//------------------------------// // Wave Two-Follow The Tank // Story: Spiel der Untoten // by Final Draft //------------------------------// “So these things come in waves?” Ruble Rouser asked as more zombies began approaching their location. “Yes, and they’re only going to get stronger,” Tank said, allowing the zombies nearest him to rip a few boards off the window. He put five rounds into one’s torso then reared and bucked its head off. Ruble and Crescendo followed the alicorn’s lead and killed what zombies they could in the same manner. Gemini levitated her pistol in front of her, closing her eyes as she fired. Her shots splintered the boards and missed the zombie beyond. “That’s enough, we have to move!” Tank shouted. He removed the coin from his saddlebag and held it next to the front door. The sound of a cash register completing a sale emanated from the door as it swung outward and the hinges locked in place. “Where are we going?” Gemini asked as Crescendo grabbed her by the hoof and dragged her away from the window. The zombie she had failed to kill moaned angrily and clawed at the air. Ruble reloaded his pistol and scanned the street for threats. “How long were we in there?” he asked, looking around at the horrific scene before him. Bodies lay scattered in the streets, buildings had been reduced to smoldering rubble and the air was thick with smoke. In the distance, against the charcoal sky, stood the Canterlot Castle; a single light shining from the tallest tower. “The door! It does not want to shut!” Crescendo shouted, straining against the unearthly weight of the hotel’s door. Several zombies were now wandering around inside the hotel lobby, making their way towards Crescendo. “Once you open ‘em you can’t shut ‘em, don’t ask me why,” Tank said, switching back to his shotgun. “Gemini, kill those three,” he said, signaling to the pink mare. “You’re going to need more points; 950 exactly.” “Um,” the timid unicorn began, levitating her pistol, “Okay…” She emptied her magazine blindly into the hotel, only grazing a single zombie. *click* *click* *click* “It’s not working! Is it broken?! Gemini shouted, continuing to pull the trigger of the empty gun. “Reload! Reload, damn it!” Tank shouted in frustration. In a lapse of judgment, the alicorn failed to take note of the broken barricade of the pastry shop behind him. From within the pastry shop, two zombies galloped at him and swung their hooves madly. Two blows from their powerful arms brought the alicorn down onto his back. The shotgun disappeared from his aura and was replaced by a pistol. “Tank’s down!” Ruble shouted. He emptied the remainder of his ammo into the zombies that downed the alicorn and bucked them into the wall. “What do I do? What do I do?” the earth pony asked frantically. Blood was pouring out of a wound on Tank’s side and his pupils were slowly dilating. “In your saddlebag…syringe…” the alicorn struggled. Ruble reached into his saddlebag and found a needle filled with a strange white substance. “I’ll watch your back…just hurry.” “Where do I inject it? The wound? Your vein?” Ruble asked, deciding eventually on the vein. As he was lining up the injection a single zombie approached from behind. Tank emptied his magazine into the zombie before it could get too close and it fell to the ground. A glowing ammo box hovered above the zombie’s corpse. “What is this?” Crescendo asked, approaching the strange item. “Don’t you dare grab that until I’m up!” Tank shouted as Ruble proceeded with the injection. Crescendo had already put his hoof up to the ammo box and it disappeared in a flash of light. “Max ammo,” a demonic feminine voice whispered excitedly. “Are you kidding me?!” Tank asked, jumping up to his hooves with new life. The wound was completely gone from his side and the shotgun had returned to his aura. “You all heard that voice, right?” Ruble asked, looking around. Tank angrily pushed past the earth pony and approached the pegasus. “I am so sorry! I am so sorry!” Crescendo tried apologizing to the upset alicorn. *BLAP* *BLAP* *BLAP* Gemini finally managed to put three successful shots into a zombie and squealed with joy when it dropped to the ground. “I got one!” she shouted to the others. Another strange ammo box floated over her kill and she clumsily reloaded. “Mr. Tank? Am I allowed to get this?” The alicorn looked from Crescendo to the ammo box and back. “You’re lucky that we’re lucky,” he said coldly. “Everyone reload and check your six, this isn’t over yet!” He ran forward and swiped at the floating anomaly. Again a voice echoed around them. “Max ammo,” the unseen mare whispered. “What gives? I didn’t get any more!” Ruble said angrily, finding he still only had four spare magazines for his pistol. “What kind of bogus magic is this?” “It’s what little help they’ll be giving us, don’t complain,” Tank said, scanning the street for threats. Two zombies in the distance moaned as they dragged their hooves clumsily along the cobblestone. “Who was that? Who is this ‘they’ of which you speak?” Crescendo asked. His questions went unanswered as the alicorn turned his attention to Gemini. “This isn’t going to get easier from here on out. Have you built up 950 points yet?” Tank asked. The pink mare levitated the coin from her saddlebag and looked at it with dismay. “850,” she said, looking at the number now engraved into the coin. “I need you to carefully kill one of those zombies; five shots to the leg, then buck. Can you handle that?” She nodded and focused her pistol on the closest zombie. Five of the eight shots she fired sank into the rotten flesh of her target. When it was close enough for her to smell its putrid odor, she reared back and disconnected its head from its spinal column. The cries of the other zombie became amplified after losing its ally. “1030,” Gemini read from her gold coin, smiling. “Okay, save this one for now,” Tank said. “But I want more points,” Ruble said, taking aim on the zombie. Tank stepped in front of his line of fire as he went to pull the trigger. “Whoa!” Ruble shouted. As if it sensed a friendly fire incident was about to occur, the firearm locked up and refused to fire. “Are you mad? I could have shot you!” “No, you couldn’t.” Ruble looked at him in confusion and again raised his pistol. No matter how hard he pulled the trigger he couldn’t get the gun to shoot. “What in the hay?” Tank turned away from the other three and walked up to the zombie. It lazily lunged at him, falling on its face without the support of its front legs. After staggering back up it followed him as he led it back towards the hotel lobby. “They aren’t very intelligent creatures,” Gemini observed. “I’ll keep this one busy, you three get to the end of the street,” Tank said as he kept backpedaling from the zombie. Though they did not yet fully trust the alicorn, he clearly had experience with this type of situation before. Past the pastry shop and the hotel were several more boarded up buildings, leading to a dead end. The city wall stood as an impassible obstacle, towering high above the street. Tank sprinted towards the three after leaving the zombie trapped in the hotel lobby. “What now?” Gemini asked. Tank looked up to the sky and spun around in a circle slowly, looking for something he couldn’t quite see. He jumped in place, flapping his one good wing rapidly in an attempt to get higher. “Ah! Box is somewhere to the left,” he said at last. “Box? Come again?” Ruble asked. “The aurora in the sky will show us the box’s location,” Tank said, walking up to a pile of debris blocking an alleyway. The other three arched their heads to the sky and saw a column of purplish light descending from the heavens. “You, pegasus, clear this debris,” Tank ordered. “It’s 1000 points.” “Hold on a one second,” Crescendo said angrily. “You tell us, right now, what you know about all this; this, ah, game. You speak with knowledge, yes? Why?” “Look, I’ve dealt with this sort of thing before, okay?” Tank snapped. “There have been no reported zombie outbreaks in Equestria since Celestia took reign,” Gemini stated. “Not in Equestria, no,” Tank replied. “Look, I’ll say what I can, later, for now we have to move,” Tank replied. The zombie emerged from the hotel and its glowing orange eyes fixed on the survivors. Crescendo reluctantly took the coin from his saddlebag and held it up to the pile of boxes and barrels. His total went down to 1000 as the “sale” completed and the barrels disappeared with a flash of white light. The alley was dark and narrow and the only light came from a single glowing chalk outline on the castle wall. “Oh boy, more magic chalk,” Ruble said, approaching the outline. “Those are Galvahooves, insta-kill until wave 14,” Tank said, walking to the end of the alley. A chain link fence blocked their path, beyond it sat a wooden box which emanated a strange yellow glow. “How much for these Galva-thingies?” Ruble asked, scratching his chin. “6000 points.” “In this economy? Outrageous!” Ruble shouted. He fished through his saddlebag for his coin and looked at the total in contemplation. “However if I start saving now…” “No, we need you to open this gate, the box is right there and we need better weapons,” Tank said, bumping his coin against the gate repeatedly. One side of the coin showing the 1250 it required to open the gate, the other, his sad total of 750. “The box, it gives weapons?” Crescendo asked skeptically. “Amongst other things.” The lone zombie finally reached the alleyway and Ruble readied his pistol. “I’ll open the gate in a sec, just let me get a nice, even 2500 points first,” Ruble said. He held the coin in one hoof and the pistol in the other. Before anyone could stop him he began firing at the zombie. *BLAP* “2470.” *BLAP* “2480” *BLAP* “2490” *BLAP* “2540?” The zombie crumpled to the ground after having one of its legs ripped off and the light faded from its eyes. “Quit screwing around and open the gate!” Tank shouted. Once again a haunting melody played all around them and the unified cry of the undead rang through the streets.