The Walking Dead: Rick needs to be careful divvying up the supplies

Rick and Michonne found the mother lode on The Walking Dead episode 712, “Say Yes.” How will those supplies be divided up?

Rick is in a tight spot. So far in The Walking Dead season 7 he has found himself in the unenviable position of having to find “stuff” to keep Negan amused. Every time he finds a stash of stuff, it gets divided up and hauled away by the Saviors. Then the Scavengers came and raided the food supply at Alexandria, leaving Rick in a really bad spot because he doesn’t have anything to offer the Saviors for their next visit. Upon meeting the Scavengers, Rick was forced to promise guns to Jadis in return for their help in the battle against the Saviors.

Still with me? Yes, that’s a lot of obligations to fulfill, and Costco isn’t open during the apocalypse. That’s why Rick and Michonne went on their supply run.

So now that Rick has this fortuitous supply of guns and rations, how will everything be divided up?

Alexandria

Rick obviously needs to take care of his people in Alexandria. The Saviors took half of the supplies from the boat immediately upon Rick and Aaron’s return in the midseason finale, and in “Rock in the Road” we learned that the Scavengers stole Father Gabriel and the rest of the boat food (along with everything else) in the storage area.

The tricky part of this equation is that Simon arrived in Alexandria looking for Daryl the day after the food was stolen, so Simon knows that the cupboards are bare.

If the storage area is suddenly fully stocked, this will raise questions that will require answers. If the Saviors go back to the school, they’ll see the bullet casings and the soldiers and they’ll suspect that Rick and Michonne found guns, too. Rick isn’t supposed to have guns, so the guns that don’t go to the Scavengers will stay in Rick’s secret arsenal along with his Colt, which was taken from Fat Joseph. If these guns are discovered, it will spell trouble for Alexandria, because not only does that mean they have lied to the Saviors, but it also means that someone connected with Daryl.  

My guess is that Rick will stash some of the food along with the guns. That way a raid, either by the Saviors or the Scavengers, will leave some supplies behind. However, he’s going to have to be smart about it, so he should probably deliver the extra supplies to the Hilltop for safe keeping.

Saviors

It’s going to be tough keeping the guns hidden from the Saviors, but you can bet that Rick won’t be offering up his newfound weapons to Negan the way he did with Michonne’s rifle. (And Rick still owes Michonne a deer!) The Saviors will be arriving soon for their next pick up, and when they see Alexandria’s full coffers they might want more than their fair share.

Hiding anything from the Saviors is risky because they don’t like people who keep things from them. That’s what was so symbolic of Rick offering Michonne’s “unregistered” rifle to Negan: It told Negan that Rick was falling in line with the program. Is it possible to keep anything from them?

If Rick splits the rations with the Saviors, Alexandria will be left with less rations than normal because the Scavengers took their other food. This will put a lot of stress on Rick and the group as they work to prepare for the upcoming battle.

Scavengers

The Scavengers are the biggest unknown. When Tara offered Jadis the inventory list of all the guns, Jadis waved it away. She wanted more guns. Rick asked to be able to keep some of the guns they found in order to get more.

Question: Did Rick give the Scavengers all of the guns they found, or did he stash some? Is that why Jadis asked for more? Did she suspect that there were more guns at the high school, or did she simply reason that Rick would (of course) keep a few behind for himself? If Jadis knew about the boat, is it possible she knew about the school? Anyone could see the soldiers’ guns from the fence, was she waiting for someone to clear the area?

And now that Jadis knows about Alexandria, will the Scavengers come in and raid the stockrooms again? Will the Scavengers feel entitled to food along with guns?

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Rick might be building his army, but he’s also in a precarious situation because he needs to satisfy a lot of obligations without putting himself in a bad situation. At this point, having lots of stuff other people want is a dangerous thing, so he needs to play this very carefully.