ooo000---000ooo
It had been a few hours, maybe more since I woke up, I wasn't really sure. The clock on the wall was dead and I wasn't sure if it was even right.
I was able to get up off of the bed and actually walk around a little; being cooped up in bed wasn't something I was planning on doing. It was hard walking when my legs were so freaking wobbly and the first thing I did was hunt down something to drink...
I was really thirsty. But even after looking around, I couldn't find anything to drink in the room - no water, no cider... nothing!
"There're some soda machines in the hall," Dee broke me out of my search and crouched down next to me, "I... don't suppose ya'll can drink those, eh?"
"I-is it anything like cider?" The heck was soda?
"Uuhh, it's sugary and has caffeine in it, depending on the brand." Dee tugged at the hair on his chin and looked down at me, "Some are just pure sugar though and I know exactly jack-all about how your bodies handle carbonated stuff."
I had no idea what carbonation was but... it had sugar in it and that was good enough for me!
"I can have sugar... it should be fine." I nodded and swallowed whatever moisture I had left in my mouth, sticky and dry... gross. I was so weak I barely had any strength to move very much... maybe that 'soda' would help me, I know I needed something to help me get my energy back.
"Alright, uhhh..." He took out that gun of his and looked it over, pulling back the top part and making his way towards the door, "This'll take a moment."
I held up a hoof, "W-wait... aren't those things out there?" He was seriously gonna go out there?
"Ehh... I lost em down one of the halls and it's been super quiet for hours now," He pointed out to me, "I'm just gonna make a quick run to one of the machines and crack it open."
I was skeptical though, "W-what if they're being quiet on purpose? Trying to lure you out?"
"Nah, it'll be fine," He gave me a thumbs up and a smile. "I'm quick on my feet so no worries. Just huddle up in here and I'll be back in a flash, alright?"
His voice was so confident and his face was the picture of it... but I could see it in his eyes, the little bit of fear and doubt flickering around like little fireflies.
Dee was scared.
He didn't give me much time to tell him anything before he slipped outside into the hall, the door closing shut behind him with a click.
Suddenly I was alone.
The deafening silence didn't take any time before surrounding me on all sides; no clock to tick, no air conditioner to rattle and fill the room with some cool air.
Just nothing.
It was unnerving and I found myself tapping my hoof against the floor just to make a little bit of noise. I didn't want to admit it, but I was feeling really nervous. I had never really been alone like this, let alone in a place like this, it was...
Scary.
All of those monsters outside stumbling around, the smell of blood that I could pick up everywhere, and those moans - Luna protect me. They sounded so distant, almost muffled through the walls but I could hear them from the vent in the ceiling, carrying through from wherever it led to. My race had heightened senses for flying through the air, so I could hear a lot of things really well.
Right now I wish I couldn't hear that well.
I stopped tapping my hoof as a headache began to creep up on me, "Ugh," My throat felt even drier as the seconds passed. What even was that dream. I focused on that instead of my thirst at the moment. Fluttershy... no, she would never end up like that, no way. It was stupid! She might be the shiest thing in all of Ponyville, but she's got more courage in her than I would'a thought... it's just... hard to get it to come up. Flutters... no way would I let that happen to yo-
The door opened up and I got startled - pedaling back and looking up. My wings shot out and my ears perked up, did one of them get inside while I wasn't listening?!
"Sorry for taking so long," It was Dee and my heart-rate slowed, but damn it all, I was still shaky. He walked into the room with a bag in hand and a tiny smile on his face... but I saw blood on him, new blood splotches on his cheek. "The m-machine was b-broken and I had to c-crack it open, t-that went about as well as I'd hoped, h-heh."
I eyed the bag when I heard something clanking around inside, and my mouth began to water when he pulled out something bright red with some stylized words on it. "D-Dude, are you okay? You g-got blood on your-" I gestured to his cheek.
He stopped and touched the splotches, then pulled his hand away to look at his now bloodied fingers. "Huh... well, nothing to worry about." I gave him a look when we locked eyes, he held up a hand and waved it off, "I'm fine, trust me! J-just one of them got the jump on me, but he was slow enough that I could take him, so no worries," His lips tugged back into a smile as he walked over and handed me the metal thing.
It was small and cold when I touched it, shaped like a tin can but more... rounded. The top had a pull-tab on it and was silver, while the rest of the can itself was red and had the word 'coke' printed in big white letters. When Dee sat down in his chair I dragged the can over and scrunched up a little. "...What does it taste like?" I turned to look at him when he popped open one of the others he had, the same one I had.
I saw him fit his finger up under the tab and pull back, making a crack hiss noise. "U-uhm... sugary, for one thing, lotta caffeine, er... hard to explain fully." He told me and took a sip of his own, drinking down whatever was inside with greedy gulps.
Well... only one way to find out.
I reached towards the pull top and gave it a swift tug, cracking it open and listening to the faint hissing inside before it slowly faded. Well... it was better than nothing. I picked up the can and felt of the cool metal before bringing it up to my lips and taking a curious sip of the contents.
My tongue was hit with the burning bubbly sensation and the sweet sugary taste he mentioned, but with how weak I was it was a cool and refreshing relief, so I pushed aside the burn and gulped it down.
Wow that's strong, The burn was pretty strong, but it felt... pretty nice going down, and the taste wasn't too bad either. Before I knew it, the can was emptied and I felt pretty great, actually. "Whew..."
"Good, right?" Dee asked me with a snicker, reaching into the bag of his for something.
The sugar eventually hit me and the chill of the soda spread throughout my body, making me shiver slightly... it was a nice taste and that sugar hit the spot. I licked my lips... "Yeah, what is it again?"
"Coka-Cola," he reached into the bag and pulled out another one of them to hand to me, which I graciously took and popped it open. "Super tasty drink, popular all around the world and chock full of caffeine and sugar." Dee ended up cracking open another one of his own and pulled out... food? It was a little baggie of something that had Cheetos on the front, a bright orange bag. "Probably one of my favorite drinks, specially right now cause I need the caffeine."
I didn't know what caffeine was, but if it's what's perking me up... I think I'd like a bit more of it myself.
I sipped the newer coke this time, savoring the sweet taste of it. i watched as Dee opened up the bag, and something like cheese hit my nose. "So..." The dull silence of the room was only broken by the crinkle of the bag and Dee's chewing. "Dee."
"Hmm?" He looked up, shoving one of those cheesy sticks into his mouth and chewing on it.
"What... what's our game plan here? I don't know what we're gonna do here... or where to go," I admitted and took another sip of the drink. I didn't know anything about this city... or this world or... anything, except for the zombies.
He paused and offered me the bag... couldn't hurt to try one, so I took it and glanced inside, finding several more of those... cheese sticks I guess, and stuck a feather inside to grab one as he explained. "Well, we're trapped in here... at least for the time being... you need some actual medical help or something to heal up, and rest most importantly."
After pulling one out, I held it between my feather tips and looked back up at him, "I c-can move just fine." I murmured, taking a hesitant bite out of the food. A loud crunch sounded as I was hit with a tasty and lightly salted cheese flavor, my ears perked up and my stomach grumbled. I didn't waste time before grabbing a few more to chow down on.
They were really good!
I ended up hearing a snort from Dee and he said, "Rainbow, you say that but you took a bullet... a rather powerful one mind you, so-"
My ears flicked up... how did he know my name? I didn't tell him that, did I?
"-hink it'd be best if you rested for a little bit lon-"
"How do you know my name?" I narrowed my eyes at him... I didn't tell him, I can't remember telling him that... actually, he had said my name a bunch of times!
His eyes grew a little and his posture stiffened, "Huh?"
"I said, how do you know my name?" I was about to get up, how did he know? "I never told you!" Dee coughed and my suspicion only grew, was he actually a spy?! Was this all just a lie?!
Then he spoke, "Your hair."
I paused and kept glaring at him... "...My hair?"
"Yeah, heh," He nodded quickly, "It's colored like rainbows," He reached into that bag of his and pulled out another thing of food. He ripped it open and pulled out something akin to a yellow ring, "I didn't know your name and I forgot to ask, so... I figured Rainbow would be a nice temp name until I learned it..."
My hair... he called me Rainbow cause of my hair... I glanced back at my tail and saw the different colored rainbow hued strands of hair running from my tail and curling around on the floor. I took pride in my mane and tail, I was one of the very few ponies who ended up with a mane as rare as rainbows.
I sighed and shook my head, "Sorry, I..." I glanced back up at him, "Everything's got me on edge right now... and I don't know who you are... I still don't know if I can even trust you."
Thinking about it now, that was a scary thought. He was this tall lanky looking monkey thing and he had that weird looking weapon of his, and I didn't know anything about this guy! I didn't know if he was a good pony or if he had some dark plans for me... what if he just decided to ditch me to run off himself? I didn't know!
Dee just stared at me... or past me, I wasn't sure which, but he set down the food and climbed down into the floor with a groan. He pulled the bag of food and other goodies down with him, setting them to his side and looking back at me. "I can understand that," His voice had dropped to a whisper now and his eyes nearly blocked by bangs of curly dark brown hair stared at me, "Really, I do."
I returned his gaze and asked, "How?"
"You're in a new place, for one thing," Dee started quietly as some shuffling footsteps passed by the room, making us both shut up and listen. The silent groan of one of those monsters sounded in the hall and I felt that stupid fear bubble up in my stomach, but it shuffled away, probably off to find a meal somewhere in the hospital. Dee and I sighed in relief and he continued, "This place is sc-" he scrunched up, "It has a certain feel to it, one that would unnerve a lot of people. You're also alone... I don't know if you ended up here with any friends but..."
My heart skipped a beat and memories of the clouds came to mind, I saw the open sky and the city where I was born... and I saw him. "I... I didn't," I looked away from Dee, "I didn't have anyone with me."
Why lie to yourself? A tiny voice in the back of my head asked.
Shut up. I lost the courage to look back at him... luckily for me he didn't pry.
But he did say something that made me feel bad. "I don't have anyone in this mess either, no friends... no family," His voice was slow and quiet, "I'm all alone in this city, same as you."
I turned and looked back at him as the corners of my lips were tugged back and down. "But... what about the others of your kind...?" They'd be more likely to help him than me...
A weird noise escaped his throat, his shoulders trembling and I realized he was... laughing? He sat up and threw his head back, sending his hair flying, "Heh! Maybe, but there are a lot of people in this city who would kill me if they wanted to."
"Why would they do that?" That was stupid! He was one of their own... that wasn't right.
"Humans can be both amazing allies and immense assholes, you'd be surprised what happens in terrible situations like these." A lick of his lips and he pulled out that weapon of his and held it up, "We invented these things hundreds of years ago to make killing each other more convenient, only recently did we start using them for sporting, hunting, and other activities."
I gulped, looking at the black metal cautiously. "Seriously?"
"Eeyup, humans are funny creatures," He put the weapon down and huffed, "I'm sure I could find someone to help me out if I tried, but... to be perfectly honest, I'm terrified of going out there without some backup." Both of our eyes looked down at the gun, "I have this, yeah but... I don't have any more ammunition for it on me and somehow I doubt there's any inside the hospital… least nearby, that is."
He sighed and leaned back, grabbing his food again and pausing to eat some of it. I did the same, turning back to my drink and sipping more of it—unfortunately for me, it had gotten lukewarm and the bubbles assaulted my tongue badly. I ignored it and ate more of those cheetos along with it, savoring the taste and the silence.
It didn’t last much longer.
“My point-” Dee murmured quietly, “-is that despite that, I don’t know if there’s anyone that I could meet who won’t kill me out of either fear or just paranoia.” He shrugged and shifted on the floor. He didn’t look or sound like cared that much that he could die… why was that? “I don’t even know if there’s anyone still left alive in this city… let alone any friendly faces.”
I didn’t know what to say to that…
I just sat on the floor and went back to eating the food I was given, eventually finishing off the bag. A sigh escaped me after it was empty and I turned back to the clock, staring at it…
Everything suddenly changed when we both heard some kind of loud squealing noise in the ceiling, making me cringe and fold my ears back.
“Gah! What the-?” Dee looked up and furrowed his eyebrows.
I followed his gaze and spotted something in the corner of the room, it was some kind of boxy thing and the noise was coming from it. We stared at it before something spoke... “H-hello? Yes! You two!” I backed up a little… who was that? What was that?! “My name is Hersh, I’m a doctor in this hospital, w-would you terribly mind if I asked you for some assistance?”
I heard a noise from Dee and he said, “Huh… guess the doctor’s in after all...”
I didn’t know who this guy was or what Dee was thinking… but maybe we could get some help after all.