I'm Yelling, Timber!

Jayr (Aegiochusmon) POV - Saint Seiya Universe, Earth, Greece, Sanctuary - 1993

"Aiolos!? You are alive!? How!?" 

In response to that question, Aiolos smiles and briefly replies, "This is the result of a lucky combination of factors and also of the efforts of Jayr and Lady Eri who did everything in their power to successfully bring me back to life and be once again Athena's Saint."

Hearing that, a small smile forms on Shion's face and he says, "I'm very glad for that." before he faces Eri and without any hesitation, he bows and says, "Lady Eri, I'm very grateful for giving Aiolos a second chance and for letting me see and greet my fellow Saints and my Goddess once more."

Then he stands tall and with a serious expression on his face he adds, "Even so, I still have to ask the reason behind my presence here at this moment."

In response, Eri doesn't waste any time and explains, "It is very simple. When talking about my incoming ascension with your Goddess Athena, she suggested to me that I should make use of the vacancy left behind by Hades' demise to not only facilitate my ascension but also to grasp more power, build a stronger foundation, and affiliate myself with the Olympian Pantheon gaining their protection against possible hostile Deties from other Pantheons. Of course, those aren't the only reasons why she wanted me to succeed Hades as Athena also wanted to rebuild a proper afterlife for the poor souls left without one because of the result of the Holy War between her and Hades."

Seeing that Shion is following, Eri calmly continues, "But becoming the Goddess of the Dead and rebuilding the Underworld comes with also the responsibility to maintain the harmony between the world of the living and those of the dead and the Specters are perfect for this job. They are the mightiest warriors of the Underworld, the ones capable of easily moving between the world of the living and that of the dead on their own. But such force does need an experienced, wise, and powerful commander who will answer directly to me and make sure that everything works as it should."

At this point, Shion understands what she means and says, "And you thought of me?" but Eri shakes her head and honestly replies, "I didn't even know you existed. It was Athena who told me about you and suggested that you would be the perfect choice as commander of the Specters considering your vast experience in leading the Sanctuary for over 200 years, your immense power as the former Aries Gold Saint, and lastly your status as a heroic dead soul."

After saying that, Eri looks at Shion and states, "Now, the choice is in your hands. Will you swear your fealty to me and become the commander of the Specters helping me in leading them in an era of peaceful prosperity for the Underworld as we protect both the world of the living and those of the dead or will you take your final rest in the Elysium where you have more than earned your place during your heroic life?"

In response, Shion looks at Eri for a few seconds before he also kneels down and declares, "I greet and swear my loyalty to Lady Eri. The Goddess of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld!"

Jayr POV - The Walking Dead Universe, Earth, Georgia, Mert County, Lone Oak Farm - 2010

It's the start of a new day here in the closed-off barn of the Lone Oak Farm and as soon as the first lights of the day enter the barn through one of the few windows, I get up from the makeshift bed made of hay and start to stretch my muscles while still thinking about what happened yesterday in my home universe following Eri's ascension to Godhood, 'I still can't believe that Eri choose to take Hades' place, but after thinking about it carefully, it isn't a bad choice at all, in fact, it is quite a good one. I admit that I didn't bother to worry about the consequences of Hades' demise but now that I think about it, losing the afterlife was quite a big blow for the Olympian Pantheon, maybe that is even the reason behind the Gods of other Pantheons constantly trying to conquer and destroy Earth almost once a year.' 

My expression turns grave as I start to think about everything from a more mature point of view, 'After all, the first years of my life were quite a bit peaceful, in fact, until I was 15 there were no big incidents that required the whole force of the Sanctuary. Then there was the quick series of battles following the Battle for the Sanctuary, Poisedon's Holy War, The trouble at Asgard, and Hades' Holy War which ended with our victory and Hades' demise. Since then, some evil God or entity caused some major trouble almost on a yearly basis. I didn't worry too much about it before thinking that it was some kind of "natural law" of my home universe where the main "plot" is always about Deities causing problems and Saint moving to stop them. But it is clear that I was way too naive.' 

At this point, I let out a sigh before thinking, 'Yesterday after Shion swore fealty and agreed to become the commander of the Specters and we all congratulated Eri, I learned that my father-in-law Zeus burdened himself with holding together and functional as many scattered fragments of Hades' Underworld as possible especially the Tartarus that hold prisoner the most dangerous being of our Universe connected to the Olympian Pantheon. All this was quite a strenuous effort on his part as his Divine Authority has nothing to do with that, in fact, it is in direct contrast with it. At this point, it is clear that Zeus' burdened status and the absence of both Hades and Poisedon were what made the other Deities and entities so bold in the first place.' 

Realizing that I couldn't stop myself from smiling proudly while thinking, 'In the end, Eri becoming Hades' successor not only strengthened our family by a HELL lot thanks to her new Divine status and abilities but she also likely brought a very long and lasting period of peace in my home universe by not only freeing Zeus of his burden, and also stopping the senseless fighting between the Specters and the Saints that went on since the Age of Myth. And let's not forget the inclusion of the Specters to the forces under her command that while they were very fearsome as opponents, as allies they are very, very reliable.'

After going through all that introspection, I walk out of my free stall, grab my Bo Staff, and slightly open the barn's door to not only let more light in and change the air but also to check if the situation outside is safe.

After all, even if yesterday we killed all the walkers present on the farm, some others may have stumbled their way in considering that a part of the fences enclosing this farm has been brought down by a horde assault leaving quite the gap in the defenses.

I quickly check the overall situation using my enhanced senses and after confirming that the situation is safe, I leave the doors slightly ajar to continue to let light and clear airflow in before I start to prepare everyone's breakfast.

At the same time, I sense that the people in the other free stalls start to wake up one after the other, the first to wake up are obviously Daryl and Shane, who are the most alert people in the group, they are quickly followed by Dale, Rick, Lori, Carol, and Morgan who are those more used to get up early in the morning.

Without wasting any time, Daryl, Shane, and Rick drink some water before they walk out of the barn to check the situation and ensure that it is safe outside, meanwhile, Dale, Carol, and Lori quickly start to help me in preparing breakfast as more and more people start to join us.

Before long, a simple but fulfilling breakfast is ready and everyone starts to peacefully eat together while discussing our plans for the day.

Done with the breakfast, the first thing we all do is check the state of the farmhouse, we are very careful with it as there is the possibility of a walker of two being trapped or hidden inside waiting for some careless prey to stumble in. 

After a very careful and throughout search of the whole house we confirmed that it is completely clear of walker presence and is only dirty and in a slight state of disrepair.

In the end, the women decided to focus on cleaning the farmhouse and making it habitable once again together with the kids while Dale, Morgan, and Ruben focused on fixing what they could and checking the state of things like running water, electric system, and so on.

In the meantime, the rest of the group focuses on clearing the rotting corpse amassed in front of the gates and nearby fences by piling them together away from the gates and nearby fences to allow the opening of the gates.

As soon as the gates can be opened, we further divide our group into two, one group with Morales, Gleen, Rick, and T-Dog who continue to pile the corpse to the side, and the other with Shane, Daryl, and I who quickly grab a few unused axe and head into the nearby woods to gather enough wood to only build a makeshift pyre to burn the corpses but also to make some simple but basic beams to fix and support the collapsed part of the fence enclosing the farm. 

Of course, the easiest and fastest way to do that is by simply bringing down a tree big enough and processing it into the needed parts. 

Usually, such a labor-intensive process needs at least 6 to 8 hours to complete, but that is so when the ones doing the whole process are regular human beings because it is a whole other thing when one of the people is easily able to snap the tree with his pinky.

Despite that, I still have to make a show that I'm putting in an effort so as soon as we find the right tree, I prepare to cut down the tree by examining the tree and its surroundings.

Noting any uneven distribution of branches in the tree crown, the lean of the trunk, and signs of rot or decay which makes Shane asks in a hurried tone, "Why are you looking at the tree so carefully, let's just swing these axes and bring it down!" 

I continued to study the tree while explaining, "I'm looking to see if there are signs of decay or rotting on this tree. The reason for that is that inexperienced tree cutters should never attempt to cut trees that are decayed or rotted inside or that are leaning or otherwise under tension. Such trees are at greater risk of snapping or splitting while being cut, which could cause serious or fatal injury to the cutter or bystanders." before I add, "Just let me do my thing, I promise you that it will be faster than if we do this together just be on the lookout for any kind of danger may they be walker, animal, or human."

After confirming that the chosen tree is a good one, I examine the tree for loose, dead limbs because those limbs may fall onto the tree cutter or the bystanders and again are a common cause of serious injuries and fatalities.

Seeing no dangerous limb to take care of, I move on to the next step as I look around to note the position of nearby trees to be sure that the tree I'm about to cut down can fall all the way to the ground without any incident and while it takes some time to explain, all these steps are done in a matter of seconds. 

Then I move on to prepare to make the cut by clearing a safe work area around the base of the tree, removing limbs, underbrush, and other obstructions, and after that, I ensure that Daryl and Shane are a safe distance from the base of the tree about to be felled before the first cut is made, the distance must be at least 1-1/2 times the height of the tree.

At this point, it is finally time to make the cut and since I'm working under "human" limits, I decide to use one of the most basic cutting techniques which consists of making first an undercut, which serves as the guiding or aiming slot for the tree, and then a back cut which releases the stresses on the back of the tree, allowing the tree to fall.

The undercut is basically a V-shaped notch placed on the side of the tree in the direction of falling. 

Without wasting any more time, I grab the simple axe and with precise and careful swings I make the first cut while ensuring that it is parallel to the ground, and then, with another few swings I make the slanting cut all while making sure that the depth of the undercut is about one-fourth of the tree's diameter.

After that, I move to the opposite side of the tree the perfect position to make the back cut and once in position, I use the axe to make a very small notch on the bark positioned slightly above the hinge point of the undercut to remind me where I should aim as I have to be sure to never make the back cut lower than the undercut because that reverses the roles of the two cuts and also to never cut through the undercut because that will cause me to lose all control over the tree.

Soon, I start to carefully swing my axe making sure to never use too much power and cut through everything in a single swing as it would make all my efforts to appear as human as possible go to waste.

As the axe's blade cuts into the wood and nears the undercut, I make sure to leave a small amount of wood to serve as the "hinge" or "holding" wood. 

The reason for that is that the tree actually pivots on this hinge, and the width and angle of the hinge can be used to guide the direction of the tree's fall. 

Because of the angled hinge, the tree starts to fall on the narrow section of the hinge while the wood at the thicker section of the hinge is still intact, therefore the tree is pulled toward the thick section. 

Once the tree starts to fall, I yell, "Timber!" before I calmly move away from the tree's path and watch as it falls on the ground with a bounce generating a loud crashing sound before landing exactly where I wanted.

Shortly after that, Daryl approaches the fallen tree and whistles before he comments, "Damn, Doc! Are you sure you aren't a lumberjack? You felled this tree like a pro." followed by Shane who adds, "Indeed... That was a lot faster than I thought."

Hearing that, I smile and say, "That was the easiest and fastest part. Now what awaits us is the most complex and time-consuming process, which is limbing and bucking the tree."

After saying that, I walk up to the fallen tree and say, "Limbing refers to removing unwanted limbs from the timber, basically the branches. When the timber is standing the basic safety rule is to never limb above your shoulders, that is, do not attempt to cut off branches above the height of your shoulders. The reason for that is that cutting above your shoulders may make the cut part fall on your head or on those of nearby people." 

I take a quick look to check the state of the felled tree while continuing to explain that because it may be useful for them in the future, "Meanwhile, limbing a tree that is lying on the ground has other safety rules apply. The first thing you should do is evaluate the fallen tree. If the tree has become lodged or wedged in adjacent trees and has not fallen all the way to the ground, do not walk underneath the tree. It may fall without warning. Trees that are "hung" are especially dangerous and need to be removed by mechanical means. They can be pulled down with a cable and a tractor suitably equipped to protect against roll-over and falling objects. Luckily this isn't our case as the tree fell on the ground."

At the same time, I wait a few minutes to allow any additional debris to fall to the ground, because dead branches and debris have been known to fall several minutes after a tree has been felled and severely injure or kill a careless person in the vicinity, of course, I also explain that to Daryl and Shane so that they know what to do in case they have to do something like this again without me. 

Once I'm sure that it is safe, I'm ready to limb the tree, so I stand on the uphill side of the tree while explaining, "Never stand on the downhill side of a fallen log. If you cut a branch that is holding the log in place, the log could roll downhill and trap or even crush you. Make sure you have good footing and are standing in a balanced position that allows you the freedom of movement needed to react in case something unexpected happens."

At the same time, I start from the bottom of the tree and start to work my way to the top, precisely swinging the axe and removing branches on the opposite side of the tree from me as I go trying to make the cut as humanly clean as possible as doing this makes the log much easier to roll or move.

Periodically I also put down the axe and remove debris around me so that I always have clear vision and freedom of movement around the tree.

Like that, I continue to carefully cut off all the branches on this log under the watchful gaze of Daryl and Shane while I continue to teach them, "Depending on the species and size of the tree you are limbing, some of the branches may be very heavy and when heavy branches are removed from a log, the log may shift its position unexpectedly, so be careful of that. In this particular case, you don't have to worry too much about it as this log is clearly a mid-sized one making the presence of heavy branches very unlikely." 

Suddenly Shane interrupts me and asks, "Hey, Jayr. Are you sure that you want to do this on your own? This looks like a very heavy job to do alone..."

In response, I shake my head and reply, "It's fine. This is nothing compared to what my Grandfather put me through. Please, continue to watch our surroundings and remember as much as you can about this. You'll never know when this kind of random knowledge may be useful. Trust me I speak from experience." 

Sometime later, after I have removed all the branches from the tree, I finally start the bucking process which consists of cutting a tree into usable lengths. 

Usually, the best tool to buck a tree is a saw, but we weren't able to find any, or to be more honest I didn't want to waste too much time searching for it, especially since the axe we found was more than enough, especially considering my inhuman strength, precision, and control. 

After working without stopping for a couple of hours, all the branches that I had cut off from the tree became firewood that the others quickly carried back to the farm and used to build a makeshift pyre to burn the corpses.

Meanwhile, I turned the rest of the tree into a few 2-meter tall veneer logs which should be more than enough to use as support for a stopgap fix of the collapsed fence on the back of the farm.

We quickly carry the veneer logs back to the farm and into the barn, we used as a shelter yesterday night as it is quite close to the collapsed fence, before we join the rest of the group helping them clear and burning the bodies until Carol arrives to inform us that launch is ready.

During the launch, Dale, Morgan, and Ruben broke out the good news that the farm is already completely self-sufficient regarding both water and electricity, as it has an off-grid water system, which is running perfectly, and an electric system completely powered by solar energy thanks to the use of solar panels and solar batteries, only it seems that the solar panels were damaged, maybe during the walkers' assault of the farm, and so the electric system is currently off. 

Luckily, both Dale and Morgan are pretty confident in their chances of fixing the damage and getting the electric system running once more on their own. 

On the other hand, the women talked about what they have found out about this farm while cleaning the whole farmhouse.

Way before the outbreak, this farm served as a prime dairy farm and home for the seven members of the Oakes family. 

It was used to produce dairy products such as butter, cream, cheese, and milk and it was owned by Brenda Oakes and her husband, Terry Oakes, who also had two sons, Andrew and Danny, who helped out with the chores and a daughter Angelica.

The farm was once the pride of the Mert County area, being awarded for its accomplishments and excellent dairy products and livestock, the proof of that are the several awards and ribbons that the women found all over the family home. 

The farm, at one point, started to massively expand by buying out the lands of the nearby farms, some of which found themselves in difficulty for one reason or another, or other farms that simply didn't want to continue their operations.

Like that, the Lone Oak Farm expanded from specializing in dairy cattle and milk production to crop farming, grain and oilseed, poultry and egg, other vegetable, and so on, becoming a true leader in the sector, something very impressive, especially considering the origin as a family farm.

Before the outbreak, the farm grew to the point that they even offered guided tours of the farm with sample tasting and other recreational activities.

Another thing that the group found out while cleaning the house and checking the water and electric systems was the existence of employee dormitories within the farm's perimeters, but they are more out of sight and further away from the family house.

This is quite good news as there isn't enough space in the family house for all of us, which means that some of us would have been forced to sleep in the barns or tents. 

Shortly after telling us about the employee dormitories, Andrea informed us that she went to check the closest one with her sister, Amy, and Morgan.

They found out that the dormitories were created by expanding and converting a couple of barns allowing enough space for a least 20 people to live together as comfortably as possible, within reason as it is still a shared space with many bunk beds, but despite that, there is also a wide living room with a television, a kitchen, and a sizeable lockerroom and communal shower area.

Overall, the Oakes treated their employees quite well, in fact, much better than what I expected at first, especially since when I thought of employee dormitories the first thing I thought of was expecting concentration camp's living condition with countless immigrant workers ammassed one against the other with barely any space to breathe, but it seems that I was wrong and misjudged the people that lived here.