Outside was the only place big enough for them all to gather for the 'family meeting,' the house wasn't made for sixteen, so they hang around the front porch.
"We gotta start making decisions," Rick says, without preamble. "Winter's not waitin'."
"Yeah, well, I was under the impression we already had a plan." Abraham interjects shortly. "We found your people, then we were gonna go to DC and deal with this goddamned mess."
"It's hard enough here in the cold months without heat and electricity. We're already barely making it for food."
That's what concerns Daryl. There'd been a frost. The woods, even when he was deep in them alone, was quieter in the cold already. It made the walkers louder, but hadn't really slowed them down much yet. Even right now, they were all in layers, hats, double socks in their worn out boots.
They were not prepared at all. They had no means to stay warm aside from fires. Things were going to get difficult, with two kids. Daryl already knew which way he'd vote, if it were stay or go.
"Bein' on the road isn't easy, we've done it a lot. The further north we get, even if walkers freeze at some point, so can we. It'll be harder to hunt with the snow, there'll be less to find. So much of our food is from the woods now. You think the stores up there won't be just as empty? On the road, with an infant? Hungry babies cry."
Eugene speaks before Abraham could finish opening his mouth, "It is logical."
"Oh for Christ's sake, Eugene, I'm really startin' to wonder if you want to do this or not."
Daryl hadn't spared many thoughts for the man before this, he'd been too preoccupied, but this did pique his curiosity. Rather, what really got him was Eugene's reaction: his nervous fingers, somethin' about his eyes. A lil' cagey.
Might be somethin' to that.
"You won't complete the mission if you all die from impatience." Lucky for Eugene, Bob cuts in.
Abraham scoffs, but shuts up for the moment, chomping his frustration out on a cigar. Daryl wished he had a smoke too. He'd have to go lookin' soon.
Diverting the conversation, Glenn asks Rick, "Had any ideas? If we wait to travel...?"
"Some place secure." Rick says, but then hesitates.
Daryl finally offers, "No shortage of prisons in Georgia."
Rick grimaces, Maggie shifts from one foot to the other in Daryl's periphery, and Glenn answers, "I think we all need a break from prisons."
Maggie says, "We do need a fence, though. Or something."
"The forts are probably a bad idea," Rick says, but not totally sure himself. He was looking toward Abraham when he said it, who confirmed:
"The forts are right up the city's ass."
"You'd probably have better luck at historical sites, but we'd have to go to a library to find 'em," Rosita says, like half an apology for Abraham's gruff attitude.
He needs a safer situation for all of them. One of the main problems with feeling stuff for people is all the fear that came with it. How vulnerable you were at all times to being hurt. He knows bad luck, or being lax and distracted for just a night, could absolutely fuck you up, rip a part of you out. It weren't just Beth, either, just that infatuation or whatever. It was most of them; he'd hurt if he lost any one of the prisonfolk.
"Shit," Daryl grumbles, "A fuckin' gated community'd be better'n this."
It was gratifying, at least, that almost all of them seem on a similar page. Daryl's suspicions were already confirmed by how this 'family meeting' was rolling out. It was increasingly obvious Eugene, Rosita and Abraham were the only ones thinkin' they were really going anywhere Rick and them weren't. Two of 'em weren't that solid, either.
Something very quiet in him whispers that Carol was suspiciously silent in this whole conversation.
Tyreese chuckles shortly at Daryl, a quick huff, but without real mirth. "May as well upgrade and go for a mansion. A couple real rich boys had security guard stations at the gate and all that shit."
Mostly joke, he thought, but it's an idea he could chew on. Maybe they could find someplace with a real fireplace; he knew woodstoves were probably pipe dreams, but who knows what them rich folk had in those cavernous places.
"You know where they're at? They far?"
"You still got them maps?"
"So the agreement we made was all smoke up my ass, huh?" Abraham complains, still not letting it go.
"Listen, we gotta be smart about this, smarter than we were before. It's more risk than we need to take, to go now. If we hunker down for a few months, we can leave in a much better spot when spring comes-"
"Or you'll be comfortable by then, with another excuse to stay put. We helped, kept y'all alive too, off on wild goose chases for a lost wife and his girlfriend," he gripes, gesturing in Daryl's direction. "And then a baby, for Christ's sake-"
Daryl considers telling him to shut his big, ginger mouth, but it'll only make more of a deal of it. He restrains himself, cheek bitten hard, hands clenched under crossed arms, forcing himself not to check Beth's reaction. Doesn't really wanna see the others, either, so he keeps his eyes narrowed on Abraham. He wonders why Abraham's so pressed to get on it, if it's like Beth's mission to get a damn drink. Or if he's just deluding himself that the world's new state would actually end easily and quickly, that it could be stopped or reversed. Even aside from whatever shiesty shit is up with Eugene, he'd spent his childhood listening to his dad bitch about the government and then plenty of years with Merle dealin' with the law. Daryl didn't have much faith in authorities fixing shit for them. Maybe for themselves, sure. The CDC was a memory none of them brought up anymore. The idea of going into any city isn't appealing, especially one filled with politicians. He's in no rush.
"Now we gotta get up to DC to fix this whole problem, be global heroes, and then it won't matter what winter is like-"
"You can go," Maggie interrupts, annoyed, clearly piqued by the Greene sisters' mention in his little rant. "You aren't hostage here. But even you know you're stronger and safer with our numbers. You don't know what's waiting for you. Terminus shoulda been your huge flashin' warning sign."
"Indeed." Eugene sneaks in, again, but doesn't offer much more, avoiding Abraham's glare.
Daryl didn't have much interest in listening to more whining. At least he'd seen what he wanted to see with the others. He has a good idea of where most of them were standing now. That was safe, with Rick and the family.
He finally lets himself look over to Beth, even more self-conscious, with Abraham's snarky comment and Rick's brief question still in mind. Him and Beth, sure.
She's on the top step of the porch next to Carl who's rocking Judith back and forth to keep her sleeping. Beth's arms are crossed, too, leaned against the support beam, her eyes in Maggie's direction, but she seems a little disinterested.
If he stares long enough and lets his thoughts wander, he can see her back on the porch of the old farm, like none of this has happened. He misses the place for a moment, hard. It wasn't safe, but it had felt like it to them for a time.
Beth's eyes seem even bigger these days, a strain around them now, and the same dark circles underneath that they all have. She looks exhausted, a little paler and drawn, and older, more than just the couple of years it actually has been. But still. She's a young waif, the poster child of the Good Girl. Blonde, blue eyed, and naïve; the farmer's youngest daughter. She should have been in college and singing in coffee shops he'd never go into.
Len, and Joe, they laugh in his memory, about little'uns. Makes his skin crawl, makes him feel like an asshole for still wanting to go over there and stand close enough to press their shoulders together.
Her eyes cut to him in the middle of these thoughts, and their gazes meet. Her head tilts to the side just slightly, a question.
It makes his neck flush again under his collars, didn't matter how chilly it was out. He feels caught. Then he feels stupid. Is he twelve?
He breaks the eye contact, but it's pulling two magnets apart. He nudges Tyreese with his elbow.
They need to get a move on with things. If they can figure things out on a map, find some places with fences or walls or something to protect them, maybe he'll have somethin' to do tomorrow.
Author's note: I haven't rewatched the episodes yet, but have been thinking about this and couldn't wait. I am not at all sure about my characterizations at the moment, and may end up editing or rewriting this once I do watch it, but I think the basics will remain the same, even if the words change at some point. This chapter was also better the first time around, and the program I use for writing crashed, and took the whole chapter with it. So this is the best I could redo lol, but I was kinda over it. Tbh I could cut this whole chapter out but.. we'll see how things pan out. Thanks to all readers!
2nd note: realized 3 chapters later I was writing in the wrong tense. Fixing that now.