The compound erupted into chaos in the middle of the night.
Men poured out of the building with rifles in hand, only to find the main gate wide open, several walkers already wandering into the courtyard, and two motorcycles disappearing down the road.
“Son of a bitch!
We got robbed?” someone shouted in disbelief, the humiliation in his voice almost louder than his anger.
After stealing from other people, their own camp had just been hit the same way.
One of the men suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.
“Hold on.
You smell that?” Several others followed the sharp odor toward the line of parked vehicles, where liquid had spread across the pavement beneath the cars.
A cigarette butt smoldered nearby, its ash glowing faintly in the dark.
“Gasoline!” someone yelled.
“They hit the fuel tanks!”
The warning came too late.
A spark dropped onto the spilled fuel, and flames raced beneath the vehicles almost instantly.
Men stumbled backward shouting as fire spread from one car to the next, followed seconds later by a violent explosion that shook the courtyard.
More blasts followed, lighting the compound in orange as walkers continued stumbling through the open gate.
Farther down the road, Merle’s laughter rose over the sound of the engines.
“Hahahaha!
Did you see that?” He pushed his recovered motorcycle harder while Daryl, riding beside him, laughed far more openly than Magnus had ever heard before.
Both bikes were still covered in the thieves’ ridiculous spray-painted designs, but neither Dixon seemed to care at the moment.
Magnus rode behind Merle and glanced back toward the distant glow.
The compound was already disappearing behind the trees, leaving only smoke and fire against the night sky.
A soft system notification sounded inside his head before glowing text appeared across his vision.
[Apocalypse Quest Completed]
[Motorcycles Successfully Recovered]
[Quest Reward Acquired: Cigar]
[Cigar: Strength +1 while equipped]
Magnus raised an eyebrow at the reward.
The system had once again translated a real-world problem into 7 Days to Die mechanics, and apparently completing recovery jobs could provide actual game rewards.
He stored the Cigar away for later and tightened his grip as Merle accelerated again.
For now, getting back to the farm before sunrise mattered more.
By the time the three returned, the eastern sky had begun turning gray.
Their trip had only produced one additional rifle and the two recovered motorcycles, but the result meant far more to Daryl and Merle than the equipment itself.
Magnus had promised to help recover their bikes, then followed through while striking back at the people responsible.
The way both brothers looked at him afterward carried noticeably more respect than before.
Merle climbed off his motorcycle and immediately threw an arm across Magnus’s shoulders.
“You should’ve seen those cars, baby brother!
Flames damn near reached the trees, and then—boom!” He mimicked an explosion with both hands and started laughing again.
Daryl glanced toward the Greene farmhouse, where several people were already looking in their direction, and quickly shoved Merle’s arm down.
“Idiot.
Keep your damn voice down.”
“What are you scared of them for?” Merle grumbled, though his voice dropped almost immediately.
Daryl gave him a hard look.
“Don’t make trouble for Magnus after he got us our bikes back.” The comment surprised Magnus slightly, but he said nothing.
Daryl was clearly thinking beyond his own anger now.
“Both motorcycles are back, so get some sleep,” Magnus told them as he handed Andrea her SUV keys.
“And remember the deal with Hershel.
Once you wake up, you two still owe him hunting.” Daryl gave a short nod and headed toward the tents, while Merle muttered something about needing whiskey before following him.
Magnus watched them go with a faint smile.
Amy stepped closer and looked between Magnus and the vandalized motorcycles.
“Where did you guys go?” she asked curiously.
Magnus glanced toward Andrea before answering.
“Let’s just say we recovered some property and left a very memorable goodbye.” He pointed toward the ruined paint jobs on the motorcycles, and Andrea understood enough not to press further.
She had seen enough since Atlanta to know that some problems couldn’t be handled the way people would have handled them before the outbreak.
Hershel wouldn’t approve of what they had done, and telling him would accomplish nothing except start another argument.
Andrea simply nodded, accepting that some details were better kept within their own group.
“You want breakfast?”
She lifted a pot filled with cereal and fresh milk.
“Otis brought it over this morning.
Payment for some of the meat from yesterday.” Magnus immediately accepted the pot and ate quickly, surprised by how satisfying something so simple could feel.
Fresh milk had become a luxury almost overnight, and his Strength-focused fighting style made keeping his Food meter filled increasingly important.
When he finished, Magnus rubbed his stomach and released a satisfied breath into the cool morning air.
He had slept most of the previous day before the motorcycle raid, so despite staying awake all night, he still felt energetic.
“Everything quiet while we were gone?” he asked.
“Any walkers around camp?”
Amy shook her head.
“Nothing happened.
Andrea and I slept in the same tent, and honestly, I haven’t seen her sleep that peacefully in a long time.” She leaned closer to Magnus and lowered her voice conspiratorially.
“She was even talking in her sleep.
Something about being glad you showed up.”
Andrea’s eyes narrowed.
“Amy.”
The younger sister grinned.
Andrea reached over as though she was going to smack her lightly.
“Keep talking and I’ll tell him who keeps mentioning Magnus every five minutes and—” Amy immediately turned red and clapped both hands over Andrea’s mouth before she could finish.
Magnus watched the two sisters struggle for a moment and shook his head.
Andrea’s feelings were easy enough to understand.
Magnus had kept Amy alive during the quarry attack, so gratitude was natural.
Amy herself seemed more openly attached, but Magnus wasn’t interested in reading too much into every smile or joke after only a few days together.
They had more important things to worry about.
“All right, enough,” Magnus said, standing up.
“I’m going to check the area and gather a few things for camp.
When those two wake up, send them hunting instead of letting them spend all day admiring their motorcycles.” Andrea nodded while Amy finally released her sister.
Magnus had barely started walking when Hershel approached from the farmhouse and fell into step beside him.
The older man had clearly been waiting for an opportunity to speak privately.
Magnus glanced sideways at him and smiled.
“Morning walk, Hershel?”
Hershel ignored the joke.
“You people aren’t going to bring trouble onto my farm, are you?”
Magnus understood immediately.
Hershel hadn’t asked where the three men had gone during the night, nor why the stolen motorcycles had suddenly reappeared covered in graffiti.
He didn’t really want the details.
What he wanted was reassurance that allowing Magnus’s group onto his property wouldn’t put Maggie, Beth, or anyone else in danger.
“Of course not,” Magnus said.
“I told you already.
What’s good for the farm is good for us while we’re staying here.
We’ll protect this place, not destroy it.” Hershel stared into Magnus’s eyes for several seconds, apparently deciding whether the answer was enough.
Eventually, he gave a slow nod and turned back toward the farmhouse.
Magnus watched him leave, and his smile faded.
Hershel wasn’t weak.
He was simply a father trying to keep his family safe while refusing to fully accept how much the world had changed.
Every time he asked Magnus for reassurance, what he really wanted was proof that the old rules still meant something.
Magnus couldn’t give him that, but he could at least keep his word while they shared the farm.
His gaze shifted toward the barn.
Magnus knew what Hershel was hiding inside.
Walkers.
More of them were being locked in there whenever Hershel’s people found one nearby, because he still believed they were sick and might someday be cured.
That made the barn one of the greatest threats on the entire property.
If something went wrong in the middle of the night, Magnus didn’t want his group waking up with walkers already inside their camp.
He picked up the Horse-Bone Sledgehammer and headed into the woods bordering the farm.
The deeper he went, the quieter everything became until only insects and the occasional movement of leaves disturbed the morning.
The terrain was rough and uneven, filled with slopes, roots, and dense vegetation that would make driving through it almost impossible.
Walkers would have trouble moving quickly through the area as well, while horses familiar with the land could still travel without much difficulty.
Magnus stopped and looked around.
A natural barrier.
Not perfect.
But useful.