The green pine trees in the hills surrounding Pike’s Peak were accustomed to peaceful nothingness, the snow of winter generally meant that their limbs would bend under the weight of heavy snow, the days would get shorter, and the animals would roam freely and safely without fear of being hunted. The chilly night air was accented by a slight fog and the shining moon still seemed to cut through the thick clouds. The peaceful scene would’ve been worthy of a poem or a painting, but that peacefulness was soon broken.

On an abandoned stretch of road there was a slight flash of light, nothing of note at first, just a slight flash of light. After a few seconds that light grew blindingly bright, illuminating the forest for miles around. A massive vertical disk of energy cut through the fabric of existence itself, and from within five metal behemoths emerged. They were lined up straight and unmoving, and as the humming noise of the glowing disc dissipated it was clear they were silent. The disk of energy faded to an extremely small size, so small it was almost unnoticeable.

The five vehicles sat in silence for several minutes and the falling snow began to accumulate on them, after a while however, the first tank’s hatch popped open. From within emerged a man who’s peaked cap was askew, his uniform was ruffled, and his jacket was wrinkled. Dominic Occisor, Warrior of the Night, President of the New United States, and survivor of the end of the world. He was tall, muscled, and had the look of a warrior in his eyes.

As Dominic took in his surroundings he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief at being alive, minutes before he had been in an entirely different dimension, and now he had returned to his homeworld to save what remained of humanity. He could see his breath as it was carried away in the wind, in the distance he could only hear the creaking of timber. It was hauntingly silent, a silence that Dominic both welcomed and despised. After another minute or so, the hatch on the third tank in the column opened, prompting Dominic to turn around.

“You alive, commander?” A familiar male voice called out, Major Rolling Thunder, a muscled thestral soldier and a close friend of the president.

“Yeah, I’m alright… My crew’s unconscious though.” Dominic replied before he paused. “Switch to radios, we don’t know who or what is out here with us yet.” The thud of metal signalled that the thestral had gotten back into his tank, Dominic pulled the hatch on his own vehicle closed and latched it shut before he fiddled with the radio equipment that rested near his head. “Rolling, you copy?”

”Yes, sir.” The bat pony responded, Dominic let out a sigh of relief that the radios still seemed to work. ”My crew’s out cold though, and I don’t know if this is bad or not, but my head's killin’ me.”

“Just sit tight and try to wake ‘em up, as for the others, we’ll have to wait and see.” Dominic said before he set the radio down and sighed quietly, outside he could hear the howl of wind and snow against the metal plating. The man leaned forwards and turned on the combat lighting, filling the tank with an eerie red glow and letting him see his unconscious crew. His gunner, Sergeant Avos, was passed out beside the main cannon. The griffon’s feathers were ruffled and her uniform looked a bit upset, but nothing else seemed wrong.

His driver was also unconscious in his seat. Gear Grinder was another thestral, like many soldiers in the New American army. His head was leaned against the wall, Dominic could see his chest rising and falling. The last pony in the tank wasn’t even a soldier, he was a reporter, and he’d passed out in an open seat with his pen and paper at his hooves. Dominic quietly sighed as he sat there by himself, leaning back in his own seat and resting his head against the back of the turret.

He began to hum a soft tune to himself as he reached over and turned off the light to conserve battery power, and so the only source of light became the view slits for the driver, gunner, and commander. It was starting to settle in on him, he was back on Earth, a planet that had been decimated by an outbreak of disease. A place that had forced him to live like an animal for three years, and as he continued to listen to the winds outside, he couldn’t help but remember the bitter winter’s he’d endured.

“You ain’t nothin but a hound dog… Mhmm mmm hmmm…” Dominic mumbled quietly as he continued sitting there, silently he was waiting for someone else to wake up and call over the radio. Once or twice he’d peek through the command view slits, just to see what was outside, but all he could see was dark forest and snow. Normally he wouldn’t dream of just sitting in an environment like that, but having a tank helped.

“You sure you saw it this way?” A voice in the distance caught his ear, as quietly as he could he picked up his radio and cleared his throat.

“Rolling… Sounds like there’s someone out there…” He whispered, the man quietly creeped up to the right facing view slot and peeked out.

“Damn, man… Look at those things. Looks like something out of an old movie or somethin’.” Came another voice, Dominic could hear boots crunching the snow just outside his vehicle. “Hey, I bet we could get one of them runnin’, then we’d be pimpin’ man. This one upfront looks pretty tight.”

Dominic’s hand went for his revolver, he quietly drew back the handle and pointed it towards the hatch.

”I hear ‘em, Night Eagle. What’s the plan?” Rolling whispered back, Dominic remained absolutely silent as he heard boots clanging against the metal roof. There was a tug at the hatch, but it held tight.

“Damn, this one’s locked… Try the next one.” The second voice said from above, Dominic could tell it was a female. The man readied his weapon as he heard the person climb down off the vehicle, several seconds later he heard the sound of a hatch popping open.

“Shit, looks like there’s still folks in this one.” The second voice called out, Dominic’s eyes widened, they’d opened Jen’s tank. Without hesitating he unlocked the hatch and popped up, his revolver at the ready. The hatch slammed open with a loud bang, and Dominic could see the two figures staring at him with wide eyes. The man leveled his revolver at them.

“S-Shit…” The female muttered, Dominic silently gestured for them to close the hatch to Jen’s tank and come over. They looked towards the woods, perhaps debating on if they could run, Dominic would’ve let them. However, they didn’t think he would, and so they closed the hatch and nervously approached the tank. “Uh… We, uh… We didn’t know… We were just…”

“Calm down.” Dominic said as he lowered his revolver, keeping it within eyesight of the two folks. A man in and a woman, he couldn’t see their faces as they wore ski masks and scarves for warmth. “We’re looking for Colorado National Guard territory, is that somewhere around here?”

“Y-You’re just on the outskirts.” The man said before he pointed towards the mountain that loomed in the distance, barely visible in the dim moonlight. “That’s where you want to go if you’re looking for them.” Dominic nodded silently and looked the two of them over.

“What’s the infected activity look like out here?” Dominic asked, the two of them looked at eachother for a moment.

“It’s… Pretty clear, actually, we don’t really see them that often in the winter.” The woman said, Dominic hummed for a moment before he spoke into his radio once more.

“Rolling, keep me covered, I’m hopping out.” He said before removing the headset and climbing out of the turret, the two people looked at him with a bit of worry as he closed the hatch and jumped down onto the snowy roadway. “You look pretty cold, my troops and I are here to help, we’ve got a place to evacuate to. It’s warm, there’s plenty of food and clothes.” The man holstered his revolver and paused momentarily to look under the tank for any infected.

“We’ll… Uh… We’ll pass.” The man said as he started to tug on the woman’s arm, Dominic frowned and began to speak up, but sighed as they ran off into the forest, away from the mountain. He climbed back up onto the turret and climbed back into the tank, shivering slightly from the cold before he put his headset back on. He’d need to work on his approach, hopefully he’d meet the couple again some day. It was odd, talking to another actual person for once, and he was surprised at how calm he seemed to be.

”Ugh… My fucking head…” Jen’s voice cut through the static, she was one of the only other humans that Dominic knew from the other world, she was in charge of the tank directly behind his. ”Comm check, who’s out there?”

“Rolling and me.” Dominic said quietly as he continued to listen to the howling wind and snow that buffeted the tank. “Just missed two folks checking out the tanks, I tried talking to ‘em but they ran off into the trees. By the way, lock your hatch.”

”Ah, sorry I wasn’t awake, I might’ve been able to help.” The woman replied, Dominic could hear her hatch lock closed in the distance. ”How are we situated? Are we close to where we need to be?”

“Yeah, the two ‘em said we’re on the outskirts of CNG territory. The peak is due south of our position.” Dominic stated, he quietly fidgeted in his tank and gently moved his gunner away from the tank’s cannon. The man leaned forward and looked through the gun sight, ahead of him he could see a couple abandoned cars that had been covered in snow. He began humming to himself again, occasionally mumbling lyrics to himself. “...ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog…”

”I just realized it’s fuckin’ snowing outside.” Jen said over the radio, Dominic adjusted his cap and twisted a knob on the gunsight, causing it to zoom out a tad. ”If it’s winter we should be doing alright, that’s normally when the CNG and the Empire of Light take a break from the fighting. Dominic quietly paused at the mention of the Empire of Light, they were a faction that had risen from the ashes of internet culture, conceived in the bleakest womb and unleashed upon the earth for the purpose of evil.

”I don’t like just sitting here.” Rolling Thunder cut in over the frequency, Dominic took his eye away from the gunsight and activated the radio again.

“Well we don’t have much of a choice until at least the drivers wake up. See if you can get yours up, once you’ve done that we’ll try and get the drivers and Visigoth and Mirage up as well.” Dominic commanded, referring to the last two tanks in the column by their callsigns. The man leaned forwards and put his hand on Gear Grinder’s shoulder, then gave a firm shake. “Gear, wake up.” The stallion didn’t respond. “Avos is shaving her head.”

“What!? I wanna get pictures!” Gear bolted upright and clonked his head against the wall, then groaned and looked around with a bit of a pained expression. “Son of a bitch, my head…” The stallion looked at Dominic for a moment, then peeked out his view slit. “Holy shit… Are we here…?”

“Yeah.” Dominic responded as he leaned back in his own seat. “And the engine cut out on us, see if you can restart it before we end up freezing in here.” Gear nodded and pushed a few buttons, after a few seconds he pulled a lever and there was pop, then a bang, before the engine rumbled to life. A puff of black smoke floated off in the wind as the engine got into a steady rhythm. The noise seemed to stir Avos from her slumber, and the griffon groggily sat up straight and rubbed her head.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Sergeant.” Dominic commented, he watched the sergeant blink a few moments before moving her eye to the gunsight. “We’re here, don’t worry, and we’re all in one piece.”

”Mirage checking in, we’re wakin’ up over here… Anyone else out there? The voice came from the final tank in the column, crewed entirely by changelings and commanded by one that went by the name of Otto. Dominic and the others responded, but not in too much detail, as they were busy getting their crew’s to wake up. The president sighed quietly and leaned back as his crew went over their checklists for cold weather operations, he was glad that they’d practiced before coming through.

A pair of bangs from behind indicated that at least Jen and Rolling had gotten their tanks started, Dominic momentarily looked through the rear view slit and caught sight of a glimmer hovering behind the last tank. That was the portal, Discord had shrunken it to keep anything from coming through while it was unguarded.

”Visigoth is checking in, sounds like we’re the last ones to the party.” The second to last tank finally called out, its engine turned over with a similar bang and another puff of smoke was carried away. ”Reporting all crew members are awake and alert, ready to move out. That statement was followed by three more that confirmed it among the other tanks, this prompted Dominic to straighten up and look through the front view slit. As he opened his mouth to give the order to move, a pair of agonized screams echoed through the forest. A male and a female, shrieking in terror, at what Dominic didn’t know.

“The fuck…” He mumbled as he moved to a side view slit and peeked out.

”Night Eagle, this is Midnight Special.” Jen’s voice cut over the radio, Dominic paused to listen to her carefully. ”I have eyes on five… Make that six unknown foot mobiles, at your nine.” Dominic turned to look into the woods, he could certainly see movement out there. They seemed to be walking in a line, a row of shadowy figures that moved in unison. ”Don’t look like infected, and sir… They’re coming from the east.”

“Roger that.” Dominic replied as he tapped Avos on the shoulder. “Crank the turret around to two-seven-zero, see if you can get a look at what their packing through the gunsight.” The sergeant nodded and the turret let out a slight whine as he began rotating to face the figures.

”Figures have stopped.” Jen advised.

“I have eyes on six unknowns, looks like they have small arms… and swords.” Avos commented as she adjusted several knobs and lined up the crosshairs of the sight on the center of the group. She could see most of them had their faces covered, but one in the center didn’t. He had pale skin and blonde hair, and his ears looked as if they’d been cut to look pointy. “Looks like knife ears, sir.”

”Those are EOL troops, should we engage?” Jen’s voice cut in over the radio, Dominic looking out the view slit once more, then shook his head. He had enough problems already without opening fire, as it stood the EOL had yet to overtly attack his group, and they had to make contact with the CNG as soon as possible. Even if those screams had been the people from earlier, Dominic couldn’t do anything to help them, he’d already tried.

“Negative. All units, let’s move on down the road and see if we can make contact with the CNG.” The man ordered, there was a chorus of affirmatives before Gear Grinder shifted the vehicle into drive. The tracks squeaked and whined as they began rolling through the snow, Avos rotated the turret back to face frontwards, and Dominic watched as the abandoned cars got closer. “We should go around them if possible… Avos, try and get Scribs awake.”

“Yes, sir.” Sergeant Avos replied dutifully as she turned to the still unconcious reporter and started to gently push on his shoulders.

”Sir, requesting permission to try and contact CNG via radio on channel one-niner.” Jen said, Dominic quietly leaned back in his seat and straightened his cap before activating his headset once more.

“Roger that. Go ahead, switching to one-niner.” Dominic replied before he reached out and turned the dial on his CB radio to nineteen. The tank meanwhile had veered off the road and was driving past the abandoned cars, the bumpiness was just what it took for Scribs to wake up. He confusedly looked around before relaxing and leaning his head against the wall, the stallion was about to speak but Dominic held up a finger to silence him.

”Breaker. Breaker. This is Mother Goose, requesting contact with CNG radio personnel. Anyone out there on this wave? Jen said as Dominic listened closely, there were several moments of silence. The man could feel his heart beating in his chest, this was it, they were going to make contact, he was one step closer to Maria. ”I say again. Mother Goose to any CNG personnel. Does anyone copy?”

”Mother Goose… Sergeant Poplawski, is that you?!” A young male voice responded over the airwaves, whoever it was sounded very happy and very confused. Dominic was meanwhile smiling from ear to ear, it was all going according to plan.

”Yeah, it’s me. Back from the dead, heh.” Jen responded with a bit of a chuckle, Dominic could hear a bit of joy in her voice. ”You wouldn’t believe what I’ve been doing for the past half a year or so, but I can finally come back in, if Commander Markus’ll have me.”

”... Sorry, ma’am… Commander Markus isn’t in charge anymore. I’ve got our new CO in the room with me though, he’s standing right next to me if you want to talk to him.”

”Sure, put him on.” Jen said, though this time she sounded a bit less joyful. Dominic meanwhile popped the hatch of his tank and peeked out, the tank was veering back on the road after passing the abandoned cars, and behind him he could see the other tanks were following suit. The man momentarily considered leaving the hatch open, but considering how cold it was, he figured that would be bad for his troops. Just as he closed the hatch he heard a new, deep male voice come over the radio.

”This is Colonel Baxter, to whom am I speaking?” The voice asked, once again Jen introduced herself as ‘Sergeant Poplawski’.

”I’ve been out for a very long time, and you wouldn’t believe the stuff that’s happened, sir. I’d really like to come home, I’ve got a lot of people with me that need a place to hunker down.”Jen explained, there was a pause on the other end of the radio. Dominic hoped that the Colonel would see fit to let them come in without any trouble, after several minutes the radio returned to life.

”Alright, but make sure we can see you when you come up to the gate, so we know it’s you.”

”Trust me, sir. You’ll hear us a lot sooner than you see us. Mother Goose, out.” Jen’s voice spoke with finality before the radio went dead again, Dominic quietly sighed and changed back to the regular communication channel.

“Jen, I want you to take point, I’m sure you know where you’re going better than I do.” Dominic said over the radio before he looked to gear. “Clear some room so she can move ahead.” Gear nodded and pulled the tank a little more to the side, this allowed the tank behind them to roll past freely before the column became straight again. The crew lapsed into a bit of silence afterwards as they rolled along down the road.

“Hey, Commander?” Gear spoke, getting the man’s attention. “What’s with all those metal things we drove past, were those the ‘cars’ you told us about.” Dominic nodded and leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed. Meanwhile Scribs had picked up his pad and pen and was once again writing.

“Yeah, haven’t seen any like those in a while though.” Dominic replied with a bit of a nostalgic hum. “It’s kind of weird being back here after so long, especially since I don’t really remember this part of the state so well.”

“Well, we’re in the same boat then, because we’ve never been here before either.” Gear said as he adjusted his stance in his seat. “Man, look at all that snow, it’s gotta be something like two feet deep at least.” Avos chuckled quietly as she stopped looking through the gunsight and leaned back in her own seat, relaxing a bit after the rather interesting ordeal they’d all gone through.

“This snow doesn’t look so bad, in my homeland this would be rather average.” She said quietly as she crossed her talons over her chest, her tail swished back and forth lazily while her attention turned to the reporter that had yet to speak up the entire time. “Scribble Pen, you’ve been rather quiet this whole time.

“Yeah, we’re in a whole new world, what gives?” Gear added, the reporter paused his writing and set his notebook down to address the group.

“I haven’t fully woken up from… Whatever that was.” Scribs replied tiredly, he sat up in his seat and looked through his own view slit. “On top of that, I haven’t really seen anything of note, it’s just snow and wilderness… We have plenty of that in Equestria, the weather ponies make it all the time.”

“This is naturally occurring.” Dominic said as he looked out at all the snow that surrounded their tanks and was beginning to accumulate on the top of the vehicle. Scribs looked a bit surprised by that, then looked outside again. “Yeah, this is frozen water that evaporated naturally…”

“I’ve never seen real snow…” Scribs mumbled, Dominic was about to speak up again, but shook his head and leaned back against the wall. Meanwhile the tanks continued rolling along, passing by more ruined cars on the side of the road and the occasional abandoned gas station or general store, until finally they came to a crossroads.

Jen sighed as she looked through her own view slit, occasionally glancing down at her crew. Her driver was an earth pony mare by the name of Banana muffin, she had yellow fur and a white mane, and of course her cutie mark was one of the delicious pastries for which she was named. She, like her other crewmember, was looking out their view slits for any sign of trouble. The other pony in the tank was the gunner, a stallion by the name of Rocky Road. He was from trottingham, his coat a mix of chocolate brown and white, while his cutie mark depicted a pair of boxing gloves.

“Turn right up ahead, Bans.” Jen said quietly as they reached the crossroads, she ran a hand over her recently shaved head and sighed as the tank took a right. Her normally long black hair had been trimmed away in preparation for the journey, as long hair would make her much easier for one of the infected monsters to grab. It was haunting how familiar everything around her looked, before she’d been pulled to Equestria she was often the one sent out to lead patrols through these very woods.

The road they were on was one she was familiar with, it would lead them to a train station. The train station was normally under the most protection, as it was one of the easiest ways to move up and down the mountain. The Cog Railroad, specially designed to move up and down Pikes Peak, it was also near the road that would lead to the top. Most likely they would be taking that road, as the tanks wouldn’t be able to make the train ride. Jen was a bit worried however, as they would be rolling up to the checkpoint in tanks, and she wasn’t sure how the guards there would take that.

As they drove along in silence she thought about the world she’d left through the portal, her life there, her fiance. She briefly looked at the ring on her finger, the rose gold and emerald had only just been given to her the night before. The woman shook her head and stiffened her jaw, they were on a mission, she couldn’t afford to get sentimental.

“Hey, captain?” Asked Banana Muffin, Jen hummed in response as she continued watching the road ahead. “How high up this mountain are we going again?” The woman paused and leaned back from her view slit so she could see her driver.

“The mountain’s over fourteen thousand feet tall, but the last time I was here we’d constructed a bit of a shanty town at just below six thousand.” Jen explained before she scratched her head and coughed, the cold wind howled a bit louder outside, somewhat drowning out the rumble of the engine. “At six thousand feet there’s less chance of breathing problems and such, and the EOL doesn’t have anything strong enough to hit that high.”

“Ah, that makes sense I guess…” Banana hummed before she turned the tank to go around an a truck that had blocked both lanes of the road. “My sister lives in cloudsdale, ya know? But that’s only about three thousand.” Jen nodded while Rocky Road turned his head to look at the driver with a raised eyebrow.

“Your sister lives in Cloudsdale?” The earth pony asked, his accent was only slight, it was far better now than it had been at the beginning of training when neither the mare or the woman could understand him. Banana Muffin nodded and turned back onto the road, the tank treads let out out little squeals as they ran through the snow and over the asphalt. “But you’re an earth pony…”

“Point…” Banana said with a bit of a shrug. “Mom always did have a bit of an… Active social life.” Jen listened in as she continued to scan the treeline that surrounded either side of the road for anything of note, soon enough she spotted lights up the road.

“Cut the chatter… Eyes on lights up ahead.” Jen said, the two crew members quieted down and sat ready as the tanks got closer. The woman was pretty sure she knew what they were, but she’d have to get a good look in order to be sure. She unlatched the hatch above her and pushed it open, allowing the cold air to enter the tank as she stood up and looked ahead. The woman picked up her headset and pulled it on. “Night Eagle, this is Midnight Special, eyes on possible survivor encampment ahead. How do you want us to proceed?” The woman turned back to face the tank behind her, a few moments later the hatch popped open and Dominic made himself visible with a pair of binoculars. She watched him bring them up to his eyes.

”I’d love to say stop, but your friends are waiting on us, and I’d very much like to get started on that front.” Dominic replied as he lowered his binoculars, the woman nodded and gave him a thumbs up as they got closer to the lights. The two of them continued to stand in their turrets, they wanted to get a look at the encampment for themselves. Jen recognized the place, it was an old garage that had been turned into a sort of bar and inn by an enterprising young mechanic. She’d spent a couple nights there herself, though she couldn’t really remember them all that well.

As the tanks drove passed Jen could see at least ten people walking to the road to see the source of the noise, each of them stared at the armored column with a bit of awe and surprise. The building itself was rather simple brick construction, with strings of lights on the outside. The garage doors had been boarded up to keep the warmth inside, and Jen could faintly hear music when her tank was right next to it.

”All units, turn on your headlights, we want these guys to know we’re coming.” Dominic said over the radio before Jen saw him disappear once again into his turret with the hatch closed. One by one the lights mounted on the fronts of the tanks flicked on, illuminating the road ahead much better, and easily being spotted from far away. Jen quietly slipped down into her tank and closed the hatch, she rubbed her head and flicked off the snow that had accumulated there.

”Night Eagle. Mirage. Interrogative.” The voice of Otto cut through the airwaves as the tanks continued on down the road, Jen knew it wouldn’t be long before they got to the gate outside the train station.

”Go ahead.” Dominic replied, there was a bit of static in his voice, but it quickly cleared up after a moment or two.

”You really wanna let ‘em know we’re coming, you could blast some of that music out the PA system.” Otto said, Jen could here a couple chuckles over the radio. The woman expected Dominic to reply jokingly, but a few moments later she heard the pop and crackle of PA speakers behind her. The speakers had been mounted to the tanks in case they ended up running into survivors that liked to shoot first and ask questions later, so they’d have some way of communicating.

The music that started playing over the speakers was certainly something Jen hadn’t expected, she’d never pictured Dominic as an Elvis fan. ‘You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog’ began to echo through the woods around them as the tanks continued driving along at a decent clip of speed as the road was relatively straight. Eventually the flatness tapered off into an incline and a bit of a ravine began to form on the left side of the road, but the tanks were sticking to the right side of the road.

Jen peeked through the view slit once again, quietly humming along with the music as she saw the tanks were coming around a curve.

“Ma’am.” Banana Muffin cut in. “I’ve been listenin’ in on channel nine-teen, there’s some guy asking for ya.” Jen nodded and cleared her throat before reaching towards the radio, then pausing and activating her headset.

“Switching to channel nineteen.” She informed before making the switch, she knew a few seconds later that Dominic and the other tanks had switched over when she heard a four faint pops. The voice of ‘Colonel Baxter’ greeted her ears.

”..-say again, Mother Goose. Is that music coming from you?” The Colonel asked.

“Negative, that’s one of the vehicles behind me, sir. We wanted to let you know we were coming.” Jen explained as the tank began to come around a bend, she could see the glow of lights ahead and she could tell they were just about to come into view for the guards at the gate. “You should be seeing us… just about… Now.” Sure enough she saw the gate up ahead, it was the same as she had left it.

Two train cars had been pushed up on either side of the road and sured up with destroyed cars, barbed wire, and a pair of machine gun nests. The ‘Gate’ was actually nothing more than an earth mover with a massive metal plate welded to the bucket that blocked the gap between the two train cars. Spot lights quickly focussed on the tanks as the music began to fade out.

“We’re stopping now.” Jen said, opting not to change channels as she knew the others were listening in. There was another chorus of affirmatives and the column slowed to a halt, the PA speakers went silent, and a hush fell over the area. The tanks rumbled as they idled there, meanwhile the guards in the machine gun nest were loading their fifty cals as best they could, even though they doubted it would do much. “Rocky, rotate turret to nine-zero degrees.”

“Aye, ma’am. Nine-zero degrees.” The gunner responded before hitting a switch and causing the turret to begin rotating. After a couple seconds it was pointing away from the gate and at the hill beside the road. Jen watched quietly through her view slit before the earth mover stirred to life and slowly the gate was moved aside.

“Move! Move! Move!” A voice shouted as a squad of soldiers ran out with their rifles raised, only to stop as they saw the tanks.

”Sergeant… Please tell me that’s you in the tanks.” The Colonel’s voice cut in.

“It’s us, sir.” Jen replied, after a few moments Jen could see another man walk out past the nervous looking soldiers. He held out his hand and gestured for them to lower their rifles before walking towards the tank and putting his hands on his hips. He was an older man with grey hair and a bushy walrus mustache, and eyebrows to match. He wore a heavy wool coat adorned with his rank insignia, over what appeared to be normal fatigues.

“Sergeant!” The man yelled. “I would appreciate if you’d come out so we can talk, this certainly isn’t what I was expecting.” Jen nodded and popped the hatch, several seconds later she stood up and looked around, adjusting her olive green uniform quietly. She wished she had her jacket, but the fabric was still relatively warm. Moments later she heard the heavy metal hatch of Dominic’s tank pop open as well, the Colonel’s eyes shifted to the young man as he climbed out of his tank and adjusted his jacket.

“All units, button up!” He yelled as he started walking forwards, then he gestured to Jen. “Captain Poplawski, dismount.” Jen blinked for a moment before she climbed out of the tank and closed the hatch behind her, the Colonel watched with a bit of surprise as the two of them walked forwards in what appeared to be matching uniforms. Of course, the man beside her was tall and muscular, with a leather jacket that seemed befitting of an officer, as well as what looked like a West German officer’s cap.

The soldiers behind Baxter fidgeted nervously as the two walked up to their commanding officer, when they stopped in front of the Colonel it gave the older man an opportunity to examine them both closely. Their clothes looked clean, the man with the officer’s cap seemed to have a sword on his belt, and Jen had a ring on her finger.

“Colonel Baxter.” Jen said as she saluted the officer, Baxter returned the salute, though he was a bit suspicious of what he was seeing. “I realize this may appear strange, because it is, but I assure you I can explain.”

“I’m sure you can…” Baxter said as he narrowed his eyes at the young man. “She’s Poplawski, I know that much, but who are you. Come on, son. Name and rank.”

“Dominic Occisor. Commander of the New American Expeditionary Force.” The man replied firmly, this caused the older man’s bushy eyebrows to rise. “Colonel Baxter, I realize this is an unusual situation, and I would be more than happy to explain it to you, but as you’ve noticed it is very cold out here. With your permission, I ask that our vehicles be let inside, where we can discuss this in more detail.”

The Colonel leaned forwards and squinted, looking Dominic in the eyes and trying to get a read on him. To his surprise, the young ‘Commander’ never once blinked or looked away, Baxter could see just how serious those eyes were.

“Have your crews rotate their turrets facing backwards, then bring them through the gates…” Baxter said after several moments of thought, Dominic nodded and turned to Poplawski.

“Captain, notify all crews to rotate their turrets behind them, then guide them through the gate…” Dominic ordered, Jen paused and after a moment, she saluted and walked off to begin organizing the vehicles. Dominic turned back to the colonel and adjusted his jacket, then pulled on his leather gloves just a bit tighter. “Lead on, Colonel.” Baxter grunted and turned on his heel, then began walking back towards the gate, the soldiers watched Dominic follow behind him with a bit of surprise and suspicion. The fell in behind the group, keeping their weapons at the ready in case they had to perforate the ‘Commander’.

Baxter lead the man behind him towards a structure that had been fortified and boarded up, the old cog railway station, which had been turned into a bit of a forwards command post since the fall of society. Dominic paused just outside the building, taking a moment to read the lettering on the outside, before he followed the colonel inside. It was much warmer than it was outside, but it was still bitterly cold.

Benches had been converted into cots and numerous national guardsmen watched the newcomer with a bit of surprise. Baxter lead Dominic past several bulletin boards that had pictures on them, his boots echoed on the wooden floor and off the stoney walls, until finally they reached what at one point had been a ticket office. It was now boarded off from the rest of the station and bad been converted into a regular office, the light inside was provided by a dimly burning propane lantern that rested on a metal desk.

“Alright, Commander… You wanted to explain, so explain.” Baxter said as he took a seat in the desk chair, behind him Dominic heard two soldiers enter the room while the others closed the door. The president nodded and began to pace back and forth as he thought of a way to explain what was happening.

“Do you believe in god, Colonel?” He asked, the Colonel raised an eyebrow at him but nodded. “Perhaps divine intervention?”

“I do, but I fail to see what that has to do with you.” The Colonel said with a hint of annoyance, Dominic paused and cleared his throat.

“I’ll get to the point. I was born on this planet, I lived in Evergreen, and up until about a year ago I had been living in a dump of a bar, waiting to die.” Dominic explained as he began to pace once more, moving his hands as he talked. “Then, by some miracle, when I was out looking for food I happened across a… A sort of door…” The man stopped and looked the colonel in the eyes. “A door between our world and another one…”

“Are you saying you come from some sort of alien planet?” Baxter asked in an unamused tone, Dominic sighed and took a breath.

“For all intents and purposes… Yes.” He said, the Colonel grumbled and was about to call for the soldiers to take Dominic into custody. “If you seek proof, you need only take a look at my soldiers.” That got the Colonel’s attention, he always loved seeing what nutjobs came wandering in from the wastes, and he needed a bit of a laugh. For that reason he stood up and put his hands on his hips.

“Alright… Prove it to me.” He said with a firm tone, Dominic nodded and gestured for him to follow. “While we walk, why don’t you tell me more about this ‘Alien world’.”

“Alright.” Dominic said with a shrug, figuring he’d be vindicated as soon as he opened the hatch to one of his tanks. “In this world I’ve refounded the United States, built a decent military and economy, and negotiated peace with several local inhabitants. Captain Poplawski found herself in that world as well, with her now fiance.” Dominic walked past the national guardsmen once again, though now they were following just so they could get a look at whatever was about to happen.

“Is that so?” Baxter asked with false belief, Dominic frowned slightly as he stepped outside and saw the last of the tanks was parking. The engines shut off, as did the headlights, but still the crews remained in side.

“All units! Dismount!” Dominic commanded loudly moments later the hatches popped open, what Baxter and the others saw caused their jaws to drop. From within the tanks came ponies, odd strange looking alien ponies, all but one of them in the same uniform Jen and Dominic wore, and all but one of them standing at attention in front of their vehicles. The lone outlier seemed to be scribbling something down on a notepad. Dominic turned to face the Colonel with a neutral expression. “Enough proof for you, Colonel?”

“Y-You could say that again…” The Colonel mumbled before he quickly shook his head and refocused. “Alright, so you’re from an alien planet and you have an army… Why the fuck did you come back here?”

“I felt guilty...” Dominic said simply, Baxter raised an eyebrow. “For survivors… People deserve a second chance, I intend to give it to them… Starting with a girl that I haven’t seen in almost four years.” The Colonel was at a loss for words, as were most of the national guard troops standing behind him in the bitter cold. Not only had they just realized they weren’t alone in the universe, they had also met a man who claimed to have built a new home for them in another world. “I… Realize this all may be a bit difficult to comprehend, Colonel… Lord knows I nearly lost my head myself when I first woke up there.”

“I… I need a drink.” Baxter said quietly before he looked at Dominic and shook his head. “I don’t trust you, son. Hell, if it weren’t for that display I’d’ve had you and Poplawski tossed in a cell…” The man looked at the ground as he heard a couple mumbles from the soldiers standing behind him. His mind turned to the soldiers he’d been leading since Commander Markus had been killed nearly a year ago, all the pain they’d suffered at the hands of not only the infected but also the EOL’s ruthless attacks on the surrounding area. This young man had just come out of the blue, a bolt from beyond, and with him he brought a glimmer of hope… Colonel Baxter was a tough old man, but he wasn’t heartless… Any glimmer of hope was better than no hope at all.

“These people need something to hold onto though, so, it doesn’t look like I have much choice but to hear you out…” Baxter finally relented, bringing his hand to his forehead and sighing. “We can talk more about this in the morning, a couple hours or so from now, for now though… I suppose you and yours can take the train up the mountain and hunker down…” The Colonel’s eyes shifted to the changelings, he felt a bit of a chill go down his spine as he looked them in the eye. “Keep them out of trouble though.”

“You have my word, no trouble.” Dominic extended his hand out to the Colonel, after a hesitant moment, the Colonel reached out and grabbed the hand, the both of them shared a firm shake that seemed to cement just how serious Dominic was in the Colonel’s mind. The man turned back to the tank crews and cleared his throat. “Alright, we’re going up the mountain, no matter what happens you’re all to behave yourselves like the gentle folk I know you to be.”

“Yes, sir!” The group replied before they broke from attention and began walking towards the station. The group of national guards parted for them with looks of surprise in their eyes, watching the ponies, changelings, and griffon march along like a professional army. Jen walked along with them, pausing to salute both Dominic and Baxter before following the soldiers. The president let out a somewhat nervous sigh and started to walk with them, then stopped and quietly turned to face Baxter.

“Colonel…” He said quietly, the mustached man raised an eyebrow. “Thank you.” Baxter nodded and watched Dominic disappear back into the station, several moments later he emerged once more. “I almost forgot. On our way in we spotted six or so EOL foot mobiles on the outskirts of your territory…”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Baxter said, feeling a bit more at ease at hearing the statement. Of course, it could’ve been a lie, but Baxter deep down hoped that Dominic was an honest man. He waited until after the train started up the mountain before he addressed his troops, the national guards had all begun chattering and trying to talk at once.

“Everyone shut up for a minute.” Baxter said loudly, causing the crowd to quiet down. “I know this all seems a bit sudden, but honestly is there anyway we can argue with what we’ve just seen?” The group of soldiers was silent as Baxter began to pace back and forth. “I don’t know for sure what this man’s intentions really are, but if there’s even a chance that he’s telling the truth… It could mean an end to all of this.” The soldiers all had their eyes on the Colonel now, the weight of his words was starting to sink in.

“We’ll be able to put an end to the EOL… We could all have a chance for normal lives again.” The Colonel cleared his throat and stood up straight. “So, until further notice, we will be living with these… people… As if they were our allies. That means we’re going to keep their equipment secure down here, and we’re not going to hassle them with questions like a bunch of jibbering school children. Pass that along when you get the chance. Sound good?”

“Yes, sir!” The soldiers yelled back, the Colonel gestured for them to go back to their normal duties, and so they did. A couple of them went over and stood next to the tanks, occasionally putting their hands over the engines for a little bit of warmth. Even though they were turned off they still were better than nothing. Baxter let out a sigh and watched as the train continued up the mountain, he knew that already the shanty town had been made aware of their newest arrivals by radio.

Meanwhile, Dominic was standing at the front of the train beside Jen, the operator was occasionally looking over his shoulder at the two strange newcomers, as well as their equally strange subordinates. Dominic had his hands clasped behind his back as he looked up the darkened tracks, the train was traveling much faster than it would with tourists, and would reach six thousand feet in twenty minutes. He couldn’t believe it. Twenty minutes and he was one step closer to his goal. He supposed that was why Jen insisted upon standing next to him.

“The men are excited…” She commented as she looked over her shoulder at the soldiers in the train car, they were chatting rapidly amongst themselves. Dominic just nodded silently as he reached into his jacket and withdrew his black bandanna, silently he pulled it on over his face to help shield him from the cold. “I thought you’d be excited too…”

“I am…” Dominic replied quietly as he looked off the side of the train for a moment. “We’re one step close to preserving our species… One step closer to putting an end to this…” His hand shifted to the patch on his jacket, the one that his dear friend Maria had given him all those years ago. “One step closer to her…”

“Then why do you sound so glum?” Jen asked, Dominic and looked at her quietly for a moment, she could see regret for the first time in his eyes.

“What if I’ve made a terrible mistake…” The man closed his eyes and shook his head. “Three years is a long time… Three years here is even longer… It’s almost four now…” Dominic straightened up and adjusted his cap so that it was properly seated on his head. “This is not where I pictured myself at twenty years old…”

“I thought you were nineteen.” Jen replied, Dominic shook his head and kept his gaze out on the tracks ahead.

“Twenty as of two months ago… More or less… I worked out the math on a napkin in my office.” He replied honestly, the two of them lapsed into a bit of silence. “That’s odd…”

“What?” Jen asked.

“You didn’t ask why I didn’t tell anyone.” Dominic said, looking at Jen with a bit of a curious expression. “Most people insist on a party or something when they hear something like that.” Jen just shrugged and crossed her arms.

“You’re twenty years old, if you want a party you’ll ask for one.” Jen said simply, the man hummed and went back to looking out the window, he could see the glow of lights up ahead. “For whatever it’s worth, Dominic… Happy Birthday.” The man looked at her, she couldn’t see his mouth because of his bandanna, but there was a sad smile in his eyes. As he turned back to watch the glowing lights of the shanty town, Jen took note of the new patch on his arm. It depicted Luna’s cutie mark, perhaps to signify his completion of his training.

“You’re returning home, aren’t you?” Dominic asked as the town got closer, Jen paused and nodded silently.

“I bet they’ve already sold my stuff off by now.” She replied with a bit of a grim chuckle. “Damn shame too, I had a lot of magazines… Hell, that was how I traded off guard duty back then.” Dominic quietly laughed and shook his head. “You would be such an easy sell too, you know? I bet I know your type. Girls with glasses?”

“Stop it.” Dominic said good naturedly, Jen poked him in the shoulder.

“Oh. I know, how about redheads?” She asked, Dominic shook his head again and looked at the operator of the train.

“Is there any way you could hurry this up?” He asked, the operator looked at him with a sympathetic expression but shook his head, causing Dominic to groan.

“Redheaded girls in glasses.” Jen continued, Dominic shook his head again.

“No.” He said firmly, Jen sighed quietly, once again silence reigned as the shanty town was practically right next to them. Already the two of them could see a slight crowd forming around the station that had been cobbled together from old railway ties and a portable shed. As the train pulled into the station Dominic adjusted his belt and turned to walk towards the side doors, Jen followed behind him. “Brunettes.” He said simply and quietly. “I like brunettes.” The doors opened and he stepped out onto the platform, Jen stepping out behind him as the rest of the tank crews stepped out through different doorways.

The shanty town was just as Dominic had pictured it, rundown and odd looking, everything seemed to be at an angle, and it was all made up of junk. There seemed to be a few temp buildings, some buildings were made from old shipping containers, and they all seemed to lit either by propane lanterns or strings of light. The crowd that had formed was a mix of uniformed national guards, civilians in as many layers as they could carry, and a combination of the first two. It was small though, undoubtedly the rest of the inhabitants didn’t want to go out in the cold.

“You th-th-that c-c-commander guy?” Asked one of the soldiers who happened to be shivering, Dominic nodded and the man stepped forwards. “Told to expect you, s-sir… We knew y-you had a strange army, but this b-b-beats anything I ever saw…” The man offered a hand that Dominic readily shook. “We g-got you some space set away, b-b-but you may have to share with s-some of our personnel if we’re gonna f-fit your guys.”

“That’s alright… The men come first, I don’t mind sharing.” Dominic said with a nod before he looked to Jen. “Captain Poplawski, please… Escort the troops. I’d like to have a look around.” Jen only nodded and whistled to get the attention of the others, the tank crews nodded and began following her. A couple of the national guardsmen broke off to lead the odd group through the town while Dominic continued standing in front of the other troops. “Anything else?”

“N-No, sir.” The soldier replied as he rubbed his hands together for warmth, Dominic himself found that his gloves didn’t seem to be doing the job either. “T-There’s a c-couple facilities up here marked, l-like the infirmary and so on.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Dominic said with a nod before he paused and looked at the crowd that had still assembled. Most of them looked cold, tired, and hungry. Their clothes were disheveled and old, and some of them had wrapped their shoes in cloth for extra warmth, he wished that he could help them immediately, but he knew first he would have to earn their trust. Dominic silently patted the soldier on the shoulder before he walked off the platform to catch up with his troops.

He could see many of them had pulled on their jackets, save for Sergeant Avos who seemed to be taking the cold air in stride. They were being lead to a collection of temporary buildings, the kind that would generally be seen at a construction site. Dominic walked alongside them until he’d caught up with Jen, the woman was chatting with the soldier that was leading the group. The commander opted to keep his mouth shut, he didn’t want to spoil the moment for Jen.

“So, yeah… Thanks to some weird alien stuff I got pulled through into another world.” Jen explained to the soldier who was looking at her with rapt attention. “And that’s where this guy turned me onto the idea of coming back here, we figured we’d be able to help you folks out, you know?”

“That’s great! I’m fuckin’ tired of this goddamn cold already, why aren’t we going right now?” The soldier asked, Jen sighed quietly. Dominic enjoyed seeing her talk with the others, she had knowledge of this place he didn’t have, and she always seemed to know how to make friends easily.

“Well, we only made contact with you guys an hour or so ago, so the trust level probably isn’t that high.” Jen replied, getting a nod from the soldier as Dominic continued to follow along with them to the first temp building. “Don’t worry, we’ll all get to go soon enough, isn’t that right Commander?”

“Yeah, once we’ve taken care of any threats on this side of the portal.” Dominic replied calmly as he looked around and pulled his gloves on a little tighter. “Reinforcements should come through tomorrow, if everything goes well here.” The soldier nodded quietly and stopped outside the front of the temp building.

“This should be enough for your guys, it’s been out of use for a while though, so the beds may need to be set up.” The soldier explained as he opened the door to the building and looked inside, Dominic and Jen peeked inside as well. It was a tad dark and numerous beds lined the walls on either side, it seemed some of the mattresses had been laid out while others were rolled up. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you two to where you’ll be bunking.”

As the crews filed into the building and began setting up their beds, the soldier lead Dominic and Jen off towards the second building. Both of them were glad that they’d be getting some sort of shelter from the cold, even if it wasn’t much more than a glorified mobile home.

“Just be careful of some of the folks in here, they can be a bit testy.” The soldier warned as rubbed his hands together once again before reaching for the handle. “Considering you’re… I dunno, space people, they might be wary of you as well.” He pushed the door open and stepped in, Dominic and Jen following close behind him before the soldier closed the door tightly. There were ten or so men already inside that Dominic could see, some of them were sitting around playing cards, others were on their beds.

When the cold wind hit them they looked to the door and spotted the newcomers, more than a few of them looked surprised. The soldier that had brought them in quickly walked to a wood stove and began holding his hands over it, meanwhile Dominic and Jen examined their surroundings. There were two beds open, both of them were closest to the door, the rest either had someone lying, sitting, or any other sort of object marking them as taken.

“Sergeant Poplawski?” A voice questioned from across the room, Jen looked over and her face brightened as she spotted a familiar pair of glasses. The young man she’d been friends with since The Fall, and a soldier that she’d been separated from for some time.

“Smalls!” Jen said cheerfully as the man stood up from his bunk and walked over to her. “I knew you’d make it.”

“Yeah, well, after that big flash of light grabbed you I ran like hell, just like you taught me.” Smalls said as he stopped in front of her and smiled. “Guess I know where you went now, at least somewhat… It’s good to see you, sarge!” Smalls looked over at Dominic, appearing a bit surprised by the man with the black bandanna. “Is this one of the aliens?”

“No, no… This actually another guy that got pulled through the big light ball, he’s the one that’s responsible for us coming through.” Jen explained, Dominic silently offered his hand to Smalls, he wasn’t really sure how to speak here. He’d never been the most social of people when it came to new folks, but he was so focussed on Smalls that he neglected to notice anyone else that was looking at him. Specifically a pair of eyes that had caught sight of the patch on his jacket. Smalls extended his hand and shook Dominic’s firmly.

“Name’s Jack, most people call me Smalls though.” Smalls said with a smile, Dominic was just about to respond before he was suddenly grabbed from the side and roughly thrown to the ground. “What the fuck, Major!?”

Dominic groaned as several punches rained down on his face, he did his best to fend them off, he didn’t even know who was attacking him.

“Where did you get that fucking jacket!?” A woman screamed at him, Jen quickly sprung into action and pushed his attacker away. Dominic stood up and felt the warm trickle of blood running from his nose, the entire room was watching in surprise as Jen did her best to keep the attacker at bay. “Where!?”

“Captain…” Dominic said quietly. “Stand down.” Jen looked at him with wide eyes, he just nodded and she stepped away from the woman who was panting and glaring at him. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, it sent a line of chills down his back. It was her, Maria, the girl that this had all started for. Dominic’s quietly removed his gloves and put them in his jacket before running a hand over his head, feeling the short mohawk he sported before he untied the bandana. Afterwards he grabbed the fabric and pulled it away from his face, his heart was beating rapidly and his breath was short. Jen looked between him and the woman, then backed away as she recognized her.

Maria looked different, with punk haircut replacing her once flowing locks and numerous defined muscles. She wore gritty faded fatigues and a couple scars were scattered about her face. Despite all that, Jen recognized her and recognized her well. Maria and Dominic stared at each other for several moments, the entire room had its eyes on them.

“This… This has to be some fuckin’ trick…” Maria said quietly as she pointed at Dominic, the man shook his head quietly as the blood continued to run down from his nose and stain his jacket. “Who the fuck are you!? You can’t be him!”

“Why not?” Dominic asked as he walked forwards, his voice shaking as he did his best to keep from stumbling in his steps.

“Because he’s… He’s… Dead…” Maria said quietly as she stared at him with wide eyes. “No one ever found him when they went into Evergreen… When they still could…” Dominic stepped closer to her and crouched just enough to look her in the eyes.

“It’s me, Maria.” Dominic said quietly as he adjusted his jacket, Maria continued to stare at him quietly, her breath coming quicker and quicker. “I can prove it…” Dominic hummed for a moment before speaking again. “Your favorite movie is Blazing Saddles, when we were kids you shot me in the face with a BB gun and, and you have an irrational fear of sea turtles…” Maria’s eyes went wide.

“Dominic… It is you!” She opened her arms wide and wrapped them around Dominic, the man eagerly returned the embrace. His bloody nose was staining her fatigues, but Maria didn’t care, it had been so long since she’d seen him, so long since she’d heard his voice and been near him. “I knew you were too stubborn to die!”

“Nah…” Dominic said with a bit of a catch in his voice. “I just promised I’d come get you, remember?” The two of them broke the hug and looked at each other silently, both of them smiling as their eyes watered. Jen and the others in the room didn’t dare make a sound, for two very different reasons. For Jen it was out of respect for the two of them, she knew just how much Dominic had thought of Maria, and visa versa. For the others, they had never seen Major Maria Valova smile. Ever.

“Let’s… Let’s sit down and talk. I want you to tell me everything.” Maria said with a bit more composure in her voice, Dominic responded with a warm smile and a nod. Dominic gestured to the bunk that he’d planned on taking and then sat down on the edge.

“Captain Poplawski, you can go…” Dominic said to Jen as Maria took a seat beside him, Jen blinked for a moment before nodding and looking at Smalls with a faint smile. The young man grabbed her hand and dragged her off to a group that was playing cards, asking many different questions along the way. Dominic reached down and picked up his hat and set it aside before he grabbed his bandana and put it against his nose to stop the bleeding. “I see you’ve been working on your right hook.”

“I’m sorry…” Maria said quietly as she tried to fuss over his nose, but he waved her hand away and eventually the bleeding stopped on its own. “I saw the jacket and I thought you were some scavenger or something…”

“That’s alright, I should’ve taken off my bandana before I came inside.” Dominic replied before he began to unbutton his jacket, meanwhile Maria took note of the belt he wore, specifically the revolver and the sword. Her eyes then went to the new patch on his jacket on the opposite side of the one she’d given him. “To be honest, I’ve had much worse over the last year.”

“What happened to you? Where’d you go? How did you get here?” Maria asked with genuine interest, Dominic chuckled quietly as he removed his jacket and set it aside with his belt.

“I got sucked through a portal in a refrigerator, then I got tossed into a brand new world where all manner of shit happened, and then I managed to bribe a deity into opening a portal back here so we could come and get you folks.” Dominic explained like it was nothing, he paused as Maria stared at him with a surprised expression. “You’ll never guess what world I ended up in, go ahead, guess.” Maria’s eyes shifted to the sword, taking note of the mark in the pommel, the mark of Princess Luna, just like the patch on his jacket.

“No fuckin’ way.” Maria said plainly, Dominic only nodded and leaned back a bit.

“Yup, princesses and all.” He said with a faint smile. “There were riots, a war or two broke out, I was almost eaten alive by a giant wooden dog after I was exiled, liberated a communist death camp.” Maria’s eyes only got wider as he continued to list the things that he’d seen on the other side. “All manner of shit that I don’t want to go into detail about, all leading up to me refounding our country, building an industry and a military, and coming here to save you, as well as our species…” The man reached into his jacket and withdrew a cigar, then paused and slipped it back in. For the first time he didn’t feel like he needed one. “So, yeah… It’s been a busy year.”

“Holy shit…” Maria said quietly as she rubbed her temples. “Did… Did you date any of the princesses there?” Dominic’s eyes widened at that question.

“After hearing all of that that’s the first thing you ask me?” His tone was certainly surprised, Maria nodded and sat up straight.

“Well, this is a happy occasion, I don’t want to ask about depressing shit.” Maria replied, Dominic blinked his eyes for a moment before looking at the floor in thought. “Is… Is this about what I said to you…? That day?” Dominic nodded quietly.

“I found out that you were alive the same day I found out Luna had feelings for me, and… I tried it for a while, but…” The man shook his head and looked at the floor. “She’s a pony, and as much as I care about her, she isn’t… Well… She isn’t you.”

“You turned down a princess for me?” Maria asked, Dominic was about to point out that it was for more reasons than that, but instead just nodded. Maria stared at him for a few moments before she leaned over and gave him a gentle hug. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve heard in awhile.” Dominic just enjoyed the hug as he quietly sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“What about you?” The man finally asked as he looked over at her, Maria leaned back from the hug and puffed her cheeks before exhaling.

“Well, for the past four years I’ve been with these guys…” She gestured over her shoulder at the soldiers in the room. “At first we were clearing out the infected, then looking for survivors, and most recently we’ve been at war with the Empire of Light, there this nutjob group that’re trying to take over the whole state…”

“I heard about them from Capt-... Jen.” Dominic corrected himself as he looked over his shoulder at Jen, she was laughing and speaking with some of the other soldiers in the room. “We rolled in in tanks in case we ended up fighting them, among other things. We ran into them just after we came through the portal, actually, but they kept their distance.”

“I thought you did look a little like Rommel…” Maria commented as she examined the hat that she’d knocked off his head when she’d hit him. “It’s good to have you back, Dom… I was so sure you’d died. The EOL took over what’s left of Evergreen a couple months ago, and normally that means killing anyone living there.” The two of them lapsed into a bit of silence, Dominic wasn’t sure what else to say. He’d dreamed of this day, but never before had it actually seemed so possible. “What’s Luna like?” Maria’s question helped break the tension.

“She’s… Tough, and patient, and just a little mischievous…” Dominic hummed quietly as he looked up towards the ceiling. “She actually kinda reminds me of my mom.” He and Maria chuckled quietly at that. “And I was considering dating her… Paging Doctor Freud.”

“Dominic.” Maria said, her voice was a little more serious now, prompting the man to look at her with a raised eyebrow. “You and I… We never really got a chance to talk about what I said to you.” The man nodded silently and wiped his nose, clearing away some of the blood that had dried there. “I still feel that way about you, for our whole lives you were always there for me, and I stand by what I said. In the past four years I haven’t… Felt that way about anyone else.” Maria took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Do you feel that way about me? I mean, do you really feel that way?”

“The thing I’ve regretted most over the past four years is not realizing how you felt sooner…” Dominic said quietly as he slowly nodded. “So… Yes, I feel that way about you. I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t.” Dominic straightened up and looked to the floor once again. “I’d toyed with the idea of coming here to save the rest of humanity, but I wasn’t sure if I’d do it or not… Knowing that I’d see you again was what made up my mind.” Maria leaned over once again and wrapped her arms around him, Dominic sighed quietly and contently at that warm embrace.

“Where do we go from here…?” Maria asked nervously, Dominic looked at her with a bit of uncertainty.

“I… I don’t know…” He admitted as he stared into her eyes, the shimmering pools filling him with a sense of calm he hadn’t had in a long time. They were beautiful, more gorgeous than he remembered them to be, they could rival the stars in Luna’s sky with their majesty. “I guess we just-” He was cut off as Maria pulled him closer, to his surprise he felt his lips pressed against hers. They were soft and warm and the act itself seemed to have a calming effect. At first Dominic was a bit surprised, but after a moment he closed his eyes and let it play out until finally the two of them parted.

“Good start?” Maria asked with a smile as Dominic opened his eyes and looked at her with a bit of surprise, wordlessly he nodded. The two of them could tell the eyes of the soldiers in the room were on them once again, but they didn’t care. “Why don’t you tell me a little more, I’m curious, do they do herds in Equestria?” Dominic rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, but then began to speak.

Jen smiled faintly as she adjusted her uniform and watched Dominic and Maria from across the room. She was happy to see the man finally show a bit more of a sensitive side, even if it wasn’t with Princess Luna. The woman personally thought he and the princess would make a good pair as well, but she didn’t discount the possibility of a herd forming either, and she wondered what that would look like. Meanwhile, the Captain looked back to her former subordinate Smalls and his comrades.

“Holy shit… Did Major Valova just kiss that guy?” Asked one of the soldiers, a hispanic man that Jen realized was rather short. He had a big bushy black mustache and calloused hands. “Why can’t that ever happen to me, man?”

“Is that the guy she was pestering Baxter about finding?” Smalls mused, a couple eyes looked towards him. “Oh, right, some of you guys are new… The Major was a bit obsessive about this town she grew up in.”

“Evergreen.” Jen cut in, Smalls nodded and pointed at her. “To answer your question… Yes, that’s the guy we were looking for.”

“I can’t believe she just kissed him…” The hispanic man muttered. “A minute ago she was kicking his ass…”

“Dominic doesn’t kick ass unless he has to.” Jen corrected the man as she looked at the table in front of her. “He’s mellowed considerably since the first time I met him, if he’d really been fighting he probably would’ve put her in the hospital.” She paused and gestured for Smalls to deal her into the game of go fish. Without any real form of currency that was about the only game they could play. “To be honest, I’m pretty sure what we just saw is a couple years worth of repressed teenage hormones.”

“Makes sense…” The hispanic man commented before pausing. “Oh, by the way, name’s Miguel. New Mexico National Guard, managed to make it this far on foot after the the cartel’s schwacked our position.” Jen shook the man’s hand before she looked over her cards and hummed. “So, you came here with aliens? What’s their planet like? Do they have laser eyes or something?”

“You wouldn’t believe it.” Jen replied as she leaned back in her seat and set down a pair of cards on the table. “Their world is pretty much like ours, deserts, jungles, forests, and so on. Gems and gold are a lot more common there though, and they’ve got what basically amounts to ‘magic’.” Jen began to explain more in detail about the ponies’ homeworld, doing her best to convince her present company that she wasn’t lying. Eventually most of the people in the room moved over to hear her better, save for Dominic and Maria. The two of them were chatting quietly, going a bit more into detail about what had happened since they’d been apart. After the somewhat awkward discussion about pony relationships that Dominic supposed was because Jen had always had a bit of a weird crush on Luna, they moved on to more serious matters.

The woman was enthralled by Dominic’s tales of his battle against the Red Wood Wolf that had nearly eaten him, of the battles he’d fought and the places he’d seen. He left out no detail, neither did he embellish anything. He told her all that had happened between him and Luna, how he’d trained, and through it all Maria listened honestly and attentively. When he’d finished his story the woman looked at him with a faint smile.

“And you said you’d never amount to anything.” She mused, Dominic shrugged quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. “Never thought I’d be playing soldier either, ya know?” Maria ran a hand over her head and felt her rather short hair. “I suppose it’s the least I can do since they saved me…” Maria noticed Dominic’s expression shift to one of quiet shame as he looked to the floor. “Stop that, there wasn’t anything you could’ve done… I survived, didn’t I? One way or another.” Dominic just nodded and sighed through his nose, Maria could tell from experience he’d be like that for a while if she didn’t do something to change the subject. “Hey, you remember that time we went to that carnival and those two kids came over?” Dominic looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you talking about the time we pretended to be German just to fuck with them?” He asked, Maria just nodded. Dominic looked at the floor and smiled faintly, then he chuckled and cleared his throat to throw on the cheesiest fake German accent he could fake. “Ja, of course I do, mein herr!” Dominic leaned back and chuckled. “And, they thought that gibberish we were speaking was spanish so they just kept saying ‘Si’.”

“Yeah!” Maria said as she pointed at him, both of them smiling once again. “Wasn’t that the day we got ditched?” Dominic paused and put a finger to his chin, then shook his head.

“Nah, that happened in junior high, when we went on that trip to San Diego.” He corrected, Maria hummed and shrugged before she saw that same sadness start to creep back into Dominic’s expression. “You ever wonder what happened to those kids?” Maria shrugged and leaned against the man’s shoulder.

“I assume they’re out there somewhere.” She said, Dominic nodded and ran a hand over his head. “Look, I get you were on your own for three years, that’s a lot of time to think about stuff that happened, and it generally ends up looking bad, but what’ve I always said?”

“The world won’t end if I relax a bit…” Dominic replied, Maria nodded with a smile and patted him on the back.

“We can’t change what’s already happened, and sometimes that hurts, but look at how far you’ve come now.” Maria saw him brighten a bit and she leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek, he paused and looked at her with that same sad smile of his. She’d grown to know that smile long before the outbreak, growing up Dominic had always been a bit of a sad soul, she supposed that was what had drawn Maria to him in the first place. He needed a friend, she needed someone to look out for her. “It’s… It’s nice to be able to do that, you know? I thought about it a lot over the years…”

“Not gonna lie, I kinda did too, a couple times…” Dominic admitted with a small blush before he looked at the floor again. The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence before Dominic raised his arm and nervously put it over Maria’s shoulders, the woman sighed quietly and leaned her head further onto his shoulder, off in the corner he could hear hushed whispers. “I take it you’ve been yourself with these guys, they all seem shocked…”

“You could say I’ve been vocal…” Maria replied as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the close comfort. “Guess I have you to thank for that, with all those documentaries about Patton you made me sit through, guess I learned a thing or two after all.” She sighed once more. “They may hate my guts, but at least they respect me.” Another silence settled in, until after a couple minutes Dominic felt Maria trembling. He looked down at her and saw her quickly wipe her eyes. “S-Sorry… I’m just so happy, it’s all sinking in now…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Dominic replied softly before he let out a yawn, he was a bit surprised at how tired he was, but he supposed that interdimensional travel could really take it out of someone. “You tired?” Maria nodded silently, Dominic hummed before he kicked off his boots and left them near the side of the bed. “You wanna share my bunk? It’ll be like when you used to have those nightmares about the laser eyed sea turtles during our sleepovers.”

“Those turtles are vicious killing monsters…” Maria defended before she nodded. “And yes, I would love to… But, I’ve gotta play den mother to these guys you know?” Dominic just nodded again and turned his head, he hesitantly kissed the woman on the forehead before he relaxed his grip. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, I promise.” Maria stood up, pausing only to give the man a hug before walking towards her bunk across the room.

Dominic sighed quietly and laid down on the bunk, he began undoing his uniform shirt and once that was done he rested his head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling as he normally did. Then his head turned to the side and he caught sight of Maria across the room, she was sitting on the edge of her bunk and working on a rifle. Dominic recognized it as Maria’s mother’s Mosin Nagant, with which he knew she was deadly accurate.

He couldn’t believe how much she’d changed, and yet, how much she’d stayed the same. His head turned back to face the ceiling and he closed his eyes, smiling faintly as he let sleep overtake him.

[♠]

The ruins of Denver were a far cry from the peaceful quiet of the mountains, in fact it was quite loud there. Thick smoke arose from numerous ‘factories’ that had been constructed in old buildings, factories intended to build terrifying weaponry and ammunition. In the streets old police cruisers patrolled the streets, each of them painted white and decorated with the sigil of the Empire of Light. They had been seized by the Empire two years before, when they had first purged the infected from the city, and they acted as an ever present reminder of just who was in charge.

The gold plated dome of what had once been the state capital building was illuminated by spotlights, and where once the state flag had flown, now flew the imperial banner of the truly righteous and superior faction. It was in that building that the Empress sat, looking out over the city with a smug smile as she adjusted her attire. The rather chunky blonde wore an ill fitting sailor uniform, one that she had acquired many years ago at an Anime convention, at her hip was a frighteningly flashy ‘katana’.

She had heard reports that her greatest foe, the ‘National Guard’, had just come into possession of some new form of vehicle. What it was she didn’t know, as her warriors had run off before they could be captured. Her name was Night Raven, at least, that was what she demanded her subjects address her as. Before the outbreak her name had been Amy Jackson, a boring and mundane name ill befitting a beautiful and radiant empress such as herself.

She turned away from the window of her office that had once belonged to the governor, pausing to stop at her desk and grab a pretzel from a bowl. She quickly ate it, and then another, and then another, before she brushed herself off and clapped her hands. The door to the office opened and a man in a black jacket and pants stepped inside, armed with an AK-47 and a sword of his own, he was the picture of one of her loyal footsoldiers.

“Your eminence.” The Imperial soldier said respectfully, Night Raven appreciated that for a moment before clearing her throat.

“How are our factories progressing? I have received word that the mundanes may be in possession of armored vehicles.” She said sternly, the soldier paused before reaching into his coat and withdrawing a sheet of paper.

“The thralls have been working far better now that we have offered them more rations, production of swords and ammunition has increased, and we’ve begun armoring the old earth movers.” The soldier stated as he read off the information, then handed it to the Empress. She read over it herself and hummed as she saw just how many rations the thralls were receiving. To her they were no more than animals, people she had had her forces steal from the wastes or buy from desperate families.

“These rations are too much.” The Empress declared, the man just nodded as she handed back the sheet of paper. “The threat of force will make them work just as hard and save us more resources. Order their masters to cut their rations, they must be equally distributed amongst the true citizens.”

“As you command, your eminence.” The soldier said with a bow before turning on his heel and walking to the door, only to pause. “I almost forgot, ma’am. A report from Lord Damneus has arrived for you, would you care to read it? It regards the… Creatures?” The Empress froze and turned to look at the soldier with a cold glare.

“Read it to me.” She demanded, the soldier nodded and reached into his coat once again to withdraw another sheet of paper.

“The creatures known as ‘The Colorado Kids’ have destroyed two of our armored units in the Evergreen territory and made off with a truck load of swords, which we believe they sunk in a lake…” The soldier read aloud, Night Raven reached to pretzel bowl on her desk and stuffed her face with a handful. “One of them left the following message… Partially by… Urinating in a snow bank, the rest it seemed he did with the blood of our dead.”

“What was his message?”

“Fuck you, you fat cunt, and the twinkie truck you rode in on.” The soldier read slowly, hearing those words caused the Empress to become triggered. She began eating the pretzels by the handful, all the while the soldier stood their quietly. In his mind he was furiously angry with his ‘supreme leader’ and her egotistical ways, but since she and her female followers had the ‘Empire of Light’ in a vice grip he could only stand there and take it. In a way the soldier was glad she forced her male soldiers to wear ski masks that hid their faces, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to hide his smile at reading the message to her.

“That… That… Insolent, misogynistic… SCUM!” The Empress shrieked, prompting the soldier to silently ponder just how the fuck she had come to power. “Order the thralls to focus on the armored units! We will flush that filthy pig out of the forest with a fist of iron.” The soldier nodded once again and quickly walked out of the room, making it look like he was going directly to the factory masters.

In actuality he stopped to use the bathroom, get a snack, have a smoke, and then shoot the breeze with a couple other soldiers. Anything to delay the Empress’ ruling to the people toiling away in her deadly war machine. Unfortunately he had no choice but to eventually deliver the message, he had had many opportunities to eliminate the Empress. He knew that one of her followers would take her place, and that could prove even worse considering how extreme they all were.

The soldier let out another sigh as he went about his normal patrol of the city, walking past highrises that had been converted into luxurious housing for the ‘True Kin’. People who believed themselves to be some sort of deity trapped in human form, or spiritually a wolf or an elf or even a binary star. Mixed in among those buildings, of course, were the homes of the Empress’ followers. Nine in all, each more extreme than the last, and each supporting a rather large waistline while their citizens were barely fed.

And of course there were the small buildings, the ones that ‘regulars’ like him were allowed to enter, basically one step above living in slums. Then there were the underground garages, that was were the thralls were forced to live when they weren’t being used as forced labor or playthings for the sick and twisted upper class. The soldier hated how they were treated, but what could he do? He was one man in a world dominated by insane lunatics with guns and swords, part of him wished he could be sent out to find ‘The Colorado Kid’. He could atleast try to defect that way.

For the moment though, the nameless soldier went about his normal patrol, doing his best to overlook anything that the thralls did out of line and occasionally ‘misplacing’ some of his rations. The thralls knew who he was, and whenever they saw him they looked at him with thankful eyes, as they could never speak. That was why no matter how much he would’ve loved to defect, they were the reason that the soldier stayed. The Empire had perhaps a thousand people in it in total, fifteen hundred with the thralls, and they were all spread out over the state. Out of all those people, the soldier hoped that he wasn’t the only one doing what he did.

As the soldier continued along down his normal route he heard cries of anguish echoing from the window of a building. If it were any other building he would’ve investigated, but he recognized it as the officers club. Undoubtedly the cries were those of a thrall, no… A Woman. They were human beings, not animals. The foul practice of slavery that had been ended with a war hundreds of years ago had started anew, and it made the soldier sick to his stomach that he’d even thought of another human being as anything BUT a human being, even for a second.

He stopped outside the club and briefly gripped his AK-47 as he heard the cries get louder, sometimes he could hear begging for mercy. A tear rolled down his cheek as he contemplated busting into that building and shooting the bastards, but that wouldn’t solve the problem, it would only make things worse for the men and women being held in bondage. He closed his eyes and shook his head before he silently continued walking along. What else could he do?

[♠]

New Liberty bustled with activity in the wake of the first wave of expeditionary forces moving through the portal, reporters and foreign dignitaries were rushing about trying to get information for their respective bosses while the midday sun beat down upon them. The citizens that lived in the city had dispersed to go about doing their normal day’s work, though occasionally they would stop just to talk about what they had seen.

One man wasn’t letting the portal event get to him in the same ways as the others, as he was more concerned about one of the ones that had gone in rather than what could possibly come out. On earth he had been known by many names, ‘Jack Knife’ Johnny, the scrounger, and just plain Johnny. In New Liberty he carried a much different title, one that demanded the respect of his business rivals. Don Giovanni.

Johnny quietly puffed on a cigar as he leaned back in his leather office chair, in front of him was his desk which had numerous papers and items strewn about it chaotically. It was oak and hoof crafted, he’d recently traded half a dozen cases of supplies to a pair of Equestrian Army doctors in return for the desk. He had to admit they’d had a bit of a sense of humor, they had taken the desk from their commanding officer.

At that moment everything was going swimmingly, his legitimate business in alcohol was booming, as was his bar, and he’d already been putting plans together to open a restaurant that sold authentic ‘human cuisine’. His other business was also going well, he’d gotten a new supplier of apples for his operation. They were far cheaper than getting them directly from the orchards and they had the same quality, mainly because they were stolen from said orchards.

His contacts in the town of Appleoosa had knocked over a supply train and offered him the apples that they really didn’t have a use for, they very well could’ve easily dumped them in the desert, but they respected him enough to offer him what he needed. The train cars had arrived earlier that day and his crew was going out there to inspect them, as he sat there he expected to hear his right hand stallion come in and tell him everything was going well in a minute or so.

Sure enough, there was a knock on the door a few minutes later, Johnny just hummed loudly as he puffed on his cigar. A moment later the door opened and two stallions entered, Oregano and Ball Peen. Ball Peen was Johnny’s second in command, and Oregano was a trusted enforcer. Johnny quickly noticed that there was more than them though, as they had a stallion with a bag over his head behind them.

“What the fuck?” Johnny asked quietly as the two stallions dragged the third inside and tossed him on the floor before Oregano closed the door. “Who the fuck is this?”

“Some mook that was hiding in the railcar, he say’s he’s a sheriff’s deputy and we’re ‘under arrest’.” Oregano said as he walked forwards, Johnny’s eyes widened at the mention of law enforcement. “Guess he was hiding in there to see who was borrowing the apples…”

“What should we do with him, boss?” Ball Peen asked, Johnny hummed quietly and walked around his desk, quietly adjusting his suit before crouching down to examine the stallion. He was light orange and had an apple cutie mark.

“He see your faces?” Johnny asked, the two stallions looked at each other for a moment before nodding. The man sighed quietly and pulled the bag off the deputy’s head, the stallion looked at him with wide eyes, his mouth was gagged by a bit of duct tape and Johnny could see that his legs had been bound similarly. “Damn shame… Looks like a good guy too…” The man stood up and straightened his suit once more. “So sad he got lost in the desert, doubt they’ll ever find him…” The stallion’s eyes went wide, meanwhile Oregano and Ball Peen looked at Johnny with stoic expressions. “Oregano, you know what to do…”

Oregano nodded and stepped forwards, grabbing the stallion and hoisting him over his shoulder and walking out of the office. Ball Peen lingered afterwards, it was clear he had more to say, Johnny just motioned for him to go ahead.

“Your supplier in Dodge Junction is coming for a visit tomorrow.” Ball Peen said, Johnny his finger as if to begin asking a question. “Remember you were thinking of expanding and using cherries as well as apples... She’s concerned about how we’re using her produce.” Johnny sighed and sat down in his seat, puffing on his cigar once more and shaking his head.

“She’s a business pony, the fuck should she care about how we use her product?” Johnny said with a scowl before he set his cigar down in an ashtray. “Fine… We’ll show her our operation, for now though… How’re things going with our contractor friend?”

“They’re going at contractor speed, what can you expect from those Canterlot creeps?” Ball Peen grumbled, Johnny shook his head. “I’ll get Anton to give them a little more incentive, after all, this is more than your house we’re talking about.”

“And you’re sure to pay them with proceeds from our legitimate business only, right?” Johnny asked, Ball Peen nodded. “Good. Alright, thanks Ball Peen, go help Oregano with our poor lost pony friend…” Ball Peen nodded and quietly walked out of the room, leaving Johnny to contemplate what was happening once again. The news he’d just heard was but a wrinkle in his plans to provide for his fiance.

His thoughts turned to Jen, the beautiful woman that he loved so dearly. She had gone through the portal earlier that morning, and now that his work had come to a lull, he was forced to confront the fears he felt for her. She was far away, in an entirely different world, and there wasn’t anything he could do to protect her. That was why he was instead preparing for her eventual return, he’d already picked out a beautiful spot of land where he planned to build a large house. The government had been more than happy to sell it to him considering just how much money he’d offered them.

Johnny sighed quietly as he thought more about what he was doing with his life, it almost felt like what he was doing was overkill. The criminal elements in this world were nowhere near as tough as the ones he’d encountered on earth, that was what had made it so easy for him to take over such a large portion of the underworld. He supposed that was the mark of a conqueror, but at the same time, he didn’t want to end up doing that forever. He had aspirations beyond power and money.

As he pursed his lips in thought he looked out the window, in the distance he could see the capitol, it seemed that the familiar face of Princess Luna was staring at him.

The mare was far more busy that the human she had spotted in the window for a few seconds, and it was for that reason that her gaze didn’t linger. Dominic’s departure had prompted many messages to flood her and her sister’s office, many of them amounting to using his absence to annex New Liberty back into Equestria. Others were trying to use her position as advisor to get the United States to enter into absolutely insane trade deals, it seemed that every company and several countries thought she had the authority to make such choices. Even if she did, she wouldn’t have.

She and Sonar, the pony chosen as ‘Vice President’, were going over more requests and demands than Luna thought possible. Surprisingly the quiet spectacled thestral mare was faring far better than Princess Luna, to the point where the Princess felt she was actually slowing the mare down. Occasionally Luna found herself drifting off into her own thoughts, despite all she did to try and focus, she had just watched the only person she had really cared about disappear into a dangerous violent world.

She had thought she’d be able to deal with his decision to try and court Maria over her, but the more that she thought of it, the more it began to hurt. She had played it off as her taking everything well, that it hadn’t bothered her, but deep down she couldn’t help but feel like her heart was broken. Luna would be willing to do anything to mend that feeling, even if it meant she had to share the man she loved, but she doubted that would ever happen. Still, she could dream, that was her normal job after all.

Her thoughts were cut short as another messenger entered the room, a diamond dog this time, she supposed it was because he had such large arms and could carry a much larger volume of paper than a normal pony or a changeling. Luna sighed as the soldier set down the papers and walked out of the room, undoubtedly to get more. Meanwhile a thestral stallion entered the room with an empty box to pick up the read papers and carry them out, just because they had to read them didn’t mean they had to respond to them. As such, a bonfire had been started outside for the sole purpose of burning pointless and stupid letters. Who knew crossing into another dimension could come with so much paperwork?

[♠]

The moonlight was obstructed by thick clouds as snow descended heavily upon the occupied town of Evergreen, it wasn’t like there was much to occupy, the EOL troops there were mainly focussing on not freezing to death more than anything else. Well, that and not being killed off by a pair of vicious hill folk that had a pentient for the macabre and a twisted sense of humor. The downtown area had been the first place purged of the infected, and now the EOL had set up their base of operations in the remains of a bar once called ‘Cactus Jacks’. It had been already prepared and supplied by whomever had been living there before they’d arrived.

They were currently waiting on a shipment of supplies that would help them try to flush out ‘The Colorado Kids’, the two vigilantes that had been targeting all of their supply trucks in the past weeks. As such, the EOL had put its soldiers out in force in the streets as they prepared for the incoming vehicle, thirteen in all. Losing trucks was very bad, as there was only so many of them, and fuel was scarce as it was.

“Looks like the fucks are lining the streets…” A man with a high and tight flat top muttered as he looked down on the town from a steep hill that was covered in trees, a pair of binoculars were pushed up against his eyes while beside him another man was readying his AK-47 and a remington hunting rifle. Both of them had been taken from dead EOL troops, and ammunition was in high supply after all that they had killed. “That shit pisses me off…”

“Everything pisses you off, Mike.” The man beside him replied quietly as he peeked through his scope down at the town. Both of them wore blue jeans, work boots, and heavy camouflage jackets. Mike wore an old stetson while his partner, a scruffy looking fellow by the name of Mark, wore an old leather cowboy hat.

“Not everything pisses me off, and it pisses me off when people say that.” Mike lowered the binoculars and looked over at Mark. “Hey, what do you wanna get for dinner?” Mark shrugged quietly as he lined up his sights on one of the officers, a fat man with a neckbeard. He wore a fedora, a suit, and an annoyingly decorated trench coat.

“I dunno, maybe we’ll have whatever Lord Neckbeard is having…” Mark mumbled as his finger eased over the trigger of his rifle, down the road he could hear the sound of a truck engine rumbling. “Speaking of dinner…” Mike knelt down and picked up the AK-47. “Go get ‘em.” Mike readied a round before he nodded and began to slide down the snowy hill. “And try to leave one alive this time, I’m tired of having to piss our messages in the snow.”

Mike just grunted and rolled as he reached the bottom of the hill, afterwards he stood up and approached the back of a pair of buildings with his rifle in his hand, his expression was one of annoyance as he straightened his hat on his head. It was cold out, and he was tired of having to deal with the EOL rather than relaxing with some good booze and his nudie mags in his hunting lodge. As he got closer to the edge of the building he paused and waited for the sound of the engine to get closer, he knew Mark would signal him when the time came.

Mike paused and quietly leaned out around the corner, he caught a glimpse of the officer who was wheezing from the cold and constantly adjusting his glasses. The truck came into view and a couple troops moved towards it, that was when there was a bang. The neckbeard’s leg burst into red mist as he fell down onto the snowy ground.

“Damn.” Mike said with a slight smirk before he popped out of his hiding place, the driver of the truck began to drive away but two quick shots from Mike’s rifle basically turned his chest into a fountain. The soldiers that had been scrambling at the shots began to fire at Mike, prompting the man to take cover behind the building once again. “You shoot like you look! Shitty!”

Three more bangs rang out from the forest, Mike poked his head out and saw that the three soldiers who were shooting at him were now laying flat in the snow, the man smirked and ran towards the truck, then took cover behind the front wheels as five guys opened up on him from a storefront on the opposite side of the street. He held his AK over the top and fired blindly, there was a groan that indicated that he’d at least hit one of them. Mike saw two muzzle flashes in the forest, afterwards there was a pair of screams and the shooting lessened.

Mike reloaded his rifle before popping up out of cover and taking several shots at his enemies in the storefront. Two more soldiers fell forwards through the window and landed in the snowy street, their blood stained the pure white snow as steam rose from the hot barrels of their rifles.

“Forget hunting bears, this is a helluva lot more fun!” Mike shouted tauntingly as he took a mental count in his head, they’d only taken out nine of the original guys, plus the truck driver. That left four- there was another bang from the treeline- three to be dealt with.

Mike reloaded his rifle and carefully began moving down the street, his weapon at the ready as he looked for the last three. He passed by the screaming crying neckbeard that was laying in the street and clutching at his wounded leg, Mike ignored him and scanned several more storefronts.

“Come out you bastards! Fight like the pussy whipped men you are!” Mike yelled as he moved along, there was a yell from his left and an EOL troop burst out of a closed shop front door with a sword raised like some sort of banzai charge. Mike turned and stepped to the side, using the butt of his rifle to smack the attacker in the gut and send him sprawling to the ground. Before the EOL soldier could react Mike had popped two rounds in his face. “Don’t be afraid, you won’t trigger me! I know those bitches in charge have you all on a short leash, but we’re all guys here!”

“Pig!” A soldier shouted as he popped out from around a corner, Mike opened up on him while a bang from the woods echoed over the area. The soldier was perforated with more holes than a siv and fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Mike quickly swapped magazines once again, this time picking up one of the magazines on one of the dead soldiers by his feet.

“I got that one!” Mike called over his shoulder to the forest before walking a bit further along, he paused as he could hear nervous breathing off to his right, coming from within an alleyway that Mike was rather close to. “Come on, I won’t hurt you, I need you alive.” He quietly walked towards the alley way and paused before the last soldier revealed themselves. They walked out with their hands up and completely unarmed. “Son of a bitch…” Mike mused. He had yet to see a female EOL soldier, but now that he did it was a bit of a surprise.

“P-Please…” The woman said with a bit of a shiver in her voice, Mike lowered his weapon and gestured for her to move towards the truck with it. She nodded nervously and started walking, meanwhile Mike could see Mark making his way down the hill towards the wounded officer that was desperately trying to crawl away. “Wh-What are you going to do to me?”

“Well first I figured we’d start with the fingernail pulling and acid drips, then we’ll go from there.” Mike said with a bit of a shrug before shaking his head. “I’m kidding.” That didn’t help dissuade the woman’s fears as she got closer to her wounded commander and the sniper that had obliterated her comrades.

“Holy shit. Is that a fuckin’ girl?” Mark asked as he caught sight of the female troop, Mike nodded before he forcefully pushed the woman down on her knees beside the wounded commander who was now staring up at the two monsters of the forest. Mark sniffed the air for a moment, then paused and looked over at Mike. “Fuck man, did this guy shit himself?”

“‘course he did, he’s a good little bitch like that fat cunt wants him to be.” Mike replied cruelly as he readied a round in his rifle and pointed it at the neckbeard’s head. “What’d she tell you, huh? That you’re some sort of special snowflake? You’re a werewolf or something? That gives you the fuckin’ right to screw with other people’s lives?”

“Easy, Mike…” Mark said as he pushed his compatriot’s weapon away from the wounded man, the sniper pulled off his leather cowboy hat and ran a hand over his messy brown hair. “He’s an officer, could mean he’s got intel.” Mark knelt down in front of the guy who looked like he was pouting and in pain. “Come on, kid, spill it before my buddy here gets real mad.”

“Y-You think I’ll tell you anything, you… You mundane pigs! I am Lord Damneus, high elf commander!” ‘Lord Damneus’ cried out, even in the excruciating pain of his wounded leg. The woman soldier stared at him quietly, a bit surprised by his declaration. “Th-The Empress will make you suffer when her armored vehicles get here to slaughter you!”

“Armored vehicles you say?” Mark said as he tilted his head to the side, Damneus smiled smugly.

“Yeah! Two of them! You’ll never know what… Oh, shit…” The man mumbled as Mark stood up straight and adjusted his hat once more. He gestured to Mike and nodded, the other man smirked and grabbed the neckbeard by the collar of his jacket “L-Look, can’t we just talk about this?” He began to plead as Mike began dragging him away, whistling a quiet tune that was hauntingly joyful.

Mark meanwhile looked down at their female prisoner who was nervously watching Mike as he disappeared around the corner of a building with her former commander. The man cleared his throat and knelt down in front of her, and she looked at him fearfully as she imagined what horrible things his comrade was doing to Damneus.

“So, you’re a first.” Mark admitted as he wiped his somewhat dripping nose. “Normally Mike ends up killing everyone before I get a chance to chat with them.” His tone was friendly, with just a hint of intimidating monotone. “See, Mike really hates the EOL. I’m not too crazy about you myself, but him… Nevermind, I’m more interested in how well you can remember things.”

“I’m really good at it!” The woman said quickly and nervously. “I swear! I’ll do whatever you want and remember to do it!” Mark chuckled quietly and shook his head. “Please! I don’t want to die! I’ll do anything!”

“Why do they always say that…?” Mark mused for a moment before he shook his head. “Don’t worry, unlike you, we’re not accustomed to shooting prisoners…” There was the echo of a gunshot. “Most of the time.” The woman flinched nervously and looked around the corner where she heard the sickening whistle as Mike came back into view, without Damneus. “See, he was someone we’ve wanted to kill for a long time, since he was important to your chubby Empress.” Mark reached into his jacket and withdrew a pack of cigarettes, the paused and offered one to the woman. “You, on the other hand, are completely safe, so relax. Do you smoke?” The woman shook her head nervously.

“Alright then. I’ve got a simple task for you.” Mark lit his cigarette and exhaled a cloud of smoke into the cold wind, meanwhile the woman was watching as Mike began dragging the bodies of her dead friends and comrades towards the a spot a five feet behind the truck and rifling through their pockets for anything of value. She looked away when she saw him go into the back of the truck and withdraw a can of gasoline. “Go and tell your Empress we want her out of our mountains, and we’re tired of eating spam and beans, ask her if she can supply the next batch with something a bit more palatable. Easy enough, right?”

“Y-Yes!” The woman replied nervously before she heard a happy cheer from the back of the truck.

“Holy fuck, man! They sent actual meat this time!” Mike said as he looked over at Mark and the woman before he went back to going through the truck.

“Go on then, I’m sure there’s some way you can get out of here…” Mark said before he paused and frowned. “Of course, if you go to her looking completely fine she’ll think you talked, and then she’ll kill you. So, forgive me for doing this, but…” Mark reeled back and punched the woman in the face as hard as he could, causing her eye to swell and her nose to bleed. “Again, really sorry to do that to a woman, but it’s for your own good… Now, I’m just gonna turn around and leave you completely unguarded, I hope you don’t escape…” Mark turned around and crossed his arms quietly, the woman scrambled to her feet and ran off, crying loudly as tears of fear and anguish ran down her cheeks.

Mark turned around once again and shrugged before walking to the truck and helping Mike unload several bundles of supplies, including jugs of gasoline they intended to use against the Empress’ armored units. They’d seen one such unit before, it was basically a bulldozer with metal welded to either side and no real way of defending itself. Once they had gotten what they needed from the truck, the two men doused it and the bodies in gasoline before setting them on fire and taking their newfound supplies back with them into the forest. Behind them they left a path of fire, death, and destruction. The flames eventually hit the fuel tank of the truck, resulting in a large explosion that spread fire to a couple of the surrounding buildings and caught them ablaze as well.

As the fires burned into the night, it was clear the wastelands of Colorado were still a very dangerous place, even with the infected threat substantially reduced by both weather and efforts to exterminate them. For all those involved, the coming months would prove to be hard fought and many lives would be lost in their course. All they could do was hope they wouldn’t be counted among the dead.

Author's Notes:

Well, ladies and gents, here it is. The Sequel! It was a bit difficult to write, because I wasn't sure how to portray the EOL at first, so I did a little research by launching myself into the strange scary place that is 'Tumblr', and basically took whatever I saw there and implemented it in some way here. That being said... Please, pick up your torches and pitchforks in the lobby on the way out. *hides under his desk and tosses out the clip of the day to appease the masses*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB9peBu7HUs

Have a good one, folks.