Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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I leaned against the big oak tree the R.V. was parked next to, taking cover from the hot sun. I wasn't listening much as the group poked at Rick, asking him what the plan was when it came to Randall. My mind wandered off to Daryl, who was in the barn beating the lights out of the boy until he talked. Was I okay with this? Was I okay with resorting to savagery to get answers? I don't know if I'm totally honest with myself. I absent-mindedly brought my hand up to fiddle with my cut-up lip; it's been a few days since my fight with Daryl, and I was healing up just fine, no longer as sore, and my ribs no longer badly bruised.

Shaking off my daze, I looked behind me and saw Daryl returning to us, a look of disgust plastered on his stern face. With a sigh, I pushed off the tree and started walking toward him, eyeing his bloody knuckles as he acknowledged me. I grabbed his hand and used the sleeve of my flannel to start wiping off the blood while we stood in front of the whole group.

"Boy there's got a gang, 30 men," Daryl reported, continuing to let me wipe his hands clean. "They have heavy artillery, and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here; our boys are dead, and our women, they're gonna – they're gonna wish they were." I huffed with disgust, remembering Tony's threat back at the bar. Daryl forced me to let go of his hand, his arm wrapping around me protectively as a dark look crossed his features. I looked around the group and shook my head, feeling a sudden surge of anger within me.

"No one goes near this guy," I ordered, glancing around at everyone. Lori placed her hands on her hips and turned towards her husband, her back facing me. Since our disagreement a few days ago, everything between her and I has crumbled. She didn't take my words too kindly and took every opportunity to undermine me.

"Rick, what are you going to do?" Lori asked her husband. Rick looked at me and sighed heavily, cocking his head towards me. I nodded at him, shoved my hands into my pockets, and leaned into Daryl.

"It's settled. June and I agree that we have no choice but to eliminate the threat." Rick announced as he stared at Lori, frowning.

"You're just going to kill him?" Dale asked in disbelief. His eyes darted between Rick and me as if he were flabbergasted over the whole situation. What choice do we have? He knows Maggie. He might know where the farm is. If we let him go and he meets up with his buddies, he can bring them to our front door, and we're all dead or wishing to be dead. That's a risk I'm not willing to take.

"It's settled. Rick and I will do it today." I announced as I turned on my heel, dragging Daryl away. I forced him to join me on my slow patrol, the silence between us deafening. These few days have been tense. The whole situation with Randall is way more complicated than anticipated. Before Daryl stopped me in my tracks to take a good look at me, we approached the far west fence, his pale blue eyes scanning over my face.

"What's up?" He asked me as he leaned up against the fence, wincing as he did so. I smiled sadly at him and shook my head, uneasy about the execution.

"I just don't know how to feel," I murmured as I inspected our surrounding area. I could see the camp all crowded around the RV, probably discussing the execution that would take place tonight. Dale was right; you have a good view of this side of the fence from the RV. "I mean, I knew he was with some pretty bad people. Back in that bar, one of the guys threatened to rape me." Daryl scowled, the look of anger he always wore flooding over his ragged features. "I mean, sure, I killed the guy, but I don't know about Randall. I don't want to send him back out there in case he finds his friends, but I don't want him here either. Execution seems like the only way right now."

"You don't gotta be there, you know." Daryl muttered, "You can sit it out and let Rick and me handle it." I knew that was a possibility, but I couldn't give an order and not stick around to see it through. I need to do this. I shook my head at him and smiled, thankful that I had him to look after me.