The Messengers of Sanctuary

52 - River

Silver gave River a hard glare as he fidgeted beneath her glare. The Viviendo were on the defensive, watching with wide eyes as the grandmotherly figure who had demolished a tunneler in one hit made her will known.

"River, dear, WHAT THE HELLS ARE YOU DOING?!"

River winced, feeling his instincts fall back, basically telling him he was on his own here.

River had only annoyed his grandmother this much one time right after turning, and he was fairly sure the only reason he was still alive was that she had some strange obsession with the bloodline. "I'm ah...helping out some friends because I promised them I would?"

"Not that, River. I want to know what possessed you to attack your wonderful cousins."

Everyone stared at Silver for a long long moment. Trying to contextualize those words. "Sorry what?"

Silver rolled her eyes, gesturing toward the Viviendo. "Can't you smell it mister?" she asked, "They're family."

That was...well that did explain why some of them smelled strange to him, but well... "Grandma, how in the world did you expect me to notice that!!!"

She raised an eyebrow, "You're grounded."

River growled slightly in annoyance but he sighed, there was no going against this, even if he was far too old to be grounded. "Yes grandmother..."

She nodded cordially and focused on the humans that were apparently related to him. Wasn't he the only living grandchild? Hadn't Silver checked literally everywhere she could think of?

She narrowed her eyes at them, "Take me to your parents, children. I need to have a little CHAT with them."

---

River would much rather avoid the whole 'family reunion' thing. But he dutifully followed behind his grandmother as she marched them all toward Wakefield, the stronghold that the Viviendo hailed from.

The humans didn't seem to really believe that they were relatives, but that didn't stop one from looking curiously at Silver, "I think I remember you from when I was a kid." He was older than River, but not by much.

At that, Silver smiled at him, "Ah, Bradley! I thought that was you! You look just like your father! You know, once he broke the hallway light because he was trying to learn how to fish in the house!"

The guy, who was presumably River's cousin, brightened. "Really?"

Silver nodded, "He caught his rubber shark and hit the light with it. I remember yelling at him for twenty minutes." She sighed contentedly, "Good times."

River was unsure what this had to do with anything, but since granny was telling it, it had probably been a traumatizing moment for Bradley's father.

After this exchange, the warriors seemed to relax a bit, but they still kept giving Silver's red eyes concerned looks. "Uh...grandmother, you're a zombie, right?" One of the girls asked curiously. River was kind of amused that it was the same Viviendo that had argued with Jose for so long last week.

Silver smiled, "Yes I am! But don't worry kids, I haven't killed anyone yet!"

River kind of doubted that, but not because of the virus in her blood. Silver had some...interesting stories about her youth, and having been an integral part of the Ecuadorian black market for a number of years? Well perhaps she'd killed someone indirectly.

River pointed back the way they'd come, "I'm pretty sure that tunneler was dead when you were done with it."

Silver shook her head, amused, "Oh River darling, that doesn't count as a person. Not anymore!" She patted him on the head, a monumental task since she was barely 4'10 and River was more than a head taller than her.