Poisoned

When asked such a question, Grant didn't have an immediate response since he had never really given it much thought so he had to spend some time thinking it over.

After a few minutes of silence, he finally had an answer, "I guess you could say that my first thought was how I could survive followed closely by what do I actually need to do in order to survive? I've never really given it much thought I guess, so this is the best answer I have for you now."

Tom, seemingly not at all surprised by Grant's response, nodded his head.

"You would be in the minority, Grant. Your first instinct was to do whatever needed to be done to survive. That is not how most people I have met reacted to the situation though. Do you know what the prevailing thought pattern was?"

"Do tell."

"It was, 'When is the army or someone coming to rescue me?'."

In a way, it made sense to Grant that most people would think that way. The population at large had always been protected by the brave few throughout modern history.

Only in times of crisis would people step up and do what needed to be done. But that courage could be overridden by a complete lack of faith in a positive outcome.

If people believed that the situation was hopeless, then they too would lose hope and immediately default into, 'Save me!'.

But if they saw other people who had started at the same place they had, rise above the challenge and crisis, then they too would gain the courage to step up once again.

"I can see that you seem to understand what I'm trying to get at. Although your strength is in fact a representation of what we humans are capable of, you are so far above everyone else that it is hard to believe that achieving that level is possible.

That does not, however, apply to people like Zach, Nicole, and the rest. They have been with these people since the beginning and seen where they began until where they are now.

I know that at least a few of the normal folks in the camp had begun to desire the strength that Zach and them possessed but Andrew had always made sure that the overall power of the group remained low so that he could control them easier.

Now that you are openly recruiting and asking people to be better though, they are answering your call in droves."

Grant sat quietly for a few minutes, taking another sip of the coffee to give himself time to think.

Before he could continue the conversation with Tom though, a notification appeared that suddenly distracted him.

{You have been poisoned by the compound Cyanide.

You will lose 1 Health per minute until the poison has been cleansed.

Strength of poison significantly reduced due to the strength of the user.}

Grant was stunned when he read through the notification before a violent rage burst out from within him.

[Who the fuck would try and poison me?!]

{Unbound Rage has been activated.

For the next minute you will receive a boost of 100 to each of your stats.}

The sudden increase in stats and the pressure and killing intent that burst forth from within Grant, shattered the chair beneath him as he stood up to confront Tom.

"What the fuck is going on Tom?! You thought that some weak ass poison like Cyanide would be enough to kill me?!"

With Grant's sudden and drastic change in demeanor, Tom was already terrified that somehow he had said something wrong or offended Grant in some way, but he was exponentially more terrified when Grant started talking about poison.

"I don't know what you're talking about Grant! I did no such thing!"

And that was when Tom suddenly had an idea, without thinking, he glanced towards the room that Betty had disappeared into.

Grant noticed the direction that Tom was looking and immediately moved at his full speed into the room.

To Tom, it appeared as if Grant had been standing in front of him one moment and then disappeared the next.

When Grant entered the room, he realized that it was empty.

Sitting on the counter next to the propane stove was a small vial.

Grant reached down and picked up the vial before reading its label.

He didn't understand all of the medical jargon written on it, but he could understand what it was when he saw the words, concentrated cyanide, written in small letters in the description.

As he was reading the vial, Tom finally made it to the doorway but went no further when he didn't see Betty and only saw Grant holding the small vial.

Grant immediately looked up from the vial and stared at Tom with a fire burning in his eyes and rage twisting his face.

"What the fuck is this Tom? Did you know that your wife was going to try and poison me?"

Fearing for his life, Tom did his best to defend himself, "I swear on the Lord's name that I had no idea! I don't even know why she would try and do that in the first place!"

Staring at him for a few seconds, Grant took a few deep breaths before opening up the item shop and purchasing a low quality cleansing potion for 1 credit.

{Potion: Cleansing Potion

Name: Minor Cleansing Potion

Grade: Low

Allows the user to cleanse their body of all minor poisons.}

Grant unhurriedly pulled the stopper out of the top of the potion and downed it's contents before receiving another notification.

{The compound Cyanide has been cleansed from your system.

You will no longer lose Health every minute.}

Satisfied with the efficacy of the potion, Grant threw the bottle onto the floor and watched it shatter and subsequently disappear into small particles of light while doing his best to calm his turbulent emotions.

After a few deep breathes, Grant once again focused his attention on Tom who at this point was visibly shaking with fear.

"Go sit back down at the table. I will be with you in a minute.

If you run away before you answer my questions, I will find you and I will kill you. Do keep that in mind."

Not daring to refute, Tom walked out of the room and moments later, Grant heard the sound of the chair sliding across the floor momentarily.

[I doubt Tom would be stupid enough to take part in a plan to poison me. He would have to realize that at this point, something so weak as Cyanide would be unable to affect me in any major way...

So why the fuck would his wife try and poison me?]

Grant glanced at the window in the wall of the room and saw a small portion of clothing that had apparently ripped from Betty's clothing as she climbed out the window and escaped.

[What a crazy old lady... what could I have done to her to make her want to kill me?

Doesn't matter, I'll ask her when we catch her.]

Knowing he wouldn't find any answers here, Grant walked back into the main room of the house and headed for the front door.

Grant momentarily glanced at Tom only to see the old man staring right back at him. Clearly the old man was desperate for answers and a chance to defend himself, but Grant ignored him and walked outside.

Once outside, Grant turned towards the two armed guards, "You two. I need you to go find Betty and bring her back here. Be warned, she may be armed and dangerous.

I know this doesn't make much sense, but do not question me and just do it. Do you understand?"

The two guards looked at each other confused for a second before they both looked back at Grant.

Seeing the stern and emotionless expression on Grant's face, the two hurriedly expressed their understanding before scurrying away.

Watching them leave, Grant noticed someone coming towards him at the same time.

Leonard had a massive smile on his face and was practically skipping down the street as he approached.

Clearly, despite the events of the day, Leonard's mood was still at an all time high now that he had found his family.

When Leonard was close enough, Grant finally greeted him, "Hello Leonard, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Tom! Is he inside?"

"He is. But now isn't a good time, Leonard. Can you come back later?"

Practically ignoring what Grant had to say, Leonard suddenly got very nervous, "Huh? What happened? Is Tom okay?!".

Before he was done asking, he was already running towards the house.

When he was about to stop Leonard, Grant realized that the young man seemed to know a lot about the camp and it's people so maybe it was possible that he knew about the reason why Betty would try and poison him.

After entering the house, Leonard saw the destroyed chair and frightened Tom before starting to freak out even more.

"What the heck happened here?!"