83 Chapter 83

**- Xenon -**

"We'll do it as we agreed on." I told everyone part of the attacking team. "Wait for me to use up my throwing knives first. I rarely miss." I never miss at close range.

We are beginning the plan to take over the rest of the prison. We'll be doing it one area at a time like we always do. We were a team of eight, but Theodore, Shane, and Rick were the only old members with us. We've had a few additions in the month that's passed since then. It's only been two weeks since we started looking for people, actually, yet we were very lucky. We managed to find a small group of ten people, four of which were now with us. Three of them looked to be in their thirties, the fourth one was in his forties. There wasn't anything particularly impressive about them except they seemed rather agreeable when I met them, and very eager to prove their worth. We made it abundantly clear the first time that we only take in people who are willing to contribute the same amount the others are. So, no sitting back while the rest of us do the fighting for them; they gotta get their hands dirty too.

I had my light throwing knives with me, and my old metal bat. I want to get this over with as soon as possible, and the metal bat is the best weapon I could hope for against walkers.

The walkers were blocking the way at the exit since we've been making noise since the first time we took over the prison. To remedy that, we asked one of the guards to make noise from outside the fence to draw some of them there, before we take them from behind.

I led the attack with Shane, the others following closely behind us. As we've agreed on, I used up all of my throwing knives first to thin their numbers while there was some distance between us.

"John, you're up." I informed the youngest among them. Although they said they had dealt with walkers before, which makes perfect sense if they've survived this long, I need to see it with my own eyes to know how good they are. They were given axes each as they are the safest weapon we have to deal with walkers. Maybe we should start looking for metal pipes or other alternatives now. Walker skulls have become ridiculously easy to crack. I thought it was thanks to my improvements, but I was wrong. The others confirmed my thoughts as well: walkers were getting weaker, so we can only assume it's because they are decaying.

John didn't look very afraid of them, so that's a plus in my book. He dealt swiftly with the walker, bringing his axe down on its head in one motion. The others followed behind, each taking care of a walker on their own.

"Good job." I nodded at them. "Do we take a few minutes to rest, or do you still want to push?"

"We haven't fought much. We can still go." Richard, the oldest among them, said. I nodded and led them deeper into the prison. I was aware of every walker in the prison, I knew we could finish them today if we played our cards right. Honestly, My throwing knives make this whole thing so easy. I had twenty of them, and there was no walker group bigger than thirty from what I could see.

Clearing the prison was child's work, honestly. We already killed most of the walkers the first time around.

"Damn, that was easier than I expected." Shane exclaimed. "It's basically cheating with your knives... Maybe I gotta learn to throw sometime."

"You definitely should." I said easily. "It's the same result as a gun but requires more skill and effort. But you never run out of knives as long as you don't lose them." Shane nodded. "Let's move on. Can you double-check the left wing with Rick, make sure we left no loopholes. We'll be putting it to use very soon." Rick and Shane nodded. "The rest of you guys take a two hours break. Help the others cut down the trees after." They haven't fought much, which is the reason I only gave them two hours.

Rick is part of the scout unit, so I won't be giving him any more work. He gotta spend some time with his family before he leaves again. Shane is in charge of the guards, so I don't have much to tell him anyway, he knows what to do. It was still eleven PM, and we still have a lot of time to make use of.

We don't operate using the previous standards, as in we don't work eight hours then get the rest of the day for ourselves. We can't afford that. The work hours are from sunrise to sunset, because we are more likely to make mistakes at night. That's when we get to relax.

There was something I wish to do today that I've delayed enough: bows. I know all about the theory of how to make one now, but I still need to practice everything I read. And even then, I was unsure if my vision of what a bow is capable of is correct. An arrow with a steel arrowhead can do a lot of damage, but the problem is that we haven't prepared a forge yet. We could attach a knife blade to the arrow but it would make it severely unbalanced, and balance is exceedingly important for an arrow. So I intend to use wooden arrows to be shot from a ten meters range. As long as they can kill walkers within that range, it would eliminate any danger we would be in when we fight walkers. With enough arrows, we could even kill big hordes by ourselves.

I walked into the kitchen to find Carol and Andrea talking there in a hushed voice.

"Ahem." I fake-coughed to not hear something I shouldn't hear, though I already have an idea what they were talking about.

"Xen, it's nice to see you!" Carol said with a smile giving me a one-armed hug.

"Hey Carol, Andrea, how you doing?"

"Great. What brings you here?" Carol asked me, while she was mixing some ingredients.

"I got an errand to do outside, and won't be here for lunch. You got something for me?"

"Of course, sweetie. I always got something for you." She chuckled and started looking around the kitchen for something.

"Make that two, Carol." I turned to see Amy standing at the door. "You don't mind me coming with you, do you?" She asked playfully.

"Not at all." I shook my head. I won't be doing anything remotely dangerous, so she's more than welcome to tag along. She seemed to like my answer, as she walked slowly towards me, a bit more shyly as she got closer. Our lips met in a tender kiss, as we both closed our eyes and enjoyed the moment until a cough interrupted it. Amy turned to glare at her sister, while I just had a goofy grin on my face... Did I mention that we became a couple about a week ago? Yeah... It wasn't anything special, really, as it turns out she's been waiting for me to ask her forever. I'm ashamed to admit I only dared to ask her after Andrea *yelled* at me politely to grow a pair and do it...

"I swear, it's getting worse and worse with you two..." She shook her head wryly.

"Now now, Andrea, don't be like that..." I shook my head. "The way I see it, it's only getting better." I grinned cheekily. "And you're one to talk. A little bird tells me you and some mystery man are something of an item right now." She looked at me in shock, probably thinking it was some kind of well-kept secret. And in a sense, it was. The only reason I know is that I cheated.

"How the hell do you know about that? Did he tell you?!" She was outraged for a moment.

"He didn't." I raised an eyebrow at her, before smirking. "And there is nothing that happens in this place I am unaware of, Andrea."

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked with confusion. "Who's the mystery man?"

"Sorry, kid. That's your sister's secret. Not mine to share." She pouted but I said nothing no matter how much she asked. She understood I wouldn't, so she changed her target of pestering to Andrea, who didn't give in either. I'm glad Shane is over his obsession with Lori. He is a very important asset to the group, and it would be a shame to lose him for such a stupid reason...