New Base of Operations

After Grant had ended the two miserable lives of Matt and Jeff, he took one last glance at their now headless and lifeless bodies before he turned to walk back into the house.

He didn't stop inside the house and continued back to the garage.

Once there, he stopped in the doorway and looked at the three members of the family he had saved and who had saved him.

At first, he didn't say anything, he just stood there and took in the scene before he glanced at the five notifications still blinking in the corner of his vision.

{Congratulations on killing Jack Murray Level 11.

You have absorbed +3 Strength, +3 Agility, +5 Health, and +6 Stamina.}

{Congratulations on killing Finn Anderson Level 11.

You have absorbed +3 Strength, +4 Agility, +5 Health, and +6 Stamina.}

{Congratulations on killing George Steele Level 11.

You have absorbed +5 Strength, +4 Agility, +7 Health, and +3 Stamina.}

{Congratulations on killing Matt Flanders Level 11.

You have absorbed +2 Strength, +4 Agility, +4 Health, and +3 Stamina.}

{Congratulations on killing Jeff Jones Level 14.

You have absorbed +4 Strength, +6 Agility, +10 Health, and +7 Stamina.}

[I knew that I may have to kill someone eventually, but I never thought it would be this soon... And the fact that it was two people I had actually fought side by side with for a short time...

It was obvious they weren't good people when they abandoned me, but I never thought that I would have to kill them with my own two hands..

I need to refrain from putting my trust in people before I make sure that they are worthy of that trust.

A new world needs to be viewed from a new angle.]

While Grant was lost in thought, Robin walked over and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a big hug. When Grant realized that Robin was hugging him, he stopped thinking and picked her up to hold her in his arms.

"Everything is okay Robin. Don't worry, the bad guys are gone. You have nothing to worry about."

She didn't say anything in response, she just wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him even harder.

After holding Robin for a few minutes, he placed Robin back down and spoke to Ally and Richard.

"This house can't be used anymore. If you give me 10 minutes I can clear the house next door and we can spend the night there. Don't worry about the guys inside, they won't be a danger to anyone anymore."

Ally just looked at Grant with tear stained cheeks and nodded at him in appreciation before she turned to the kids and told them pick up their stuff and get ready to leave.

That was enough for Grant to turn around and walk out of the garage. He quickly made his way to the house next door and cleared it out of anything that would do them harm which only amounted to a couple of zombies. Grant realized that they were probably the old occupants of the house so he made sure to give them a soft thank you before killing them and moving their bodies outside.

Once the house was cleared, Grant walked into the garage and opened the garage door. Once the door was up he walked outside and back to where Ally and the kids were to tell them that everything was ready and they could head over.

While waiting for the kids to finish gathering up their stuff, Grant just stood at the entrance to the garage by himself. It gave him time to reflect on the choices he had made up to this point, what he needed to focus on moving forward, and how to deal with the safety and future of the three members of the family he was helping.

Once the group was packed and ready to go, they walked over to the house next door together. Nobody said anything so it was a short yet quiet trip.

Once they reached the house, Ally and the kids put their belongings in the rooms and then everyone came back and sat around the table in the dining room. On the way over, Grant had told them that he would prepare something for them to eat.

Grant knew they probably weren't in the mood for anything too over the top so he prepared just enough food for everyone to be happy and then served dinner. The dinner was a mostly quiet affair and afterwards Grant retired to a room alone to leave the three to deal with their situation as they wished.

The rest of the evening and night passed in relative quiet, aside from the occasional sound of crying.

When morning came, Grant woke up well before everyone else and prepared breakfast. Richard and Robin were the first two to wake up and join Grant but it didn't seem like Ally would join them any time soon, so they ended up eating without her.

When Ally finally appeared from her room you could tell that she hadn't slept even a minute throughout the night.

To try and distract her, Grant brought up his plans for where they should go and how to start moving on from there current situation.

"I plan to go to the gun shop up the street to see what the situation is there. It would be much safer than staying in a house like this where a monster with any semblance of strength could easily destroy it.

The gun shop is a cement building with very small windows and a metal door so it will be much safer than staying here. I would like you guys to come with me until I can train you all up to a level where you can manage your own safety with relative ease.

If you want to do something else, I will not force you to come with me, but I think it is your best option at this point."

Grant decided not to tell the three that he had planned on going there with Jeff and his group of thugs at the beginning of the apocalypse, because he didn't want Ally to have to deal with the idea of living in the same place where they had lived. That would be a secret he would take to the grave with him.

Ally didn't say anything but she looked at Richard and Robin to see what their thoughts were.

"I want to go with you Mr. Carrot. After yesterday, I now know that I need to be even stronger than I have already become."

Richard echoed that sentiment as well, "I would like to take you up on that offer as well and I know I can speak for my mother when I say, we appreciate that you are willing to help us out."

After a quick conversation to make sure that everyone was on board, they all went back to their respective rooms and prepared to leave.

The entire time Ally didn't say anything, so Grant was starting to get worried, but he would deal with that when they reached their destination.

After everyone was ready to go, the group set off for their new destination.

Grant handled any and all threats along the way so that there was no risk of injury for anyone else in the group and it also allowed them to make relatively good time getting to the building.

When they finally reached the gun shop, it was exactly as Grant remembered it. The durability of the building had been able to withstand the huge storm they had on the first night of the apocalypse and the windows and door still looked to be in good condition.

After forcing the entrance of the door open, Grant realized that other than most of the guns being scattered about the building instead of on the walls and a couple of cots set up randomly throughout the building, the rest of the building looked like it hadn't been disturbed too much.

While exploring the building to make sure that there were no threats, Grant came across a large stash of food in the office. He could only presume that Jeff and his thugs had been the ones to stock this place.

While Richard and Robin were looking around the area, Grant pulled Ally over to the side so that he could have a private conversation with her.

"Ally, I know you are still dealing with what happened yesterday and I don't want to pressure you if you aren't ready. But, their is something about yesterday that I am pretty sure I already know the answer too, but I want you to confirm."

Ally just looked at Grant waiting for him to continue.

"The man in the garage, did you kill him?"

For a brief moment, Ally looked like she was reliving a horrifying moment.

"I did. I'm sorry..."

Grant had a vague idea what she was dealing with, but he also knew that it would take time for her to accept the reality of what she had done so he just reached over and gave her a hug to let her know that she was not alone.

After a few minutes, Richard and Robin came back and saw that Ally was crying so they too crowded around and gave their mother hugs while asking her what was wrong.

Since Grant didn't want to intrude on the family, he got up and walked outside the door and looked around the area.

[This will be our base of operations for at least the foreseeable future. I need to speed up the training for Richard and Robin and then reach level 25 so I can step onto my Path and enter the Enlightened Tier.

It's time to figure out what my Path will be.]