Chapter 33: End of the Year Holidays.

I added a bit to the last chapter. Someone pointed out that the Saviors are in Virginia, so I made sure to say that the teams are going that far. They have flying vehicles.

Oh, and I'm not getting anything from ffn. It's happened before, and it will play catchup later. But right now, nothing.

Hphphp

Summer months passed quickly, and the teams were bringing more and more people in. Most were very sick or malnourished. And very, very scared. Their lives had not been easy. They all settled in quite well, after knowing what was out there better than those that lived here since the beginning. Or near so.

The main group found out the Saviors were anything but, and quickly found any community that was linked to them and offered them a place in Atlanta. Most of the communities were small, only twenty or thirty people. Most single. And very few children.

September and October were fun, the weather was cooling and most of the residences were happy that the heat was gone. A lot of people worked the farms to get the crops in. It was hard work, but if they wanted to eat, then it had to be done.

Halloween was celebrated with a feast for the kids during lunch. There were two costume parties. One for the kids and one for the adults. Most used what they had at home or did a bit of extra work to get material and sewing equipment. Absolutely no one dressed as a zombie.

Sirius had asked everyone to give him the names of their dead. He told them why he wanted them, and many thought it was a good gesture. Though there were a few diehard ones that refused, saying they had already said their prayers. Sirius just nodded and went to the next person. Those names were read during the Samhain rituals.

Now though, autumn was in full swing, and Daryl came up to Sirius. "Thanksgiving is coming up," he said. "End of November," he added, this being the end of October.

"What is Thanksgiving?" the British man asked, looking perplexed.

"Americans celebrate the colonization of the good old USA by having a feast," was the simple explanation.

"Oh, that's the one with the Indians, right?" Sirius asked, thinking on what little he knew of the holiday. "What kind of feast?" he asked, worried they didn't have what was needed.

"Turkeys are the most important part," Daryl answered, settling his crossbow better on his back.

"Do we have turkeys?" the leader wondered out loud.

"Don't know," was the answer, accompanied by a smirk.

"Dobby!" Sirius called, and looked around for the elf to pop in.

Dobby popped in right in front of him. "What is doggyman being needing?" Now that the elves were free, they weren't as submissive. They still respected those that deserved it but didn't kowtow to anyone.

"There's a holiday coming up and the main part of the feast is turkeys. Do we have enough to feed everyone?" Sirius asked, his voice and face hopeful.

"Dobby be right back," the little guy said and disappeared. He was back five minutes later, during which time Sirius did paperwork and Daryl just sat. "There is not being enough for everyones. But Dobby is being knowing there is being a farm that is being having some," he said, bouncing on his toes.

"An abandoned farm?" Sirius asked, not knowing of any poultry farms.

"Yes, sir, doggyman sir," Dobby stated, still bouncing.

"Are you elves watching it?" he asked the elf.

"We is being watching many abandoned farms," was the surprising answer.

"You are?" the completely flabbergasted man asked, his eyes wide and jaw hanging.

"Yous is being telling us to watchout for abandoned farms so we is being doing so," Dobby said, confused as to why this was news.

"I meant if you see them come tell me, not take over farming. Isn't it too much work for you guys?" Sirius asked, not wanting them to tax themselves. He looked to Daryl, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Of course, it is not being," the affronted elf said, stomping his foot.

"I was just worried," Sirius said, holding up his hands. "So, with this farm do we have enough for everyone?" he asked instead.

"Yes, we is being have enough."

"Are you warding the farms?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Only froms the dead," was the answer.

"Good, great. Go find out what else is on the menu. Ask some of the mothers, they should know," Sirius ordered politely, wondering what to do with this information. He had no idea the elves had taken his orders wrong, but if they could handle it, he wasn't going to interfere.

"Dobby wills be doing that," Dobby said and popped away.

"Are you going to have a communal meal, or let everyone have their own celebration?" Daryl asked, now that Dobby was gone.

"What do you think? It is your holiday," Sirius inquired, drumming his fingers on his desk.

"Let the families cook their own and have a public Christmas feast," was Daryl's suggestion.

"That sounds like a plan," Sirius said, brightening up. He wondered if his small group of people would even celebrate. They were still British. "I'll tell everyone at lunch, and anyone wanting supplies needs to put in a request," he added, making out a form and copying it over fifty times. For they had fifty families now, and hundreds of singles. Over two hundred singles. Most were in mourning.

The families were still in the condos, and the singles were split up between the prison, the campgrounds, and the CDC. The Vatos were still at the nursing home with the healers. They had lost a few of the older folks over the changing of the season, but Rachel said that was to be expected. They were all very old. Sirius didn't know what the Vatos were going to do when they all passed, but that was a question for another time.

"What about you and your brother, not to mention all the other singles?" Sirius asked, "I was thinking on having a buffet set up in the dining halls of each site. Including the nursing home."

"That sounds good, me and Merle don't really celebrate, but if you put a buffet here, we'll eat," the other man said, standing to go.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

"Thanks for listening to me," Daryl said, still not used to anyone paying attention to him or his brother, unless it was killing things.

"Of course, you are one of my confidants. I'd be lost without you and Remus," the leader confessed.

"Oh," was all Daryl said.

"Go on, and do whatever it is you do," Sirius said, knowing that the redneck didn't do mushy.

"Right," said redneck said, and sidled out the door.

Hphphp

Sirius did announce it at lunch and put the request forms on the table in front of him. "If you want something, fill these out. After lunch, don't hurry, it's a month away."

Many of the families did just that and handed them in over the week. They were short of things like canned cranberry sauce, but the elves learned how to make it from scratch.

That Thursday, everyone had the day off, and Sirius did as he said he would. He was surprised when the Grimms joined them in the dining tent.

"Rick, not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you here?" Sirius asked the other man.

"Lori didn't want to cook, and I can't," Rick answered, his face a stone mask.

"Good, you can tell me if I have to make a speech or anything," Sirius said, already knowing that he should, but not sure what about. Daryl only told him that it was a time for thanks. He had read the history of Thanksgiving and had an inkling. But he wanted Rick to feel like he trusted him, which he did. He was one of the best fighters and a good co-mayor.

"I think it'd be best if you just gave thanks for being alive and let someone else do the prayer," the ex-sheriff said, looking around at everyone serving themselves up. Most were waiting until Sirius spoke to eat.

"Okay, you say the prayer," the leader stated, going to the line to get the food. He marveled at how well it all looked. He just knew he was going to eat too much. He sat with the main group of people and waited, making Harry and the runners wait as well. Once everyone was served, he stood. "Okay, this is a new holiday for me, so I'll keep my speech short and then turn it over to Rick for the meal prayer."

The crowd politely clapped, and when he lifted his hands, they stopped.

"I just want to say that I am thankful that all of you have found a place to be safe, and hopefully happy. I started this to protect as many as we could. The world went to hell a lot faster than we thought it would, but we persevered, and now we are here. And for that, we should be thankful."

"Amen," a large part of the crowd said.

"Rick."

"Dear Lord," Rick started, making most of the crowd bow their heads, "we thank you for our continued survival, and the food we are about to eat. We are thankful for the loved ones we still have and pray that those missing are in your arms. Thank you, Lord, for everything you have given us and thank you for being there for us in our time of need. Amen," he finished off and lifted his head.

"Thank you, Rick. Let's eat," Sirius said, and that they did. It was a full Thanksgiving buffet. With turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream. Sirius was right, he ate too much.

Hphphp

Life went on, and now it was the dead of winter. A mild one. For which everyone was thankful. Not that it wasn't cold, but there was no snow. The people on the campground stayed where they were and conducted business as usual.

The prison was hidden well, the Governor didn't make another attempt on it. They did keep a close eye on the man though. So far all they had seen him do was look for survivors like they were. Though he didn't go as far, not having their resources.

It was now Christmas time and Sirius decided that everyone could have a few days off. There were request for gift and craft items. Sirius let the house elves decide if the person had worked enough for what they wanted. If not, they could request something they could 'afford'.

"What are we doing for Yule?" Harry asked, one evening while they were in the tent. It was just him, Mike, Remus and Sirius.

"I'm going to ask Daryl if he can get a few boars or some pigs from the farms. It's cold for a cookout, but we can still spit them," his godfather said, with a shrug. "Dobby has a poultry farm, so we have turkey, duck and chicken."

"No, I mean, are we doing anything as a community?" the boy asked, throwing a balled-up piece of paper at the man.

"I thought that was obvious, we're having dinner together," Sirius said, throwing the paper back at Harry.

"It's weird that there's no snow," Mike said, wrapping up a bit more in his blanket. "It's cold enough for it."

"Too right," Harry said, adding another log to the fire and stoking it.

"There's plenty of ice, and frost," Remus offered, watching Harry, and putting his hands out to the heat.

"Is that all we're doing?" Harry asked, bringing the topic back.

"Yes, Yule, or Christmas, or whatever, is a family time," Sirius said, closing his eyes and basking in the heat of the fire. It really was cold out. "But they had that Thanksgiving dinner, so I want to have a collective dinner for this holiday."

"Okay, that sounds cool. Can I invite the runners here for presents? Oh, and Jessi, Mac, and Sam? And maybe the Dixons?" Harry asked, not wanting to leave the brothers out.

"I already asked the adults, including Kingsley and Tonks," Remus said, going to the kitchen to make hot cocoa.

"Okay, the runners will probably come too. They are family," Harry said, trying to think of gifts for everyone.

"Right now, I think we can consider them all family," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Harry agreed.

Hphphp

Christmas came and all the forementioned people were in Sirius' tent. There was music playing and a Yule log in the fire. There was a huge tree, with delicate decorations, that they had put up the night before. Under the tree was a mound of presents.

"I got everyone something they needed," Harry confessed, looking sheepish.

"Don't fret, I think we all did," Sue said, patting his head, making him bat her hands.

"I just figured with all that's going on, it would be better to give useful stuff," the teenage boy said, nodding his head with more confidence.

"You're right," she agreed, looking to see what the adults were doing. It looked like they were getting ready to open presents, so she grabbed Harry and made the way over.

Sue was right, all the presents were useful things. Like winter wear, hunting stuff, knives, torches, for the adults there were guns and Daryl got a new crossbow. There were some crafted things, but mostly food. Like chocolates, brownies, and fudge. Something that didn't go bad right away.

Everyone was happy with what they got. It was around noon that the feast was scheduled for, so they made their way there. Daryl did find a boar, and there were a lot of pigs roasting. Dobby came through with the fowl, so there was duck, pheasant, and even Cornish game hens.

A good time was being had by all, when the alert ward went off.