Contagion Chapter Twenty
Taylor who had headed into the Greene house just to get away from the lingering tension outside chewed his lip as he came to a stop outside the room where Beth was and he watched Hershel singing some song to her about doodlebugs and she too herself seemed in much brighter spirits.
He was still surprised about what Kate had done and he was sure that was the reason Zac had been in his and Mac's tent last night but whatever was going on between them wasn't his business nor did he have a right to pick sides so he'd just stay out of it for once. Hell, he already had enough on his plate with Maggie.
Seeing Hershel look up at him finally he raised an eyebrow, "How is she?" he asked his voice coming out soft. He did feel for Beth because he had been in her shoes once while at the CDC.
"She seems to be in good spirits today," Hershel answered as he dropped Beth's hand and stood from the chair he had been sitting in beside the bed. "Aren't you, doodlebug?" he asked Beth as he looked down at her briefly before walking to where Taylor was standing.
"Well, let me know if I can do anything," Taylor told Hershel as he walked away from the door and into the living room.
"Where's your family from?" Hershel asked as he watched Taylor walk ahead of him, soon stopping in his tracks at his question.
Taylor made a face at Hershel's question, "Tulsa, but uh before that probably Denmark."
Hershel nodded his head at Taylor's answer, "Our family came from Ireland."
"Maggie Greene...I kinda figured," Taylor laughed knowing he had figured that one out pretty quick.
Pulling out a pocket watch from the pocket of his pants Hershel looked down at it as he walked a bit closer to Taylor, "My grandfather brought this over from the old country. He passed it on to my father who passed it on to me. I pawned it to pay for a night of drinking I no longer remember."
"You bought it back," Taylor smiled as he looked down at the watch in Hershel's hand.
"My late wife did. Josephine, Maggie's mother," Hershel clarified as he looked at Taylor briefly and then back down at the watch in his hand. "She gave it back years later when I sobered up. She was a good woman, my Jo. Maggie's a lot like her. When we were in that bar and afterwards, I thought about a lot of things. You become a father someday, you'll understand. No man is good enough for your little girl... Until one is," he nodded knowing Taylor was good enough for Maggie and that was why he found himself handing the pocket watch out for Taylor to take.
As Hershel handed him the pocket watch Taylor felt a lump form in his throat for different reasons. Because he had been a father and Hershel probably didn't know that yet, because he wasn't sure if he'd have kids again and also because of how big of a step this was for the man, giving Taylor his blessing.
"Go on now, before I change my mind about you," Hershel spoke again as Taylor made no effort to take the pocket watch.
Taking the pocket watch, Taylor looked down at it briefly then back up at Hershel, "Thanks," he said knowing that was all he could say right now.
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Kate who was headed to the Greene house for the vote on Randall that was to take place soon, came to a stop as she saw Maggie standing on the porch and she heaved a sigh looking at the oldest Greene sister, "I..I'm sorry," she apologized knowing she owed Maggie an apology. "For leaving your sister when you trusted me with her."
At Kate's words Maggie looked at her, "I'm not sure I can forgive you right now," she said honestly as she ran a hand through her hair. "But I'll come around," she admitted knowing her dad had taught her to forgive others. "Just give me time...and for what it's worth I'm probably not the only one you should apologize to. Your husband...and my sister."
"I tried my husband," Kate told her as she forced a smile. "He refuses to accept it right now. I'll talk to your sister tonight," she smiled knowing she did want to talk to Beth. She did need to clear the air between them. "I..I should go now," she muttered heading inside not sure if she felt entirely comfortable around Maggie. Hell she wasn't sure if she felt comfortable around anyone right now. She almost felt like an outsider with her own group and indeed she knew with those thoughts she was being paranoid, there was no way everyone was upset at the decision she had made yesterday.
"Just get a grip Katie," she spoke to herself as she went into the living room and sat down on the couch, waiting for some others to show up so they could decide what to do with Randall, though Kate was sure her mind was made up. She was fine with Rick killing him if that meant she and her baby were okay.
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"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asked that night as everyone in the group, minus Carl,Beth and Jimmy all sat or stood in various places in the living room. The tension was thick and it was obvious everyone knew what kind of vote this would be, what fate they were resigning the boy too.
"Does it have to be unanimous?" Jessica asked curiously wondering what would happen if it wasn't.
Lori sighed at Jessica's words, "How about majority rules?"
"Well, let's..let's just see where everybody stands," Rick said trying to take control of this. "Then we can talk through the options."
"Where I sit, there's only one way to move forward," Shane spoke from where he was standing, leaning against the fireplace.
"Killing him, right?" Dale asked harshly as he shook his head. "I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."
Leaning over some against a chair in the room Rick sighed, "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know."
"I can tell you it's a small group," Dale answered as he shook his head. "Maybe just me and Glenn."
Swallowing hard at Dale's words Glenn looked up at him, "Look I...I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this..."
"They've got you scared," Dale accused not sure why Glenn would go against the right decision this time.
"He's not one of us," Glenn argued knowing they probably couldn't trust Randall, especially with the men in his group. "And..we've..we've lost too many people already."
Dale just shook his head and then looked up at Jessica, "How about you? Do you agree with this?"
Jessica crossed her arms as she turned to look at Rick, "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" she asked, hating Dale for putting her on the spot like that just because her boyfriend had disagreed with him.
"Just another mouth to feed," Daryl piped in from where he was standing.
"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added in to the another mouth to feed comment.
Lori who heard Hershel's words turned to look at him, "We could ration better."
"He could be an asset," Dale argued knowing Randall could maybe work his way into the group. "Give him a chance to prove himself."
"Put him to work?" Mac asked after Dale spoke.
"We're not letting him walk around," Rick answered faster than he should have for that one.
Maggie who was sitting beside Taylor chewed on her lip, "We could put an escort on him."
"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked a bit sarcastic knowing no one probably felt safe enough for that.
"I will," Dale spoke volunteering himself.
Rick put up his hand to stop that conversation in it's tracks, "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."
"He's right," Lori agreed as she nodded. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."
"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor," Andrea spoke rolling her eyes at Lori.
"Look, say we let him join us, right?" Shane asked as he looked around the room. "Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men."
Dale listened to Shane talk before speaking again, "So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization," he finished hearing Shane mutter an oh my god as he did so.
"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked as he looked up at Rick.
Lori shook her head, "You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y..you could get lost."
"You could get ambushed," Avery added in from where she was standing beside Daryl.
"They're right," Taylor said finding himself agreeing with Lori and Avery. "We should not put our own people at risk."
"If you go through with it, how would you do it?" Patricia asked. "Would he suffer?"
Shane shrugged before looking over at Rick, "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck."
"I thought about that," Rick nodded knowing he had thought of that option. "Shooting may be more humane."
"And what about the body?" Zac questioned as he turned to look at Shane. "Do we bury him?"
"Hold on, Hold on!" Dale interrupted not liking the way this conversation was going. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."
"You've been talking all day," Daryl said as he looked at Dale. "Going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?"
"This is a young man's life," Dale pleaded trying to get them to see. "And it's worth more than a five minute conversation! Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him?" he asked almost disgusted. "You save him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"
Avery looked down at the floor after Dale spoke a silence coming over the group. It was a silence she didn't like and she was almost thankful when Shane broke it.
"We all know what needs to be done," Shane said breaking the silence that had been created by Dale's words.
Rick shook his head, "No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility..."
"So what's the other solution?" Andrea asked hearing Lori tell her to let Rick finish. "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."
"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled out getting aggravated especially when Shane added in that they were working on it.
"Stop it. Just stop it," Carol sighed cutting in. "I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide. Either of you...both of you...but leave me out."
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself," Dale added in as he looked at Carol. "There's no difference."
Stepping in before things could get heated Rick sighed, "All right, that's enough. Anybody who wants the floor before we make a finale decision has the chance."
Dale who looked around as everyone went silent after Rick spoke, sighed before trying one more time, "You once said that we don't kill the living," he said as he looked at Rick using words Rick himself had used.
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick spoke knowing things had changed.
"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were...the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's harsh. It's...it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe any of you do. I can't. Please, let's just do what's right," he said still getting silence. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"
Andrea nodded, "He's right. We should try to find another way," she said deciding to stand with Dale on this.
"Anybody else?" Rick asked as he looked around the room but no one else seemed to speak up.
When Rick just looked at him and shrugged Dale shook his head feeling angry at the group and what had been decided, "Are ya'll gonna watch, too?" he asked harshly. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being." he muttered as he looked down trying to fight off the tears forming in his eyes. "I won't be a party to it," he whispered as he started to leave but stopped when he came to where Daryl was standing. "This group is broken," he stated remembering what Daryl had told him earlier.
After Dale walked out Avery turned to Daryl and just watched as he walked off shaking his head at her.
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Later that night Zac sighed as he walked with Daryl, Rick, and Shane down to the barn where they were leading Randall to kill him. The closer they got the more Randall seemed to protest obviously knowing what was coming and it made it harder for Zac to ignore what was going to happen. It made it harder for Zac to ignore that they were going to kill a man.
"Over there," Rick stated once they were in the barn and he pointed to the spot where he wanted Randall at.
Leading Randall to Shane so Shane could blindfold him Zac looked down hearing Shane tell Randall it would all be over soon and Randall tried to feign innocence by asking what was gonna be over. It was when Shane told him to relax that Zac rolled his eyes because how could anyone relax when they knew they were gonna die.
Moving farther away from Randall once the blind fold was off of him Zac sighed and just turned to watch Rick who had his gun out and ready.
"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked only getting Randall pleading instead of answering his question. "Do you have any final words?" he asked again hearing Randall pleading and telling him not to do it which just made him hesitate even though he had his gun raised.
"Do it, dad," Carl spoke from where he stood at the barn door. He had snuck down here to watch what was about to take place. "Do it."
"Are you kidding me?" Shane asked harshly as he turned to look at Carl. "What'd I say to you?" he asked as he walked to where Carl was.
Seeing his son and hearing Carl's words seemed to remind Rick of what Dale had said earlier. What kind of message was he sending his son. "Take him away," he stated as he looked at Zac and Daryl who both just seemed to stand there frozen. "Take him away," he repeated knowing he couldn't do it..he couldn't kill Randall not with Carl there.
"Get up," Zac groaned out at Randall who had moved to a kneeling position. Taking one arm he lead Randall out of the barn with the help of Daryl.
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Kate chewed her lip and headed into the room where Beth was. Seeing Beth looking at her confused she looked down, "I'm here to apologize."
"Apologize for what?" Beth asked confused as she looked at Kate raising an eyebrow.
"Yesterday," Kate clarified as she sat down next to Beth on the bed. "I shouldn't have left you alone."
Beth shook her head, "It was what I wanted and what I needed," she said knowing she just had to try. "I choose to live and I needed that," she smiled opting not to tell Kate that one of the reasons she chose to live was Zac.
"But I still shouldn't have left you alone," Kate said as she shook her head and tried to smile. "It wasn't right of me."
"I would have choose to do it some other time anyway," Beth sighed wanting Kate not to blame herself. "It was your words that partly made me not do much. The just making room for pain."
Finding a genuine smile at Beth's words Kate stood from the bed and nodded her head in some sort of silent conversation with Beth before she turned to leave the bedroom, running into Zac.
Zac who had been listening in to Beth and Kate's conversation blushed when Kate caught him quite literally, "Rick chose not to kill Randall tonight. Carl showed up and yeah..." he muttered as he looked down.
"And you decided to come pay Beth a visit?" Kate asked hurt in her words.
"No," Zac lied as he looked into Kate's eyes. "I'm sorry I was an asshole..am an asshole," he apologized knowing if Beth could not be mad at Kate then he shouldn't be either. Heck according to Beth, Kate's words had been part of what saved her.
Kate smiled and pulled Zac into a hug, "I'm sorry I was a bitch," she whispered as she just held him. She wasn't sure if this meant they were okay or not but maybe they could figure that out later..take things one day at a time.
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Taylor who sat at the campfire that night watched as Rick and Carl both came back and everyone just looked at them expectantly for word of what had happened.
"We're keeping him in custody for now," Rick told the group feeling Lori staring at him almost intently.
Andrea who heard Rick's words smiled before turning to Jessica and Carol who had been standing beside her, "I'm gonna find Dale," she said knowing he would be happy about this news.
Lori who waited until after Andrea had spoke and left just looked at Rick and then down at her son, "Carl, go inside," she told him wanting him to go inside their tent. When he just stood there she sighed, "Now, please," she said her voice a bit more stern. It was only when he was gone and in the tent that she looked back at Rick.
"He followed us," Rick told Lori as he locked eyes with her. "He wanted to watch. I couldn't."
"That's okay...That's okay," Lori nodded reassuring her husband that the decision he had made was the right one.
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Avery who was standing out by Daryl's tent looked up when he came back, "I thought it would take longer than that."
"Randall isn't dead," Daryl informed her as he shrugged not sure what to think of Rick's change of heart. "He got a reprieve."
"Oh," Avery muttered hoping someone would tell Dale, especially Dale. "Did you really tell Dale the group was broken?" she asked watching as Daryl who had walked past her to go inside of his tent came to a stop.
Daryl nodded his head unable to turn around and look at her, "What does it matter if I did?"
"Because I thought the same thing this morning," Avery revealed seeing him finally turn around at her words. "I..I get why you did what you did to Randall. Doesn't mean I like it but I get it..and I get why you said the group was broken. It is broken...or it was...I don't know but things have changed so much since the camp and the CDC."
Listening to Avery, Daryl was just about to respond to her when a scream echoed from somewhere on the farm and he gave her a confused look before running off towards where the sound had came from, picking up his crossbow along the way.
Running after Daryl, Avery stayed close on his heels wondering what or who had caused the scream and why. Making it to where the sounds had came from Avery watched as Daryl tackled a walker off of Dale and she froze at the sight of Dale on the ground, the walker having somehow ripped open his stomach and causing his intestines to come out.
Bending down beside Dale, she felt tears come to her eyes feeling like time was going too slow as Daryl killed the walker and then eventually hollered for help and signaling the others to where the problem was at.
"Hang on buddy," Daryl muttered as he bent down beside Dale seeing Rick and some of the others getting closer to where he and Avery where at.
"Who is it?" Andrea asked but stopped her words when she looked down to see Dale on the ground with his intestines hanging out in which case she began to mutter an oh my over and over.
Still feeling like time was being slowed Avery looked up as Rick bent down talking to Dale who was trying his best to hang on which was what Rick was telling him to do, telling him to listen to his voice and hold on. The whole scene right now was chaos and the more people that came down the worse it got with everyone talking over one another.
Standing up finally she walked to where a guilty looking Carl stood and as it became apparent that they wouldn't be able to save Dale, Avery reached out and pulled Carl into her side knowing the child didn't need to see what was going to happen. It was at Andrea's pleas for someone to do something that she watched Daryl step up and reach for a gun that Rick had, a gun which he pointed to Dale's head.
"I'm sorry, brother," Daryl muttered as he pointed the gun to Dale's head and watched as Dale moved up to get closer to the gun. Counting to three he pulled the trigger.
Carl who had buried his head in Avery's waist felt tears come to his eyes at what had taken place. Part was because of grief and the other guilt. Guilt because he had recognized the walker that had been laying near Dale. It was the same walker he had been taunting that had been stuck in the mud in the woods. The walker he had the opportunity to shoot with the gun he had stolen from Daryl earlier today.
He was responsible for Dale having died.
Taylor who had headed into the Greene house just to get away from the lingering tension outside chewed his lip as he came to a stop outside the room where Beth was and he watched Hershel singing some song to her about doodlebugs and she too herself seemed in much brighter spirits.
He was still surprised about what Kate had done and he was sure that was the reason Zac had been in his and Mac's tent last night but whatever was going on between them wasn't his business nor did he have a right to pick sides so he'd just stay out of it for once. Hell, he already had enough on his plate with Maggie.
Seeing Hershel look up at him finally he raised an eyebrow, "How is she?" he asked his voice coming out soft. He did feel for Beth because he had been in her shoes once while at the CDC.
"She seems to be in good spirits today," Hershel answered as he dropped Beth's hand and stood from the chair he had been sitting in beside the bed. "Aren't you, doodlebug?" he asked Beth as he looked down at her briefly before walking to where Taylor was standing.
"Well, let me know if I can do anything," Taylor told Hershel as he walked away from the door and into the living room.
"Where's your family from?" Hershel asked as he watched Taylor walk ahead of him, soon stopping in his tracks at his question.
Taylor made a face at Hershel's question, "Tulsa, but uh before that probably Denmark."
Hershel nodded his head at Taylor's answer, "Our family came from Ireland."
"Maggie Greene...I kinda figured," Taylor laughed knowing he had figured that one out pretty quick.
Pulling out a pocket watch from the pocket of his pants Hershel looked down at it as he walked a bit closer to Taylor, "My grandfather brought this over from the old country. He passed it on to my father who passed it on to me. I pawned it to pay for a night of drinking I no longer remember."
"You bought it back," Taylor smiled as he looked down at the watch in Hershel's hand.
"My late wife did. Josephine, Maggie's mother," Hershel clarified as he looked at Taylor briefly and then back down at the watch in his hand. "She gave it back years later when I sobered up. She was a good woman, my Jo. Maggie's a lot like her. When we were in that bar and afterwards, I thought about a lot of things. You become a father someday, you'll understand. No man is good enough for your little girl... Until one is," he nodded knowing Taylor was good enough for Maggie and that was why he found himself handing the pocket watch out for Taylor to take.
As Hershel handed him the pocket watch Taylor felt a lump form in his throat for different reasons. Because he had been a father and Hershel probably didn't know that yet, because he wasn't sure if he'd have kids again and also because of how big of a step this was for the man, giving Taylor his blessing.
"Go on now, before I change my mind about you," Hershel spoke again as Taylor made no effort to take the pocket watch.
Taking the pocket watch, Taylor looked down at it briefly then back up at Hershel, "Thanks," he said knowing that was all he could say right now.
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Kate who was headed to the Greene house for the vote on Randall that was to take place soon, came to a stop as she saw Maggie standing on the porch and she heaved a sigh looking at the oldest Greene sister, "I..I'm sorry," she apologized knowing she owed Maggie an apology. "For leaving your sister when you trusted me with her."
At Kate's words Maggie looked at her, "I'm not sure I can forgive you right now," she said honestly as she ran a hand through her hair. "But I'll come around," she admitted knowing her dad had taught her to forgive others. "Just give me time...and for what it's worth I'm probably not the only one you should apologize to. Your husband...and my sister."
"I tried my husband," Kate told her as she forced a smile. "He refuses to accept it right now. I'll talk to your sister tonight," she smiled knowing she did want to talk to Beth. She did need to clear the air between them. "I..I should go now," she muttered heading inside not sure if she felt entirely comfortable around Maggie. Hell she wasn't sure if she felt comfortable around anyone right now. She almost felt like an outsider with her own group and indeed she knew with those thoughts she was being paranoid, there was no way everyone was upset at the decision she had made yesterday.
"Just get a grip Katie," she spoke to herself as she went into the living room and sat down on the couch, waiting for some others to show up so they could decide what to do with Randall, though Kate was sure her mind was made up. She was fine with Rick killing him if that meant she and her baby were okay.
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"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asked that night as everyone in the group, minus Carl,Beth and Jimmy all sat or stood in various places in the living room. The tension was thick and it was obvious everyone knew what kind of vote this would be, what fate they were resigning the boy too.
"Does it have to be unanimous?" Jessica asked curiously wondering what would happen if it wasn't.
Lori sighed at Jessica's words, "How about majority rules?"
"Well, let's..let's just see where everybody stands," Rick said trying to take control of this. "Then we can talk through the options."
"Where I sit, there's only one way to move forward," Shane spoke from where he was standing, leaning against the fireplace.
"Killing him, right?" Dale asked harshly as he shook his head. "I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."
Leaning over some against a chair in the room Rick sighed, "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know."
"I can tell you it's a small group," Dale answered as he shook his head. "Maybe just me and Glenn."
Swallowing hard at Dale's words Glenn looked up at him, "Look I...I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this..."
"They've got you scared," Dale accused not sure why Glenn would go against the right decision this time.
"He's not one of us," Glenn argued knowing they probably couldn't trust Randall, especially with the men in his group. "And..we've..we've lost too many people already."
Dale just shook his head and then looked up at Jessica, "How about you? Do you agree with this?"
Jessica crossed her arms as she turned to look at Rick, "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" she asked, hating Dale for putting her on the spot like that just because her boyfriend had disagreed with him.
"Just another mouth to feed," Daryl piped in from where he was standing.
"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added in to the another mouth to feed comment.
Lori who heard Hershel's words turned to look at him, "We could ration better."
"He could be an asset," Dale argued knowing Randall could maybe work his way into the group. "Give him a chance to prove himself."
"Put him to work?" Mac asked after Dale spoke.
"We're not letting him walk around," Rick answered faster than he should have for that one.
Maggie who was sitting beside Taylor chewed on her lip, "We could put an escort on him."
"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked a bit sarcastic knowing no one probably felt safe enough for that.
"I will," Dale spoke volunteering himself.
Rick put up his hand to stop that conversation in it's tracks, "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."
"He's right," Lori agreed as she nodded. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."
"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor," Andrea spoke rolling her eyes at Lori.
"Look, say we let him join us, right?" Shane asked as he looked around the room. "Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men."
Dale listened to Shane talk before speaking again, "So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization," he finished hearing Shane mutter an oh my god as he did so.
"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked as he looked up at Rick.
Lori shook her head, "You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y..you could get lost."
"You could get ambushed," Avery added in from where she was standing beside Daryl.
"They're right," Taylor said finding himself agreeing with Lori and Avery. "We should not put our own people at risk."
"If you go through with it, how would you do it?" Patricia asked. "Would he suffer?"
Shane shrugged before looking over at Rick, "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck."
"I thought about that," Rick nodded knowing he had thought of that option. "Shooting may be more humane."
"And what about the body?" Zac questioned as he turned to look at Shane. "Do we bury him?"
"Hold on, Hold on!" Dale interrupted not liking the way this conversation was going. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."
"You've been talking all day," Daryl said as he looked at Dale. "Going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?"
"This is a young man's life," Dale pleaded trying to get them to see. "And it's worth more than a five minute conversation! Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him?" he asked almost disgusted. "You save him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"
Avery looked down at the floor after Dale spoke a silence coming over the group. It was a silence she didn't like and she was almost thankful when Shane broke it.
"We all know what needs to be done," Shane said breaking the silence that had been created by Dale's words.
Rick shook his head, "No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility..."
"So what's the other solution?" Andrea asked hearing Lori tell her to let Rick finish. "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."
"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled out getting aggravated especially when Shane added in that they were working on it.
"Stop it. Just stop it," Carol sighed cutting in. "I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide. Either of you...both of you...but leave me out."
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself," Dale added in as he looked at Carol. "There's no difference."
Stepping in before things could get heated Rick sighed, "All right, that's enough. Anybody who wants the floor before we make a finale decision has the chance."
Dale who looked around as everyone went silent after Rick spoke, sighed before trying one more time, "You once said that we don't kill the living," he said as he looked at Rick using words Rick himself had used.
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick spoke knowing things had changed.
"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were...the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's harsh. It's...it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe any of you do. I can't. Please, let's just do what's right," he said still getting silence. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"
Andrea nodded, "He's right. We should try to find another way," she said deciding to stand with Dale on this.
"Anybody else?" Rick asked as he looked around the room but no one else seemed to speak up.
When Rick just looked at him and shrugged Dale shook his head feeling angry at the group and what had been decided, "Are ya'll gonna watch, too?" he asked harshly. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being." he muttered as he looked down trying to fight off the tears forming in his eyes. "I won't be a party to it," he whispered as he started to leave but stopped when he came to where Daryl was standing. "This group is broken," he stated remembering what Daryl had told him earlier.
After Dale walked out Avery turned to Daryl and just watched as he walked off shaking his head at her.
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Later that night Zac sighed as he walked with Daryl, Rick, and Shane down to the barn where they were leading Randall to kill him. The closer they got the more Randall seemed to protest obviously knowing what was coming and it made it harder for Zac to ignore what was going to happen. It made it harder for Zac to ignore that they were going to kill a man.
"Over there," Rick stated once they were in the barn and he pointed to the spot where he wanted Randall at.
Leading Randall to Shane so Shane could blindfold him Zac looked down hearing Shane tell Randall it would all be over soon and Randall tried to feign innocence by asking what was gonna be over. It was when Shane told him to relax that Zac rolled his eyes because how could anyone relax when they knew they were gonna die.
Moving farther away from Randall once the blind fold was off of him Zac sighed and just turned to watch Rick who had his gun out and ready.
"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked only getting Randall pleading instead of answering his question. "Do you have any final words?" he asked again hearing Randall pleading and telling him not to do it which just made him hesitate even though he had his gun raised.
"Do it, dad," Carl spoke from where he stood at the barn door. He had snuck down here to watch what was about to take place. "Do it."
"Are you kidding me?" Shane asked harshly as he turned to look at Carl. "What'd I say to you?" he asked as he walked to where Carl was.
Seeing his son and hearing Carl's words seemed to remind Rick of what Dale had said earlier. What kind of message was he sending his son. "Take him away," he stated as he looked at Zac and Daryl who both just seemed to stand there frozen. "Take him away," he repeated knowing he couldn't do it..he couldn't kill Randall not with Carl there.
"Get up," Zac groaned out at Randall who had moved to a kneeling position. Taking one arm he lead Randall out of the barn with the help of Daryl.
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Kate chewed her lip and headed into the room where Beth was. Seeing Beth looking at her confused she looked down, "I'm here to apologize."
"Apologize for what?" Beth asked confused as she looked at Kate raising an eyebrow.
"Yesterday," Kate clarified as she sat down next to Beth on the bed. "I shouldn't have left you alone."
Beth shook her head, "It was what I wanted and what I needed," she said knowing she just had to try. "I choose to live and I needed that," she smiled opting not to tell Kate that one of the reasons she chose to live was Zac.
"But I still shouldn't have left you alone," Kate said as she shook her head and tried to smile. "It wasn't right of me."
"I would have choose to do it some other time anyway," Beth sighed wanting Kate not to blame herself. "It was your words that partly made me not do much. The just making room for pain."
Finding a genuine smile at Beth's words Kate stood from the bed and nodded her head in some sort of silent conversation with Beth before she turned to leave the bedroom, running into Zac.
Zac who had been listening in to Beth and Kate's conversation blushed when Kate caught him quite literally, "Rick chose not to kill Randall tonight. Carl showed up and yeah..." he muttered as he looked down.
"And you decided to come pay Beth a visit?" Kate asked hurt in her words.
"No," Zac lied as he looked into Kate's eyes. "I'm sorry I was an asshole..am an asshole," he apologized knowing if Beth could not be mad at Kate then he shouldn't be either. Heck according to Beth, Kate's words had been part of what saved her.
Kate smiled and pulled Zac into a hug, "I'm sorry I was a bitch," she whispered as she just held him. She wasn't sure if this meant they were okay or not but maybe they could figure that out later..take things one day at a time.
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Taylor who sat at the campfire that night watched as Rick and Carl both came back and everyone just looked at them expectantly for word of what had happened.
"We're keeping him in custody for now," Rick told the group feeling Lori staring at him almost intently.
Andrea who heard Rick's words smiled before turning to Jessica and Carol who had been standing beside her, "I'm gonna find Dale," she said knowing he would be happy about this news.
Lori who waited until after Andrea had spoke and left just looked at Rick and then down at her son, "Carl, go inside," she told him wanting him to go inside their tent. When he just stood there she sighed, "Now, please," she said her voice a bit more stern. It was only when he was gone and in the tent that she looked back at Rick.
"He followed us," Rick told Lori as he locked eyes with her. "He wanted to watch. I couldn't."
"That's okay...That's okay," Lori nodded reassuring her husband that the decision he had made was the right one.
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Avery who was standing out by Daryl's tent looked up when he came back, "I thought it would take longer than that."
"Randall isn't dead," Daryl informed her as he shrugged not sure what to think of Rick's change of heart. "He got a reprieve."
"Oh," Avery muttered hoping someone would tell Dale, especially Dale. "Did you really tell Dale the group was broken?" she asked watching as Daryl who had walked past her to go inside of his tent came to a stop.
Daryl nodded his head unable to turn around and look at her, "What does it matter if I did?"
"Because I thought the same thing this morning," Avery revealed seeing him finally turn around at her words. "I..I get why you did what you did to Randall. Doesn't mean I like it but I get it..and I get why you said the group was broken. It is broken...or it was...I don't know but things have changed so much since the camp and the CDC."
Listening to Avery, Daryl was just about to respond to her when a scream echoed from somewhere on the farm and he gave her a confused look before running off towards where the sound had came from, picking up his crossbow along the way.
Running after Daryl, Avery stayed close on his heels wondering what or who had caused the scream and why. Making it to where the sounds had came from Avery watched as Daryl tackled a walker off of Dale and she froze at the sight of Dale on the ground, the walker having somehow ripped open his stomach and causing his intestines to come out.
Bending down beside Dale, she felt tears come to her eyes feeling like time was going too slow as Daryl killed the walker and then eventually hollered for help and signaling the others to where the problem was at.
"Hang on buddy," Daryl muttered as he bent down beside Dale seeing Rick and some of the others getting closer to where he and Avery where at.
"Who is it?" Andrea asked but stopped her words when she looked down to see Dale on the ground with his intestines hanging out in which case she began to mutter an oh my over and over.
Still feeling like time was being slowed Avery looked up as Rick bent down talking to Dale who was trying his best to hang on which was what Rick was telling him to do, telling him to listen to his voice and hold on. The whole scene right now was chaos and the more people that came down the worse it got with everyone talking over one another.
Standing up finally she walked to where a guilty looking Carl stood and as it became apparent that they wouldn't be able to save Dale, Avery reached out and pulled Carl into her side knowing the child didn't need to see what was going to happen. It was at Andrea's pleas for someone to do something that she watched Daryl step up and reach for a gun that Rick had, a gun which he pointed to Dale's head.
"I'm sorry, brother," Daryl muttered as he pointed the gun to Dale's head and watched as Dale moved up to get closer to the gun. Counting to three he pulled the trigger.
Carl who had buried his head in Avery's waist felt tears come to his eyes at what had taken place. Part was because of grief and the other guilt. Guilt because he had recognized the walker that had been laying near Dale. It was the same walker he had been taunting that had been stuck in the mud in the woods. The walker he had the opportunity to shoot with the gun he had stolen from Daryl earlier today.
He was responsible for Dale having died.