May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 69: Spring is here

Outside the huge space of white snow, the hypothetical outsiders came faster than expected. A medium sized RV was seen going to their general location at a constant speed. And those on the patrol immediately notified everyone of this vehicle’s existence.

Last night a decision was made that they will allow entry and stay of outsiders for the sake of increasing their workforce and population. The older people of their numbers were not yet too blinded to not see the long term good of their base. They needed the influx of people to increase their survival, so despite the grievances they had with outsiders, they made a decision.

And, of course, as long as the other is good, their assimilation into the population will be smooth. But should they do tricks similar or even harmful to them as those that Gerald and his friends had been, they would not hesitate to kill the other to protect themselves. Although they have yet to fully adapt in this changed world, they know that only the strong will survive. So, if others offended them, they would never show mercy as they were already benevolent enough for not turning them away.

Bella, who was the leader of the patrol team this time, used a search light to send a message using a Morse code to the others. Although everyone is not so proficient at using it, one way or another the other will respond to her signs to make communication happen. If things get worse, they will send someone out there to establish the talks.

Thankfully, those in the RV had some understanding of the Morse code and answered in kind using their lights.

“....they said they were from the village past the mountain.” Bella translated the flickering of lights. “If I remember it well, that village is more like this private community like this property we are standing on. Owned by rich people and not open to the public.”

“Yes, that village is almost like this property of ours.” Aila affirmed as she remembered this detail well enough when she was preparing these properties of theirs. “It was owned by the Ferrer Family, you know from the Rosellete Consortium. The one in there might be one of the children of that family, though we have to see them face to face to be sure.”

“Well, they will be welcome,” Bella said. “Have some to tend to their basic needs. We’ll talk with them later on.”

Billy, who was one of the patrolmen this time and the nearest to them, was the one sent down to guide their guests. The rest continued on with their duties, though their eyes were vigilant and wary whenever they set their sights on the vehicle going inside their territory.

Aila notified Alexa to monitor them through the screens. If they do something out of bounds, she is free to trigger the alarm for everyone to dispose of them. Meanwhile, they are preparing for another round of defending as birds are once again seen in the skies. Shouting a command, successive rounds of gunfire rang in the dark day.

They harvested around fifteen mutant birds of different varieties and sizes. Today, because of the excessive number of mutants they have killed, these batches will be given to the pitiful number of zombies they isolated. Never did they give them any human flesh, but they made sure they were full of the meat of animals they caught and slaughtered. Through these practices, most of the zombies they kept were not so excited when seeing humans.

Instead, they develop a great taste for mutant animals. Perhaps in the future they will not have to worry much about these zombies. As long as there are mutant animals to feed them, they will not be harmed by them. But this is obviously something that will happen in the future.

Aila did not meet the guest as others might believe. She did not meet them on the grounds of not wanting to meet any of the Ferrers after the engagement fiasco sometime in their younger years. Her parents and friends supported her decisions as they did not have a good memory of the family now that they think about it.

Thus, she spent her whole time doing various tasks on the base after her shift at the gates was done. She only heard later on that the guests would stay and would contribute to the overall development of the base. As they will work as an ordinary person on the base and not as a leader or any managerial position. They might have gotten the message that although they let them in, they are not very ‘friendly’ to outsiders.

Winter passed by in that manner. Besides the occasional blizzards, long hours of heavy and soft snow, mutant bird attacks and others, the base was in great condition. Aila felt so proud that the first winter ended up so well under her sufficient preparations.

The wind was no longer as cold as it was in the peak of winter and the snow had a hint of melting. The temperature was gradually getting hotter and the sun was finally in sight again. It was then Aila knew that spring was here.

And new challenges are coming.

Mutant animals are sure to be many this time around after the long winter. The animals on the nearest mountains are getting noisier. No doubt all carnivores are doing their best to fill their stomachs to supplement the long time they have not eaten. Herbivores, on the other hand, will be busy raising their young so as to not let their species die out. Unless there is a great lack in their numbers there for a reason, they will not bother their base for at least a few more years.

Instead, the danger for spring lies in the zombies, who have now regained their mobility. Although during the winter they are immobile and almost completely harmless, they undergo great changes after the snow melts. They have become stronger and even harder to kill now. And some of them will gain a semblance of intelligence, thus making them much more dangerous than they used to be.

But zombies are not yet a great concern for their base temporarily because of the distance from the other populace. They estimate it will be in summer that zombies will come in bulk to them. So they could only enhance their powers as much as possible in this short period of spring.

Enhancing their productivity from planting down to their power prowess, they did it all. And in a blink of an eye, summer was here.

At the same time, the zombies are here.

Hungry and obviously very eager for some human flesh.