Chapter 1
My eyes suddenly burst open. I had no idea where I was, my eyes darting back and forth to get a bearing of my surroundings. I seemed to be in the back seat of some kind of car, a taxi for that matter. The thing was a wreck, the windows were in pieces, the seats were in shreds, and the roof seemed to be caving in. Had I been in a car crash? Where was the driver? All these thoughts and scenarios came swirling through my head like a bad dream that had just started to fade. I had to get out of here.
I tried to get up, but something stopped me. My left leg was trapped under a huge piece of roof that came down. It would be impossible for a teenager like me to lift it. But I had to try, getting my hands under the scrapped metal, I heaved with all my might. God, this thing was heavy. It made me wish I had paid some more attention in gym class. But that was then, and there was no use thinking about what could've been done. With all the strength I could muster, the metal cutting into my palms, adrenaline pumping through me like crazy, I lifted the roof of the car a few inches above its resting position. Acting quickly, I managed to pull my leg out of the way before I finally gave out and let go of the roof. Then came the pain.
Thankfully, my hands were okay. Red lines obviously going across my palm, but no blood. My leg, however, felt like it was on fire. It took everything I had to keep myself from screaming, an action I would later be thankful for.
Moving myself into a sitting position, I tried to get a good look at the damage. It wasn't broken, as far as I could tell, and the fact that it hurt like hell was sign enough that I could still feel it. But I could see it, above my knee was a huge cut in a straight line through the left side of my jeans. It was deep, and I was losing blood fast, I had to think of something. Ripping off a piece of my shirt, I tried to at least stop the bleeding. The task took several minutes to complete, because either there wasn't enough cloth, or it had already bled through the first bandage. By the time I was sure the bleeding had stopped for good, there wasn't much of a shirt left. Good thing I had my jacket or I would've gone outside topless.
I looked at my handiwork, it was shitty, and since I had no idea how long I had been out, there was no telling if the cuts were infected or not. I decided to have a doctor look at it when I got into town. Now came the next question, could I walk? But before any of that, the first step was getting out of the car.
The door was jammed, and the lock had stopped working, I couldn't just open it by regular means. Climbing out the window was not an option, my leg made sure that I couldn't climb very well, and the shattered window pieces would probably stab me if I tried. Using my good leg, I tried to kick the door outward.
Bang!
It didn't budge, I tried again...
Bang!
Nothing. I tried to call upon the adrenaline that saved my leg from being crushed, but the power wasn't as strong.
"Come on!" I thought to myself, desperately kicking at the jammed car door. I was beginning to feel afraid!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"I don't want to die like this!" I screamed in my head, almost to tears, "Not like this! Not like this!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"COME ON!!!!!"
And with one final (Bang!), the door suddenly burst open, releasing me from my cramped and uncomfortable prison. I crawled out as fast as I could, hyperventilating like crazy. My leg wasn't sure happy about it, but it wasn't beating me up too much, thanks to the adrenaline once again pumping through my body.
Once I had managed to get my feet out of the car, I tried to walk. It was definitely hard, the adrenaline was wearing off again, and my leg wasn't happy that it was being put to use. I told it to shut up as I exited the car. I did it! I was finally free! I wanted to jump up and down in victory, I wanted to run to the nearest town and call for help, I wanted to do both of these things! But unfortunately, my leg reminded me that I couldn't jump, and I never got the chance to look for help.
I spent the next two minutes celebrating to myself, when all of a sudden....
"RrrAAAAgghHH!!!"
I let out a small scream as something pounced onto me. I fell down with a crash, my bad leg hurting more than ever, my attacker had gone and twisted it!
The person who was attacking me was a man who looked somewhere in his late twenties, he wore a brown jacket and jeans. He was probably the man who was driving me in the taxi, that part in my head was fuzzy and unimportant. What really scared me was how he looked:
His skin was a deep gray, wrinkling and peeling off in certain places. I swore I could see his bones in his arms. His hair was shriveled and falling off, as if it was decaying. There was a big gaping hole where his stomach was, not to the point where I could see through it, but enough to see that most of his internal organs were missing. He smelled like horseshit, I had never smelled anything as horrid in my entire life. His face was just as wrinkled and decaying as the rest of his body. His lower jaw dislocated in a weird way, snapping at me with yellow rotten teeth, unable to make any coherent speech other than gurgling noises and snarling. But what really dug it's way into my brain was his eyes. His white, cold eyes, devoid of any life or sentience other than the desire to bite into my neck. For the lack of a better phrase, my attacker seemed to be, what's the word.... Dead.
I was too panicked to question how that was even possible, all that I could think about was this dead man attacking me, and how I was going to get away from him. Using my right leg, I kicked him hard in the face. He jolted backward, giving me enough time to crawl out of his reach. But soon after, he got himself back together and started crawling towards me.
I crawled as fast as I could, desperately trying to get away. But he was close on my heels, more than once he almost managed to get a chunk of my leg. I was panicking like crazy, what the hell was happening? Why is this man acting so crazy? How is any of this possible? I didn't want to think of any of this, even though I was constantly asking myself that. But the most dominant thing going on in my mind right now, was the age old instinct to survive.
Crawling over to some kind of firetruck in the road, I tried to find a way to balance myself. It was tough, my leg was just screaming bloody murder! Just a little further, I had to get on my feet! As soon as I was back on both my legs I could at least limp away from the man as fast as I could! Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough, and the man, no- the monster managed to grab hold of my bad leg.
"Ahhh! Get off! Get off me!" I screamed to the monster, but it paid no heed to me, only interested in sinking its teeth into my flesh, "Help! Help me! Please! Oh for the love of God, somebody help me!"
But nobody came to my rescue, no police car showed up and saved me from the monster, and there was probably nobody around who could hear my pleas. It felt like I was the only human left on the planet. I was going to die, I was going to die to something as satanic as this dead thing that somehow had the means to exist.
A small part in my head wanted to just let go of the firetruck and let the monster devour me. Sure, it would've been slow and painful, but it had to end at some point. In fact, I was just about to obey this thought in my head when I managed to catch a glimpse at my salvation.
A fire hatchet was hanging from a broken window just out of arm's reach.
My grip on the firetruck more tight than ever, I reached with all my might to grab the ax that would help me slay my attacker. But the monster still had my leg in its cold and slimy grip, and it was slowly but surely pulling itself towards it so that it could chomp down on me and end my life. I was almost there, just a little farther! Adrenaline was the only thing keeping me going, I took one last reach, and...
"Got it!" I cried out in triumph. What happened next, was a bit of a blur. I lost all sense of emotion, other than untapped, uncontrollable rage. Using the butt of the ax, I slammed it straight into its face, staggering it and allowing me to free myself from it's grip. Using the particularly sharp portion of the ax, I drove it straight into the monster's back! It seemed unfazed, still trying to find a way to get me! Apparently, these things couldn't feel pain, or if they did, they were indifferent to it. All that did was tick me off more!
Once again I swung the ax into its back, it was impossible to tell if I was hurting it! I didn't care, I continued to swing at it, quite clumsily I might add. The ax was everywhere, I continued to go for its back, I also went for the arms chopping them clean off. I made short work of its legs, ensuring that it would never walk again. I just kept hacking and hacking at it, screaming the entire time, even though at this point it was just a bloody, armless, legless thing rolling around in the street. It was only until I drove my blade into the fucker's skull that I noticed that the monster had ceased to move.
Having my fill, I backed away from it. It didn't struggle, it didn't squirm, it no longer made any attempts to eat me. It was finally, truly dead.
I fell to my knees, at this point in time, immune to my twisted leg. I had won, I had conquered the beast that sought to destroy me. I let out a bellowing roar, not one of victory, but one of rage and hatred. I didn't care who heard me, or if anyone was around to see me in my monstrous state. I just let out every emotion that I was feeling into one big roar.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
I could hear my scream echo throughout the freeway, I didn't know I could be that loud. I probably couldn't, it was probably only loud because everything else was quiet.
As I began to calm down, I noticed my surroundings for the first time. The sky above me was a deep yellow, suggesting that it was just about sunset. I was on the freeway, the car that I came from being a few feet away from where I was. There was a great deal of cars around the area, most of them broken, non-functioning, and picked clean of anything useful. That last part made me think, I couldn't have been the only human alive. If there were others here to raid these cars of anything worthwhile, then there must be some people around. Perhaps a town or a refugee camp was around here somewhere. But as far as my eyes told me, there was only road, more road, and an endless plain on the left side, a thick dense forest to the right.
When I found the strength to walk, I would have to make a decision on what I wanted to do. The road was out of the question, it may have been the quickest way to a town or city, but it was vulnerable, and there were probably other monsters lurking around it looking for people not as fortunate as me. The plains would allow me to see where I was going and I'd spot any monster coming for me miles away, but the thing went for miles and I didn't like the idea of being in the open for too long. On the other hand, the forest was full of animals to eat and places to hide, for me, and most likely for the monsters too. I'd have to make a decision at some point, I couldn't stay here.
But I didn't get the chance to decide, because the only thing I could hear at the moment was a series of growling and snarling. I was afraid to look, but I didn't have to. The sound told me that there was a great deal of those monsters coming this way, possibly in the hundreds!
Once more, I panicked! With my twisted leg, I couldn't outrun them, and I certainly didn't have the strength to run for the trees or the plains. I was trapped! There was only one thing to do, and I absolutely dreaded it. I was going to have to climb on top of the firetruck and wait them out.
Reaching for the white ladder that hung by the side, I began to climb. My leg at this point was trying its hardest to kill me, but slowing down meant death! I could hear them get closer, I was afraid to look back! I wasn't going to make it, I kept telling myself. They were still a good ways away from me, but with how little progress I was making, they would probably catch up to me in no time!
I could feel the roof of the firetruck, I was almost there! The monsters were getting closer! As I used whatever strength I had, I vaulted myself onto the roof. I was safe, for now. But the battle wasn't over yet.
The gigantic herd of monsters had caught up to me, and a few were already trying to climb the ladder onto the roof. I couldn't let that happen. I had just found somewhere safe to be, and I wasn't about to have it taken from me!
Using the last of my strength, I used my good leg to kick the ladder off of the truck. It was hard, but very doable. Most of the bolts had broken off by the time I got there, and the ones that remained were a little rusty. God, how long was I out in that car? But that didn't matter, all that mattered was making sure that the monsters couldn't follow me up here.
As I took one last big kick, the ladder came clean off! Any monsters that were on it went tumbling down into the sea that was their brothers and sisters. They still attempted to climb onto the truck, but they weren't getting very far. Apparently, they couldn't climb without help. I just realized how weak these things were, they were incredibly slow, incredibly stupid, and were only a real threat if they got a hold of you or were in large numbers.
But still, I was in paranoid mode, not wanting to relax my guard until they lost interest in me, if they would ever lose interest in me. I was the only thing they seemed to care about, they just wouldn't quit! In fact, as I was pondering this, I realized that I was beginning to feel woozy and light headed.
"No! Stay awake! Stay awake!" I told myself, holding the ax close to my person. I was afraid to fall asleep, I had no idea how long I was asleep last time, how long would I be out if I did it again?! And what if the monsters found a way to get to me while I was sleeping?! No, I wouldn't let that happen, I was going to do everything in my power to not fall asleep, "Stay awake! Stay awake! Stay Awake! Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake...
But I couldn't help it. I was spent, I had exhausted my adrenaline what felt like ages ago, and I was practically running on fumes at this point. I fell on my back, my ax falling to my side. The last thing I could hear was the sound of my own breathing before the darkness of sleep had claimed me.
AMC presents:
(An abandoned building towers over the entirety of San Francisco)
(A handgun with red outlines sits in a glass pane, untouched by the monsters outside. The picture of a bullet with wings covers the handle)
Lucas Turner as Caliber Rounds
(An abandoned apple farm sits on the outskirts of Canterlot, the barn is in terrible shape. Within the main house, a picture of three siblings, an older brother with two younger sisters smiling over their first harvest. The picture is broken and stained with blood)
Peter New as Big Macintosh
Ashleigh Ball as Applejack
Michelle Creber as Apple Bloom
(A Picture of seven teenage girls lays undisturbed in an opened desk, collecting dust. A small necklace with an orange outline and a yin-yang sun in the middle lays with it. It is shattered, devoid of the magic it once held)
Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer
(The school of Canterlot, windows boarded up and a sloppily made barricade surrounding the outskirts. Someone tried to use this place to hide. They probably didn't get far)
Executive Producers: Robert Kirkham, David Alphert, Lauren Faust, Charles H. Eglee, Gale Anne Hurd, and Frank Darabont
Developed by: Frank Durabont
(A herd of Walkers storms the car cluttered freeway. No numbers can count how many there are as they slowly wander to their next meal)
Based on the series of graphic novels by: Robert Kirkham, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard
Also based on the hit children's TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Equestria Girls) by: Lauren Faust
(The screen is black, there are only six words dotting the center, three of them shining more boldly then the others...)
THE WALKING DEAD: Welcome to Canterlot
I was asleep for roughly about eight or nine hours. How do I know? As my eyes shot open, I saw the sky was a deep blue instead of the orange-yellow from before. I had somehow slept through the night, a task you would think impossible considering all those monsters trying to get to me.
"Oh Shit!" I yelled to myself, shooting straight up from my sleeping position. The monsters, they could still be there! If I was still surrounded, how was I going to get off this thing?! "This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is-"
Wait a minute, hold on for a freaking minute. If the monster herd was still there, why was it so quiet? I haven't been running from those things for long, but I knew enough to know that they weren't exactly "quiet" creatures. Maybe they finally lost interest in me and moved on to eat someone else? No, I couldn't be that lucky, could I?
I didn't have to peak over the firetruck to find out. By coincidence my eyes wandered over to the left side of the road, where the plains were. Out in the distance, I could see a big grey blur moving through the grassy plains, moving away from the freeway, from the looks of it.
Apparently, I was that lucky. Something or someone must have grabbed their attention and they abandoned the attempts to get me in favor for something else. But why were they going that way? Did they decide to just give up and look for easier food? No, it had to have been something else. Why would they spend an entire night trying to get to me and then just walk away like I didn't exist?
Then it hit me, these things must have been attracted to noise.
When I thought about it, it made sense. When I killed that first monster, I screamed at the top of my lungs, essentially giving away my position to the sea of monsters down the freeway. But when I passed out on the firetruck, just out of their reach, I wouldn't have made any noise other than the barely audible sound of my breathing. Plus they couldn't see me, they only knew I was there because they saw me climb onto the truck. They could neither see me or hear me, and then they must have heard another noise at some point and their attention immediately focused on that, I was out of sight and out of mind. They essentially had the attention span of a two year old!
"Wow, those things are incredibly stupid," I told myself, "They had an easy meal right in front of them and they just let it go, and for what? For some stupid noise they heard over by the plains? That is the stupidest thing I've seen in my life."
Had the circumstances been different, their short attention span would've been funny. But I wasn't laughing, the images of those things trying to climb onto the truck were still very fresh in my head. No matter how you looked at them, they were still monsters, and they would not hesitate to eat you if you gave them the chance. I was not going to give them that chance.
First order of business was to find a way off of the firetruck. I kicked the ladder down, so there was no way I could use that. I would have to climb down the hard way. My left leg was doing a little better, it was swollen like hell but it didn't hurt as much. Maybe I could at least limp on it a little bit until I found a doctor to patch it up. But there was no thinking about that until I was off of the truck.
I quickly took a peek around the firetruck, looking out for any monsters that might still be out there. I gave a sigh of relief, apparently all the monsters in the area had moved on. Still, I wasn't going to hang around to find out for sure. Making sure to throw the ax over the side first, I began to climb off of my hiding place, putting out my left leg before my right one. Okay, now the other leg. Slowly lifting my walking leg over the side, I was now half way off of the truck, now I just had to be careful where I stepped. Being careful not to slip, I climbed my way down the truck, preparing myself to shoot back upward if I saw any more monsters. But that moment never came, thankfully, there were no monsters waiting around to eat me as I put both of my legs on the sweet asphalt.
I wanted to yell in triumph, and in pain (for my leg was still not yet ready to be walked on), but I didn't. I was smarter now, I didn't want to ruin my lucky break by drawing that herd of monsters back on top of me. Speaking of those monsters, there was no going through the plains. I'd have to be stupid, suicidal, or both to go toward the place where my hunters currently were. And going down the road still was a no-go. I had no idea where it would lead me or when I would get there, and I didn't want to have to deal with any more monsters that might have lingered around.
My only option was through the woods. True, there were probably more monsters in there, or worse. But it provided me adequate cover and hiding places than the broken vehicles on the road would. And there were animals in the woods as well, if it ever came to it I could use my trusty ax and take out a fawn or a fox or something. True, I was a little clumsy when it came to melee weapons, but it was better than nothing.
With my mind made up, I made my way towards the forest. It was a little hard limping, so I had to use my ax as a makeshift crutch until I saw a doctor, if I ever saw a doctor. Still, it was better than staying here and starving on that firetruck; I was not going to die like that.
So, after taking one last look at the firetruck that saved my life, I pressed forward into the forest, not knowing what the future would hold for me.
I don't know how long I had spent walking through the woods. An hour, three hours, five hours, I didn't know. The forest had cut off all sunlight, so I had no idea what time of day it was. I was hungry too, I figured there would've been more animals around here. Although to be fair, they were probably hiding from me or any monster that might be in here with them. Also, like I said before, I was terrible with melee weapons, so I probably couldn't kill one anyway, if they didn't run away first. At the rate I was going, there was no way I could chase one.
My legs weren't doing so hot either. At this point, it was more sore than actually hurting, but I honestly couldn't tell the difference at the time. The soreness was also spreading to my other leg, and both my hands too. Every part of me was just sore. I wanted to just collapse on the floor, for crying out loud. But I stopped myself from doing that, I had already passed out twice within the time span of a day or two. I was certainly not going to do it a third time, not until I had a roof over my head, a fixed up leg, a hot meal in my belly, and a warm bed. But the chances of that happening were slim to none out here, I would just have to make do with wandering around until I stumbled upon something or I dropped dead. Preferably the former.
For the next hour, or hours, fuck, I don't even know how long anymore, I just kept going in a straight line. If I just went straight, I was sure to find something. Hopefully an animal that I could eat (I didn't care if I had to eat it raw), a cabin or something where I could spend the night, or maybe a fellow survivor that could tell me what the hell was going on. Or maybe all three, but I figured that my luck in that department had run out by now. Still, there was no harm in hoping, those things were the only thing that were keeping me going.
Besides, my luck wasn't doing too bad, I had yet to run into anymore monsters. I had definitely made the right call when picking the woods to start. But I digress, I could've maybe checked around the other cars, see if they had anything worth taking, like food or water, or at least some Ibuprofen to help with the leg. But, what's done is done. The only thing to do was to focus on where I was headed, instead of where I've already been.
As I occupied myself with these thoughts, I suddenly tripped on something and found my face full of pines and dirt.
"Aagh!" I spat, trying to get the disgusting taste of pine out of my mouth, "Ugh, puh, puh! Gross!"
I checked on my leg, both of them for that matter. Thankfully, the good one absorbed most of the blow, so I wasn't in anymore pain than I already was in. This wasn't your leg getting chewed off, this was just tripping over a branch, and I had done that several times during my time in San Francisco. The parks there were full of trees that I liked to climb in, and more than once I had taken a plunge into the dirt. I was used to this, all that came next was dusting yourself off and getting back on track. And that's exactly what I did.
However, as I was getting myself back up, using my ax as support, I found something that almost made me jump. What I had tripped on was not a branch at all. It was a backpack!
Scrambling onto my knees, I securely wrapped it into my hands, as if some invisible person would try and take it from me. The backpack itself was green, with three apples in a triangular shape dotting the front. It was the type of backpack that you would take to school, not for hiking out in a place like this. Regardless, I quickly opened up the backpack to see the stuff I had scored. Inside was a bunch of food, mostly energy bars and fruits. There was also medicine in there too, the over-the-counter type that could deal with headaches and colds, and deal with the pain of a twisted ankle! I had also found a bunch of basic survival tools in there as well, such as matches, a compass, a multi-tool, a sturdy survival knife, and also...
A handgun, with five or so boxes of ammo!!! Now, keep in mind, I'm not really the religious type. I was kind of agnostic bordering on atheist. But, when I saw the gun and ammo, the part of me that hoped there was some kind of God up there just couldn't help but pray. I was way better with guns than I was with an ax! In fact, our entire family was taught how to name, take apart, put back together, and fire any type of firearm or ranged weapon. Consider it a... special talent of you will. There was no reason for me to abandon my ax yet, I still needed it to keep balance, and it would be helpful to have something if things got up and personal. But now I had a weapon that I could easily use, instead of solely relying on something that I was clumsy and awkward with.
After doing a short prayer, I sat myself against a nearby tree and had some lunch. The energy bars weren't that tasty, but they were better than starving to death. Now to deal with my leg, I pulled out a bottle of NSAIDS (Something that helped with inflamation) and popped a few to at least reduce the swelling. I decided to hold off on the painkillers for a while, I didn't know how many to take, and I certainly didn't want to overdose on the stuff. Making sure that it would be easier to walk without the ax was the first priority.
Once I had had my fill of energy bars, and had properly counted how much ammo I had, I just relaxed myself onto the tree, hugging the backpack like it was my favorite teddy bear. Using my left hand, I fiddled a bit with the gun, making sure the safety was on, twirling it between my fingers, and even pointing it in different directions. I just felt so good, ignoring the pain of my now less-swollen leg. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, I had felt unstoppable, like I now stood a chance against the hundreds of monsters that had wanted to make a meal out of me. For the first time, I felt... hope.
I wanted this moment, this dream, to last forever. But like all dreams, I had to wake up eventually.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!!"
I jumped with a start, waking up from my moment of bliss. I had heard someone scream, quite loudly I might add.
"No! Stay back! Get away from me! Get away from me!"
It sounded like a little girl! It sounded like she was being attacked! By monsters? Yeah most likely. I quickly got up on my feet and yelled in all directions, "Hello?! Is anybody there?! Where are you?!"
"Ahhh! Get away from me!!! Applejack! Big Mac! Anybody! Help me!!!"
I hurriedly zipped up my backpack and slung it on my back, placing the gun and the survival knife in my pocket. Someone was in trouble, I couldn't just stand here and do nothing! Grabbing my ax for support, I limped off in the direction I thought the cries for help were coming from.
"Ahh! Help me! Somebody help me!"
"I hear you!" I cried, trying to find out where she was, "I'm coming! I'm coming! Just hold on!"
For the next five minutes I followed the screams for help, trying to shout out words of encouragement and comfort. I limped as fast as my legs could carry me, hoping against hope that I wasn't too late. I followed the voice until it eventually led me to a dark clearing in the forest.
A little girl of maybe thirteen, with yellow skin and bright red hair, was trying to climb a tree and escape from ten or so monsters that were surrounding the trunk. She looked incredibly scared, her bright orange eyes wide with fear. As she tried to reach for the next branch, the one she was on broke away, plunging her into a lower branch, her legs close enough to the ground so that the monsters could tug her down.
"Ahhh, it's got me! It's got my leg! Applejack, help me! HELP ME!!!"
The girl held onto the branch as tight as she could, but her strength was giving away, and now her leg was close enough so that a monster could plunge its teeth into her soft yellow flesh. The monster leaned forward to chomp her down. The girl's eyes shut tight, silently whimpering as she prepared herself for the bite. The monster's rotting jaw was inches away when...
"BANG!"
The monster let go of her leg, going limp as the bullet sized hole smoked inside it's head. The other nine monsters turned around to see who had disturbed their meal. The barrel of my gun smoked as I pointed it towards the monster who dared to hurt the girl.
Realizing that the monster had let go of her, the girl quickly climbed up the tree, branch by branch until there was a good five feet of height between her and the monsters. Once she was sure that she was safe, she looked down to see who had come to her rescue.
I stood unwavering, trained since childhood to resist the recoil of the gun I was using. Noticing that their prey was out of their reach, the monsters limped their way towards me, intent on making me the main course instead. But I was ready for them, now that I had a gun in my hands, I was unstoppable.
Straightening my left arm, I unloaded two more rounds, two more monsters went limp and fell to the ground. As I fired a third shot, I made short work of the one right in front of me. Backing away to get myself some room, I fired an additional three shots, taking out three more.
I stared into the eyes of my three remaining adversaries, this was going to be too easy. I locked onto my targets with my mind's eye, and pulled the trigger.
"Click!"
Wait a minute, what?
"Click! Click! Click!"
"Oh fuck!" I yelled to myself, "I'm out already?!"
But I couldn't gripe for long, the remaining three monsters were getting closer. I quickly dropped the backpack, searching desperately for more ammo, but there wasn't enough time. The monster were only seconds from toppling me.
Oh well, guess my luck had finally run out. Trying to keep my balance, I lifted up my ax, ready to make mince meat out of these fuckheads.
Limping up to my foes, I drove my ax into the skull of the middle monster. I had almost missed, I wasn't kidding when I said I was sloppy with melee weapons.
I tried my best to yank it out, but it was lodged in there good. I abandoned the attempt when the other two monsters began to swarm me. Using my right hand, I pulled out my survival knife.
I swiftly dodged the outstretched arms of the monster on the left, swinging behind it and introducing the knife to the back of its head. Unlike the ax, I had no problem pulling the knife out of the monster when the job was done. I turned around, ready to take care of the third and final monster.
But I reacted too late. The monster was down on me in an instant, and both my knife and gun were flying out of my hands and out of reach. Abandoning any attempts to reach them, I struggled to keep the jaws of the monster from reaching my neck. I was failing miserably, I just couldn't match the deep and strong desire to feed on flesh that the monster had. It was quickly overpowering me, I was preparing for the worst. The monster was getting closer and closer to me, this was the end!
"BANG!"
The monster stopped trying to eat me. It just went limp, finally dead like it should have been. I was lucky the mouth of the monster missed my neck, otherwise its teeth would've found home through the power of gravity.
I turned towards the sound of the gunshot to see who had saved me. The girl, who had my gun tightly in her hands, had put the barrel of the gun straight into the side of the monster and took the shot. She must have climbed down, found the gun and fished through the backpack for more ammo. Fuck, this kid was fast, but I wasn't complaining.
Leaning forward a little, I said in a raspy voice, "I suppose we're even, then?"
The girl just smiled, wiping the blood off of her face.
She then wandered around the area, looking for the things I had dropped. She put my gun into her pocket, my knife she stored in the backpack, and with some effort, she pulled my ax out of the skull of the monster. She then walked back over to me, and just sat on her knees, holding my hand as if she was going to heal me with some kind of magic power. Now I knew that was a load of bullshit, but it still felt good. I was exhausted from killing those monsters, the energy bars having a powerful but draining kick to them.
"Apple Bloom?! Apple Bloom, where are you?! Apple Bloom!"
The girl suddenly let go of my hand and began to call to this new person, who apparently knew her name. My senses were blurring, I could only see shapes and colors, and hear noise instead of words. But I was sure that I could see two men approaching the clearing, one of them wrapping the girl in a big hug.
And then, for the third time in a span of two days or so, I passed out.