Dead Among The Living

Richard and Robin had taken a step forward and were planning on carrying Grant back into the settlement when Skit told them to lead the way. At first they didn't know how to react so they just stared at the skeleton with a dazed look in their eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr Skeleton, did you say, lead the way?"

"I did. I will carry Grant to wherever you need him to be taken.

Grant spoke often of you two when him and I were training. He has an immense amount of trust in you, so I would like to get to know you two a little better if I can. He said that you would be of great help to the cause that him and I have decided to pursue."

Richard and Robin exchanged glances and could see the confusion as well as pride laced in their gazes. They were proud that Grant thought so highly of them and trusted them so much. But they were confused by what Skit meant by "cause". Grant had mentioned that he had plans that he wanted to accomplish and that he would be working with Skit. But he hadn't elaborated on what exactly they were.

Eventually Richard told Skit to wait where he was so that he could go and talk to the leadership of the settlement to inform them of who he was and to make sure that none of the guards attacked him.

After Richard left to talk to the leadership, Robin and Skit stood there in silence for a little while before Robin let her curiosity get the better of her.

"Hi Mr. Skeleton! My name is Robin, are you sure that Grant is okay? He seems to be bleeding a lot."

"He is fine. He may look like he is in rough shape, but he just needs to be cleaned up and his absurdly high health stat will slowly heal him. Well, fairly quickly would be more accurate. I would say in no more than two days he should be in relatively tip top shape."

"Oh thank goodness... I was really worried when we ran away that something bad might happen to him...

By the way, do you eat food? And if you eat, does that mean you poop?"

People wouldn't think that it would be possible for a skeleton to blush in both anger and shame at the same time, but in that moment, Skit managed to pull it off.

"I say young lady. That is not an appropriate question to ask someone you just met, you know. Were you raised by degenerates or something?

Ah, my mistake. I forgot you are Grant's little protege's. That explains a lot I'd say..."

Robin just laughed at the skeleton and the embarrassment he was showing. Since she didn't really have any friends in this post apocalyptic world, she never really got a chance to play around with anyone. And whether she was brave, or stupid, she thought it would be fun to befriend Skit, if for nothing more than to say she had a skeleton friend. Based on what Grant had told her about him, he seemed like a relatively nice uncle-like figure. So she had decided to start off their conversation with something that she was genuinely curious to know about him.

As they always say, "If we could look into each other's hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we would treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care."

"I'm sorry Mr Skeleton, I was just curious. I don't know what a degenerate is, but I was raised by my Mom and Dad, as well as Richie!" Robin frowned a little before she continued, "though my Dad was killed not long after the apocalypse began so it's just my mom and Richie now..."

Skit could sympathize with the feelings she was experiencing. He too, had lost many friends and family over the years. Although they do not fear death and they have ways to avoid it most of the time, it does not mean that they can escape death forever. Eventually all living things will die.

"I am sorry for your loss young lady, I too have lost people in my time. It does not get easier, so you must be strong enough to protect your family and friends if you do not want to experience that pain again."

At first Robin just looked deep into the blazing flames that were burning in Skit's eye sockets before she nodded her head heavily.

"Just like Grant fights to protect me and my family, I want to protect him and my family. I will never stop working hard!"

"Ohoho well said young lady."

For the next few minutes, Skit and Robin went back and forth talking about where Skit came from and why he was there. Skit was purposefully vague because the information wasn't imperative for her to know but he still shared a bit about himself and his home planet anyways. He was pleasantly surprised that Robin didn't seem to be overly wary of him and she even seemed to be quite the genuine person.

Even Grant reacted more severely when they first met.

While the two were going back and forth, getting to know each other a little better, Richard returned with Scott in tow.

Scott was visibly terrified and seemed to wince every time he looked at Skit but nonetheless he gathered up his courage.

"Welcome Sir Skit, please follow me, we will lead you to where our medical tent is so that we can treat Grant's wounds."

Skit did not say anything, he just gestured for Scott to lead the way.

As Scott led the way towards the gate, every guard on the wall as well as Carly and Toby were looking at Skit with both fear and awe in their eyes.

As most people would naturally be, they were both afraid of and intrigued by a walking, talking skeleton.

Skit had gotten used to the gazes of curiosity since he had visited other planets and received not too dissimilar receptions from the races that inhabited those planets. So he easily ignored them and followed after Scott quietly. As long as no one attacked him, he would remain passive and would not do any harm to anyone in the settlement.

When they passed through the wall, and started heading deeper into the settlement, everyone who wasn't on guard duty followed along as well. Eventually they had a mini procession of people walking towards the medical tent.

For some onlookers who had no idea what was going on, it appeared that the grim reaper was escorting Grant towards his ultimate end while a procession of mourners followed behind.

Of course, some people reacted in pure fear and screamed the moment that they saw Skit but seeing all the humans surrounding him, after letting out a scream or two, they eventually gathered themselves and managed to watch them pass without making a sound.

As they reached the medical tent, Scott pulled back the flap of the entrance and gestured for Skit to enter.

As the group entered the tent, someone came running up and stood next to Grant looking down at him.

"Richie, what happened to him?! Is he okay?!"

"Calm down Mom, apparently he will be okay. He just needs to rest for a day or two. Most of the injuries are superficial and only flesh wounds. He is much stronger than Robin or I so he will recover fairly quickly."

Ally let out a deep sigh knowing that Grant wasn't in mortal danger. She was looking down at him like a mother looked at their sick child. With worry and fear written all over her face.

Skit noticed this and was surprised because Ally exuded absolutely no strength at all.

Since the day he had met Grant, he had been surprised by the latter's obsession with growing stronger so he had assumed that Grant would only surround himself with like minded people. Richard and Robin made sense because they were both fairly strong by the current human standards, but Ally was an anomaly.

As if feeling Skit's gaze on her, Ally looked up and realized that Skit was just standing still as if he was waiting for something.

The two looked at each other for awhile before Skit decided do break the silence.

"Excuse me young lady, can you please move so I can put him on the bed over there?"

Ally jumped in surprise, half because Skit was actually talking, and half because she realized she was standing in the way. She of course knew who the skeleton was because of the stories that Grant had told, but it was still surprising nonetheless.

She quickly took a step to the side so she was no longer in the way and, "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I let my emotions take control for a moment."

Skit waved his hand as if to dismiss her apology as unnecessary before he walked over to where the table was before lowering Grant onto it and deactivating the mana stretcher he had created.

Seeing Grant on the table, Ally immediately went over to the supply crate and pulled out bandages before turning around and getting to work.

Seeing the care with which Ally was wrapping Grant's wounds, Skit decided to do some investigation.

"Excuse me, young lady, Grant has mentioned you before when we were training but I want to confirm something. Are you Ally?"

Ally on paused for a second before continuing her work without even looking up, "I am."

"I see, the way he talked about you and the way you are taking care of him now, am I right to assume you two are together?"