At the camp, everyone looked anxious, Dale was still standing on top of the RV trying to see something through his binoculars, but the sun was almost gone.
Amy paced back and forth pestering Dale to check if he could see anything, even Lori had a worried expression, after all, she and Carl depended on him.
...
Meanwhile, before entering the camp, I stopped everyone a kilometer away, took the necessary supplies out of the inventory, and loaded the vehicles with fuel cans and everything we needed.
Once everything was ready, we continued toward the camp, with the engines roaring, we drove in slowly with the trucks sagging under the weight.
The sound of the engines drew everyone's attention, conversations stopped, Dale lowered the binoculars in relief, and Amy ran forward eagerly.
Behind her, Lori squeezed Carl's hand as she exhaled the air she had been holding all day, the sun was almost gone, and the camp turned orange as the trucks stopped in the center.
The doors opened, and everyone's expressions shifted from anxiety to astonishment, inside the stacked crates were bottles of water, canned food, bandages, medicine, and tools.
Everyone froze, with a single glance they understood that those supplies could keep them alive for at least a month, maybe more.
"Holy hell, where did you get all this?" asked Dale, approaching cautiously, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing.
"We got lucky." answered Andrea, glancing at me with a complicit smile, something I pretended not to notice.
Everyone's eyes moved between the crates and us, unsure what to say, Dale was the first to react, he climbed down from the RV and slowly walked toward the vehicles.
He touched one of the boxes and carefully lifted a lid, inside were bottles of water and sealed food packets.
"This is… insane." he murmured, "With this we can survive for weeks."
His reaction was understandable, getting all this out of the city would normally be impossible, not only because of the walkers but also because of the blocked streets, and this wasn't even a third of what we found.
"Dale, Amy, could you gather everyone? I have some matters to discuss." I said, looking at them both.
"A meeting? Alright, I can help." Dale answered, recovering from the excitement.
"I'll help too!" said Amy, not wanting to be left behind.
Ten minutes later, the entire camp gathered in front of the trucks, everyone looked at the supplies with shining eyes, until now they had barely eaten enough to stay alive, maybe things could finally start to improve.
Andrea stood beside me with the pistol I had given her hanging from her belt, Glenn talked with Morales, checking the medicine crates to count them, while T-Dog watched the perimeter, everything seemed calm until a shout broke the air.
Carol appeared from the far side of the camp, walking slowly with a black eye next to Sophia, everyone went silent, following her with their eyes, behind her came Ed, dragging his feet with a scowl.
Andrea clenched her fists and stepped forward, "What the hell did you do, Ed." her tone was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Watch your mouth, woman." Ed replied with a crooked grin, "What happens between my wife and me is none of your business."
Andrea moved forward without fear, "When your wife shows up beaten, it's everyone's business."
Ed looked at her with disdain and stepped closer, raising a hand as if to shove her, Andrea tensed, but before she could react, I grabbed his arm firmly.
"Take one more step and I'll break your wrist." I said in a low but steady voice, silence fell, everyone held their breath.
Ed tried to pull free, but a slight twist of my wrist made him grunt in pain and step back, I released him, but didn't break eye contact.
"If you ever raise your hand to anyone here again, I'll throw you out of this camp, and I swear on your life you won't come back." I said slowly, making sure everyone understood.
Ed looked around, seeking support, but found only cold disapproval, he muttered something and went off to his tent, leaving Carol behind.
Silence lingered for a few seconds before Dale cleared his throat softly, "I think we should start the meeting."
«Trash» I muttered mentally before turning to Carol.
I met her eyes, lifted her chin gently to check the bruise, nodded to Jacqui and pointed to the makeshift cooler, she wrapped ice in a towel and handed it to Carol, helping her sit down.
"You're not alone here, if anyone lays a hand on you again, I'll kill him myself." I said as the others gathered, forming a semicircle.
I stepped onto the truck bed, took a breath, and spoke clearly: "Today was a good day because we came back alive and with supplies, but from now on there are rules.'"
"From this moment, we'll implement a mandatory rationing system, we won't take what you already have, but you'll get nothing more if you don't cooperate, and you might even be expelled." I raised my voice so everyone could hear.
"Water, food, and medicine rations will be distributed twice a day, morning and evening, every adult receives their share according to contribution and responsibility."
"Children and elders get health priority and minimum calories guaranteed, anyone hoarding or stealing is expelled immediately." I added, pointing to the boxes.
"There will be guard shifts, cooking, cleaning, water and waste collection, camp maintenance, and scheduled city runs, I want volunteers now, if there aren't enough, I'll assign them, whoever refuses without reason loses their ration." I continued calmly.
"Fights, abuse, and any kind of domestic violence are forbidden, this camp protects everyone or it protects no one, if someone crosses that line, I'll throw them out myself." I said, looking toward Ed's tent.
"Well, look at that, you think you're the leader, sheriff? Did I miss the coronation?" said Merle, appearing from the shadows with his brother Daryl, apparently back from a failed hunt.
"You're still a troublemaker, Merle, but someone has to keep order or we'll all end up dead." I replied to his provocation.
"I get it, I get it… and I suppose that someone had to be you?" he said with a twisted grin, as if seeing right through me.
"Oh, then you prefer to do it yourself? In that case, get up here, and you're in charge from now on, what do you say, Merle, you ready to lead?" I said, pushing him to the edge.
Merle stayed silent, just staring at me, an invisible tension filled the air, after a few seconds, he finally broke it.
"Hah, not a chance, too much work, I'll let you handle the dirty job." he said, raising his hands in mock surrender, found a place to sit, and shut up.
"Ahem, I'll say it one last time, if you waste this chance, you won't get another, if anyone thinks they can do better, step forward." I said, sweeping my gaze across the group.
The others looked from me to the mountain of supplies and back, no one dared step forward, which left me as the de facto leader.
"Excellent, since that's settled, it's time to assign roles, you work, you eat, you fail, you lose your ration, and someone else takes your place." I said, watching them all.
"Dale, you handle lookout duty with binoculars, I want reports on any incident, smoke, lights, or strange behavior around the camp."
"Amy supports you in shifts and learns the protocol to cover you while you sleep." I said to Dale and Amy, basically what they already did but now they report to me.
"Jacqui and Mrs. Morales, logistics and storage, you two receive, count, seal, and distribute, prepare morning and evening ration packs with water and food, no one touches anything without you writing down name and contribution."
"Glenn, you're in charge of exploration, mark safe routes, signals, and escape points on a map." I said to Glenn, who nodded back.
"T-Dog, Daryl, and Jim, perimeter security, fences, tin-can lines, noise traps, and rotating guards, one shift at dawn, one at noon, one at dusk, and one overnight." I said, and they agreed.
"Merle, you're on hunting, take Ed with you, watch him, if he does something stupid like tainting the meat, you know what to do." I said, and Merle smirked imagining it.
The others shivered at the thought, tempted to assign Ed to latrine duty, but restrained themselves, he was still Carol's husband, not worth a killing yet.
"Andrea, at my side in command and discipline, you lost your rifle, so use the Beretta I gave you, for those not named, I need volunteers for runs on the city, sign up with her."
"Carol and Lori handle infirmary and main kitchen, set up a clean point with boiled water, soap, and cloths, start boiling water now with the cans and stove, prepare the pot for tomorrow's rations." I said to Carol and Lori, who both nodded.
"Alright, that's all for today, everyone gets their share of supplies for free, line up." I said, stepping down from the truck.
At the mention of free food, everyone's faces lit up, these days, filling your stomach is harder than finding a walker with good breath.
Jacqui and Miranda began handing out packages from the improvised table, water, food, two chocolate bars, and a few fresh bandages, Glenn helped by writing everyone's names in a notebook.
Everything seemed under control until Ed, who had returned at the mention of food, shoved two people aside to cut in line.
Andrea stepped forward, placing a hand on his chest, her voice flat, without shouting, "End of the line, Ed."
"Move, I worked enough today." Ed grinned crookedly, eyeing the crates as if they were his, reaching for a package.
"Drop it and get to the end of the line." said Andrea, pressing her pistol against his sweaty forehead.
Ed tensed, glanced at the boxes like a starving dog, and growled, but finally set the package down and turned to the back of the line.
After that, everything went smoothly, Jacqui and Miranda finished distributing the supplies, and everyone went about their business, I walked up to Andrea and patted her on the back.
"Good work there." I said with a faint smile, watching everyone in the camp busy with their tasks.
"You think I went too far?" Andrea asked, uncertain, I shook my head.
"Hm, not at all, some people only understand when the consequence breathes down their neck."
Hearing that, Andrea exhaled the air she hadn't realized she was holding, rested her head on my shoulder, and allowed herself to relax, I wrapped my arm around her waist.
Elsewhere in the camp, Daryl guided T-Dog and Jim to form a ring of early-warning noise traps with cans and anything that could rattle.