Nighttime Massacre (Part 1)

Ethan and Grant spent the little time left until darkness discussing how they were going to go about scouting the settlement.

The mood between them was somber because both of them were nervous about what they would experience once they were inside the settlement.

Once darkness fell, Grant took out a small amount of food from his rucksack and handed it to Ethan so that they would have something to eat for breakfast.

After he handed the food over to Ethan, Grant slung his rucksack over his shoulder and disappeared out the door of the building at into the darkness.

As Grant approached the makeshift wall that surrounded the settlement which was no more than 5 or 6 feet tall, he once again was able to hear conversations between different people but he chose to ignore it this time and moved quietly towards a dark portion of the wall that he would be able to climb over.

As he approached the wall, Grant slowed down his movements to produce as little sound as possible. He wasn't sure what the strength of the fighters from the camp would be, but he didn't want to take any chances.

When he reached the wall, Grant put his back up against it and waited patiently until he heard the fewest sounds and voices. Once he was sure that most of the people in the area were gone, he took a few steps away from the wall, turned towards it, and then put sufficient strength into his legs before launching over the wall in one leap.

As he jumped through the air, Grant took a quick glance around the area. Just like the Tempe settlement, their were makeshift structures all over the place, but unlike the Tempe settlement, these ones already looked run down and falling apart.

While he landed, Grant tried to absorb the impact as best he could with his legs to produce as little sound as possible.

The moment he touched down, he quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed him. After looking around a few times, he was convinced that no one had seen him, so he slowly back up against the wall again.

He planned on burying the rucksack right at the base of the wall because it was the least likely place to be checked by a random passerby, at least that was Grant's assumption.

Grant pulled Bob's Hammer out of the rucksack to make digging the hole that much easier, which worked splendidly, because he was able to dig a large hole in only three swings of the hammer.

After admiring the efficiency with which the hammer/mining pick dug through the ground, Grant placed the hammer back in the rucksack and covered the whole with the displaced dirt. He used a few rocks and leaves scattered about the area to cover up the loose dirt.

Hoping that the stash wouldn't be discovered until Ethan and him were able to make it back to the area, Grant prepared to jump back over the wall.

Unfortunately, at that moment, someone from inside the camp noticed Grant. "HEY YOU! What are you doing next to the wall?! It's against the rules to tamper with any of the defensive structures! They'll kill you for that!"

At first, Grant was just going to jump over the wall and escape but he was afraid that if he did that, then someone would end up investigating the area and discover his rucksack.

With no other choice, Grant turned around to face the person who was now approaching him. Since the man was only a couple dozen feet away, Grant was finally able to see him clearly even in the darkness.

The man, or more accurately, boy, who was approaching didn't look to be more than 15 or 16 years old. He was probably no more than 4 ft tall and looked like a version of Skit with skin. He was so skinny it was hard to imagine that he had any muscle on his body.

Grant's face darkened at the sight of the boy, because his suspicions on how the leaders of the camp were treating the people here were being proven correct. It was unlikely that someone who had food to eat could ever possibly be that skinny.

"I don't recognize you, are you new here?"

Grant wanted to provide as little information as possible so he didn't answer verbally and just shook his head up and down in acknowledgement. He wanted to see what the boy was up too before he provided any information about himself at all.

"You must have arrived in the past couple days then because I know pretty much all the people in this part of the settlement. My name is Leonard, what's your name?"

Grant and Ethan had discussed whether they should provide their real names when they entered the camp but ultimately decided it was pointless to hide their identities because neither of them had any family left in the area that someone could threaten them with. And even if they did, it was unlikely someone could use that against them.

Since that was the case, Grant introduced himself, "I'm Grant, I came from the Tempe area just yesterday. It's nice to meet you Leonard."

"Nice to meet you too Grant. Why are you standing over here by the wall though? They should have told you to stay away from here when you first arrived, right?"

Obviously Grant didn't know the rules since he had arrived unbeknownst to anyone, but he knew he had to play along here.

"They did. I had to pee really bad though and I get stage fright so I thought I could take care of my business here without anyone noticing. Clearly I have failed though. Please don't turn me into the guards."

Leonard just looked at Grant with a strange expression; as if the idea of turning him into the guards was offensive in some way.

"Why would I turn you in too the guards? You'd just end up dead if that was the case. The one strike rule they told you about isn't just some empty threat you know?

Unless you do something terrible, no one around here will turn you in to the guards. The guards here are all horrible people who kill for fun."

The dark expression on Grant's face got even darker hearing what Leonard said. He was really starting to think that just outright killing the leaders of this camp would be beneficial not just to make it easier to take over the camp, but to make them suffer for the crimes he was sure they had committed.

Seeing that Grant wasn't responding, Leonard just kept on talking, "So Grant, you got any food to spare?"

Knowing that his food was buried just a few feet behind him, Grant momentarily considered digging up his bag to feed the boy, but he knew he had to endure for the moment.

"I'm sorry Leonard, I don't have any extra food."

Leonard just smiled, as if expecting that answer.

"It's alright! Never hurts to ask right?"

Grant was surprised that Leonard seemed to have such a positive disposition given his situation and his age. In just the few moments that they had been conversing, Grant was starting to like the boy.

"Hey Leonard, how long have you been here? You look like you haven't eaten in days."

With that, Leonard's face finally faltered slightly but returned to a smile once again. This time though, his smile seemed less genuine and far more hallow and forced.

"My family and I have been here since the monsters started appearing. My dad was ill and had been in the hospital for a few weeks. My mom, sister, and I were visiting him when everything started happening...

It's been two days since I last had any real food. We're forced to eat anything we can find that is edible since Andrew doesn't provide anything to the people who don't fight for him."

Grant knew he had time to investigate who Andrew was, though he was certain that he was the leader of the camp based on how the guards and now Leonard talked about him, so he was more interested in Leonard himself. He was pretty sure he knew the answer to his next question purely based on the look on the young man's face, but he still asked anyways.

"Where are your parents now Leonard?"

A few moments of silence passed before Leonard finally answered.

"My dad died on the first day...

The nurse that was helping my dad attacked him after we all got that message in our heads. My dad was able to fight her off and ended up killing her and he said that she had turned into a zombie. Since she had managed to bite my dad, he said he was going to turn into a zombie as well and that we needed to leave.

My mom... is... I'm not sure... she was taken away by some of Andrew's men so I'm not sure if she's still alive.

My sister is in our shack though so I have to stay strong and protect her!"

Leonard started to lose control of his emotions towards the end of retelling what happened to his parent's but he seemed to steel his emotions once his sister came up.

Grant felt bad for Leonard and gave him a pat on his shoulder to try and comfort him but he knew it was just a hollow gesture with how he must be feeling.

Before Grant could say anything though, the sound of screaming broke the silence of the area.

"LEONARDD!!! HELP!!!!"