//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17: Inhumanity 
// Story: The Trotting Dead 
// by ZombieBrony22 
//------------------------------//


CLEMENTINE'S P.O.V


I saw the fear in Rick's eyes as he saw Carl.

"Rick... I think he's breathing. We need to get him to the hospital." I said.

"Celestia, AJ, come with me. The rest of you, go." Rick said with tears of hope.

We walked out to see Spike and Sweetie Belle.

"Clem, Norman. Where's Twilight?" Spike asked.

"In there." I said.

I saw as Spike slowly started walking into the walls. I stopped him.

"What are you doing?!" Spike asked.

"Saving your life. Going in will only get you killed." I said to him.

"I don't care! You don't know who she is alone!" Spike said.

"Don't worry. People like her can survive." Dewy said.

I saw Spike slowly calm down.

"What do we do?" Spike asked.

"I heard about a lab in Manehattan. We should go." Sweetie Belle said.

"No. Not without the others. Not without Lee." I said.



TWILIGHT'S P.O.V


I went to the roofs with Flash and Sunset. As we were walking, Flash looked uneasy.

"Twilight, if we don't make it out of this, there's something you need to know."

"Sure, fire away." I said.

"Me and Sunset..." Flash couldn't finish.

"It's alright. Thank you, Sunset. For taking care of--" A Runner grabbed me and almost pulled me down before Flash shot it.

"I didn't take care of him. He took care of himself." Sunset said.

We kept walking to see the Dazzlings shooting Trotters with Judith on the side with earmuffs on.

"Look at that. Rick's going uneasy trusting-- oh, that's right! I'm sorry." Flash said suddenly.

"For what?" I asked.

"For... You know, lashing out during the Battle."

"It's alright." I assured him.

"Yeah, but now I'm with Sunset. It just makes me mad with myself." Flash said.

"You weren't you during the Battle, and the world went to Tartarus- or as your kind says, Hell- and you thought I was dead. Besides, it's best if you keep your distance from me..." I said.

"Why's that?" Sunset asked.

"Because when this hit, I lost it..." I said.

"What do you mean?" Flash asked.

"Come with me." I said to them.

They followed me to the pillar of the wall. I opened the door and saw the chopped up corpses. Sunset looked away and hurled over the wall while Flash just stood and stared.

"You did this?" He asked me.

"I did this. I killed these people, let them get bit, and tossed them in here." I said.

"That's... This is SICK." Flash said

"Wow... This was when you lost Spike, right?" Sunset asked.

"... Yeah." I said.

"I can't even look at this..." Sunset said.

"Is that... Tyreese?" Flash asked.

"What?" I looked hard and saw a human corpse with a dark beanie on his head and a dark, tight shirt on.

Oh, no.

"Look, we stopped this a long time ago." I lied, they can't know...

"You're lying. I can see it." Sunset said.

"Look, this is to keep the Trotters away from us." I said to them.

"Well, it didn't work," Sunset showed me the herd. "Twilight, Rick wanted Ty buried."

"And he will be. After. Come on, let's look for the others." I said.


RICK'S P.O.V


We brought Carl to the Ponyville Hospital to be safe. As we brought him in, I saw Aria and Sonata start to move with Judith inside.

"Rick, what're you--" Aria saw Carl.

"Redheart, can you help him?" I asked.

"I- I can try." She said placing Carl on the hospital bed.

Aria handed me Judith who started crying.

"Norman was right. You can trust them." Celestia said assuringly.

"Alright, you beat me. AJ, keep an eye on Carl and Judith, please. We need to look for the others." I said to them.

"Sure." AJ said as she took Judith.

"Celestia, you're with me, let's find the others." I said as I walked to the door.

I walked out to smell a familiar smell: Walker guts. But not on me. I climbed the wall and opened a latch to see loads of guts and Walker bodies. I also saw a purple alicorn with a dark necklace of a moon.

Luna.

I pointed my gun at Celestia.

"What is this?" I asked her.

"A way to keep Trotters away." Twilight said behind me.

I turned my gun on her instantly.

"Who are you?" I asked her in disgust.

"I was a monster. Part of me still is. Now, Spike and the others are outside the walls, waiting for us. We need to go." She said.

"We can't go yet. My son lost his eye 'cause of your gunner with the itchy trigger finger!" I said to her.

"Look, I know you're upset, but we need to get the others and fight this." Twilight said.

Celestia placed her hoof on my shoulder.

"She's right. We can't run from this. We need to fight it."

I thought about it. Protecting a place with a psychopath as its leader, or take our chances on the road again.

"Fine. Let's go." I said to her. 

We were ready for war...