//------------------------------//
// Shambling Mess 
// Story: Dreamer 
// by AppleCider120 
//------------------------------//

This dream wasn't recent; in fact it was nearly a month before I got the idea to write the description for the "300 Year Gap" story. I didn't get the brilliant idea for documenting these dreams until recently though, so it stuck in the background while I wandered about my dull existence.

This one was a curious crossover, as it had a setting similar to the first act of Dead Island; at the same time it had almost a complete structural inaccuracy that it would likely pay CinemaSins rent for at least one month. Course, he probably doesn't even need one video to do that; regardless, it largely started with me noticing visuals from the lifeguard building in the beginning area. I could tell it was that, as it was the corner of the two fences that cordoned the building off, though my dream-self never turned around for me to see what else was there, as he was consistently focused on the action on the other side of the gates.

First inaccuracy came from the first entrance, which had a single gate door, and the solid concrete walls on both sides extending out. On the other side of that, there is supposed to be a paved walkway that leads left to the beach, or right to the hotel. That pathway was not in the dream. Instead, on the other side was a completely flat expanse of land, where a military camp was situated. This was a medical camp, of sorts; like those temporary outposts they put in Germany when Trump ordered a withdraw due to Germany no paying their bills. This was less structurally solid, though, as they were mostly similar to the old school white tents; a few had Red Crosses on them, despite the lack of any actual Red Cross personelle being there.

It was definitely a bustling site with many survivors and military going about an average work day; similar to a martial law state, with citizens doing some work here and there, and the soldiers doing their part. I could never make out their conversations, but it was on part to the sounds of the old New York city streets, pre-virus. I could make out uniforms of the Army green, and some white suits. This was probably influenced by the ending of the game, but I'm not sure. One of the first interactions that came to mind, and that showed the daftness or the foresight of my dream-self, was when a high-ranking officer/soldier who came over. I could not make out his exact lines, but he was offering to take in the residents of that lighthouse; and my counterpart politely declined.

As our conversation blurred along, the dreamscape seemingly changed to show the camp moving or expanding to reach around the other corner of the wall. On this side, accurate to the game, it was a long fence, with two automatic gates. These gates would not open with me, nor any others being within its usual trigger distance. I stopped talking to the man and made my way over to view out that port of the gate, absent-mindedly making small-talk, which I still could not make out solidly. At random, he started to softly say that the infected have breached the building. A short pan over to my left, showed that indeed, an "infected" had casually walked up to the door(in a normal brisk walking gate, not running), and simply pulled the door open. I do not know when the building appeared, but it felt like it should have been there, so I didn't say anything.

My callout of the breach went out three times at a louder pitch, but still went without notice, due to the volume of the crowds around the lifeguard station. (At this point in writing, I remembered it was "station," but didn't bother enough to backtrack the others.) This was when the first sense of an equine occured. I simply turned to my left, out the other gate, to see a massive crowd of undead simply battering at the gates. Just like in-game, however, it was an un-Celestially invulnerable fence. So it just stood there. My dream-self then made his way away from the likely doomed camp to look out the other gate. Everything was still undefined. I could tell it was a crowd of zombies, but it was not in good detail. I could make out solid body outlines, but it was almost at early Silent Hill(Playstation 2) graphics. You could tell they were undead, but not what made them undead, so to speak.

It was then that the first change occursed, upon my random urge to walk to the side, and "glitch" my way onto the wall vial the left edge of the gate's wall. I walked out to the edge(which was game-accurate), and climbed up onto the wall, carefully tight-roping it. I don't think you can do this in Dead Island, but whatever. I then looked down to see an off colour- almost chibi-like Rainbow Dash... ish pony. It was small like the PonyLife version, but had a different-enough body style that I could tell it wasn't(this dream did occur post PonyLife premiere, so it was likely an influence). I reached down to pick it up, somehow able to reach all the way down from the top of a gate that was easily six-foot wall, with no undead trying to grab me.

The lifeguard station was likely gone at this point, as it was just the wall that I could focus on. The camp was also gone, but instead of being overrun by infected, it just vanished in a blink. So, my overall field of view was quite centered on this massive undead swarm. I picked up the now baby-sized horse, staring into it's black eyes, wheresas I also noticed several off colors in the mane, as another one became visible. This was the same pony, just more accurate colour, though just as small. Then the swarm began to slowly change as I would blink. I could never make out who these new ponies were, but they weren't recognizable OCs, nor show characters. I could make out one Berry Punch near the end of the crowd changing, but I still remained on the gate as I watched. 

I no longer have the ponies in my hand, and am instead just watching the crowd of undead turn into mindless, though not undead ponies. The lifeguard station and camp were once more visible, but nothing was there. The humans were gone, and I was alone watching this massive group of horses converging, slowly gaining sentience. Or waking up, I guess. Because they became more talkative and life-like. I watched for a few more moments, before I could tell that the power flickered in my real room, and I awoke to my floor fan shutting off.


In fairness, this was the biggest mess of a dream I had until the "300 Year Gap". I could tell it had influences, however, as a few things were clearly from the recent premieres, and my long-abandoned binge of the Dead Island game until Act 3. Unlike the first story, I don't think there was an underlying theme in my dream that would point out anything more than my current obessions, which is nothing new for me. The amount of dreams I have had where I obtain telekenesis, flying, or even just have straight up zombie-themed dreamscapes, I could not count them. I simply come to the conclusion that your current obesssions are likely to manifest themselves in your dreams if you expose yourself enough.