𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 | 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯 ¹

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆

Chapter Thirty Nine,
One Big Family

THIRTY DAYS had passed since the group's last encounter with the Governor. Rebuilding efforts had surged, new faces had joined their community, and their lives were on an upward trajectory. Bonds had healed, strength had grown, and they had become a tight-knit family.

"Morning, Daryl," Dr. Caleb greeted as Daryl strolled into the picnic area where everyone was enjoying breakfast.

"What's up, Dr. S?"

"Morning, Daryl."

"Hey, Daryl!"

"Smells good," he commented, joining Chloe and Alli at the counter where Mom and Carol were preparing food.

"Just so you know, I liked you first," Carol teased.

"Stop. You know, Rick brought in a lot of them, too," Daryl retorted.

"Not recently. Give the stranger sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love," Carol advised. "Right. I need you to see something. Patrick, you want to take over?"

"Yes, ma'am. Mr. Dixon, I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat, sir. And I'd be honoured to shake your hand," Patrick, a teenage boy, said, causing Daryl to playfully humour him, licking his fingers before the handshake.

"Ew!" Alli exclaimed, making a comical disgusted face.

"If I were you, I would've kicked his ass for it," Chloe told Patrick, who laughed.

"I bet ya would have," Daryl responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Think I won't?"

"Alli, Chloe, you're coming?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, just give me a sec," Chloe said, finishing up what was left on her plate.

"About today, I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run," Carol mentioned as they watched the enormous number of walkers piled outside the fences.

"That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it," Daryl affirmed.

"Yeah. The thing is, we had a pretty big buildup overnight. Dozens more towards tower three. It's getting as bad as last month. They don't spread out anymore."

"With more of us sitting here, we're drawing more of 'em out. You get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up. Pushing against the fences again," Daryl explained.

"It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long. Sorry, Pookie," Carol said, nudging Daryl's elbow.

"Pookie? I like that! Pookie. Pookie, Mr. Pookie what's wrong?" Chloe playfully chimed in.

"Stop it," he said, pushing her away from him playfully as Carol and Alli laughed. "Ya comin' with us on the run?"

"Yeah sure, who's going?"

"Glenn and Zack, was thinking of asking Tyreese and Sasha too," he said, then turned to Alli. "What about ya?"

"I'll stay here; I promised Rick and Dad to help them with farming," she said before walking away.

"Where is Merle?" Chloe asked Daryl.

"With Hershel and yer Dad helping Rick."

"Get that box from over there," Daryl instructed as they loaded up the truck with their equipment.

"Sure, Pookie," Chloe grinned.

"Hey, hey, call me that one more time, and I'll beat yer ass," he warned, grabbing her wrist to stop her from moving too far away.