The sound of shattering glass pulled Dew Drop's attention away from Gear and the radio. It seemed to come from the front of the restaurant. Gear was still preoccupied with his arm so Dew went to investigate without him. She cautiously opened the door deciding the kitchen and dining area, listening for the moans of the infected. Instead, she saw some pony emptying the register in a bag. He was wearing a military pack, black padded clothing, a black bandana over his mouth, a military ballistic helmet, and a military flak vest. An M4A1 was slung over his shoulder with four magazines hanging off of the flak vest. "Hey! That isn't yours!" Dew Drop said angrily. The pony froze and looked over at her. He relaxed when he saw it was just a little filly.
"Yeah, well, no pony's using it so I'm taking it." He said, slightly muffled by the bandana. Dew Drop scowled at him and walked over. "That's stealing! Put it back right now!" The pony glared at her then grabbed her. "Shut up, would you!? I don't care! You know what, I'm taking you with me. You'll be a good distraction for those freaks." Dew struggled to get loose. "Gear! Help me! He's gonna kill me!" She yelled.
Gear snapped out of his distraction when he heard Dew scream. "Dew Drop!" He yelled. He unslung his MP5 and ran on his hind legs into the dining area. He kicked open the door and looked around frantically. His eyes landed on the bandit, aiming his M4A1 at Dew's head. "Drop her!" Gear yelled. He aimed the MP5 at the pony, holding it in one hoof, his other arm dangling at his side. The bandit glared at him and took a step back. "I don't think so bucker, one wrong move and I'll blow her brains out. Drop the gun and I might let her go." Gear looked at Dew and thought for a bit. "Fine! Fine. I'm putting down the gun. Just don't hurt her." He set the gun on the ground and kicked it away slightly. The bandit took another step back and smiled.
"Good." He aimed the gun at Gear. A shot rang out. Gear flinched and closed his eyes expecting pain. He opened his eyes and examined himself when he didn't feel anything. No bullet holes. He looked up and saw the bandit staring at him with a surprised expression. He dropped the gun and fell forward, a pool of blood forming beneath him. A rather large hole in the back of the ballistic helmet showed where a bullet had smashed a hole in his head. The helmet did next to nothing, the bullet had passed straight through both it and his head along with, if he had checked, two walls and the head of an infected.
He slumped in relief and ran over to Dew. "Are you alright?! I'm so sorry!" He said, looking her over for injuries. She sobbed into his shoulder, hugging him fiercely. Gear hugged her back, relieved she was alright. Hearing hoof steps, Gear looked up to see a second pony walking toward them. She was wearing a welding mask, bush hat, light brown ghillie suit, and a brown military pack. She carried a Barrett M82 in both arms, walking forward gracefully. "He wasn't very nice, now was he? I must thank you, I've been following him for a while and didn't know if I should shoot him or not." Gear watched her suspiciously, holding Dew tightly.
The mare shook her head and began rummaging through the bandit's back pack. "You two can have the gun if you want, I already have my rifle and a G18. Um... I'm going to take these explosives and half of the food and water though. It's a shame I had to ruin the ballistic helmet." She began transferring items from one backpack to the other. When she finished, she looked up at Gear and Dew. "Where are you two heading?"
Gear, still suspicious of her, pulled out the military radio. "I'm gathering the surviving military units at the docks, you're welcome to come with, I'm sure they'd appreciate another gun." She shook her head and slung her rifle over her back. "Thanks, but no. Other ponies are just a liability, the only reason I haven't shot you is because you seem like a good pony. Be careful out there, ya hear? Oh, I might come to the docks later if I feel I'll have a better chance of surviving there, but that's not likely. I guess I'm just the best at fighting alone." She turned and walked out of the building, looking both ways then galloping off to the right. Nearly the moment she disappeared around the corner, three pegasi in full combat gear armed with AR-15s landed outside. Gear quickly grabbed his MP5 from where he had dropped it and the M4A1 from the corpse of the bandit. He put the items on his bandoleer in the military pack and the clips for the bandit's gun as the three soldiers entered the restaurant.
"Are you the two civilians we're picking up? Show us the map." One said. He was light green with a brown patch of hair over his left eye. Gear held up the map and unfolded it along with the radio frequencies. The pegasus clicked on a radio and turned to speak into it. "We found them, bringing them back now." He clicked off the radio and motioned for them to follow. A female picked up Dew Drop and put her on her back while the other two soldiers put Gear in a blanket and carried him that way. The three flew off in the direction of the docks quickly, scanning the streets as they went. Gear watched Dew as she clung for dear life to the back of the female soldier. After a short flight of around fifteen minutes, the three pegasi landed on the roof of a building at the docks. Squad 7 had set up four machine gun nests and a sniper position with some sandbags and wooden boards. Squad 3 was currently setting up a couple of tables and radios along with a large corkboard for the map.
five civilians were taking inventory of food, water, and ammunition nearby while three more pitched some tents. A sizable mob of Infected clawed at the walls around the building they were on, trying to get up. Gear handed the map and list of frequencies to the pony in charge before noticing two of the ponies taking inventory were familiar. Nurse Redheart and one of the guards that had disappeared earlier were counting a couple crates full of food and water. "Redheart! Whistle! You're alright!" They both jumped in surprise at hearing their names. Redheart was the first to respond.
"Oh hey, look who hasn't given up. From the looks of it you've been doing the exact opposite of what I've been telling you to do! Celestia, I can see the bone!" She said while taking off his bandages. "How are you even still conscious!? Or even alive for that matter, you've lost a lot of blood! You'll be lucky if I don't have to amputate! What the Buck is wrong with you!?" She ran back to the table to grab her medical kit. Whistle walked over with a frown. "Nice to see you're ok. It took me and Iron forever to find you ponies again, but we only found nurse red heart. She killed twelve of the infected with a scalpel! I counted! They were lying all around her in a big pool of blood!" He laughed.
"Iron's here? Where did you two go that night?! We looked everywhere!" Gear asked. Whistle smiled and looked over at the ponies pitching tents. "He's right over there. That night I was awake to keep watch and we saw a huge group of infected heading for us. So we went out and lured them off course, saving your lives." He frowned at Redheart. "She won't tell us what happened to the other three. When we ask her she just scowls and looks away." Dew ran over to Gear then and sat next to him. "Whoa! Your shoulder! I can see the bone! What did you do to it?!" She exclaimed. Gear slapped his face and shook it. Nurse Redheart came back and set up the kit then grabbed the second medkit from Gear.
"I've got to sew up the muscles and arteries now instead of just skin. I hope you had a good reason for potentially loosing your arm." She said glaring at him. He looked down at Dew Drop and smiled a little. "Yes, yes I did." She smiled up at him and leaned against his good arm. Nurse Redheart sighed and moved toward his shoulder. "Yes, I suppose you did." She said before jabbing in the needle to begin sewing.