When Carol and Lori returned ten minutes later, the meeting finally started.
Still in my usual seat at the head of the table, I took the lead, reintroducing the Woodbury situation alongside the new info we now have on them thanks to the Dixon brothers.
I cleared my throat. "Everyone," I said, looking around the room at every single face.
"We're having this meeting tonight mainly to figure out a solution to the Woodbury threat that we have on our hands."
I paused for a bit, letting the noise in the kitchen settle down completely before I continued.
"Before we get to that, however, I will start by reintroducing Woodbury—its leader, its layout, citizens, everything that needs to be known to make an informed plan."
Silence fell for a minute.
The only sound in the room was the wind scraping against the outside windowpanes.
I reached for my water glass and took a slow sip before I continued.
"Woodbury is a walled community that's about twenty miles from here, run by a guy they call the Governor," I said, my voice steady now.
"According to the info given by Michonne..." I gestured to her, drawing everyone's attention toward where she was standing near the counter.
Michonne just gave a short nod, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Woodbury is roughly a town one block long, separated into different areas," I explained.
"The Main Street is the central hub where residents socialize, shop at makeshift markets, and attend community events. The Governor's building is also located right on Main Street. Then there's the 'Arena'..."
I quoted the word with my fingers.
"...an open, gated dirt lot on the outskirts used for staging gladiator-style entertainment matches surrounded by chained walkers. Then there's the Infirmary, a medical clinic managed by a Dr. Stevens to treat sick and injured citizens and also deliver babies."
I paused for a bit, looking over at our medical crew. "We will try to get her to join our settlement. The more doctors we have on hand, the better."
Dr. Gale, Dr. Jenner, and Hershel perked up at that, exchanging quick nods.
I continued on.
"And finally, the wall—our biggest hurdle. It's a perimeter defense consisting of junk cars, wooden panels, tires, and chain-link fences, guarded 24/7 by armed lookouts on elevated sniper nests."
I paused for a minute, letting the rest digest that before tackling the numbers.
"Now, the population," I said. "Woodbury boasts a population of about seventy-three people."
Hearing that number made everyone who was not present the day Michonne arrived tense up.
Seventy-three was a massive crowd to them compared to our group.
"Now, according to Michonne, most of that number is primarily civilian families, children, and elderly individuals who were rescued from the wilderness," I added quickly.
Hearing that, everyone let out a soft sigh of relief.
"These civilians are assigned daily roles including farming, cooking, laundry, medical care, and maintenance, keeping Woodbury running," I said.
"But make no mistake, Woodbury does have a robust military force, at least compared to us. It consists of the Governor's closest elites, about a dozen in number—they're cold and ruthless bastards. Then there's the regular armed force that consists of about thirty men and women who can shoot a gun."
Hearing that, the heavy tension returned right back to the room.
Taking in their reaction, I kept rolling.
"Now, about their weapons. Woodbury possesses a sophisticated arsenal—nothing close to us, but still sophisticated compared with everyone else out there—that's mostly stolen from overrun military outposts and that small detachment of ten surviving National Guard soldiers that they killed and looted."
I looked around the table and continued laying out the hardware they have.
"Small arms: standard civilian handguns, shotguns, and hunting rifles used by everyday wall guards.
Assault rifles like M16 rifles, AK-47s, and M4 carbines utilized by the elite militia.
And a heavy .50 caliber machine gun mounted onto a military Humvee, alongside melee weapons and specialized stuff such as knives, machetes, and grenades."
When I finished, silence hung once again as everyone continued digesting the info.
"Their power," I continued, "is a diesel-fueled generator system that provides electricity to streetlamps, string lights, and specific buildings during designated evening hours. They have running water in the form of functioning plumbing and clean water systems drawn from local wells. Their food supplies are supplemented by small-scale urban agriculture, livestock pens, daily scavenging runs, and pillage tactics."
I leaned forward against the table, dropping my voice a bit lower.
"According to the Governor's diary, the Governor routinely ordered his militia to ambush external groups to explicitly slaughter them and steal their rations and canned goods."
I paused for a second before I continued, looking over toward the corner. "Now, thanks to Daryl and Merle here..."
I gestured to the Dixon brothers who were sitting next to each other, Merle picking his teeth with a toothpick.
"...we have their exact routine: the number of spies, their rotation periods, the time of their scavenging runs—everything we would need to refine a solid plan to take down Woodbury once and for all without risking heavy casualties on our side."
Hearing these words, a fire ignited in the eyes of everyone present here.
Nobody in this room was stupid enough to believe we could get away from this intact without giving it our all. They knew we had to go all out on this.
"So," I said, locking eyes with everyone sitting around the long table.
"If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Because we're not leaving this room until we figure out a plan—and it better be a goddamn good one."
(To be continued...)