"Man, it only stopped for a few hours, but it's snowing again. It's gonna be cold this winter if this keeps up."
At the guard tower, Glenn kept himself warm by wearing a thick layer of jacket and kept rubbing his hand over his arm to generate heat.
"This actually makes me worry if those people will come back here again." Otis said while scanning their surroundings through the scope of his rifle.
The once lush green forest is now covered in a thin layer of snow. Hiding the perfect imperfections of the land.
"I'm also not really fond of this kind of weather. It turns the earth into a cold, wet mud." Otis added, his hands slightly shivering from the cold and their only source of heat is that small drum with a burning fire sitting inside the lookout. There's also a single bed, a small table coupled with a chair inside to serve the people doing their assigned work here.
"Don't worry about those people. We'll deal with them if the time comes. Though I doubt there would be anyone in their right mind who'd cause trouble with another when they should be worrying about how they should tide this winter over." Glenn tried to reassure him even though he's also not sure. After all, it's glaringly obvious for anyone that they have a lot of supplies since they even had the time to erect a wall.
Otis sighed and said. "I wouldn't be worrying like this if only Michael was here. I'm not saying Rick can't do the job, he's actually doing well. But we have to admit that guy is undeniably strong for reasons we still don't know, but Michael's presence undeniably commands respect and brings assurance to the people around him. You hadn't seen it, but those rowdy people in Jack's group became meek like lambs when he came back. Especially that Tom, he's seriously loud and rude."
Glenn glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, but did not say anything in response. 'I think he's just an honest and outspoken person, though he would certainly come off as someone who's rude to those who had never met someone like him.'
He wanted to say those words to Otis, but he figured that it's better to not say anything and just let the man vent. After all, reciprocating his emotions right now would just deepen his negative emotions towards Tom.
'There's no point in adding more fuel to the fire.' He glanced at Otis and slightly smiled. 'So he also has this kind of side of him huh. He was always kind and gentle all the time. Though I also understand his frustrations, Tom is just so loud and rowdy sometimes and this always gets him into trouble with Daryl. It makes you wonder how that guy managed to survive this long.'
While surveying their surroundings, Otis saw something moving past between the trees through the scope.
"Hey Glenn, I think they're back."
Kachak!
When he heard his words, Glenn quickly became tense and immediately loaded his rifle.
"Is it those guys again? Man, it's cold out and they still have the luxury to cause more trouble with us." Glenn felt incredibly annoyed and at the same time nervous. He reached his hand out towards a rope connected to every building in the compound and at the end of those ropes was a bell attached to it. It was a crude way to alert the others inside and to also minimize noise so as to not attract any attention from both survivors and walkers near their surroundings.
"Wait, it's Michael and the others, and they have a couple of huge trucks tagging along behind them." Otis quickly stopped Glenn when he noticed what he was about to do and shouted at the patrolling survivors behind the wall.
"Open the gates! Friendlies incoming!"
The survivors below quickly headed towards the gates. They hastily unlocked the latch on the gate and started pulling on the ropes. The gate slowly opened up with a soft rumble while the familiar motorhome came to halt before the gate. Michael waited for it to fully open before driving on ahead and past the inner gates.
The trucks on the other hand were prevented from entering past the fenced gates and were instead slowly led by the patrolling teams to park at the space between the log wall and fence wall. Occupying most of the space.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
While showering, Rick suddenly heard the bell going off exactly three times. He paused and mumbled. "There's guests at the gates?"
Curious, he hastily finished his shower and prepared to head outside.
After the bells had stopped ringing, everyone became curious who had just arrived and paused all of their work and headed outside.
"It's Michael and the others!" Coming out of the central building, Amy quickly noticed the familiar vehicle parked at the front yard and saw her sister and Michael chatting with Glenn in front.
Soon, everyone learned that Michael had finally returned and all were relieved that he came back safe. When they saw the large trucks being parked between the two walls, they became excited since they quickly figured out that he had also returned with a ton of supplies.
"Michael, you're back man. How was it outside?" Excluding Glenn, Daryl was the first to arrive and received them. The two exchanged a manly embrace and finished it up with a fist bump.
"A lot happened. I'll tell you all about it later after dinner." Michael replied and then saw Amy running down the slope with a huge smile on her face.
"You're back!" Amy yelled and suddenly threw herself at Michael.
"What the–"
Michael was surprised and hastily caught her. He actually wanted to dodge her but he realized that she might get injured from a wrong fall.
The hug only lasted a moment before she quickly let go of him, which surprised him since he thought it would last more like she always does.
"Come on, no hug to your sister?" Andrea said in a playful tone before the two sisters exchanged a tight embrace.
"I'm glad you're back. I was worried that something bad happened to you. What happened anyway?" Amy said with relief while letting her go.
Andrea just sighed. "Don't even get me started. It was exhausting and we found out a lot of things." And then she leaned towards her and whispered. "Mostly bad news, but you'll know about it later since Michael will discuss it with the group."
"Welcome back." Jill smiled at Michael with a fist bump.
Cole embraced him with a huge smile on his face, he was feeling incredibly happy. "Glad to see you back home, boss."
Soon, T-Dog, Oscar, Hershel, Carl and the rest of the original crew alongside the former prisoners came. The same goes for Mary and her sons who were also happy with his return. Even Jack and Tom came over and exchanged pleasantries with him.
"How come I don't see your dad?" He had been talking for a while with the others now and Michael still hasn't seen a shadow of Rick.
"He went to take a shower. He'll probably be here soon." Instead of Carl, Lori was the one who answered him.
Michael was about to say something when he noticed Lee and his friends walking over. He suddenly had a mischievous grin on his face. "Alright, before everything. I came back with a few friends we met while on the road."
"Glenn!"
Michael had just waved for them to come over when Clementine's eyes suddenly widened when she spotted someone familiar among the crowd and yelled in excitement.
Glenn was talking about something with Maggie when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to him and turned his head to look. His eyes slowly widened in surprise when he saw the new faces walking over.
"Clementine! Lee! Dang, even Carley is here!"
"What? You think I'd die under those slowpokes?!" Carley sounded angry, but even she can't help but feel happy seeing a familiar face they haven't seen in a long time.
Glenn quickly strode towards them with joy and a huge smile on his face, even the Greene family were surprised to see them and quickly surrounded them.
"I'm glad that you're still alive!" Clementine ran up to him and Glenn immediately lowered his body to receive her as the two exchanged an embrace.
"So this is where you ended up when you left for Atlanta. Glad to see you still alive and kicking man." Lee embraced him. Even Hershel, who parted ways with them on bad terms couldn't help but feel a little emotional and embraced him too.
And while they were all catching up with each other, the others had already gone over to the trucks and started moving the things inside.
"This is a surprise, they actually know each other?" Standing beside Michael, Andrea felt surprised while watching Lee and the others get surrounded.
"And it seems they are also very close." Michael smiled when he suddenly felt someone tugging at his clothes and when he looked over, he saw Athena looking at him.
Athena stretched her palm towards him and said in a flat voice. "The thing you promised me before you left."
"Tsk!" Michael clicked his tongue. "Not even a greeting huh."
"Welcome back. I'm glad you came back in one piece." She raised an eyebrow and replied in the same flat tone.
Michael just shook his head and gave her a multi tool in the form of a pliers.
She looked at it for a moment and smiled a little.
"Thanks." She was satisfied and immediately turned around to go back inside.
"Wait up, have you seen Jose?" Rosita quickly stopped her and asked. She was a little worried since she still hasn't seen her nephew even after they have been here for a while now.
Athena didn't stop though and kept walking. "He's sleeping with my brother inside the daycare room."
Andrea chuckled while looking at her. "I just can't get used to her attitude. Would it hurt her to act her age?"
Michael smiled a little and his gaze at Athena softened a little. "Well, that's the result of what the world today would do to someone who had seen some things. Kids are forced to quickly mature if they want to survive in this kind of world. Carl is one good example, such a young kid already knows how to fire a gun properly."
"Isn't that just Rick teaching him?"
"Exactly."
Michael smiled and placed his hands on his hips and stared at the setting sky with nostalgia on his face.
'I suddenly miss my family. I wonder how they're doing over there now that I'm gone?'