I woke up the next morning to the faint gray light of early morning creeping through the window curtains.
Maggie was still curled next to me, breathing softly, deep in the world of dreams.
I moved carefully so I wouldn't disturb her, slowly stood up, grabbed a fresh change of clothes, and went straight to the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, after a quick wash, I was feeling like I was alive again.
Suddenly, my stomach growled loud.
I chuckled lightly and patted my stomach twice.
"I guess that's my cue," I muttered to myself.
I turned around and went straight down to the kitchen.
When I got there, aside from Carol and Jenny, who were already busy getting breakfast ready.
I found Dale standing by the counter.
He was filling a small stainless steel thermos with fresh coffee.
I guess he was here for a morning refill before returning back to his guard post.
"Morning, everyone," I said as I reached up and grabbed a clean mug from the counter rack.
"Good morning, Zephyr," Carol said with a gentle smile, not pausing as she stirred a big pot on the stove.
"Morning!" Jenny waved from the cutting board.
"Good morning, Zephyr. Early as usual," Dale said, screwing the thermos lid shut with a satisfying click.
"Well, as they say, the early bird gets the worm," I said, walking over to the coffee pitcher and pouring myself a full cup.
"They do indeed," Dale chuckled, leaning against the counter.
I took a warm sip from my mug, looking over at him. "Did Daryl and Merle call on the radio?"
"Yeah, they did," Dale answered, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to me at the long wooden table.
"They said they spotted two separate groups of people out there yesterday. Looked like they were actively searching for something or someone."
Dale looked me in the eye. "They said those boys scoured the whole vicinity, property by property. They were looking for that lass Michonne, weren't they?"
I took another slow sip from my mug before nodding. "Yeah, they were. There's no other probable explanation. The Governor knows she ran, and he knows she knows too much."
Before Dale could answer, Carol came over and set two steaming plates of food right in front of us.
"Enjoy," she said softly before returning to help Jenny with the rest of the prep work.
"Thanks, Carol," I said.
"Thank you, Carol, that looks delicious," Dale said.
We fell into easy rhythm after that, eating our breakfast while talking quietly about the farm.
Dale mentioned how the weather was holding up nicely, which was good news for the crops.
We talked about his life before the world turned upside down.
Dale was a good guy to talk to—calm, sensible, and always looking out for the rest of the group.
Once his plate was clean, Dale stood up, grabbed his thermos off the table, and tucked it under his arm.
"Thanks for the food, ladies," he called out toward the stove. He then gave me a quick nod. "I better head back to my post."
"Catch you later, Dale," I said, watching him head out the door.
Minutes after he left, the kitchen door swung open again.
Rick, Shane, and Morgan came stepping through the door, signs of sleep still visible in their faces.
Morales walked in a couple minutes later, followed by T-Dog and Glenn a few minutes after that.
Finally, Jim came slumping in, looking like he'd been awake for hours already despite just waking up.
They all grunted out their morning greetings to Carol and Jenny, grabbed whatever mugs were available, and sat down around the table for breakfast.
I let them take a few bites and get some coffee into their systems before I started talking business.
"Alright, listen up," I said, leaning my elbows on the table. "Now that the defensive trenches are finished, what's left is placing down the shipping containers, filling them up with the dirt we dug out, and welding them together."
I turned my head toward Jim. "Jim, I'm gonna need you to get the reach stacker and one of the flatbed trucks ready. We'll need them to haul and drop those containers into position."
Jim nodded without hesitating, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "I'll get 'em fired up and ready right after I finish breakfast, Zephyr."
"Good," I said, turning my gaze to the other guys sitting around the table. "The rest of you guys need to get your tools and gather all the available wheelbarrows we have on the farm. We're gonna need every single one to transfer that loose dirt and rubble into the containers once they're set. It's gonna be a haul."
The guys nodded along, though Glenn let out a long, dramatic sigh, slumping back into his wooden chair.
"Man, another full day of manual labor?" Glenn groaned, shaking his head.
"My arms are gonna fall off."
T-Dog chuckled and patted him on the back.
I smiled, but then remembered something that had slipped my mind during all the chaos over the last few days.
I turned straight to Rick and Shane.
"Oh, by the way," I said, pointing a finger at them.
"You guys can make use of those rubber training bullets in the supply crate I brought back in my early days of scavenging. I totally forgot about them until this morning."
Rick and Shane stopped eating mid-bite.
They slowly exchanged a look of disbelief with each other, their jawlines tightening before letting out a loud, simultaneous sigh.
"Damn it, Zephyr!" Shane barked, slamming his palm flat against the tabletop, though there was no real anger behind it. "You could have said that earlier! That could have saved us a hell of a lot on real ammunition during target practice!"
Rick just shook his head, rubbing his temples like he was getting a sudden headache. "We've been counting every single casing, Zephyr."
I quickly held my hands up in defense, grinning sheepishly. "Hey! I really did forget we had them! Cut me some slack, I'm carrying a lot on my mind, too!"
The rest of the guys around the table couldn't hold back their laughter at the sight of Shane fuming over rubber bullets.
"Alright, alright, laugh it up," Shane grumbled. "At least we won't have to worry about people wasting real bullets now."
"That's the spirit," I said, standing up from the table and draining the last cold drop of coffee from my mug. "Finish up your food, boys. Time to work."
(To be continued...)