Ch. 21 Wrapping Up

Michael looked down the sniper rifle to look through the scope and put the crosshair on his target. It's just like when he was hunting for practice when he was younger. It's just an animal that needs to be put down for the betterment of humanity.

He calmed his breathing and got prepared.

*BANG*

The first shot rang out like lightning on a sunny day for the 'people' down below. They all froze making for easier targets.

There wasn't any pause of shots. It was one after another of accurate shots. With each shot a body would drop. People along the outside of the camp ground dropped with their heads having a new hole or just getting chunks blown off of it.

They eventually started to scramble but it didn't help them. The bullets always found their targets. Maybe not their head but enough to cripple them and let them bleed out. Michael needed to reload three times before he didn't see any standing target.

Then he saw it.

The ones that didn't have their heads blown of started to get back up. But they seemed different. Almost like a walker would act.

That's when Michael remembered that everyone was infected. When a human dies they will come back as a walker even without a bite or a scratch. He beat himself up for letting that slip his mind. He can only imagine Daryls confusion. But the now walkers stumbled towards the unfortunate people still alive.

Michael and Daryl easily took down the slow moving walkers. Michael realizes that he doesn't have a way of making sure Daryl and himself can get down there without the other shooting them dead.

Considering that all the enemies seem to be dead Michael climbs down fast. Walkers would be closing in on their position at any time with the noise they just made.

Michael went the long way to Daryls position and saw him climbing down.

"Daryl don't shoot me please!" Michael says hiding behind a tree.

Daryl whips around to face Michael pointing his rifle right at his face.

"What did I just say!" Michael says as he ducks behind the tree fully.

"Well don't sneak up on me! How the hell does a 6ft tall boy wearing leather sneak up on a trained hunter?! God damned happy feet over here!"

"Happy feet was about a tap dancing penguin Daryl! I know because I was forced to watch it about 50 times at least for 2 years! Briana and Paul loved it and I was tortured!"

"Let's just go clear this place! Cover your 'precious' face!" Daryl throws a bandana at Michael as he puts his own bandana on his face.

Michael puts the bandana on just below his eyes and firmly holds the rifle in his hands. He and Daryl see what they have done close up now. Everyone is asking to be put out of their mercy. Daryl is about to shoot them but Michael puts his hand on Daryls gun.

"We don't need more noise and to waste bullets" Michael hands him his second hatchet and starts mercying the poor souls. Nobody was spared. It seems the men on the crosses were forced to watch their friends and family as they got tortured in various ways. These sick people even had walkers chained down. Whether they were walkers or not when they got chained was unknown.

They found the supplies of food and water and were disgusted. It wasn't even worth trying to find anything not contaminated without risking some disease.

The guns and weapons were the cleanest things there. They started putting them into garbage bags and the ammo in another. They were lucky these idiot weren't prepared.

They didn't say a word to each other as they went back to the truck and then got to Daryls bike.

Walkers tried to get in their way but Michael and Daryl were able to slip past them.

"I've seen some shit…..but that….." Daryl tried to start a conversation but let it die.

They make it to Daryls bike and take an even longer route back to the farm. It was sunrise when they got back to farm.

Rick was outside and walked up to them.

"Was it successful? Are you guys alright?"

Daryl just heads inside after parking his bike.

" Yeah, it was alright. And we found some weapons at the place I talked about. Not just guns and ammo but melee weapons as well. Also some tactical clothes that are still in packages or wrapping. We're safe, just a bit shaken is all. I'm gonna get some rest. Can you have me and Maggie just sort through the things today?"

"No problem. Me and Glenn can take the town and Tdog and Andrea can go scavenge the highway. We should be able to leave tomorrow if things go smoothly" Rick says

Michael nods and then heads inside. He goes up to Maggie's room and sees her peacefully sleeping. He smiles and takes off his jacket and shirt. He then puts on a pair of shorts. He left his boots at the front door. His socks are flung to the corner of the room. He notices that Maggie has packed some of her things away as well. Some clothes and photos and other things are missing.

He locks the door and slides next to Maggie who rolls over and puts her head on his chest as her arm goes across his abdomen. Michael gets comfy and then pulls the blanket up. He enjoys the feeling of having Maggie on him as he slowly drifts to sleep.

He wakes up to a gunshot. He moves over the top of Maggie as she also woke up. After a few seconds of hearing nothing else they get dressed quietly and went to the first floor. They saw nobody inside. Everyone was outside.

Michael and Maggie joined them. Apparently a walker had gotten to the porch but Dale blew it back. It's chest was just shredded. Didn't know Dale was carrying a shotgun. Maybe he swapped his hunting rifle out for it since there was a wider selection now.

The walker is trying to reach at anyone but it's body is barely held together. It's a nasty one. Daryl comes forward and stomps its face in.

Patricia turns around and looks like she's going to throw up. Lori and Dale help her back inside the house.

Daryl goes and wipes his boot off on some grass.

Everyone was inside sorting but it seemed Daryl was bringing stuff in and out of the house to the rv and wasn't inside when the walker tried to come in.

"How's the shoulder Dale?" Michael asked.

"Just peachy Michael" He rubs his shoulder "Now I remember why I used the hunting rifle"

"True. Good job Dale"

People thanked Dale and he said it was no problem. He talked about a time when he could have fired the shotgun without getting injured. It was a classical 'back in my day….' moment.

Beth and Jimmy came from the house. Apparently they were going for walks and improving their relationship. Michael was surprised to find out they were dating for three months before the apocalypse and were stuck together whether they liked it or not. Michael was just glad they were safe. Jimmy seemed a bit slow but he's all there apparently.

Michael helped sort and move things to where they would need to go like Daryl. Most things were stored in the rv or the bed of the truck he got since it was newer and bigger than the truck Rick took.

They also had a family car that could have the backseat put down. That way there was still three seats in the back with lots of storage space.

By the end of the day everything was sorted and stored in a vehicle. The extra gas was properly stored and secured. Even the stuff the others brought back. Rick decided to talk with everyone before the night was over.

"Alright everyone. This is the last night we are here. We're gonna be heading to the prison tomorrow. It's gonna take us a while to get there but we should be fine. We can't head straight there because it goes through some questionable places that I'd rather not risk. We will take turns driving and sleeping to get there as soon as possible. Everyone will get a map but we won't mark on the map where the prison is incase we lose the map. We will have a unique way of finding the prison"

And Ricks speech goes on for a while. Michael was falling asleep but Maggie pinched him awake.

Michael found out that it would be him, Maggie, Paul, Briana and Carol in the truck. He didn't really pay attention to who was driving with who. He only knew that Daryl was goin solo with his bike.

Michael played a bored game with Paul, Briana, Carl, and Maggie. Michael ended up getting bullied because "if we don't hang up on you at the beginning you'll beat us all at the end" and so he was defeated because Briana convinced Carl and Maggie in 2 seconds. Michael playfully acted offended and said he was tired and went to Maggie's room. Maggie had to finish the game so she said goodnight.

Michael grabbed candles and flowers he had hidden previously in a closet upstairs. He also grabbed an MP3 player with words headphones. He couldn't find a three piece suit yet but he planned to slow dance with Maggie before they left the house in the morning.

30 minutes later he guessed that the game should end soon so he lit the candles around the room. He took his jacket off and had a light red tshirt that cling to his skin on.

He stood there for 5 minutes until Maggie opened the door. She looked into the room and was shocked. She expected to see Michael sleeping but she ended up getting candles and flowers in a semi dark room.

"I know we can't do the deed but I have a MP3 player and all this floor space for us to slow dance. So Maggie Greene, can I have this dance?" Michael held out the flowers and earbud.

Maggie smiled beautifully. She took the flowers and set them on the bed. "I'd be happy to Michael Parson" She grabbed the earbud and put it in her ear and heard the slow dancing music playing.

Michael put his hands on her hips and she put her arms around his neck as she let her head rest on his chest. There were a few inches difference in height but it didn't bother them.

Michael leaned forward a little and closed his eyes as they rocked back and forward and slowly moved around the room. It wasn't anything special but it was nice for them. Maggie enjoyed it.

After 25 minutes they decided to get some sleep for the following day. Maggie would be driving first since Michael still had to catch up on the sleep from the previous day.

Michael was on his back while mMaggie had her head on his bicep and chest. His right arm was able to hold her back this time. Her arm was holding him and her leg was over his leg. Maggie enjoyed holding Michael in this position. She liked to feel his muscles in their relaxed state. They just looked and felt perfect. Maggie listened to his heartbeat as she fell asleep and Michael enjoyed her warmth and touch.