I woke the next morning early and got dressed leaving the Rv to go start breakfast at the main camp. Carol was already up getting water boiling of coffee and breakfast. I started a third pot of water boiling the berries I had picked the day before and mashed them up real good before adding the maple syrup we had left to it. I was mashing the berries in the hot water making more of the sweet juice. I then got my secret weapon out of my bag 1 jar of blueberry jelly that came out of my storage. I was mixing that together and told Carol that i would be right back to make sure it didn't burn.
I went inside the Rv and started making Ethan's bottles for the day before getting the boys clothes out for the day. I grabbed Ethan who was still asleep out of his moses basket wrapping him in a blanket and tucked him in his sling carefully not to wake him. I grabbed three of his bottles putting the other two in the fridge. I left a note on the top of both of the boys clothes telling them that me and Ethan were making breakfast with Carol and to join us when the were dressed for the day. I went back out to Carol when I notice some others were starting to stir and get up.
I was mashing the berries some more getting a more juice out of them. I then took it off the heat as the boys came out of the Rv dressed for the day with shoes on, hair brushed, and the even had their school bags I was impressed. What they didn't know was that today we women agreed that we would giving them a small test in school before letting them off so they could swim while we washed clothes. Or the other women were washing clothes all mine were washed except for the wet ones that were going to put up to dry. I found out that washing them in the washer and rinsing them in the quarry worked best before air drying them.
I was mixing the mashed berries and oatmeal together replacing most the water with berry juice but the others didn't know that just yet. I was going to wait until they ate it before saying anything or they would be hesitant to eat it. I was adding in a scoop mashed berries on of each bowl of oatmeal before handing it of to who ever was in line. i gave the boys it first and they dug in quickly knowing and loving this recipe. The were one of the first ones done. I had even let them get seconds since it was their favorite breakfast food I made. I had thought ahead and made a little extra knowing the group would love it.
Everyone had eaten the whole bowl but Ed and Shane they seemed to be unhappy with it. I didn't take it personally. The other kids were asking for a third bowl but I stopped them and told them to wait a until everyone got some first. I was now feeding Ethan while Matt and Sam tested each other with their flash cards. I burped and changed Ethan before taking him over to Carol who offered to watch him while I got the laundry together. She took him happily from me playing and cooing at him making him smilie and giggle.
I went in the Rv and came back out with a basket three fourths of the way full of clothes. I grabbed Carol's basket of clothes and and stacked it on top of mine and carried it down to the lake. Dale was going to watch the boys while they played with the other kids in camp. The knew that they weren't allowed in the woods or out of Dale's sight. I was also trusting Matt to watch his brother for me while I did clothes. I thought about how much Matt reminded me of my husband and that made me tear up a bit but smile. I wished he was here with us he would be a lot better at this then I was that was for sure. He always knew what the kids needed, wanted, and what was best for them me on the other hand was taking it day by day. I was watching Carol play with Ethan while I washed our baskets of clothes.
I was on the last item of clothes when I heard Sophia and Carl start yelling. I grabbed Ethan from Carol as quickly as i could putting him in the basket of clothes so that Carol could go find her child. I was putting Ethan in his sling when I heard yelling coming from camp. I grabbed the baskets of clothes from down by the water which was only two of them but it was hard with Ethan strapped to my chest but I managed. When I got to the top I could see Dale trying to calm down an upset Daryl. I notice two dead walkers beside a deer with an arrow sticking out of it. I walked over to the walkers taking my hunting knife out incase the weren't dead but they were.
I also notice that Shane was talking to a new guy in a Sheriff uniform and hat. I had heard Carl call him dad which was strange because I was under the impression that he was dead but I guess I was wrong. I also notice that Morales wife was standing off to the side with Louise her son and Sam. Matt was no were to be seen. My heart started racing when I couldn't find him. I was searching franticly all over camp with my eyes look for him but he wasn't there to be found.
"Matt where are." I yelled surprising everyone and making Matt come out of the Rv.
"Shhhh your going attract more walkers up here." Shane hissed at me.
"Matt come get your brothers and take them to the Rv you boys aren't to leave it until dinner we will eat our last can of green-beans for lunch along with some berries." I told him handing him Ethan when he reached me.
I watched as he took both Ethan and Sam into the Rv. I knew that they would listen to me and do as they were told. I then gave Carol her basket of clothes before going over to the Rv to hang mine up to dry. I making sure to secure the clothes so they wouldn't fall off with the good bit of wind we had. I was finishing up when the Glenn came over to the Rv. I smiled as he approached me carrying two boxes of dried beans, rice, and some random spices he had found along the way. I smiled and thanked him taking the boxes from him putting them in the Rv. I was shutting the Rv door when Shane stormed over to the Rv with smoke coming out of his ears. He must have seen Glenn giving me the supplies.
"What the hell is in those boxes." He demanded getting everyone attention.
"Supplies that I asked Glenn to keep an eye out for that's what." I said moving to get in the Rv but was stopped when Shane grabbed my arm.
"You best let me go before I knock you on ass." I told him surprising everyone.
"No you don't have any right to take supplies away from the group so go on and give the supplies here." He demanded as Rick the new guy and Lori arrived to see what was going on.
"NO This is my supplies. Glenn goes on the runs risks his life for the supplies I think he has a right to have a say where it goes don't You." I asked motion to Rick
"Shane she right Glenn should get a say where the supplies he collects goes." Rick said making Lori stomp her foot arguing with him.
"Shane I have a great Idea why don't you go sit on your ass by the campfire it's what you do best." I told him yanking my arm from his grip making him stumble with the forced I used.
"Hey you can't talk to him like that." Lori demanded trying to step forward.
"I can talk to him however I damn well please. I have held my tongue for almost 3 months and I'm tried of it. You and Shane spend most the day sitting on your asses while everyone does all the work. You make rules that both of you demand everyone follows but break them yourself. I mean Hell you can't even watch your son you never know where he is or what he is doing and that is going to get him killed. So yeah I have a right to my own opinion on how you run things which is pretty damn poor." I told them before shutting the Rv door in their face.
I went around the Rv cleaning things up making sure everything was in it's place because I had a feeling that we wouldn't be here much longer. I grabbed the two water buckets from outside beside my chair before heading down towards the water to collect some. I had started a small campfire of my own to boil the water before putting it in the water heater or bottling it in the empty water bottles. I was carrying both of the really heavy water buckets up the hill by myself.I was struggling but to proud to admit it but Rick the new guy saw me and came over to help me out.
"Here let me help you with that." He said grabbing one of the buckets.
"Thanks." I said taking the lead to the Rv.
I dumped the first bucket in to the pan over the fire. Rick put the bucket down beside the fire before walking off to go back to his family. I have to admit I was mad at Lori and even hated her because she had her husband and was ruining her marriage by fucking his best friend. I wished I could have my husband here with me to see his third son Ethan and meet him. My husband would never get to meet his third son because he died before he could and that is why me, Matt, and Sam agreed that the baby deserved to have a piece of his dad with him so we used his middle name Ethan to name my third son. I now always would tell him when he got older that his daddy middle name was Ethan and we wanted to name him after him.
When the water boiled I dumped the hot water back into the bucket before dumping the second bucket of water in to the pot to boil. I waited for the water to cool off before I started to fill water bottles before putting them back in the box to store them in. I had filled up all the water bottles up and dumped the rest of the water into the water heater filling it up as much as I could. I repeated getting water from the quarry until I also had boiled 6 buckets of water before putting the lid on the buckets and storing them in the storage area in the Rv. I then went inside the Rv to check on the boys. Ethan was playing on the floor on his stomach while Sam watched Tv with Matt.
I went to the kitchen and started warming up the can of Green beans on the stove. I was also cooking up the last of the bacon before it went bad. I waited on the bacon to cook most the way before adding it to the green beans. I also found enough meet for me and the boys to have it for lunch. I cooked the meat up good adding a taco flavor packet to it. I was putting the meat and beans on plates for me and they boys before putting them on the table. I grabbed a small bowl of berries putting it on the table as well. I then sat down with the boys after getting a bottle of tea for each of us.
We were done eating when Ethan started crying for his bottle. I was feeding him when I decided that we would go pick the last of the deer berries and wild blue berries today before they went bad. It would give us time to also hunt for more meat and get us out of camp for a while. Plus Shane and Lori were both in a mood. I burped Ethan before changing him. I then got my bag ready for the trip. I put food for us incase we got stuck out during the night, water, spare shirt for after cleaning the animals, gun, ammo, hunting knife, diapers, wipes, formula, and an extra blanket for Ethan. I put my hunting knife on my waist with my hand gun before putting Ethan's sling on.
I then put Ethan in his sling before putting him in it. I then put on my backpack before putting my bow and arrows on top for easy reach. Matt put his knife and gun on his waist before getting his hunting orange vest on then his bow. Lastly Sam got his hunting vest on. I gave him the box of plastic bags to carry that we would put the berries in. We had two of them one for each berry unless we found some herbs to bring home. I also had a few extra empty jars in my bag for the herbs if we find them. I was opening the Rv door just as Rick headed my way with Lori following close behind him. They looked surprised to see us all ready to go in the woods. I handed Matt the key to lock the Rv up while I talked to them and see what they wanted.
"What can I do for you." I asked Rick ignoring Lori completely.
"We were going to see what your plans for the rest of the day was." Rick said.
"We me and the boys are going to pick the last of the wild berries, gather some wild herbs if we see them, and hunt a little for meat tonight." I told him taking the key back from Matt putting it up.
"Okay well be careful." Rick said stepping back to let us pass.
"Rick you cant let her go after what she said to me and Shane earlier plus she has been hogging all those supplies for herself that she needs to share." Lori demanded.
"I just told the truth. Morales wife, Carol, Jaques, Hell even Andrea does more work then you do. You give off demands like your queen bee or something. Plus you or Carol never watch Sophia or Carl just lets them run wild. Half the time you don't even know where he is and that will get only him but some else killed one day. I'm sorry if the truth hurts but it is the truth. Now I'm going to go so I can get back before night fall." I told them walking off with the boys following behind me.
Once we got to the woods I made Sam and Matt walk in front of me so that I could Keep an eye on them. We went to pick berries first at least that was the plan. We came across a big patch of mint that I made the boys stopped and pick as much as we could fit into one of the jars. We ended up picking the whole patch until the jar was over flowing with mint leaves. I killed two squirrels while the boys were picking mint leaves. I dug a hole in the ground and put the guts of the squirrels into it after cleaning them after putting the meat in a tubber ware container. I had Matt stick the jar of mint and the meat into the bag for me since I had Ethan strapped to my chest. I could tell that Daryl been through here based on his foot prints and the deer tracks that he was following through here.
I stopped a couple times to make the boys tell me what the tracks were in the ground before walking on. I took us about an 2 hours counting the time we spent picking mint before we arrived at the patch of deer berries. There were deer tracks near the berries along with Daryl's foot prints as he followed him. we picked berries until the 3 small ziplock bags was filled it berries until we couldn't fit anymore in them. I added them to my bag careful not to squish them to much. I killed a rabbit that crossed in front us as we walked the trip back to camp. We took a different way that would lead us to the blue berries. Matt killed a second rabbit that was eating on the berries as we arrived. I took the rabbits a little ways from the boys before digging a hole and cleaning them.
I was done cleaning the animals and putting them in a container in my bag before joining the boys. I was about to start picking berries when Ethan started to whimper for his bottle. i let the boys finish picking berries while I fed Ethan and burped him before putting him back in his sling. I put the two bags of blue berries into my bag along with the other berries. I gave each boy a baby wipe to clean off their blue fingered hands. I was about to put the backpack back on when I heard the noise of a couple walkers not far off. I quickly grabbed Sam by him down behind a couple of big rocks and bushes as they past by. I took the bow off as did Matt. We both cocked an arrow shooting the two walkers in the head on the first shot killing them. I was putting the bow on my back when I heard Sam whimper softly beside me.
I looked behind us to find another walker that really started to smell as she got closer. I grabbed my knife from my waist stabbing it in the eye and wiping the knife off on the dead walker's dress. I grabbed my bag and we started back to camp quickly not wanting to come across any more. We were hurrying through the woods making more noise then we should but making good time and right now that was all that mattered to me was getting back to camp because with bot Sam and Ethan it was hard to kill the walkers while keeping them both safe. Matt killed another walker on the way back before it got to close and that scared me. We had came across 4 walkers in a matter of 30 minuets that was more then we had seen during our whole time here. It was getting dark when we arrived back at camp.
"Here Matt take both your brothers to the Rv for me while I talk to Rick and Shane." I told Matt handing him a sleeping Ethan.
"Rick, Shane can I talk to you for a second." I asked as I arrived at the camp fire where they were talking and eating dinner it looks like.
Shane ignored me before turning and yelling at Ed who had put an extra log on the second fire closest to him. Rick on the other hand got up and came over to where we were I was standing. I told Rick about the walkers we had came across before handing him the two bags of deer berries and heading towards the Rv. Inside the Rv I put the berries and meat in the fridge. I started warming up the last of the lunch for us to eat to go along with a can of peas that i added to the mix. I got a knock at the Rv door to find Rick standing there with a pretty full bowls of bean soup or at least that was what I called it. I called it that because it was 1 can of water, peas, corn, kidney beans, and baked beans mixed together in backed bean juice with salt and pepper. I must of looked surprised because he laughed as he handed them to me.
"We saved you guys a bowl. They said you all didn't eat much so I might have given you to much but here." He said handing them to me before walking off.
"Thanks and tell Carol to wash those berries good before eating them." i told Rick.
I shut the Rv door as I added the green bean, pea, bacon, and meat soup with the bean soup together that gave us just enough for all of us. I made each of us a bowl before setting it down on the table for the boys to eat. I started another episode of NCIS to watch as we ate. Ethan woke up half way through ready for his diaper change. i went ahead and started a shower for Sam while I was putting the dirty clothes in the washer. Matt took a shower next then Me and Ethan last. I changed each of us into sweat pants and shirt before handing Ethan to Matt while I took the bowls back to main group to wash.
As I was walking the bowls over to the main group I over heard Rick telling his story of how he woke up and all. I had to admit he was lucky to be alive but had passed up several opportunities to get good supplies like at the hospital, in Atlanta, Searching the highway cars for supplies and the tows he passed through but I wasn't going to say anything and cause a scene. I smiled as Carol came over to me taking the bowl from me to wash. I then notice that Carol was washing off the berries so I decided to help her so that she could get it done quickly and warm up her hands. The group switched the conversation to talk about how to tell Daryl his brother got left behind because they were being stupid thinking that leaving him was for the best.
I just listened to them keeping my mouth shut so to listen to them. Plus I didn't want to cause anymore trouble today at least. I finished washing the berries before Carol grabbed some small plastic cups that Glenn had brought back from his last run. I help her dump some berries into enough cups for everyone to have some. I was handing them out to the kids, Amy, Andrea, Carol, mine, the men with Ed last, Lori, Shane, and lastly Rick. No one but Lori complained about how they were given out and even then both Shane and Rick didn't listen to her as she whined at them. I just smiled maybe Rick was smarter then I give him credit for after all. I grabbed mine and the boy's cup of berries before saying good night and going back to the Rv.
I gave the boys the berries as a snack before feeding Ethan his bed time bottle. I then burped, changed, and rocked him to sleep. I put Ethan who was asleep in his moses basket before making the boys head to bed themselves. I turned everything off and locked up before heading to bed my self knowing tomorrow was going to be crazy when Daryl found out his brother was left behind. I tucked the boys in before going to bed my self and turning off the bedside light.