Rick had tried to be the best leader that he could possibly be, but it seems now that he was failing. Who was he even fooling anymore? He just wasn't cut out for this leader thing like Shane had been.
Shane.
He still thought of his best friend every single day. He missed the hell out of him, and sometimes he hated himself for doing what he did. Sure, he was a bit rough around the edges, but he was still a person. He deserved to live and be with his daughter. Yes, that's right; Rick had accepted it. Judith was most likely not his biological child like Carl was, but she was still his daughter no matter what. He loved her and was taking care of her as any father would.
He started hiding down by the farm when it was time to make decisions. It was much better this way. He was no longer able to keep these people alive.
The Council was his idea, after thinking about it for some time now. A place this big needed more than one leader. They needed people who could provide for them and make tough choices when the time came. So he turned to the people he trusted the most.
Rick paced back and forth, shaking his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"He could have been dangerous for all we know." Daryl tried to defend himself after explaining what had happened outside the prison.
"So you just shoot him?" Rick questioned incredulously.
"You'd have done the same thing." Daryl shot back, his eyes blazing. And with that, he left.
Deep down, Rick knew he was right. If it was him out there and a stranger came up to him, begging for help without any rhyme or reason, he'd kill him too. But not without remorse like Daryl.
"What the hell is going on?" Rick heard Maggie's voice echo through the hallway.
He turned around to face her. "Daryl ran into some guy outside-"
"What guy? Was he one of the Governor's men? See Maggie, he's already here!" Beth interrupted, walking out of her cell with a sleeping Judith and into the hallway. She placed the baby into his arms as she spoke.
"We don't know that." Rick kept his voice soft so he wouldn't wake his daughter up.
"I cannot believe you people." Beth rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in defeat. She turned and stalked away from the two, needing to see Daryl. Surely he'd agree with her? He wouldn't be so naive like them.
She angrily stomped to his cell, only to find him gone. That's weird, he's usually always here. What could he be doing at this time of day? He'd already hunted a few hours ago, and got noting. But maybe he decided to head out again.
"I'm going crazy sitting inside all day," she complained to herself. The sound of a cell door was heard from behind her.
"Me too. You wanna take a walk?" Hershel asked, coming up to her.
She nodded, and the two headed out. The walk was silent for a bit, as Beth was deep in thought. All she could think about right now was how ridiculous everyone was being. Couldn't they see that the Governor was coming and that they needed to leave now, before it was too late? Beth knew that leaving would mean that he had won, and the other's probably didn't want to give the prison to them because of their pride, but what other choice did they really have? Better to do it now, without any fighting. That was the last thing they needed right now; a war.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Her father leaned closer to her, a ghost of a smile on his face.
She only sighed. He was just going to tell her the same thing her sister had; that there was nothing to worry about. So she decided to forget about this for now and revisit it later. You have to pick and choose your battles, and this wasn't the time.
"You said I'm sixteen weeks?"
He nodded.
"So there's still about… twenty four weeks left?" She had paused to do the math quickly in her head. Math wasn't her best subject, even when it was simple subtraction.
"Give or take a few, but yeah. It could always come early, or later."
"Oh," she nodded, not really giving any thought to his response. "Hey, Daddy, I'm gonna head back inside, actually. I'm kinda tired."
He smiled and nodded as she turned and went back inside.
hey guys! i'm doing my absolute best to update as much as i can. i know it must seem really boring right now, but i'm slowly heading towards "30 days without an accident" and into season 4. finally lol. it obviously won't be exactly the same, so be patient with me for now. thank you for reading!