I don't own Dead Rising or MLP FiM, they belong to CAPCOM and Hasbro. Enjoy
TIME UNTIL HELICOPTER ARRIVA
Hours Minutes
6 6 : 3 0
It is late noon and Frank has got himself a deal, he will get the information he needs for his story and all thanks to his ride out of here. Should I return to the mall and check what else could be out there to add to my story? Frank though, Nah, later, first I will go and get some rest before returning to that zombie field. After making his mind Frank had a feeling that he forgot something but he couldn't point what until he opened the door to the storage room and saw the pegasus that he rescued now standing in front of him, looking directly into his eyes with an awe expression.
Frank moved close to him, kneel down and pet his head. "Hey little buddy, did uncle Otis treat you well when I was gone?" He said in a playful tone.
Jessie and Otis (who was now next to her) put their attention on the reporter, waiting for the next scene to pass. "I'm fine thanks, my name is Featherweight and I just wanted to tell you that I'm very thankful that you came to save me, I owe you my life." The pony finished with a little bow and a smile.
Frank was frozen in place to notice, he was trying to process what just happened.
Did he just talk!? He thought. There is no way that he just did that! It is impossible! But then again he is a pegasus and I am in the middle of a zombie infested mall… What are the chances?
"Surprised, Mr. I cover wars?" Otis said while chuckling and heading to the A/C to make guard, Jessie was laughing in her seat.
After that Frank stood up and presented himself. "Well… nice to meet you Featherweight, my name is Frank West, Photojournalist and soon a world star after covering this story!" he said while smiling and making a pose.
Jessie shook her head for that little remark and returned her attention to the monitors
Featherweight was impressed by the reporter's confidence. "Wow!… I can't believe it, are you really a photographer?"
"But of course." Frank replied. "I don't have a camera just to pretend."
"Can I see it Mr. West… if it isn't much of a bother."
The reporter was going to protest but the little pony was making a pleading face that Frank couldn't oppose. "Fine, but be careful since it is the only one that survived this trip." He took off the band that held the camera from his neck and passed it to the pony's hooves.
Featherweight was amazed by how the camera looked and weighed, it was a bit more heavy and different from his own camera but its features compensated that, he then turned it on and started checking its white balance, focus, brightness, resolution and the framing.
Frank was impressed by how Featherweight, as young as he looked, was checking his camera like an expert. "Did you handle a camera before, kid?"
Featherweight was looking through the camera's viewfinder at different parts of the storage. "Actually, I learned it from the magazine that Otis showed me about electronics, was it? Anyway, this camera appeared in an article describing it but mostly I practiced with my own camera back home, for that I joined the school press to test my photographic skills and earn my Cutie Mark!" he said happily.
"Cutie what now?"
"A Cutie Mark is a symbol that appears in the ponies' flank representing our special talent."
Frank was processing the information while taking a quick look at Featherweight's flank, noticing it was markless, this startled the pony a bit so the reporter changed the theme. "So, school press, did you learn how to handle a camera there or did your parents teach you?"
"I… I don't have parents, I'm an orphan." he said while lowering his head, ears flat against his head.
A shit! I touch on a sensitive subject. The reporter thought. Way to go Frank, that's why you can't cover celebrity kid's parties anymore. Now he has to do or say something to cheer Featherweight up.
So he said the first thing that came through his mind. "Umm, listen champ." Really, champ, that is the best I got? He thought. "Would it be fine if I teach you some photo techniques to help you take good pictures?" He said, waiting to see if his offer had the effect he wanted.
"Really!?" Featherweight asked excitedly, forgetting why he was depressed at first.
"Yeah, it will be fun to teach someone else that likes photography as much as me" He was relieved that his offer had the effect he was waiting for, or maybe more than he expected.
"Yes, yes, yes I accept!" Featherweight said very happily running and bouncing around the storage room, seconds later he stopped in front of Frank and extended his hoove in signal for a hand/hoof shake.
The reporter understood the gesture and shook his hoof. "I enjoy seeing you excited to learn some of my photographic skills." He smiled at the little pony.
"Yes, you don't know how eager I am to become your apprentice and earn my Cutie Mark working at your side!" Said Featherweight cheerfully while displaying a full smile.
"Yeah kid, I will show you the best position to take a panoramic photo and how to choose the right le- wait WHAT!?"
"That I can't wait to be your partner and learn your skills closely!"
Frank was confused and surprised. "Woah! woah! Hold on buddy, who told you that I was taking students?"
"Jessie told me that after you finished your mission with Mr. Brad, you and her will have a talk about my photography teachings." Featherweight responded innocently. "It wasn't what you were talking about inside the room?"
This was the drop that spilled the cup, Frank looked at Jessie's direction. "Stay here, I'll come back." He enters the Janitor's room where Jessie was watching the monitors, slamming the door. "Explain! Now!" He was annoyed.
"Explain what?" She responded calmly, still looking at the screens.
"Well, I don't know, Maybe the fact that the little pony believes that I am looking for a student!" He was angry.
Jessie turned to the reporter on her seat. "You see Frank, Featherweight was a student and a member of his school's press and an orphan." She said with the same calm tone and neutral expression she has, He realized Jessie had heard his conversation with the pegasus. "Aaand you are a professional photojournalist that has covered many cases, he needs a figure, someone to admire." She stood up off her chair and gently pushed Frank towards the door of the room where Featherweight was in, looking through the glass to him. "So this can be a way to bring the little orphan some hope in this new world, this can't be any more dangerous than your previous experiences, only now you have someone that can help you take your shots, besides." She walks back to her seat, turns to Frank and imitates his voice. "You covered war, you know."
After that chat, Frank went to the bathroom to clean his face, he was so pissed off that Jessie used the pony's situation to her advantage. But he needs to admit that his extortion was as evil as Jessie's, maybe a little less than hers. Okay Frank, keep your cool, don't let her get over your head or they win. He thought, started to inhale and exhaled slowly to calm himself. Aah! That's much better. Now I need some rules if I want Featherweight to learn and survive this nightmare. But first of all, I need to find a way for Featherweight to hold the camera while running through the mall, after all, he used his hooves to hold it, if there was a wa-" Frank stop his thought for a moment, realizing that Featherweight was a pegasus, he literary is a winged pony that can fly and took pictures with his hooves. "Frank you smart devil." he said while smiling and leaving the bathroom. (if he only knew a certain detail)
Featherweight was sitting on the green couch waiting for Frank to come out, after five minutes he saw him getting out, "So, when do we start?" he jumped off the couch and smiled.
"Does now sounds good to you?"
The pegasus responded immediately. "Yes! Ooooh! I can't wait any longer."
Then Frank and Featherweight walked towards the Janitor's room where Frank glanced at Jessie, making an expression that could translate as 'I will teach this pony while getting the information that I need and there is nothing that you can do to stop me.' Later Frank and Featherweight went with Otis who was next to the A/C's air duct.
"Wait Frank! Do you really plan to take Featherweight with you to the mall!?" He was surprised that the journalists would take the pony to a dangerous place.
"Yes, I think it is time for him to see what we are facing here," he explains while rubbing Featherweight's mane. "Besides, he will gain some experience from this to earn his pretty mark."
"Cutie Mark Mr. West." He corrected him.
"And it's master West for you my young pupil!" Frank said, trying to sound cool and covering his mistake.
"Yes Sir!" Featherweight replied while making a military salute with his wing.
Otis chuckles at the scene. "I can see that both of you are getting along already. Take care and return safely."
With that said both human and pegasus went through the air duct to the roof of the mall, once outside Featherweight he watch the surrounding noticing that it was evening, the surroundings were not as bright or colorful like in his world, it felt very different, he look the appearance that the roof have, it was a combination of cement and metal, the walls have a brown and white colors and the floor was gray, it was like the buildings that were in Manehattan, there where some kind of machines that were stick to the floor, some make noises some didn't, he then looked at the right noticing a chain-link fence that reveal more of the outside world, he run to it and saw hills, trees and other buildings but the most notorious thing was the multitude of zombies that were surrounding the mall, growling and slowly walking towards the entrance, he felt like a mouse hiding in the only tree on an open space while been circled by owls.
They walk to the exterior elevator but before Frank would hand his camera to Featherweight, he needs to make sure that he wouldn't faint or froze by terror, and what better way than killing some zombies in front of him.
"Well my student, before I give you my precious and only camera, I have to make sure you won't run away or get petrified." Frank explains while picking up a bat that was lying on the roof's floor.
"Don't worry Mr. West, I saw some of the footage of you killing those monsters before."
"I know you did." The reporter stopped in front of the elevator's door. "But, watching it through a screen isn't the same as seeing it in person." he said while standing in a fighting position. "Can you step back a little."
After Featherweight backed up he put his attention to what his new mentor was planning to do, Frank then pushed the elevators button to call it and after a couple of seconds the elevator's door opened and reveal that in it's interior were zombies, Featherweight was surprise with the number of monsters that were in there.
One zombie noticed Frank, it walked towards causing the reporter to smirk and made a power swing with his bat towards the zombies head breaking it by the force.
Featherweight was astonished by the action, seeing pieces of brain and bones splatter everywhere, afterward the rest of zombies came out of the elevator towards Frank, the reporter began to attack left to right killing some zombies and tripping over others. The quantity of blood coming out of the zombies was unreal and the growls they made was horrible, Featherweight tried his best to not to vomit at the bloody scene of his teacher beating the zombies to death while getting his bat covered in blood more and more by every hit.
After Frank finished, Featherweight's stomach was struggling not to empty its content either for the gory display or the aftermath smell of the corpses. "So, do you think you can handle it?" the reporter asked, looking at his partner.
Featherweight shook his head to compose himself and put on a brave face. "I-I am ready Mr. West!"
Frank smiled. "Okay then. Let's continue with the lessons."
"Mr. West, before we go I have a question, how did you know there were zombies inside the elevator?"
"That's easy, when I first went inside the mall, there weren't any signs of zombies at the warehouse, but when I returned from my journalist duty the warehouse was full of zombies." He explains. "It was only a matter of time for them to learn how to enter, but it seems they aren't smart enough to operate it."
"I guess that makes sense." The foal has some doubts about the explanation but accepts it. Then, both entered in the elevator that now has corpses on the floor, Featherweight put one hoof on his nose, trying his hardest to endure the stench of rotten flesh until the elevator took them to the ground floor.
Now inside the warehouse Frank begins to give his apprentice some lessons. "Okay listen up Featherweight, I will show you how to deal with zombies in case you are by yourself." Frank said while breaking a box which had a sickle and took it. "First you need to know that a zombie's weak point is their heads." From a hallway a zombie walks towards Frank, the reporter proceeds to use the sickle by putting it's blade behind the zombie's neck and with his right foot pushes the zombie's head while at the same time pulling the sickle, cutting the zombie's head clean making it's body fall to the floor.
Featherweight was still uncomfortable by the violence but he understood that this is necessary to survive. Frank starts walking and the pony follows. "Now if you want to escape from them you have two options." He said while another zombie ran at him. "You can either cripple them." He swung the sickle towards the zombies legs, cutting them off and making the zombie fall but still moving by using its arms, the reporter indicated the pegasus to follow him, another zombie appeared, Frank continued with his lesson without stopping running. "Or you can 'push' them really hard." he said while jumping and delivering the zombie a flying kick which made the undead fly backwards and push another zombie making them land on the floor.
"I thought you said push them."
"That's how I push out!"
Now the human and pony were in the big space of the warehouse where more zombies were either standing, walking or eating a severed limb. "Okay, next lesson, how to identify a good shot." Frank said while taking his camera and looking around. "There are different types of photos, first there are the normals which are simple photos with some content but nothing remarkable on it. Secondly we have Horror which we have a bunch of, thanks to the zombies being themselves." Both looked at the zombies growling and walking around. "Later the Brutality, which are photos showing graphic violence in them, great for impact but not suitable for front page." Frank pointed to a zombie eating a hand which his student followed, he proceeded to take a photo of it, [GREAT! BRUTALITY.] "Next there are the Outtakes, that are photos showing oddities or funny scenes." He pointed to a zombie officer using his walkie-talkie like a normal person and taking the photo [NICE! OUTTAKE.]"There is also Drama which describes the problems of certain events, and lastly there is Erotica which is something I will teach ya' when you grow older."
The pegasus didn't understand why the last type was out of limits but he decided to not question it and keep paying attention. Frank then took off the camera and handed it to Featherweight. "Ready for your test kid?" The pegasus was confused, but before he could say something to his teacher, he ran toward the zombies who noticed him and started to surround him. Featherweight understood that his job was to take photos of Frank's performance against the monsters.
The reporter used the sickle to cut some zombies head off to attract their attention, later he change his weapon for a sledgehammer and swing it to the zombies making them fall backwards se he can smash their heads with less problem but then his hammer broke and he was caught by a zombie that was trying to bite his head, Frank put his foot in the zombies chest to later kick him to off, he quickly took out his bat and start swinging at the undeads breaking their heads or killing them by the force of his attacks.
After the battle was over Featherweight had taken some photos of his teacher's performance. [GREAT! BRUTALITY.] Feeling that he did a good job the pony handed Frank's camera back to check his work.
"Hmmmm…" The reporter hummed while checking the photos one by one, Featherweight was nervous by each second, hoping that the photos he took were good enough for his teacher's liking so he could continue tagging along. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, okay, hmm. Okay Featherweight." Frank said in a serious tone and expression. "After watching your work I have only one thing to say." The young pony was lowering his head, expecting the words of failure but instead. "FANTASTIC!" Was what his mentor said with a smile and thumb up.
"Wait, REALLY!?" Featherweight had an incredule expression.
"Yes, your shots were done at the perfect timing, you move to get better lighting, you capture an excellent balanced shot and your close ups are incredibly clear and steady." Frank explained "if I were the public I would say that these photos were made by a professional. You passed the test."
"YAY!" The pegasus was jumped for happiness.
"Alright buddy, I officially name you a photojournalist student of West's Academy!" The reporter gave his camera back to Featherweight who was astonished for being praised by a professional photographer even if it was one from another world. "Just be careful with it and mind the battery, I lost the charger along with some replacement parts." The pony nodded in response, after that both walked in the direction of the mall. Man, he took very good photos. I still can't believe how lucky I'm to have a partner like that, but why didn't he take some aerial shots, that could give him a more panoramic view. Frank thought for a moment, but brushed the idea for later.
After a quick trip to the camera store to recharge the batteries, Frank and Featherweight were now standing in the mall at Central Plaza in their search for the best story ever, the pegasus was amazed by the type of stores that were inside the mall, it would be nice to visit all the stores but the zombies that roamed the place makes him reconsider that idea.
"Okay kid, remember, we only want espectacular shots, we don't want many of the same." Frank said, holding his bat.
"You got it !" The pony prepared the camera.
Then both student and teacher ran through the crowd of zombies, Frank was swinging his bat at the horde creating a path to pass between the monsters, killing some and capturing a wasp in the process. If what I saw was true, then this wasp can be useful against them. The reporter thought.
Featherweight was following behind, keeping his guard up if any zombie got too close. "Whoa! Stay back!" He said while running and pushing the undeads away from him, getting a clear spot to stop he began taking some photos of Frank and the zombies that were worthy to capture.
Frank threw his bat at the zombie horde knowing that his weapon was going to break soon, he was near the entrance of an instrument store and had spotted Featherweight at the top of a platform that was in the middle of a pond. The reporter entered the store and got an electric guitar to bash the zombies away.
But when he saw that the crowd of undeads were becoming more big to handle he decided to pulls out the jar with the queen wasp in it and smashes it to the floor to prove his theory, fortunately this provokes the zombies that were in a radius of 5 meters to shake and their heads explode leaving their headless body on the floor but also making some kind of huge worm come out from the corpses.
Is this what caused the outbreak? But with what purpose. Though Frank, watching the new piece of evidence die on the floor seconds later, he turned to his pupil to see how he was staying away from the zombies. Why isn't he flying around? He would be more safe there than on the ground. Is he trying to have more courage? I hope he doesn't have some kind of wing injury. If only that was the case.
Frank and Featherweight make their way to the glass door and out to Leisure Park, they carefully walk through the park to reach the Food Court in order to explore the other side of the mall, the pegasus was impressed to see a park inside a mall, something odd indeed but suddenly the sound of a car horn and laughter was becoming more and more strong and closer, when both turn their heads they notice a military vehicle driving towards them, Frank quickly tackle Featherweight away to avoid been flattened by the crazy conductors, After stopping rolling on the grass they turned to see the culprit, for the reporter's surprise the responsible were operating a roofless Military Hummer with desert camo where convicts who were still dressed in their orange prisoner jumpers.
There were three in total, one driving the vehicle, the other in the copilot seat with a bat in hand and the last one standing in the back operating a mounted 50mm heavy machine gun. "You missed looser!" the convict on the back said while the others laughed. "Get your aim right, brother!"
The Convict driver looked away and spotted something, it was a pair of survivors who were walking away from the zombies, but the driver seems to have another plan in mind. Patting the copilot and pointing at the survivors while laughing, the convict with the bat understood what the driver had in mind. "Alright! Looks like we found our next contestants!" he shouted.
"I'm gonna take that dude an' snach his old lady!" the convict with the machine gun added.
"Here we go!" said the convict driver, stepping on the gas and running in the survivor pair's direction.
While getting close, the survivors ran in opposite directions, allowing the driver to put the copilot close to the old man. The copilot hit the old man in the back of his head, killing him in the moment passing the woman who was now screaming for the death of her beloved.
Frank could not believe witnessing something so twisted happen to an innocent person. He felt disgusted and furious at the convicts' action, Featherweight was worried for the fate of the woman in hads of the lunatics, the reporter looked at his partner. "Featherweight I want you to take cover far from here. This might be more dangerous than facing zombies."
The pony seems to struggle between protecting himself or helping Frank, but when he heard the woman screaming again he made a decision. "No! I want to help her too, she needs our help just like I needed yours when you found me!" he replied with a look of determination on his face.
Frank wanted to protest but those maniacs were making some spins in the field while running over some zombies that were in their way. "Okay, I might need your help here."
"You got it boss!" He replied.
The reporter looks at his surroundings to find a weapon that can help him. He spotted a police zombie holding a gun but not using it and a baseball bat laying on the ground. "Alright listen! Here is the plan. I am going to get that gun that the zombie is holding and then go for the bat." Featherweight nods. "Meanwhile you would fly and distract them to get their attention so I can deal with the convict that is operating the heavy machine gun and take the others down, got it?"
"Yes , you go for the gun and bat while I distraaa… flying?" Featherweight was now petrified, he didn't tell his mentor about his disability. "Umm, Mr. West…I-I… " But before he could explain, the laughter of the convicts caught their attention. It seemed that they had crashed into a tree before reaching the woman but weren't bothered by it and started the vehicle again.
"There is no time, remember to fly, distract them and then fly away!" Franks said it while running away to get the weapons. "I will return soon."
"Frank the thing is I-I can't… fly" It was too late, his teacher was far away from him. OH! Celestia! What am I gonna do now! He was frightened, he is a pegasus but he can't fly and now someone's life is hanging in his hooves. He needs to think about something quickly or everything will be over.