Hello, people! Bringing forth a new chapter! What will happen in this chapter? Find out now! Also, keep an eye on that Walkman that comes out in this chapter... you'll see it much more often. Without further ado... let the chapter commence!
Alan immediately knew he was going to die a painful death. But Draco wasn't going to let his best friend die at the hooves of some crazy psychopaths. He immediately used his tail as a jackhammer, and used it on the pony that grasped Alan. He drilled into the pony's skull, sending blood and brain matter flying upwards and spraying the area. The pony stood absolutely still, until Draco lightly tipped him over, sending him falling down, draining the skull of the remaining giblets inside on the floor. Draco approached Alan, and saw he was not wounded. He sighed in relief, and turned towards the last pony. Rather than charge at them, the pony stumbled back, somehow knowing defeat.
Draco, not wanting to let this one go, ran towards the last pony, and shot fire at him. The pony lit up on fire, and it shrieked in agony. It was a monstrous cry, nothing that sounded like a normal pony. It then fell over, burning brightly. Alan got up, and went up to Draco.
"Thank you… very much," Alan said gratefully.
"No problem… just glad you're safe." Draco walked to where the shotgun lay on the ground, and handed it to Alan. Alan took it, and continued to inspect the library. They crept much more quietly and cautiously now, and saw how neat the library was compared to outside. Draco then tapped Alan on the shoulder, and pointed him towards the only room left unchecked in the library. Alan approached it slowly, and knocked on the door. There was immediately a hushing noise on the other side of the door, and then silence.
Alan thought about what to do, and came up with the answer. "Guys? Are you in there? It's me, Alan. Say something!" he whispered loudly.
He heard whispering on the other side, and knew the others had to be in there. The lock on the door opened, and Eric peered out. He smiled with both happiness and relief, and opened the door widely. "Alan! You're OK!" Eric cheered.
"Yeah, I am. I came to get you guys so we could head to Applebloom's house. We'll be safe in the cellar at the house. So how about it?" Alan asked.
Eric didn't know what to do. On one hoof, he wanted to be safe and wait this thing out. On the other, he couldn't leave his home, or any of his friends behind. What would Mom and Dad do? I haven't seen them in forever, and… and… I might not see them. He started tearing up, but held it together. What would they do?
…
Before he moved from his old home at Clover Ranch, Eric had lived at the shop with his father, Percy. He enjoyed helping his father and mother with work, whether it was in the Clover Plantation or The Olympia, and made the most of it. One day his father had called him up to the living quarters in the restaurant. Percy was sitting in his room, waiting for Eric.
"Hey, Dad! Whatcha need?" Eric asked.
"Eric, sit down. I have something important to ask of you. I need you to stay in Ponyville for a while. Your mother and I have to go with Uncle Leon for something important," Percy replied.
"But… who am I staying with at Ponyville? I don't know anyone there," Eric contradicted.
"Well, I know Alan's staying there with Draco, so maybe we can find you an adult to stay with as well. How about you stay with one of Leon's friends at Ponyville, like Fluttershy, or Derpy?" Percy suggested.
"Derpy? Who's that?" Eric asked.
"Derpy is one of Leon's childhood friends. She loves taking care of foals, and I'm sure she could take care of you, if it's OK with her and you," Percy answered.
"Sure! I can't wait to see Alan and his friends again! But… but what are you gonna do, Dad?" Eric asked.
"I'm heading to Caelum to handle some business with Leon. He says it's time, so it is very important. I'll be back soon, but I want you to make the most of Ponyville, OK?" Percy asked.
"I don't know any pony in Ponyville… what do I do there?" Eric asked.
Percy had always answered this question of uncertainty with the same answer. "You should do the right thing, no matter how much it seems hopeless. That's what you need to do," Percy explained.
"You always say that, but I don't ever get what it means," Eric said.
"Maybe not now, but you will. It all comes with age, or experience," Percy said. "Just know that if you ever need anything, your mother and I will be there for you."
…
The memory of that conversation was very important to Eric, and he stopped leaking his eyes. "Good idea, Alan. We gotta head there first, and then maybe we can see if there's anything else to do."
"All right, before we go, we need to find a way to defend ourselves. Is there anything here in the library that can help us?" Alan asked.
"I think I know. When we came in, one of those ponies had an axe. Is there anything else we could defend ourselves with?" Draco asked.
"I got something." As he said this, Eric went into the room and pulled out a box. He opened it, and revealed a beautiful, titanium sickle. The handle was decorated with ivory and silk, and the blade shone perfectly.
"Nice blade. And if some pony wants, they could use Draco as a flamethrower. Right?" Alan asked Draco.
"Only this one time, ponies," Draco said as he readied himself to be used as a weapon. "One more thing; what should we name these ponies? I think there should be a creative name for them."
"Are you serious!?" Alan asked.
"Yes, cause if we see one we have to call it out. What do you guys have in mind?" Draco asked.
"Well, actually, I noticed that the ponies shamble slowly, they're rotten, and they're pretty stupid. So we got three possibilities there: Shamblers, Rotters, and Dumbasses. I think the best one would be Shamblers," Alan said.
"OK, Shamblers it is. We call it out only by that. Let's head downstairs quietly. There may be more Shamblers downstairs," Draco cautioned.
They all headed downstairs quickly, and walked over to the rotting and charred pile of corpses on the ground. Alan walked over to where the axe lay, and handed it to Dinky. They were now all armed with conventional weapons to use against the undead marauders. "OK, now we just need to get to Applebloom's house… quietly."
…
They all began running, screaming at the top of their lungs while doing so. They all ran from a group a Shamblers, now lurching towards them. From somewhere, a recording of "Yakety Sax" was playing loudly, and the song followed the group throughout. "Will you drop that fucking Walkman!? That's what got us into this shit in the first place!" Draco exclaimed. "Why would you even play music that loudly in the first place!?"
"I'm sorry, but we needed some comedic relief in this story…" Alan said. He looked slightly away, and then focused back forward.
"Oh, no. We got another Leon here, speaking to inanimate objects," Draco said.
"Just keep running! They can't catch us cause we're too fast for them!" Alan boasted. He turned around with a lot of confidence, and his eyes went wide with fear and surprise. Two of the Shamblers had begun sprinting after them. "Run faster!" Alan yelled out.
These two undead marauders appeared very different than the Shamblers did. They did not look rotten, dismembered, or cut up like most of them did; in fact, they didn't even appear dead at all. There was one characteristic that gave away their true source; the single bite mark on their bodies, indicating they were infected, but not undead. They still had the same craving for brains as the Shamblers, but due to their bodies functioning perfectly, they used their legs much more.
"It looks like we've got a couple of Runners!" Draco shouted. He rode on Eric, and turned around to shoot fireballs at the two Runners. He fired one, hitting the first Runner directly in the face. It caught on fire soon after, and fell to the ground burning. Draco took aim again, but the remaining Runner had stopped sprinting. It then walked in the opposite direction from them, and disappeared. Weird… I thought for sure he'd still be chasing us. Draco turned back around, and saw the orchard in the distance. "There it is!" he announced. He noticed Yakety Sax was still playing on the Walkman. "Turn that off! We don't want any more Shamblers or Runners following us!"
"Oh, right." Alan then turned off the Walkman, and then led the group to the entrance.
Daylight was finally coming out from the horizon, and they all ran through the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres to the clearing with the farmhouse. "Were we followed?" Alan asked.
"No… I don't think so. We're safe," Draco said breathlessly.
Alan knocked on the door to the farmhouse. About a minute or two later, he heard the locks open from the other side of the door. The door opened, and they were brought inside by Applejack. "Thank goodness you're safe. I hope no trouble came?" Applejack asked.
"No. We're all fine. But now we have a problem; some of those ponies out there can gallop, some even faster than before." Alan hesitated as he said this. "They could overrun Ponyville much more quickly now."
"What? They can… gallop? That's not a good sign," Applejack said.
"By the way, where is every pony? Where's Rarity and Rainbow Dash? Shouldn't they be taking care of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" Alan asked.
Applejack stood still, as if ignoring the question. "R.D. is down in the cellar with the fillies. But Rarity…" she didn't finish. She stood still, with a silence that sent a shiver down Alan's spine. She looked away from the group. "I never found her. I don't know what happened."
Only that means she's… dead? That… that's terrible. Does Sweetie Belle know? Alan thought to himself. "What about Pinkie… Derpy… Fluttershy… where are they at?" Alan asked.
"Never found them either…" Applejack stopped when she saw Dinky start sniffling. "Come on… let's head down to the cellar. We'll see what we could do for the time being." Applejack then opened the cellar from the floor of the house, and led them all down.
WOW! We have two types of zombies now: the undead Shamblers and the infected Runners! Will there be any more zombie types? Who else is surviving this apocalypse? How will our group of survivors manage with each other? Find out next week!