//------------------------------//
// Day Three: Pavlovo to Kamenka Pt. I 
// Story: My little Dayz: Zombies Aren't Magic 
// by Colgate1211 
//------------------------------//

	Obsidian woke up in a cold sweat. His heart raced itself out of his rib cage, and his mind questioned itself. He looked around, trying to remember his surroundings. 
"Pavlovo..." He whispered to himself, nodding. He listened for anything outside, or inside, but didn't hear a peep. All he could do was assume it was a nightmare, and a bad one at that. He got up, checked his map for the route to Kamenka, and gathered all his loot, ready to start the day. He looked out the windows to the street he'd planned to exit onto. A lone zed wandered aimlessly in a yard across from him. When it reached one side of the yard, it bumped into the fence, startling itself. Then, it'd turn around, and do the same thing on the other side. 'That's just pathetic.' Obsidian thought to himself. The more he watched it, the funnier it was, though. He scanned every yard, up and down the street, including the nearby treeline for anything before he headed out. It was clear. Looking at his compass, he got his heading, holding close to the fence's lining down the street and out of town. Every once in a while, he looked back to make sure it didn't notice him. The funny thing about zombies, is they may look and act dumb in a natural state, but when they hear, smell, or see anything living, their sense of direction increases twelve fold. And they're fast. But not as fast as a Pegasus. Sadly, Obsidian was NOT a Pegasus. He WAS, however, very stealthy, cunning, intelligent, and an overall hard nut to crack. 

He was well away from the town, and was taking his planned route through the forest. He was near a large clearing when he heard a stick break, with a loud *snap*. He hit the deck, looking around for anypony with a gun aimed at him. He had his M9 ready, as always. *Snap* went another stick. He turned to the direction, and there it was. A goat. Obsidian chuckled to himself, and shook his head. But he could never be too careful. As soon as he turned around, that point was made even more valid. A survivor with some sort of rifle was sprinting through the clearing, but not in his direction, not noticing Obsidian a mere fifty meters to his left. Obsidian tracked him, trying to figure out where he was in such a hurry to get. All he saw was a tent, set up on the other edge of the forest. Then his eye was drawn to another one, and another. Then it hit him: A camp. He held his position and counted three tents, a standard number for a survivor camp. he could tell they weren't bandits because of weapons: low grade civilian weaponry. But any weapon is dangerous out here. He thought it best if he navigated around the clearing on the opposite side, but that would tack an extra ten or fifteen minutes onto his travel. Not much compared to a potential bullet to the head, he thought. He got up and turned around, and was greeted by the barrel of a Lee-Infield rifle. 

"Drop the gun, now. You planning to raid that camp? Who're you with?" The Unicorn was harsh in her questions, but with good reason. Obsidian complied, setting his M9 on the ground, and stepping back from it. 
"I'm just trying to get to Kamenka, friendly if you are, and all alone out here. Thought you were bandits, and was going to navigate around the clearing, opposite of your camp, but... well, surprise." He said, trying to lighten up the tensions. It was well-received with the Unicorn. She had an almost bleach-white coat with a two-toned purple mane. She smiled and lowered the rifle a bit. 
"So, you're friendly, and trying to get to Kamenka? Walk to the camp, in front of me. Ill take the M9 with me, you can have it when you leave. 'Better not let her know about that CZ in my pack.' He thought. Obsidian nodded, following the orders. "Hey you two, we got ourselves a visitor!" She called to her fellow survivors. Both the tents opened up, and in each, a head popped out, staring Obsidian down. "Sit down by the fire." She told him. The others, an Earth pony and a Pegasus walked over and took seats across the fire from him. 
The first thing he noticed was the age of them all: No more than sixteen could they all be. 
"Okay, well... I suppose I'll kick this off. I'm Obsidian, and I’m friendly if you are. Just trying to get to Kamenka right now." He said, looking to each of them, waiting for a response. The orange Pegasus spoke up first. 
"Well, then. I'm Scootaloo, this is Applebloom," The beige earth pony gave a wave. "and that is Sweetie Bell. We are the Cutie Mark Survivors." She said. A puzzled look came across Obsidian's face. 
"You all have a camp name? And it's what now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. 
"Long story, don't want to go into it again, honestly. Anyways, you want to get into Kamenka? Well, there's a sniper in there, who apparently never runs out of bullets. I was planning to go and take care of him alone, but... you look well-equipped, you want to help out? We've got some loot you can have that we don't need if you tag with me." She explained, and motioned her head to a pile of four or so bags, filled with who-knows-what. 
"I might be interested in that. What kind of gear would you be taking along?" Obsidian asked 
"I'd be using a Lee, same as Sweetie Bell's. And you?" She asked, looking down at her rifle. She added a nice touch to her gun by staining the wood and giving the metal a chrome accent, the contrast only complimenting the rifle's long length and design. Obsidian reached in his pack, and took the CZ out, carefully placing his precious treasure against the log beside him. "This would be my first choice." He said, giving an 'I-have-a-bigger-gun-than-you' look to Scootaloo. 
"Whoa, dude... that's awesome. So, looks like you'll take the shot that drops him. Grats to ya." She said. Obsidian smiled, remembering Sunburst. 
"Well, I got a friend who'd want that anyways. So, do we have a plan, exactly?" He asked. Scootaloo took a second, as if she was making one on the spot. Obsidian reached in his bag and pulled out a map of Chernarus, unfolded it, and levitated it in front of Scootaloo	. 	"Ah! Now, if we head directly South, we wouldn't stand a chance. HOWEVER: If we each split up a couple hundred meters, and each sneak through the East and West, and hit him from both sides, we would have a roughly three times better chance of success. But we'd need to sneak past the Zeds." She said, looking up from the map to Obsidian, who gave a small smile. "Sneaking around Zeds is what I do for a living, so I don't see much of an issue there. We headed off at twenty-two-hundred, make sure you have everything you'll need. Healthpacks, food, drink, ammo, bandages, whatever-have-you." he told her. He took his watch out, making note of how long untill they make their way to Menkar. About seven hours if his watch was still set correctly. Obsidian could always check if it was correct by himself, but it always took a while and was just a chore in every aspect. 

"So how long you been alone out here?... and what was your name again?" Applebloom asked. 
"Again, it's Obsidian. And I’ve been out here since... shit, how long ago did all this start? I want to say eight years, so there's your answer. What about you all, I’m assuming you all've stuck through everything together?" He asked knowingly. It was obvious: They trusted each other too much to be torn apart after all this. But he could tell this was going to be a time when he'd have to start the talking. He kept feeling like there was a pair of eyes on him at all times, as if somepony never looked away. He tried his best to ignore it, repressing that paranoid voice in his gut that told him it was a bad idea to stay where he was. 
"We've been through it since the start, like you. We're a family out here, though we may not look it." Sweetie Belle told him, looking to each of her friends. Obsidian smiled, remembering his family. Memories started to resurface from what seemed like a past life: Memories of long summer days spent with friends, memories of restless nights spent with his young love... Scootaloo watched a tear roll down his matte black cheek, and moved beside him, wiping it away. 
"Hey, you gonna be okay there, thoughie?" Scootaloo asked, hoping Obsidian wouldn't take it the wrong way. 
"Yeah, I-I'm good... Thanks. Well, to get to the more important topic here, we have seven hours till go time, I'm going to take a nap." And with that, he rolled out his sleeping bag, curled up inside it, shut his eyes, and fell back into the comforting grasp of sleep.