"Alright! Is everyone ready!"
Martin's voice rang out across the assembled crowd.
In front of him, gathered in a loose semicircle that had formed organically in the street between the houses, stood the entirety of Margaret's community. Every single person who'd survived the evacuation from Jackson Township and the subsequent journey to Galloway was present.
Men and women of all ages stood together, some holding the hands of children who clung to their parents with wide, uncertain eyes. Families clustered in small groups, drawing comfort from proximity to loved ones. The elderly stood with younger survivors, creating a cross-section of humanity that might have been unremarkable before the apocalypse but now represented something precious and increasingly rare.
