Survival Guide: To Surviving the Living Dead 101

Rule #22

Enjoy Your Life

Even in this world you should still be able to enjoy your life, especially if you're safe for the time being. That doesn't mean you stop being on guard because you always should be. But enjoying life won't hurt as long as you're being responsible about it.

That's what we're able to do now. After we beat the governor. Of course he got away but we were able to beat him and anyone that was left behind at Woodbury was welcomed into the prison.  We had more cell blocks cleared along with more of the prison. We had a kitchen set up outside in the courtyard for everyone. That's where Carol liked to be, cooking whatever Daryl had brought back from hunting. We haven't had any kind of accidents for the past 30 days.

When we would come across someone or a group of people we would ask them three simple questions before we decided to let them come back to the prison. Number one, how many walkers have you killed? Number two, how many people have you killed?, and Number three, why? We needed to make sure they could contribute to the group, that they wouldn't be a threat.

We also have a council now. Me, Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Hershel, and Sasha. Rick took off from being the leader and bow does nothing but farm. He took his and Carl's guns, put them in a safe box, and buried them. Things are a lot different and honestly it's for the best. Rock was starting to lose himself so we agreed when he said he was done. Hershel taught him how to plant seeds and how to take care of them. We even have pigs and chickens. Along with a couple horses. It was turning into a real home.

Things between me and Daryl have gotten a little awkward. We were like teenagers having a crush for the first time. He finally moved into a cell which was right next to mine. Everyone had sheets hanging in front of their doors for more privacy. When out on runs if we found anything we liked we stuffed it in our bags so our cells were more homey. Daryl of course didn't have much in his cell. He had extra arrows and some things that he found he liked but it was simple.

Tomorrow we would be going out on a run to Big Spot about forty minutes from the prison. I was standing by the fence looking at the walkers that had accumulated over night. They were pushing on the fence. And with all the weight the fence was starting to push inwards. We needed to get rid of them before they took it down completely. It seemed more and more walkers appeared overnight. "Whatcha doin out here?" I jumped at the gruff voice that came up beside me.

"Just watching as more and more walkers show up at our fences. We should just go out there and draw them away somehow. Lead them far from the prison and take care of them." Daryl hummed in agreement. "Have you eaten'?" He asked. I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Not yet. But I will. Have you eaten today?" I asked. The corner of his mouth twitched upward. "Not yet. But I will." I rolled my eyes and huffed a laugh. "Come on then. Let go eat," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the little kitchen area outside.

"We brought in a few new people today," Daryl said. We had gotten our bowls of stew Carol had made for dinner with the deer meat Daryl drought back this morning. "Oh Yeah? How many?" I asked. "Five. Two men and two women and a teenage girl around Carl's age." I nodded my head taking a bit of stew. "Oh, my god! YN Grimes?" My shoulders tensed at the high pitched voice that I used to hear in my nightmares. I turned my head to see none other than my high school bully Carrie Holstein.

Carrie was the head cheerleader, head bitch, most popular and rich girl in Kings County High School. She was what every guy wanted and what every girl wanted to be. Well besides me. I fucking hated her back then and still do. She made me her prime target all through high school. She would trip me and knock my books out of my hands. She once spilled her smoothie all over me "by accident". Or at least that's what she says. I was so happy when we finally graduated and she moved to California for college. Question is, why the hell was she here in Georgia and not California?

I stood up and looked at her. "Carrie Holstein. You look–" I didn’t get to finish before she talked over me and I guess that's a good thing. "Amazing? Just because I'm in a world full of the walking dead doesn't mean I can't look good. And you… you look… just the same ad when I saw you last time. When was it?" She had that fake smile on her face that made want to feed her to the walkers. "Graduation. We saw each other at graduation like nine years ago."

"What did you do after that? Did you go to college? Get married? Have any kids?" She asked. "I joined the police force with my brother and Shane." She nodded her head like she cared. Then she looked over at Daryl who had come over to stand beside me. "And who might this be?" She asked, checking him out. My nails dug into the palms of my hands. "This is Daryl Dixon. He's part of the council here at the prison. He's also the hunter who brought that deer back this morning when your group came in."

"So are you two a thing?" She asked without taking her eyes off of Daryl. "Umm…" how was I supposed to answer that? We technically weren't a couple. "We're friends?" I said, looking up at Daryl who just bit his bottom lip. "Very very good friends. We've known each other since the beginning. We've been through a lot together." Carrie hummed and smiled. "Good to know." Daryl shifted on his feet. "Well, I'll see you later Mr. Dixon," She said with a wink before walking off and making sure she had a swing to her hips.

"Who the hell was that?" Daryl asked. "My high school bully. Honestly, I'm surprised she even survived." I watched her from across the courtyard. She kept looking over here at Daryl smirking. "I don't like her," Daryl grunted and I snorted. "Me either. Wanna go kill some walkers on the fence and pretend it's her?" I asked. He smirked, "let's go."