martin rode back the way he came, disappearing from sight again.

"He's funny," Vinyl said, walking over to the fire pit.

"Funny in the head maybe," I whispered, following her. Looking up at the sky, I was a bit alarmed to see that it was getting dark, but then I remembered it was getting close to winter, so there wasn't much daylight anymore. Walking around to the back of my tent, I retrieved a couple logs and carried them to the fire pit. Luckily I had some tinder leftover, so pretty soon a fire blazed to life, giving off much welcome heat. Cooking some pasta for Vinyl and beans for myself, we waited for Martin to return.

After about five minutes of sitting around and eating my meager dinner of beans, I saw one of Vinyl's ears twitch. A moment later, her horn glowed and I heard a thump.

"OW!" Martin stepped out from behind a tree, rubbing the back of his head. In the light of the fire, I could see a vague shape sticking out above his head.

"You're not sneaky," Vinyl replied, sticking her tongue out.

"How the hell did you know?"

"I could hear you." Martin looked at her in disbelief before grumbling and sitting down next to his own tent.

"So what was so important that you just had to have?" I asked, pointing my spoon at him.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." He reached around and pulled out a guitar.

"Where did you get that?"

"Uh, lets just say that a zed didn't really need it anymore." When he said that, I noticed the blood on the strap. I groaned and facepalmed.

"What? It will be of a lot more use to me than some undead freak."

"Can you even play?"

"Well DUH! Why else would I have taken it?" To prove his point, he played a piece that I recognized from one of my own favorite songs.

"Breaking Benjamin," I said, "Dance with the Devil."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I used to listen to it a lot."

"Breaking Benjamin?" Vinyl said, cocking her head. "I've never heard of them."

"I'm not surprised. Breaking Benjamin probably doesn't exist in your world." Martin continued to strum his guitar, playing different bits from different songs and throwing an occasional bit of his own flare into it.

"You hungry or anything?" I asked him when he finished.

"Nah, I had a can of beans while I was gone." Nodding, I grabbed the pots and stowed them back into the tent before crawling inside myself.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm tired as hell," I said, kicking off my boots.

"Yeah, I think I better get to sleep too," Martin said, setting his guitar down and taking off his ghillie suit. His normal clothes turned out to be a plain black hoodie and brown pants. Stomping out the fire, he picked his guitar back up and placed it in his tent. Kicking off his own boots, he crawled in himself, and soon I heard a light snoring sound coming from his tent.

Vinyl yawned and stepped into the tent, using her magic to take off her shades and get her blanket.

"Night David," she said, wrapping herself up and falling asleep. I sat there a few moments longer, thinking about the events of the day.

"I hope Twilight figures it out soon," I whispered. "This is no place for a pony." Yawning, I laid my head down and closed my eyes.

Day 3

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For the first time since the outbreak started, I managed to get some decent sleep. The reason I say decent is because I was still woken up. Thinking back to it, I kind of wish that a nightmare had woken me up instead.

---

"Fucking branches!" a voice swore, causing me to jolt awake. Snatching up my PDW, I stuffed my feet into my boots and crawled through the flap of my tent, scanning the area around me. Martin was there too, eying the scenery suspiciously with his SVD against his shoulder.

"FREEZE!" a new voice shouted. Grinding my teeth, I watched as two bandits came from the trees, both of them armed with M4A1s.

"Drop your weapons," the one on the left commanded in a thick Russian accent. Martin and I reluctantly complied, dropping our weapons and raising our hands.

"What's going on out here?" Vinyl asked. I turned my head to see her stepping out of the tent, rubbing her eyes wearily.

"What the fuck?" the man on the right said. "That looks like some child's cartoon!"

"Yeah," the man on the left agreed, "I think it's supposed to be a horse."

"What did you just call me?" Vinyl asked, cocking her head and glaring at him.

"You heard me you multicolored donkey."

"Okay, now you're messing with the wrong pony."

"What are you going to do? Shower us with rainbows and flowers like the little sissy unicorn you are?"

"That was not a good idea," I said, watching Vinyl's horn glow and ducking as a rock flashed in my direction.

"Son of a bitch!" the man on the right yelled, covering his left eye that had been hit by the rock. The same happened to the man on the left, and while he was stunned I lunged forward and grabbed his gun. Considering that he had just been hit in the eye by a flying projectile, the man didn't think to tighten his grip, so I easily wrenched it from his grasp and turned it on him. Looking to the side, I saw that Martin had done the same, now pointing the M4A1 at the bandit's head.

"Not so tough now, are you?" I snarled at the bandits.

"Actually," a voice said, causing me to turn around, "I'd say that we have you right where we want you." A third bandit had managed to sneak up on vinyl in the confusion and grab her. He had an arm wrapped around her throat and his free hand gripping her horn, threatening to tear it off while the other held a pistol pointed in our direction. Vinyl was panicking, her eyes darting around looking for a way to escape. The men behind us snickered and pulled out M1911s.

"DIE, SON OF BITCH!" There was a faint familiarity to the voice, but instead of trying to recognize it, I took the man's moment of confusion as an opportunity to turn and shoot the men behind us. With them taken care of, I turned around in time to see Dmitri strangling the third man with Vinyl standing off to the side with a confused look.

"Dmitri?" I said, shocked to find him here.

"Just a moment, comrade," he replied. "I am busy." Raising a fist, he punched the man in the face, breaking his nose.

"Thought you could escape me?" he yelled in the his ear. "You will regret ever being born!"

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Martin snapped, pushing Dmitri off of the man. The man gasped for air and took the cloth off his head, revealing a steady stream of blood coming from his nose.

"That man murdered my wife!" Dmitri growled, trying to get back to him.

"You should've heard that whore scream," the man wheezed, only enraging Dmitri further. Martin was barely able to hold him back.

"Why are you here?" I asked the man.

"We came to steal the keys to the GAZ," he replied, coughing up a bit of blood. "We didn't expect anyone to be here." I chuckled on the inside at his stupidity. Who would be stupid enough to leave the keys to a vehicle just lying around?

"Well, it looks like your mistake ended in the deaths of two people," I said.

"It's going to be three when I get my hands on him," Dmitri interrupted.

"Dmitri, calm down or we'll be forced to tie you up."

"I am perfectly calm!" he insisted, but I could tell he was lying from the way his hand kept twitching toward his back, where the easily identifiable shape of an M249 SAW LMG could be seen.

I looked back at the bandit, contemplating what to do with him. On one hand, he could have easily killed or seriously injured Vinyl. On the other, he and his friends had not known that we were here.

Making up my mind, I said, "Okay. Martin, let him go." Looking at me in disbelief, Martin did so. Dmitri stepped toward the injured man, who looked at me with a horrified expression.

"You're coming with me," Dmitri snarled, grabbing the man's shirt and lifting him off the ground.

"Vinyl, you might not want to hear this," I said. She took the hint and put on her headphones. Dmitri carried the frightened man far out of our sight, but the screams we heard were bloodcurdling. Martin and I carried the other two men far enough away so that we wouldn't have to smell the decay, and when we returned, so did Dmitri. He was breathing heavily, and I almost gagged when I saw specks of blood on one of his combat boots.

"I'm sorry about scaring you my friends," he said. "I had been following those three for a while."

"Then I'm guessing Krasnostav was a lie?"

"No, that was truth. Where do you think I found this?" He hefted the M249, thankfully keeping it pointed at the trees. "Now I have a question for you." he said. "How did you come across Vinyl Scratch?"

"You know her name?" I asked, very confused at the moment.

"Yes, it's not very hard to memorize the names of background ponies if you're a good brony."

"Brony?" Vinyl said. "Background ponies? What the hay are you talking about?"

"You are a character from a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I also know other characters such as Derpy Hooves, human-obsessed Lyra, Colgate, Carrot Top, Octavia Philharmonica, Caramel, etc."

"You lost me at the word brony," I said, even more confused.

"I'm surprised you've never heard about them," Dmitri said, sounding skeptical. "Bronies have been a topic on the news a couple times."

"Yeah well I don't really watch the news."

"If you really know about me, then can you name two events that I played at as a DJ?" Vinyl asked.

"You played at Rarity's first fashion show, which failed miserably, then you appeared after Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were married." From the way her jaw dropped, Dmitri must have been right. "Now, you never answered my question."

"I just found her in an abandoned car hiding from the zeds."

"Ah, and how did she get there?"

"Ask her." Dmitri looked at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for an answer. When she told him, he burst out laughing when she finished.

"I imagine that Celestia is not amused," he said, calming back down. "Twilight should know better than to listen to Rainbow Dash."

"Not meaning to be rude, but just who is Rainbow Dash?" I asked.

"A pegasus who thinks herself invincible at times," Dmitri replied, crossing his arms and smirking. "Personally, I like Applejack more than Rainbow Dash." He chuckled at my look of confusion and sat down next to the remains of last night's fire.

"Do you need a place to camp?" I asked, pushing the confusion away. He looked at me warily, as if he thought I was tricking him.

"Why not," he said finally. "Not like I have anywhere else to go." Grabbing his pack, he rummaged through the contents and pulled out the materials for a tent. With a speed that could only be achieved through years of practice, he set up his tent within a couple minutes.

"I'm guessing you've gone camping before?" Martin said, reminding me that he was still there.

"What? Oh yes, I have set up many tents in the past years. I used to climb mountains as a hobby."

"Really?" Vinyl asked, looking impressed.

"Yes, though I stopped about five years ago."

"Five years ago?" I said. "How old are you?" The reason I asked is because he looked to be in his twenties in my opinion.

"I am thirty-five years old," he replied. "Why? Do I look younger?"

"I thought you were in your twenties," I admitted.

"HA! So keeping fit does make you look younger."

"Guess so," Martin said, yawning.

"Still tired? You should not be using a gun if you're sleepy."

"I'm not tired," Martin insisted.

"Tell your lies to somebody who will believe them," Dmitri said. "If you're tired, go to sleep." Martin rolled his eyes and crawled back into his tent.

"Little harsh, don't you think?" I asked.

"Harsh?" Dmitri said, blinking in surprise. "Would you rather have his aim fall to shit because he can't keep his eyes open!?" I have to admit, I could see what he was saying, but I still think he could have been nicer about it.

"Fine, alright," I said. "What should we do now?"

"Well, I ran a bit low on supplies while I was following those three, so I was thinking of doing a bit of scavenging in Berezino."

"Do you need some help? I don't really have anything else to do."

"Sure!" Dmitri grinned. "Vinyl, you can come along too if you like."

"I think I'll just stay here with Martin," she said, yawning slightly.

"Got it," I said, walking over to Martin's tent. "Hey Martin!" I lifted the flap to see him groaning and rubbing his eyes.

"I thought you guys wanted me to get some sleep!" he complained.

"We do," I insisted. "I just wanted to tell you that Dmitri and I are heading to Berezino, and we're leaving Vinyl here with you."

"Okay, have fun." Turning over, he didn't take long to fall asleep again.

"Okay, Vinyl, we should be back in a few hours."

"Catch ya later," she said, crawling into my tent.

Dmitri hefted his pack back onto his shoulders and motioned me to hurry up. Tossing a couple water bottles and cans of food into my pack, I swung it over my shoulder and picked up one of the M4A1s, putting a few extra clips into my pockets. Before I was even ready, Dmitri started walking, heading in the direction of town. Quickly checking the bandages on my leg, I threw a few last minute supplies into my bag and limped after him.

"You are quite slow, comrade," he said, smirking at me.

"Did you not notice my fucking leg!?" I said, adjusting to the pace.

"Oh, I did, but that shouldn't stop you from being able to prepare yourself quickly."

"Oh shut up." Dmitri chuckled but didn't continue.

---

The walk lasted around the usual time, and we didn't encounter any trouble on the way there. When we entered the city, Dmitri suddenly stopped next to an abandoned car and looked around, taking in the scene. I was shocked when I saw what he was looking at. It looked like there had been a fight during the night, leaving a lot of dead bandits in the middle of the road, with a couple of them being gnawed by zeds.

"Looks to be around ten," Dmitri said, walking over to a bandit and yanking a fire axe out of his back.

"Jesus," I said, dumbstruck.

"I think this is the work of a group. No single man could have killed all these men." He was stating the obvious, but I didn't really want to say anything about it with that axe in his hand.

"Maybe there's a fort nearby," I said instead, remembering how other survivors had warned me a few times before to stay clear from bandit forts.

"Possibly." Hefting the axe, he walked over to a zed who was calmly enjoying her manwich, that is until he chopped her fucking head off, causing me to wince as her decapitated head rolled a couple feet along the ground.

"Why the fuck did you that!?" I asked in shock.

He looked at me in confusion. "Why?" he asked. "Would you rather have them continue attacking and killing people?"

"Well, no."

"Then there you have it." Hefting his axe again, he proceeded to kill the other zeds that had been attracted to the dead bandits.

With one last swing, the final zed's head was separated from its body, and Dmitri dropped the axe.

"Now, lets get some food and return before we're missed," he said, taking the lead.

As we passed through the town, we came across more signs of devastation.

"God, it looks like they just killed everything in their path," I said, looking at the scattered bodies of zeds riddled with bullet holes.

"They must have a good stash of ammo if they waste it so haphazardly," Dmitri mused, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked. The town was eerily quiet and empty without all the zeds, which actually scared me even more, and it only got worse as we got closer to the general store.

"Looks like they had the same idea as us," Dmitri said, looking in through a shattered window. The place was trashed with cans and bottles everywhere.

"They must have just grabbed everything they could carry," I said, picking up a water bottle that had been left behind. Dmitri was already busy, picking up cans and bottles that hadn't been opened and stashing them in his pack.

He was making a move to open a cabinet when we heard a voice.

"Why are we still here?" it asked, sounding annoyed.

"Because the boss said so," a second voice replied. "Trust me, I'm not happy about it either."

"But there's nothing to do!" the first voice complained. "We should just go back to the fort."

"You know the boss would get pissed. Besides, you didn't hear the other two complaining, did you?"

As the voices got closer to our location, I could hear their footsteps, gradually getting closer and closer.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Dmitri whispered, grinning as he pulled a hunting knife out of his boot and hid behind the shelf closest to the windows. As for myself, I opted to take cover behind the counter with my weapon sights trained on the windows. The bandits came into sight, both of them armed with shotguns. One of them must have spotted me, because he cursed in Russian and raised his weapon.

Dmitri was on them before they could react. He snatched the shotgun from the man who was aiming at me and swung it at his companion, hitting him in the side of the head. Shocked at seeing his friend taken down, the man didn't react fast enough to stop Dmitri from burying the knife in his throat. I watched on in disgust and horror as Dmitri withdrew his knife, watching the man clutch at his throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. When he finally went limp, Dmitri used the shotgun to finish off his friend, then dropped the weapon onto the blood-stained ground between them.

"That was a little overkill," I said, trying to avoid letting the sight of their bodies burn its image into my brain.

"It's what they deserve," Dmitri said. "They probably would have done much worse had they managed to capture us."

"Well," I said, deciding to change the subject, "it looks like I was right about the fort."

"Indeed, and maybe we can find out where if we find the other two bandits."

Fuck, I thought, wishing I hadn't said anything.

"Come, they can't be far." Wiping his knife clean on the jeans of one of the fallen bandits, he started walking. I swore under my breath as I followed him, hoping for the bandit's sake that we didn't find them.

---

Hoping for something not to happen seems to make it even more likely to occur, because we found the other two bandits after about an hour. Since they had their backs turned when we spotted them, it was all too simple for Dmitri to sneak up, relieve them of their weapons, and quickly force them to the ground.

"WHERE IS THE FORT!?" he shouted, putting pressure on their arms. which he had pinned in rather uncomfortable positions.

"WHAT!?" one of them shouted back in confusion, only to gasp in pain as Dmitri applied more pressure.

"Just tell us where the fort is," I said, crouching in front of them with my M4A1 in one hand.

"Don't you dare fucking tell them," the other bandit hissed, glaring daggers at his companion.

"But they'll kill us!" the first bandit whined, tears blurring his hazel eyes..

"If you tell them, I'll kill you!"

"That's not a very nice way to talk to your comrade," Dmitri said, smirking as he put much more pressure on the offender's arm. The guy must have been tough, because he didn't even wince.

"Dmitri, let him get up," I said, indicating the crying bandit. Dmitri readily complied, releasing his hold on him and shifting his weight onto the other bandit's back, giving him a better hold.

The bandit looked at me in surprise, then slowly got to his knees and rubbed his arm.

"You're not going to kill me?" he asked.

"Not if you tell us where it is," I replied.

He looked at the other bandit uneasily, then turned back to me. "It's at Krasnostav airstrip, situated mainly around the hangars and the control tower."

"You little son of a bitch," the other bandit growled, only to receive a punch to the face from Dmitri that resulted in a broken nose.

"Okay, you're free to go," I said. The bandit looked at me, still unsure if I was telling the truth. After a moment of awkward silence, he slowly got to his feet and ran away in the direction we had come from.

"Now we need to think of something to do about you," Dmitri said, smirking at the bandit he still had pinned.

"You're never gonna get me to talk," he snarled, his words slightly changed by his broken nose.

"Oh? Then perhaps we have no more need of you," I said, indicating for Dmitri to let him up. The second Dmitri got off of him, the man sprang to his feet and tried to pull a M1911 from his pocket.

Dmitri reacted fast, and there was a knife in his throat before he could even get a good grip on the pistol.

"Why must they always fight back?" Dmitri asked, looking the bandit in the eye.

"Fuck you," the bandit rasped, coughing up blood. Dmitri held the knife in his throat until he went limp, then pulled it out and wiped it clean on the part of the bandit's shirt that wasn't drenched in red.

"Now," Dmitri said, "let us get back to the camp."

"Sounds good," I replied, letting him take the lead and watching my step as I followed.

---

We reached the camp after about two (or was it three? God I really wish I had a watch) hours of walking, and the sun was almost going down.

"Hey guys," Vinyl said, waving a hoof in greeting as we approached.

"Hey Vinyl," I said, pulling my pack off and setting it down. "Where's Martin?"

"Right over here," Martin replied, stepping from the trees in his ghillie suit. "Took you guys long enough."

"That is because we ran into some interesting characters," Dmitri said, "and they were kind enough to tell us where a Bandit Fort is located."

"Cool. I was waiting for you guys to get back so I could go for a ride."

"In the GAZ?" I asked.

"No, on my bicycle," he replied, pointing to said bike that was propped against a tree.

"Okay, just don't get lost."

"I won't. I should be back in about a couple hours."

"Be sure to take some supplies in case you do get lost," Dmitri said, chuckling as he lit a fire and grabbed a pot from his tent.

"Do I look stupid to you?" Martin asked, climbing on his bicycle with his pack swung over his shoulder next to his SVD.

"No, but just because you don't look stupid doesn't mean you aren't."

Martin rolled his eyes then started peddling, heading off on his way.

"I think he jinxed himself," Vinyl said, "saying that he won't get lost."

I shrugged. "You could be right."

---

Around three hours (I'm still just guessing) after Martin had left, I was getting tired of waiting for him.

"I'm just going to get some sleep," I said, exasperated. "Maybe he'll get back tonight, or maybe he'll get back in the morning."

"Yes," Dmitri agreed, "there's no point in staying awake to wait for him."

Putting out the fire with a bit of dirt, I kicked off my boots and crawled into my tent. Vinyl, who had gone to sleep long before, didn't so much as twitch as I came in.

I was so tired that I fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.

Day 4

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I thought I would be able to avoid a nightmare for another night, but the dream I had was worse than any nightmare.

---

I groaned as I woke up and rubbed my eyes. When I took my hands away, I knew there was something wrong. I was back in my house in Elektro.

"Fuck," I muttered, only to jump to feet as I heard something smash downstairs. I knew that couldn't be good, but seeing as how it would probably get worse, I decided to go down anyway. Hoping that I would wake up back in my tent, I went downstairs and looked around, then almost jumped out of my skin as I heard the TV in the living room. Peeking around the corner, I saw two heads sticking out just above the back of the couch, with the recognizable hair of my mom and dad.

"Mom?" I asked. "Dad?"

When they offered no response, I stepped closer, and then I noticed the smell. I recognized it instantly, the smell of decay, so I walked even faster to the other side of the couch, only to gag as I saw them. Their bodies were emaciated, with blood splattered from head to toe.

"You could have saved them you know," a voice said, and I turned to see myself, but it wasn't me. It had my voice, but it looked like a zed.

"They didn't have to die," it said, its mouth barely moving as it spoke, its dead eyes boring holes into me.

"They're not dead," I said, wishing I had an axe.

"How do you know?" it asked. "You've seen their home, you've seen the blood."

"They can't be dead," I insisted.

"You speak like a child." It laughed, and it was the most horrifying sound I've ever heard. "Children believe their parents are invincible, then refuse to believe it when they die." As it spoke, color began to return to its face and skin began to grow back.

"They're not dead," I repeated, shaking my head in denial.

"You know that hope is pointless," it continued. "You could have saved them if you had left at the first warning signs, but you didn't, and now they are dead because of it."

"SHUT UP!" I shouted, covering my ears to block out its voice.

"He's right you know," said the voice of Dmitri, and I turned to see him cleaning out his nails with his knife.

"You see?" my copy asked, looking more like me with each passing second. "Even your friend agrees with me."

"NO! HE'S NOT EVEN HERE! NONE OF THIS IS REAL!"

"Oh, but it is. You are just too stubborn to see it."

"This is all just a fucking dream!" I hissed, and punched my copy to prove my point. His head lashed back at the blow, and a spray of blood jutted from his nose.

"Anger will not bring them back," it said, looking at me with a glint in its eyes.

"THEY'RE NOT FUCKING DEAD!" I shouted, punching him again. It only laughed at me as it clutched at its chest

"How does it feel," it said, "to know that you've gone insane?"

"I'M NOT INSANE!"

"Yet you continue with your pointless quest to find your parents, when you know they are dead. Haven't you realized by now that there is nothing you can do anymore? All of you will die eventually."

"No," I snapped, "we're going to survive. We're not going to turn into those things."

"Oh, but you will," it replied. Still clutching its chest, it walked over to my parents and looked at them. "One by one, you will die. Dmitri, Martin, not even Vinyl Scratch will survive."

As he spoke, I found my head being turned, forced to look at disfigured and rotting versions of my friends.

"NO!" I cried. "I won't let this happen."

"You can't do anything to stop it," my copy said, turning to look at me and removing the hold on my head. "Just like you can't do anything to bring your parents back."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I screamed, tackling him and trying to strangle him.

"Everyone you knew is dead," he choked, his face turning blue even as he grinned at me. "And you couldn't do a single thing to save them."

I tightened my hold, but it didn't even affect him.

"How does it feel to be powerless?" he asked. "How does it feel to know that you could do nothing to save the lives of those you loved?"

"WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING DIE!?" I shouted, dimly aware that I was being watched by the dead monstrosities behind me.

He chuckled, which came out as more of a gurgle with my hands still around his throat. "You really are foolish, David. Don't you know that fear cannot be killed?"

---

It was a drop of water that woke me up (Sometimes, I get woken up by the stupidest things...). My heart was pounding as I took in the familiar interior of the tent, and I sighed with relief. One of my feet was sticking out through the tent flap, so the drop of water must have dripped down onto it.

Shit, I thought, that means that it rained last night. Being careful so as not to wake Vinyl, I poked my head outside and looked around. Sure enough, the ground was wet and muddy (though luckily there wasn't much water in my boots when I put them on). and the fireplace was drenched. It would be pointless to even attempt to build a fire until it dried out, which it probably wouldn't do for a while. Looking around, I finally noticed that neither Vinyl nor Dmitri had woken up. When I tried to stand up, I felt a sharp flare of pain, reminding me that my thigh was still not doing well.

Grinding my teeth, I quickly replaced the bloody bandages (there was a lot less blood this time thank god) and took a couple pills to dull the pain (which they didn't...).

I was about to shake Vinyl awake when I heard footsteps approaching. Grabbing my winchester from the back of the tent, stepped over to the fire place and listened. Sure enough, there was something walking towards me from the left, but it didn't sound like a zed. When I looked that way, I was surprised to see Martin coming out of the trees absolutely covered in mud.

"You look like you've been wallowing like a pig," I said, lowering the gun.

"You'll never guess what I found," he replied, ignoring my comment and grinning under the mud covered hood of his ghillie suit.

"Hold on, let me wake Dmitri up first."

"Little late for that, my friend," Dmitri said, crawling out of his tent and stretching. "So what have you found?"

"I found a bandit fort at Krasnostav airstrip," he said.

"What the hell were you doing way up there?" I asked.

"I got lost and came across it when I tried to find my way back."

"You must've gotten very lost," Dmitri said. "Anything else?"

"They had a helicopter there."

Now I was very interested. "Really? What condition was it in?"

"Still broken, I saw them working on it, but it doesn't look like it will be ready to go for a while."

"How many bandits did you see?" Dmitri asked.

"About three working on the chopper with a fourth on watch, and I caught sight of a sniper in the control tower."

Dmitri tapped his chin, probably trying to come up with a plan. I calmly held onto my own idea, knowing that speaking could interrupt his train of thought.

Suddenly he grinned and turned toward his tent.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I don't t like that look on your face," I said, thinking of it as more of a maniacal look.

"You speak as if you haven't seen those undead beasts," Dmitri said, returning with a bag full of who knows what.

"What's in the bag?" Martin asked.

Smiling, Dmitri dumped out a pile of explosives.

"Where the fuck did you get all that!?" I hissed.

"Same place I found my new gun," he replied, shrugging.

"And what exactly do you plan to do with it?" Martin asked.

"If we can rig it to blow up the control tower, it would make a good distraction, don't you think?"

"What's all this about explosives and distractions?" Vinyl asked. I turned to see her yawning and rubbing her eyes with one hoof.

"Martin found a helicopter at the airstrip, but it's surrounded by bandits," I replied, trying not to freak her out (Looking back on it, I don't know why I was worried about freaking her out. I mean come on, she's been teleported to a world full of undead monsters ready to tear her limb from limb, then puts her trust in a human who proceeds to murder two people right in front of her. If I was in her place, I probably would've been going insane.)

"Yes, now lets get going," Dmitri said, picking up the bag of explosives and heading for the car. Martin rubbed his hands together (like one of those bad guys from the movies I might add) and followed him.

"Come on Vinyl," I said, "I'm not leaving you here." I snatched my bag from the tent and did my best to catch up with Dmitri and Martin.

---

The drive was longer than I expected (Mainly because Dmitri insisted on running over every zed he saw) and Vinyl fell asleep again in the back seat by the time we arrived. When we arrived, we hid the car near a few trees then went the rest of the way on foot (Vinyl complained about forgetting her headphones after I woke her up).

Krasnostav airstrip wasn't really a place that I expected bandits to make a fort, being generally in the open unless you were in the hangars or the control tower. The most likely place for a fort in my mind was Devil's Castle (I always avoid that place like the plague because it's a perfect place for bandits to hide). So when we reached a good spot where we could see, I was surprised to see the place almost completely surrounded by barbed wire.

"Looks like they don't want any company," Dmitri said.

"No shit," I replied, wondering how the hell they had gotten all of it.

"I can see the helicopter from here," Martin said, ignoring both of us, "and the sniper in the control tower is asleep."

"And he's probably not alone in there. I would say from the amount of barbed wire, there's probably around fifteen to twenty bandits." I looked at Dmitri skeptically, doubting how he could guess how many bandits there are.

"When are we gonna blow stuff up?" Vinyl asked, looking bored.

"Very soon," Dmitri said, smiling at her.

"Why do you say that?" I asked. "Shouldn't we be trying to get extra supplies before we do that?"

"Why would we?" Dmitri countered. "If those bandits are in such a hurry to repair the helicopter, then they must have all the parts, and I'm sure they have plenty of weapons and ammunition that we could take off their hands. I'm sure we have enough ammo to handle them, and if not, we just borrow the weapons from the dead." (I hate to admit it, but Dmitri was right.)

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Martin asked, looking a bit too eager.

Dmitri tapped his chin. "David, you plant the explosives on the walls of the control tower, and inside it if you can. I will go around and wait by one of the hangers. Martin, you keep an eye on the helicopter in case they try to escape. When the explosives are all set, wait a couple minutes before hitting the detonator, giving us time to get ready. When the explosion goes off, start shooting."

"Got it," I said, grabbing the bag of explosives and heading for the control tower.

"Wait up!" Vinyl called, hurrying after me.

"Why are you following me?" I asked. "Why not stay with Martin where you're not as likely to get shot?"

"But then I wouldn't have a good spot to watch the explosion!" she replied, grinning at me. (I just hope all ponies aren't like this.)

"Fine, but stay behind me." She gave me a little mock salute, then started walking beside me. I could see Dmitri in the distance, his M249 in his hands as he jogged toward the hangars.

When I reached the back wall of the control tower, I set the bag down and grabbed as many explosives as I could carry, sticking them to the walls near the corners and anywhere that I thought would bring the building down. Surprisingly, there was an unguarded back door, so I was able to get inside without trying to get past barbed wire. And despite what Dmitri had said, the tower was deserted save for the sniper (Who was snoring very loudly), so I had no trouble planting the explosives. Exiting the building, I grabbed the detonator from the bag and started heading for the trees.

"Worried about getting hit again?" Vinyl asked, glancing at my leg.

"That, and I'd rather not go deaf from the explosion."

"Good point."

With the trees safely between us and the rigged building, I waited a minute just as Dmitri had instructed, then hit the detonator.

Now, I've dealt with a lot of explosions since the zeds started popping up, but the one I just set off knocked me flat on my ass and I was lucky my ear drums didn't explode from the noise. When they finally stopped ringing, I grabbed the M4A1 from my bag and headed for the hangars.

At the sound of gunshots, Vinyl spoke up behind me. "I think I'm gonna go wait this out with Martin," she said.

"Good idea," I replied, keeping my eyes trained in front. A couple bandits were still staring at the remains of the control tower, so I took them out with a couple trigger pulls before they could shake it off. Dmitri was obviously in the farthest hangar, because I spotted a bandit running from it, only to get cut down by about ten bullets, his body jerking with each impact until he hit the ground. When I finally reached the entrance, the gunfire had stopped.

"That," Dmitri said, "was satisfying." His M249 had smoke rising from the barrel and an empty magazine.

"You're completely insane," I replied. A motion caught my eye, and I saw a bandit lifting himself onto one shoulder, pistol in hand. He aimed at Dmitri and fired. I raised my gun to shoot him, but Dmitri snatched a knife from his boot and threw it, sending it spinning into the bandit's head, but not before he fired two more times.

"Dmitri are you alright?" I asked, looking to see if he was hit.

"It takes a lot more than a puny pistol to kill me," he replied, pointing at the bullet holes in his shirt. Through them, I could see a black material.

"You're wearing a bulletproof vest?"

"Military-grade. Stops pistol rounds like that easily."

"You're lucky he didn't aim for the head." Dmitri chuckled and retrieved his knife. "Now, lets see if they were kind enough to leave us a functioning helicopter."

With Dmitri leading the way, we left the hangar and walked towards the helicopter. Martin was also making his way toward us, with Vinyl close behind.

"How come you guys get to have all the fun?" Martin asked. "I didn't even get to shoot anyone!"

"Maybe you should start paying attention and not staring at me all the time," Vinyl said.

"Huh!? I wasn't staring at you."

"Sure you weren't." Vinyl rolled her eyes (Did I mention that she forgot her shades?) and smirked.

"Not even a scratch on it!" Dmitri said happily, inspecting the helicopter. "And it looks like it's all fueled up and ready to go."

"Looks like we caught them right as they were about to leave then," I said, grinning at our luck.

"I call driving!" Martin shouted, running around to the opposite side.

"I'll be co-pilot," Dmitri replied, "just in case you can't fly worth a damn."

"Hey!" Martin said indignantly.

"Don't give me that. Have you ever really flown a helicopter?"

"Well, no."

"Then don't complain."

Instead of listening to Dmitri, Martin continued to argue. Meanwhile, I just climbed into the back and strapped myself in. Vinyl had a little trouble getting situated, but I managed to help her get it to work.

When the arguing didn't stop, I decided to speak up.

"SHUT UP!" I shouted, surprising them both. "I don't care who flies, but you two need to make up your damn minds."

Glancing at each other. they mumbled their apologies and climbed into the helicopter. Martin had to have Dmitri show him the controls at first, but once he knew where everything is, he acted as if he'd flown it a thousand times. Seeing as we were lucky enough to get a helicopter with side doors, I shut them both so we wouldn't have to deal with the noise that it would make.

"This is so cool," Vinyl said, grinning as she watched the ground grow more and more distant.

"Yeah, I've never been in a helicopter," I replied, remembering that I had used to be afraid of heights (It used to be so bad that I refused to look out the second floor windows of my own house.).

"We should head back to camp first," Dmitri said, checking the controls in front of him.

"Got it," Martin replied, turning the helicopter in the direction that we came from.

---

The helicopter got us back to camp about ten times faster than the GAZ could have, though we did have a little bit of trouble finding a spot to land. When we finally did get back on the ground, we were only about a minute or two from the camp, so nobody complained about having to walk.

"Something doesn't feel right," Dmitri said as we neared the camp, looking around at the surrounding trees.

"Oh come on," Martin replied, "you're just being paranoid."

"Actually, he's right," I said, stopping them and pointing ahead.

Sitting in the middle of our camp was a small pile of logs. As we looked at it, I heard a faint whistling. Ducking behind a tree, I watched carefully as a man walked into our camp, more logs in his arms. Setting them down, he stretched and popped his back.

"Who the fuck is that?" Martin whispered. I shrugged, having never seen the man before. His black hair was spiked up (I think the bastard was hording hair gel) and he looked around with hazel eyes.

"Where the hell are they?" he asked the air, still looking around the camp.

"Are you looking for us?" Dmitri asked, startling me. Apparently while Martin and I had been observing the intruder, Dmitri had decided to sneak up on him, and he was holding a pistol in his hand.

"Yes," the man replied, smiling at Dmitri and ignoring the gun. "I wanted to thank you for sparing my life."

"You're the bandit that we let go?" Dmitri asked, cocking his head.

"Yes! You remember me!" Still ignoring the gun, he grabbed Dmitri in a bear hug. Figuring that this guy was harmless, I stepped forward into the camp.

"You're both here!" the man said, releasing a very confused Dmitri and stepping toward me.

"Woah," I replied, "calm down."

"Okay." He stopped walking and instead looked at me with a huge grin plastered on his face. "My name is Aleksander."

"I'm David, that's Dmitri, and this is Martin."

"I am very happy to meet you, but aren't you forgetting your pony companion?"

I raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about Vinyl?" Hearing her name, she stepped forward from the trees, eying Aleksander curiously.

Aleksander blushed. "I have actually been following you, but I was too nervous to show myself. When you left in your car, I saw that you were running low on wood, so I decided to get some while I waited for you to return."

"Ah, that makes a little more sense," Dmitri said, though he still looked at Aleksander with suspicion in his gaze.

"I'm surprised you didn't steal anything," Martin said, having gone through his things in his tent.

"I would never steal from the people who spared my life!" Aleksander replied indignantly, his smile turning to a frown.

"Thanks, but I think that we might be packing up and moving out," I said.

"Is that so?" he asked. "May I come with you?"

"If you can hold your own weight, then I don't see why not."

Grinning again, he went into the trees, returning moments later with two weapons and a backpack.

"Does it look like I am helpless?" he asked, turning the weapons to give us a better view. In his hands, he held a FN FAL and an AS50.

"Where the hell did you find those?" Dmitri asked, his eyes widening.

"Group of dead bandits on the side of the road. Killers didn't bother to search them."

"Well you certainly have the firepower," Martin said, "but do you have the supplies?"

Aleksander took his backpack off and opened it, revealing a neatly packed assortment of supplies, including a tent, cans of food, ammunition, medical supplies, and a small toolkit.

"I have enough to survive for some time," he said, zipping the pack shut.

"Since you already have everything packed and ready, you wouldn't mind helping us clear things up, would you?" Dmitri asked.

"I'll be happy to help." Eager to prove his statement, he stepped over to Dmitri's tent and began systematically clearing it out and disassembling it. I sat by and watched, a little surprised at how quickly he was working.

"I'm guessing you've had a lot of practice at packing up tents," said Martin, who had paused in his own tent deconstruction to watch.

"Yep, I moved around a lot in the first few months."

Moments later, he was finished, so I started packing up my tent as well, packing away my extra supplies into a second backpack.

---

An hour later (I think. STILL NO WATCH DAMMIT!), we were flying above Elektro, looking for a place to set down (It was getting dark, and I don't really trust Martin that much.).

"What about over there?" Vinyl asked, pointing to a large building that was flat on the top. Martin immediately headed for it, but I would have rather gone anywhere but there. The place was right next to my house, and I didn't really like to relive the memory of the day I left it.

"Looks like there's a place next to it that we could stay in," Aleksander said. (Fuck)

"You are right," Dmitri replied. "Lets set down and I'll set up some traps to guard the heli while the rest of you get settled in there.

"Sounds like a plan," Martin said, touching the chopper down and turning off the engine.

We all filed out, me somewhat more slowly than the others. I followed Aleksander down the stairs, out the door and across the street. I followed him all the way into my own living room, then I broke off and went upstairs. Scenes of the day I left flooded back as I made my way to my room, ignoring the pictures of myself that hung on the walls.

I opened my bedroom door, any feeling of surprise at its familiarity dulled by the painful memory. I kicked my shoes off and climbed into the bed, curling up under the covers right next to where it happened. Tears stung my eyes as I looked at the empty pillow next to me, remembering who used to lay their head there.

"I'm so sorry," I said, letting the tears run freely.

DayC

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wskT6YfVB6E

Day 5

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I saw nothing but darkness, but I could hear the gunshots. They got closer and closer, louder and louder. Then, when they seemed to be going off right next to my ear, they stopped. Then came the weeping, a sound so terrible that it was hard to believe that I had been the one to make it. It filled my ears and refused to stop, driving me insane with the sadness it contained. When I thought it was never going to end, it suddenly ceased, to be replaced by a low whisper. I couldn't make out what it was saying, but I could tell what direction it was coming from.

Still shuddering from the sound of the weeping, I made my way toward the whispering, feeling my way through the darkness with my hands ahead of me. Nothing blocked my way, but I kept my hands in front just in case. The whispering grew louder, becoming more rushed, as if it was trying to warn me. When I didn't slow down, it suddenly stopped.

I stood there, unsure where to go. I blinked a few times, more out of habit than anything, and suddenly I was on a road with my winchester in my hands.

"Ah, there you are David," Dmitri said, stepping toward me from a nearby building. There were corpses between the two of us, and as he walked, I saw one of them twitch.

I tried to call out, to warn him about the zed, but my voice was gone. It grabbed him by the ankle as he passed and sank its teeth into his leg, causing him to scream in pain. As he pulled out his pistol to shoot it, I was thrust back into darkness.

Dmitri's scream echoing in my mind, I ran around blindly, trying desperately to escape the nightmare before it struck again. My legs soon began to burn from exertion, and I could feel the heat of my own blood as my leg wound was reopened.

Defeated, I collapsed to the ground, submitting myself to the power of the darkness.

"Wake up," it said. "David, wake up!"

---

My eyes flashed open and I looked around the room, spotting Vinyl standing next to me with her front hooves on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You screamed."

"Yeah," I replied, "I just had a bad dream."

"Must have been a pretty bad one," Dmitri said, attracting my attention to the corner he was standing in.

"Was this your house?" Aleksander asked, poking his head in the doorway.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm surprised it's not destroyed.

"Hasn't been looted much either. There's still food in the cabinets."

"Then what are doing standing around me?" I said, getting up. "Go get some of it!"

Not needing to be told twice, Aleksander and Dmitri both headed downstairs.

"Where's Martin at?" I asked.

"Still asleep," Vinyl replied. "I think you could set off an explosion and he wouldn't wake up."

"Oh, we'll see about that." Making my way downstairs, I grabbed a cup and poured some water into it, then went looking for Martin. I found him sleeping peacefully in a sleeping bag in my living room.

"Lets see if you can sleep through this." Flipping the cup, I let the water splash onto his face.

His eyes shot open and he spluttered, trying to understand what the hell just happened.

Meanwhile, everyone else was laughing (Dmitri was unlucky enough to be drinking something when he started) and I made sure that I was out of Martin's reach when he realized what happened.

"What the fuck was that for!?" he said, glaring at me.

I grinned. "No particular reason."

"You should see the look on your face!" Aleksander gasped, clutching at his sides.

"There's plenty more if you're still not awake," Vinyl said, flashing a smile.

"I'd rather not walk around Chernarus drenched with water, thank you very much."

Vinyl shrugged. "Suit yourself then."

As she turned, there was a flash of what looked like green fire, and a scroll landed in front of her. I jumped at the sight, and by the looks on everyone's faces, none of them had been expecting it either.

Blinking a couple times from surprise, Vinyl lifted it up and opened it.

"What does it say?" Aleksander asked, craning his neck to try and make it out.

"It's from Twilight," Vinyl replied. "It says that she's figured it out and she'll be coming to get me tomorrow. She wants me to wait for her at the spot where I showed up in this place."

"Well," I said, clapping my hands together, "then it looks like we're going back to Berezino."

"We should probably grab some fuel first," Dmitri said.

"There's a gas station nearby I think," Martin replied.

"Alright then. Dmitri, get to the helicopter and get everything ready while we retrieve a few jerry cans of fuel."

"No problem." Hefting his M249 in one hand, he finished off his drink and headed out the door. The rest of us followed, turning in a different direction as we reached the road. We each had a couple of empty jerry cans, and even Vinyl was levitating a couple with her magic. For some reason, we didn't encounter any zeds along the way, but I didn't complain about it seeing as how it just made our lives easier.

When we had filled up the jerry cans with as much fuel as we could, we turned and headed back toward the building where we had set down the helicopter. I could see Dmitri waiting for us outside the door, standing amongst a few dead bodies.

As we got closer, he spotted us and nodded. "There you are David," he said, stepping toward me. "What took you so long?"

"Shouldn't you make sure those things are dead," I replied, ignoring his question and pointing at the bodies.

"If they were still alive, I would know." He chuckled and kept walking. He passed close by one of the supposed corpses, and its hand shot out, latching onto his ankle and providing leverage as it reared its head and bit him.

He screamed and grabbed his pistol, but I put a bullet in the zed's head before he could.

"Mother fucker!" Dmitri cursed, shooting the zed until his pistol clicked.

"Are you okay?" Vinyl asked, taking a cautious step toward him.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, though I could detect a slight tremor in his voice. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Aleksander asked. "I've never heard of anyone surviving from a bite."

"Well I'm not just anyone," Dmitri replied. "Lets go."

Without another word, we headed to the top of the building and fueled up the helicopter.

"Hopefully we can get there before dark," Martin said, climbing into the pilot's seat.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"It's Winter Solstice. The sun will be setting really early tonight."

I groaned, mentally calling myself an idiot for forgetting that it was still Winter.

"Well we're not going to get anywhere if you don't start flying," Dmitri said, sounding like his normal self.

---

Why is it that I always fall asleep in vehicles unless I'm the one driving? Anyway, I was shaken awake by what sounded like an explosion.

"David, are you seeing this?" Martin asked. Rubbing my eyes to clear the crap out, I looked out the windshield, and was shocked to see a beam of light shooting into the sky.

"Vinyl, didn't Twilight say tomorrow?" I asked, unable to think of any other possible explanation.

"She did," Dmitri said, "but apparently she changed her mind. Martin, get us as close as you can."

He nodded, and was starting to pick up speed when bullets started hitting.

"SHIT!" Aleksander shouted, flinching in response to the gunfire. Cursing under his breath, Martin tried to get higher, but the helicopter refused to obey.

"They must have hit something important," Dmitri remarked, seeming way too calm in the situation.

"YOU DON'T SAY!?" Martin shouted sarcastically, now maneuvering the helicopter so as to minimize damage if they crashed. The gunfire continued, and the helicopter began to drop.

"As soon as we hit ground, I want everyone out!" I said, receiving nods from everyone.

The chopper touched down what appeared to be a few blocks from the beam, which projected from the other side of a building that blocked our view of whatever was causing it. But as soon as I stepped out to make a run for it, Bandits came swarming around the turn behind us. There were at least twenty of them, and all were armed with heavy weapons.

"David, get Vinyl out of here," Dmitri said, lifting his M249.

"Oh no you don't," I replied, knowing what he was thinking. "You're not staying here you crazy bastard."

"He's right," Aleksander said. "The ponies might be able to help you! Please, go with David and Martin. I'll distract them." Without waiting for a reply, he jumped from the helicopter and opened fire, sending some of the bandits running for cover.

"Lets get the fuck out of here!" Martin said, sprinting in the direction of the beam. Vinyl galloped after him, and Dmitri and I followed behind her.

"Fucking idiot is going to get himself killed!" Dmitri hissed, reluctantly jogging along beside me.

"He knows what he's doing," I insisted, limping a little and trying not to think of the darker possibility.

We rounded the corner, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks. Standing in front of us was a creature much larger than Vinyl, and with both wings and a horn. Her mane and tail both appeared to have several different colors, and somehow seemed to float in the air.

"Are these your other friends?" she asked Vinyl, her voice sweet and caring.

"Yeah, but there's one more."

"Well he must make haste if he can, for the portal won't be able to stay open much longer."

Looking past her, I saw Martin standing next to a golden vortex and a purple unicorn that looked at me as if I was the most interesting thing in the world.

"What the fuck are you guys still doing here!?" Aleksander shouted, rounding the corner at a dead run. "GO!"

Martin instantly obeyed, jumping through the portal with the purple unicorn and Vinyl in tow. The large pony hesitated for a moment, but also obeyed. Dmitri and I were the only ones who denied the order.

"Look, you two need to get through that portal," Aleksander wheezed, stopping in front of us.

"We're not leaving without you," Dmitri said, crossing his arms.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Sighing, Aleksander shoved him, hard.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Dmitri snarled, waving his arms to try and keep his balance as he fell backwards into the portal.

"Why aren't you coming?" I asked, stepping back out of his reach.

"This is the only world I know," Aleksander replied, extending his arms. "I wouldn't be able to survive in any other. Fighting for survival is all I know now."

A tear seeped out from his eye, and I saw through the mask that he had worn in our presence, revealing the pain, sadness, and anger that he had done his best to lock away.

"Stay safe you crazy bastard," I said, earning a smile in return. I took one last look at the buildings of Berezino, then jumped through.

DayZ of Hardship

by Nightwish

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

DayC

Day 5

Epilogue