My Heart Is Like An Open Highway

Dale POV - Earth, Georgia, Interstate 85 - 2010

"Everyone take cover! Walker Horde is approaching!"

As soon as I heard the young doctor's voice, my first response was to use the binoculars to look around and see from where the walker horde he had just warned us about was coming from taking advantage of my elevated position on top of the roof of the RV.

It doesn't take me too much time to find the horde as I see hundreds of walkers slowly advancing toward our location from behind our convoy trapped in this highway blocked by abandoned cars. 

For a brief moment, I was stunned in place as they seemed to appear from out of nowhere as they were clearly approaching from the direction we were coming from, but shortly after, I immediately realized that it was more likely that they came out from the nearby woods attracted by the sounds of our engines when we passed by before and since we were forced to stop they were able to catch up.

Then I focus more on them and seeing their numbers I can't help but exclaim, "Damn..." before I hear the voice of Lori's husband and Carl's father, Rick as he mutters, "Oh, Christ." 

I watch as he quickly rushes toward his wife and Carol before he tells them, "Lori, Carol under the cars." 

Shortly after saying that, he hides under a nearby car with his wife to make sure that nothing happens to her.

Seeing that, I also lie flat on the roof of the RV to make my presence as little as possible so that those walkers do not notice me, but then as I check the situation, I notice that the young doctor, Jayr while he slowly approach the horde armed only with his wooden staff. 

He is the mysterious, brilliant young man who came out from almost out of nowhere and resolved each one of our problems one after the other. 

He even came up with the idea of a cure for the bite, which makes it possible for someone to survive even if the person in question was bitten by a walker, but he didn't stop at that as he also found what is very likely the cure for the thing that caused all this in the first place. 

Now watching that brilliant young man recklessly walking toward that huge horde as if he wants to throw away his life, I can't help myself from asking in a subdued tone, "What are you doing, kid!?" 

But Dr. Jayr doesn't even turn his head or stop as he calmly replies, "Don't worry, I'll lead this horde away from here. Thanks for your concern but nothing will happen to me as long as I'm careful. I already did something like this many times before, so I'm pretty confident."

Shortly after saying that, I watch Dr. Jayr as he continues to advance toward the and starts to lightly tap the butt of his wooden staff on the concrete of the highway in a very specific rhythm that generates a dull sound loud enough to make the walkers focus on his presence. 

Much to my horror the effect is instantaneous as the walkers immediately focus on him and pick up their pace as they start to move slightly faster now that they have locked on onto their prey.

Despite the walkers' advance, Dr. Jayr continues to rhythmically tap the concrete of the highway and he even starts to calmly sing, "♪Hey, what's the matter with your head, yeah. Hey, what's the matter with your mind and your sign and oh. Hey, nothin' the matter with your head.♪" before he kicks a nearby rock with such force that quickly flies toward the head of the closest walker like a bullet, hitting the walker right on the head with a dull sound. 

At the same time, Dr. Jayr continues to sing that song, and now that I listened to a few more verses of it, I'm pretty sure it is that old song of the group Redbone, a song I had quite a few fond memories of as I remember spending some evening with Irma listening to that song when we tried to have a child. 

But this isn't the time to get lost in memories of the past as the young doctor doesn't stop and continues to advance toward the walker horde with a series of quick steps and once he is close enough, he starts a series of quick thrusts with that wooden staff, and his strikes have enough power behind them to easily crush the heads of five walkers as he sings.

Immediately after doing that, Dr. Jayr with a very fluid movement swings the wooden staff side-by-side, almost like a pendulum, crushing the heads of the walkers approaching him from the sides after moving around the corpse of the walkers he has already killed.

At that point, I notice that the walkers are starting to slowly encircle Dr. Jayr, and seeing that, I'm about to get up and warn him about it, but before I can even move a single muscle, Dr. Jayr moves like he has full awareness of everything that is happening around him as he quickly plants the far end of his wooden staff on the concrete and uses it like a pole to vault on top of a nearby car's roof to get away from the walkers' encirclement. 

Then, shortly after he landed, he swung down his wooden staff many times, slamming it onto the heads of the walkers closest to his position crushing them in a single blow before he jumped over landing on the roof of another nearby car getting closer to the center of the horde and further away from our position while all the walkers in sight still focus on him.

As the walkers get closer to the car Dr. Jayr is currently standing on, he repeats the same process as before by slamming his wooden staff on their heads, crushing them further and bringing down their numbers before he once again jumps on top of the roof of another nearby car as the walker horde continues to follow after him as he still sings that song to keep them attracted to his location and very successfully at that as not a single one of the walkers moved toward our direction.

Watching that incredible athletic display, I can't stop myself from thinking in pure admiration, 'Incredible... I already knew that he was capable of defending himself after what happened that night during the invasion at the camp. But this... this is on a whole other level. There were more than 100 walkers there but he was dealing with it like it was a joke, he wasn't even sweating! What is even more incredible is that while pulling this horde away from the group, he has already reduced their number by about half too!'

While I'm thinking that, Dr. Jayr has already reached the last of the abandoned cars leaving behind only the open road of the highway behind him, but even at this point, he doesn't stop, he runs down the hood of the car and jumps down before he starts to slowly retreat away from the blocked section of the highway without turning his back to the still chasing walkers as he still continues to sing Come And Get Your Love.

Suddenly, after retreating a little bit more, Dr. Jayr seems to have decided that he is far enough from the group as he jumps a few meters back before he actually takes a stance that seems to come out from one of those Kung-Fu Movies as he waits for the walker to approach him.

As soon as the first walker enters his striking range, Dr. Jayr doesn't waste any more time and thrusts his wooden staff with such speed that my eyes are barely able to follow, and before I actually really what happened, the head of the first walker explodes like it was hit by a heavy caliber bullet.

But I don't have the time to focus on that as Dr. Jayr immediately pulls his wooden staff back before he once again delivers an incredibily fast strike blowing up the head of another walker, this last thrust, in fact, seems even faster than the previous one as I barely saw the initial movement.

Then I actually lost sight of the wooden staff and only saw the end result of the strike itself leaving me to watch in awe the incredible performance happening in front of my eyes.

At one point, the rest of the group also realized that something was happening, and one after the other they started to come out from their hiding spot and gather around the RV where Andrea suddenly brought me out of my stunned state by asking, "Dale, what's going on? What's up with this singing? Where is the horde? Do you see anything?"

I tear my gaze away from Dr. Jayr and look down at the worried people waiting for my response, and after a few seconds, I say, "I don't think we have to worry about the horde for much longer. Dr. Jayr pulled it away from the group on his own and just as we are speaking he is easily killing all the walkers that get too close. At this rate, he is going to kill every single one of them on his own. It's absolutely incredible... To the point that makes me doubt if the young man is in fact a member of some kind of Secret Special Force instead of a doctor." 

Everyone seems to be shocked at first, but then Lori quickly focuses on something else as she asks, "Wait! Forget about that. Is Carl fine?" followed by Carol who tries to look at the Cargo Truck to check on her daughter and the other people but her current position makes it difficult for her to see so she asks, "That's right. Are the kids safe?"

Hearing that, I look at the Cargo Truck parked a few meters behind the RV and see that the group that was hiding in the cargo bed also came out from their hiding spot and is now looking at the battle between Dr. Jayr and what remains of the walker horde.

Shortly after confirming their state, I look at the two worried mothers and reassure them, "There is nothing to worry about. They are all safe, and you guys can go and check on them now." before I quickly warn them as I watch our surroundings as carefully as possible, "But please, be careful. While I'm pretty sure that Dr. Jayr pulled away all the walkers in the nearby area as I don't see any from my position, there may still be some hidden danger. So do not make too much noise." 

In response to my words, the two worried mothers start to slowly move toward the Cargo Truck under the protection of Rick and Daryl.

At the same time, I once again use the binoculars to check on Dr. Jayr's situation and I'm surprised to find out that in the few moments I took my attention away from him, he has killed so many walkers that their corpses became an obstacle for those behind them which makes the walkers still trying to reach Dr. Jayr stumble on them, turning the fallen walkers into an even easier target for Dr. Jayr who swiftly stabs their heads with his wooden staff while cheerfully singing the last verses of the song with a relaxed expression on his face.

He continues to tirelessly thrust the wooden staff in his hands at any walker that stumbles into his range to the point that the corpses all around him start to quickly form a wall which makes it even easier for the doctor to safely take care of the remaining walkers.

Just like that, the number of walkers walking into their death gets lower and lower as he efficiently thrusts the wooden staff at their heads with astonishing precision and speed, taking them out with a single precise blow, and soon, there are no more walkers standing on the road, only hundreds of corpses and only one man who finished singing and is now calmly walking back to the group with a calm and relaxed expression as if what he just did was nothing worth noting. 

Jayr POV - Earth, Georgia, Interstate 85 - 2010

After taking care of the last walker of the horde that attacked us, I returned back to the group and quickly checked on their state to make sure that no one was hurt before we all resumed what we were doing before the horde interrupted us.

Carol, Andrea, Amy, and Lori searched the abandoned cars for anything that could be useful, Dale and Rick continued to watch our surroundings ready to act or warn us in case of walker sightings, T-Dog and Daryl restarted to siphon fuel from the abandoned cars, Morgan got down from the cargo bed and started to help Glenn in finding a spare radiator hose and use it to fix the RV, Morales, and Ruben started to help Shane in taking out the canisters full of fresh water from the delivery van and carry them back to the Cargo Truck, and Sofya, Almast and Miranda were watching over the kids and keeping them occupied while we worked.

Meanwhile, after quickly washing the Bo Staff from the rotten guts, blood, and brain matter, I started to clean up the way for our convoy by pushing the abandoned cars out of the way to create a path that was wide enough for all our vehicles to pass through.

That is something quite easy to do if one has enough physical power to send a 20-ton truck flying over the horizon with a single kick, but of course, to keep the appearances, I used a more believable method of pulling up the handbrake and pushing the car out of the way, of course, to have access to the handbrake of some cars I had to use the Bo Staff to break the window to unlock the car from the inside, and from time to time, I had to smash the head of some walkers playing possum inside the cars, but overall it was a good way to keep oneself busy while the others finished doing their part.

Another thing I'm very grateful for is that the blocked part of the highway isn't too large as there are only 100 to 150 cars that have jammed the highway, so to create a path wide enough I only have to move a dozen of them out of the way and more importantly, throughout the end of the jam, I started to move even faster as I didn't have to worry about the others and could simply pick up the cars and move them away.

Anyway, after Morgan and Glenn finally fixed the RV, everyone quickly jumped back on their vehicles and our convoy restarted its journey toward Mert County, which at this point is only 30 Kilometers or so from our current position, or using the local unit of measure, around 20 miles away.

After spending a couple of hours here, we finally left that jammed highway behind and continued to advance toward our next destination, Mert County.

Sometime later, the convoy gets out of Interstate 85 to drive on one of the secondary roads that are the entry point of our destination, Mert County, located in a rural area of Georgia.

The sight around us seems quite promising as a few residential houses as well as several large farms and fields can already be seen, and not only that but there is also a patch of green that can barely be seen in the distance that denotes the presence of a wild forest.

Seeing that, I pick up the walkie talkie and press the button to use it to contact Daryl who is driving his brother Merle's motorcycle in front of Carol's Cherokee driven by Rick, leading the convoy while also scouting ahead and say, "This is Jayr. Daryl, I can already see a few farms in the distance. Can you go ahead and check on them? Over." before I let go of the button and wait.

After waiting for a few moments, Daryl's voice comes out from the walkie talkie as he replies, "No problem, doc. Is there anything specific I should look out for? Over." 

Hearing that, I quickly mentally list everything that the farm should have to become a proper place to use for our needs and after a few seconds, I again press the button on the walkie talkie and say, "Yes, there are a few things that you should take note of. First, the farm in question should preferably have a quite large area at its disposal. Not only for fields where we can grow our food but for space we can also use for pastures in case we are lucky enough to find some wild cattle to bring back. The next important thing is that the area around it has a clear view, after all, if something is coming to us, it is better that we can see it before it actually becomes a threat to us. But without a doubt, the most important factor is that it must be away from any other civilized structure like towns, schools, and other farms, after all, the more we are close to such zones, the more likely is the presence of a huge number of walkers nearby. Over."

Immediately after saying that, I again released the button on the walkie talkie and waited for Daryl's answer, and after a few more seconds, his voice again came out from the walkie talkie as he said, "So, it needs to be large, easy to defend, and isolated." before he adds with clear sarcasm in his tone, "Got it. I'm sure that such a dream area is going to be easy to find." 

After saying that, Daryl asks in a sassy tone, "Do you also want me to find a farm that has 5 meters tall, 3 meters thick, metal walls all around its perimeter, too? Maybe even a nuke silo hidden in one of the barns? Over."

In response to his words, T-Dog, who is driving the Cargo Truck loudly snorts, meanwhile, I simply smirk a little before I press the walkie talkie button one last time and say, "No need to go that far. The walls are something that we can build ourselves while nukes are overrated. They are way too loud for my taste." before I turn serious and add, "Anyway, be careful. Even if a place is abandoned and isolated it doesn't mean that it is devoid of walkers. Keep your eyes open. Over."

Shortly after that, I hear Daryl's voice coming out of the walkie talkie as he says, "Don't worry. I got it. Over." 

Then I see Daryl turn around and drive his brother's motorcycle back, passing by Carol's Cherokee and Dale's RV very likely to inform them that he is about to scout ahead before he turns around once more and quickly starts to accelerate leaving the rest of the convoy behind. 

Seeing that, I start to think about what are we going to do once Daryl finds a good abandoned farm to claim for ourselves, 'Well, without any doubt, the first thing we have to do after finding the right place is to search it carefully and make sure that there are no walker surprises hidden in its perimeter and if there are, we have to make sure to purge them. After that, our next actions may vary depending on the state of the farm itself, if it is in total disrepair then we have to fix the most urgent things first before taking care of other matters. If it is in a somewhat good state, then we have to focus on things that will make our life there much easier, energy, running water, and basic defenses around the perimeter like walls, fences, traps, and the almighty and always underestimated moat, a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defense. Not much useful against more modern days means, but considering that most of the threats will come in the form of dumb walkers and disorganized groups of ill-equipped people armed with a few guns with limited range and mostly cold weapons, it may very well be the ultimate form of defense for them.' 

But soon I realize a flaw in my plans and sighing I chide myself, 'Of course! How could I forget about that? Creating a moat may take too much time, especially if we do it at a regular human pace, so it is better to relegate this to a long-term project rather than something that must be completed as soon as possible.'

After that, I focus back on planning our next steps, 'Anyway, after we have taken care of the most pressing matters. It will be time to focus on taking advantage of the farm's infrastructures to not only grow the ingredients needed for the creation of the Rad-X and RadAway but also to grow enough food to sustain not only the group living here but also the group back at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That shouldn't be too much of a problem as in my Soulbound Territory I have a lot of seeds that I modified to be able to grow in the most hostile and harsh conditions making it possible to plant them at any time, season, and place. In addition to that, they also grow much faster than regular crops if they are subjected to the right conditions and more importantly, they can also be used to nurture the soil after they have grown.' 

Indeed, most of the large vegetables, like parsnips, ears of corn or cabbages usually take a good 60 to 90 days to mature, but depending on their variety there are also fast growers that growns in 45 to 60 days like leaf lettuce and radishes, and season-long growers, like pumpkins, winter squashes, and okra that grows in 90+ days. 

But different from the regular ones, the seeds we are going to use will fully mature in a around 30 days once they are planted which means that if we play our cards right, in the long run we will have more food than we actually need, and may be able to use it to help and feed other people, bringing them into our fold and maybe create a community of survivors built around the farm.

At this point, I turn my head and look out of the window of the passeger seat, admiring the fast moving scenery outside while my mood turns somber as I start to think, 'In the end, I won't stay in this universe for too long, at most, I'll spend a year here, so all I can do is build a strong foundation for Rick and the people of the group so that they may not only survive but thrive even after I'm gone. Of course, a lot of that will still depend on my opponent of this Random Battle. If I'm lucky and the Champion who arrived to this Universe at my same time is a friendily, good guy, then I don't have to worry too much about it after all, we can organize our possible battle in such a way that it doen't harm the people of this universe... But if the enemy is of the less likable kind then it is possible that this world won't survive our battle. Maybe I should try to start a Champions Challenge as soon as possible to at least try discuss with the other Champion in a safe way... but that isn't very reliable. After all, a Champion may refuse the Challenge shortly after it is issued... Oh well, there is no point in worrying about all that for now, I'll take this one step at time.'