“Come on, ponies, let’s hustle!” a small, elderly pony yelled from on top of an APC down the road from me. The green stallion wore an old green beret on top of his white mane, and his mouth was hidden behind a large, well-groomed beard. “We haven’t got time to dawdle!”

Evacuation. Had it really come to that? We’d fought the zebras for years, and Luna had promised that we’d never have to evacuate. I guess she’d been wrong. The Zebras were at our doorstep, our brave home guard defending us to the last pony. I was sure they’d hold out; after all, we were winning on other fronts.

My name was Cotton Bud, I was there with the 101st Peacekeepers division. We were tasked with maintaining order in wartime and suppressing riots. We were stationed at a small town only one hundred kilometers from the front lines.

We were sent there to herd the local population onto airships to transport them further inland in case the unthinkable happened. Our colts were tough, but those Zebra were damn near fanatic. If they broke through then, I didn’t think the high-pressure water cannon I sat behind behind, on top of an APC, would do much to deter them.

Ponies of varying races and sizes marched single file, most in deadly silence. Some whispered sweet, comforting words to crying foals too young to understand. My heart went out to them, and I hoped they’d never have to see what lay to the East. They didn’t deserve it.

I let out a long sigh as I watched a large airship rise over the houses and slowly drift away, headed further inland. ‘Another group saved,’ I thought to myself.

My riot gear felt heavy on my shoulders, heavier than it should. My group and I had been sent to three towns already, all of which we successfully evacuated. We hadn’t slept a wink since deployment three days ago. Some of us snuk in twenty minute naps where we could, but it wasn’t substantial.

I felt like I was actually in the military. My brothers and father were out fighting, holding back the striped tide, and I would have been with them if it wasn’t for medical reasons. They didn’t let me in because my spine was misaligned. I couldn’t do most of the things an army pony could do, but I could sit on top of an armoured vehicle with a big water gun. That wasn’t very stressful for my back.

I heard the distinct sounds of hooves climbing up the back of my vehicle, I took a gander and saw my squad leader climbing up. He was a tall orange unicorn stallion wearing a blue uniform.

“Hey, Bud,” he said sounding exhausted. He sat down beside me and sighed. I could see the large bags under his eyes from three days of being awake. He was the only one of us who hadn’t taken a break.

“Sir,” I said with a small nod. I turned my attention to the three lines of ponies walking in file towards the evac zone. “How long are we gonna be here?”

Copper Ale stared at the small buildings surrounding us, not answering me at first. This town was small, but had a population of almost five hundred. The tallest building was only five stories, but from between the cottages ahead of us we could see the massive tower of Hayseed, one of the smaller cities of Equestria. I spotted at least five airships steadily floating away from it. Too much of a risk not to evacuate I suppose.

“About twenty minutes,” Copper finally replied. “Three airships away, holding about seventy five each. How many does that leave?”

“Uh…” I said, going into thought. I was never any good at math. “Just over half,” I answered after about twenty seconds. “Two-seventy-five, I think.”

“Right,” the stallion said with a smile, giving me a pat on the back. He kind of reminded me of my old science teacher back when I was a foal. He’d always tutored me in math instead of my math teacher. She was mean.

The small stallion, the one who was yelling earlier, jumped off the APC nearby and held his hoof to his ear. After a few seconds, he grinned. “Good news everypony!” He yelled, “Our Southwestern battle groups, with the aid of the Coalition, have crossed into the Zebra Capitol region.”

There were gasps from the civilians, then a brief cheer. “We still gotta get outta here,” the old stallion said, calming everypony down. “We’re still under threat of the Zeebs in the east. They’re gonna want to turn the tides soon. Keep it moving!”

Music to my ears. I smiled behind my tinted visor. That battlegroup was the one my family were deployed with. I was sure my ma and little brother were celebrating the news over in Manehatten. I couldn’t wait to see them again, hopefully soon. The end had to be soon, didn’t it? Surely the Zebras would surrender, seeing as our guys were so close.

I looked at Copper beside me, about to say something but the tears running down his cheeks were enough. He’d lost everything to the war, and to hear that we were on the verge of taking the enemy capitol? It must have been too much for him.

Two more airships flew rose above the buildings, each one loaded with ponies. That only left a few more on the ground, and I could see the end of the lines. Some of our colts in blue walked from building to building, making sure everyone had gotten out.

I looked up to the greying skies. Pegasi and Vertibucks zipped and zoomed far overhead, moving supplies and patrolling for griffin mercs. At least, I thought they were, but their patterns were a bit off. It looked like they were gathering clouds. Dark ones.

“That isn’t right…” I muttered to myself. “Why…”

Then I heard it. At first, it was a low drone from far away, but then more drones started to join it, until all I could hear was a heart stopping, stomach clenching wail of an air raid siren. More and more, from far and near, started to join in, blaring over the air.

Ponies began to scream and panic, not knowing what was going on. Even I didn’t know what was going on. I looked up to the south, not sure what I was looking for. Bombers? Dragons?

“No… oh sisters no…” Copper muttered, frozen still.

The old stallion on the ground didn’t pay any attention to the sirens, yelling at ponies to keep moving. Other ponies in blue riot armour and cop uniforms tried to keep everyone in line, but some got past, running to their homes to hide. All I could hear were the sirens, police ponies and Peace Keepers yelling, and civilians crying.

I didn’t know what to do. We all seemed so hopeful just ten seconds ago. The sirens from hell had banished all hope from these ponies. Those that didn’t run home, or run in the direction of the evacuation, broke down where they stood, holding their loved ones tight. The ponies in blue started to drag and carry them away, trying to get them out of there. I even spotted a mare holding a small foal and baby tight, crying into their manes and kissing them lovingly. They had no idea what was happening.

I looked at Copper, the one stallion who I could always talk to. The one who I trusted, and who I trusted like my own brothers. He was frozen solid, staring at the sky. Tears poured down his cheeks, dripping onto his riot vest. He was the only stallion who ever kept a cool head, no matter what, but his eyes said it all. They held no hope at all.

I looked up to the skies again, not sure what I was looking for. Then, an excruciatingly bright green light streaked over the horizon. Then another. Then another. Then I saw more streaks of bright colours flying from further inland, heading back in retaliation. “What is that?” I yelled.

“They did it…” Copper whispered. “They finally did it.” His cold, dead stare fell on me. “They’ve killed us all.”

“What?” I yelled over the sound of screams and shouts. “What do you mean?”

Before the stallion could reply, the sky lit up in a brilliant green. I looked west and saw a horrendous, enormous, demonic green-and-black cloud rising into the sky, like a mushroom made of pure horror. Whatever those things were, one landed right on top of Base Celestia. Shock waves rolled over the plains, toppling trees and throwing dust storms into the air.

Foom! Another hit, this time further north. Another city gone. Wiped out. What was going on? What did Copper mean? What had had the zebras done?

A very old stallion with a ragged beard stood on top of a small, three-story building, his beard and mane flowing in the wind, his whole form silhouetted by bright green. “The end is here!” he yelled out over the crowds. “The apocalypse has come!”

I stared in awe. My heart felt like it was in a vice, and my stomach tied itself into a thousand knots. The old coot was right. It was the end.

APCs and some of our other vehicles began to move, heading away from the clouds and out of town. Another airship tried to take off, full of ponies, but I didn’t see any more trying to take off. Those pilots had to be crazy to stay, either crazy or big damn heroes.

With a jolt, my APC began to move, slowly at first but picking up speed. “Where are we going?” I shouted down at the driver.

“Anywhere but here!” the mare replied. Candy Cane. I didn’t know her very well, though I wanted to. But if this was it... well, too late.

A green light began to brighten up the clouds. It was getting brighter and brighter, a low roar starting to pierce through the blaring sirens. The ground began to shake, then a painfully bright, massive comet flew overhead, suddenly superheating the area. It felt like million-degree air scorched my lungs.

Candy Cane and Copper screamed, but their cries of anguish were cut short as a massive explosion shattered the ground beneath us. Behind us, vehicles flew off the road as a shockwave tore through the town. It didn’t matter how fast we went. The back wheels of our vehicle lifted suddenly and I fell down into the cabin. The APC tumbled end-over-end through the green, superheated air. I felt my blood boiling and my coat burning. I screamed, but my lungs felt like they were full of lava. My heart felt like it had become a lump of charcoal.

I heard a crack, and a pain like no other lanced through my skull. Then I felt nothing. I saw nothing. I heard nothing. Everything turned black.

Was I dead?

Pain pierced the blackness. My lungs felt like they’d just jump-started as I took my first breath of air. The air tasted foul. It must have been what evil tasted like. I felt like someone had shoved a belt-sander down my throat and then dipped my whole body in a deep-fat fryer.

My eyelids practically creaked as I opened them. Despite the pain, I had to know what’d happened. How I was alive. What had hit us. I had so many questions that needed answers. My eyes felt shriveled and dry, like raisins. It was dark inside the cab of the wrecked APC. The only light shone through a hole above me.

The first thing I made out was the cracked glass of my visor. It hadn’t shattered, but the bottom right corner had cracked off, leaving just a jagged corner. My vision adjusted and I saw the inside of my APC. The side storage panels had burst open, throwing the contents everywhere. Boxes of supplies, weapons, personal belongings, everything.

Something had even fallen on me, it felt. I lifted my burning forelegs and reached under whatever it was. With a lot more effort than I thought I had left, I lifted the offending object. It was one of the armoured walls itself. I shifted it off my hind legs, and as it fell, it let in a ghostly green light from outside.

“C-Copper?” I rasped, my voice sounding like I’d gargled nails. “Candy?”

I got no reply. I turned my head and looked into the armoured cab, but all I could see was a severely burnt mare. There was no way she had lived through that. Then again, how had I survived?

“Any...Anyone?” I croaked, laying on the ground. I got no reply. “Anyone?” I tried again. “P-Please… s-somepony…” But there was nothing. Just a ringing in my ears and the crackling of fire. “I gotta get up…” I muttered to myself. “I… I gotta… I gotta get up…”

I looked at my outstretched forelegs and saw to my horror that my coat and skin had burnt away where my uniform’s sleeves had ripped. The pain was excruciating, and I could even see my muscles tense as I moved them. I even saw the veins, still pumping blood.

I tried to roll over, but my back exploded in pain. My already weak spine was done for. A lifetime of pain and hardships had finally come to that. It was broken, no doubt about it. I couldn’t feel my back half. But I had to do something. I had to get help.

I reached up to the twisted hole in the side of the vehicle and tried to pull myself up. Every inch of me protested, shooting wracking pains all through my body, but I couldn’t give up. I’d survived the end, capitalized, The End. I couldn’t let that chance to to waste.

I tried again, pulling on the side of the vehicle. I finally pulled my head over the side, then my shoulders, then my torso. My lower half dangled limply inside the APC, but finally I pulled myself out and fell to the scorched dirt outside.

I lifted a hoof over my eyes, shielding them from the light and hot winds blowing through the cracks in my visor. All I could hear was the crackling of fire, the howling of winds, and rubble falling to the ground.

Blinking several times, I lowered my hoof. We’d been knocked several meters off the road, stopped only by the iron supports of a small shopping center. The APC had crashed through one of the walls. Down the street I saw the green mushroom cloud, rising into the air. I could only see the base of it, it was that close.

I looked back at the APC. The damn thing had saved my life, but the others weren’t so lucky. The windshield had blown right open, exposing Candy to the blast, and as for Copper… all that remained was a darkened shadow of him, where he’d been sitting on top of the APC.

I wanted to cry. To roll over and die right there. They were dead. My best friend and somepony who I’d liked. Was I the only survivor? Had every other pony died? No. They couldn’t have. There had to be others like me.

One hoof after the other, I dragged myself free of the rubble and out of the supermarket. It took an extraordinary amount of effort, but I made it. I looked to the sky, hoping to see even a glimmer of hope.

The clouds reflected the bright green, and in parts looked charred black. I watched as one of the airships fall to the ground, engulfed in green flames. I must not have been out long.

But there was hope. Two other airships remained airborne. But where could they land? I looked through the buildings, trying to spot Hayseed. I saw it alright, it and the cloud just behind it.

The support cables for the tower flailed wildly around it, and soon the whole thing crumbled into pieces, falling to the ground. Several buildings around me had collapsed, and closer to the cloud, it looked like they’d been vaporized.

I couldn’t see a single soul around me. I was alone. The airships wouldn’t come back for me, and there were no rescue teams. Everyone was dead. I saw charred limbs and bodies in the street, shadows scorched into crumbling walls. Some looked to be running, some on the ground weeping.

My wounds started to tingle, the pain slowly dissipating. My lower half flared into pain. I almost cried out, but was too surprised. I could feel it again! It felt as if my spine was repairing itself! But how? It was impossible! Unless it was something to do with those meteors, or whatever they were.

After a good ten minutes of pain and tingles, I regained control of my hind hooves. I pulled myself upright, and looked myself up and down. I wasn’t missing anything except for my tail, which looked like it was burnt off.

I began walking. Where, I had no idea. Away from the cloud sounded like a good idea. What was I going to do? I couldn’t do nothing, that was for sure. That meant that the first thing I had to do was find help. Some of the airships had survived. Maybe I could radio for help?

Where would I find a working radio though? Our command vehicle was toast; I could see the front half of it wedged into a cottage down the road, its antennae snapped and satellite dish torn in two. Maybe the evac zone’s control tower had survived. It wasn’t reinforced, but it was flanked by concrete buildings.

My hooves barely responded to my commands as I stumbled over the hot rubble, barely gaining purchase. The streets were littered with charred debris, most of it still burning with green flames. Sisters, it was so hot. It felt like I was on fire, but something was keeping me alive in that hell. It was helping me, and even healing me. At least, that was how it felt.

I kicked a small piece of rubble accidently and winced in pain. My hooves were chipped and cracked, exposing the muscle underneath. With each step, pain flared up all over my body. Sometimes, my vision would blur from the pain and my heartbeat would blast in my ears. It meant I was alive though. I was beginning to think that was a bad thing.

The streets howled with wind, but I could still hear the screams of innocents echoing down the street. They weren’t anything more than echoes though. There were more charred ponies and ghostly silhouettes as I got closer to the evacuation point. They were getting more frequent as I approached the town square. I found myself thanking the princesses that I couldn’t make out the features on what was left of the ponies. If I could, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

I turned one last corner and leaned against a wall for support. I felt lightheaded, and I quickly found myself face first on the charred concrete. I groaned in agony and sobbed. I wanted to die. I didn’t want to survive any longer. I wanted to see my family. Why wouldn’t the world just let me die? The pain was excruciating.

No tears fell from my eyes. My tear ducts had dried up. I lived though. Lived through the apocalypse. Why? There had to be a reason. My head pounded and my vision blurred with every fifth step, but I was alive. Out of every pony in that town, no, in that region, fate had chosen me to live. Was I going to throw it all away? As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t.

Getting back to my hooves, I stumbled forward. The square was so close now, I could see the temporary radio tower. Thank goodness it hadn’t fallen. Someone was smiling down on me, but for how long?

I climbed over the rubble, trying to avert my eyes from the smoldering corpses that littered the area. Some wore charred riot armour, while others were holding each other for comfort before they died that way. Ponies’ belongings, most burnt to cinders, were piled up, waiting to be loaded onto the metal frame of a scorched airship.

I navigated the barricades, not as hard as I thought, since most were destroyed, then up the creaking, red-hot metal stairs of the radio hut. It took me so long, but at the top my hooves tingled, healing themselves. Not fully, but enough.

I pushed on the door, and the whole thing fell down. Inside lay three bodies, two of which seemed mostly intact. the last one was still standing at a window, its head seared down to the bone. If I could, I probably would have vomited. Nopony deserved any of this. The Zebras were going to pay. Had they already? Had we done the same to them?

It didn’t matter anymore. I stumbled into the room, then tripped on the remains of a chair and landed next to one of the bodies. I groaned in pain, but when my vision cleared I saw the face of a mare staring back at me. She blinked. A survivor.

“Hello…” I croaked. “Can...Can you hear me?”

The mare took a long, raspy breath and coughed a sick green phlegm on to the ground. “Yes…” she rasped. “I… I… I can’t feel anything…”

I reached forward and touched her cheek. To my surprise, the skin cracked and flaked off, revealing her muscles underneath. “I’m here.” I said, trying to reassure her. As ecstatic as I was I’d found another survivor, she didn’t look like she was going to make it. “We need to… get help.”

The mare coughed one more time. Her mane had fallen out in chunks, and her skin was cracking with each movement. “R-Radio…” she rasped. “But… I… I’m not…”

“Shh,” I said, getting to my hooves. “Y-You’re going to make it… you have my word.”

“Your word…” she whispered. “I d-don’t even know you.”

“Cotton Bud.” I said, trying to see if the machines were still online. “And you?” Talking to her was the only thing I could think of. She had to stay focused. She had to survive.

“C-Custard Tart.” she replied. She couldn’t move, even if she was trying. “Cotton Bud… t-that’s a nice…” She went silent.

I turned and crouched down beside her. “Come on, don’t… don’t die on me… please…” I begged. I didn’t want to be alone.

She coughed a few times, showing she was alive. “I… I can’t…” she rasped, staring at my visor.

“You can.” I replied. “If I pushed forward, so can you.”

The mare gave an extremely weak smile, the whole side of her face cracking and flaking from it. “I wish I could…” she whispered. “Can… c-can you… lift your visor?” she asked.

I hadn’t tried yet, so I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I put my hooves on my visor and tried to tilt it up. It took several seconds, but my visor became unstuck, lifting over my face. It felt so weird, this evil air, finally hitting my face. Then I stared down at her.

“You…” Tart said. “You d-don’t look so good…” She continued to smile though.

“Neither do y-you…” I said, giving a small smile.

She coughed a few times, trying to chuckle, but she couldn’t manage it. Her eyes began to close. “At l-least…” she began. “At least I’m not… not going to…”

“Don’t.” I said, my heart starting to break. I had just met someone who gave me hope, a survivor. She couldn’t die. “J-Just don’t…”

Her eyes widened again, with great effort. “I d-didn’t die alone…” she whispered. “I’m happy the last thing I will s-see is a friendly f-face…”

“Don’t you d-dare,” I said, gently caressing her face. “You’re going to survive!”

“No…” she sighed, her eyes closing. “I’m… find others… h-help them…” she closed her eyes and let out one last sigh. “G-Good… goodb…”

“No, please…” Nothing I could say would bring her back. She died in my hooves.

I let go of her face and looked up. “What’s the point…” I said, hoping for an answer. “Why do you give me hope and take it away!” No reply. Of course not. Then I looked at the console, and spotted one dimly lit green light, then static.

“This is C-shhhhzzzhhzhkkkkk Camp Chocodile, repeat this is Captain M-shhkkkkkkzkkz Chocodile, someone, anyone please, respo-shhhzzkkkkk.” A voice crackled faintly over a headset, sitting on a chair.

I picked it up and fitted it onto my head. “This is…” I stopped to cough, spitting out a dark blue slime. That couldn’t be good. “This is Keeper Cotton Bud… please… talk to me…”

“Holy shit! C-shhhhzzzzzkkkk Bud, where a-zhhhh you?” the voice asked.

“I can’t hear you,” I replied. “G-Give me a second…” I didn’t know how to work this fancy radio, but I had to try and get a clear transmission. But then at what cost? What if I lost the connection altogether? It was a risk I had to take.

It wasn’t long before I found a small knob sticking out from the console. That had to be useful, even if it was just a volume knob. I placed my gnarled hoof on it and turned it. Static burst through the headset, losing whoever was on the other side.

“No!” I shouted. “No no no no, please no!” I turned it the other way. “Come on, where are you!” and again, trying to find someone. I’d lost them. “No!”

I kept turning the dial, calling into the microphone. Minutes passed, but they felt like hours. Every second that ticked past, my chances of help dropped.

“Zzzzzssshshshshhhhkkkkk -an you hear me! Hello?” That was it! That was the guy!

“Hello!” I almost shouted into the headset. “Captain? Is that you?”

“Fuckin’-A, we got him again!” This time he actually sounded clear. “Son, you’re the first survivor we’ve found. Where are you, Keeper? You don’t sound so good.”

“T-Trotsdale, s-sir.” I said, then coughed again. “I… I need help…”

“Damn… that’s out of the way…” the stallion replied.

I didn’t care how far I was. “S-Sir… what h-happened?” I asked, sitting down. My legs couldn’t take it much longer.

There was a long sigh. “Son, I don’t know how to tell you this. The Zebras did it. They bombed us with balefire. We don’t know how many cities they’ve hit. All we can see on the cams is fire.”

“Where are you?” I asked. They’d survived, they had to be somewhere safe. “C-Can I get a pick up?”

“Camp Chocodile,” the captain replied. “Bunker in the Great Dividing Range. We’re diverting any survivors over here.” There was a long pause. “Chances of pickup though… those are slim…”

“Please…” I rasped, holding my head in my hooves. “Please… I need help…”

“Son, this is the collapse of civilization as we know it.” the captain said, his voice cold. “Everyone who’s survived needs help.”

“Are there a-any Stables near me?” I asked in a futile attempt to get help.

“They’re all sealed by now…” That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “There’s maybe a couple of hundred ponies on the surface who are alive, maybe. We haven’t found anyone other than the airships on the airwaves.”

“Can you send one to me?”

“I… I’ll see…” the captain said, with a another sigh. “Are there any other survivors?”

“Ye-” I stopped myself short and looked at Custard Tart. Her skin was still flaking off, but her uniform remained largely intact. She looked so peaceful. “No.”

“That…” the captain started. “That doesn’t help your chances, son…” There was some mumbling in the background, some of it sounding tense and heated.

I rested my head on the console. The only way I’d get out of there was if they’d help me. I peered out of the window, seeing more mushroom clouds in the distance. They must have hit every population center. More streaks crossed the sky, then more explosions thumped in the distance. How long was it going to last?

I couldn’t watch. I turned my head and stared at the ground. All I could see was a pistol, discarded as the bombs fell. It didn’t look too damaged. Maybe it still worked? I picked it up and looked it over.

“Maybe you can’t save me…” I whispered into the microphone. “But maybe I can save myself.” Then I pulled the pistol receiver back and held it close.

“Son, don’t do it.” the captain said, breaking from his other conversation. “We need everyone we can get. This might be the collapse of civilization, but we need everyone out there to build a new one, or at least try.”

“Why…” I whispered. “I d-don’t feel like a pony anymore…” my voice felt like gravel in my throat, scratching with each word. “I feel… like a corpse…”

“Just… hold on, son. I’ll see what I can do.” The mic went quiet as the soldier talked to someone else. I listened for a few seconds, staring down the barrel of the gun. It could be over so quickly. I could be with my family again. With Copper. Maybe even Candy and Custard. I would be free of the new hell. Just a little bit of pressure on the trigger…

“Cotton? Cotton, are you there son?” the captain asked, his voice loud in my ear and slightly excited. “Hello? Please come in!”

“I… I’m here…” I whispered, still staring at the gun. “Captain… I know you can’t save me…” It was a harsh reality, but it was the truth. There was nothing he could realistically do. Unless, of course, he wanted to come out here himself and save a poor soul he’d never even met before.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” What? “I’ve contacted airship delta-zero-niner. The captain on board was hesitant, but when I said survivors, he turned his ass around.” There was a lot of rustling coming through the mic. “Stand by, Cotton. Hang in there.”

Rescue? The concept seemed so… out of place. Was there hope? I looked at Custard’s peaceful body. She gave me hope, but she was taken from me. Was hope even real anymore?

“Can you walk?” the captain asked, his voice stepping down a notch, lacking in the excitement he had before. “Tell me you aren’t fused to something.”

“I c-can walk…” I replied, putting the gun down. I wanted to pull the trigger, but I just couldn’t. As long as there was hope, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. “I d-don’t think so…” I hadn’t tried to pull my armour off. Why would I have. My hardened vest did seem more snug than before though, and after a few seconds of pulling and tugging I knew why. “I… I’m fused to my armour, sir…” That also wasn’t good. Not good at all… “Oh sisters, I’m a freak…”

“Freak or no, you’re alive.” The voice seemed very calm now. “Cotton, I need you to head north. The airship can’t touch down in town, too much of a hot zone. The captain said he can put down three kilometers out of town. Can you make it that far?”

“I…” I looked up and to what I figured was north. There were lots of clouds that way, but they all seemed so far. Had to be miles away. It sounded like they were going to put down on highway thirty-seven, if my geography was right. I looked at the gun in my hoof. Bullet to the brain, or potential survival. Those were my options.

Seconds passed as I stared at the gun, weighing my options. If I left, I’d be in the dark until I reached that airship, if I reached the airship.

The captain did say balefire though, and I remember hearing that that stuff does weird shit to living things. There was a lot of forest between town and the landing zone. Maybe I’d need the bullets for the trip.

“Son?”

That was it. Decision time. Either I put a bullet in my head, or I get walking.

“Cotton, are you there?”

I stayed silent as I looked north again. “I’m on my way.” I said, then put down the headset. I heard the captain say something, but I couldn’t make it out. I crouched down next to Custard and sighed, saying my final goodbye. I didn’t even know her, but I felt I owed it to her.

Sliding the pistol into my armour, I stood up again, then headed out the door. It looked like hell outside, and my short journey didn’t look like it was going to be fun. But dammit all, what did I have to lose?

So I began walking. Collapse, or no, I was going to survive.