Not Alone ✔

Ch. 64 - Group Decision

Anna

Rick had us all gathered in the den to my uncle's house, I was standing beside Daryl while everyone else found a place to sit or stand. I glanced behind me when I noticed everyone was standing there looking my way. I looked back to see Carl standing there, I guess hoping to be able to listen without getting busted. I looked over to see Lori was giving him the look that only a mother could give. I heard Carl sigh then walked off, out of the room. "Wish I had a mother to tell me not to listen to this," I whispered to Daryl as I walked closer to him and he wrapped his arm he wasn't leaning on around my shoulders. "You don't have to stand here and listen if you don't wanna," he whispered.

"I know," I said, "but I'm a part of the group now and this is my family's property. Kinda have to stay and listen." He looked down at me and nodded as we both turned our attention to Glenn who began speaking to the group. "So how do we do this," he asked looking to Rick, "just take a vote?" "Does it have to be unanimous," Andrea asked. "How about majority rules," Lori said looking to Rick. "Well let's just see where everybody stands," Rick said after a minute, "then we can talk through the options." "The way I see it," Shane said speaking up, "there's only one way to move forward." "Killing him," Dale said, "right? I mean why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing." "Well if people believe we should spare him," Rick said, "I want to know."

"Well I can tell you it's a small group," Dale said as I looked over to him, "maybe just me and Glenn." I watch as Glenn slowly lifts his head up to look at Dale, I know he ain't gonna be happy with whatever Glenn has to say. "Look," Glenn whispered, "I think you're pretty much right about everything all the time but this?" "They've got you scared," Dale accused as I watched. "He's not one of us," Glenn said trying to defend himself, "and we've lost too many people already." "How about you? Do you agree with this," he asked looking to Uncle Hershel then over at me, "or you?" I stayed quite, I didn't want brought into this mess. "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner," Maggie asked. "Just another mouth to feed," Daryl said from beside me.

"It may be a lean winter," Uncle Hershel said. "We could ration better," Lori said. "Well he could be an asset," Dale said, "give him a chance to prove himself." "Put him to work," Glenn suggested. "We're not letting him walk around," Rick said. "We could put an escort on him," Maggie said and I just shook my head. "Who wants to volunteer for that duty," Shane said being sarcastic. "I will," Dale said, he really did want to save this kid. "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy," Rick said holding up his hand. "I second that," Daryl said from beside me as he glanced over to me. "He's right," Lori said, "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." "I agree," I said speaking up for the first time.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles," Andrea said, "and sentence him to hard labor." "Look say we let him join us right," Shane said, "maybe he's helpful. Maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men." "So the answer is to kill him," Dale asked, "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's no civilization." "Could you drive him further out," Uncle Hershel asked, "leave him like you planned?" "You barely got back this time," Lori said shaking her head looking to Rick, "there are walkers. You could break down. You could get lost." "Or get ambushed," Daryl said.

I zoned out the rest of the debate, I didn't want to hear this. I wasn't the type of person to want to kill someone who hasn't done anything yet but from what I heard when Daryl was getting the information from Randall, I don't want it to happen. I had a little one on the way that I had to think about now and I know Daryl was thinking about it too along with my safety. I zoned back in when I noticed Dale walking over towards me and Daryl. "This group is broken," he said when he stopped by Daryl then looked at me with tears in his eyes and walked out of the room. All I could do was look up at Daryl after Dale had left the room.