《The Path: Through The Apocalypse》Chapter 25: Brutality
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Even with the three men charging towards him, Grant didn't flinch. He just stood on the spot and watched them approach.
To him, it looked like the three men were moving in slow motion.
He never really focused on how other people moved during a fight because he never had a need too, but now that he watched these three, he couldn't help but sneer at that their arrogance.
[So weak. What gave them the confidence to think they could go around taking advantage of people? With their strength, it's surprising they haven't died fighting monsters.]
While the three charged, Grant glanced out of the corner of his eyes to see what Matt was going to do. Not surprisingly, Matt just sat on the couch watching everything unfold with a terrified look on his face.
His lack of action actually enraged Grant more than if he had moved to help them. These men at least tried to avenge their boss, but Matt just sat there like a coward. It was clear he understood that the three men didn't stand a chance but the fact he didn't say anything to try and stop the three men or save them was yet another betrayal he had perpetrated.
In the split second that it took for Grant to check out Matt's reaction, the men had finally reached him.
Before the man at the front of the group could even swing his weapon down towards Grant though, Grant raised his arm up and slapped the man across the face without holding back in the slightest.
The moment that Grant's hand came into contact with the mans face, his head exploded like a watermelon being smashed on the beach. Blood, bones, and brains were splattered all over the wall next to the now headless corpse.
Seeing the man in the fronts head explode, the two other men froze in terror.
"What the fuck just happened?! Where the fuck did Jack's head go?! I didn't even see him get attacked!"
"This guy is super strong! Fuck! Shit! This can't be real!!"
The man who had been following Jack in the attack, turned to run away at the realization that they stood no chance, but before he could even take a single step, Grant appeared behind him and slapped his head into oblivion as well.
The third man managed to take a couple steps before his head disappeared from his shoulders just like the first two.
Grant never once hesitated. He knew that he had been naïve in his thinking before. In a structured, civilized world, his old faith in humanity worked just fine because they were restrained by the laws and rules that governed them.
But now that things had gone to shit, people would inevitably let their inner demons run free. He wouldn't be able to put his faith in people blindly like he did before and he would have to be vicious when the situation called for it.
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He would need to take time to judge people before he gave them the appropriate level of trust.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm down his raging heart, he turned to face Matt.
"Do not move. Stay right there."
As if being struck by lightning, Matt just sat there with a dazed look on his face. Terrorize had taken effect instantly and unless he was somehow able to overpower the effects of the skill he would not move from his spot for quite awhile.
Seeing the effect that Terrorize had, Grant looked down at Jeff. Since he was still passed out, he walked out of the house and into the garage. He rummaged through the cabinets lining the walls until he found some rope.
The kids obviously noticed Grant but they didn't say anything to him because he still had the same fire burning in his eyes that he had before he entered the house.
"It's almost over. I will bring your Mother out in a moment. Just stay there a little longer."
After those words, Grant walked back into the house with rope in hand.
When he returned back to the living room, Matt was still sitting in the same spot with a glazed look in his eyes to which Grant nodded, acknowledging the power of the Terrorize skill.
Seeing that Jeff was still passed out, Grant walked over to him and tied him up with the rope. He made sure that even if he woke up, he wouldn't be able to escape.
Grant wasn't positive that the rope would hold, but Grant would be able to hear Jeff struggling free from the ropes and that would give him enough time to stop him from escaping.
Once he was satisfied, he once again got to his feet. But unlike the other times, this time he walked back towards the bedrooms and started to look for Ally.
When he entered the second bedroom, he finally found her. She was sitting on the bed, wrapped in a sheet with her back against the wall. She was staring at the door with a horrified look on her face. When she saw Grant walk through the door, the look softened slightly, but she was clearly still terrified.
Grant didn't ask any questions or say anything to her. He just walked to the closet and grabbed a pair of pants and a baggy shirt that were left behind by the former owners. Then he walked over and handed them to Ally.
When she reached out her hand to grab the clothes, Grant could see her hands visibly shaking. Which made his heart tense.
When she took the clothes from him, he turned around and walked back to the door. He stopped in the open doorway and just stood there with his back to the room.
He wanted Ally to have some privacy but he also wanted her to know she was safe. After a few moments of silence, he finally heard her slide off the bed and start to put the clothes on.
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After a few moments, the noise stopped and Grant could sense Ally approaching him, so he turned around and gave her a small smile.
"You're children are outside. I will take you there. Please close your eyes though, I don't want you to see what happened here."
After saying that, he reached out his hand so that he could guide her through the house. She didn't ask any questions and just gave him a slight nod before grabbing his hand.
Hand in hand, Grant led her through the living room, down the hallway, and out into the garage.
The two kids were overjoyed to see their mother alive. They both ran over to their mother and hugged her as hard as they could and then all three of them broke down in tears. The kids must have been terrified that something had happened to their mom and Ally was probably terrified that she would never see her kids again.
[I will make those two idiots suffer until they pray for death.]
"You three stay here, I will finish this and then come get you."
All three of them just glanced at him and gave him a slight nod before continuing to cry in each others arms.
Grant stopped for a second and looked up to the ceiling before taking a deep breathe and walking back inside.
While he was walking down the hallway, he could hear Jeff yelling for Matt to help him break free from the ropes. Grant could tell from the tone of his voice that he was terrified.
"Matt why are you just standing there?! Help me!!
Fuck, I can't die here!"
After rounding the corner and reentering the living room, silence descended once again.
"Why so quiet Jeff? When I first got here, you seemed to be so excited by what you were doing and the possibility of forcing me to be your goon. Where is that enthusiasm now?"
"Please Grant, I'm sorry, don't kill me! I promise I will never do anything like that again!"
"You are right about that. But it's not because you choose not too. It's because you won't be alive to even try."
"You can't kill me! It's against the law!"
Even in his anger, Grant couldn't help but laugh at his last statement.
"What law? Just like you were doing what you please, I can do as I please. The world as we know it is dead. That should be obvious by now.
What makes you think you can do whatever you want when it suits you but other people can't when its at your expense?"
"I made a mistake! I'm sorry!"
"It's too late. You will die. And you will die soon."
The more they talked, the more Jeff seemed to lose his grasp on his sanity.
"Fuck you! I will fucking kill you!"
"Now you're finally showing your true self. That's good. That will make this even easier."
Jeff continued to ramble on and on in anger and desperation now that he couldn't weasel his way out of the situation, but Grant just ignored him.
Grant grabbed him by a knot of his hair and started to drag him towards the back door. Before he reached the door, he made sure to turn towards Matt and told him to follow them.
Which he did without hesitation.
[This Terrorize skill is more like mind control than anything. Damn, this could be useful.]
After opening the back door and dragging Jeff outside, he waited for Matt to catch up.
Once both of them were outside in the yard, he snapped his fingers in front of Matt to snap him out of the daze that Terrorize had put him in.
When Matt snapped out of it, he immediately started freaking out. He could see and hear everything going on while he was under the affect of Terrorize but he had no control over his motor skills.
Unlike Jeff though, Matt just stood there crying and shaking like a leaf in the wind. He could tell that Grant was serious and would not be letting them go, so he was trying to quickly come to terms with his death.
Grant just stood there looking at the two men who he had spent some limited time with and placed his faith in. But knowing what they had done he didn't even consider letting them off.
When Grant withdrew Wet Noodle from its scabbard, Matt dropped to his knees and lowered his head.
"I am sorry Grant, I regret everything. I wish I had listened to Tres when he said we should help you. I wish we had not abandoned you. Clearly I made the wrong choice following Jeff."
"I will not forgive you for what you have done Matt. But I will give you a swift death. If you see Tres in the afterlife, tell him I will be forever grateful for what he did for me."
As Grant's words came to an end, a light flashed through Matts neck and his head separated from his body.
Grant watched the life recede from his eyes before he turned to look at Jeff who at this point had completely lost his rationality due to fear.
[I guess I don't need to torture him. The sheer terror he is suffering from should have destroyed him mentally. Lets just get this over with.
I need some time to rest and think.]
Moments later, another light flashed and Jeff's head fell to the ground before his body collapsed next to it.
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