Creaking open the door, Jenny leads me inside.
Apart from all the weapons and intimidating individuals, the inside seemed like a normal office with bookshelves, tables, and dim lighting.
Near the door, 3 men sit around a table, weapons, and armor scattered on the table.
I can't help but wonder where or how they have procured all this loot.
One man seems to ignore my presence, continuing to wipe down his rifle with a rag. Another rests his head on the table, seemingly asleep. The third, a younger guy with clean shaven face, glances up as we pass.
Jenny walks on without hesitation, and I follow, preparing myself to meet with the man behind the big desk, looking over a familiar sort of map.
Looking at it, my brows furrow. Thats my map!
I look up at Whiskey, my face scrunched in confusion and anger.
He was looking through my stuff!
"Take a seat" he says, gesturing to seats on the other side of his desk.
Reluctantly, I decide to take a seat. No point in causing a scene or anything, it's not like I could do much anyway.
Jenny moves to sit next to me, giving Whiskey her full attention.
"Is this ur map?" he asks, giving me a serious look.
I nod.
He looks up from the map, giving me a small smile.
"Perfect." He says, falling back down into his chair.
He looks at my arm, seeing my clutch it with my hand an blood soaking through my now worn through and disgusting prison outfit.
"It's still bleeding?" he asks, a little concerned.
"He had a little incident in the closet." Jenny says, releasing a small chuckle.
Whiskey gives her a look, shutting her up.
"Im sorry about that. Do you know who the Colonel is?"
I nod. "I heard about your little scuffles with him."
"Really?" Whiskey says, his face filled with a little bit of shock.
"I had no idea our little scuffle had already reached the ears of some on south of the island. After all, it's only been a few days since we've spawned on this island, and an even shorter time since we started skirmishing."
Beside me, Jenny nods.
"Anyway, we thought you were one of the Colonel's scouts. He's been recruiting a few men in the north near castle Wyndmoore and the mountains for a few days now."
"Recruiting for what?" I ask, shifting in my seat, sending a small wave of pain from my arm.
"Probably to attack us." he says, looking over at the 3 men sitting around the table.
"He's had a problem with us ever since we took up arms in this village, stopping him from plundering it."
I nod. That must be the origin of their little war.
"As you can see, I myself have been trying to recruit new people, yet I've only managed to gather maybe 12 people."
He sighs, leaning back in his chair.
"Ive yet to find Big Ish or any of your other members either."
I nod again. I figured as such. Suddenly a memory pops into my head.
"A few days ago, me and a few other of us prisoners robbed his men at a watchtower, just a little south of here in that forest. They had so much stuff just piling around in crates and laying on the ground."
Jenny turns her head towards me. "Ah. They probably figured out about the reward system."
I turn to her, my face scrunched in confusion.
"The reward system?"
Looking back, her expressionless face turns into one of excitement.
"You didn't learn about the reward system yet!?"
"No, I've been exploring and living off of old rations, and canned foods from buildings."
I look down at my black and white striped prison uniform, every part covered in black and red blood.
"I've been bathing myself in zombie blood, choosing to hide among the horde, avoiding any confrontation."
"Really? And you've survived this long? Did you not run into any of the special infected?" Whiskey asks, resting his chin on his hand.
"Uhmm, a few days ago I ran into an infected that spoke to me..."
"A speaking infected?" Jenny asks, her voice seemingly filled with both shock and horror.
"Did you fight it?" a new voice asks, coming from the man who was resting his head on the table.
I nod.
"It took me a few arrows, but I managed to kill it with relative ease."
The man twists his head in curiosity. "Any other details?"
"Although it talked like a human, it had a raspy, dark sort of voice. And once I killed it, a golden screen appeared, calling it a 'planted seed.'"
"A 'planted seed.'" Whiskey repeats, turning back towards the others with a curious look on his face.
"Have y'all killed or heard of that before?" He asks, glancing back and forth between Jenny and his men.
They shake their heads.
"I've killed an abomination and a spewer, but not anything like that." Jenny responds.
Whiskey sighs, turning back twoards me.
"Did you get a reward from it, a tool, weapon, or armor set perhaps?"
I nod, shifting in my chair to make my injured arm more comfortable.
"Yeah, I got this compass... Tira's compass! It points to the closest person in a 250 foot distance." I respond, now seeming to understand more bout this reward system and this island. There seems to be some sort of special infected, that when you kill drop rewards.
Whiskey opens the drawer in his desk, taking out Tira's compass from within. "Ahh, so that's what this is, I thought it might've just been broken." he replies, releasing a small chuckle.
He tosses me the compass, yet I can't move my right arm due to the bullet wound causing the compass to fall on the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about your arm." he says, rubbing his head as Jenny releases another chuckle, picking the compass up and placing it into my lap.
BeforeI am able to ask him more about his conflict with the Colonel, including the meeting that I overheard about from the guards in the watchtower, a sudden rumble begins to shake the ground beneath me. I close my eyes for a moment as a familiar fear begins to take hold.
A golden panel appears in front of me once again, it's intricate white writing informing us of the devastation to come.
Night four has begun.