Twilight continued trying with all of the force she had, but to no avail, the portal refused to open. A few moments after Earl had noticed the light, it instantly went out, as suddenly as it had appeared. She lowered her head in shame and turned back to the human.

"It's no use Earl... I can't do it." She said quietly.

After a few moments of no response she looked up and saw Earl's expression. His eyes were as wide as they could get and his mouth was wide open. Twilight's only feeling was that she had let him down.

All this human has done for me and I can't even start a portal?! She thought.

As the words flew through her mind, tears began to fall again. She stood up from her crouched position.

"I'm sorry, OK?!" She layed back down on the ground. "I'm sorry..."

Earl held his blank expression as he stared up to the sky, trying to process what had just happened. After a few more moments, he unsheathed his gun from the holster yet again, his hands shaking.

"Twi-Twilight." He said, terrified.

Twilight lifted her head as she heard the fear in Earl's voice.

"What?" She asked, getting worried as well.

Earl shakily pointed a finger to the tree-line just beyond the field, where multiple infected were shambling towards them. Only, several weren't shambling, but were sprinting.

They can run?! Earl thought.

Twilight looked in the direction of his point, fear instantly struck her as she saw the zombies coming towards them.

"They can run?!" She shouted to him.

Earl was frozen in place. Every infected in at least a twelve-mile radius would be coming to investigate the light.

"We need to move. Now." Earl said in a choked tone after a few moments of silence.

Twilight turned and ran back to the gate as Earl continued to watch in terror as the carnivorous creatures sprinted towards them.

"Earl!" Twilight shouted desperately.

The human instantly broke from his trance and one thing became clear.

It was time to run like hell.

Earl instantly broke into a savage sprint towards the unicorn, motioning for her to continue onward. When he reached her she broke into a sprint as well. As the two rounded the corner, however, they saw more infected shambling across the road in front of them. One of the flesh-hounds noticed and let out a ghastly scream before sprinting towards them.

"What do we do?!" Twilight screamed.

"Get behind me." Earl said as he shoved the mare behind him.

Fighting his nerves, he pointed his pistol at the running zombie's direction and quickly pulled the trigger. The bullet flew from the gun and launched itself into the maniac's upper-torso, causing it to stumble a few feet as it's blood coated the road slightly. To the survivor's demise, it continued sprinting after recoiling for a second. Earl swiftly pulled the trigger a few more times, luckily hitting it in the head once. It fell to the floor a few moments later.

"OK, go!" He shouted as he continued down the road.

The rest of the infected on the road simply shambled about, trying to grab at Earl and Twilight. Their speed stopped the fleshy claws, however, and they were able to make it through the crowd untouched. The sprinting infected from the field were close behind however, and simply shoved their shambling brethren to the floor. Earl tried to run backwards and lay a few shots into their pursuers, but instantly fell to the ground and did a quick backwards somersault. The human was slowed but not stopped and continued anyway.

"How in the hay did you do that?!" Twilight shouted as the two continued.

"Just keep running!" Earl shouted back as the two neared the corner by his house.

He stopped and let Twilight go ahead as he layed a few more shots into the sprinting zombies. He quickly ceased fire when the zombie's gap began to shorten, and ran inside after Twilight.

Earl slammed the door shut and with incredible speed, activated every lock on the door within a matter of minutes.

"Upstairs, now." He shouted over the sound of sudden pounding at the door.

After the locks had been secured, the two made their way upstairs and took cover in Earl's bedroom. Twilight ran over to the corner and sat down covering her head with her hooves, shaking, as Earl paced around the room.

"Shit.... shit. SHIT!" He shouted. "The whole god damn state of Washington must be out there!"

Twilight began whimpering.

"Hey!" He shouted to her.

She quickly snapped her head upwards worriedly, her eyes still wet.

"Sorry..." He said, calmer now. "It's not your fault." He continued, trying to calm her.

Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. Yes it is. He thought quickly.

The human shook the thought from his mind and waited for Twilight's response. She shook her head fiercely and Earl extended his hand to help her up, which she gratefully accepted. He pulled her close to his face and spoke low.

"You need to get that portal open, OK?" He said.

Twilight nodded and returned to her hooves.

Earl returned the nod and approached the closet door. After throwing it open, he reached for the top rack and pulled down a large pump shotgun.

"For emergencies only." He chuckled to himself.

Twilight saw the massive weapon and almost cowered at it's presence.

Earl had made a sudden realization over the last few moments...

it was time to kill.

"Twilight," He said as he walked over to the dresser. "I have an answer to your question."

The purple mare looked at him, puzzled.

"What question?" She asked.

"How I live like this." He replied.

The human reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a massive bag of shells. He quickly turned back and began feeding the small red killing devices into the shotgun.

"I live, with the hope that there is going to be another tomorrow."

He began feeding the shells more angrily.

"I live, knowing that this world is still beautiful. That this world is still turning, and that I," Earl punched his chest. "am still breathing. That is a fact."

He took the shotgun in one hand and re chambered it with a sharp click-click!

"And if I have to use a deadly weapon to protect that fact for you and me, so be it."

Earl aimed the gun at his door and fiercely gripped it.

"Get that portal open Twi... go home."

The human pulled the trigger and a shell flew through the top hinge of the door.

click-click!

Another shot hit the bottom hinge.

"I'll take care of the downstairs. You just use this." Earl motioned around the room to Twilight. "The fear, the anger, the sadness. Use it."

Earl grabbed the bag of shells from his dresser and shoved it into his pocket before sending a sharp kick through the door, sending it flying into the hallway.

After Earl had taken his leave, Twilight jumped up, new determination in her heart.

I'm still breathing, the world is still turning. Let's do some bucking magic. She thought.

The unicorn's horn began to glow, and she focused all of her thoughts on home. Her friends, her family, her assistant, her library, all flashed through her mind as she tried to create the portal.

Earl stomped towards the stairs as he saw one infected crawling to the second floor and swiftly kicked it back down, causing it to knock over a few others.

Fear had turned to sheer rage in the man's heart. He no longer held any sympathy for these lost souls.

"You putrid, soulless, meat sacks want to eat ME?!" He shouted.

click-click!

"COME GET A FUCKING TASTE."