Camo's vision was starting to become foggy, as the stench filled his nose and his lungs begged, asking for air. He attempted a last struggle, before giving up: the flesh around him was like a cocoon, trapping him. He was going to die, suffocated, into a fleshy cage. Quite disgusting.

While his mind started to process such thoughts, the stallion felt the grip around him weaken. He heard the muffled sound of something hitting something else, and the grip around him loosened further, just a moment before his coffin fell to the ground and began to open. Camo felt a couple of hooves moving away the flesh around him, and the comforting freshness off the air filling his stinging lungs.

"Here he is! Camo, are you ok?!" arrived the fearful voice of High Winds, as the mare moved away the disgusting pale cover around the stallion, dragging him out, helped by another pegasus mare that Camo didn't recognize: she hadn't been on the air-ship.

"Thank you… I was panicking, I didn't know what to do…" muttered High Winds, looking at the other mare and giving out a little smile. "Thank you for killing this… thing…" The other mare waved a hoof, dismissively.

"I was scared the first time I saw one of these things, too." She stated, gesturing towards the motionless abomination. "But then, I discovered that my good ol' camera can give a good beating to those things." she added with a smirk, pointing at the machine dangling from a string around her neck. She was apparently unimpressed by the blood splattered over it.

"*cough*… thanks… to both of you…" wheezed the stallion, standing on wobbly, looking at the creature. He saw the nape of its skull cracked, a dark flood of blood dripping from the wound. "What… is this thing?"

"I call it a Wrapper." Stated the mare with the silver mane calmly, as if she wasn't doing anything different from ordinary. "While I'm called Silver Streak. And who am I having the pleasure to talk to?" she asked, giving out a little smile.

"Camo Fall. That is High Winds…" muttered the stallion, starting to look around. "And my little sister Dahlia should be here, somewhere…" he muttered, looking around. High Winds gulped.

"I… she ran away as the creature attacked." She muttered, keeping out the part where she had told her to. The stallion's eyes went wide.

"And you didn't stop her?! You have seen what there is around us!" he nearly screamed, stomping his hoof on the ground.

"I was worried about you choking to death!" retorted the mare back. "I was trying to help you!"

"Maybe you want to tone your shouting down a little…" stated Silverstreak. "I don't want to get in the way of a couple arguging, but really, you should keep it down. At least here…"

"We are NOT a couple!" screamed High Winds. From behind a closed door near the hall came out a bubbling sound and a gurgling scream.

"Shit, I knew it!" whispered the other mare, crouching down. "Get down, now!" she hissed. The other two immediately mimicked her. There was a loud splashing sound against the door, followed by another gurgle and coughing. "You have to stay the fuck quiet around this place!" Silverstreak hissed, before starting to crawl down the hallway, gesturing to the others to follow her. "There is a lot of nasty shit around this hospital. You don't want to be too loud here." Another gurgle and a bang was heard again the door, plus the sound of something splashing. The mare continued to crawl, followed by the others.

"What are you doing here anyway?" whispered the pegasus, while finally standing up and walking slowly away on the tips of her hooves.

"Searching for a medic for her wings." Muttered the stallion, pointing a hoof towards the mare with the bandaged wings. "But now, I should find my little sister.

"Forget it. Crawling around this hospital is madness. There are a lot of creepy things lurking around. That sort of things you don't even want to be touched by." Whispered the mare, peeking around a corner. "But at least, I can tell you there is a doctor here."

"How can you be so sure?" whispered back the stallion. The pegasus gave him a glare, before raising her ears for a couple of seconds, and then answering.

"I have already met him. He's here. He fixed me a couple of times, when I tried to leave this place" she murmured. "I've been trapped in this damned town for over a month now. I got myself beat up a couple of times. Now-" She stopped when she bumped into a dark figure that had just emerged from a side corridor: a pony dressed in a medic coat, with a white, featureless mask on his muzzle, except for the long, pointed nose.

Metal Hooves ran through the metallic pipe, his hooves ironically making a clanking sound at every step. Behind him, three creatures were chasing him, their steps echoing inside the pipe. The unicorn gave a quick glance behind him, before speeding up: they were gaining terrain.

"How is this even possible? Shouldn't I be dead?" wheezed the stallion, taking a turn and continuing to run. "Or maybe, I'm dead, and this is just my afterlife!" he thought, just before seeing the end of the duct.

He continued to run, and finally darted into the open: he was in the middle of a grassy field. Apparently some sort of building yard, judging by the abandoned building machines, rusty pipes and bars scattered around, and the skeleton of a house standing in the middle of it, all of this sunk in a sea of fog. The stallion glanced around, before storming towards a wheelbarrow, crawling under it and covering himself, leaving just an inch of space to see out of.

After a few seconds, his pursuers darted out from the pipe, stopping and starting to stumble around, sobbing and calling his name. Metal Hooves repressed a gag, as the stench of burned flesh arrived at his nostrils. He risked a glance from under his hiding spot: one of the creatures was quite near, sobbing loudly while looking around.

The creature was a colt with a black and white skin, similar to a coat of ash, torned in some places where spots of burned flesh were evident. The skull emerged from its face, as if someone had forced its head into a fire and burnt everything else away. The colt wobbled away, crying softly, calling Metal Hooves name. The stallion tried to calm down, as he sow the little colt walk behind a corner.

He closed his eyes and tried to think: he had been closed in the car, with the stuck up unicorn and the sisters, then the freaky skull-like thing was appeared, and the cart was fallen into the darkness. He remembered clearly the impact, and he remembered he had closed his eyes due to the pain. And when he woke up, he was inside a large pipe, without a scratch. And those three things were hunting him.

He crawled silently out from under the wheelbarrow, looking around with his ears raised: nothing.

"Maybe they have returned into the pipe…" he whispered to himself, before trotting away. After a moment, he was at the edge of the construction site, marked by a tall fence. The stallion huffed, and started to follow it, until he finally reached a rusty gate.

"An exit. Finally." He muttered, trying to force it open. The gate didn't budge, just emitting a squeaky sound as the stallion tried to push it open. "Come on, think…" he muttered, studying the gate: old and rusty, but still sturdy. No point in try to force it. He checked it, locating the silver lock keeping the door shut.

"Well… look here…! He muttered, studying it. "A common padlock… well, nice!" he chuckled, before lowering his horn: his magic should be able to open it. He smirked, as his horn lit up.

At least, it lit up for a second, before the glow disappeared with a splurting noise. The stallion blinked, before trying again. The scene repeated a couple of times, every time with a groan of desperation from the stallion.

"Ok… ok, stay calm… evidently you need the key… but whoever has it is probably outside. I'm closed here." He hissed, looking around, glaring at the palaces and buildings in the distance, wrapped in fog. "I have to wait until somepony arrives…" he muttered, before flicking his ears: a teary babbling was raising behind him.

"Damnit!"

He turned and ran towards the first cover he could find: a pile of bags full of sand. He crouched, while studying his surroundings: the only thing emerging from the fog that gave him the idea of security was a low and ruined barrack of cement, where the workers probably kept their lockers and maybe a place to put their tools. Maybe he could find something to force open the lock.

He quickly dashed towards the building, ignoring the sobs that now were surrounding him. He quickly pushed the door open, and closed it behind him, breathing heavily. He was sure at least one of the creatures had seen him.

As he expected, after a few seconds, a muffled cry came from the other side of the door: "Metal… Metal, please… -sob- help me…" cried the voice of one of the little colts. The stallion moved his eyes around, locating a metallic table. He dashed towards it and pushed as better as he could against the door. He had the quick vision of a little colt starting to open the door, before it was forced shut thanks to the table.

"Ok… let's see…" he whispered, before starting to rustle around: as he had imagined, there were a series of rusty cabinets, half of them empty, the other half full of useless junk. He scrambled around, eventually finding a pile of broken or unusable items. Well… all except for a smith's hammer resting between the others.

"What's a smithing hammer doing here?" Metal Hooves thought, as he grabbed the heavy tool in his mouth. It was quite sturdy end solid, and its presence was quite unexpected, seeing the state in which the other tools in the barrack were.

"Ok… let's see… maybe I can get out through a window…" muttered the stallion. "I'm evidently going insane, so there is probably nothing to be afraid of…" he stated, turning towards the door. "Just be rational. You are probably in the hospital after that incident with the car."

"Let's just go out and wake up from this nightmare." He finally decided. He walked towards the door, starting to move away the table.

-oOo-

"Hello doc." whispered Silverstreak, without moving er eyes from the masked figure. Camo was looking with terror at the pony, while High Winds studied the medic's set of clothes: the typical dress of the doctor during the plague of the dark ages. And too accurate to be an imitation.

The pony tilted its head, the black googles protecting its eyes scrutinizing the ponies. A wheezing voice came out from the mask, as if it passed throught a respirator of some sort.

"Why are you sneaking around? This is a Hospital, for Celestia's sake." He said in a raspy voice. "You may disturb the patients!"

"Sorry doc. but i crossed this two in the hall… the mare has some problems with her wing…" murmured Silverstreak, gesturing towards the other pegasus. The masked pony tilted his head again, before shrugging.

"Very well. Follow me to my office."