Chapter 11

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We all came into the farmhouse and took our seats, Rick and Shane standing in front of us. "So how do we do this, take a vote?" Glenn said, standing next to Maggie. "This is wrong, we can't just hold this boy's life in our hands." Dale said, stepping up. "Well, we can't trust him, I mean if we let him go, he'll just bring his group here." Andrea said. "We don't know that, he might be able to join this group." Dale fought back. "But how long will he stay loyal before wanting to go back." Glenn said. "There's only one option that can solve this, get it over with." Shane spoke up. "By killing him? I mean why vote anyway, when we already know which way the wind blows." Dale snapped back. "Well if people feel we should spare him I want to hear them out." Rick said calmly. "Well, I can tell you it's a really small group, consisting of me, Glenn, and a few others." Dale frowned. I pressed my fingers to my head as pain shot through it. "Can we please just hear Rick out!" Lori shouted as the others were at each other's throats. "I'm just saying we need to protect the group, that's are main priority." Rick said, obviously frustrated. "I agree with Rick, but I think there's another way, if we kill him, we are no better than the rest of the monsters out there." I said calmly. I blinked a few times as my eyes began to burn. I sat down as the group continued until it was over. Dale walked past us, but stopped at Daryl. "You were right, this group is broken." He walked out and others slowly started following after him, as Rick prepared to kill Randall.

It was dark, the moon hanging in the sky above us and I could feel the tension in the air. "It's so sad out here." Maggie said, leaning on the railing of the porch next to me. "Yea, it's a little unnerving." I said, looking over at the barn that was surrounded by a barely visible, small crowd. Suddenly, Glenn ran up to the porch and leaned on the railing next to me. "Rick isn't going through with it, Carl came over and he couldn't bear to do it." He pushed a piece of stray hair from his face, and Maggie came up behind him, draping her arms over his shoulder and placed her head next to his. "Well, I guess Dale got what he wanted in the first place." Suddenly, a loud shriek came from the group near the barn and I quickly jumped over the railing, running towards the group once my feet hit the ground. As I came up to the group and saw the scene, my heart stopped.

Dale was lying on the ground, conscious, with his stomach ripped open. A walker laid dead near him, a knife in its head. Maggie and Glenn came over and she immediately put her face into Glenn's chest. Andrea ran to Dale's side, her cries loud. People called for Hershel and when he came over, there was nothing he could do. Rick slowly pulled out his gun and aimed it at Dale's head, his hand shaking, as he looked into Dale's fearful eyes. Daryl stepped forward and took the gun from Rick's hand and aimed it.

"Sorry, brother."

Leaves crunched under my boots and my legs were numb, but I kept running. The moon was my only light, leading me on, guiding me deeper into the forest. I heard a walker and I stopped, my knife quickly in hand. It was only one and I walked up, jabbing the knife directly into its head with force. When it fell, I smashed it skull in with the bottom of my boot as hatred came over me. When I was happy with the dented and crushed skull of the walker, I backed away and let stubborn tears run down my face. I felt cold, distant, alone, angry, and on edge. For the first time after years of torture and being used as a weapon, I felt every inch of the pain and anger.

Maggie's P. O. V.

I was searching everywhere for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I swear I had seen her at the barn, but then she disappeared from sight. She seemed so unhinged at seeing Dale, like the rest of us, but I think it was something else also. I spotted Rick and rushed up to him. "Rick, Scarlett is missing." He quickly ran to grab a gun. "Get Daryl!" He shouted as he left, I ran over to Daryl's tent which was a long ways out. When I got there, he was sitting by a fire messing with his crossbow. "Daryl, Scarlett is missing." Without a word, he slung the crossbow over his shoulder and ran back towards the house with me, where we met Rick, T-dog, and Glenn. "She's gotta be in the woods somewhere." Daryl said calmly, but I could tell he was becoming impatient. "Alright, split up and cover more ground." We went into the woods, flicking on our flashlights and watching out for walkers.

Scarlett's P. O. V.

My face was damp from the tears that I had kept locked up for so long and I looked down at the bloody knife in my hand, slipping it into its holster, and pulling out the other one. It had a much skinnier blade and shined in the moonlight. I pressed it to my bare palm, that had no marks, and dug in. I couldn't feel anything, but I could see the blood running down my arm as I carved the letter "F" into my hand. I pressed my back to a nearby tree and looked down at my hand. Failure, Fool, Fierce, all words to describe me, forever marked by this one letter cut into my hand.

I suddenly saw a light shine on me and I turned away from it as it hurt my eyes. "Scarlett!"

"It's going to scar, but she didn't cut deep enough to have serious harm." I sat with my elbows on my knees on the couch in the living room, my hands over my mouth, my left one wrapped with gauze. Hershel left the silent room that contained Maggie, Glenn, Rick, and Daryl. "Are you okay?" Maggie asked and pushed some of her hair back. I ignored her and glanced at something on a table in the corner that caught my eye. It was a small ring that had a opal in it. I walked over and picked it up from the table, and ran a thumb across the stone.

"Where did you find this?" Maggie shrugged at my question as I turned the ring. "I'm not sure, why?" I looked in the inside of the ring and saw the engraved name "May" in cursive. "It belongs to one of my sisters." I set the ring down and turned towards them. "I know what I did was stupid, but I wasn't in control anymore. I felt all that anger that I had bottled up months ago rush back and this time I just let it be. So just stop, no I'm not okay, and I shouldn't be, but I'll get over it." I made eye contact with Daryl and he slowly stood up, whispering something to Rick. Rick nodded and motioned for the others to follow him out, the door closing behind them.

"Daryl,—." He ran the back of his hand against my cheek, and I moved closer to him and pressed myself against his chest. He slowly wrapped his hands around my waist and placed his chin on top of my head. It was rare to see this side of Daryl, but then again it was rare for people like us to have anything go right.

"You know, I think you're getting better at this, Hillbilly." I chuckled weakly. He scoffed and pulled me closer.

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I'm excited to see that this book is getting attention. Thank you to all the readers out there, you are wonderful and I was glad to here from some of you.
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