The old fashioned metal lettered sign above the iron gate stood out like a heavenly beacon. Colin had last seen the expanse when his family stayed there a year ago when.... it happened. When his grandmother from his mother's side, Cheryll, had died. All those years of smoking had caught up to her, and.... it was too horrible to remember.
The car he and Riley were in was halted by a man with greying hair and a face like a bulldog.
"Who are you?" the old man asked.
"I'm Colin Greys, Carl Greys' grandson." Colin said.
The man looked over to the timid blonde girl curled up in her seat.
"Who's that?" the gruff man asked.
"This is Riley, she and I hid out in a grocery store until a bimbo horde overran it." Colin explained.
"Did any of 'em kiss her or touch her in a certain way?" the man asked.
"No." Riley said.
"Alright then." the man said as he opened the gate.
Colin drove it on through, past the fenced fields where the beefsteak cows just starred out along the road grazing gently. The gamer made a turn up to a weathered out old house with a screened in porch. Colin was greated by the sight of the man himself, Carl Greys, aged and grey with silvery grey hair.
"Hi, Gramps." Colin said camly as Riley clung to his leg.
"Hello there, bud." the old man said, messing up the gamer's hair like when he was ten. "Who's that?"
"M-my name is Riley." the little girl said.
Carl smiled a wrinkled smile.
"Ah'm Carl, Riley. Say, how'd you meet my grandson here anyway?" the former navy man said.
"Well explain after we eat, Grampa." Colin said.
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Colin popped the battered, fried cheese cubes like tic-tacs. Even when reheated, these chunks of white cheddar were delicious. Riley slowly yet steadily ate.
"So, yer town got overrun?" Colin's Gramma Eliza said.
"An' you didn't have time to make sure your dad was okay because them... nasty women chased you away?"
Colin and Riley nodded.
"Anybody from my Mom's family swing by?" Colin asked.
"Nobody except your Aunt Stephanie and that friend of hers." Carl said.
Colin recalled the last time he'd seen her: greying black hair, blue eyes, a dark messy ponytail, with a little girl with her, his cousin Rebecca. Her friend's name he couldn't remember, but one thing he remembered was her newlywed daughter Brittany.
"Are they here?" Colin asked.
"In the guesthouse, along with yer Aunt Katie." Carl said.
Katie Greys was a modest woman, once a kindergarten teacher. Her daughter Mina was quiet, but fun to be around nonetheless.
"Can we go see them after we eat? I mean, you probably have jobs to give me, but I just wanna see everybody that's here." the gamer said as he polished off the fried cheese.
"If your little friend is done then... oh." Eliza said, seeing that Riley was finished already.
Colin walked up and knocked on the guesthouse door.
"Okay Riley, let's meet my family. What's left of it anyway...." the gamer said as the door opened.