Deciding that we needed to talk about what had happened, we all took a seat in the games room. Carol Judith and Sophia sat on a cushiony armchair, Glenn Maggie and Michonne sat on the larger bottle green sofa, Karen sat on the floor facing them with her back rested against the pool table, and Daryl held Jasper as he paced the floor trying to get him to fall asleep. We had found some regular paracetamol which we crushed up and mixed in with some juice for him. His temperature was under control, but we knew he needed proper medicine to rid him of whatever he had.

Carl stood with his hands on the mantlepiece above the fireplace, staring into the warm crackling fire we had produced. This place had even come stocked with firelighters miraculously , and the room was now starting to heat up, banishing any frost that had hung in the air. If we hadn't come across this place, we would have either starved to death, frozen to death, or been attacked out in the open.

Standing suddenly, Glenn muttered that he was going out. He looked uncomfortable sitting next to a cosy fire, while thoughts about what had happened raced through his mind. I knew what he was feeling, because I felt the same. It seemed wrong to be relaxing beside a fire, in the safety of a fully stocked cabin. I felt like we should have been sleeping on the ground of a forest, cold hungry and desperate for a break. It felt like we had gotten this place far too easy, almost like we didn't deserve it.

''You can't go out alone, it'll be dark soon'', Maggie informed him sternly.

''I'll be back before then.'', he assured her, before he disappeared to clear the doorway. Following him, we could hear Maggies voice from the hallway, speaking quickly as she tried to persuade him to stay.

''I want a few minutes alone. I can take care of myself'', he said in what I'm sure was supposed to be a calm rational manner, but came across as condescending. A few moments later, the front door shut, and Maggie returned to her seat on the sofa, throwing death glares at Karen.

''I think we should take a vote'', Karen spoke, breaking the silence. Glancing over at her, her pale face was illuminated by the red glow of the fire. We hadn't bothered to turn on the lights because it would have lit the house up like a christmas tree, showing anyone who was lurking nearby that we were here. We had even contemplated not lighting the fire, but it was so cold that we couldn't risk hypothermia. At least the smoke rising from the chimney would be a tad bit less obvious than a fully lit up house.

''A vote on what?'', Maggie snapped, still sour over their argument they had experienced earlier.

''We need someone in charge'', Karen rolled her eyes as she threw down her bloodied towel that had stopped the bleeding from the gnash on her arm. Carl sighed loudly, and took Judith upstairs to put her down for a nap. He wasn't amused at the thought of us electing a leader…Maybe because to him, that meant we were replacing his father.

''Is this your way of saying you want to be head of the group?'', Maggie laughed, clearly not on board with the notion.

''No, but we do need someone to guide us. Someone who knows how to handle things, to keep us all in check…I was thinking Daryl could do it. After all, he was closest to Rick, he must have learned a bit from him'', she suggested. Daryl stopped his pacing, and stared intently at Karen.

''I aint being no goddamned leader. I got enough on my hands'', He mumbled, shifting Jaspers weight so he was holding him in one arm.

''Fine, then maybe not you, but we need someone to take order. You all know we do. Otherwise the fighting that exploded earlier will be the first of many. It's human nature to snap at each other every now and again when you live so closely with a group of people, but we need someone to sort things like that out.'', Karen said steadily. She had given a lot of thought to the topic clearly.

''It mightn't be such a bad idea, taking a vote'', Carol agreed softly. Although I didn't want to side with Karen, it was the best idea that we had.

''We need to keep things in order… Without rules and jobs for us to do, we'll mess up somewhere along the line'', Maggie said mechanically, the flickering fire reflected in her glazed over eyes. I glanced up at Daryl who had resumed his pacing. Watching over the group, he shook his head in disagreement, but didn't speak a word.

''Then we'll take a vote'' , mused Karen as she disappeared into the kitchen momentarily, returning with a notepad and a few pens. Handing out a sheet of paper to each person, she passed around pens.

''Just write down the name of whoever you think would be the best person to run things. Someone who'll take charge of a situation, help plan our moves, and someone to speak on our behalf, should we ever run into strangers. '', she muttered as she scribbled down a name.

''What about Glenns vote?'', Maggie asked, staring around at us.

''Yours can count for both of you'', I smiled at her, as she nodded furrowed her brow, trying to think of who Glenn would choose. Folding my piece of paper in half, I tossed in into the middle of the floor, going to Daryls side. Holding my arms out, I told him to go vote. Placing Jasper into my outstretched arms, Daryl thanked me as he moved to take my seat and write a name. Glancing down at the half asleep child, I smiled at his confused expression. He was on the brink of sleep, but was aware that I was a stranger as his heavy eyes watched me curiously. After a few minutes of serious thinking, pens gliding across paper, and glances at eachother, we were almost finished.

''Carl, can you come down please?'', I called up the stairs. He was the last one left to cast his vote, yet I felt horrible asking him to do it. Traipsing down the creaking steps, he stopped in front of me, cast a look of defeat around the room.

''You'd know better than anyone, who your dad would have trusted'', I whispered to him as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

''I still think we should just all look out for each other , we don't need-'', He began.

''Carl, of coarse we're all going to look out for one another. We need someone to go to who knows what to do when times get tough. Your father was the glue that held all of us together, and you know that. No matter who we choose, they could never replace him. We would have never gotten this far without him'', I told him, letting him know that we weren't trying to replace his father. We were trying to find a way to continue without him, not forget about him. Understanding that this was important, he nodded and took the pen and paper off me. Without giving it any thought, he wrote a name.

''Don't you want to think about it for a little bit?'',I asked him cautiously. Shaking his head once, he thrust the crumpled up piece of paper into my hands.

''That's who he would have chosen'', He said simply, returning to his bedroom and his sleeping sister.

Turning it over and over in my hand, I was curious to see who's name he had written, but I decided against it. This vote was supposed to be completely anonymous, so we couldn't argue over who nominated who.

Walking back to the centre of the room, I placed it on the ground with all the others. Deciding that it was time to unfold all the pieces now that we had all voted, Carol kneeled on the wooden panes and began putting each name into it's own pile.

''Well, it's a pretty obvious answer. Five for Michonne and four for Daryl'', Carol announced after a few seconds. Turning to Michonne, I smiled at her shocked expression. I had been one of the five who had voted for her, and for a damned good reason. She was tough but caring, she had been close to Rick and he had trusted her on numerous occasions. She had never shown fear or hesitation when her help was needed. She was fierce. Apart from Daryl, she was the obvious choice. She didn't say a word, I think she was too taken aback that we had chosen her to say anything. Nodding once to show that she accepted, she sat back in her chair, and a small smile played around her lips. We were all pleased with the outcome, and it felt like a little order had been restored.

Moving to Daryl, I handed Jasper back over to him, careful not to wake him.

''Strange name, Jasper'', I remarked stretching out my arm which had gone dead from the weight of the baby. Although small, he was pretty heavy.

''Mm'', he agreed, tucking him into the crook of his arm.

''Are you disappointed?'', I asked him referring to the vote.

''Hell no, she's the best one for the job, I think everyone apart from her knew that. I just can't believe that four people thought that I could do it… feels good to know that people like you'', He said smiling ever so slightly. Brushing a stray strand of hair away from his eyes, I tapped on the tip of his nose.

''Don't be stupid, of course everyone here likes you'', I told him. Looking down at me, he tilted his head.

''Everything been a bit….ugh , lately'', he remarked, and I noted how tired he looked. We were all worn and run down both emotionally and physically, but he looked particularly bad.

''I know, but that'll all change now. We'll make it work'', I assured him, taking his one free hand in mine. We shared a brief moment where we both just connected. Without using any words, we mutually understood each other, and let go of everything that had happened between us. Carefully not to tip off Jasper and wake him up, I leaned in and kissed Daryl lightly, grinning at his stubble scratching my face. Resting his forehead against mine, he closed his eyes, his lips still stretched into a smile.

Our moment was disrupted by voices being raised behind us, and we both sighed in unison. Conflict was still alive and thriving in our group. Deciding to take Jasper away from the ruckus, Daryl hurried up the stairs and shut himself into a room. Turning on my heel, I tried to figure out who had started it this time.