Chapter 1

So here we are again. After all this time I've kept you waiting. You've returned to hear more of this story, haven't you? Eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the lives of these ridiculous survivors. Well I've been busy compiling a string of events that someone could quite possibly call a "story". That's what you want, isn't it?

So we left off with Law getting roped into something by Baby. Remember that from the epilogue? Of course you do, you've been reading and rereading your favorite story over and over again for all these months, right? So we'll pick up some time after that. About three months after that, actually. So, for clarification's sake, this is now a full year since the events before the epilogue. For all of you keeping track. Six years since Zombie Day, making everyone a year older by now.

I care about these kinds of details and you should too.

Summer was on the verge of giving way to autumn, meaning cooler nights, which meant Nami more often than not fell asleep and awoke to the warm sensation of her boyfriend clinging to her. His lanky arms wrapped around her frame, her head tucked neatly into his chest. This morning was no different. The rising sun peeked through her curtains, dimly illuminating her- THEIR bedroom. All this time and she still wasn't used to saying it, but it made her chest tingle every time she corrected herself.

She stirred awake, blinking her eyes to adjust to the light, bringing herself back to the waking world. She turned her head slightly. Luffy was already awake, watching her with his wide, curious eyes. He grinned, reflecting the smile spreading across her own face.

"Were you watchin' me sleep…?" She murmured.

He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers, a soft morning kiss, making her giggle quietly.

"You just looked so peaceful," he responded. His arm moved down from its position, wrapped around her chest, to her stomach, gently caressing the round baby bump. "I like when you sleep peacefully. It's how I know nothing's wrong."

She eased herself to sit up, laughing. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"I don't know! I don't know how babies work, I don't know if it hurts or anything!" Luffy protested.

Nami raised her hand, gently stroking Luffy's cheek. "Nothing hurts, and nothing is ever wrong as long as I'm with you…"

Luffy smiled at her, then closed his eyes and began leaning in for another kiss. Nami followed suit, closing her eyes, pursing her lips, and pressing against him. She could feel his warmth as his arm hooked around her back to support her and pull her closer.

And then Nami's eyes snapped open. She gasped sharply, sputtering long orange hair out of her mouth and sat up with a snap. She was still in her room. Her room, only her room. She patted to her side, groping around for anyone next to her, and finding her bed unoccupied, save for herself. She flung the covers off of her body and frantically patted at her stomach. She exhaled a more dramatic sigh of relief than was probably appropriate. Her stomach was still flat as it should be, nothing growing inside of it.

"Oh thank God…" She muttered, dropping flat on her back and staring up at the ceiling. "What the FUCK."

Then came the sudden rapid-fire pounding at her bedroom door, making her yelp and scramble out of bed.

"NAMIIII! NAAAAAMIIIIIII! WAKE UUUUUUP! WE GOTTA GOOOOOOO!"

It was the voice from her dream, albeit far more excited and childish than the smooth-talker her mind had somehow conjured up. Luffy had a unique ability, a power that could only be used for evil. He would be awake whenever it was most inopportune for other people. If they were on a schedule, or needed an early morning, he would be in a comatose state of sleep and not even gunfire and the guttural gurgling of zombies could stir him from his rest. If it was a rare morning where Nami could afford to sleep in, Luffy would be wide awake at the crack of dawn, oblivious to the commotion he would make in her vicinity. This was one reason they did not sleep together often.

The other reason, of course, was that Nami still lived at home with her mother and seriously how lame would that be. Come on.

When Nami opened her bedroom door, Luffy's wild, grinning face stirred up memories of the warm smile from her dream. Even he could see the haunted look on her face and his grin vanished.

"What's wrong? You not feeling well?"

It's definitely not morning sickness, her mind snarked at her. "I'm fine. Just… Egh, what time is it?"

"It's time to go! We got a big trip ahead!" He grabbed her hand as he bounded into her room, twirling her around and then pulling her in for an excited kiss. "You're all packed, right!?"

"Yeah I am. Wait, are you?" She had to ask, because it would be just like him to get so worked up making sure she was prepared that he would completely forget to take care of himself.

He rolled his eyes, slightly offended at her innocent question. "Yeah! Duh! Of course I'm all set! I made sure I grabbed ALL my snacks! And my bat! I'm good to go!"

She nodded, taking his hands to make sure he would keep his attention on her. "And clothes? You packed up those too, right?"

He shrugged, "Yeah I made some room for those too," he said dismissively.

Nami still gave him a suspicious eye, but when he didn't flounder like he usually did when he was caught in a lie, she dropped the issue. "I'm gonna clean up, then. Can you bring my stuff downstairs?" She gestured to the suitcases packed and strewn about her bedroom floor.

Luffy gave her an overzealous salute. "Yes Ma'am!" He barked, stepping past her, giggling the whole time. Clearly he was more excited about whatever they were packing up for than she was.

Which is something I'm sure you're all wondering about. So now would be a good time to cover that, eh?

So things had been going well between Hancock and Bellemere. Really well. While we were off watching Luffy and Nami fumble around a relationship, the two leaders were hashing out arrangements. It turns out Bellemere's tobacco was pretty well received amongst Hancock's people. Which meant more frequent shipments going out to DC. Which meant Hancock and Bellemere were meeting up more often.

Normally this would be a good thing. But driving from Boston to DC can be hell of exhausting for whoever is making the trip. Considering they were making the trip a few times a month, you can understand people would eventually start grumbling about being the one who had to make the deliveries or pickups. So Bellemere and Hancock hatched a plan. They would set up an outpost, an area between both settlements that would serve as a dropoff/pickup location for supplies.

This new outpost would serve additional benefits beyond cutting each settlement's drive time in half. The outpost would be on neutral grounds for both of them, meaning they both got a decent territorial expansion out of the deal. Claiming new territory meant it couldn't go to any rival faction. Because they claimed dibs on it already. Even in the post-apocalypse, dibs remained a solid pillar of civilization. It could serve as a trading outpost too. Any traveling group looking to reach the ocean could stop there and barter for supplies.

Of course, outposts don't just spring up overnight. The two lady-leaders agreed to set up in a cul-de-sac in New Jersey, which, yes, is what was being built in the epilogue. Assembling the sheet metal walls that served as perfect zombie deterrents was the brunt of the work. Then there was reestablishing plumbing, installing the requisite generators and solar panels, and of course, deciding who would make the move to live in the outpost.

They decided that six from each group would be enough to maintain the outpost, as well as keep things fair and balanced. It should be pretty clear at this point who Bellemere's six were. Luffy volunteered before anyone else could, which meant Nami naturally wanted to go with him. Despite her mother's protests.

It didn't take long for him to subsequently convince Robin, Coby, and Vivi to come along. Their sixth would be a volunteer. Sanji, having seen the kinds of ladies that Hancock had under her rule, jumped at the chance to live with them in a relatively secluded area. On top of that he was a damn fine cook and was strong as an ox, so at least he'd be useful.

Today happened to be the day that both crews would set out from their settlements to start their new lives. So with all that exposition out of the way, let's check in on someone else. Vivi and Coby were loading up the last of their own suitcases and cardboard boxes. When Coby slammed the trunk closed, they heard a wobbling voice from behind them. "Oh, I know we just started getting to know each other, but I'm going to miss you two!"

Standing in the driveway was their neighbor, a single mother named Makino who had just been the sweetest woman to the young couple. She had helped them get settled in when they first arrived and now she was watching them go.

Coby laughed sheepishly. "Ah, it's not like we're never coming back! You'll see us again, Makino, I promise."

"You'd better keep that promise! I'm losing my two favorite babysitters! Just be careful out there, hm?" She leaned in and wrapped both of them up in a hug. "I'd be devastated to learn something happened to you out there. I don't know why you want to go in the first place!"

"It's Luffy. He can be… persuasive," Coby said. Vivi nodded, agreeing.

"Once he sets his mind on something, it's best to not fight him on it. But I am pretty excited! I want to see what this outpost looks like!" She said, bouncing on her heels. Makino broke the hug only to frown at the two of them.

"An outpost in New Jersey is no place to raise a family, that's all I'm saying."

Vivi was still smiling. "We'll see what it's like when we get there. Thank you for everything, Makino."

There was one final check of the house to make sure everything was cleared out, and then they were pulling out of the driveway with Makino waving them off. Their next stop was Nami's house to meet up with the others.

Bellemere had Nami in a hug like an octopus with its favorite teddy bear in seven of its tentacles and its favorite knife in the eighth. You knew eventually it would let the teddy bear go, but trying to force it away would end with you screaming "Oh God oh God it stabbed me it fucking stabbed me help please someone".

"You be safe out there. You be safe and smart and you don't take any risks and if things start looking too dicey there's no shame in being a coward and running home," Bellemere was repeating as Nami tried in vain to pull away from her mother.

"I know. Mom, it's a day's drive away. It's not that far and there's gonna be walls and other people. It's not like when I was on the road, this'll be way safer."

"And you're sure about all this? You're absolutely positive that you really want to go and you aren't just doing this to fill some kind of… obligation or something? Because I don't care, this is one job you can skip out of."

Nami managed to look halfway over her shoulder, to Luffy piling up suitcases in the back of a van. Robin, Sanji, Coby, and Vivi were waiting with their own pair of vans, already loaded up and parked in the street in front of Bellemere's house. Ready to hit the road as soon as Luffy and Nami were loaded up. "Yeah, Mom. I'm sure. I want to do this."

Bellemere sucked in a breath and finally, finally let go of Nami. "Well… You know you can always come back and we can send someone else to fill your post," she said, more for her own sake than Nami's.

"And that goes for all of you!" She announced, pivoting on her heels and casually passing Nami off to her sister for their goodbye. "Vivi, when you end up pregnant, you can come back here. Your house'll be here waiting for you."

Vivi saluted and nodded. "Thank you, ma'am! Take care while we're gone!"

"Nami, when you end up pregnant, you come back home too," Bellemere said, briefly turning back to her daughters.

Nojiko tried her hardest to stifle her laughter while Nami turned a deep shade of red. "OH MY GOD MOM THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN."

"Yeah-huh sure," was all Bellemere said. "And Robin-"

"If I end up pregnant, I think every one of us is going to be surprised," she responded with her signature sly grin.

Luffy finished loading up the van and ambled his way over to say goodbye to Bellemere's family as well. His goodbye hug with Bellemere went well enough, but it was Nojiko who maybe grabbed him a little too tight. Like around the neck. It was less of a hug and more something like a chokehold.

"You take care of my baby sister, right?" She asked in a non-threatening but still absolutely threatening way.

Luffy nodded as best a person could when another person has their arm around their neck. "Y-yeah. of course. Wh-why wouldn't I?"

"I mean it. You look after her. If you hurt her, I'm coming for your ass."

He struggled against her, trying to push her away to no avail. "I-I won't. I'm not going to- Why would I hurt her?!"

Nojiko loosened her grip on him and grinned when he stared confused at her. Her grin flashed to a scowl and she pointed her fingers to her eyes, then back to him. Then the smile came back.

Luffy quickly decided the best course of action would be to get to the van as fast as possible. Nami was already in the driver's seat because there was no way in hell anyone would ever let Luffy take control of an automobile. Nami noticed how unnerved her boyfriend was as he buckled up. The end of the world is no excuse for not using your seatbelt. "Everything cool?"

"Your family is weird," was all he said. His eyes looked rather haunted, though.

Nami pursed her lips and shrugged. "Yeah, but we've been dating for a year. I would've thought you'd figured that out by now."

Sanji honked his horn, starting the engine of his van with Robin sitting in the passenger seat next to him. "Let's go, Nami! We'll never get there without your guidaaance~!" He called out in a singsongy voice he used as his form of flirting.

Nami pulled out of the driveway, waving and calling out last-minute goodbyes to her family, the two of them responding in kind. The three of them proceeded through the subdivision, Nami's van in the lead, like a really lame, super short parade until they reached the front gates. There, Nami leaned out of her window and called up to the current watchman. "AHOY THERE, USOPP! LOWER THE DRAWBRIDGE SO WE MAY JOURNEY TO NEW LANDS!"

"AYE M'LADY!" Came a voice from above. Usopp waved back from the balcony that Nami had previously been working at every single morning. She wasn't going to miss working guard duty, but she would miss all the quality time with her sister.

"CAVENDISH! OPEN THE GATES, OUR PRINCESS AND HER ENTOURAGE MUST LEAVE OUR KINGDOM AT ONCE!" Usopp continued, signalling his partner on the balcony with as much showmanship as he could muster.

"By your command, I sh-... Wait." Cavendish peered over the wall, breaking character for a moment. "Hold on, we got a few clawing at the door." He gestured to Usopp and then pointed down where he was looking.

"Ah, yeah, I see 'em. I got it," Usopp said, reaching into his back pocket for his slingshot, sliding a black ball into the pouch and pulling back.

Usopp was blessed with the upper body strength and eagle-eye vision to be an expert sharpshooter. He was also a resourceful man. He would rather spend retrievable ammo than waste a bullet, especially since he was also one of the guys who ran the bullet presses in the town. Instead, he'd use a slingshot and a collection of heavy black marbles to dispose of zombies from a distance. Enough power behind a shot could easily penetrate an undead's squishy rotted skull and when the coast was clear, Usopp could hop down and get his shots back.

So Nami and her party waited patiently for Usopp to clear said coast. She drummed the steering wheel while Usopp took one shot, then another… Then another… In the van behind her, Sanji rolled the window down so he could light up a cigarette.

A few more shots and he and Cavendish nodded at each other. "Alright, that takes care of that. Where were we? Oh yeah. OPEN THE GATE!"

"OPENING THE GATE!" Cavendish responded, pressing the garage door opener with a dramatic flourish, activating the mechanism that allowed them to leave Funkytown.

"THANK YOU! MAY WE MEET AGAIN!" Nami waved as she drove underneath the balcony. Usopp and Cavendish waved back at the entourage.

"GOODBYE, LORDS AND LADIES! GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY! FARE THEE WELL!" The two of them watched until the vans were out of sight, and similarly Nami watched from the rear-view mirror until her town's gates were gone.

"And that's it…" She said to her co-pilot, who already had his feet on the dashboard. "Next stop, Little Garden Outpost…"