"This is Jamie, she's eleven." Amy had the children directly in front of her, introducing them to the camp with a sharp eye. "And this is Billy, he's 9 and loves cars!"
Andrea stood in front of her with a gaping mouth, not understanding how she could come back to camp two days in a row with children at her hip. Most of the campers looked at her and Glenn skeptically but Shane was rubbing his hair in a way that showed his annoyance and uncertainty. It was never decided if they would take in more people, it was just assumed to most that they would look after themselves. One of the only people who brought back useful things bringing in more dependents rather than food made them rather irked. Instead of showing how flustered he was Shane stepped forward with a bright charming smile.
"Amy!" Emma came darting out the RV, with the door open the whole camp could hear Braden crying but the girl didn't stop until she rammed into Amy's legs. There were tears in her big blue eyes and she tugged the blonde's shirt until she was lifted. "Where were you? You were gone so long! Braden wont stop crying."
"Okay, Glenn pull the trailer up to the bus, I'll organize it once I get the kids settled." Amy briskly tossed the keys to him before ushering the children away, stopping by her sister. "Lend me a hand?"
"Wait." Shand tried following, his long strides catching up easily." We can help with that."
"It's fine Shane, Andrea and Dale are the ones who do inventory with me. Most of the trailer is stuff for the kids anyway." She blatantly lied to get away.
It was not a matter of hoarding, it was a matter of fucking apocalypse. Amy now had four children and her sister to keep safe. And maybe Dale and Jim…okay and Glenn. Daryl and Merle could fend for themselves and Shane would keep Lori and Carl alive at all costs. She glances around the camp to find many people watching the trailer with covetous eyes. Honestly, she had not interacted with most people camping with them. T-Dog spent most of his time herding the few elderly he brought with him, Carol was never out of Ed's reach along with Sofia, Jaqui spent most of her time in her tent, the Morales family kept to themselves in their own RV, and the many other nameless and faceless campers kept to their tents.
When they did get bold to speak to her, it was to ask for things. Like she needed a shopping list, one girl even asked her for a Louis bag. What the fuck? Did she look like an opportunist looter? No, she was aiming for a badass zombie apocalypse survivor, bringing in supplies by the ton. It wouldn't hurt it they said thank you once in a while either.
"Well, you really should be looking for things the group needs as a whole." Shane was explaining in that tone that immediately had Andreas shoulders by her ears. It didn't matter what or who her little sister brought back to camp, her sister was the one going out for things. Andrea could explain and lecture Amy but no one else. "In fact I think-"
"I think that Amy has been out almost every day since we set camp." The older blonde stepped between Shane and her sister, arms crossed over her chest. "She has brought food, clothes, tents, medicine, and everything else that we should need to last until we figure something out. My sister also helps with the camp inventory so that she knows what we have and what we need."
"Andrea." Shane took a deep breath looking beyond the lawyer to her younger sister who now had the keys in her hand and was herding the children inside. "I just feel like we should discuss what we bring back to camp. Your sister just brought a trailer full of baby clothes when she knows we need weapons to protect ourselves."
"What's going on?" Glenn interjected, seeing the crowd around Andrea, he felt his stomach drop with dread. When he came back from Atlanta with a trunk full of beans and ramen there was never an inquiry. The first time he goes with Amy, he realized he really should have listened to her suggestion sooner. It may be farther away but the smaller towns have less dead and easier scores.
"We just want to help with inventory." Lori piped up, giving Shane some support. It didn't work well since a lot of the more lazy campers were nodding along with her. Glenn and Andrea shared a look, agreeing with each other for the first time. The asian man was non confrontational but it didn't stop the annoyance when he came back from the dangerous city for supplies without even a thank you.
"You're making dinner with Carol tonight, Lori." Andrea cocked her hip to the side with an attitude, never more grateful that her sister was a total nerd. She hated laundry and the idea of washing her panties in the stream along with all the mens clothes made her irrationally angry. She would take thirty minutes of pedaling to wash clothes someone else could hang any day. "You said we all had jobs inventory is Amy's, Glenn's, Dale's, and mine."
"With your sister bringing so much stuff to camp-" Shane tried to be soothing but came out domineering, not helping himself at all.
"Speaking o' jobs." Merle's loud voice cut him off. "What is your job exactly, pig? I only ever seen you sittin' by the fire or sneaking off to kno-"
"Merle!" Lori's voice reached incredible pitch, marking the end of whatever standoff Shane was trying to have.
People dispersed, still avidly watching as Merle laughed loudly in Lori's face while Shane stood like a well paid thug at her back. Andrea snorted to herself before stepping into the RV to find it relatively quiet. All day Braden cried and Emma tucked them into the corner of the bus away from her. She tried, she really did but she had no idea what to do with children. The girl did not like Andrea and the former lawyer was starting to feel really guilty for her rant the night before but her patience was thin by the time her sister rolled into camp with more children.
"I know you're stressed." Amy said when her sister stood next to her. Braden was happily splashing in the sink, probably his first bath since the world fell apart. The younger blonde was annoyed when she found both children had still not washed beyond the quick wipe down they got last night.
"Where did all these come from?" Andrea spoke quietly, picking up one of the light up bath toys Braden was tossing around.
"Once Upon a Child." Amy answered easily, rinsing the soap from the little boy's blond curls. "Could you help me organize the trailer once all the kids are clean and fed? Jamie is in the shower now."
"How are you going to fill up your tank?" Andrea asked curiously with a frown, the boy Billy sat beside Emma watching the TV on low at the table. A small bowl of goldfish sat between them. They all seemed so much calmer now that Amy was here and she felt just a little jealous of how natural she was.
"I've got a couple water drums and a big wagon we can take down to the quarry. I'll boil it all over the fire to be quicker before refilling the tank. Are you going to help organize the trailer or are you going to watch a movie with the kids?" Amy finished dressing the baby in his new bear onesie before placing him in a stationary activity center.
Amy was stressed about how she could store most of their finds in the trailer. While, yes, there were alot of clothes, there was also a lot of food and medical supplies that she would normally write into the inventory for the camp. Not to mention those five new shiny hunting rifles, she felt selfish even thinking of keeping the dehydrated food to herself but Amy just didn't trust the rest of them. She had no doubt that all of those ready meals and MREs would be gone before Rick even woke up in a couple weeks.
Then there were a couple campers who were looking shifty, like they might just take things from the storage tent they had. She wouldn't lie, most of the supplies stayed safely tucked into hers or Dale's RV but he had an open door policy allowing anyone to use his restroom or just even rest on his couch. No thank you, she made it quite clear from the first day that just like Morales, her RV was private. Thank you very much. Luckily Shane was not nearly as paranoid as she feared and shrugged it off. It's not like he was dropping off his guns in the camp storage.
"Is it really just baby clothes?" Andrea asked incredulously just as Jamie stepped out of the small bathroom dressed in a new outfit. Her pink camo overalls were a bit big but she now had sturdy boots to break in. The young girl froze at the sight of Andrea, worriedly glancing between the other kids, Amy and her sister.
"Jamie." Amy smiled softly, handing her a brush and guiding her towards the wraparound couch table. "This is my big sister Andrea, she stays here with us."
"Nice to meet you Jamie." Andrea smiles thinly, hardly hiding her unease. Teenage girls were the worst. "I'm happy my sister found you. Can you tell me where your parents are?"
Billy promptly burst into tears with Emma staring at him with wide eyes. Jamie scooted around the table until she was right next to her brother all the while glaring at the older woman like she was an idiot. They had survived four days alone after her mother got bit, already knowing their father and stepmother were dead.
"Hey!" Amy stepped to the trio with shaky hands. The nine year old looked up with teary brown eyes, letting the blonde pull him into an awkward hug. "It's okay, buddy, you don't have to talk about it now. How about while you take a shower, I make good on my promise of chicken noodle soup?"
Emma tried to sooth her new friend by scooting over and holding the hand his sister didn't have. It still took a few minutes before he relaxed in her hold, his sobs turning into sniffles. Jamie stood up to lead him into the bathroom, carrying his towel and the outfit Amy pulled out for him. Once they were in the bathroom, Amy decided it was Emmma's turn for a sink bath. Five might be a bit old for it but they didnt have alot of options. The little girl tried to hide her excitement at the sight of the pink bubble bath, afterall she wasn't a baby like her brother.
"Shit." Andrea hissed under breath, completely ignoring Emma's playful scandalized look. Amy just rolled her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. "I'm terrible with this. You're the awkward sister, you never talk to anyone unless I forced you to."
"Amy's nice." Emma immediately defended, even whipping her barbie's soaking set hair in Andrea' face. The younger sister couldn't contain her giggle at Andrea's stupefied expression.
"I don't know what I'm doing." Amy whispered to her sister in an undertone when Jamie came out of the bath with a scowl on her face. "I just couldn't leave the kids alone. I can't just not feed them, clothe them, or take care of them. It's the end of the world Andrea."
With the kids relaxing on the bed watching Megamind, Amy decided she could waste no time in shuffling everything in the trailer. First she set up the solar generator before going through the abundance of clothes she had picked up. Currently, she had no idea how fast kids actually grow just the many adults in her life complaining that they grew like weeds. So, she set aside a bin just for outfits they would grow into with another bin to keep the extra winter clothes for them. By the end all four had five outfits each with plenty of socks and underwear. It was weird, she didn't like it, she had a plan. Kids were for her thirties! Her twenties were for exploring and taking pictures of herself in front of the largest things ever!
With that out of the way she only put away clothes for herself and Andrea, toting the rest to camp in her large wagon. Many stopped by curiously, especially at the winter coats she was donating in August. Only, the Dixons nodded and grabbed out a couple outfits and a coat each. Amy's eyes lingered on Daryl's arms for a moment, wondering idly if he would rip the sleeves off his new carhartt Jacket and kind of hoped he did. If they noticed they kept their amusement mostly to themselves, although by the scowl on Daryl's face Merle made some kind of comment.
Doggy, Emma's name for the shepherd puppy, came bounding along when Amy was building the shelves she would be bolting into the trailer. The generator still had not charged enough for anything worthwhile but she was thinking of placing string lights along the ceiling and keeping that generator in the trailer. The other, bigger gas generator would be given to the camp for obvious reasons. She caught sight of Merle slinking in the woods nearby, not close enough to get the jump on her but she could tell he was scoping out her finds. So she decided to fuck with him a bit by dragging out the kids outdoor toys and Braden's new potty. Amy would swear she could hear the old redneck grumbling from across camp.
"I'm going to be a basic white girl and call you Max." Amy huffed happily, rubbing the dog's head. He would be needing a bath too but she only had so many hours of daylight left to lock this up.
"Max is a good name." Carl scared the shit out of her by popping up out of nowhere.
"Yes, it is." Holy shit he got it from his mom!
"I thought so too." What the fuck people.
"I had a dog once, named him Rex." Amy felt like giving up as she watched more people coming from behind her bus. Dale, Glenn, and finally Andrea.
"You're keeping the dog?" Andrea inquired stepping around her organized chaos of shelves, kids toys, and storage totes.
"Well, yeah." Amy shrugged, stepping up and dragging out the gas generator and laying it pointedly at Shane's feet. The deputy looked down at her with pressed lips, trying hard not to be bribed. "Emma would be heartbroken. You're not getting anything else until after I do inventory. That's just stupid heavy so do your man thing go hook it up by Dale's."
"We just thought some extra hands would come in handy." Lori was being sincere, also Carl begged to come meet the new kids because they were around his age.
"Actually, I lied." Amy suddenly remembered the loud ass chickens that were surprisingly quiet in the dark. First she dragged the coops, all three of them that were still in the box. More campers were coming over to witness the young blonde drag two huge cages stuffed with live chickens out of the trailer. "There, I think that's all the heavy shit for now."
Glenn stepped forward first to help with the chickens, suddenly happy he saw a couple of poultry books in one of the carts. Merle got daring, slinking his way towards the open door only to have the young blonde throw a rod from the shelves at his back. It was too dark to make out anything other than some cages and other boxes.
"How many chicks you keeping, girlie?" His voice was gruff and annoyed that he couldn't get a proper look. His brother just stood off to the side, looking on edge.
"How did you find so many chickens?" Carl asked excitedly, his mother holding him back from being pecked to death by the very irritated birds. Shane was just rubbing his head wondering how he could get through to Amy.
"I'm not keeping any chickens." Amy huffed out a laugh at their faces, especially Lori's who just looked out of her depth. Well, they needed more chores.
"You said it was mostly baby clothes!" Shane lost his patience, the coupes and generator were still at his feet, obviously pointing out her lie.
"No, I said most of the stuff was for the kids." Amy snapped.
"How much food did you bring back?" Dale decided to chip in helpfully, her sister was looking to start an argument soon, hopefully. Even Merle and Lori appeared more interested in her finds.
"Yeah, food is communal." A wild Jaqui appeared along with T-Dog and more nameless campers.
"Why does she get to decide who gets what?"
"We should just take it."
"I have been pract-"
BANG
Amy stood before them all, her gun pointed to the open quarry, a very harsh frown on her face as she looked at the strangers surrounding her. Taking the keys from her pocket, she quickly locked the doors to the bus before addressing the group.
"It seems there has been some miscommunication." Her voice was loud and strong in the face of all the unarmed campers, even Shane left his shotgun in his tent. Although, neither of the Dixons raised their weapons. Daryl looked ready, but kept his bow down while Merle looked downright tickled. "The world has ended, the shop doors are open to any who wants to bust their ass to get their own food. I, out of the kindness of my heart, have brought food, clothes, camping gear, and medicine to you all. I have set up a jank ass perimeter alarm so you may run for your lives when the dead come here. I have built you a fucking washing machine. In the week I have been here, I have not stopped preparing for when I need to leave this place. So, unless you all would like to rely on the Dixons continued patience and one man army Glenn, I would suggest you all fuck off until you're called for."
People looked ready to piss themselves, Shane looked like he didnt know where the fuck he was with Lori hiding just slightly behind him. Glenn, the Dixon brothers, and her sister were the only ones who didn't seem alarmed by this information. When the deputy didn't immediately shoot the blonde for her stash most of the crowd slinked away, hovering just beyond in hearing range.
"Did you plan on telling me you were leaving?" Andrea demanded.
"Well, obviously you're coming too!" Amy slipped her gun back into the holster on her thigh, waving at her sister dismissively.
"You shouldn't have done that." Dale stepped up, a disapproving look on his old face. "They were just scared is all."
"Dale, you're a good guy but the next time the campers decide mob mentality is the way of the apocalypse is that last time you'll see us." Amy said very seriously while her sister joined in the much smaller standoff. "Other than Shane there are no other officers around to keep order. It's only been a week and we've been safe so far but what are they going to do when the dead show up? Or how about when I find a better place to park it for a bit? They gonna use the three guns in camp to keep my stuff here?"
"Why do you think you'll be leavin'?" Shane finally found his voice.
"Well…" Amy started slowly, actually looking at the man and not seeing his show counterpart but a dedicated police officer who just wanted to help. "There's no protection, half the tents are at the tree line, one shuffles in at night they might not scream. Not enough people who know how to shoot guns to have any kind of patrol. I doubt many would even volunteer. We're directly off the highway so anyone could just roll up here just by following the signs. There's a lot of problems but we are close to the city, got a good water source, and most people here won't do anything too bad just because of Shane's old badge."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Andrea draped her arm around her little sister's shoulder, feeling guilty.
"Well, it's only been a week since they carpet bombed most of the major cities." Amy shrugged helplessly, she couldn't exactly tell them that she had a fucking zombie plan in place for well over three decades.
"Where do you think you'll go?" Glenn asked, leaving the chickens for later.
"Probably the mountains or an island. Somewhere very isolated, you know." Amy shrugged, seeing that everyone was listening intently, even Lori even if she looked doubtful. "It would need more people, obviously, but everyone here is just…camping."
The younger blonde turned around to continue building shelves, done with this whole day. There were only a few hours of sunlight left, fortunately there was plenty of room to move around. Merle wandered off but Daryl hung around, just watching Andrea, Shane, and Glenn debating staying where they were. Carl was playing with Max and that reminded Amy she should check on the kids.