ᴍᴇʟᴏᴅɪᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ

Chapter 27: Step Up

The chairs in the office weren't comfortable: stiff and clad with the toll of time, littered with shreds, fluff spilling out. The office felt desolate with the absence of Marlon's belongings. Rosie lay comfortably in her crate, curled in a tight ball, bathing in her warmth. Aasim and Ruby were the two you wanted to talk to (not in the sense you were about to play matchmaker), they possessed the skills and ideals to facilitate your idea of group leadership. Hence, they sat in front of you. 

You'd explained your idea and they were entirely on board, grateful you selected them. All that was left to do was allocate the chosen survival aspects and let the others know what you had decided. Through deliberation, you concluded there were six factors of survival which needed a spearhead: basic survival (i.e. hunting and defences), negotiations, medicine, the greenhouse, upkeep and weaponry. 

"I'll take medicine and the greenhouse," allocated Ruby, "since they're what I do best."

"Good idea." Praised Aasim, turning to you, "The thing is, I would say Mitch is the perfect person for weaponry but he's... you know..."

"Immature?" You raised a brow. "I know, that's why he's not here. I think you should take weaponry, Aasim; you're responsible." Aasim nodded.

"Negotiations just boils down to the best sweet talker, right?" Checked Ruby, glancing between you for clarification. 

"Kinda. But what if some strangers turn up at our gates, what will we do then? Not to put you in a difficult position, (Y/N), but I'd trust you the most with... outsiders." Said Aasim. "And with Marlon: you were angry. He left you for dead but... you kept a level head and made the best decision you could. Hell, it was a better decision than any of us would've made -  I would've sent him to the walkers."

You nodded. "Thanks."

"What's upkeep about?" Asked Ruby.

"Just making sure everything's in order, we have enough of everything and just overall making sure everything's tidy and organised." You explained.

Ruby looked at Aasim, "That's right up your street."

Smiling, Aasim agreed, "Yeah, I'll take upkeep. The last one's hunting and defences, right? I think it's pretty obvious you should take that, (Y/N), you have more experience than either of us when it comes to things like that - having lived on the road and all. We're safer with you in charge."

You agreed with a quick nod. "The other thing I wanted to talk to you guys about is Marlon,"

"Oh, God." Aasim interrupted in a huff. 

You continued. "We need to decide when to start weaving him back in with everyone else and start helping him atone."

"Well, we're gonna start workin' on our defences sooner or later, maybe we should bring him out to help with that?" Proposed Ruby.

"Yeah, good idea." You chimed.

"Are you sure about this?" Groaned Aasim, "I mean, people aren't just gonna take what he did lightly, you can't just integrate him back and expect everyone to be ok with it."

"I'm not." You stated, "He can do things bit by bit to atone."

"Doesn't mean all the feelings will suddenly go away." Combat Aasim.

"I'm not expecting them to," you said, "things like this take time, and I'm not kicking him out anytime soon." There was a pause, Aasim silent with defeat. "It's summer soon, the animals we catch will barely last a day without beginning to rot; we need to find an alternative. I saw on the map there's a train station nearby, I'll take a group out there tomorrow to see what we can find." You sternly looked at Aasim. "I'll take Marlon with me. If we find something good, people will know he helped out and start welcoming him back. In time, anyway."

"I'll go with you, make sure he doesn't try anything. Plus, you might need an extra hand." Added Aasim. 

"Yeah, nice, I appreciate that." You thanked. "I'll go get Marlon now," you arose, dusting down your legs. "In the meantime, Ruby, do you mind letting everyone know what's going on?"

Ruby stood up, "Of course, I'll do it now."

Aasim followed suit. "I'll go find some bags in case we find anything."

The three of you disbanded, commencing your separate tasks. For once, you felt as if a group would stay together, grateful for the people surrounding you. As you exited, a gentle tap grabbed your attention, "Before you go," Ruby looked up at you sweetly, "um, I was wonderin' if you chose Aasim and I for this for, um... matchmaking purposes...?"

"No." You deadpanned. "No, I'm not that childish." Your harshness dawned upon you, you tried to rectify it with a soft scoff, "Funny coincidence, though." 

Ruby scoffed in kind, "Ha, yeah, it is, isn't it."