The survivors and their new pony allies breathed heavily while the flames outside the armored door of the saferoom died out along with all other noise. Rainbow Dash was still unconscious and had started bleeding again. Seeing this, Rochelle began to treat her as best she could with their last remaining medkit. Meanwhile, the others regained their bearings after the exhausting chase and began their usual procedure of searching for weapons and supplies to replenish their stock.
The saferoom was set up in a trailer that looked like it belonged to the manager of Whispering Oaks. Posters of the attractions and upcoming events lined the walls along with charts showing profits in a steady decline, folders and fliers littered the floor where they were spilled. Mounted on a wall was a first-aid box that contained only a box of band-aids and a couple glowsticks. Resting on the table was a box of .22 pistol rounds; the gun they belonged to rested in the hand of a middle-aged man, slouched in his chair with a hole in his forehead.
Coach gave a silent prayer for the former owner of the themepark as he picked up the revolver and the extra ammo.
“Well shit. What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Nick said in his usual annoyed tone as he looked out the window at the overrun military outpost. The military barricades lay thrown asunder and bodies of soldiers and civilians alike littered the ground near the entrance as numerous infected wandered the area within, likely drawn out of whatever corners they’d been lurking in by the sounds of gunfire and explosions.
“I have no idea.” Rochelle huffed “But we have barely any ammo left, and I just used our last health kit saving... Rainbow Dash, was it?” Rainbow wasn’t in any condition to respond “Ellis what do you think?” she asked, hoping for some comic relief from the group’s man-child “Ellis?”
Ellis was completely silent as he stared at a poster next to the door, a smile creeping further and further onto his face as nostalgia flooded his mind. “Do you guys know who these guys are?” he held up the poster for them all to see “It’s the Midnight Riders!” he exclaimed joyously as he remembered going to their concerts.
“Hey! The Midnight Riders!” Coach joined in “I used to listen to them when I was in college. I’ve got all their albums, even their new stuff that ain’t no good! Still the best light show in the business though.”
“I’ll back you up on that, I went to see them in ’05; front row center! Lost mah eyebrows.” Ellis remembered fondly.
“Not to ruin your trip down memory lane, but how does this help us?” Nick asked as he loaded the last few rounds into his M1911.
“Do not doubt the Midnight Riders, for the path to salvation lies within the words of their music.” Ellis said, suddenly a mountaintop philosopher “Hell, their music saved my life like three times.”
“Somehow I doubt trying to get laid using innuendos of repairing cars is going to help us.” Nick frowned as he read a book full of lyrics to the songs that was laying on a nearby table “Although… a suitcase full of pistols and money would be nice right about now.”
Just then, they heard the sounds of a motor directly above them. Cautiously stepping out of the saferoom, they found the cause. A news helicopter was flying around the park.
“TO ANYONE STILL ALIVE DOWN THERE, POP FLARES TO LET ME KNOW YOU’RE THERE.” the pilot’s voice boomed from the megaphones “I’LL BE CIRCLING THE AREA ‘TILL SUNRISE. CHOPPER SEVENTEEN OUT.”
“You see? The Riders are looking out for us.” Ellis gave a salute towards the ceiling.
“What does some crappy band have to do with- never mind. Let’s just find some way to signal him; there’s gotta be some flares around here somewhere.” Nick set himself to the task and left the saferoom.
“Okay then, we have a plan.” Rochelle said as she and coach readied their weapons and moved towards the door “So who’s carrying Rain… Oh.”
The three of them looked over to Fluttershy, who had been sitting in the far corner behind a filing cabinet the entire time. She slowly rocked back and forth, and her eyelids were squeezed shut as tears seeped out from under them.
“Hey there, y’all okay?” Ellis said as gently as he could as he knelt down beside her. He only got a small whimper in response.
“Sweetie don’t worry. I don’t know if we can get you home, but we’ll do our very best to protect you.” Rochelle walked over and reassured her.
“Yeah, the two of you will be just fine long as you stick with us.” Coach joined them.
Fluttersy finally opened her eyes, red from her crying. Slowly she forced out a sentence. “Y- y- you killed them. Th- they were people once, they were alive… and then.” She clamped her eyes shut again and pulled away from them.
The survivors grimaced to each other and tried to think of a way to coax the traumatized pegasus back from the mental breaking point.
“Look, I know all this is probably a big shock to you with all the blood, and shooting, and crazy people trying to kill us and all.” Rochelle started “But we’re not bad guys- Well maybe Nick, he’s kind of a jerk. But what I mean is, this is what we’ve had to deal with, and we’re just trying to stay alive. A few weeks ago I’d never even thought of using a gun, but I’ve had to survive and keep protect the others. If that meant killing some crazy zombies, I’m completely okay with it.”
“B- but that man on the roof-
“Would have killed us all the same as the infected.” Coach answered Fluttershy’s question “Shootin’ him might have gone too far, but there’s no tellin’ what he’d have done if we hadn’t.”
“We protect each other.” Ellis told her “And as long as y’all are with us, we’ll protect you too. So what do you say; will you come with us?” he held out his hand as Fluttershy looked up at him.
“You bet we will!” came a voice from behind. They looked over to see Rainbow Dash struggling to her hooves. “Come on Fluttershy, if we ever want to get back to Equestria, we’ll have to be alive to do it. These guys helped us get this far, and I for one won’t stand by doing nothing while they risk their lives for us. Now let’s get out there and kick some flank.” She knocked her hooves together and headed out the door.
“It’s about time you guys showed up.” Nick complained as the rest of the group emerged from the trailer “I thought I was going to have to kill all these things by myself.” With that he brought his fire axe down into the head of another infected, not-so-cleanly splitting it in half.
“Well, time to get to work.” Ellis said as he drew out his tire-iron.
…
About a minute later they’d silently cleared out the infected from the toll booths at the entrance to the park. Nearby was a weapons locker about the size of a small car, likely used by the soldiers to store extra rifles and ammo. The survivors discussed various ways to get it open, but with its reinforced steel and keypad locking device, it was completely inaccessible. The dead soldiers proved to be more plentiful when it came to weapons, though not by much.
With a single, working combat rifle with three clips plus an M9 handgun now in their possession along with a handful of grenades, the survivors were deciding on how best to clear out the next area; a prize game section that had been converted into a sorting zone by the military with several dozen infected wandering aimlessly about. They’d nearly decided on the best course of action when they heard the sound that would haunt their dreams for days to come.
*Squeak*
*Squeak!**Squeak!**Squeak!*
At that moment, a mob of zombified clowns rounded the corner. Their once colorful clothes now faded into muted, pale shades, along with their smeared and bleeding face paint gave them the appearance of something from a child’s nightmares. With a unified ghastly roar they charged towards the survivors, every infected within earshot of that intolerable squeaking of their shoes following behind.
“That squeaking is driving the zombies crazy; kill the clowns!” Nick shouted as he drew his pistol.
The survivors took aim and opened fire as the infected closed the distance, several dropping to the ground as the bullets tore through them. It wasn’t nearly enough though, and within seconds the infected were upon them.
But just as the first infected reached the survivors and they’d began to shove back the horde, a loudspeaker sprang to life in the distance, blaring an advertisement and drawing all but the most stubborn infected away.
With her curiosity piqued, Rainbow flew up to get a better view. Once she was high enough, she saw the infected gathered around a megaphone rigged to a tape recorder, with a cluster of red canisters hastily scattered near the bottom.
A second later a blur of light hit the cans and they exploded into flames, slowly turning the crowd of infected relentlessly clawing at the speakers into charcoal.
(Achievement unlocked – Fried piper x 12)
Gladdened but confused by this turn of events, Rainbow flew back down to find her new allies conversing with a pair of strangers.
…
“You see Mr. Darian? I told you there were people here, I was right.” A little boy in a tee-shirt and sweatpants said excitedly to a masked man in a grey hoodie and military fatigues.
“Thomas, get back. We don’t know who these people are, they could be dangerous.” he said as he pointed his rifle at the group “Who are you?”
“Oh, well shit… I’m Ellis, this here’s Coach, Nick, and Rochelle. Hidin’ behind mah legs is Fluttershy, oh and that right there’s Rainbow Dash.” Ellis introduced them as Rainbow flew into the man’s face.
“And just who are you, pointing this thing at my new friends?” she demanded as Darian’s posture slumped as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. “Hey! I’m talking to- YOU!”
Rainbow was interrupted when Thomas gabbed her tail and dragged her down into hugging distance. “Horsey!” the eight-year-old shouted as he put his hands all over Rainbow, smearing her with dirt and nearly undoing her bandages.
“H- Hey, get off.” Rainbow protested as she hovered a few feet off the ground, much to Thomas’s enjoyment as he clung to her hind legs and howled with laughter.
“Umm… yeah okay.” Darian said awkwardly as he watched with the others while Fluttershy tried to help her friend “Soooo, does someone want to explain this… or, what.”
“Don’t look at us man, we just ran into ‘em.” Nick told him “They say they’re from another world, but that’s probably bullshit. More likely they’re some sort of freak experiment that got loose or- Oh come on.” he said with annoyance at the looks the others gave him “You guys can’t seriously believe that there’s an entire world of talking ponies, and that two of them somehow ended up here, can you?”
“Well with all the crazy shit I’ve seen in the last few weeks, I doubt anything would surprise me at this point.” Rochelle reasoned “So who are you two anyway?”
“My name’s Darian Cordd, the kid is Thomas. His parents… well, they didn’t make it. And I got split from my group on the way to one of the evac centers; that was… about ten days ago. Ever since then we’ve been trying to find someplace that hasn’t been overrun. So far, no luck.” Darian said with a sigh “What about all of you? You seem friendly enough.”
“We here came all the way from Savannah, headed to New Orleans. Seems like the only place that might have had a chance. Flutter an’ Dash joined up just a few hours ago, said they needed to get home to Equestria.” Ellis told him “You wouldn’t happen to know where that is would ya?”
Darian just stared at him blankly through the eyeholes in his ski-mask.
“Well, y’all are still welcome to come along if you want. Safety in numbers an’ all that.”
“Yeah, until one of those numbers stabs you in the back.” Nick snorted and was promptly slapped upside the head by Coach.
“Sure, be nice to have someone to watch my back in a tight spot.” Darian said as he watched Thomas and Rainbow crash through a sign of lil’Peanut, the park’s mascot “You guys wouldn’t happen to have any extra .308s on you by chance?”
“Sorry son, but we’re pretty dry on ammo ourselves. But man, if we could get that locker open back there.” Coach motioned to the weapons locker a couple of buildings behind them.
Darian’s eyes widened as he spotted the locker in question and he frantically searched through his pockets, only stopping once he found a plastic keycard. He looked at it, then back to the survivors.
“Aww yes. Now this is what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.” Coach said as he slung a bandolier of shotgun shells over his shoulder.
“Darian my friend, welcome to the team.” Nick said as he picked up an HK417 sniper rifle and handed Darian one as well.
“Heh, thank Thomas. He was the one who went around picking up this kind of random junk when we got here.” Darian told them as he chambered the first round “Where is he anyway?”
“Whee! Higher, higher!” Thomas yelled outside.
…
“Gah! Will you get off already?”
“But, I don’t want to. You’re so awesome.” Thomas said with a quivering lip.
Rainbow stopped trying to pry the boy from her leg. “He just said I was awesome..” She thought to herself. I am awesome. And I can’t just deny a fan."
“Okay kid, climb up.”
Thomas smiled from ear to ear as he climbed aboard Rainbow’s back, just behind her wing joints, and in a second they were off. Fluttershy watched from the ground, actually managing a smile for the first time since they’d arrived in this world full of monsters and people with guns. A rainbow trail formed across the darkened sky as Rainbow Dash and Thomas flew laps across it, finally landing as the others finished loading their clips.
“Okay, that’s enough for now. Gotta let these finish healing.” Rainbow said, gesturing to her bullet-wounds as she let Thomas off.
“Alright gang, let’s get moving. And keep an eye out for something to signal that chopper with.” Nick told them as they began the trek into the fairgrounds.
“Man, I loved this place as a kid.” Coach said as they walked through the food court “Heh, all these signs are makin’ me hungry; corn dogs, funnel cakes, popcorn.”
“Hey can we stop and make some cotton candy?” Ellis asked as he opened up one of the stalls “Seriously.”
“Ah, cotton candy, the wise Pharaoh of foods. Sittin’ atop the food pyramid and reigning judgment on all the lesser foods.” Coach gave praise to the supreme overlord of all sweets.
“Oh man I love cotton candy.” Rainbow Dash joined them “It’s like a cloud, only it’s made of sugar and melts in your mouth.” she remembered how great it would have been if Discord hadn’t turned all the actual clouds into cotton candy.
“Oh, you guys aren’t seriously thinking of doing this are you? The chopper, getting out of here, any of that ringing a bell?” Nick reminded them of the task at hand.
“Umm, I wouldn’t mind stopping and having some.” Fluttershy nervously raised her hoof.
“Count me in.” Darian said as Thomas jumped up and down excitedly next to the machine.
“Dude! I thought you were cool. Okay Ro, are you with me at least?” Nick grasped at straws.
“Sorry man, but I haven’t had cotton candy in years.” Rochelle cast her vote.
…
So half an hour later, after jury-rigging a car battery to the machine and finding the bags of mix, the group headed out, each of them taking bites of the fluffed up sugar. They even persuaded Nick to have one.
Making it through the rest of the park was going to be pretty easy with the weapon suppressors they’d picked up. Being able to pick off the wandering infected from a distance without alerting all the others proved invaluable to the survivors, but it didn’t mean that they didn’t need to be careful. With all the stands and attractions set up from when Whispering Oaks was still in business, plus all the medical tents set up by CEDA, and the military posts, there were plenty of places for the infected to lurk in waiting for something to pounce on.
“Holy shit guys, KIDDY LAND!” Ellis yelled at the top of his lungs “I wanna ride one, just one. I mean when are we ever gonna be here again?” he didn’t even look back as he rushed off into the concrete lot to find which ride he wanted to start up, Thomas sprinting in tow.
Rochelle shook her head with a smile. “I wish we could all be that happy.”
“You mean happy as that little kid with a gun… and Thomas?” Nick commented before going to retrieve them.
…
Ellis had just finished reconnecting the wires to the rideable toy trains when the others reached them.
“Alright… there we go!” Ellis said as he was about to flip the switch to turn it on. “All aboard!”
“Ellis! Hold it boy!” Coach yelled to stop him.
“Ellis are you out of your goddamn mind! Do you have any idea how much noise that thing is gonna make?” Nick scolded him, unaware of the growls growing in the distance.
“I hate to agree with Mr. Snarky Mc-Buzzkill over here-
“Hey!”
“But starting up a loud ride and bringing more of those things, probably isn’t the best idea right now.” Rainbow told him.
“Umm… Rainbow?” Fluttershy tried to get her attention.
“It’ll only take a second.” Ellis argued “Pleeeeessssee?” he and Thomas whined in unison.
“Ellis, I was a lil’Peanut ridin’ these back in the day, and I know how much this means to y’all. But we got a chopper to signal fore it leaves.” Coach reminded him as Fluttershy waved her hooves in front of their faces, trying to warn them about the intensifying growls.
“Alright,” Ellis sighed “But that would’ve been fun as-
“LISTEN!” Fluttershy yelled finally, shrinking back a bit when she realized she had everyone’s attention “Oh, umm…” she jabbed her hoof behind them.
Turning their attention away from Ellis’s shenanigans, they were finally made aware of the growling that filled the air, as well as its source. All around them, crawling out of corners, hanging off walls and the monorail line above, and peeking out of garbage cans and other improbable areas were at least three dozen Hunters, all dressed in tattered and torn Whispering Oaks hoodies.
The air was still for a moment as the Hunters prowled around, getting into vantage points as the survivors slowly raised their weapons and picked targets, Nick silently cursing under his breath that he knew this would happen. Fluttershy stayed close to Rainbow Dash as they hovered off the ground, ready to dart away with the rest at a moment’s notice.
Everything was still… and then-
A high pitched yell came from the train ride as a little girl Hunter pounced on Ellis’s back, biting into his shoulder as he attempted to throw her off.
This transgression was like firing the starting gun at a NASCAR race, as every single Hunter pounced at the survivors. Each of their unique howls merged together to form a symphony of terror as they jumped and bounded so erratically that very few shots the survivors fired even hit anything.
In less than a second, the survivors were getting pinned and forced to shove back their attackers, the Hunter’s claws raking their arms as they did so.
Rainbow and Fluttershy tried to get above the chaos, but with their frog-like legs, the Hunters eisily jumped up to reach them. Of the seven that darted at them from higher ground, two got lucky, latching onto the pegasi and pulling them back to the ground.
Ellis had finally gotten the little Hunter of his back only to be pounced by another, full-sized one. In the process they slammed into the control mechanism for the ride, setting it off with no way of stopping it. “Aww shit.” He said as another chorus of howls filled the air, and common infected began pouring over the chainlink fences.
“Everyone, cover your eyes!” Thomas yelled as he pulled two black cylinders from his pockets.
As soon as he released them into the air, they exploded into a blinding flash of light followed with a deafening bang. The Hunters were sent into seizures or stumbling into pieces of furniture.
Within a few seconds, the survivors had recovered from the flashbangs and Darian sniped the Hunters off Fluttershy and Rainbow before they could get their claws in too deep. “RUN!” he yelled as he and Coach led them into the back alleys past the [employees only] zone.
Fluttershy Scooped up Thomas and quickly followed them as Rainbow focused on knocking away the incoming Hunters.
Pursued eagerly by Hunters and infected, the survivors rushed down the alleyway. But it would seem the special infected had anticipated this, and another of their ranks joined the hunt.
Appearing like a Grim reaper at the other end of the alley, a Charger padded the ground before bowling through the entire team of survivors.
(Achievement unlocked – Scattering ram)
As Darian was piledrived into a wall, the other survivors helplessly struggled as Hunters descended on their prone froms three-to-one, tearing and biting into them as they easily detained their prey.
…
“Ugh, did someone catch the number of that train?” Rainbow groaned as she recovered from the Charger’s attack in mid-air just in time to dodge a pair of Hunters.
Through the chaos, she heard her friend’s cries for help. The first she spotted was Ellis, Coach, and Rochelle getting torn to bits, followed by Darian getting mashed to a pulp. Nick had managed to get free using his pistols, but was now getting stomped by nearly half a dozen common infected that had caught up to the group. The final scene she saw made her eyes tear up in rage; Fluttershy was on the ground in a growing pool of her own blood, using her own body as a shield to defend Thomas as four Hunters relentlessly clawed at her with more joining by the second.
“Get… OFF THEM!” Rainbow screamed as she went from zero to mach five in point three seconds, her signature sonic rainboom exploding behind her as she smashed into the infected like an enraged pinball, splattering herself with blood before coming to a crashing halt as she hit the Charger like a car hits a brick wall.
Looking back at her friends as she lay crumpled on the ground, she saw them slowly getting to their feet in the wake of her destruction. All except Fluttershy, who remained on the ground in a quivering ball as Thomas desperately tried to get her up.
That was when she heard the low groan of the charger standing over her. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the Charger’s fist coming at her face, followed by a loud bang.
…
“Shit! Dash, you still with us?” Nick pushed the dead Charger off her and checked to make sure she was alive as the others shakily got to their feet, huge chunks of their flesh torn and covered in claw-wounds. Seeing that she was still breathing, he looked over his own injuries before turning to the others. “You guys okay?”
“Can’t remember the last time I hurt this bad.” Coach told him as he pulled out some syringes.
“Gah, hurts… to breathe.” Darian said behind him, coughing up blood into his ski-mask.
Just then, another horde signaled its approach and infected began leaping from the rooftops in order to get at them.
“Damn it, we need to get moving.” Rochelle grunted as she injected herself with one of the painkillers.
It was then that Nick spotted a crude drawing on the concrete wall beside him, one that spelled salvation for them all; a house with a plus in the middle with an arrow pointing down the alley.
“Thank freaking god, there’s a saferoom nearby!” he informed the others “Everyone shoot up on morphine and fight through the pain, we need to get there now. Rochelle, get Flutters, we don’t leave anyone behind. Ellis, grab Rainbow Dash and watch the rear, Coach, you and me are on point. Darian, you see any Smokers, Spitters, whatever the hell… shoot it. Just shoot it.” Nick gave them their orders and turned to Thomas, who was currently crying as Rochelle picked up a heavily bleeding Fluttershy.
“Alright kid, time to man up.” Nick handed him one of his pistols “Hold this with both hands and stick close to us. Anything bad tries to grab you, point this at it and squeeze the trigger. Okay?”
Thomas wiped his eyes and gave a firm nod.
“Then let’s get moving. Come on, let’s go!”
Making it out of the alley was the easy part, but their path was now blocked by fences and overturned forklifts. Coach found an exit and blew the lock off a nearby door with his shotgun.
“Everyone in!” he called as he kicked it open. As soon as he did, a small, hunched over infected jumped out and latched onto his face, laughing maniacally all the while. “Oh god, not one o’ these things!”
Nick pressed the muzzle of his rife to the cackling infected’s chewed up face and blew its head to bits while the rest filed inside, Ellis and Darian stood guard at the door opening fire on anything that pursued them.
A few seconds later, they were inside the cramped storage area, barricading the door with a stack of boxes. But they didn’t have much time to catch their breath as the infected began pounding on the other side of the door, shaking it on its hinges.
“Up that ladder.” Nick pointed to a ladder leading to the roof through a trapdoor.
“Hold up,” Rochelle called as she lay Fluttershy on a table and pillaged a first-aid box mounted on the wall “She’s bleeding really bad, I don’t think she’ll make it without help.”
There were no objections as she set about patching up the wounded pony.
“Let’s see here; bandages, gauss, rubbing alcohol, defibrillator, sewing needle, antiseptic… industrial strength nail clippers. Anyone know how to treat... all this?” Rochelle asked as she listed off the contents of the kit. With all they’d been through the last few weeks, the survivors were pretty good at patching themselves up, but they’d never had to deal with anything this severe before.
“You need… to stop the bleeding with pressure... and tourniquets.” Darian wheezed out as he took a knife to a sheet he’d found on the floor and tore it into strips. Rochelle stepped aside as he tied the strips around Fluttershy’s legs as high up as he could, attempting to staunch the bleeding.
“Now hold this gauss on her wounds and- gah… keep pressure on them.” he instructed them before he tightly wrapped up her wounds. “Alright, that should hold for now. I’ll have to stitch her up later, and she probably need either a transfusion or a lot of liquids to replace the blood she’s lost.” Darian said as he wiped the blood off his hands, raising an eyebrow under his mask at the looks the others were giving him.
“How did you know all that?” Rochelle asked.
“My dad was a veterinarian, believe it or not. Wanted me to be one too.”
The sound of liquid hitting the other side of the door told them that their time was up as it slowly melted through the metal, revealing an angry mob and three Spitters outside.
“Go!” Nick yelled as he fired the rest of his clip through the now open doorway.
The others quickly headed his instructions, Rochelle grabbing Fluttershy off the table and heading for the ladder with the others.
…
Darian was first to bust open the hatch and get onto the roof, but in the time they’d spent saving Fluttershy, the infected had set up an ambush. A slimy tongue shot out and grabbed him before he could get his rifle up.
“It’s got me!” Darian yelled before the air was squeezed out of him, the crushing power of the Smoker’s tounge being more than enough to overpower his already shattered ribcage.
“I got it!” Ellis yelled before getting slammed into the wall by another charger “Shit, I don’t got it!”
A pair of shots rang out and the Smoker’s tongue went limp as its owner exploded into a cloud of spores, leaving Darian gasping for breath through the pain. He looked up to see Thomas standing there looking like a badass with the magnum pistol in his hand as Coach saved Ellis from the Charger.
“Nice one kid.” Darian coughed as he got to his feet again.
“Man this would be awesome if we weren’t fightin’ for our lives.” Ellis said as the group of survivors and two unconscious ponies slid down the giant carpet-slide, firing at the growing mob of infected behind them. When they reached the bottom, an SUV crashed through the fence to their left, the angry roar of a Tank accompanying it.
“Keep moving, we’ve got a Tank coming!” Nick yelled.
“That way!” Coach spotted the saferoom sign and led them in the general direction blasting a couple infected that lingered in their way. As they came into view of a passage under an operator’s booth for the monorail, another Tank smashed through the barricade in front of them. “Whoa, not that way!”
“Stairs!” Ellis called out, directing them up.
The survivors scrambled up the stairs as fast as they could, Ellis and Darian covered them as they made their ascent. Darian stayed behind a moment longer to line up a shot on one of the Tank’s legs. The round hit, but did little slow the hulking monster, and he barely avoided getting hit with a slab of pavement.
…
“Over there! Saferoom’s in the tunnel of love!” Nick spotted the spray-painted sign “Tunnel of love… geez, why’d it have to be the friggin tunnel of love?”
Each of them climbed down in turn, but as Nick was about to climb down as well, the Tanks had caught up. Nick turned around just in time to see a giant fist slam into him and send him flying off and onto the pavement below. There was a sickening pop as Nick’s leg caught the brunt of the landing and his ankle twisted.
“Hrrg, ain’t that a bitch?” Nick gritted his teeth and hopped over to the gate where the rest of them had gathered.
“Alright, this’ll open the gate, and what the hell else?” Coach said sarcastically as he hit the button for the electronic gate.
As he did, the gate slowly slid open and the merry-go-round started up, its music box apparently corrupted by lack of maintenance, causing its normally cheery tunes to become a distorted mess of despondence. It was fitting, as right at the moment that they made it past the demonic-sounding ride a third Tank showed up to the party.
“Oh are you freakin kidding me?” as Coach and Darian helped him forward with his twisted ankle, Nick made his displeasure of their terrible situation known to the heavens.
“Just run! We’re almost there!” Rochelle yelled to them as she and Thomas neared the safehouse, Fluttershy still on Rochelle’s back.
After nearly falling over a few propane tanks near the entrance, Ellis got inside second with Rainbow and held the door open as the rest neared.
With an entire horde of infected on their heels, followed by a whopping three Tanks, Coach, Nick, and Darian practically dove into the saferoom. Ellis slammed the door, locked it, barred it, welded it shut, and barricaded it with wooden planks before they’d even touched down on the floor.
Literally two seconds later, there was a huge explosion outside as the structure around the entrance of the tunnel-of-love collapsed into rubble, further blocking the saferoom door.
“Hah, get fragged you zombie bastards.” Darian breathed out before falling unconscious.