Angel woke up with her cheek pressed onto the cement. Her body was wrapped in her cyan bed sheet and her mane roughly flayed in any direction. Her bones felt as if they had been misplaced because she slept on the floor. Her entire body ached yet she felt rested. She opened her eyes and let light pour into her vision. Her ears perked up and she heard hushed voices somewhere behind her. Angelwhiskers stretched her body and rolled onto her hooves. She peered around the room and found Titan and Charcoal idly chatting. She couldn't tell what they were talking about and quite frankly she didn't care. She pushed herself to her saddlebag over in the corner of the room. She stepped over Sapphire, who was resting, mummified within a pinkish bed sheet. Her Stetson lie by her side and she periodically had an adorable snore. When Angel reached her saddlebag she dug around to find a small brown bag. She slid out two cold pieces of toast and bit down on a corner. The slightly burnt corner crumbed away onto her tongue and she bit into her food again before she could swallow her original bite. She scarfed down her food and took a sip of water from her canteen. It was a small curved canteen with a green pouch that encased the metal. She washed the burnt taste away from her mouth and swallowed her warm water. She was grateful of the liquids temperature because by Celestia, It was FREEZING. The warm water rushed down her throat and soothed her frosty internal temperature. Angel slowly walked back to her messy bed sheet and bit the corner. She threw it over her body and tucked it around her neck to create a makeshift robe. The cyan cloth draped lightly over her eyes and was fastened tightly around her neck. The sheet lazily hung over her abdomen and her mane was pressed tightly against her body. It was still cold underneath her blanket robe but it helped a little bit. After a few minutes of doing nothing, her other friends began to rise up. Each pony had a different reaction to the cold, some swore, others weren't phased as much. Then she rooted around in her saddlebag, pulling out her knife. It was encased in a black sheath with straps around it. Curiously, she fastened her knife around her foreleg. It felt comfortable and it didn't restrict movement. "This should be easier to get to rather than in my bag" Angel thought silently. Afterwards she peaked out of the repair-shop's window. It snowed really heavily last night and white flakes piled nearly seven inches in height. Angelwhiskers thought to herself; the Manehatten weather patrol was probably absent yesterday night due to the epidemic. There was a freak snow storm last night and everypony slept through it. Angel stared though the window, idly following one particular snowflake gracefully land onto the layers of snow. She accidentally fogged up her window and that made her abandon her view. She turned her ears back on and listened to everypony talk. Tiki was talking about a clothing store and complaining about how bucking cold it was. Babs ate dry cereal with her back towards everypony and Sapphire continued to snore unaware of reality around her. Angel laughed and thought how pretty she looked anyway. Angel poked her with her hoof and didn't receive a reaction from the sleeping pony. She jabbed her hoof a little harder and Sapphire sprung up surprised.
"What in tarnation are you doing sunshine?" Sapphire questioned, dazed from her yank into reality.
Angel laughed and replied "it's morning Saph, want some food!?"
Sapphire smiled and nodded her head. She then tried to hid from the cold underneath her bubblegum sheet. Angel retrieved two more slices of toast and offered the burnt excuses for toast to Sapphire. After Sapphire swallowed her slices Tiki looked around to make sure nopony was busy.
"Everypony ready to go? We've got to go to the greenhouse to collect somethings before we continue to the quarantine zones." Tiki decided.
Each pony gave a nod of approval and followed Tiki to the front doors of the repair shop. He turned the nob and pushed on the door. The nob moved but the door refused to move.
"There's too much snow." Angel guessed. "We've got to find a different way out."
Tiki grunted in distress and returned to the back room. He and Titan lifted the garage door up and onto their shoulders. Angel was right, snow was piled around the building. Stepping onto the snow Angel's hooves sunk down within the snow and her breath became visible. A gale of wind brushed past her and made her bed sheet cowl flap unceremoniously.
"Let's go to the clothing store guys." Tiki said trudging through the snow.
Not more than five hundred feet away was a sign that read "Discount Clothing". It was a secondhand shop but she didn't mind if she found something warm soon. When Tiki walked up the door he took notice of the sign the said "pull". He pondered weather to dig out the snow surrounding the door or just to break the glass. After a quick moment, he became bored and spun himself around. His legs retracted and he bucked the glass door. It shattered around his hooves and bits of glass dropped onto the floor.
"Watch your step guys." Tiki muttered without turning his head. He fluttered his wings and lazily flew over the glass and into the building.
Angel however slid her hoof around to create a clear pathway. After she was satisfied she stepped inside and looked around. Racks of clothing and accessories lined the store, each different sizes and shapes. She grinned and selected a rack the read "winter clothing". She pushed past several jackets of various designs and colors. She detested the esthetics of each jacket until she landed on a cyan jacket. It was a a zippable hoodie with pockets on rather side of the front. The cyan was complimented with white swirls laced into the back of the jacket. Angel tugged away her makeshift cowl and threw her newfound jacket over her body. The soft inside texture made her coat soothe in warmth. Angel zipped up her hoodie and looked around for the others.
Sapphire wore a large brown pancho. It had royal blue and black patterns along the back. Her hair loosely rested down her shoulder and she seemed satisfied with her pancho.
Golden Sentry and Charcoal found two robes, each similar in design but contrasted colors. The robes draped down their flanks and they tightened around their necks. Golden's robe was blackened and Charcoal's robe was a light grey color. Babs wore a filly sized coat that was yellow in color. Tiki wore a black hoodie that had imprints of red pony skulls along the entire surface. Tiki threw up his hood and zipped up the jacket to his neck. Titan liked a pitch black jacket. He set it along the ground and delicately ripped the sleeves off. Satisfied, Titan threw his sleeveless jacket over his head. Snakes wore a brown thin jacket that seemed snug around his body. He also wore a colorless hat which the brim pointed upwards. Angel had to admit, he was pretty attractive. When the commotion died down, they began to regroup by the entrance of the store. With every step, Angelwhiskers felt her white coat rub against her clothing and she enjoyed every warm moment. When everypony was ready to depart, Tiki circled around to the broken door. He stepped out into the icy world once more and readjusted to the temperature. As Angel poked her head out she flinched from the breeze on her face. Her clothes were helpful but they didn't work as well she hoped. She ran a hoof over her legs to create heat from friction which helped warm her bare legs. As everypony came out of the store, Tiki began a slow pace. Angel felt her hooves sink down within the snow, which became extremely annoying. Tiki unfurled his wings and fluttered inches above the snow and ice. They walked down they snowy streets searching for any signs of zombies. Angel's guard was relaxed because she could see several blocks. If zombies were to appear, she'd discern them. However she jumped when Sapphire let out a scream.
"In the snow! They're under the snow!"
Panic struck as Angel searched frantically for any signs of entombed zombies. A zombified mare was covered in snow and was struggling to release herself from her snowy grave. Muffled by the snow, a few other zombies began to disturb the surface and climb out of the snow. The living pony commotion must have convinced docile zombies to struggle out.
Golden sentry stomped on the mare's skull and crushed it beneath his force. Crimson splattered and stained the white city as well as Angel's face.
"Let's go!" Golden cried out.
Everypony broke into a scramble searching for the correct direction or for the crimson pegasus. He fluttered above ground slowly leading the group. His saddlebag weighed him down as he tried exerted a lot of force to stay above the surface. Angelwhiskers sprinted towards the red pegasus along with Sapphire. Mere seconds later she felt a force tug on her tail and she was thrown into the snow. Sputtering out snow she coiled around to see what had caught her. A zombified stallion was found buried underneath the snow. He grinded her tail in between her teeth and it became excruciating pain for Angel. She grabbed her knife from her foreleg and stabbed the zombie in it's temple. It died, however it's teeth was latched on in an everlasting death grip. Angel searched around for what to do. There were zombies struggling in the snow and she seemed safe for a few moments.
Sapphire noticed Angel's absence and twisted her neck to look for her. She gasped and changed directions towards Angelwhiskers. Angel felt relieved when she saw Sapphire return to her. Sapphire skidded to a halt and examined the problem. She pulled out her own knife and began to saw at the zombie's jaws. It's jaw cracked a few times but never broke open. Angel swore a curse and took her own knife on preparation. She positioned the knife as close to the zombie as she could and in one swift cut, she cut her own tail in two. Each fiber was detached and then Angel and Sapphire fled the area.
Zombie's in the snow reminded Angel of the chubby filly on the playground, so they easily outmaneuvered them all. She and Sapphire weaved In between zombies tried to catch up with the group. They were about a hundred and fifty yards away and each pony hustled down the streets. Tiki was above ground with Babs on his back. He was struggling to stay up, he was half exhausted with his overstuffed saddlebag, his rifle, and a small filly. His flying was unstable and Babs held tightly onto Tiki's neck. The four other stallions raced underneath him, running in odd paths as they avoided zombie landmines.
Angelwhiskers and Sapphire maintained long strides and swiftly hopped down the street to avoid as much time on the snow. There was an abundance of zombies in every direction and the girl's anxiety began increasing. Angel felt her heart pump quicker and quicker until it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She tried to asses the problem by breathing. Back in the hospital, if a patient required to practice breathing without an oxygen tank, she would recommended a certain method; in through your nose and out through your mouth. She kept those words in her head as she struggled to perform the method and avoid zombies around her. She Inhaled through her nose and roughly exhaled through her mouth. They swerved left and right between snow pits and they eventually caught up to the group. Each pony scrambled down the streets until Tiki couldn't fly anymore. He was utterly exhausted and crash landed into the snow. Babs hopped off Tiki and nudged the crimson pegasus. He was breathing heavily and the snow covered his body. Titan and Snakes ran for Tiki and propped him up between themselves. They supported him as Tiki limped along beside them. They had to take shelter soon so Titan began searching for any shelter that seemed safe. Titan guided the ponies into a warehouse along the street. They were near the Hoofsun river it was expected to be a boating warehouse or something similar. The windows were boarded with wooden 2x4's and the door was chained with a thick iron lock. Golden Sentry swung his shotgun to his side and positioned it in between his shoulder. He pulled the trigger and blew the lock off at point blank range. The lock broke and the chain fell to the floor. Titan pushed Tiki's weight onto Snakes and started digging away the snow that blocked the doorway. Titan flung the chain behind him and pulled the snow out from doorway. Sapphire made herself useful and helped Titan dig out the snow while Golden and Charcoal killed zombies. Angel and Snakes were tending to Tiki to make sure he didn't fall asleep from exhaustion. The booming sound of Golden's shotgun made Angel jump every time it shot. The door eventually became cleared and Titan pushed the door open. Each pony rushed into the doorway and Titan slammed the door shut.
It was dark...
"Can you guys find the lights?" Angel asked, blindly feeling her way around the room.
"No." Everypony except Tiki said out of unison.
Angel walked into the center of the room, or what she thought was the opposite direction of the wall. She stumbled into a celling chain and a smile spread on her face. She pulled the chain down and a single light flicked on.
The room was much larger than she expected, the walls were about twenty feet tall. She guessed the room was nearly a thousand feet in width and length. Boxes and wood were set around the room. Mostly shipping boxes and hay but they stacked up to nearly twelve feet. The single lightbulb illuminated only a small circle which dimmed quickly around the edges.
Her heart became more relaxed and she rubbed the frost from her face away on her sleeve. Angel turned to see Tiki sleeping on a bale of hay and Sapphire blocking the door with a crate. The crates varied in size and shape, some could contain several ponies with spare room.
Angelwhiskers sat along a crate that was deeper into the room. She sat silently with her thoughts jumbled in her head. She heard hoof steps from behind her and her ears perked up. She head the muffled hoofsteps again and she sprung up to her hooves. She knew some pony else was in the room. She scanned the area searching for zombies that would appear around the corner. Her quick spring alerted the group and they all scanned the pathways around the shipments. Angel didn't hear moaning and she became increasingly worried. She drew her knife and slowly approached the center of the room. The light dimmed around her and she relied on it for sight. She couldn't find any zombies around her and she came back to the group. A mere second later, an arrow with black feathers skimmed the air and shattered the lone lightbulb. The glass fell to the floor and the room went dark again. Several brisk hoof steeps confused her and a wail was heard from Babs, screaming about being assaulted. Her voice became muffled and soon trailed off.
"Who's there?!" Angel shouted fearfully.
A hushed voice was hear from above them. "We are followers of The White Strips."
Angel felt so stupid. She never even imagined to look above her, on the cargo containers.
Titan reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a flashlight. He clicked it on and shined it onto the cargo container. Eight robbed zebras stood above them, each holding strung bows. In the center of the zebras stood Babs with a burlap sack over her head.
"What do you want with us?" Angel asked nervously.
"We want your bags. EMPTY THEM." The lead zebra bellowed.
"We will not!" Tiki said exhausted. He struggled to move but his voice was powerful and intimidating.
"Then we will take them and your lives. Will you submit?" The zebra announced.
A gunshot was heard behind Angel. Golden held his shotgun up towards the ceiling and he hollered at the fleeing zebras. "Not a chance."
The zebras returned in different positions and shot arrows at each pony. Fortunately, none made contact and the group was forced to split up around the room. Angel swallowed her fear and ran into the room with Sapphire behind her. She watched Golden and Charcoal run one way, Snakes another, and Titan and Tiki a different way.
The room was a maze. A gloomy unlit maze. Angel clenched her knife within her teeth and Sapphire held her nine millimeter pistol.
"Are you ok with this Sapphire?" Angel asked.
"Yes." Sapphire replied.
"With killing zebras?" Angel asked for clarification.
"It's them or us. And I want Babs back." Sapphire declared and walked forward.
Angel listened for hoofsteps and tried to follow them. Angelwhiskers and Sapphire searched the area, taking great caution. They moved from corner to corner around boxes and frequently searched the top of the boxes.
An arrow flew so rapidly towards Angel, it felt as if it materialized a few feet from her face. It caught her jacket hood and ripped through the material. She felt petrified at the zebra's ability to see in darkness. Or perhaps their hearing. Angel and Sapphire rushed to a nearby opening and silently held their breath.
The lights all came on at once.
"Oh thank Celestia, one of the other groups must have found the circuits." Sapphire whispered.
Gunshots were heard in the distance and a piercing scream filled the still air. Angel and Sapphire raced to the location of the shriek. They weaved along the boxes and jumped over a lengthy box. A zebra was found lying in her blood. She had an arrow lodged into her shoulder and she lie silently. Her white stripes were soaked in her maroon blood. Angel searched around for Charcoal, with no luck. They were already gone. Angel searched around throughout the building, relying mostly on her ears. She walked down the paths and searched around the corners of the containers. She found Snakes down a long pathway in conflict with a male zebra. The zebra held a long lance, perfect for a duel with Snakes's spear. Snakes coiled around to attack and a slash from a lance sliced his face. He turned back to the zebra, quite pissed off. He parried the lance downwards and stomped on the wooden pole. It split underneath his hoof and he stuck his own spear into the zebra's chest. He crashed to the ground and Snakes wrenched his spear out from his body. The zebra's blood seeped out of it's body and it began to struggle breathing. Snakes had hit the zebra in one of the lungs and each breath he took he wheezed in agony.
"You guys are bastards." Snakes muttered and pushed the last breath out of the zebra with his hoof.
Angel and Sapphire, after a long sprint finally reached Snakes. He had a long scar across his lip that lazily leaked blood.
"What happened?" Angel asked tenderly.
"I found the circuit braker along the walls, and then this guy ambushed me." Snakes replied as if it was nothing.
Tiki abandoned his saddlebag near the entrance of the warehouse. This was so he could move a bit faster and keep up with Titan.
The two stallions split off into a direction away from the group and chased into the darkness.
They ran along the side of the containers and crates as quiet as they could. Both ponies had their weapons drawn and anger in their expression.
After some walking they heard the wail of the zebra that Charcoal and Golden killed. Tiki and Titan both smirked and continued to wander in an utterly random direction. They came to a semi-open clearing, there was a few broken crates that led up to the upper layers of the containers. There were three pathways; two along the ground and another onto the upper layer. One container directly faced the two stallions and the lock hung on the chain. The chain was orange with rust and it was corroding away.
A lone zebra confronted the two with a machete in his mouth. His mane was smoothed down and his golden earrings aligned together on his ears.
Tiki readied his own knife as well, his rifle was too bulky to handle in close combat. The zebra charged the two stallions and swung at Titan. The muscular stallion jumped out to the side to avoid the blade. He stepped up with his machete and swung at the zebra. He easily blocked it and lunged at Tiki, who fluttered out of the way. The two stallions kept their distance and tried to get on either side of the zebra. The zebra took a side step at Tiki and swung his machete, the moment his back was exposed, Titan barreled into the zebra, knocking them both to the ground. Tiki lunged for the zebra's throat while Titan held his legs. The zebra kicked Titan away and rolled away from Tiki. Both stallions were surprised at the zebra's sheer strength that was strong enough to knock Titan over. The zebra pounced on Tiki, ready to slide his machete through his neck. Tiki's crimson wings fluttered in desperation and panic set in on his expression. Titan had dropped his machete but inevitably charged for his comrade.
"You will not hurt him!" Titan roared.
Titan tackled the zebra off of Tiki and rolled around the floor, teeth gnarling at one another. The two barreled around until Titans head collided into the cargo container. The contact made Titan dazed and the snarling zebra took advantage. The zebra's machete punctured Titan's coat and flesh right above heart. The zebra dug it further into his body until the blood spilled out. Titan snarled at the zebra, his sly grin on his face made Titan furious but he didn't show his frustration. He looked over at Tiki who was seething with rage. He stood on his leg awkwardly yet his rage kept him up. Titan smirked and said to his friend.
"See you in heaven buddy."
Titan's head fell to the ground.
Tiki's rage was infuriating, as if his bones were made of fire. He pulled out his rifle and pointed it towards the zebra. He didn't aim, just squeezed the trigger. The bullet spun through the air and tore through the zebra's foreleg. The bullet came into a direct collision with the gleaming silver lock on the container. It cracked and fell to the floor.
Tiki began to pull on the bolt action rifle until he noticed the container doors swing open. At least twenty zombified ponies were trapped inside and sprung out at the nearest live food; the zebra. The zebra couldn't scurry away, his leg was too injured too move. The bloodied zombies dropped down to the screaming zebra and bit animalisticly into him. They ripped his white and black coat away from his possession and he screamed in agony. The entire mob of zombies couldn't reach the zebra and turned to Tiki, who stood about ten feet away.
"Go to hell." Tiki said loathing the zebra gang.
He ran away before he could watch the lights fade away from the zebra. He hobbled onto the broken crate and climbed onto the containers. Tears lightly slid down his muzzle, grief sunk into his stomach. He already missed Titan by his side. He grieved for a minute or two and he made himself continue walking. He kept his mind away from Titan for the time being, grieving would need to come later because the zebra gang was still a threat. He wondered why there were zombies within the metal containers. "Could the zebras have put them there?" He wondered. His hoof steeps clanked along the sheet metal as he followed down width of the container.
The lights flashed on nearly blinding the stallion. The transition was painful to his eyes and he shielded them underneath his wing. For a moment he blinked a few times and set his wing back by his side. Without the darkness obscuring his vision he could take notice of the surprising size of the building. One wall of the building differed from the rest of the walls, it was a huge garage. Tiki forgot he was on a harbor rather than a landlocked building. "That's why there's so many containers." He thought to himself. He walked along the containers and at a gap, plywood created a makeshift bridge. He walked along listening to the hushed clanking of metal. He sat along the corner of a cargo container about fifteen feet up watching Snakes battle a zebra with a lance. He noticed a white mare and beige mare down the pathway approaching them quickly. Tiki watched Snakes parry and snap the wooden lace into two and stick the zebra with his own spear. Satisfaction crept into Tiki's emotions and he fluttered down to Snakes and the two mares.
Angelwhiskers looked up to see the crimson pegasus float down towards them. She smiled and greeted him.
"Hey Tiki, no luck finding Babs?"
"Unfortunately no, and I lost Titan.." Tiki's voiced trailed off.
"Oh, no worries, we'll regroup with everpony else soon." Angel replied innocently, also thinking of Golden and Charcoal.
"We'll regroup with him in the afterlife." His voice was hushed and hurt.
After everypony comprehended what he said, Snakes lost his grip on his broom and and clanked to the ground. Angel's expression quickly readjusted solemnly and Sapphire took off her hat.
"Oh, Ah'm so sorry Tiki. Ah don't know what to say." Sapphire said trying to offer sympathy.
Snakes leaned onto one of the cargo containers and slammed his hoof into the sheet metal out of frustration. From within the container a slam was heard back, as if bodies were being thrown against the inside walls. Snakes was caught off guard and fell to his flank.
"Oh yeah, and there are zombies inside the containers." Tiki said pointing it out nonchalantly.
Snakes stood back up and lifted his spear from the ground.
"He was our best friend. He won't be forgotten." Snakes muttered.
The ponies began to wander back into the labyrinth of containers and began the search for Golden and Charcoal as well. They prowled around for what seemed like hours until the grinding of gears made the ponies halt. It was really loud and Tiki knew exactly what it was.
"No.. No bucking way." Tiki said determined and kicked off the ground.
He flew up to the ceiling and looked at the fourth wall. The crashing of waves splashed the harbor as the wall elevated. Tiki cracked his legs and took off for the door. His wings could hardly keep up with him as he flew at nearly 14 wing power. Rage perpetuated his speed. He watched a diminutive boat propel out of the harbor and around the corner into the Hoofsun river. He noticed Golden Sentry and Charcoal standing along the edge of the harbor. Blood soaked their coats but they seemed devoid of traumatic injuries. Golden made eye contact as the scarlet pegasus soared out into the open air. He banked directions and sped towards the fleeing boat. He counted four zebras and Babs. As he neared the boat the zebras prepared for him and shot arrows at the flying pegasus. He narrowly avoided the first arrow, but with three deadly assassins shooting at him would be much harder. He swerved around the second arrow and the third clipped his wing. Tiki lost both his balance and momentum then crashed into the Hoofsun. He sunk into the freezing water and he squeezed his eyes in frustration and desperation. His right wing and his right hind leg seared with pain as he let himself float back up to the surface.
He spit out the salty water and began to tred water only feeling misery and remorse.