Jameson sighed as he looked out over the city. It was hardly as large as the cities he had read about in books but by Walker-World standards it was pretty big. He had lived there for nearly five years now but it was time for everyone to migrate to another safe haven. It happened whenever large herds of walkers started piling up near the supply entrances. It was a necessary part of life to pack up and head out – it was how everyone stayed alive now. He sent word via trained pigeon to his parents that he'd be moving to Greene Farm, a place that was once over run but now was it's own community. The bird came back a day later with a message saying they'd see him there. They usually stayed at Lemon Church but apparently the walkers were piling up there too. Greene Farm was usually more populated in the spring when there was a huge harvest to be had but he had joined a 'clear team' that went in early to secure things.
Clear Teams had been formed by his uncle Rick some time ago but they were still figuring things out. There was a clear team that never came back from Tennessee and another had only two members return from the coast in Savannah. His clear team consisted of himself, a set of red haired twins named Nash and Noah and recently his baby sister Jaeger. He didn't want her to risk it but she was the only one that truly understood his sign language – he had to use short hand with the twins or write things down.
It wasn't uncommon to come across people with severe injuries. His cousin Carl had survived a gun shot to his right eye and now wore a patch that only covered half of his gruesome scar. His uncle Kevin was missing an arm and his daughter was missing half her left leg – but it didn't slow her down. The girl was a force to be reckoned with just like her mother. Then there were some people who had the luck of the Irish – his uncle Daryl manage to only get a scar on his forehead through the years of fighting and surviving and his other uncle Glenn looked like he had never seen a day of misfortune in his life. He had grown up thinking his father's missing hand and his mother's amputated fingers were the norm. He had never been able to make a sound beyond whistling. Jameson absently touched the scar on his neck – he had been only a few months old when he survived a knife to the neck. This world was filled with so much danger besides the walkers that they had become a mild nuisance. Easily out smarted and herded into containment or away from their safe havens.
"Jamie!" He turned around when he heard Yeager. She had blue eyes like their father but for the most part looked like a pale version of their mother. "It's time to go." He signed 'ride out' and Noah whistled at the horse to start walking.
Greene Farm was only a few hours away at their current pace and when they got there he thought it looked just like it had the last time he saw it. At least twenty barns scattered over the massive acreage with the white farmhouse standing out amongst the dark wood. They cleared the property in two days – only a few walkers had made it in and they repaired the wire fences they had managed to break. More people started showing up the following week once the carrier pigeons were able to reach them with a message of 'all clear'.
"Hey kid." Daryl said. "Damn you got big." He grunted as he gave him a hug. "Where's your daddy?"
"My boy!" They both turned around when Merle seemingly came out of nowhere and smothered Jameson in a hug. He only let him go so he could scoop up Yeager and give her a big kiss on the cheek. "Hey baby girl." Jameson hugged his mother and nodded at Carl as he came up with his father. He knew they all weren't really related – except for his father and Daryl who were actually brothers. Jameson had grown up with these people, all of whom didn't know each other two decades ago. He knew of the world they came from, and it almost seemed like fiction. It was unreal that there used to be wars over religion and oil – even race. Despite the hardships he liked the way his world was better. There were no more minorities.
~ End