Aftermath

{Think nothing of it Grant. You had no way of knowing.}

[When this is over, I'd like to hear more of your story. It's about time that you and I actually spend some time to understand each other.]

{And so we shall.}

Relieved that the tension between him and Sherlock had been eased ever so slightly, Grant reached the drone ants.

It took him no mare than a half a minute to wipe out the last remaining group of ants.

Seeing Grant arrive, Zach and the rest did their best to quickly eliminate the ants that they were directly engaged with before quickly falling back inside of the sliding doors to the hospital.

There was a wave of relief that flooded over Zach and the rest when they saw Grant come charging in too the fight.

Just as Ethan had been, they were all on their last slivers of stamina and health.

If Grant's arrival had been delayed by even a few minutes, most likely all of them would be dead.

As Grant killed the last of the ants, Tom and Zach walked out from within the hospital. Zach had his arm slung over Tom's shoulder for support and was barely managing to walk even with it.

"Thank you for saving us Grant but where is Ethan?! He was wounded when we last saw him and was bleeding profusely!

Did he make it?!"

"Calm down Zach, he's alive. Stay here a moment and I'll go get him." said Grant as he raised his hands up and down gesturing for Zach to bring it down a notch before he turned around and walked towards where Ethan was currently.

Zach let out a deep breathe and pulled his arm out from around Tom's neck before collapsing onto the stairs of the walkway.

Just as he had promised, Grant returned a couple minutes later with the unconscious Ethan slung over his shoulder.

When he reached the location where Zach was sitting, Grant gently laid Ethan down next to him before sitting on the other side of him.

Grant wanted to ask Zach what had happened, but before he could even begin speaking, Zach jumped to his feet so fast it appeared as if he was at full strength and not even the least bit tired before bombarding Grant with a torrent of questions.

"Where are his wounds?! How is he even alive for that matter?! Is he unconscious or is he dead?! Wait... his chest is raising and falling as if he is breathing... but how?!"

"For a grown man, you get really worked up, you know that? Why don't you take a few breaths, sit back down, and relax before you have a heart attack and die yourself...

If you sit down, I'll explain what happened to Ethan."

Zach, somewhat reluctantly, sat back down on the stairs without taking his eyes off of Ethan. Rather than staring at Ethan in particular, Zach was staring at the location where he knew that Ethan had been wounded.

He was finding it inconceivable that Ethan appeared totally normal despite what Zach had personally witnessed.

Grant simply waited patiently for Zach to redirect his attention towards him before he began to recall the fight that he had personally undertook and then the subsequent rescue of Ethan.

Zach had a similar reaction to what Grant had when he realized he too had completely forgotten about the Credits and Item Shop.

Without Grant even saying anything, Zach immediately opened up the item shop himself and bought a potion.

The moment the potion appeared, he popped the cork faster than an alcoholic on a Friday night and downed it in mere moments.

His wounds healed at a visible rate which turned Zach's grim appearance into one that was of the picture of health.

Everyone else who had participated in the fight and overheard what Grant said as well as witnessed Zach's healing speed, also bought potions with the credits they had accumulated from fighting under Andrew's leadership.

What surprised and even angered the few who were currently missing limbs though, was that Grant actually stopped them from drinking their potions.

At first they thought that maybe Grant believed them to be worthless because of their current states and would rather see them die of their wounds; but they quickly realized that even though that was something Andrew may have done, Grant had done it for their benefits.

He told them about the Major Recovery Potions and the ability for the potion to reattach severed limbs.

Making sure that they understood, Grant told them that he would purchase Major Recovery Potions with his own Credits and trade them for the less powerful Potions that they had bought before he could stop them.

Since losing a limb was a rather vivid experience and something anyone would likely forget, the four people who had lost their limbs immediately asked for assistance in moving to where their injuries had been sustained.

Under the assistance of a few normal people, three of them disappeared off into the camp.

The fourth person, a middle aged man who looked like he had spent his entire life out in the Arizona sun, with one of the darkest tans Grant had ever seen, simply walked over to an arm that was laying not too far away from where everyone was gathered before bending down and picking it up.

He did so with the most nonchalant attitude Grant had ever seen in a person, let alone a man who was not just figuratively but literally standing at death's door.

He silently walked over to Grant with his severed limb now tucked under his other arm, before he grabbed the Recovery Potion that he had bought out of his pocket and handed it over to Grant.

Chuckling to himself at the man's attitude, Grant simply purchased a Major Recovery Potion and handed it over to the man.

Keen to see the process and outcome, Grant and everyone else present watched the man down the potion before using his good arm to hold his severed arm up against the stump that was still attached to his body.

At first, it didn't appear as if anything was happening other than the mans other wounds healing quickly, but the moment that the final wound healed, the flesh and blood dripping out of the half severed arm seemed to congeal into a gelatinous fluid before it acted as if it had gained mind of its own.

It slowly and deliberately stretched out to the severed portion of the arm before it seemed to find its place.

As the flesh and blood came into contact with the severed portion, more flesh, muscle, and tissue grew out of the severed stump and connected to the rest of the arm.

When their was a sufficient amount of connections between the arm and the body, the man released the severed portion and allowed the body to finish the healing process.

Before the tissue, muscle, and flesh returned to their normal states, it looked as if the arm had been pulled tight against each other, as if someone had been sewing loosely around the wound only to pull the threads tightly together at the end.

Grant and everyone else was absolutely fascinated by the entire process and didn't snap out of it until the man moved his arm around as if nothing had ever happened too it.

[Absolutely amazing.. for all the shit and misery The Path has dropped on my head, I have to say that that was an amazing thing to watch...

Kind of freaky seeing all of that happen without seeing the bone, but I'll just assume it didn't reattach until the arm was set in its place.]

As the man was testing out his newly healed arm, the other three people returned once again under the assistance of their fellow survivors.

Two of them were carrying their severed limbs, but the third, who was a young woman who had been standing behind Andrew during their fight, was walking back with a downcast look on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks.

When the two with their severed limbs approached, Grant quickly exchanged their potions with the Major Recovery Potions before directing them to the side to get their wounds healed up.

After the two walked away, Grant walked over to the young lady that had clearly failed in finding her lost limb, before taking her arm one good arm off of the shoulders of the person assisting her and placed it over his own shoulder.

Without saying a word, Grant led her inside the hospital and past the gawking crowd before taking her to a quiet and private room on the first floor.

He gently placed her down into a chair that was in the room before he knelt down in front of her.

Before Grant could speak, the young lady broke down into a torrent of tears and sadness.

Rather than rush her, Grant simply waited in place for her to let it all out.

"What's your name young lady?"

"Nicole Dixon"

"Alright Nicole, I want you to listen to me, okay? For the courage and valiance you have shown today. I promise you, on my name and that of everything I hold dear to my heart. I will find a way to get back what you have lost.

I know it is of no comfort to you now, but please have faith in me."

Nicole, still fighting to hold back tears, simply nodded her head.

"Good, now I need you to drink this potion so that you do not lose any more blood from your wounds.

Besides, you're so pretty that maybe losing your arm will give the rest of the girls here a chance with the boys."

The moment the words left his mouth, Grant was horrified that he had allowed himself to make a joke like that while the person it was directed at was suffering so much.

But before he could apologize.

Nicole leaned forward and placed her lips on Grant's.