Contagion Zone Equestria

by Gearaxis

Looking back on the outbreak

Day 2

Gear had slept uneasily that night; a sense of dread had invaded his dreams turning them into nightmares. He woke earlier than usual and, instead of going through his daily routine, opened shop as soon as he was out of bed. As he expected, a line of ponies with different raw materials were waiting in a line. “Alright… alright, I can do this…” He muttered. He then closed the shop and pulled all of his tools outside. “Please place all raw materials in a neat pile over here. I’ll accept the materials as payment.” He said directing the ponies. He soon had a sizable pile of scrap metal, glass, fabrics, plastic, and rubber.

He began sorting though the piles looking for things he would be able to use without reshaping them too much. When that was done, he began piecing together a mask and, when it was complete; he disassembled it and laid out the pieces. “This will go a lot faster if I can get some help here, I need ponies that can cut relatively straight and sewing would be nice as well.” He said. A couple of ponies stepped forward and he separated them into groups to start on the materials.

The others began talking among themselves. They seemed rather tense and afraid as they discussed current events. Apparently the disease had infected 89% of the population in Manehatten and spread to Fillydelphia while Baltimare was experiencing riots and mass evacuation. If the disease really were spreading that quickly, Gear knew it was just a matter of time before it hit Ponyville. The symptoms may have seemed mild but he didn’t think it would stay at its current hazard level.

That day he and his group of helpers managed to make 37 gasmasks, enough for the everypony with three left over. Gear decided that he’d better wear one as well, just to be safe. He had begun cleaning up when a large number of royal guards flew over head. They all seemed to be heading in the direction of Baltimare. He hoped everything would turn out ok.

That day's paper had more coverage of the disease, 'The virus, now named Jet flu after the pony who discovered it and how fast it spreads, has spread from Manehatten to Fillydelphia. Authorities are quarantining Manehatten and Fillydelphia in hopes of containing the virus. Baltimare, the next closest city to Manehatten, is experiencing mass virus testing along with evacuations, riots broke out today as police began rounding up and quarantining any pony displaying any symptoms of Jet flu, family's are also being put under surveillance and are not allowed to see others. Beaker, the head of testing in Baltimare made a statement today. "We understand that our methods may be violating several civilian rights, but in situations such as this, Helix corp has seen it as a necessary action to contain the virus. We are currently negotiating with the Princesses for the right to take away these rights temporarily. Helix corp hopes that the population will understand that we are only doing this to help them."'

Day 3

Gear awoke at 3 in the morning that day to the sounds of construction. When he exited his wagon to investigate, he found construction workers building a wall around Ponyville. Everypony was wearing either a surgical mask or one of his gasmasks while they built the large wooden wall. It appeared to be about two feet thick with metal poles to stabilize it and it reached about six feet in the air. Mayor Mare was overseeing the operation.

Gear hitched himself to the wagon and pulled it in closer to the city. They would have had him outside the wall if they had continued to build in the direction they were building. As he was re entering his wagon, he noticed the paper pony tossing papers around. “Hey! Give me one of those!” Gear called out. The paper pony tossed him that day’s issue. Coverage of the outbreak covered the entire first three pages. Scientists had found that 11% of Manehatten’s population was immune to the virus. Meanwhile Fillydelphia was now 76% infected and the disease had spread to what little population was left in Baltimare. In other news, the princesses had been evacuated to a very secluded island along with most of the royal guard and Canterlot’s elite.

Apparently the virus started by attaching itself to the nervous system and then, as it multiplied, began affecting the stomach and brain. Several attempts to kill it with different medicines all resulted in the patient dying. It appeared as though if the virus died, the host died as well. The rest of the articles were interviews with doctors and scientists, all of them claimed that the virus was mutating quickly and that was why it was so hard to begin making a cure.

One such interview caught his attention, a pony from Helix Corp named Enigma was the pony being interviewed. He was a security guard working for the company. The article read, "Today we interviewed the only non-researcher employee of Helix Corp who was willing to come forward. Enigma, no last name given, works as a security guard in the facility's infectious disease research wing. He has been given permission from his employers to speak. Enigma stated, 'I am not allowed to give information as to the origin of the virus, however, I can say that we know patient zero is not an employee of Helix Corp. For the past three days I have been organizing employees to be tested and none have come up positive for Jet Flu."

Gear spent the rest of the day helping to harvest the remaining crops and build the wall. The food, it was said, would last them for a month if they rationed it. Several ponies had left for Stalliongrad where boats were being loaded to take ponies to a chain of islands near the island the princesses were on. Gear didn’t leave, believing it would be too chaotic and would inevitably end in the infection of the entire island chain.

Day 4

Gear had been up all night finishing the wall with the others and had been unable to get any sleep. He halfheartedly looked through the day’s newspaper. The entire newspaper was now devoted to virus coverage. All non-immune ponies in Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare were now infected and the disease had slowed down. No new cities had been infected that day which was good news.

It had also been found that everypony that was immune had the same blood type, B-. Gear almost laughed in relief, he was B-. Hopefully that meant he’d be immune as well. Another article focused on evacuation efforts in Stalliongrad. "Riots have broken out in the east and south edges of the city as only ponies with blood type B- are allowed to board the rescue ships. So far there have been no injuries on either side but the authorities remain on high alert. The battleships Celestia, Blue Blood, and Cadenza have been ordered to ensure no ships leave that are not authorized to do so in Whinneypeg, Laspegasus, and Stalliongrad. The Blue Blood, however, is apparently not responding to any attempts to contact it. The ship has also not been seen since leaving port yesterday." Gear frowned at the paper and tossed it away. His older brother was a warrant officer on the Cadenza, meaning he'd be far from the danger, out on open water.

Day 5

The virus had stopped infecting new ponies entirely. Apparently, the evacuation of Baltimare and the surrounding cities had stopped the spread. Doctors claim the virus was mutating at half the rate it was before and a new symptom had appeared, excessive drooling. Overall, everything was looking pretty good. That day the newspaper interviewed a pony who wished to remain anonymous. "An anonymous pony stepped forward last night with some shocking news, Jet Flu originated in one of the Helix Corp labs. The pony gave this statement, 'Five days ago, three researchers in the infectious disease research wing went missing along with all of the research, including samples, of Jet Flu. I believe they released the contagion into Manehatten's water supply. Helix Corp has a separate sewage and water system from the rest of the city, which would explain why everypony on the Helix Corp staff is uninfected.' In related news, riots in Manehatten have sprung up overnight, the angry ponies assaulted any pony employed by Helix corp. The mobs also stormed the Helix Corp main building, killing 17 employees and injuring 43 more. Security responded by inflicting nearly 60 deaths and 400 injuries on the protesters, 108 of whom are in critical condition. A second test was run and it has been found that 78% of ponies attacked during the riots are now infected."

A picture showed around 70 corpses covered in white sheets lined up in two rows outside of the Manehatten hospital, police officers, armed with MP5s and gasmasks stood guard. Gear set down the paper sadly and slumped in his chair, things were getting out of hand.

Day 10

Gear awoke that morning and grabbed the paper as he had the past few days, taking it over to a park bench to read. The headline read “DISASTER!!” in huge bold letters. The article spoke of how the disease had not only managed to get to three different cities, but a new symptom had surfaced. Total organ failure. Nearly 89% of the infected population in every city had simply died over night due to heart and brain failure, other pony’s livers had stopped working and everypony was twice as aggressive as before.

Ponies, specifically the immune population, were being attacked on the streets leading to over 300 deaths and hospitalizations. Riots had begun in cities not even close to the initial outbreak and Stalliongrad was ordered to stop evacuating citizens for fear of the virus getting on board a ship. In protest, ponies had sunk one of the boats. Gear was confused as to why they would protest by sinking one of the boats that could be escaped on. It was like burning down a farm because you were starving.

The front page article had a picture of two ponies and hazmat suits carrying a pony covered in a white sheet on a stretcher away. The street was full of litter and broken glass with two corpses lying on the side of the road a ways away. Gear read the article. "89% of the infected population have just died. Unfortunately, so have most of our reporters, informants, and editors. We won't be able to publish any more papers. Good bye, from all of us here in Equestria news daily, good bye and good luck." His mouth nearly fell open in surprise.

He noticed a new line forming at his shop so he quickly ran over to open shop. “Hello, what can I get you?” He asked. Applejack, a pony he’d met while working on the wall, was first in line.

“Ah need somethin’ to defend myself with, you invent things, right? Invent somethin’!” There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

Gear shook his head. “Can’t you just use kitchen knives and pitchforks and such? Why do you need me to invent a weapon?” He asked. Applejack slammed a bag full of bits down on the counter and looked at him through her gasmask.

“Ah want a weapon. Somethin’ better than an ol’ pitchfork.” She said. Gear sighed and opened a drawer he had been sure he’d never need to open. Inside were five of his more deadly wares. A shrapnel bomb, a homemade 5.56 caliber handgun that he called The Reaper(massive kickback but equally powerful), and three revolvers. He pulled out one of the revolvers and handed it to Applejack who nodded in approval. He spent the rest of the day making weapons for everypony, which he personally thought was a bad idea, but he couldn't deny them a way to defend themselves. He then made himself a bandoleer and attached the shrapnel bomb and Reaper to it.

Day 11

Gear awoke to the sounds of panic. Ponies were screaming and he could hear several fights taking place. There was a loud crashing noise as somepony smashed the door to his wagon down. The pony charged with the single most terrifying battle cry he had ever heard. Gear was out of the bed in a flash, the Reaper in his hand. He fired a shot that blew a large hole out of the pony's shoulder. The pony staggered backward then resumed its advance. Gear then pulled out a kitchen knife and braced for impact. The pony knocked him backward onto the bed and began trying to bite him.

Gear kicked the pony off and lunged at it with the knife. He stabbed the pony repeatedly in the neck, blood spurting in every direction as the carotid artery and jugular was cut. The pony staggered backward with a pitiful gurgling noise before falling to the floor unmoving. Gear was completely covered in blood, as was the inside of his wagon. He then realized his Reaper only had that one shot and discarded it. Outside was complete chaos, ponies were chasing each other around while two or three buildings were on fire. Here and there a group of ponies were eating what appeared to be another pony. It made Gear sick. He noticed Applejack nearby, struggling with two of the infected she had one of them pinned to the ground with one hoof while holding the other's neck, she was struggling to aim the revolver at its head.

Gear ran over and tackled the one still standing, stabbing it repeatedly in the neck, head, and heart. He looked over at Applejack in time to see her shoot the head infected pony on the ground; blood squirted three feet away, staining the grass crimson. “Thanks fer the rescue! Come on! Ponies are gatherin’ at the hospital!” She had to yell over the noise of panic. Gear nodded and followed her.

Comments

[Rainbowdashplush3]

Oh Celestia. Please continue!