Notes: I'm sorry for the wait. I had been busy working on my other fan fic (Life as we know it) as I hadn't felt inspired to work with this one and was having a bit of a block. Thanks as always for the reviews, I love getting them :)

Chapter 10: The Dilemma

It had been a tiring morning, both physically and emotionally. Rest was a luxury they could hardly afford, but Kaesta figured just this once she earned it. In the cool shade by Daryl's tent she stretched out on her back in the sun, staring up at the tree tops. It could be any day from before the end of the world. She hardly thought of the Walkers. In fact, it seemed no one did. Everyone was settling in on the Greene family farm.

Faintly she could hear someone approaching. She rolled her head so she could hear better. It wasn't the dragging footsteps of a Walker, so she returned to staring up at the branches looming overhead, listening to the breeze rustling through and the birds singing.

The tranquility was soon broken. From around the corner Daryl heaved a sigh. "Th' whole point uh me comin' up here's t' get away from you people," he grumbled, bent over fiddling with his crossbow and arranging his bolts.

"It'll take more than that." The footsteps she'd heard belonged to Dale.

"Carol send you?"

"Carol's not the only one who's concerned about you..." Dale's voice trailed off. "Your new role in the group." Kaesta grimaced. Having heard Randall's pleas as Daryl beat him, tortured him, she knew too well what the old man meant.

"I don't need my head shrunk," Daryl dismissed Dale's concerns easily. "This group's broken," he asserted. "I'm better off fendin' for myself."

"You act like you don't care."

"Ya, tha's cause I don't" Daryl grabbed his leather jacket that was hanging on a tree branch and put it on. Kaesta didn't believe his words for a second. If anything, he cared too much too admit.

"So live or die you don't care what happens to Randall?" Dale prodded looking for an opening.

"Nope."

"Then stand with me try to save the kid's life," he pleaded. " If it really doesn't matter one way or the other."

"I didn't peg you for a desperate Sonofabitch."

Dale wasn't ready to give up. "Your opinion makes a difference."

Daryl picked up his crossbow and slung it over his shoulder. "Ain't nobody lookin' t' me for nothin'."

"Carol does, and I am right now," Dale paused. "Kaesta does," he added quietly. She wondered if her feelings were that obvious, that easy to read.

"Tha' girl don' need me."

Dale frowned. Maybe she didn't need him in the physical sense of the word. She could trap, had a solid knowledge of wild plants and herbs, and could take care of herself in the wilderness, but it was more than that. "She does. More than either of you probably realize," Dale told him. "She trusts you, and with everything she's been through that's got to mean something."

Daryl shook his head. "Whatever old man."

"And obviously you have Rick's ear," Dale stuck in.

Daryl advanced several angry steps towards Dale. When he spoke he practically spat the words, "Rick jus' looks t' Shane." He paused, glowering, then added, "Let 'im."

The two men went back and forth this way for a while.

"Torturing people? That's not you. You're a decent man. So is Rick," Dale insisted, then something in his voice changed. "Shane is different." Kaesta frowned, having sensed as much herself. Starting to feel guilty about listening in on the men's conversation she got up to leave.

Then she heard Daryl's voice again. "Why's that? Cause he killed Otis?" What he said stopped her dead in her tracks. She swallowed hard. She was leery of Shane, but perhaps she hadn't been enough so. Listening to Daryl relate his take on events and the holes in Shane's story gave her chills.

"Rick ain't stupid" Daryl shook his head. "If he didn't figure that out, it's cause he didn't wanna." he turned and walked away, reiterating his earlier sentiment, "It's like I said, this group's broken."

Dale stood there nothing more to say as Daryl disappeared. His suspicions about Shane formed a rock in the pit of his stomach. Everything Daryl had said made sense. He looked to the ground.

Daryl rounded the corner of the tent where Kaesta was standing motionless, dumbfounded by what she had heard. "Make a habit of eavesdroppin'?" Daryl snarled at her as he passed. He didn't give her a chance to respond, he was simply gone.

Once he was well away Kaesta let out a long sigh. Caring about Daryl Dixon was like a roller coaster ride, bu5 she tried her best not to take his jabs personally and just let them go. Even so the farm was starting to feel suffocating to her again. With the upcoming meeting to decide Randall's fate and everything she'd just heard she needed to get some space to clear her head.

Grabbing her hunting knife, Kaesta headed along the bank of the stream into the bush. The fresh air was good. It lifted her spirits and helped quiet her mind. So like her to disappear into the woods to deal with stress. Walkers didn't change that. The end of the world didn't change that. It was still the most peaceful place to be where she felt connected to the universe.

Hearing a rustling up ahead Kaesta drew her knife and crouched down. Quietly she stalked forwards to see what was there. A walker. The sight of it surprised her, the farm had seemed so safe, so distant from all the madness. Having picked up on the young woman's scent it stumbled along towards where she was lurking in the underbrush waiting to pounce.

Her eyes were glued to the approaching abomination, knife drawn and ready. Five more yards and it would be in reach. Kaesta was so intent on her prey she didn't hear anything until it was almost too late. A branch snapped behind her and wheeled around. Two more walkers extended their bony arms reaching for her and grasping the fabric of her shirt.

Letting out a strangled cry she dove to the side and out of their grasp. Three was too many to take in close quarters. Her best chance would be to try and separate them so she could eliminate them one by one. The good thing about Walkers was that they weren't very fast, or very smart.

One was moving faster than the other two. It was easy pickings. As soon as it had a clear lead on the others Kaesta stabbed it through the eye socket with her knife. Two to go. She made a dash down a bank hoping one of them would stumble and it would split them up. They weren't the most graceful of creatures.

Her plan backfired however when it was her that stumbled. As she hit the bottom she felt a searing pain in her left ankle. Instinctively she reached for it, but seeing the advancing Walkers she knew it would have to wait. Kaesta grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree to help herself to her feet. As soon as she put weight on her injured ankle and tried to run it gave out and she fell to the ground. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and her heart pounded in her chest.

Again Kaesta rose to her feet and tried to run, and again her ankle wouldn't support her and she fell. Squeezing her eyes shut she expected to see her life flash before her. After all, that was what was supposed to happen right before you died. It didn't.

Kaesta opened her eyes. The two remaining Walkers were practically on top of her. The first one bent down and tried to take a chomp out of her shoulder. She dispatched it easily enough with her hunting knife. As it's weight fell on her the other one was already on top of it and trying to reach past it to get to her warm, living flesh.

Kaesta pushed with all her might but couldn't lift both Walkers off of her. She cursed her weakened body. It hadn't had enough time to recover since she had escaped from Randall's group. As she tried reaching around to stab the last remaining Walker she nearly had a piece taken out of her arm by it's gnashing teeth.

Desperately she flung her head from side to side looking for anything she could possibly use to her advantage. Straining she could just reach a thick branch that was laying on the forest floor with the tips of her fingers. Bringing it up she hit the clawing, chomping monstrosity above her repeatedly until she knocked it off. With the weight pinning her cut in half she was able to get free. Without a thought she lunged at the creature sliding her knife in and upwards from the base of it's skull. The corpse went limp and stopped it's frenzied assault.

Kaesta rolled herself to a nearby log where she was able to prop herself up and try to catch her breath. Gently she prodded at her injured ankle. It didn't appear to be broken. More than likely it was just badly sprained. She'd better hope that's all it was. As much as she wanted to remove her boot and take a look she thought better of it. Her boots were done up tightly and it would help compress her ankle and prevent further swelling.

It was a long time that Kaesta sat leaning against that log. The afternoon sun faded to the dying glow of evening and the warm air chilled. She was shaking. She had nearly died. Since she had arrived at the farm she couldn't recall seeing a single Walker. That made her wonder where three suddenly came from. She needed to get back to warn Rick.

Still shaking Kaesta forced herself to stand. Gingerly she tested her ankle. It hurt, but it would hold weight. The sun wasn't entirely down, but in the bush it got dark fast. As hurriedly as she was able she made her way back towards the farm. Everyone was still in the farmhouse. Discussing Randall's fate, no doubt. She wanted no part of it. She was trying to move on.

Several minutes later Dale stormed out of the farmhouse. He didn't look happy. Obviously things had not gone his way. As much as she hated to admit it she felt relieved. Once people started to mill about Kaesta got up and hobbled over to find Rick.

"Kaesta!" Lori gasped. "You're hurt! what happened?"

"I'm fine." The young woman tried to smile. "It's just a sprained ankle."

Lori frowned and her eyebrows creased. "Hon, we need to get you to see Hershel."

"Really Lori, it's no big deal. I must have sprained my ankle a dozen times," Kaesta exaggerated. "If it's not starting to feel a little better in the morning, I promise I'll have Hershel take a look at it, alright?"

Lori looked skeptical, but didn't push any further. "Alright."

"Where's Rick?" Kaesta asked as nonchalantly as she could. She didn't want to alarm the masses.

"He's gone to the barn to get Randall," Lori admitted. Behind her hard mask Kaesta could see both relief and guilt in the woman's eyes.

"Thank you Lori." Kaesta turned and hobbled towards the barn. Rick and Shane were standing around discussing something while Daryl went to fetch the prisoner from the barn. Dread filled her. Being near Shane made her uneasy and she would have preferred to talk to Rick alone.

"Rick!" Kaesta called out as she approached.

Rick turned, "Kaesta!" He looked surprised. "What are you doing here?" She knew he meant by the barn - the barn where she too had been kept a prisoner, the barn where Randall was waiting for his executioners.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Look, the Randall thing is decided," Shane cut in. Kaesta grimaced at the sound of his voice. "What's done is done."

Randall had said Shane was going to kill her. She remembered how roughly he had grabbed her demanding where she'd been, shuddered at the way he kept his eye on her. After over hearing Dale's conversation with Daryl she had no doubt he had it in him. He was biding his time. Shane didn't trust her and to him that made her the enemy.

"Actually, that's not what I came here to talk about," she said keeping her eyes firmly on Rick.

Rick sighed. "Well, can it wait? We're kinda in the middle of something here."

Kaesta shook her head. "I think this is important."

"Ok," Rick was trying hard to maintain his cool demeanor.

With both men staring at her like she was some annoying little brat that was just getting in their way, Kaesta started to doubt the importance of her discovery. "I was, uh..."

Shane rolled his eyes and huffed dramatically leaving no doubt of his impatience.

"I was out in the woods," Kaesta stated, doing her best to focus on Rick and block Shane out. "I ran into three Walkers."

The color immediately drained from Rick's face. "Are you bit?" He demanded his voice full of concern mixed with a hint of panic.

"No, no. I'm fine," the young woman insisted.

"Your leg?" Rick questioned having seen her limp on the way over and trying to connect the dots.

Kaesta shook her head. "Just a fall. Sprained my ankle. It'll be fine."

"Well, if you're not seriously hurt, I don't see what's so important you got to pick right this moment to talk to us. Can't you see we got more important things to be dealing with?" Shane tilted his head towards the barn where they were keeping Randall.

"It's just that, well, I spend a lot of time out in the woods and I haven't run into any Walkers near the farm before now," Kaesta explained. The look on Shane's face clearly spelled out that he wasn't getting it. Rick looked attentive, but unsure. Kaesta decided to elaborate, "It's just odd that I would run into three today. One I could see, but three? I think we should..."

"Look here, it doesn't matter what you think. You've been here what," Shane rubbed a hand over his bald head, "a few days? We got along just fine before you came. I think we know what we're doing and don't need some..."

"That's enough, Shane." Rick cut him off and shooting him a look of warning. Shane's eyes narrowed and he glared right back. "Look, Kaesta, thanks for bringing this to my attention, but I think Shane is right about one thing. Right now we have more important things to be dealing with. A couple of stray Walkers out in the wilderness, while reason to be cautious, is nothing to panic over." With that, Rick dismissed her.

Annoyed at being blown off Kaesta stormed over to Daryl's tent. She had hoped that bringing back the food she had trapped would have earned her some respect and to be taken seriously. Kaesta curled herself up on the cool ground and waited for the execution to be carried out. Time passed but no shot was fired. After what felt an eternity Daryl returned. He looked pissed.

"What happened?" Kaesta wondered.

"Tell ya wha' happened," Daryl spat angrily. "Tha' dumbass kid uh Rick an' Lori's showed up. Wanted t' watch. Rick couldn' follow through wit it."

Kaesta frowned. This new world was a messed up place for a young boy to be growing up. She worried about Carl.

Daryl was rummaging through the pack on Merle's motorcycle. "Ya seen mah gun?" he asked her, a slight hint of accusation in his voice. Kaesta shook her head. "Hey, I asked ya sumthin'," he snapped.

Realizing that Daryl wasn't looking at her and couldn't see her gestures she verbalized, "No, I haven't seen it."

Daryl eyed her suspiciously then let it drop. He pulled something else out of the bag and turned to leave.

"What's that?" Kaesta asked. It looked like he'd grabbed his hunting knife but she hadn't got a good enough glimpse to be sure.

"Nothin'"

Air expelled itself from Kaesta's lungs and she deflated. "What are you planning to do?" She had a sick feeling she knew the answer already.

"What needs t' be done."

Kaesta desperately wanted to reach out and say something to him. She could see the burden he carried was heavy on his shoulders. "Daryl..." she called out.

"Wha'?" he growled.

The young woman spoke softly, "You don't need to do this."

Daryl merely grunted in response. He did need to do it. It couldn't always be Rick.