A week has passed since that impromptu breakfast meeting—if you wanna call it that.
We officially finished the defensive perimeter of the farm, and trust when I say it was well worth it.
We started by layering the containers in a rectangular ring all around the farm, encircling it tightly with four additional containers that we propped up vertically to serve as watchtowers, leaving only the front empty.
After we finished layering the containers, we chose to weld them together first as to avoid making mistakes when we started filling them with the dug-out dirt from the trenches.
Just the layering alone cost us two straight days of nonstop work.
The welding, another whole day.
And the transport of dirt, almost four days.
It was the most labor-intensive part of the whole project aside from digging the trenches, so safe to say, everyone was dead tired.
The gate was another matter entirely.
We stripped off a couple of container doors and welded them together with some heavy-duty plates stripped from military vehicles for extra protection in between.
We also made sure to add as much as we could in terms of protection in the form of stripped heavy-duty plates in the front gate and the containers converted to makeshift watchtowers to guarantee the safety of the guards as much as we could realistically do.
We then strapped some heavy-duty locks onto the gate, and we called it a day.
Daryl and Merle kept in contact with us daily, keeping us updated with the latest data on the spies that are watching us.
The Dixon brothers said that there were only three groups of three that are working in rotation watching us from afar, with an additional courier that comes once every couple of days to take the info back to Woodbury.
Each of the groups have a leader; from what the brothers told me, the leaders are probably from the inner circle the Governor keeps around himself.
They also added that the two groups that were out searching for Michonne still haven't given up yet—instead, they widened the search perimeter even more, which made me grimace slightly because I know that unless they come to us searching for her, they would never find her.
I then made it clear to the Dixon brothers that they are to keep doing what they're doing and avoid alerting the enemy until we are ready to take them on.
Speaking of readiness, efficiency of the training had more than doubled since Rick and Shane switched to using the rubber bullets to train the group, since they could afford to go ham with the rubber bullets and not wince every time a real bullet was shot.
I could not help but curse at myself for being stupid enough to forget that I had them in the first place.
Even though it was expected with everything that was happening, I knew that wasn't an excuse and strived to be better in the future.
Rick and Shane said that everyone was on the right track training-wise, and in another week or two, they would be ready.
Though I don't think we have that much time.
One can only hope, right?
Now back into the present.
It was evening, and it was time for dinner.
Carol and Jenny had sent the kids around to call everyone in to eat.
I had just stepped out of the shower and headed for the kitchen.
When I got there, I immediately stepped inside and sat at my usual seat at the head of the table.
Everyone was trickling in every minute or so, looking completely exhausted.
The past week had run us all down to the bone.
With the threat of Woodbury hanging over our heads like a guillotine, everyone rushed to finish the urgent tasks as fast as they could.
Even the kids were beginning to notice something was off with how quiet the adults had been acting.
Nobody was sitting around wasting daylight anymore; every hour was spent working.
When the last person came in and sat down, Carol and Jenny served everyone the food, then sat down as well to eat.
Today was special.
We had finally finished the main tasks at hand, so I decided to reward everyone a bit.
It was venison steaks swimming in thick brown gravy, bowls of creamy mashed potatoes, two whole briskets slow-cooked to perfection, and pan after pan of hot cornbread.
There were wine bottles opened for the adults and cold cans of soda lined up for the kids.
Everyone's eyes lit up at the feast sitting right in front of them.
It had been weeks since we had a spread like this, and the smell of fried meat and fresh butter filled the entire kitchen.
Carl, Sophia, Duane, and the Morales kids actually cheered out loud when they saw the cans of soda sitting on the table, grabbing them before their mothers could even tell them to settle down.
"Holy hell," Shane muttered, pulling a plate of brisket toward him. "Never thought I'd get to eat brisket ever again."
"Too bad Daryl and Merle aren't here for this," Glenn spoke up from the side, eyeing the briskets with a wide smile on his face.
"They'll have their share of this when they return," I replied, grabbing a piece of cornbread and passing the platter down toward Hershel. "Saved plenty for them in the fridge."
"Well, bless the cooks," Hershel said, looking over at Carol and Jenny with a nod of respect.
"Don't thank us, thank Zephyr," Carol said with a soft smile, taking her seat next to Sophia. "He pulled all the good stuff out of storage for tonight."
We ate like starved wolves.
For the first ten minutes, nobody talked.
The only sounds in the room were fork tines clinking against the plates, cans snapping open, and a few groans of approval as people dug into the meat.
It felt good seeing everyone relaxed for once.
The tension that had been building up in everyone's shoulders since Michonne brought the bad news was finally starting to melt away, even if it was just for an hour.
Once everyone was stuffed and picking at the leftover cornbread crumbs, the conversation started up again.
Rick was talking to Morgan about the new guard shifts for the watchtowers, while Maggie rested her head against my shoulder, sipping a small glass of red wine.
I looked around the room, taking in the sight of my group.
They were tired, sore, and scared of what was coming, but they were alive.
And with the new defensive perimeter up and running, we were as ready as we were ever gonna be.
After a while, I pushed my chair back and stood up.
The room went quiet as everyone looked over at me.
"Alright, everyone," I said, looking at every face around the long table.
"Go back to your rooms and get some sleep tonight. Every single one of you has worked yourselves to the bone this week, and you've more than earned it."
I turned my head toward Dr. Jenner, who was sitting near the end of the table nursing his own glass of wine and looking paler than usual.
"I mean you too, Doc," I said, giving him a meaningful look.
He's been doing research on my blood nonstop ever since I gave it to him.
He barely slept two hours a night; he lived inside that lab of his, staring through microscope lenses until his eyes were bloodshot.
I fear he might exhaust himself to death before he even figures out a cure or a proper vaccine.
If we lost him, that would be catastrophic for everything we were trying to build here.
Dr. Jenner looked up, meeting my eyes.
He started to open his mouth like he was gonna argue, but when he saw the look on my face, he just raised his hands up in defeat.
"Alright, alright," Jenner chuckled softly, setting his empty glass down on the table. "I know when I'm beat, Zephyr. No lab tonight, I promise."
"Good," I said. "Because if I catch you down there past ten, I'm locking the blast door from the outside."
That brought a few light laughs from the table.
One by one, the group started getting up from their seats.
The kids carried the empty soda cans over to the trash, while Rick, Shane, and T-Dog helped Carol and Jenny clear the heavy serving platters off the table.
Everyone said their goodnights, their voices soft and heavy with exhaustion.
Maggie grabbed my hand, tugging me gently toward the hallway.
We walked back to our shared room, leaving the quiet kitchen behind as the rest of the farm turned in for the day.
(To be continued...)