The week had been hell, complete and utter shit.

After bringing back the injured teenager, Airianna and Hershel had done what they could to repair his leg. Luckily she had been able to repair his nerves so he would still be able to use the damn thing, but he would probably walk with a limp for the rest of his life. The group kept him in the shed as he healed, with the guys keeping constant guard over him like he was some sort of war criminal. Shane wanted to kill the young man to keep the farm safe, but Rick insisted on dropping him off away from the farm to give him a fighting chance. Sadly the boy was stupid enough to mention how he knew Maggie, which landed him back in the shed.

Now the group was divided over the fact of letting him go or ending his life. Airianna stood on the side of keeping him alive for the most part. While she knew he could pose a danger to the group, killing him would demoralize them. But letting him go could doom them later. She was one of the few that suggested keeping him in the group. He seemed like a good enough person, but he had fallen in with a nasty crowd.

It also didn't help that Beth was suicidal for the better part of the week. She and Maggie watched her around the clock to protect her. The doctor insisted Maggie should simply talk some sense into her but she wanted a gentler approach.

That gentle approach ended up being Andrea leaving her alone in the bathroom, giving the blonde an opportunity to break the mirror and slit her wrist.

She came crying to the female doctor, begging for her life. She stitched her up before leaving the sisters alone for their giant fight where they finally addressed the issues they were pushing away. They now were on good terms, but Maggie still held a great bit of hate toward Andrea, who believed her choice was the right one.

Ugh, just thinking about it was giving her a headache.

Now she was sitting outside by the small camp waiting with the others while Daryl had a 'conversation' with Randall. She hated that Daryl offered to interrogate the man, but she knew that he would feel responsible if anything else bad happened. She also knew that if Shane had gone in there, as he was the only other person to volunteer, Randall may just end up dead.

She brushed off her thoughts when she heard the familiar huffing of her husband, and turned around to face his approaching form. She frowned at his bloodied knuckles but pushed her worries down as Rick stepped towards him.

"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men," Daryl stopped next to his wife. "They have heavy artillery and they ain't lookin' to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women…" He glanced down at Airianna. "They're gonna wish they were."

Carol bit her lip, "What did you do?"

"Had a little chat," He brushed off her question.

Rick turned to address the group, "No one goes near this guy."

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked.

The leader furrowed his brows, "We have no choice, he's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

Dale's eyes widened at his statement, "You're just gonna kill him?"

"It's settled," He replied. "I'll do it today."

Rick took a deep breath and walked away from the cluster of people. As Dale rushed after him, Airianna sighed and stepped off to follow the men.

"You don't want to do this. I know you don't," Dale called out as he and the doctor caught up to Rick.

"I thought about it all night," He reasoned. "Knowing what we know now, I don't see a way out of it."

Airianna shook her head as she walked next to the men, "But you can't just decide on your own to take someone's life."

"Thank you," Dale wheezed.

Rick shook his head, "The group seemed supportive."

"What because they didn't speak back?" The older man posed. "You didn't let them. There's gotta be a...a process."

"What would that be?" The ex-sheriff asked. "We can't call witnesses, go before a judge-"

Dale scoffed, "So he's automatically guilty by association and sentenced to death?"

"He's just a kid," Airianna added.

"Give us some time to talk to everyone," Dale pleaded.

"We can't, people are scared."

"Which is why they need time to discuss this, Rick," The doctor defended.

"No, no, they need to be safe. I owe them that," He shot back.

Dale huffed, "You think about your son, the message that you're giving him," His words made Rick pause. "Shoot first, think later? I asking for one day to talk to everybody. You can give me that. Think about Carl."

"I am," The father hissed. He sighed and closed his eyes. "We reconvene at sunset, then what happens happens." With his final say, Dale nodded and walked back to the group to begin his one-on-one conversations, but Airianna stayed back. "Something else you need to let out Airianna?"

"Rick, I'm a doctor," She whispered. "Hershel and I spent near ten hours saving that boy's life and now you're throwing it away? Yes, his group has done awful things, but does he look like the kind of person that could run away from or fight off thirty other men?"

He groaned at her reasoning, "Doesn't matter, he could find his group and tell them about us."

"So we execute him on conjecture?" She argued. "I made an oath to help and to heal. Now the rest of the world may be gone for good, but my words, my promises, are still here."

"I get that," He said. "But this is for the greater good."

"The greater good for who?" She pondered. "We would have to live with the guilt of murdering an innocent person, who was killed for things others did. How would you feel if you and Shane shot up another group and Carol was captured and executed for something you two did?"

"That is not the same thing," Rick growled.

"It is the exact same thing, Rick!" She screamed back. "And I hope you can live with that, 'cause if you decide to let him die you better be dealing out the execution yourself. Don't you dare let that guilt be on any other person's head."

She stormed off, leaving Rick to his thoughts as she attempted to reign back in her anger. Airianna didn't even know where she was walking, and she didn't care in the least. She just continued on her path until a hand softly touched her arm. She swung around, ready to yell at the person intruding on her, but paused when she noticed Sophia's blonde hair and soft eyes.

The girl tugged on her arm, "I was going to practice with Daryl, do you want to come and watch?"

She gave the girl a small smile and allowed her to lead her back to the tent her husband still insisted on keeping separate from the group, but they both stopped in their tracks as they watched Dale walk up to Daryl as he stepped out of the tent. Airi quickly pushed the girl behind a tree and leaned her head slightly closer to catch the men's words.

Daryl rolled his eyes at the older man, "The whole point of me movin' out here was to get away from you people."

"Gonna take more than that, especially with your wife being who she is," He sniffed at Dale while counting the arrows he had spent the past week carving.

"She send you?'

"Airianna's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group," Dale said.

The hunter shrugged, "Oh man, I don't need my head shrunk. Get enough of that from Airi," He attached half of the new arrows onto the holster on his crossbow. "This group's broken. I'm better off fendin' for me and my own."

Dale quirked his brow, "You act like you don't care."

"Yeah, it's cause I don't," Sophia gripped the redhead's hand at his snarky comment.

"So live or die you don't care what happens to Randall?" The older man asked.

"Nope."

"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life. If it really doesn't matter one way or another?"

Daryl scoffed, "Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch."

"Your opinion makes a difference," The hunter turned and gave Dale a strange look.

"Man, ain't nobody in this group 'cept my wife and son lookin' at me for nothin'," He lifted his crossbow over his shoulder and started sorting out his small hunting bag.

"Sophia is," The mention of the little girl caused Daryl to tense. "Carol is, and I am. Right now. And you obviously have Rick's ear."

He turned and walked up close to Dale, "Rick just looks to Shane. Let him."

Dale caught his arm before he could wander off, "Torturing people? Planning an execution? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane...He's different."

"Why's that? Cause he killed Otis?" Airianna pulled Sophia closer and covered her ears so she couldn't catch the rest of the conversation.

"He tell you that?'

Daryl shook his head, "He told some story...How Otis covered him, saved his ass. But he showed up with the dead guy's gun," Dale froze at the other man's logic, at how easy it could have been to piece the truth together. "Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said, this group's broken."

Airianna waited until Dale had started to walk away until she made herself and Sophia known. Daryl stopped his movement when he noticed the two females walking towards him, noting the tired look on his wife and the sad one on Sophia.

"Do you really don't care about me and my mom?" The blonde girl sniffled. Daryl took a deep breath and knelt on the ground in front of her.

"No, I was just mad at Dale," Daryl denied. "Don't take kindly to people buttin' into my business."

"Okay," She muttered. "You promise?"

Daryl patted Sophia's back, "Yeah, now come on we gotta have ourselves a lesson, or do you want to go be a little housewife?"

"No," She giggled. "Last time I baked with mom I set the oven on fire."

The trio laughed lightly at her words, and Daryl rose to his feet to grab the other set of arrows he carved. He passed them to the girl and she smiled while putting them into her quiver. He walked up to Airi and gave her a tight hug, "Want to come with?" She nodded at his request and he ducked over to their tent to toss her his extra hunting knife.

"Wished you didn't lose my bow," She joked.

"That's was Merle's fault, not mine," Daryl argued. "Took it on a run with Glenn and broke it smashin' some dumb dead bitch."

She shoved his shoulder, "Language."

He rolled his eyes and motioned for his new hunting partners to follow him into the woods. Sophia tightly gripped her bow as she kept close to her teachers as they trekked deeper into the trees. The silence was peaceful, and she eyed the ground as they walked. She paused when Daryl pointed to small footprints in the dirt, slightly covered by a few dead leaves.

He crouched by the prints and gestured to them, "What you think Sophia?"

"A rabbit maybe?" She guessed.

"And why's that?" Airi softly asked.

The blonde girl pointed to the prints, "They're more narrow than a squirrel's footprint."

Daryl eyed the girl for a second before nodding and standing back up to follow the cotton-tailed creature. They continued for a few more minutes until the hunter lifted his hand, signaling for them to stop. In front of the three people was a small cluster of rabbits nibbling on a forest plant about fifteen feet away from them. Daryl glanced at the twelve-year-old and waited until she had lifted her bow so he could lift his crossbow. The pair quietly aimed at the small colony of rabbits, letting their arrows fly at nearly the same time. Daryl's made its mark in one of the rabbit's head, but Sophia's hit one of a rabbit's feet, pinning the creature to the forest floor.

Sophia grimaced as the soft creature squealed in pain, waiting for one of the adults to collect the poor thing. Airianna took pity on the girl and walked up to put the dying bunny out of its misery, grabbing Daryl's kill as well and tossing the pair into his hunting bag.

"It was a good shot," Daryl muttered as he grabbed the bag from his wife.

"I was aiming for its body," Sophia glumly said. "So it wouldn't hurt as much."

"Nah," Daryl huffed. "Rabbits are damn near impossible to catch when you first learnin'. You got some sort o' skill." The girl perked up at his slight encouragement and once again followed after him, lightly stepping in his own footprints to hide her own.

The trio continued for an hour or two, finding a few more rabbits and squirrels. Sophia was glancing around the trees when she saw something rush past in the distance, "Carl?"

Airianna turned her head, "What Sophia?"

"I saw Carl running through the trees," She muttered.

Daryl shifted his eyes to where she was looking, "Don't see nothing. You must be gettin' tired is all," He shrugged his shoulders as he turned back to the way they came from. "Might as well head on back, gotta go to that stupid meetin' anyway."

His wife nodded in agreement and she led the way back to camp. Once they passed through the trees Daryl dropped the bag of dead animals by the tent, "Sophia, you mind watchin' Eren while this happens?"

"Sure, where is he?"

"You're mother is watching him. Here," The redhead said as she passed the hunting knife back over to Daryl. "I'll take you to her so you and Carl can watch him in the RV."

She gave her husband a quick kiss on the cheek before she guided the girl to where Carol was sitting in the camp with Eren. The other mother passed the little boy over to her daughter and the adults waited until they had entered the RV before heading up to the house. As they ascended the steps they saw Lori herding Carl out of the house, ignoring his pleas to stay. They watched as the boy sadly made his way to the RV to join Sophia and Eren. Lori motioned them into the house and they joined the rest of the group settling down in the sitting room for the conversation.

Carol took a place near the wall to avoid attention while Airianna sat in one of the open seats near Glenn and Maggie, smiling at the couple as she joined them. Dale leaned up against the doorway leading to the kitchen and straightened his back when Daryl arrived, the final member of the group. He rolled his eyes at the older man's hopeful expression before standing right behind his wife's chair.

Glenn cleared his throat, "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?"

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

Lori shook her head, "How about majority rules?"

Rick stepped forward, "Now let's, let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options."

"Well, where I sit," Shane spoke up. "There's only one way to move forward."

"Killing him, right?" Dale snapped. "I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know," Rick said.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group," Dale sighed. "Maybe just me, Airianna, and Glenn." The man in question guiltily raised his eyes from the floor to meet Dale's, and the older man frowned in disappointment.

"Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything," Glenn said to him. "All the time, but this-"

"They've got you scared!" He argued back.

"He's not one of us. And we've lost too many people already," Glenn dejectedly pushed out.

"But that doesn't mean we should give up on him," The female Dixon added in. "Someone's life is in our hands, not a piece of trash to throw away."

Dale nodded and glanced at Maggie next to her boyfriend, "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

She looked at Rick, "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?"

Daryl scoffed, "Just another mouth to feed." He grunted when his wife's elbow shoved into his gut and he gave the woman in front of him a dirty look.

"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added.

"We could ration better," Lori said.

"Well, he could be an asset," Dale included. "Give him a chance to prove himself."

"Put him to work?" Glenn suggested.

"We're not letting him walk around," Rick shot down.

Maggie shrugged her shoulders, "We could put an escort on him."

Shane snorted, "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?"

Dale raised his hand, "I will."

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

"He's right," Lori agreed with her husband. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

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

"Look, say we let him join us, Right?" Shane theorized. "Maybe he's helpful. Maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men."

Airianna groaned, "that's a lot of 'maybes' Shane, how do we even know those men are still out there?" The bald man squared his jaw. "They could be long gone or dead by now."

"Not gonna take the chance," He bit back.

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime he may never even attempt?" Dale hotly asked. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

Shane shifted his feet in annoyance, "Oh my god…"

Hershel pondered the other elder's words, "Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?"

Lori shook her head, "You barely came back this time."

"Sorry to say Lori, but I think you can thank Shane for that little mishap," Airi snorted.

"Why I oughta," He took a step towards the doctor, but Daryl jumped in front of her and Rick held up his hand at his partner.

"Shane…"

"We should not put our own people at risk," Glenn added to diffuse the situation.

"If you go through with it," Patricia spoke up from behind Hershel. "How would you do it? Would he suffer?"

Shane glanced from the older woman to Rick, "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck."

"Not likely," The redhead argued. "Only a third of hanging victims die from their neck being snapped, the rest choke to death very slowly and painfully. Depending on the tightness of the noose they can last a while, gasping for breath."

"Airi's right," Rick muttered. "Shooting may be more humane."

"What about the body?" T-Dog asked. "Do we bury it or-"

"Hold on, hold on!" Dale cried. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."

"You've been talkin' all day, going around in circles," Daryl pointed out. "You just want to go around in circles again?"

"This is a young man's life!" The older man yelled. "And it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! Is this what it's 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." Many in the group guiltily looked away from the man of reason. "How are we any different from those people that we are so afraid of?"

Silence fell over the group as they started to take in Dale's words, but Shane quickly cut in before the tone could change, "We all know what needs to be done."

Rick turned to his friend, "No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-"

"So what's the other solution?" Andrea cut in.

Lori frowned, "Let Rick finish."

"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet," The blonde complained. "I wish we could-"

"So let's work on it!" Dale said over the voices of the others.

"Stop it!" The arguing paused as gazes shifted over to Carol rubbing her forehead. "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 decide," She gestured to Rick and Shane. "Either of you, both of you. But leave me out."

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

Rick raised his hand, "Alright, that's enough. Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."

The group waited in silence, looking down at the ground or away to avoid the eye contact of the bigger debaters in the room. Dale looked beseechingly to each person, but he only got angry or guilty looks in return until he turned to Airianna. She sighed and rose to her feet, surprising some in the group.

"'We have nothing to fear, but fear itself,' Franklin Roosevelt," She started.

The bald man across from her scoffed, "Don't need no history lesson right now."

"Shut up, Shane," She glared at the man until he leaned back against the wall. "Now history or not, it's important. We are so wrapped up in the 'what ifs' and the 'maybes' that we are forgetting that Randall is a human being that has not done anything wrong to us except defend himself." She began. "I told Rick earlier that if he decides to kill the man then he should pull the trigger, but that goes for everyone else." Some of the group looked at her in confusion. "If you agree to let this man die then you shall bear witness to it. I'm sorry Carol, but you can't pretend it isn't happening. If you vote for his death then you should have enough in you to watch the thing you chose."

"That's barbaric," Lori spat out. "Why would you even suggest that?"

"You all were just discussing how to execute him, but I tell you to watch it and that's horrible? People have watched executions for hundreds of years. The French Revolution, the Salem Witch Trials, and let's not forget all those lynchings that happened during the civil rights movement."

"I'm not going to force people to watch," Rick argued.

The doctor quirked her brows, "Then they won't learn that their actions have consequences. This is life or death, not picking out a pair of pants or what to eat for dinner."

"So what? You'll go watch if we decide to kill him?" Shane pondered.

She nodded her head, "Even though I don't agree with it, yes. He deserves to see one kind face, and after I helped save his life I feel responsible to be there if someone wants to snuff it out."

She retook her seat as she left her final promise hanging in the air. She tried her hardest and if everyone still picked the wrong decision at least now she knew the guilt would follow them always. Dale glanced around at the depressed looks on the other's faces and stepped up to Rick.

"You once said that we don't kill the living."

Rick locked eyes with the older man, "Well, that was before the living tried to kill us."

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were...The world that we knew is dead. And this world is ugly. It's...harsh. It's...It's survival of the fittest," He stuttered out. "And that's a world I don't want to live in. And I don't believe any of you do. I can't."

Still, the rest of the group remained silent.

"Please," He pleaded. "Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me and Airianna?"

"He's right," Andrea let out after a moment. "We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asked.

"I'm with Airi and the old man on this one," Daryl let out, surprising most of the group.

Dale waited for anybody else to chip in, but was sadly proven wrong as the rest of them remained quiet.

"Y'all gonna watch like Airi said you should," He tearfully asked. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being." He gave a weak sigh. "I won't be a party to it." He started for the door, but paused to gaze at Daryl, "This group is broken."

Then the left the room, slamming the front door behind him.

Airianna waited in the barn a little bit later with Daryl by her side as they waited for Shane and Rick to return with Randall. As much as she hated the choice the group made she would stand by her word and be there for the young man. And sadly, as Dale predicted, most of the group stayed far away from the barn after the vote was taken, in denial of their own choices. Daryl, however, had insisted she didn't have to be alone in her conviction and walked to the barn with her. She held her hand while they waited and she silently thanked him by squeezing his fingers.

She watched as Randall entered the barn with the other men and paled when he realized why he had been dragged from the shed, "Hold on," He begged. "Hold on, hold on!"

No one said a word as Shane dragged him further into the wooden building.

"Wait...Wait!"

"Put him there," Rick motioned to the center of the barn, near where Daryl and Airianna were standing.

Shane placed Randall where he had instructed and tightly held him in place while he withdrew a blindfold from his pocket and began to wrap it around his eyes.

"It's all gonna be over soon," Shane assured the boy.

"What? What's gonna be over soon?" He squeaked as his eyesight was taken from him.

"Relax."

"Hey! Hey, no, no, no, no."

The man shushed him, trying to keep the prisoner from crying. But Randall began to sob as he was left standing in front of the two men fated to end his life. Daryl gripped his wife's hand tighter when he caught the sorrow etched on her face as she watched the desperate man.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked.

The boy cried harder, "Oh no, please…" He didn't get an answer out as Shane shoved him to the ground. He continued to wail as Shane and Rick shared a look, the former nodding at the later. Daryl tried to hold Airi back, but she gave him a soft look that had him releasing her from his grip. She carefully stepped forward but paused when Rick held his hand up to her.

The ex-sheriff glanced at the sobbing man, "Do you have any final words?"

"No. Please, please don't," Randall sobbed out.

Rick steeled his face, attempting to appear uncaring and stoic. But Airi saw through his cracks and knew he was beginning to doubt the decision they made. The need to do the right thing warring with his urge to protect the ones he cared about and the snake whispering in his ear did little to help clear the matter.

He raised his Python and pulled back the hammer, pausing as Randall tears increased at the sound of the gun click. Rick hesitated as he watched the man cry.

"Wait, wait! I want to talk to her," Randall cried out. "The nice doctor, I know...I know she's here. I saw her, please."

Shane sighed when he saw Rick pull back the gun, "Can't do that man."

"Yes," Rick said. "We can." He motioned for Airi to move towards Randall and she carefully stepped closer.

"Are you here?' He weakly asked while blindly turning his head.

"Yes Randall, I'm here," She softly whispered and gave a somber smile as the boy's shoulders relaxed slightly.

"I'm...I'm scared, I don't want to die."

"I know," She reassured. "I'm sorry this is happening, hon." Shane scoffed in the background at her niceties.

"You...You sound like my mom, you know? Kinda look like her too, not really but you have that smile that a mom has," He rambled as he tried to slow his tears. "I...I miss her."

"I miss my mom, too," She whispered back.

"Do you think...will I see her?" He asked as he choked back a sob.

Before she could answer Shane shoved her away from the scared boy and addressed Rick, "This has gone on long enough, he's stalling."

Rick reluctantly nodded his head and once more raised his gun to the boy's forehead. Randall sobs increased again as he felt the gun against his temple. He slipped his finger to the trigger and began to tighten it when a voice rang out from the entrance of the barn.

"Do it, dad."

Arianna spun around to not only see Carl standing in the doorway but Sophia as well. Both watching the group expectantly to see what they would do next.

"Do it," He encouraged his father again.

Rick gulped as he shifted his gaze from the children and the prisoner.

He looked at Shane pleadingly and the man strode over to the two children, grabbing both of them by their arm, "Are you kidding me? What are you both doing out here?"

Rick focused on Randall, but Airianna noticed how his arm began to shake and he dropped it to his side, unclicking the gun, "Take him away," he muttered as he guiltily looked away.

Daryl rolled his eyes but gripped the arm of the boy tight to drag him from the barn, his wife silently following after him. Randall stumbled as he was taken from the barn and tried to stem his tears and shed the fear hanging over him. Airianna heard Shane storm from the barn, obviously enraged his plan was falling apart because the children slipped past their mothers.

Daryl was latching the door to the shed shut when the pair heard a wail echo through the air. They shared a fearful look before sprinting off. As they continued to run towards the sound of the cries Airi noticed a dead cow lying on the grass, its stomach ripped apart. She picked up her pace as the screaming turned from ones of fear into ones of pain, praying they would get there in time to help. She skidded to a stop when she saw Dale in the distance pinned down by a walker and started to sob as Daryl ran over and flung the monster off of the older man, slamming his knife into the creature's head.

Airi rushed to their friend when the threat had been dealt with but gagged at the sight before her. His stomach had been completely eviscerated by the corpse and his entrails poured from his body. She pushed her feelings of disgust down and grasped the moaning man's hand, lacing her fingers with his trembling ones.

Daryl paused at the horrifying sight, but turned and started to wave the rest of the group members down when they came running into the field, "Help, over here!"

"Where?" Andrea yelled back. He picked up a bloody flashlight from the ground Dale must have carried and clicked it on, waving it to alert the group of their location, "Come on, run!" He looked back down at his wife and Dale, "Hang in there, buddy."

"Who is it?" The blonde woman asked as she, Rick, and Shane quickly approached.

"Oh my god…" Rick whispered as he observed the carnage.

He dropped to the ground next to Airi and gently cupped the man's face, turning his head so he was facing up towards him, "Alright, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, alright?" He shot his eyes to the wound and looked back at the older man. "Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now," He raised his head slightly when the rest of the group came running up, "Get Hershel! He needs blood, he and Airi need to operate now."

Andrea sobbed as she looked down at her father figure, "Hang on, Dale. Hang on."

Dale laid there helplessly as he continued to moan in pain, staring up into the middle distance as more people began to crowd around him. He lightly squeezed Airianna's fingers and she gave the poor man a weak smile. She tried to hold in her tears, but they poured out of her eyes silently as she brought her free hand up to stroke Dale's hair softly. She knew there was no recovery from this, even if they did operate and get his body back in one piece. The fever from the bite would still kill him.

"Listen to me, okay?" Rick said as he tried to get the injured man's attention, but Dale's eyes only moved to stare at the weeping woman by his side. "Listen to my voice, alright?" He swung his head around to face the onlookers once more. "Please, Hershel! We need Hershel!"

"Look at me," Andrea pleaded as she crouch on the other side of the man.

"Dale, we're gonna help. We're here. Just hold on. Please, hold on."

"What happened?" Hershel called out as he and his family finally reached the mass of people.

Maggie gasped, "What can we do?"

"Dale, it's gonna be okay," Glenn said to reassure the man as he joined Andrea by his side.

"Can we move him?"

Hershel glanced at the man's injuries and the dejected look on the other doctor's face, "He won't make the trip."

"You two have to do the operation here then," Rick argued. "Glenn, get back to the house."

"Rick," Hershel tried, but the man continued to ignore the older man behind him.

"No!" The leader shouted desperately as he watched the man in front of him get weaker.

"Oh God," Andrea wailed.

Airianna kept her eyes on Dale's as she continued to offer the man silent comfort through the other people's cries and conversations, and her tears fell harder when she noticed Dale nodding his head as he moaned and gurgled in pain.

"Rick," She whispered.

"No, no."

"Rick," She pressed. "He's in pain."

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

The man squeezed his eyes shut before he shakingly withdrew his Python from its holster, aiming at Dale's head as he struggled to keep his arm from twitching. He paused as he stared down at his friend, who finally moved his eyes away from the doctor and towards him, and froze. Daryl, watching this happen, placed his hand over Rick's and moved the gun down slightly. He slipped the gun from Rick's slackened grip and bent down next to his wife, aiming the gun at Dale. The older man gave him a weak smile as he once more gasped in pain.

"Sorry, brother," Daryl muttered as he clicked the gun's safety.

Dale gave a slight nod of his head and tightened his grip on Airianna's hand one last time before the shot rang out into the night.