iesus | open rp post

"It's more than fine," Maggie answered for the both of them as they followed. She branched off from Jesus and Daryl when they got to the tables. First to get a bowl for herself and then to go sit near Doc Harlan to chat with him.

It left Daryl with no one to sit with (he wasn't going to interrupt that) that he knew, other than Jesus. So when he got his bowl he waited to see where the man would settle himself before following after and grabbing a seat opposite him. He noticed the difference in how Jesus carried himself compared to the others of the colony. The rest had some fear in them, they probably would never lose that. But Jesus was ready to act at a moment's notice the way Daryl and Maggie and all of their people were. Like recognized like.

"You the only one that goes out, or just the one we were unlucky enough to have steal our shit?" He asked in an attempt to make something of a semblance of polite conversation. He wouldn't ever say it aloud, but he liked company when he ate. And liked catching up with his friends and family. Maggie being busy, that left Jesus.

Most everyone that was eating at the time was already going for it. So by the time Jesus settled down and Daryl sat across from them, it wasn't likely that anyone else would pop by to sit with them. It wasn't out of any sense of dislike, but more they were already seated and busy. And, well, honestly, Daryl even attempting to make polite conversation with him was a few steps up from where they'd previously stood. Truly.

The question itself made him laugh though, shaking his head. "It's mostly me. It got pretty heavy at times like everything else does and I'm fastest. Done it the most often." A beat. "As far as stealing from you and Rick, well--" His smile was a little wry, self-depreciating. "I was on a deadline, desperate. When I saw you two with the truck I watched you and I figured you at least weren't going to shoot me in the face immediately. Which I'm glad I was right about, by the way."

Understatement of the year. "I meant it when I said I was sorry, I wouldn't have if I had any other way." He shook his head again, but this time it was paired with a sigh. "I couldn't let my people die."

"I get it," he answered after a short, rather pregnant pause. Just to make sure Jesus didn't have anything else to add before he said anything. "We saw what they had in there. That kind of fire-power..."

Daryl shook his head and looked down at his bowl. He understood the reason Jesus did it, even if he didn't appreciate the outcome. There were a lot of supplies both their communities could have used inside that truck. It was a major loss when so much had already been scavenged from the area and there weren't any way any of them could really start to make their own again. Not past the growing of food, which thus far had proven difficult inside the Safe Zone. And no one was really sure why, either. Soil was good, but food wasn't growing. Maybe the seeds were bad.

"You need guns to go up against it. You folks don't have none."

"It just keeps getting worse." His eyes flick up to look at Daryl, that calm quiet sharpness back in them. "More and more, it's never enough. I'm the best of our runners," realistically nearly the only one, "and even I'm coming up dry more often than not. The list of options has been getting shorter and shorter for a long time now."

They all need as many supplies as they can get, not to spend their lives scavenging just to have it all taken away right after. Because that's what it's been these days. Nearly all of it.

"Took them all," he says, at length. "Nothing to be done at the time. Outnumbered and outgunned and too few fighters on our side." His fingers pull through his hair in a way that suggests a nervous habit. "I know Gregory is... Gregory. But no matter what he says, everyone else here appreciates...everything. Don't let him make you think we don't."

"We send some of ours on two week runs," Daryl offered as an idea. "They go out as far as they can on two to four days travel. Scout and scavenge what they can. Then come back. It don't always net us nothin', but we send 'em out in pairs and rotate who's out on each run so no one's constantly out. But it means we're hittin' places that ain't as likely to be gone through by bigger groups like yours or the Saviors."

Not that he thought the Saviors did much scavenging on their own before they took them out, but they probably had at some point prior to figuring out how to pull off the protection racket.

It makes sense. It's not something they've really done - the reliance has so far been mostly on Jesus to pull through - but he nods, sighing and running fingers through his hair again, tucking it behind his ear afterward. "Could definitely do that. I wouldn't mind going out on a few to show people the ropes, either. Just in general." His smile is a little casually self-depreciating this time. "I never stay put for long, it's probably obvious but..." A shrug. "Just how I am. Can't stay still."

Doubly so after the apocalypse, naturally. "Wouldn't put myself on every one, but better to make sure a few know what to do and can lead other people in crisis." He runs through it in his head, lips twisting slightly. "Mostly three-day runs when I'm on my own, two weeks is a good solid stretch." He likes the idea, clearly.

Daryl nodded along, taking several big spoonfuls of the stew while Jesus talked, all the while keeping his eyes on the man. Watching how he spoke. Not just his words, but his body language. It was different than when they'd first met and it made Daryl wonder which version of the guy he'd seen - and he'd seen three separate faces at this point - was the 'real' one. Probably not the one that stole the truck. That was clearly an affected act to throw off anyone he ran into. But the one Daryl had seen when Jesus dealt with Gregory wasn't nearly as confident as the one he was seeing now and it was more than a little disconcerting. How much this man who clearly wanted to do right by his people seemed to fold and reduce himself to hours of pleading and arguing with his leader just to get anything done.

Had a real open expression now, though. Unschooled as he thought about the policies his people might be able to adopt from Daryl's.

"Mmm hmm," he agreed, letting his spoon rest on the edge of his bowl. "Tara and Heath went out on one right after we took care of that place. Left in one of the campers we found there. Next group'll go out in another few days. Just before they're due back. Anything they find while they're out, we'll work into our future plans. The rest of us go on rotation outside the community for day trips like the one we found you on."

Daryl brought his arm up to wipe at his mouth to clean anything lingering off and sniffed loudly, "You been scavenging the area longer than we have. The places between us anyway. Be a big help if you let us know what you know's already cleared out."

Jesus has to wear a lot of faces. This one is the closest to real as it gets. He's not a leader; it's not in his blood, in his bone, in his spirit. He does what he can for his people but Gregory stays in power because... what? Because he can't pony up? No one wants to take the responsibility and Gregory is too high on power to let it go anyway. A lot of days he feels guilty for it but he also knows that until other people are trained up, he's the only one that can keep them running with his skills. There's nothing else to be done for it. At least not now. Maybe... Maybe something can change now. If they're lucky. He hates having to come at Gregory practically kneeling and bowing his head to get anything done, to keep him from making stupid decisions to get them all killed.

Maybe he just hates Gregory.

"Be nice to have a break sometimes," he jokes, though he knows he'd get stir-crazy staying off his feet too long. There's a pause though and he looks to Daryl. It's not a hesitation, just a processing, then he nods with a smile. A bit like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. "If you've got a map with you I can mark it off for you right now. If not then I can probably scrounge up an extra to mark off for you."

A little runner humor. Scrounging.

"Got one in the truck." It was just policy to bring one along. In case of sudden roadblocks or herds to get around. He'd left it laying on the passenger seat, though.

Daryl didn't make any face one way or the other to say he got the joke, or that he'd even recognized it. But he finished off his meal and pushed the bowl slightly in front of him to indicate he was done and waiting politely for his only conversation companion to finish up. Fell into silence when he did. Not sure what else to talk about and feeling a little out of his element on that front.

"We can mark up your map before you head back then."

Once Jesus was done as well he nodded, standing and grabbing all the dishes up with practiced ease. "Hang on a second, I'll be right back." He does disappear to take them off to where they'll be washed later but he returns presently, dropping across from Daryl with a sigh.

"If I'm honest," he murmurs, not loud enough for anyone but Daryl to hear, "there's not much of anything left between here and there." Jesus shakes his head after that, fingertips tapping on the tabletop lightly. "I've combed the whole area and with the..." the whole giving 'half' to the Saviors thing, "things dried up way faster than they would have otherwise."

"We been having to go further and further out, too. Didn't used to have to do as many two week trips," Daryl admitted to show he understood. "Ain't done house to house stripping of the places around us, but might have to start just to make sure we get everything useful. Work our way out from there and start heading into the cities."

But cities were dangerous. Not just because of the dead, but because they provided a lot of places for other groups to hide and pick people off from. Sure, there was the possibility of encountering groups with good intentions like the Vatos, but that had been way back at the start. Anymore, the chances of running into people like Grady or the Saviors was much higher. Hilltop had been a chance encounter and even that didn't start out well.

"Ain't really been systematic about it."

Jesus both liked and didn't like cities. He could get around easily from building to building and get into places that other people couldn't get into but the dead could be places there wouldn't be normally too and again, yeah: people. People are always more dangerous. "I've been thinking about systematic a while now. With a finer tooth than before. Even small places can have things of use in them."

When he breathes out it's in a faint sigh. "Cities can have good supplies though. If you need a runner for any trips out, I'm..." His leg jiggles slightly where he sits, thinking of how to word it. "I'm a loner most days but those kind of excursions aren't appropriate for it. You've seen how useful I can be out, just on the less-useful side of it."

He laughs, soft and good-natured: it's clear he holds no ill-will about being tied up or thrown around or knocked out. Look, he gets it.

Daryl leaned back from Jesus as he leaned in. Not far, just a sway of his shoulders the other direction. Not something he even thought much about. But Jesus was new to him and he was always wary of new people.

"Have ta talk to Rick about that," he said, tone not changing in the slightest. Still matter-of-fact, but sympathetic. "And Olivia. She does the inventory. We make runs for whatever we can, but she sets the priority."

"Of course. The offer's there, but I understand if I'm not needed." He gets this, too: priority, hierarchy, trust. So far he doesn't have much stock in the trust department. He can work up to that if possible. It's fine.

A lot of things are fine at the moment. There's a silence that drags on as his eyes flick toward the house and then around the area like he's checking for something in particular. He is, even though he knows Gregory is still laid up.

"Tell Rick that if our communities' lists ever potentially cross over, have someone come to me. While Gregory's down for the count, I'm making most of the decisions." And unlike Gregory (and unlike what his first impression may have been), Jesus believes in being kind and fair. And trading, now that they can.

He'd noticed the looking Jesus just did and figured he was making sure he wasn't overheard. Most of the people around were finishing up their own lunches and talking amongst themselves. Not really interested in what Jesus was doing. More were interested in Maggie because word had spread she was pregnant after their first visit and everyone loved a baby.

That suited Daryl fine. Less people crowding in on him, the better.

But with the majority of the lunch crowd leaving, Daryl figured it was time to take the conversation on the road. Get to that map.

"How's his wound doing?" Daryl asked after a second of slowly nodding his head. Not really interested in the man's health, but rather how long they might have Jesus' easy cooperation vs Gregory's egotistical self-importance.

Jesus is glad for the fact everyone is fawning over Maggie too - partially because he likes her and she deserves it, and partially because he knows some of the others might be a little worried by what they may take as Jesus grasping at too much power. They like him more than they like Gregory, but he's the leader and they have to believe he can keep them safe.

Something like that. Jesus doesn't want the power anyway. He's no leader. As far as Daryl's question he just shrugs, smile a little mysterious. "He's going to be fine, but knowing him it's going to be a long and arduous process."

Of course: far be it from Gregory to do an ounce more work than he had to, and his pride had taken a sound beating.

He stood up, started making his way at a casual pace toward the vehicles. He waited until they were out of earshot before he said, "Only reason he's still in charge is 'cause ya'll have it decent behind these walls. Not sayin' what you've had to do with the Saviors in the past is any kind of hunky dory kumbaya shit, just... he ain't had to face nothin' that hard. People like him wouldn't survive without walls."

Jesus trails after him easily, nice and slow and unhurried. But he nods to what Daryl says, eyes flicking to regard him. "No, I know what you mean. People that don't have to live outside walls... Either they can learn if they have to, or they can't. He couldn't."

Unkind, maybe, but not untrue. His lips twist a little as they reach the truck, waiting for the next cue. "He doesn't respect anyone. Ideas, work, nothing." So no one really respects him.

"He's still in charge, though," Daryl replied, eyebrows raising as he cast a glance over his shoulder at Jesus. Then he shook his head. Men like Gregory didn't deserve to be running things. Had no real sense in their heads. But these weren't his people and he wasn't trying to make them into that.

"Your man, the one we rescued, he doing okay?" It'd been about a week. Guy was probably shook up, but Daryl hoped that was it.

"He sure is." Things will even out, he thinks. Eventually. Better odds of it in more relative safety: easier for someone more suited to step up without all of that hanging over them like dark grey clouds.

"He's doing better. He still has a ways to go, but for now... better." That much makes him smile a little. "It'll just take some time, I think. Some take longer than others, but he's a tough guy."

open rp post

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject