webnovel

The Path: Through The Apocalypse

Grant was just your normal, young bachelor enjoying his mundane day to day life when The Path brought death and destruction upon the inhabitants of Earth. Now he must fight with everything he has to survive in this post apocalyptic world. Follow his journey from a weak young man to the very peak of the world and beyond. Forced to make choices that morph him into a cold blooded ruler of men, Grant will discover that their is no room for mercy on his Path to greatness. ------ Join the discord through the link below! https://discord.gg/DTtZ23TPHV

Slackr · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
142 Chs

Your what?!

After Leonard raised the dagger above Andrews chest, he just stayed that way for a few seconds.

Taking advantage of the pause, Ethan started to walk towards Leonard in an attempt to stop him from doing anything that he would regret.

Before he could even reach Leonard, however, Grant reached out his arm and stopped him.

Surprised, Ethan looked towards Grant and, "Grant, we can't let a kid do this! He's far too young to have the blood of someone on his hands!"

Grant just shook his head at Ethan, "It is not up to us to decide how to handle this situation. Leonard and everyone else present here, has suffered greatly at the hands of Andrew and they deserve the right to make the final judgement."

While Grant and Ethan were discussing quietly, the old man who had protected Leonard during the initial scuffle in the camp, Tom, walked out of the crowd and stood behind Leonard.

When Tom reached Leonard's side, he bent down on one knee and placed his left hand on Leonard's back.

"Leonard, I know you have suffered because of Andrew but you do not want to do this. Why don't you give me the dagger and walk away? Leave whatever comes next to the old folks like myself, yes?"

Leonard's hands, still holding the dagger above Andrew's chest, shook visibly at Tom's words.

A moment later, the sound of crying could be heard coming from Leonard. Even still, he did not relinquish the dagger to Tom as the old man had hoped.

After a few seconds passed, Leonard suddenly raised the dagger higher above his head before slamming it down towards Andrew.

"Leonard! No!" was all Tom managed to get out when he saw Leonard's actions.

However, instead of the dagger being embedded into Andrew's chest as everyone believed it would be, the dagger merely stabbed into the dirt between Leonard and Andrew.

Before anyone could speak though, Leonard reached over and grabbed Andrew's collar and raised him up slightly off the ground.

Leonard lowered his face so that it was mere inches from Andrew's and began to yell, "Where is my mother?! Have you killed her? Is she still alive? TELL ME!"

Andrew, who was standing at the doorsteps of the afterlife, only managed one word in response.

"Hospital"

That was all Leonard needed to hear before he scrambled to his feet with hope visible in his eyes.

Before the young man could run off in the direction of the hospital building though, Grant appeared in front of him.

"Leonard, I understand that you want to go to the hospital and confirm if your mother is actually alive or not. But you need to wait until we are finished here before we head towards the hospital. We do not know who else may be guarding the hospital and I don't want you to be in any unnecessary danger.

Why don't you go get your sister and meet me back here as soon as you do?"

Leonard, frustrated at first that someone was stopping him, seemed to relent ever so slightly when presented with the facts.

"Fine. I will go get my sister and meet you here. I have waited this long, I can wait a few more minutes."

Grant just nodded his head up and down before Leonard took off in the direction of where his sister and him had been staying.

Once Leonard was gone, Grant approached Tom who was still kneeling next to Andrew.

When Tom realized that someone was approaching, he slowly stood up and then turned to face Grant.

Seeing the old man facing him, Grant reached out his hand for a formal greeting.

"Hello Tom, it's nice to officially meet you, my name is Grant. I may be wrong, but you seem to be the one in charge of the people here?"

Tom, after a moment of hesitation, took Grant's outstretched hand and gave it a firm handshake.

"I don't know about 'in charge' but I have done what I can to protect the people here from my son."

"It appears as if... wait, your son? Who's your son?"

Leonard, who looked as if he was aging by the second, didn't speak and instead turned to look over his shoulder at Andrew who was lying on the ground behind him.

Not knowing how to react to the situation, Grant just looked at Ethan as if to confirm that he had understood correctly.

Sure enough, Ethan was quickly going back and forth between the old man and Andrew with a shocked expression plastered on his face.

Grant quickly glanced at the rest of the surrounding crowd and realized that none of them seemed to be caught off guard by this news. Which meant that the old man had never kept it a secret, Grant just hadn't had the chance to discover the information.

Not knowing what to say, Grant struggled with his next words, "Um.. I'm sorry for what I've done to your son.. but.. I couldn't stand by and watch these people suffer."

Tom just shook his head in an attempt to dismiss Grant's apology.

"You have nothing to apologize for young man. If I had the strength or the heart to do it myself, I would have. My son died years ago when his mental state was destroyed by his mother's death. He has not been the person I raised since then.

My only plea, for you and the people here, is that you simply let me son pass on without any more suffering.

I believe he has suffered enough."

Grant, who had already vented his frustration and anger on Andrew, knew that any more suffering that he caused to the young man, would simply be torture and serve no purpose, so he took a few steps backwards to show his consent.

While their were some comments laced with anger and ridicule, no one from the crowd stepped forward to argue against Tom's request.

Seeing that no one was going to reject his request, Tom turned back around and knelt down next to his son. He did not take the young man in his arms or cry in his chest with sadness, he simply placed his hand on the young mans chest and looked into his son's eyes.

As Andrew lost the fight to survive, the light in his eyes slowly dimmed until it had faded away completely.

To Andrew's credit, he neither begged nor pleaded for someone to save him in the end. As if he had accepted his fate and embraced it in his own way.

Grant, who watched the end of the young mans life in silence, couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy, if only for a fleeting moment.

As everyone silently watched the passing of Andrew, Leonard returned to the clearing with his sister in tow.

Seeing the bodies of people splayed across the clearing, Morgan let out an small yet distinctive scream which drew everyone's attention away from the father and son.

With everyone staring at her, Morgan quickly slid behind Leonard's back in an attempt to hide herself away.

Seeing the two siblings arrive, Grant turned towards Ethan and gave him some instructions on what came next.

"Ethan, I need you to stay here with these people and handle the next steps here.

First, I need you to 'arrest' the remaining guards and confiscate their weapons. Although they are cooperating now that Andrew has lost, we can't guarantee it will stay that way. Make sure you double check and make sure they have no hidden weapons, I don't want to get stabbed in the back.

Also, I need you to get these people to gather all the remaining survivors of the camp in the biggest clearing they have available.

I will address them personally as soon as I am back.

Also, take my pack, and hand out food to everyone. Make sure that you don't over-do it because these people haven't eaten a substantial meal for awhile and too much could have a negative effect."

Ethan quickly acknowledged the instructions and walked over and grabbed the pack from Grant.

Then, Grant turned towards Leonard and Morgan, "Alright you two, lets head towards the hospital. I have one rule though, Leonard, you cannot and will not run off on your own no matter what happens. You will follow my instructions to the letter. I do not want anything to happen to you, especially now that you are so close to having your freedom back.

Morgan, if you would like, I can carry you so that you don't have to run on your own."

Although reluctant, Morgan eventually allowed Grant to give her a piggyback ride to save her from having to move around on her own, which became increasingly difficult the more malnourished she had become.

Leonard however, quickly agreed with Grant's instructions. At this point, all that mattered to him was trying to figure out what had happened to their mother.

Seeing that they were ready, Grant reached into his pocket and grabbed a few power bars that he kept on himself just in case.

"Alright, lets head out!

While we walk, take these power bars and eat them. Make sure that you take small bites and don't eat too quickly. I don't want you two to get sick."

While they walked, the two kids were too absorbed in eating to hold a conversation, so Grant silently observed the surroundings as they approached the main hospital building.

The more he saw, the more he was convinced that what he had done was the right thing.

After walking at a normal pace for 10 minutes, the group of three reached the main entrance to the hospital.

Surprisingly, the doors were wide open and there was no one guarding the entrance.

-----

A/N: Sorry for the late post, I finished this yesterday and tried to use the auto post feature to test its functionality. Apparently I screwed up because I realized it still hadn't posted when I woke up!

The fact I live in the US and everything on here runs on China's time, throws me off. I'll get it figured out though!

Thank you guys for all your support! You're all awesome!

Thank you for all your support guys! I really appreciate it!

Power stones and reviews are always greatly appreciated!

Slackrcreators' thoughts