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ARIA STANDS NEXT TO Andrea, her arms crossed over her chest as everyone gathers in the house, ready to hear the discussion. Gazing around the room, Aria spots the many nervous and calm expressions of the group. "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asks, looking around at everyone, his hands clasped in his lap. "Does it have to be unanimous?" Aria sighs, her fingers drumming against her thigh as she stands there, confused as to what to do. They are treating this discussion like it's court, instead of a group coming around to settle on one thing.
"Well, let's—let's just see where everybody stands. Then we can talk through the options." Rick settles, glancing over at Dale. The options are simple, either kill the man or let him live. Mostly everyone except Dale wants to go with the first option, this discussion is pointless in Aria's mind.
"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane speaks up, Aria leaning forward to look over at him. "Killing him—right? I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing." Aria raises a hand to her mouth, her thumbnail in between her teeth, the nervous habit returning. "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know." Already knowing this discussion is about to get heated, Aria steps back, leaning against the wall behind her.
"Well, I can tell you it's a small group—maybe just me and Glenn." Dale cuts in, looking down at the one person mentioned. Glenn slowly looks up, fiddling with his hands. "Look, I—I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this—" Dale cuts Glenn off, his hand flying up with his hat clutched in his palm. "They've got you scared." Dale says, his voice raising at the younger male. Aria reaches up, twirling her earring in between her fingers. "He's not one of us. And we've—we've lost too many people already."
Aria begins to count the people they've lost in her mind, sadness overwhelming her.
Amy Jim Merle Sophia Jacquai Otis And many more—
"Put him to work?" Glenn asks, pointing out another solution to the problem at hand. Rick shakes his head, looking around at the group. "We're not letting him walk around." He shoots down the idea. Maggie leans forward slightly, thinking of another way. "We can put an escort on him." She suggests and Aria presses her lips together, hating these ideas. "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane scoffs, shaking his head. "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."
"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." Lori speaks up. Aria frowns, puffing out a breath. "Keeping him tied up until he dies? That isn't a way to live." Aria cuts in, her voice more gentiler then the others. If they were to keep him tied up, killing him would just be better. "Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men." Daryl's sentence comes to mind and Aria's cheeks heat up, her eyes meeting his striking blue one's from across the room. She feels like a school girl freaking out over him. "So answer is to kill him to prevent a crime 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."
Aria lowers her eyes to the ground, ashamed. Dale could be right, but there is always this chance where he could be wrong. Aria doesn't want to take that chance. Because taking that chance, could lead to her family dying or being tortured, she's not going to let that happen, that's one of her morals. Her mind is at war with her heart and her heart is telling her to do the human thing, to let the kid live. But her mind is telling her to protect her family. "Stop it—just stop it. 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—there's no difference." Dale tells Carol, looking her straight into the eye. Aria takes a shaky breath, the situation making her nervous. "Alright, that's enough. Anybody wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." Everyone stays in their spots, looking around, waiting for anyone to step up. After a few moments of inscruiating silence, Dale steps up, his hands shaking. "You once said that we don't kill the living."
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick tells him, stepping forward, his eyes turning towards the determined man. "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 survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe that any of you do. I can't."
"Please. Let's just do what's right." Dale pleads, his eyes watering and his hands tightening around his hat. Aria quietly taps her foot against the ground, biting her lip. She hates seeing people get emotional, it makes her sad and feel like she did something wrong. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?" The two sisters meet eyes and they both think the same thing—Amy would. But Aria has always thought about what Amy would do, never what Aria would do. "He's right." Andrea says, catching the attention of everyone. Aria's shining blue eyes meet Dale's blue ones and he looks at Andrea, hope in his eyes.
"We should try to find another way." Andrea finishes, looking around at everyone. "Anybody else?" Aria looks around the room, her bottom lip in between her teeth. As no one decides to speak up, Dale sighs, trying to blink back the tears building. "Are y'all gonna watch too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a party to it." Dale says, walking towards the door, only to stop by Daryl, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"This group is broken."
Aria sits by the fire, her hands trembling even though it's warm. She feels guilty, ashamed. Footsteps sound as someone walks up and Aria raises from the seat, her eyes meeting Rick's approaching body. "We're keeping him in custody for now." After a few minutes of silence, screams of terror fill the air, alerting the group of a danger. Running in the direction of the screams, Aria runs ahead of the group, her heart pumping in her ears. Shoving the gate open, she runs through the field, adrenaline racing through her.
"Dale!" Aria yells, her voice echoing through the eery air. Coming to a complete stop, a sob escapes Aria's mouth as she looks at the sight in front of her. Dale's stomach is torn open, blood pouring out of his body. Tears drip down the female's face as she struggles to catch her breath. The man who was there for them since the start is now lying on the ground, his stomach ripped open. The sounds around her fade out and Aria lowers herself to the ground, beside Andrea, her eyes wide as she stares at Dale.
Even after Daryl shoots him in the head, Aria sits there, her mind blank and tears falling gently down her face. No one will ever get used to losing people, every death that occurs is like a stab wound to the heart. A hand grabs hers in comfort and she raises her eyes, meeting the familiar ocean blues. A sob escapes her mouth and she clasps her free hand over it, leaning her head onto his chest, feeling him tense under her. Once he relaxes, Aria swallows the lump in her throat. "When are we going to stop losing people, Daryl?"
