“Get me out of here!”

oooOOOooo

[Tick.]

'Please Stay Safe', said the sign for the Rose Line Maintenance Halls.

Please. Stay. Safe.

The one place Stocker told me to avoid by miles and I landed right in its own veins with a sign telling me to stay safe. That was the universe being a colossal dick about the situation. But I guess I should have seen that coming since my luck had been terrible ever since Curly got me exiled, and then there was that whole poster thing. I really should have taken a moment by the elevator and said: “Gee, maybe using an elevator to escape a horde of bad guys is a bad idea because Baton said that the elevator could break, and we could land in the Rose Line because it is underneath the hotel.”

I should have said that and taken my chances fighting my way out with Lilac by my side and Baton dying next to us. I should have, but didn't, and now the three of us were stuck in a Hell and wounded and only me being able to walk.

I actually didn't know if Lilac was able to walk or if she was just petrified. I could see that she was bleeding all over the place, just like me and Baton, but the extent of her injuries was unknown. All I knew was that Lilac wouldn't move, Baton was about dead, and I was in a lot of pain. I also knew that we had to get medication and get out of there quickly.

After spending a little time out of the elevator, trying to figure out what to do, I trudged back inside it and saw that Lilac was awake. Her eyes were huge and tears had mixed with the blood all over her face, making her shine in what little light we had. She was shivering and pressing a wound on her hoof while her eyes darted around the room.

“Where are we?” she whispered hoarsely.

I told her I didn't know and she locked eyes with me, whimpering and shaking as her and Baton's blood mixed. I limped closer to her and looked up at the shaft, watching the water fall down on us, making dozens of good sized splashes in our gory pool.

As I walked, my hoof bumped into something. Curious as to what it was, I pushed it out of the water and found out that it was Lilac's gun, so I tried to give it back to her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, taking the weapon in a trance like state.

“Nothing's wrong, but I have to I have to go. I'll be right back.” I said.

Lilac shook her head and when I stepped back, her hoof shot out and she let out a terrified whine.

“Please don't go,” she begged.

“I have to go.” I said again. “I have to get some medicine. I'll be back. I promise.”

“No, please don't go! Please, don't leave me!”

Lilac continued begging and whimpering, and she sniffled as she kept her hoof out towards me. I told her again that I would be back and as gently as I could as I backed away. When I was out of the elevator, I looked down both ends of the passage before I took a deep breath, and then hobbled out into the dark.

After a good forty five minutes I found what I needed.

In all honesty, it was by sheer luck that I found the medical box that saved all three of us. I was exhausted to near collapse and in so much pain that I was surprised that I had coherent thought. But when I found the box, it was hanging up on a wall to a long scavenged clinic and it was sealed with a rusted padlock.

Seeing such a beautiful sight made me want to squeal like a filly from all the excitement. Admittedly, I wanted to shoot the lock off, but intelligence kicked in and told me that it wasn't a good idea. So, instead of wasting a shot, I used the shotgun to beat at the lock until it came loose. After that, I opened it up and found a nice, big stash of medical supplies.

Bloodpacks, stem-packs, a stitching kid, band-aids, a medical book, pure water, adrenaline, morphine, and on and on it went. It seemed like the only thing it did not have was an actual healing potion. But it did have some neat healing bandages that you wrap around an open wound and would heal it over time. It was kinda like a weaker version of a healing potion, and the wrapping said: WARNING: Not Intended For Serious Injury!

I didn't care. Medical was medical.

I stuffed them all in my saddle and started back towards where I came from. I got a little turned around, though, so, once again, I found myself walking without direction with nothing but decaying walls and rotting pictures for scenery.

As I traveled, I started wondering where these big piles of debris came from since I was seeing large piles of broken brick and other building materials that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

You noticed that when you're walking around in the Wasteland? You go inside a building and in some cases you'll see debris by a hole and other times you'll just see a random pile. A pile that is there without reason. It is just there for wanderers to search through to see if there are any caps. Which reminds me that I found a few caps and a pair of sunglasses when I dug through one of those piles. I kept the caps, but the glasses were broken, so I left them.

It was after I got the five bottle caps that I started thinking that I should probably take some medicine, just so I don't keel over and die before I get to Baton and Lilac. Then I told myself I should treat them first since I landed them in this mess. Then I stepped around a corner, heard a click, followed by a loud bang. What came next was the feeling of a dozen little hot pieces of lead ripping right into me with enough punch to send me stumbling back.

“Son of a bitch! Goddess-damn it!” I screamed as I stumbled back around the corner and collapsed against the wall. I was bleeding all over the place, was shaking, and was biting my lip to where it drew blood. Then I screamed again. “Fuck!”

I fumbled through my saddle and pulled out the first stem-pack syringe I could grab. At that point my hooves were sleek with blood and I was shivering from all that I lost. I had to use my mouth to pop the cap off, do some funky tongue and hoof work to get the needle turned around to face my free hoof. Then I jammed it in, grunting from the unpleasant pinch, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut and try to think of something other than medicine being injected into my veins. It did not feel good nor did it feel right since the fluid was pulpy when it went through the injection point. I was glad that it dissolved in my blood quickly with equally fast results, though.

I tossed the empty syringe to the ground and hunched over, coughing and shuddering with my eyes still closed. I felt the healing muscles push the buckshot out, and heard the little balls clatter to the floor. Then came the skin growing back. It was not a good feeling, but I was glad that I didn't die, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the dozen balls lying on the ground, covered blood and more of my own blood creeping towards them. I felt myself just to make sure that I was healed, and was glad to find that I was no longer bleeding, but was now just covered in my own blood like a crimson shirt.

I still felt weak, though. When I stood up, my hooves shook like a matchstick towers on a wobbly table. I was tempted to use the blood pack, but before I could use it, I heard gravely voices talking and laughing.

“Sounds like we got one of them good,” laughed one of them.

“Eeyup, Old Roy is smoking!” said another.

As quickly as I could, I unslung my shotgun, pressed myself against the wall and took aim at the corner. What came around the corner was a pair of rotting ponies with strands of rotting muscle showing from under their gray, peeling skin, and some parts had bone showing. They were both wearing gray jumpsuits, were armed with bladed boots and had poorly maintained sub machine guns slung around their shoulders.

They were surely the zombies Stocker warned about, so I shot both of those freaks as soon as they rounded the corner. The first shot turned the closest's head into a cloud of gray mush that splattered all over his partner, and the second blew open the other's chest. They fell without a sound, but the two blasts from my shotgun echoed down the hall, and I cringed and peeked around the corner.

Nopony else was coming, and the shotgun was still sitting there, smoking. That was when I spotted a pushed in trigger pad on the floor and a trail of my blood. As quickly as I could, I collected the ammo from Old Roy and took the two weapons, plus their ammo. I figured that Lilac could use the ammo, I needed the shells, and we could sell the weapons. Unless Lilac wanted them.

I also took their bottle caps and tried on their bladed boots. My hooves were too big for them, so I just left them there and went about my merry little way just to get lost once again. I had nowhere to put them, anyway.

I wandered around for another five minutes until I came across a strange area. It had a sign about it that was rusted and flaking apart, and all I really made out of it was “Department”. Down the hall was flickering lights and a humming noise.

I knew it wasn't the right way to go because I had never seen that part before, but when I turned around to leave, I heard the ticking from earlier return. I froze when that started happening, and a moment later I was able to regain motor functions and held my watch up to my ear. It was my watch, alright. I tried to quiet it by stuffing it in my saddle, but that did nothing.

It was still louder than it should be, just like before, and I started getting worried that it'll draw unwanted company. So, I ran into the Department place, ducked inside the first room I found and closed the door behind me. At that point the watch was thumping in my ears and I was ready to stomp on it to get the ticking to stop, but then I noticed a computer right in front of me.

It was bathing its little spot in green, and from the looks of it, somepony had been going through it. The ticking stopped when I stepped closer to it, and when I backed away the ticking resumed.

Forward. Stop.

Backwards. Start.

Seeing the connection, I groaned and walked towards the computer, shaking my head.

“I'm going insane,” I said to nopony in particular. “I haven't even been out here two weeks and I'm already going insane.”

I didn't have to do anything when I approached the screen since there was already something there for me to read.

Soda Bottle,
It has come to our attention that your research on the Rose Line has had sub-par results in regards to S-1922 and evidence of the Remnant's location. The Committee, Chairmare Sweet Berry and Ms. Gold understand that you and your researchers are in a difficult situation, but contrary to popular belief, we are not infinite in time and caps. Favorable results of S-1922 and evidence of the Remnant's whereabouts must be presented to Chairmare Sweet Berry and the Committee at Republic Sixty One by the end of the month or your lab will face termination.

For the New World.
-Lieutenant Butter Bars

Yeah. Butter Bars. The guy who beat me to a pulp had been down in the Rose Line doing only Celestia knows what with whatever this S-1922 thing was. It not only made me sick knowing that the nut had some work down here, but it also made me curious as to what his project was, and what the Remnant has to do with... well, whatever the Hell was going on. I remembered Lilac saying something about it, and since Butter Bars, Sweet Berry and Ms. Gold popped up in the same paragraph with it, I started getting a little paranoid that it might be a bit of a problem if those guys got a hold of it.

That being said, I decided to see what else I could find, and the things I found, that was not password protected or corrupted beyond use, was not exactly what I've been hoping for.

It was only two logs, with the first being pretty dang long, and the second one pretty dang short.

Log 2-25-14
Well, this is just great. Just great! Work has been a joy from the start! First, the Ministry of Morale came in and did a “random background check” on all of my zebra staff and had all of them taken away for “further questioning”.
Secondly, there was a pile up on the underground highway involving one of Mane Enterprise's wagons. So we had to quarantine all of Sector 18 so HAZMAT can clean up the chemical spill.
Then, it just happened to be the day where Cartwheel brought in Applejack to inspect the workings of everything and he brought in a couple of goats from an Ibexian construction company. He introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. W, but I don't think those guys were from a construction company. They were both off in some way or the other. The so-called husband looked like he wanted to kill everypony for some reason and the wife was air-headed. Hell, even her smile was odd.
As for Applejack, she left to do private inspection shortly after she arrived, and I can only imagine what kind of marks she'll be putting on us. Cartwheel suggested he go with her with some escorts, but she insisted on going at it alone. Eventually she caved and ended up being led around by the local geniuses, Irwin and Soda Bottle. I swear to Celestia Irwin was about to orgasm just by looking at her. Pervert.
Anyway, I couldn't even get the official tour started because Apple Fritter came bursting into the conference room, sobbing!!! Right when I was in the middle of explaining to Cartwheel and the phony construction couple about the Rose Line's extension and maintenance budget, too! I had to take her outside because she started babbling about how her mysterious boyfriend (whom I have decided to call Prick X) had rutted her manager over a desk and offered to have her join in when she walked in on them. What a slime ball! I told her there was something fishy with that guy, but she never listens to me!
Oh, and while I'm complaining about nopony ever listening to me, I told Cartwheel and the Board of Ministry of Transportation that putting subways on both ends of the highway was completely stupid. Applejack agreed, and decided that the best course of action was to make one side a subway and the other side for transporting materials. If I didn't need this money, I would have called everypony an idiot and walked right out.

Log 3-1-14[/b
I quit. Fuck you, Cartwheel Tracks. Fuck you, Applejack. And FUCK YOU, TRANSPORTATION!

And that was about the gist of it.

I checked to make sure there was more, but the rest of files were corrupted, so all I found after that were the weird symbols and number sequences that only a techie genius would understand. Just like the ones before.

So, with nothing of value found, I tried to leave, but when I turned around there was a rotting pony right in my face! I saw every strand of decaying muscle under its gray, peeling skin, and the dark bone underneath what was really gone, and his breath burned the fur right off my face and dried my eyes out.

It screamed in a gravely voice: “What are you doing here, smooth-coat!”

I screamed and it put its hooves on my shoulder and stared right into me with those black eyes and it yelled: “Are you trying to steal from us, thief!”

I swore and did what any normal pony would do if some talking zombie pony was screaming in their face.

I punched it.

Yep, I punched it right in the jaw. The blow made it stumble, but after that, it roared, punched me in the face -which hurt like a bitch- and then it threw me over the desk. I didn't actually fly over the desk, I more like rolled over it and took the computer and all the office supplies with me. When I landed, I landed right on top of the computer, which took the breath out of me, and I rolled on my back groaning and swearing.

Then the rotter jumped on the desk, and I scrambled to my hooves and tried to run out, but a sliver of magic appeared from a jagged bone poking from under his messed up mane. I got lifted off of the ground and thrown right into the brick wall.

My vision was upside down and spinning, but I saw the rotter running towards me with a baseball bat covered in nails and jagged pieces of metal floating next to its head. I rolled upright and barely avoided having my head destroyed by that weapon, and he swung at me again and again, each time getting just a little closer. I felt nauseous from the bat brushing past me and the nails scrapping just next to my hooves, and my steps started getting sloppy. I was stumbling over myself and sliding across the dust covered floor, really wishing I was a unicorn like that thing so I could just levitate my shotgun and blow its brains out. But I'm just an earth pony, so all I could was run in circles around the table.

“Hold still, dammit! I only want to kill you!” snarled the ghoul.

After he said that, my hoof bumped into the fallen computer and I face-planted the floor. I rolled on my back, eyes wide and heart almost exploding out of my chest. The thing towered over me, radioactive drool dripping from its mouth as it raised its bat above its head for a killing strike, and right as it brought its weapon down, I put the computer in front of my face. The force of the bat pushed it down against my muzzle, giving me a gusher of a bloody nose, but I still kept the computer in my grip and the bat got stuck, allowing me to twist it away before I rammed the computer against the rotter's muzzle.

He yelped and stumbled back, bleeding from his mouth and nose, and I scrambled to my hooves while he levitated his weapon again. Before he had a chance to swing it, I bashed the computer right against his horn. He howled in pain and crumbled to the ground, hoof pressed against what little remained of his horn and I started wailing on it. I slammed the computer on its head over and over again, yelling and swearing with burning lungs with each slam and crack of its skull.

“ALL! I WANTED! WAS! A BAND-AID!” I yelled with each blow I put against the rotter's head

And I kept beating that zombie with the computer until its skull was cracked open and all of its mushy brain bits were splattered all over the computer, floor and its body. I gave one more slam on it before I stumbled back, chest heaving and body covered in sweat, leaving the computer in place of its head and watching its unnatural blood ooze all over the place.

And that was when I heard it. Another door opening and somepony enter. I barely turned my head when a second rotter shouted: “You killed Irwin, you smooth-coated fucker!”

My eyes bulged at the sight of the second rotter and the fact that it was armed with a rifle of some kind levitating next to its head. I swore and dove into the hallway right as it fired, narrowly avoiding a burst of bullets to the head.

I almost fell over again because of all the dust on the ground when I bolted down the hall. I looked over my shoulder and ducked around a random corner when the rotter shot at me again. The burst of bullets blew off a chunk of the corner I rounded, and I tried to find some cover by going to the nearest door. That door was actually the door to a janitor's closet.

I skidded to a halt, hitting a mop bucket and causing a shelf of cleaning products to fall all around me. When I heard the rotter rounding the corner I quickly closed the door and kept my shotgun trained on the entrance. The door's screeches and clangs echoed down the desolate hall, and I heard the rotter laugh sadistically.

“Stupid smooth-coat. Do you honestly think you can hide when there is only one door in this hall?” it said.

I swallowed and braced myself for him to open the door for another bloody shootout, and my hooves shook and my throat went dry when I heard his steps stop outside the door. The crank wheel on the door started to turn and I took another deep breath in a pathetic attempt to prepare myself for what was to come. But then he just stopped, and I heard another voice. It was a stallion and he was sniffling.

“Help me,” he said, whimpering and sniffling. “Help me... Get me out of here... Help me.”

“Oh fuck!” yelled the rotter.

The rotter shot at the stallion, and it made a shriek that sounded demonic and it wailed: “Ge me out of here!”

More gunshots rang out and the newcomer continued shrieking and repeating: “Get me out of here! Help me! Get me out! Help me!”

There was more shooting, a scream of agony over wet slashes, and the rotter crying out: “No! No! Nooo!”

He was cut off with a bloody gurgle as something stabbed him and knocked his body against the door. Then he slid down to the floor and silence came after. I held my breath, bit my lip and listened to killer as he dragged the body away from me.

“Get me out. Help me. Help me. Get me out... Get me out,” the killer whimpered constantly.

When his voice faded, I released my lip and waited a few more seconds before I dared take a breath. I stayed put in the closet for another five minutes, listening to every hum and crackle, just waiting for the other stallion to come back. When he didn't, I took another deep breath for courage and slowly opened the door, cringing when the echo of rusted metal scraping against the floor and walls bounced down the halls.

I stepped out and my heart stopped for just a second when I saw the mess. There was gooey green blood mixed with grayish-red all over the place. The red was slashed all over the wall and there was a huge puddle of it in front of the door that turned into a path where the body was dragged away. The green blood had a little bit of splatter and dots following the trail, and they both went around the hallway corner.

I swallowed and stepped closer to the door. Everything was magnified. My breathing was loud and ragged in my ears, just like my thumping heart, and my mouth was like sand as cold sweat trickled down my neck. When I got to the hallway, I looked down one end and saw the bloody trail disappear into the darkness, with only a flickering light to briefly illuminate the posters and rotting bulletins on the breaking walls.

I looked down the other end, where I came from, saw nothing down its brightly lit side, and looked back down the flickering end. I saw nothing again. So, I turned to the bright side and ran as fast as I could.

Around twenty minutes later I returned to Baton and Lilac. I still got turned around a couple of times, but I wasn't stopping for anything. I didn't care how much I hurt. I didn't care how my lungs felt like they were on fire or how my limbs felt like they were ripping. I just knew that I had to get to Baton and Lilac quickly, give them the medicine and get the Hell out of the Rose Line.

I praised Celestia when I found the elevator Lilac and Baton were in, and I thanked her again when I saw Lilac holding Baton and stroking his messed up mohawk mane. She was whimpering quietly and her eyes flicked up when she heard me approaching. Her face lit up with relief and tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.

“Exile, you're back!” she said loudly, making me cringe.

I held out my hoof and motioned her to lower her voice as I said in a whisper: “Not so loud.”

Lilac blinked. “Why? What's wrong?”

I removed my saddle, sat in the water next to Baton, and pulled out one of the stem-packs I raided, saying: “We just need to get out of here fast.”

I injected Baton and he gasped awake and quicker than anyone can think, he pushed himself up, slammed Lilac on his lap and leaned over her with his crazy weapon pointed right at my nose. I reeled back, swearing and splashing the water everywhere as I stared at Baton with bulged eyes and a racing heart. He was glaring at me, panting heavily and exposed teeth grinding against each other with his nostrils flared and eyes narrowed. It took him a couple of seconds for him to realize that I was me and not somepony trying to kill him.

“Oh, it's just you,” said Baton, tilting his weapon up and pushing himself on his shaky hooves.

“Wait, I think you need to take a moment.”

Baton waved me off and mumbled something incoherent. He then levitated three more stem-packs from my saddle -which was partially submerged, and injected himself with all of them at the same time after tapping them. Me and Lilac stared at him with slack jaws and wide eyes, and he shuddered and his eyes drifted shut as he released a loud sigh.

“Now that's the stuff,” he said. Then, without even asking what happened or doing any situation assessment, he walked out of the elevator and looked both ways down the hall before looking back at me, asking me which way I came from. I pointed left and he nodded and turned right, saying: “Let's go this way.”

Lilac wordlessly followed Baton after taking some medicine and the spare SMG ammo I had for her, and I followed them out, mumbling to myself: “Thanks for helping me, Exile. You sure are swell. It was no problem, Baton. I know you would do the same for me.”

“What was that?” said Baton.

“Nothing.” I said quickly.

“Hmph, I thought I heard my name.”

“Well, you didn't, so let's go.”

Baton and Lilac both gave me strange looks and I tried to be myself to get less attention. You know? The helpless, homesick, lost puppy that has a knack for getting his ass kicked at least three times a day. But, in all honesty, I didn't mean to come off so snappy, but after the ordeal I went through, I thought I at last deserved a “Thank you”. That, and there was whatever got the rotter that tried to kill me. That put me over the edge more than anything else. My nerves were shot and I wanted to get out of the Rose Line as quickly as possible, and get that “Thank you” I deserved, too. But it didn't happen, so I just followed Baton and Lilac in silence.

We traveled for a good three hours, staying close to the walls and kept our steps as quiet as possible. Every now and then, we would pass a cart or a booth of some kind, and Baton would order us to stay put while he checked it for threats. Luckily for us, no threats popped up and Baton found some junk he wanted to sell. Including a little figurine that had a pale unicorn mare with an electric blue mane and sunglasses standing behind a turntable with DROP THE BASS! painted underneath. Naturally the pain was faded and cracked with age, and she was missing an ear, but he still stuffed it in his saddle.

“Bongo's going to get a kick out of this,” he said. Then he looked at us and his smile instantly turned upside down from the odd looks we gave him, and in a stern voice, he said: “Alright, no more fun. We need to get out of here.”

Me and Lilac nodded and followed him down the tunnel. Silence took over once again.

We quietly walked for another, oh, forty five minutes before Lilac looked at me and whispered: “Exile, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What's on your mind?” I said.

“Well,” she began, her voice trailing off and eyes darting between me and Baton. “What does Baton like?”

I had to take a moment to process this. “What?”

“Well, the reason why I am asking is because he has done a lot for us recently and I want to repay him. Plus, I feel bad that I slapped his tooth out and that he lost his home to the... organization I used to work for.”

You could imagine that I wasn't to happy about that. I mean, c'mon! What about me? I did a lot didn't I? I tried saving Lilac from Waltz! I tried to get us out of the hotel when they went after us! And I almost died twice getting medicine for her and Baton! That deserves some recognition -some kind of repayment, right?

When I didn't answer right away, she cocked her head and asked: “Are you alright?”

“Just peachy.” I grumbled. My throat was clogged and I felt tears building in my eyes from this. It was stupid, but I think after all that happened recently I was getting just a little bit emotional, which was not a good thing when traveling through Hell.

“You don't look peachy. You look mad. Your face is all scrunched up,” said Lilac, making her point by motioning to my face.

“This is my happy face.” I said.

Lilac's ears droop and she slid against me. It was awkward feeling her armor rub against my coat, which only reminded me how easy it will be for me to die since I was the only one without armor in our merry little band.

“Exile, what's wrong?” pressed Lilac.

“Nothing's wrong!” I snapped.

Lilac recoiled, meeting my glare with wide eyes, and Baton looked at us, sliding his hoof across his neck.

“Will ya both be quiet,” he whispered harshly.

Then all of us heard screams of pain and terror and the same demonic screeching I heard from earlier. We all froze and stared in the direction where the noise came from, and we all took a few steps back when gunshots echoed down the tunnels. Seconds later, there was silence, and we became too petrified to move.

A moment later, Baton swallowed nervously, pupils tiny like dots, and he continued trotting down the hall, sliding his weapon back in place and magic disappearing.

“No magic. We're going dark. I really don't want to deal with zombies today,” said Baton.

Lilac's horn dimmed into nothingness and the three of us traveled in total silence and darkness after that.

Fast forward another two hours of traveling in near pitch black, with my head basically down the whole time and Lilac silently staring at me. I refused to talk to her and I begrudgingly watched Baton do some more scavenging, finding some caps and other knickknacks in whatever he decided to look through.

We eventually entered a large underground chamber that would have been really cool to see in its prime. It had a large, arching roof with massive lighting fixtures built inside, and in between the subway and rail lines on either side was a four lane highway.

Staying in lead, Baton ordered us to go inside the subway to get out of the open. Somehow, some of the lights on the subway were still working. Granted, most of the ones that were were working were flickering, but, still, it was amazing to see light bulbs operating even after hundreds of years of neglect.

We continued walking down the subway, occasionally ducking and waiting, as per Baton's orders, and when we reached the end of the subway, its back was completely gone. Blown out, burned, crushed, whatever. It was completely destroyed and there was nothing but mangled tracks that were swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel, with only a flickering light to barely illuminate anything.

The three of us stared into the tunnel, and Baton swallowed before turning to look at us.

“Well, do you guys want to go into a completely dark tunnel or a wide open space with plenty of ambush spots?” he asked.

“Are you lost?” asked Lilac worryingly.

“I never get lost. I just want your opinions on how we should die.”

That was rich. Baton asking for somepony's opinion? That just did not happen. But before I could make a comment or Lilac could give her two cents on which was a better way to die, we heard a sniffling. It made all of us jump and Baton took a step back with his club levitated.

“I thought you said no magic,” whispered Lilac.

“Shut up! I'm working, here!” snapped Baton.

The three of us continued peering down the hall, and I barely saw the silhouette of a pony shuffling towards us. Her sniffling and whimpers bounced off the derelict walls, and I took a step back while Lilac cautiously moved forward. Baton ordered her to get back, but she completely ignored him and walked right up to the edge of the darkness.

“Hello? Are you all right?” called Lilac, making me and Baton cringe.

I looked over my shoulder, shaking and eyes and ears darting every which way they could while Baton growled and told Lilac to get back. She just gave him a defiant glare and looked back at the figure. By that time it was clear that the figure was no bigger than a child, and she actually sounded like a filly.

“Are you lost?” asked Lilac.

“She's lost, all right,” snarled Baton.

Lilac turned to Baton with a nasty scowl and motioned him to lower his weapon. “Will you relax?”

He did neither. He actually got more tense and tried to move to get a better shot, but Lilac refused to give up her status as a meat-shield.

Getting fed up with her antics, Baton growled: “Get out of the way and let me kill this thing!”

“She is not a thing, she is a lost filly!” said Lilac, then she looked back to the filly, who was still shuffling towards us, moaning and generally creeping me out, and she said: “It’s okay, we won’t hurt you.”

“I will,” muttered Baton.

“Have you seen my daddy?” sniffled the filly.

It sounded like she was in pain and when I squinted for more focus, I nearly skipped a beat from seeing something coming off of her to feel the air around her.

“Uh... Lilac...” I said while taking another step behind Baton and looking over my shoulder again.

“Lilac, get away from that thing, right now!” ordered Baton, his voice was now shaking with his weapon.

“Who’s your father? What does he look like?” asked Lilac, again ignoring Baton completely.

Then the reality of the situation sunk in when the filly stepped into the flickering light. All three of us paled and stepped back as this freak walked towards us, drooling thick, greenish globs of something through her cracked lips and stumbling in her steps. Her head was down, and even though she was wearing a tattered dress we still saw the bulging, pulsating veins snaking around her limbs and neck. And those things I saw feeling the surrounding area were tentacles protruding from her back.

I wanted to scream, Lilac wanted to scream, and even though Baton would never have admitted it, he wanted to scream. But none of us did. We just stared, wide eyed and jaws to the floor as the mutant approached us.

“Have you seen my daddy?” repeated the mutant filly. “Daddy? Daddy! I lost my daddy! Have you seen my daddy?”

And over and over again she did this, with each step forward we took a step back, and her voice became more shrill and a growl rumbling through her throat at the end. Her discolored eyes flicked up and shined in what little light was offered, and when she was directly under the light, we all saw her face twitching and a very hungry growl came from her when she ended her calls. Then she widened her mouth and I took another few steps back, wishing Baton or Lilac would shoot the thing because the rows of dripping, curved fangs she had displayed were enough to say we were her snack.

“Get behind me!” barked Baton as he shoved Lilac behind him and aimed his weapon at the mutant’s head.

“I lost my daddy!” shrieked the mutant.

Then she lunged at us, and I screamed and backpedaled, and the mutant died by a volley of gunfire from Lilac's weapon. The bullets ripped into that thing with ease and popped out on the other side, splashing the ruins with greenish blood that had a small glow to it. She fell on her back, screaming and writhing on the ground with her tentacles snapping all over, and Lilac emptied the rest of her clip into it. It jerked and howled and thrashed and did all kinds of weird things as it was nearly shot to pieces, and by the time Lilac was done, she was panting, shaking and covered in a thick layer of green, glowing blood. Then she turned around, blinked, and her eyes glowed with worry.

“What's wrong? That thing was going to kill us!” said Lilac.

“What’s wrong?” said Baton in a scary calm tone. “Gee, let me think. Is it you wasting ammo on one zombie? Or is it you waking up a whole tunnel of zombies? Oh, wait, I know. What’s wrong is that you are a dumb bitch who probably got us all killed. Congratu-fucking-lations!”

Lilac gasped. “I beg your pardon!”

I snorted a laugh. I hadn’t heard anypony say that for a while, and hearing it from a wastelander was pretty funny, despite the whole impending death situation we were in. However, that goes without saying that the weight of the situation returned when I noticed the glares the two unicorns were giving me. So, I just held up a hoof and took a step back again.

Baton turned to Lilac and was about to say something, but then froze in his spot and stared down the tunnel when a roar shook the walls, making some of the dirt fall loose and the light flicker off. Then came another scream that sounded awfully similar to the one I heard when those ghouls were killed. Then came a second, and then a third. Fourth. Fifth. Tenth. Twentieth. Thirtieth. And within five seconds, terrible shrieks and screams were echoing down the halls loud enough to leave my ears ringing and the dirt and little rubble bits falling off like heavy rain as a swarm of zombies started their stampede down the abandoned subway.

And that was when Baton yelled “RUN!” and high tailed it out of there, practically knocking me to the ground and leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

And ran we did!

We didn't stop for anything. Not even when the screams overpowered the thumps and breathing in our ears. We ran when our lungs were set afire and when our legs felt like they were ready to snap. And we ran and stumbled over each other when the stampede broke through the subway and reduced the metal tube to a twisted mess from the sheer number of hungry mutants too eager for a snack to use the doors.

How long we ran, that is something I cannot tell you. All I know -all I remember- was that we ran and ran and ran, too terrified to even scream or fight. We would have kept running, too, if Baton hadn't lit up his horn and used his magic to throw us into a generator room of some kind.

After my vision stopped swimming, I groggily got back up and watched Baton slam the doors shut and flick the locks in place. He then used his magic to grab a metal bar and jam it through the handles' slots.

I looked around and saw two big generators tucked in the back, long died out, with metal tubes attached to them and snaking along the floor and disappearing into the concrete wall. There was a tool cart, completely looted, and flickering lights above with a low buzz emitting from them. I looked around and saw more blood on the walls, along with bullet holes, scratches and natural wear and tear, as well as destroyed skeletons. But no matter how many times I paced around the room, listening to the stampede pass by, I could not find another way out. We were completely sealed off and at the mercy of the demons in the Rose Line.

“You led us to a dead end!” I said furiously.

“Don't you start, Exile! I told you using the elevator was a bad idea!” yelled Baton defensively. “But did you listen? No! Nopony ever listens to me and now we are about to die!”

“Boys, can you please stop fighting!” begged Lilac.

We both shouted: “No!”

That made her shrink back and whimper, and she looked up with tears in her eyes when Baton pointed at her.

“As for you! I oughta-”

He finished with a swear and a jump as something banged against the door hard enough to dent the metal and crack the walls. I also jumped and galloped next to Lilac and aimed my shotgun at the weakening doorway. The door shook, parts of the wall and ceiling fell loose, and something roared on the other side that vibrated my very bones. I gulped and slid the tool cart in front of me to use as cover and a way to steady my grip. Then I looked at Lilac and Baton again and felt a ping of resentment since their magic was keeping their weapons floating, steady, and easy to use while I was stuck with using my own hooves.

What ever was on the other side banged on the door again, knocking off whole chunks of the wall and nearly bending the door off of its hinges. Baton motioned Lilac to get back without taking his eyes off the door and he pulled out his quad-barrel weapon, now levitating both of his weapons.

Whatever was on the other side really wanted to get in, and it took one last knock before the metal doors blew off their hinges and sent chunks of concrete and one of the doors flying our way. Through the debris, with a swarm of a couple of dozen Rose Line zombies, was a behemoth of a mutant. It was easily four ponies tall, had its entire back covered in tentacles, and razor sharp teeth lined its maw. Its coat had also turned into some kind of chitin, its blue mane mostly covered its pulsating, bright blue eyes and its tail dragged on the ground.

That thing slid to a stop and when it roared it was strong enough to shake the room and blow back our manes with its hot, stinky breath.

Lilac shrieked, I flinched and Baton made a war cry and charged right into the swarm of mutants that burst in with his shield up.

“DIE, FUCKERS! DIE!” roared Baton, his weapon blazing hot lead, shredding the mutants in a spray of gooey blood and body bits, and he swung his club savagely against their skulls, popping them like eggs against a rock.

Me and Lilac joined the fight and shot wildly into the swarm. SMG bullets, mini-gun lead, slugs and clubs striking against the swarm led to one result. Pure gorefest.

Tentacles and limbs were shot off, heads and chests were popped open, and thick green blood sprayed all over with the fleshy chunks. One of the creatures shrieked and galloped towards me, and I barely had time to pulverize its head with a lucky shot before I was tackled to the ground by another. We both rolled on the pavement and I had somehow managed to get it to bite my shotgun rather than me, and while it gnawed on my weapon it glared the fires of Tartarus at me. I grimaced when some of its slobber fell on my face, and I rolled it to its back, yanked the weapon and some of its teeth out and slammed the butt against its face. It shrieked and flailed its tentacles as blood poured from its face, and before it could do anything else I shot it in the mouth, coughing and spitting its blood out.

Lilac then shrieked and I snapped to her and saw she was squished between the two generators, fumbling with her fresh clip while the super mutant tore away at her cover, yelling and repeating: “Mine! You’re mine!”

“Baton! Lilac needs help!” I shouted as I ran towards her after slinging my shotgun in its proper place.

Baton shouted at me to stop, and I looked to him and saw him heaving one of his can grenades at the super mutant. I skidded to change course and leaped over one of the pipes. The grenade detonated and the super mutant roared in pain. When I peeked over the pipe, I saw orange, sparkling fire covering the super mutant's back. It thrashed and some of its tentacles and chitin fell off, choking the air with the stench of burning flesh, and then it turned to Baton and spewed out a jet of flame.

Baton still had his shield up, so the flames rolled over him harmlessly, but he flinched and shot at it through the fire, screaming: “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, YA UGLY MOTHER FUCKER!”

I didn't know how strong Baton's shield was, I had a feeling it wouldn't last much longer. So I galloped up to the super mutant, slid next to it, unlsung my shotgun and shot that thing point blank at its three crown cutie mark.

The thing stopped breathing flame to howl in agony, and it buckled as I gagged from the chunks of bloody flesh and shell that flew into my mouth. The super mutant whirled around and whacked me away with one of its tentacles, and I crashed right into the concrete wall. My ears rung, my back felt weird and ribs felt like they were stabbing me when I hit the ground.

Lilac shouted something before she shot at the super mutant. She was only able to get off a few rounds before the super mutant wrapped one of its tentacles around her, hoisted her up off the ground and slammed her on one of the pipes. She didn't let out a single noise and she hit the pipe hard enough to dent it.

Lilac remained limp when the mutant's tentacles slid off of her, and I thought it had actually killed her. Despite the sharp pain in my side and the funky feeling in my back, I forced myself up and shouted at the mutant. The super mutant looked at me, snorted fiery smoke, and started lumbering towards me, opening its maw wide to display it teeth and slimy tongue and a growing flame inside.

With the mutant distracted, Baton dragged Lilac off of the pipe, and the super mutant picked up speed and started whipping what was left of its tentacles at me. I nearly got squished by its tendril as it came crashing down where I was, cracking the ground and sending concrete splinters all around, and it was by pure luck that I shot it in the eye after avoiding the crushing blow.

The slug popped its eye into a gory shower and it shrieked and reeled back with its blood gushing out like a fountain. It collapsed with one hoof over the eye and its maw snapping with flames rolling out of its mouth and I shot it four more times in the head as quickly as my weapon would allow. By the time I was done, it was lying on the ground with pieces of its brain showing and thick, green blood going all over the place. There was some flames that licked at the corpse, but they quickly died out, and I collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

I was in pain, I was tired, I could not get the taste of goo blood out of my mouth, and I was about ready to pass out. But none of that happened because Baton cheered and walked around the bodies of mangled mutants to get to me. Lilac leaning against him and the both of them were smiling with relief, too.

“Now that was one helluva zombie,” said Baton, laughing victoriously when he kicked the dead mutant's leg.

I stared at him, flabbergasted that he would still call them zombies. But then I remembered that it was Baton who said it, and that alone meant that I should let him believe that those were zombies we fought. So, I smiled weakly and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, it sure was.” I said wearily.

“Boys, I’d rather not be a bother to your bonding, but I do think now would be a good time to leave before more zombies show up,” said Lilac, grunting painfully when she moved away from Baton to walk on her own.

She then grimaced as she wiped some green goo off of her mane, and after me and Baton exchanged looks, I pushed myself up, smiling despite the pain, waved him forward.

“Lead the way.” I said.

Baton's whole face just lit up and his chest puffed out with pride, and he cocked his weapon and turned to the gaping hole that was once the door.

“Follow me, everypony!” he said cheerfully.

He led, and we happily followed.

Footnote: Perk Gained.
New Perk: Tough Hide (2)-- The brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +2 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.