The six survivors stood by the three kitchen windows overlooking a sea of infected that filled the streets below. It did not appear that any special infected were amongst the vast horde, but those with experience knew better. Even if there really weren’t any specials, with a horde that huge they would just be icing on the fuster-cluck cake. To think that there was a safe house just across the street seemed to make the situation just that much worse. They were so close, and yet had so far yet to go…
Bill and the others silently watched the mass as they tried desperately to think of a plan that would get them to the other side of the street without being brutally maimed. Dinky, however, was not as focused on the horde as the others. Instead, she was enthralled in the new and alien world she found herself in. The sheer size of the city alone left her in awe. Buildings tall as the sky jutted up from the ground for as far as she could see. Many seemed to be in decent condition, but others had walls of flame gushing from broken windows, casting an eerie orange glow into the night sky. It was all just as she had imagined from her mother’s stories.
However, Ditzy was not as thrilled by the city as her daughter was. She recognized that this was a different city than the one she had been in before, and honestly, this place seemed far more dangerous than the last time she had been to earth. Burning buildings, some of which looked as though they had collapsed in on themselves, mangled cars in the streets, and the obligatory hordes of zombies. Yet, even though she feared and loathed this world so much, something inside her couldn’t help but feel glad to be back.
“Soooo…” Ditzy said slowly, breaking the silence. “What’s the plan?”
“Besides not getting our asses killed?” Francis said with a huff.
Ditzy shot him an unappreciative scowl for his cursing before looking up to Bill. “Well, what do we have to work with?”
“Not much, I’m afraid,” the veteran replied as he turned around to scan the kitchen for anything that might help their predicament. “I’m down to my last mag, Zoey has about five clips for her pistols, Louis only has four more shells for the shotgun, and Francis, well… he still has his bat.”
Ditzy thought she heard Francis growl at Bill’s closing statement. “It’s fucking bullshit that I can’t use my shotgun anymore is what it is.”
“Relax man, I’m taking good care of her for ya,” Louis chimed in with a reassuring pat on the gun’s grip. Francis merely grumbled something beneath his breath in response.
Ditzy’s stern expression intensified. “Francis, stop swearing. I’m serious.”
“Would you give that shit a rest? I mean, I don’t think cussing is going to be much of a concern for your dumb kid when we’re diving head first into that horde outside,” Francis replied snidely as he turned to stare the mare eye to eye… sort of.
Another silence fell across the room as tension between the two pegasi. The three humans looked amongst themselves worriedly, fearing the moment someone made a move.
“Stop it, both of you,” Dinky called out, her voice cracking slightly. “Francis, you’re supposed to be the good guy, the hero even. Good guys don’t use mean words like that! And mom…” the filly paused, unsure of what to say. She knew that her mother was technically in the right here, but she still didn’t like seeing her get pent up like this. Besides, instances such as these never seemed to end well. “Please… I don’t like to see you get so upset.”
Francis looked to the filly, a puzzled look on his face, before uttering a devious chuckle. “You know, you’re in for a huge reality check once we smash though these windows. I would try to explain some of it, but it’s honestly more fun to watch newbies learn about shit like this firsthand.”
“I can handle it,” Dinky replied with a confident smile on her face.
“HA! Y-yeah, sure you can,” Francis said in an obnoxiously sarcastic tone. “And I’m sure Louis here can drink a twelve-pack and still be sober enough to drive home.”
“Hey!” Louis said indignantly from behind Francis.
Zoey cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention. “If you guys are done bickering like an old married couple, then I think I’ve got a plan.” She waited until everyone was facing her before continuing. “Ok, so… if I’m seeing this right, then there is a police car a few blocks down that way,” she said, pointing out the window next to her. “I figure if we can get it running, we can turn on its sirens and send it driving down the street away from us. The sound should be more than enough to draw the horde out of our way. Then, once it’s as clear as it’s going to get, we make a break for the safe house.”
“Sounds good enough,” Francis stated bluntly. “But who’s gonna’ be the dumbass to start the car?”
“Easy. The one who’s had the most experience with police cars,” Zoey said with a sly grin.
Everyone turned to Francis, who began looking around at everyone in confusion. “…What?”
Louis chuckled. “You’re right Zoey. After all, Francis has practically told everyone we’ve met that he’s a cop. Hence, he knows the most about cop cars.”
Realizing what was being insinuated, Francis’ expression turned to one of anger. “Now hold the damn phone! I’m not goin’ out there, much less with the intention of bringing every stinkin’ vampire in the city down on my ass!”
“Francis,” Zoey began, “You can fly, remember? Just fly over the horde to the car, start it up, turn the siren on, find a way to keep the gas pedal down, then fly back. Hell, even Ditzy could do it. No offense…”
Ditzy shrugged. “None taken. To be honest, I would go to help, but I wouldn’t think of leaving Dinky.”
“Hey, yea! Make her go!” Francis said as he pointed a hoof at her. “I mean, she left us for dead at the chopper. It’s time she does something to help us instead of running away.” He almost jumped when he felt his hoof slapped down violently. Turning to see who would dare do such a thing, a chill ran down his spine when he was met with Ditzy’s cold, angry gaze.
“You think I left you? Deserted you?!” Ditzy’s eye twitched angrily as she paused.
Francis swallowed nervously, his hate having been quelled. “Um… do you mean me specifically, or-“
“I saved your life three times, and would have given my own to keep you safe… to keep any of you safe!” She motioned her hoof to the other three humans. “I made some mistakes, sure, but what else could I have done when getting thrown into this mess?!”
“Actually,” Francis cut in, “considering I saved you twice, you only owe me one-“
“Owing someone doesn’t matter if they’re DEAD. And another thing! When the helicopter was crashing, I could have simply jumped out the door and flown to safety, but did I?”
“Well is sure would make sen-“
“No! I stayed with you until the end, risking my own life then as I had time and time again. You know why? Because we were a group! Heck, I’d even dare to say that we were more than a group. But even then, after sticking with you through thick and thin, I wake up back in my house, back in my world. I mean, I didn’t know what happened to you! I was beyond happy to be home with my beloved daughter, of course… but what had happened to you guys?!” Her angry gaze began to waver as her eyes grew moist.
“I didn’t even fully know if what had happened was real or not, yet I still couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened after the crash. For weeks I stayed up all night, lying in my bed as my mind kept repeating the crash over and over, wondering if you had lived or died… and even if I could sleep, what then? Would I be sucked back into this horrid world that could rival Tartarus itself?! Would I even find you guys again, or would I be all alone to face these monsters?” The tears welling up in Ditzy’s eyes finally began streaming down her cheeks. “I was torn between worlds for over a month, not knowing what had happened or would happen. If it weren’t for the love and kindness of my sweet Dinky, I would have been driven insane.
“But then…” Ditzy shut her eyes to wipe the tears away. “Then my daughter starts dreaming of this place, of these monsters. I felt even more scared than the first time I saw a Tank when I thought that she might go through what I had, even if she was just seeing a fraction of it all. So I did the only thing I could think of to help her. I told her about you guys, and how you seemed to overcome the troubles of this place, no matter how badly the odds were stacked against you…”
Silence fell over the room as everyone stared at Ditzy, each interpreting her words in their respective ways. Eventually, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked back up to Francis, a stern expression on her face.
“But I’m here now and my daughter has been dragged in with me, and even though I’m glad you are all still alive, my darkest fears have still come to fruition. I don’t care how long it will be before we are taken home, or even if we will be… but I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect my daughter and my friends, no matter the cost.” She placed a hoof on Francis’ chest and scowled. “So don’t you dare try to say that I would desert you, or anyone else here.”
Francis simply stood there, trying to keep a neutral look on his face despite mix of fearful emotions he felt rolling around in his stomach. All he could do was stand there staring the grey mare in the eye, hoping desperately that someone would hurry up and break the ice. His wish was eventually granted by Bill, who did so via a forced cough.
“I hate to break up the therapy session, really, but the night isn’t getting any younger, and that plane isn’t likely to wait until eternity for us, so we need to get a move on. Francis, I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if you go take care of the police car,” the old veteran said carefully.
Francis opened his mouth to reply, but Ditzy cut him off. “I’ll go with him. Nobody should be left alone in situations like these,” she said, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the pony in question. “Dinky, stick with Zoey. She’ll keep you safe until I get back…” She turned to Zoey, the firm expression on her face fading slightly. “Won’t you?”
“H-heck yea, of course,” Zoey said reassuringly.
Ditzy nodded to her before turning around to Dinky. “I’ll be right back, ok muffin? Just stay as close to them as you can until you reach the safe house. And please, please, stay safe…” She smiled meekly as Dinky nodded to her.
“Fine, if you’re coming then hurry up. The sooner we get to the safe house, the sooner we can all take a chill pill,” Francis said gruffly, though there was little to no anger in his voice. He took a few steps to the window and pulled the bat off his back, shielding his eyes with a foreleg before smashing the window violently. Most of the glass fell to the street below, a couple of pieces even stabbing a zombie in the head.
With the window between them and the horde gone, the room was instantly filled with the groans, gurgles, and other such disturbing sounds of the hundreds of infected swarming the streets below. The noise was not incredibly loud, but the intensity of so many suffering infected was enough to make you feel sick.
Dinky folded her ears down to try to block out as much of the sound as she could, but to no avail. She watched as Francis spread his wings and launched himself out of the window. Ditzy turned to her and smiled reassuringly before repeating Francis’ actions. Dinky suddenly felt like she was all alone, with nothing but the noise surrounding her. However, she snapped out of the grim feeling when Zoey knelt down beside her.
“Hey, don’t worry, ok?” Zoey said in a kind tone. “She’ll be alright. Believe me, she’s been through worse.”
Dinky looked up to her and tried to smile back, though it wasn’t sincere. “Yea, I suppose. I just… I’ve never seen her break down like that before, you know? I’ve seen her upset, sure, plenty of times, but I’ve never seen her, well… lose it like that. I hope she starts feeling better.” A touch of sincerity crept into Dinky’s smile. “…At least she has us to help her, right?”
Zoey tousled the filly’s hair gingerly. “She sure does. And you better believe we’ll do everything within our power to get you two home safely.”
Dinky looked up to her and smiled again before turning to the broken window, looking out at the desolate city. She wasn’t really one to be pessimistic, but even so, the situation just seemed to be getting grimmer and grimmer. And if it was this bad now, then she shuddered at the thought of how bad things might get in the not-too-distant future…
-
Ditzy could barely see Francis as he flew through the dark city. His grey fur, near-black, buzz-cut, mane, and black vest made him darn near invisible. Of course if she knew what a police car looked like, she wouldn’t have to rely so much on her companion. However, when she wasn’t eying Francis to make sure she wasn’t lost, she was getting a good view of the city. She didn’t remember too much about the city from last time, but she felt it was safe to assume that this was a different one. Aside from the almost shocking amount of devastation, the building looked much bigger and much different. Plus, there wasn’t any towering sky-scraper with a massive, neon “MERCY” sign lighting up the upper three floors, so that was a pretty big indicator as well.
It wasn’t long before Ditzy saw Francis veer to one side and rapidly descend. She followed suit, watching as he cancelled out his momentum with a few hard flaps and landed on a white and blue car with a row of lights on its roof. Francis turned around and kept an eye on her as she slowed down and hovered in the air beside the vehicle.
“Alright, this shouldn’t take long,” Francis said matter-of-factly. “There’s none of those freaks around right now, but you know as well as I that that can change in a heartbeat. I’ll get the car ready, and you keep any nosy piles of crap from buggin’ me, got it?”
“Right.” Ditzy gave a single nod before pulling the katana off her back.
Francis smirked and lifted himself in the air beside the driver’s window. He folded his back legs up and paused for a moment to build up some power. There was a loud crack as he suddenly and violently bucked the window as hard as he could. He bit his lower lip as a twinge of pain shot through his legs from the force of the impact. The window had a massive spider web of cracks branching out from the two points of impact, but the glass was still intact. Francis let out an irritated sigh at how many more kicks it would take to break the bullet-proof glass. As he pulled his legs back in preparation to buck the glass again, Ditzy cleared her throat.
“Yea?” Francis said irritably as he looked up to the grey mare.
“Well, why don’t you try the handle?” Ditzy said plainly.
Francis stared at her for a moment. “…No fingers, remember?”
Ditzy rubbed a hoof at her chin in contemplation for a moment before smiling. Without saying a word, she hovered beside Francis and stuck her katana through the handle’s hole and pulled outwards. With a natural-sounding click, the door popped open. Ditzy pulled her katana from the handle and turned to Francis, lowering her eyelids and grinning as if to say “told you so.”
Francis rolled his eyes and pulled the door open enough to get inside. “Yea well, I would’ve tried that eventually. Now go keep watch before some shit-head jumps out at us.” He flopped down in the driver’s seat, watching Ditzy for a second before looking around the cabin. His eyes stopped as their gaze fell upon a Desert Eagle lying on the passenger’s seat. His eyes scoured the gun for a moment, looking across its sleek, silver barrel down to its black handle.
“What I wouldn’t give to have my fingers back…” he muttered as he gripped the hand-cannon between his hooves and slipped it in a button-up pocket on his vest. “Now, sirens… sirens…” His gaze darted around the numerous dials and nobs on the dashboard before eventually seeing one with a little speaker symbol above it.
“Ah, there you are,” he said confidently as he slammed his hoof against the button. Suddenly an ear-piercing siren blared out from the car as the row of lights on its roof began flashing blue and white. Francis was just about to get out of the car when a sudden realization slapped the triumphant grin off his face.
“Wait… wasn’t I supposed to start the engine first?” He thought for a split second before his eyes widened in shock at his mistake. Frantically be began looking around for the car’s keys everywhere he could think of. He checked the arm rest, the glove compartment, even the fold-down mirrors, but none of them held what he desperately sought.
“Um… oh, I know! I’ll just turn the alarm off!” He went to hit the button again, but in his rushed manner, he simply smashed the console, resulting in a ZAP as the circuits busted. “…Shit…”
-
The rest of the group stood by the windows, watching the distant police car in anticipation. After what felt like an hour, the lights flashed on. There was a split second before the sound reached them, but when it did, it was loud. The horde beneath them fell silent, letting the sharp sound of the siren pierce the night as it traveled through the derelict city. Suddenly, the horde began screaming and roaring angrily as they began flooding down the street towards the source of the shrill sound.
“Hey it worked! They did it,” Louis said happily.
Bill’s serious expression hardened. “No… not yet. That idiot hasn’t even started the car yet, and if he doesn’t get that damn thing moving as far away as possible, then we can all kiss our asses goodbye.”
“Why? The horde is almost gone now, and we’ll be able to get to the safe house long before the siren stops,” Louis said with a shrug.
“Yea, it’s drawn our horde away, but think of all the thousands of other infected that are swarming to get to it. If they don’t get that car further away, these streets will be so flooded with infected that the freaking Statue of Liberty would drown.”
Dinky looked up to Bill curiously. “…What’s the ‘Statue of Liberty?’”
“It doesn’t matter, kid. At this point, she’s just a grim reminder of what life was like before the outbreak.” Bill looked back out the window thoughtfully.
“Oh… okay…”
The group watched as the streets below steadily grew less populated, though now zombies from other unseen places had begun to filter out into the streets as well. One thought crossed the mind of everyone in the group as they silently watched the infected rush towards the police car.
“We’ll only get one shot at this…”