Surviving The New World (Book Six in the Surviving The Walking Dead Series)

Majority Rules

     The building was quiet as everyone prepared for the council meeting. I made my way upstairs to the bedroom, only to find Daryl sitting on the edge of the bed, sharpening a knife. He barely glanced up at me before returning to the task at hand. "What do ya want?" Daryl asked.

     "To talk." I answered.

     "Come to show off your prosthetic?"

     "No, Anne is makin' me a custom one so it'll fit better, one that allows me to bend my elbow—"

     "One that'll hold your fuckin' bat." I let out a sigh and placed my bag on the bed, opened it up, and pulled Kindness out. I looked it over in silence.

     "It's a good bat, Daryl. Always got me out of a pickle when I needed it to... but I'd rather keep my family together." Daryl looked up at me. "It's an inanimate object, Daryl, it can be replaced... you can't. Regardless how bad I tried to replace you with a Negan in the past, it never worked because there is no replacing you. I'm sorry if I ever made ya feel like ya weren't valuable to me. I love you. Besides these kids, you're the most important person in my life and I don't wanna lose ya, especially over somethin' stupid like this." Daryl didn't respond. I held out Kindness to him. "Do what ya want with it."

     "What?"

     "I want to show ya that I meant every word I said. Burn it, bury it, sell it on the black market, I don't care. Do what ya want with it, I don't need it." A gentle knock echoed off our door. I turned around to see Rick standing in the doorway.

     "I hope I ain't interruptin' anythin'." Rick softly spoke. "We're about to start the meetin'." Rick looked over at the bat briefly before averting his eyes. "Ya went to the Sanctuary?"

     "I needed to get my clothes." I explained. "I thought about turnin' this into an attachment for my prosthetic, but I changed my mind."

     "So, what are ya gonna do with it?"

     "That's up to Daryl." I looked over at Daryl, who hesitated, but finally took it from me and tossed it on the bed.

     "We'll deal with it later." Daryl reassured. "Let's get this meetin' over with." Daryl and I exited the room and followed Rick downstairs to Gregory's office, where the council was waiting to start the meeting. Michonne, Rosita, Maggie, Jesus, MJ, Ezekiel, even Carol and Anne was there.

     "Michaela, this is Cyndie, she's from Oceanside." Rick introduced. Cyndie extended her hand and I shook as I gave her a soft smile. "Alright, everyone here?"

     "This is everyone." Michonne nodded.

     "Alright, So, first on the list is food situation. Where are we at?"

     "Not too good." Maggie answered. "Hilltop is gettin' low, supplyin' for other communities is gettin' harder on us."

     "Have we started our spring crops?"

     "Yeah, we started a few days ago."

     "Okay, I'll have Eugene survey the local map, see where we can go to scavenge. Michaela, ya got knowledge, is there anythin' out there we can live off of until we find us food if need be?"

     "Besides from huntin'?" I asked, earning a nod from Rick. "Morels should be sproutin' soon if they ain't already. Otherwise, there's cattails, parsnip roots, dandelions, burdock, hickory nuts, walnuts, raspberries, blackberries, salmon berries, elderberries—"

     "So, we're good?"

     "Maybe, it depends on if we find any. It's a lot of woods, lot of ground to cover, surely we'll get lucky. Best to find food before we get that desperate, though."