The Ranger

Chapter Five: Home Sweet Home

Jesus led me to a smaller brick building and gestured to one of the doors, "This place is your place for as long as you want it." He handed me a key. "If you leave, just remember we won't open the gate past nightfall," he said as he started to walk off. "See you later, Ranger," he said, waving a hand back.

I went inside to check out where I'd be staying. It was essential, just a tiny studio apartment. I didn't have anything to drop off, so I decided to take a nap until I was ready to head out. "Home sweet home," I muttered before falling asleep.

I woke up to a knock on my door. I pulled one of my knives from the sheath and looked out the peephole. Seeing a young kid, I opened the door. "Yes?" I asked, and the kid looked at me, "are you Ranger?" he asked, and I nodded. "Mr Adam says your horse is ready," he said before running off. I got ready, double-checking my knives, sword, and bow. I put my cloak on, pulled my hood up, and walked to the stables.

"Hey there, Ranger. Got him all ready for ya." Adam called over from the other end of the barn as I walked in, "Thank you, Adam." I called back, then walked over to Tug, rubbing his head, and asked, "You didn't give him any trouble, did you?" Tug snorted and stomped his foot. "That's right, you only get apples for good behavior." I laughed, fed him an apple, and grabbed his saddle. After getting him saddled up, I walked out, waving to Adam as I did.

"Open the gate!" I heard someone yell at the guards on the ground as I got closer. As I passed by the guards, one said, "You know we won't open these after nightfall, right?" I nodded. "Alright, be safe," he said as I rode past him.

Nighttime

By the time the sun went down, I had already caught a couple of rabbits and a white-tailed deer; I finished packing all of them up on Tug and sent him off to do his thing while I climbed a tree near the road leading to the kingdom, wrapped myself up in my cloak, and drifted off to sleep.

Several hours later, I was woken by two voices passing underneath me on the road, "What exactly did Negan tell you he wanted us to do?" one asked, "All he said was to watch them and see what they are up to, he doesn't like how quiet they've been recently." the other answered. Negan huh? Wasn't that who Ezekiel thought sent me? Deciding it would be better to keep an eye on them, I followed silently until we reached the walls of The Kingdom. I could see a few people patrolling the walls after we sat there for about an hour with no talking between the two, just the occasional scribble of notes in their notebooks.

I silently crept up behind the man on the right, reaching out. I jabbed my pointer and middle knuckles into the meat of the neck where it meets the shoulder; he dropped unconscious. His companion looked up as my knuckles met his neck, dropping him as well. I stood over the two of them, looking down. "I think Halt may have overestimated most people out here," I said to myself shaking my head and whistling for Tug, within minutes he came out of the trees and walked over to me. I grabbed some rope, tied the two up, and looked at Tug. "You think you can carry both of them?" I asked the horse, and he snorted. "Yeah, you're right. It was a dumb question." I nodded, threw both of them over Tugs' saddle, and started walking back to The Kingdom. I fed him an apple as the gate came into view.

Looking at the sun, it was probably around 7:30-8:00ish. I heard the guard shout down to open the gate, and I waved to him as I walked in. The guards gave me strange looks as I walked past. I chuckled. Only some days does some cloakman come by with two hogtied men.

I made my way to the central building with Tug and made sure he knew not to let anyone touch anything on him. Then, I made my way inside to talk to King Ezekiel. Walking into the central hall, I could see Jerry standing next to Ezekiel with Shiva lying next to the throne, head down on her paws. She perked up as I walked in and started towards me. I smiled, and Ezekiel chuckled. Shiva sat in front of me and started to paw at me. "Okay, okay, here," I said, giving her some meat.

"As you said, just give some meat and head scratches, and she's harmless," Ezekiel said, smiling. I pulled my hood down and smiled back, then tilted my head down in a sign of respect. "Your Majesty," I said before looking up to Ezekiel. I have something you may wish to see." Ezekiel raised an eyebrow but stood. Where is it?" he asked, "Just outside on my horse." I responded and started outside.

As we reached my horse, Ezekiel saw the two men and looked at me, confused. "What is this about?" he asked.

"Well, I went hunting last night and stayed out; I slept in a tree near the main road. They-" I gestured to the two men "- walked by me, and I heard one mention that Negan fellow you asked me about, so I figured I'd follow them and see what they were doing. Which leads us to these." I said, handing him the notebooks

"Notes on your forces, watch rotations, and meal times. Everything you would want to know about your enemy." I explained

Ezekiel looked through the books before closing them and handing them to Jerry. "Take those to my chambers, please, Jerry," he told the big man. "You've stopped a major threat to The Kingdom; I thank you for that, Ranger." He told me before gesturing to the animals. "And these?" he asked. "I brought them back for everyone; I noticed you lack meat despite the abundance of food. So I figured I'd help a bit." I told Ezekiel, and he smiled. "You truly are something else," he said, chuckling. "Join me inside; I'd like to offer you a special job," he said, motioning for me to follow him inside.

When we got inside, instead of going back to the throne, he walked to a side door into a study, sat at a desk, and motioned for me to sit across from him. I took my seat, and he began.

"It's kind of funny that you ran into some of Negan's men, seeing as I wanted to ask if you would be willing to patrol the area around The Kingdom and watch for these types of threats and handle them." He explained that it made sense from what they had seen of me in the short time I've been here; using me as a scout would be the best thing for me, too, honestly. "Would I be allowed to come and go as I please?" I asked. "Yes, and if you accept, I will also instruct the watch to allow you entry after dark, just in case there is urgent news that you need to bring to my attention," he told me. "Also, you answer to me, and me alone within The Kingdom. I would like to have someone I can trust watching my back.".

I sat silent for a minute debating the offer; there weren't any downsides. I could be out and do what I'm familiar with. The only difference is that I would have a place to return to and someone to report to. "And after we deal with Negan?" I asked

"After Negan is dealt with, you can stay with my service or do whatever you desire." He answered; I nodded, stood, and put my hand out. "You have a deal," I said, and we shook hands. Ezekiel smiled. "Glad to have you with us, Ranger." "Felix, my name is Felix," I told him.

Edited 05/14/2024