The following morning.
Michael along with some others are all standing inside an open shed that was recently built for their DIY distiller.
"How many liters can this one make?" Michael asked the people who built this DIY distillation set-up.
Standing beside him and with his arms crossed together, Hershel responded. "Together, they're 52 gallons. But..we can only fill them up to 42 gallons since we need that remaining five as headspace for the steam to gather."
"So how many gallons are we talking about here?" Michael looked at the dual-boiler configuration. There's two high-capacity pressure pots that were seated on top of a fire plinth or something that would look like a blacksmith's forge. The steam vents are bridged by a copper manifold in a wide, inverted "U" bridge. This main line fed into a copper condensing coil—the worm—which was submerged in a large cooling vat or bucket. The copper line exited through a sealed aperture at the base of the vat, transitioning into a transparent PVC lead that would direct the steady flow of distilled condensate into a collection bucket.
"More or less 40 gallons." Hershel gave an estimate.
"And it was you guys who built this?" Michael towards the people behind him. Who had been quietly listening to the two the entire time.
"Technically, it was Shin who built it with Hershel's help. We just lent a hand with the materials." Ron, who was overweight when they first met, has now slimmed down. In fact, there are now some built up muscles here and there.
"It wasn't that hard since we also built something like this before but on a smaller scale." Elise, the auburn haired college student remarked.
Michael slightly nodded in amazement, but there's still one thing that left him confused. "I'm guessing from the size of these pressure pots. They're not something commonly found right? So how did you guys build this one so fast?"
"Initally, the plan was to go to Georgia Tech since there's a commercial grade distillation equipment there that's lying around on a corner in one of the rooms there. Sadly, the place and its surroundings were packed with walkers. Then when we were heading back, we came across this abandoned cargo truck on the road and found these two among the numerous cooking tools inside. It was a stroke of luck actually that we stumbled upon that truck.." Walking past him, Shin responded and suddenly started to constantly check the distillation set up if things were in order.
"And that was before an order to build one from you came. It was actually one of the things we thought of in passing after all the shit that happened. It was just one of the random things we talked about in case we were the only ones alive remaining." Ron remarked from the side while reading a book about plants.
While they were talking, Hershel and the two ladies had already left as they still had things to take care of, leaving behind Nolan who's trying to make it look like he was doing something by picking up tools from the rack and then putting them back.
"What about you? You also helped with this?" Michael turned to ask him.
Nolan heard him and then saw Michael looking at him when he turned at him. He pointed to himself out of bewilderment before hastily responding.
"M-me? Y-yeah, I helped with gathering firewood if that counts as helping."
Michael chuckled, thinking back to the mountain of firewood he'd passed earlier. It was a massive haul—enough to fill the room from floor to ceiling.
"I think you've gathered enough firewood. Don't you have other things to do other than idling here?"
Nolan shrugged with a helpless expression. "Since it's winter, no one's going out for a supply run and the guards now have enough people to go around because of it. I'd love to help with the cooking but I suck at it. So yeah, right now, I guess I'm going to hang out here to see if my friends have other things to work on that need manpower."
"I wonder if this thing will hold? Hmm…"
Hearing the incessant noise behind him, Michael finally becomes bothered by the constant mumbling at the back.
"You.. How long will you keep fretting on that thing?"
"Since it still hasn't been put to use, I need to check it thoroughly. Especially the pipes since they are the most important piece of the system." Shin replied with his back facing him while he repeatedly kept flicking the pipes.
"..."
Michael had no more things to say except feel admiration for his dedication to the task. Then he turned around and was just about to leave when suddenly stopped in front of Ron and looked at the book in his hand.
Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine.
"Hmmm?" Ron looked up when he noticed someone standing in front of him and saw Michael.
Michael just stared straight into his eyes for a moment before slowly raising his right fist and suddenly gave him a thumbs up like he's Jim Carrey.
"Nolan, come on. You're coming with me on a supply run."
Michael called Nolan over who scurried after him in obvious excitement with a wide grin on his face.
Watching them leave, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.
'That scared the crap out of me. I thought he was gonna hit me.'
"Look! I told you, this one is loose! I'm gonna need a hose cla..uhh where'd everyone go?" Shin suddenly yelled in excitement, but it slowly died down when he turned around and saw Michael and most of the others gone.
Ron pointed with his thumb and answered casually. "They left just moments ago. He said they're going for a supply run."
"What?! Dang it, I need to tell them to look for some hose clamps!" Flustered, Shin hurriedly dashed out.
Ron sighed while pinching his nose bridge.
'Obviously it would get loose if you keep flicking it!'
"Idiot!"
He suddenly looked towards the skies and lamented. "God, I love them, but why did you give me weird friends?"
Of course, there was no further meaning behind those words. Ron was just worried that their somewhat quirky nature would offend some people in the camp, and with everything they have gone through and the many hardships they managed to overcome, the bonds he forged with his friends are as important as his family.
'Since they're the only ones I have left.'
'Is Nolan going to be fine? He gets so excited sometimes that he often forgets his surroundings.'