People needed a win. Things had been stressful for the past few months. The dead rising, eating people. Now, they were living out of tents in the forest. The lake had frozen over, meaning there was no more source of fish for the next few months. The animals had gone into hibernation.

Dale hated it. Seeing the young ones cold and bored, seeing people catch colds and need to be tended to. The winter was a stressful time on them all. So, he came up with a plan.

He had recruited Daryl, and together they went into the forest. They found a nice tree and brought it back. During the night, they decorated it with whatever they could; bits of old cans, strips of scrap cloth. He was quite proud of it, himself.

Beneath the tree were old boxes and clothes, wrapped around a gift for each person in the group. It wasn’t much, of course -- no one was getting a brand-new TV or anything of the sorts -- but he had tried his best to make it so everyone would enjoy their little gifts. Come morning, when the kids squealed with excitement and pulled their parents from the tents to show them the tree, he felt his shoulders relax. The night of no sleep was worth it for that alone.