Chef in the Apocalypse

Eventually the trio made their way out of the plains and stood out in front of the City walls which were now almost 7 meters in height. Jayce nodded in satisfaction seeing the progress that the city had made since he had left. He inwardly gave Dion and Kane a thumbs up.

Despite his current inner turmoil, Jayce was good at switching gears, especially so when it involved survival. And what would fall under that category more than waves of Beasts heading in their direction with the intent to kill and consume everything in their path.

"Is that you Jayce?" A sonorous voice rang out from atop the City walls, getting his attention.

He raised his head, seeing Jackie waving at him from atop the scaffolding with a relieved look on her face. Before he could answer, she disappeared, making her way down to see him.

A few moments later, she appeared through the city gates and rushed toward him, giving him an embrace. "You had us worried sick." she said, paying no heed to Macie and Zane who stood to the side.

Jayce smiled, feeling a touch of warmth from the concern he could hear in her voice. He replied with a little bravado, "There was no need to worry, Zane and I had everything under control."

Zane raised his eyebrow a little, but chose not to say anything. Jackie took a step back, looking him over for wounds before nodding in acceptance, "How did you go? Is this a survivor you found?" She asked, gesturing to Macie who was beside him. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Yes, this is Macie. We found her and her husband Heath in the forest not long after we parted ways." Jayce said, "Macie, this is J–"

"Jackie!" Macie cutoff Jayce’s introduction, moving forward and taking the woman into an embrace. "I’ve heard so much about you, it’s great to finally meet you in person."

Jackie, who was facing Jayce and being hugged forcefully, sent a questioning look his way. Jayce shrugged, indicating that it was not his problem. "Well, I’ll leave the two of you to get acquainted. I’ve got some business with Dion."

With that, he left the two at the City gates. He was still unsure of Macie, but he felt a certain level of trust, after all she was his most respected Leader’s wife. As for all the information that she knew about him and his past life, he was not comfortable speaking it aloud, mainly due to him constantly being watched. Therefore he would have to wait until she broached the subject through her mind link.

Zane followed along before heading in his own direction, Jayce did not need him during the discussions with Dion. "Great work out there man. Thanks for having my back." Jayce said earnestly. If it wasn’t for Zane he probably would have had a very hard time escaping the forest without leaving some flesh behind.

In true Zane fashion, he merely nodded before excusing himself. Jayce looked at his back incredulously, ’This guy really must hate talking.’ he thought inwardly, shaking his head in exasperation.

Soon enough, Jayce made it to the main building and entered the spacious lobby. Not much had changed since he had first arrived in this building over 3 months ago, which meant he still thought it was a wasteful use of space.

Making his way up the stairs, he could hear a growling noise causing his ears to perk up. He slowed down, pulling his bloodfang dagger out of his inventory and grasping it tightly. Making sure not to make any loud noises, he crept up the stairs stealthily.

As he got closer, the sound changed. He could now hear two distinct sawing noises, rather than one growling. He poked his head around the corner, saving his Master of Stealth ability for in case he needed to make a quick escape.

However what he saw made his eyes twitch. There were two men sitting at the large table in the middle of the room, surrounded by paper. Both of their heads were face down on the table, snoring away as if they were having the best sleep of their lives.

Jayce raised his dagger, contemplating for a moment before shaking his head and placing it back into his inventory. "Ahem." he cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. Yet his response was an even louder round of snoring.

Suppressing the rise of anger, he walked over to Dion who was still garbed in his Paladin equipment. "Dion, I’m back, we need to talk." No response.

Looking at the bald head that was currently face-down on the table, Jayce’s mouth turned up in a grin. Pulling a rag and his trusty Extra virgin olive oil out of his inventory, he began to methodically shine and polish the surface with great enthusiasm.

A few moments later, he stepped back and admired his work. The bald head was now fully polished, more so than the silver Paladin armor that Dion seemed to always wear. He stifled a chuckle, and decided it was time to stop playing around.

"Gentleman!" he yelled, clapping his hands together a couple of times, causing both Kane and Dion to almost jump out of their seats in fright. They quickly looked around with startled gazes, attempting to locate the source of the noise.

What greeted them was a less than impressed Jayce who looked as if he had been camping for a week straight without showering. That assessment was not far from the truth, considering the time constraints he had been under thanks to the scout and rescue mission.

"I trust you both had a lovely nap." Jayce said with an icy tone.

Kane felt a little indignant, as this was probably the first bit of rest he had given himself over the past 3 days. However, any rebuttal got stuck in his throat after considering how Jayce looked and his situation over this past week.

"Ahem, Jayce I’m glad to see you made it back safely. W-We were just discussing the traps and weapons we made to slow down the Beast Tide." Dion responded, feeling a little flustered. He looked just like a child who had been caught doing something they shouldn’t be.