The spring Louisiana sun rose over the bayou. There was a cool breeze that blew the long grass into a billowing wave. Animals of all kinds could be heard, their chattering and chirping. On the one high hill in the area, Georgette Dixon sat upon a large brown horse. Her eyes scanned everything the hill oversaw. To the north she could faintly see the structures of St. Bernard. To the west and south nothing but green bayou, but to the east she could see not just the vast blue ocean but Shell Beach. She could hear the sound of men and women working in the distance. They were building, expanding. The town stretched south from Shell Beach down the old crumbling Hopedale Highway through the town of Hopedale itself and then to where the road stopped when the river curved back into the canal. In the last twenty years they'd taken people in and needed the space for new homes. Shell Beach was now a flourishing community. She couldn't think of the last time she went hungry. They had their hunting skills, gardens and cattle to feed them. The only issue was keeping up with the production of the fence. Not a single walker had been seen in at least ten years. The river gave them one barrier to the west but not the east. They'd gone lax on making big walls and instead had put up a fence to keep gators and other unwanted critters out. Patrols frequented the area and they weren't particularly concerned about other people. They were prepared for anything. She was distracted by the sound of approaching horse hooves. She turned to see her daughter also on horseback, step out from the trees.

"Hey," she said, "Everything good?" Her children, nieces, nephews and cousins were lucky they didn't have to grow up in constant peril. Every time someone came looking for her, impulsively, in the back of her mind, she thought something was wrong. A million possibilities flashed through her head. Was Candice in labor? Did her mother fall and hurt herself?

"Ya," said her daughter, "Just thought I'd come find you." She pulled her horse up next to her. They stood in silence. Georgette saw herself in her daughter's face. The same strong features mixed with a thinner face thanks to Irving and darker hair. Carmella. That's what she had named her. She was their first born and both she and Irving had thought the name sounded pretty. Carmella laughed and said

"Nana's trying to help oversee the construction on one of the buildings. When I left I told her stay put in the house but I don't think she listened." Georgette sighed in frustration. Her fifty-nine-year-old mother had been restless since the end of the school year. She was a 1st grade teacher in town. The kids had gotten out for the summer about a week ago, leaving her mother with nothing to do. "At least she's not hovering around Auntie." Candice was six months into her pregnancy and there had been some early complications that had everyone worried about her.

Lorianne Grimes held the plastic bottle underneath the faucet, filling it with cold water. Once she was done she left the bathroom and walked back down the hall. Her grandfather sat at the large desk in the main room, looking through the binder where they kept their entire weapon inventory. He was an eighty-one year old man. His hair had grayed and he was wrinkled but he was still the same man he had been back when she was a child. His eyes had not changed. His gaze still held strength and the wisdom he had gained from the years of surviving the apocalypse. She placed the cup of water down on his desk and said

"Here grandpa." He looked up at her and smiled and said

"Thanks sweetheart."

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" He picked up a full folder from the edge of the desk and said

"We got some new arrivals at the beginning of this week and I've got all their paperwork here. We filled out most of their info except for their physical characteristics and health. If you could go to their home and get that info that'd be great." Lorianne picked up the folder and said

"No problem! I'll be back later!" She had been working in the town hall for a few months now, helping her grandfather with the workload. Her mother Candice, his daughter, had thought it a great idea as much as her grandfather hadn't wanted any help, insisting that he was still capable of running things independently. He'd soon realized having Lorianne around to help was much easier on him. She opened up the folder and found the new family's address. They lived down the road in Hopedale. Walking would take an hour but horseback would be about a 20 minute ride. It was good that the town had expanded but she often wished that it didn't take so long to get from one side to the other. Her grandfather had remedied the problem of communication by setting up another base down at the other end, run by the co-head of the council, Michonne. Lorianne headed down to the stables where they kept the horses. Horseback had become the main mode of transportation. They had to get rid of the last few ATV's long ago. They'd fallen apart despite their great care.

On the way over she ran into her older brother Rick. He looked dirty and sweaty, blood smearing the front of his shirt.

"Just get back from a hunt?" He nodded and said

"Got a buck. Where are you headed?" She held up the folder and said

"Helping grandpa with some census stuff."

"Have fun. Will you be back in time for dinner?"

"Ya," she said, "See you then!" She and her siblings as well as her cousins were all pretty close. Most of them were in the same age range except for a few little ones, including her younger brother Thomas who was seven, and the new baby her mom was currently pregnant with.

She entered the barn, welcoming the sweet scent of hay. She walked down the aisle to the usual Gray mare she rode named Hana. She quickly saddled her, brought her outside and mounted her, turning her towards the road.

Charmaine Rhee sat on the shore of the canal. Next to her sat her two friends Tanner and Stacey. They were skipping rocks, enjoying their first week of summer. Charmaine reached down and picked up a flat rock. She threw it as best she could, watching it jump three times off the dark surface of the river. She smiled and said

"I got it!"

"I once saw my brother get it to go eight times." The girls weren't used to having so much time on their hands, but they'd get used to it. Every summer things started out slow, especially since they lived on the end of the road where it wasn't as established as the other. The larger school was in the downtown part of Shell Beach which was about a half an hour ride north on horseback. Their school was smaller and only contained about ten or twelve kids but it kept them busy. While some of the others may not have, Charmaine enjoyed learning. She liked reading the dog-eared history books about what America used to be like before the walkers had come. It was her favorite subject. "Maybe I can get him to take us fishing on the boat again this summer." Charmaine thought of Tanner's older brother Kodi. They had begged him to bring them fishing on the boat as they weren't allowed to go alone and their parents were often too busy to take them. Charmaine sometimes wished she had an older sibling. She was an only child. Her older cousins all lived on the north side. The cousins she had here were younger than here. There were Aunt Athena's daughters, Lilo and Lanie who were only four years old. Athena's third and eldest seventeen year old daughter Natalia lived in the area but spent the day up north, helping out with the hunts, often going out for days at a time. When she was home however, Natalia often let Charmaine tag along in whatever it was she was doing.

She also liked visiting her grandmother Michonne at her office. At ten years old, Charmaine didn't have many duties. Her father Ares was the head guard in the southern part of town, her mother Judith was the head nurse in the small clinic they had there, sometimes going up to the main hospital if help was needed. Last summer Charmaine had spent her summer with her friends, fishing off the dock and taking care of the animals in the barn. The Louisiana sun was hot but they weren't allowed to swim because of the gators. Some days she'd give anything to jump in and cool down. Up north they had a community pool where the kids were taught to swim. She remembered going as a small child. Her mom had wanted her to learn how to swim but once she had, they no longer took the thirty minute ride up. She often asked her mother why they couldn't move up there. Her mother would calmly explain to her how that they needed to stay down south to guide the newcomers and keep the population there consistent.

The sun was setting when Tanner and Stacey's mother called them for dinner. Charmaine's mother usually called her a little later and she had about ten minutes to sit by herself. She stopped skipping rocks and sat down, looking out over the horizon. She couldn't see beyond the trees on the other side of the canal but she know beyond it was the wide open ocean. She had yet to see it but from pictures she'd seen in books and from how people described it, it sounded beautiful and wonderful. Despite having friends and a caring family she often wished she could pack up a bag and go out and explore the world herself. The village felt so small, there had to be more out there, and she wanted to see it.

Hey everyone!

So I'm back! Sorry for the wait, it's been extremely busy but I've finally started the third story! I've got my new website up and running with all the updated info on the trilogy and the new generation of survivors. You can find the link to it on my profile.

Thanks everyone and please review!