Early in the morning.
Glenn and his companions finally managed to come back after the shit they've been through.
Maggie was busy cleaning their room when the news of her lover's return reached her. She came barreling out the building and down the dirt road before throwing herself into her lover's arms.
"It's good that you're back. I thought I lost you." Maggie hugged him tightly while teary-eyed.
Glenn, who looked worn out from their travels, finally feels his body relaxing after seeing Maggie in his arms.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for worrying you." Glenn smiled with his arms wrapped around her.
Soon, everyone came out of their hiding holes and went to see them. After hearing the ordeal they went through, everyone was mortified at their experience.
Most felt lucky that they never had to go out there and look for supplies.
A couple of hours after their return, the construction of the wall finally resumed its operation.
"Come on, let's keep going everyone! We're almost done!"
Rick repeatedly clapped his hands while trying to boost everyone's morale on the wall construction.
"It's quite unbelievable that you'd actually be able to finish building this wall in just a couple of days, and with limited resources at that. Michael and the others will be shocked when they return." Standing beside Rick, Glenn still couldn't believe the changes he saw after coming back. They've only been gone for a couple of days, but the people they left behind are almost done with building a damn wall.
"I'm also amazed myself, but this is only possible because the wall is only over six feet tall. If it were any longer, then transporting would have taken up a lot of time. So just getting the right length makes it easy for us to transport the logs without the need of heavy equipment. Fortunately, we also have a lot of fit men among us." Rick replied while watching the people logging the remaining trees they needed at another area.
"Yeah, but hey, I heard Michael and the others came looking for your group. Then your group returned not long after they left. Did you guys really not encounter each other on the road?" Glenn recalled what Maggie told him earlier and couldn't believe it actually happened.
Rick sighed with some frustration before responding. "Yeah, I think we didn't encounter each other on the road because we took the rural roads when we were returning. But it doesn't matter, we left some clues along the way so that they'll know that we were already making our way back during that time. So I expect them to be returning soon."
Hearing his words, Glenn shrugged his shoulders. "But till now, they still haven't returned. Is it possible that they encountered a problem on the way back?"
"Don't worry, Michael is with them. They'd be safe at least." Rick said those with confidence in his voice.
Glenn on the other hand, shook his head and replied. "I know, but no matter how capable Michael is. He's still human, he still bleeds red. A wild bullet can still kill him, and a huge herd can do the same. Shouldn't we send a group to look for them at this point?"
Rick turned his body towards Glenn with his hands on his hips. "And what? Get more people in danger? If they were held captive in one place, staging a rescue is not impossible. But their situation is different, Georgia is so big that it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. We can only trust them at this point, Michael is not that weak and so is Andrea."
"But what about the other woman? We don't even know if she's someone they can trust their backs too." He knows he has just gotten back, but Glenn is unwilling to ignore them without even trying to look for them.
Rick placed his hand on his shoulder and replied. "Look, Michael brought her with him for a reason we don't know. We can only trust them, alright? Besides, no one even came looking for your group when you were days behind schedule. But still, people chose to believe you'll come back eventually. Glenn, we've already been through a lot. We're not our work-selves anymore that Michael had to constantly remind us before about dangers and what we need to."
His words made Glenn quiet for a moment as he was contemplating about something. "I guess you're right. Even encountering walker herds does not even make me nervous anymore. I'm more scared of humans at this point since we don't know what kind of person they are or what they are thinking. Honestly speaking, I don't even trust most of the people here."
Rick could understand him since he also feels the same. "I don't either, but we can only grow stronger together if we learn how to trust first. It's the basis of all things. It's similar to faith, we put our trust into the laws that men erected because we believe in them, like how men have faith in God who created us because men believe He exists."
Glenn was silent for a moment, then his expression became serious while gazing into the people working in the woods. "Do you believe in God?"
"I was born a Baptist, but I don't believe in the existence of god." Rick shook his head. Not that he had lost faith, he just does not believe in the existence of a higher power.
"I do. I think what's happening to the world right now is what we call the Judgement Day. It was having that kind of thought that helped me survive today. Though I don't know if the people who turned into walkers would even go back to the embrace of God. I've also seen people who died in despair and just accepted death. It's complicated really. I guess they can't accept the fact that society was ending in our era." Glenn calmly said before letting out a sigh with a face full of nostalgia.
"I-"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rick was about to say something when multiple gunshots coming from somewhere in the forest suddenly interrupted him.
Rick and Glenn looked at each other before they raced down the dirt road and out of the prison towards their friends.
Meanwhile,
"Get down!"
A survivor yelled and the person those words were directed to immediately ducked down as an axe flew past above herhead and struck the walker behind her on its head.
"Hurry! Come on! They're coming!' Tom yelled towards the woman, who quickly picked herself up, turned around to grab the axe from the dead walker and immediately ran for safety as a swarm of walkers trudged not far behind her.
The woman ran to the others and handed the axe back to Tom. "Thanks!"
"No problem." He said to her before turning around to look at the others and gave them a scolding. "Don't just stand there! Hurry back to base!"
Everyone was nervous but they were ready to fight with the tools they have in hand. Everyone was a veteran at dealing with walkers at this point, but Tom's yell made them hesitate at first since he wasn't part of the leadership.
"Hurry back in! We'll deal with them using the wall!"
Rick and Glenn soon got to them just in time, and only then did they move and hurriedly retreated inside the wall.