I woke up, memories from last night just a blur. Hell, I don’t even remember sleeping. I must have passed out. Still drowsy, I closed my eyes and just tried going back to sleep. I tried to moved a bit to make myself comfortable, though something was limiting my movements. I opened one eye and looked down, noticing 2 familiar-looking legs still wrapped around me. My eye widened as I realized who was probably still hugging me.

What the hell?

I tried getting out of her grip but the way she was holding me made things a bit complicated. In the other hand, I kinda enjoyed it. It felt like I was being hugged by a fluffy pillow. I loved it. I decided to just enjoy the moment. And so once more, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

I could get used to this, as long as I don’t feel or be awkward or anything.

I was getting a bit too comfortable in my situation. It took me some time before I realized there was a weird tingling at my ear. It started as ticklish feeling. I was now a bit uncomfortable.

Is she nibbling my ear!?

“Uhm, A-Amethyst?” I slightly shook her leg.

“Mmmm?” Was her reply. She sounded happy.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked her. She tightened her grip on me.

“Mmmhmm…” She continued to nibble my ear. Good gracious, my face was redder than a tomato or a laser beam.

Damnit, she’s probably asleep! Explains why she’s doing this...weird act. She’s unconsciously nibbling my ear. But...I wonder why...

“Please wake up,” I shook her leg again, harder this time. “Open your eyes! This is getting too weird…”

Finally, she stopped nibbling. I waited for her to loosen her grip on me but instead, I got a terrified shriek. The next thing I know, I’m on the floor, head aching.

“W-What the hell are you doing on my bed!?” She yelled. I turned around so I’m lying on my back and looked at her. She was covering most of herself with her blanket.

“I don’t know!” I rubbed the aching spot on my head. “All I know is I was at the table, sleeping maybe.”

She looked at me then at the bed then back at me, her eyes wide with confusion. A lot of ideas must have crossed her mind, none of them is good I think.

“Did we...Did we…” She took a shaky breath. “Did we do anything last night? Anything...er...weird?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shook my head. “I’m sure we didn’t do anything crazy last night. I mean, friends don’t do anything weird together, right? And we’re still friends, right?”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right...We’re still friends, don’t worry,” She sighed. “I guess I overreacted a bit. So, now-”

The door flew open and in the doorway stood the DJ unicorn. He looked at us with a weird expression on his face (And he didn’t have his sunglasses on too so we can see how wide his eyes got).

“What’s happening here? I heard someone screaming and…” His eyes slowly looked at me then at Amethyst then finally rested on the bed. “Oh my…”

“Larynx! It’s not what you think!” She vigorously shook her head. He bit his hoof in an effort to...stop laughing.

“Oh my Celestia, that got a bit off the hoof, eh?” He eyed me. “And so that’s where you went. Fortis was looking for you. I thought you left this place but turns out, you snuck in here and did Goddess knows what.”

“Shut up, you!” Amethyst threw a pillow at him. “We didn’t do anything crazy last night, just slept together...that’s all.”

“Yeah, and you were nibbling my ear,” I scratched my ear, relieving myself from the itchiness that formed.

“You are NOT helping us,” She hissed at me.

“What? That just slipped out of my mouth so sorry,” I continued scratching. Geez, I’ll never let anyone bite my ear again.

“Nibbling his ear?” He was definitely laughing now. “Amethyst, I didn’t know you were into those kinds of things!”

“Nnngg…”She groaned and covered herself with her blanket. “Get out of my room…”

“No need to be embarrassed, this happens all the time!” He smirked. “Remember that time when we found For-”

Amethyst slammed the door close with magic. I heard a painful groan from the other side. He should’ve seen that coming.

“Uhm…” I was still lying down on the floor, a bit scared to move. “So, now what? You gonna kick me out?”

“I was suppose to but maybe not,” She uncovered herself. “Still feel awkward? You can leave if you want.”

“I think I’m a bit stuck here,” I lied. “So I’ll be lying in this cold floor for some time, I guess.”

“You really want to get on this bed, huh?”

“Uhm, maybe?”

With an annoyed sigh, she wrapped me with her magic and floated me above the bed...before dropping me on top of it. The bed squeaked loudly under my weight.

“Happy?” She arched an eyebrow at me.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?” I told her. “Especially putting me on a bed, that was unnecessary.”

“You kept on mumbling about beds when you slept,” She smiled at me. “I remembered what happened last night. You fell asleep. I was going to leave you to sleep at the table but you kept on saying something about soft beds and stuff. ”

“I was? Wow…” I felt a bit ashamed of myself. “So you let me sleep on your bed out of pity…”

“Sorta, I just got a bit annoyed at your constant murmurs. How could I sleep with you talking? So I decided to give in to your desire and, you know the rest.”

“And that’s the story about how I managed to sleep on your bed...with you,” I chuckled. “Still...hugging me? Uhm...in bed too, kinda strange, ya know? Especially you nibbling my ear?”

“I-I can explain!!” Her face turned bright red. “I was having a dream, yeah, and it started like that.”

“You and your dreams, I wonder what’s next. One day of being friends and look what we got into. This is why I prefer not having friends,” I slowly shook my head. “So, shall we get out of this room and before anything else happens?”

“Sure, and let’s get out before Larynx returns with a bucket of cold water.”

I was sitting on a chair at the lobby, just waiting for Fortis to come. He was supposed to lead me back to the clinic today for some reason. I thought I was feeling fine, maybe it was something else, like my things that I left there.

And the situation that happened earlier morning? Me and Amethyst agreed to never speak of it again.

“Eclipse! There you are.”

I looked up from my PipBuck and spotted him. He wore a mocking expression on his face.

“Howdy, what took you so long?” I asked him as I stood up and walked towards him.

“Got caught up with the Council,” He answered. “How about you? How was your night here?”

“Fine, cozy, relaxing, are there any other words to describe my stay here?” I told him. “And before you ask if I’m hungry, I already ate.”

“Oh, what a bummer…” He clicked his tongue. “Velvet learned how to bake a cake, thought you might want some. It doesn’t have some of the ingredients you’d find in a pre-war cake but it’s something.”

“Hmm, cake you say? I’ll check next time,” I tried my best not to say it with sarcasm “What a lie. Cake? Pfft, don't make me laugh, you just want me to taste the muffins again!”

“Anyways, how are you and Amethyst?” He nudged me. “I heard what happened early morning.”

“We’re just fine, thank you very much,” I let out a sigh of annoyance. I’m going to knock him out. “Shall we leave this place already? You said I have to go to the clinic, remember?”

“Right, right. Let’s hurry ‘cause this is going to blow your mind.”

We arrived at the clinic in record time. I’d say it’s a nearly impossible feat, running all the way from the tower to the medical facility in just under a minute.

“I hope...this is discovery...is ACTUALLY worth the running!” I leaned on a wall, catching my breath.

“Oh, it is worth all the running, trust me,” He told me. “Now let’s hope my sister arrives soon, only she has the power to let us in the inner lab.”

“Inner lab?” I asked him.

“It’s a facility that is built underground,” He replied. “Reason? To keep secrets like this one away from the public.”

“Wait, so what you’re going to show me is a secret?”

“Basically, yeah. According to her, if any of the information they got leaks out to the public, someone could use the data for malevolent reasons.”

“Is it even possible?”

“In a land where raiders have technologically advanced things, mercenaries are more cunning than the ones on the Capital, slavers are even more brutal with their prey, and where chaos is everywhere...yeah, it’s very possible.”

“That’s...just so depressing,” I murmured. Man, just as I thought the Wasteland, or Land 35, could not get any darker, this possibility arrives.

“There you guys are,” I heard a voice greet us. I looked at where the voice came from and spotted Selena not so far away. “I thought both of you already went inside the clinic.”

“They didn’t let us through, the one guarding the entrance told us we’re not allowed to go in due to some problems,” Fortis told her. “Good thing you came for us, we would have been standing here for a long time if you didn’t realize that we’re outside. You tend to be forgetful sometimes.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me they didn’t let you in because of a water leak,” She placed her hoof on her face and shook her head in annoyance.

“Anyways, let’s just go in now,” Fortis looked at me. “It’s time he knows what’s been happening to him.”

“Sure, follow me,” She turned around and lead us into the clinic. She glared at the guard as we passed by him, making him gulp and look away. We walked towards the end of another hallway (so much damn hallways) and hit what seemed to be a dead-end.

“So, uhm...what are we doing here?” I whispered to Fortis.

“Patience, friend, you’d be surprise with the amount secrets this town has,” He whispered back to me. Just as he said that, Selena tapped on the wall three times. A small panel opened up nearby and she walked towards it and stared at it, a laser scanning her eye. Once that’s done, most of the wall opened up and it revealed an elevator.

“Wow….”

We stepped into it and the walls closed once more, leaving us in darkness. For a moment, the lights flickered on and the room(lift?) descended. After a while, Selena looked at me with a concerned expression.

“Are you feeling fine?” She asked me with a worried tone.

“Yes, I think,” I told her. “Is there a problem involving me, Miss?”

“No, no, none so far,” She gave a nervous chuckle and then mumbled something under her breath.

I shrugged and and waited for the lift to stop moving. It was taking a while so I decided to tunelessly hum to pass time. I noticed Selena was getting a bit fidgety while Fortis was looking as nervous as she is.

Suddenly, the lift stopped with a jerk, making the lights flicker once more and turn
off, leaving us in darkness. I was getting a bit sweaty, a little scared of the dark. Eventually, the wall in front of us opened, blinding me. Curse those bright lights.

“Gah! Where are the lights coming from!?” I rubbed my eyes, trying to ease the pain (in hindsight, that was a horrible idea).

“Woops, I guess we need to lower the brightness here,” I heard Fortis say. “Miss, you need to do that.”

“That’s weird...I thought the most of the lights were knocked out because of a power surge,” Selena said. “They must be quick in restoring electricity this time, it usually takes days to fix this problem. Anyways, let’s go. Follow me”

As we followed her, we passed by a lot of busy ponies wearing lab coats. Most stared at me with fear or awe. I found their reaction disturbing, what did I do? I ignored them, thinking that maybe it was the weird tech on me. One of them stopped Selena and asked her what I was doing here. She whispered something to him and he nodded, his eyes looking at me with curiosity and suspicion. I felt a shiver down my spine as I walked past him.

“I don’t like the look they’re giving me…” I complained o Fortis, eyeing one of the many researchers of the place.

“That’s natural, it’s not all the time a random stranger gets access to the lab,” he told me. “But don’t worry, once they’re used with seeing you, they’ll stop giving you those looks.”

“I hope that time arrives sooner, their stares are giving me goosebumps…” I lowered my head, trying not to make eye-contact with them. Fortis chuckled.

As we walked further into the lab, the amount of labcoat-wearing ponies lessened, and so did the feeling of anxiety within me. We finally stopped in front of two big doors. A sign above it read out “Research area #100011”.

“Here we are...The area where we conduct experiments which involves...living beings,” Selena sighed. “I hate this part of the lab…”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” I stared at the doors, a feeling of dread starting to form in my gut.

“Let’s just go in and get it over with...I don’t want you to get more involved with this experiment,” She opened the door and we stepped in. Inside were a few stallions and mares wearing a black lab coat, like that makes any difference. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at us. Selena waved a hoof and one of them approached her. I recognized the pony as the doctor I saw when I woke up.

“I’m glad to see that my patient looks fine and well,” He said as he handed her a folder. “I was starting to worry that he’ll be in a fatal situation after I found out what’s wrong with him.”

“What is wrong with me?” I asked him, sounding a bit desperate. “I really want to know, doc.”

“I guess I’ll tell you now, there’s no point in keeping it a secret from you anyways,” He cleared his throat. “When you were still unconscious, I decided to do some tests on you when I heard about what you did outside the town. Turns out...you’re not pure Earth. The results of my tests showed that you are 1/2 Earth, 1/4 Unicorn, and ¼ Pegasus. At first, I thought something was wrong with my tests so I repeated it. Turns out, you really are a special stallion.”

“What…” I let the words trail out of my mouth as I stared at him dumbly. All the time, information dumping always leave me speechless. He sighed.

“Let me make this more simpler for you to understand,” He said the next words slowly. “You are a special pony, understand? You are a mixture of the three pony races: Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus. Your Earth side is more dominant that the other two that’s why you are an Earth stallion.”

“So...I’m an Earth Stallion...and?” I waited for him to continue.

“While your Earth side may be more dominant, if that’s the right word to use, your Unicron side has a bit of influence on you. You can use magic, though it is limited. I don’t know about your Pegasus side. In theory, you should have nubs on where the wings would be in your body but I guess that isn’t the case so I think it’s a dormant characteristic or something like that,” He continued, words coming out from his mouth .

“That’s it?” I asked him. “Well...I guess that’s new to me…”

“But what I don’t understand is how you became like that,” He started pacing around the room. “This case is impossible! You’re impossible! This defies everything known to science and nature. I’m not sure if you’re born this way or something else. Experimented maybe? No, that’s impossible! There is no way to do that kind of experiment at this time...unless...radiation? Taint? I’m not so sure.”

As he continued to ramble about how I’m not supposed to exist, I was still trying to understand what the hell he told me. So basically, I’m an Earth who has the power to cast spells without needing a horn...and maybe fly without wings.

“OF COURSE! GREAT WICKERING STALLIONS, HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO BLIND!?” The doc yelled as ran towards me. Fortis and Selena took a step back from me, a bit scared at him.

“Quick, show me your PipBuck!” He ordered me. I complied and raised my leg, where the device is locked in. He gave it a quick glance and smacked his forehead.

“W-What is it?” Selena asked him.

“The Pipbuck...it’s the answer to this mystery!” He told her excitedly. “If only I can get the information from it...that’s all I need from it.”

“Just the PipBuck?” She tilted her head.

“Yes. Why? I have a hunch it’s those special ones,” He said. Then he looked at
me. “Ah, I forgot to tell you something, my mistake. This involves you-”

He was interrupted by a loud sound, followed by the room shaking strongly. Most of the ones in the room ducked under the table while me and the other 3 just stood still in fear. After a few seconds of intense shaking, it calmed down and finally stopped.

“What the hell was that?” Selena asked in surprise.

“I don’t know but it sounded like there was an explosion,” Fortis answered. Suddenly, an alarmed wailed. That’s when everyone in the room froze. I looked at Selena and her face was filled with horror. She also seemed close to crying.

“This can’t be happening...this can’t be happening,” She repeated those words over and over again. Fortis tried calming her down but I can feel he’s also worried.

“What’s happening?” I asked, completely oblivious.

“That alarm only sounds when the town is under attack…”Fortis answered shakily. “Eclipse, you need to help us defend this place…”

“Defend? I-I…” Memories of me against raiders crossed my mind. I realized that I was suddenly scared of them, no, that wasn’t it. I’m scared of something else. “I can’t! Oh sweet Celestia, I can’t...I don’t want to...I-”

“Eclipse, what are you saying? Lives are at risk here! If you don’t-”

“I don’t want to kill anyone! I...I can’t go through with it again…” I shook my head. “I may have killed back then...but...it wasn’t me that killed them. I know I couldn't bring myself to do it so...something else took over me and killed. I’m scared, Fortis...I might hurt someone…innocent...”

“Eclipse...please...if you don’t help...more lives would be lost…” Selena sobbed. “I understand how you feel about taking the life of someone...but this...this is the way of the Wasteland...kill or be killed….It’s harsh, I know, it’s how I lost my family. That damn rule…”

Another loud “boom” sounded and when I looked at Selena once more, she had tears streaming down her face. I looked at Fortis and his expression answered all questions in my mind. With a deep breath, I answered him,

“Fine, let’s go. But first, my revolver...” I told him grimly. The doctor, who I failed to realize was still beside me, handed me the said weapon.

“Here, I took it from you when you were first brought here,” He told me. “Your gun caught my eye so I decided to study it. A custom .500 magnum revolver, now that’s something. But since the ammo for it is too scarce and most that you’ll find are probably useless anyways, I managed to convert it into a .44.”

“Wow...thanks, I guess,” I studied the weapon, it does look a bit smaller than before. I turned to Fortis and nodded. “Let’s go...before I change my mind.”

“Give us all your valuables and resources and we’ll leave you alone. Object and we will destroy this pathetic town!” The raider leader demanded. I gulped as we stood in front of the gate.

“Can’t we work out a deal with them yet?” I asked Fortis as we continued to watch one of the leaders of Lux and the raider leader talk.

“It’s hard, if they want something, they’ll do anything to get it,” He told me. I bit my lower lip and hoped we won’t have to fight.

When I went to the entrance with Fortis, I noticed the large cracks on the walls nearby. I also saw that one of the guard towers(I think) near the gate collapsed. There were already casualties as there was a shootout between the two side before everyone calmed down enough to talk. It was nerve-racking.

When I first saw this group of raiders, I was sure it was they’re a part of Mortem. The amount of good stuff they have is terrifying. Decent-looking armor, decent-looking weapons, and a decent-looking boss. Makes me want to avoid a fight even more.

“Are you sure you only need a revolver?” Fortis pointed at said weapon. “I think you need a bit more firepower, like a battle saddle?”

“No thank you. The last time I used one, it was brutal,” I shivered. “I’m fine with the revolver.”

“Suit yourself-Oh no.”

The raider leader shot one of Lux’s leader, causing everyone on our side to gasp. All the guards aimed their weapons at the murderer, though they’re scared.

“Now, are you also going to defy me?” He asked us, grinning. The guards slowly lowered their weapons.

“We can’t surrender now,” I told Fortis when I saw him lowering his weapon too.

“I-I know but...we’re too weak for them,” He muttered. “I can’t believe we haven’t prepared for this situation.”

“Seriously? We’re going to defend this place, Fortis, so don’t you dare lower your weapon!” I told him angrily. “Remember, there will be some resistance from the civilians so there will always be casualties. Let’s keep the numbers low on our side and higher for them, understand?”

“R-Roger,” He raised his gun once more.

“Hey, look at those two,” The leader scoffed at us. “What can you do against an army, heroes?”

“Anything…” I replied, voice shaky.

“A tough guy, eh?” He cocked his gun. “Come on, I dare you to challenge me.”

Stop! Look and think.

I slowly shook my head and instead, looked at his men. I felt like there’s someone I need to meet, someone I need to see. Then I spotted him, that one stallion that I’ve only heard of. I quickly changed my mind and lowered my weapon. I don’t need another bloodshed.

“Stop, I think we can settle this peacefully, just hear me out,” I proposed.

“Haha! I like you, thinking smart and all,” He laughed. “Now, what is this agreement you have in mind?”

“I think it’s fair that we get to keep one of your men here...as a payment for the valuables and resources we’ll give you,” I told him. “Just one, that’s all I need. I get to pick who too.”

“Hmm, and if I let you choose, who would it be?” He asked me, intrigued.

“Him…” I pointed to the gray unicorn. He looked at me, scared. “What’s his name?”

“Peridot? You want him?” He laughed. “Hell yeah you can keep him, he’s useless to me anyways.”

The leader gestured the unicorn to come closer to him and whispered something. The unicorn looked at me and back at him and nodded.

“Okay, it’s a deal. You get this scrub in exchange for resources,” He said as he told the unicron to go to me.

“What are you going to do with him, Eclipse?” Fortis asked me, eyeing the gray unicorn.

“I have a feeling he’s the stallion one of my friends is looking for,” I answered him.” I hope I’m right.”

Fortis just nodded and lowered his weapon. At least there will be no fighting this time. The unicorn stopped in front of me, a bit shaky.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Peridot...sir,” He answered.

“Cutie Mark?”

“Gears, sir.”

“Why?”

“I...I’m an inventor, sir.”

“Family?”

“...I...I have a sister...sir…”

“Where?”

“I...don’t know...sir…”

I just nodded and told Fortis to find a way to give the leader an appropriate amount of resources, an amount that he could deem it worth his time and efforts. I looked at the raider one more time and on his face was a wide smile. It’s like he was planning on something.

“Sir, why did you ask me these questions?” Peridot asked me. “Is it important for you to know?”

“Yes...really important,” I answered.

“Why, sir?” He looked at me like I can answer something in his mind. Probably something involving her sister.

“Because-”

Bang!

The gunshot left my ears ringing and my head aching. I took a shaky breath and looked down, noticing the bullet that nearly struck me.

“Aww, what a lucky bastard,” I heard the leader softly laughing.

“Weapons up!” Fortis ordered, voice shaking. “Take aim and ready yourselves!”

I looked back up, body trembling. He was staring at me, the raider leader, eyes filled with sadistic glee.

“You think you can cut a deal with us?” He spat on the ground. “Ever heard the phrase ‘Never trust a raider.’? Especially a group like us, you wouldn’t make a possible deal with ‘em.”

I looked at Fortis and the guards. They looked back at me with concern, awaiting on what to do. I gave them them the same worried look. We’re caught unprepared.

“So, the heroes prove to be useless and the whole town gets killed,” The raider chuckled. “A perfect entry in my journal for today, don’t you think?”

“I don’t think so!” One of our guards yelled. “You think you’re so tough with all your equipments, huh? Well, you’re wrong!”

The raider smirked and looked at the guard with a glare.

“I’m tired with all this chit-chat!” He announced. “Kill them all. Spare nobody!”

All the raiders raised their weapons up and aimed at us. I struggled to do something to stop what would be a massacre. Instead, a scared whimper came out my mouth.

“Any las-”

The leader took a step back and looked at chest, eyes widened in surprise and fear. Blood is starting to pour out from the hole where the bullet hit. Finally, he dropped down dead.

I blinked and noticed my revolver floating near me, a dark aura surrounding it. I realized quickly what I had done and knowing that the raiders will shoot at us once they come to terms to what happened to their boss, I forced that dreadful word out of my mouth before anything else happens.

“Fire.”

And fired our weapons, we did. Our enemies may outnumber us but they reacted poorly to the situation. With every bullet I fired and for every body it hit, I winced and hoped whoever I shot died a quick and painless death. The pistol continued to float near me, still being surrounded by the dark aura that now seems to be radiating fear. I don’t completely understand how the gun could be controlled by I guessed it’s controlled by my thinking.

Soon, the remaining raiders got their wits together and retaliated. We were still outnumbered and outpowered. Most of us quickly ran for cover when they shot back.

“Fortis, we need to get back!” I yelled out as I unloaded my gun on the most armored raider there was. I was aware that we couldn’t keep on fighting, we all were aware.

“I’m sorry, my friend, we can’t,” He managed to get beside me while avoiding some shots.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been locked out,” He answered grimly. “It’s a security protocol. In case of an attack, the town will send its security to face the threat outside while the others closes the gates. That’s why we built cover areas outside. Our best chance is to go to one of them.”

“What have we gotten into…” I mumbled. Quickly reloading, I looked for the nearest spot to seek cover from the gunfire. It was only the two of us that were out in the open now, the rest either dead or hiding.

The raiders have also ceased fire, taking their time to reload. I quickly seized the moment, pointing Fortis to where the nearest cover area was. We both ran towards it and luckily reached it before they started firing again.

“That was a close one,” Fortis managed to say.

“Now what?” I asked him, counting my bullets. The gun continued to hover next to me.

There was something nagging me in the back of my head, like I was forgetting something. I shook off the feeling and continued to think of a way to get out of this mess.

“The kid, have you seen him?”

I froze as he said that, feeling my heart beat strongly in my chest. Peridot, I forgot about Peridot!

Fortis saw the look on my face and understood. I began to worry about him. What if he’s injured? Dead? These thoughts raced through my mind. Then I heard a gunfire which was then followed by tense silence.

He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s dead.

Something in my mind compelled me to move out of cover. I didn’t hesitate but instead, hastened the movement. Fortis couldn’t get a word out from his mouth before I left him.

No, he’s not. He’s not. He’s not.

I stood out in the open, looking for the gray stallion. Bullets whizzed by me like an unseen force is preventing me from being hit but I did not trust its efficiency. I had to be quick. As I continued to run around the battlefield searching desperately for him, Fortis and the others managed to continue fighting.

“How could someone so gray be hard to find in an open area such as this?!” I thought to myself. Then luckily, I found him, crawled up into a ball in one of the cover areas. I quickly rushed to him before I lose him once more.

“I don’t want to die...no no no…,” I heard him whimper. I shook my head and nudged him.

“You won’t die, Peridot,” I calmly told him. “So keep yourself together.”

“H-how would you know?!” He shot back at me. “What if we both died in this hellhole because you had to shoot first?!”

“Peridot, we will survive!” I insisted. I sighed and lay down. “We will survive…”

He opened his mouth to say something but shook his head instead. He wiped his tears off his eyes and waited for me to say something.

“What do you know about my sister, sir?” He asked me, finally breaking the silence.

“Hard to say, all I know she’s one of the roughest mares I’ve ever met out here in this land of ours, heh..” I replied. “Hey, know how to shoot a gun?”

“I guess...I mean, I did shoot a pistol in a firing range. Why…” He looked at me, worried at my answer.

“Here, take my revolver,” I told him while handing it to him. “I’m too tired to continue fighting.”

“But I never shot anybody!” He said in shock, though he still got the revolver.

“All you have to do is aim and shoot. Do not hesitate to pull the trigger.”

“But why can’t you do it?”

I weakly smiled at him and showed him a spot on my chest where it’s still bleeding. His face paled and nodded.

“Look, I’m sorry that I have to make you do this...Even I don’t like killing,” I slowly told him. “But the Wasteland is a cruel place. Kill or be killed, that’s the rule.”

“Isn’t there some other way out of this?” He desperately asked.

“There is only one way I can think of,” I answered him. “Take my pistol and leave. Run while you still can. Basing on how the loud the gunfire is right now, you still have time to escape.”

“But that means leaving you!”

“I know but...I’ll be fine. “ I assured him. “Now make your choice…I’m kinda sleepy.”

I yawned and closed my eyes. A relaxing feeling suddenly washes over my body. I gave him one last tip before I fully rest.

“Just aim and shoot, easy as that…”