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Fallout Equestria: Between Two Wastelands

By M4tt7h3Medic
Created: 2021-07-16 21:31:33
Updated: 2022-05-05 11:14:01
Expiry: Never
/foe/hifoesoundtrackdangerously autistic

  1. >Be me.
  2. >Failed SWAT operator.
  3. >Instructors told me I fail to follow basic instructions.
  4. >Fucking assholes sent me into a room, threw a flashbang in and started yelling shit at me while I was blind and deaf. Of course I won't do what they tell me.
  5. >They take away my gun during shooting practice because I was 'flagging', whatever that means.
  6. >Fuck it, noise and shit isn't for me anyway.
  7. >Practice knife defense, pretend to bleed out.
  8. >"You're not supposed to do that. We're practicing fighting, not dying."
  9. >Fuck off, I want my chalk outline to look sexy, of course I'll practice.
  10. >They got tired of my shit and kicked me out of the course.
  11. >Got my money back and decided to go on vacation to Iran.
  12. >Catch a plane and fall asleep.
  13.  
  14. >Wake up.
  15. >Smells like smoke everywhere and it's raining outside.
  16. >We landed at some point; I must've slept through it.
  17. >Get up and look around.
  18. >Everyone else is gone, probably left already.
  19. >Shit, my luggage!
  20. >Sprint to the front and open the door to the next section of the plane.
  21. >It's gone.
  22. >There's nothing there but a 6 meter drop.
  23. "Where did the rest of the plane go?"
  24. >Look back, there's no one aboard.
  25. >Am hungry, and really gotta piss.
  26. >Run to the back, find toilet and kitchen devoid of people.
  27. >Do business and steal a bunch of food, also a bottle of wine (I don't drink).
  28. >Need something to carry this shit, so I open a locker above the seats.
  29. >Steal a backpack and unload all the shit from it.
  30. >Some terrorist was carrying a pistol in his pack.
  31. "Sweet! Now I can fight terrorism- I mean..."
  32. >Realize I said that out loud in Iran.
  33. "Allah ackbar :)"
  34. >Mistake corrected.
  35. >Sling it on and find the ladder to the bottom floor of the plane.
  36. >The drop from here is only 3 meters.
  37. >One thing I do have on my side is being in excellent shape, I can run for 3 minutes straight without passing out!
  38. >Jump down.
  39. "AH!"
  40. >I think I broke something!
  41. >The pain quickly dissipates, nevermind.
  42. >All around are ruins, there's so much smoke it looks like storm clouds, and it's drizzling.
  43. >Yup, this is Iran alright.
  44. "Those angels are sure upset today."
  45. >I load the gun and start walking towards some ruined building. It's probably evacuated, so anything I find is considered 'abandoned property' that I can 'appropriate' for my needs.
  46. >Get to the entrance, there's some noise and bits of the ceiling are crumbling.
  47. "Dust can't stop me, I'm not asthmatic!"
  48. >Walk up some stairs.
  49. >As I get to the end of the flight and turn a corner I'm met with a huge orange creature with a vaguely human face. It has four legs, a horse mane and tail, It looks at me and shouts 'Aha!' in a completely human voice.
  50. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
  51. >I riddle the thing with bullets as it is my right as a tourist to cause damage and not pay for it.
  52. >It must be bullet proof because I shoot twice and somehow the bullets only hit the wall behind it.
  53. >Scream like a bitch as it charges me and jump to one side.
  54. >It falls down the stairs with some loud crunching and shouting and dies.
  55. >mfw
  56.  
  57. >A woman's voice comes from above. "Hey, what the fuck is going on down there?"
  58. >Oh shit, a wife.
  59. >Wives in Iran are slaves.
  60. >It's a sex slave!
  61. "Sex!"
  62. >"Don't spend the captives again, we need them as bait!" she yells.
  63. >Spend? Captives? Are they currency here? Are they foreign? What are they fishing?
  64. >There's an open doorway in the corridor.
  65. >Get curious and walk inside.
  66. >A group of more colorful creatures are chained in all manner of positions. Some standing on their hind legs, others chained to beds with their legs spread.
  67. >Smells like glue and fish.
  68. >I gag from the smell but don't vomit because I'm tough like that.
  69. "Why do you hostages smell so bad?"
  70. >There are a few muffled 'hmm's in response.
  71. >Realize they're all gagged.
  72. "Wait, I'll get that for you."
  73. >Walk over to one and pull the rag down to its chin.
  74. >He gasps, then whispers: "You gotta get us out of here, they're going to rape and murder us."
  75. "Ew, gross. Why?"
  76. >"Look, I'll pay you, okay? There's a settlement down the road, get us there and I'll give you whatever you want. Guns, ammo, armor, money, whatever it is, we own a store, we got it all."
  77. "You mean, if I help you you'll give me more ammo?"
  78. >His eyes widen as he nods. "Yes, yes."
  79. "Okay, weird dude. How do I unlock the chains?"
  80. >He sighs. "I don't know, the keys have to be here somewhere."
  81. >Look around. There's a shelf with a tool box on it, a table with some knives, bottles and needles on it next to the bed, an open window that really doesn’t help the smell whatsoever and a chainsaw on the floor next to one of the creatures that's tied up.
  82. >Gag again.
  83. "I don't see anything useful."
  84. >"Maybe the raiders upstairs have them, be careful."
  85. >Raiders? What does that mean?
  86. "Raiders? Are they like Hummus?"
  87. >"What?"
  88. "Hummus, y'know, the terrorists."
  89. >His mouth hangs open for a bit as he looks at me. "Look, just be careful, okay?"
  90. >He sounds like my instructor.
  91. "Relax, I'm not flagging."
  92. >One of them makes a muffled grunt as I gesture with my hands, the gun is kinda pointed at him.
  93. "Relax already, I didn't have a negligent discharge in-"
  94. >Finger slips unloading a cartridge into the floor.
  95. "…One second."
  96. >The woman from before shouts again. "Hey! I said stop killing the captives, damnit! Are you deaf?"
  97. >Shit, must blend in.
  98. "Ah, no! I'm raping them!"
  99. >There's no response.
  100. >Walk out to the hallway. Oh the air is so clean here!
  101. >Get up the flight of stairs. There are two more creatures, one is holding a knife in its mouth and cutting the hair of another sitting in front of it. "Get some more off the front, it's getting in my eyes all the time."
  102. >They didn't notice me yet.
  103. >Time for Stealth™.
  104. >Walk casually past the doorway and into a broom closet in the end of the corridor.
  105. >Find a broom, what seems to be detergent with labels in Arabic, and a big bucket.
  106. >Buckets are always fun.
  107. >Put bucket on head.
  108. >Fun status: Achieved.
  109.  
  110. >Suddenly there's a loud bang and I get a concussion.
  111. >Realize I'm on the ground and one of the creatures is dead in the corridor, bleeding from the head.
  112. >Try to shout 'oh no'.
  113. "oooh…"
  114. >That doesn't work. Maybe I should get up.
  115. >The other one with the knife is cowering next to the body, looking me in the eyes (I think).
  116. >Try to stand.
  117. "Are you the hummus… raider guy?"
  118. >Fail at standing and fall on my ass again, pistol goes off as I land.
  119. >Hit my head on the broom.
  120. >It hurts so bad I can feel it in my brain-bones and teeth.
  121. >Drop gun, it goes off again.
  122. "Ouch, my ears…"
  123. >I need a nap.
  124. >Pass out and dream about being a counter-terrorist operator.
  125. >Get domed by some asshole with an AK-47 from 20km away like 50 times and lose the match.
  126. >Wake up glad it was just a dream.
  127. >Feeling dizzy, head is splitting in pain.
  128. "Auhh."
  129. >Oh no there's another one!
  130. "Noooo."
  131. >Oh nevermind it's just my voice.
  132. >See gun.
  133. "Gun! You're my best friend, gun. I love you and I'll treasure you always." :)
  134. >Pick it up.
  135. >Look around me, the bucket has a big hole in it.
  136. >I put a hand on it.
  137. "Your sacrifice will not be forgotten, officer."
  138. >It moves under my hand as if nodding.
  139. >Try standing, have to lean against the wall but I manage.
  140. >I need to find some Ibuprofen chewies, preferably the grape ones.
  141. >Start walking down the hallway leaning against the wall. My vision is blurrier than after that flashbang they threw at me during my training.
  142. >Step in something red and wet.
  143. >Ah yes, berry juice.
  144. >Take long whiff of the sugary scent.
  145. >Smells like iron?
  146. >Oh that's blood.
  147. >Crouch down, putting a hand on the creature.
  148. >It's soft and warm, like a huge teddy bear.
  149. >Hug it.
  150. >It smells like shit.
  151. >Get up again.
  152. >Trip over the other one and fall.
  153. "Can you help?"
  154. >It doesn't respond, doesn’t move either. Realize it's dead too.
  155. >Damn, what was I even doing here?
  156. >Oh yeah, keys!
  157. >Get up and into the room they were in. There's a bed against the far wall, a dresser on one side and a big table with a mirror on the other.
  158. >Search for a bit. The bed has chains on it, and there's a really big shackle with a screen on it.
  159. >Pick it up, it has buttons on the front like a watch.
  160. >I don't have a watch and I want one. The screen is also big enough that I could see the numbers despite my blurry vision.
  161. >Now how do I turn it on…?
  162. >I press all the buttons but nothing happens.
  163. >Try putting it on my forearm.
  164. >It locks on firmly, can't budge it.
  165. >Yay, it loves me!
  166. >A bunch of little lights flood my vision.
  167. "Ah, that's pretty."
  168. >Suddenly letters:
  169. Starting E.F.S - done
  170. Adapting font to readable format – done
  171. STABLE-TEC PIP-OS 1.5
  172. Initializing…
  173. Gathering information…
  174. User species unknown…
  175. Scanning biology – done
  176. Species match based on user understanding: Human – Using species name for display purposes
  177. User name unavailable – Using species name instead…
  178. Analyzing S.P.E.C.I.A.L…
  179. Analyzing Skills…
  180. Analyzing Perks…
  181. Rating - done
  182. Initializing Inventory Sorting and Management Matrix (I.S.M)…
  183. Scanning for items – done
  184. Initializing radio transceiver…
  185. Sorting signals – done
  186.  
  187. Initialization process complete – device operable
  188.  
  189. >There's a little jingle and the screen lights up, a set of bars appear on the bottom of my vision.
  190.  
  191. HP/////////// \\\\\\\\\\\AP
  192. -------------------^--------------------
  193. E-----SE---------S---------SW-----W
  194.  
  195. >Try to take one.
  196. >They're not real.
  197. >Look at the watch instead.
  198. >Buttons are labeled STS, INV, DAT.
  199.  
  200. STATUS:
  201. >There's a diagram of a human like in those biology books from kindergarten, but with less details. Full bars rest above each limb and the torso, but the head's bar is empty and the outline is dotted instead of solid like the rest.
  202. EFF:
  203. Concussion -1 INT, -1 PER
  204. >Wow, it knows!
  205. >Curious about what else it can do, I press more buttons.
  206.  
  207. Traits:
  208. More luck than brains
  209. You may not be smart, resourceful or even well-spoken, but things always seem to turn out your way. You lose 5 points to all skills but gain +1 LCK.
  210.  
  211. Natural hero
  212. You seek to be a paragon of justice. While your karma is positive, you deal increased damage against raiders, slavers, terrorists and fiends (Which scales with the amount of karma). But while your karma is negative, you suffer from -1 to your STR, END, CHR and AGL attributes.
  213.  
  214. Perks:
  215.  
  216. Lone wolf (Rank 2)
  217. You're tired of people bossing you around! While travelling alone you gain +2 DT and 5% increased movement speed.
  218.  
  219. Attributes:
  220.  
  221. Strength 5
  222. Perception 2
  223. Endurance 5
  224. Charisma 3
  225. Intelligence 1
  226. Agility 5
  227. Luck 10
  228.  
  229. >Push something else.
  230.  
  231. Skills:
  232. >Everything is single digits between 1 and 9.
  233. >Decide to push something else:
  234.  
  235. INVENTORY:
  236. Weapons:
  237. Browning Hi-power handgun - CND |/////://| Ammo (9x19): 10/15
  238.  
  239. >There's an icon with bullets and next to it the number 25 which is dimmed, and a 'STR 3' next to that.
  240. >Push the last big button.
  241.  
  242. DATA:
  243. >At the corner of the screen, I can finally tell the time: 19:51
  244.  
  245. >Oh so it IS a watch! SCORE!
  246. >Can't get rid of the bars so I just let them hang out with me for now.
  247. >Now where are those keys…?
  248. >I look in the drawers of the table and dresser, on top of the bed and beneath it, on the window sill, along the pane-rail and I even go back to check the bodies.
  249. >No keys, and my head hurts really bad.
  250. >Man, this like looking for the cookie jar when I was a kid!
  251. >…wait.
  252. >Look up, there's a shelf a little high up.
  253. >Brush my hand around on it.
  254. >*Keychain noises*
  255. >Bingo!
  256. >Grab it and slowly make my way down the stairs, careful not to roll down.
  257. >"Hey, you're alive!" The dude says surprised. "You've been gone for a while, heard gunshots too. What happened?"
  258. "Head. Hoits."
  259.  
  260. >"You don't look right… we'll get you fixed up back home, my treat. Just get us loose, okay?"
  261. >I run my hand along the chains until I find the padlock and insert a random key.
  262. >The padlock pops open with a twist and the creature falls on top of me, almost making me bang my head.
  263. "Hey, watch it!"
  264. >"Sorry, I didn't mean to. My legs are just really tired from hanging like that for… I dunno." He looks at the others. "Three hours?"
  265. >There are a few nods as he walks towards the doorway. "I'm going to get our stuff back, get the rest of those locks and I'll carry you with us."
  266. "Carry me?"
  267. >"You're losing your balance, you'll slow us down."
  268. >I get up, frustrated.
  269. "I'm a full man grown."
  270. >Yes.
  271. "I don't need no weird horse-dog person to carry me around!"
  272. >Grab another padlock and find the key.
  273. >"Whatever." He goes away.
  274. >Good.
  275. >The next one I set free falls on top of me too.
  276. "Argh, stop doing that!"
  277. >He struggles with the gag for a bit. "Maybe don't stand directly in front of me when you release my legs, genius."
  278. >Ah, he recognizes my potential!
  279. "That's an idea I'm willing to try."
  280. >As I release the last one standing, I stand a bit to the side.
  281. >He also falls forward, but not on me. Taking off the gag, he says: "Thank you." In a woman's voice.
  282. "You sound very feminine for a guy."
  283. >He looks at me with his mouth open for a second. "I'm a mare, dude."
  284. >Is that a new LGBT thing?
  285. "I meant no disrespect. Please don't cancel me on twitter @... What was my twitter, I forgot."
  286. >They exchange a disturbed look.
  287. >Oh… my head is splitting.
  288. >Walk over to the bed to lie down.
  289. >There's another one on it.
  290. "Look, I'll set you free but I'm going to need this bed, okay?"
  291. >I unlock two chains around its legs before it gets up and smashes the other two.
  292. "Wow, you're strong."
  293. >She grunts. "Where are those assholes, I'm about the return the favor!"
  294. "Upstairs."
  295. >One of the guys tries to stop her. "Anvil, it ain't worth-"
  296. >She runs right out.
  297. >He puffs. "Damnit, let's go!"
  298. >They run out after her.
  299. >Head owchies intensify, so I lay down.
  300. >Instantly struck by the worst smell ever conceived.
  301. >Go over the side and wretch. It's a dry heave, thankfully.
  302. "This place is sucky."
  303. >Decide to leave and find a comfier place that doesn’t smell like >rape.
  304. >The dude from before is back. "Alright, ready to go?"
  305. "Go where?"
  306. >He hits himself in the face. "The. TOWN."
  307. "Oh right."
  308. >He rolls his eyes like a complete douche.
  309. "Hey man, I have a concussion. Okay?"
  310. >"I noticed. Can I just carry you? We'll move a lot faster like that."
  311. >He is bigger than me. Maybe I could take a nap on his big, strong back while- pfft lol that's gay.
  312. "I'll walk, thanks."
  313. >He makes that weird flappy lips sound horses make. "Let's go then."
  314.  
  315. >I lean against the doorway while they get dressed and strap bags to themselves. They also appropriate all the terrorist's assets before we leave.
  316. >The blue guy turns to the group. "Anvil, you bring up the rear-"
  317. >"Very funny, asshole."
  318. >He swallows hard. "No pun intended."
  319. >What's the joke here?
  320. >He continues. "You took the rifle so I'm putting you in a position you can use it from if we get ambushed."
  321. >She grimaces and nods.
  322. >Blue turns to the green guy next. "Leaf, you got the sharpest eye so you take point."
  323. >Green nods.
  324. >He turns to me next. "You stay in the middle with me and Smoke, okay?"
  325. >Smoke? I don't have utility!
  326. "I don't have any smoke, I don't even have flashbangs!"
  327. >The 'mare' looks at me. "Smoke is my name, he was referring to me."
  328. "Oh okay."
  329. >We all walk down the stairs and pause near the entrance. Green nods and we walk out, starting our way down the road and away from the plane.
  330. >Head still hurts like a bullet wound and the pain spikes with the steps.
  331. "So about the ammo…"
  332. >"I'll give it to you when we get home, we can't stop out here."
  333. "I don't want to follow you home, dude. Do you have-"
  334. >"You'd rather get shot by raiders and killed out here?"
  335. >I scoff.
  336. "I'm a counter-terrorist operator, formerly at least, and I know what I'm doing. You're the one that was in chains, remember?"
  337. >He scoffs. "The way it sounded, it's a miracle you're still alive."
  338. >I try to think of a retort but can't. My ears ring as the pain intensifies again and I stop to put a hand on it.
  339. "Ow, my head…"
  340. >"Don't stop, we got to keep moving."
  341. "Hey, you ain't the boss of me, blue guy."
  342. >He grunts. "You want me to push you then?"
  343. "I want you to give me my ammo so I can go that way instead."
  344. >I point in the direction of the plane.
  345. >"I told you, we own a shop back in TOWN, we'll get you your ammo, IN TOWN."
  346. >I grunt.
  347. "Following you around wasn't part of the deal, dude."
  348.  
  349. >The green guy chimes in. "Listen, we really gotta move. This is raider territory and if they catch us out here, we won't get lucky twice."
  350. >I look at him.
  351. "We already killed the raiders."
  352. >"There are more of them around here. Those three were just one group, there's dozens of them."
  353. >An Arab country is plagued with terrorists, who would've thought.
  354. "Why are there so many?"
  355. >They exchange puzzled looks before the blue one answers. "It's just how it is."
  356. >The one that was on the bed before stomps on the ground. "Look, either get moving or get fucked. We got enough problems without your whinny ass and I don't plan on putting up with your shit, freak."
  357. >Ow, my feelings.
  358. "I… I'm gonna go."
  359. >I turn around back in the direction of the plane.
  360. >"Go where? You'll get shot." The blue one says.
  361. >I don't care, they're mean and I don't wanna hang with them no more.
  362. "I'll be-"
  363. >The pavement near my leg cracks with the impact of a bullet, startling me. In my panic I point my gun up and accidently pull the trigger while moving to the right.
  364. >Look around for cover, spot weird looking car.
  365. >I run towards it, but just before I get close a corpse lands on top of it, bending the steel and flopping to the pavement soon after.
  366. >Stop short.
  367. >There's a happy puppy face in the corner of my vision.
  368. :D [Critical Hit on Raider Stallion]
  369. >I look at the body.
  370. >That's a lot of blood.
  371. >It has a long piece of metal around its neck.
  372. >That's a lot of tube.
  373. >"A- are you okay?" the blue one's voice comes from behind me and I turn to look at him.
  374. "Yes, but he's not."
  375. >Smoke walks towards me. "Is that a sniper rifle around his neck?"
  376. >Is it? I look closer. It has a scope on it.
  377. "This black tube is a sniper rifle?"
  378. >I try to pick it up but the strap is stuck around his neck.
  379. >C'mon strap, give it up.
  380. >Pulling real hard now, strap, let it go!
  381. >STRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP
  382. >Green sounds off. "I think we got hostiles at-"
  383. >I shoot the strap and take the rifle.
  384. >"Never mind, they ran off."
  385. "You should've let it go, strap. Now look what you made me do."
  386. >Smoke looks up at me. "That concussion really did a number on you, didn't it?"
  387. "Well yes, it really hurts."
  388. >"I mean, it made you really dumb."
  389. >I raise a brow at her.
  390. "I don't feel any dumber than usual."
  391. >She chuckles. "Can I have that rifle?"
  392. "But I don't have a primary yet."
  393. >She tilts her head like a confused dog.
  394. >Holstering my pistol on my belt, I look at the rifle. The bar in my vision changes:
  395. Sniper Rifle (pony model): CND |///--:--| Ammo (.308): 2/0 STR 5|Guns 75
  396. >I turn it over a few times and realize it has no handle.
  397. "Well fine, you can have it. It's obviously broken."
  398. >She takes it, putting some weird side-jutting part of it in her mouth. "thx"
  399. "No problem."
  400. >Look at the corpse again.
  401. >See knife on a belt around the torso.
  402. "Awesome, I love knives."
  403. >Take it, the grip is all slimy and has clearly been chewed a lot.
  404. "Gross."
  405. >Wipe it on my shirt.
  406. Combat Knife: CND |////-:--| STR 1|Melee 50
  407.  
  408. >The blade is nice and sharp; the thing itself is quite big, much like the training knives we used during my short stay at the course, except real.
  409. >Smoke removes the magazine from the rifle, looks at it and puts it back in. "Did he have any ammo on him?"
  410. >Dig through the pockets of his clothes.
  411. "Why does he have so many soda caps?"
  412. >"We use caps as money. You're not from around here, right?"
  413. "Of course not, I'm American. Why do you use trash as money?"
  414. >"It represents water. It's tradition from the older times after the megaspells. Most towns here trade in ammo, weapons and pretty much anything else you can find and give change in the form of those caps."
  415. >All this explaining makes my head hurt worse.
  416. "I don't care, sorry I asked."
  417. >Find a spare clip in one of his pouches.
  418. "Here you go."
  419. >She takes it between her leg-thingies, says: "Thanks!" then bites down on it.
  420. "Why are you putting it in your mouth?"
  421. >She puts it in a shoulder pouch before responding. "I don't have hands like you do."
  422. >It's still gross but okay.
  423. >"Are you two done gawking at the corpse? Can we move?" The rude one, a brown colored female asks.
  424. >Smoke smiles. "C'mon, let's go."
  425. "But I don't wanna."
  426. >"Don’t you want a primary and some ammo?"
  427. >Okay, NOW I'm sold.
  428. "Yes I do, lead the way."
  429. >She chuckles and I follow her to the rest of the group.
  430. >We keep walking for a while.
  431. >It's quiet and boring while we walk.
  432. >Wish I had a distraction.
  433. >Oh wait, the watch!
  434. >I look down at it and the screen lights up.
  435. >Mess around with the buttons and dials.
  436. >Realize it has a map, like my phone does.
  437. "Oh cool, google maps."
  438. >Try to enter street-view®.
  439. >There's no option for it.
  440. >Disappointment ensues.
  441. >Twist the knob.
  442.  
  443. DATA
  444. Radio
  445.  
  446. Red Eye's Broadcast – Out of Range
  447. DJ Pon3 – Out of Range
  448. Encrypted Signal – In Range
  449.  
  450. >Ugh, I hate radio stations and they're probably all in Arabic.
  451. >Pull my phone out of my pocket.
  452. >No service.
  453. >Turn off flight mode.
  454. >Still, no service.
  455. >Smoke is walking next to me, so I turn to her.
  456. "Don't you guys have cell-service here?"
  457. >wut.face "What's cell service? You mean the food raiders give their captives?"
  458. "No, how did you arrive at that conclusion?"
  459. >"Because 'cell', they keep captives in cells."
  460. "No… don't you guys have cellphones?"
  461. >*wut face intensifies* "What's that?"
  462. >I show her my phone and her eyes widen. "Wow, that screen has so many colors!"
  463. "Uh… yeah. If this is impressive to you, you should see my laptop-"
  464. >MY LUGGAGE!
  465. "Shit, I forgot my luggage!"
  466. >I turn on my heel but the brown lady stops me.
  467. >"Go back for it later, kid. It's dark and you'll get swarmed by the ghouls."
  468. "G- ghouls?"
  469. >"Yeah, the rotting ponies with the gnarly teeth."
  470. >Like… zombies?
  471. "Do they bite?"
  472. >"Bite, stomp, kick, the works. They'll mash you to pulp."
  473. >Scared.png
  474. "Fine, I guess it can wait a day…"
  475.  
  476. >It's dark and my head hurts too. I won't stand a chance against the zombie terrorists.
  477. >We walk for a bit more in the cold darkness before we finally arrive at a huge metal wall lit by floodlights.
  478. >Under the light, the number 4 can be seen painted on the center of the wall in white.
  479. >The lights in my eyes spell a subtitle for me:
  480.  
  481. The Sink (Fortified Settlement) Discovered
  482.  
  483. "The sink?"
  484. >"The town is built inside a pre-war sinkhole. We draw water from the basin and distribute it to the other settlements around The Divide." Smoke explains.
  485. >Oh, so it's like a big sink with water.
  486. "Good name."
  487. >The brown one steps past us. "They're going to regret fucking with us. Had enough of these raiders, NO-ONE fucks with The Sink!"
  488. >The blue one being way ahead of us, walks up to some metal brick on the wall and talks into it. "Guys, this is water-line ten, we got raided and they took the water."
  489. >Something talks back. "Password?"
  490. >The brown lady pushes the blue guy aside. "Damnit Crane, if you don't open the gate right now I'll do to you what they did to me!"
  491. >"Alright, alright, calm down. We're opening the gate."
  492. >There's a muffled sound of machinery before a part of the wall lifts upwards with a deafening screech of metal on metal, revealing a blinding light.
  493. >As my eyes get adjusted I see The Sink in all its glory. A huge, dark sinkhole is permeated by metal and concrete structures built into its walls, their floodlights illuminating everything in a bright white light.
  494. >We walk inside and I get a better look. Support structures running the entire length above hold up catwalks and bridges using thick metal cables. There are several cranes in parts of the sinkhole with different hauls attached to the ends. I can even see ziplines!
  495. >A big black horse-dog, the same size as the blue one approaches us. "What happened?"
  496. >The blue one steps forward as the brown one rushes past him, running onto the catwalk and away from all of us.
  497. >"And what did they do to Anvil?"
  498. >The blue one shrugs. "One raider almost raped her, but he heard a noise, went out and got shot. He did penetrate though, so she must be hurt over that."
  499. >"So she did get raped?"
  500. >"In a minor fashion, yes, but it would've been far worse had this guy not shown up when he did." Bluey points at me with his nose.
  501. "I shot the terrorists." :)
  502. >The black one licks his lips. He has a big tongue.
  503. >"Bolt-lock, can I talk to you in person for a moment?"
  504. >The blue one nods and they walk to one corner.
  505. >As the gate closes behind us my brain kicks my skull and my ears ring. I clutch my head.
  506. >Smoke looks at me. "We need to get you some medical attention."
  507. "Head hurts."
  508. >They walk back towards us and the black one looks me in the nose. "Hey buddy, you're a human, right?"
  509. "Yes."
  510. >"We've had a couple more of you enter the city today. David, Muhammad, do you know those names?"
  511. "Sounds like the start of an unfunny joke, yes."
  512. >"It's not a joke, those two have been arguing non-stop in the town jail. We had to put them in separate cells because they refuse to stop fighting each other."
  513.  
  514. "That's the punchline I expected and it's not funny. Be more original."
  515. >He looks at me baffled. "I'm not joking with you, they're real!"
  516. "Really?"
  517. >"YES really. Do you think you can talk some sense into them? We'll pay you if you get them to shut up and answer our questions."
  518. >Suddenly BrainPain!™
  519. "pluh."
  520. >I clutch my head.
  521. >"What's wrong with him?"
  522. >The three of them answer all at once. "Concussion."
  523. "I got off easy, officer bucket took the bullet for me."
  524. >They exchange confused looks and shrugs as we share a moment of silence for my fallen partner.
  525. >"Well, nurse Gauze can get you patched up, probably. See her and then go to the jail, tell them Crane sent you and that you might be able to talk some sense into those maniacs you share a species with."
  526. "Can I get my primary first?"
  527. >He tilts his head and gives me a surprised look. "Your what?"
  528. >Smoke steps in front of me. "What he means is 'a primary weapon'. He wants a rifle or something of the sort."
  529. >"Why would I give him that?"
  530. >The blue guy steps in again. "I promised him he could have a reward for saving us. I'll give him what he wants."
  531. >Crane frowns at the blue one, but then sighs and looks at me. "Look, I'm only going to say this once. You break the law in our town, you hurt any of the ponies here, and I'll break all your bones and throw you out to the ghouls, understood?"
  532. "Hey that's not fair, I'm a good person!"
  533. >He presses his lips together. "Neutral is not good. You want to be good? Do something useful around here and I'll consider you 'good'. You can start with the human maniacs in the jail."
  534. >The lights in my eyes start up again:
  535.  
  536. Quest Started:
  537. HAD'I VE SHALOM
  538. -Speak to the humans in the jail.
  539. -(Optional) Ask as to why they are arrested.
  540.  
  541. >The compass bar lights up with a big arrow.
  542. >With that, Crane puffs. "Dismissed." Turning to the blue boy, he adds: "Don't give him anything dangerous."
  543. >He nods and Crane walks away and onto a set of stairs leading up to some kind of booth high up on the wall.
  544. >"Our store is this way." He says and points to one of the platforms built into the wall of the sinkhole below.
  545. >Follow them towards one of the catwalk bridges suspended above the hole.
  546. >We get on it and I feel it wobble slightly under my weight.
  547. >Oh shit.
  548. >Stop walking and look down. The abyss looks back at me.
  549. >OH SHIT.
  550. >The height is unbearable, even the brightest floodlights can only illuminate so far into the depth of the sinkhole. A greater system of bridges and support beams is built into the walls beneath us connecting massive and solid platforms jutting from the walls to each other, with round platforms hanging down the middle, serving as landings.
  551. >The sheer scale of all of it makes me start sweating.
  552. >I'm also cold.
  553. >Scared + cold = need to pee * 2
  554. >The green one stops. "Are you okay?"
  555. "I gotta pee."
  556. >He rolls his eyes. "You can use our bathroom, c'mon."
  557. >Hold it in and force myself to keep walking.
  558.  
  559. >Suddenly three others come out of absolutely nowhere and run onto the same bridge as us, making it shake subtly as they pass us.
  560. >Freeze and grab the railing-cable until they get off.
  561. >"Dude, what's the problem?"
  562. >Straighten up and swallow.
  563. "I'm coming."
  564. >Walk faster behind them.
  565. >The bridge takes us deeper into the hole, and we reach a big round landing connecting to several other narrow bridges.
  566. >Walk down one bridge and onto a solid platform below.
  567. >Sigh with relief at the solid ground.
  568. >There are several large signs over doorways carved into the walls. It's pretty quiet here, which is a relief for my headache.
  569. >The blue one procures a set of keys and approaches one of the doors. I look up at the sign above, can't read it but the lights give a subtitle:
  570.  
  571. The Merc's Workshop: Ammo – Guns – Armor – Accessories – Repairs – Modifications
  572.  
  573. "You guys sure sell a lot of stuff."
  574. >Green chuckles. "Only the important stuff."
  575. >Blue and Smoke walk inside, Green and I follow.
  576. >It's a moderately sized room with a counter in the front, behind which are lots of shelves with labeled boxes on them, a big work table in the middle and lots of weird guns and armor sets on the walls. There's also a door in the back.
  577. >Green closes the door behind me. "Phew, here we are. We made it!"
  578. >Smoke walks around the counter with blue and over to one of the shelves. She gets up on her back legs and gets a box off the shelf with her head.
  579. >Still have to pee and my head really hurts.
  580. >"Hey uh, the bathroom is in the back over there if you still need it."
  581. "Yup, I still do."
  582. >I walk past the counter, past smoke who's putting the box on the table and right to the bathroom door.
  583. >Open the door.
  584. >Cramped room with a short sink and a hole in the floor.
  585. "Uhhh… Where's the toilet?"
  586. >Smoke looks at me confused. "It's right there."
  587. >I look back into the room.
  588. >The hole is big enough for a toilet to have been there…
  589. "I think someone stole your toilet."
  590. >She cracks up. "Whut…? Lemme see."
  591. >I move out of her way as she takes a peek. "Dude, it's right there!"
  592. "That hole in the floor?"
  593. >"Yes, what else? Have you never seen a toilet before?"
  594. "Of course I did, I grew up with toilets, I've seen plenty of them."
  595. >"And yet you don't know what one looks like."
  596. "Not true."
  597. >I pull up my phone.
  598. >They exchange looks. "What are you doing?"
  599. "I'm finding a picture of a toilet so I can show you what they look like."
  600. >I don't have such garbage in the gallery so I go to Google.
  601. >No connection.
  602. >Oh, man. This is the only time I'll ever regret not having a picture of a toilet saved on my phone.
  603. "Fine nevermind. Do I just go in that?"
  604. >"Yeah. In the water in the middle, then just press that button on the back to flush."
  605. "Oh, okay."
  606. >I go inside and do my business, flush and wash my hands.
  607. >Have to do it all on my knees so I don't get it anywhere I don't intend.
  608.  
  609. >As I get out I see Smoke ruffling through the box. "There's only two conversion kits left here. One is for direct impingement, the other for gas piston guns."
  610. >Green goes to one wall and looks at the guns. "I think we could convert the bolt action too, given the trigger is already sticking out the bottom."
  611. >Smoke nods. "It's practically just bending the trigger as far as conversion goes for that."
  612. >He comes over with a few guns on his back and places them on the table. "Smoke promised you a gun so here's a few. I don't exactly know what kind you uh… humans tend to use, but we can adapt one of these for you."
  613. >He brought four, some bigger than others. One has a scope, one has a big round magazine, one has a really long barrel, and one has a short but very thick barrel.
  614. >None of them have handgrips, only foregrips under the barrels. There's a weird side-jutting piece on each of them, like the sniper rifle on Smoke's back.
  615. "I can't shoot any of these, they got no grip or trigger."
  616. >"Like I said, we'll adapt one for you."
  617. >Blue sighs. "Be patient with him, he has a concussion."
  618. "So do I just-"
  619. >"Pick them up, look at them, make your choice and we'll adapt it."
  620. "How?"
  621. >Green presses his lips together. "We make weapon adaptions for griffins every so often, it's probably not very different."
  622. >I wonder who Griffins is, probably another human.
  623. "Okay."
  624. >I pick up the one with the scope, which is fairly short like the M4 I shot at the range one time.
  625. >The scope has a little red dot in the middle, the bar in my vision changes:
  626. Sharp-Shooter Carbine: CND |/////:/-| Ammo (5.56): 0/0 STR 5|Guns 50
  627. >I like it but there are more options. I place it down and try the one with the long barrel. It has a manual bolt.
  628. Hunting Rifle: CND |/////://| Ammo (.308): 0/0 STR 6|Guns 25
  629. >It's too heavy and not very sexy. Try the round magazine rifle next.
  630. Light Rugged Auto-Rifle (Kit-Bash): CND |////-:--| Ammo (5mm): 0/0 STR 5|Guns 60
  631. >The magazine is bulky, but the foregrip is comfy and it even has a cheese grater above the barrel.
  632. "I like the cheese grater on this one."
  633. >Green laughs. "That's a heat shield, so you don't burn yourself trying to bite the barrel if you drop it."
  634. >I put it down and look at the last option. The magazine is fat, the receiver is really big and the whole thing weighs a bunch as I pick it up.
  635. Improvised Assault Shotgun: CND |/////:--| Ammo (12g): 0/0 STR 10|Guns 100
  636. >I don't like shotguns, too much recoil.
  637. "I…"
  638. >Putting the gun down I look at the scoped carbine, then at the other rifle.
  639. "I'm torn between these two."
  640. >Green smiles. "Both are good for different purposes. If you like taking things slow, engaging from afar and you're confident in your ability to land a shot, I suggest the scoped carbine. If you're not so accurate or you just like to do things closer, I recommend this rifle."
  641. >The bigger rifle is reminiscent of the AK-47 but with a way longer front. The carbine is a weird M4 with a scope on it.
  642.  
  643. >I weigh them on each hand, and find the carbine to be lighter.
  644. "This one is much more light."
  645. >"Yes, but you have to take into account the weight of ammunition. The bigger rifle fires five-millimeter rounds that are smaller and lighter to carry than your standard five fifty-six."
  646. >I miss the gun I fired during my short stay at the course.
  647. "Do you have any of those pretzel looking guns?"
  648. >They all exchange dumbfounded looks. Green looks up at me. "Can you be more specific?"
  649. "Yeah, the grips look like a pretzel, the magazine looks like a very short baguette. It has those crown-looking sights on top-"
  650. >A surge of pain in my head cuts me off and I exhale as I put a hand on it.
  651. >"Crown looking sights?"
  652. >Suddenly I remember the name!
  653. "Yeah, it's called a P ninety."
  654. >Green sighs. "I'm sorry buck, but we don't really have any human guns."
  655. >Smoke points a leg at me. "How big is a P ninety?"
  656. >I gesture with my hands at the size of it.
  657. "Like this, it's actually kinda short."
  658. >Green taps his chin. "Does it fire fast?"
  659. "Yes, very fast. And the bullets are small too."
  660. >His eyes widen a bit. "Oh so you want a sub-machinegun. Let me check around here…"
  661. >He walks off to one of the shelves, looks up and down then tries another one. Finally he sighs. "I think all your options are on the table right there. At least until the caravans come in or some mercenary brings in a haul of loot from the raiders outside, we're out of sub-machineguns in stock."
  662. >Darn, I really wanted the pretzel gun.
  663. >I'm about to say something but I get a shiver.
  664. >"Are you okay?"
  665. "Yes, I'm just cold."
  666. >Smoke's ears flop. "Aw, do you need a jacket?"
  667. "Yes please."
  668. >"I think I got something here…" She pulls out a big box from under a shelf and opens it.
  669. >Pulls out a comfy looking jacket. "Here you go, it might be a bit big on you but it's better than nothing."
  670. "Thank you."
  671. >I put it on. It smells like dust, the sleeves are a bit wide and it's somewhat baggy on me, but it's better than just a polo shirt.
  672. >Blue turns to me. "By the way, what ammo do you want?"
  673. >The question catches me off and I look at him confused.
  674. >"You said you wanted ammo right?"
  675. "Oh right, my pistol shoots nine mikes."
  676. >"Nine millimeter?"
  677. "Yes."
  678. >He procures a box from under the counter and gives it to me. "Here, forty rounds. That’s as many as four magazines I think, so it should last you."
  679. "Thanks."
  680. >Green takes the shotgun and hunting rifle back to the shelf. "Well, made up your mind?"
  681. >No. Both of them look so cool, how could I choose?
  682. >He notices my conflict. "Look, let's just do this: answer some questions for me and I'll help you choose, alright?"
  683. "Sure."
  684. >"Do you want lots of bullets in a magazine?"
  685. "Yes, the pretzel has fifty."
  686. >"A fast fire rate?"
  687. "Yes, It's better when lots of bullets come out all at once."
  688. >"Low maintenance?"
  689. "What?"
  690. >It's time for: BrainPain!™
  691. "ouuugh. My god, my head hurts."
  692.  
  693. >"Well, I highly recommend you take the bigger rifle. The ammo is light, it shoots fast, it holds a hundred rounds in the magazine and it's gas-operated so maintenance is practically redundant."
  694. >HUNDRED ROUNDS?
  695. "Deal!"
  696. >He chuckles. "Alright, we'll get it to you tomorrow morning or noon."
  697. "Cool so uh… where do I find the nurse?"
  698. >Smoke walks around the table. "I'll take you."
  699. >We leave the shop and walk onto the bridges again, crossing to the other side of the sinkhole.
  700. >All the while I look directly forwards so I don't get vertigo.
  701. >The cables groan and creak softly with our every step as we get to the landing, and then again when we descend further into the sinkhole. We reach another platform below where the shop is.
  702. >There are still more beneath this one.
  703. >I follow her and we reach a big entranceway to a facility dug into the wall. Sign above reads:
  704.  
  705. Medical Care Center – Servicing at All Times
  706.  
  707. >We walk into a corridor with very low benches along the walls. There's a hissing of ventilation and it smells like a hospital.
  708. >Walk up to a counter looking thing. Smoke dings a bell on it before turning to me. "It's so awkward seeing this place at night."
  709. "Yeah, it reminds me of my old school after hours."
  710. >She gasps. "You were in a school?"
  711. "Yeah, when I was little… why?"
  712. >"We don't really have schools anymore."
  713. "Wow, awesome! School was boring."
  714. >She frowns a bit. "No, it's not awesome. Foals grow up dumb because of this and turn into raiders. Just like the ones captured us, just like the ones that tried to kill you."
  715. >What? How does 'No School' = 'More Terrorists'?
  716. "Are you sure they're not just evil bad guys?"
  717. >She puffs. "Nopony is evil for the sake of being evil, human. It's because they're desperate or just don't know any better. They take things from others because they don't know how to make their own."
  718. "How would a school help?"
  719. >"It would teach them-"
  720. >The door in the back opens and a big white boi comes out. "Miss Powder? What brings you here at this hour-" His eyes fall on me and I put a hand on my head as the pain intensifies again. "Oh great, another one of these. With the amount of trouble the last two were I'm surprised they let any more of you in."
  721. >Smoke cocks a brow. "I was hoping Gauze would be in, she's usually the one working at this hour."
  722. >"She's here but she's exhausted from dealing with the likes of this fellow." He points at me.
  723. >Smoke looks surprised. "You saw the other humans today?"
  724. >I kneel by the counter to lean on it while they talk. I don't want to be standing when the next wave of BrainPain!™ hits.
  725. >"Yes, we all did. The guards led them here yelling at each other and bleeding all over the place after the fight they had at Craft's shop." He points at the corridor. "See that floor? It took a lot of work to give it back that sheen."
  726. >Smoke admires the floor, then looks back at the doctor. "What happened?"
  727.  
  728. >"I can't rightly say, but I did see them. The big one had one eye swollen shut and a broken bone in his leg. The small one had a bunch of glass shards in his arm and a few broken ribs. Make of that what you will."
  729. >She gasps. "Did Gauze treat them?"
  730. >"Yes, one of them at least. Nurse Gauze may be good at treating griffins, but that's not really the same thing."
  731. >Sigh heavily.
  732. "I got a concussion, can you help?"
  733. >He turns to me. "Oh is that it? Nothing stuck inside you or jutting out?"
  734. >I run a hand along my hair and a metal bit falls out and clatters on the counter.
  735. >Was that stuck inside the whole time? Oh no, what if there's more?
  736. >The big dog-horse sighs. "Alright, here's what we'll do: I'll get you a healing potion and you let nurse Gauze get some rest, deal?"
  737. >Smoke tilts her head with a smirk. "Is there something going on between you two?"
  738. >He scoffs with a smile. "Our business, mind yours."
  739. >He walks back into the other room and disappears.
  740. >…
  741. "Where di-"
  742. >He comes back with a bottle of purple stuff (grape juice?) on his head. "Here we are. It'll be thirty-five caps."
  743. >Smoke puts a hoof on the counter. "Hold on, he saved four ponies today."
  744. >He places the bottle on the counter. "Well, when he does something for me, I'll be sure to repay him."
  745. >She looks shocked.
  746. >Still got a bag with caps from that corpse that fell out of the sky.
  747. "Here."
  748. >He counts them out. "This is not enough."
  749. "But it's all I have."
  750. >Smoke frowns and slams the counter. "Look here you cheapskate,"
  751. >He shrinks back.
  752. >"I would've been raped today if not for this guy. I don't care for your grudge with humans, and I care even less for your forced apathy. Nurse Gauze ALWAYS patches up ANYONE that saves ponies, for free. I wonder how she'll feel in a moment when she has to wake up because you weren't willing to follow her policy."
  753. >He looks stunned, but composes himself and sighs. "Wait here a moment."
  754. >He disappears again and comes back with a glass. He pours some of the purple stuff into it.
  755. >"Drink, it'll make you feel better."
  756. >I like grape juice.
  757. >Drink it.
  758. >It tastes like cough syrup. Good thing I like that too.
  759. >The pain rapidly dissipates.
  760. "Oh wow, I feel way better."
  761. >Smoke looks surprised. "Really? He gave you like… barely enough to cure a knife wound."
  762. "Yeah, I'm good as new."
  763. >"Healing potions are very effective on them for some reason. My guess is it's because they are smaller than us, so there's less damage to heal."
  764. >I put down the glass and pocket the caps.
  765. "Thanks, doc."
  766. >He rolls his eyes for some reason. "Sure, see you again the next day after tomorrow."
  767. >With that I get up and we walk outside.
  768. >Smoke looks up at me. "I'm sorry about that. He can be kind of mean sometimes."
  769. "Smart people are always mean."
  770. >She snorts.
  771. >I look at my watch.
  772.  
  773. HAD'I VE SHALOM
  774. -Speak to the humans in the jail.
  775. -(Optional) Ask as to why they are arrested.
  776.  
  777. "Hey Smoke?"
  778. >"Yeah?"
  779. "Where is the jail?"
  780. >She licks her lips. "Are you really going to do that now? Those humans are probably asleep already."
  781. "Crane said they wouldn't stop."
  782. >"Everyone gets tired eventually." She gets deflated as she says that, then looks away.
  783. "Are you alright?"
  784. >She shakes her head and swallows. "Yeah, I'm fine."
  785. "Okay cool, so where is it?"
  786. >She points to the left. "Here. You can try talking to the night guard, but I'm pretty sure she'll just turn you away."
  787. >There's a sign above a small entranceway with a heavy, blue metal door standing ajar.
  788.  
  789. Security Complex
  790.  
  791. >The compass arrow was pointing at it all along; I could've just looked at that.
  792. >She looks at me. "You'll be fine from here, right? I have to go."
  793. "Yep, I'm good, thanks."
  794. >She walks back onto the bridges and leaves me alone.
  795. >Walk into the security station. There's a corridor with doorways on one side and a desk on the other. A bored looking blue creature sits reading a magazine.
  796. "Hi."
  797. >She jumps then looks up at me. "Oh mare. Are you here about your friends?"
  798. "Uh, they're not my friends. Crane said to make them stop fighting."
  799. >She eyes me up and down. "How do you plan on doing that? More importantly, why would he let you in here?"
  800. >What am I supposed to answer to that? What am I supposed to say?
  801. "Uh…"
  802. >She gets up, walks around me and closes the big blue door. "Look, they're this way. If Sheriff Crane thinks you can shut them up then good luck, but do it quick. I don't want to be subjected to any more of their shouting if I can help it."
  803. >She leads me down the corridor to a heavy bulkhead. The sound of ventilation is quickly replaced with shouting in heavily accented English as she opens it.
  804. >The room has no windows. Two cells are separated by a concrete wall, the iron bars covered with flaking white paint.
  805. >Can't make out what either is saying because they keep yelling over one another.
  806. >The… mare? She walks inside. "QUIET!" she stomps loudly and they stop.
  807. >She puffs. "Alright kid. I'm sitting here in case of anything, good luck." She sits like a dog near the door.
  808. >The left cell holds a very big, brown, bearded man and the right cell holds a white guy about my size (bit bigger) with glasses and a clean shave. They both look surprised at me.
  809. >The white guy speaks first. "Did dey arrest you too?"
  810. >The big guy points at me. "You also Isra'eli?"
  811. "No, I'm American."
  812. >"Wa'alla."
  813. >The white guy deflates. "Oy vey, amerikai. Please tell me you're not retarded."
  814. >Okay, that's easy:
  815. "I'm not retarded."
  816. >He puts a hand on his chest and puffs. "Phew. At least it's one of the good ones."
  817. >The big man paces in his cell. "Na'am, suddenly you optimistic about pippel, Ah?"
  818. >"You were holding a pipebomb! Of course I have to do someting."
  819. >"So?! The guards have guns, do you stop the guards also'?"
  820. >"No, becoze dey are guards! YOU are a terrorist!"
  821. >"So that makes it okay?!"
  822. >"YE-"
  823. "Hold on! You are a terrorist?"
  824.  
  825. >I reach for my gun but feel something hit my hand; it hurts. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
  826. >I look at the lady.
  827. "He's a terrorist!"
  828. >"Grehiuyr sahihen, I'm just Muslim!"
  829. "Oh okay-"
  830. >The mare frowns. "I don't care what he is, if you reach for that gun again I'm breaking that limb and locking you up with them, clear?"
  831. >I'm scared.
  832. "Yes ma'am."
  833. >She puffs and I turn my attention back to Muhammad.
  834. >He straightens up and points at the wall. "He is a war criminal."
  835. "What, really?"
  836. >The white guy straightens up. "Of course not, I was never even deployed for combat!"
  837. >"Lyre!"
  838. >"No, HE is lying to you! He uzed to work with khamas!"
  839. >"USED! I left! People have reasons, you know?"
  840. >"So did you join Fata'kh instead or The Islamic Jihad?"
  841. >"I come to Iran to escape and open Hummus restaurant! il rabback…"
  842. "Hummus? Like the terrorists?"
  843. >They both stop and look at me absolutely stunned.
  844. >"Lo, ma… khummus okhlim akhi." The white guy gestures to me as if eating. "Hummus you eat."
  845. "What?! I don't EAT terrorists."
  846. >He paces back and forth. "Oh my god he IS retarded!"
  847. >The bearded man shifts a bit, leaning on the bars. "Habibi, hummus is a food. Hamas is the terrorists."
  848. "Oh…"
  849. >The white guy puts his hands on his hips. "But you are obviously a terrorist otherwize you wouldn't be making explosives out of junk."
  850. >"Ya warradi… Have you looked around you? There are enemy everywhere here. We need weapons!"
  851. >"What enemies, this place is completely safe! You were about to blow up an innocent shopkeeper!"
  852. >"I was only making a bomb to use later!"
  853. >"FOR WHAT?"
  854. >"SELF DEFENCE!"
  855. >"OH LIKE KHAMAS ARE DEFENDING THEMSELVES WITH RAQETOT A'L TEL–AVIV AND HIDING BEHIND CIVILIANS?"
  856. >"JUST WHY DO YOU THINK I LEFT-"
  857. "AAAAAaaaaaaaaaah!"
  858. >They stop and look at me.
  859. "I wanted to shout but I have nothing to add. Please stop yelling at each other." :)
  860. >They keep looking at me quietly.
  861. "Thank-"
  862. >"Don't say to me like I am Hamas, I'm not them."
  863. >The Israeli sighs. "That is what they say also, then you look away and a bus explodes behind you."
  864. >"Yes I know. I had to survive the last round in A'za to get away. I had to use the… how you say it?"
  865. >"What?"
  866. >"Their power, to escape A'za. Because there is no…" He licks his lips searching for the words. "You cannot get out A'za if you not Hamas or working with Hamas."
  867. "Guys-"
  868. >The Israeli recoils. "Bullshit! Dozens of civilians cross the border every day for working!"
  869. >Wow. I don't understand any of this and I can feel my headache coming back.
  870. >"Do you know you cannot get permission anymore?"
  871. >The Israeli finally stops, putting a hand on his chin. "Okay, you're right. I don't know the process to get permission. Still, working with terrorists is completely bad."
  872. "Guys you ne-"
  873. >"I don't argue that. It is bad, Hamas are bad, but I needed out of A'za and that was the way."
  874. >"So you are not a terrorist."
  875. >"Not a terrorist, no. I had to work with them to come to Iran."
  876. >There's finally a pause.
  877.  
  878. >The Israeli sighs. "I'm sorry I hurt you."
  879. >The Arab scratches the back of his head. "Yes, okay. Samih un wansaa."
  880. >Oh wow, they stopped. They must have a lot to talk about if it took them this long.
  881. "You two were arguing all this time?"
  882. >The Israeli nods. "Yes, but about other things."
  883. >How can you argue for HOURS? WHAT THINGS?
  884. "Like what?"
  885. >The Arab clears his throat. "Israel is a country that take our homes and use for them. He says it's okay like this."
  886. >The Israeli sighs again. "Yes, Israel is a very complicated country with a very bloody past. But it's not a reason to try to kill civilians and destroy the cities. We live with Arabs in peace for decades already, iz the terrorists that try to ruin everything."
  887. >The Arab shrugs. "Not that I know, but okay I believe what you say. Still your side also has bad people."
  888. >The Israeli laughs. "Every people have its retards."
  889. "Like Hamas?"
  890. >"Yes." They both say in unison.
  891. >The big man leans closer to the bars. "But also like Bibi, right?"
  892. >"Ha! Just bibi? Don't forget the pipel that keep choosing him."
  893. >The Arab laughs. "Same with Hamas and A'za, habibi."
  894. >Oh my god, this is so not important. Why do I even ask?!
  895. "Can you please stop talking about Israel? If I wanted to see that I'd watch the news."
  896. >They both exhale, then the Israeli speaks. "Yes, sorry. Who are you?"
  897. "I am-"
  898. >The lady gets up. "Great! You two reached common ground. Now shut the fuck up and answer my questions, alright?"
  899. >They exchange a look through the wall.
  900. >She walks past me and puffs. "I am Deputy Crackshot, and I have a few questions to get through with you two."
  901. >She turns to me. "You. Help me out here, okay?"
  902. "Umm."
  903. >The lights show letters again:
  904.  
  905. -Speak to the humans in the jail. (Done)
  906. -(Optional) Ask as to why they are arrested. (Skipped)
  907. -Assist Deputy Crackshot with her investigation.
  908.  
  909. >Well, if the lights say to do it…
  910. "Okay."
  911. >"Good." She walks over to the Arab's cell. "First off, you. I understand you bought equipment to make explosives with, and proceeded to make them on the spot. Correct?"
  912. >He nods. "Yes, I was-"
  913. >"Hold on, his turn now." She moves to the Israeli's cell. "You, unprovoked, you attacked this individual with no weapon to speak of, correct?"
  914. >He sighs. "I am trained to prevent terrorist attacks. He was holding an explosive, and I thought he was about to use it on innocents."
  915. >She nods. "Okay, thank you." She moves back to Muhammad's cell.
  916. >"Were you about to use that explosive?"
  917. >"B't abeila debuty, I only wanted to have it so I could use to defend myself."
  918. >She looks up at him. "To clarify your statement, you mean outside The Sink?"
  919. >He nods. "Yes outside. They shoot at me." He puffs. "They shoot at me for no reason. I have… I nee'd to defend myself."
  920. >"Seems alright to me." She walks back to the middle of the room, next to me. "So, can we all agree it was a misunderstanding?"
  921. >They nod. "Na'am." "Ken."
  922. >"What do you think?"
  923.  
  924. >There's a pause, and I realize she's asking me.
  925. "Oh uh… y- yes..?"
  926. >She sighs. "Okay, what are you planning to do once we let you out?"
  927. >They both make awkward gestures for a bit before the Israeli tries. "Shake hands?"
  928. >"Na'am, we c'n do that." The Arab agrees.
  929. >"Uh…" She looks up at me. "What's 'shake hands' supposed to mean?"
  930. >OOH! I know this one!
  931. "It's a thing people do when they agree with each other."
  932. >"Oh, okay." She turns back to them. "What are you going to do after that?"
  933. >They share another look through the wall.
  934. >"We need weapons." Muhammad says.
  935. >"We need to find the rest of the plane." says David.
  936. >"How are we going to find anything, without weapons, when there is a'adidaton enemies out there?"
  937. "You could just do both."
  938. >They both agree again.
  939. >The deputy tilts her head. "Now hold on, you need to find what exactly?"
  940. >David leans on the bars. "We arrived here on a plane, except we only know where de back of it is. Entire rest of it is gone, and all the people that were with us also."
  941. >"What is a plane, exactly?"
  942. >Muhammad puffs. David licks his lips. "It is a very big metal thing with wings that can fly and takes people from one place to another."
  943. >She looks at him, incredulous. "Like those Enclave airships we see from time to time?"
  944. >He shrugs. "I'm sorry, I don't know what that is."
  945. >She rolls her eyes. "Okay, never mind. You say the people with you are gone?"
  946. >"Yes, I woke up and I didn't see anyone else on the part where we were."
  947. >The deputy taps her chin. "Could it be a hostage situation?"
  948. >Muhammad leans against the wall. "La'a, they cannot take hostage the entire plane of people."
  949. >She tilts her head. "Why not?"
  950. >"There is guards, there is a lot of people, I don't think even terrorist groups can come and take everybody." He looks at the ground in thought for a moment. "Unless military is also doing it."
  951. >The deputy balks. "What military?"
  952. >I scoff.
  953. "Iran's military, who else?"
  954. >She turns to me. "Who's Iran?"
  955. >David looks at me. "Bro, listen. This is not Iran, there are no ponies in Iran, only terrorism, Muslim extremists and free education."
  956. "Free education?"
  957. >"Yes. Muhammad told me like an hour ago."
  958. >Muhammad nods. "Yes, we don't need to pay for learning to work."
  959. >"Alright," The deputy cuts me off. "Back on topic: Do we or do we not suspect a kidnapping here?"
  960. >David licks his lips. "I don't know. Who is shooting at people out there?"
  961. >"Raiders."
  962. >"What's that?"
  963. >I KNOW THIS ONE TOO:
  964. "They like raping people and shooting buckets. They're maximum evil!"
  965. >David looks shocked. "Raping people? What, an entire army of rapists?"
  966. >I shrug.
  967. "I don't know if it's a whole army, but there was one I met today."
  968. >He looks worried. "What did you do? Did he hurt you?"
  969. "I shot him twice and then he rolled down the stairs and died."
  970. >He laughs. "Okay, good job."
  971. >The deputy grunts. "Will you stop getting off topic, please?"
  972.  
  973. >They stay quiet for a moment.
  974. >David finally speaks. "I guess if they are rapists they might take people, but it's only humans. Do ponies like humans?"
  975. >She shrugs. "Those degenerates might try anything at least once."
  976. >David shakes his head with a worried expression, biting his lip.
  977. >She sighs. "Alright, bottom line here is you two no longer pose a threat to each other or any of us here, right?"
  978. >He nods. "Yes, true."
  979. >Muhammad nods too. "We okay now."
  980. >"Alright good." She stomps lightly on the ground. "Are you aware of the damage you two caused during your scuffle?"
  981. >David gasps. "Did we hurt somebody?"
  982. >"No, no, calm down, nopony got hurt. But you did flip a table with items on it, which took an effort to tidy up, you broke a bottle of vodka which is pretty expensive around these parts, and you, of course, got taken to medical after you injured each other, and despite your partial compliance with the guards, you wouldn't stop yelling at each other in front of the patients."
  983. >She taps her chin, looking at the ceiling. "Oh yeah, there's also the price of the two potions you guys consumed. I don't have the paper here, but if I remember correctly it comes to about two hundred and fifty caps all together."
  984. >David blinks. "Two hundred and fifty what? Caps?"
  985. >"YES. CAPS." She glares at him. "How do you two plan on paying back your debt?"
  986. >Muhammad raises a brow. "Wait, wait. Lady."
  987. >She looks at him, pressing her lips.
  988. >"You say it is on us two?"
  989. >"Yes, you commit an offense, you pay the fine."
  990. >Muhammad recoils. "But he attack me, lady!"
  991. >She stomps really loud again. "Watch your tone with me! I'm authority, damnit, and you will address me as such."
  992. >He crosses his arms, shakes his head and puffs. "Please tell me why."
  993. >"It's very simple. Your fight caused damage, you both had to get treatment, and the sum of those goods, services and fines all falls upon both of you. You did it together, you're both in debt."
  994. >"But I was only defending myself, lady!"
  995. >She stomps. "HEY! I said watch your tone, damnit!"
  996. >He takes a step back and swallows.
  997. >Wow, she's really scary when she's mad.
  998. >"You could've defended yourself without breaking a vodka bottle over him, and you could've also just run away and call a guard. It's not the wasteland in here, we have law and order; the guards would've helped you."
  999. >Muhammad puffs and looks away, but says nothing.
  1000. >"The guards had to restrain both of you before you began complying with their requests, and the fact you complied at all is the only reason I can consider letting you go tonight. So that being said, yes, the fine falls on both of you and yes, you have to pay in caps. If you don't have any, ask around town tomorrow on how you can help, or come to me and maybe, if you can handle yourselves out there, I might have a bounty you could hunt."
  1001. >David screws up his face. "Bounty? What is this, the wild west?"
  1002. "But Iran is east."
  1003. >He rolls his eyes. "This is not Iran, but okay. The wild east?"
  1004.  
  1005. >The deputy looks back at me. "What is he asking?"
  1006. "Uh… you don't get it?"
  1007. >"Get what?"
  1008. "Like the wild west, when there were outlaws and cowboys and those pistols with the wheel in the middle."
  1009. >She blinks.
  1010. >It's quiet for a moment and I hear Muhammad lick his lips.
  1011. >Finally David breaks the silence. "Look, it's not important. We're not dangerous, we're not violent, we need to find the other people before the- eh, raiders, right?"
  1012. >She nods.
  1013. >"Well, before the raiders get to them. We will pay our debt, promise. You can let us out now."
  1014. >She looks over at Muhammad. "Yes?"
  1015. >He nods. "Yes, yes. We pay debt."
  1016. >She puffs. "Alright, I'll go get the keys and let you guys out. Report to the Sheriff, Crane, so he can notify the ponies here that you're safe to talk to and you'll be fine. You guys promise not to start shit like that again though, right?"
  1017. >Muhammad raises his hands defensively. "Never, it was all a big mistake."
  1018. >David nods. "I'll be more discriminating before assuming the worst."
  1019. >The lights in my eyes are back:
  1020.  
  1021. -Speak to the humans in the jail. (Done)
  1022. -(Optional) Ask as to why they are arrested. (Skipped)
  1023. -Assist Deputy Crackshot with her investigation. (Done)
  1024. -Report back to Crane.
  1025.  
  1026. >YAY!
  1027. >Deputy Crackshot turns to face me. "Wait here a minute, I'll get the keys and let you all go."
  1028. >I shrug.
  1029. "Okay."
  1030. >She walks out and we stand in silence for a few moments.
  1031. >David narrows his eyes, pointing at my belt. "Is that a pistol?"
  1032. >I look at my gun.
  1033. >It smiles at me.
  1034. >Good gun.
  1035. "Yes. It's my gun."
  1036. >He looks confused. "How did you get that?"
  1037. "I found it in this backpack I'm wearing. It was on the plane, above the seats."
  1038. >His eyes widen. "There was a gun on the plane?"
  1039. >Muhammad's mouth hangs open. "La'a…"
  1040. >David furrows his brow. "Where were you sitting on the plane?"
  1041. "I was near the tail, where the…"
  1042. >C'mon, I know what that part is called!
  1043. "Rudder! Yeah, where the rudder is."
  1044. >David puts his hand on his chin. "Hm, that's not a very good place to hijack the plane from, unless there were more hijackers too."
  1045. >Muhammad licks his lips. "So, they wanted to take the plane? Maybe for money… that is very dangerous trick for terrorists in Iran to try."
  1046. >David takes a deep breath, looking at the ceiling. "Maybe they were planning to crash it all along. Perhaps in Iraq or something, where it is far from cities and military bases and it will be hard to find it."
  1047. >Muhammad scoffs. "Planes have emergency radio. I don't think it would take so long to find it."
  1048. >"Maybe…" David pulls up his phone and touches the screen a little. "Shit. Does any of you have earbuds?"
  1049. "Ooh, I do. But they're my only pair…"
  1050. >"Can I borrow them for a second? I'll give them back, I swear."
  1051. >Why do I open my mouth?
  1052. "Oh fine…"
  1053. >I pull the wires out of my pocket and give them to him through the bars.
  1054. >"Thanks, one moment." He plugs them in and taps his screen a whole bunch.
  1055.  
  1056. >It takes a while.
  1057. >Suddenly he gasps. "Guys, there is an emergency broadcast from the plane." Pressing the earbuds harder into his ear, he continues: "They're saying there was a fire and they had to evacuate. There is no navigation… radio works but they can't reach Irani control tower… I… I think I can hear shooting."
  1058. >Wow, awesome. Gonna need those earbuds back.
  1059. "That's cool, can I have my earbuds back?"
  1060. >He gives me his phone along with the wires. "Listen!"
  1061. "Fine, geez."
  1062. >I put the earbuds in my ears and hold his phone.
  1063. >"This is Achmad Aamer, pilot of Iran Air flight thirty-two, aircraft type Airbus A, three hundred. We are requesting immediate assistance. A-" There's an explosion. "At some point during our flight we encountered an unreported weather pattern consisting of heavy storm clouds. We made the careful decision to fly through it, but when we emerged from the clouds-" He pauses for a moment. "The aircraft suffered a sudden and severe displacement, I can't explain it. One moment we're flying at eighteen thousand, the next the system is screeching 'minimum altitude' as we slam into buildings and crash. At some point during the incident the tail of the plane became separated from the rest of the body of the aircraft. I currently have no knowledge of the state any of passengers that were in that part of the aircraft at the time." He stops for a breath. "When the tail broke off, the transponder went with it. We have no navigation and cannot ascertain our current position. The radio still works but Iranian and Iraqi control towers are not responding. Due to a fire in the left engine, and subsequent explosion, we have begun evacuating the surviving passengers. If anyone is out there hearing this, please make contact with us. You can reach-"
  1064. >There's a bunch of static.
  1065. >I look back at David.
  1066. "There's no shoot-"
  1067. >There's a bunch of popping sounds through the static, and I think can hear screaming.
  1068. >David looks at me intensely. "We have to find out what happen to them."
  1069. >I shrug, disconnecting the earbuds and giving him back his phone.
  1070. "Okay, but first I have to find my luggage, and we have to wait until morning because all the zombie terrorists are out at night."
  1071. >He gives me a dumbfounded look. "What?! What zombie terrorists?"
  1072. >Muhammad laughs. "Zombie? How can zombie be a terrorist?"
  1073. "Hey, stop laughing. It's true, the mean lady told me so!"
  1074. >David laughs. "What mean lady?"
  1075. >Crane walks in. "What are you all laughing about, fellas?"
  1076. >Muhammad points at me. "He think zombies can be terrorist!"
  1077. "Stop, it's not funny!"
  1078. >David laughs even harder.
  1079. >Crane stomps. It's really loud. "Alright, enough of that! My deputy tells me you two made up." He cocks a brow. "Truth?"
  1080. >They exchange a look through the wall again.
  1081. >Muhammad shrugs. "We not enemies, just stupid."
  1082. >David laughs. "It was a misunderstanding. We are not, eh…"
  1083. >"At odds?"
  1084. >"Eh, yes, not at odds."
  1085. >Cranes sighs. "Alright. On account of you not hurting any of my guards when they arrested you and remaining compliant, I take it you can follow the rules… you're not planning to hurt any of my people, are you?"
  1086. >Muhammad raises his hands. "La samah allah, we do not hurt anybody."
  1087. >"We are not a threat, we promise." David reassures.
  1088. >He looks up at me. "What do you think?"
  1089. >I look at David, then at him, then at Muhammad, then at him again.
  1090. "Why are you asking me?"
  1091. >"Well, they are members of your species. I trust your judgment. What do you say, are they good for their word?"
  1092. >I take a moment to consider.
  1093. >According to the news, Hamas always lie about something and Israel never says anything.
  1094. >I shrug.
  1095. "I guess not."
  1096. >They both recoil. "WHAT?!"
  1097. >"Habibi we just made up in front of you-"
  1098. >"Why would you say that, when did either of us lie about anyting?"
  1099. "Because on the news they said Hamas always omit something and that Israel never says anything."
  1100. >They do that thing where they look exactly at each other through the wall AGAIN. How are they doing that?
  1101. >"I AM NOT HAMAS!"
  1102. >"WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH US?"
  1103. >Crane looks up at me. "What is this about… what?"
  1104. "They come from the middle-east where they fight wars with each other all the time."
  1105. >He looks surprised. "So what you're saying is, we are witnessing a very rare occurrence where sworn enemies are making peace?"
  1106. >I raise my hands, I dunno.
  1107. >He blinks at them. "You two aren't going to fight or argue?"
  1108. >"La'a."
  1109. >"No, really we're not."
  1110. >He looks at me again. "They sound genuine to me, sure you can't trust them?"
  1111. "No, I'm not sure about it. I heard it on the news, nothing they say is true."
  1112. >He blinks at me. "Then why did you…?"
  1113. "What?"
  1114. >He puffs. "Nevermind, I'm letting them out."
  1115. >He opens their gates, they come out, stand close and look each other in the eyes.
  1116. >Tense silence.
  1117. >Crane looks at them. "Uh… what are you-"
  1118. >David extends a hand and Muhammad shakes it.
  1119. >"Whoa- STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
  1120. >They both recoil, so do I.
  1121. >David puts a hand on his chest. "Relax sheriff, what's wrong?"
  1122. >Muhammad backs away. "What, you see bomb or something?"
  1123. >"NO! Why are you… touching your…" He waves a leg trying to find the word. "things?"
  1124. >"We just shake hands. Humans do that when they agree on things."
  1125. >"That's…" He shakes his leg. "lewd!"
  1126. "What? They still got their pants on and everything, what are you talking about?"
  1127. >He shakes his head. "Look, whatever. Don't do that in front of me anymore, please."
  1128. >They shrug.
  1129. > Crane clears his throat. "What are the three of you doing next?"
  1130. >David taps his chin. "Eh… we need to find our people." He suddenly perks up. "Do you know anything about zombies?"
  1131. >Crane runs a leg across his mane. "Uh… you mean the ghouls? Yeah, they are everywhere at this hour. I don't recommend leaving town until sunrise."
  1132.  
  1133. >Muhammad blinks. "Zombie? Real zombie? Like in The Walking Dead?"
  1134. >Crane furrows his brow in confusion. "Walking? No, they run and charge at you in groups. I really don't recommend going out tonight, at least not through gates two and four."
  1135. >Muhammad and David exchange thoughtful looks for a moment.
  1136. >David speaks. "How dangerous are the gools?"
  1137. >"They're fast, savage and pretty strong. You're all quite small compared to most ghouls, and I understand the only one of you who has a gun is this guy." He points at me with his nose. "So I'd say they are very dangerous."
  1138. >David sighs with a nervous expression. "Anything else? Is there any way to…" He pauses to find a word.
  1139. >"Avoid?" Muhammad tries.
  1140. >"Yes. Is there any way to avoid them?"
  1141. >He shrugs. "The ghouls around here glow in the dark. If you see them from a distance, just don't walk toward them. The problem is that they are everywhere: under rubble, in the ruins, underground, really you're going to have to check every corner twice if you don't want to get caught."
  1142. >David nods, holding his chin and sighing nervously again.
  1143. >Muhammad looks at him. "We need weapons."
  1144. >"Yes, yes. We could get hit by the ghouls, and it won't be good if we can't defend ourselves."
  1145. >I sigh. Why am I even here? What am I doing? I should be going back to the plane now to get my laptop so I can play some counter-strike and listen to music, not standing here watching them talk.
  1146. >Wait.
  1147. >I look at my watch again:
  1148.  
  1149. HAD'I VE SHALOM
  1150.  
  1151. ….
  1152. -Report back to Crane.
  1153.  
  1154. "Hey Crane."
  1155. >They all turn to me.
  1156. "I uh… I did what you asked."
  1157. >"Oh, right. I suppose I owe you one. Uh…" He looks at the ground thoughtfully.
  1158. >David makes a confused face. "You guys had some agreement?"
  1159. "Yes. Crane asked me to make you shut up."
  1160. >They exchange a look, but say nothing.
  1161. "So am I good now?"
  1162. >"Uh, yeah, sure!" His eyes dart a bit. "You're very good. I suppose you want a reward, right?"
  1163. >Not really.
  1164. "Honestly, I just want my clothes and laptop back."
  1165. >He frowns in confusion. "Did we take that from you?"
  1166. "No, I forgot them on the plane."
  1167. >"The what?"
  1168. >Muhammad and David both grunt. "The flying machine that brought us here."
  1169. >Crane looks even more confused. "Flying machine?"
  1170. >David takes a deep breath and puffs. "Look, there is no time to explain. People might be in serious danger right now, we need to help them."
  1171. >"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you fella, but if you head out there right now you won't be helping no one no more."
  1172. >Muhammad scoffs. "We need weapons. If we have weapons we can help them."
  1173. >His eyes dart between the two of them. "If you're that confident…"
  1174. >He looks at me. "We have some confiscated weapons downstairs. Since you helped us out, I could let a few slip."
  1175. "Um…"
  1176. >Muhammad and David look at me, expectantly.
  1177. "I already have…"
  1178. >They widen their eyes.
  1179. "We could use…"
  1180. >David nods rapidly at me.
  1181. >"Stop." Crane looks at them. "What are you two doing?"
  1182. >"N- nothing."
  1183.  
  1184. >David walks in a circle. Muhammad just looks away and shifts his stance.
  1185. >Crane looks back to me. "Do you prefer just caps instead?"
  1186. "Ew, no, that's trash."
  1187. >He scoffs. "Never heard someone call money trash."
  1188. >David gets a face of realization. "Ah… that's why we have to pay with caps, you use them as money here."
  1189. >He tilts his head at him. "You really did fall out of the sky, didn't you? And I thought the only ones up there were the pegasi."
  1190. >David shrugs and Crane looks back at me. "Well, caps or guns, your choice."
  1191. "Guns."
  1192. >"This way then, please."
  1193. >He walks out of the room with the three of us in tow and opens a door to a narrow and tight stairwell.
  1194. >We enter and start going down the stairs. The walls are concrete with dim bulbs illuminating every flight. The air is heavy, and it's cold and dark.
  1195. >Muhammad chuckles. "This remind me of A'za."
  1196. >David asks "The tunnels?"
  1197. >"Na'am, they look like this."
  1198. >Their voices reverberate up and down the tight space.
  1199. >I hate this. I want out!
  1200. >Finally Crane opens a door and we follow him out of there and into another corridor, this one stretching left and right.
  1201. >He waits for all of us to step out of the stairwell before walking down the left side. "This way."
  1202. >As we walk along I notice the corridor is curvy. It's always turning a little to the right.
  1203. >He stops in front of a door and sits down, reaching for a chain of keys on his belt. He takes it in his mouth (gross) and then drops it into his…
  1204. "Are those… hooves?"
  1205. >He looks at me, confused. "Yes. I'm a pony, we have those. Are you okay?"
  1206. "Y- yes, nevermind."
  1207. >He has big hooves.
  1208. >I turn to look at Muhammad and David. They are discussing something, but I'm too far to hear.
  1209. >Walk closer.
  1210. "What are you guys talking about?"
  1211. >David gestures with his hands. "The corridor curves, did you notice?"
  1212. "Yes."
  1213. >Muhammad also gestures. "They build like this so it's like the…"
  1214. "Sinkhole?"
  1215. >"Yes, yes."
  1216. "Wait, that's all you were talking about?"
  1217. >"Eh, no." David scratches his hair. "We talk about the tunnels in A'za. It look a little similar."
  1218. >"C'mon, colts." Crane opens the door.
  1219. >We walk into a small room. Shelves line the walls with boxes and strange guns sitting everywhere.
  1220. >Crane sits near the doorway. "Pick what you want, but I'm only giving it to you when you leave."
  1221. >David and Muhammad both start picking through boxes and checking the guns on the shelves.
  1222. >Look around for something interesting.
  1223. >There's a blue cardboard box with a bunch of metal rings sticking out of it.
  1224. >Pick it up.
  1225. >It's a bunch of stun grenades like the ones we used in the SWAT course. There's a label:
  1226. Decoy – The latest in civilian grade military technology!
  1227. >There are illustrations with pink ponies and green ponies. The pink ones are startling or laughing at the green one. There is also one where the green one is putting his leg through one pink one.
  1228. "Hey, Crane?"
  1229. >He looks at me and tilts his head.
  1230. "Are these flashbangs?"
  1231. >"No. They are magic grenades that- uh… maybe grenade isn't the right term."
  1232. >David gasps. "Muhammad, look!" He passes him a couple of Molotov cocktails.
  1233. >He smiles and takes them. "Ah~ la'tif."
  1234. >Crane clears his throat. "They make it look like you're standing where they landed. The guy that had them didn't last very long, because it stopped fooling us when he moved and they didn't."
  1235. "So like the decoy in those FPS games?"
  1236. >"What?"
  1237. >David rummages through another box. "Akhi, he doesn't know what video games are."
  1238. "Oh, right. Can I have these?"
  1239. >"Sure, but don't throw any inside the town." He mumbles something more but I don't hear it.
  1240. "Great, thanks."
  1241. >Muhammad grabs something from between the shelf and the wall. "Heh, look at this."
  1242. >It's a machete the length of my forearm.
  1243. >David frowns a little. "I don't know, you're going to get a lot of blood on you using that."
  1244. >Muhammad raises a finger. "Ah. My problem, not yours."
  1245. >David shrugs and looks at Crane. "We can't use any of these guns. Do you have any grenades?"
  1246. >"If it's not in there, we don't have it."
  1247. >David licks his lips and looks through more boxes.
  1248. >Muhammad grabs a couple of cans with wires sticking out their tops. "These are mine, I make this."
  1249. >Crane sighs. "You can have them when you leave town."
  1250. >He nods. "Okay."
  1251. >"Oh finally." David pulls out a… a metal apple? "This is a grenade, right?"
  1252. >Crane nods. "Careful with that."
  1253. >"Okay, I take this when we leave."
  1254. >I look around some more. There is a big box-looking thing with side-bits like the guns from before.
  1255. "What is that?"
  1256. >Crane looks at the big rectangle with the side bits. "That's a magic weapon. You can't have that."
  1257. >I snort.
  1258. "Magic weapon?"
  1259. >He cocks a brow. "Yes, magic. What's funny about it?"
  1260. >Lol
  1261. "Magic isn't real, man."
  1262. >He looks at me absolutely stunned.
  1263. >Muhammad and David both stop and look at us, then each other.
  1264. >Crane breathes in. "What do you mean 'magic isn't real'?"
  1265. >I laugh again. I can't believe this guy still believes in magic, he sounds way older than me.
  1266. "Dude, there's no such thing as real magic, it's all illusions and tricks."
  1267. >He looks at me like I'm stupid. Muhammad and David both look concerned for some reason.
  1268. "Guys, what’s wrong?"
  1269. >David licks his lips. "Magic would actually make a lot of sense right now. It would explain how we got here, at least."
  1270. >Muhammad scratches his hair. "But he is right, there is no magic."
  1271. >He points at crane. "Are there ponies that look like that and talk English?"
  1272. >Muhammad looks at Crane and then back at David. "You right, this is very strange."
  1273. >Crane exhales. "I think you took more than enough from here. C'mon, get out."
  1274. >We walk out and he grabs a big sack from the corner of the room before he closes the door and locks it.
  1275. >He opens the sack. "Put all the items in here, please."
  1276. >Muhammad goes first. He puts the molotovs, cans and machete into the bag.
  1277. >David carefully puts the metal apple inside.
  1278. >I put the box with the decoys in it last.
  1279.  
  1280. >Crane ties it closed and puts it on his back. "Alright, out we go."
  1281.  
  1282. …
  1283. -Report back to Crane. (Done)
  1284. -Pick up your reward when you leave town.
  1285.  
  1286. >We go back to the stairs and climb in silence.
  1287. >Get back to the corridor I entered earlier, the big blue door is still closed.
  1288. >We walk past the bulkhead and Crane stops and turns to us. "Alright, before I can decide what to do with this equipment I need to know when you are leaving. Are you planning to stay here the night?"
  1289. >We all exchange looks.
  1290. >David adjusts his glasses. "It's better not to waste any time. Besides, if we go now, maybe we don't get shot at."
  1291. "But there are zombies outside. I don't like zombies."
  1292. >Muhammad chuckles. "I am not afraid of zombie ponies. We kill them, and they will not attack anybody ever again."
  1293. >David shakes his head. "We should avoid them. If they glow in the dark like he says then we can see them before they see us. We don't get that advantage against the raiders."
  1294. >Crane puffs. "Hurry up fellas. I have to relieve my deputy from holding my post."
  1295. >David looks at Muhammad. "What do you say? We go now?"
  1296. >"Yes, we don't need to wait."
  1297. >He turns to me. "You with us? We need you, y'know."
  1298. >I feel nervous, but I don't want them to think I'm a coward.
  1299. "Okay, but we have to come back here. Tomorrow I'm getting my new gun."
  1300. >They exchange a look. "Fine, we come back."
  1301. >Crane perks up like he just remembered something important. "Oh I forgot to mention your debt."
  1302. >Muhammad stops him. "We know, we pay."
  1303. >"No, not that. I mean how it works."
  1304. >David raises a brow.
  1305. >"While you're in debt to the town, all goods and services are suspended. That INCLUDES medical services. So if you get injured out there, make sure you crawl back with enough caps to wipe the debt AND cover the cost of treatment."
  1306. >David sighs and turns to us. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find something on the plane they will want to buy from us."
  1307. >Muhammad chuckles. "We do like in the suq with the ponies?"
  1308. "Sook?"
  1309. >David nods. "Like the market, yes. We eh… barter with them." He turns to Crane. "We can still sell things, right?"
  1310. >Crane nods. "Sure, that's one way to make caps. I'd prefer if you stayed the night and helped us out in the morning, but I understand you want to help your people."
  1311. "Helped you out with what?"
  1312. >"The debuty also say we can help to pay debt." Muhammad tilts his head. "What help do you need?"
  1313. >"Oh there's plenty. Fastening the bolts of the turret mounts on the wall, painting the winch wheel so it doesn't rust, disposing of waste, uh..."
  1314. >All of that sounds boring. I don't like boring stuff.
  1315. >David puffs. "All of that sounds like things you can do by yourself, why would you need humans to do it?"
  1316. >"Oh, we don't NEED humans. But it will take a load off somepony else and help you pay your debt."
  1317. >They exchange a look. "We will try and bring something to sell."
  1318.  
  1319. >Crane shakes his head. "Alright, have it your way. If you're going out, I recommend gate three. It gets the least activity and you can avoid the neck of the ruins from there."
  1320. >David nods. "That's where we are going then." He turns to me. "Do you have any water, food maybe?"
  1321. >I take off my pack. There are four water bottles, a bottle of wine, four dinner trays and a bunch of snack bars.
  1322. "It's just airplane food."
  1323. >"Better than nothing." He pulls out two bottles and gives one to Muhammad. "Drink, we are going to run in a bit."
  1324. >Oh, this like when I was in the course.
  1325. >The voice of my instructor reverberates in my head. "You have to do what I say, it's important."
  1326. >I guess David is the new instructor now.
  1327. >They both drink, so I pull out a bottle and do the same. Once we're done we put the bottles back in the pack and David pulls out a snack bar for each of us. "This is for energy now. Save the rest for later."
  1328. >I shrug and zip the bag shut, opening the granola bar and taking a bite.
  1329. >David stretches his neck. "Alright, let's go to the gate."
  1330. >Crane nods and we finally emerge from the station. The air feels cold against my face.
  1331. >Muhammad crosses his arms. "Brr, we need to find jackets too."
  1332. >David shivers. "On the plane."
  1333. >Thank Smoke for this jacket. It's a bit uncomfortable, but at least it's warm.
  1334. >We walk on the bridges again. It's not fun.
  1335. >We arrive at a huge metal gate like the one we came in from. It's built into the wall that extends all around the sinkhole, which is very tall.
  1336. >"Here we are folks. You can take the bag now, but don't open it until you are outside, okay?"
  1337. >Muhammad nods and takes the sack with the equipment of off Crane's back.
  1338.  
  1339. -Pick up your reward when you leave town. (Done)
  1340.  
  1341. >"Wait here a second, I'll get the gate open for ya." There's a set of stairs like in gate 4. He walks up into a booth and a few moments later there's a loud grumbling of machinery. Huge, metal wheels up above slowly start spinning, pulling the gate open with a tremendous screech of metal on metal.
  1342. >Beyond the boundary of the gate, the floodlights only illuminate so far into the night. We can see the asphalt of a road bordered on both sides with very tall mounds of rubble, some of which spills down on to the road itself. The darkness beyond the light is so black it looks unreal; almost as if it was a painted curtain instead of real darkness.
  1343. >Crane comes out of the booth. "Good luck fellas! Don't get eaten!"
  1344. >Muhammad chuckles and walks out.
  1345. >David looks at Crane, scoffs and nods before following Muhammad.
  1346. >I look outside.
  1347. >TERRORMETER.ogg
  1348. >I don't wanna go, actually. Maybe this can wait until tomorrow.
  1349. >Crane frowns. "Well? We can't keep it open forever. Go!"
  1350. "Fine I'm going, sheesh."
  1351. >The gate begins closing behind us as we stand outside the walls of The Sink, their floodlights insufficient to stave off the suffocating darkness.
  1352. >I look into the dark. It feels like it's looking back, waiting to surround us, to drown us in its impenetrable depths where even the brightest lights can only cast the faintest glow.
  1353. >I look back as the gate finally lands shut with a thunderous slam and the roar of machinery stops. The number 3 is painted in white on the wall.
  1354.  
  1355. Quest Completed: HAD'I VE SHALOM
  1356.  
  1357. Footnotes:
  1358. Level Up!
  1359. Guns increased to 15
  1360. New Perk Added:
  1361. Panic Attack!
  1362. You're not good at reacting to sudden threats, but at least luck is on your side. When taken by surprise, all your attacks become criticals for a short duration.
  1363. -----------------------------------------
  1364. Muhammad has joined your party:
  1365. S 8
  1366. P 5
  1367. E 7
  1368. C 5
  1369. I 5
  1370. A 5
  1371. L 5
  1372.  
  1373. Traits
  1374. Heavy Handed
  1375. Melee attacks do more damage, but less critical damage.
  1376. Built to Destroy
  1377. +3% Crit. Chance with all weapons. Weapons degrade 15% faster.
  1378.  
  1379. Perks
  1380. Demolitions Expert
  1381. Mad Bomber
  1382. Jury Rigging
  1383. Heave Ho!
  1384.  
  1385. Skills
  1386. Melee Weapons
  1387. Explosives
  1388. Repair
  1389. -----------------------------------------
  1390. David has joined your party:
  1391. S 6
  1392. P 6
  1393. E 5
  1394. C 5
  1395. I 6
  1396. A 8
  1397. L 4
  1398.  
  1399. Traits
  1400. Four Eyes
  1401. When wearing eyewear: +1 PER, when not wearing eyewear: -1 PER.
  1402. Trigger Discipline
  1403. Ranged weapons are 20% more accurate but fire 20% slower.
  1404.  
  1405. Perks
  1406. Iron Fist
  1407. Travel Light
  1408. Commando
  1409. Medic
  1410.  
  1411. Skills
  1412. Guns
  1413. Medicine
  1414. Unarmed
  1415. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ END PROLOGUE  
  1416.  
  1417. CHAPTER ONE: FIRST NIGHT
  1418. "What an amazing, unforgettable experience, which- I wish I never had."
  1419.  
  1420. >I'm scared.
  1421. >"Here is what we do." David starts through chattering teeth. "First we need to get a sense of direction. I know the gate we came in through is that way." He points to the pile of rubble on my left. "So the tail of the plane has to be that way as well. It's just a matter of finding it."
  1422. >I look at the rubble.
  1423. N-----NE---------E---------SE-----S
  1424. "So, east of here?"
  1425. >David pulls up his phone, tapping the screen a few times. "Ke, east. We go all the way to the end of this street until we stop seeing so much rubble and buildings, then go east and then north."
  1426. >The way he says north makes me chuckle. It's like there's something in his throat: 'noRRRth'.
  1427. >Muhammad puts down the sack, opening it and digging around. "How do we know how far to go?"
  1428. >"We'll have to guess, but I'm sure the crash left signs like destroyed buildings and such…" He scratches his head. "Man, I wish we had a map."
  1429. >Didn't my watch have a map?
  1430.  
  1431. DATA------------------22:14
  1432. World Map
  1433.  
  1434. >The sink is massive, taking up half the screen.
  1435. >Muhammad takes out the machete and molotovs. "We also need more bags."
  1436. >Mess around with it for a bit. Manage to zoom out.
  1437. >There's a little square icon, and a big square reticle-looking thing that follows wherever I point my eyes like those eye-tracker gizmos.
  1438. >I look at the little square and a label pops under it:
  1439. The Sink
  1440. >Zoom out some more and scroll to the right. There's another icon.
  1441. Plane Rudder
  1442. "Hey, I think I found it."
  1443. >Muhammad holsters the machete on his belt. "Shoo?"
  1444. "Look, here."
  1445. >They come around to look at my screen.
  1446. >David leans over my shoulder. "Is that a map?"
  1447. "Yep. This fancy watch has a Google maps app. No street-view® though."
  1448. >David looks at it confused for a moment. "Where did you find it?"
  1449. "It was taking a nap on some terrorist's bed."
  1450. >"What terrorist?"
  1451. "The hummus raiders."
  1452. >David breaks into laughter and falls to the ground.
  1453. "What, I'm serious!"
  1454. >He keeps laughing. "Oh! Shodedei HaKhummus!"
  1455. >Muhammad chuckles behind me. "Habibi, let me put this in the bag one moment." He opens my backpack and puts some stuff in it, then zips it closed.
  1456. "What did you put in there?"
  1457. >"The bottles, we don't have fire to light them with."
  1458. "Oh, right."
  1459. >He crouches down and pulls more stuff out of the sack.
  1460. >David finally composes himself and gets up. "Hey, did you find any hummus while you were there?"
  1461. "Um… I didn't think to look. They had hostages and they were going to rape and murder them too, so I had to find some keys and get them out of there."
  1462. >David looks impressed. "You saved hostages? Walla, what are you, a soldier or something?"
  1463. "I wish, but no. The recruiters said I can't serve in combat roles because of my disability."
  1464. >David raises a brow. "What disability?"
  1465. >I sigh heavily, I hate talking about this.
  1466. >Muhammad pulls out the cans with the wires on the top. "These have um… shathaya inside, they explode and shoot it everywhere."
  1467. >David looks at him. "So, like grenades basically?"
  1468. >Muhammad nods. "Not so bad, but very dangerous."
  1469. >He walks up to me, and puts them in the side pockets of my backpack. "Here, we can use them quickly if we must."
  1470. >Finally he gets the metal apple and the cardboard box with the decoys. He tosses the grenade to David and the box to me before discarding the sack.
  1471. >There are only six decoys in here. "Umm… do you guys want to share these?"
  1472. >David puts the grenade in his pocket. "Sure, two for each?"
  1473. >Muhammad raises a brow. "What are they, like qunbula'ton sawti'a?"
  1474. "What?"
  1475. >David shows him one of the decoys. "These make like an illusion of someone standing where they land."
  1476. >"Ah, they make iilha..." He nods. "Yes okay, give here."
  1477. >I give each of them two and strap the remaining pair to my belt before tossing the box behind me. It lands on the rubble with a funny noise.
  1478. >Some popping sounds in the distance grab our attention.
  1479. >Muhammad puffs. "It sounds like they are shooting."
  1480. >David nods. "We can avoid them. Let me see the map."
  1481. >We look at my watch again.
  1482. "I guess we should go south, past the mountains of rubble here, and then go up this zigzag looking street to the east."
  1483.  
  1484. >David licks his lips. "I don't know, that looks like a place you could have a base in."
  1485. >I raise a brow.
  1486. "What?"
  1487. >He points at the center of the zigzag pattern, where there's a small rectangle between the streets. "Right here, it's a defensible place with a lot of cover and bottlenecks. I think raiders have a base there."
  1488. "Oh… you're smart."
  1489. >He looks at the map some more. "I say we make an ykuph, go around it. Open area isn't great, but it's better than getting stuck in there."
  1490. >I scroll a bit further down.
  1491. >"Here, that's where we go." He points at a wide street further south.
  1492. "The main street?"
  1493. >"Yes. They will not see us in this darkness if we don't make noise."
  1494. >Muhammad looks at the darkness ahead. "If they are shooting, they can see."
  1495. >David nods. "We can stay out of their lights and avoid them if we hear them. Besides, they could be shooting those zombies that glow in the dark."
  1496. >Muhammad nods. "Sih, I forgot."
  1497. >David rubs his hands together and blows on them. "Right, we all ready?"
  1498. "I guess so."
  1499. >"Nam, hayaa bina. We should find it fast and get back before sabah."
  1500. "Who?"
  1501. >David chuckles. "He means 'before morning'. Yalla, let's go."
  1502. >We start walking towards the darkness. It looks like it's… undulating. Like a living thing.
  1503. "That darkness looks really funky."
  1504. >David turns his head to me. "Sometimes when we were training at night, there was a lot of fog. It looks like this in winter sometimes."
  1505. "Oh, so this is normal?"
  1506. >As we reach the end of where the floodlights illuminate, David taps the screen of his phone and turns its light on. "Yep."
  1507. >Muhammad pulls out his phone and does the same.
  1508. >Their lights only shine a short distance ahead. The pavement is filled with cracks, holes and all manner of debris.
  1509. >David shines his light on one chunk of concrete along my path. "Careful from this."
  1510. >I sidestep it and pull out my phone.
  1511. Battery low – Turn On Power Saving Mode
  1512. >I grunt.
  1513. "C'mon, of all the times I could run out of battery it has to be NOW?"
  1514. >Muhammad lights my path with his phone. "Don't worry, you are with us."
  1515. "Oh cool, thanks."
  1516. >We proceed walking close to each other for a short while.
  1517. >Occasionally one of them shivers. The cold is starting to get to me too, despite the jacket.
  1518. >It's cold and dark and I'm scared.
  1519. >Cold + Scared = need to pee
  1520. >Good thing I already peed.
  1521. >The puppy face is back in the corner of my vision.
  1522. :< Turn on your Pip-buck light
  1523. "What?"
  1524. >David turns to me. "What, did you hear something?"
  1525. "No, this puppy face is telling me to turn on my Pip-buck light."
  1526. >David is visibly confused. I can tell because Muhammad is shining his light on him.
  1527. >"Muhammad, you're blinding me."
  1528. >"Asaf." He turns his light away.
  1529. >David walks closer to me. "What is a pip-buck?"
  1530. "I dunno, the watch maybe?"
  1531. >I raise the watch and look at it. Under the light of David's phone I can see an inscription in bold yellow letters at the top left of the device:
  1532. Pip-Buck 3000
  1533. "This thing has a light? How do I turn it on?"
  1534.  
  1535. >The puppy face is back
  1536. :D Hold down any of the menu buttons.
  1537. >Press and hold STS.
  1538. >Immediately regret it as the screen lights up brighter than a spotlight, blinding all three of us simultaneously.
  1539. >I recoil and point it forwards.
  1540. >Muhammad looks over my shoulder. "Walla, you have a light now."
  1541. "Yeah, too bad I'm blinded and can't see."
  1542. >David holds my shoulder. "It's alright, I'll help you until it passes."
  1543. "Oh, cool."
  1544. >We walk for a little while, David pushes or pulls me around obstacles for a bit before my sight goes back to normal.
  1545. "All better now."
  1546. >He releases my shoulder. "Good. See if there is something you can do about the brightness. This could give us away."
  1547. >The puppy is back.
  1548. :< Adjust the Light brightness with the scroll wheel.
  1549. >I scroll down and the brightness reduces accordingly. I keep going until it's about the same as their phones.
  1550. "There we go."
  1551. >Muhammad chuckles. "I should find me one like that."
  1552. >"Yeah, me too. It's way better than the G-Shock I had in the army."
  1553. >I gasp.
  1554. "You were in the army?"
  1555. >He nods. "I did my service, it's mandatory."
  1556. >"Were you in a combat unit?"
  1557. >He chuckles. "Yeah, Giva'ty."
  1558. >Holy Shit! He was a soldier! A real soldier!
  1559. "Dude that's awesome! What did you do?"
  1560. >"I was a combat medic, but we never did any real combat. It was mostly switching lines, patrols, training and sometimes standing next to a tank or the Iron Dome and pretending to be doing something important."
  1561. >Muhammad scoffs. "That's a lie. Your army is always doing something."
  1562. >David turns to him. "That doesn’t mean all of us are a part of it. It's usually the special forces or the air force doing stuff to prevent terrorists like the Islamic Jihad or Hamas from tunneling into Ashdod."
  1563. >"So you did nothing?" He asks, incredulous.
  1564. >"I did a lot of training. I know how treat bullet wounds, shock, broken bones and concussions."
  1565. "Heh, that would've been useful a while ago."
  1566. >They ignore me. "You also know how to shoot, I bet."
  1567. >"Yes, obviously that too. You can't be a combat medic if you can't shoot." He turns away, but then snaps back and adds: "Also I had the shortest rifle in my squad."
  1568. >Muhammad blinks. "What does it matter?"
  1569. >"Eh… nevermind."
  1570. >Muhammad continues. "I still don't understand how you can kill civilians like that."
  1571. >David puffs. "No one is targeting the civilians, Muhammad. You saw it yourself, Hamas operate from the buildings, from houses, from tunnels dug under A'za's streets. They start launching rockets on our cities, our civilians, and they even shoot at innocent people with machineguns from across the fence! Of course we have to do something about it."
  1572. >"But you kill two-hundred civilians!"
  1573. >"And if we didn't have the Iron Dome, how many would you have killed? You ever think about that? You launched more than two-thousand rockets!"
  1574. >Oh my god, not this again.
  1575. >"Alright, I understand, you do self-defense, fine. But why with bombs? Why aren't soldiers coming in to deal with Hamas, why do you have to use bombs that kill so many people?"
  1576.  
  1577. >David runs a hand along his hair. "Last time we used soldiers and just as many people died. Besides, Hamas use civilians to bomb soldiers and tanks, and they send kids out to throw grenades at our task force. How are we supposed to deal with that? Shoot the kids? We can't do that, no one is going to put a kid al ha kavenet and pull the trigger."
  1578. >I shiver, but I don't know if it's from the thought of shooting children who throw grenades or just the cold.
  1579. >"Ah, so from the plane it's easy, you don't have to look at the kid when you kill him."
  1580. >Decide I don't want to hear all this shit and put on my earbuds.
  1581. >"We give an order to evacuate in advance. We call them a hundred times asking them to please leave their homes because Hamas targets are there and we need to bomb the building. We even drop warning shells a few minutes before the bombs to scare them out."
  1582. >Start looking for music to listen to. I still need to hear my surroundings, so I look for something quiet.
  1583. >David looks at Muhammad in the eyes. "Civilians are always warned. If they don't evacuate it’s either because they don't want to, or Hamas is holding them hostage so they can use their deaths for PR."
  1584. >Muhammad straightens up and swallows. "Fine, if you say. But I still think you can do this better."
  1585. >"This is the best we can, Muhammad. Last time we went in on foot, we had twice the amount of casualties."
  1586. >I listen to their argument as I sift through my 2,000 songs to find something fitting.
  1587. >"For fifty days! You killed all the civilians that you killed in fifty days last time, in only ten days!"
  1588. >David's expression turns somber and he sighs. "They should have evacuated. Also, maybe try to stop Hamas from using Hisballah tactics on their own civilians."
  1589. >"Khisb Allah?"
  1590. >"Yeah, those assholes. They did the same thing in Leva'non, forcing civilians to stay in their houses while hiding their weapons and bombs in the buildings."
  1591. >That sounds a like typical S.W.A.T job.
  1592. "Wait, why not just clear the buildings instead of bombing them?"
  1593. >"We tried, but they blow the building up with the civilians inside after our soldiers go in. Then they go to the media and say 'the IDF blows up civilians for absolutely no reason'."
  1594. >Muhammad bites his lip. "But you do that."
  1595. >David grunts. "Not in that instance. Besides, we always have a reason. There are terrorists hiding among them and we need to remove the threat. The civilians are NEVER the target."
  1596. >There's a loud as fuck growl in the distance. Sounds like a dinosaur.
  1597. >We freeze.
  1598. >I feel like my bowls just dropped something.
  1599. "What the fuck man?"
  1600. >That comes out way more shaky than I intend.
  1601. >Suddenly there's a lot of popping sounds, distant gunfire. The growl comes back again.
  1602. >We stand still for a short while, the shooting stops.
  1603. >There's another growl.
  1604.  
  1605. >We stand in silence for a long moment. It's so quiet I can hear the darkness moving around me as its tendrils dart through the feint light of our phones and my watch.
  1606. >"Shit…" David exhales. "I hope whoever was shooting were raiders, and whatever was making that noise isn't hungry anymore."
  1607. >"Allah yasmaeuk, habibi."
  1608. >David takes a deep breath. "We should stop making so much noise and just focus on the mission. When we come back to the town we can argue all we want."
  1609. >Muhammad gulps. "Yes, I agree."
  1610. >We slowly resume our walk.
  1611. >Finally find something to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-gbsL_t1cM
  1612. >It's bleak but fitting, and quiet enough that I can hear my own footsteps.
  1613. >We pass the end of the rubble piles outside the gates. To our sides are the husks of buildings, and there's less dust and rubble on the street here.
  1614. >David shines his light on one of those weird cars. "What's dis?"
  1615. >Muhammad looks too. "Ea'rabaton?"
  1616. >I look at it too, why not.
  1617. >Notice the front has two beams with a harness that can be attached to something to drag it.
  1618. "Oh, it's like a wagon."
  1619. >David tilts his head. "Makes sense, they are ponies, they use wagons. But why is it so big and made of metal?"
  1620. >Muhammad walks closer to it. "Does it have engine inside?"
  1621. >He crouches down near its side and looks under it. "Wall'a, there is machine parts here."
  1622. >I feel a surge run up my spine.
  1623. "Why are we looking at this thing? Shouldn't we be going before that monster gets us?"
  1624. >David licks his lips. "He is right Muhammad, we need to move."
  1625. >He gets up and walks around the back of the wagon. "One second."
  1626. >We each raise a brow.
  1627. >He pops the back open and we walk around to see what he's doing.
  1628. >Messing around with some wires and tubes, he rips out a few rectangular components and a set of wires.
  1629. >David crosses his arms. "What are you doing?"
  1630. >"We can make fire with this." He holds the wires against the top of one of the rectangles and touches them to each other, unleashing a small shower of sparks.
  1631. "Oh, cool!"
  1632. >"Nice, we could keep that for later."
  1633. >"Yes, here." He gives David a couple of wires and a small pink rectangle, which I assume is some kind of battery. I mean, it'd have to be a battery if it's attached to cables, right?
  1634. >He gives me one as well, along with a short pair of wires. "Here, take. We can make them better later, so we don't have to touch the wires."
  1635. >I pocket the battery and cables and we continue our walk down the road.
  1636. E-----SE---------S---------SW-----W
  1637. >David stops me. "Where are we on the map?"
  1638. >Pull up watch.
  1639. >Get blinded.
  1640. >Press DAT.
  1641.  
  1642. DATA------------------22:22
  1643.  
  1644. World Map
  1645.  
  1646. >We are a bit before the turn into the zigzag street.
  1647. >David quietly calls out. "Muhammad, stop one second."
  1648. >He stops.
  1649. >"We need to stay hidden and quiet. Lower the brightness of your lights as much as possible and sneak forward. Stay close together and don't make noise, okay?"
  1650. >Ooh stealthy!
  1651. "You got it."
  1652.  
  1653. >Muhammad nods, tapping the screen of his phone to reduce the brightness.
  1654. >Scroll down. Nothing happens.
  1655. "I think my pip-buck light is as dim as it gets."
  1656. >"Den turn it off, I'll light your way."
  1657. "Alright."
  1658. >I hold a button and the light goes out.
  1659. >David starts walking forward slowly and quietly, and we follow in the same manner.
  1660. >The bits of rubble crunch under our feet as we advance, and it takes effort to mitigate the noise, slowing us down.
  1661. >David stops me, and Muhammad behind me stops too upon noticing. "Shhh… listen."
  1662. >We hold still for a bit.
  1663. >Some guy in the distance is shouting. "Oh, yeah! Like that, bitch?"
  1664. >There's a response. "Yeah, harder!"
  1665. >I know those sounds, those are sex sounds!
  1666. "Lewd."
  1667. >"Those are probably raiders. If those two are busy, there are probably guards around. Don't make any noise and let's keep moving."
  1668. >We continue, walking carefully on the rubble and past more rusted car-wagons.
  1669. >I can hear moaning.
  1670. >David whispers again. "I hope she doesn't stop yelling until we are out of range."
  1671. "What? Bro, that's gross."
  1672. >He turns to me. "No, dummy, because it helps us get an idea of how far we are."
  1673. "Oh…"
  1674. >He sure makes me feel stupid sometimes-
  1675. >Suddenly I hear a rock tumble as he trips.
  1676. >He hisses. "Shit, Get behind this wagon."
  1677. >We crouch beside a wagon that's nearby.
  1678. >No talking, no movement, no sound (except sex noises).
  1679. >David peeks over the wagon, then quietly sighs in relief. "Let's keep moving, stay low."
  1680. >We continue our advance, but this time crouched.
  1681. >Muhammad puffs. "Da-vid this is not very easy in jeans you know."
  1682. >David nods.
  1683. >We sneak between another pair of wagons as the sound gets more distant.
  1684. >My thighs are burning.
  1685. >We get pretty far from the noises, following David's lead. Finally he straightens up. "Alright, I don't think there are any more here. We can walk normal, but stay alert."
  1686. >I get up, my thighs burn for a little longer. That's a leg workout right there.
  1687. >Muhammad stretches his back as he rises with a stifled grunt. "This commando thing is not for me."
  1688. >David chuckles. "We can come back through the gate on the east so we don't have to do it again." He turns to me. "Show me the map again?"
  1689. >Pull it up for him.
  1690.  
  1691. DATA------------------22:33
  1692.  
  1693. World Map
  1694.  
  1695. >We're some distance past the raiders.
  1696. >"Alright, let's make up some time and move a little faster down this street. Keep an eye out and stay close to cover. Okay?"
  1697. >I nod firmly, Muhammad does the same.
  1698.  
  1699. >We keep walking. They occasionally rub their arms or hands, shivering in the cold.
  1700. >It hurts to bend my fingers, so I can only imagine how bad they have it.
  1701. >I peek at the map here and there.
  1702. >We're walking around in the middle of the night, sneaking around (literally) fucking raiders, it's freezing cold and on top of that the darkness is really starting to get to me.
  1703. >This is really iffy. I hate it.
  1704. >Trip over a chunk of rubble and almost fall.
  1705. "Ugh, shit…"
  1706. >Muhammad walks beside me. "You should turn on your light."
  1707. "Oh, right."
  1708. >Press and hold INV, the light returns.
  1709. >Can still see the shadows of tendril looking things across my vision.
  1710. "Hey, David?"
  1711. >He turns to me. "Yeh, what's up?"
  1712. "What are these spaghetti looking shadows?"
  1713. >He focuses on my light for a moment. "Sta'm, Fog, it catches the light a little and it looks like this."
  1714. "Oh okay."
  1715. >We finally reach the intersection with the main street. Turning left, we walk past rubble, wagons and a concrete separation barrier that runs down the middle.
  1716. >David puffs. "I don't see anything. I think we should jog this part."
  1717. >I like running.
  1718. "Sure, let's go."
  1719. >Muhammad sighs. "Faster we get there, faster we get back."
  1720. >We all break into a light jog, David in front and me in the middle.
  1721. >The cold air bites my face and snakes into my ears and nostrils.
  1722. >The backpack weighs on me hard and it's not long before my legs are in agony.
  1723. >It only takes a couple minutes before I stop, sweating and panting.
  1724. "Okay, guys… I need a moment."
  1725. >David isn't even remotely winded, neither is Muhammad.
  1726. >He walks past me. "You okay?"
  1727. >The cold air freezes and dries my throat.
  1728. "My head hurts and my throat is sore."
  1729. >David walks over to us. "We can walk until you catch your breath, but don't stop."
  1730. >I nod and we start walking again.
  1731. >After a little while, David comes next to me points at the watch.
  1732. >Bring up map.
  1733. >We're somewhere at the half way up this street.
  1734. >"I think we should jog a little further and turn north eh…" He points to a left turn somewhere ahead. "Here."
  1735. "Dude, I can't jog all that way."
  1736. >"Of course you can, it's good for you."
  1737. >I frown.
  1738. "Easy for you to say, you don't have a ten pound backpack weighing you down."
  1739. >"Give me, I'll carry it for you."
  1740. "Sure, here."
  1741. >I pass him the backpack and he puts it on. "Now we can speed up a bit, right?"
  1742. >Not that I want to, but being out here in the cold and darkness isn't very fun. Muhammad is right, the faster this is done, the faster we get back.
  1743. >I sigh.
  1744. "Yes, alright."
  1745. >We all break into a light jog again. My legs feel like a ton has been lifted off of them.
  1746. >Jog for about a minute. This is way easier without the bag.
  1747. >Suddenly David stops and I bump into him by mistake.
  1748. "What happened?"
  1749. >"Shh." He pulls me down by the shoulder and we crouch.
  1750. >Muhammad does the same behind us. "What's wrong?"
  1751. >"Those lights up ahead." David points at a wagon.
  1752. "That's a wagon."
  1753. >"Behind it, gao'n."
  1754. "What?"
  1755.  
  1756. >There's a raspy growl of something ahead. It sounds close, very close.
  1757. "Shit, what was that?"
  1758. >My whisper comes out shaky.
  1759. >"Lights off."
  1760. >We turn off all our lights. I can't see my hand in front of my face.
  1761. >I hear movement around me. David's voice comes from somewhere in front. "Come here, look."
  1762. >I move up behind him, in this pitch blackness I have to use my hands to feel around the ground.
  1763. >Finally make it and lean over his side.
  1764. >There are two ponies, like the ones before, except these ones are glowing brightly from openings in their hide. One is blue, the other pink.
  1765. >I can only see David by the feint reflection of their lights on his glasses. "Akhi, I think they are eating someone."
  1766. "What?"
  1767. >I look closer. In their glow, the body of a human is just barely visible.
  1768. "Oh god, oh fuck man… that's disgusting. What do we do?"
  1769. >He keeps looking. "There's a gun next to the body, we need it."
  1770. >Yes, we do need guns.
  1771. "How are you planning to get it?"
  1772. >"Remember it for tomorrow, I guess. They're distracted now, we can just-"
  1773. >There's a raspy growl from somewhere behind us. We whirl around to see a bright orange pony with torn hide and no coat standing atop a wagon, rasping death at us from a glowing maw.
  1774. "FUCK!"
  1775. >It pounces on Muhammad. He gets knocked to the ground, but rolls on top of the creature and pins it down while it screeches at him, trying to bite his arms and kick him off.
  1776. "Kill that fucking thing!"
  1777. >David runs up and grabs Muhammad's machete, kicking the creature in the face and stabbing it through the eye socket before kicking it again.
  1778. >Muhammad takes the knife and they both back away from it as it convulses a little and stops.
  1779. "Is it dead?"
  1780. >I… I'm shaking.
  1781. >Muhammad wipes the blade on the creature's leg. "Think so."
  1782. "Good."
  1783. >David recoils as a blue one pounces from atop the wagon behind me. The pink one follows suit, leaping at Muhammad.
  1784. >They dodge, and the ghouls land on the asphalt. The blue one rears up to kick David, but he grabs it and throws it to the ground. The pink one attempts to buck Muhammad with its hindlegs, but he steps aside and slices it with his machete, prompting a wail of pain from the creature.
  1785. >Neither creature is deterred, quickly rolling back up when they're thrown and shrugging off any damage they take.
  1786. >FUCKFUCKFUCK WHAT DO I DO?
  1787. >Finally Muhammad slices deep into the skull of one creature and it goes still. David throws the other against a wagon with a loud metal thud before bringing his heel down on its head and crushing it, splattering fluorescent blood and brains all over the ground.
  1788. >David pants. "Fuck, everyone okay?"
  1789. >Muhammad spits on the corpse of the one he killed. "Stupid dogs."
  1790. >He chuckles. "Are you hurt?"
  1791. >"La'a, I'm fine."
  1792. >He looks at me. "You?"
  1793. >I did nothing.
  1794. >I did nothing to help the whole time and just watched these two fend off creatures twice their size without taking a scratch.
  1795. "I feel like shit but I'm not injured."
  1796.  
  1797. >"Alright, get up and walk it off."
  1798. >I shake my head and rise to my feet.
  1799. >David turns his light on again and we follow him.
  1800. >Walk around the wagon and over to the corpse the two creatures were eating before.
  1801. >Lying face down on the asphalt is a half-eaten human corpse. I'm nauseated at the sight of the legs which are stripped to the bone at parts, there's a pool of dried blood beneath it. It's completely bloodied, but a blue Kevlar vest and uniform are apparent.
  1802. >David walks over near the head of the body and picks up the gun.
  1803. >"Holy shit, an original Uzi!" He inspects the weapon. The black paint has fallen off in some parts and there are scratches all over it. The folding stock is halfway extended.
  1804. "Cool, can we go before any more of them show up?"
  1805. >"Wait, maybe he has ammo."
  1806. >He gets down near the corpse and starts digging through its pockets and vest. "Yesh! Two extended magazines!"
  1807. >He starts taking off the Kevlar vest. "I hope we can sell this kevlar. Who wants to wear it for now?" He holds it up. On the back, SECURITY is written in bold yellow letters.
  1808. >Muhammad cringes at the bloodied vest. "Not me."
  1809. >Realize my earbuds are still on.
  1810. >Bring up phone to see what's playing: Soft Static ASMR 2 - Hour Version.
  1811. "Why do I even have this?"
  1812. >"Okay, I'll wear it then." He puts down the backpack and straps on the vest.
  1813. >Tap options -> delete.
  1814. >STRAFE® Plague immediately starts playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD4SG-TvbWE
  1815. >Before I can switch it, Muhammad grabs the bag. "We need to go."
  1816. >David raises a brow before an expression of terror etches on his face as he looks behind me.
  1817. >I turn.
  1818. >More of the glowing ponies are sitting on top of the nearby wagons or amidst the rubble, staring at us, a faintly glowing liquid drooling from their mouths.
  1819. >I freeze. My legs tense up so hard it feels like they're turning to stone.
  1820. >Suddenly I feel David grab my hand. "RUN!" He pulls me and the three of us bolt.
  1821. >I hear a series of rasped screeches as the zombies give chase.
  1822. >I never ran this fast in my life. Despite the music, I can hear their screams as their hooves pound the pavement behind us, their glow reflecting on the road ahead.
  1823. >David calls out. "CHECK THE MAP!"
  1824. >It's not easy, but I manage to press the button between my running and flailing.
  1825. "THE STREET YOU WANTED IS THE NEXT TURN, RIGHT AHEAD!"
  1826. >It sounds like I'm about to cry, but I don't care. We're not likely to survive this anyway.
  1827. >"OVER THE BETON!"
  1828. >The fucking what?
  1829. >He vaults the concrete separator without slowing at all.
  1830. >Muhammad slows down a bit before it, but also vaults it without an issue.
  1831. >I can't do parkour.
  1832. >Stop almost completely as I reach it and climb over it. I can't entirely make it over before one catches up and pounces. It knocks me to the pavement, bruising me hard and landing on top of me.
  1833. >I look into its glowing features, a livid face of iridescent purple. It growls at me, its face inches from mine.
  1834.  
  1835. >This is how it ends then? I always hoped it would be a bullet, quick, if painful. But this… this is beyond cruel. To be EATEN ALIVE? SERIOUSLY?!
  1836. >God doesn’t exist, if he did shit like this wouldn't happen.
  1837. >Suddenly there's the sound of a building getting demolished and the creature swivels its head around to look.
  1838. >Time slows. This is my chance!
  1839. >Reach for my knife. As the creature turns back to face me I jab the blade into its eye, it lets out a shriek before I push it further, making it go limp.
  1840. >As I get up, I notice what made the noise. A tremendous creature, similar in shape to the ponies, towers over the street glowing multiple colors from its body. The glow is bright enough to illuminate its surroundings, the husks of buildings are visible to each of its sides, and it stands as tall as their second floors.
  1841. >Its head has no face, it has no hide, it… it's just an amalgam. A bunch of these glowing zombies shoved together into the vague shape of a much larger one.
  1842. >It has so many eyes all over, on its legs, torso and head. I can see legs jutting from its form, kicking out seemingly at random. Maws across it snap and bite, oozing with glowing saliva.
  1843. >It's looking at me. With that many eyes, how could it not be?
  1844. >"BRO, LET'S GO!" David grabs my shoulder and pulls me, Muhammad does the same on my other side. "RUN!"
  1845. >We run up the street, the creature behind us erupts in a cacophony of rasping calls that forms into a thunderous roar.
  1846. >I hear rubble being crushed as it gives chase. The street gradually brightens as its body illuminates it from behind us.
  1847. "OH GOD OH FUCK OH GOD-"
  1848. >"Muhammad!" David calls out. "I have an Idea!"
  1849. >"What?" Muhammad shouts.
  1850. >"Give me an explosive, quick!"
  1851. >Muhammad, without stopping, takes off the backpack and pulls out one of the cans. Strapping it back on, he tosses the can to David.
  1852. >Suddenly the sound of an explosion deafens us as the whole street is engulfed in a pink light.
  1853. >I throw a glace back to see the massive creature shrieking, one of its legs catching fire briefly.
  1854. "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"
  1855. >David looks too. "He stepped on a wagon! So they do explode!"
  1856. >We keep running a bit further, but suddenly David stops near a wagon and opens the back of it.
  1857. >The creature has recovered and is continuing towards us, albeit a tad slower.
  1858. "David, c'mon! It's coming, man!"
  1859. >He messes with the wires a bit. "How do you arm this?"
  1860. >Muhammad rushes to his side. "Here, twist the wires like this. Put it here!" They slam the back of the wagon shut before rushing to my side.
  1861. >We keep running.
  1862. >"C'mon, c'mon!" David exclaims.
  1863. >We reach an intersection blocked on all sides by rubble. A single wagon sits on one side. Dead end, we couldn't climb over this if we were ninjas.
  1864. "SHIT! What now?"
  1865. >David turns around. "Pray."
  1866. >Muhammad puffs. "Allah Akbar."
  1867. >Nothing happens (not big surprise).
  1868. >The creature skirts around the rigged wagon.
  1869.  
  1870. >"Allah Akbar!" He shouts, and this time the wagon explodes. The fire catches the creature in the rump, prompting a gradual buildup of raspy screeches that soon form into another deafening roar.
  1871. >A building that was near the wagon collapses, cutting off our last venue of escape, the exact same street we came from.
  1872. >We're blocked in here with that thing.
  1873. >The next song starts playing without my input. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G5VvQpEZeI
  1874. >David straightens out the stock of the Uzi. "Well, shit! Muhammad, rig that wagon! We got ten seconds before it goes off, when it does, we gotta make sure the creature is on top of it. GO!"
  1875. >Muhammad bolts in the direction of the wagon as David opens fire on the towering monster.
  1876. >Some of its mouths screech as the bullets hit it.
  1877. >He only shoots two or three bullets every second. The creature, completely undeterred, starts pacing towards us and we maneuver to avoid it.
  1878. "Dude, just mag-dump into that thing!"
  1879. >"Bullets don't hurt it, I'm just distracting it!" Suddenly he stops as the gun makes a loud empty *chck*.
  1880. >"Shit, I gotta reload! Give me some cover!"
  1881. >I holster my knife and pull out my handgun.
  1882. 9/55
  1883. >Running off to one side, I open fire on it to get its attention.
  1884. >I feel like I'm about to vomit, and it takes all I got to aim despite my shaking hands, but the target is thankfully hard to miss.
  1885. >The creature paces towards me. I back away when I suddenly trip over a chunk of concrete, landing on my ass.
  1886. >The creature's maws growl as Muhammad runs at it, machete in hand. He slices at the limbs jutting from its hindleg, prompting another slow building maelstrom of screeches that makes my bowls weaken.
  1887. >It tries to kick Muhammad, but he runs just out of reach in the nick of time. "Come here kalb ungabiu'n!"
  1888. >It turns to him as I rise to my feet.
  1889. "Careful, it's pissed!"
  1890. >Somehow it manages to jump over to where Muhammad is, landing with a thunderous slam and making the ground shake beneath us. Muhammad falls and places his hands over his head just before the wagon explodes right under the belly of the creature.
  1891. >All its mouths roar in unison as flames lick its belly, the shockwave and shrapnel send chunks of it splattering across the ground and nearby rubble, splattering multiple colors of glowing viscera.
  1892. >I laugh, that was awesome!
  1893. "Yeah, take that, you walking epilepsy trigger!"
  1894. >It throws itself to the side, rolls on the ground and gets back on its massive 'hooves', the flames die almost instantly. It roars angrily, its numerous eyes glaring at all three of us at once.
  1895. >No, nononono NO! That was the only wagon here!
  1896. "WHAT NOW?"
  1897. >David opens fire on it from the other side, Muhammad uses the opportunity to get up and run to me.
  1898. >"Quick, we need idea!"
  1899. "What can we do?"
  1900. >"Explosion did damage, but he is not dead. Maybe we can hurt him more!"
  1901. "How?"
  1902. >"More explosions!"
  1903. "But that was the only wagon here, and that was our last IED!"
  1904.  
  1905. >Muhammad looks at the creature and his eyes go wide. "He's killing David! Quick, shoot him!"
  1906. "WHAT?! Why would I shoot David?"
  1907. >"NOT DAVID, THE MONSTER!"
  1908. "Oh."
  1909. >I open fire again and the creature rears up and whirls around, landing with a pair of stomps that make the ground quake and some of the rubble from above come tumbling down behind us.
  1910. >The slide locks open.
  1911. >I pull out the magazine and put it in my pocket, pulling out the fresh one. Before I can load it the creature is almost on top of me.
  1912. "FUCK!"
  1913. >I sprint between its legs and away from it. Muhammad does the same in another direction.
  1914. >Load mag.
  1915. 15/40
  1916. >There's a weird icon next to the ammo counter, but I ignore it.
  1917. >David is standing off to one side, gun pointed forwards.
  1918. "David!"
  1919. >He doesn't move at all.
  1920. "DAVID! SHOOT THAT THING!"
  1921. >Nothing. He must be frozen with fear.
  1922. >I run over to him and try to grab him, shake him out of it.
  1923. >My hands go through him as if he was thin air.
  1924. >I freeze. He doesn't blink, or move, or anything really.
  1925. "D- david?"
  1926. >Muhammad hits my shoulder. "Look!"
  1927. >I turn to see the creature, its many legs kicking and maws snapping as David scales up the side of its hindleg.
  1928. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING?"
  1929. >"No idea, habibi, He is crazy!"
  1930. >I shoot at the creature's head, hoping to distract it. It works and it turns towards us, but the limbs upon its back still try to kick David off of it as he makes his way toward its neck.
  1931. >As it slowly moves to close the distance between us, Muhammad puts down the backpack and kneels beside it, before pulling out a Molotov.
  1932. "Are you going to burn it?"
  1933. >He fidgets with the battery and wires. "No, I am going to burn them."
  1934. "Them?"
  1935. >I look around me. I hadn't noticed, but we drew an audience. All atop the surrounding rubble stand more of the glowing zombies, snarling and rasping at us.
  1936. >Why aren't they just coming down to attack?
  1937.  
  1938. >Muhammad ignites the rag and throws the bottle. It lands on a jagged bit of concrete and breaks with a loud sound before a puddle of flames ignites upon the rubble. Two of them catch fire and the rest recoil or outright run away.
  1939. >I turn to look at the creature again just as David forces his arm into a mouth on its neck. He pulls his hand out and a chunk of the creature explodes, showering David with glowing blood.
  1940. >The creature shrieks in protest before shaking itself violently, sending David down to the ground like a ragdoll. He lands on his back atop rubble and rolls down with a cloud of dust trailing behind him.
  1941. >The creature makes one last deafening roar and bolts, kicking an entire wall of rubble clear out of the road as it runs away, its maws still rasping in protest.
  1942. >The rest of them disperse as well, along with all the light they cast.
  1943. >The suffocating darkness and deafening silence are back in an instant, as my earbuds fell out of my ears at some point during the fight. All I can hear is ringing from the noises.
  1944. >I turn my light on and we quickly run to him.
  1945. "David?"
  1946. >In the light, I can see him better. His arms are bruised, and one nasty cut on his forearm drips blood.
  1947. >He struggles to rise with a loud grunt. "Se'mek, that's going to hurt tomorrow."
  1948. >Muhammad kneels beside him and lifts him up. "I have no words for what you did just now."
  1949. >David laughs. "Me neither."
  1950. "Well I do."
  1951. >They both look at me as I count them off.
  1952. "Awesome, Brave, Stupid and Suicidal; especially the last one."
  1953. >He laughs again. "I was hoping to hit something important with that grenade."
  1954. >Muhammad chuckles. "That was very dangerous, but it did work."
  1955. >David laughs. "You blew up a wagon some meter away from yourself akhi. You sure there is no pieces of metal in your back?"
  1956. >Muhammad shakes his head. "La, ana bikhair. You are the one who is hurt."
  1957. >David takes a few shaky steps forward. "Not a problem. Let's find that plane." He sounds pained.
  1958. "Are you sure you're okay?"
  1959. >He inspects himself. "Keh, I'll walk it off, don't worry."
  1960. >Muhammad laughs. "At least you did not lose the glasses."
  1961. >He chuckles. "Miracles do happen, ah?"
  1962. >I won't lie, I wish I was half as awesome as either of them, but at least I did something this time. Speaking of…
  1963. "Should we check the map?"
  1964. >"Yes, let's do that."
  1965.  
  1966. >I raise the pip-buck to look at the map, hands still shaking from the adrenaline.
  1967. >There's a red blinking light at the top left, next to it is a small, rainbow-colored needle ticking up and down on a gauge.
  1968. >The lights flash a red sign:
  1969. Rads +<1/s
  1970. "Rads? What's a rad?"
  1971. >And why is that needle so colorful?
  1972. >David blinks. "Like radiation?"
  1973. "I dunno."
  1974. >David looks at the watch. "Show me?"
  1975. >As I bring it closer to him it accelerates, the sign changes too.
  1976. Rads +4/s
  1977. >"I think that's a Geiger counter." He gets a confused look before grabbing my arm and sticking it to his chest.
  1978. "Hey!"
  1979. >The sign changes again.
  1980. Rads +6/s
  1981. >"This shit is radioactive?!" He recoils, but then furrows his brow. "Well, it IS glowing, it makes sense."
  1982. >This is kinda gay. I don't like it.
  1983. "Can you please let go of my arm?"
  1984. >He does. "I need to get this off, now!"
  1985. >I exchange a look with Muhammad.
  1986. "O- okay, why?"
  1987. >He swats some of it off his shoulder. "Because it can give you cancer!"
  1988. "Oh, like the internet?"
  1989. >He grunts and breaks into a jog.
  1990. >I follow. Muhammad puffs and does so too.
  1991. >The red sign dissipates as he gets further away.
  1992.  
  1993. S-----SW---------W---------NW-----N
  1994.  
  1995. >We run through the opening the creature paved for us, taking care not to trip over the chunks of concrete and rebar.
  1996. >It must have been bleeding when it ran away, because the street is littered with multicolored glowing viscera.
  1997. >We pass more wagons and rubble.
  1998. >Muhammad puffs and slows to a walk behind me.
  1999. >My legs hurt so I slow down too, panting.
  2000. >David keeps running.
  2001. "Hey, wait!"
  2002. >He doesn't wait, getting so far ahead we can barely see him.
  2003. >Immense pressure in my chest makes me stop.
  2004. >"All the buildings here are kharayib. What is he hoping to find?"
  2005. "I dunno."
  2006. >He's still going.
  2007. >"He is like a kid, never gets tired."
  2008. >I cough trying to catch my breath.
  2009. "Like my brother."
  2010. >Finally, he goes into a 2-story building standing near the end of the street.
  2011. >I turn to Muhammad.
  2012. "C'mon, let's catch up to him."
  2013. >"Go, you." He waves me off. "I will come in a minute."
  2014. >Jog to the building he entered.
  2015. >The moment I get to the entrance, a couple shots sound from above.
  2016. >Oh shit. Who is shooting? What are they shooting? Why am I standing here frozen?
  2017. >I raise my gun and creep forwards into the small, cramped lobby. There are rotting wooden doors on each side, and a straight narrow stairway.
  2018. >My legs hurt; I wish there was an elevator.
  2019. >My light doesn't reach all the way to the end of the stairs and the weird darkness glares down at me.
  2020. >Freeze and stare at it while catching my breath.
  2021. >It’s like a bunch of tendrils rapidly feeling around and trying to push back the light; so unnatural I can't help but shiver.
  2022. >Deafening silence, ears still ringing from the fight earlier, and yet I swear I can hear it moving.
  2023. >Suddenly a shrill screeching makes me jump.
  2024. >Sounds like plumbing.
  2025. >Ignore the pain in my legs and climb up. Every little noise reverberates in the tight space, like being inside a drum.
  2026. >Some of the steps have drops of blood on them.
  2027. >Also, there's no handrail.
  2028. >How could they forget to mount a handrail?
  2029.  
  2030. >The stairs end at a wall, a feint draft blowing through a small window on it. The short corridor of the first floor stretches behind me.
  2031. >It smells like those abandoned buildings my brother and I explored as kids.
  2032. >There are only two doors here, one of them is open, with a few drops of blood leading to it.
  2033. >Look inside, it's a small apartment with a kitchen living-room combo.
  2034. >I can hear the noise of a shower running and there's something big and brown on the floor.
  2035. >I stop and look at it for a moment. It reflects the light of my pip-buck with a soft sheen.
  2036. >Realize it's a giant cockroach.
  2037. "AAAAAAAAA-"
  2038. >Slam door shut.
  2039. "OH GOD, WHY IS IT SO BIG? IT'S LIKE TWICE THE SIZE OF MY FOOT!"
  2040. >Convulse in utter disgust.
  2041. "UGH! NO, MAN, NO! WHO WOULD MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? WHAT THE FUCK!"
  2042. >Again.
  2043. "JESUS!"
  2044. >Hear footsteps coming up the stairs. "Are you okay?"
  2045. "Muhammad, there's a giant fucking cockroach here!"
  2046. >His laugh echoes from below. "That's not a nice thing to say."
  2047. "I'm serious, man! It's huge, with legs and antennas and hairs!"
  2048. >He finally gets up the stairs. "Ok, I'll step on it."
  2049. >My voice shakes with disgust as I gesture to convey the size of it.
  2050. "Careful, man, it's like this big."
  2051. >He laughs. "Ant tubali'gh."
  2052. >He opens the door, recoils and looks at it for a long moment. "It is dead already."
  2053. "Really?"
  2054. >I look at it too. It lays flat with two holes in its back. A bunch of white-green guts spread under it.
  2055. "Oh."
  2056. >Muhammad quietly inches inside, machete at the ready.
  2057. >I point my gun up as I follow behind him, trying not to shake again.
  2058. >The air is really heavy in he-
  2059. *BOM*
  2060. >OW MY EAR! IT WENT OF RIGHT NEXT TO M-
  2061. >Something falls on my shoulder before ending up on the floor with a splat.
  2062. >My ear is in so much pain.
  2063. >Find a table.
  2064. >Put gun down and lean against it.
  2065. >Press hand against my hurt ear. It's going 'OOO' loud as hell and feels like it has a nail stuck inside.
  2066. >Muhammad looks at me. "Tell me next time before you shoot, you'll give me a heart attack."
  2067. "Sorry man, I didn't mean to."
  2068. >I'm glad I wasn't pointing it at him. Now I get why it matters that you don't 'flag' anyone.
  2069. >He looks at the ground. "Nice hit."
  2070. "Huh?"
  2071. >He points the tip of his machete at another massive roach with a hole in it in the light of his phone. It jerks one leg back and forth along the floor, the hairs leaving small trails in the dust.
  2072. >oh, so that's what hit my shoulder.
  2073. "EEEEEWWWW!"
  2074. >Practically have a seizure from disgust.
  2075. >"Eh… are you okay?"
  2076. "No!"
  2077. >I slam the table.
  2078. "Look at it! It's fucking gross, man!"
  2079. >His expression changes. "Okay, relax. I understand."
  2080. "Why is it so goddamn big?"
  2081. >He looks down at the two giant bugs and shivers a little himself. "I don't know, but stop yelling."
  2082. >Oh right, indoor voices.
  2083. "Sorry."
  2084. >He nods.
  2085. >Decide to check my hearing and click my fingers next to each of my ears.
  2086. >Can't hear out of one side.
  2087. "I think I hurt my ear. Like, bad."
  2088. >Muhammad scratches his head. "Maybe David can help you. Are you Jew?"
  2089.  
  2090. >I cover my ear; it can't hear anything anyway.
  2091. "I don't think I am…"
  2092. >He shrugs. "Jews care only about Jews. Maybe he still help. Ask him."
  2093. >The sounds of water and piping finally stop and David comes out of a door in the back.
  2094. >He's in his underwear, with bruises and cuts all over his body. There's a pink bandage warped around his forearm, soaked with blood.
  2095. >I exchange a concerned look with Muhammad as he walks up to a frying pan hanging over the kitchen counter and puts it on the stove.
  2096. "Dude, why are you naked?"
  2097. >Muhammad chuckles. "Are you making dinner?"
  2098. "And what's up with the pink bandage?"
  2099. >He crouches near the stove and peers behind it. "It's the only one I could find. I'll change it later."
  2100. >He messes around with the knobs.
  2101. "What are you doing?"
  2102. >"My clothes are full of water and I need to dry them."
  2103. "With a frying pan?!"
  2104. >He looks at the ground thoughtfully for a moment and licks his lips. "Yes."
  2105. >Muhammad laughs.
  2106. >"Why, is it Haram or something?"
  2107. >He laughs again. "I don't know, ask the Imam!"
  2108. >The stove lights up suddenly, and David moves the pan to cover the flames before turning to us. "Why are you holding your ear like that?"
  2109. "My gun went off next to it. It's ringing really loud."
  2110. >"He say it hurts."
  2111. >He comes closer. "Let me see."
  2112. "No way man, put your clothes on first!"
  2113. >"Bro, relax, I'm not going rape you." He snaps. "Let me see if there is blood."
  2114. >I check my hand.
  2115. "I don't see any."
  2116. >He brings his phone light up to my ear and examines it, then says something but it's all muffled and distant.
  2117. "What?"
  2118. >"Wow, you can't hear from it at all?"
  2119. "Only the really loud 'ooo' sound. It hurts like someone hammered a nail into it."
  2120. >He tsks and rubs his chin for a bit.
  2121. >It's very awkward having a guy in his underwear stand this close to you in such a cramped space.
  2122. "Dude-"
  2123. >He clicks his fingers. "I have a friend who got tinnitus in the army, but if you're not bleeding…"
  2124. >Tinnitus?
  2125. "But I got a shot for that!"
  2126. >He raises a brow. "What? You can't get a shot for tinnitus, man."
  2127. "I did! Besides, I didn't touch anything rusty."
  2128. >At least I hope I didn't.
  2129. >He hisses. "Bro, that's Tetanus. Tinnitus is eardrum damage."
  2130. "Oh. They sound almost the same!"
  2131. >He rolls his eyes. "Anyways, he's always with headphones, says music helps with the ringing. "
  2132. "Always? You mean it's stuck like this now?"
  2133. >"Relax, I think it's only for a few hours. Just try to avoid loud noises for a bit; especially in that ear."
  2134. >Phew.
  2135. "Okay, sure. Thanks."
  2136. >He turns to Muhammad. "Did it hurt your ear too?"
  2137. >He shakes his head. "La'ah. Almost had a heart attack, but I am okay."
  2138. >"Good." He walks back over to the stove and turns off the flames. "Just a few minutes, okay?"
  2139. >He shrugs. "Tayeb."
  2140. "Good luck."
  2141. >He takes the frying pan and closes the door behind him.
  2142. >I hear Muhammad chuckle. "He cares. w'lla, I was not expecting that."
  2143. "I wasn't expecting him to be naked."
  2144. >He snorts. "Full of surprises, that guy."
  2145. "Wasn't he going to fry his clothes?"
  2146. >He yawns. "Ana aref?"
  2147. >Wut?
  2148. >He takes off the bag and sits down on a sofa that's so low to the floor it must be missing its base.
  2149.  
  2150. >My legs are killing me and I'm dizzy.
  2151. >Pull a short chair from under the table.
  2152. >It creaks as I sit down and I grunt as my legs flush with relief.
  2153. >My throat is sore from thirst.
  2154. >Muhammad is pulling a bottle from the backpack.
  2155. "Can you pass me some when you're done?"
  2156. >My own voice sounds like it's coming from somewhere else.
  2157. >He looks back at me before reaching in the pack and tossing me one.
  2158. "Thanks."
  2159. >Once I'm done, I set it down on the table and lean back in the chair.
  2160. >Wince the moment I touch the backrest.
  2161. "Damn my back hurts…"
  2162. >"You fell, it was bad."
  2163. >I did get tackled by that zombie.
  2164. >I grunt as I rub my back.
  2165. "But it didn't hurt."
  2166. >"Because the adrenaline."
  2167. >Checking myself, I find it's not only my back that's bruised, but also my hip, elbow and shoulder.
  2168. "I feel like I just fell off the bike."
  2169. >He lifts the pack and rummages around, pulling out a few snack bars. "Eat, it will help."
  2170. >It lands on the table.
  2171. >Eat it and drink some more water.
  2172. >Feeling a bit better, I look around for a trash can to throw the wrapper.
  2173. >There's a small fridge next to the stove, a small counter with a sink is built into the far wall, with a series of cabinets above it. The tiles of the wall are decorated with patterns of flowers.
  2174. >In the back are two doors, behind one, David is cleaning his clothes.
  2175. >There's a painting on the wall behind the couch and a huge TV set in front. Beyond it, a large window spans the whole wall. A feint draft softly blows through its blinds every few seconds.
  2176. >This is cozy, but where's the trash-
  2177. >David comes back out, wearing his pants again! "My shirt is still wet."
  2178. >Wait, it worked?!
  2179. "HOW?"
  2180. >He puts the pan on the stove and lights it again. "What?" He asks flatly.
  2181. "How did you dry your clothes with a frying pan?"
  2182. >"Ah. I'll show you. I'm going to need the table."
  2183. >I holster my gun and get up.
  2184. >Instantly lose balance and catch myself on the kitchen counter.
  2185. >Recoil as my hand lands in something sticky and chunky.
  2186. "Ugh."
  2187. >"Are you okay?"
  2188. "I- uh… I'm really dizzy."
  2189. >"Probably becoze of deh ear."
  2190. >I lean against the wall and check my hand.
  2191. >Green slime with some chunks stuck to my palm.
  2192. "What is this stuff?"
  2193. >Sniff it. It smells like dish soap.
  2194. >Move to the sink to wash it off. It's full of dirty dishes and bowls. The previous tenants must've been lazy.
  2195. >The Rads sign appears again as the water touches my hand.
  2196. Rads +2/sec
  2197. >David splays his shirt on the table. "Look."
  2198. >I turn around wiping my hand on my pantleg.
  2199. >He kills the flames, grabs the pan and presses it against the shirt, running it along the fabric in a repeating pattern. Vapor rises from it for a bit, eventually it becomes dry.
  2200. "Cool!"
  2201. >He puts his shirt on. "Yeah. Improvise, Adapt, make some shit up, and hope for deh best." the pan lands flat on the stove with a loud clang.
  2202. >The room spins and I feel more of my weight fall against the counter.
  2203. "Man, I'm so dizzy."
  2204. >"Want to sit on the couch for a bit?"
  2205. >Muhammad gets up and walks over. "Come on, I'll help you."
  2206. >They help me to the couch and we sit down. Thankfully it's big enough so we don't have to cram.
  2207. >Resting my head, I look at the ceiling and grit my teeth as it spins.
  2208. "Ough, everything hurts, man."
  2209. >The couch is so short that my knees are at the height of my chest.
  2210. >"Keh… it's a miracle we survived what happened back there."
  2211. >Muhammad leans back. "Alhamdulillah. God was with us."
  2212. >David chuckles. "Yeah, with you especially."
  2213. >He raises a brow. "Why do you say?"
  2214. >"Becoze derr was a huge explosion right next to you and you don't have a scratch."
  2215. >He chuckles. "I laid down in time."
  2216. "David, why did you climb that thing?"
  2217. >He snorts. "I wanted to change the RGB settings."
  2218. >I chuckle and the room spins faster.
  2219. >"But seriously, I don't know what I was thinking, I was sure we were all going to die."
  2220. "Me too."
  2221. >"Ah, me too. But how do you get the idea to climb it?"
  2222. >"I started speed climbing last year. I guess I saw a way up, and it just happened."
  2223. "How is climbing a giant monster something that just happens?"
  2224. >He shrugs. "I only realized when I got on top of it that I still had a grenade and maybe I can try to kill it." He tsks. "Shame it didn't die."
  2225. >Muhammad chuckles. "At least we are alive."
  2226. >"Baruch Hashem."
  2227. "How come a grenade made it run away, but a wagon exploding and rending its guts didn't?"
  2228. >There's a pause. "It was deh straw that broke the camel's back, I think."
  2229. >Muhammad shrugs.
  2230. >I shift a bit and grunt from the pain.
  2231. "We need to find some Advil."
  2232. >David gets up and rubs his back. "Yeah, my back really hurts." He winces. "You guys want some water, or food?"
  2233. "Nah, I feel sick…"
  2234. >"I'm gonna get the vest." He walks to the back again.
  2235. >Wish the room would stop spinning.
  2236. >David comes back, wearing the vest which now has 4 new colors of dried blood on it. He grabs my wrist and presses the Pip-buck against it.
  2237. "Dude, what gives?"
  2238. >"Is it still radioactive?"
  2239. "I don't see anything about rads, so I guess not."
  2240. >He looks at it for a long moment before letting me go. "Alright. Did you reload your magazines?"
  2241. >Muhammad looks up at him. "Sit down, we need a break."
  2242. >David raises a brow. "What break now? We have to move. The giant RGB monster forced us to go back west, we don't have time to lose. If we wait too long, we'll have to deal with deh raiders."
  2243. "I don't think I can stand up right now."
  2244. >I feel like a liability.
  2245. >Muhammad furrows his brow. "Look. I am tired, he is hurt, you are ALSO hurt. Let's rest a few minutes."
  2246. >David looks away and nods. "I just don't want those things to come loot the building and find US. All the gools ran away, you think raiders will waste the opportunity?"
  2247. >Muhammad puffs. "I don't know. But if they find us outside?"
  2248. >David scratches the back of his head, looking at the ground. Finally, he sighs. "You're right." He leans against the couch, taking a look at the screen of his phone. "Is twenty minutes enough?"
  2249. "You're the medic. Is it?"
  2250. >He smirks. "Five shood be all you need."
  2251. >Muhammad yawns. "I think ten minutes, so we don't fall asleep."
  2252. >"Okay, ten minutes." He taps the screen a few times.
  2253. >I sigh.
  2254. >Muhammad turns off his phone's light and does something on it.
  2255. >David walks to the back again, grabbing the bottle I left on the table.
  2256. >I close my eyes and grit my teeth.
  2257. "This hurts so bad."
  2258. >"Ya Haram." Muhammad turns around. "David, can't we help him some way?"
  2259. >I look back too. He downs the last of the water in the bottle and looks at me. "If I had any painkillers, I'd give you." He perks up. "Akshually."
  2260. "What?"
  2261. >He walks back into the bathroom and comes out with the Uzi. "Maybe there is some here."
  2262. >He slowly opens the other door, peeking before opening it fully and walking inside.
  2263. >We watch attentively as we hear furniture being opened.
  2264. >Finally, he comes back out and sighs. "No luck. But I did find a white bandage." He closes the door quickly. "And roaches."
  2265. >I shiver.
  2266. >Muhammad spares me a glance. "How can he move like this?"
  2267. >He shrugs. "I'll carry him, ana aref?"
  2268. >Wait, he says that too?
  2269. "What does that mean?"
  2270. >"What?"
  2271. "Ana Aref. You both say it."
  2272. >Muhammad nods. "Ah, it means I don't know."
  2273. "You don't know what it means?"
  2274. >David tsks. "Bro, it means I don't know. Like 'How should I know' in English."
  2275. "Oh. How should I know, man? It's why I asked."
  2276. >"Tayeb, now you know."
  2277. >David comes over with the empty bottle and sits down with us, fidgeting with the cap.
  2278.  
  2279. >We spend some time sitting on the couch in silence, staring at the TV. It has a giant crack in it, and will probably never work again.
  2280. >All I can hear is EEE in one ear and OOO in the other.
  2281. "This ringing is driving me nuts."
  2282. >"Did you try listening to music?"
  2283. "Oh, right…"
  2284. >Pull out phone, the earbuds are still connected.
  2285. Battery Very Low – Connect your Charger
  2286. >It's at 2%.
  2287. "I have no battery left."
  2288. >Turns out there is a worse time to run out of battery.
  2289. >"Eh… do you listen to rock?"
  2290. "Sometimes."
  2291. >He tosses the bottle in the bag and hands me his phone. "Most of it is instrumentals and old rock songs. See if there is something you like."
  2292. >I scroll through his albums.
  2293. >See the entire discography of Metallica.
  2294. >Scroll some more.
  2295. >Linkin Park, Motley Crue, Kenny Loggins…
  2296. "I think you got more tracks than I do, and I have thousands."
  2297. >"I listen to a lot of music."
  2298. "Yeah, there's three thousand and four tracks here!"
  2299. >He laughs. "When we get your laptop, you can copy them to your phone."
  2300. "Yeah."
  2301. >Suddenly feel the urge to keep moving.
  2302. "You know, I think I'm feeling a bit better."
  2303. >"That's great, but we agreed on ten minutes."
  2304. >Muhammad stretches out his legs. "Ah, give me a minute, Habibi, my legs hurt."
  2305. "Is it okay if I check these out in the meantime?"
  2306. >"Of course, it's why I gave you the phone."
  2307. "Awesome!"
  2308. >I switch my earbuds to his phone.
  2309. 89%_____22:57
  2310. >Turn on shuffle and hit play. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=W-PIdnJrYG4&list=RDAMVMLNyIhirtXUI
  2311. >They talk next to me, but I can barely hear them. The ringing dies down too.
  2312.  
  2313. >As the song comes to an end, there's a chime.
  2314. >I look at the screen.
  2315. Timer +0:01
  2316. >"Tov, Yalla." David gets up. "We can't stay here anymore."
  2317. >I stop the timer.
  2318. "This place is cozy, though."
  2319. >Spot the giant cockroach carcasses.
  2320. "Bleh, barring those things."
  2321. >"Cozy? Bro, look around you. There's mold all over the walls, the cabinets are dripping with green shit, everything has a layer of dust on it so thick it could break your fall, and all the appliances are broken; except the stove, but only becoze I fixed it."
  2322. >I look around again.
  2323. >The fridge stands silent, long dead, the sink is packed with dirty dishes, and the tiles are cracked and stained with black mold dripping from the cabinets above.
  2324. >The painting on the wall is discolored and faded, with certain spots overgrown with mildew. The blinds have warped so they can't be moved at all.
  2325. >Ew.
  2326. >Look up, anticipating another giant roach. Thankfully there's nothing there but the peeling paint.
  2327. >Phew.
  2328. >Muhammad chuckles. "Ant tubali'gh, it is not THAT bad."
  2329. >The front door makes a loud creak before the hinges give out and it falls with a loud crash, splatting the two carcasses and sending their insides all across the floor.
  2330. "Ow my ears…"
  2331. >David crosses his arms. "You were saying?"
  2332. >I feel Muhammad's elbow. "There is a piece of it on your shoe, Habibi."
  2333. "Ew, noooo."
  2334. >Suddenly struck by a horrible smell.
  2335. "What's that stench?"
  2336. >David grabs his gun off the table. "The roach guts."
  2337. >I cough and point at the door.
  2338. "Why did it even fall like that?"
  2339. >He chuckles. "It was locked, I kicked it in. It was just a matter of time."
  2340. >This place stinks.
  2341. "Fine, let's leave."
  2342. >"Wait, we're not ready yet. Reload your magazines if you have spare bullets and drink some water."
  2343. >Muhammad pulls out a bottle, offering me some.
  2344. >I raise a hand to decline.
  2345. >He shrugs and drinks.
  2346.  
  2347. >I dig in my pocket for the empty magazine.
  2348. >Pull it out.
  2349. >It's full.
  2350. "What the fuck?"
  2351. >Muhammad caps the bottle and puts it back as David comes over. They look at me.
  2352. "It's full!"
  2353. >They exchange a look as David puts the supplies in the bag and zips it shut. "Okay, and?"
  2354. "And? I didn't reload it, man!"
  2355. >"Are you sure?"
  2356. "YES."
  2357. >"Okay, relax."
  2358. >The puppy face comes back:
  2359. :D Spent weapon clips are automatically reloaded by the ISM spell matrix.
  2360. "The what matrix?"
  2361. >They exchange a concerned look. "What?"
  2362. >It disappears.
  2363. "The puppy face from before, man! It said something about a matrix?"
  2364. >They exchange another look. "Bro, I don't know what you're talking about, but, when did you start seeing this puppy face?"
  2365. "After I put on this thing."
  2366. >I tap my fingers against the Pip-buck.
  2367. "It shows a bunch of lights in my vision."
  2368. >David furrows his brow. "What? How?"
  2369. >I look at the bars again.
  2370. HP/////////--- \\\\\\\\\\\AP
  2371. W-----NW---------N---------NE-----E
  2372. |/////://| Ammo (9x19): 11/40
  2373.  
  2374. "I dunno."
  2375. >"That's extremely weird."
  2376. >Muhammad gets up, slinging the backpack on. "What is weird?"
  2377. >He shakes his head. "That thing." He points at the pip-buck.
  2378. >I look at it.
  2379. >Muhammad scoffs and shrugs. "If you don't like it, take it off."
  2380. "I do like it, it's just that it's freaky."
  2381. >David puffs. "I just don't understand how it can affect your vision."
  2382. >I shrug.
  2383. >"We'll figure it out later. Are you sure you didn't reload it?"
  2384. "Dude, I told you. Ask Muhammad!"
  2385. >"Whoa, I have no part in this."
  2386. >"Magazines don't reload themselves, bro."
  2387. >I inspect the full magazine in my hand.
  2388. "Well, it wasn't me."
  2389. >"Then what was it, a ghost?"
  2390. >Muhammad interjects. "Stop, both of you."
  2391. >There's a pause as we both look at him.
  2392. >"This can wait, we need to move."
  2393. >David sighs. "You're right."
  2394. >He reloads his Uzi. I only now notice how long those magazines really are.
  2395. "How many rounds does that have?"
  2396. >"Fifty."
  2397. >FIFTY?!
  2398. (9X19): 11/40
  2399. "You have more rounds in a magazine than I do in general."
  2400. >He unfolds the stock and shrugs. "It's an SMG. They run out fast."
  2401. >I get up, thankfully a lot less dizzy than before, but my ears still ring.
  2402. >I reload and put the expended mag in my pocket. An icon of a reloading magazine appears next to my ammo counter, then disappears after a second.
  2403. >"Hey bro, I need my phone back, for the light." David stretches a hand out toward me.
  2404. >I unplug the earbuds and give it back to him.
  2405. >Pull out my phone, the mag falls out.
  2406. >It's dead.
  2407. >sadg, no music.
  2408. >Pick up the mag I dropped.
  2409. >It's full.
  2410. :O
  2411.  
  2412. >"Yalla, we go?"
  2413. >David does that CQC thing where you lean to check before exiting a room. "All clear, let's move."
  2414. >We make our way out.
  2415. >Not wanting another deafened ear, I keep the gun holstered.
  2416. >We cautiously make our way down the stairs.
  2417. >David keeps his phone and gun trained forward the whole time, making little noise.
  2418. >I lean against the wall to support myself as I follow behind him. Really wish they had a handrail.
  2419. >Muhammad puffs as he follows. "Why so slow?"
  2420. >David suddenly runs down, landing at the bottom and sweeping the lobby.
  2421. >We follow.
  2422. "What was that all about?"
  2423. >He gestures to lower my voice. "I thought there would be someone here. I expect an ambush outside."
  2424. "Ambush of what, those giant cockroaches?"
  2425. >He rolls his eyes. "The raiders."
  2426. "Oh."
  2427. >He kills his light and peeks outside. After a moment he retreats back with a shiver. "Fuck, it's cold."
  2428. "Did you see anything?"
  2429. >He looks back at me like I asked something stupid. "No. But if they are out there, they must be able to see."
  2430. >I scratch my head. The wall next to me looks like the paint on it burst out, shedding a bunch of it on the floor.
  2431. >Muhammad nods at him. "Yalla, David. What do we do?"
  2432. >He chews his lip. "I wish we had a way to make them start shooting without getting in derr."
  2433. >I feel something uncomfortable in the side of my hip.
  2434. >It's the decoys. I pull them out and move them to the coat pocket.
  2435. "Do you have any ideas?"
  2436. >He adjusts his glasses. "No. We would need to make it look like we're standing there without actually standing there."
  2437. "Oh."
  2438. >The handle of the decoy jabs into my side.
  2439. >Man these things are just annoying to carry.
  2440. >"Oh, wait! The decoys!" He pulls out the one on his belt. "Throw with me, okay?"
  2441. "Sure, I'd love to get rid of these things."
  2442. >He positions himself. "I throw to there, you throw right outside, okay?"
  2443. >I nod, holding the handle and pulling the pin.
  2444. >He throws his decoy down the street, and I throw mine right outside the entrance.
  2445. >We hear them drop, and I can see the silhouette of a person appear right outside.
  2446. >David looks at it for a long moment. "Aren't these supposed to make a pony shape?"
  2447. "I think they just resemble whoever tossed them. Like the one you threw earlier."
  2448. >He turns to me. "You mean it looked like me?"
  2449. "Yeah. It actually fooled me."
  2450. >His jaw drops.
  2451. "What? Didn't you see it?"
  2452. >"No!" He whisper-shouts. "I threw it behind it to distract it."
  2453. "Oh."
  2454. >He looks at the decoy resembling me. "How…? What the fuck!"
  2455. >Muhammad looks from it to David and back. "Relax David. We have to move."
  2456. >"How are you not freaking out?"
  2457. >"I already did that today, I am tired."
  2458. >"But this makes no sense, how would the grenade know what the user looks l-"
  2459. >He grabs his shoulder. "I don't know, but I don't care. Crane say there is magic, maybe that."
  2460. >David looks from him back to the decoy.
  2461. >"We have to move now." He squeezes his shoulder. "You can freak out tomorrow."
  2462. >The decoy fades from top to bottom.
  2463. >He takes a deep breath. "You're right." He peeks outside. "I guess it's clear. Let me go first, just in case."
  2464. >Muhammad shrugs.
  2465. "Don’t get shot."
  2466. >He chuckles and shakes his head as he steps out.
  2467. >Muhammad leans against the wall to peek out. After a while, he waves me on. "Yalla, no ambush."
  2468.  
  2469. >The cold air stings my face and hands the moment we exit.
  2470. >We catch up to David. "God, it's freezing out here."
  2471. >Muhammad crosses his arms, biting his lip. "My jacket is in the plane." He crosses his arms. "I wish I was wearing it."
  2472. >We continue down the road, past more old buildings, rubble and rusting wagons.
  2473. >The blood of the creature permeates the entire street. The tendrils of the darkness aggressively dart around the edges of the fading glow.
  2474. >I tap David on the shoulder and point towards it.
  2475. "Is that really fog? I don't think it's supposed to look like a bunch of dancing spider legs."
  2476. >He observes it while we walk, then looks at another glowing puddle of orange fluid where the same thing is happening. "To be honest, I have no clue. Maybe it's the radiation causing a temperature change in the air, making it look like that."
  2477. "It's creepy."
  2478. >He laughs softly. "Yes, and so are the decoys and the self-reloading magazines. But we just survived a horde of glowing zombies and a giant monster. You have no reason to be afraid of some darkness."
  2479. >I guess he's right, but it still looks creepy.
  2480. >We get to an intersection and turn right, away from the glowing blood trail.
  2481. >I raise the pip-buck to check the map.
  2482.  
  2483. DATA------------------23:01
  2484.  
  2485. World Map
  2486.  
  2487. "We need to turn left at the next intersection."
  2488. >David grins. "A bit more, almost there."
  2489. >Muhammad puffs. "And then all the way back."
  2490. >"Hey, we'll make it. Even if I have to carry one of you."
  2491. >Muhammad laughs. "I don't think you can."
  2492. >I shrug. He could probably carry me if he had to.
  2493. >David scoffs with a grin. "Me neither. But if you can fight a giant, glowing monster with no gun, you can walk for another hour, I'm sure."
  2494. >Another hour?
  2495. "I don't think I can manage another hour. I never ran so far and fast before tonight; my legs are killing me."
  2496. >He looks at me. "Well… 'First time for everything' is an American saying, no?"
  2497. "I dunno."
  2498. >There's an explosion in the distance, followed by the sounds of gunfire.
  2499. >David sighs. "I hope that's not coming from the plane."
  2500. >Muhammad swallows. "Me too."
  2501. "Me three."
  2502. >We listen to the distant battle for a few minutes as we get closer. Finally, it stops.
  2503. "I hope the good guys won."
  2504. >They exchange a look.

/FoE/ TTW paste

by M4tt7h3Medic

Fallout Equestria: Between Two Wastelands

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