TWD - Zomboid - Chapter 293: Daryl: He’d Be Better Off Dead (Patreon)

After eating and drinking his fill, Luke leaned back against a tree trunk, crossed one leg over the other, pulled his hat over his face, and started dozing off.

“Huh? You’re actually going to sleep?” Daryl’s mouth twitched.

He had assumed Luke would help him keep watch.

“Mm.” Luke gave a muffled response. “Everything’s covered, isn’t it? She takes the first half of the night, you take the second. Meanwhile, I’ve got a lot more to think about. Using your brain takes the most energy!”

Before long, steady breathing came from Luke’s direction.

The bastard was actually asleep.

Ellie stared at him in disbelief.

Seriously?

How could he possibly sleep at a time like this?

Did he have no awareness of where they were?

He could actually fall asleep out here?

Daryl shrugged.

Luke really was getting more and more relaxed these days.

The campfire crackled.

Only Daryl and Ellie remained awake beside the flames. For a while, neither of them spoke, leaving only the sound of burning wood to fill the silence.

Daryl was the first to break it.

“So... Joel your father?” He tossed another piece of wood into the fire.

Ellie nodded.

“...I guess you could say that.” She lowered her voice and buried her face against her knees. “After my mom died, a lot happened. Joel was the one who kept looking after me.”

“But he didn’t come to the Commonwealth with you, did he?” Daryl asked.

Ellie didn’t answer.

Daryl stared into the dancing flames, seeming to remember something.

“I had someone who used to look out for me like that too. Then he ran off...” Daryl’s voice grew quieter. “Can’t really blame him, though. He was still a kid back then. He couldn’t take it anymore, so running was all he could do.”

“Where is he now?” Ellie couldn’t help asking.

“Now?” Daryl glanced at her. “You saw him earlier today. That old asshole with the cigar hanging out of his mouth.”

Ellie stared at him speechlessly.

Daryl had looked so miserable that she thought the person he was talking about had died.

Turns out the guy was perfectly fine.

“Honestly, he’d be better off dead.”

Daryl took a drag from his cigarette, his face full of disgust.

Ellie almost burst out laughing.

Then Luke’s snoring came from nearby.

Ellie: “...”

Daryl: “...”

“Is he seriously your leader?” Ellie asked in a lowered voice. “Because I really can’t see it.”

“That part’s true enough.” Daryl nodded seriously. “Luke’s temper is a lot better now. Back at the farm, he’d kill someone if they pissed him off. Even in the Commonwealth...”

Daryl abruptly stopped talking.

“What happened in the Commonwealth?” Ellie pressed.

“Nothing. Not something we should be talking about behind his back,” Daryl said.

“Just remember one thing. Luke protects his own. Give him your loyalty, and you’ll get his friendship in return. People are resources...”

Daryl still remembered what Luke had said.

People are resources.

Children are the future.

But that future didn’t mean flowers raised safely in a greenhouse. It meant people like Ellie.

The apocalypse wasn’t going away.

If humanity wanted to survive better, it needed more people like her.

Ellie fell into thought.

Her mind drifted back to Joel.

Joel had hidden so much from her that she could no longer tell which parts were true and which were lies.

“Daryl,” Ellie suddenly said softly, “what would you do if someone hid something huge and terrible from you because they wanted to protect you?”

Daryl paused and looked at her.

He could probably guess what she was talking about, but he didn’t say it aloud.

“Hard to say,” Daryl admitted. “Maybe they kept it from you because you weren’t ready to handle it yet. But some things are like fire. You can’t cover them with paper forever. You might hide them for a while, but sooner or later, they come out.”

“Truth doesn’t matter much in the apocalypse. Survival is what everything comes down to.”

Daryl stared into the flames.

Having a guy who mostly knew how to fight give a kid life advice was admittedly a little strange.

“But whatever you need to face, you’ll have to face eventually. You can’t run from it forever.”

Daryl had just dropped a genuine piece of wisdom.

Ellie buried her face in her knees.

Firelight flickered across her face.

That night, Ellie once again failed to sleep.

But this time, it wasn’t because of Joel.

It was because of Luke’s snoring.

That bastard slept like the dead!

The most important person in the Commonwealth somehow slept straight through until morning without even rolling over once.

At dawn, Luke yawned and stretched.

Now that was a good night’s sleep.

He looked completely refreshed.

Ellie and Daryl, meanwhile, both had dark circles under their eyes.

“Didn’t sleep well?” Luke asked.

Ellie gave him a look and raised her middle finger.

“Huh?”

Luke turned to Daryl. “You didn’t make the kid stay up all night, did you? Damn, Daryl. You’re becoming a bad influence.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Daryl walked right past him.

“Hey, why are you swearing at me?”

Luke kicked dirt over the ashes as Daryl gathered his men and headed out.

Ellie kept yawning.

“You’re too young to be staying up all night. Keep that up and you’ll go gray before you’re twenty,” Luke lectured earnestly.

Ellie said nothing.

She just gave him the middle finger again.

“Tsk.”

“This kid’s hit her rebellious phase. You try to help, and this is the thanks you get.”

“Should’ve made you fight a Tank head-on. Then you’d appreciate how good Uncle Luke is to you.”

Luke stretched again.

Not bad.

Still a fine young man who could piss ten yards into the wind.

“Kid, I’m looking forward to the day you join the troopers,” Daryl said, holding out his fist. “Maybe you’ll even end up working under me.”

Ellie bumped fists with him.

“Looks like you two are getting along pretty well,” Luke said. “Guess the Commonwealth does have someone who speaks your language.”

Ellie looked up.

“What are we doing today?”

“That depends on what we run into,” Luke replied.

Ellie followed behind him with a faint sense of anticipation.

This time, she wanted to see what Luke could actually do.

Daryl had told her last night that Luke was the strongest person in the Commonwealth.

The strongest?

Was he stronger than a bullet?

The two moved through the morning mist, one behind the other.

The deeper they went, the thinner the forest became.

Fallen leaves and dirt gradually gave way to cracked pavement, with rusted road signs lying abandoned along the roadside.

Then the view suddenly opened up.

The entire highway ahead was littered with the wreckage of abandoned vehicles, stretching through the mist like the corpse of some enormous gray serpent.

Desolate.

Silent.

Seemingly endless.

This was what the apocalypse truly looked like.

After growing accustomed to the clean streets inside the Commonwealth, the world beyond the walls felt like another planet entirely.

Luke walked to the roadside and suddenly stuck out his thumb toward the empty highway.

Ellie stared at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Hitchhiking.” Luke answered as if it were obvious. “Before the apocalypse, sticking your thumb out like this meant you wanted a ride.”

“If we’re lucky, maybe some kind soul will come along and save us the walk.”