Rotwhite chapter 5

>Ugh, would somepony just cut it out?
>You swat away the hoof that’s poking you as the familiar headache makes itself known
“Drinking huh? You personally said you would never touch the stuff again...”
>You open your eyes and thankfully they are not greeted by the burning sunlight
>Instead you see Barnacle’s stupid face and a small group of ponies behind him eying you
>”I said what?”
>Barnacle just nods as you collect yourself
>Just who were you before loosing a chunk of your memories, not drinking? Heck it’s the only stuff that keeps you functioning
>”What’s with the ponies?”
>The ponies behind Barnacle all exchange glances before one of them takes a step forward
“We heard from Barnacle that you lost your memory, but could you remember if you got the message out?”
>Another one steps forward
“There had to be something, like did you see the message bag when you woke up or-“
>Another pony interrupts the other
“Is it true you lost your memories?”
>The ponies start to talk amongst each other while you feel like lashing out at them
“Please calm down”
>Barnacle steps between you and the ponies
“Snow’s lost his memory so there’s really nothing else to tell all of you, and now that we do not know if help’s coming we really need to work together”
>The small crowd of mothponies looks devastated and starts to question Barnacle on what they should do now
>Barnacle glances at you and nudges his head towards upstairs
>You take it as a sign of taking the chance to freshen up so you head upstairs
>not that you feel like doing it, but the panicking ponies are making you feel irritated
>As you climb up the stairs you see Honey Mug lying on a mattress on the floor, looking as depressed as a filly could
>so you ignore her and just walk past her
>but then she speaks and makes you pause
“My parents are dead...”
>You glance at the filly who’s just staring at the mattress, and then walk to the bathroom
>That must be what that all was about yesterday
>Not that it matters to you
>You freshen up, but as you do so you can’t help but to feel a weird, annoying feeling that gnaws at you
>You ignore it and walk out of the bathroom to find Barnacle walking towards you
“I’m going to go out to look at the situation and search for supplies, want to tag along? We could talk more privately while at it”
>You shrug
>”Sure”
>Barnacle seems to cheer up a bit and nods
“Ok, I’ll go get my gear and a bag for you”
>Before you can reply anything back Barnacle already disappears off to somewhere so you just rest against the wall
>As you do you glance towards Honey Mug
>She’s wiping her eyes
>As the yellow mare returns to her you look away, and just in time Barnacle returns, wearing his filtration mask and with his vest on
“Sorry, we’ve only got one mask so...”
>”Yeah no problem”
>You take the saddlebag he’s handing you and put it on as the two of you make your way to the attic and then to the rooftop
>You look around, and find the air a bit chilly and foggy
>But what strikes you as odd is how silent it is, well that and some sort of unknown monsters running around
>There are no sounds of animals, no wind, nothing
>Barnacle closes the hatch and walks carefully to the edge on the roof and looks around
“No sight of our monsters”
>You help him set up a few beams of wood so you can cross over to another roof
>As the two of you cross over you notice one of the pony-like monsters slowly walking between the houses
>It stops to stare at a lawn decoration and then stabs it with its tongue before passing on
“That tongue is nasty business...you do know what happens right?”
>You look back at Barnacle and join him on the roof of the next house
>”No, never seen it happen”
“Count yourself lucky then, when they burst out from those cocoons of theirs near everypony, it was a nightmare”
>Barnacle lifts his gaze back up and looks at you
“If you get stabbed by that tongue, you turn into a cocoon”
>That information does take you by surprise
>”Is it game over then? Can’t the cocoon just be broken?”
>Barnacle looks back down again
“The cocoon is much tougher than it looks like, and...”
>He shudders slightly
“It’s...you shouldn’t do it, the transformation starts right away, you’ll only find-“
>Barnacle stops talking and collects himself for a while
“Let’s just go and carry some wooden beams over so we can explore, almost all the houses on this side are unexplored. We need to do this, for everypony”
>Barnacle briefly gets up and you follow him, but you’re not feeling like he’s not keeping himself busy for the sake of others
>You and Barnacle carry the planks over in silence while you ponder about this situation you’re in
>It would be nice to just wait for rescue, but you were never optimistic enough to think things always go so well
>You need to get these ponies into thinking of a way out of this vi-
>Barnacle interrupts your inner monologue
“You have changed so much...”
>You set the planks down to the small pile that’s now forming on the roof and give him an odd stare
>”What was I like then?”
“You were more talkative and positive, and just...filled with more life I guess”
>”Now I am really wondering what sort of memories I’ve missed, I sound like I’m...”
>You stop talking and shake your head
>”Let’s just go”
>Barnacle agrees and the two of you connect the roof to another balcony
>with a little tinkering Barnacle gets the door open and the two of you sneak in
>The two of you are standing in a big bedroom
>Barnacle goes straight for the night stand and points you towards the closet
>You open it and look around, but as you find nothing of importance you walk over to Barnacle just as he turns around and suddenly jumps back, giving you a little jolt
>You raise your eyebrow and Barnacle gives you a sheepish smile
“Sorry, but you’re all white and...”
>You give him an unimpressed look and then the two of you go over to the door
>Barnacle slowly opens it and carefully looks around
>After making sure the coast is clear the two of you do a quick check of the house and find that the door is locked and all the windows are intact
>The two of you find some jars of honey and first aid supplies and after securing them in one of your saddlebags the two of you leave the house and start setting up the planks of wood so you can cross over to another house
>As you place one down you take notice of something as two of those monsters walk below on the streets
>”Hey Barnacle”
>Barnacle comes over and looks down as well
“Two monsters, luckily they are walking awa-“
>”No, not that, those things on their backs, they’ve grown...”
>The white sponge-like things have grown in size, and you’re not sure but the faces of them look a bit...different
>Barnacle just shakes his head
“I don’t know, they look the same to me...”
>You decide to pay more attention if you see any more of those things
“Want to go and take a look at the wall?”
>Barnacles sudden suggestion almost makes you drop the plank you were carrying and thinking about those creatures
>”What?”
>Barnacle points at a house that’s roof sits higher than any other in the vicinity
“I bet if we go there we might see the wall, and I am kind of worried if it’s growing...”
>You just give Barnacle a nod and the two of you arrange a walkway from roof to roof until the two of you are on top of the tall building
>You look around, taking in the whole village
>And the ominous spongy white wall that surrounds some of it, disappearing into the woods on either side of the village
“Not good, it’s spreading inwards...”
>You look at the wall and spot a lot of Amnesia Blossoms growing near it
>”Great, more bullshit flowers...”
>Barnacle squints and looks towards them for a while
“Great, now we can’t even get close to the wall”
>”Not that it would matter, once you get near it you’re turned to a cocoon”
>Barnacle looks surprised
“You’ve seen it happen?”
>You nod
>Suddenly there’s the sound of screaming and panicking ponies and the two of you whip your heads towards the sounds
>they’re coming from the direction of the safe house
“Let’s go!”
>You sprint after Barnacle as the two of you race towards the safe house
“I won’t let another pony d-“
>Suddenly the plank of wood Barnacle stepped on breaks in two and he falls down to the ground
>Luckily you had just enough time to jump back because Barnacle was running before you
>You quickly look down and find barnacle just getting up while holding his head
>Bu there’s a monster approaching him from behind, and he does not seem to notice it
>”Behind you!”
>Barnacle quickly spins around a-
>the javelin-like tongue of the creature pierces his chest
>You stare in horror as Barnacle takes a final, frightened glance towards you as the white wax-like substance seems to pour out from within his coat and instantly cocoons him into a white, wax-like statue
>The creature simply pulls its tongue back in and starts walking off somewhere
>But the sounds of panic continue and you steel your mind and quickly fetch the other plank of wood to fix the broken one
>You race towards the safe house, pushing away the thoughts in your head so you can focus on the situation at hand
>You can see panicked ponies running away from the monsters and as you near the last roof between you and the safe house you see that the barricades are now broken down and the doors hang open
>A panicked scream makes you look down, but all you see is a new white cocooned pony and a monster moving away from it
>But as you stare you also take another notice
>these things, not only are the white sponges larger, but they are more agile now
>The safe house is no longer safe, you should find a new o-
>You suddenly notice a familiar looking mothpony, the yellow mare you saw with Honey Mug
>She’s being dragged away by a couple of ponies while struggling and crying
>The ponies notice you and call out to you
“We’re going over to the Library!”
>”Which building is it?”
>One of the ponies points towards a peculiar looking building but then quickly grabs the yellow mare who almost runs away
>Suddenly she looks at you with her tearful eyes
“Honey Mug! She’s still inside!”
>two monsters suddenly sprint out from the building and the ponies run away quickly
>The yellow mare just stands there, looking back and forth between the ruined safe house and the library building
>As you see the monsters opening their mouths you do something that surprises even you
>”Go! I’ll get her!”
>The mare nods and sprints into a gallop just in time as one of the monsters tongue stabs the ground where she was standing, making a white patch of the frost-like rot to form on the ground
>You look at the building while feeling annoyed
>Why did you go and promise something like that? You should just look out for your own ass, not some strangers...
>You shake your head
>No, even you are not that much of a dick
>The hatch suddenly flies open and a monster climbs out from it and stares right at you
>And you finally place a finger on why the faces seemed more unnerving
>They are starting to look more like the face of a pony instead of just a dull head-shaped form
>The monster starts running towards you and time seems to slow down as your heat beats like crazy
>But just then you notice Honey Mug running past one of the windows and an idea forms in your head, and before you have the time to think if it’s a good one the monster is already closing the distance alarmingly fast
>so you start running towards the plank and the monster that is closing in on it as well
>But at the last second you jump and dive right trough the window