I was up early the next morning with Sam as we were getting ready to go check the traps for meat before breakfast. Daryl had still been providing the main group with all of their meat while I caught and kill meat for my family that i froze most of it for winter only giving a littler away here and there but Shane didn't seem to notice or care about that at this point he was under the impression that we were running low on food which we weren't but I wasn't going to tell him that. I hoped that Shane didn't fall off his rocker with Lori turning him away more and more lately and it seemed to bug him which it would me to but Lori never was serious about him and he just didn't know that at the time now he was finding out the hard way.
I was putting on my boots when Sam wonder through and sat down on the couch as he turned on the tv and falling back asleep. i turned the tv off before getting my bow and bag heading towards the woods. I knew that Daryl had went for a deer about 2 days before so everyone was grumpy about not having their small portion of daily meat so they were turning towards me to find it for them and I told them that if they wanted meat to go kill it themselves and that seemed to piss Lori off by the way he stomped off like a disciplined child but I just ignored her and went on about my day. I notice that Carol was up and starting to boil water while Lori sat on a log and watched her.
I entered the woods and notice that it was to quiet for there not to be danger in the woods so I got my bow ready knowing that it could come from any where. I heard the bushes rustled off to my left and i saw the movement of an animal so I shot an arrow and hearing the sound of a cry meaning I hit it. When I got there I found a chicken on the end of that arrow and that was a surprised by far. It must have gotten lose from one of the near by farms. It was now dead so i started to pluck the feathers as I walked and saw three more so I shot them as well before moving to grabbed them tying them to my waist as I moved on to the next animal. I had a string of several dead chickens. I saw signs that others had wonder off so I followed the tracks.
One was rooster while the other three were hens they had been traveling together based on their food prints. I found a small area that had nest that were full of about 10 eggs in each of the 6 nests. I saw tracks for about 5 more hens that weren't around so I grabbed the eggs before heading back to camp making note to check this area in the coming days for more eggs or chickens. I check the rest of the traps finding two rabbits and a possum in them and I let the possum how was still alive go not wanting to eat it. It seemed happy to be let go taking off running as soon as the rope was free. I carefully put the eggs in a bag that I had before gently placing them in the top of my bag surrounding them with my jacket so they wouldn't break
I headed back towards camp as the animals started to wake up I sat down on the tree stump that I kept by the woods to clean the animals that I started to pluck all the feathers off the chickens I had killed. it took about 2 hours to get all them plucked and ready to gut and get ready to cook. I by then had most the camp watching me with their eyes on my chickens. Dean had joined me and was cleaning half of them as well as the rabbits. I got done first putting all of my chickens into my tupperware before putting them in my bag. i put most of Dean's but left out two chickens for Shane's group but that was all I was going to give and I didn't want to give that but Dean made me. I took the two cleaned chickens over to Carol who was starting soup to put them in.
Lori was talking with the over women giving me an evil eye as she did so I just smiled and waved at her as I cut up the chicken into a large pot of hot water before adding lots of salt and pepper to it. I then put the lid on it and headed to freeze the rest of my meat. I didn't tell the group that I had found the eggs I just put them in the fridge and I knew that they were freshly laid since I had been through that area of the woods the night before and they weren't there so they were good to be eaten in the coming days. I put all 60 of them in the fridge before freezing the chicken meat in one of the freezers it was about a fourth of the way full not enough to last us winter but enough that we could get by with some canned goods as well.
I labeled our meat and put it in the deep freezer for winter. I then got out the eggs that I had found and got out 7 of them. I cracked them into a bowl before adding salt and pepper and scrambling them. I cooked them in a pan before popping the last of the bacon in the pan as well and opening a can of baked beans to go along with them. I got out some water for us to drink putting it on the table along with plates and the food before going to get the boys up. I got clothes for each of them for the day before waking Matt and Sam up and having them get dressed while I got Ethan. Dean was finishing up cooking while I did this. I changed Ethan's clothes and diaper after giving him a quick bath.
I set Ethan down on the ground and grabbed his hand and we walked into the living area with Lady close behind us. I put food down for the dogs so they could eat while we did. The dogs were getting a mix between rabbit and chicken guts each along with some dry food. I was giving everyone some baked beans, eggs, and a couple pieces of bacon. We ate breakfast as I fed Ethan his pineapple, apple, and pear baby food. He was getting to the point where he was trying to feed himself but ended up getting more on himself than in his mouth but I still let him try a little but there was a point where I had to take over so he got fed and didn't waste all his food. I fed him food but let him help me by letting him hold the spoon but I controlled it.
I cleaned him up after eating and left Dean to do the dishes while i changed him again since he had baby food on his shirt and pants that he had on. Dean did the dishes with Matt before putting them up and he also did the dog bowls so they wouldn't stink up the Rv. I let the dogs out before cleaning the floor that the dogs bowls were on so germs wouldn't get dragged around the Rv. I sat down with Ethan and opened some of his new toys for him to play with taking out a block set along with a wooden train set that had animals as well. I got up leaving him to play with toys while I got Matt and Sam's school work together for the day. I got out the activity book that I had kept for the boys and handed them the basic pre-K book and made them work through them all I wanted them to know everything in all the books.
I had brought back about 40 different activity books that were Math, Science, English, History, Arts and Crafts, and several other things for them to learn that ranged from a year younger than they were in all the way through as may years as they had. I was lucky since people seemed to skip this area of the store but I also hated having more junk in the Rv but it was worth it. I grabbed two - three copes of every year pre-K and younger all the way through college level so I could teach all my kids. I knew when Ethan got older I would have to teach him as well so I got books for him to learn as well. I worked with Sam who was having a little trouble withe certain words or areas of the pre-K book since he was still in first grade himself.
I helped Sam for about an hour inside the Rv before I had him get his books so we could go outside. I got Ethan and some of his new blocks and put them in his diaper bag before having Matt also come outside with me, Sam, Ethan and the dogs. I had gave the dogs each a bone that I found at the store when we were on a supply run. I think it was Dean who had brought back the bones for the dogs as he had been able to find them but no toys or dog food he had told me at the time. Anyway I took Ethan out side setting him down in a patch of grass near the picnic table on a blanket with his blocks to play with. Lady had joined him laying behind him as she ate her bone River was under the table while Hunter had went with Dean on his chore to get firewood from the woods.
I worked Matt a little since Sam was at a spot that he understood in his book. Matt was learning long division in his books right now and was having trouble using the method that they had on the page which was the newer method that I personally hated it was lattice method. So I showed him the long division way and he like it that way better and understood it. I gave him some sample problems on a another sheet of paper for him to try and he was getting it pretty well by now. Sam now was adding two digit numbers together and was having problems with carrying over the first number to the next row.
We worked another hour before I let the boys stop and go play before I fed them lunch with the rest of the group. I got Ethan and put some water in his sippy cup before giving it to him so that he could learn how to us it and how it worked. I watched him for a hour as he figured out turning upside down like his bottle he got something out of it but that was as far as he got before he got bored with it and went back to his blocks. He really loved stacking them up then nocking them down again he clapped his hands and giggled each time he did it. I guess it also helps that the blocks are the colors of the rainbow so when older he could learn his colors as well so that was a plus. I heard the barking from Hunter is what alarmed me.
"Matt get your bothers in the Rv now." I yelled at him getting up and running towards the noise.
"NO everyone away from the woods now." I yelled at the group gathering around the trees.
"Get the kids in Dale's Rv now the dogs only ever bark if there is new people or walkers now go Carol go to my Rv with Sophia you guys can stay there for now please and watch them." I told her as I entered the woods with bow drawn and ready to fire.
I followed the barking that Hunter was giving off to find Dean holding his arm where he had big cut on the lower part of his arm and two walkers coming towards him. Hunter was in between them trying to keep the walkers at bay. While Dean stumbled towards me and I could tell he was bleeding badly we would need to get pressure on that and fast before he lost to much blood. I shot the first walker and Glenn the other and I didn't notice that Glenn and T-dog followed me into the woods until just then. I opened my bag and took out my first aid kit. I could Dean had lost a good amount of blood based on the trail that he left behind him so he must have been walking back to camp after cutting himself when the came across the walkers and knew that Hunter would get our attention or mine at least.
"Dean what happened. Are you bit" I asked him as I used my spare tee shirt out of my bag as a towel to slow the bleeding before wasting the first aid supplies on it.
I used the roll of duck tape to keep it tight on his arm. I zipped my bag shut before putting it back on and well as grabbing my and his bow from the ground. He had been carrying it with him knowing he needed a weapon on him. I had had T-Dog follow the trail of blood and get the rest of his supplies while I got him back to camp so I could antibiotics into him and his arm stitched up. He would need at least 10 of them to close the small gash on his arm where he was bleeding from. It looked like he hit a blood vessel and that is why he was bleeding so much or at least that is what i thought walking him back to camp. As we came through the trees Shane and Morales was standing there guns ready as another defense.
"It's find he cut himself while cutting firewood. The blood attracted walkers which is why Hunter started to bark was to warn us that Dean was in trouble and that walkers were near." I told him as Morales step forward to help get Dean over to the picnic table to sit down.
"Okay Dean I have to get the medical supplies from the Rv I want you stay here and don't get up." I told him leaving him to go to the Rv.
Carol was sitting on the couch with Ethan in her arms as they played with his toys. She got up when she saw me with blood on my shirt enter the Rv. I went over to the supply closet using the key around my neck to unlock the pad lock and I heard her gasp when she saw the supply of food we had in that room how it was a fourth of the way full with food. It was more that the camp ever had at one time. I didn't pay attention as i moved over to the medical cabinet unlocking it as well. I started to gather supplies. I got an antibiotics for infection out already putting it in a needle before placing it in my mouth while i got everything else. I got a suture kit and some gauze to cover the stitches afterwards. I also got a small pain shot and numbing medicine before leaving and locking the medical cabinet behind me. I did the same with the supply closet.
"Carol you can't tell Shane or any one that food will feed my family this winter when food runs out." I told her staring her in the eyes.
"Okay but what about everyone else." She asked.
"Carol I will be happy to talk to you about this in about 20 minuets but Dean needs medicine and stitches first then we can talk." I told her.
"You can bring Ethan to play with his blocks again and we can go back to normal it's all clear." I told her knowing the boys in the bedroom also heard me.
"Mom where dad." Sam ask me as he came out of the room.
"Sam your dad is fine he cut his arm while chopping firewood and needs a few stitches but other than that he find nothing wrong." I told him leaving the Rv with the small amount of medical supplies and crowd had formed around Dean now when i arrived.
"Okay Dean a quick pinch and you will be getting some pain medicine before a antibiotic for infection before I numb you up for stitches." I told him as i gave him each shot making him nodded at tell me to go ahead.
"Now why don't you tell you how you ended up bleeding every where you had you first aid kit in you bag and know better than not to dress a cut or wound." I asked him as I started to stitch him up.
"I was about to do that when I heard Hunter start growling telling me that walkers were close so I started back towards camp knowing that you would be here. I couldn't carry both my bag and weapon so I decided that weapon was more important and left my bag it wasn't until after a couple minuets of walking that i notice how bad the cut was but now had now supplies to try and stop the bleeding with." He told as I got to the sixth stitch on his arm.
"Well I guess that was smart choosing your weapon over you bag but I have a another for you where is the rest of your weapons at. Your missing you gun and both hunting knifes." I asked him as I finished him stitches up.
"I was just going to firewood and thought they would only be in the way." Dean told me as I put a bandage over the stitches before letting him up.
"Well you know the drill keep it clean and dry for the next couple of weeks and they should dissolve on their own. Now go get some rest while I go muck up your blood trail in the woods" I told him patting him on the shoulder as I got up.
I went into the woods with a shovel to move the brush around to get rid of the blood trail from Dean so it wouldn't lead straight back to camp. I worked for about 2 hours before I reached where T-dog and Glenn were carrying firewood back along with the rest of Dean's supplies he had a lunch bag, bug out bag, and the box of fire wood. I grabbed his bags after moving all the dirt around to cover the blood up so it looked normal again. T-Dog and Glenn each carried a side of tub of firewood that would last us a couple days with all the wood that he had got cut before getting hurt himself. We arrived back at camp fairly quickly and Carol was still wanting to talk to me about my supply room. I pulled her a side while I grabbed Ethan so he could play inside the Rv since he been outside all day.
"Carol lets talk before supper." I told her shutting the Rv door behind her.
"How can you keep all that food to yourself when we are going hungry." Carol asked me.
"I told Shane the second week we were here that you guys should start rationing food better but he was sure that help would be here by now and not to worry it was his job to look after the group. I brought up the issue again months later and he still turned me down Hell I even showed him how me, Dean and the kids ate that one night in front of the whole campfire and was told that I was starving my kids for not giving them food until they were full." I told her.
"Carol it's like making your child go to the doctor when their sick they hate you at first but after it all over they thank you for it. Sure for the first two weeks your always hungry but afterwards you body adjust you don't even notice your eating less or feel any different. That food is enough to get us by barley through winter should it snow and be as cold as last year." I told her as I picked up some of Ethan's toys.
"What happens to the rest of us this winter though." Carol asks me.
"Well I have offered my Rv up to house you, Sophia, and Glenn that's all I can fit plus I don't like Ed nor do I expect to live that long same goes for some of the rest of the group. You and Sophia might end up sharing a bunkbed though but I didn't think you would care about that." I told her showing her the bunkbed room where we all sleep.
"I only have a few rules one the Rv business is only discussed with the people inside the Rv. The bunk-room door stays close all night so if walkers do ever get in the trailer it will alert us to them banging on the door. Sophia if you move in here will start learning to protect herself and so will you. Here are some of the things that I teach the boys look over it and see what you think." i told her giving her a homemade stack of flashcards I had made that both boys knew by heart.
"I still don't understands what happens to everyone else." She asked me.
"Carol I don't know to be honest i'm surprised some of them have lived this long. When winter hits lots of them will leave to find shelter elsewhere or end up dying from cold, sickness, or hunger. It like going back 100 years in time we don't have power, heat, air, or a lot of food so we have to stock up the rest of the year for the long winters that is just how it is because all the animals are going to lave and hibernate so food in the woods will be gone. Shane doesn't seem to care or understand that yet but he will when it starts getting cold but by then it's to late to do anything about it." I told her explaining.
"But Carol need to know by the end of the week if you are going to be staying here if you are I have to figure out how to feed two more mouths for the entire winter, clothes will need to be found, blankets as well." I told her.
"I would love to but I can't leave Ed but Sophia could still use the winter clothes." Carol told me leaving but taking the flash cards with her.
I got Ethan some cereal to snack on until supper time in about two hours time. He played with it more than he ate it but after a while he finally got all of it eaten. I then carried him over to the sink and washed off his hands before putting him back down to play with his toys while I checked on Dean and got his water bottle to refill so he had water when he woke up from his nap that he was currently taking so I made sure to be quiet as not to wake him. I called Matt and Sam inside to finish the last page of school work for the day since they still haven't practice their survival training to day. I laid out the pack of matching flashcards that I made to match the foot print to the animal out on the table for them to play a couple times before also matching a picture of a wild plant up with it's name flashcard matching game.
I made them wash their hands and take off their shoes before playing the game at the table. I also played with them but kept an eye on Ethan as well. After they played together a couple rounds I made them each play it by themselves so they had to match all the information together on their own. After they both did this I switched the decks out and made them each play the plant one by themselves first then together a couple times before I notice it was getting close to dinner time so I let them finish the game they were playing and washed their hands and get ready to go eat. I brought out some cookies that were about to go out of date that we had just opened a couple days before and didn't like them so we were going to give them to Shane's group.
I grabbed Ethan and his Banana, Blueberry, and Green bean baby food putting it in his diaper bag along with a spoon and his sippy cup that i was now putt some juice in it since he was getting used to drinking water from now it was time to try frozen all natural apple juice that I unfroze earlier. I added that to bag as well before making sure his blanket was in his bag for later when it gets cold out. I grabbed my bag as well as my bow, the cookies for Shane's group and also wrangling the boys out of the Rv as well making sure they had socks, shoes, jackets and Matt had his bow. I didn't make the boys always carry their bug out bags with them but me and Dean always did. Dean was putting on his boots with one hand when I finally got socks and shoes on Sam after having to hunt for his boots.
"you got it." I asked him as i opened the Rv door letting the dogs out first before the boys.
"Yeah." Dean told me taking Ethan's diaper bag from me after standing up.
"Hey Sam don't do that come sit and wait for your supper." I told him making him put the stick he was playing with down.
I laid out a rough blanket and put Ethan on it so he could roll around and play and still be safe. I sat down on the blanket with him to keep an eye on him since Dean couldn't with his arm. I got out a stack a ring type of toy but it was bigger and let you stack different shapes on different holes. Ethan was good about not throwing toys around so I didn't have to worry about him throwing them into the fire or off into the dark surrounding camp area. That didn't mean that I didn't keep an eye on him and watch him closely. I passed the cookies to Matt who took them over to Carol and she thanked him before going back to finishing up the chicken soup we were having tonight. We were the first group there so we played and talked before moving closer to the fire as the night got colder.
Matt was beside me reading in his book as it started to get dark Carol was finishing up the soup. Amy was helping her tonight adding in the last can of carrots and peas to the soup so they could warm up before serving it. Sam was throwing a stick for the dogs to fetch and bring back to him so the could do it over again while I played with Ethan showing him how to stack the shapes on the pegs before taking them off again. I watch him do it and Dean squeezed my leg making me look up at him and smile before getting up off the blanket and moving Ethan farther away from the fire since he was getting a little close for my liking. I joined Dean on the log resting my head on his shoulder while wrapping my arms through his as I leaded on him.
I couldn't believed how far we had come from being parents of two to having Ethan to almost dying on the table. Now Ethan was almost 9 months old he was walking, talking and even growing a full set of teeth. He talked some like food, milk, mommy, Daddy, Sam, Matt, and his favorite dog. Which Lady responded to which he loved all he had to do was call dog and she would come running to him. Ethan like all my sons never talked unless something was wrong or he needed something other than that he was a quiet but good child. Shane was off talking to Glenn who looked unhappy about something Shane was saying but it looked like Shane was't going to listen to Glenn based on the way he rolled his eyes and came and sat on the other side of me unhappily.
"What Does Shane want now." I asked him as Shane took his seat across from us with Lori and Carl.
"He wants to send a whole group with me to the city so we can get more supplies for winter." Glenn told me as I was handed my bowl of soup by Amy.
"Really and is he the one leading the group or does he expect you do that." i asked him lowly so no one but Dean could hear and he gave a chuckle causing me and Glenn to also laugh.
Lori didn't look happy about us talking to each other while laughing but didn't say thing just took her bowl of soup from Amy and started to eat. Dean was feeding Ethan for me but when I saw this I slapped him on the arm and took Ethan from him and fed him myself. I gave him a look and he went back to eating his soup while holding mine. Ethan made everyone laugh when he clapped his hands after every few bites. I stopped halfway through and burped him before feeding him the rest of the jar of food before burping him again. I then gave him the sippy cup with apple juice in it that I had frozen and he used the sippy cup like his bottle and was like he had been using the thing for months.
When really he used the thing twice he just picked up on it really fast. I also fed Ethan some of mine soup which was chicken, corn, carrots, peas, and a can of green beans it was what ever veggie they had left to make soup. After everyone had finished eating and some of the women were doing the dishes before Carol passed around a couple cookies to each person who wanted them. Shane waited until everyone was settled before he started to move around in his seat which told me he was about to start talking about something important or he thought so. What surprised me was when he stood up to talk he never did that.
"I have something I need everyone to think about." Shane started as he stood up.
"Tomorrow Glenn is going to make another run into the city. I would like a small group to go that way we can get more supplies so I need some volunteers to go with him." Shane said before sitting back down.
"Don't you thank that's a stupid move. Me, Glenn, and Dean had trouble and we were a small skilled group. How would sending a bunch of people who either don't know how to use a weapon or ever killed a walker into a walker infested city smart." I asked him wrapping a sleeping Ethan in his blanket from his diaper bag.
"Matt pick up his toys please." I asked him as I handed him the diaper bag.
"Sure mom want me to fold up the blanket to." Matt told me bending down to pick up Ethan's toys
"Yeah then you and Sam can head to the Rv me and your dad are going to stay and talk to Shane." I told him handing him a flashlight so he could find his way with his brother.
"Okay come on Sammy lets go play the x-box before bed." Matt said taking Ethan from my arms after he stood up and grabbed Sam's hand with his free hand.
"Lady, Hunter, River, go." I commanded them and they followed them to the Rv.