“This place is a maze,” I said, breaking the hushed silence that had fallen over us for the past several minutes, “It shouldn’t be this hard to find an exit!” Jerry nodded wordlessly, her mind still clearly wrapped up with the foal we’d seen before. I exhaled slowly. Clearly something about it had struck her deeply. It wasn’t just the death. We’ve seen that in various forms throughout our lives. I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice caught as she spoke first.

“We need to find the back of this place,” she said. I glanced in her direction, then around us.

“I’m not even sure where we are now… I got a little turned around,” I said, rubbing a hoof across the back of my head. “What’s in the back?” Jerry gave me a pitying look. “What? First time outside The Dig, remember?”

“Buildings like this usually have some sort of… loading area,” she said with a sigh, trying to explain it as it had been to her. “That’s where they would bring in big trucks full of stuff and off load it. I guess it was so they didn’t bother everypony in the front.”

“Okay,” Free said, glancing around. “Keep your eyes open for any halls without displays.”

“Why without displays?”

“You only put displays where you expect ponies that aren’t there to work to go. Loading areas are for work,” I said as I drew to a stop next to a set of doors marked ‘Authorized Ponies Only’. I reached out a hoof, pushed it open and stared down a bare corridor. “See?”

“Now you’re just trying to upstage me,” Jerry said.

“I have to be good for something, right?” I said with a defiant smirk. She rolled her eyes, ducked her head under my leg, and started down the corridor. I followed behind a pace, glancing at the offices on either side of the hall. Each wall had an inset piece of glass that offered a view of the interior. Most looked bare. They had metal shelves that held various items like pots or bones or sometimes even rocks. Near those shelves were large metal tables that had an array of tools left to gather rust and dust and a copious amount of movement space around them and between the shelves. They didn’t look like offices at all but like some sort of… workshop I guess. Despite Bruiser’s dickish response to Daydream, it did seem like the old world’s version of scavenging, just with a different reason behind it.

“Hey Free?” Jerry called. I shook my head and looked down the hall. Jerry stood at the far end, waving me over before she disappeared into one of the offices. I trotted over and poked my head into the door.

Now this looked like an office, at least if Doc’s was any indication. There were faded photos on the wall and the desk had a generous collection of knick knacks scattered across its surface. A thick layer of dust had formed on every surface, causing the whole room to appear drab. Jerry stood behind the desk looking strangely at the terminal. I stepped around the desk and saw what held her attention.

On the screen was a young teal mare with a neatly done up mane in darker hues of blue. Her mouth was moving and she appeared to be talking very excitedly about something.

“I can’t believe this is still working!” she said excitedly, “We should find Bruiser, he’ll definitely-” I stared at her incredulously until it dawned on her. “Oh… right… we’re escaping…” she said, casting her eyes towards the floor. I smiled and looked back at the computer. On the desk next to it was a little box that looked very similar to the one Doc spoke out, but with a button on the top. I reached out a hoof and gave it a press and the mare’s voice cut through the quiet.

“...elieve it!? An archeological find right under our very hooves! And they chose me, that’s right, ME! To do the sample collection and initial research! Isn’t that amazing?! I-I-I mean I was absolutely floored when they put my spiny-backed ponysaurus on display in the central rotunda, but now they have me heading my own project!” The mare was practically bouncing in her seat. She clapped her hooves together and beamed at the screen. “Anyway, I’m rambling. We start the groundbreaking next week! I can’t wait to see you both at the ceremony! I love you guys so much!”

The video froze a moment and then picked back up again. It was the same mare only she looked tired, like she hadn’t slept in a few nights and her mane was a mess.

“Ugh… I’m so, so tired… The curator has me working around the clock on the dig site in the basement. It’s much larger than we thought it was. Definitely larger than the house we predicted. Also it’s a bit… weird. The, uh, the sediment is much more compacted than it should be… It’s blunted or broken all of our picks and I’m about this close,” she said, holding up her hooves to indicate just how close, “to asking for jackhammers. Ugh, this is way harder than digging up bones in the backyard when I was a filly. Mom, dad, I can’t wait til you get here. It’ll help me take my mind off my crazy hectic schedule. See you tomorrow.” she waved sleepily at the screen before it cut to black. A few seconds later the screen lit up again and she was back to her previous exuberant self as the first video played again. I tapped the button again and the sound cut out, leaving the place quiet as a tomb.

“Do you think…” Jerry started, but let her voice trail off. She looked at me sadly before continuing. “Do you think she was here when the Balefire Bombs fell?” I smiled sadly and shrugged.

“I don’t know, Jerry. But best not to think about it,” I said as I nudged her towards the door. “C’mon. Let’s find an exit and get out of this place.” Jerry nodded and slipped back into the hallway and I followed quietly behind. Jerry had planted the seed though, and as we stalked through the empty halls I began to wonder if the mare been here when the world ended. I hoped her body wasn’t amongst those that had curled up not too far from here.

Suddenly I bumped into Jerry, who had come to a stop at the end of the hallway. I flushed and backed up a couple of steps.

“S-sorry! I was-”

“Shut. Up.” came a rasping voice. I tensed, feeling sweat begin to bead on my brow. The room we’d come up to was large and full of shelves. Standing just inside the room was Fricassee, her flamethrowers trained on us. She looked terrible. One of her goggles had been broken and a violet eye darted nervously between the two of us. I stepped up beside Jerry, stuck a leg out and pushed her behind me.

“Fricassee…” I said. Her eyes locked on me and she lowered her head without breaking eye contact.

“Where’s. Bruiser?” she rasped.

“Fuck if I know,” I said. Fricassee took a step forward.

“You were. Supposed. To find. Him!” she choked, her breather struggling to keep up with her heart rate.

“I did. And the piece of shit shot me for all my trouble,” I growled. She tensed and for a brief horrid moment I could feel the flames washing over me and Jerry. Then she looked away, her eyes wide with panic.

“Something’s. Not right. Here,” she said a she stepped closer, “I’m. Leaving. You should. Too.” The pilots on her flamethrowers didn’t extinguish, but she marched past us without another word. Jerry and I watched her as she stalked back the way we’d come. It sounded like she was muttering to herself but between her breather and the low volume I couldn’t make out a single word. Jerry watched her a moment longer and then turned to me.

“Did… did she just… let us escape?” she asked as she voiced the thoughts I was having, confusion plainly written all over her face.

“Let’s find that exit before she finds her senses…” I muttered.

I turned around and felt my blood run cold. Standing where Fricassee had been a moment earlier was the bookworm flanked by two stallions from the dig site. I backpedaled and bumped into Jerry and caused her to stumble. She caught herself and spun on me.

“Hey! What’s-” she started saying. Her voice fell away when she saw what I was looking at. Dig Deep stared at us, his eyes narrowing slowly. He stood stock still, a strange sight since most of my interaction with him involved him tapping away at that… what’d Bruiser call it? His pip-buck?

“It’s you,” he said flatly. “I thought you had died.”

“Jerry… Back. Up.” I said through gritted teeth. Together we started to backpedal. Dig Deep stood still, his face scrunched up as if he was attempting to figure something out. After a long moment he shrugged and took a step towards us.

“No matter. You are still fit. As is she. You will both be quite useful,” he said.

“Uhhh… no thanks. We have plans of our own,” Jerry said from over my shoulder. Dig Deep scowled and took another step forward. His compatriots moved forward with more purpose, theirs heads lowering and their eyes narrowing as they drew closer.

“I’m afraid your plans are secondary to my own,” he said. Suddenly Jerry shrieked and threw her hooves around my neck.

“Let go! Let go of me!” she screamed. I turned and saw one of the ponies from before, complete with bullet wound from Bruiser. Blood seeped from a ragged hole in the mare’s shoulder as she tugged on Jerry’s hind leg. Jerry lashed out with her other leg and caught the mare square in the muzzle. Blood oozed from her nostrils and she stumbled back a step shaking her head.

“You are only delaying things,” she said as she started forward again.

“You’ll see, things will be so much better once you join us,” Dig Deep said as he started forward as well. My eyes darted between them all and I placed myself between Jerry and the mare - the most immediate threat.

“I think we’ll pass,” I said loudly as I glared daggers at the mare. “As the lady said, we have other plans.”

“More’s the pity,” she said, as she lunged towards me. I reared back and brought both hooves down on the top of her skull and drove her into the floor with all my weight. There was a loud crack and the mare went still. Dig Deep drew to a stop and narrowed his eyes.

“You are proving to be quite troublesome,” he said with a low growl. “Able bodies are not easy to come by here.”

“Then leave us be! We don’t want to be slaves anymore!” Jerry shouted as she planted her hooves firmly and did her best to appear stoic. Dig Deep looked her up and down and sneered.

The two stallions galloped forward, their hooves echoing loudly in the empty corridor. I spun around, taking up position next to her as they barreled toward us. Jerry stood her ground, but her eyes betrayed her as they darted around wildly. The first stallion closed in and reared back, ready to pummel her with his forehooves. He was big, but I was bigger. I launched forward, ramming my shoulder into his chest. I lifted him off his hooves and drove him into the ground like a railroad spike. The air whooshed out of his lungs and left him gasping on the floor.

I stood just in time to be knocked flat by the other stallion. I quickly brought my forelegs up, protecting my face as he proceeded to rain blow after blow upon me. “Stop. Making. This. Difficult!” he barked between blows. I twisted and rolled, trying both to get free and shield myself from the stallion’s hail of blows.

“Hey!” Jerry’s voice rang out. The stallion stopped and looked up as she planted both feet in his face with a powerful buck. He fell backwards, his muzzle bleeding and his jaw knocked back into his throat. He grasped feebly at his ruined face as he gurgled and choked on his own blood. Jerry’s eyes were wide but she tore her gaze from the stallion and looked down at me, worry plain on her face. I rolled to my hooves and started to stand again when the other stallion leapt on my back. He tightened his forelegs around my throat and brought his mouth close to my ear.

“You are beginning to damage my calm!” he hissed as he tightened his hold on my throat. There’s a level of panic that sets in when you go to take a breath and can’t. I was instantly on my hooves, trying to shake my assailant loose. Jerry stood on her hind legs, grabbed a mouthful of the stallion’s mane and tried her level best to pull him off. She only succeeded in choking me worse.

I pushed her back as the black began to creep in from around the edges of my vision again. Twice in one day was too much for my liking. I bucked hard and felt the stallion’s body separate from mine and his grip loosen just long enough for me to get a short breath before he secured his grip and hooked his rear hooves into my stomach. I staggered towards the wall as Jerry shouted something, but her voice was drowned out by my impending unconsciousness.

I threw myself bodily against the wall. My head banged off it hard and set my vision swimming, but I’d also just slammed my body weight against the right limbs of my attacker.

C’mon you bastard! I screamed mentally as I reared back and launched myself at the wall again. I heard the stallion grunt and his grip loosen ever so slightly. I took a step forward and slammed into the wall again. This time there was a cracking noise. The blackness was almost complete. I had, at most, one more attempt before he won and I blacked out. I staggered forward one step. Then two. And with the last remaining vestiges of my strength I leapt backwards.

The window leading to one of the work rooms shattered as I forced my attacker and myself through it. We landed on a metal table, bounced from it to the floor and landed in a heap. The stallion’s grip failed and I coughed as I hungrily sucked in lungfuls of air.

“Oh Goddesses! Free!” Jerry shrieked as she scrabbled through the broken window. She dropped off the table and knelt by my side, her eyes wide and darting back and forth. “You’re bleeding? Where are you hurt?” she asked as she pressed her hooves on my chest to keep me from moving. I brushed her hooves aside and rolled to mine.

“‘M fine,” I croaked as I stood up. I glanced down at the still form of my attacker. A rapidly spreading pool of blood oozed out from beneath him. He took short, rasping breaths that grew shallower as we watched until they stopped altogether.

“You are… REALLY beginning to irk me!”

Jerry and I spun around and saw Dig Deep standing on the opposite side of the window, giving us the evil eye. He trotted forward and Jerry and I tensed as he drew to a stop in front of us. He was quiet for a moment as his eyes scanned me top to bottom. His eyes widened briefly and then a smile slowly drew across his face. He raised his hoof and pointed it at me. There was a strange silver stain on it, like he’d stepped in something.

“I see. I will be seeing you again soon enough,” he said. He nodded and trotted away down the hall without another word. Jerry and I watched him silently.

“What the hell was that about?” she asked me. I shrugged

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you,” I muttered as I looked down at the dead stallion at my feet. “C’mon, this place is really starting to bother me.”

It was another hour before we managed to find what I can only describe as a warehouse. The massive room would’ve been pitch black if not for the ravages of time. Support beams that had been diligently holding the ceiling up had rusted and collapsed leaving large holes through which the wan light filtered through. Rows and rows of metal racks had rusted and collapsed, burying or destroying what they once held. It stank of mildew and decay and with each step we kicked up a small flurry of dust that lent itself to the cloying scent.

“Well… we’re in the back. Now what?” I asked as I looked at Jerry. She looked around, peering into the shadows and chewed her bottom lip.

“There’s usually a door or two back here that we can use,” she said nervously as she started down one of the rows. “You check over there somewhere, Free.” I nodded and continued along my current heading.

The stacks groaned and creaked under their own weight, threatening to come toppling down at any moment. My heart began to pound at the sounds as they danced across long buried memories. Memories of a dark room, a terrified foal and a dying mare’s last words.

I shook my head and took a deep, calming breath. “My past is not today,” I whispered. “My past is not today.” The words helped, though the concrete floor underhoof was much more helpful. I tried to focus on anything but the creaking of rusting stacks and the groan of a ceiling on the verge of collapse. Not wanting to think about the past, I occupied my mind with the future and what it could hold.

A life in the wasteland. A life with her. I hoped against hope that such a future was possible. A smile crossed my face as I imagined a little home for us. A plot of land in a safe area where we could farm and just live our lives. A family.

“I found a door!” Jerry called out. I shook my head as my dreams retreated to my subconscious.

“Coming!” I called back as I navigated in the direction of her voice. I was thankful for her snapping me from my reverie. As wonderful as dreams are, they are not a place to live.

I found Jerry standing before a duo of large steel shutters. Between them was the softly glowing screen of a terminal. Jerry trotted over to it and tapped a few keys. She was quiet for a minute or two and then let out an exasperated sigh.

“Its locked, and I don’t know enough about terminals to try and hack it,” she said as she backed away and looked up at the looming doors. I moved to sit next to her as she worked over our situation in her mind.

“You…”

The voice dripped with venom and malice. I felt panic crawl along my spine painfully slow as I turned around. Bruiser stood several feet away, his pistol held aloft in magic field. His eyes were narrowed, bloodshot and so very focused on my throat.

“This… ALL of this…” he said, gesturing at me with the gun, “Is your fault…” I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat, keeping my eyes locked on the stallion as he approached. He bled from a dozen small scrapes and scratches along his legs and face. His previously spotless armor now scuffed, dented and rent.

“H-How do you figure that?” I asked, inwardly cursing the hesitation in my voice. Bruiser sneered and stomped forward another step. His gun drifted lazily between me and Jerry, as if he was trying to decide who would die first.

“This is my fiftieth outing this year alone…” he said, “I’ve been doing this since I was a colt. And it never went as poorly until… you… showed up.” The gun drifted back to me.

“Shitty things happen to shitty ponies!” I said, taking a step forward. Jerry reached a hoof out for me, but I brushed past it. I’d be damned if I let him hurt her. “So you were overdue! Doesn’t make it my fault!” As I drew closer I could see madness in Bruiser’s eyes. The pistol levitated forward and pressed right against my forehead.

“Maybe not, but I’m betting it’ll be cathartic to blow your brains out of your fucking head all the same,” he hissed through clenched teeth. I could hear the mechanisms of the pistol click as he slowly worked the trigger with his magic.

My mind was racing. If I didn’t act quickly he would kill me and then likely kill Jerry. I steeled myself and shouted the first thing that came to mind.

“What’s the matter, Bruiser?” I sneered, pushing all my bravado into my next few words. “Afraid to fight me?”

The clicking stopped and Bruiser’s brow rose. “What’d you say?” he said calmly.

“You heard me! Big tough stallion with your gun aimed at a pony’s head! Take it away and I bet you’re nothing but a goddess-damned coward!” I said, taking another step forward and narrowing the gap between us to just a few feet. His jaw was set and his teeth were bared as I stared past the gun pressed to my forehead.

“I’m not afraid of you!” he roared, his voice echoing throughout the warehouse. “I’m not afraid of anypony!” He looked past me at Jerry. It lasted only a second, but it was enough.

I charged forward, reaching a hoof up to bat the pistol aside. His magic field popped and his eyes widened as I closed the distance between us. I lowered my head and hit him like a runaway wagon. He reared and we slid back several feet until his hooves found purchase and stopped us in our tracks.

Hammer blows immediately smashed into my back as he beat his hooves on my spine. I shoved him away, spun in place and lashed out with a lightning fast one-two buck. He took both to the chest, his armor denting with each hit.

It didn’t slow him down in the least. He was immediately on me again, hammering me with strikes I couldn’t even begin to block. I’d picked up some 'fighting' in The Dig, if you could even call it that. I mostly just used my size and strength to knock a few heads together to keep me and Jerry safe. It was nothing compared to this.

He landed a blow above my right eye and left a jagged cut as a souvenir. I staggered back, trying futilely to wipe the blood away so I could see. He was on me instantly, attacking on my blinded side. He landed two more hits before I could even raise a foreleg to block. When I did, he hooked his hooves around my leg and pulled. I stumbled forward and then off my hooves as he twisted and threw me bodily into a shelf.

For centuries old rusted metal, it held up far better than I was expecting. The supports bent inward as I slammed into them back first and then fell to the floor. I screamed, I’m sure of it. I pushed myself up as quickly as I could, but Bruiser was already there. He reared back and stomped on my back, forcing me back down. For a brief and terrible second my hind legs went numb.

“Not so mouthy now, are ya?! Ya little fuck!” Bruiser shouted as he put a hoof on the back of my head and drove my face into the floor. I could taste blood in my mouth. He took hold of my mane with his magic and lifted my head, only to bash me in the face with his hoof. “You ruined everything!” he howled as he tugged my head back up and struck me again. Blood spilled from my split lip. I could feel it beginning to swell. I looked at my blood spattered across the concrete floor and the thick stream of it that dribbled from my mouth. Bruiser put his hoof on the back of my head and slowly leaned his weight forward. “You know the best part about puttin’ down uppity slaves?” he asked. I grit my teeth, feeling the pressure increasing with each passing moment. “The sounds you make as your skull cracks underhoof.”

“Leave him alone!” Jerry shouted. Bruiser’s hoof moved and I lifted my head in time to see Jerry throwing herself onto Bruiser’s back. She bit down on a mouthful of his mane and locked her hooves around his throat. He backed away, shaking as he tried to throw her off. I fought to my hooves, my eyes locked on Bruiser as he struggled to dislodge Jerry.

“Get offa me!” he roared as he reared and threw himself back into another shelf. Jerry screamed, releasing her hold on his mane and he quickly leaned forward and slammed her against the shelf again. This time when he pulled away, Jerry slid to the floor unconscious. Bruiser turned and stared down at her prone form. “Stupid bitch,” he muttered.

“Get… away from her!” I growled as I took an uneven step towards him. Bruiser glanced over his shoulder at me and flashed me a wicked grin.

“I see… you got a thing for the redhead, don’t’cha?” he hissed. My withering glare was my only response. His grin became a full-fledged smile and he placed his hoof on Jerry’s head. He stared at me as he gradually leaned his weight onto her. Jerry’s hooves scratched at the pavement and she let out a pained whimpered.

“That’s enough!” I shouted and dashed forward, ignoring the ache in my back. Bruiser laughed as he turned to face me, a devilish smile on his face. He stepped forward, ready to fight some more. My vision was tinted red, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the cut above my eye or from my rage. He reared back and I barreled into his midsection. Before he could strike at my back again I shifted lower and lifted him off the floor as I charged forward. He fell across my back, and struggled to get enough leverage to strike a blow as I carried him past Jerry’s prone form.

We hit some kind of crate first. Wood cracked and splinters dug into my hide as I forced Bruiser through it. Straw and something metal scattered underhoof as I pushed myself harder, eking out as much speed as I could from my legs.

“You ffffffuck!” Bruiser hissed. Something sharp jabbed deep into my side. I could feel my blood spill but did my best to ignore it as I continued my charge. The rusting shelf we hit next offered a bit more resistance than a two hundred year old crate. We hit hard with a loud metal clang between Bruiser’s armor and the rack. I staggered away a step and let Bruiser clatter to the floor, splinters of varying sizes sticking out of his exposed hide. I twisted and spied the jagged piece of wood sticking out of my side, blood flowing down to drip onto the floor.

“You stabbed me?” I grunted as I looked at Bruiser. He groaned and unsteadily began to get to his hooves.

“Not yet, but it’s a damn fine idea…” he muttered as we slowly started to circle.

“You can try,” I hissed, “but I’m pretty done with letting slavers hurt me.”

Bruiser sneered and his horn flared into life. A combat knife pulled free of a sheath fastened to Bruiser’s armor, the blade pointing at me.

“You got some fight in ya, huh?” he asked, the blade tracing a slow figure eight in the air. “When I’m done cuttin’ ya to ribbons, I’m gonna do the same to that red-maned slut in the other room. Then I’ll hunt down the others and force-feed them your remains before dragging them back to Zero for punishment.”

“That plan hinges on you still being alive after this,” I said. “And if it’s the last thing I do, I will make sure you never hurt anypony again.”

With an inarticulate growl Bruiser launched himself forward. His knife pitched to the right and slashed sharply to the left, looking to spill my innards in one swift move. I backpedaled, the tip of his blade cutting a shallow groove in my chest. He immediately followed it up by ramming his armored shoulder into me, driving me back further and sending a wave of pain through my wound.

Bruiser pulled back, smirking. He knew he had the upper hoof. But I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me back down. I stood up straighter and scraped my hoof across the floor, readying myself for the charge. Two pony-lengths away Bruiser did the same, his knife hanging in the air between us. My blood glistening along its edge.

Together we charged, each of us bellowing a war cry to bolster our resolve and strike fear into the heart of our enemy. I barreled into him, narrowly avoiding a slash that would’ve opened my throat. He reared back and both his hooves struck me in the face. I staggered back a step and Bruiser immediately twisted and planted a buck under my chin. My head snapped back and took the rest of my body with it.

I landed on my back a couple feet away, my vision swimming in and out of focus. My back ached, and I could feel at least a dozen new cuts and bruises all across it. I found myself staring up at a massive hole torn in the ceiling. Twisted bars of metal jutted from the rubble and scree I found myself on. I slowly lifted my head just as Bruiser’s hoof came down and drove it back into the stone.

“Give it up, slave,” he said, as the knife hovered closer, “You need to know when you’re beaten.” The point of the blade dipped towards my belly, dragging slowly across it and up towards my throat. I stared into his eyes and saw nothing but madness in them. I felt around blindly for something, certain that if I looked away for even a second he would cut my throat and watch me bleed to death. My hooves scraped at the debris as I felt the tip of his combat knife prick the underside of my jaw.

Then I saw her. My mother. She looked up at me, smiling. There was a sad look in her eyes. She reached up and tousled my mane.

“Be strong.” she said, her voice as soft as a whisper. “Be brave.”

I blinked and she was gone. Her smiling features suddenly replaced with Bruiser’s twisted grin. My leg darted up, smacking the knife out of Bruiser’s magic. At the same time I brought up the other and jabbed it into his throat. He staggered back a step coughing, unable to focus on retrieving the knife. I twisted and grabbed the nearest piece of twisted metal sticking out of my bed of rubble between my hooves. I pulled on the twisted metal with all my strength, my hind legs planted firmly. The bar tore free and without breaking stride I swung it in an arc, an enraged bellow escaping my lips. Bruiser’s eyes widened and locked on the large concrete block at the end of the bar an instant before it smashed into his head. I heard his skull fracture and then pulverize as the centuries old stone bashed against it. His head spun sharply and there was another sickening crunch as his neck shattered. His body dropped to the floor in a heap. I stood on my hind legs for a moment, the rebar club clutched tightly in my hooves as I panted for breath. I looked down at him, expecting him to stand and continue the fight. He simply lay there, a pathetic pained gurgling groan spilling from his lips.

I lowered the club and stared down at Bruiser. One eye looked back up at me, wide and panic-filled. The other was somewhere amidst the mass of jellied tissue that used to be the left side of his face. His blood flowed and spurted from the ruins of his head and his lips moved wordlessly. I stepped closer, his remaining eye following me. I leaned down a whispered to him.

“You were a monster, Bruiser. A beast. I can only imagine the lives you’ve ruined and the pain you’ve caused.” I spoke calmly, watching his eye carefully for any sign that he was hearing me. “Even so, I won’t let you suffer like this…” I straightened up and raised the club overhead. Bruiser’s remaining eye closed and with all my strength I brought the stone block down on his head. There was a loud wet crunch and then silence.

I let go of the club and dropped back onto my hooves. I trotted over to Jerry’s still form. A nasty purple bruise was forming along her back, one I likely shared. I sat down next to her and carefully brushed my hoof through her mane. She whimpered, shying away from my hoof.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, Jerry,” I whispered to her. She relaxed and a moment later her eyes shot open and she scrambled to her hooves. Her sudden movement startled me so much that I fell backwards and stared at her as her eyes darted around.

“W-where is he?!” she asked as she looked around. “Where’s Bruiser?!”

“He’s dead,” I said. Jerry looked at me, shock plain on her face. I nodded and pointed at Bruiser’s still form, the makeshift club still firmly planted where his head had been. She made a face and turned back towards me as I got to my hooves. “Are you okay?” I asked her. She looked as though she was about to ask me something, but just as quickly it vanished.

“Y-yeah. Just kinda… hurt all over,” she muttered. She walked a few steps away and then looked back to me. “There’s gotta be a med-kit here somewhere. Let’s find it and get the hell out of here.” I started to follow her and then stopped. I looked back at Bruiser’s corpse and the weapon that had helped free me. I trotted over and lifted my liberator. If we were going to be traveling the wasteland, it was better to be armed.

Footnote: LEVEL UP!
Unique Item: Liberator -- Increased damage against Slavers

Author's Notes:

Its been a long time coming, but Free is finally living up to his name!

Once again a big thank you to my editor, MimosaVendetta!

5/1/17: Minor grammar and spelling fixes.