Title:           Week5 - GreentextSavant
Author:          AlexanderGrey
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/nrqW01LU
First Edit:      Thursday 21st of April 2016 11:14:12 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Thursday 21st of April 2016 11:14:12 PM CDT

>A swift beginning later, and a quiet but heated back-and-forth between Officer Silver and Officer Moss ensues. The two of them are sure not to argue loudly enough to alarm any of the civilians inside of the gym, let alone distract themselves or their comrades from the dangers outside the station that are still present.
>It doesn’t take much to pick up on it, Officer Moss is taking a serious risk by leaving for his proposed “30 minutes” to go save one high schooler and reunite her with her sister.
>Officer Silver repeatedly expresses how bad of an idea this is, and urges his deputy that it’s simply not worth it. Sunset and Sweetie Belle hopefully keep their eyes on the dispute as the third officer joins Officer Moss’s side. They learn his name when Officer Silver tells him that he and Officer Moss are letting their feelings get the best of them during an inconvenient crisis.
>”Listen to me, Quartz! We cannot. Afford. To do. This.” Officer Silver chops the open air with his hand in front of himself for further articulation. “This is a BAD idea and you know it!”
>”Thirty… minutes! That’s all!” Defends Officer Moss.
>”We can’t even hold certainty for five minutes! Let alone fifteen or thirty!”
>Officer Quartz turns around to take a look at the citizens in the gym. There are about five other officers guarding the doors to the room from the hallways outside. Every single one of them are armed.
>”Well what about all of the time we’ve been here so far? Nothing’s really even happened for a couple of hours.” Suggests Officer Quartz. “I know that it would be unreasonable to say that thirty minutes won’t make much of a difference, but this place can still be held off with what we have for only thirty minutes. It’s not like we have to spend the entire day doing it that way. And there would only be two or three of us gone in that timeframe! Out of the twelve who are here.”
>With a reluctant shake of his head, Officer Silver responds. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too much of a risk to have even the smallest break in out defenses even for a minute.” His eyes scan the clustered parking lot, finding no movement aside a sheet of paper blowing in the breeze. “Those things are smart… fast learners. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have been silent and hiding on purpose to get us to let our guard down.”
>Officer Moss actively tries to think of a plan that could work out for both sides of the argument that still rants on at both ends.
>…
>It’s getting harder and harder for Rarity to keep her eyes open as she remains curled up in this total blackness. Though, it’s not due to fatigue.
>Given what she’s seen of the zombies so far, they could very well be keeping silent so anyone who is hiding will no longer suspect their presence. The thought itself seemed like crazy talk at first, but then again, the idea of a zombie apocalypse seemed like something only conspiracy theorists believed.
>It’s a little hard not to let fear take over logic in situations like this… in the dark… alone.
>After a while, Rarity doesn’t even turn on the screen of her phone, due to her concern of one of the zombies being able to see it through the grates of the locker door. There isn’t even a lock on this thing; the only object holding the door closed is Rarity’s belt, which has been attached to the door itself by looping through two of the holes. It was just able to fit through, with enough force.
>There was literally nothing to use to sturdily tie through the holes in the locker door. at least the belt should hold.
>Silence is key in this situation… far beyond movie theater silence.
>The girl even calms her breathing as much as she can, for the purpose of not being heard. The silence and darkness combined would be enough to make her fall asleep if the factor of absolute horror didn’t come into play. The only reason why she can’t keep her eyes open is due to the smearing mascara starting to sting.
>She keeps her eyes shut, and listens to her heart gradually begin to beat more slowly. There can’t be any sighs of relief as Rarity realizes that she’s still somehow alive after the gym was overrun.
>After a while, the prolonged silence really starts to calm Rarity’s nerves.
>It wasn’t until now that the girl had realized how much she had been shaking — she had been to focused on any little bit of sound that could still come from the bathroom, where she last heard the zombies… claiming their latest victim.
>A victim that Rarity had known for so many years. Roseluck.
>The terror is slowly replaced by trickles of grief as the memories resurface in Rarity’s thoughts. All of the times she and Roseluck hung out together after school, talking about their favorite bands and places they wanted to go once it was summer.
>Every single week, they would talk to eachother. It might not have been as close as a day-by-day connection, but the loss of any kind of friend like Roseluck makes it as though it might as well have been day-by-day. More tears are forced to Rarity’s eyes as she remembers the time she shared with Roseluck, along with a lot of the other girls. Most of whom are likely in Roseluck’s current position.
>There’s no possible way the world will ever be the same.
>As the depression starts to become a little bit more overbearing to the fear in Rarity’s head, the smallest, quietest squeak of a sob escapes the girl’s mouth.
>That’s all it took for the mood to change back. Out of the bathroom, literally less than a second later, sounds a chorus of growls from multiple zombies. The echo of the bathroom walls only causes the group within those walls to sound even more numerous. Especially when the rushed footsteps spill into the locker room, in pursuit of the noise they heard.
>Rarity actually can’t bring herself to believe that they were waiting this entire time for something else to make a sound. She didn’t hear them moving around in there, she didn’t hear them… eating.
>That thought alone almost brings Rarity to vomit, despite her best spurts of restraint.
>As one grunting pair of footfalls reaches right outside of Rarity’s locker… and stops, it can’t look like anything other than the end for Rarity. She covers her mouth and presses her hand down hard, as though it’s supposed to make any difference in suppressing the sounds that could give away Rarity’s position.
>Literally forever passes before the footfalls migrate to somewhere else in the room. Rarity can only break down crying on the inside, still keeping her mouth covered while the tears flood over her knuckles.
>…
>There it is.
>It must have taken about another half an hour of walking until this moment finally arrived. Rainbow Dash peers down into the familiar meadow from a cluster of trees on a hill. Her legs have even gotten used to being tired, that’s pretty much the best way she can explain it to herself.
>Too much adrenaline to stop now. The girl has a brand new reason to be amped up at the moment.
>As she had been journeying through the neighborhoods before making it into the woods once more, Rainbow Dash had taken the liberty of raiding as many back yards as she could along the way. And only since she took a look at the most recent house was she glad she had done so.
>Most of the houses had nothing useful to offer in the backyards. Rainbow Dash only settled for less when she found a few tool sheds that were far and few between. Wrenches, screwdrivers, some mild gardening equipment… nothing perfect, but it was the best Dash could get her hands on.
>But everything changed when the girl made it to that house at the edge of the woods. Right away, Dash could tell that a lumberjack lived there, with the stumps in the backyard and all of the equipment scattered across the back patio.
>The first thing she looked for was a chainsaw, and she spend over five minutes scouting the patio for one. Something inside of her wanted to at least live the dream that those zombie movies had presented to her in the past. She might as well, given the circumstances.
>But the thing that made her drop all of the tools she was struggling to carry at once was what she saw jutting out from the top of a stump near the far right corner of the yard — an ax.
>That same ax is what Rainbow Dash is wielding as she hides behind the bushes, stalking Applejack’s house in the distance. That same ax is the reason for Dash to be overflowing with adrenaline.
>A few residents can be seen scurrying about like ants, barely noticeable at Rainbow Dash’s distance.
>Rainbow Dash knows that they most likely have guns over there… and a lot of them. It’s obvious that she needs to take a slow and cautious approach, namely leaving her ax behind. But then again, the ax can still be present under the excuse of the need to defend against the zombies.
>With this thought in her head, she strides out into the open, waving her arms around in the air to ensure that she doesn’t meet a barrage of bullets upon arriving at Applejack’s house.
>Something long ago had snapped within Rainbow Dash. Ever since she found out about what her former friend neglected to do. How she left her and the other students in their bliss while she and her family prepared for the worst event to ever hit the town.
>Applejack didn’t help; she didn’t even let anyone know what was coming. And as a result, loved ones have lost their lives. This is unforgivable.
>After being noticed by one of the family members of the farm, Rainbow Dash slowly forms a plan in her head. She knows that Applejack will likely be close to her at all times, even when no one else is around at some points in time.
>With the conditions just right, retribution can be delivered to the traitor. But the girl knows that she has pretty much one chance and nothing more.
>Rainbow Dash hears one of the family members call out to her, ordering for her to come closer.
>In less than a minute, Rainbow Dash is escorted into the house through the side door. The floorboards creak under her shoes as she draws further away from the light coming from outside; barely any of the lights in this hallway are on.
>The people here basically ask her how she got here, to which she tells them that she traveled on foot and lost a lot of friends on the way over here.
>Distant talking in another room reveals Applejack’s voice. Dash’s hand tightens on the handle of the ax as she hears this, not having expected to hear from the girl right away after entering the house.
>She practically has to restrain herself from bolting towards the sound of the voice as she passes the room. But as she does so, she’s apparently in the doorway long enough for her former friends to recognize her. That same voice calls over to the hallway.
>”Rainbow?” Applejack peers around the cornet to make sure that what she saw was real.
>A tall young man donning a cowboy hat similar to Applejack’s steps out behind her next. “You know her?”
>Right after Turning around, Rainbow Dash finally sees Applejack for the first time in what feels like years given all of the traumatizing things that have happened today. The two girls stare at eachother for the longest time, unable to find fitting words that would spark up a conversation that fits the circumstances.
>”She’s mah friend.” Applejack explains to the young man behind her. She walks over to Rainbow Dash and spreads her arms. “Oh… oh god! Rainbow!” Her tone rises slightly.
>Rainbow Dash barely finds herself able to keep still as her “friend” pulls her into a hug. All she’s able to think about is all of the space in this house. All the places where people could have stayed at least for a day or two.
>Hiding spots that could have been for those who are already dead.
>”Where’s everyone else?” Applejack finally notices that her friend has arrived here alone.
>The fact alone that Applejack brought up the others right when Rainbow Dash was thinking about how they could have been kept alive is just… it’s too-
>”Rainbow?”
>The man behind Applejack turns away, already wary of what Dash might say next in response to being asked about the whereabouts of her friends. Applejack locks her fingers and takes a single step back after letting go of her friend.
>”Rainbow, where are they?” Her relieved voice soon turns to something sounding quite the opposite. “Where are they?”
>Swallowing the words she wants to say, Rainbow Dash answers. “I… I don’t know…” She groans through nearly chattering teeth.
>Applejack’s pupils dilate.
>”Wait… before you get any ideas, there are some things I need to explain.” Rainbow looks past Applejack and into the room where she had been talking.
>This was the only signal Applejack needed. “Oh…” She starts to turn around. “Um, well while we’re at it, there’s a few things ah need to explain to you too.”
>Neither girl wastes a second on preliminaries. Dash follows Applejack and her apparent family member into the room to find a table with four chairs. The three sit down — and Rainbow Dash keeps her ax close to herself.
>As Rainbow Dash imagines it, her desertion of the others back at the school really shouldn’t be too frowned upon in Applejack’s eyes, seeing that the girl seems to only care about her family when the chips are down. And Applejack wasn’t even in a do or die situation in the beginning, she was in the situation BEFORE the do or die situation.
>There is probably a half second of silence as the three sit at the table. In a hasty fashion, Applejack introduces her relative Red Delicious and goes on to anxiously belt out questions.
>She keeps her shaking hands locked together. “Did you get separated or somethin’?” Her questions start to come out at a rapid pace. “Are they alive? How many of them were with you?”
>The distressed expression in Applejack’s eyes is almost enough to get Rainbow Dash to drop her internal rage for a split second and try to calm her fr-
>None of this would have happened if Applejack had at least given a warning about this. She didn’t even need to tell anyone how much of an advantage she had, she could have lied and said that she wasn’t able to even stay at the house or something.
>All she had to do was tell everyone about what was about to happen.
>”Do… do you want me to go first?” Applejack’s tone softens with a hint of mercy. “Ah swear I’ll explain everything.”
>A slight rise of Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows gives Applejack the cue to elaborate.
>”Okay… so everything that happened today just hit a lot faster than ah could keep up with. I’m sure we can level on that.” Applejack pauses briefly for Dash to nod in response. “It was the livestock. Those darn animals were goin’ crazy, and well… ah just couldn’t figure it out at first.”
>Rainbow Dash feels her legs tense a little bit as she discovers just how correct that part of her assumption was. Red Delicious stares down at the surface of the table without saying a word.
>”It had to be something big. Even after Big Mac and I took some of the livestock to the other side of the house and tried to subdue them, they were still going just as crazy as before. Whatever it was that was making them act this way, it was still going on, and it was not just in the barn.”
>Applejack deeply sighs and stares up at the ceiling while Rainbow Dash can’t help but start to subtly interrogate her. “So when was it when you figured out that it was a zombie apocalypse?” She leans in to listen more closely.
>”It wasn’t until about a little bit under an hour later… when… some of the other members of the Apple Family were asking us if we were doing alright. We were gettin’ calls from all over town… every one of us were calling each other asking if their livestock were freakin’ out too.” Applejack now looks down to the table and shudders at the memory. “That’s when… that’s when ah knew. That’s when we all knew.”
>And yet, not a single word was uttered to Rainbow Dash or any of the others.
>”What time of day was it when you all found this out?” Asks Rainbow Dash, squinting her eyes and thinking about how things could have played out differently.
>Applejack leans back in her seat. “Aw hell if ah know. Ah wasn’t exactly paying attention to the time, Rainbow. Right after we all found out what was goin’ on, every Apple from all around town said they were coming here. Since most of them are closer to downtown or don’t have a big enough place.”
>Rainbow Dash blinks. “Wait… like, you mean… all of you?” She didn’t even think about this being the reason for Red Delicious being here. “How many of you are there?”
>”Thirty nine, ah think. Well, at least the last time ah checked.” Reveals Applejack, looking in the general direction where the rest of the house is.
>A staggered screeching across the wooden floor sounds after Dash briefly scoots back in her chair with her jaw dropped. “Thirty nine?!” There’s no way she will believe this without seeing it.
>”Well, thirty nine in total. We’re still missing a few of us, which is something I’ve been worrying about for the last couple of hours. Everyone here has been trying to contact them, but they didn’t respond.” A lump forms in Applejack’s throat. She takes her hat off of her head and holds it to her chest. “And… I’m so scared…”
>”We Apples need to stick together, you see. It’s just how it’s always been.” Red hesitantly joins in. “And after hearing all of those news reports of… infected people, or somethin’… we knew that we all had to group together. Y’know… strength in numbers.”
>Applejack stays silent in her seat, holding back what Rainbow Dash can tell are tears. Red does the rest of the talking for the girl.
>”Alright, here’s what basically happened. We don’t even have much of an idea of what’s going on. All we know is that it’s… some sort of zombie apocalypse like the ones from the movies. It sounded like crazy talk… or probably some kinda ruse at first. Hell, even from the news reports.” Red recalls. “Until… well until my brother and I heard some commotion next door.”
>A couple of quiet sniffles from Applejack almost interrupt him.
>”We heard windows breaking and everything. So naturally, we went over with our guns to see what was goin’ on. Ah honestly thought it was a break-in. But then we saw a couple of the zombies running around. I guess I was kinda right ‘bout the break in part, but not in the way ah expected.” He reaches his arm over to Applejack and places his hand on her shoulder. “This thing that’s goin’ on is a lot more real than any of us hoped. We all came over here as fast as we could.”
>Right as this happens, heavy footsteps moving around on the second floor resonate above her. They sound rather rushed. Rainbow Dash hardly even notices it as she watches Applejack fight the tears away to continue talking. This kind of sight isn’t something she had expected from the Applejack she imagined.
>The ax beside her chair starts to fade away from existence in Dash’s mind as her intended use for it does the same.
>”Rainbow… you don’t understand how happy I am to see you.” Applejack croaks. “It’s just… I’m so pained to hear that the others are missing. Ah think only Twilight and Sunset have texted me so far, and I’m so worried about the others.”
>With more effort than she’d like to admit, Rainbow Dash pushes out a response as she hears the footsteps on the first floor now. “Wh… why didn’t you text them first?” The questions that was supposed to sound angry and overbearing now sounds humble as it comes out of Rainbow Dash’s mouth.
>Applejack stays silent as the footsteps stop right at the doorway. Rainbow Dash looks over to find Braeburn and Big Mac staring wide-eyed at the guest. Applejack speaks up after Red stands up to face the two in the doorway. “Applejack, Red… what is she doing here?” A few soft but concerned words come from Braeburn.
>”Half-Baked and Hayseed let her in.” Red immediately answers, standing up straight. “By the time I got to where they were, she was already on the other side of the fence. She apparently fought her way over here.”
>”She was already inside when I saw her.” Applejack confirms, dropping her hat to the floor.
>Braeburn promptly steps inside the room and walks right up to Red. “She can’t stay here. How did she even find out how to get here?” His voice is stern and domineering. “How, Red?”
>”She’s mah friend, Braeburn. Remember?” Applejack speaks up after rising up from he chair. “I’ve told ya about her!”
>”Well she can’t stay here! We don’t have the proper resources!” After stepping away from Red, Braeburn paces around the room while grunting and placing his hands on the sides of his face. “Oh, god damn… why? Why did you tell her about us over here?” Her turns to Applejack. “Didn’t we tell ya-”
>”Ah didn’t tell Rainbow anything! Ah swear!” Applejack steps closer to Braeburn. “She found out on her own.”
>”Sunset told me about here. It wasn’t Applejack.” Rainbow rethinks her plans after a gulp.
>She almost realizes exactly why Applejack hadn’t said anything to the mane six. It doesn’t take much time to piece it together in her head, but Dash soon sees the desperation for secrecy in Braeburn’s darting eyes. She gets the gist in about a second.
>The sanctuary around the Apple Family has been discovered, possibly implying more attention to be drawn to the place.
>It was made clear to Dash when he mentioned ‘proper resources’.
>”Listen to me, Applejack!” Braeburn articulates, gritting his teeth. “She. Cannot. Stay here! She is not in the survival plan!”
>Rainbow Dash’s heart begins to sink as she hears him mention a survival plan. It’s almost certain that she’s doomed to be thrown back out at this point… and this doesn’t help in stopping the fury from coming back. This type of exclusion is exactly what Dash had imagined before.
>This is why she ALMOST realizes why Applejack didn’t gave a warning. There was still the possibility for Applejack to secretly text at least one of the mane six ahead of time and give a heads up without revealing how safe she was. The girl literally just thought about this a couple of minutes ago.
>Even if she was specifically told not to say a word to anyone, her friends’ lives were on the line in this. Applejack wasn’t running for her life like Dash was.
>”It’s just her alone, Braeburn! Ah even asked! Can’t we at least add one extra person to the plan?” Applejack remembers her questions and turns back to Rainbow Dash. “In fact, maybe they can help us out! We got Twilight and Sunset who might know how to deal with this! Rainbow, where did ya last see them?”
>”In the school gym, but that was like an hour ago I think!”
>Braeburn slams his hand on the table in protest. “No! There’s no way in tarnation they can-”
>”You don’t know that!” Applejack cuts him off.
>”They… aren’t… part… of… the plan!”
>”They don’t need to be! They are mah friends!”
>”It doesn’t matter!”
>The altercation between the two escalates, and Red tries to calm each of them down. Braeburn, unable to sway Applejack in the topic of whether or not Rainbow Dash can stay at the Apple Family Home, storms out of the room in search for Half-Baked and Hayseed. “Where the hell are those two? Where are they?” His voice disturbs the rest of the house with a harsh tone.
>A few of the family members answer him as the ones left in the room silently listen.
>”WHERE ARE THEY?” Braeburn repeats, getting no direct answers in response to the simple pronouns he uses.
>”Everyone was just in the dining room about twenty minutes ago I think.” A female voice answers. “Who are you looking for?”
>”Half-Baked and Hayseed. They just compromised our position!” Braeburn gets a few startled gasps on concern in response.
>”You can have a room if you want.” Red breaks the silence. “As long as there’s only one of you, we can manage to keep you here for about a couple of days.”
>Big Mac stands awkwardly in the doorway. Red turns his head to Applejack’s brother and softly nods. Big Mac takes one long glance at rainbow Dash, remembering how close she and Applejack have always been. Having no knowledge of how Rainbow Dash is… well, at least trying to feel about Applejack at this point.
>”Uhh… yup.” Big Mac agrees to the condition with little to no protest.
>Applejack turns back towards her friend. “Rainbow… how did you and the others get separated?”
>After Applejack asks this, Rainbow Dash remembers exactly how this happened. She’s anything but proud of it, especially now that she is starting to question her views of Applejack being in the wrong.
>”They all came flooding into the gym.” Dash answers, assuming that this had happened anyway. “We were forced to split up. Went running in all directions. Just… I don’t know who made it, alright?”
>Of course, Applejack and the other two buy this. They all nod in unison as Braeburn storms through the house, apparently having found the other two men. Applejack can tell by his voice not yelling, but more scolding this time.
>”Ah understand.” Applejack picks her hat off of the floor, brushing the dust off of it. “Listen, if ya want, we can go looking for them.” She holds the hat up to her chest again, emphasizing herself holding it to her heart. “It’s not like ah don’t have my own shotgun. And you know I’d do anything to save my friends.”
>Dash starts to feel sick in her stomach.
>”With that ax ya got there, I’m sure that you, Big Mac and I could make a great team.” She turns to her brother for verification. “Uhhh… right?”
>Big Mac hesitantly nods as Applejack steps over to the door, hearing footsteps re-approaching. Braeburn stands in the doorway once more with his arms crossed.
>”Braeburn, you gotta listen.” Applejack starts off.
>”No need.” Braeburn looks over to Rainbow Dash and quietly sighs. “Alright, look. We’ll work something out. Follow me.”
>”Wh-what?” Red starts over in Braeburn’s direction.
>”Just follow me, okay?”
>Braeburn gestures for the group to leave the room with him as he heads down the hallway. They follow.
>…
>Officer Silver shakes his head and turns away as Sunset and Officer Moss go look for Officer Snow. A long debate has just ended, the result of which lands in favor of Officer Moss’s cause.
>”How long until they’ll be back?” Scootaloo walks up to Sweetie Belle, not having heard exactly what the argument in the hallway was about.
>Sweetie Belle wipes a tear from her face, but seems to have mellowed down a bit. “They said 30 minutes.”
>The two girls glance out the door once more to see that everyone had some to somewhere where they can’t be seen from inside the gym.
>Scootaloo leans back against the wall. “How are they even going to get there? Isn’t this place like… the only safe spot in town?” She gazes around the room, watching all of the other civilians impatiently wait for… anything good to happen.
>”They’re taking one of the officers’ cars. They said something about leading a chunk of the zombies away from the building with the car.” Explains Sweetie Belle, trying to recall how the discussion went the best she can.
>In the hallway, Sunset Shimmer walks alongside Officer Moss. “The main entrance to the school is on the opposite side to the gym.” She tries to lay out the blueprints of the place in her head.
>”Do you know of any easy entry points?” Officer Moss turns a corner, pointing towards a room near the back for Sunset to follow him to. “Open windows, locked doors?” He perks his head up. “Wait, where did you and the others leave the building? Was it through a window or door?”
>”Door.”
>The two enter the back storage room and Officer Moss knocks on the wide open door to catch someone’s attention. “Alright, I’m gonna need you to tell me where to park the car so we can make a fast entry, okay? I’m not familiar with the layout of the school.”
>”Alright.” Sunset responds just as another female voice speaks over hers.
>”Yeah?” The supposed Officer Snow starts to walk over; Sunset can hear the rushed footsteps.
>From around a corner of boxes on a shelf emerges a female officer. Her skin is a silky off-white, much brighter than Officer Moss’s olive green skin. Her light peach hair is pulled back in a bun, shining slightly in the storage room’s overhead fluorescent bulbs.
>The annoyed look on the lady’s face beings a slight worry to Sunset.
>”Who’s this?” Officer Snow asks as Sunset feels an obligatory need to walk up the the cop and introduce herself.
>The lady doesn’t look like she’d appreciate wasted time.
>”I’m Sunset Shimmer. And there’s a… friend of mine who’s trapped in a school on the other side of town. And her sister is absolutely crushed with the thought of her being there alone.” Sunset introduces herself, sounding as friendly as possible.
>Officer Snow briefly slips her gun into her holster and reaches out to shake Sunset’s hand. “April Snow. Officer of the law.” That steely voice she uses to introduce herself sounds like it’s right out of a video game cutscene. Her grip nearly crushes Sunset’s hand. “May I ask why we’re doing this?”
>Sunset glances eyeballs Officer Moss, giving him the cue to fill in with the plan. With a slight pause, Officer Moss steps forward and starts to recite exactly what he said to Officer Silver.
>”We’re gonna need you and your cruiser. And we’re gonna need to drive fast.” He emphasizes. “Basically, our plan is to distract a good number of the zombies by driving around the station a few times and luring them out into other parts of town.” He stops for a second to see how Officer Snow sees this.
>”Mhm… go on…” She pulls her gun back out and takes a quick peek at wherever her post is.
>”And on the way, we’re going to see if we can rescue someone who’s trapped in Canterlot high. You know where that is, right?”
>”Yeah. Friend graduated from there.”
>”Well… Sunset here still goes there, and we sort of need her to know where to go once we’re inside.” Officer Moss is starting to sound timid in his voice. Sunset gets the impression that he might not be used to talking to Officer Snow for this long.
>The rest of the plan is brought forth, and Officer Snow responds to the whole idea with one certain nod of her head. “Super.” She trots back over to her post with her gun raised, just in case something got inside. “This way. If we’re going to do this, we gotta do it now and we gotta do it quickly.”
>Sunset and Officer Moss follow Officer Snow around two or three dimly lit corners of the storage room; boxes on the shelves are literally stacked up to the ceiling. They eventually reach a garage door, which is presumably Officer Snow’s post.
>The only thing that Sunset can imagine this room being for is loading/unloading supplies or something.
>”You ready for this shit?” Officer Snow presses the red button to open the garage door, cocking her gun. “Here we go.”
>A loud clanging noise accompanies the opening garage door. Officer Snow starts over to the parking lot outside, making sure to keep her gun drawn. Officer Moss follows behind her, doing the same thing.
>Nothing immediately attacks them, nor does anything emerge into visibility. There aren’t any zombies in sight. Sunset follows close behind, waiting to find out which car Officer Snow is going to use.
>The jingling of keys soon reaches Sunset’s ears, and she knows that she might need to hop into something really quickly.
>”Wait… we’re not taking your cruiser?” Officer Moss’s voice points out, bringing Sunset to question what she needs to do next. “Snow!”
>Officer Snow walks up to an SUV with metal bars welded onto the front. “Forget that. If we’re gonna drive through hordes of those things, we’re gonna do it with some real horsepower.”
>”I… I can’t believe…” Officer Moss takes another look at the SUV in front of him. But he doesn’t care for long, what with the distant grunt he hears from right behind him. “Whatever. This works. Sunset get in!” His voice suddenly snaps to an urgent tone right as the doors are unlocked and opened.
>The couple of zombies are already a few feet away from the SUV as the doors are closed. Officer Snow could swear that they were clear across the entire parking lot just a few seconds before. Damn these things for moving so fast.
>She hastily turns the keys in the ignition, and practically sets the vehicle into drive and slams on the gas pedal all in one motion. “Hang tight.” She ignores the hands banging on the glass as the tires climb up the curb and make it onto the grass.
>The windshield is already cracked.
>After swerving around and leaving a winding trail into the patch of grass, the SUV careens forth onto the street. The vehicle is tilting and shaking around too much for Sunset to buckle up.
>Officer Snow accelerates the SUV forward as three more zombies head in the direction of the commotion.
>With vice-like hands, Sunset holds her grip on the back seat as the car goes on and off the road and pretty much everywhere else imaginable. Officer Snow takes the vehicle around the building through the grass, rocks and anywhere else where the SUV could at least fit through a gap in he trees.
>And she leaves a trail of pursuing Zombies close behind her.
>Every time Sunset sees one of their faces staring directly at her through a window, she ducks and keeps her eyes shut for a couple of seconds. It’s hard to stay in the same position due to the change in terrain making this car ride more like a rollercoaster ride.
>It’s hard to imagine how the underside components of the vehicle survive after about a minute of this.
>”Alright, that’s plenty of them.” Mutters Officer Snow as she spins the steering wheel to turn the SUV away from the station.
>Sunset falls to the far left side of the back seat as the vehicle makes a sharp turn onto the road. Officer Moss clutches onto the passenger seat, and watches the zombies desperately try to keep up as Officer Snow keeps the SUV’s speed just slow enough to make them think they have a chance at catching up.
>They’re buying into it so far.
>Back at the station, Officer Silver watches the vehicle disappear into the distance from the window. His fist clenches as he realizes that Snow had taken one of the SUV’s instead of the promised cruisers. The man prays that Officer Snow won’t be as much of a wild cannon as he knows she usually is.
>…
>Rarity, still in the same position since however long it’s been at this point, remains perfectly still and silent in the dark. It’s hard to tell how many times she must have dozed off at this point. The fear she had before could only mix more and more with the exhaustion as her stress takes over.
>Her breathing softens, her heart rate slows, and her eyelids occasionally feel heavy at certain instances.
>Rarity hears the shuffling of many footsteps around the locker. With her hand over her mouth, she waits for the shuffling to go away.
>Just the slightest sound, whether it was her shifting her position inside of the cramped locker or her phone falling out of her lap and hitting the metal surface, would mean the absolute end for Rarity. She doesn’t even cross her fingers, somehow under the impression that doing so would make a sound as well.
>One set of footsteps stops right outside of the locker. It’s as thought Rarity’s booming heartbeat was loud enough to be heard by the predator on the other side of the metal door. And that heartbeat accelerates when Rarity hears the sound of a person squatting down… accompanied by a hungry growl.
>Two or three more sets of footsteps approach the locker after this, only giving Rarity two or three more reasons to remain as silent as possible.
>Rarity can’t hold her breath for much longer, but there’s no way she could be able to breathe undetected in this deathly silence that the zombies carefully scan. As she continues to hold her breath, breathing from the other side of the door emerges out of the growling voice.
>Someone…. or something… is getting eager. As though it is well aware of the potential meal right in front of its snarling face.
>This grim moment takes an eternity and a half before a mechanical whirring undermines the terrifying quiet sounds that used to dominate the room. It’s soon accompanied by an electrical hissing, which catches the zombies’ attention.
>Not more than a few seconds later, the lights in the locker room gradually flicker back on; it’s about time the emergency generators kicked in. Though, it’s hard to tell whether or not somebody manually activated them or not. But what the lights reveal right outside the door only lifts the curtain of Rarity’s now inevitable doom.
>The twisted sneer of a former middle aged man stares directly into Rarity’s bloodshot eyes through the grates. And this face almost looks as though it begins to smile as it causes Rarity to let out a cry of horror.
>And that was all it took.
>The zombie yanks on the handle of the door with all his strength, apparently knowing how to grab on to the thing. It’s more than difficult for Rarity to push her hands and feet against the inner walls of the locker for any sliver of friction, but it is practically of no use.
>With her belt still tied onto the porous door, Rarity is forced to slide forward in the direction of the door itself being pulled open. It seems as though that the zombie could rip the metal door off of its hinges if it hauls with enough strength.
>Even the hinges themselves loudly squeak for a split second, not that it matters.
>At least five more of the zombies crowd around the now open locker door… with all but Rarity’s legs still actually inside of the rectangular crawlspace. Multiple pairs of hands wrap around Rarity’s body and drag her upward.
>She can’t kick hard enough or scream loudly enough to break free.
>The zombies bite into her arms while pulling her away from the locker and further into their grasp. Rarity’s belt, tightly fastened to the door, keeps its hold. But that doesn’t stop the zombies from getting Rarity further into their cluster.
>Like a flimsy cloth, Rarity’s skirt is dragged down her legs by the tight belt, and the girl is soon brought to the center fo the group. Rarity begins to kick once her now bare legs are free again; the zombies lift the legs up tot heir faces and bite into the flesh.
>Both fighting back and crawling away are completely futile with the girl’s arms and legs completely restrained by hands and rows of teeth. The zombies rip her shirt open and bite in to the skin they find, only adding more pain into Rarity’s final moment.
>Rarity’s screams die down before her rapid jolts to break free do, the wounds further motivating her to try to escape the room. But escaping is something she cannot do.
>Out of seemingly nowhere, the sound of a jackhammer through the rooms aisles of lockers. Upon hearing them, Rarity desperately tries to squirm free, only to find herself completely unable to move.
>From all sides.
>…And in the dark once more, surrounded by the interior of the metal locker.
>A faint light appears right at the bottom of Rarity’s field of view. But Rarity doesn’t register it too well with the rampant growling outside of the locker. She doesn’t register much at all when she gradually wakes up.
>The girl turns the brightness of her phone’s screen down to the minimum amount before finding a new text on her screen. She turns the vibrate mode to silent, hoping that the zombies can’t figure out where the first one came from.
>A text from Sunset appears on the extremely dim screen, somehow thwarting the absence of wifi.