It was still fairly early in the morning when the hooded woman reached the tree-line to The Haven. Blending in as a shadow next to a large tree, she scanned the closest guard tower with emotionless eyes. Only one man on duty at the moment.
Too easy.
She waits for the guard to turn his head away and silently sprints towards the base of the ten foot wall. Upon reaching the structure she sizes it up. The wooden walls go up only nine feet. Shouldn't be too hard to climb. She hops up onto a small ridge created by the wood and begins crawling up, doing her best to stay quiet. Once at the top she peeks over the edge. The guard is a few feet away, sitting down in a chair smoking a cigarette. She carefully unsheathes her machete and wraps the small cord at the end around her arm so that it doesn't fall down. She chips off a large wood chunk from the wall and tosses it over the edge, cringing as it clatters rather loudly in the guard tower.
The guard, who up until this point had been dozing off, almost falls out of his chair in panic and quickly stands to his feet, grabbing a rifle. He curses and turns around toward the camp. Perfect.
In one fluid motion she vaults herself over the wall and into the tower. Raising her blade up high as the guard turns back around. It was too late for him. A single, powerful, diagonal slash ripping through his shoulder to his stomach causes him to fall forward as blood begins staining his jacket. Jade catches the body and sets it down, wiping some blood from her hands on the man's clothes. Eyeing her victim, she recognizes the man as one of the more brutal guards who enjoyed taunting those who were weaker in the camp.
I never liked him anyways.
Shimmying down the ladder and onto the grass, she makes her way towards the large house in the center of the camp. As she rounds a tent she stumbles into the light of a small campfire, and a woman looks up at her from a small chair. In her arms is a small child, swaddled in cloth. Jade stops in her tracks, attempting to hide her machete and pulls her bandana down, smiling charismatically. 880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FPOBLCROU
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asks. Putting on a kind facade.
The woman pauses for a moment, looking just as startled.
"My son wouldn't stop crying and I was afraid he'd wake the whole camp. He's quieted down now thankfully."
"That's good to hear." Jade nods, still smiling, shifting her gaze to the child. "He's adorable, what's his name?"
"Why's there blood on your hands?" The woman ignores the question and looks at her with a brow raised. Well the nice guy cover has been blown.
"I accidentally sliced my hand. I'm headed to the med tent to see if there's any bandages available."
"Did you cut it with the weapon you're hiding behind your back?" The woman asks, glancing over to the hand that was concealing her blade. 880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkZBUXYGST
Jade says nothing. She contemplates her options. She doesn't want to have to kill this woman but if she calls attention to her then she'll have to escape without killing Caesar. But if she doesn't then...
"I think I know why you're here." The woman smiles. Ok now that was disarming. No hint of fear in her eyes.
"Do you now?" Jade responds.
"Yes. You're here to kill someone aren't you," she states, nodding her head slightly.
"I'll let you live if you say nothing." Jade stares at the woman. "Believe me I don't want to shed any more blood than necessary."
"Who?" she asks, seeming genuinely curious, "Ah, let me take a guess. You're here to assassinate our leader right?" 880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DNYCmoZmf
"He deserves to die. If you know what he's done, what he's capable of you'd--"
"It's alright," the woman smiles faintly, the light from the fire reflecting in her eyes as she looks back to it.
"What?"
"I said it's alright. You don't need to justify yourself. I've seen men like him before when the world wasn't living hell. Well, it still was for me and my husband but at least we didn't have to worry about the undead. But his kind only bring pain. I'll let you do what you need to do."
"Thank you," Jade whispers softly. "I wish you and your husband the best of luck in whatever happens after I kill Caesar."
"Thank you," she chuckles, rocking the baby gently in her arms. "But I think we'll be fine. We made plans to sneak out tomorrow night anyways. Head north towards Missouri, we have family there. Hopefully they're still alive."
"But it's dangerous going on your own," Jade interjects, "And with a child?"
"My husband and I are strong enough. He was put on Caesar's guard for a reason. I can't believe he's always on night watch though, he has a habit of dozing off." 880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYuV8pGH4A
Jade resists the urge to scream. She feels the color pale from her face. Oh please no. Please. She takes a shaky breath and stands to her feet.
"Well I better go then. Take care," she smiles and hopes that the light from the fire doesn't show her eyes watering.
"You too," the woman nods and returns her attention to her baby.
Jade walks off and as soon as she's out of sight she stops and leans up against a tree. There's a few guard-posts around camp, it probably wasn't him. But if it was...880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYN3pQtYsO
She recomposes herself and stands up tall, clutching her blade in one hand and looks down at it.
So I guess I'm a killer now.
Evading a small patrol of two men was the only obstacle leading up to the porch of the ranch house. She looks over to the Hunter bunkhouse. The memories she's made there, with Rowan and the others flood back to her. Good times and bad.
This is for them, remember that Jade. So they don't have to go through what you did.
Giving a small nod as she cements this thought in her mind, she carefully picks the lock and enters the house, making no sound as she shuts the door behind her and begins towards Caesar's office. 880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDT9nbsJ0Zy
880Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDU9ZVITwa
