The Remains of Tomorrow #wattys2019

Chapter 14

"Wake up Darlin'." Daryl nuzzled my neck to slowly bring me out of sleep, blinking my eyes I looked up into his cobalt blue ones.

"Morning." Stretching my body I pushed slightly into him, causing him to smirk at me.

"Now ya know we can't do anything, so get yourself up out of bed. Rick is waiting for us." Giving me a nudge he rolled off the bed,

"But its so comfy, can we take it home with us. Do you think Rick can trade something for this mattress?" Sitting up I saw Daryl pulling on his boots, his shoulders shaking as he chuckled at me.

"I don't think the mattress would fit in your trailer Darlin'?" He remarked before standing up to help me up off of the bed,

"But it would fit in your house," I said smiling up at him while he shook his head,

"I don't think I could trade anything for this mattress." Grabbing hold of my hand he entwined our fingers to lead me out of the room.

**

We are currently sat in the auditorium where Rick and the King are talking about trading routes and how we can help each other; suddenly Gerry came up to Daryl and me before pulling us off to the side,

"Rick mentioned that you had cows with you; I was wondering if we could trade a cow and calf for some sheep and pigs?" He asked us as we took a seat on the stone wall outside the building.

"You would really have to talk to Rick about that but I don't see why not? The only thing is we don't have a way to transport them." Gerry looked at me and smiled,

"Oh don't worry about that we have an animal trailer here. If Rick is happy with doing a livestock trade I can follow you with some sheep and pigs, we actually have a lot here." Smiling I looked at him,

"Go and speak to them while they are setting up a trade; I'm sure something can be arranged," I remarked watching as he walked back into the building.

"Sheep and pigs, we haven't had pigs since the prison." Daryl replied as we started to walk around the "market stalls" that had been set up. The kingdom was known for its trading market, people far and wide came to trade their wares for produce, fabric and other essential items.

"I would just be happy for the wool; I think I've nearly picked clean all the surrounding area to get wool for the town. Plus with winter coming we need warm clothes, there is a spinning wheel in storage at Liv's that I picked up a few months ago; we could spin our own yarn." Daryl sat on a bench and patted the seat next to him, indicating for me to sit with him.

"Can I ask you something Kenzie?" Without waiting for an answer he continued, "How do you get so much stuff; a lot of people hunt for food and other essentials. But when you go out you pick up the most obscure things?" Smiling I sat on the bench and stretched my legs out in front of me.

"Well, I think about the long run. This zombie apocalypse isn't going to end any time soon, so we need to be prepared for everything. If we want to survive we need to make sure we have everything we need to live as normal a life as possible." Shrugging, "Plus I am a bit of a hoarder. If I could get a working internet connection I would." Smiling I looked at him, "Did you know that the internet was first invented in the late 1960s, it was originally designed by the department of defense? Before the world went to shit the world wide web was used by everyone, but I would like to think that the DOD would've found a way to keep their network running even while the world around them went to hell. Imagine being able to access CCTV, radio transmissions, networks, and satellites. We could defend ourselves a lot better if we knew what was going on around the world. Eugene found the parts of a CB radio which we could use to communicate with other settlements if there are any who also has a radio; which I'm sure there are as short wave radio has been around since the 1940s. The technology back then was primitive compared to what we had before this shit all happened. So if walkie talkies and CB radio are still around now, imagine what else is there for us to discover." He looked at me with what looked like awe on his face,

"You really know your stuff; what did you do before the world went to hell?" Smiling I picked at a loose thread on my jumper,

"I was a hacker. The technology was my bread and butter." I replied as I sat back against the seat and sighed, "which is why I hope there is something out there to give us some sort of heads up on what is going on in the world." Looking up at the sky I sighed, "there are still satellites up there both military and private, there must be some way to use them. We have electric thanks to the solar panels, I'm hoping with both myself and Eugene we can find a way to use them to our advantage." Daryl scoffed at that causing me to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"That's a pipe dream Darlin', although I have a feeling if there was a way, you and Eugene would find it." Smiling he looked up as Rick approached us with Jesus and Michonne in tow.

"Hey you two, are you ready to leave?" Nodding I stood up from the bench followed by Daryl.

"More that I'll ever be, I need to speak to Eugene about something when we get back." Nodding his head Rick started walking away, so we followed.

"Gerry will follow with the animal trailer, I said that we would take 1 Ram, 4 ewes and 4 pigs for 1 cow and her calf." He said to us as we trail behind him. "It will be nice to have some wool for the winter months." Picking up his walkie he contacted the people in Alexandria, "Spiderman come in. Over." Looking at him I wonder who chose the handle Spiderman until Eugene's voice came over the speakers, I should've known.

"Spiderman here over." Rick looked at me smiling as I started laughing,

"Eugene can you ask the construction guys to clear the field by the church and build a pig sty and pens for animals, we are bringing in livestock." Smiling I nudged Daryl as we were walking towards the car.

"Will do Red leader. Over and out." Smiling we get into the truck to make our way home.

**

"Has anyone seen Eugene?" I asked Carl as we got out of the truck once we were back in Alexandria,

"He is in my house trying to fix the CB radio he found," Carl said just before I started walking towards the two-story home. As I enter I knocked on the door frame lightly,

"Eugene are you here?" Looking up I saw him and Rosita working to fix the CB radio on the table, "How is it going?" I asked sitting on the seat next to them,

"It's going fine, this Radio is a hunka junk but with some fine tuning we will get it working," Eugene says as worked to fit another part to it.

"I need to do a run to the Radio shack in town, do you want to come with me?" I asked him,

"Well I don't know, I'm not so good out there with the dead." He replied looking up at me, "I think it would be better if I stayed here." Shaking my head I gave his shoulder a tap,

"Eugene you are fine out there, I've seen you take out walkers before." He shrugged before he carried on fiddling with the machine. "Rosita how about you?" She smiled and picked up her knife from the table,

"Gladly I can't stick here anymore; I need to get outside the walls." She said as we began to walk out of the house. "What are we looking for?" I looked at her and smiled,

"CCTV, computer parts, BNC cable. Anything I can find really to get a running computer and CCTV to work using the radio signals from the CB." I replied walking quickly to the SUV parked by Ricks house.

"Will, that work? I thought CCTV used an internet connection." Smiling I nodded at her before jumping in the driver's seat,

"Modern CCTV did, but back in the 1960s, they used analog and radio frequencies for it. We need to know what is going on in the surrounding area." Stopping at the gate I saw Rick and Carl talking, "Carl, do you want to come on a run with us?" Looking at his father who nodded at him, Carl jumped in the back seat. "Rick we should be back in a couple of hours." Saluting us he opened the gate so we could make our way to the town.