AN: 149! One more!

Today's Fact: The Grimes family was prepared to send Lucy away to a ward until she could finally come to terms with what happened, meaning the accident and her losing her sight. But then of course, the damn Apocalypse happened!

Chapter 25

I stood outside of the shed, grazing my bottom lip nervously with my top teeth as I balanced back and forth on my two feet. I listened to the sounds of Daryl angrily pacing around, like he was trying to wear off an uneasy sort of numbness. Somebody had to get the answers from Randall that I couldn't. My mother, of course, told my father about his Randall's group was so close. Daryl was the only one willing besides Shane to get the job done. But that didn't stop me from making sure he didn't get carried away. There was no way in hell I was going to let somebody kill Randall. That almost made me a hypocrite, as I had killed those two men, but that was in the past. What's been done cannot be undone.

Each time Daryl growled, and his fist connected with Randall's flesh, I didn't cringe. It's not that I didn't feel like Randall deserved what was coming, it was just… I don't really know how to explain, other than that I was beginning to twist… Worse than before. There's a difference between become stronger, and a morphing into a complete psycho. I couldn't bring myself to feel anything, really.

I heard Randall fall the floor. I had warned him, so maybe that was why I didn't feel any remorse. Randall sobbed, and again Daryl's fists flew into his body. And again.

"I told you," I heard Randall sob.

"You told me shit!" Daryl barked, kicking him once more. I jumped as somebody slammed against the wall.

"I hardly knew those guys! I met them on the road!"

"How many in your group?"

No reply. I looked in through the slits of the door. I watched as Daryl pulled his hunting knife from the sheath. My hands flew to the handle of the door, but I stopped myself. No, I heard my subconscious say. Let him bleed.

I lowered my hand.

"No!" Randall begged. "N-no! No! C'mon man-"

Daryl lunged, lodging the blade into the floorboards inches away from the boys injured leg. He yelped, sliding away as Daryl gave him the death stare.

"How many!" Daryl screamed, spittle flying onto Randall's face.

"Thirty!" Thirty people that could march in and murder us all. "Thirty guys!"

"Where?"

"Uh-" Randall shrieked as Daryl ripped away the bandage on his wound. "I don't know! I swear!"

I felt my heart skipping a beat. This wasn't what Randall told me. He specifically said that gas station, and so did that man I threatened. "We were never anywhere more than a night-!"

I yanked the door open, barging in as the door slammed shut with an echo. I latched onto Randall's jaw, forcing him to look at me. "You're in no damn position to lie!" I threatened, kicking him in the ribs. I thought I saw a smile tugging onto the corners of Daryl's mouth. His placed the tip of the blade to Randall's scab.

"Out scoutin'?" he barked. "Plannin' on stayin' local?"

I dug my nails like talons in his flesh as he replied. "I don't know! They left me behind!"

"Ever pick off a scab?" I pulled my hand away from Randall, his blood staining my nails.

"God, man! I'm trying to cooperate!"

"You start real slow at first, and then later you just gotta rip it off!"

"Okay!" Randall screamed. "Okay. T-they have weapons. Heavy stuff… Automatics; b-but I didn't do anything!"

"You shot at my people?" Daryl growled. "Try to take this farm? You just went along for the ride? Tryin' to tell me you're innocent?"
"Yes!"

I flashed Daryl a quick look. We locked eyes, and I shook my head. He returned to Randall, inching closer ever so slightly. "These people just took me in. Not just guys; a whole group of them. Men and women. Kids just like you guys! I thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But… We'd go out. Scavenge. Just the men." I knew where this was going,

"One night we found this little campsite. Man and his two daughters… Teenagers, y'know? Really young. Real cute."

Daryl's jaw locked I presses against his chest, trying to keep him back.

I saw a single tear slide down Randall's face. My insides turned into knots. "The dad had to watch while the guys-… And they didn't even kill them afterwards. They just… They just made him watch. His daughters… Just left them there. B-but I didn't touch those girls! I swear-!"

Daryl moved in for the kill. Shoving him didn't stop this time. I stepped away throwing myself out of the shed as I listened to the thumps and screams. The begging. All the begging… I pushed my palms into my ears.

The door opened. Daryl picked up his jacket off of the ground, pulling it on as he shook the debris away. He slung his crossbow over his shoulder. My hands fell to my sides, finding their way inside of my jacket pockets.

He didn't say anything. He shook his blood-coated hands. We walked towards the group in silence. Everyone was gathered around the fire.

"That boy there got a damn gang; thirty men. Heavy artillery. They ain't lookin' to make friends. If they roll through here, our boys are dead. Our women- they're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asked.

"We had a little chat."

Carol frowned, nervously hugging her shoulders as she turned away from Daryl. I was anticipating her to bombard me with questions later.

"No one goes this guy," my father said.

"Rick." My mother started. "What are you going to do?"

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked.

"It's settled."

"Since when?" I asked, stepping closer to him. "We never had a discussion about anything. Especially not about Randall."

"You seem awfully close to him," he sneered back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Now that the world has gone to Hell, I don't have your permission to talk to people?"

"Don't go near him. It's settled; we kill Randall today."

I watched him as he stormed off. Dale followed. My mother handed me a mug of hot tea. Silently thanking her, I took a long, slow sip of the green tea.

"How's it going?" Andrea asked, creeping up from behind me. "With Randall…"

Taking the mug down from my lips, I turned around to face her. "Exactly what Daryl said."

"He didn't leave anything out?"

I just shook my head slowly.

XXX

Did I listen to my father all the time? Of course I didn't. So if you guessed that I went back down to the shed, congratulations, you get a gold star.

Andrea was there, too, standing outside as she clutched her gun. The sun shined on her face, and I thought she looked rather pretty for the time being.

"Hi," I said to her as I approached. She nodded to be in acknowledgment. "What's going on?"

"Dale asked me to keep watch."

"Because of Shane?"

"Because of Shane," she repeated as an answer instead of a question.

"Mind if I go in?"

"You know what Rick said."

"I know, but I don't care."

She stiffened. "What's gotten into you lately?"

"I don't know…" Sighing, she opened the door for me. "Thank you."

"Don't pull anything."

"Of course."

The door shut behind me. Randall's eyes snapped up to me, the bruises on his face very visible. I knew he was angry with me. I didn't really care anymore.

"They're going to kill you," I said plainly. "No one wants you around."

"But I didn't do anything to you people," he groaned.

I shook my head slowly. "Bullshit. You shot at us. Your friends tried to kill us."

"You would have done the same. We did what we knew was best!"

"Drop the martyr act. You're dead. There's no worming your way out of this."

"I thought you had my back!" he finally screamed. "I thought- I thought we were friends! I thought you were going convince them to let me go. I thought you-"

"I never said I would help you."

"Then why did you help me with everything else?"

"I don't know," I replied, slowly backing out of the shed as I turned away from him.

"You're the devil's child! You're a bitch! You're a liar." I whipped around to face him, clenching my hands to a point where they began to tingle. Andrea stirred from outside.

I began to slowly walk back towards him as he continued to insult me, calling myself every name on the planet. Once I was up in front of him, I crouched down. Then, like a viper, my arm shot out, pining his neck to the wall with such a force, the wall shook.

"Would you like me to just kill you now?" I demanded, the tone in my voice rising. He tried to pull away, so I pushed down harder. "I won't hesitate to end you."

Pulling away, I stood up. Once the outside air hit me, I slammed the door shut, relocking it.

"I shouldn't have let you in there," Andrea sighed. "Right?"

I locked my jaw, ignoring her over the sound my blood made as it swirled in my head.

XXX

The barn still held the lingering sent of decaying flesh. I watched as my father paced the hayloft, occasionally glancing down to me, or out of the river. Pieces of straw clung to my clothing as I moved about, trying to clean the barn as much as I could by sweeping the hay into piles along the side. The only sounds were those of heels clacking off of wood, and the plastic hairs of the broom rubbing against the floor. There was more to be done, I knew that much. After sweeping, we would have to dust, and then the structure itself would have to air out.

"Lucy," my father called down to me. I looked up to him, discontinuing my chore. "Why don't you come up here?"

It was more of an order than a question. I hung the broom back up onto the peg of which I had found it sleeping on, and embarked up the steep ladder to the loft, where my father met me.

"I think we need to talk," he said, gripping my shoulder the way a father would.

"About?"

"The way you've been behaving. You think you can hide things from me, but you can't."

"Mom told you about those men."

"Why'd you kill them?"

"They tried to kill me," I lied, partially. "They were going to come back here and do away with everyone."

"But did you provoke them first?"

"No. They snuck up on me."

He hesitated. "That isn't any reason to kill someone."

"Are you shitting me?" I snapped, yanking away from him. "You… Hypocritical asshole!"

"You're a bad role model to your brother," my father barked. "If one day you take this group over, you can't do what you did. No one will trust you!"

The sheer thought of being in charge startled me. "Is that why you killed those men in the bar? Are you also insisting that you don't trust me? We were a family once!"

"We still are a family! I trust you just as much as the next person."

"Which is Mom, right?" I paused, laughing hysterically. "The one who stabbed a knife in your back? The one who shoved you under the bus? The one who opened her legs for your best friend? The one that got over you in a week after you 'died'?"

"Think about what you're doing to your brother! He's going to start acting like you."

"Like a responsible person who actually tries to get things done, right?"

"You're not a good role model," he repeated.

"Neither are you. Where do you think this all comes from? You."

"It's my job to keep this group safe!"

"Yeah… Once a cop; always a cop, hmm?" I sighed, running my hand through my hair. "If somebody would have told me three years ago that this would happen to you and I, I wouldn't have believed them. We used to be two pees in a pod. We were just like each other. And then you changed, but I followed.

"So here I am; the wannabe Daddy's Girl who went to the extreme heights, and then I get pissed on by everybody for doing the things they congratulate you for. If you think I'll go back to doing nothing but be a useless rag, then you can go screw yourself. This is evolution. We adapt to our surroundings, which is exactly what I have been trying to do. But you keep me in the dark. (He turned his back to me, picking up an old rope as he began working a noose into it, no doubt for Randall) You keep me locked up in a display case for the world to see how low you think I had been months ago. Are you scared that I've matured so much?"

He dropped the noose, and began to fiddle with his thumbs. "Are you even listening to me!" I screamed.

He looked up, his calm and collected face meeting mine. "I am."

I shook my head, letting out another small, harsh laugh. "No you're not. You never do."

My father walked over to me, gripping both of my shoulders this time. He looked me in the eye. "You know I listen to you. You know I love you."

"This isn't about love," I said. "Love has no place in the world anymore. There's no point to it. It's about trust now."

"But even so, I love you and your brother."

"Then prove it. You've hardly bonded with the two of us for the past four months since this all started."

"I still care about you kids."

"Then prove it!" I repeated.

"If I didn't love you, would I have protected you all those times I let you tag along on a run and not let you die? Would I have stopped Shane from trying to shoot you?"

"Any sane person would have stopped Shane. Even if you wouldn't have protected me, I could have handled myself."

"Is that how both times you ended up shot?"

"Both your fault."

The corner of his mouth curled up a tad, just twitching. "You haven't brought Randall up once."

"That's because I don't care anymore. Even if he did, there's no point in arguing with you over it, because he would still end up dead."

"You know that isn't true."

"Really?" I scoffed. "So if I walked into the shed right now and just left with him, you wouldn't care?" Of course I wouldn't try to do that. Randall was no longer someone I felt I needed to protect.

"That's not what I said."

"Uh, it kinda is."

XXX

Dale had made it his mission to make everybody try to save Randall. Especially me. But I told him no, and that was that.

As the sun lowered, sending an orange hue through the sky, I sat on the porch with my parents as the adults filed in for the meeting; whether or not the boy lived. My parents felt I was able to listen to the meeting, as long as I didn't say anything. But no; I was determined to show everyone I was capable of handling something like this. I was on most of the group's side to exterminate the threat. I just wanted to try and convince Dale before things got too out of hand.

"Carl?" my mother called out. He was covered in mud. I raised my eyebrows, but he shook his head at me. "I want you to stay with Jimmy."

"B-but I wanna listen," he pouted.

"Not this time."

"But Lucy can."

"Don't worry about your sister," my father told him.

The infamous Grimes family entered the house without another word. Half of the group was standing; the other had lounged on furniture. I stood beside my father. Carl lingered in the dining room, standing casually as he waited for the meeting to start. We all turned to face him.

With a nervous nod, he darted away.

And let the games begin…

"So how do we do this?" Glenn asked, breaking the painful silence. "Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea added.

"Majority rules-"

"Let's just see where everybody stands," my father cut in, stepping forward. "We can talk through the options."

"The way I see," Shane started, "there's only one way to move forward."

"By killing him." Dale spat. He was already losing this battle, and it had barely begun. "Right?" He looked at us all, nodding his head. "Why even bother taking a vote? It's clear which way this is going."

"Well if people believe we should spare him, I'll wanna know," my father told him. Yeah right.

"I can tell you, it's a small group." Dale muttered. "Maybe just… Me and Glenn. I had hoped your daughter would side with us, but it's clear her father just…"

I shifted in my position.

Glenn glanced uneasily at Dale. "Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything most of the time but this-"

"He's got you scared!" Dale shouted. I jumped at his sudden outburst.

"But he's not one of us!" Glenn barked back. "And we've lost too many people already."

"He's just a kid!"

"Dale," I piped in. "Maybe you should calm down about this."

"You're the one that tried to save him!" I shook my head.

Dale hung his, "And what about you?" he demanded, pointing at Maggie. "Do you agree with this?"

"Can't we continue keeping him prisoner?" She questioned my father.

Daryl spoke up for the first time that night,

"Just another mouth to feed."

"And it may be a lean winter," Hershel added.

"We could ration better," my mother offered

"Or he could be an asset!" Dale snapped. "Give him a chance to prove himself!"

"Make him work?" Glenn shook his head, not liking the idea.

"I don't want him around us," my father said.

"We could put an escort on him," Maggie told him.

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane snapped

"I will." Dale said.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy," my father concurred.

My mother looked at her husband, nodding her head. "He's right; I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor," Andrea told her.

"Look," Shane said. "Say we let him join us. All right maybe, 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 him, clenching his hands. "To prevent a crime he way never even attempt? If we do this… We're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

"Oh my God…" Shane mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Could you drive him further out. Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked.

My mother shook her head, real nice and slow. "You barely came back this time," She started. "There's Walkers; you could break down; Y-you could get lost. You can't leave the kids like that, Rick."

"You could get ambushed." Daryl added.

"Look alright," Glenn said. "We should not put our own people at risk."

"If you go through with it," Patricia started. "How would you do it? Would he suffer?"

"We could hang him," Shane suggested. "Or snap his neck."

"I thought about that," my father said. "Shooting may be more humane."

"What about the body-?" T-Dog started, but Dale cut him off, getting sick of hearing the plans of killing the boy.

"Woah! Wait! You're talking about this, like it's already been decided!"

"Been talkin' all day," Daryl argued. "Goin' 'round in circles. You wanna go 'round again?"

"This is a young man's life! Worth more than a five minute conversation!" Dale screamed. "Is this what its come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him! And now look at us… He's been tortured, he's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?"

"We all know what needs to be done," Shane said.

"No, Dale's right. We leave no stone unturned." Rick said. "We have responsi-"

"So what's the solution?" Andrea interrupted. "We haven't come up with a single option yet. I wish we could-"

"So. Let's. Work on it!" Dale shouted.

"Stop it!" We all looked at the door, where Carol was standing. "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, just decide! Either of you, both of you," she continued. "But just leave me out of it."

"Not speaking out," Dale said, "or killing him yourself. There's no difference."

"That's enough," my father spat. "Anybody wants the floor before we make a final decision, has the chance now."

This was my chance to say what had to be said.

"I do." I said, stepping forward. "His group has done things—unmentionable things—to women. They have killed! We have done some of the things that they have done, but that still doesn't change anything. What if the shoes were swapped? What if, say Glenn had been taken that night? He would be dead by now. That group is full of murderers and rapists! And Randall is just one of them. What's the difference?

"When we first met, I thought he wasn't like them. But the things Daryl and I heard this morning proved me wrong. And if you, Dale, would have been there, I know it would have changed your thoughts, and we wouldn't be wasting time on a dead cause. Randall is a liar. You want to save the life of somebody who could easily kill one of us! If the world was still normal and he had gotten arrested for rape, or murder, you would want to see him rot! So how are things different? They aren't. In the end, crime is still crime. Murder is still murder. In a courtroom, the jury makes the decisions. You're outnumbered. A judge wouldn't let a member of the jury defend their stand. It's time to just stop and realize what's truly best. For all of us."

I stood there in silence. The others looked at each other. Dale wasn't done. I felt like strangling him.

"You once said we don't kill the living," he said to my father.

"That was before the living tried the kill us," he replied, walking up to me.

"But don't you see! If you do this, the people we were, the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly! It's harsh; it's survival at the fittest. And that's a world I don't want to live in. I don't believe any of you do. You can't. Please. Let's just to what's right."

There was a pause. "Isn't anybody going to stand with me?"

Slowly, Andrea began to nod. "He's right. We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" my father asked. More dead silence.

Dale knew he had been beaten. He glared in disgust at us all. "Are you all gonna watch too?" he laughed. "No. You'll all just go hide in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a part of it."

"I'll be watching," I told him. "That's right. The kid who's living up to her words. The one you all doubted. I'll be there. I won't hide like the rest of you."

"No, you're just corrupted like everyone else," Dale spat. With that, he cut through the room, and out of the house, but not before grabbing onto Daryl's jacket. "This group is broken," he said.

XXX

The dark air flooded around us as we dragged Randall to the barn. My father's lantern cut through the night like a dagger. I walked by his side.

Randall begged as we made our way towards the structure.

Shane and I pried the barn doors open. "Wait! Please!"

"Put him there," my father said, pointing to a patch of hay on the floor. Shane held him to his chest. Randall looked up at me.

"Lucy?" he asked. I shook my head. "Lucy. Help me. Please!"

Shane tied a black blindfold over the boy's eyes. He howled like an injured dog. He backed away, leaving Randall to stand-alone. I never left my father's side.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" he asked our prisoner.

"Don't. Please!"

Daryl kicked him in his injured leg, forcing him to the ground. He yanked on his hair, forcing his head up. He let go.

"Do you have any final words?"

He sobbed. He didn't stop. I wanted him to. "I trusted you, Lucy! Please don't kill me!"

My father raised his revolver to Randall's head, and pushed a bullet into the chamber, ready to fire. But he hesitated.

"Do it, Dad."

My eyes flew to the entrance of the barn, where my brother stood, anticipating the shot. "Do it."

A nervous look came across my father's face. Shane ran over to Carl, forcing him out of the barn.

Because of Carl, my father couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. He lowered his arm.

"I'll do it," I offered.

"No," he told me. "Take him away. Now."

Daryl grabbed him from under the arms. My father and I watched them leave. Needless to say, Shane was pissed. He stormed off. My father guided my brother and I out of the barn, and back towards the camp. Even the Greene's were waiting for us.

"We're keeping him in custody," my father said. "For now."

Andrea smiled. "I'm going to find Dale."

"Go inside, Carl," my mother said without blinking. "Now, please."

And he did.

My parents talked privately. I sat with Glenn and Maggie by the fire.

Suddenly, and ear shattering scream echoed through the camp. We stood up like lightening. "Get Carl!" my father ordered. "T-Dog! Get a shotgun now!"

I followed my father, sprinting across the field with him. It was dark. We had no light with us this time. He kicked open the gate of the property, and we ran as fast as we ever had before. There were shouts everywhere.

"Hey!" It was Daryl. "OVER 'ERE!"

We met Shane halfway. The rest of the group gathered around as we approached Dale. My father kneeled by him. His stomach… Oh my God, the blood. I couldn't hear anything over my screams and sobs. My mother's arms wrapped around me. I clung to her. I finally stopped screaming when Hershel arrived.

"What happened?" he demanded. He observed Dale. "He won't make the trip."

"We have to do the operation!" my father shouted. "Glenn, get back to the-"

"Rick!" Hershel snapped. "No."

My father broke down, screaming like a mad man. I felt my mother release me as she bent over to puke. My father loomed over Dale. He writhed in pain. My brother crashed into our mother. I stood up, stumbling to my father.

"He's suffering," Andrea sobbed. "Do something!"

My father pointed his revolver to Dale's head. He looked so sad. Andrea turned away. But my father didn't pull the trigger. Blood began to seep out of Dale's mouth. Daryl approached, taking the gun out of my father's hands. My father and I held each other as we watched.

Daryl held the gun to the elder's head.

"Sorry brother…"

The gun fired, and blood flew everywhere.