"Is she still angry at you?" Katniss asked him, recalling the tensed looks Maggie shot his way since the morning.
"Not sure"
Sasuke had already told her about the talk between Maggie and him.
And the matter of the barn too. Not only her, but Billy and Morgan too, who are in the camp right now, the man would keep an eye on it and know how to act in case of emergency.
"What are you talking about? Who is angry at Sasuke?" Amy asked them. A woman angry at Sasuke? Was she Lori...she wondered.
"I know you might not want to hear this now, but I may decide to leave the farm soon. What's your decision?" Sasuke glanced at them from the rearview mirror.
"Of course it is following our dear superhuman, but to where?" Andrea joked with him with a wink.
"A prison"
"Alr—wait, what? Prison? Why would we need to go to a prison?" Even Amy tilted her head; the prison sounded... disturbing to be their next home.
"It's a natural fortress, with reinforced gates, watchtowers, a cafeteria, a medical wing, housing cells, and rooms for staff already built inside. The land around them is always clear for a distance, and they are far from the city, the one I'm talking about."
"We won't be out in the wild; we can train freely and formalize our group. We will also be able to bring the armory I and Billy have hidden."
"But won't there be people, prisoners, in there? Wouldn't they still be safe inside?" Katniss asked him; she mostly didn't care what kind of place they needed to live in, as long as it was safe and clean.
"Simulate it: more than two months since the sudden outbreak, maybe still imprisoned in their cells, and what we know about walkers."
She understood that place may be overrun by now. After all, every type of death that isn't brain damage results in a walker, and so does death from hunger...
"You don't have to worry; I still need to scout it and secure it the best way before our people move in. What is the development with instructions?"
"Dale, Carol, Jacqui, Alena, Jim, William, and Jess are all good with that."
"What are you talking about?" Andrea leaned on asking Katniss.
"We had our set of rules before joining your group, not exactly rules but a way of surviving that was accepted by all of us after a discussion." Andrea nodded, showing she is following her words.
"We never leave our posts without telling others, we never move alone outside the camp, we don't touch the stacked supplies until we discuss it first, and kids aren't allowed to wander alone, never. I decided to try and share those ways with others to make it easy for us...so far, those I stated are the ones who followed them without raising any issue."
"Is it necessary?"
"Sorry to say that, but you recall how close you were to being bitten? Carelessness can cost us more than you can think; we are here." Sasuke spoke as gently as he could to Amy, not wanting to remind her of that scary moment.
"It's okay, we are all trying to become more ready too. You don't have to worry, Sasuke; I won't take living in this world lightly anymore."
"Happy to hear that." Sasuke nodded with a smile as they joined the remaining people who were at the pharmacy.
Jim told him that they found a sole walker in there and dealt with him already before emptying the place.
After making sure of things, they went back their way to the farm.
...
…
.
Sasuke nodded at Rick and greeted Carl, who was sitting outside with Sophia near their mothers, now well enough to move around.
He joined Katniss and Ciri to have their lunch, a light talk as usual with him sharing things with them and teasing each other.
After washing, Sasuke signaled Billy, who finished with inspecting the barn stealthily, and they moved to a quieter spot to talk under the shade of a big tree.
"I need to leave," Sasuke told him, passing him a fresh apple.
"Why? Where to?"
"Winter is coming close; we need more warm clothes, sheets, and much more to be ready for it. I need to start taking down trees too for planks and dry wood and store it before the rainy season. I need to find a construction site and plan how to move objects back to our next shelter, the prison...in case we need to build something...we need to find cattle that isn't...Hershel's, more cars, fuel, gas, and instruments for electricity."
He gazed far at the little girls running around the house and laughing, while a few people were busy doing their chores.
"All those before winter, and I don't like the idea of you leaving for Woodbury this soon. I trust your abilities, man, but...I can take care of it." Sasuke turned to him.
He already made up his mind to use the prison nearby until he finds a better option; this farm wasn't good to be the shelter he had in mind.
"You must be kidding; you just stated a fucking long list, and I know it has to be you doing all of it alone; otherwise, others who join will start talking about distribution, and our plan to keep the major supplies safe on your seal would go to waste.
I can take the Woodbury's burden from you; I can give you the information about the situation there, the number of their people, their armed men, their leader, even the layout and weak points—basically everything you will need to make a move as clean and swift as possible. And I know how to deal with their kind the most; I can gain their trust fast."
"When are you leaving?" Billy then asked him.
He honestly can't trust any other person with the supplies; they would just run at the sight of danger like they did in the CDC, leaving everything behind.
That's why he figured it would be better if Sasuke kept the real stock on him.
"After cleaning the prison, but first we need to deal with the barn. I won't have them stay one more night close to that, you?"
"Tomorrow at sunrise, but how do we communicate? I'm sure they will search me; we can't use CB."
"I have the solution." Billy watched Sasuke do the familiar process of biting his thumb and then summoning the little white snake; it seemed to have grown a little longer.
"You can't be fucking serious...don't tell me I will have a companion."
"Unfortunately for you, old man, you will have to; here's the thing, she will stay inside your clothes."
"Aghh, really?" Billy felt goosebumps hearing that.
"Yep, or backpack."
"Both are bad for me."
"Your car, anywhere close, but you will have to set it free when you are close to Woodbury; she will find you later."
"And what? Need me to pat her?"
"Nope, this." Billy watched in disbelief and apparent disgust as the little snake opened its mouth unbelievably wide, and then a scroll and a special pen were...puked?
"What the fucking sticky- woeah that's disgusting" His exaggerated expression made Sasuke laugh.
"And really useful. Stop acting like you hadn't held shredded guts and take them; the fluid will dry seconds away, and it's unharmful." Billy grimaced, taking them with the tip of his fingers and shaking the scroll from the drool.
"Once you have all the info, tap it on its head two times and she will do this. Just be sure of your surroundings and surveillance, write everything down on the scroll, and she will swallow it back; then I will know and summon her back to me. Remember, we have only one chance. Once she is back to me? Expect me to be there the next morning; if nothing keeps me holed up, I will join you stealthily before deciding what our next move is, cool?"
"Cool? Yeah of course, everything's perfect, minus having a damn snake drooling things onto me."
"Haha, she isn't that bad. You can even have her keep your gun safe." Sasuke caressed it and cancelled the summon after feeding her a piece of meat.
"We are lucky you are on our side boy...alright, I'll do it your way. Make sure to keep yourself safe and our people...now, let's go deal with the barn." Billy smiled and patted his shoulder, seeing Hershel outside the house with his people talking to Rick and Shane about something.
Sasuke pointed and led him around the barn swiftly, secured a walker, and made it easy to retrieve for Billy; he had the right plan to convince if words failed to.
"Sasuke, Butcher, we were talking about handing over our guns; we are guests on his land, and those are his rules." Rick waved at them as they walked close.
"I'm not doing that."
"You have no choice if you want to stay here," Hershel stated it plainly to Sasuke.
"And have my people unarmed, near the barn that you're keeping full of walkers?"
That made the whole group alert, with Hershel's group at the secret being exposed and with Maggie glaring daggers at Sasuke.
'Idiot, why can't he just keep that mouth shut and stay here with us? Now they will be told to leave.' She gripped her fists, seeing Rick hurling questions at her father while Shane, Daryl, and T-Dog ran for the barn to take a look.
"You go around my land snooping, you don't respect my way, and you don't follow my rules." Hershel spat those words, glaring at Sasuke, every respect he held for his medical skills vanishing.
He then turned to Rick. "Your boy is good. I expect you people to leave soon; our matters don't concern you."
"Are you cr- those are walkers Hershel" Rick, who was still processing this, turned and shouted/whispered to Hershel, unable to believe how close walkers were to his family.
"Don't call them that!! Those are humans like us, ill humans. What I do with my people is not your business."
"Sick? They destroyed the civilization, fed upon the living, and you think this is just some kind of sickness?"
"I don't need to have a boy tell me what this is."
"Alright, okay...so can you define what ^an ill person^ means?" Sasuke asked him, wondering why he was refusing to see the matter as it really is.
"Are you mocking me, boy?"
"No sir, I'm totally serious; I don't think anyone here has the mind for that. But I will answer that for you."
"An ill person is someone who has a chance to recover from a harmful incident after a specific time once being taken care of and given treatment, be it professional or otherwise."
"And you think those walkers are just ill?"
"I do. I don't care what you think or what others told you; it's not the first time humanity has faced such cases: influenza pandemic, AIDS pandemic, Black Death..."
"Alright, do you think an ill person can have near immortality? Surviving being cut in half, ignoring injuries that are fatal for us mankind, and the only way to finish them is by destroying the brain?"
Sasuke didn't wait; he gestured for Billy, who brought a bound walker with him from the barn.
"What do you think you are doing?" Hershel and others stepped away, seeing Billy pulling a walker with rope.
"Waking you up old man, I won't sugar my words like the boy. He is doing this for you to understand just what kind of fuckshit risks you are putting your remaining family and everyone here into by having a whole damn barn full of those." Billy, not one to give a fuck, tossed the roped walker near Sasuke's feet, who grabbed it up for everyone to see.
"You are a veterinarian, right? You should know where this is." Sasuke unsheathed his blade and pointed it to the heart, looking at the silent Hershel whose eyes were red from anger seeing Sasuke holding his ex-neighbor.
"The heart," he said answering himself again, and buried the sword straight into it, ignoring the shrieks from some of the people around.
Yet even after doing that, the walker kept going, growling and trying to reach for his flesh.
"In case this one has it on the other side," he buried it on the right side, still the same thing.
"Kidney"
"..."
Sasuke kept on stating every vital organ and then piercing it with his blade until Hershel couldn't hold it anymore and yelled for him to stop.
"I'm not doing this to make you angry, nor do I feel pleasure in doing it, but you need to understand. Not just for yourself, but for Maggie, Beth, Otis, and all others here. That those things are no more the humans we used to know.
It's but a damn parasite somewhere there using them as husks to satisfy its craving for flesh and blood. The sooner you accept this reality, the better. Otherwise...keep living in this delusion until you lose everything that you are not satisfied with having now." He glanced at Beth nearby, who kept silent, shedding tears and looking at the ground while Maggie held her hand.
"What do you know!! I lost my wife, my stepson...you don't—"
"I don't give a fuck! You think you are the only one who suffered losses here? Wake up to reality." Sasuke, who had had enough, pierced the walker's head and walked away.
If the man refused to understand, then so be it; he can simply leave with those he needs to protect.
Some people started whispering behind, not agreeing with what Sasuke did, the same ones who had come with him actually, just to make Hershel see that they are on his side in hope of being kept in here.
They didn't want to be out there once again, even if it was shameful.
Billy just rubbed his forehead, anger building in him.
He was tired of everyone looking for someone to blame everything on once things looked awry just to ease it a little, and most went bitching to Sasuke, who took it upon himself to help.
Just to be treated as an emotional dump.
"Hershel, right? Take a fucking look around you; you still have two daughters and others you can call a family.
That boy? He lost everything, down to the last neighbor he knew just by the uncle who gave him a sweet candy. Do you know how old he was back then? Six years...he was fucking six-years old when that happened. No family, no friends, literally no one.
And I don't want anyone here to show him fucking fake sympathy because no one can understand what that felt like. I'm telling you this so no one goes on bitching to him again about how many losses you suffered and expects a sob from him.
So yeah, let's not turn this into a competition of who was fucked the most deeply by this world."
"And you cunts, you need to stop piling everything against him when he only wants the people that are alive here to survive and avoid unnecessary risk...fucking ungrateful bitches." Billy spat at the few who were siding with Hershel trying to comfort his people and left with Morgan, already aware of what they were doing and trying to achieve.