Evan and Jude napped lightly in the open tent as Daryl sat just to the side of the flap, restringing his crossbow in anticipation for the next day's hunt.

"Hey, mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

He looked up to see Dale and already knowing what he had come for, shook his head. "We ain't got nothing to talk about," Daryl replied flatly, checking out his handiwork before making a further few tweaks. "I think we do. You know, she's not the only person that cares about you- I'm worried about who you're gonna become, Daryl. Especially with this new role in the group torturing prisoners-"

The hunter looked up at him and narrowed his eyes, scoffing loudly, "I do what I have to do to protect my own. What these other people decided doesn't matter, because they don't fucking know what's what. Group's broken anyway."

"You say that like you don't care," Dale replied, trying to appeal to Daryl's softer side.

He only jerked a thumb back to where his girls were sleeping and shrugged, setting his crossbow down. "If it ain't about what's best for them, then I don't. I don't give a fuck about whatever else happens around here as long as nothing hurts her and our girls. Hate to say it, but fuck if that kid lives or dies."

Dale took one last look at him before walking away, the hunter turning to glance over his shoulder at where Evan had sat up. They shared a look before he jerked his chin towards his arrows, knowing that she had heard everything he said, "Hand me those, baby."

"You meant it when you said you don't care about nothing other than us."

"Yeah, I did," Daryl replied quietly, checking over his arrows and fixing loose heads and bent feathers. She looked up at him honestly and braced her back against the tent wall, resting her elbows on her knees. "Ya want me to have an opinion on it, fine. I want him dead, so that he doesn't become a threat, so that he doesn't put you in harm's way. I'd like to go around not looking over my shoulder for once and not have to worry about protecting yer back- something I wish I never had to do because ya were already good and safe. I love ya with every inch of me, enough to kill a man just to protect ya. Anything other than that doesn't matter."

Evan sighed and looked at the gold band she wore most days on her thumb, chewing on her bottom lip. "Every inch…" He lifted his eyes and looked at her, smiling ruefully, "Don't start getting all weepy and upset- I know that I can't have every inch of ya, Evan. Knew that from the day I met ya… For ya, ya got Jude and Kennedy and Carter, and ya still got yer old man's memory. They need their inches too."

"You know, I miss him like hell, but I know that he's watching over me and Jude, like always. The thing is… I feel better this time around with being somebody's woman and somebody's mother. Not that it felt wrong with Danny, but it's just never felt more right with you, Daryl. This life- despite its obvious shortcomings- feels like it's my second chance."

He was quiet as he looked at her, trying not to betray the almost embarrassing sense of elation that had built inside of him just that quickly, running a hand back through his hair. "Mine too."

"You can smile- I know you want to," Evan said as she looked up from her hands, catching the fleeting grin Daryl gave. She smiled as well before standing and moving to kiss him, holding on to a handful of his hair in a way she knew drove him crazy.

"Where ya running off to?"

She turned around and pointed at her stomach for a moment before skipping off to use the bathroom, not hearing Shane and Andrea walking just a few feet away from her until they had started to speak.

Andrea looked at Shane, her arms crossed over her chest, "Look, Dale asked me to guard Randall because between you and Evan, he's afraid the kid's gonna end up dead before he can convince Rick to stop the execution."

"And he's gonna convince him, maybe even Evan too. They're gonna pussy-out and when they do, we're gonna have a big problem on our hands named Randall. Let me ask you something: every time we got a problem around here, who's behind it?"

She scoffed, Evan standing slowly to remain unseen, Andrea more focused on the man with her. "Some might say you." Shane laughed once humorlessly, shaking his head, "No, it ain't me. I say it's the ones who are making up 'the rules', even though their answers- their answers are always proved wrong."

"So what are you gonna to do? Evan and Rick are the leaders of the group, its Hershel's farm: we can't change that."

"Somebody ought to."

Evan stepped forward then, both of them looking up as Shane's hand went to his gun. "What are you gonna do? Lock us in a room and take our fucking guns," she questioned lightly, smirking at the fact that he would even think to try that. He was starting to go red in the face but kept his nerve, trying to see just how far he could push her. "Look, I've had about enough of you and your shit Evan. You ain't nothing but poison and you may have more than a few people underneath your thumb, but you're not gonna get to me-"

"I want nothing to do with you, Shane," Evan said plainly, raising her eyes to his. "I don't want to get to you: I want you gone. Because you are the poison here, the snake in the motherfucking grass and the only reason why you're playing hard ass with me is because I know exactly who and what you are! I see you!"

He lashed out at that but Evan blocked him with a forearm before she smashed her hand into his throat, knocking him off of his feet. "You ever come at me like that again and it will not be my fist hitting you- it will be a .45 caliber round right in your thick fucking skull, Shane."

The former soldier took one look at Andrea before spitting at her feet, speaking over her shoulder, "You should keep better company, Andrea. Men like this will get a girl like you killed."

The sun started to set on the Greene farm, Evan looking up at the sky before sighing and turning to Daryl.

"Almost time."

She sat for a few moments longer before clapping her hands to get the girls' attentions, smiling softly, "I want you three to go with Carl when we get to the house- we're going to be meeting downstairs while you stay with Lincoln, Jimmy and Beth. Get a book or something to keep you occupied." Evan then turned to Fenris, the dog taking to his feet and waiting for his order. "Pup, go watch Jude," she said as she jerked her head towards the girls' tent, Daryl smirking as the German Shepard darted away.

"He's such a bitch dog," the hunter said, receiving a firm thump to his thigh from her even as she tried not to laugh. Evan moved to kiss him before she stood, holding one of his hands in hers, "Sometimes a bitch has a bite much worse than a stud's."

"Oh, I completely agree with ya there."

They started towards the house, Daryl's hand comforting on her shoulder. "So, you support my decision, baby," Evan asked quietly, just wanting one last confirmation of how he felt. He nodded and moved to kiss her temple, speaking only loud enough for her to hear. "I've got a good woman with a level head on her shoulders. And I know that, right or wrong, yer gonna do everything in yer power to keep everybody happy and safe. I trust ya to do that, and I will be behind ya every step of the way to pick up the leg work. So yes, I support yer decision." She looked up at him and smirked, reaching up to wrap her fingers around his.

"Oh, stop sweet talking me, Dixon or I'll have to do that little thing for you that you like once the kids are asleep…"

"I've had enough out of ya tonight," Daryl said as they came to the porch, Evan moving around him with a grin to usher the girls and Lincoln inside. He moved to stand in the living room, seeing the others settle in with the three oldest members of the Greene family.

They waited for Evan and Lori to come down, the two women immediately moving to stand beside their respective partners. After he made sure that his son was settled, Rick stepped forward to the center of the floor, his wife settling back on the wall where Evan and Daryl already were.

There was an uncomfortable silence filled with everyone meeting someone else's gaze, as if to tell them to speak. Glenn opened his mouth as he looked from Rick to Evan, sighing uneasily, "So how do we start this? Take a vote?" Andrea questioned openly how that would work, what steps had to be gone through and if it had to be unanimous. "No, let's just see where everybody stands and then we'll talk through the options-"

"Way I see it there's only one way to move forward," Shane replied, his fingers wrapped around the handle of his gun.

It seemed to anger Dale with how little effort they were putting into finding alternate means of dealing with Randall, looking at the group in utter disbelief, "Killing him, right? I mean, why even bother to take a vote; its clear which way the wind is blowing."

"If people want to spare him, I wanna know," Rick said, obviously conflicted with his own choices. The old man's eyes flickered over the faces of his friends and companions, shaking his head. "Well, I can tell you its only a small group. Maybe just me and Glenn," Dale replied, the young man sitting quietly. Glenn looked up after a moment of silence between them, trying to defend why he couldn't stand with Dale on the issue, "Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything all the time but this- he's not one of us! And we've lost too many people already."

"And you," Dale said, turning to the woman they already thought of as Glenn's other half. "Do you agree with this?"

Maggie looked at Glenn and Rick before deciding to talk to Evan, the shorter woman straightening up as she was brought into the debate. "Couldn't we continue to keep him prisoner," the farmer's daughter asked, Daryl letting out a sigh. He shook his head and turned to his partner, knowing the always had her ear, "That's another mouth to feed. And we already got a few mouths we weren't expecting to start thinking about." She looked at him as Daryl casually revealed the fact that she- as well as Lori- was pregnant to the entire group, knowing that he had slipped that in there to let them know that they were dealing with enough as it was. "Then it may be a lean winter," Hershel said, sensing the discomfort in the room build at the fact that they were still unprepared for the fast-approaching season. "We could ration better," Lori suggested, catching more than a few hungry glares- they were scrapping by on non-perishables as it was.

"Or he could be an asset- give him a chance to prove himself," Dale challenged, Evan shaking her head.

She sighed and folded her arms across her chest, looking at the old man as she admired his persistence, "And what, put him to work? I'm not going to let him walk around-"

"You could put an escort on him," Maggie said as she thought of the man she knew and how she was having to decide his fate. "Who wants to volunteer for that job," the deputy asked smartly, scoffing at her suggestion and shaking his head.

"I will-"

Rick held his hand up and finally put a stop to that idea, letting everyone know that it wasn't an option. "Look, I don't think anyone of us should be walking around with that guy. He could get comfortable here and we would let our guard down and who's to say he wouldn't take off," the sheriff questioned, seeing how their interests all piqued in the situation. "Get his thirty men to come back and show us what's what," Shane agreed, looking at Evan as he realized that if that came to pass, she'd be one of the first to get hers.

"So instead we kill him? To prevent a crime he may never even commit? You know, if we do this, we're saying there's no hope for any of us," Dale shouted, allowing his anger to overcome him. "This deserves more than a five minute conversation- this is a young man's life!"

Daryl moved to pace, annoyed with how the meeting was proceeding, "We've been talking all day, just going in circles? Ya wanna go around in circles again?"

"Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him, Evan! You were the one that wouldn't let him die out there," Dale said, seeing the hard fashion in which her face was set- she knew he was right. "And now you've gone and tortured him. He's gonna be executed- how does doing that make you or any of the rest of us any better than those thirty men we're so afraid of?"

Carol spoke in a meek voice that started to strengthen, finally ready to have her say, "Just stop it- stop it. I'm sick of everyone fight; I didn't ask for this and you can't ask any of us to decide something like this…" Evan moved to take a seat and threw up her hands, sighing. "Well y'all, we haven't come to any other viable solution with all this back and forth so I think its time that we go ahead and make a decision. Anybody else got anything to say about this? You have the floor," she murmured, the others following her lead in sitting down.

"Don't you see that if we do this, the people that we were, the- the world that we knew is dead! And this new world is ugly, harsh and it's a survival of the fittest! That's a world I don't want to live in… and I don't believe that any of you do either. Please, please: let's just do what's right," Dale said as he made one last appeal, becoming overwhelmed with emotion.

The only person who spoke was Andrea, who had been watching her friend struggle and fight for his beliefs, moved by his message, "He's right. We should try to find another way."

No one echoed her sentiment as they sat silently, feeling Dale look at each of them for confirmation of their choice, nodding despondently. He started to walk out of the house before pausing at where Daryl stood, the younger man eyeing him cautiously. "You were right- this group is broken," Dale said as he gripped his shoulder once, leaving them all with conflicted feelings.

There was a minute of absolute stillness before they began to move, Daryl moving to kneel where Evan was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her head hung. "Baby," he murmured quietly, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck. "Ya alright?"

"No. Daryl, I want so badly not to have to kill him. I want so badly that he's not a bad guy, that there's not some little piece inside of me telling me that this is wrong. And in a way, it is wrong: wrong that all of us even have to be here, that he had to be put in the position of kill or be killed, that we have to do this to save ourselves," Evan replied, pressing the heels of her hand to her eyes and sighing heavily. "No matter how hard I try, I can't always do the right thing and please everybody at the same time because the world doesn't work like that. And regardless of what I do now, it isn't gonna fix a goddamn thing that's wrong. The world is still shit, the dead still walk and- and everything is so fucked up. So no honey, I'm not alright with that."

Daryl moved to kiss her crown before standing, looking at where Rick was waiting by the door, "I can take care of this. Get the girls ready for bed."

"No, I'll do it-"

"Evan, what did I say? Leg work," he retorted smartly, walking towards the door. She watched as he and Rick disappeared into the night, shaking her head and standing.

The girls came downstairs and they returned to the campsite, Evan holding Jude tightly in her arms.

"You don't like being the leader of the group, do you," Carter asked quietly when they reached their tent, the girls pausing before their mother. She rocked the baby for a moment as she felt her shoulders slump forward, trying to figure out what to say, "No… no, I don't. But I have to do it so that you guys are safe and so that no one else has to make the decisions that I do. It's hard."

"And you're sad, mom," Kennedy replied as she wrapped her arms around Evan's waist, burying her face in her flannel shirt.

Evan smoothed down her hair before releasing her, the rest of the group starting to assemble around the campfire to wait. "Go ahead and get in bed girls. I'll see you in the morning," she said, kissing all of them good night and moving to sit down beside Lori.

"You're starting to lose your touch," the older woman murmured, staring into the fire. "You actually listened to something Daryl said for once. Evan's starting to get tame."

"Evan's starting to get tired," she corrected, chuckling humorlessly before looking out towards the barn.

She was quiet for a few moments until James came over, turning to look at him, "What do you need, sir?" The medic seemed to be annoyed with something, running a hand back through his shaggy hair and refusing to meet her eyes. "Could we maybe step aside and talk for a few minutes in private? There's something that's kinda eating away at me," he murmured, Evan standing and moving towards the vehicles with him.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"About," Evan started to question before she realized what he was talking about and words left her. "Oh."

James cracked his knuckles as he always did when he was tense, shaking his head, "I mean, I know I was just Danny's friend and all, and I know he's dead now but I thought that we were better than that. You are all I have left from before and I don't need to lose you too! You're my friend!"

"I know! I know," she shouted, her frustrations finally overwhelming her.

They looked at each other as Evan began to pace, the former soldier taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "I just found out- for certain, that is- the day we brought Randall back to the farm. And yes, you were Danny's friend but don't think for one second that I have forgotten just how much 'better' we are than that," she said angrily, seeing the blood rise in his face. James pointed an accusatory finger at her, speaking through his teeth as he walked towards her. "It was one, drunken, completely fucked up night when we barely knew each other we agreed never to bring up again! I wouldn't even give a shit about you if it wasn't for loving Jude like my own-"

"Lie," Evan whispered defensively, trying not to seem hurt by his words even as tears started to run down her face. "You're fucking lying."

"I know." James wrapped his arms around her and listened to her sob into his shirt, smoothing her curls down. He shushed her after a few moments, stepping back to cup her face in his hands, "I shouldn't have said that, I know Evan. And I'm so sorry- but I wasn't expecting everything to change so quickly, Danny here one day and gone the next, losing Nicole and my baby, having Daryl and all of the others to come into our lives. The dead started walking and everything changed: we all changed. I just don't want to lose anybody else or be replaced because I came along with the old husband and I don't matter anymore. You were my best friend too, Ev."

She moved to embrace him again, shaking her head as she tried to do away with his fears. "No, you're my family and that's never going to change Jaime. Me being with Daryl is not going to change that you were there through it all. And you can believe in me when I say that the thought of pushing you away has not crossed my mind- or his," she replied, moving to kiss his forehead as she smoothed back his hair soothingly.

"Don't forget about him."

"Never," Evan flung back, stepping away from him even as she held onto his arms. "Not a day goes by that I don't look at my daughter's face and remember the man with eyes as blue as the sky. Not one single day."

He stepped back as she nearly jumped out of her skin when they heard the leaves crunching towards them, hurriedly drying her face. Lincoln came into view and looked between them, knowing that he had walked into something private, "Uh, Rick's back…"

"Thank you."

Evan hurried off back to camp, James moving to lean back against a nearby tree as he tried to gather his thoughts.

She walked right up to Rick and Lori, aware that Daryl was not with him and that she had not heard a gunshot. "Where is he and what happened," she asked hotly, her hand pressed to her chest as she feared what had happened in the barn.

"Carl. He- he wanted to watched," Rick replied, seeming like he was in shock. "I couldn't. None of us could."

Evan felt sick to her stomach, shaking her head, "Jesus."

She knew that they would be postponing the execution at the very least, walking in circles as she scratched her head. "Not good, not good…" There was a series of pained, bloodcurdling cries, Evan pausing as she heard a familiar, disturbing sound just underneath the screams. She thought of the one person who she didn't have at her side, her heart seeming to leap into her chest as she mouthed his name.

"Get Carl," Rick said to his wife, the older woman beckoning her child as Evan went to grab her gun.

She called for her girls, walking briskly towards the direction of the screams, "Take Jude and Fenris and get to the house! Lock the door and do not open it for anyone! Go!"

By the time the others had gotten their weapons, Evan was nearly to whoever was lying in the field, bounding over the high grass. "Please don't be dead," she whispered, panting softly. "Please don't be-"

"Over here!"

Daryl called out to the group as he knelt by Dale, a dead walker laying just to the side with his knife firmly impaled through his head. "Hang in there buddy," the hunter said, holding his hands to Dale's midsection. Evan let out a cry of relief before looking down at Dale and hearing the blood in his throat, the old man dying right before her eyes. She pressed her hands over Daryl's, unable to meet his eyes, "I thought that it was you."

The others arrived, each shocked about the scene they came upon, Rick falling down beside where Evan knelt. "Oh, look at me Dale. Hold on now," he said, wanting to help without hurting him any further. He called for someone to get Hershel before looking at Evan and Daryl, wanting answers. "I found him with the walker on top of him, tearing into his stomach. All of his insides were hanging out," Daryl said, feeling the uncomfortable warmth underneath his hands.

He stepped away when Hershel had gotten there, Evan moving her hands to allow him to see.

"We have to move him," Rick said, preparing to give the orders.

"He won't survive the trip."

The sheriff looked at Evan as their worst fears were confirmed, leaping to his feet as he started to rant in denial. Dale writhed on the ground, Evan moving to cradle his head, "No, look at me. Look at me… Its alright, honey. Its gonna be alright."

Andrea seemed to be the one most overcome, sobbing on her knees as she turned to Rick. "He's suffering," she choked out, grasping his hand even as he gasped and struggled to breathe. "Do something!" Dale looked at Rick as he pulled his gun from his holster, his eyes pleading. Evan let out a sob and stroked his face one last time, trying to provide him with some sort of comfort. "I'm sorry Dale. So sorry."

Rick's shaky hand leveled the gun at Dale, trying not to think of how ironic it was that he was having to put down the old man. And then he dropped it, Dale's continued cries of pain too much for him to handle as he realized that the old man had been right about having to do the right thing- even though it meant ending his life now.

"Give it to me," Daryl growled out quietly, reaching out to take Rick's gun. He aimed it at Dale's head once the women had left him, loading a round into the chamber. Meeting the eyes of a man who had been like their tenth man when it came to making decisions and doing what was right, he curled his finger around the trigger, not wanting to pull it- even as he did so.

"Sorry, brother."