"We gotta talk to someone about signin' a lease?" Daryl asked, going right along with Paul's declaration. It was half-joking, but also half-serious. Did the settlement have someone cataloging what spaces were being used and what weren't? He had to assume someone was with the more obvious material goods. But in Alexandria, and what he'd seen of the hilltop, policy was to know who was tucking in where so nothing was wasted.

He fiddled with the knife he still had, wiggling it between fingers and wishing he had a sheath to put it in before finally deciding he might as well give it back to Jesus. He rubbed at his nose as he held it out, looking ready to take off as soon as the answer about the lease was given.