//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Revenge 
// by Teq 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 7


I sat on the first floor of the café, a blanket wrapped round me, shivering feverishly. I now had a large scar under my left eye and my mane was more dishevelled than before. I looked over at the body of the stallion with hate. Wraith had stabbed him in the neck with his hunting knife. There hadn’t even been a shout. After that he just had to wait for the ideal moment to rescue me. He had silently waited at the bottom of the stairs, eavesdropping. He heard what the mare had said and, going on the assumption that she would be facing away from the stairs, he’d picked up the biggest knife he could see and crept up the stairs. When he saw the mare with her knife raised above her head, he acted swiftly, ramming his own weapon just to the right of the mare’s spinal column. She had been killed instantly.

After my traumatic torture session Wraith had set about looting the bodies. Our haul wasn’t fantastic. It consisted of a Bizon submachine gun, an SVD Dragunov, a few knives, two sets of hoofcuffs, another carton of cigarettes, what Wraith called a ‘Ghillie Suit’ and several chipped coffee cups. Wraith was, at that moment, rummaging through the café’s inventory, searching for food. When he came back he dropped a box of apples that were still relatively fresh on the floor, helping himself to one. I didn’t feel like eating. I got up and walked over to the window. Well, I say I walked, it was more like a hobble. The pain between my back legs was still terrible. Wraith deduced that I would be in no fit state to walk for at least a day.

I peered through the shutters. It was still raining hard. The lightning had now begun and I could see white arks of electricity shoot across the gloomy sky before hearing a rumble of thunder. I had already looked through the desk, wardrobe and bedside table upstairs. They yielded nothing interesting and I assumed that he Scavenger’s had already looted the useful stuff. Wraith had set about sorting through the ammunition in the cash register. Most of it was just random shrapnel (not quite literally, although there were a few bits of actually random shrapnel in there), but he did manage to put together about a clips worth of ‘tracer’ rounds. He said that they would fit my pistol and there were enough there for a single clip. He explained that, when fired, the rounds would generate a slight glow, helping to track the trajectory of the bullet. He recommended that I replace the last round of each magazine with a tracer, so that I knew when I needed to reload. I did as he suggested, but left the hollow point magazine untouched, still in my pistol.

I was in a very bad mood. I felt ready to stab out the eyes of the first pony that got in my way. Wraith said that the day was getting short and that we would need to sort out bedding. I nodded but outright refused to sleep in the bed upstairs. Mostly it was because of the horrific experience I had had on it (some of my blood had dripped onto the sheets, and it just acted as a solemn reminder of what had happened) but also partly because I was aware of what the two Scavengers had been doing on it prior to my torture. Wraith agreed. He found some loose sheets in the café’s inventory and suggested that we sleep on them. It was better than nothing and it made a pleasant change to sleeping on the cold floor, letting my body heat seep into the ground.

“Do we have to do sentries again?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Aaaaaaaaw! Can’t I just have tonight off?”
“I need to sleep too, and there has to be somepony watching for Scavengers, or we could both be tortured next.” I whined again, throwing my head back in exasperation. “Look, I don’t know what I can say to make you feel better. What you’ve been through is… it’s a lot. I’ve been through a lot too. I’ve had nopony there to look after me. If you knew what I’ve seen… What I’ve… Done, you would understand.” I sniffed. Why did my life have to be so complicated? I held out my forelegs and put on my best adorable face.
“Can I have a hug?” Wraith looked awkwardly from side to side, not quite sure how to respond. I simply sat there with my fore legs outstretched giving him puppy dog eyes as I sat there on my haunches. Eventually, he rather cautiously wrapped his fore legs around me, and I wrapped mine around him. It was perhaps the first friendly contact I’d received in a while. It felt good.

Wraith broke the contact and went back to laying out our bedding. An awkward silence fell between us. Wraith coughed, “I can take first shift if you want. You can get some sleep, try and relax and all.” I nodded.
“Yea. Yea, okay.” I stood myself back up and hobbled over to the light switch. I gave it a click and a single bulb in the ceiling flickered into life, casting a white glow on the room and letting out a slight hum. That seemed to be a recurring problem with lights in Equestria. At least the light worked. Wraith told me to turn the light off, explaining that if we left it on then the Scavenger’s would very quickly locate us. I nodded and flicked off the light. Only then did I realise how dark it actually was. It wasn’t night time dark, but it was still pretty dark.

I told Wraith that I was going to look upstairs; see if I could find anything more. He nodded and let me go, staying and trying to figure out how the coffee machine worked. I slowly made my way to the top of the stairs. In truth, I was looking for a toilet (I hadn’t… been for a while), but I was also quite interested in finding something that may be hidden from view. What wasn’t so hidden from view was a door that led off to another room. I hadn’t seen the door before, but I pushed it open anyway. I clicked on the light and felt a brief pang of relief when I recognised the white interior. After my private moment that desperately needed to get done, I searched in the cabinet to see what I could find. I found a packet of what looked like Paracetemol and a small box of ‘blood thinners’. I assumed that the owner of this café was diabetic. I wasn’t diabetic (thankfully) but I did take the tablets just in case. Of… something.

When I got down stairs again, Wraith was examining the small ‘hoof-pistol’ I’d found in the safe. I asked about it. He said that it was a, “Kahr PM9. It’s designed to be concealed easily on somepony’s person.”
“I doesn’t look like it packs enough firepower to punch through a piece of paper.”
“It can do some damage, but it’s next to useless against any form of decent body armour, you’re right. Did you find anything upstairs?”
“Some pain killers and some blood thinners, but that’s about all.”
“Good.” Another awkward silence fell between us. It was strange; we never really tended to have any awkward silences. For some reason I’d completely run out of things to say. Wraith wasn’t an avid talker when he didn’t need to be, but I was quite the chatter so for me to run out of things to say was a little… odd. I put it down to trauma.

As night fell Wraith kept his promise and took up post at the window as sentry. I lay down on the sheets Wraith had laid out and yawned. I needed a good rest. I’d been through quite a lot recently and a solid night’s sleep would be great. Unfortunately, I was to be woken in a few hours for my sentry duty and I wasn’t looking forward to it. Still, I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, failing several times. All I could do was think about my torture. The pain in my groin still throbbed away and I had a very bad headache. In the end I decided to swallow one of the painkilling tablets to try and dull some of the terrible agony. It worked to a limited degree, about enough to kill my headache and make the pain between my hind legs less prominent. Still, all I could think of was the darkness of my blindfold, the horror I felt as the Scavenger prepared to rob me of my (what I assumed to be rather attractive) rear. I had a restless sleep, plagued with nightmares, the details of which don’t warrant describing, but were quite bad. I can remember waking up more tired than when I’d gone to sleep. Wraith was shaking my shoulder, whispering for me to get up.

I yawned and stretched, “All right, I’ll take my post,” another yawn. “Get some sleep. You’re going to need the rest.”
“I-it’s not your turn for sentry yet.”
“What?”
“It’s only been two and a half hours.”
“So you woke me up with two and a half hours of sleep still left? Why would somepony do that? Also, you’ve left your post.” Wraith hung his head briefly before rebutting with,
“Don’t pretend you don’t do it. I’m not as heavy a sleeper as I look; did you like the smell of my mane?” I blushed hotly. What else had he seen me do whilst I thought he was asleep? I hoped not too much. I tried to stifle another yawn but failed, yawning for a good few seconds before final closing my mouth again. I will admit, I was still very tired, but Wraith had just revealed that he was a very convincing fake sleeper and I was quite scared to think of what else he knew. He sighed quietly. He looked very tired. His eyes were bloodshot and he struggled to keep them open. I could tell he was really trying hard. Then I remembered he had another two and a half hours of sentry. I hoped he had the ability to stay awake that long. I placed my concern forward and he chuckled, gesturing at a pyramid of empty cups, “I’ve been drinking plenty of coffee.”

There was a long silence, which I ultimately broke, “So… uh… Why did you wake me up again?”
“Oh. Well, I know how traumatic torture can be and… I wanted to make sure you were okay. What with the post-traumatic stress and all.” I blinked a couple of times.
“What do you really want?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” He kicked his foreleg a couple of times, looking slightly to one side of me.
“If you’re trying to drop hints, you’re failing. Really badly, actually.”
“Okay. So I… well… I wanted… Oh for fuck’s sake, hang on,” he took a single deep breath. “I wanted to… hug you again. Just because, you know, you’ve been through so much and I know how… comforting… how comforting it can be… so...” he trailed off after that. I said nothing. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to tell me something, but wasn’t prepared to make any attempt at guessing what it was. I guess what I did get out of that was that Wraith was not a smooth talker when it came to mares.

Still, he did a good job at making me feel sorry for him. I wrapped my forelegs around him again. He was a very fragile stallion. Like glass, except that he doesn’t break if your drop him. So I guess he’s not like glass at all. I should probably have thought that analogy through a little better. Still, I enjoyed holding him in my hooves, resting my head in the crook of his neck. It was, as he’d said, comforting. After a few moments like that I let him go.
“All better?”
“I guess.”
“Are you going to get back to your post now?”
“I suppose.” He picked up his rifle by the sling and slowly walked back to the chair, sitting himself down and gazing out of the window. A flash of lightning shot across the sky. It gave his face a very impressive glow. I truly felt sorry for the stallion. He’d been living a life of misery and all I’d done was drag him along into mine. He didn’t deserve this. Still, he’d gotten himself into it; he’d decided to join the Scavengers. I rested my head back on my hooves, closing my eyes. I still loved him though.

When he woke me up again the first thing I said was, “Is it actually my shift or do you just want me to hug you again?”
“It’s actually your shift now.”
“Fiiine.” I dragged myself off the floor and half walked, half stumbled towards the chair that we were using for a sentry post. Wraith had taken off his tunic and flung it around the back of the chair. I sat down and stared out into the rainy night, looking out for any suspicious movement or lights. I squinted as I thought I saw a silhouette in the second story window of the building opposite. It looked like somepony was staring down at me, watching me. A flash of lightning illuminated the street, and the silhouette turned out to be nothing. Just a figment of my overactive imagination.

One hour ticked by. I was beginning to get very bored. I glanced over at Wraith, not sure whether or not he was actually asleep. It was quite a clear line of sight between where Wraith had laid our bedding. He must have done that on purpose. I still wasn’t sure whether or not he was fake sleeping again. His head was facing the counter, however, so he wasn’t looking in my direction. Still, I didn’t get up. I was determined to spend one full shift on sentry without getting up. But it was hideously boring. I desperately searched for something to do to kill some time. I had my Glock and everything in my belt pouches. I cursed quietly. I’d left my saddlebags on the counter, so I couldn’t get that piece of paper I’d found in my last lodging in Savengerville. I couldn’t get up to use the coffee machine. I didn’t even like coffee anyway. I swatted away a naughty thought. That would be wrong. Very wrong.

But it was very tempting. I made sure that Wraith was definitely not looking at me (which he wasn’t) and took his tunic off the back of the chair. I should just stop before I did something I regretted. But it felt good to be bad, so I put my hoof into his chest pocket. The first thing I took out was an empty shell casing. A little odd to be carrying that around, but I put it back and felt around for more things. I found three loose cigarettes, likely his wages, and put them back in. I wanted to put everything back that I took out, so that Wraith wouldn’t know that I’d been rummaging through his pockets. I contemplated searching through his saddlebags too, but decided against it. It was bad enough that I was looking through his uniform; I think searching his saddlebags would have been a step too far. There were also a few loose bits in there, but not much else.

I moved on from his chest pocket. Oh, this was so naughty! It was exciting though. There were two more external pockets but I knew from looting experience that the Scavenger tunics had one internal pocket. I decided to finish searching the exterior pockets first. I started with the right pocket. In it there was a photograph, folded in half. I unfolded it and saw it was a colour photograph of six Scavengers. I recognised the one on the far left as Wraith, with a very serious look on his face, holding his rifle. Next to him on the right was a magenta pegasus mare with a shotgun, a stupid grin on her face. Next to her was a mare who looked a little older than Wraith did in the photograph. She had a mane that was a similar colour to mine, but with a sort of golden yellow fur coat. She was a unicorn too, and across her back was an assault rifle. Next to her was an intimidating looking stallion holding a submachine gun and a chisel. The look on his face filled me with fear. I could just make out the rank of Tactical on his brassard, but in terms of specialisation, he was a Sadist for sure. Next to the Sadist was a pony that looked even younger than Wraith, wielding a pistol. The colt grinned cruelly, and I was fairly certain that blood was smeared over his hooves. On the extreme right was a rather strong looking mare with a large rocket launcher over one shoulder. She was an earth pony, with a forest green Mohawk and a tooth pick in her mouth. I shivered. Wraith had a nasty looking section. I folded up the photograph again and put it back in his pocket. There wasn’t anything else there.

In his left pocket was a collection of empty stripper clips for his rifle. I suppose they were there so he could re-bomb them, given the chance. There was nothing else in that pocket, which only left his internal one. I put my hoof into it, and drew out what appeared to be a small notebook with a pen stuck into the binding. I debated whether or not to open the notebook. This was about to get really private, and I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to find. Should I, shouldn’t I? This was going against everything I’d been taught was right. But I’d also been taught that stealing and killing and masturbating were wrong, but I’d done all those. Well, if I was digging a hole, might as well see how deep I could make it. I turned the cover and looked at the first page. It was just full of the same two words, ‘I’m Sorry’ repeated for the entire page. This carried on for three pages. It confused me. Why would he write the same two words on every page for about three pages? I flipped to the next page. It was a drawing. It was a very good drawing. I didn’t know Wraith could draw. It was a mare with a cowgirl hat on, looking rather upset, sitting in a cage. It took me a few moments to realise it was me.

I was surprised. How long ago had Wraith drawn this? I hadn’t seen him do it, so maybe it was whilst I was behind bars? I flipped to the next page. Another drawing. This time there was another pony in it, much smaller than the cowgirl pony. The young filly was poking at the ground whilst the cowgirl looked over her shoulder, a defiant look on her face. The filly was Mystery. It was as though Wraith had been documenting my life, from the point at which I was captured. I flipped the page again. Several pieces of chalk hanging from the ceiling by threads, somepony in the distance balancing on one hind leg, fixing another piece to the ceiling. I flipped to the next page, expecting to see another sketch, but being greeted by words. ‘I’ve made my decision. I’m leaving. I’ve had it with the Scavengers. I’m taking the cowgirl pony with me. If she agrees to come that is. She looks like the sort of pony that wouldn’t give up on a good cause.’ That’s all the page had on it.

I was so absorbed in reading through Wraith’s notebook, I had completely zoned out everything else. The lightning flashes, the driving rain, the howling wind; all completely zoned out. I turned the page. ‘On sentry. Cowgirl pony has joined me. She’s called Bucky. Nice name. She’s got the potential to really make a difference. Heh, this is like a diary almost.’ The next page was another sketch, this time of me sleeping. He’d drawn me in a pretty suggestive position, which made me wonder whether I really slept like that. Put it this way, I’m pretty certain my rump was never that high in the air. Maybe, I don’t know, I’m asleep at that point. The next page, more text ‘Can’t stop thinking about Bucky. I don’t know what it is about her that makes me feel like this. Whatever it is, I hope she doesn’t change it.’ Another drawing after that, this time of me sitting on a fence, swinging my legs. At no point had I ever sat on a fence and swung my legs, so Wraith was evidently making stuff up by this point. Oh dear, Wraith, let’s hope you’ve not taken this too far. Hypocrite alert. I was sensing a pattern; Text, drawing, text, drawing, text, drawing. I turned the page, expecting more text.

I wasn’t disappointed. ‘Taught Bucky to shoot. She’s a natural. I’ve never seen anypony grasp the art so quickly. She looks so… I don’t want to write it… ‘cute’ when she shoots. Weird, I know, but it’s true. I don’t know if she’s noticed me looking at her. If she has, she does a good job of hiding it.’ The next drawing was me sleeping with an assault rifle curled up in my hooves. I thought it was quite incredible how Wraith could draw all this from just his imagination. They were a little rough, but they were very detailed. I read the next page intently, eager to learn more about Wraith’s personal life. I shouldn’t be reading this. This is for Wraith’s eyes, not mine. But, I’ve read this far. Might as well keep going. ‘We’ve left the Wanderers far behind. I swear that Bucky gets better looking every day. She looked so proper when she arrived, but she looks a lot… wilder now. I like it. I’m glad it’s just me and her again. She’s almost too good to be true.’ This page simply consisted of a Glock and a hat. No pony in this one, but it was a lot more detailed than the others. He must have spent a lot of time on this.

I’d lost track of what time it was. I peered over my shoulder to see if Wraith was still looking away. He was. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, turning back to the notebook. ‘Not a second goes by when I don’t think of her in some way. Everything she does is adorable. The way she walks, the way she talks, everything. I couldn’t wish for a better mare to spend my time with. I just hope she feels the same way.’ The next drawing was of me laying against a rock, my hat over my face and my hooves resting on my belly, my hind legs crossed over. I eagerly turned to read more. I knew I shouldn’t, but I had to. ‘I hate the LRSA. There’s nothing that could possibly annoy me more. Their rules and regulations are bullshit. At least I have Bucky here to keep me sane. She vastly out shadows any mare I’ve ever seen.’ Then there was a drawing of me arguing with a German officer. The likeness was so uncanny I could tell which officer it was. It was the one on the second sentry position, just outside the compound. Hang on, how had Wraith managed to get this notebook out of my saddlebags whilst we were in the compound? Had he kept it in his saddlebags until recently or had he been delving into mine when I wasn’t looking? Not that I had anything to hide in them of course. The next drawing was of me laying down on my belly, my rear towards the viewer. I wondered whether Wraith had drawn that from life or whether his imagination was running wild at this point.

The next page was when it got really interesting. ‘Some German thought he could hit on Bucky. She’s mine and I won’t let anypony else have her. Bucky managed to diffuse the situation though, otherwise I would have probably have had to take the German away for a few minutes. She likens me to a companion. Well, at least now I know where I stand.’ The next drawing was of Wraith, looking rather down. It was rather poignant, tugging on one of my heart strings. Had that comment really hurt Wraith that much? I flipped to the next page. Maybe it would get a little cheerier from there. ‘Bucky was showing off to another German. Maybe she doesn’t share the way I feel for her. Well, it’s nice to dream.’ Then there was a drawing of me strutting past that Private from the central building, who was staring at my rear with hearts for eyes and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Oh Wraith, you couldn’t have interpreted that any worse.

I turned the page again. ‘Only just found a dry place to stay. Bucky looks amazing with her mane wet. She’s so sexy this way. Shame she doesn’t like me as much as I like her. I feel so bad for liking her.’ A drawing of me with my mane wet, giving a sort of coy stare. I’ll admit, if that’s what my mane actually looked like wet, then I agreed; I was pretty damn sexy. The next entry looked recent. It was again another text entry. ‘I got a hug from Bucky. I hugged Bucky! My heart’s in my mouth, I can’t believe it. The thought of it makes me light headed. Maybe she does like me after all! This is incredible! No mare’s ever liked me before.’ A drawing of me and Wraith sharing an embrace. I expected there not to be any more entries after that, but I was wrong. There was another text entry. ‘I just got my second hug from Bucky. Two, in one day! Is it sad that I’m counting? I’ve never felt like this before. No mare has ever made me feel like this. I wanted to hold her in my hooves for ever and never let go. Her body was so warm and comforting. Her breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. Never have I felt as elated as this.’ I flipped to see if there was a drawing, but there wasn’t. He mustn’t have gotten round to it yet. I prepared to put the notebook back, so that he wouldn’t know I’d read any of it.

The small book vanished from my hooves. What? Where did it go? I hadn’t dropped it, had I? I almost wanted to reach for my Glock and cap myself in the head when I heard a whisper next to my ear, “Enjoying that, were you?” I broke out in a sweat. 
“I… uh…”
“How could you?”
“I was bored!”
“So you went through my tunic pockets? Then you looked through my notebook. Why would you do that?” I was silent. I simply bowed my head. I had intended for him never to know, but that was all out of the window now. I was in hot water of the worst variety. Wraith turned and I heard him slowly begin to walk away. Then he stopped. I half expected him to shoot me in the back of the head, but he simply walked back and snatched his tunic off my lap. It stung. I heard him slowly ascend the stairs. What hurt the most was how he’d refused to talk to me after that. I wanted him to shout at me, tell me off, pull my hair or hit me in the face. It was his silence that hurt the most. All I could hear now was the driving rain and the wind howling constantly.

You know when you’re digging a hole, just to see how deep you can make it, and then someone on the surface tips all the dirt you’ve dug out back in on top of you? Well, neither do I really, but I can imagine what it’s like, and that’s what I felt like at the moment.

I knew it was wrong, I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I butted my head against the window until I was sure it was about to crack. I rested my head against the cold glass. Why hadn’t I listened to my common sense? Why did I always have to get myself into trouble? I picked up an empty cup and threw it against the wall in frustration. It shattered into several small pieces in front of the door. It did little to make me feel better and I simply rested my head against my chest and sobbed. I was sorry, so very sorry. Why? Why? Why? It wasn’t as though I didn’t have a choice. I shouldn’t have been prying though Wraith’s personal stuff.

I couldn’t hear anything upstairs. I looked out of the window. There was nothing there expect the wind and the houses opposite. That silhouette was back. “Fuck you,” I said under my breath, as a flash of lightning proved again that nothing was actually there. I made a mental note to check in the house tomorrow and see what was causing the shape. I made my way past the counter and slowly began to climb the stairs. I peered through the banister. Wraith was curled up on the bed, sleeping, his tunic next to him and his notebook tucked under him. I made my way up the rest of the stairs. I slowly hobbled over to the bed, looking down at Wraith as he slept. I leant close to his ear and whispered a soft, “I’m sorry,” before kissing him gently on the forehead. For several minutes I stood there, my head drooping down, my ears flattened against my skull.

Than Wraith sat bolt upright as somepony screamed downstairs, “GAH! Fuck! What the hell is all this stuff?” Wraith stared at me for a moment. I blinked. Then Wraith kicked himself into combat mode. He grabbed his rifle by the sling, cocking it once, ready to shoot. I prepared my pistol for firing, ready for a conflict. Somepony had managed to break in downstairs whilst I had left my sentry post. I heard a loud crunch and then another scream, likely from the same pony, who I assumed was a stallion from his voice. I heard a mare call, “Keep your eyes peeled, they’ve booby trapped this place!”

Wraith was already half way down the stairs, rifle cocked and ready. A stallion let out a low whistle, “Holy shit guys, look at this.” I assumed they’d found the bodies of the Scavengers we’d killed. I also assumed that these were more Scavengers we were dealing with. I saw torch beams flickering around downstairs. I heard the mare speak again, “Go search upstairs.”
“Yea, yea, give me a minute.” I took this opportunity to survey the scene. I poked my head around the corner to see into the room. There was a mare wielding a battered looking sledge hammer, with a torch attached to her steel helmet. She was clearly the one in charge and I could see from her rank insignia that she was a Commander.

For further reference, ranks in the Scavengers run as follows. For junior recruits and non-commissioned officers,  the ranks start with Recruit, followed by Corporal (Wraith was a Corporal, in fact most Scavengers after their first year are promoted to Corporal), then First Class, then Sergeant, then Tactical, then Second Class (for some reason Second Class was superior to First Class), then Master and then Sub-Officer. The ranks for the officers are separated into three categories: Junior ranks, Senior ranks and Marshall ranks. The junior ranks consist of Raider-in-Training, Raider, and Commander. Senior ranks consist of Assault Commander, Troop Leader, and Group Leader. Then the Marshall ranks, which consist of Vice Marshall, Marshall, Chief Marshall, and finally Supreme Marshall, the highest rank in the Scavenger faction.

The Commander was pacing about the room, kicking at the bedding that Wraith had lain down. Wielding an assault rifle and shining a torch onto the bodies of our last victims was a young looking First Class. He had a garrison cap on at a jaunty angle and appeared to have a katana on his back. Sitting in a chair whimpering in agony was a young Corporal. He was also a stallion and had taken his helmet off and placed it on the table next to him. He was holding out his front hooves to a young mare Corporal with a white armband on. I hadn’t seen Scavengers with white armbands on in the past, but I assumed that she was a medic. She also had a helmet which she had set beside her. The two both had assault rifles which were leaning against the wall. I glanced over at the door. The Scavengers had managed to open the door without knocking anything over with any noise, but there was a pool of blood at the entrance. Some light was glinting from the base of the young stallion Corporal’s hooves. He’d stepped on the shattered coffee cup I’d thrown at the wall and the ceramic shards had gone straight into his hooves.

I aimed my pistol at the officer’s head. She gazed in my direction, the torch on her head temporarily blinding me. The mare shouted, “Hey! There’s one here!” Before charging and vaulting the counter. I fired off a single shot from my pistol. The shot missed its intended target (her head) but buried itself in her right shoulder, the hollow points going to work rending her flesh and almost severing her foreleg. She howled in pain and fell forwards, doing a rather artistic forward roll before coming to a stop on the floor, clutching her shoulder and whining in pain. There was a pool of blood on the floor where she’d come to a stop. All the other ponies were now looking at me. The First Class pointed his assault rifle at me and I ducked behind cover before he fired a burst of three rounds. The rounds went straight through the wall next to me and I swore quietly. Whatever rounds he was packing, they weren’t standard.

I waited for the First Class to show himself but he didn’t. I heard a soft click and I shot Wraith a quick glance before he threw something round the corner. It was the stick grenade we’d found a long time ago. There was a loud bang as the grenade detonated and I peered round to survey the damage. The First Class was had been spattered against one wall, and all items of furniture in the area had splintered. The corpses of the Scavengers we’d killed earlier were nowhere to be seen. I rounded the corner, my pistol pointed at the two Corporals. Wraith came in after me, his rifle pointed at the pair as well. They both threw their hooves in the air. The mare whimpered slightly, “P-please! I’m just a medic!”
“Yea! And- and I’m wounded!”
“Don’t kill us!” Despite their pleas, I kept my pistol on them. I didn’t trust Scavengers further than I could accurately shoot them. Wraith came and stood next to me, his rifle levelled at the head of the medic. He picked up the two assault rifles and carried them off back to where we were standing. The intruders were now severely less powerful.

I heard a loud scrape behind me. To my amazement I looked over my shoulder to see the blood stained Commander wielding her sledge hammer in her one good fore hoof. She yelled, “Cowards! Don’t surrender! Fight! Kill them!” She arced the hammer towards me in one overhead swipe. I dodged. The hammer smashed into the floorboards and stuck there. I put the pistol into the base of the Commander’s neck. She made an attempt to reach her own pistol but I pulled the trigger before she managed it. The hollow point round blew out her throat in a shower of blood. Her head was hanging from a few tendons as her spine was severed and flesh decorated the floor below her. Her body fell limp, a loud thud announcing her final impact with the floor.

The stallion Corporal who’d stood on the coffee cup had a look of pure terror on his face, whilst the Medic didn’t seem fazed by the gore. Wraith pulled me over by the collar, “What do we do with these two?” He whispered. 
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“Reading your notebook. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Forget that for now! What do we do with these two? We don’t have the resources nor the time for prisoners.” I thought for a moment.
“We can’t let them go. They’d bring more of them down on our heads.”
“Right. I say we just kill them.”
“But they’ve surrendered! They’re not threatening us.” Then my face lit up as I got an idea. “Use the cuffs we found! Cuff them both to the bed posts upstairs, then leave them for their comrades to find!”
“I suppose that would work. Do you have the cuffs?”
“And the keys, yes.” 
Wraith pointed his rifle at the Scavengers, “Up the stairs, both of you, now!” 
The wounded Corporal whined, “But I can’t walk!” 
Wraith sighed, “Can you carry him?” The Medic nodded. “Good. Get going.”

The Medic grunted as she carried her wounded comrade up the stairs. I heard her mutter, “Freeloader,” under her breath. She set the corporal down on the bed and stood looking at us. “What are you going to do with us?” I pulled out a set of the cuffs.
“Lie down next to him.” The Medic groaned and reluctantly lay down next to the Corporal. I cuffed the Medic’s hoof to the Corporal’s then cuffed his other hoof to the bed post. The Medic shot me a cold look and I stuck my tongue out at her. Wraith and I packed up our gear and made our way down the stairs. I overheard the Corporal say, “You know, this is pretty hot.” The Medic sighed.
“Shut up. I would rather be anywhere but here with you.” I chuckled. It was clear that these two weren’t on best terms.

I looted the corpses of the First Class and the Commander. I didn’t find many useful items, but I was surprised when I showed Wraith the rounds the First Class was packing and he whistled. He stuffed the rounds into his saddlebags, explaining that they were Armour Piercing rounds. The bullets were tipped with tungsten to ensure that they went straight through a wide variety of armour, including tank armour. That would explain how easily they went through the wall next to me. The Commander was carrying a Glock with her, but it only held standard ammunition. I took it anyway, the Glock and the ammo. I liked the idea of having a back-up Glock. Wraith examined the rifles, “AK47s, the lot of them. Oh, no wait this one’s an AK74. Yea, Soviet weapons. These AK47s are almost indestructible. There’s nothing you can do to these things to break them short of taking them apart or chain sawing them in half.” I wasn’t sure it was possible to make a weapon that reliable, but Wraith was the expert, so I went on his judgement.

“Fuck off!”
“Come on, we have nothing better to do!”
“Uurgh! You’re so sleazy! I wouldn’t have sex with you if you were the last stallion alive!” I laughed to myself and so did Wraith. I walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up, “Keep it down up there! We’re trying to get some sleep!” The Medic shouted back.
“Please get me away from this guy, I can’t stand him!” She squealed. “I swear, if you touch me there again I’m going to rip off your dick!”

Wraith went back to sleep on the sheets (this time with his tunic and notebook kept close) and I resumed my sentry post. Fortunately the little episode had killed a lot of time. I now only had half an hour until morning. I sat and watched the rain. It looked as though it was getting a little lighter. Was the storm almost over? I didn’t want to get my hopes up but some dry weather would really help us make some serious progress. I wasn’t sure how far we still had to go, because I hadn’t seen a map before leaving and I had no idea how far we’d travelled.

Morning rose and the adrenaline that had kept me awake began to wear off. I was a little drowsy and I didn’t want to stand up, but Wraith dragged me out of my chair and threw my saddlebags over my back for me. I politely pushed him away when he moved to tighten the straps for me, much preferring to do it myself. I went up to check on our resident lovebirds. The Corporal had fallen asleep but the Medic was still wide awake, her hind legs tucked against her chest with her tail wrapped around her. I laughed, “Having fun?”
“No.”
“Shame. Well my partner and I are going for a little stroll. You’ll be okay here, won’t you?”
“No! Please! Take me with you! Don’t leave me here with him!” I chuckled, turning my back on her and walking slowly down the stairs.
“Good bye. Don’t let anypony in, don’t set fire to anything and don’t sell the house!” That’s what my mother had always said to me if she ever went anywhere without me. I heard the Medic whine a little and shake the bed in frustration.
“At least put him somewhere else! Hello? I know you’re still there. Pay attention to me!”

I re-joined Wraith downstairs. I nodded that I was ready to go and he slung his rifle over his back. We carefully stepped over the remaining porcelain fragments on the floor and pushed the door open. I heard the Medic scream before I shut the door and left the two of them to their fate. I asked Wraith which way we were supposed to be heading and he pointed in a direction. We set off walking, prepared for a long journey. At least the rain was clearing up. After about two hours the rain had died down to a light drizzle and the wind was at a level at which I felt safe to put my hat on again. One thing the rain had done for me was give me a good wash.

Nothing really happened for a good few hours. We kept walking, relieved slightly when the rain completely stopped and the first rays of sunshine showed themselves. We decided to take a break, now that the rain and wind had stopped and the sun was out, to rest a little and regain our strength. I parked my rump on a patch of grass and shook off my saddlebags, letting them fall to the floor. Wraith hung his on a branch of a nearby tree. I sat happily munching on some of the food from my saddlebags. Wraith didn’t eat much (he ate another apple) and simply sat and stared into the ground.

I swallowed what was left of the chocolate I had been eating (I reasoned that I could easily walk off the calories) and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s something, that much I do know. Come on, what’s the matter?” Wraith sniffed.
“I… I suppose you know now.”
“Know what? You have to stop being so cryptic all the time.”
“Know that I… Kinda… Like you.” He blushed, glancing off to one side and avoiding eye contact (I twice attempted to meet his gaze but on both occasions he turned his head to look in the other direction). I gulped.
“Yea. I do.” Silence. There was still a light breeze to interrupt the heat of the sun, and the sound of the leaves rustling in nearby trees was all I could hear. Wraith rubbed one of his forelegs nervously.
“I know how much you hate Scavengers. You have very good reason to. I understand if you don’t like me in that way. It’s not like I’m not used to it. I’m happy to just be your companion, if that’s what you’d prefer.” He went silent for a while, “Did you like my drawings?” I giggled.
“Do I really sleep with my butt in the air like that?”
He laughed nervously, “No. Only that once. I… thought it was cute.”

He ran a hoof through his mane. His hoof was shaking. He was practically shaking all over. I found it rather amusing how he was so confident when his life was in danger, but terrified when it came to talking to mares. It was ironic really. And it was cute. I shuffled over to him slowly. I rested my head on his shoulder and nuzzled him slightly. I could feel his breathing quicken and his heart rate sky rocketed. He didn’t comment, but he didn’t do anything else either. I turned my head slightly to gently rub my muzzle against his neck. He gasped a little. I glanced up at him and he looked down at me. I clutched his mane gently with my hoof, not sure of what to do next.

We both glanced off to one side. I chuckled awkwardly. I was so new to this. I’d done the whole seduction thing a few times before, but I’d never before actually gotten this close to anypony. Not in this way at least. I gulped once. My mouth was dry. I felt like a fool. I had no idea what to do. I looked back up at Wraith and he looked back down at me. I moved a little closer, practically panting nervously. Our noses touched. I could feel his breath coming short and quick. I imagined mine was the same. Slowly, ever so slowly, I closed the remaining distance between us. Our lips touched. Holy shit, I was kissing somepony! Oh shit… I was kissing somepony. What if I sucked? What if I was the worst kisser in all of Equestria? I didn’t know what I was doing. I was going based on what felt right and what I’d read in romance novels. Hey, I’m a filly, I’m aloud to read that sort of thing!

I pressed my lips onto Wraith’s a little harder. I nervously held the pose, to see if he was going to do anything, but he was about as experienced as I was, so we were both clueless. Eventually I decided to throw all restraints out the window. I gently poked my tongue against Wraith’s lips. I felt him pull back slightly and I was terrified that I’d done something wrong. But this is what they did in all the novels, it couldn’t be wrong! Wraith relaxed again, and slowly I began to push my tongue past his lips into his mouth. I brushed my tongue against his. I was kissing! My first proper kiss.

We spent a few minutes like that, gently playing with each-others’ tongues as we both kissed for the first time. Eventually I pulled away (after remembering how much breathing was important) and quietly panted, trying to gasp in as much air as possible. I was blushing heavily and I was feeling very hot under my jumper and hat. I had the heaviest blush of my life plastered over my face and I looked away shyly, “Well. That was… nice.”
Wraith nodded, “Mmhmm.” Silence.
“Should we… get going then? We don’t want the Scavengers to catch us.”
“Yea, yea, we should go now.”

I strapped my saddlebags back over my back and prepared to leave. I had a kind of ‘ohmygosh’ reflex kicking off in my brain, whilst the more logical side of it was trying to regain control. Finally, at the age of nineteen, I had had my first kiss. Oh how amazing it felt. I felt on top of the world. I gave a mental whoop of joy. Nothing could bring my spirits down now; except maybe another storm, but that was about it. Only then did I realise that I was walking. I’d just sort of started to walk alongside Wraith without even thinking about it. I looked around, “Hang on, aren’t we meant to be going that way?” I gestured over my shoulder with my hoof.
“No, I’m sure we’re meant to be going this way.”
I looked from side to side, “Uh, no, it’s this way. Look, we’ve passed that tree before!”
“No we haven’t. I’ve never seen it before.”
“I have. We should be going that way.”

Oh, and getting lost. That could bring my spirits down a little too. Basically, Wraith and I were both suggesting travelling in opposite directions. We had no idea where we were, no which direction we’d been heading in previously. We were, quite frankly, completely lost. Lost in the heart of Scavenger territory. I sat down and clapped my hooves to the sides of my head, “Okay, don’t panic. We can fix this! Which direction was that village in?”
“It was back there.”
“Hmm. I thought it was back that way.”
“Well it can’t be both.”
“No shit! Oh this is not good.” I began to panic slightly. The last thing I wanted to do was get lost in an area where I was basically surrounded on all sides by Scavengers. The landscape was almost featureless, with just a few trees indistinguishable from each other. The best solution at the moment was to just pick a direction and walk in it.

Wraith did his best to reassure me that we were going the right way, but as we set off again, I still wasn’t sure. I believed that we were just walking back to the village we’d come from, but Wraith seemed confident that we were on course for Refuge. I didn’t know whether to trust him or my instincts. After several kilometres and no sign of the village, it seemed as though Wraith had been right all along and we were heading for Refuge.

The next thing I remembered was a face full of dirt as Wraith pulled me to the floor. I looked up (rather annoyed) and saw, not very far away, a group of about eight Scavengers standing about in a rough circle. In the middle were two ponies fighting each other. Wraith began to crawl forward on his belly, from shrub to shrub, trying to get a better view. I followed close behind. I wondered for a moment about two things, the first was why were there a group of Scavengers fighting each other in the arse end of nowhere, the second was why there were so many Scavengers. Scavengers usually travelled around in groups of three (although in this area it seemed to be four), not eight or nine.

Wraith and I had managed to crawl within hearing distance, and we were close enough to make out facial features. We were crouched behind a bush, peering through. The circle of Scavengers was composed of eight, ranging from a young Recruit who looked about eleven, to a Raider who looked quite hardy. They were cheering and calling at the two ponies in the middle. One was a large and formidable Assault Commander wielding a combat knife, his garrison cap on at an angle and his tunic open. He had a studded collar around his neck and a set of blood red combat goggles. The pony he was fighting was garbed in Wanderer attire. He was young, but older than me, I’d say about twenty. He also had a combat knife but looked much less skilled than the Assault Commander.

I saw off to one side of the group two bodies. They were both Wanderers. One of them had a deep gash in their throat. They were about the same age as the pony currently in the middle of the circle, but she was a mare. Next to her was a pony who’d had his gut sliced open, his intestines and other organs spilling onto the ground next to him. He was quite a bit older than the other two, I’d say thirty three. On the opposite side of the circle were three sets of saddlebags, likely belonging to the unfortunate Wanderers. My theory was that they had been travelling to Refuge like us, but had been picked up by a (rather large) Scavenger patrol. Now they were fighting for their lives against a very skilled Assault Commander. Well, one of them was; the others had lost.

I saw the Wanderer make a lunge for the officer’s ribs. The attack was dodged with ease. The officer clutched hold of the Wanderer, turned him around and planted a knee between his hind legs. He taunted the crippled stallion, “Come on! At least try!” The stallion slowly raised himself from his position on the floor and made a quick jab, aimed at the officer’s throat. The officer ducked under the attack, grasped the stallion round the middle and stabbed the blade of the knife into his stomach, twisting it horribly to ensure maximum damage. The stallion choked, coughed up a little blood, then fell to the floor, limp and not moving. The surrounding Scavengers cheered in delight and one dragged the corpse off to one side.

One of the Scavengers branched off from the others and headed for the bush behind which we were hiding. Of course he would though, because bad things seem to be attracted to me like iron to a very powerful magnet. The Scavenger lit up a cigarette, a plume of fowl smelling smoke shooting into the air as he did so, and prepared for the necessary business that befalls all living things, mostly animals. I shuffled backwards slightly, which had the undue effect of creating an audible rustling noise that painted a puzzled look on the Scavenger’s face. He slung the assault rifle off his back and started to push aside branches, peering through gaps trying to find us. I held my breath, not to avoid being found but to avoid inhaling his cigarette smoke, but this proved to be an unwise tactic. Eventually I ran out of held breath and had to gasp in more air. I did so silently, but all I could taste was the acrid smoke from the Scavenger’s cigarette, making me cough and splutter.

The Scavenger recoiled in surprise. He reached a hoof into the bush and grabbed hold of my jumper, pulling hard. I tumbled out of the foliage, the Scavenger hoisting me up by my garment. Wraith leapt out of the bush next to him, attempting to land a blow on his temple, but the rustling of the bush alerted him to Wraith’s presence and he immediately brought his assault rifle to bear, wielding it in a single hoof. Wraith froze where he was. The Scavenger seemed a little confused. Wraith was in Scavenger attire, but had been attempting to attack him. The Scavenger called over one of his companions, an attractive young mare in the sense that she had a nice mane. Apart from that, she was nothing special.

The Scavenger (stallion) grasped me around the neck and began to pull me along behind him, “Giddyup! Grab the other one. He may look like a Scavenger but he sure as hell isn’t!” Wraith initially resisted, but the mare pointed a shotgun at his head until he complied, leading him behind me until we were on the outskirts of the circle. Every Scavenger there turned to look at us, including the Assault Commander, who sneered at me. It made him look very unattractive, not that he was very attractive in the first place.

The Scavenger with me in a headlock called out in a sing song voice, “Look what we have here! More meat!” The Assault Commander laughed.
“She’s not going to be much of a challenge.”
“Well we’ll put him in first!” The mare pushed Wraith into the middle of the circle. She stripped him of his equipment and pressed a knife into his right fore hoof. “Fight, little colt!” I had my saddlebags and belt taken from me and added to the pile of equipment they’d looted from the Wanderers. The stallion released me from my headlock, but stood close by with his assault rifle over his back, ready to turn on me if I ran. I gagged again. If there was one thing I hated, it was the stench of cigarettes.

The Scavengers began to cheer again as Wraith and the Assault Commander circled each other, sizing each other up. I couldn’t watch. But I had to! Maybe I could spot something that could help Wraith. The Assault Commander wasn’t letting any gaps appear in his guard, but Wraith was waiting for him to make the first move. For a while nothing happened before the young eleven year old Recruit called out a curt, “Get on with it!” The Assault Commander made a jab at Wraith’s ribs. Wraith parried the blow but the officer clutched hold of Wraith’s dominant right fore leg, pulling on it hard. Wraith stumbled past the officer, who slashed him down the back. Wraith winced in pain, but to his credit he didn’t scream. The officer laughed, encouraged by Wraith’s pain. I gasped in shock, almost wanting to avert my gaze. Wraith was quickly getting his arse handed to him.

Wraith prepared himself to go back on the defence. His wounded back didn’t help his guard though, and he struggled to maintain an upright posture. The Assault Commander jabbed at Wraith’s left hip. Wraith again parried the blow, rightly suspecting a feint. The officer then jabbed at Wraith’s right shoulder with his free hoof. Wraith blocked the quick attack, but hadn’t expected yet another attack, and as a result didn’t catch the officer as he stabbed him in the right shoulder. The blade split his uniform and pierced his flesh, blood seeping out past the blade and down his foreleg. This time Wraith did scream, clutching at the knife embedded in his shoulder. I gasped again, the colour draining from my face. Wraith grimaced, but held onto the knife, not letting the Assault Commander twist it or pull it out. He was stifling the blood flow, preventing massive blood loss.

The Assault Commander snarled, attempting to pull the knife out of Wraith’s mutilated flesh. Wraith quickly stabbed at the officer’s hip as he was distracted. The attack didn’t have much force behind it, his arm wounded and with a knife sticking out of it, but it succeeded in eliciting a yelp of pain. The officer planted his hoof in Wraith’s face, causing him to lose his grip on both knives. Wraith was now completely unarmed, clutching at his wounded shoulder. The officer pulled the knife from his hip and wielded it alongside his other blade. Wraith nimbly dodged an attack, but winced at the pain in both his shoulder and his back. Wraith could keep dodging and avoiding conflict, but only for so long. I had to help him. Fast.

I thought quickly, relying on the one thing I knew would get attention: a stallion’s testosterone fuelled brain. I clutched hold of the collar of the stallion guarding me. He immediately began to assume I was attacking him, attempting to push me off. I flicked the cigarette from his mouth (it was annoying me greatly) and pulled him down to the floor, a coy look on my face. It was a façade, but he didn’t know that. His sex drive immediately kicked into overdrive, and a stupid grin crossed his face as he clutched hold of my hips, eagerly. I was determined not to let him get too frisky, so I swung one of my hind legs up, hard and fast, catching him in the groin. He winced, he groaned, I pushed him to one side as he lay in a heap clutching at his mutilated crotch. I say again, there are some serious disadvantages to being a stallion. The Scavengers that formed the circle hadn’t noticed, too intent on watching Wraith dance around the Assault Commander as he made attack after attack, getting very annoyed.

I rushed over to my belt, grabbing my pistol from its holster and checking my magazine. Satisfied that it was loaded, I flicked off the safety and swung around, pointing the pistol at the officer. He turned around as Wraith made a quick dart to one side. He looked up at me. Wasting no time I pulled the trigger, a shot ringing out and sending a hollow point round through the left lens of the officer’s goggles, shattering it before passing through his eye and shredding his brain. He stumbled backwards, dropping both knives to the floor. He fell back, hitting the floor with a thud, blood dribbling down from the shattered lens over his face. The Scavengers in the circle looked at me unanimously, as did Wraith, clutching his shoulder. Before anypony reacted, I shot another Scavenger, trying to narrow down the competition as much as possible. The shot caught the Scavenger in the heart, dropping them before they even knew what had hit them (a hollow point round).

The Scavengers kicked into action, grabbing at their weapons and preparing to shoot me down. I saw (and heard) a Sadist call out to his companions, “Catch her alive! I want to make her suffer!” I gulped. I’d been tortured once by a Hunter, I didn’t want to be tortured by a professional Sadist. The nearest Scavenger to me pulled a strange looking pistol out of his holster, preparing to fire at me. Before he could I shot him, the bullet hitting his sternum and shattering it. He collapsed to the floor, then I ran, the remaining Scavengers giving chase. The eleven year old Recruit was surprisingly quick and led the way.

I didn’t get very far before I felt hooves grab at my hind leg. I looked back to see the young Recruit grabbing at me, trying to drag me back. I used me magic, taking hold of my pistol and butting him in the head with it. It wasn’t lethal, but it stunned him and got him off my leg. Almost immediately I was grabbed by another Scavenger. I swung my pistol into his stomach and fired a shot. He stumbled, clutching at his belly, before falling back dead. Another Scavenger with a pipe wrench held above her head rounded on me. I quickly bucked her in the face and she fell back, clutching her muzzle. She hit the ground with an odd crack, and I saw she’d hit her head on a well concealed rock, cracking her skull and killing her almost instantly.

I yelped as a ball of fire crashed into the grass next to me, singeing it black. I spun around to face my assailant, a unicorn summoning fire with her horn. I was amazed; I didn’t know such magic was possible. The unicorn prepared another fiery projectile and launched it in my direction. I leapt to one side to avoid it but the end of my tail was still caught in the blast, igniting it. I stamped it out quickly before it could burn too much of my tail and then looked back up to see the Sadist from earlier standing next to the mare. He raised his submachine gun and fired three shots. The first one shot over my back, but missed. The second one was more accurate and caught me in the rump, embedding itself in my flesh and crippling movement in my rear left leg. I yelped as the pain shot up the left side of my body and I fell to the floor. I looked back at the wound. It was bleeding quite badly and I could see the hole in my flank, just to one side of my cutie mark (but fortunately it had caught a little of it). The bullet hadn’t gone all the way through but had fortunately been stopped by my flesh. Say what you like, I don’t have a fat ass! The third bullet missed, whizzing past where my leg had been before I fell.

The young recruit leaped at me, wielding a meat cleaver and brandishing it menacingly. I lit up my horn, encasing the rock the unfortunate mare whom I’d bucked in the face had fallen on. I flung the rock at the colt, striking him in the temple and knocking him down. I saw a dribble of blood seep from his nose. I chocked. Killing other ponies was bad, and I’d only recently gotten over that. But killing a young colt? He was practically a foal! He didn’t deserve to die, surely? I couldn’t justify it. I just couldn’t. There was no way in all of Equestria that that was right. I sobbed. I looked down at the now lifeless body of the colt, not moving, not breathing. I was shaken beyond my limits.

I didn’t even notice as the Sadist who’d shot me fell from a bullet to the back of the head. I didn’t see the unicorn mare get engulfed in fire and debris as a grenade exploded nearby. I didn’t see the well-armed and armoured Wanderers rush towards me, a wounded Wraith slung over the back of a medical pony. I didn’t hear them ask me if I was okay. The reason I managed to get all that in writing is because Wraith would later tell me what happened. In any case, the first I knew of their presence was when the leader slapped me in the face. I looked up at him, tears in my eyes.

He was in the usual Wanderer attire, expect he had riot armour protecting his body and a steel helmet with a visor on his head. Next to him was an assault rifle with a vicious bayonet slung underneath. I only half listened to what he was saying, “Are you okay? You have a nasty looking wound there. Give me your hoof, I’ll help you. We need to get you out of here before the Scavengers raise the alarm, come on!”
I did nothing. I just stared at him. In a choked voice I murmured, “I-I killed him.”
The Wanderer looked down at the dead colt, “I’m sorry about that. There’s nothing we can do about that now! Come on, we have to go! My comrades have got all of your gear, let’s get moving, quickly!”
“He didn’t deserve to die. He was just a colt. What have I become?” I clapped my hooves to my temples. My head was throbbing. I was a savage. A brute. I was no better than the ponies I was trying to stop.

The stallion shook his head. He tossed his rifle to a nearby Wanderer; he clutched the sling in his mouth. The stallion slipped a hoof under my bulk and flung me onto his back. He started to trot at an alarming rate, making resting over his back rather uncomfortable. Plus, I had to share the space with his bulky riot armour, which was less than pleasant to lie on. I could see Wraith being escorted close by. There were five Wanderers in all, all of which were covered from head to foot in old riot armour. The commander and the stallion I assumed to be the 2nd in Command both wielded assault rifles. The medical pony (also a stallion) had a white helmet with a red cross painted on the front, as well as the same red cross on the chest plate of his armour. He had a submachine gun at his hip. A youngish mare walked slightly ahead of us. She was a unicorn, with a belt of grenades around her waist and a grenade launcher held in her magic. The other Wanderer (who funnily enough was also a stallion) had a scoped rifle slung over his back, leading the way.

I was still in shock. I imagined that my hair had turned white, but it hadn’t. I turned my head to try and talk to the stallion carrying me, “I killed that colt.”
“Are you proud of that?”
“No.”
“Then I feel sorry for you. Now’s not the time to dwelling on that. We need to get you to Refuge before the Scavengers catch up with us.” I was still very upset. I sobbed again, wiping my face with my hoof. The pain in my rear was horrible; it felt like my left haunch had been carved out of stone. I looked back the way we came. With a sniff I asked a burning question.
“Why are there so many Scavengers here?”
“The Scavengers are very eager to keep trespassers out of this area. Recon suggests that they have a munitions cache close by here and they patrol it frequently, with much larger sections than normal. The Wanderers you saw were members of our scout party. There were originally eight, but the other five fled when the patrol showed up. The ones you saw were the officers.”
“Is Refuge far?” I was seriously concerned about my internal organs pulping as I bounced up and down on the Wanderer’s armour.
“No. It’s a few miles on from here. Sit tight, we’ll get you there as soon as we can.” Wraith had been right. We had been going the right way after all.