26 Days (Part 2)

When Grant arrived at the table to take part in breakfast, the two kids just stared at him with both happiness and hatred.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?"

"Did you know these houses don't have insulation or drywall like the houses from before The Path's emergence?" asked Richard.

"Of course they don't, why would you.. oh shit... You heard?!"

Richard and Robin both bobbed their heads up and down like two chickens.

"Please refrain from such activities when we are home. Both Robin and I were forced to wander the dungeon while you and Mom had your... 'time together'."

Grant suddenly wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

From behind him however came a burst of laughter. Ally, who was standing in the entryway to the kitchen couldn't contain herself any longer and started laughing.

She knew she should be embarrassed but she was too happy to worry about it at the moment.

Since her kids had endorsed the idea of her and Grant being together, along with the fact that she was growing stronger by the day; she seemed more free lately.

When Ally managed to pull herself together, she apologized to the kids for her lack of foresight and consideration before promising that it wouldn't happen again.

Grant, still embarrassed, tried to change the subject.

"Richard, your mom told me that you and Robin have started to walk your Path. When we have time later, you two will have to show me what you're Path's are and what skills you posses."

Now that they were discussing a topic that actually interested her, Robin shot up out of her chair and rushed over to Grant before grabbing his arm and looking into his eyes with the typical 'Praise me' kids get when they accomplish something.

Laughing, Grant reached up and gave Robin a few pats on the head.

"Congratulations Robin. I'm very proud of you!

You too Richard. Congratulations on obtaining your Path."

Robin just giggled in response while Richard simply nodded his head.

"Guess what Grant!

Did you know I can tame monsters now?! If they willingly allow me to tame them, I can even keep them forever! As long as they don't come to dislike me that is..."

Since Grant had always enjoyed reading different novels related to taming and pets, he was naturally enamored by the idea of being able to tame monsters and animals alike.

"Wait... how do you know if a monster is willing or not?"

Robin suddenly put her finger on her chin and scrunched her face up, "I'm not sure. I can just tell I guess."

Grant couldn't help but pat Robin on the head a few times because of how cute she looked when she was thinking.

"Well don't worry about it too much. We can experiment together later! I want to see it in action!"

Robin jumped around in joy at the idea of being able to go out on adventures with Grant again. This time, her mom would even be coming along! Which made her that much happier.

Richard told Grant that describing his skills wouldn't be as effective as actually showing him, Grant didn't ask him to go into any details and just promised to help him out when they had time.

What surprised Grant, was that apparently Couzar had the same Path as Richard and the oversized skeleton had even taken some time to show Richard how to use the skills exclusive to their Path.

Since Grant had never seen Couzar use any skills, he had no idea what the Path was capable of and was suddenly looking forward to finding out.

Maybe some day it would allow him to gain an advantage over Couzar.

While the three of them were discussing different topics, Ally served breakfast and joined them at the table.

Grant enjoyed the relaxing time as much as he could because he knew it would soon be over and he would be forced to once again throw himself headlong into the struggle to survive.

After finishing breakfast, Grant stood up and bade farewell to the three before he gave Ally a kiss goodbye; much to the disgust of the kids who didn't want to see such a public display of affection.

A chorus of, "Ew gross." "Get a room you two.." "I don't want to see that!" and many other complaints rained down on the two.

However, that didn't stop the two from smiling at each other and partaking in one more kiss before Grant left to join Jerrod, Scott, and the rest of the budding town's leadership group.

When Grant arrived at his old sleeping quarters, Jerrod, Scott, and the rest were already hard at work.

Receiving brief greetings from the group, Jerrod was the only one who actually placed down his work and walked over to Grant.

"Grant, the teams are ready to go out and begin searching for survivors. Today, they will attempt to clear the entire area surrounding the dungeon, up to one mile away. Are you going to be joining them?"

"I will. What about the new recruits from the group I just brought over? Did most of them show up this morning to partake in the expedition?"

Jerrod nodded his head and then handed a list of names over to Grant.

Other than a few names that had been crossed off, everyone else had arrived at the gathering area as requested.

The ones who had not shown up would not suffer any repercussions, but they would forfeit their right to join in the future.

Grant was a firm believer of sticking with a task or job once he had committed too it and expected the same from the people who worked for or with him.

Now that these people had passed up on the opportunity to train with him and level in relative safety, he would not give them a second chance.

Jerrod gave a brief explanation for why some of the people hadn't shown up, but Grant wasn't interested in their excuses.

What made him happy was that he noticed a few names on the list that he recognized.

Leonard, Nicole, Zach, and a whole slew of others from the guards had volunteered to join the expedition.

After looking through the list however, he was surprised to see one name he had not expected to see.

Aubrey; Ethan's girlfriend.

Grant couldn't believe that Ethan wouldn't try and talk her out of it after everything that he had experienced but he figured that, whether he wanted to or not, he would end up having a conversation with Ethan about the issue.

Thanking Jerrod, Grant took the list and headed back out of the room towards the entrance of the dungeon.

As he walked alone through the budding town, Grant enjoyed the sounds of constant hammering and the smell of the fresh cut wood.

Grant had been curious how they were managing to create such clean wood but he got his answer when he passed by one of the buildings under construction and saw a band saw being used to create the lumber needed for the building.

Apparently they were using a gas powered generator to supply the electricity for the equipment.

Grant made a mental note to see if Jerrod knew anything about creating a power network for the town to use.

When The Path emerged, most of the electricity had been knocked out but Grant had it appeared as if that may have been a one time consequence so maybe it was possible to rebuild a network after the Earth's evolution.

As Grant approached the meeting area, he suddenly sensed someone approaching him from behind.

Soon enough, an arm slid between his own arm and his chest before it wrapped itself around his arm and held on tight.

"I thought we agreed not to be too affectionate in public? You're even the one who suggested that Ally."

Even with that said though, Grant still looked down at the woman hanging off his arm and kissed the top of her head affectionately.

"I know what we agreed on but it's fine sometimes, right?"

Grant just chuckled to himself and shook his head. It didn't matter to him either way, but he would respect Ally's wishes so he was just making sure.

As the two walked arm in arm, they quickly reached a large group of people with a portion decked out in different gear and holding different weapons while the rest were wearing plain clothes and empty handed.

The people with armor and weapons were clearly people that had already leveled a few times and used their Random Rolls while the rest were the newcomers.

Before Grant could even greet the group of fighters before him, he was suddenly bum rushed by an angry religious man followed closely by an embarrassed young lady who was doing her best to stop the man from making a scene.

"How could you let Aubrey join the expedition, Grant?!"

Grant could only sigh at Ethan's sudden bombardment.

"Listen here Ethan. This is not my issue so do not try and blame me for her decision.

This force is purely voluntary, for now, and I have not personally asked anyone to join. So any issue you have with her joining is with her, and her alone.

While we argue here, there are people struggling to survive out there in the city and a few minutes could be the difference between them being rescued or eaten alive by monsters.

So if you'll excuse me, I want to get this expedition started."

Although Ethan wanted to argue, the words became caught in his throat when he thought about the people struggling to survive.

Eventually, Ethan could only hang his head in defeat and allow himself to be pulled back into the crowd by Aubrey.

Finally, Grant began to address the group in front of him.

"Alright people, for the next 5 days, you will break off into groups of ten.

In my hand I have predetermined list of groups. The leaders name will be at the top, followed by four people who already have fighting experience. Beneath the five with experience are five new fighters.

The experienced members will be responsible for training the new members up to level 10 before we venture too deep into unexplored territory.

Just because we are breaking into smaller groups does not mean that you are allowed to go out on your own immediately. This is simply the first step in cultivating teamwork and structure.

We will move as a group in case we encounter any enemies that are beyond your abilities.

In that case, Richard, Robin, or I will be responsible for fighting the enemy.

Do I make myself clear?"

"""Yes!"""

"Good, then lets move out!"

----

Sorry about missing yesterday ladies and gents! I worked a 15 hour day yesterday and collapsed onto my living room floor when I got home.

Before I realized it, I had actually fallen asleep and it was far too late to write any chapters when I finally woke up. Haha

I'll be posting throughout the day today and get as many published as I can. Not sure how many it will end up being but I'll do my best!

Discord is in the stories' Synopsis! I have Discord on my phone and computer so if anyone wants to join and discuss the story with me, I'm readily available! (I'm honestly not sure if it works, so if you have any troubles joining let me know. Haha. I am by no stretch of the imagination, any good at using Discord.)

Thank you for all your love and support! You guys are awesome!