Planning the Time Jump
"I ask each of you to take a few moments to really think about what is being asked of you. Will you risk the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse and all the dangers that come with it? Or can your skills be better used from limbo helping and guiding the others? If you will look to the left, you will see a smaller crimson table and to the right you will see a similar purple table. If your choice is to be a Protector, please move to the crimson table. If your choice is to be a Pathfinder, please move to the purple table. Take your time to make your decision. Time does not move in this place. You have all the time you need." Sam said before he moved back to his black chair and sat down. "But I will ask the Survivors to please move to the crimson table while the others make their decisions." The five survivors got up and walked over to the crimson table and started to talk amongst themselves.
"This is more surreal than when I woke from the coma to find walkers everywhere. But I have to say I am grateful for this chance." Rick said as he looked at the others. "It is good to see you all again. Merle, I have to apologize for what happened. For Atlanta. I never meant for you to be stuck there. Or for you to have to cut off your hand to be able to escape. Daryl is a brother to me, after all we went thru together. And you are his blood brother. That makes you family as well. I know I'm asking a lot. But we all are getting this second chance. Merle, can we start over? Would you forgive me for what happened in the previous life?" Rick asked Merle as he held his hand out for Merle to shake. Carol, Hershel, and Daryl watched the exchange with wide eyes.
Merle stared at Rick, sizing him up. 'Well, never thought I'd see the day when Officer Friendly apologized to old redneck Merle.' Merle clasped Rick's hand and squeezed. Rick winced but held on. "Let's get one thing straight. Us Dixons ain't gonna be anyone's lapdog this go around. Not yours. Not the Governor's. We all five get an equal say in this little redo here. Us five are the only ones that really understand what's coming. The other's are here to help. But us five here are the true leaders of this redo. This is not a redo of your little Rickatorship from last time. If we are gonna do this, we need to do this right. Agreed?"
Rick's shoulders dropped. Merle's eyes hardened and he opened his mouth to speak. Rick held up his other hand to halt him. "You are right. Agreed." Rick looked each person in the eye. "We need to do this right. Last time, it was too much. I broke. But we can't afford to break if we are to succeed. Too many lives hang in the balance. The five of us will be a council. Majority vote. Do you agree? Daryl? Hershel? Carol? Merle? What do you say?" Rick asked them.
"It's a good idea. Then all the responsibility won't just be on one person. You can count me in Rick." Hershel told them as he beamed at the two younger men. Proud they were willing to work together after the bad blood between them.
Carol got up and walked around to the men. She gave Rick a hug and peck on the cheek. Then she turned to Merle. "I can't let you guys have all the fun. Besides, can't let my future brother-in-law go and get his hand sawed off. You can count me and Daryl in too. Ain't that right Pookie?" Carol said as she hugged Merle and winked at Daryl. Daryl started laughing as he saw the stunned look on Merle's face. "Besides, Uncle Merle has to help teach Sophia how to defend herself. You'll help me keep my baby safe this time, won't you Merle?" Sad grey eyes looked up at Merle.
"Ah, Hell, woman. Ain't no one or nothin gonna hurt you or that baby of yours again. You got mean old Uncle Merle to take care of that. You got me?" he said as he hugged her. "Besides, it's about time Daryl got himself a real woman. Got yourself a right tiger, didn't you brother."
"Get your paws off my lady, Merle. Find your own." He said playfully as he pulled Carol away from Merle and kissed her in front of them. He pulled away and she looked into his eyes stunned by what he had done. "I know you was teasing, but I already went through one life without telling you how I feel, woman. I ain't making that mistake again. I love you. Have for a long time. Was just too stubborn to say anything."
Carol pulled Daryl back to the table and pushed him into a chair. Carol sat down in his lap and snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms around her. "That's ok, Pookie. I've always known. We are getting a second chance. And you better believe that I'm not gonna let you get away this time. I love you too. As soon as we go back, I'm gonna pack up me and Sophia and come find you, Daryl. I'll file for divorce from Ed. And if he causes problems, well he might not have to wait for a walker to take a bite out of him."
'Ed aint gonna get nowhere near you darlin. If I have to kill the s.o.b. I will. You're mine. You are gonna be Mrs. Carol Dixon before the Walkers happen. And Sophia will be a Dixon too.' Daryl thought as he hugged her tighter.
"You'll have our help, Carol. But that brings up a good point. We need to know where everyone lives. And we need to find the others from our group before this goes down. If we can locate everyone before the ZA begins, maybe we won't have to lose anyone this go round." Rick said as he thought back to everyone that they had lost. 'Maybe we can keep Lori from dying. Shane. What to do about Shane? He hasn't done anything yet. Him and Lori haven't started an affair yet. Maybe they won't this time. But what about Judith? If things change, will she still be born? I've wondered over the past few years exactly when their affair started. Something tells me it has been going on for quite a while before the Walkers came. If it has, then Carol won't be the only one getting a divorce. And maybe if I move out of the way, Shane won't go off the deep end. Maybe if I'm there from the beginning, and he doesn't get a taste of leadership only for it to be taken away, maybe he won't become the stranger he was at the farm. Maybe. Only time will tell.'
Rick sat up straight as a notebook and pen appeared before him. "While the others make their decisions, we, as in the 5 of us, need to create a plan. Starting with the governing of our sanctuary. Are we all agreed that we 5 will be the Council?" Heads nodded and he wrote the Council in his notebook. "Do we all agree that duties should be split up 5 ways between us?" More head nods. "How do we divide the tasks up?" Rick asked the group.
"We should play to our strengths, Officer Friendly." Merle smirked as Rick gestured for him to continue. "To make this work we need to cover the following areas. Supply. Education. Personnel. Administration. And Security. Supply is Daryl's strength, from all his hunting and supply runs. Education is Carol's strength from her time at the Prison and Alexandria. Personnel is Hershel. He has the patience to deal with anyone and knows how to bring out their best. Administration is your strength, Rick. When you aren't going all Ricktator, or cuffing folks to roofs, you know how to lead people to get things done. And security is mine from Woodbury and my time in the Corps." Merle glanced around the table at the others, noticing the smiles, and bit back the smart-ass comment that always tried to come out when he felt defensive.
"Does everyone agree with their area of authority?" Everyone agreed and Rick scribbled in the notebook. "Ok, next we need to plan what to do when we get back. I know we have a year. We all will have some loose ends to tie up before we meet up. I need to see about getting a divorce from Lori and custody of Carl. What about you all?" Rick asked.
"Same as you, Rick. I need to get a divorce from Ed," Carol spat the name with venom before her voice softened as she continued, "and get custody of Sophia. Once we are free, we can meet up with you guys." Daryl hugged her.
"I ain't got nuthin holding me back. Just some job I hate. Me and Merle both can pack up and be on the road within the hour." Daryl told them and Merle nodded.
Hershel cleared his throat. "The farm has been in my family for 6 generations. I would like to see about making it both secure and self-sustaining. And it will prove a blessing to have when the disease begins again. Annette, Shawn, Patricia, and Otis will all be alive. I can hire contractors and have them run the farm when you need me at sanctuary. God be willing, I will be able to prevent their deaths this time." Hershel explained.
Rick patted his shoulder. "Hershel, I understand and agree. The farm was a blessing. We can help you secure it, and save your family. We all have family and friends we want to save. We will work together to save as many as we can." Hershel smiled at his friend.
"These new people. How do we use them? Ideas?" Rick asked.
"We really don't know enough about them to make a permanent office for them. So I suggest assigning them tasks on what we do know, then evaluating them when we get our base for a more permanent position within our sanctuary. We also need to name our base." Carol replied. "We can't keep calling it the sanctuary. Reminds me too much of Terminus. Since the Angel of Death is the being that arranged all this, how about something like Angel Wings Sanctuary? Or Silver Wings Sanctuary? We can set it up as a non-profit for the year before the ZA happens."
--TWD--
The group at the blue table sat silently thinking over everything that the Angel of Death had told them. One by one, they each came to their decision. Harry and Hermione were the first to move over to the crimson table. They were soon followed by the Weasley twins, the Winchester brothers, Xander, Commander Shepard, Optimus Prime, Hawkeye Pierce, Margaret, and Abigail. Dr. Mark Sloan and Dr. Gregory House moved to the purple table, where they were soon joined by Severus Snape.
As the last person left the blue table, it along with the chairs surrounding it, disappeared. In its place a large table with a 3D topographical map of the Earth appeared. The table zoomed in until it only showed the Eastern seaboard of the USA from Florida up to Virginia.
Sam stood up and walked to the purple table. "Gentlemen, in front of you are paper and pens. The first task I will ask of each of you is to think about what is to come. Think about anything that may be needed. To prevent illnesses, to birth babies, to patch up gunshot wounds, to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, etc. To research a cure for the plague to come. Any medicine, or surgical equipment, or potions ingredients. Anything and everything you can think of. And make me a list."
"After that list, I want you to think of any place in your world that may have the needed supplies, and write that information down on a second list. After that, and before the Survivors and Protectors go backwards, you will need to create medical files on each person. As well as take samples of their saliva, hair, and blood. I will have the needed supplies for this brought to you. Get Captain Pierce and Major Houlihan to assist with this when it is time. I'll leave you gentlemen to your work." Blank notebooks, blank medical files, and a bucket of pens appeared in the middle of the table. Sam walked away as they started to write. He walked across the room to the crimson table, where the group were already in conversation.
"Yes, I agree. If we are going to have to leave our secure base, we will need both a way to communicate with each other and a fast way get to each other in case of emergencies. Maybe something similar to the mirrors your dad used to use in school, Harry. And we can always make emergency portkeys." Hermione said as she was scribbling in her notebook.
"What about those muggle telafoney things? We could find a way to make them run off of magic without anyone realizing they are run off magic." Fred said as he looked at her notebook.
"Of course. Sam said our magic won't affect electronics. Brilliant, Fred. So we need cell phones, laptops, or tablets. Maybe some GPS. We can use engorgio to enlarge them to write the runes on, then shrink them back to normal size. We will need backpacks to enlarge and put preservation charms on. And we will..."
"Sorry to interrupt, Lady Potter. You can finish your list shortly. You will be going back before the ZA happens. In fact, you will be arriving exactly a year before. What you all need to decide right now is where your base will be for the next year as you prepare. That is where the Protectors will be sent to work out of. Rick, I have a couple of locations for you to look over and choose from. If you will follow me to the map." Sam said and turned to walk away. Rick grabbed his arm lightly. "Just a moment. I am not the leader here. We, that is the Survivors, have decided that all five of us will be the Council. Majority rules. And while we will all have our own areas of expertise, for the big decisions, such as where our base will be located, we will all 5 have a say." Rick let go of the angel and motioned for the others to come forward. "Very well. Please come with me." He smiled and walked to the map. They followed the angel to the map. He tapped on a spot and the map zoomed in further to a square showing a small town surrounded by undeveloped land.
"This is the first location. As you see here," he points to a blue water blob in the southwest corner, "is a medium spring fed lake with plenty of catfish, bream, and other freshwater fish. The stream flows through the forest here, which covers about 100 acres," he points to the western side of the land where trees can be seen, "and has plenty of deer, wild turkeys, rabbits, foxes, and other game." Sam points to the open area on the eastern side of the town. "This is 330 acres of farmland. This can be used for crops, livestock, or houses. Look at the northern border, and you will notice there is a small airport with a couple of hangers and a 10 feet tall chain link fence running the length of the property border. If you look at the small building between the two hangars, that is the 30 foot tall air traffic control tower. You can see the entire area from there. It would make a great watchtower." He pointed to the buildings. Then pointed out the town.
"There is a medical clinic, school, gas station, sheriff's office, pharmacy, grocery store, three restaurants, fire department, and courthouse all surrounding the main square that is a park. Then you have three or four streets in each direction that contain two apartment complexes and 40 homes. This little town is called Allentown and has a population of 504 at the moment. When the ZA happens, Allentown falls to the dead within a week. The forest, farmland, airport, and a couple of the houses are all for sale. You could lay the groundwork to secure the northern, eastern, and western borders before the ZA. The southern border and town could be secured with the aid of magic within a week." Sam zoomed out on the map, then pressed another spot which zoomed in on a series of large buildings surrounded by what looked to be a brick and wrought iron fence.
"This is option 2. This was Singletary Preparatory Academy. It was a private boarding school for the rich that was closed down when the staff were found to be embezzling school funds and selling drugs to the students. There are 4 dorms.," Sam pointed to the buildings all in a line, "Each is 4 stories with 40 dorm rooms on each floor. There are 2 communal restrooms at the ends of each floor with showers. There is also a large common area on each floor in the middle for socialising. There are also covered seating areas on each dorm roof."
Sam pointed to a green area surrounded by a circle of brick buildings and walkways. "This is the commons. This grassy area is about 10 acres. Then there are smaller open patches of grass all over campus. These top four buildings were the science, math, social studies, and language arts classrooms. The science buildings have labs that could be converted into potions labs. The social studies buildings has plenty of maps of both the local, state, country, and world level. The next building here is the Technology And Arts building. Inside it is a glassblowing lab, ceramic and pottery lab, textile lab, computer lab, and a massive video game arcade. Then there is the Health Arts building. It houses the nursing and radiology programs. It also housed the school's medical wing. A lot of the medical equipment is still in the building, including older model MRI and CAT scan machines."
"Next is the physical fitness center. Inside it is a running track, swimming pool, racquet ball court, gym, basketball court, volleyball court, martial arts studio, dance studio, archery course, indoor firing range, climbing wall, an indoor ropes course, and an indoor parkour course. Last is the Trades building. Here is a mechanic shop, woodworking workshop, welding workshop, electric shop, and plumbing shop." He then pointed to a section that had a lake, a football field, a soccer field, and a couple of buildings. "The lake is fully stocked with bass, bream, catfish, and perch. The soccer and football fields can be converted to farmland easily. This is the maintenance warehouse and bus garage. There are 4 tour buses in the garage, but it still has room for at least 6 more. Then there is a large parking lot behind it. Not to mention it has its own gas pump and storage tank. For diesel and unleaded. Both of which still have fuel in them. Then we have the faculty residence hall. It is set up like an apartment building with 5 floors of apartments. The first 2 floors have twenty 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartments each. The third floor has sixteen 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartments. The fourth floor has ten 3 bedroom 3 bathroom apartments. The top floor has a recreational room, laundry room, outdoor patio, and a greenhouse."
"And these last 2 buildings are the student union and administration buildings. The cafeteria, several study halls, recreation room, and theater are on one half of the student union, while the library takes up the other half. But the entire academy is surrounded by a 8 foot tall fence made of wrought iron and brick. There is only one entrance, and that is closed by a 12 foot tall custom wrought iron gate. The gate opens to a drive that goes around the perimeter of the school, with a couple of drives through campus. The academy is currently empty and for sale. It is around 425 acres. So, what do you think?" Sam asked the Survivors. Rick looked at the others.
"There is too much that would have to be done at the town. Plus we would have to wait til the apocalypse begins to really make any progress. I vote for the school. We could set up shop immediately." Hershel said.
"It's more room than we had at the prison. And it would be easier for us to buy things in bulk if we go with the story that we are opening a new school. I say we choose the school as well." Carol added.
Daryl looked over the map of the school. "It has the best protection between the two. Even better than the prison. That brick and iron is stronger than the chain link fences we had at the prison. The school."
"We can put solar panels on most of the roofs. Some watchtowers up around the fence. Maybe dig a trench in front of the walls. Plenty of spaces for farming and livestock. This could be a really safe community. If we can get the numbers to work it. Cause there is room for way more than the quarry group and prison group and woodbury combined. And we will need the numbers. But that is the mission. To save as many as we can. I say we get both. We work out of the school, but we also do what we can to secure the area around Allentown to fall back to. And we will need some smaller safe houses as well." Merle declared.
Everyone blinked and stared at Merle, causing him to smirk back. Rick smiled and looked at Sam. "Is that possible? Could we get both options?" Sam looked at the Survivors and cocked his head to the side. A bright angelic smile broke across his face. "As you wish. If you all will rejoin the crimson table."
Daryl and Carol strolled over hand in hand. Merle, Rick, and Hershel followed.
The Angel addressed the crimson table. "Before your time jump, each of you, excluding Optimus Prime, needs to get with the doctors so that they can start a medical file on you and get a baseline to work with from before the plague hits. The doctors will call you over and then you will return to the table when done. Rick, we will start with you." Rick got up and followed the angel to the doctors.
--TWD--
Commander Shepard sat back down at the table. She was the last to see the doctors. 'I'm gonna have to get used to older technology. I'm used to medi-gel being able to fix most things. Gonna have to learn to be more careful. Kaiden and Joker will never let me live it down if I become a zombie from carelessness.' she chuckled to herself.
Merle whistled. Everyone looked over at Merle who was standing at his seat. "Alright, kiddos. We got a big task ahead of us. So now we need us a plan. When we leave here, y'all Protectors will be sent to the school. Us Survivors will wake up in our old lives, tie up some loose ends, then make our way to the school within a week at the most. We might have a year, but every second is gonna count, folks." Merle stated as he glared around the table. "The Council, that is what we will be referring to us survivors when we go back, can't exactly go around saying survivors without people asking questions about what we survived. Now the Council has decided the first order of business is to fortify and stock the school. We want the campus secure, self-sustaining, and off the grid within the first month. Sam done told us we will have the deed, licenses, and cash to make that happen when we time jump. Officer Friendly is gonna assign y'all tasks according to what we know about ya. If you got any suggestions, feel free to voice 'em, cause we all are one big happy family now." Merle smirked as he sat down next to Rick. Rick got up to speak.
"I'm gonna start with me and go around with assignments, so we all know who will be doing what to begin with. I'll spend the first few days back at my job looking up the people that we have encountered over the years from before, both good and bad." Rick sighed and clenched his jaw. Carol patted him on the shoulder. "I'll also be investigating my wife and partner to see if their affair started before I went into a coma. If so, I will be filing for divorce and for full custody of my son, Carl. Me and Carl will be moving to the school one way or the other by the end of the first week."
"Daryl and Merle are going to quit their jobs and go to Carol's to pick up her and Sophia. Then they are all gonna head straight to the school. I have a friend who is a judge that owes me a lot of favors. I'll call him and see if I can get my divorce and Carol's divorce rushed. Along with full custody of Carl and Sophia."
"Hershel is gonna hire some contractors to build a wall around his property, install some solar panels and windmills, and build some more buildings, then he is gonna bring his family on a 'vacation' to the school where they can be let in on what is coming."
"The five of us, myself, Merle, Daryl, Hershel, and Carol, will make up the Council, the executive board of our sanctuary. As Merle stated, the first thing we need to do is get the school secured, stocked, and self-reliant.
"Optimus Prime, I am asking you to be the leader at the school, with Commander Shepard and Lord Potter as your assistants. All three of you have experience in warfare and leadership. Use those experiences to secure the school and create a plan for the school to become self-sustaining." The three leaders nodded their heads.
"Captain Pierce and Major Houlihan, go through the medical center and see what is needed to make it into a first rate trauma center."
"Dean and Sam Winchester. I need you to find the contact information, location and a map of distribution centers for businesses like Wal-Mart, Target, Publix, Bass Pro Shops etc., and manufacturing plants or warehouses for Proctor Gamble, Tyson Chicken, Coca-Cola, etc. Pharmaceutical companies. Gun manufacturers. Oil refineries. Electric supply companies. Plant nurseries. Anywhere that may have supplies we may need but will be too big for survivors to attempt to raid when the Walkers come."
"Fred and George Weasley. I need you two to see if you can come up with a way to power cellphones and laptops with magic, create something that will keep walkers from biting or scratching a person, and create something that you can attach to a large item, like a semi truck, or a stack of boxes, and it will shrink it down to toy size."
"Xander and Abby, we will be having quite a few people join us. I need you to make sure the dorms are stocked, keep track of who lives where, and create a training regime for the newbies we bring back."
"Lady Potter, I need you to go through the campus and come up with a list of any spells that you think will help. Expansion charms on the storage areas. Maybe the living areas as well. Strengthening charms on the fence, gate, walls, glass, and doors. Whatever you can think of."
Everyone agreed to their tasks. With a plan in place for the turn, the group was ready to return to the world. Sam approached the table. "Good luck. and God bless!" A bright light filled the room. When it died down, the crimson table was empty.