Everyone had just finished lunch at the basketball area and were told before not to immediately leave if they were done, and so with those instructions in mind, everyone stayed within the area and chatted amongst themselves.
Amidst the chatter, Michael walked among the crowd before taking a leap and landed on top of the wall of the large plant box connected to the Block C building.
Michael eyed the crowd, the people who noticed him earlier had kept their mouths shut and had been watching him since, but most of the people around didn't even notice his presence and kept chattering.
The people like Amy and Jill, who had spent most of the time with him had been watching him mostly since the start, alongside Maggie's family and the Termites.
Surprisingly, Tom's group had also been watching him from the beginning and had all figured out they were all gathered here during this time because that man standing and looking over them had something to announce.
"Silence." Michael addressed the crowd in a deep and rough voice that commanded respect. It made everyone flinch, they quickly shut their mouths and turned their heads towards him in almost unison.
"Some of you here might be already familiar with me, but most of you probably aren't and probably just heard about me from the others who had been travelling with me since the beginning." Michael addressed while slowly surveying the crowd watching him.
"I'm Michael, one of the leading figures of this community. I wasn't present when you arrived since I had mentioned, I was out traveling far west looking for other groups of survivors like us while also looking out for any remnants of the government if there were any around."
Michael looked at the crowd for a moment before he continued. "Fortunately, well I don't even know if I should call it fortunate, but I did encounter a remnant of the army."
"How big was the army?"
Everyone suddenly became hopeful at the mention that there was still an army operating around, but the following words of Michael shattered their hopes.
"As I said, it was fortunate. Though sadly, it was only a small company of soldiers that were operating their own small community of survivors like this one. I wouldn't even call them a proper army at this point."
Most of the people who were disappointed are mostly the ones who had just recently joined, while people like Maggie, Amy and the others were already quite satisfied with the current state of things since they don't need to worry about what's out there anymore.
Michael chuckled, "Disappointing, isn't it? Good news is that, this community, our community, whom I introduced to them as Hope 101 had made a pact, an alliance with their Greenville Base. We'd exchange resources with them every month, which I will be personally leading it."
The ears of some of the people listening to him immediately perked up at the chance of going out of this compound. After all, no matter how great and safe this place is, some are bound to feel suffocated doing the same routine everyday.
"Silence."
The noisy chatter once again resumed since there were a few who were interested in this venture and Michael had to immediately silence them as he still had a lot more to say.
"Now, this plan wouldn't immediately be implemented since the community still isn't self-sufficient enough to support this place without us going out and looking for supplies. Especially now that the winter season is approaching. Amy, Jill and Alex, I want you three to start construction of a greenhouse over by the garden. We don't have a lot of time left. You can take as many people as you need. If there are any problems, come and tell me."
"Any questions? Anyone?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, someone immediately raised their hand.
"Yes, you, the woman with glasses and braids." Michael pointed his finger towards a woman standing near the kitchen area.
The blonde haired woman was a little uncomfortable with the numerous eyes directed towards her and cautiously asked. "Where..is this Greenville located sir?"
"Mississipi, just past the border of Alabama. It's far, don't even think of going there. Next" Michael quickly responded and immediately addressed the next person.
"Why did you call this place Hope 101?"
Michael smiled at that. "Great question, I wanted this place to represent Hope for the people out there. Like in university courses, 101 represents the beginning. That's it, nothing too complicated really."
"Yes Dale. What about you?" Michael smiled.
"What about the guns you brought, when can we use them?."
Michael sighed, and with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously? That's your question? Knowing you, I thought you'd be more curious about what I did during my travels."
Dale shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we can't keep them lying around, right? That would be a waste of their purpose."
"Well, I need to discuss this further with Rick and the others when they return. This is all for the questions. Come talk to me if you have anything more to say. I'll lend an ear."
Michael was about to jump down from his podium when he suddenly remembered something important that he had almost forgotten to relay to them. "Right, before we end this. I will need men tomorrow to help me log those trees outside. We'll need to fortify our defenses since our population has already broken past fifty."
Then Michael left, leaving the people more questions with his words at the end since he didn't elaborate further.
Seeing some confusion among the crowd, Amy quickly stepped forward and explained what Michael meant by his earlier words. "He had mentioned to us before that having too many people staying in one location for a long time invites a visit from the walking undead. Well, we can expect one from them soon. Fortunately though, we're a little far from any major roads, and with the wall of trees surrounding us acting as a natural barrier, we're safe for the time being."
"It's human activity, isn't it?" Jack, who had been quietly listening since immediately figured it out.
"It's the noise we make." Dale also added.
"So that's the reason why our group got attacked by a herd before. We had over a hundred people during that time." shared one of the survivors who joined just a couple of days before Tom's group arrived.
"Alright everyone, get back to work. Stop dilly dallying here." Maggie commanded, and everyone immediately dispersed.
"Hope 101, it has a nice ring to it, isn't it?" Hershel smiled while looking at his daughter.
Maggie just shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but he should have at least asked us for our opinions before naming this place."
"Let's not concern ourselves with the new name this place has. What's more important are the people living inside it." Dale, as always the wise old man.
"He's right. It's not like we'd have any say in this regard since it's bound to be decided just between Michael, Rick, Glenn, Andrea and Daryl. And we already know that Daryl and Andrea will just agree to whatever Michael says as long as it's for the betterment of the group." Amy offered them an irrefutable fact.
Though the community is ruled through the way of Oligarchy, most of the power still lies in Michael's hands. It only turns into Oligarchy if he's not present, and so far, no one is complaining since Michael listens well to their opinions and hadn't had any decisions that had undermined the group.
In addition, the people who joined the scouting party and supply runners are also receiving additional resourcers compared to the rest since they are risking their lives outside.
"She's right. Let's leave the worries to the big guys and should instead try our best to assist them from behind. After all, Michael and the others are the ones holding the umbrella over our heads. Unless all of them become incapacitated, it won't be our turn to face any dangers." Carol also offered her own opinions.
Dale looked at her with some surprise. "Wow, you're actually making a lot of sense."
Carol didn't say anything, she just glared at him. Making the old man smile gingerly.
Maggie had more things to say, but Hershel slightly shook his head at her to keep quiet.
He knows saying more would result in a small strain on their relationship, especially since it hasn't even been that long when the two groups were slightly at odds.
On the other hand, Michael came back to his room and started sorting out his weapons, seemingly preparing to go out.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed while slowly getting closer to his quarters before it stopped behind him.
"Are you heading out again? You just came back here a couple of hours ago."
Surprisingly, it wasn't the horny lady, Amy, but Rosita who came.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna do a short perimeter check around the area to see if there's any nearby dangers we can't see from here." Michael didn't bother turning around and continued to quietly fill the magazine with pistol rounds.
"Need a hand? I'm suddenly feeling uncomfortable being here."
"Feeling cooped up?"
"Kind of."
"Alright, it's better than not doing anything at all."