The Messengers of Sanctuary

54 - River

River followed Jace out of the building, scenting the air by reflex to keep tabs on anything suspicious. River had known these people for less than a day, he wasn't about to not be a suspicious nightstalker just because they were apparently family.

He was kind of shocked to realize that while he'd been in the mess hall, he'd come to terms with that fact. Usually it took him much longer to agree with surprises.

River glanced to the side when he scented a firearm, but it was that same guy from before who'd shot into the air. He hadn't been part of the group who'd come to exterminate the pyros.

River pretended to ignore him, but the stoic guy immediately moved to intercept River, giving Jace a worried look, "What are you doing here?"

Jace perked up, "Hey dad! Did you know I have a great grandmother?"

The man, who was apparently Jace's father, furrowed his brow, "What?"

Jace nodded, "She's in the eating place! Grandma seemed really happy to see her!"

The man glanced at River, "And why is one of those pyros here? Weren't they supposed to get rid of them?"

River raised an eyebrow, "For the record, I'm not a pyro. I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to."

Jace grinned, "He's a grumpy guy, but don't worry! I'm going to make him be nice! He's going to play basketball with me and Matthew!"

Apparently meeting this Matthew person translated to playing basketball. River could somewhat see the connection, and he definitely hadn't agreed to that, but at this point he really doubted he could get out of it.

The father grimaced, "Alright, well I'm going with you. The fact that nobody is at least guarding this random stranger, will not be ignored."

Jace squealed happily. Ouch. River would have to try and find some earplugs if he had to stick around here...the kid was off a moment later, rushing toward a different building, shouting something about adults being 'Soooooooooo slooooooowwwww.'

River was tempted to chase after the kid just to let him know who was really stupidly slow, but that would probably make everyone look at him weird. Instead, he followed at a more sedate pace, ignoring it as the other guy started making subtle - and not so subtle - threats.

Such a wonderful day...

River scented the air again as the kid opened a door and gestured for them to hurry up. And River nearly tripped over himself in shock. The building in front of them? It was packed with at least a dozen zombies.

River's first thought was that the stronghold was in the process of being overrun, but immediately his instincts pointed out that the entire building was clean of the scent of blood. That fact should have been impossible in such close proximity to so many regular zombies.

River's second thought was that it was some kind of laboratory, perhaps they needed blood samples a lot? But that didn't make sense, because now that he was examining their scents closer, it was clear that every single zombie inside was sane.

He frowned at that fact, noting that the building was fairly clean of filth and grime, and that the same scents from the mess hall they'd come from were wafting from somewhere inside as well.

After ten seconds of standing there like an idiot, in which his two companions were looking vaguely concerned, River glanced at the other adult present. "There are...sane zombies in there?"

He sighed, "Yeah, we have to put them somewhere."

River followed them inside, down a hallway, and finally, into a small mess hall.