RE: The Walking Dead [Zombie LitRPG]

Last night.

The operation on Carl was successful, which brought them joy and relief. Although Michael managed to save Shane from a road of no return. There was one thing that bothered him.

'I labeled myself as malware last night, but I already feel this world knows of my existence. In regards to that, that Otis guy. Why wasn't "it" triggered? Was he just too minor that he wasn't deemed important at all?'

Sadly, he didn't have any way of knowing that there were actually three more walkers that appeared when he saved Otis, but got run over in the ensuing chaos.

Leaning against the wooden fence, Michael looked around him. 'I just hope that it does not snowball into a herd. That is if it were triggered and they're still out there. After experiencing it twice, maybe I should also think of giving it an appropriate name at this point.'

'Random attack? Event? Heh, maybe antivirus?' Michael wore a thoughtful look on his face.

While watching a nearby cow grazing, a familiar word immediately struck him. 'A herd? No, a Swarm. A swarm of locusts, but instead of insects, it's the walking dead.'

Deep in contemplation, Michael suddenly noticed Otis power walking around the barn and the family home. "What the hell is that guy doing?"

Curious, Michael went over and approached him.

On the other hand, the survivors were moved onto one of the nearby small groves of trees on the property, numbering around ten or so.

Around fifty yards from the farm house.

"How long do you think we're staying here?" Jill approached Amy with a skillet on her hand.

Amy was chopping a few stalks of wild onions when Jill came to her. "Well, I'm not sure. But if you ask me if it's better that we stay here for good, then my answer would be yes. I think we can build this place into a safe zone. You know, like those villages in the past surrounded with log fences or palisade fences."

Amy's words made Jill think and indeed sounded plausible for her. "You know what, that's actually not a bad idea. If we implement that, the only problem we would have would be from that old man if he'd allow us to make changes on his property."

"Well, why don't you two bring that idea up during lunch later? I think Rick and the others would find it feasible since this place is literally surrounded by forest everywhere." Jacqui overheard them and couldn't help but chime in. She looks better now compared to before. Maybe it's because she has already found love in Alan.

"Yeah, I think we'll do just that."

Meanwhile, Michael had joined Otis.

"Why are you suddenly doing this man?"

Otis slowed down a bit when Michael approached him. "Oh hey man. Uhh, well. If it weren't for you, we would have never made it out last night. It made me realize that I should at least lose a few pounds, you know. So that last night's situation won't happen again."

Michael nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that's a great goal to have right now. Aside from you, I've never seen any overweight people since. I guess you're one of the lucky ones left."

'Yeah, get fit. I have a lot of uses for you soon.'

After saying those words, Michael immediately left him.

Otis paused in his tracks and watched Michael walk away. He looked down at his round belly and gently rubbed it. "Hang in there buddy."

Otis continued his activity until he ran out of fumes and went back to the farm house.

*****

It was almost lunch time, but Michael had made his way to the edge of the property and was busy inspecting the area.

'At this point, the future for Fort Benning and the prison looks bleak. I guess for now, we should start building some fortifications around the property, to prepare for the dangers ahead.'

Michael stood before the tree line. 'And this forest is too dense. We should thin it out since the density would mask any threats approaching us, a walker herd to be exact. Those bastards can sneakily approach the property without us even noticing.'

"Michael!"

Hearing his name being called, Michael slowly turned around and saw Amy in the distance waving at him. He also waved back and moved closer to her.

"What is it?"

Amy also walked towards him and was slightly out of breath. "Rick and the others are discussing things with Hershel. They're looking for you."

"Did they tell you what it is?" Michael had an idea but he's not so sure now that he had made some changes.

Walking back alongside him, Amy scrunched up her eyebrows because of the sun. "I'm not sure, but I overheard them talking about guns when I was about to leave and look for you."

'Oh boy' Michael immediately figured out that Hershel would give them an ultimatum on the prohibition of guns on his property.

Reaching the campground, the two were just in time to hear Hershel's opinion on their said guns.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this place into an armed camp."

Shane gently refuted him. "With all due respect, if we get a crowd of those things wandering in here. It could quickly endanger us since we would not be able to respond to the threat in time."

"But they move slower than us. I'm sure you would have already gotten to your guns before they can even get near this place." Maggie also refuted him.

Shane wanted to reason more with her when he finally noticed Michael heading over to them with Amy. "Michael's here. Why don't we ask him what his view is on this matter? I'm sure he can change your mind, Hershel."

"Wow, that's a lot of expectation right there, Shane." Michael let out a chuckle the moment he arrived.

"I think I haven't properly introduced myself to you yet, and as you might have already heard, I'm Michael." Michael smiled at Hershel and offered his hand.

The old man nodded and grabbed his hand, "Hershel. I heard what you did. Saving that little girl and that boy. I think you're quite the reliable man, Michael."

Michael chuckled while Shane looked slightly offended at the old man's statement. "You're giving me too much credit on those matters. We all took part in doing those deeds. I was just lucky to be at the right place, at the right time."

He wasn't just saying those words out of humbleness, but he meant it.

Sophia would have died if Rick wasn't initially present during the incident. The same goes for Shane and Otis who had also risked their lives to get those medical supplies.

"Right. Where were we? Ah right, guns. Shane does have a point that it would compromise our safety if we don't have them on us, but Maggie is also right that the walkers aren't as fast as compared to ours. Besides, we're guests here and this is their property. Our only wish is for our weapons to be easily accessible to us. That wouldn't be too hard to ask right?"

Rick nodded alongside Michael's opinion and also added his own. "I agree with him. We know this is your property and we will respect that." He emphasized the latter part of his words while throwing a glance at Shane and continued. "We know that we're intruding here, but we also ask for your understanding of wanting to protect ourselves."

Hershel nodded with understanding. "I don't care what you do with your guns as long as you're not carrying it around the property. We won't have any problems regarding that."

"Alright." Rick repeatedly nodded his head and was the first one to surrender his gun and placed it down on the hood of the truck.

Shane looked at Rick, then at Michael. He was still unwilling, but still followed suit and also surrendered his handgun. Michael followed suit, and lastly, Andrea.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. I'll make sure no one is carrying till we're at a practice range off site." Shane took it to himself on the task of gathering the said items, too eager in fact.

On the other hand, Micheal is closely watching their actions. Most especially towards Shane, and it greatly relieved him when Shane didn't immediately reclaim his gun right after surrendering it.

Originally, Shane would have immediately taken it back just several seconds after he had surrendered it right after Rick. It was through these small actions that it foreshadowed the growing disagreements and tensions between the two men, but his earlier actions slightly relieved Michael since it showed that Shane is slowly changing, albeit small.

"I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane looked at Hershel. The others did too. The old man looked unsure and didn't immediately give them a response.

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun" Rick quickly reasoned with him.

Hershel looked around them and nodded in response.

"Thank you."

Shane and Daryl left right after. Michael also did too, alongside Andrea.

"So, are you going to teach me how to shoot now?" Andrea smiled at him, looking all excited.

Michael looked at her. "Shane took the responsibility for shooting practice. You don't want him to teach you?"

"I was the one who asked you first about this, and you said you would do it, not Shane."

Michael let out a helpless sigh as he had indeed given the word back then. "Fine. You're really persistent, you know that?"

"And I heard I am very good at it." Andrea let out a satisfied chuckle.

*****

When Michael and the others left, Maggie continued talking to Rick.

"That stuff you brought, more antibiotics and bandages, do you guys have anything more like that?"

Carol walked by and overheard them. "Just what you've seen. Those were actually Merle's."

"Who's Merle? Is he dead?" Maggie was curious about the name being brought up since she didn't meet anyone going by that name among them.

"He's Daryl's brother, and he's still alive. Just missing." Rick looked a little guilty while saying those words.

Maggie felt like there was more to the story, but knew it wasn't her place to pry and just ignored it.

"Anyway, we're running short already. I think I should make a run into town." Maggie suggested while looking at her father.

Rick was confused and a little worried. "You're not going to that high school, right?"

Maggie smiled and let out a chuckle. "Oh god, no. There's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before."

Rick looked around the camp, and when he spotted Glenn. He turned back around to look at Hershel. "See our man there in the baseball cap? That's Glenn, he's our main supply runner and our go-to-town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious."

Hershel didn't say anything and just looked at his daughter and gestured with his head.

Maggie nodded and went over to Glenn while Rick and Hershel went back to the farmhouse to check on Carl.

"I hear you're fast on your feet and know how to get in and out." With her hands on her waist. Maggie stopped beside Glenn, who's now looking at her with a bewildered look on his face.

"I got a pharmacy run. You wanna tag along?" Maggie looked at him with a slight scowl, but it just looked cute in the eyes of Glenn.

"Uh..su-"

"Miss, what's the water situation here?"

Glenn was about to say something when Dale suddenly came and interrupted them.

"We got five wells on our land. House directly draws from number one. The number two well is right over there." Maggie turned to him and pointed somewhere past the RV.

"We use it for the cattle, but it's just as pure. Take what you need. There's a cart and containers in the generator shed behind the house." Dale just repeatedly nodded his head as he listened. The others also did while setting up the camp.

Maggie turned to Glenn and walked past him. "Get yourself ready while I'll go saddle up your horse."

Glenn turned to Dale and with a confused face. "Horse? I don't even know how to ride one."

"You can do it. It's easy." Cole answered as he walked past them.

Glenn followed him with his eyes. "You rode one before?"

"Nope, but how hard can it be?"