It was an absolute fortress.<br/><br/>Or, well, as close to one as you could get these days.<br/><br/>It had been so nestled in the evergreens, that it had taken them stumbling upon the still flailing corpse stuck in the barbed wire snare to find it. The metal had snapped down onto the bones of one leg, and the ground was scraped past the needles and into the dirt where it had been clawing for days. Its crawling had only gotten it a few feet away from where the trap was anchored in a tree.<br/><br/>It was thin, slow. Judging from the stripped flesh of its back and side, some scavenger had found itself a meal to pick at. One of the men had toyed with it a bit before finally finishing it off. That's when another call of 'would you look at this?' had sounded. Another trap had been found up the way, this one at chest height with piano wire. Then, another snare trap. The lines of barbed wire were just beyond that.<br/><br/>They spent the next fifteen minutes doing their best not to set them off. Unfortantly one of the men, Roy, had failed to notice the bear trap and snare. The dangling bit of elk carcass had been meant to distract mindless corpses, but it's charm apparently extended to dimwitted humans as well. They'd barely heard the silenced scream. Tony had stepped on his head to keep it from rolling downhill.<br/><br/>The house had just been a little further up the way, the thick lines of downed trees and bent shrubs meant to keep any movement behind the lines hidden. As soon as the group had slipped past, they'd realized that their little one man down sacrifice had been worth it.<br/><br/>No one really liked Roy anyways.<br/><br/><br/>An hour later, and Dexter was staring out the window on the second story. They'd searched the parameter and found it abandoned, but lived in. It was well stocked, taken care of and, more importantly, with dinner slow heating itself in the sun- the king of this castle planed on returning, and the little leader of their group hoped so. They could use a man like that. Traps, scavenged stock, repaired weapons, and a stock to make his own ammo? He'd already decided that he'd 'allow' the man to live under the guise of replacing Roy. And, if he didn't return? Well, that was a shame but at least they'd have the place to themselves. For once, it was a win-win. Those were one in a million now.<br/><br/>With a deep breath, he scanned over the perfect view of the yellow valley below. Whoever the bastard was, he sure had made a nice go for himself. No wonder he'd done so well. And now, well, he was about to be doing equally well if not better. Long as the rest of the idiots he traveled with didn't ruin it, that was. People tended to get greedy when they got comfortable. He knew that he sure did.<br/><br/>Patting the window sill, he turned around and paced out of the bed room and into the hall, looking down over the banister that ran along the line of the upstairs. Open and allowing you to look down with only one set of stairs that you could lift via a pulley? He smirked. Damned genius and resourceful. He was really looking forward to meeting this guy.<br/><br/>"Jake!"  he bellowed.  The scampering of boots below heralded a younger brunette rushing into view and looking up.<br/><br/>"Yeah, boss?"<br/><br/>He wafted a hand towards the front door while the other came to its familiar rest on the pistol holstered at his side. "You go on up around those stairs an' see if Anthem's seen anything intresting. Go on now. Oh! And why don't you tell out new little friend that she can get herself on in here as long as she promises to behave, hm?"<br/><br/>"Course, boss."<br/><br/>There were five of them, not counting their newest and rather reluctant addition. Jake was the youngest of them all. He was twitchy, scared, and didn't have an ounce of defiance in his body. Over the months, he'd become the lap dog of the group. Then there was Rory who was Jake's cousin. There was something off about him. He was tall and lean, but had a look in his eye like a dog about to bite. They'd both joined at the same time, having met up with the group after they'd murdered a family and taken their home. Jake seemed regretful, and Rory? There was no reading him, but it was an easy guess it wasn't a second thought.<br/><br/>Ben was a loner even before all hell broke lose, an old hunter who had gone a little off his rocker. He seemed to enjoy close quarter's fights with the corpses and, when they weren't around, anyone who he figured he could get a leg on. He liked his buck knife a little too much. He was one of the longest standing members of the group right behind Anthem, the group's sniper. In a world were ammo was scarce, the man made it count. When that ran out, he went to a bow and, no matter where he was, he always carried his scope. Even though he was thought of by everyone else as the  'second in command', he seemed his own splinter cell. He scouted for the group more often than not, and he was the only one who wasn't obsequiously licking the boots of their leader.<br/><br/>And then there was Dex, a man who was somehow as big as a mountain and still quick. Everyone underestimated how quickly someone who was built like a tank could draw a pistol, and he'd shot plenty of people down before they knew what happened. That speed wasn't just lent to his weapon, either. He was quick witted and cruel. Once you met him for a moment, you knew why he was able to survive in the world. While most people were merely getting by, Dex seemed built for it. He was the sort of person you couldn't imagine doing anything else in the world other than terrorizing people and being in charge.<br/><br/><br/>As he stood, arms folding on the wooden banister of what had once been a beautiful two-story get away and observed all of what he had thought was his new kingdom, he had no idea that the king was indeed on his way back to his castle. He also had no idea just how far his greed had gotten him in over his head.