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Alicia came outside towards Rick's tent after hearing a commotion. "What's going on?" Dale nearly jumped at the opportunity to explain to Alicia what was going on. Daryl came walking up to the group, his knuckles covered in blood, "That boy in there has got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery, and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, and our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna-- They're gonna wish they were."
"What did you do?" Alicia looked down at Daryl's knuckles before he covered them up.
"Had a little chat." He quickly snapped back.
Shane had approached Dylan in a threatening manner, "You sure you don't know anything about these people?" Before Dylan could answer, Alicia jumped in between them, causing Shane to back up, "He already said no. Is that not good enough for you?"
"Listen, I'm just trying to protect our people from war. Ain't nothin' to get agitated over," He snapped back. "You talk to my son like that again, and I'm gonna slit your fucking throat." Alicia pushed herself back, walking away with Dylan. Shane scoffed, only now speaking from under his breath so Alicia couldn't hear him, "I highly doubt that."
Alicia ran back to Shane, pulling out her switchblade, and held it up to his throat, causing everyone to back up uneasy. "Listen here, you worthless piece of shit! I've stood by while you broke our rules, yelled at my family...murdered Otis." Just as Alicia mentioned Otis' name, Shane became uncomfortable, but the slightest movement and Alicia's blade would cut him.
"Yeah, I know you killed him. All these people here might be scared of you, but I'm not. So let me put this more clearly, you're packing your shit up tonight and leaving, and I don't ever want to see you here again."
Andrea had suddenly spoken up, "You don't get to make that decision! We've all done things we're not proud of, but we did them for the group! For your family!" Alicia released the knife from Shane's neck and began walking away.
"You're right. I don't make decisions for everyone else, but I do get to make decisions for myself, and if he's not leaving, then I'm leaving tonight." Suddenly everyone turned to her in surprise, and of course, Rick tried to bargain with her but to no avail.
"Is this what's always gonna happen? We come into conflict with someone, and we're just going to kill them? There's gonna be more people, other groups. We can't solve every solution by killing someone. There have to be rules. We have to be able to move past this, we have to be able to live together, and if we can't, we're no better than the people in that kid's group."
Alicia slid her knife back into her pocket and walked back into the house, trying to catch her breath. Dale sighed and began talking to the group, "She's right." Suddenly everyone turned to him with surprised looks upon their faces, like they gave to Alicia.
Alicia began cramming clothes into her bag along with other supplies she needed. Dylan came into her room confused, "What's going on? Are you leaving?" Alicia stopped packing for a minute, "We're leaving tonight." Alicia didn't give him a decision, and she immediately assumed that he would go with her.
"I'm staying." Alicia looked up at Dylan, somewhat forming tears in her eyes. Dylan said that the group Randall was with wasn't innocent, and if they came back to the farm, they would die.
Alicia scoffed, "This isn't up for debate Dylan-"
"Where are you gonna go? You're not safe out there, Mom!" Dylan came to a realization, and suddenly, he knew where she was going. "You're going to try and find Dad, aren't you?" Alicia violently zipped up her bag before heading outside to the truck. She threw her bag into the bed of the car. Maggie came running out of the house towards the car and immediately began yelling at Alicia.
"Have you lost your goddamn mind!? Daddy's nearly havin' a heart attack because of this! How could you be so selfish!?"
"This is my choice, Maggie. I need to do this."
"What about Dylan? You're just gonna leave him?" Alicia paused what she was doing, taking a deep breath.
"Dylan doesn't need me. He needs his father."
"Will doesn't give a damn about you or Dylan. You know that. He left him for dead, Alicia! When are you-" The sound of footsteps approaching cut her off.
Rick had overheard their argument and walked over. Maggie left only to beg Rick to convince Alicia to stay. "So, you're leaving?"
"Don't tell me your sad to see me go." She chuckled, setting her last bag into the truck. Rick suddenly turned away from Alicia, looking directly at the ground, trying not to make eye contact. "What kind of a life are you gonna live? Always looking over your shoulder...alone-"
"I can take care of myself, Rick." Alicia jumped into the car, closing the door. Rick had knocked on the window, and she rolled it down, and she was resting her arm on the door.
"If it's Shane, I'll have a talk with him. Just-Just stay, please. We all want you here-"
Alicia cut him off, "What do you want, Rick?" Rick reached his hand over to the car window where Alicia had completely rolled it down, placing his hand on top of hers. Instead of pulling away, she put her fingers in between his attempts to grab his hand, but their moment was cut short after they heard screams coming from the fields. Alicia jumped out of the car and took off running with Rick not far behind.
Daryl began shouting and waving his arms, "Help! Over here! Help! Run!"
"Who is it? Oh, my God," Alicia nearly threw up to the sight of Dale's stomach. His stomach was torn open from side to side. Alicia took off her jacket and kneeled next to him, gently sliding it under his head. More people from the group approached them, and soon the farm was echoing with cries.
"I can do this. I can-" Alicia took a deep breath and started yelling out orders left and right.
"He can't be saved, Alicia." Hershel placed his hand on her shoulder, but she shoved it away. She was continuing to believe in herself.
"I can save him! I am going to save him!" She shouted out before she felt a tug at her hand and looked down to see Dale was holding it. He began shaking his head, indicating he did not want to be saved. The longer everyone stood there, the more he suffered. Rick had finally taken action and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Dale's head.
Rick began crying out, and his hands were shaking to the point where the others saw it. Daryl could see Rick struggling and took it upon himself to kill Dale, "Sorry, brother."
a/n - not sure how I feel about Alicia threatening Shane like that, but I think someone needed to put him in his place and stand up to him. Alicia had only used Shane as an excuse to leave. She has a more significant reason.
