Hey, everyone! Posting a new chapter of the Undead! So we have two survivor groups, but that may very well change after the reintroduction of a formerly deceased character. It may very well ensure the end of our survivors, but it could possibly lead to something deeper. What'll happen then to the survivors? Find out now!
Side Note: Judging by the name of this chapter, try and guess what film this chapter's a reference to. I just had to add as many as I could, mainly as a shout out to zombie media. Hope you can find most of them!
Somewhere on the outskirts of town, just inside the cemetery, the ironic silence was broken by a loud crash. The source was not clear, until the crash came again. The sound had come from Leon's mausoleum. The crash came again, and the door to the mausoleum cracked. The bang came one last time, and the door broke down.
From the dust, a figure walked out of the grave. The figure was large and menacing, with a long, flowing, black and yellow mane that remained groomed. He bore the mark of a Phoenix on his flank, and he stood tall. The figure's eyes were a dim yellow, no longer the vibrant gold that they had always been. "Guess… who's… back?" the figure said in a hoarse, menacing, and deep voice. Leon had walked out of the grave very clean in appearance, but still dead, and immediately was filled with thoughts of hunger. He looked around, growling, looking for a meal. He saw a sandwich on the ground, and picked it up hungrily. He proceeded to eat it, until he was interrupted by a hoof that had punched him.
He flew back, along with the sandwich, from the recoil of the punch. He got up quickly, and looked with fury at the attacker. He saw a pony; disemboweled, rotting, and covered in peeling flesh in places all over the body. He was tormented by a constant plague of flies that buzzed loudly near him. It began gnashing its blackened teeth together, making a cracking noise. "My… food…!" it said. Leon got up angrily, and tackled the pony to the ground.
"No… mine!" he replied angrily with a growl. He punched the pony in the face, sending a stream of black blood flying from it. The Shambler recovered quickly, and kicked him back, scoring a direct hit on Leon's midsection. Leon, not going to give up his meal, ran towards the Shambler and used his wings to throw the Shambler to the side, near the edge of the cemetery, crashing into the brambles nearby. He then ran over to the Shambler, and proceeded to crush his skull. The Shambler acted quickly, and pulled on Leon's leg. Leon fell, and the Shambler dragged him through the swamp near the cemetery. Leon struggled and got himself free, and they both fought in the heavy and black tar.
Leon used his wings again, not for the flying he always used to perform, but to end the Shambler. He successfully grasped the Shambler's neck, but it was still fighting. He used his hooves to repeatedly punch the Shambler, and grabbed the Shambler's head with his wings yet again. He pulled without hesitation, struggling at first, and soon hearing a loud tearing noise. The Shambler's flesh tore slowly from its neck area, and Leon tore the Shambler's head from its body, sending more dark blood spurting out from its neck. The body collapsed in the tar and was quickly consumed by the swamp. Leon neighed in rage, and tossed the detached head in the tar as well, where it was swallowed by the muck. He left the swamp, exhausted and hungry.
He noticed he moved much slower now, because of the tar that covered him from head to hoof. He was covered in the greenish black tar, and his head was covered in a mix of tar and blood from the Shambler, giving it an orange appearance. He staggered towards the sandwich, and feasted on it noisily, stuffing the meal into his maw. He had never tasted anything better in his life. It was no doubt soothing to his hunger, and he devoured it in one bite. He sighed in satisfaction when he finished, and his appetite had been filled.
That's much better. I can think clearly now… He processed a thought, surprisingly. He looked at himself, and found himself very filthy. "Don't care about that now," he said in his usual voice. The food provided him a way to remain much more equine now than he was mere seconds ago. A way to think, a way to speak, a way to act rationally, all of it possible with the satisfaction of his hunger. He tried to open his wings, but the tar on his coat had hardened, so instead he staggered slowly towards Ponyville, in hopes of seeing some old friends, at least for the moment. Maybe I can see them again… Alan… Chloe… Orion… friends… he processed. He then headed towards Ponyville slowly.
…
Fluttershy was busy tending to the other animals inside her house, when she saw a figure in the distance. She glanced out the window, and saw a single, bedraggled, Shambler coming her way. She panicked, and yelled at the top of her lungs, which only sounded like the mewing of a cat. She grabbed from inside her house a couple of chains and some chickenfeed.
She saw that the Shambler was covered in some kind of black, sticky substance that hung off from all over his body, except for his head, and he reeked of rot and mold badly. His head was covered in an orange substance of some sort, and he appeared to have rotted and died long ago. She laid down some chickenfeed and ran to cover. The Shambler then stopped in front of it and stared at it questionably. "Fluttershy… where are you? It's me, Leon!" the Shambler called out.
Fluttershy, hearing that the pony called out her name, came out from cover. She approached it slowly, not knowing if it was a trick. She looked at the pony from head to hoof, and was disgusted by the appearance of Leon. "Leon? You can't be him. He's sleeping in the cemetery," she said calmly. "I think I'll call you… Tar Pony! It suits you very well."
"Fluttershy, it is me! I'm just covered in tar," he pleaded. "I have to tell you something before I get hungry again; where is every pony? Where's Alan? I want to see him again."
"Alan? It really is you, Leon!" she said gleefully. She hugged him, but he pushed her back.
"Not too close, Fluttershy. I'm starting to get hungry, and I don't wanna be calling out 'brains… live brains' over and over again like the Tarman that I know... Can I have some of that chickenfeed?" he asked. He began to growl a bit, and he was starting to lose control over himself to something he could not explain.
"Of course you can. I laid it out just for you. In fact, that's all you ponies seem to want. Something to eat," she said.
"How did you know?" Tar Pony asked, eating the chickenfeed as if there was no tomorrow.
"I… I have some ponies inside my shed that are like you. They seem really nice after they've eaten, but they're still talking with that deep voice. I want to help them, but they're too dangerous," Fluttershy said.
Tar Pony stopped eating the feed, his appetite and stomach filled again with food. He thought rationally again, and he spoke intelectually. "I found something else out. The ponies fight each other for food, so they may kill each other off if there's a shortage and nothing is available. I hope you have enough chickenfeed for all of them."
Fluttershy realized there was something different between Leon and the others in the shed, and the undead that roamed the streets of the nearby town. They seemed to speak, think, and act perfectly. He was dead before, but acted as if he had just woken up. Though he was covered in muck and grime, he was still the same old Leon that Fluttershy knew before. What makes him different? She wondered. "How do you do that, Leon? You seem to have the exact same lifestyle as before, except you were gone for three years…" she trailed off.
"I realized this as well... did you say three years!?" He said, surprised he had been dead for quite a while. "That's… what could have happened in three years...? Anyways, I still have the one weakness all the other ponies have; hunger. It brings us pain, and if we don't eat, we rely on our primal instincts to get food. Unfortunately, these instincts promote the killing and eating of other ponies. Like me… I... I murdered another one of those ponies in a struggle for food." He looked down, ashamed of himself.
"It wasn't a live pony, was it?" Fluttershy asked.
"No… the pony was a Rotter…" he said. An idea suddenly popped into his head. "Fluttershy, is Twilight still at her library?" Tar Pony asked, not knowing of Twilight's transformation into an Alicorn.
"Oh… um… she's at Canterlot. She's a princess now," Fluttershy explained.
"Oh… well, congratulations? What about Doc… where is he?" Tar Pony asked.
She looked down, blushing as she did, and looked back up. "We're… it's… I can't explain it, but we help out in different ways. Doc just started the Centre for Disease Control in Canterlot, and found the cure for many diseases, including the Cutie Pox."
Leon looked confused. Well, so much for being a test subject…"Centre for Disease Control? That's perfect! You could send me as a test subject to them, and they could test me and find out what's wrong with me!" Leon exclaimed excitedly.
"That's a good idea! Hold on, let me take you to the others…" she said as she wrapped him in chains and walked him toward the shed.
There needs to be a different name for ponies that are infected but have control over themselves…I got it! Control Freaks! So now we have the Shamblers, the Runners, and the Control Freaks. Tar Pony smiled as he came up with the name for his new species.
She opened the door, while Tar Pony was staring at the sign posted nearby."Isn't that from…?" he stood with fear as Fluttershy dragged him into her shed. "No! Not the shed! You're gonna saw me in half!" he yelled in fear.
"What? Oh, no I would never do that," Fluttershy reassured him.
"No… I've seen you locked up in the loony bin because you kept a bunch of pelts here!" he accused.
"I'd never hurt any animals… where would you get an idea like that?" she asked.
"You're right… you're right…" Leon said shamefully, wiping a disturbing thought from his head.
They both entered the shed, and Leon saw how nicely it was decorated, and how full of gardening supplies it was. He also noticed three other ponies sitting and chatting casually. "Well, I think the bite isn't as visible as it was yesterday, dear," Rarity said.
"Ponies! We got another visitor!" Pinkie said excitedly.
Rarity saw how filthy Tar Pony was, and she backed away in disgust. "OH! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" she said desperately, cowering.
"It's OK, he's good. It's Leon, back after three years," Fluttershy said.
"Nope!" Big Macintosh said.
"Is he under all that dirt and stuff!? Is he playing hide and seek!? I wanna play too!" Pinkie said excitedly, and began counting from one to a hundred.
"Yes, he is. He's going to help you all get better by making you pony again!" Fluttershy squealed with delight.
"Help us, Fluttershy? How in the world will he do that if he can't even clean himself?" Rarity accused.
"Yep, same old Rarity, dead but unchanged. Have you seen any pony else around town, like Rainbow or Derpy?" Leon asked.
"No, dear, I haven't," Rarity confessed.
"I haven't seen her around either. They must be in Cloudsdale, along with Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.
"Well, is any pony else still around?" Tar Pony asked worriedly.
Fluttershy shook her head sadly, and Leon looked down sadly onto the floor. A thought appeared in Leon's head, and he started tearing up. Fluttershy had finished tying the chains to the wall, and asked Leon what was wrong.
"Alan… Draco… Chloe… what happened to them?" he continued to sob, his emotions getting to him, hoping they were all right. What happened when I was gone?
Well, another zombie type has been brought up. We now have the Shamblers, the Runners, and the Control Freaks. It seems that there is a way to treat the infected Runners and make them Control Freaks, but is their temporary intelligence when their appetite is fulfilled a good thing, or can it be used against themselves and the other survivors? How will Leon take what has happened to the town? What will our other survivor group do to survive? And can the situation get any worse than it already is? Sorry, but you'll have to wait till next week to find out! Later!