After dinner.
Shawn lay on the grass in front of the Prison, counting the stars.
Since the industrial civilization disappeared, the stars above this distant suburb seemed to shine much brighter.
He raised his head, and the sky full of stars looked like the Milky Way.
In this apocalypse, where there was no longer television or the internet, this seemed to be one of the few forms of entertainment.
"You disappeared after dinner; I thought you had left the Prison by yourself again."
Shawn didn't even need to look up; he could never forget Rick's voice.
"Please, let me be lazy for a while."
Shawn waved his hand idly, then lazily rested his head back down.
The soft rustling of grass sounded beside him as Rick lay down next to Shawn.
"Shawn, I just want you to know that we all care about you," Rick's voice suddenly became gentle.
"Please, can you not say such things suddenly when only two people are looking at the stars?"
Shawn teased.
"I'm serious."
"From the very beginning, from walking out of that cramped tank compartment, you and I both know better than anyone what the cost is."
"..."
"Did they all tell you?"
Shawn was silent for a moment, guessing that Shane and the others had told Rick about Shawn returning to Woodbury midway.
Rick suddenly sighed.
"No matter what, we will be prepared."
"But next time, you must at least bring Shane. You know we'll help you no matter what, right?"
At this point, Shawn finally turned his head and looked into Rick's eyes.
Rick's eyes were glistening.
Shawn guessed that Rick even knew about the prisoners in the Prison; he was very smart, and it couldn't be hidden from him.
'Let me bring Shane, but Shane...'
Shawn's gaze at Rick suddenly changed; he seemed to understand Rick's meaning.
A smile played on his lips, and Shawn suddenly felt joyful.
Perhaps, this was the difference between Woodbury and the Prison.
Lying back down, Shawn softly said, "Thanks, Rick."
"Perhaps we should be thanking you."
"I've seen some people fall; they were either not firm enough or gave up too easily..."
"But you held on, and you brought us all to hold on together."
"The fact that everyone is still alive now, and even about to build our own wall together, is because of you."
The surroundings gradually grew quiet; a faint Walker growl came from afar, and a few insect chirps echoed through the forest.
But with Rick by his side, Shawn felt very safe.
Rick — The Beginning
...
Whoosh whoosh--
Three cargo trucks roared past.
This was the fifth time this week Shawn had led several people from the Camp, traveling back and forth between the town and the Prison to transport the already prepared'sand and gravel' and 'rebar'.
Without unlocking the mixer recipe in the system, a real-life mixer could still be used.
It was just less efficient, but at least the high wall could be built successfully.
Shawn turned on the radio in one of the trucks.
"...Static... T-Dog, you've been busy with Jacob and them on the high wall. Has Jacob said anything about the current progress?"
Soon, T-Dog's reply came from the other end.
"They said... static... they should be able to finish tying the rebar on the front side of the Prison this week."
"You know everyone is helping for the high wall, so progress has been very fast."
Before Shawn could speak, the radio rang again.
"Is this batch of rebar and sand and gravel we're pulling enough? Should we take advantage of the early hour and make another trip?"
"Glenn, don't interrupt."
"Who in the Camp doesn't know Maggie is going crazy missing you? And you still want to run all over the world?"
"Hahaha, Glenn, is he trying to make another trip, or is he trying to hide from Maggie?"
For a moment, the radio was filled with laughter that men understood.
Shawn suppressed a laugh: "Glenn, you have to work hard. I heard this kind of thing really affects relationships. The future is long, and you two need to get along well."
As soon as Shawn finished speaking, the laughter on the radio grew even louder.
"Fuck! You bastards, why is your focus all on this!" Glenn roared.
Shawn could even imagine Glenn's face flushing red, utterly embarrassed, through the radio.
Accompanied by laughter all the way, everyone transported the three trucks of sand, gravel, and rebar back to the Prison, parking them on the flat ground at the entrance of the Prison.
"How is it, is it enough?"
Shawn jumped out of the truck.
He casually patted the head of the wolfdog, Doudou, and spoke to Jacob, who was sitting on a 6-meter rebar nearby.
Jacob glanced at the mountain of sand and gravel and the 4 sets of rebar piled in the distance, as well as the large pile on the truck, and nodded repeatedly.
"No problem, this should be enough to complete the entire front side of the Prison."
The Prison construction plan, the high wall phase, was temporarily divided into two steps.
Simply put, it was to build the front first, then the back.
The front side could enclose Area C and the entire Administrative Building, which was completely sufficient.
Completing the concrete pouring earlier would also allow the wall to dry faster.
The temperature was not low now; the summer breeze was cool, which could even be earlier than Jacob's original estimated time.
"Alright."
Shawn felt relieved.
At this rate, concrete pouring could begin in a few days, and over 75% could be dry within a week.
Then Shawn would have one last week to prepare for the Blood Moon.
To be precise, if the Governor didn't cause trouble at this time, Shawn could start preparing now.
With Rick and Shane managing, everyone was doing their part.
Helping to build walls, finding supplies, doing laundry, cooking... the entire Camp was orderly and thriving.
Shawn opened the system.
[Shawn]
[Level Lv42]
[Skill Points Available: 4]
[Health: 142 / 142 (Initial 100, Level Bonus 41)]
[Stamina: 142 / 142 (At Full)]
[Food & Water: 97 / 142 (Slowly Decreasing)]
[Body Temperature: 75°F]
[Walkers Killed: 547]
[magazines: Hunter's Bow Lv15, Hammering the World Lv25, Night Walker Volume 1...]
[Skills: Strength — Attribute Lv10, Skull Crusher Lv4, Exterior Strength Internal Activity Lv1, Shotgun Lv1; Fortitude — Pain Tolerance...]
[Status Effects: None]
Over the past week, Shawn had been mostly busy with material transportation, so his leveling had been a bit neglected.
But that was okay.
Since he had the team system, Shawn had added all Camp members to his team.
They cleared the Walkers approaching outside the fence every day, and Shawn even gained experience points while sleeping.
Overall, it wasn't much slower than doing it himself.
Carefully reviewing the skill allocation page, Shawn allocated 3 skill points to two gathering skills under the 'Strength Sequence'.
Skill [Motherlode] — Gather more resources, bring the Motherlode home.
[(Profitable) Level 1/5, You can become the envy of all new miners]
[Effect: When using any axe, pickaxe, chainsaw, auger, or other tools, gain +20% harvest of wood, ore, etc.]
Motherlode Level 1/5
...
[(Main Vein) Level 2/5, Finding more ore has gradually become your second nature]
[Effect: When using any axe, pickaxe, chainsaw, auger, or other tools, gain +40% harvest of wood, ore, etc.]
Motherlode Level 2/5
...
Skill [Mining 69er] — Enhance tool damage, maximize efficiency in gathering trees and ore.
[(Tool Boy) Level 1/5, Everyone starts learning from scratch]
[Effect: When using any axe, pickaxe, chainsaw, auger, or other tools, increase damage by +10%, reduce stamina consumption during swings by -8%]
...
Mining 69er 1/5
-------------------------------
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