Thanks to @Star-The-Alicorn for the header!
Chap 1 : Chance meeting
Up. Back. Forward. Down. Deep breath. Focus and pull. Breath out. Repeat.
Each time another twinkle in the distance was gone, Anzio had done this hundreds of times. Since he had been deployed to the eastern arena, the art of trench warfare has come naturally.
Pull. Another gone to the night.
They usually wait for morning to begin shooting, perhaps they had gotten desperate or had gotten orders for a night advance. They had been shooting for hours. It didnt matter to him, being in the front as long as he had, all he had is cold indifference to them.
Pull. Click.
âShit,â he sighed, and reached into is gear pocket to pull a loaded stripper clip. He topped his rifle with 2 clips and pushed the bolt forwards. Suddenly the pops and whizzes of gunfire stopped. He slowly peeked from his spot on a rised mound of dirt and mud, theyâre retreating.
"Good riddance. " He breathed coldly. He might actually get some sleep of once tonight. He slid back into the trench below him, his issued boots striking the mud below. The ground responding with a slightly wet plap to his landing. His nose was assaulted with the smell of gunpowder, earth, and sweat. He shouldered his rifle and began to trudge towards the bedrolls, thinking he would hopefully get some meat rations this time (it was his turn for them).
âSpecialists Anzio,â said a brick-shaded voice. Anzio looked over to see Corporal Wylde, a small bundle of packages in his hand.
âWylde, what you got for me this time?â Anzio replied with a slight smirk.
The Corporal had told them to use his first name when in the trench, which was funny to Anzio, cause the Corporal was almost always a by the books kinda guy.
âYou got mail, and your meat ration.â Wylde said straight-faced âGood job out there, you got at least 10 of 'em.â
He handed Anzio the small bundle
âThanksâ he said âim heading to the âbunksâ to get some sleepâ
Wydle just nodded and walked away. Anzio looked at the package he had been handed and walked into the makeshift shelter for the bedrolls.
Sitting down on one he looked at the ration first to see what one it was. Jackpot! Canned corned beef hash, arguably the best meat ration avaliable. A heafty reward for a good days work, he poped it open and put it on heating tray. It was better cooked on a flat-top, but right now it warm was heaven. A slight reprieve from the bitterness of the mud ditch they called home. He opened the mail package, all together there was; a letter, a pack of smokes, small bottle of whiskey, a small rectangular bar, and some God blessed shitwipe. âManâ Anzio thought, âMy wife is the damned best.â
He knew exactly what the bar was, 1 genuine dark chocolate bar. He puts the stuff aside to open the letter, it reads:
Dear love
I hope you are well by the time this reaches you. Max and I miss you being by our side, but knowing you are fighting for us brings us a solemn happiness. Max has began the 3rd grade and is such a bright boy. He reminds me of you so much. He makes friends left and right, and has such a sunny disposition. Ive held off teaching him how to ride a bike so you can tech him when you get back.
Sincerely,
Your love, Evaline
The small letter had lifted Anzioâs heart, they were alright, thats all he needed to know to keep going. With that he stowed away his newly gotten things and plopped onto the bedroll and drifted into a good sleep.
*
The first thing he noticed when he woke up was how bright it was, someone had forgotten to wake him up. At this point the small shelter was emptied out, so he gathered his gear in silence and rolled up his sleeping mat. He grabbed his rifle and walked out into the bright sun.
âOh, so the dead can rise,â said a snarky toned voice outside the shelter âwell, good morning. I was just about to get you.â
Aznio looked over, straining his eyes under the assault of the daylight. It was Doc Nosler, one of the main medicâs of the company, his dark completion skewed with a smirk.
âOh, bite meâ Anizo replied with matched attitude.
âNo, youâre supposed to bite me, being a zombie and all,â Nosler corrected âAnyways, everyone else has moved up due to the enemyâs retreat.â He jostled his gear bag and walked up the trench side and looked down to Anzio.
âWhy the hell didnt anyone wake me up then?â Anzio said with some slight venom in his voice.
âWell, we tried,â Nosler said sheepishly âbut you sleep like you could through another Desolation and not be bothered, so we gave up!â He said throwing his hands up.
âMmm,â Anzio hummed âgo on ahead ill catch up.â He wanted peace when he walked today. âAlright, dont lag to far.â Nosler said as he walked away.
Anzio climbed out of the trench and brushed the loose dirt off of him, now that it was day he could see out onto the battlefield a lot better. Craters and ditches littered the field, occasionally garnished with barbed wire and wood. Its smelled like mud, blood and gunpowder. By the way the sun shined, Anzio knew it was gonna be hot today. Alas, orders are orders. He thought and began to walk. His boots crunching the dried up dirt and rocks. He made it about 100 yards before he heard a sounds, high pitched and small, he listened closely. âDummeh mawe, yu nu get nummies. Am fu Smawteh!â Said a high pitched voice
Fluffies. Little pony things. Leftovers from before the Desolation
Anzio was indifferent to them, mainly not interacting with them. The man-made beast were apparently pets, or some semblance of a pet. They roamed wildly or were domestic. Sometime they wondered into towns and neighborhoods, eating scraps or peoples gardens. There was a neighbor Anzio had that studied the little furballs. He talked to him at a cookout one time, apparently there were a lot of species, each one was from a different company and sold. Like a toy. Anzio just saw them as an old reminder of the times before the Desolation or rather, a consequence of it. They could be cute, if they behaved.
Anzio walked over to the sounds, and saw exactly what he was expecting. A group of about 5 nubs with fuzz and about 3 taller ones. A herd, mixed species too. Most all a neon or bright color, with the exception of one. A brown one with blue-green mane. Currently a larger bright blue one with yellow accent was yelling at the brown one. On the ground was a dead Latmaner soldier, grasping a half eaten ration. âPoor bastardâ Anzio said quietly. The rest looked around completely ignoring the argument, more interested in the enemyâs trench encampment. The blue one was clearly the leader, the âSmartyâ, and was towering over the brown one. Looks like she found the ration and wanted to eat it, but the smarty wanted it more.
âBuhâŚbuh Fwuffy found da nummies anâ yu awweadeh got da waat nummies Fwuffy found!â The brown one said, apparently a girl, with a higher pitched voice
âNu cawe, nummies awe not fu poopie fwuffy, dey am for speciaw fweindâ the Smarty said while puffing his cheeks " yu nummie diwt or smewweh nummie! Now yu get sowwy hoofies!"
The brown one shrank down as the Smarty hit her on the nose brusing it, with that she walked away, her tail and ears drooped down. She began to cry silently, making huuu huu noises as she did. Anzio thought that was unfair, and frankly, kinda fucked up. So he walked towards the group.
*
After being denied food for the 3rd time today and getting sorry-hoofies, the brown fluffy had broken down into tears. It wasnt fair, she found the food, why cant she have at least some of it. She didnt understand why she was treated so badly just because she had brown fluff. She just wanted to be loved and give hugs to her herd, but they always rejected her. Even her mother had. She was deep into crying when she heard one of the others say âNu daddeh?â She looked over. A large human man with a funny hat and a large wood stick walked over to them. He looked different from the man on the ground that had gone to sleep. She stopped crying, and stood still. Humans were dangerous sometimes, and one had to be careful around them. The others were now swarming him with questions like; ânu daddeh?â âhab nummies?â âTake homsies?â. But he silently walked over to the Smarty and began to talk to him
*
âWhy did you take the food she found?â Anzio said the blue rat âthats not very nice.â
The Smarty looked up at him and said âFwuffeh am poopie mawe, nu get good nummies ow wove. Am onweh good fu findinâ nummies and distwaction fwom meaniesâ
That urked Anzio, only using the poor thing for food and as a potential sacrifice to predators. âYou little shitâ Anzio said as he grabbed the rations from the blue bastard.
âNU, gibe Smawty back nummies!â It cried out. Only irritating him further, Anzio grabbed the little fuck wad by the back leg. âBAD UPPIES!â it screeched as it was lifted like a ragdoll.
âI think you deserve a punishment for being rudeâ Anzio said to it while shaking it. âBuh Fwuffy nu du anythinâ wude!â Said the smarty in distress. âPoopie mawe desewve it!â.
After firmly planting itself in trouble, Anizo cocked his arm all the way back and flung the Smarty. Spinning in the air aross the mud ridden battlefield like a fluffy blue discus it screamed âBUH AM GOOD FWUFFIEEEEEEeeeeâŚâ and landed into a trench with a crunchy plap.
âSMAWTY!â said one of the others, a starfruit yellow, and ran off to him.
Anzio had to admit to himself, that was a really nice toss, a good 35 yards on the bastard. He walked over to the brown one, getting a better look at it. It had a horn, kinda knife shaped. It looks kinda skinny and a bit dirtier than the others. âPoor thingâ he thought. âHere, this belongs to youâ he said holding the opened biscuit ration to it.
âAâŚam suâŚsuwe Fwuffy can have nummie?â It replied meekly. âAbsolutely,â he said reassuringly âand some advice, leave those guys. They might hurt you afterwardsâ he thumbed to the other Fluffies now trotting to the smarty that had been slung. He got up and brushed himself free of dust, waved bye to the brown one and walked away.
*
The brown mare was stunned, not sure that had just happened. The Human had thrown the Smarty and yet, gave her the nummies back. She thought about what he said, maybe she should leave. But where, where could she go. Thats when she decided to take a risk, possibly the first one she had ever taken.
She followed the man, nummies in tow.
