John's Story (Part 2)

The continuation of "John's Story" in which John and the remaining members of his family must find a place to hide from the hostiles and stay alive.

It was released on 15.01.2020.

## Story

Well. It was easier said than done.

After we went deeper into the forest, my father heard footsteps. He told me that something's amiss.

"It's okay, dad. We'll find a place to hide. They won't be able to find us!"- I tried to reassure him and Matty (who was quaking in fear after hearing about the bandits).

We managed to hide in a small house near a pond. We went inside and looked through the window.

It looks like Dad's suspicions were correct. Someone was following us. And it wasn't just *someone*!

The footsteps sounded like they were more than one. Maybe two. Three. Or even five people! Who knew?

Anyway, we just stood in the house quietly. Soon the footstep sound ceased. It seems like the group had dispesed.

"I'll have a look if they're still around here. You stay with your brother."- My father told me and left the house.

Matty looked at me, still quietly quivering in fear.

"Big bro? Are... are they still around here?"

I didn't know what to say. What I knew was I didn't hear the sounds of their footsteps anymore.

I didn't reassure him. I didn't pat him on the head. I just nodded and looked out of the window, watching for bandits.

Suddenly, me and Matty heard a scream coming from outside.

"Big bro! Daddy's in trouble!"- Matty told me.

We ran outside and we found dad trapped in a web.

"Oh well. It's not my first time being trapped like this."- He sighed.

"Don't worry, daddy. We'll save you!"- Matty said and tried to free our father.

He didn't have to do much. Someone pushed him to the ground and pointed a knife at his stomach.

"Matty!"- I yelled and tried to attack his captor, but I was stopped by two people.

"Come with us if you know what's good for you."- The person who was holding Matty said to me and took us away.

Me, Dad and Matty woke up in a small tent, tended to by a male nurse.

The person who captured us earlier came in the tent.

"Sorry for attacking you earlier. Me and my friends just wanted to keep you safe. We heard about how the Braveheart family escaped because of the recent tragedy and we decided to go after you."

"You could have warned us earlier!"- My father exclaimed.

"Again, sorry. There were bandits around and we didn't have a choice in this matter."

"Anyway, you'll be safe here. The bandits won't try invading this camp. And if they do... "

He patted his sword.

"It will be swift death for them, that's for sure."

"Thank you for the help, stranger."- I said- "If it weren't for you we could have been killed by those bandits."

"Well, you're welcome. We're always glad to help folks in need, like you."

"Now sleep tight. It looks like all three of you need a good rest, especially the kid."

I nodded.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Of course. We'll keep the camp safe while you sleep. Good night."

"Good night."- All three of us said and laid on the bedrolls.

"Well, the bedroll's not very comfortable, but it's better than sleeping on the grass."- My father said.

"I agree. Anything is better than sleeping on the grass."- I said and closed my eyes.

Four hours later we heard screaming coming from the outside.

I peeked from the tent and saw a bunch of bandits screaming something at a bunch of people.

"Give us the Braveheart family and maybe we're gonna have mercy on ya! Ya hear me?"- One of the bandits yelled.

"Don't even think about it. We promised to keep the Braveheart family safe here. And we will. Now go away before we're forced to drive you out!"- The man who saved us earlier yelled.

"Ha! Fat chance, youngster. Bandits, give it to 'em!"

With that the bandits started attacking the poor people while some of them began searching the tents for us.

My father gave me a knife.

"*Just in case, if they find us here. Get ready.*"- He whispered to me and prepared his fighting stance.

I did so too. I was ready to repel those jerks from this place once and for all.

But not by going out and fighting them. That would be suicide, considering how many of them and how few of us there are. So we stood in the tent, silently waiting for them to arrive.

One of the bandits peeked inside the tent and grinned.

"Peek-a-boo! I see-- "

But before he could finish his sentence, my father stabbed him in the head.

"One down. Many more to go."- He said.

"Well said. Maybe more of them will be coming this way."

Some more bandits entered the tent. Me and my father managed to stab all of them to death, but not before alerting more.

More and more were coming in to kill us, but we continued killing every single one of them.

One of the bandits almost stabbed me, but I was saved by Matty who picked up my knife and stabbed him in the back.

"Big bro, I saved you!"- He said excitedly.

I smiled.

"Thank you, kiddo. You're a real hero."- I said jokingly.

His eyes lit up quickly.

"Am I really?"- He asked.

I smiled again.

"Well, not yet, but maybe soon. Maybe soon you'll be a hero, like me."

Matty grinned.

"I will! Rest assured."

Having said that, he gave me the knife and watched for more intruders.

After about ten minutes, most of the bandits were dead, their corpses piled up in the back of our tent.

"Phew. That was tough."- Matty sighed.

"We're not out of danger yet, Matty."- My father told him- "We still have to face the leader of those bandits. I hope you boys are ready."

Me and Matty nodded.

"Of course we are. Let's finish them off."

With that, we left the tent and noticed that there were only a few bandits left, finished off by the residents of our camp.

We helped them out and attacked the leader of the bandits (who proved to be a prick in the bottom, but went down nonetheless). After we finished them off, I searched the leader for any messages.

My patience payed off! I found a little message hidden in his pocket.

I read it and found out that they were from the "Darkness of Duskwood" gang.

"Wait a second!"- Matty exclaimed- "They were the ones who killed mommy!"

"I... I knew that they were around us, but this close? This is madness!"- My father said, worried that they would attack again.

"What should we do, dad?"- I wondered.

Our father thought about it. After a few minutes, the man who saved us arrived.

"Are you folks alright?"- He asked us.

We responded by nodding, since we were pretty tired after the fight.

"Good. At least most of us survived. Sadly, some of the residents were killed by the bandits. Fortunately, all of them were slain as well."

"That's definitely good news."- My father said, still panting.

The man looked around, worried.

"Well, it seems like this camp isn't safe anymore. I hate to say it, but we have to go north. There's a mountain range there and I think that the bandits won't follow us there. What are you folks going to do?"

I sighed.

"Well... "- I responded- "We're not sure. After what happened? There's nowhere safe for us."

"Can we come with you? Please?"- Matty asked the man.

He wondered.

"You folks aren't bad people."- He responded- "So you can come with us. Maybe we can find a safer place for you to stay?"

All three of us nodded.

"Then it's set."- He said- "Let's go!"

We packed most of our valuables and left the ruined camp before more bandits could come and finish us off.

And so, me, my father and my brother were going to wander somewhere again. We thought that we found a safe haven at last, but... no such luck. There was no safe haven from those vagabonds. No matter where you are, they will look for you and find you, sooner or later.

So, all we could do for now is to find a place with good vantage points where we could prepare for more assaults and kill more of those bandits. Until their gang dries out for good. Or they give up trying to kill us. Whichever happens first.

Anyway, our unexpected adventure continues.

Onward!

## Trivia

* The two parts of "John's Story" have the biggest difference between their releases out of all the stories created by AleksProdzBG (For now). Part 1 was released on 30.08.2019 and Part 2 was released on 15.01.2020 which means that there were almost five months of difference between them.