When It All Falls Apart

by KErlend

Broken Records Ch. 1

*A DJ Pon3 Chapter*

---

A neon sign flickered on and off above a bar in Manehatten. Inside was where I sat. I sat at the bar in a stool, sipping a bottle of whiskey. I took a huge gulp of the stuff. I slammed the half-full bottle back on the counter. An Infected appeared directly beside me. I lifted my gun and shot it in the head. Straight through the eye. It fell to the floor, lifeless. I took another sip from the bottle.

I'd been in Manehatten when this all started. Haven't seen much of a point in leaving. Been here three days now. Been trying to hunt down some records before I do anything else at all. Only thing that kept me going, finding music. I'm sure as hell not gonna let music die because of this mess. So I'm looking for anything. A radio, records, cassettes, anything. I'd been a heavy drinker even before this started. It help clear my mind, get rid of my worries. I never let myself go too far. Here, that'd be suicide. Luckily, I did seem to be immune to the virus that caused Infections. I was actually in the building where one of the bombs had gone off when this had all started. Everyone in the building became Infected. Except me. So maybe I'm some kid of savior. I laugh every time I think of that.

I placed a cork back on the bottle and stowed it in my pack. I went behind the bar to see if there was anything else worth taking. I snagged a few bottles of liquor, placed 'em in my pack, and headed out of the bar. I wasn't worried about being spotted by any Infected. I had enough bullets to clean out the entire city. But what would be the fun in that? I pulled out a map I'd found in an old tourist stand. It showed all of Manehatten. Most of the buildings weren't labeled, but it showed the entire city. I pulled out a quill with my magic and put an X over the bar I had just come out of. A few other buildings nearby it were crossed off. But I had only searched those for supplies. Time to get onto my original mission. A good place to start would be the old broadcast station. I circled it on the map. But I looked over the map again. Another good place would be the nearby electronics store. A radio might be in there. Some records, recording equipment, who knew? I circled it. It was about a block from where I was. I rolled up the map and put it back in my pack along with the quill. Then I pulled out my gun, just in case. Sure, I couldn't be Infected. But I could still die. I moved along the deserted streets towards my destination, glancing behind me every minute or so. Nothing.

I stood in front of the electronics store. It seemed empty, at least from what I could see through the store windows. The window displays were smashed and scattered. But I kind of expected this. I pushed the front door open slowly. The little bell over the door rang. I waited for an Infected that had heard it to come. None did. I pushed the door the rest of the way open. The store was ransacked. Almost like somepony- or something- had been looking for something. The contents of the shelves were strewn across the floor nearby. I scanned the contents of the floor. No records, mics, anything of the sort. I ground my teeth slightly in frustration. But then a thought popped into my head. I should check the storeroom. I looked around for another door. I saw it, behind the counter. The cash register was oddly untouched. Then what were they looking for? I hopped on top of it and then down onto the other side. I pushed the door open and stepped into a back door.

The back room was in much better condition than the front of the store. It was mostly empty. A few boxes were dotted around the room. Some were opened, others not. But none had been touched by Infected. The opened ones had been opened with a letter opener. I looked in the opened ones first. Mainly they contained cameras, film, stuff like that. I hunted for a letter opener. When I had found it, I tore cleanly through the tape sealing the closed boxes. After going through almost every box, I finally found something. A small radio. It had two dials on the front, one for power and the other for frequency. I switched it on, then began to slowly turn the frequency knob. Static was what greeted me. I turned it until I could make out voices:

"The Omega Project has been released near the last known location of Subject X. It should have no trouble taking her out. Once she is gone, everything will be set. Nopony will be left to stop us."

"Excellent. Stay put until I give the signal. Then we will move onto the next phase of our plan."

"Yes sir! Out."

The channel gave way to complete silence. It was obviously still in use, just inactive at the moment. I was curious about what I'd just heard, but I started turning the dial again. I found another channel, this one broadcasting music. It was playing a song that came out about two weeks prior to the bombs going off. I nodded my head to the music for a minute, then it dawned on me. If this was broadcasting, there had to be a record playing from wherever they were broadcasting! I switched the radio off and put it in my pack. Then I dashed out of the back room.

Just as I stepped out of the back room, the building shook and I heard a deafening roar. I shook me head to get rid of the ringing in my ears. I looked around, trying to figure out where that had come from. I heard a loud crashing from behind me. Some dust flew from under the door. I jumped over the counter, heading for the exit. What the buck was that? I turned back to look. Glad I did. Through the wall burst a giant Infected, a type I'd never seen. This one was obviously not an accident. A large scar went across its chest. Its right front arm was made of some kind of machine. Only one of its eyes were visible. A sort of metal was attached to its body, running around his side. It was about twice the size of a normal pony. It saw me, and let out an unearthly roar. It lifted up the counter with mere force and tossed it aside. I quickly ran. It was obviously after me.

I dashed out into the natural light and looked for somewhere to run to. I decided on running down the street to look for somewhere else. The creature burst through the building and looked around wildly for me. When it saw me running and looking back at it, it ran towards me. I outran it long enough to duck into an alley. It couldn't fit, so I looked straight ahead and kept running. I stop near the end of the alley to catch my breath. I pulled out the map and checked off the electronics store with my quill. Then I circled the broadcast station a couple of times. I scanned the map for any other possible places where that signal could be coming from. A small radio station would need to be looked into. I circled it with the quill. But it was further off. So I planned my path to the broadcast tower, then rolled up my map and put it away. I pulled out my opened bottle of whiskey. I popped the cork and took a long swig. About a quarter of the bottle remained. I put the cork back on, and returned the bottle to my pack.

I peeked out of the alleyway, surveying the area for an Infected or that behemoth of one that had attacked me. I drew my gun anyways, just in case. The street may be clear now. Didn't mean it'd stay that way. I made my way out of the alley.

I trekked the three blocks toward the broadcast station without having to use a bullet. Wasn't this place filled with Infected just yesterday? The broadcast tower loomed over me. I looked up in awe at the tower. It had to be at least 50 feet in air before it ended. I tried the door, only to find it stuck. I kicked it a few times with my hind legs to get it open. When it did, I looked back at the street for any Infected. Still nothing, strangely enough.

I worked my way up the building's staircase until I was at the third floor. This was where the DJ booth was at. I'd know. I'd been here quite a few times when I was in town before. I opened the glass soundproof door with my free hoof. Nothing in the room moved. A single record spun on the turntable, which was hooked up to machine that was broadcasting the song. I stopped the machine, ceasing the spinning of the record. I took the record in my hooves, coveting it. I placed it carefully in my pack, making sure it was in its own compartment. I scanned the room looking for any others. None. But they didn't always keep all the records in this room. I walked out of the broadcasting booth. I looked up and down the hallway for another door. There were none. I made my way down a level. A few doors were in this hallway.

I picked one randomly and found a janitor's closet. Nothing useful here. I slammed the door. I checked the other rooms, finding nothing of use. I pulled out my radio again. I turned the dial like last time and picked up that station I'd heard before.

"Sir, Subject X seems to have evaded the Omega. We are searching for her now."

"Well then find her, dammit! We cannot let her escape. I don't care if she's alive or dead. Find her!"

"We're working on it sir." Another voice came on now, a mare's voice. "I believe I've found something. The music that has been broadcasting from the radio tower since we set off the bombs just went silent. She may be there."

The one who seemed to be in charge came back on. "It's the best we have. Unleash the Omega on the tower now."

"Understood."

The channel went silent again. I went over what had just been said in my head. Then it finally dawned on me:

I was Subject X.

Comments

[KErlend]

Well here it is. This chapter came out fast, I was kinda surprised myself. These chapters, DJ Pon3's chapters, are going to be a sort of break from the Mane 6's chapters every 3 or 4 chapters. I'll try not to leave to bad of cliffhangers at the end of each (I know I'd hate that if I was you), so I hope you guys enjoy it.

[Xaldon Ajide]

goin good keep it up bro all i have to say is i'm glad none of the main six are dead hopefully it stays that way or i'll .

[Vrilix]

This is just epic dude.
Keep writing it!