Earl suddenly woke up screaming. After a moment, he took in his surroundings.

They ask no quarter....

He quickly ripped the chords out of his ears and threw the small metallic device across the room, then sunk lower onto the floor and let his head fall to his hands.

"God DAMNIT!" He shouted, before punching the closet.

Twilight simply watched silently after she had sprung awake from the screaming. Her expression was a mix of confusion and terror. Earl stood up and charged over to the window to check the time of day.

"10 O'clock..." He said under his breath.

Earl turned to the bed and noticed Twilight staring at him, his heart immediately sank.

"I...uhh..." He said awkwardly.

Her stare continued.

"I'm really sorry you had to see that."

Earl sat down on the bed close to Twilight, but she instantly backed away from him in fear. The human ran his hand across the back of his neck and stared at the floor.

"I can normally keep my composure..."

Twilight was whimpering at this point.

Is he infected now?! What is wrong with him?! She thought as the situation processed in her mind.

Earl heard the whimpering and looked towards her.

"I wouldn't ever take anything out on you, that is a promise."

He reached his hand towards her, she pulled away quickly.

"Living this way can get to me sometimes." He said as tears welled in his eyes.

Earl was closely nearing his breaking point.

"Please, just... just trust me, I'd never do anything to hurt you." He said as the tears began to fall.

Trust...

The word rolled around the unicorn's mind. Trust was one of the most important things in any friendship, Twilight knew that very well. If Earl was the last human on this planet not affected by the disease, she was going to have to trust him.

After a few moments she nodded.

"Thanks..." He said, aiming his head back to the floor.

Although Twilight had understood the situation and accepted his trust, she could tell something was still bothering him. The purple unicorn moved closer to the crying human.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"My parents..." Earl said, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes. "They... were the first infected I encountered."

A ray of sadness instantly entered Twilight's heart as she heard Earl's words.

"My dad... was just eating my mom..."

The human's crying intensified as his head sank lower into his hands.

"I did what I had to!...."

Twilight extended her foreleg and put her hoof on Earl's back.

"It was me or them..."

Twilight swallowed quickly.

"I... I understand... OK?" she said worriedly.

Earl wiped his eyes once more and nodded. He crawled up onto the bed fully and set his back against the wall. After a few moments, Twilight crawled over to him and sat down next to his arm. Several minutes of silence later, the purple unicorn spoke up.

"How can you live... with that?" Twilight asked.

She quickly scanned the room.

"...Like this?"

Earl shook his head and sighed.

"I don't know..." He said calmly. "I honestly can't answer that."

Earl put his arm around Twilight and hugged her slightly.

"Thanks." He said, after breaking the hug.

The human stood up and paced around for a few seconds as Twilight watched.

"Water!" He said extending his index finger.

Twilight grew a puzzled expression.

"The water tank ran out yesterday... We've got to go find some." Earl continued.

Water tank...? Twilight thought.

After a few minutes she simply nodded and stepped down from the bed as Earl began unlocking his door. After it had been unlocked, he opened it for Twilight, then proceeded to grab a shirt and retrieve his bat sitting next to the closet. The two made their way downstairs and Earl quickly approached the refrigerator, he swung it open and pulled out two water containers with filters resting on top of them.

"I hate to ask, but can you take one of these?" Earl said, awkwardly.

Twilight nodded and her horn began to glow. Within seconds, she had taken one of the pitchers from Earl and levitated it just in front of her. The human was immediately taken back by her action and stumbled a few feet.

"That still works here?!" He asked, shocked.

She looked at the pitcher and then back to Earl.

"I guess so..." She said, confused.

"Well, there's just... No magic here so I assumed...."

A thought quickly entered his mind.

If she can use her magic to do that... He thought.

The purple unicorn noticed his expression.

"Something on your mind?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Earl quickly shook his head and snapped back to the situation.

"Uhh.. No... well. Nothing, I'll tell you later." He said.

The human motioned for her to follow and both walked through the archway that led to the front door. After deactivating the numerous amount of locks, Twilight was instantly greeted by the smell of fresh air as the door opened. Since she had only been conscious inside of Earl's home, she expected the whole world to have the musty smell, but was instantly gratified as the familiar air from home greeted her.

Twilight and Earl walked close together for about an hour before finding a small stream just outside of the neighborhood. A question had been burning on Twilight's mind ever since leaving the home and she decided to speak up as Earl opened the first container and began filling it.

"So..." She began awkwardly.

Earl looked up from the stream and glanced in her direction.

"...we are from different... 'dimensions'. Correct?"

"Correct." Earl said calmly as he continued harvesting the water.

"You seem awfully... understanding... about this whole situation." The purple mare continued.

The human stood up and put the cover back on the water filter before sighing loudly.

"When you see some of things I've seen," He said, putting the container down on a nearby rock. "everything becomes believable. For all we know, this could just be our imagination, or a dream."

He reached over to the still levitating container.

"May I?" Earl asked calmly.

Twilight realized she was still levitating it and quickly released her grasp.

"Oh, right." She said with an awkward smile.

Earl caught it and lowered it down to the stream as well.

"I guess that makes sense." She said, taking in the calming sights of the river.

"You seem pretty O.K with the situation yourself." He said with a slight chuckle.

Twilight returned the slight laugh and nodded.

"Let's just say I'm glad I didn't fall into the hooves of those... things." She said.

Earl looked up with a puzzled expression.

"Hooves?" He asked.

Earl extended his hand and moved his fingers around.

"Hands." He continued.

Both of the survivors instantly laughed for a few minutes before glancing in to each other's eyes. Both instantly knew the emotions felt by either party.

Because at that moment...

An inter-dimensional friendship was formed.