Chapter 3:
Everyone ate in silence, honestly I wouldn't have known anyone was here if it weren't for the occasional clinking of silverware against the plates. As soon as everyone was done eating I collected the plates and sat them in the sink to be washed later. I went back into the dining area and sat down, sighing as I did so. "So, I'm going to ask some pretty basic questions, and to make it easier I figured one of you could just speak for the rest of the group? Like collectively answer." Everyone nodded and looked to Rick. Ok, so he's the leader of the group. I thought to myself. "Lay it on us." Rick said, smirking. "Obviously you guys have not had safe harbor for the entirety of the outbreak, just by the looks of it you have not been entirely safe for some time so I guess my question is, how many people have you killed?" Rick looked at me thinking for a moment. "Collectively, about 15." I nodded. "Did they do something to deserve being killed?" Rick nodded but didn't say anything. "Ok, well assuming I'm correct about you guys being on the road for a long time, have you killed a lot of the undead? Would you consider yourselves capable if we were to ever be over-run?" Rick nodded instantly and spoke. "I think it's safe to say that we have killed more than we can count." I hummed in response.
"Ok, this last question, do any of you have special skills that might benefit the town? Any doctors, farmers, any of that kind of stuff?" Rick looked around his group and they all nodded. "I was an officer - sheriff's deputy, before this all began, Maggie grew up on a farm, her father was a veterinarian, Glenn and Daryl are our normal runners, Daryl along with Meryl can also hunt pretty damn well and Meryl was also in the Army so he has a lot of combat knowledge, Michonne is extremely skilled in combat as well, and Carol can do just about anything." I put my hand to my chin rubbing it in thought. "Ok, well once you guys are settled in I'll let you guys choose what you want to do from the job list we have, tomorrow I will also give you a tour of the grounds, that way you know what you'll be doing once you choose it, and if you don't feel the job is right just come to me and we can find something else."
The group murmured to each other and Rick spoke up again, "So we can stay?" I smirked. "Yeah, sure why not? Just don't kill anybody, if someone does something stupid come to me first, ok?" Rick smiled at me "Sure thing." "Do you guys have any questions for me?" Maggie spoke up "Yeah, actually, why are the doors to the rooms so thick? And why are there lights on-top of the doors?" "Good questions, you see, every room here is sound proof, in every house, we go by a light system and you'll find remotes in your bedside dressers. It's so people don't have to hear if the undead are walking by, or if a particularly loud storm is passing by, that way people can get peaceful sleep, everyone runs better on a full nights sleep." "What do the lights mean?" Maggie asked.
"Well, green is someone at your door, you just push the corresponding green button to let them in, orange is town meeting, and red is for when the town goes on lock-down. That one will illuminate the entire room that way there's no missing it." "What happens when the town goes on lock-down?" Glenn spoke up. "Well the wall that is underground surrounding the town will go up and completely shut us off from the threat, it's made of impenetrable metal, not even a bomb could get past it, and it will stay up until the threat is gone." The group went silent. "We have only needed it once when a horde walked by, it was only up for maybe thirty minutes, don't worry, we're basically in the middle of nowhere so we don't come across much." The group nodded and Rick spoke up again. "Does anyone here really know how to handle the outside world? It seems like everyone is just cooped up and doesn't really know whats going on." "On the contrary my friend, anyone who comes here as spent some months out there, and we send a group of people out once a month to keep their skills up, they're gone for about two weeks at a time and are only given weapons, I don't want anyone here getting complacent, no matter how safe it seems." Rick smiled, "That's very smart." I bowed my head and laughed. "I don't want anyone getting hurt on my watch so I will do everything in my power to make sure no one does."
Daryl cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. "If you don't mind I would like to get that search going for your boy tomorrow after the tour, I'll take Glenn and Meryl so we can also bring back some stuff." I nodded at him. "Thank you, Daryl." I paused and scanned the rest of the group. "There should be some one size fits all sweats and shirts in everyones rooms, if you all want to get changes, there's also be a washer and dryer in the room with the beige door across the hall if you all want to get settled and get ready for tomorrow." The group took that as their que to leave and went upstairs to their rooms.