Lori felt something stir in her heart.
She followed the two boys along the path, past a grove of fruit trees, until a new area appeared before her, carefully enclosed by low fencing and wire mesh.
It was divided into several smaller sections.
The rabbit hutches were clean and tidy, with dozens of gray and white rabbits quietly eating grass. Some had been caught by Daryl at Leah's request, while others had been brought from UTK.
In a slightly larger pen beside them, several plump lambs were nestled close to their mothers.
Next to that were a few calves.
The original chicken coop had also been included in the small animal area. A large flock of newly hatched spring chicks followed their mothers through the grass, pecking for insects.
The most interesting part was a large open enclosure with perches. As soon as a little brown monkey saw people approaching, it nimbly darted over to the outside, stretched out its little hand, and squeaked.
"It wants peanuts," Little Jimmy said, skillfully taking a few peanuts from his pocket and handing them over. The little monkey took them with surprising dexterity, stuffed them into its cheek pouch, and looked at Lori with quick, darting eyes.
Lori was drawn in by the lively scene.
She carefully walked closer to the rabbit hutch and crouched down.
A gentle gray rabbit hopped over and sniffed her fingers.
At the prison, they kept chickens, cows, sheep, and horses too, but those were for eggs, food, and transportation. They had never set aside a special area like this to raise "nonessential" animals like rabbits, monkeys, and puppies.
"Have you two always taken care of them here?" Lori asked softly.
"Yeah! We started last year," Duane said as he poured grain into the chicken coop's feed trough. "Little Jimmy and I were the first ones to help.
It used to be just us, and Dad would come help sometimes. Now that there are more people, the grown animals have all been handed over to adults who specialize in taking care of them."
Little Jimmy nodded. "Yeah. At first, Morgan came to help us too. That was back when Calista had just brought him and Duane back from King County and hadn't assigned them any official work yet."
"King County?!" Lori was stunned. She and Rick were both from King County.
Her face filled with disbelief. "I thought there was no one left in King County. After the virus broke out, we headed for Atlanta. We heard the government had set up a safe zone there..."
Lori paused, clearly remembering that the one who had protected her and Carl all the way, led them out of town, and later established the quarry camp had been Shane.
And in the end, Shane had chosen to part ways and come to Rock Fortress. She wondered how he was doing now.
Duane let out a "Wow" too. "How could there be no one there? Dad and I stayed in King County for more than two months after the outbreak. Later, we even met a man.
He was a sheriff. He had just woken up in the hospital and escaped, and he had no idea the world had ended. We were the ones who saved him.
He shared the weapons from the police station with us, then, then he went to look for his wife and son. He left messages for Dad on the walkie-talkie every day, but later, maybe the distance got too far, and the walkie-talkie lost signal."
"OMG. Rick?" Lori's mind went blank.
So these were the father and son Rick had mentioned, the ones who had saved him.
Duane's mouth fell open in surprise. "You know Rick too?"
"Morgan... is he the Morgan Rick, my husband, met in King County?" Lori asked tentatively.
"Yeah! So you're Rick's wife! Is he okay now?"
"He's doing well. Thank you for saving him back then. He's at the prison camp now with Carl, my son."
Lori's heart began to beat faster despite herself.
Morgan, the mysterious and kind survivor father and son Rick had never forgotten, were actually here?
And from the look of it, they had been living peacefully for quite some time.
Lori felt a faint dizziness come over her.
On the same timeline, Rick had led her, Carl, and everyone in their group from the quarry camp outside Atlanta to the desperate nursing home, through the explosion at the CDC, to their brief shelter at Greene Farm, and then to the prison they were now struggling to build up.
They had been driven from place to place, scarred and exhausted, fighting almost every day for the most basic survival and safety.
But Morgan and his son had chosen another path.
They had also met Calista, and then they had come here.
Look at Duane. His face did not have the premature wariness that lived in Carl's eyes. He had grown up relatively normally in the apocalypse, taking care of animals and living a peaceful life.
A complicated feeling rose in Lori's chest.
If they had made a different choice back then, would they have...
She shook her head and pushed away that disloyal thought.
Rick was already exhausted. He was a qualified husband and father. He had made the best choices he could, and he had protected them all.
"Don't you two need to go to school? Or... attend classes?" Lori changed the subject, thinking of the story sessions Carol organized at the prison.
At first, the story sessions had only Sophia and Carl. Later, Liz and Mika joined in, and now there were a few more children too.
Maybe in that regard, the prison was a little better than Rock Fortress. Rock Fortress was huge, after all, with so much work to do that even the children had their own tasks and could not study.
Thinking of that, Lori felt a subtle sense of balance return.
Little Jimmy and Duane looked at each other, their expressions a little odd.
Duane said, "Today counts as a practical class for us. We've been learning livestock raising lately, but the two of us already know how to do it, and we passed the assessment. So today we don't have to go to the classroom. We can come straight here to work and earn points."
"Classroom? Points? Assessment?" Lori caught several unfamiliar words in a row.
"Yeah. Blackberry Ranch has a school and a library, over by the Blackberry Hotel. There are tons of books in the library, all rescued from the UTK library in Knoxville and nearby high schools.
Residents can borrow them for free with their ID wristbands," Little Jimmy said, rattling it off easily. "We have math, language arts, biology, history, and practical skills classes.
Before, it was only Jim, and he had to teach several subjects by himself. Now there are a few more teachers..."
Duane nodded hard. "Right. Jim used to be a biology teacher, and he always used practical skills class to teach biology. Back then, he taught almost everything by himself. Now what we learn is much more balanced, and there are more subjects too."
Little Jimmy added, "Base points are earned by working. Taking care of animals, farming, patrolling, helping with construction, even organizing books in the library can earn points.
Points can be exchanged for extra daily necessities, like better soap, snacks, new clothes, or access to especially valuable books and materials. You can also save them up for better housing.
I noticed Oak has been earning a lot more points since he started handling newcomer screening and coordination. He's already moved out of the shared dormitory and into his own cabin."
A complete, well-functioning social system.
Not the family-style model at the prison, held together by emotional bonds, but a community with clear rules, incentives, and a path upward.
Lori fell silent.
She thought of the prison. Aside from attending story sessions, Carl and Sophia spent most of their time practicing with weapons, patrolling, or playing. Their education was fragmented, random, and entirely focused on survival.
Here, however, the children were learning systematically, preparing for a more complex, more "normal" society.
This was not merely a gap in strength. It was a gap between stages of development.
"Do you... like it here?" Lori finally asked softly.
Duane nodded hard. "It's really good here. It's safe, everyone has work to do, and there are things to learn.
Calista said we need to become strong, not just so we can fight walkers, but so we can remember who we used to be and who we can still become."