Normal Days

It's been more than a month since Damian started helping out with the work in farm. He was one of the people who was allowed to carry a pistol with him. The winter had arrived and everyone started wearing warm clothes and remained in their homes for most of the time, only coming out once in a while to see others.

The way Nathan ran the farm, giving jobs to people based on what they could do and what they were good at, was working. While he would watch the defenses the farm had, along with Damian directly under him, Matt would go out on patrol, while Elizabeth would manage the food distribution and maintained the list of things around the farm. The LaRusso couple would also help her in that.

Kayla was taken to a separate place where they kept the medicines and equipment. She'd look after sick people and only came back late at night every day. Damian and Kayla still talked about their day when they'd meet. They would sleep with each other once in a while to remind each other about themselves. People in the farm, normal people, started trusting Damian and others.

Damian and Kayla were sitting on the sofa in the living room sipping coffee talking about how last night Samatha fell down from the stairs while sleepwalking. Just then Elizabeth came inside smiling at the duo and sat on the chair after taking a cup and pouring herself some coffee.

"Damian, dad wants to talk to you about something. You can come later. How about you come and have lunch with us today? it'll make me happy", she said then she looked at Kayla and said, "You're also invited".

Before Damian could say something, Kayla answered with a smile, "We'd love to".

"Alright. What do you guys like?", Libbi asked.

Kayla looked at Damian, "I don't particularly like anything. I'll eat whatever you prepare", Damian said casually.

"Alright, then meet with him. I have to go look for Ms. Moxinne. No one has seen her come in and out of her house for two days", Libbi finished her coffee and walked out.

Kayla stared at Damian. He noticed and looked back asking what?

"She likes you", Kayla said with a smile. "She asked me about us yesterday. She asked if we were together", Kayla said.

Damian looked at her and opened his mouth to say something but didn't.

Kayla waited for a moment expecting Damian to say something but when he didn't she smiled and continued. "I obviously said we were just friends. There is nothing between us. I think, she's into you".

"I don't know. I'll tell her I don't se-", Damian got interrupted.

"We... we were just comforting each other. Just like you said. I also thought about it. You were right. I wanted some support at that time, you did too. It was nothing more than that", Kayla said while Damian looked a bit disappointed. "You are free to see her. It doesn't bother me. Although, I don't like Matt eying me all the time he's around", Kayla said.

"You want me to tal-", he got interrupted again.

"No need. Maybe I should give him a chance. Who knows, he might be good", Kayla said. 

Damian had nothing to say, he sat there silently with empty cup in his hand.

After a while, they gathered again at the lunch in Nathan's house.

"So, how are your days going?", Nathan asked Kayla.

"Good. I have no complaints", Kayla answered.

"How about you? Do you have any complaints working under me?", he asked looking at Damian.

"No sir, I am learning a lot of things from you", Damian answered.

"Like what? How to repair fences?", Matt mocked Damian. Damian felt a hint of jealousy from him as he looked at Kayla who had a grin on her face for some reason. 

"They are also some really important skills. Keeps walkers outside. Don't you agree?", Nathan said as he looked at Matt.

"Whatever. It's us who kill them outside. They have been appearing frequently now a days for some reason", Matt said.

"They migrate. They must be coming from towns or cities in search for food", Damian said.

"Bastards. Why don't they just stay where they are and die there", Nathan said.

"Father. We are eating", Elizabeth said and Nathan apologized for his words.

"Damian, I never asked about your life before. Where are you from? What about your parents? Why were you alone with the group. Didn't you want to go find your family", Matt asked.

Damian paused before taking the spoon to his mouth and looked at the food for a while before saying, "My parents died a long ago. I lived with my grandfather, my mom's father, before joining army. We didn't part ways on a good note. I was actually scared to go back. And now I don't know how I would face them if they are even alive today", he looked at the plate as Libbi held his hand under the table trying to comfort him.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to hit on you like that", Matt understood he had chosen the wrong topic and immediately apologized.

"No, it's okay", he said and started eating once again.

After lunch, Nathan found Damian outside his house and said while putting his hand on his shoulder, "Damian, son, I know everyone has gone through hell these few months. Everyone lost someone precious to them. I lost my dear wife during the beginning of all this as well", he paused for a moment before continuing, "But we are still here, aren't we. We found each other. You are also like my children. You can have a family here. With us", he said looking in Damian's eyes.

Damian's eyes wavered for a moment, him thinking what he should say, but in the end, he stayed silent and looked down while nodding. This put a smile on Nathan's face as he patted his back and walked away with him towards the field.

In the following months, the farm invited more people. Although Damian was skeptical about it, it wasn't his call, and he knew that Nathan was a good judge of character as he had turned away many people he didn't trust. The farm had a generator and enough fuel for running the small flour mill.

Half of January had passed and the winter had gotten more severe, cold winds kept blowing making it hard to stay outside for long. People stayed inside their houses and only came to get rations for their groups, although Matt and his group would still go out on patrols. He said, it was the only time he'd lead. He said, he was doing it because he would have to lead the farm after his father. 

That night, he came back with a teenager. The boy was unconscious. They said he was running from someone and was drugged for some reason. Kayla and others looked over the boy and found out that he was tortured by someone. After he woke up and Nathan interrogated him, they found out that he was captured by a group of people and was tortured and drugged by them to get information about him. Nathan decided to form a group to go patrol the area and kill anyone with hostility but didn't find anything.

A month passed by without any more people. It was the hardest time as there was snowfall and roads were not clear. The group didn't encounter any walker in the meantime either. March arrived and things started to go back to normal. The snow started melting from the roads and fields and people started coming out of the houses and started fixing their homes and the damaged items. Nathan and Damian started reinforcing the fences and help repairing machines in the farms. Matt started going out with his group for patrols. The boy he found joined them. His name was Elliot. He said he was in his final year in school and was aiming for one of the IVY colleges although it didn't matter anymore.

That day went by like every other day and people started to normalize that lifestyle.