Apocalypse Quest to Equestria Ch5

>The sacks were taken off; Anon immediately looked around for Daniel.
>He was next to him with a nice long irregular hematoma forming along his neck.
>Knowing that his friend was alright wallowed him to look around for a moment, fear was compelling him to search for a way out.
>As such his movements were shaky and sporadic.
>It was some sort of office, that was all he could gather before one of his captors tapped the side of his head with the barrel of a handgun.
>Anon shrunk away from it, as much as he could, the fear and helplessness was beginning to get to him.
>All those old feelings and events were beginning to stack up.
>A figure came from behind them; he took off Anon’s boonie hat as he passed by.
>It would have upset Anon if he wasn’t already terrified out of his mind.
>The man before them had a thin pale face; however his hands and arms were tanned. His voice came out rather thin and raspy.
>”Where’s the rest of your group?”
>Both Anon and Daniel remained quiet for a few seconds before Daniel spoke up.
>”Well bro…”
>The pale faced man seemed irked, holding out a hand to stop Daniel, he took a deep breath before continuing.
>”Please, don’t call me ‘bro’”
>Daniel internally smiled, if he was going to die here he was at least going to go out with a smile.
>”Alright dude.”
>The man shook his head again.
>”Anyways chief. We’ve been walking for a hella long time, no clue what you’re talking about.”
>The man sighed and pulled out a stun gun, he activated it for a second, the electric smell of burnt air and the loud, almost inherently sinister crackle of the electric arcs.
>Anon jumped a little, Daniel’s small smile shifted to a scowl/frown combo.

>”You’re packs were half empty, you came out a scav crew for someone. You both have little trinkets from that one show… Uh… whatever the one about the ponies. You’re a scav team if I’ve ever seen one.”
>Anon took it upon himself to try his hand at misdirection, his voice came out shaky and inconsistent.
“Y-yeah, have you tried trekking thr-through the inland empire, our packs are half empty wi-with reason, we-“
>There was a quick moment of crackling air from the stun gun until the man swung the stun gun around and connected it with Anon’s neck, it’s an odd sensation but it still hurt, a lot.
>That wasn’t the worst part, he lost all thought for a couple seconds, his body jumped up and tensed up without his approval.
>Once the man stopped Anon just kind of sat there for a second still trying to get his bearings, the pain and action evaporated immediately.
>However his haziness and lack of control did not, Daniel started to say something but Anon couldn’t focus in.
>The conversation between Daniel and the man got more and more heated, Daniel started to stand up, but his knees were kicked out.
>Slowly Anon came back reality and focused in on the exchange, his fear from earlier had lessened considerably.
>”You’ll see, I know the portal is in UCLA, I know you and your kind are working on it!”
>Daniel was beginning to yell back, little flecks of spittle coming out and nestling on the pale faced man’s dress shirt.
>”Oh?! What’s it to you, you fucking prick!?”
>The pale faced man slowly took out a rag and dabbed his shirt off of spit, he took a composing moment before continuing.
>”Let’s face the facts, humanity can have a nice new start in their world, I’ve seen bits and pieces of the show and the land seems fertile, there are almost no environmental hazards, and, the ponies should be a push over. “

>”Oh, so let’s take over another place, because we trashed ou-“
>Anon looked over at Daniel, he was going to try to get him to stop, unfortunately the pale faced man had the same idea.
>He motioned with his hand; a rifle butt came down hard on the back of his head, Daniel slid forward groaning.
>He was still together enough to roll his head on the floor while groaning some more.
>There was a sudden knocking on the door to the office.
>Pale face straightened up and called out in a clear commanding voice.
>”Come in, it’s open.”
>The door opened, a woman with a bandana wrapped around her face and a submachinegun leaned in.
>”Sir, the latest scav crew is back.”
>Her accent made it clear that the Spanish language was alive and well.
>Pale face nodded and the door closed, he pointed to one of the men standing behind Anon and Daniel.
>”You, come with me… god knows these morons can’t distribute supplies themselves.”
>The pale man tossed Anon’s boonie hat to the remaining guard and left with the other one.
>A dull click as the latch engaged, the remaning guard slowly took a step forward so he was in front of the two of them.
>Anon immediately noticed that the man had Anon’s sig .45, and the suppressor was still on it.
>The man walked forward and without a word began turning out all of Anon’s pockets.
>He took everything, a few bandages still in their plastic wrap, a pack of gum, a small bottle of ibuprofen, some random lose bullets; finally he pulled out the key chain.
 >The guard looked at it for a second, shrugged, and threw it over his shoulder.
>It bounced off the wall and fell on the floor. Anon stared blankly at it for a while.
>The guard finished searching Anon, he slowly stood, stretched and got to work searching Daniel.
>Daniel didn’t put up and resistance, his zip tied hands still resting on his forehead.

>Anon just kept staring at the keychain, those misaligned eyes staring back at him as best they could, he remembered when he picked it up, the purpose he felt.
>How starkly in juxtaposed the overlying mood and atmosphere.
>Something clicked in his mind at that point.
>An epiphany is the wrong word, for this had been a long time coming, it was more like reaching critical mass.
>He already knew he was tired of being scared.
>Tired of being a coward.
>Tired of not being able to do the right thing.
>Tired of shaking rifles.
>Tired of canned food.
>Tired of barricading doors.
>Tired of constantly being on guard.
>Tired of counting bullets.
>Tired of flinching at everything.
>Tired of endless walking.
>Tired of being dirty.
>Tired of his survivor’s guilt.
>It all slowly stacked on top of one other until he just lost it.
>The break wasn’t strong or even explosive. It just was as if he remembered that he was alive and decided to do something about it.
>The guard was focused on searching Daniels pockets, so Anon raised his hands, and brought them down hard into his gut making sure to chicken wing his arms.
>The ziptie snapped, the guard looked over.

>Anon wasted no time and rugby tackled he guard before he could fully grasp what was happening.
>They both fell to the floor. The guard quickly tried to get up, succeeding in only lifting his head.
>Anon was faster though, he was already on top of the poor sod, pinning him under his knees.
>The guard opened his mouth to call out, Anon brought his fist down on the guards adams apple.
>His call turned into a cough and sputter.
>Anon swung his hand out onto one of the offices desks and grabbed an old dusty sun-bleached telephone.
>He raised it over his head and smashed down, the guard still had his eyes open, fear and regret written over his face.
>He brought it down again; the guard seemed to be losing cohesion.
>Once again for good measure, Anon looked down; he had broken the guards nose and knocked out a few teeth.
>Anon took back his sig and began strip searching the guard, taking back his Daniel’s possetions.
>He reattached the holster and toke back his magazines, shoving them into his shirt pocket.
>Anon looked over the guard, he just kind of lied there, his breathing labored and coming short, his feet trying to push off a floor that wasn’t there.
>Using  flashlight taken from the guard Anon pulled Daniel’s eyelids back and checked them.
>They weren’t dilating in the light. Shit.
>Anon, pulled Daniel up into a fireman’s carry, Anon was a fair bit taller than Daniel, allowing him to carry his buddy with relative ease.
“Alright, stay with me now. Don’t pass out on me.”
>”hefuh.”
>That would have to do for now.

>Anon opened the door, accidentally bumping Daniels head against the door frame.
“Sorry.”
>He whispered out, making sure to keep his .45 out in front of him.
>The hall was empty, next door, the one with the exit sign over it.
>It opened up to a stairwell, however on the landing where two people slowly going though Anon and Daniels packs.
>”Huh, this guy kept pretty good care of his…”
>They both looked over at Anon who now had his weapon leveled at them.
>Slowly they both raised their hands and back away.
>Anon slowly let Daniel down, he was still having trouble staying coherent.
>He slowly put his pack back together with one hand while keeping his sights on the two people in the corner.
>For a split second he looked down at his pack to see if it was back together, when he looked back one of the others was already halfway to her sidearm.
>Anon fired without thinking, when he did the other one made a quick move for his holstered weapon.
>Anon quickly adjusted his target and fired again.
>The clack of the suppressed pistol echoed up and down the stairwell.
>Anon had killed the first one, a shot right to the center of the chest, the second one however had shimmied into the corner and was putting pressure on his bleeding gut.
>Anon simply slug his pack, put Daniels on his chest, helped Daniel to his feet, and proceeded down the stairs.
>The stairs led to an empty parking garage.
>Anon kept to the sides making sure to take a breather behind the cement pillars, he could feel his strength leaving him.
>After all he was carrying two packs and whole person.
>He could see the exit ramp; he stayed as low as he could with that much weight.
>Glancing over the top he could see two more peo- fuck it, bandit assholes, standing in front of a duce and a half and chatting amongst themselves.
>Anon quickly went back down and thought for a moment, he had a plan, it was a terrible one, but it would have to suffice.
>He pulled out his keychain again, looked at the eyes for a moment, and finally walked out like he belonged here.
>The two bandits looked over at him, disinterest and mistrust was apparent on their faces.
“Hey! Where’s this truck headed?”
>The bandits look at each other, obviously confused.
>”What the hell is wrong with him?”
>Anon looked back at Daniel, who was now mumbling some incoherent stream of thought.
“He hit the sauce pretty hard, and this fucker has to report in soon.”
>”Oh yeah? Where?”
>Anon maintained a straight face, trying his absolute best to think of a place they might need to go.
>There was a sudden crackle as a PA system came on, the unmistakable voice of pale face.
>”We have a breakout! Those two simpletons we captured earlier today are at large, if you see-
*Pak, Pak! Pak!*
>Idiots, turning around to listen to the announcement.
>”anyone, and I mean anyone! You don’t recognize… well you know what to do.”

>Anon opened the door to the massive desert tan truck, and put Daniel in the passenger seat.
>He came back around, and pulled the dying bandit out of the driver’s seat, he hit the ground with a small grunt.
>He took a quick look around, took the weapons off the bandits and tossed them in the back, he came back around to the driver side, and got in himself.
>He turned the key, the old diesel engine started up on the second try.
*Buh-cah, Buh-cah!*
>The wounded bandit on the floor had rolled over and put two rounds from his .38 special through the door.
>Anon felt a jolt travel up his leg as he dropped the truck into gear, leaving a great big black cloud of exhaust.
>The shots put the whole place into chaos, Anon quickly glanced at his mirrors, he recognized the whole area as the former staples center.
>Bandits were swarming around the area, trying to locate the shots, a group of three came out the doors in front of Anon’s truck.
>One of them raised a shotgun of sorts and fired, the slug shattered the glass and flew through the cab.
>Anon kept driving until he was out of the staples center, He kept driving until they came to the USC parking garage.

>Anon parked the truck on the third floor, with the bed opening facing the ramp up.
>He opened the door and let himself out, he looked down at his leg, a nice long graze ran over top of his left thigh.
>It was slowly seeping blood, not enough to worry him, but enough for him to pull his pack out of the cab and wrap one of his bandannas around the wound.
>Anon then looked back up into the cab, Daniel was slowly coming back together, enough so now that he just held his head quietly swearing.
>Anon then skipped-limped his way to the back of the truck, might as well see what was inside.
>He brought down the tailgate and pulled himself up inside the bed.
“Sweet Celestia.”
>Anon had never used those words seriously before, but the bed was loaded with enough supplies to arm, feed, and equip maybe thirty people.
*clunk*
>Daniel slowly stumbled his way to join Anon, he took one look at the bed.
>”Sweet Celestia indeed… How… fuck… How’s the back of my head bro?”
>There was a rather large gash on the back where the rifle butt had split the skin.
“Hold on.”
>Anon pulled out the wrapped bandages from his pocket and wrapped them around the back of his head.
>He finished and turned Daniel back around.
“How you feeling? We still need to search the physics lab.”
>Daniel rested the front of his head on the side of the truck.
>“I-I still feel… I’m a no go bro.”
>If they got the part within the next two hours then they could easily make it back in time and possibly be in Equestria by sun up.
>If.

>Anon made up his mind.
“Alright I’m going.”
>Daniel slowly comprehended this.
>”Wh-wait, maybe we should play this a little safer or-“
“You wait here; I’ll go get the part.”
>”No way bro, you are-“
“We are less than five miles from them, if we don’t get it now, we not be able to later.”
>Daniel looked down at the asphalt, hung his bandage wrapped head, and kicked the tire of the truck.
>”Fuck.”
>Indeed that was the only correct response.
>Anon looked through the bed of the truck and pulled out a benelli, topped off the magazine for his sig, hopped back down and started speed limping away.
>It was a long journey down, and a longer journey to the physics lab.
>Anon was no longer keeping to the walls, he was no longer moving quietly, right now speed was more important.
>As he walked, he popped a couple ibuprofen tablets, help take his mind off the graze.
>He came up to the door and went for his key jigglers, they weren’t there, with a sigh he drew his .45 again.
>The same old shower of sparks and metal shavings.
>He pushed his way inside and began marching down the hall until he reached the lab.
>There was a small box on the reception desk. Anon tore it open, it was a bubble wrapped metal cylinder about the size of a soda can.
>JA-253 was stenciled into the side of it… huh… well… that was easy.
>Anon couldn’t help but feel a little upset that it was so small, he somewhat expected some crazy contraption with antennas and wires sticking everywhere.
>This was a little disappointing, if easy to carry, he quickly dropped it into his pack and turned to leave.
*phaphapha. Bom chk-cak bom.*
>The gun fire came muffled through the wall, it was enough to make Anon stomp his good foot against the ground in anger.
>Why couldn’t things be easy for once?

>Once again Anon speed limped his way to the exit, as he went he flicked the safety off, carrying on condition 0 from here on out.
>He made it to the door and peered around the corner.
>More shots, some yelling. The ferals were coming out of floorboards, not really, just the sewer and some of the buildings.
>Anon crouched as low as he could without agitating his wound, and began to weave his way back to the parking garage.
>The shots have become ever present, and louder.
>Last courtyard before the parking garage, there are several bandits, identifiable from their bandanas and colors, all in a phalanx formation.
>The ferals are bobbing and weaving between buildings, causing the panicked bandits to carelessly waste munitions.
>Anon ducked down and moved as quickly as he could across the edge of the courtyard.
>He managed to move across without attracting attention.
>It was only once he reached the second story of the parking garage did he notice the gunfire had stopped, he tentatively turned his head.
>That low warbling howl, the echo reverberated from above him traveling down the parking structure.

>The shooting started up again, this time the uncontrolled chatter of panicked automatic fire.
>Anon pushed his body as fast as it would go, breaking open the platelet seals oh his graze.
>He rounded the corner of third floor, the 2 and a half ton truck had about seven ferals crawling over it.
>fur and scale convulsing with frenzied movement, tearing into the canvas top and leaping into the bed.
>Bright flashes from Daniels weapon, the canvas cover convulsed not only with the burrowing ferals but also his bullets tearing new holes out.
>Anon raised his benelli and fired as he marched forward, his voice bellowed out only barely on par with the deafening boom of his weapon.
“You leave him alone!”
>His pellets burrowed into one of the ferals trying to climb the bed of the truck, this got the attention of two of the ferals.
>They came sprinting up on all fours, faster than Anon could properly track.
>He fired, he fired again. His shots managed to only trip up one of the ferals, the other leapt at him.
>He raised up his benelli between him and the feral.
>It didn’t matter the sheer weight of a large mass colliding with him at high speeds tossed the gun on its sling and knocked him down hard enough to crack a rib and take the wind out of him.
>The feral reared up its head, a strange wolf like visage, and bit down hard on Anon’s  left shoulder.
>He let out a yell, half terror, half pain.

>His thoughts were oddly quick yet clear.
>He couldn’t die here; he still had to learn what her name was.
>That wall-eyed mare.
>So he fought back with all his strength, trying to grapple the monstrosities jaws off of himself, he was no match for the genetically enhanced mammal.
>The feral simply bit down harder, Anon could feel the pressure threatening to break his collar bone.
>The ferals grip tensed for a second before relaxing greatly, without hesitation, he rolled the real off of him with his right arm as his left was having trouble moving.
>He could still feel it’s breath as it slumped off of him, all those games and movies were wrong, death does not come fast.
>Anon scrambled upright, scooping up the benelli, Daniel was sitting on the tailgate with a rifle, his clothes were torn, his body cut nearly to ribbons.
>Anon speed limped his way to the truck, Daniel lazily tossed the rifle back into the bed before raising the tailgate back up.
>With a grunt of strained muscle Anon opened the door of the truck, started the ancient diesel engine, and began the drive back.

>Anon drove the truck right in front of the UCLA physics building, it was a new vehicle so the caravaneers on duty came tentatively forward, weapons raised.
>Anon opened the door and practically fell out the side. Once the caravaneers made it to him everything became fuzzy.
>He vaguely remembered falling asleep on his cot in the modified office.
>It was the first night he didn’t dream of his past.
>Anon knew that he must have been tired, anyone would after such a day.
>JA-253!
>Anon shot upright, ignoring the pain of his stitched and treated wounds and began rifling through his pack which was at the foot of the bed.
>It wasn’t there. It wasn’t there!
>Did it fall out, he had to go back.
>Suddenly the cloth that acted as the door fluttered open as Daniel let herself in.
>Anon’s mouth moved faster than his mind.
“JA-253! Is it?! Where?!”
>Daniel put down the two bowls of unidentifiable food.
>”Relax bro, the bubble wrap saved it. Helen and co are working on getting it fitted in.”
>Anon felt his heart rate drop by double digits as he slowly regulated his breathing back to normal levels.
>Daniel started eating his bland tasteless food as he spoke, Anon only half paid attention, lying back and staring at the Lyra poster.
>”Oh, get this. That part? Wasn’t needed to make portal work-“
>Anon felt his blood pressure spike.
>”What it does, is make sure we don’t teleport into a tree or like, in the clouds.”
>Anon’s blood pressure returned to normal, so it was necessary to get to Equestria… alive at least.

>It had been a few days, Daniel had actually suffered very little injury, save for the nice new scar forming on the back of his head.
>Anon however had two broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and the teeth holes had a super high risk of infection.
>Fun stuff.
>Daniel and Anon had informed Helen and Tim, the apparent leader of the caravaneers, about the bandits.
>It was an informal affair, sitting around the cramped office now bedroom sipping on old cans of cola.
>The watch rotations were strengthened and short range patrols were formed, to both look for possible bandit scouts, and to give the shut-ins some experience outside.
>However these last few days had been hell for Anon, the caravaneers had hit up a home improvement store, netting both the copper piping and the wire.
>All that was needed was car batteries, maybe about forty were needed to overcome the initial energy surge.
>Anon had refused bed rest, he was eager to get to Equestria, as a result of his physical condition he ran over watch.
>This translated to sitting on top of a tall building and watching for unsuspected movement.
>The problem with prying out car batteries was that most of the cars had alarms that were tripped often enough to make every single car a game of feral roulette.
>After the first five cars, and three alarms, and one loss (not death, the poor sod was dragged off) the plan was scrapped in favor of methodically hitting up every single auto store in LA.
>The process was made slower by the fact that the trucks couldn’t be used as they made too much noise in idle, and they had to sit idle while they searched the stores.