The Fallout - John and Applebloom

by Maxis122

Escape

The Fallout – John and Applebloom [3/4]

John looked at this thing and was trying to think if his mind was just playing tricks on him. For all he knew he could have been hit on the head by something and this was all a dream. But it was more than likely that this was the real thing. John then looked to the man to see him have a very similar reaction to seeing Applebloom. They were frozen as they had both had something happen that was unlikely to happen at all.

"Scootaloo!" called out Applebloom as she ran forward to meet with this other pony. Scootaloo was an orange pegasus with purple eyes and a purple mane. She lit up as she saw Applebloom coming towards her and she ran to Applebloom.

"Applebloom" called out Scootaloo. They then embraced in a hug and Applebloom shed some tears.

"I thought I was never going to see you again" Applebloom said as she was happy to be with her friend again. John continued to stare at the man and he stared back. They were both unsure what was going on and they had no idea about what they should do. Yes, there companions had met but they were not entirely sure if they should meet. The silence between the two had to be broken so John took a deep breath and spoke.

"Hi, my names John, and this is Applebloom" announced John. The other man was a bit reluctant at first but he then spoke.

"My names Andrew, and this is Scootaloo" said Andrew as he put his hand on his arm. He seemed to be a bit nervous around other people. So this might mean he has had bad experiences with other men in the past. But all that aside, he seemed to have a good heart for taking Scootaloo with him.

"So, where are you heading?" asked John. Then man looked at him and somewhat frowned at him. He sighed and put his hand back by his side.

"We are looking for the new land. But we found that the shortest route was the city" Andrew said as he took a step back and knelt down. "So you two must be from the same place" said Andrew and then Scootaloo nodded. Andrew then stood up and examined John again. He had somewhat of a problem with John but John could see that he was trying to see reason in trusting him.

"I've been travelling with Applebloom for about a month or two now" John said. Andrew then recoiled a bit then thought for a moment.

"I've been travelling with Scootaloo for five months" said Andrew. He looked down to the enjoyed Scootaloo and Applebloom who were asking each other questions about the world that they were in. They seemed to be happy enough now they were together again.

"Do you know what you will find here?" asked John to see how knowledgeable Andrew was.

"Bandits, Gangs and mutants" said Andrew without a moment's hesitation.

"I see someone's done their homework" said John. He then chuckled and Andrew smiled.

"It seems we have a common cause" said Andrew as he held out his hand. John shook his hand and smiled back at him. They now had some trust between them but John supposed Andrew would be very cautious around him. They then stopped the hand shake and looked back to the one they were protecting. It made John feel warm inside to know that the little ones had something to keep them going, now they knew they were not the only ones of their kind in this world. John approached the window and looked down at the street that was now destroyed. The dust had swept across the streets so now they couldn't see what was down there. Andrew stood beside John and looked down there as well.

"I wonder what caused that building to fall" Andrew said as he examined the streets.

"Well about that..." said John as he looked to Andrew and Andrew looked at him with a weird expression.

"What did you do?" asked Andrew.

"I kind of, turned on a car and it took down the building" said John.

"One car, wow" said Andrew as he put his hand to his forehead.

"This world has changed" said John as he turned back to where the ponies were. Andrew followed him and then Andrew sat down with the ponies. John found a map of the area of NYC they were in and he examined it. They had now blocked the fastest route off so they would need to take a slightly longer route to get back on the main route. John looked at the map and found they would need to go down to street level and then walk until the street reconnected with the main road.

"Alright, meet ups over, we're moving" said Andrew as he pulled out his shotgun and checked it for ammo.

"He's right, we need to get moving" said John. Andrew looked over to John and put his shotgun away.

"We should stick together, bigger groups last longer" said Andrew.

"It's quite the opposite my friend, but we are not a big group" said John. Andrew looked at John and frowned, yet John was right as he was older, and he had more experience.

"Let's get going then" said Andrew as he walked over to the window. Then Andrew smashed the window and signalled to Scootaloo to follow him. Then he started to climb down and Scootaloo jumped on his head. John then started to climb down and Applebloom sat on his head. Soon they got down to the street level and they put their pony companions on the ground. The fog of dust had yet to settle so they still had a hard time seeing things. They started to move along the street at a moderate pace. John every now and again looked back to see if they were being followed. The streets were disturbingly quite as John would have expected to come across them sooner or later. But then they reconnected with the main road and were back on track. Now that they were on the main road the open areas were a lot bigger and they were a lot more exposed to anything that could see them. Andrew was a lot more set forward than John as Andrew was rushing through the streets and not looking for anything.

Soon they had covered a block and John was getting worried at Andrews's carelessness. He wondered how the two were still alive even with a careless leader at the front. But then again he hadn't seen Andrew in combat so he could be careless until shit got real. Each step got John more and more worried of Andrew's ability's. Maybe Andrew never encountered anyone or anything so the two never were put in an awkward situation. But in the end they were here and that what matters.

Another block passed and John was wondering if he made the right choice. Not just for Applebloom, but for all of them. They were travelling really quickly but they were not being cautious of what was to come. It was bound to be sooner or later that one of them got the attention of the mutants. They had to keep moving and if they were to stop then they could be in the position of being overrun. John got his pistol from his pocket and checked the clip inside. Then he kept it by his side. Applebloom looked to John and was confused.

"Why have you got that out?" asked Applebloom.

"You never know when you might need it" said John. He then stopped and signalled to Applebloom to stop as well. He then knelt down to her and said "No matter what happens, you have got to trust me, understand".

"I understand, John" said Applebloom. Then John stood up again and they ran a little to make up for lost ground. Then when they caught up with Andrew and Scootaloo, Applebloom started to consider what John had just said. What did he mean by what he said? Was something bad going to happen? This and other things were going through Applebloom's mind as they moved along the main street.

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Within an hour they had gotten 60 blocks into the city. It was still painfully quite and there was something on the path ahead. It was a sign connected to some barbed wire. This completely blocked the street altogether. When they approached the sign it said a simple message: "DO NOT ENTER, MUTANTS!". John immediately knew what this meant, but Andrew was a bit unsure.

"What's a mutant, are they like zombies or something" asked Andrew.

"Something like that" said John as he walked over to the building to the left.

"You're not saying we're going through that!" shouted Andrew. John stopped and looked around at Andrew.

"What, you scared of zombies now?" shouted John. "This is the quickest and the most effective way to get through the city" he continued.

"But wouldn't we get killed if we went that way" said Andrew.

"If you stay with me, then no" said John as he smashed open a door and walked into the building. Andrew had no real choice but to follow him, John had a lot more experience and he had been around for longer. It was only the best idea to let John make the decisions for now. They all went into the building and John lead the way. They went up one flight of stairs and then another until they were eventually on the top floor. They came to the roof access door and it was locked. John turned to the group and looked at them.

"When I say run, we will all run like hell" John said. They all nodded and John pulled out his shotgun. He took a step back and placed the end of the shotgun right next to the lock. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Bang! The lock exploded and the eco spread across the city. Then a yell could be heard and the chase was on.

John broke the door down and started to run. The others followed him giving themselves room to move. John jumped onto the next building and kept on running. He then jumped to the next building and footsteps could be heard all around. John peered behind him and saw everyone was keeping up. He then saw as a building ahead had two mutants on it, they were unarmed but could see them coming. John fired two pistol shots at them and they both hit them in the head. John then looked behind him and saw as mutants started to come on to the first roof that they were on.

"Don't look back!" John shouted as he jumped onto the next building. They were making good ground but the mutants were now hot on their feet. They had a minute between them and slowly this gap was becoming thinner. "Just keep running" John shouted as he continued to run across the buildings. Then the building ahead was smaller than the rest, so they had to go back to building running. John jumped down to this building and immediately shot the lock. He then swung the door open and a mutant was there. It attempted to hit him, but John stepped back and shot it in the chest. Then he kicked it in the shin, causing it to fall down the stairs. John then shot it in the head and the others had caught up. He ran down the stairs and then ran left down the corridor. Soon he came to a point where a window needed breaking. He put his pistol in his pocket and pulled out his shotgun. Then he shot the window in front of him and it shattered. He then jumped through the broken window and smashed through the next one. "UP" John shouted as he ran to the stairs again. He then found this lock was already broken so he ran up and onto the roof again. He looked over to where they had come from. There were hundreds of mutants following them.

"Ah, we are attracting a lot of fucking attention!" shouted Andrew as he ran to the next building and jumped over it. John then proceeded to follow him and jump over the building. They were now getting tired and the mutants were catching up. Another building came and they jumped over on to it.

"How far left?" shouted Scootaloo.

"Not long now, just run" shouted John. He looked behind again and the mutants were coming. They were rotting all over and their cloths were as ripped and tatty as hell. They were all once civilians but now they were soulless monsters. There were two more buildings left until they could get to the safe point. They were now slowing down but John kept telling them to run on but Applebloom wasn't able to keep up. She then started to fall behind and she couldn't shout to say slow down. She was now ten seconds from the jaws of the mutants. There was one last building left until they could get over the bridge. John looked back again and saw that Applebloom was struggling. They jumped again and they were on the last building. John slowed down and picked Applebloom up then he really bolted it to the roof exit. Andrew was already there with his shotgun and he blew the lock off. Then he entered and looked to see the mass of mutants chasing them. John then ran inside and Andrew slammed the door shut. He then pulled the fire lock on the door to give them some more time. He then joined the others as they ran down the stairs. Each floor felt like a marathon but it was all going to be worth it in the end, they all hoped.

They then heard the door five floors above get broken open and this was now the last chance they had. They got to the bottom floor and they were at street level. There were a few scattered mutants on the ground but Andrew took care of the two that charged at the group with his sawn-off shotgun.

"You run over the bridge, I'll take care of the controls!" shouted John as he went to the small box next to the bridge. It had been opened before to lower the bridge so John first examined the wires and then made his decision. There were seconds left, so he disconnected the main two wires and then a siren sounded and the bridge started to rise. Then John ran for it. The mutants were close behind and they were hungry. John was a quarter across the bridge and the others had made it half way. They jumped over the small gap and then Andrew stopped to see the masses of mutants behind John.

"God dammit, RUN JOHN RUN!" Andrew shouted. He saw that some of the mutants were really on his feet. So Andrew threw his bag on the floor and searched it quickly. He then pulled out a submachine gun of sorts, it was a MP7 and Andrew had been saving it for the right time. He prepped himself and aimed the gun at the mutants. Then he pulled the trigger and bullets flew from the end of the gun at a rapid rate. The mutant behind John fell and as Andrew gunned others fell as well. John was almost there and the gap was now almost unreachable. John widened his steps and took one last deep breath. He then placed one foot at the end of the bridge and jumped over. He was making big air but he was not going to make it. He came close but he was just short and he missed the main part of the bridge. He grabbed the bottom part and was hanging there. He couldn't pull himself up and lost grip with one hand.

"HELP!" John shouted and he saw Andrew's head pop out. Andrew reached out to John and grabbed his arm.

"I've got you!" said Andrew as he started to pull John up. Then the two ponies grabbed Andrew's legs and pulled him up. The process was long and the mutants were still coming. Then with one big pull they got John's top half onto the bridge, where he then started to push himself up. John was now on the bridge and he rolled onto his back. He was breathing heavily and looking up into the sky. Then he looked to the other end of the bridge and saw as the mutants piled up and some of them fell of the bridge and into the water. John looked over at the distance they had travelled and then he slid down the bridge. The others followed and they all came to the bottom. John turned to Andrew and smiled.

"Thank you" John said as he patted Andrew on the back. "Maybe groups were not a bad idea after all" he continued as he then bent down and caught his breath. He then watched as the mutants ran either of the bridge. Then John looked to see two more bridges to the left and right. "We have to keep moving" he said as he turned to face the right direction and they then all started to walk again.

"You suppose they will come back" said Andrew as he watched the mutants run in their separate directions.

"You can count on it" said John as he looked at the cars sitting around. He kept on moving but he always looked to each car to see what they had in them.

"What are you looking for?" asked Andrew as he saw John looking at each car.

"We may need something faster than our legs" John said as he continued to look. The search was quick because within a minute there was a suitable car that wasn't blocked by anything. So John opened the back door and said "Get in". Applebloom and Scootaloo got in the back and John closed the door. Andrew got in the front and John got in the driver's seat. John then turned the key and the engine roared to life. It started moving as it was already in gear, and they started to drive through the city. There were some lone cars, some blocked cars and some piled up cars scattered across the city. John kept on driving through all of these cars and Andrew looked behind them to see the mutants had made it over and they were now chasing them.

"Step on it John!" Andrew said as he put another clip of ammo in his MP7. They then found an empty stretch of road and John put his foot down. The car accelerated and they moved faster than before. They were putting a lot of distance between them and the mutants. Ahead there was the barbed wire and the checkpoint to signal the end of the infected zone. John really put his foot down and the car got faster and faster. More and more mutants started chasing the car and it was time to get rid of them for sure.

"Look in my bag, there should be a grenade" said John as he passed his bag to Andrew and he searched it. Soon he found a grenade and he leant out of the car. He then pulled the pin and threw it out of the car. It hit the ground and rolled for a bit before the mutants ran over it. Then it exploded and many mutants were sent flying. The distance between them and the checkpoint was now only a couple of hundred meters. There was a parking lot ahead and it could be accessed without slowing down. John steered into the parking lot and went up a floor. Then he drove into one of the sides of it and the car flew straight through it. They went over the checkpoint but the car was forward heavy. So the car started to fall forward and then there was floor impact. The car started to spin uncontrollably across the ground and parts of it flew off. Soon it was on its wheels again and John attempted to regain control of the car. It took some effort but the car was soon back under control. He then stopped the car and looked behind to see the mutants couldn't get past the barbed wire and they got stuck. Even though this was the case the sheer number of them was giving the barbed wire a hard time so it was starting to tear up.

John then looked to see Applebloom being very scared in her seat and Scootaloo being cool with that car stunt that John had just pulled off. John then proceeded to stepping on it and the car started to move with great speed. They were now covering a lot more ground than before and the mutants were slowed down by the city barbed wire. Time was once again on their side and they were travelling at a good speed. John had all of his focus on the road of occasionally there were cars to avoid.

"You ok back there?" John asked.

"W-w-were they mutants?" asked Applebloom.

"Yes" John said. "Now you understand why I didn't tell you about them" he continued.

"B-but they were people..." Applebloom started before she started to tear up.

"Applebloom, remember what I told you about mutants" John said.

"You didn't tell me anything" Applebloom said as she was now confused.

"I did" he started. "I said they are nothing to be worried a about" he continued and this caused Applebloom to remember what he said. She then wiped her face of the tears. They were soon out of the city and that was one of the worst things that they encountered on their journey so far. As never on their journey had they, together, had to run for their lives. But now everything could calm down and they could relax for now. John was now on the main road again and he accelerated to 50 mph so they could make more ground then before. Andrew lied back and sighed with relieve. Now he fully understood John's abilities and why John was better in charge. The day was almost up though and it was coming to the time to find a place to rest.

Soon they found a house and they stopped there. John got out of the car and looked at the building. He was always suspicious of the quite buildings as they usually had people inside of them. Who would watch others come and they would ambush them. John pulled out his shot gun and fired one shot at the floor. There was no sound from anyone else. He then slowly approached the building as the others go out of the car. He walked up to the door and tapped the shotgun on the door. Then he opened the door and he looked inside. He then walked in and searched the room quickly. The others followed and sat down inside. John then closed the door and examined the buildings insides. It seemed to be uninhabited and there was nothing inside to say that someone lived here. The dust was set and there were no footprints anywhere. John then sat down and lied back.

"We made it" said Andrew as he once again took a sigh of relieve.

"Yes we did" said John.

"Where do we go tomorrow?" asked Scootaloo.

"If we are both going the same way, then north" said Andrew. John nodded over at Andrew and then he looked in the fire basket. He pulled out some twigs and logs and put them down. He then got the flask out and put some of the contains on the pile. Then he lit it with the lighter and it went up in an orange flame. And a fire was born. John and Andrew pulled out their food and started to cook it on the new fire.

"How long left until we get there?" asked Applebloom.

"Depending on the fuel of the car, another few days" said John.

"What will it be like?" asked Scootaloo.

"It should be green and peaceful, hopefully there will be some civilisation" said John.

"It was green where we came from" said Applebloom.

"Yeah, I remember" said Scootaloo. Then it went silent and the food was cooked. John and Andrew gave half of their food to their pony companions. They silently ate and sat there. When they were finished John lied against a wall and Applebloom sat on his lap. Then she yawned and fell asleep. Andrew lied down and Scootaloo snuggled in next to him. Then they fell asleep. John was left awake and he looked to the roof of the building. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep. It was almost over and they were almost safe. John's mind started to relax. She was almost safe.

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John woke up the next morning and Andrew and Scootaloo were gone. He looked down to Applebloom who was still asleep on him. He looked back to where Andrew was last night then he felt something in his hand. He looked at it and it was a letter. He read it and it said that Andrew and Scootaloo had gone out for a walk as John was still asleep. John then moved Applebloom to the floor and he picked up his bag. He then walked outside and looked to the sky. It was surprisingly blue even when they still in the fallout zone. He then looked forward to see the car was still there.

"SO, THIS IS THE BARSTART WHO KILLED MY MEN" sounded a very angry man from behind. John turned to see a large group of men with automatic weapons and pistols.

"I believe you're talking to me?" said John.

"What, it's not like there is an equally more wanted man around here" said the man.

"I thought that was you" said John.

"Where is she" the man said.

"Who?" John said but was now becoming cautious of what was going on.

"You know, Applebloom" the man said. John was then really played, but this made him think about how they knew of Applebloom's existence. Maybe there was a survivor from one of the battles.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said John as he turned away and bumped into a big man. This man grabbed John and two others stripped his of his weapons. Then he was thrown on the ground in front of this man.

"My name is Marcus and that will be the last name you learn" said the man who was the leader. He walked up to John and put his hand on the back of his neck and squeezed. It caused much pain to John. To start he kept his screams in but he couldn't hold on. The pain was a constant pain throughout his entire body. He couldn't move his head and he was becoming weaker every second. This pain came to be too much and he shouted out in pain.

"AAHHHHHHH" John shouted in pain. Applebloom woke up from this sound and came to the door and looked out to see John on the floor. She was trying to think what was happening but she immediately knew when John let out another shout.

"You can stop this Applebloom, you just need to come to us" shouted Marcus.

"DONT DO IT, JUST RUN" shouted John.

"You're causing him pain Applebloom, you can stop this" shouted Marcus.

"DONT LISTEN TO HIM, JUST RU-" John shouted before Marcus threw him to the ground and kicked him.

"He is dying because of you Applebloom" shouted Marcus. John vomited up some blood and rose up again.

"Just run Applebloom" shouted John as he put his hand to his stomach.

"Nooo" shouted Applebloom as she ran out of the building.

"Applebloom NO!" John shouted as he once again got punched.

"Looks like ponies are smarter than you are John" Marcus said.

"Please let him go" she said as she started to tear up.

"Get her" Marcus said and a man grabbed her and stepped back. "Some say that you are invincible, and some say you are smart. That pony may be smart, but not smart enough!" Marcus said and then shouted as he whipped out his pistol. He then shot a bullet into John and the bullet ripped into John. He was still there and was put into shock. He looked to Applebloom and smiled but he couldn't hold the smile for long. A tear came out of his eye and he looked back to Marcus. Marcus was still standing there with the gun. John stood up and his hearing was removed and replaced with a ringing. He looked to Marcus and clenched his fist. He took a step forward and was about to throw this punch. But then Marcus shot him again. This time it was too much and John fell to the ground. The darkness was closing in on him and he was finding it hard to breath.

"I'm sorry" John said before letting out one last breath and closing his eyes.

"See what I told you, like any other man" said Marcus as they walked over to their vehicles and drove away leaving John there on the ground. Was this the end John thought as he lied there and bled. His ears still ringing and his vision still blurred. He looked to the sky once more and could see a rainbow, a beautiful rainbow. He then closed his eyes one last time and rested.

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