CHAPTER 10

A/N: I apologize for the long time between the last chapter and this one. All that stupid life and stuff getting in the way. Now that I am back on track, I feel a few chapters falling out of my head.

Thank you to all who have reviewed, Favorited and/or Followed. You guys are awesome!

For Megan (Guest Reviewer): I can't believe that I managed to misquote a line in Chapter 1. Dang it! I watched that over and over and I still managed to mess up a line. I really do love the attention to detail. Keeps me on my toes. I will probably go in and fix it just because it's going to bug me now. Thanks for letting me know and I hope to hear more from you soon.

Bad language ahead…

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

SECURITY

For next 6 months, Daryl, Glenn, Sophia, Morgan and Duane spent their time from dawn to dusk working on securing the farm.

They started with the house. Sophia was very good mechanically and was able to envision, plan and execute all kinds of contraptions. She rigged tracks around the windows and made coverings from wood panels or metal they managed to scavenge. The cover would be pulled up and held in place with a pin. Each pin had a thin rope attached. One pull of the string and the pin would pop lowering the cover over the window. She also rigged a master that was located near the door. One pull on the master would release all of the pins at once and all of the window covers would drop. Once the cover dropped, it would latch. They would stay latched until someone released the latch and raised the cover back up.

She did this for all of the windows on the first floor. She used the metal on the second floor allowing them to create firing positions with some protection. She also created a reinforced position on the roof that can be used for watch or for defending the house.

They also created a more secure area in the cellar to be a last hold point, if needed. Eventually Sophia wanted to have an escape route from the cellar into the yard. This needed to be carefully considered because a way out also meant a way in.

Outside, they decided to create a sturdier fence, rather than the regular corral fence. Putting up the fence was a goddamn bitch.

Glenn mapped out the fence line and they began gathering materials. They put in large posts with boards in between. For the posts, they cut and dragged trees using rope and Morgan's truck. They dug down as deep as they could so the posts were pretty sturdy once upright. They got some Quikrete from the home store in the next town. Apparently concrete mix wasn't in high demand as far as survival supplies went. They used that to fill in the gaps in the holes around the posts to make the posts solid.

The fencing in between wasn't really that hard to find. Trips into subdivisions not far from where they were allowed them easy access to fencing panels as every yard had privacy fence. It was there for the taking and saved them a lot of work with them already being in panels. They nailed them to the posts two high to create a fence about 12 feet high. Periodically they would add a platform behind a piece of the fence allowing for a line of site over the top in order to keep watch.

Wiping the sweat off his face with the ever-present rag hanging from his back pocket, Daryl grumbled to himself about getting talked into the fence.

"Look, Daryl, we can build the fence around the property with the house in the center," Glenn began. "I already figured out where it needs to be."

"Yeah, and where's that?" Daryl asked.

"Here." He showed Daryl and Morgan the sketches that he did of the property. "We already think the walkers take the path of least resistance. If we put in fencing along this path, and keep it rounded as we go, that will work. It won't be like a perfect circle or anything, but it will keep them moving along and from getting hung up on any fencing or congregating in one spot."

"And just how long do you think this fence will need to be?" Morgan asked.

"About 600 feet on each side…sort of side…if circles or ovals have sides."

"Jesus, kid," Daryl said.

"It's only a couple of football fields long. That will give us a few acres inside the fence to start gardens and start getting some livestock again. We should see about getting some chickens if we can. That's a good place to start."

"Seems like a lot," Daryl said.

"Actually, not really," Morgan stated. "With the footprint of the house and what we'll need to do to survive, it probably isn't enough."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Glenn asked.

"I think we do this fence for now. Maybe add another further out once this is done. We can put a barn in between and add some larger livestock, cows, maybe a couple of pigs and such."

"Fine," Daryl said throwing up his hands. "You win. Just tell me where this needs to be."

"Just a couple of goddamn football fields, my ass," he grumbled. "It's fucking eight of 'em. Jesus Fucking Christ…fucking fence." Glenn heard him and had to hide his grin for fear of pissing Daryl off.

"When we're done building the fence, we should put barbed wire at the top. Just as an added level of security," Sophia said. Daryl just glared at her.

"Fucking fence," Daryl growled.

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN

Rick thought it was hard to believe that he and Carl had been on the road for months. They had not met up with any of the members of their group. They went back to the highway spot where they had been when Sophia disappeared hoping that the others would go there. When no one showed, they had to leave. They had been by themselves since then.

They had stumbled on the town they were walking through just by chance. When allowed entry, they were told they would have to meet with the man in charge before it was decided if they would be able to stay. Not everyone was invited.

As Rick and Carl were paraded through the main street, Rick looked around and thought it looked like it may have been a set from an old 1950's TV show. It's like it should be seen in black and white, rather than color. Rick found that unsettling.

Rick had also noticed that there were no women or children. Something wasn't right here. All of Rick's cop intuition went into overdrive.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being closely scrutinized by a figure in the shadows.

AMBUSH

Walking through the woods, Glenn and Sophia continued to follow the tracks left by a deer when a man stepped from behind a tree. Glenn immediately put himself between the man and Sophia. Both had their weapons at the ready, just in case.

"Well, what do we have here? Takin' a stroll through the woods?" the man asked. He was dirty and unkempt, but he didn't look like he had been going hungry.

"Just tracking some deer," Glenn said. "Not finding much. 'Bout ready to head back to our camp. Our people will be expecting us before dark," Glenn said trying to part ways as soon as he could. He also hoped letting this man know that they weren't alone would help. It didn't.

"Now, them folks might be waitin' a while," another man said coming from the trees behind them. Two more men stepped out with weapons raised.

"Thinkin' ya better drop your weapons before we need to do something rash," the first man said.

"Why would we do that?" Sophia asked.

"Cause you don't want us to blow your heads off, Missie," the second man responded.

"Why don't we all just go our separate ways and be done with it?" Glenn asked moving Sophia and himself a little further away from the men. That's when he felt the gun on the back of his neck.

"Time to let the weapons go," he growled. Glenn and Sophia both lowered their weapons.

One of the men came forward and stripped them of all of their weapons and gear. He grabbed Sophia's chin and turned her head each way before letting it go and leering down her body.

"Governor's gonna be real happy with this one, don't ya reckon?" he asked his friend.

"Yep," he replied. "Gonna fetch him a pretty penny." Sophia's breath hitched.

"She's just a kid, you fucker," Glenn snarled.

"Looks like she's a teenager. Old enough for trainin'," he said.

"You touch her and I will kill you," Glenn hissed.

"Oh, I ain't gonna touch her. She ain't worth as much that way. Need the food and supplies more that I need that from her. I can find that elsewhere and it won't cost me nothing. Now, get your shoes off."

"What? Why?" Sophia asked.

"Makes it harder for you to run," one of the men said. "Now lose the shoes, Girlie. You too, Eggroll." Sophia and Glenn both glared at the men, not that it did them any good.

"We'll get out of this," Glenn whispered to Sophia as they sat to remove their shoes. Sophia nodded with fear in her eyes. "I'll keep you safe. I promise."

"You can't promise that," she whispered back. Glenn grimaced.

"No, you're right, but I can promise that Daryl will find us. You know that. We just need to stay strong and give him a little time." She nodded.

They were roughly pulled to their feet and their shoes were put into one of the packs. Their hands were tied behind their backs and a loop of rope was wrapped around their necks, linking them together. The men started to lead them away.

When night was falling, Daryl was worried when there was no sign of Glenn or Sophia. They weren't going that far and he was surprised that they hadn't come back yet. He decided to go out and take a look around.

He found the spot where they had been. It was obvious there had been several people there. He could tell there were four men in addition to Glenn and Sophia. He knew they weren't walkers because the tracks were clear boot prints, not the pattern left by stumbling, dragging walkers. He could see the path they took away from there. There were four sets of boot prints and two sets of bare footprints. He knew those prints belonged to Glenn and Sophia.

Someone fucked with his family. And they were going to pay.

A/N:

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- Annie