The group trailed along the surface of the rooftops, all torn from the recent loss of their two friends. Kenny and Ben.
The sun was setting, halfway over the horizon, a pinkish grey sky. Everyone was sore over what had happened a few hours ago, losing their friends. It was truly devastating to them, they barely spoke a word to one another. They were all meddling with their thoughts while they traveled through the city, using the roofs to stay out of the streets, away from the walkers that filled them.
They all stopped at the ledge of a building that had a makeshift bridge, wood and planks, going over to the other building. Christa suddenly spoke up. "Alright listen, there's only a few of us left so... we need to be careful."
"Obviously..." Pinkie said, under her breath.
"Alright, so... do we just walk across this bridge 'ere?" Applejack said, peering over the edge of the building down at the walkers.
Nobody said anything at first. The bridge that was made from planks and wood looked like it was just propped onto the ledges of the buildings. If one of the ends were to slip... .
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew over to the other side whilst everyone else warily crossed the bridge. The rainbow pegasus didn't say anything that time. There was a cocky remark she made about being able to fly or anything like that. She just kept silent as she flew over to the other building, a frown on her face like she was deep in thought.
Honestly, she felt slightly guilty about being overconfident at that moment. It was the thought of Ben falling, taking the small black iron balcony with him that made her feel bad after she had reassured them that they will be "fine".
Once the others traveled over safely, they continued only to stop when there was a square piece missing from the roof that showed the inside of the building and, not surprisingly, it was filled with walkers. Even before they reached it, they could tell from the growing sound of the growls that there was a herd nearby.
"Even the buildings are full," Christa said.
"Well, it is a city after all," Applejack replied.
"Yeah I know but when we first got here this place seemed empty but now suddenly we can't stop running into every horde we come across."
"Yeah, we keep ringin' the dinner bell." The atmosphere inbetween the group felt like it just got more grim, after what happened to Ben and Kenny. Suddenly, Applejack realized what she just said and felt a pang in her chest. "A-ah'm sorry,"
"It's fine, let's just keep moving." Lee said and continued across the roof with everyone following behind.
The country pony sighed, bringing a hoof her face before catching up with the others.
One after the other, the group plopped down from the small ledge. This time, there was no gap between the buildings, or bridges for them to cross. Luckily, the two buildings were stacked up against eachother.
It was the last building on the block, they could see the river in front of them, just a few feet away. It also held a large sign that stretched over to the building on the other side of the road.
"Great, dead end," Applejack said, breaking the silence.
"Where do we go now?" Fluttershy glanced around the block, seeing nothing of value. Broken down cars, boats by the river that presumably weren't working anymore.
"The Marsh House is just around the corner, so we'll have to cross here." Lee gestured to the sign.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed. "Crossing rooftops is all we ever do now..."
"Y-yeah but it's-" Twilight was interrupted by an extreme itch in her throat and was sent into a coughing fit. The alicorn was looking worse as the hours flew by. Her fur was beginning to wither, sweat built up around her forehead and bags formed around her eyes. Her friends crowded around her, not knowing what to do. Fluttershy placed her hoof on her back as she continued coughing.
Soon after the harsh wave of hacking stopped, the alicorn had a strange iron-like taste in her mouth. It felt cold but yet warm at the same time, thick like... like... . Twilight's eyes widened and she spat out the substance onto the surface of the rooftop and much to her fear, she was correct.
A splatter of dark crimson painted the floor. It was her blood, she had hacked up her own blood. Twilight looked around, catching the expressions she was receiving. One half was horrified and the other was grim. If they weren't sure before they definitely were now, whatever time she had left was vastly running out.
"Oh dear Celestia..." Applejack trailed off.
"T-Twilight." Fluttershy engulfed her friend into a tight hug, the alicorn could already feel the pegasus's tears on her chest. She was really going to die... she was coughing up blood and she still couldn't bring herself to believe it. She couldn't die like this... there was still so much to be done.
"We should hurry. We... p-probably don't have much time," Christa softly muttered.
Lee walked over to the two ponies. Once they pulled apart, he layed a hand on the alicorn's shoulder. He wasn't looking too well either. He was getting paler, losing the color of his skin. His eyes were starting to brew a slightly yellow-ish color and bags had formed around them. "We'll find her, I promise okay?"
Twilight nodded before rubbing her eyes, getting rid of a few tears. "Yeah, I just hope that I'll..." she trailed off, letting the others presume the last piece of the sentence.
Lee nodded. "You will be." He lifted his hand off the mare and turned back to the large sign on the building.
"Now we just need to decide who's going first..." Omid said.
"You're the lightest," Christa said.
Rainbow Dash didn't bother flying over nor did Fluttershy flew over to the other building this time. She waited for everyone to decide who was going to cross the large sign. Everything that had unfolded a couple of hours ago had sent most of her ego out the window and was replaced with shame.
"Well, whatever we decide to do; we should do it quickly." Applejack added.
Lee paused for a moment before he turned to Rainbow and Fluttershy. "You two can fly over like you did last time." The rainbow pegasus solemnly nodded before taking off over to the other building without saying anything and Fluttershy followed suit.
The two pegasus flew silently, tears still welling up in Fluttershy's eyes. Rainbow could hear her timidly friend sniffing, to her left but said nothing. They both softly landed on the other building and turned back at the others.
They could faintly hear them conversating with one another then Omid walked over to the edge by the sign and carefully lowered himself onto it and began making his way across.
Rainbow and Fluttershy both watched him as he slowly made his way over to them. Once he made it, Christa lowered herself onto the sign.
The rainbow pegasus found herself watching the alicorn over on the other building. Would she even be able to climb across? She had just coughed up her own blood. Rainbow turned to Omid. "I'm gonna go make sure Twilight is okay to cross." She left without a response.
She flew over to the other building, landing in front of the alicorn. "Hey Twi..."
The alicorn cleared her throat. "Hey."
She was getting worse and worse. Rainbow's concern for her friend increased every time she looked at her. She was still covered in all gunk, leftovers from the walkers. "Do... need some help getting over?" The rainbow maned pegasus gestured with her head over to the other building.
"Uh..." Twilight trailed off, sighing. "Yeah... y-yeah. I would like some." She finished with a weak smile.
The pegasus nodded. "Okay, we'll just wait fo-" A loud clang coming from the sign cut her off. Quickly, she turned around and saw the sign beginning to snap off from it's hinges. Christa was already over on the other side which allowed Omid and Fluttershy to help her.
Rainbow ran over when the large sign finally gave way and broke off, falling to the ground making the earth rumble. Walkers that were below was gathering at the scene. The pegasus shook her head. "Well, what do you need me to do now?" She turned, looking over at Lee.
He didn't respond. He walked over to the ledge beside her, glancing at the walkers beneath them on the streets. The man sighed. "I'm gonna have to go for it."
Rainbow frowned. "Uhh-what?"
"I'm going for it." He repeated, stepping back from the ledge and turning to the pegasus. "I need you to fly everyone over. I'm going down there. I'll work my way around."
"What!?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Woah-woah-woah-woah, wait! Whatdoyamean you'll 'work yer way around'?" Applejack interjected, coming over to the two.
"It means I'm already bitten. I just have to... push my way through."
Applejack exchanged a frown with her friend. "You cannot be serious. You ain't actually gonna..."
He didn't say anything instead he merely responded with a solemn nod.
"W-w-what... what then? Like, what're you gonna do when you get down there? What are we supposed to do!? I thought we were in this together!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Just get to the train, remember where we came in?" He asked but Rainbow wasn't listening. "We'll meet you guys there."
"Uhh-no, we won't because we're coming with you."
"You guys need to be safe, I can't have you risking your lives for me." The man gestured at Twilight frail figure. "She doesn't have a lotta time left." He pointed at the two ponies in front of him. "And you two need to be there for her, she may not be able to make a couple more blocks."
Upon hearing about Twilight's condition, Rainbow's willingness to stay with Lee and help him continue searching for Clementine and Rarity soon began blur. On one hoof, Rarity and Clementine was still lost in the city somewhere and Twilight was getting weaker by the second.
As Lee put it, she didn't have a whole time left. So many things had happened today that she didn't have time to fully process the situation and as much as she hated to admit it; and she really despised herself to admit this... but he was right. Twilight was...
dying.
For all she knew, Rarity could be perfectly fine held up in one of the stores that they haven't checked yet.
She turned at Applejack who looked to be thinking the same thing. The pegasus sighed and nodded. "Fine... fine, alright?"
Lee layed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll try to look for Rarity if I can, okay?"
"Well!?" A voice caught their attention. They turned and saw Omid waving his arms at them. "What the fuck are we gonna do now!?" He yelled, distressed.
Lee and Rainbow exchanged a knowing look before before he started filling the others in on the situation. Once he was done, he gave one last nod at the ponies behind him.
"You be careful, okay?" Applejack said, walking over to him. "Don't get yerself hurt or nothin'."
"Lee?" The man saw Twilight walking over to him and before he knew it, the alicorn wrapped herself around him, bringing him into a hug. "T-thank you... f-for everything." She muttered. The man returned it and they stayed like that for a few moments.
After they were done, he turned back to the ledge and began climbing down.
Applejack watched as he made his way down. The pony didn't want to leave but Twilight was getting weaker and they needed to find a somewhat safe place for when... the time came. She hadn't that feeling. She felt like she was never going to see him again, That that was his goodbye.
She turned at Twilight, sighing. "Alright y'all, let's... let's get goin'."