26 Days (Part 5)

Off in the distance, for a mere moment, Grant had caught sight of what appeared to be a flash of light.

It wasn't a flash of light you would see when you turned a light switch on and off really quick, it was more akin to a flash of light from a fire flickering in the wind.

When Ally saw the excited look on Grant's face and the direction he was staring, she too looked in that direction.

Just as she turned her head, the light flashed once again.

Knowing what it could potentially mean, she too became excited.

Now that Grant had confirmed that it wasn't merely his own imagination, Ally and him quickly gathered up their stuff.

The kids, although confused by the sudden activity, packed their stuff as well and the four of them quickly set out in the direction of the light.

Since they were only a few stories off the ground, the four of them simply jumped off and hit the ground running.

As they headed in the general direction of the light, Grant gave the three others a few instructions.

"If we manage to find a camp that has survivors, we should do our utmost to approach them without hostility.

If their camp is like the CRMC camp though, we may face a rather difficult situation. Although I am hoping for the best, make sure you are prepared for the worst."

Since the three of them had only ever been to the dungeon town and the Tempe camp, which was a relatively nice place to live all things considered, Grant was nervous for what they may experience if they found another camp.

As the four of them wove their way through the streets, they realized that the path of travel was becoming less and less difficult. The debris that had littered the streets was becoming increasingly scarce which meant that someone had taken the time to clear the area.

To Grant, that was a sign of leadership who cared.

Why take the time to clean the area if all you care about is your own vanity and well being?

It just wouldn't make sense to waste the manpower if you only thought of yourself.

When the four of them turned a corner not far from where Ally and Grant had seen the light, they were surprised by what they saw.

Lining the streets were torches every 10 to 15 feet that were keeping the clean street well lit.

Not more than a half a mile down the street, they could see a fence similar to ones you would see surrounding a construction site.

They were made of wood and stood at least 8 feet tall. The gate was basically a giant wooden slab that sat on a set of wheels. On either side of the gate was a guard tower occupied by two people each.

The guards didn't appear to be holding rifles or guns of any sort and instead seemed to be carrying an assortment of weapons.

As the four of them approached the gates, they slowed their progress down from a sprint to a walk so as not to alarm the guards.

When the guards noticed them, rather than sit in their towers and threaten them, the gate slid open and a group of six people came out and formed a line.

Grant was relatively impressed by this because it meant that even in the middle of the night the gate had at least 10 people guarding it at any time.

Their was no way they had known they were coming so this was most certainly not for show, at least that's what he thought.

As the four of them arrived close to the gate, a woman not much older than Ally with long brown hair, brown eyes, and a stout frame stepped forward. The first words out of her mouth, caught the group completely by surprise.

"Are you Grant by chance?"

Rather than answering immediately, Grant stared at the woman for a few seconds trying to figure out if he knew her from somewhere.

No matter how much he wracked his brain however, he was unable to find any memory of the woman.

As the seconds dragged on, the woman appeared to be growing more and more impatient, so Grant was forced to finally answer, "I am Grant, yes. Do we know each other? Forgive me if we do, but I do not have any recollection of you."

Seemingly relieved, the woman let out the breathe she had been holding since she had first approached them.

"No, we do not know each other.

Apparently our leader knows you though and when she heard your voice on the walkie talkie's, she told me that you were in the area and it appeared you were searching for survivors.

She gave us your description and asked us to lead you to her residence if you ever appeared."

Now Grant was well and truly caught off guard.

Someone he knew? Who the heck could it be? He hardly had any friends outside of his small group of friends and his family was no where near the area.

Rather than try and guess, he asked outright, "Who is your leader?"

Unfortunately, he didn't get an answer. The woman simply said that he would soon know and then requested that Grant and the other three follow her.

She led them through the gate and into what appeared to have been a massive warehouse complex of some sort. Even though the warehouse was no longer standing, it wasn't hard to notice the remnants of what had been there at one point.

The first thing the four of them saw were hundreds and hundreds of tents line up in an orderly manner across the open lot.

All of them appeared to be in relatively good condition and the area was clear of any waste or debris.

Clearly, whoever was in charge of this camp made sure that although the conditions here weren't phenomenal, they wouldn't be bad either.

As they walked, the woman leading the way was constantly being greeted by the people in the surrounding area.

Along the way, Grant learned that her name was Leah and she was in fact the second in command of the camp. Which made it even stranger that he apparently knew the leader of this camp but not the woman in front of him.

When the group reached what appeared to be a small office building, Leah greeted the guards that were standing on either side of the door before heading inside.

While receiving curious glances from the two guards, Grant and the other three made their way inside as well.

Before Grant could take so much as a few steps though, he was suddenly lunged upon by a small woman who wrapped her arms around his neck and hung from his body.

"GRANT! It's so good to see you! I knew that was your voice when I heard it on the radios! I am so glad you're alive!"

From the voice and stature of the woman, Grant realized who the leader was.

He took a deep breathe to keep himself calm, "I was wondering who it was that was in charge here.. turns out it's you Hailey..."

Still hanging onto Grant's neck, Hailey looked up and, "Why do you sound disappointed?! I thought you'd be happy to see me!"

Grant couldn't help but shake his head back and forth.

"Yes yes, I am happy to see you. Now can you please let go of me so we can have a proper conversation?"

Albeit reluctantly, Hailey released her arms from around his neck and took a few steps back. It was then that she finally realized that Grant was not alone.

"Who are these three?! Woah, that lady is pretty!! And oh my gosh! That girl is so cute!! Why are they with you? Did you kidnap them?!?!"

Grant could already feel a headache coming on but endured to the best of his abilities and introduced his companions, "No.. I did not kidnap them... I saved their lives at one point and we've been together ever since.

Allow me to introduce them, the pretty woman is Ally, the cute girl is Robin, and the boy you splendidly ignored is Richard. They are Ally's kids.

Ally, Richard and Robin, the little chibi you see standing before you, is my friend Hailey. We've known each other since we were kids unfortunately. Our families were friends since before we were born so we basically grew up together.

She's a bit of a handful so I apologize for her in advance."

Hailey suddenly looked like she had been wounded before crying out, "How can you call me a chibi?! I'm not that short! And what do you mean I'm a handful?! If you weren't such a negative Nancy all the time you would realize how fun I am! Tsk, it's nice to see you haven't changed at all though."

While the two were bickering back and forth, Ally and the kids couldn't help but laugh.

Although they had seen Grant having fun and enjoying himself. This was the first time they had seen him face another person who appeared to be his match in stubbornness and attitude.

After going back and forth for a few minutes, Grant realized they had gotten massively off track and suddenly discarded his blase attitude, suddenly turning serious.

"Hailey, I have a camp inside a dungeon not far from here. You and your people need to come with me and join our budding town.

The Earth itself is about to change massively, again, and we need to save as many people as possible."

To the surprise of everyone in the room except Grant himself, Hailey agreed without question.

"Okay! Lets do it! When do we leave?"

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A/N:

I have realized that this 26 days part has dragged on a bit. I apologize for that. I was going to set it up by doing Day 1: Short description then Day 2: Short.. so on and so on. But I wasn't a huge fan of that structure so I went with what I have now. Unfortunately that means the 26 Days has turned into 26 Chapters... haha.