Chapter 25: Hard Work Will Do It

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"Winter is coming, we should think about abandoning the campground until spring," Sirius said, when he woke up to a chilly day. It had been a few days since the whole Governor thing, and he had taken that time to think.

"Probably a good idea," Remus agreed, thinking on where they would move, the prison, the condos, or the CDC.

"I think I'll stop the sorting for most of the workers and put more to clearing out buildings. The sorting can start again when we get most of the city cleared. That and I want more people to killing zombies. With the cars it's a simple thing. The more we kill the less there is. I know the warders have got half the city boundaries warded. If we are going to have to defend this place, I want it clear of Walkers. Have the scavengers hit all the gun stores, and I think Daryl said pawn shops," the leader said as he walked.

The other day had opened his eyes. He had been playing like there were no dangers in the world. Sure, he had them study self-defense, but that was more for Walkers, not humans. Still, those lessons would help with both. Head shots can kill a human as easily, if not easier, as a zombie.

"I'll get right on it," Remus said, heading out to do just that.

Sirius went to the meal tent to find Daryl and his brother, and hopefully Harry. The teen wasn't in the tent when he got up, so he might be eating. He moved to the entrance and saw all those he was looking for. They were indeed eating.

"Great, I'm glad you are all here. Harry, I need you to start training the kids to hide from everyone. Do it in the condo complex. There's a fenced in area you can use. It's zombie free," Sirius said, as he grabbed a plate and started piling food on. With so few people here in the morning, meals were served Hogwarts style.

"Is this because of the other day?" the boy inquired, looking at his godfather and seeing him well and truly spooked. Not even the zombies got that look in the man's eyes.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"He's got a right to be worried," Merle said between bites. He didn't know who cooked, but damn it was the best he'd eaten in ages. "The Governor is crazy. I could tell you stories, but I might scare you," the man said, talking down to Harry.

"I was a street kid, I don't think I scare that easy," Harry rebutted.

"Yeah? You ever seen a man burned alive? because that will stick with you," the older redneck stated, suddenly dropping his fork and pushing his plate away.

"No," Harry said, putting his fork down, and looking at the man. "I hear it's awful," he whispered.

"There's no worse smell," Merle stated, then took a deep breath and grabbed his plate again. "I might not forget it, but I won't let it control my emotions."

"Good call," Harry agreed, picking up his own fork.

"PTSD," Daryl said to his brother.

"Might be, but what to do about it yeah. Unless you have a shrink here that can prescribe meds. Not to mention a factory that can make the meds," Merle stated, knowing he was messed in the head.

"We do have counselors," Sirius offered. "They could help."

"Might could, iffin I was so inclined,' the older man said, finishing off his food. He took a deep drink of coffee, and said, "What are we doing today?" The last couple of days he and Daryl had hunted.

"Killing zombies," Sirius said, leading them to the weapons tent. "Take your pick," he said to Merle. "Make sure you take bullets too," he added, doing just that.

Daryl was stocking up on arrows and grabbing a gun and bullets. Merle let out a 'whoop' and did the same. Sure, the Governor had guns, but nothing like this. He snatched a handgun and a shotgun.

"Can I come? Classes are still a few hours off. the younger kids have school," Harry asked, knowing that Sirius was open to the idea. He would have gone before but they had just found a teacher, or two. Before he had been in charge of the kids in the mornings. Now they went to classes, and then to his class. The older children had the choice of lessons or work. Most chose lessons, but Harry and the other runners didn't see the point.

"Yeah, grab a weapon, and stay in the car at all times," Sirius said, grabbing a harness for Harry. "Got it?"

"Do I have to?" the teen whinged, looking at the harness like it was a cobra.

"Yes," was all the answer he got.

"Stupid overprotective godfathers," the boy grumbled, but put the harness on. "Embarrassing me in front of the new guy."

"Cheer up, pipsqueak, at least you won't be zombie bait," Merle said, laughing at the boy.

Daryl gave his brother a look that said, 'stop it', but as usual, the man ignored him.

The foursome made their way to the garage tent and decided to take motorcycles, of which one had a side car. Daryl gave his brother a crash lesson on how to make it fly. The other man picked it up pretty quickly.

They pushed them down the road to the highway and then started towards the city. After a minute driving they flew. It didn't take long for them to get to where they wanted to be. There was a large number of zombies in the Downtown area. It was like the outbreak started there. One secretary, or something, bit her boss and it escalated from there.

Not that they knew this to be true, but it could have happened that way.

The four of them flew between the large buildings, taking potshots at the zombies in the windows. They flew lower and saw the zombies come out due to the noise they were making. They didn't even hesitate, the group simply fired, while staying out of reach. They did this until they all ran out of bullets.

Harry dropped his gun and went to dive after it, forgetting that he could overbalance the motorcycle. He fell out and Sirius was having a hard time keeping the bike level.

"Daryl, grab him!" he yelled at the younger brother. He knew Daryl knew how to fly.

Daryl did just that, he flew under the boy and grabbed the line holding him above the zombies. There was a mass of Walkers trying to grab them both. One got a hold of Daryl's boot, the man in question simply pulled out a knife and stabbed the thing in the eye. All the while still holding on to Harry.

Sirius finally got the bike under control, now that Harry wasn't pulling him off balance. "Bring him up, Daryl."

Daryl flew up and all but threw Harry in the sidecar. "No gun is worth it," he said harshly.

"I know, I just reacted," the teen said, not quite shamefully, more like frustrated. He was mad at himself for not thinking. He knew that they could come back and get the gun when the zombies left. Or that they had tons more at the camp.

"Next time think, okay?" Sirius said, ruffling his hair. He wasn't angry, more scared.

"Can we get back now?" the unsympathetic Merle asked. He was all for the survival of the fittest.

"Yeah, let's head back," Sirius said, turning the bike towards the highway. He then told the Dixons about retreating for the winter. Letting them know they had the three places to choose from. They said they'd talk it over and then choose.

At the campground they drove the bikes to the garage tent and put them away.

"Do you do this often?" Merle asked, thinking it was a job he could get behind.

"We're going to pick up the pace. The warders almost have the city borders warded. So no more will come in. We will have to kill off what's already here," Sirius explained once more.

"Your mojo can keep them out?" the surprised man asked.

"Didn't we tell you that yesterday?" the dogman asked, leading the way to lunch.

"Probably, but I wasn't listening. I was more concerned about not making it past your judging mojo," the older redneck confessed without a scrap of remorse.

"Makes sense," Sirius said, going to the food line. Everyone grabbed a plate and started piling on sandwiches, or soup or salad. Lunch was a light affair.

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Michonne walked into the lunch tent and after getting her food sat near Sirius and his group, which now included her and the Dixon brothers. She was glad to be useful enough to warrant the good jobs. She was sure she'd go crazy just sorting stuff. Though she did hear Remus say that tomorrow there will be more scavenging done. She was looking forward to that.

"Why do you have to go out scavenging?" she heard Lori ask Rick.

"Must we have this conversation now?" he asked her in a weary voice. The voice of a man who was tired of fighting.

"You won't talk to me at night," she hissed, digging her nails into his arm.

He jerked and moved his arm away. "I refuse to fight with you in front of Carl," he said in a harsh whisper.

"Mom, Dad, stop," the boy in question said in a pleading tone. Letting his parents know they weren't fooling anyone.

Michonne looked around and noted that she was not the only one listening. She blushed a bit but wasn't really apologetic. She wanted to know what was going on with that couple. She was drawn to the man. He exuded manliness. Well, to her he did.

From what other women gossiped about, the Dixon brothers were their idea of manliness. They could have them, bigoted assholes. Though, Daryl had always treated her right, she could tell he was still a bigot. The man probably didn't want to get booted. Now there were two of them.

Still, she didn't want to leave either, so she, like T-Dog and the others, tolerated them. Good thing they were here at the campground and not at the prison with the others. Like she said, so far, she was treated alright, so maybe it was because she was female. Some men just respected women more than men.

"That woman is listening to us," Lori whispered, looking at Michonne, who stared back unrepenting.

"Everyone is eavesdropping. We're better than a soap opera," Rick grumbled, knowing they were the topic of many conversations.

"Lori, stop," Carol said, putting her hand on the other woman's arm. "Just stop," she repeated, looking around at all those trying to look innocent.

"Fine, but this isn't over," she said to her husband.

"Yes, it is. I refuse to apologize for something I have yet to do," he said, then got up and sat next to Sirius, and started talking about what job to do next.

"Do you see the way he treats me?" a tearful Lori asked her best friend.

"He has cause," Carol told the woman, never being one to lie to her.

"He should forgive me," the pregnant woman stated as if it was a given fact.

"He did no wrong, Lori, stop picking at him," the shy woman said so lowly it was hard to hear her.

"I will if he stops chasing that woman," Lori said, loudly, like that would help people come to her side of the argument. Most just laughed and moved on. The show was over as far as they were concerned.

Michonne shook her head and moved to the other side of Sirius. They fell into talking about which block to clear next. A map was pulled out and they poured over it. It was decided that they would work from the condos out, and from the nursing home out. There would be six teams of four for each area. Three non-magical and one magical. The warders would finish the perimeter, then work their way in. that way the whole city would be covered, and free of zombies.

First, they needed to find every gun and ammo they could. That would be a job for the magicals. They would Accio guns everywhere they went. The elves would keep the arrows in supply because they can use any wood to make them.

While these teams would clear the city, there would be four teams of four going out in the great unknown and trying to find survivors. They would have the same team makeup. 3:1 ratio. Any hostiles were to be taken down with great prejudice. Each team would have one of their best fighters on it. So that meant splitting up the brothers.

'And me and Rick,' Michonne thought. 'That'll make Lori happy.'

Harry and the runners were to continue what they had been doing. Only they were to teach the kids how to hide from everything, including animals and humans. If they had dogs, that were trained, there's no telling who else did.

It would take hard work on everyone's part, but in the end Sirius' dream would be fulfilled. Even if he had to kill any opposition to do so.