Safe Haven

Fairview Bound

"Last chance, anybody want to back out?" James asks. Everybody looks at each other and shakes their heads. "Alright, lets get this show on the road."

Nathan takes out a map of the midwest and finds their location.

"Alright, we're right here, about the middle of eastern Kansas, and Fairview is right here, that's roughly 150 miles away. That'll take us roughly a week, if we count the time we'll be resting," Nathan says.

"Christ, an entire week of just walking?" Chloe complains.

"That's the best-case scenario," Griffin adds. "It's not unlikely that we'll meet some unfriendly faces along the way, and more than a few BCs."

"Thanks for being a ray of sunshine, Griffin," Kate rolls her eyes.

"He's not wrong, Kate," Nathan says. "We need to be cautious. We might see other travelers, and some may not be friendly. It's also almost certain that we'll run into more than our fair share of BCs."

"Where to, son?" James asks impatiently.

"Well the sun rises to the east, so I say we head that way," Nathan responds.

"Well then, let's get moving," Kate groans as she begins to trek forward.

"Kate," James stops her.

"What?" Kate snaps.

"I didn't mean to strike a nerve, but the sun is that way," he says, pointing behind her.

"Right, I was just... you know, messing around," Kate says as she turns around and walks with the rest of the group.

About two hours into their journey, they find a lone wanderer walking the street alone.

"Hey, you guys see him?" Griffin asks.

"Yeah," Jillian says. "He's just kinda... wobbling."

"I'll go check it out," James volunteers. "Y'all just stay back and make sure things don't get ugly for me."

"Be careful, dad," Chloe reaches out and puts her hand on his shoulder. He places his hand on top of hers and turns towards her.

"It's one guy, sweetheart. I think I'll be alright." James steadily increases his pace in order to catch up with the stranger. "Hey, buddy? You doing alright, looking to trade maybe?"

The man continues to slowly wobble along the road.

"Hey, pal, answer me," James says, as he catches up with the man. James's eyes widen as he sees the man's face. "Holy shit."

His throat is slit ear-to-ear. Blood runs all the way down his neck to his now blood-soaked torso. He falls to his knees and collapses to the ground.

"Dad! The trees!" Nathan yells, running for cover with the rest of the group. A small company of bandits emerges from the forest to the left of the road. James runs for the group, who provides adequate cover-fire for him to make a safe return.

"That was way too close," James sighs. He pulls his handgun from his waistband and fires shots at the bandits.

"Looks like three targets, one appears to be hit, but the others don't seem to care about that right now," Griffin jokes.

Jillian emerges from the left of the large rock she's taken cover behind, and takes a deep breath before firing a bullet straight through a bandit's temple. His body folds in on itself, and he hits the ground like a ton of bricks.

"Beautiful," Griffin says. "Everybody push forward, there's only one able-bodied bandit left, and this will be a lot easier if we put him under pressure."

The group agrees, and they all emerge from cover, walking steadily towards the bandit while firing volleys at him. The fire stops, and they approach the bandit while Kate and Jillian seek out the injured one.

"Well, he's not walking that off," Nathan says.

Chloe inspects the body. "Self-inflicted shot to the head. Definitely not the worst way to go nowadays.

"Chloe," James says sternly.

"Dad, you just saw a man trying to walk off a slit throat. I think you know what I meant," she responds. James sighs and crosses his arms.

"Let's check the bodies, see if they've got anything useful," he suggests.

Jillian and Kate attempt to speak to the injured bandit.

"Oh shit," he pauses to cough, "it's you fucks. Why don't you just put a bullet in my head and kill me already?"

"We don't like to kill without reason, would you like some water?" Jillian asks, pulling out a bottle from her pack.

The bandit coughs violently, recoiling in pain. "Water sounds pretty fucking good right about now," he says. Jillian hands him the bottle, and he takes a large gulp before giving it back to her. "Why won't you just kill me already?"

"Do you have any other friends nearby?" Kate asks.

"Friends? You think I give a shit about what happens to these guys? We're nothing more than a bunch of fuckin' assholes working together to kick ass and take what we want," he replies.

"Well where are they? Where are the others?" Kate puts her hand on her waistband.

The bandit sighs. "They're held up at-"

A bullet cuts his sentence short, and his head is quickly snapped to the other direction. Kate and Jillian recoil in fear.

Griffin blows the smoke from his pistol, twirls it around his finger, and tucks it back in his pants. "No time for chit-chat, ladies. Let's get moving," he chuckles.

"Griffin, what the fuck?" Jillian yells, rising to her feet. "He was about to tell us where the others were!"

"You were going to believe him? Seriously? What does he owe you? Why would he tell you the truth?" Griffin says.

Kate and Jillian pause, before they can speak, Griffin continues.

"Exactly, he's got no reason to tell the truth. Rule number one of this world is not to trust anyone. Everyone's out to get you, got it?"

Jillian huffs and walks past him, shoving him aside with her shoulder. Kate rises to her feet and approaches Griffin.

"Not okay, Griff," she says, following Jillian close behind.

Griffin watches them walk away, then turns to the fresh kill. He sifts through his pockets, but finds nothing of interest. Suddenly, a distant screech comes from the direction of the group. Griffin's eyes widen, his heart pounds, and he chases after his group.