Kapitel 310: Watch The Flames Burn Auburn On the Mountainside

Jayr POV - Earth, Georgia, Atlanta's Survivor Camp - 2010

Seeing that Jim calmed down and more or less got out of his maddened state caused by his mental breakdown and the intense summer heat, I released him from my hold before I gently dragged him next to a nearby tree so that he could take cover from the heat under its shade.

After doing that, I turn my head toward the still-concerned Dale and say, "Mr. Dale, can you bring over some water? The worst passed, but Jim still needs to rehydrate himself if he wants to recover as fast as possible."

Hearing that, Dale nods and says, "No problem." before he hurries back to the camp to grab some water for Jim.

Seeing his retreating back, I shout "Thank you." before I focus back on Jim, who is now staring down at the ground with his tear-stained face, and once again repeat, "It's going to be alright, Jim. Everything is going to be fine."

In response, Jim continues to look down before he mutters, "That's a lie... That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 1 time, 10 times, 100 times... It... It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family..."

Hearing that, I sigh and sit down right next to him before I say, "That's terrible, I can't even begin to imagine how you feel... the guilt you must feel simply for the fact that you survived and they didn't. But you are still alive and you can use that life to help and save others, to try to make sure that tragedies like the one that happened to you won't happen anymore. I mean, just take a look at the camp. There are still kids like Carl, Duane, Sophia, and the others still alive and we have to do everything possible to give them a chance to grow safe and happy."

In response to my words, Jim looks up and stares at the lively camp in the distance in silence as I add, "These are hard times for everyone in the world and the people need all the help that is avaiable to have a better chance to survive. And who knows, maybe by helping others you will find the strength to forgive yourself and move on."

I end my speech with that and simply continue to sit by Jim's side letting him digest my words and choose what to do next while waiting for Dale to return with a bottle of water, something that happens a few moments later as Dale returns and gives the bottle to Jim.

We watch as he slowly grabs the bottle, opens it up, and starts to slowly drink the water.

Seeing that, I add, "Pour some on your head too. You were under this intense heat without protection for a long time, you still need to cool down a little."

Hearing that, Jim stops drinking and follows my instructions, pouring some of the water on his head, feeling clearly refreshed, he looks at us and mutters, "Thanks... I'm sorry for making you worry." making Dale smile and say, "Don't worry, lad. The sun just cooked your head. I'm glad that you are fine now."

In response, Jim smiles wryly before he says, "I'm not really fine... not yet... but I'm better now and hopefully I'll be fine in the future."

After staying like that for a few minutes, I help Jim up, and together with Dale we return back to the camp and arrive just in time to see Amy and Andrea come back to the camp with tons of fish for the camp.

Seeing them approaching the camp with such a bounty, Morales walks toward them, takes the fish from Andrea, and exclaims, "Oh, baby. Will you look at that? Hey, check it out. Ladies… Because of you, my children will eat tonight. Thank you."

At the same time, Lori starts to clap her hands to celebrate their triumphant return while Andrea says with a big smile on her face, "Thank Dale. It's his canoe and gear." before she gives a high five to a also smiling Jacqui.

Meanwhile, an impressed Carl shouts, "Mom, look. Look at all the fish."

Hearing that, Morales moves the fish toward Carl and Lori to let them see the girls' catch better making Lori smile and say, "Thank you." while Carl exclaims, "Whoa." followed by Lori who asks, "Yeah, whoa. Where did you two learn to do that?"

In response, a cheerfully Amy simply answers, "Our dad." which makes Carl ask, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Amy laughs a little before she replies, "Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff." she looks at Lori and adds, "If that's okay." She shakes her head and states, "You won't catch me arguing."

At this point, Andrea notices us approaching and asks, "Hey, Dale. When was the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace."

But before he can answer, Amy notices me helping Jim walk, and concerned she asks, "Is everything alright?"

Hearing that, everyone focuses on me and Jim looking at us with concern, Shane even gets up and and walks up to us, but Dale quickly defuses the situation by saying, "Nothing to worry about. Jim just had a bit of a heat stroke. Luckily, young Jayr was there to help. Jim just needs to rest for a little and drink some more water and he'll be as good as new."

After hearing Dale's explanation, the people Shane and the others calm down, and quickly the people in the camp resume their activities while I carry Jim back to his tent where he can rest and recover from the heat stroke.

Once outside of Jim's tent, I see that Morales is now upgrading the campfire by building some kind of wall of rocks around it so that we can safely cook the fish using stronger flames without risking them being seen.

Shane on the other hand is cleaning the fish that Amy and Andrea have caught with the help of a few other men.

At the same time, I also see that Lori and Carol are doing schoolwork at a table nearby with Carl, Duane, and Sophia while Morgan watches over them and helps from time to time making me smile wryly for a little while thinking, 'Not even the end of the world can save the kids from the dreaded schoolwork imposed by the helicopter parents... Oh well, it isn't like they are totally wrong, a certain level of education is still fundamental even in the apocalypse. While degrees are certanely useless knowledge itself will always be useful sooner or later.'

Shortly after that, I walk up to Shane and ask, "Shane, can I take a minute of your time to talk about something concerning the safety of this camp?" which makes the man tear his gaze away from the fish son and look at me with a serious expression on his face as he replies, "Sure. What is it?"

I make a small sign with my head to follow me and seeing that, he stops cleaning the fish, gets up, and follows me as I start to walk toward the cargo truck while saying in a tone low enough that only he can hear me, "I heard that you had encountered a walker this morning and very close to the camp at that. To be honest with you, I don't think this is a good sign... The camp by itself isn't in a good position but it also has other problems, like no wall, no natural defense, the surrounding woods that limit your sight of the approaching danger, and so on. Sure it is a good place for a temporary stop since it is away from more populated areas and it is also full of necessary natural resources like food and water, but regarding safety and defensibility I feel that it still leaves a lot to be desired which makes it a bad choice for a more permanent location."

After saying that, I turn my head to look at Shane and see him frowning as he starts to look around at the camp with a much more critical eye before he sighs and says, "That's true... at first I never wanted to be in this place for so long, but the more people joined and the more time passed without any incident or attacks made it more difficult to entertrain the idea of leaving this place... but you are right, that walker this morning is a very dangerous sign that we can't ignore."

Hearing that, I nod and say, "For these reasons, I want to bring the Cargo Truck closer to the camp and prepare the cargo bed so that people can access it more easily in case of emergency and use it as a temporary defensive shelter."

In response to that, Shane thinks about it for a few seconds before he mutters, "That's not a bad idea. That military Cargo Truck is very solid and can endure quite the punishment. In addition to that, most of the walkers can't actually climb stuff and with a few more precautions the people on the cargo bed will be a lot safer."

Then Shane looks at me and says, "Do it. I'll inform everyone in the camp that in case of emergency they should hurry to the Cargo Truck or even at the first sight of trouble." before he moves back into the camp to inform the others,

Having received permission from Shane, I didn't waste any time and started to prepare the Cargo Truck after I asked for Morgan's help.

Together, we lower the tailgate to make sure that access to it is as easy and quick as possible, and then we organize and secure the content of the cargo bed to create as much space as possible for the people of the camp, we even reinforce the sided of the cargo bed with wooden planks to create a basic wall to block the walkers, and in the end, we drive the Cargo Truck into the camp, parking it much closer to the center of the camp.

After that, we return back to the rest of the group where Morgan joins back to watch over his son doing the schoolwork with Carl and Sophia.

Meanwhile, as I pass near the RV, I hear Andrea's voice coming from it as she asks, "Wrapping paper, color tissue, anything?" followed by an incredulous Dale who asks back, "Seriously?"

Andrea's voice then asks, "How can you not have any?" making a sassy Dale comment, "Had I been informed of the impending apocalypse I'd have stocked up."

At this point, Andrea explains, "It's Amy's birthday tomorrow. I've been marking days on the calendar just to make sure... You don't give a gift unwrapped." which makes Dale sigh deeply before he says, "I'm sure I'll find something here."

At the same time, I see Morales proudly showing off the upgraded campfire while explaining, "I, uh, built up the rocks all around. See? So the flames can be a little higher and have 'em be hidden."

Following that, we all start to cook the fish over the fire as the sky starts to turn dark and once it is ready, all the survivors in the camp gather together around to fire to eat, barring Carol's husband who is likely going mad while trapped in his mind in total darkness and unable to hear, feel, taste, and smell anything at all.

Some time later, the group enjoys a fish dinner with everyone having a good time eating some good fish and drinking some beer something that they thought impossible before considering the state of the world.

"Pass the fish, please."

"Here you go. "

"Man. Oh man, that's good."

"I miss this."

Suddenly, Morales looks at the smiling Dale who is enjoying the good atmosphere, more precisely at the watch on his wrist, and says, "I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." which makes Dale focus on him and reply, "What?" before Morales simply states, "That watch."

Confused, Dale asks, "What's wrong with my watch?" which makes Morales explain, "I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass."

While Morales is saying that, I notice that Andrea is also nodding while chewing her meal and after he finishes, Jacqui follows after him and adds, "I've wondered this myself."

Bewildered, Dale spreads his arms and states, "I'm missing the point." which makes Jacqui explain further, "Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while."

Morales nods and continues, "But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."

Hearing that, Dale interrupts him and says, "Time… it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here."

But in response there is only an awkward silence as Andrea decides to simply look away and sip from her bottle of beer and seeing that, Dale starts to narrate, "I like… I like what, um, a father said to his son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember the time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." Eh."

I somber silence falls within the group as everyone listens to Dale's words and digests them while the crickling of the fire is the only thing that breaks this silence, at least until Amy states, "You are so weird." making everyone heartily laugh.

At this point, Dale smiles back and says, "It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner... Maybe my bad paraphrasing."

Suddenly, Amy gets up from the campfire which makes her sister Andrea ask, "Where are you going?"

In response, Amy directly answers, "I have to pee." before she states, "Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" which makes everyone laugh once more, but before she can walk away and head toward the RV, I pick up a strange and concerning sound, and remembering the "plot" I stand up without any hesitation and shout, "Wait, Amy!"

Because of my sudden outburst, everyone stops laughing and stares at me while Amy also stops in her tracks and looks at me with a curious exression on her face.

I focus for a moment on my hearing and confirm that I indeed caught the sound of a small horde of walkers approaching the camp and that at the pace they are moving, they are going to be here in around 5 minutes.

At the same time, both Morgan and Shane seem to realize something as they immediately grow more tense before Morgan, who knows me better than the people of the camp asks, "What is it, Doc?"

Hearing Morgan's question, I grab the Bo Staff that I kept close to me and state, "I have bad news... A group of walkers is approaching the camp. They should be on us in a couple of minutes."

In response to my words, the people start to panic, but Shane immediately gets up, picks up his shotgun, and orders, "Keep your calm! We already prepared for something like this. Quickly head toward the Cargo Truck and get on the cargo bed, we will use the elevated position to keep ourselves safe from those things!"

After hearing Shane's words, the people of the camp do not hesitate to pick up their weapons and rush toward the cargo truck while screaming.

"Oh god!"

"Amy! Quick!!"

"Carl!"

"Daddy!"

"Follow me!"

Seeing all that chaos Shane barks more orders as he helps Carl and Lori get on the cargo bed, "First the children and those who can't defend themselves! We have to keep them safe!"

At the same time, the first walkers start to come out from the nearby woods and stumble into the camp while letting out their annoying and iconic groans.

I throw a glance at the situation around the cargo truck and see that all the kids and most of the women have already got on the cargo bed and took cover while the men are surrounding it ready to defend them from the walkers.

Seeing that, I relax, keep my distance from the group, and rythmically tap the ground with my Bo Staff generating a loud sound to attract some walkers to my position and split their attention between me and the group around the cargo truck.

Shane notices that and calls out, "Jayr! Come over!" but I smile and shake my head while shortly after, Morgan shouts, "Don't worry about Doc! I have seen him take out a group of at least 50 of those things on his own with little to no effort. Among the people present, he is the one least in danger. Focus on protecting the group!"

Then I start to focus on the walkers that continue to advance into the camp before I walk toward the closest of the attracted ones and quickly take care of it by crushing its head with a single, swift swing of my Bo Staff and moving one to deal with another one right behind it.

At the same time, I hear screams followed by a gunshot and with a glance, I see that Morgan is now using the Remington 700 BDL given by Rick to snipe the walkers that are starting to approach the cargo truck while the people on the cargo bed start to panic seeing the approaching walkers.

Following that shot, many other gunshots are heard as Shane and Dale, the only two other people armed with a rifle, also start to shoot the approaching walkers while Morales, Jim, and a couple of other men are dealing with the walkers who got too close to the Cargo Truck using baseball bats, crowbar and other improvised weapons to push them away and smash their heads.

While checking the overall situation of the other survivors to make sure that no one gets ambushed or bit by surprise by a lucky walker, I continue to slay as many walkers as "humanly" possible by twirling the Bo Staff around crushing their heads and at times even blowing their heads off by sending some nearby rocks flying with a precise kick when the walkers get too close to Morales, Jim, Shane, and the other men keeping the walker off from the cargo truck.

The battle goes on as walkers continue to emerge from all directions, their number is overwhelming compared to the survivors but luckily everyone is still safe as they have gathered around the cargo truck and are using it to keep the walkers at a safe distance, especially since the cargo truck is too heavy for them to push, at least with those few numbers, and most of the walker can't climb up the cargo bed to attack the survivor, and the few that can are too slow to be an actual threat as they get pushed back and taken out before they can actually climb up.

As the walkers I slayed litter the ground around me, all of which have their heads completely crushed, I continue to use all the senses available to check the surroundings and the overall situation of the camp while thinking, 'Everything went according to the plan. There are still many walkers left but no one died or was bitten by them... well, no one but Carol's husband who "unfortunately" was too far away from the rest of the group and was the first one to get attacked by the first walkers that arrived in the camp. At the very least, the piece of shit didn't suffer or even realized that he died as with all his senses shut off he couldn't feel anything, and that is already merciful enough for me considering that he is the kind of scum who would lust after his own underage daughter. Hell, even the boorish, surly, abrasive, combustible, violent, racist, misogynistic, volatile, and extremely ill-tempered brother of Daryl, Merle is more worthy of redemption than him. After all, even if a very flawed man, he still has some good qualities and it seems that in the 3rd season, he regretted some of his previous actions, and just for that, I think he at least deserves a second chance.'

While I'm thinking that, I hear the voice of the group on the cargo truck as they continue to fight off the relentless walkers approaching them.

"Come on. Come on, don't stay too close to the rails. Those are covered by simple, improvised wooden planks they won't hold on for too long.."

"Carol!"

"Stay close!"

"Watch out for the climbing ones!"

"Come on, y'all! Don't stop! We are going to survive this!"

"Right in front of you. Shane!"

"Be careful, Jim!"

"Dad! That one near the RV!"

"Shit!"

"Dale shoot at that one!"

"Amy stay behind me!"

"Get down!"

"Over there!"

Shortly after that, I hear Rick arrive at the camp and yell, "Come on! Kill as many as you can!!" before he starts shooting all the remaining walkers in his sight followed by Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog who do the same.

Rick quickly shoots five of the Walkers, all with precise shot to the head, Daryl kills four, two with a shot as precise as Rick and two with the butt of his rifle smashing the heads of a couple of downed walker, Glenn also shots two walkers but he isn't as precise as Rick and Daryl and he is only able to put the walkers out of combat which means that someone has to give them the finish blow, while T-Dog shoots one with what is clearly a lucky shoot to the head as the rifle almost slipped out of his hand because of the recoil and kills another with the butt of his rifle.

At the same time, I notice something and without any hesitation swing my Bo Staff almost like a golf club, sending a small rock on the ground flying toward the head of a walker that was about to jump on Shane who got distracted by Rick and the other's arrival.

I hit the small rock with enough power to make it fly toward the targetted walker at a speed that is comparable with that of a bullet, and shortly after that, the small rock hits the target with such force that parts of the head caves in while the walker flips in mid-air and crashes onto the ground.

But that walker was the last one and the situation is now a lot less chaotic that before, and because of that many noticed what I just did and Glenn can't help himself from exclaiming out loud in wonder, "Holy shit...!" followed by T-Dog who comments, "Goddamit! That's for sure one of the meanest swings I have ever seen in my life."

At the same time, Daryl whistles and says, "*Pweeeee* You got some freakish power, dude. I swear I have never seen someone flip in mid-air like that before." before Rick looks at me and sicenrily says, "Thank you for saving, Shane." followed by Shane who just noticed what happened and shouts from afar, "Thanks for watching my back."

In response to that, I wave my hand at him and with a smile on my face, I say, "No problem." before I casually comment, "I think that last one was good enough to win the Walker Kill of the Week." which makes Glenn ask, "Walker Kill of the Week?"

I let out a chuckle and say, "It's an unofficial competition among survivors to see who can kill a walker in the most awesome and crazy way... There is no actual prize to it, but you have some bragging right-"

At this point, T-Dog interrups me and asks, "Wait! You are joking right? There is no way that something as absurd as that actually exist."

In response to that, I can't help myself from smirking and admit, "You are right, it doesn't actually exist... yet."