Little pigs, little pigs, let me in.

Chapter 31 Little pigs, little pigs, let me in.

POV Justin

I have to admit this place is a real piece of shit compared to the stuff I have in the Pentagon. Well, these people have managed to survive in a medieval way and only a wall made of scrap metal prevents the walkers from entering and killing everyone.

I could easily wipe out this entire settlement with minimal effort, however, these people can be useful and from what I see they grow a lot of crops, we currently have quite a few food reserves after looting Washington, but fresh fruit? It is true that there are some greenhouses in the pentagon, but there is simply not enough for everyone, therefore, fruit could be considered a luxury for my people.

Obviously, I can have all the fruit I want. I am the beloved leader after all. I am evil? Not at all, they live thanks to me, if it wasn't for me most of those people would be dead or in worse circumstances. So I am a good ruler.

"...And this is how we get the water, do you have any questions about how the well works?" Dianne asks me. I'm bored, I'm very bored.

"Huh, all clear." I say yawning a little to imply that I'm bored. "What do you guys do here for fun?" I ask innocently tilting my head slightly. At that, she stares at me for a moment.

"You know? You arrive just in time, at night a play will be performed along with a small celebration to celebrate the harvest we have obtained." She says with a slight smile on her face.

"A theater play? Interesting." I say massaging my chin with a small smile. Although these people live their lives in a very monotonous and boring way, a play catches my attention.

In the distance I can see Ezekiel's bodyguard watching me like a hawk, apparently, they suspect me. That's good, they're not stupid enough to let a newcomer wander around unattended.

In addition to the fact that I was not at all subtle when I arrived in the Kingdom, keeping them paranoid is fun and in case they try something against me, my snipers will not sit idly by. By now they must have this entire complex surrounded, I just hope they don't show themselves.

I involuntarily started to laugh softly, all these people living their lives in peace…all of that ends today.

"Are you OK?" Dianne asks me with a worried look on her face, at this, my face turns red with embarrassment and I start coughing rapidly.

"It's nothing, I was just remembering a joke, that's all." I say quickly avoiding eye contact. It is quite uncomfortable for me that someone sees me laugh out of the blue, they may think I'm crazy.

After walking around for a few minutes I find a group of children and teenagers practicing some dialogues, in that, I put on my best friendly smile and I approach them.

The children notice my presence and stop what they are doing. "Hello, you must be the new guy. My name is Benjamin." He says introducing himself. "And this is my little brother Henry and they are…" Benjamin starts to introduce me to the whole group. I'm not interested in learning the names of the cannon fodder.

"My name is Justin Smith, I am 12 years old and I am a fan of chocolate." I say with a charming smile. "What were you doing a few moments ago? It looked fun can I join?" I say showing my puppy dog eyes.

"Sure little one, we are practicing the play that will take place tonight in front of the entire Kingdom, it is called the three little pigs and I have the role of the big bad wolf." Benjamin says proudly.

"That is cool!" I exclaim with my hands in the air with a childish air. At that Benjamin's face turns red with embarrassment. "In my school, I was in the drama club and we performed that play several times, I also played the role of the big bad wolf." I say grunting a little, causing some laughter from those present.

This is a complete lie, I was never part of any club, however, an interesting idea starts to spin in my head.

"Seriously? Maybe you could give me some suggestions." Benjamin says massaging his chin.

"I'm sure my brother is better than you!" Henry exclaims pointing his finger at me before crossing his arms.

"Henry that was rude." Benjamin rebukes his younger brother. At that, my stalker makes an appearance approaching me with a fake smile on his face.

"Hello young people, I need to borrow Justin for a moment, Your Highness wishes to talk with him." Jerry says placing a hand on my shoulder. I guess it was about time.

"Okay." I say nodding my head. "Benjamin, could you watch my skateboard?" I ask, at that, he nods his head.

"No problem." Benjamin says.

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POV Ezekiel

I am in the auditorium sitting on my wooden throne waiting for my little guest, accompanying me is my tigress Shiva, everyone is always impressed when they see Shiva for the first time. I am sure that the child will get nervous and reveal the reason why he is in the Kingdom.

Only Jerry and I are aware of the child's situation, there is no need to scare the residents, I first have to know what the child's intentions are towards us and determine if he is a threat.

Shortly after, the doors to the auditorium open and I watch as Jerry advances toward me with his medieval ax slung over his shoulder as he is followed by the kid.

The boy's gaze sweeps the room, he looks at me for a second, and then his attention turns to Shiva, then a smile spreads across the boy's face.

I am perplexed, this was not the reaction I was expecting, I expected the kid to be scared, not that he would be excited.

"Is that a tiger?!" He exclaims happily with his hands in the air with a smile on his face. However, as he gets closer to me, Shiva growls louder and louder in the direction of the kid.

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"Shiva cut it out, he's our little guest." I say, but Shiva is still growling and stands in front of me protectively ready to pounce on the kid at any moment. "Shiva is enough!" I yell pulling Shiva's chain hard to keep her away from the kid.

At that, Jerry quickly runs over to me and helps me place Shiva in her cage as she continues to roar furiously at the kid. This is very strange, Shiva has never acted like this before.

"Sorry for Shiva's attitude, it's the first time she acts like that." I pronounce slowly narrowing my eyes in the direction of the kid. Jerry is now to one side of me protectively holding his ax over his shoulder, trying to look threatening.

"Now, I wonder, little Justin." I say massaging my beard. "What did Shiva see in you to feel threatened?" I ask with interest.

"Huh, I have no idea, maybe she thought I'd be a good appetizer?" Justin responds by shrugging his shoulders and scratching his head with a subtle smile.

At this, I shake my head. "Where you come from?" I ask interested.

"Washington." He says quietly. "I come from Washington." is all he says with a smile on his face as he sways himself.

I can hear Jerry take a shaky breath as I keep a contemplative gaze on the kid. So the kid belongs to the mysterious group that settles in Washington, however, that does not answer why he is here. He doesn't look like he's lying.

However, just as I am beginning the questioning, Dianne rushes into the auditorium and approaches me. "It's Benjamin." She pronounces, in that I stand up quickly.

"What happened?" I ask quickly with a slight note of alarm in my voice.

"He fell off a skateboard and broke his ankle, you don't have to worry, he's fine, he's not serious, however, he won't be able to play the role for tonight's play." She says and then shakes her head. At that, I sit back on my throne relieved that it's nothing serious.

"I told him to take care of my skateboard." Justin says crossing his arms pretending to be annoyed, however, I can detect a small smile on the curve of his lips. I'm starting to think that Justin had something to do with Benjamin's fall.

"Your Majesty, may I propose a replacement?" Jerry says. "The young man here says that he has played that role several times in the past." He says pointing to Justin who seems to be surprised, or that's what he appears.

"What a coincidence…" I say slowly.

"Huh, I can take on the role, it will be fun." He says smiling slightly.

I guess I can question the kid after he finishes the play and get a lot of answers regarding the Washington community. Will he have escaped? Is he really lost? Whatever his intentions, we won't take our eyes off him.

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POV Justin

"I'm sorry I used your skateboard without your permission." Says Benjamin using a crutch to stay on his feet.

"You don't have to worry about that, accidents happen." I say with a charming smile. Stupid, he must have thought he would look cool using my skateboard to impress his little brother and ended up getting hurt. On the plus side, I now have the role of the big bad wolf in the play and plan on having fun traumatizing these people a bit.

What can I say? I like to be dramatic and make clear the difference in power between the Empire and the Kingdom.

"Have you read the script yet?" Benjamin asks me, at this, I just wave my hands dismissively. I don't need a script for what is about to happen, after all, improvisation is the best script of all time.

At that moment I am approached by a slightly overweight woman with her head covered with a veil, she is Nabila, Jerry's wife on the TV show, although I think they are not in a relationship yet. "You look quite adorable in that outfit." She says offering me an apple. Given this, I take the apple and take a bite.

"Thanks, but I must not look adorable, remember that I am the big bad wolf." I say with my cheeks puffed out as I continue to eat the apple. I am currently wearing fake wolf ears along with a fake tail in addition to a mask around my eyes. That they think what they want after all I care little about the opinion of the little pigs.

At first, they had planned to perform the play in the auditorium, however, now they decided to perform it under the moonlight on the community patio so that the guards could enjoy it as well. I must say that these people are quite considerate, too bad this will bite them in the ass.

People are celebrating, some drinking some kind of homemade alcoholic beverage while others are eating the different foods they prepared for the occasion.

In that Ezekiel approaches the center of the square calling the attention of all the residents. "These have been very hard times for each of us, we have lost our homes, and many loved ones, and yet here we are. Surviving together in this wonderful community that we have created with a lot of effort." Ezekiel says raising a glass in the air. "The Kingdom will remain strong as long as its people are strong. For the Kingdom!" He exclaims causing a wave of cheering.

"Now let the show begin." He says opening his hands theatrically and with a smile on his face.

At this, a crooked smile spreads across my face, he's right, it's time for the show to start.

"I have to pee." I say quickly as I walk away from the group.

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POV Ezekiel

After a few minutes. The play is finally about to begin, all the families and inhabitants of the kingdom gather around the center of the square to get an excellent view.

In that, the play begins and I watch with a smile on my face as the children act playing their roles, especially Henry who plays the role of one of the little pigs.

To tell the truth, we could have chosen another play, however, this play makes a great reference to the Kingdom where the moral is that if we work together we can overcome any adversity including walkers or factors external to our community.

Benjamin volunteered to do the narration while he was sitting in a chair with his crutch at his side. "…And out of the darkness the dreaded big bad wolf appeared, ready to stalk our poor little pigs…" Benjamin exclaims out loud while in the background a little melody sounds courtesy of our guitarist cheering up the situation.

However, the wolf did not appear. Where is Justin? My gaze goes to Jerry who is just as confused as I am along with everyone else.

In that, in the distance, Justin appears drawing the attention of all those present. "The little pigs found themselves living in false security within their walls!" he exclaimed. "They had orchards, they had a well and they had a king!" He exclaims, but this time it can be heard from several directions, and just above us appears a drone with some speakers attached.

Residents and guards believe that this is all part of the show, they have not realized the magnitude of the situation.

"This...this wasn't in the script." Benjamin stutters a bit as he picks up the crutch and walks over to his younger brother, standing in front of him protectively. In that, some guards also become suspicious of the situation because we don't have a drone.

"Until the big bad wolf knocked on the gates of the Kingdom and demanded that they join him. The little pigs refused believing that they could face the big wolf if they worked together, however, they all died and the wolf kept all their things." He says with a crooked smile on his face. As I quickly get to my feet and start to walk over to Justin.

It all started happening very fast.

At this point, the residents already realized that this is not part of the play, the guards began to take weapons, bows, spears, and the few firearms we had.

The kids are scared, some are starting to cry as Jerry stands protectively close to me.

The two guards at the front gate started running towards us with alarm on their faces.

"So Little Pigs ~ Little Pigs!" Justin yells with a satisfied smile on his face. "Let me in!"

Then an explosion occurs behind Justin and I watch wide-eyed as the gate to the Kingdom is destroyed.

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