Ch.7

They were all in the kitchen, all of the remaining members of the council. Beth, Carl, Judith, the other children, and a few of the people from Woodbury were told to remain outside. Brett was sitting at the table, everyone in the room staring at him. Sure, back at the prison they would have known what to do, they would have asked a few questions, see what kind of person he was, and then most likely he would become part of their group. But what were they supposed to do now? Could they still just let people in their group when they were so weak? The prison had offered them safety and security, but here on the farm they were defenseless, barely able to provide enough food for themselves.

Rick noticed the bandage on Brett's arm. "Is that a bite?"

"It's just a cut."

"How bad?"

"Pretty bad."

Bob walked over to Brett and looked at the cut on his arm. "It's going to need stitches. It's pretty dirty, there's a chance he could get an infection." Bob then went over and grabbed the few medical supplies that they had, and began stitching the man's arm.

"How did you find them?"

"Who? Beth and Carl?" Rick looked at him confused, not sure how he knew their names. "I asked them, and they told, we were just making small talk; no harm in that."

"How did you find them?"

"I was walking in the woods, trying to find someplace to stay, hoping to come across other people. And then I heard them talking; followed their voices for about a mile until I found them. I didn't threaten them, I did as they said."

"Do you have a group?"

"No, at least, not anymore."

"What happened to them?"

"Nothing, I just decided to leave them."

"Why?"

"They weren't-they weren't good people. I didn't want to be a part of what they were doing. So I left, just walked away. There was no conflict, I just walked away, and they let me leave."

"What do you mean they weren't good people?"

"Surely you know what kind of people this world has produced; you've been on the road, seen the ruthlessness in the people…they'd steal whatever they could find, even if it meant leaving the people they were stealing from with nothing. They'd kill people for no reason, just for the fun of it. They weren't good people; I couldn't live with people like that."

"How many were there?"

"Ten or eleven, including me."

"And where is this group now?"

"Man, I don't know. Last I saw of them they were heading north. That was over a week ago. They can't be anywhere near here anymore."

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"What? No! Of course not. Like I said, I didn't like the kind of people they were. I never took part in any of their crimes."

Rick stepped out of the room and back onto the porch, and everyone but Bob, who was still stitching the man's arm, followed him. He ran his hand through his hair, confusion taking over. He didn't know what they should do.

"Rick, what are we supposed to do with him?" Sasha's voice carried from behind Rick.

"I don't know."

"We can't just leave him out there on his own."

"I know. But can we risk taking him in?"

"He sounds fine, doesn't seem like the people he was with. And he said his group was heading north; they shouldn't be anywhere near us."

"What do you guys think?" Rick turned to look at Maggie, Daryl, and Glenn.

Glenn was the first to respond. "I'm with Sasha, we can't just let him go."

"Yeah, but what if he's lying?" Maggie's voice was laced with concern.

"We have the numbers. He said there were only ten of them. We can just let him in, keep an eye on him. Let him heal, and then send him on his way if we want." Daryl's proposition caused everyone to stop and think it over. He was right, they would have the numbers.

"Are we in agreement? We wait 'til he's healed and then decide? If he does anything, tries anything, we send him on his way." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

When Rick and the other's went back inside to talk to Brett, Maggie and Daryl remained outside. Daryl could sense that Maggie wanted a word with him, and he had a very good feeling that she wasn't very happy with him. She waited until everyone had entered the house before she spoke.

"I thought you swept the area?"

"I did."

"You couldn't have done it too well."

"What? You mad at me because they stumbled upon that kid in there? There was no way I could have known he was going to find them. He could have been miles away when I swept the area. Besides, he's not dangerous. If he'd wanted to hurt them he could have."

This struck a nerve in Maggie. "But what if he would have been dangerous, Daryl? What if he was like the men he was with? What if they had come across a group like that? Then what? What would have happened to them?"

"Maggie, you know that I wouldn't have been able to find him out there if he was that far away."

"They aren't going out anymore. I'm not letting Beth go out there." Maggie turned away from him and went into the house, leaving Daryl outside.