We kept moving, checking every establishment we encountered. Eventually, we arrived at a small village—but it too was deserted.
"Don't you think every place we go is like a ghost town?" one of the team said.
"Yeah, I think so," another agreed.
"What do you think happened to the other teams?" someone else asked.
"Well, maybe they're having the same luck as us… or maybe not."
At that point, we were all standing in an open space, surrounded by empty buildings. While the others checked the area and gathered whatever supplies we could find, we decided to stop and eat. It was already noon. We saw a few herds of walkers in the distance, but we avoided them.
After a short rest and lunch, I stood and said, "All right folks, let's move. We still need to cover more ground today."
We resumed our journey. The routine was becoming second nature—check, scavenge, move on. Until finally, we found something… or rather, someone.
Eight people stood in a group. All of them were armed, and only one was a girl—a teenager. We surrounded them quickly, and I recognized them right away.
They were the Claimers—the same group Daryl once got tangled with after separating from Beth. In the original story, they died at the hands of Rick and Daryl.
I stayed vigilant.
"Who are you?" I asked firmly.
The leader stepped forward and introduced themselves. I kept my guard up during the conversation.
"I have a camp," I said. "If you want, you're welcome to join us."
That was a lie.
I planned to eliminate them. I was just waiting—for the girl. Something felt off. She looked separated from them on purpose. When I mentioned that we were looking for survivors to increase our population, I noticed the way the men's eyes darkened. I could tell they had sinister thoughts.
Except for the girl.
She stepped forward. One of the men tried to stop her.
"Don't move," I ordered.
The others pointed their guns, obeying the silent signal I gave—something Shane and I had trained them for.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"They… they're murderers and rapists," she said. "They killed my father. Then they raped and murdered my mother."
The team was disgusted. The Claimers raised their weapons, though they were still outnumbered.
"Are you alone?" I asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Come here slowly."
"Let us go," the leader pleaded. "Just let us go."
"Hmmm. All right. Leave your weapons and supplies, and we'll let you walk away. You promise?" he asked.
"Yeah," I lied. "I promise."
The leader told the others to drop their things. As they started to comply, I made the signal.
The others opened fire—clean, fast, and efficient. Caught off guard, the Claimers didn't stand a chance.
Only the leader was still breathing.
I walked over to him.
"You... you said you'd let us go," he coughed.
"I lied," I said coldly—and pulled the trigger.
We put the girl in one of the four cars.
We still had a lot of ground to cover today.
Eventually, the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the road. "Alright, it's time to head back," I said to the others, including the girl we had encountered earlier. We only found six people today, but the supplies we looted brought a smile to my face. It wasn't a bad run. I couldn't help but wonder how the other squads were doing.
As we drove back, Tyreese took the wheel. I pulled out the map and circled the areas we had covered today. Tomorrow, we'd head in a different direction—more ground to search, more people to hopefully find. After a few minutes of driving, we finally arrived at the gates.
Once we got out of the vehicle, I turned to the others. "Go get some rest," I said. Then I looked to Sasha. "Welcome the new arrivals and call Beth. She's in charge of handling these things."
I made my way to the wall and approached one of the guards. "Anyone returned yet?"
"Yes, sir," he replied. "Merle and Glenn are already back. When Daryl and Michonne return, should I tell them to find you?"
"Yeah. Do that."
Eventually, I spotted Michonne and Merle unloading their haul. They had brought back a good number of supplies—and twenty people. That made twenty-six in total including mine. "Well, I guess I'm not so lucky today, huh?" I said with a smirk.
"I'll be waiting for the other squad leaders to report in," I added. They nodded without a word.
As I walked off, I found myself thinking: Should I expand? Eight squads might be enough. Yeah… eight should do. And I already had a few people in mind who could lead them—trusted ones. People I could rely on.
eventually reached home, where Maggie was already waiting for me on the porch, her arms crossed and a soft smile on her face.
"You're working very hard," she said as I approached.
"Yeah, I am," I replied with a tired grin.
We kissed gently, the kind that carried both warmth and familiarity. "Welcome back," she added.
"How are you doing?" I asked as we stepped inside.
"I'm fine. Carol and Leah stopped by a little while ago to check in."
We headed into the kitchen and sat down to eat our dinner. The food was warm, comforting—but I could feel the exhaustion catching up to me. My body ached, and my mind was heavy from the day's run. I ended up going to bed early, leaving Maggie to finish the dishes.
As I lay down, staring up at the ceiling, thoughts began to churn in my mind. We were making progress—every run, every rescued survivor, every bit of food stockpiled. Georgia was slowly becoming secure under our operation. Once I was confident we had enough people and supplies, the next step would be clear:
It would be time to prepare for war—with Negan.