Day 66

"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got undermine. Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave."

Morning service was once again different from the first one we shared just two weeks ago. We buried Dale under the tree, next to Sophia. Rick's speech was long and moving. I was wondering where the hell he takes all those words from. We were quiet, standing in a circle. This morning was colder, a visible sign of fast-approaching winter. I had my furry vest on, and it kept me warm. I was playing with buttons that Carol fastened to the front, half-listening to what sheriff was saying. I could feel eyes burning a hole at the back of my head, where Daryl stood.

Nothing surprising, I didn't really speak to anyone since I emerged from the tent. What was there to say? We fucked up, and my last words to the man we just put in the ground were venomous and hateful. That's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Not the first bitter stain on my subconscious, and probably not the last either, but that didn't change how I felt at this moment.

"Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another."

"Shane, you take T-Dog, Andrea, and Daryl to the south side. Check all fences, make sure there isn't any blind spot. Glenn, Elena, you with me. We gonna check the northern side." My head jumped up at Rick's words. Once again, I was lost to my own thoughts.

"Let me get my weapons," I whispered.

"I'll grab tools," Glenn added, and we both started walking back towards the camp. I managed maybe five steps before someone put a hand on my shoulder, spinning me to them.

"Ya alright?" I scoffed and turned my head away.

"Gotta be." He didn't smile or smirk, but his eyes sparked up at the words he used just days ago. I promised to make it a thing.

"Be careful out there, will ya?"

"Always." I patted his chest and made my way to my tent.

"I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- the truth, who we really are."

"He knew," Glenn spoke after we got in the car and drove to the edge of the property. Rick and I looked at him in the mirror, not really sure what he's talking about. "Dale. He knew that you cared about him."

I shifted in my seat to take a look at the back seat, where the Asian man sat. His eyes were pointed at me, so I gave a dry laugh.

"Did he?" I shook my head and scowled at the memories of last night. "Our last conversation with him was far from warm and loving."

"But he knew," Rick added, not taking his eyes off the path. "He had us there for him, just before- He knew."

"Yeah, maybe." I turned to look out of the window, not really feeling like talking anymore. That's why I didn't get close to people before the turn. Too many possibilities, too much to lose. And the pain never leaves, it just gets buried further down.

We got out of the car when Rick killed the engine and started tracking through the tall grass. There wasn't anything out of order as long as we could tell. There were a few holes at the bottom of the fence in some places. But it wasn't anything more than probably a fox. Nevertheless, we closed them with zip ties and slowly started going back to the car.

"Glenn?" I said to catch the attention of a man in front of me. He slowed down his pace and waited for me to catch up. "Did you fix things with Maggie?"

"I don't think it's the time or your business." Uh, our boy starts showing claws.

"I think there isn't a better time. Last night is a perfect example of how quickly everything can change," I said in a soft voice, looking ahead. "You don't want to regret your choices, just because you think you let us down." I stopped, and so did Glenn, looking me in the eyes, visibly upset. About Maggie or maybe because I mentioned Dale, I couldn't tell.

"You didn't do anything, Rick, or I wouldn't do. Someone shoots at you, you take a fucking cover. Simple. No need to be an idiot and make it into something it's not." I finished and moved forward to the car.

"In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group is broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it, set aside our differences, and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves."

"Andrea?" I stood behind the blonde woman and watched her flinch at the sound of my voice. We were back at the camp, discussing the safety measurements for the farm. I was thinking hard about what Rick said at Dale's funeral and decided that I should at least make an effort. For the old man who died a pointless death.

The woman turned around, facing me and looked at me questioningly. I stretched my arm out, offering her my right hand. Andrea looked at me, her brows furrowed, and then down. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed it and shook it.

"I think we're both guilty of rush decisions. I don't necessarily agree with how you doing some things, but I know you do care for this group."

"Look, I'm sorry. About Daryl, and about Beth. I admit that I didn't think through neither," She answered, and lowered her head in shame. I just nodded at that and pulled my hand back from her grip.

"I'm sorry about Dale." I offered quietly, and she sent me a sad smile at that. Happy, that somewhat we are on the right page, I walked to Rick.

Don't get me wrong, Andrea, and I will never be friends. But indeed, we need to try to stitch this group back together, and if apologizing is what I need to do, then I will. Even if I don't exactly mean it. I'll still be watching her and try to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid again.

"Take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."

I reached the truck, which was surrounded by the rest of the group, and caught what Rick was saying.

"It'll be tight, fifteen people in one house."

"Don't worry about that," Hershel replied. So, I guess we're moving in. That's great, with the impending change of weather, we needed that. But at this same time, I was anxious about being squashed with all these people in a small space. It will quickly get annoying and tiring.

"With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up-" Hershel continued just to be interrupted by his older daughter.

"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell."

"She's right. We should have moved you in a while ago."

"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out towards the road." Rick started giving directions, and we all began to pack and taking down our tents. I looked over at Daryl and walked over, standing next to him.

"So..."

"What ya want?"

"Are you moving in with us?" I asked him, and he scowled at me.

"Yeah."

"Oh, Big Boy. Don't look so excited, I might get blinded by all that happiness radiating out off you." Daryl smirked at my reply and shook his head.

"We will build a lookout in the windmill and another in the barn loft." Rick continued, and I was glad that he actually used the idea I shared with him. "That should give us sightlines both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house, keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?" Asked the Black man.

"Well, I need Elena and Daryl on double duty." At that, we both nodded, and I stepped away to my tent. Luckily I didn't have many things, so they still fit into my backpack and duffel back.

I was walking next to Rick and Hershel, after we loaded the rest of the camping equipment into the RV, and started to come back to the house, for the last time.

"I think it would be good to leave some of the supplies in the cars. Like spare clothes, maybe some food," I spoke, my mind was spinning from ideas and plans for potential evacuation.

"You think we need it?"

"I don't know, Hershel. Maybe not. But it would be better to be ready just in case, than being rushed out of the farm without anything."

"OK. Shane is gonna make the windmill lookout, and Daryl will fix the shed's roof. Try to organize it before we have to take Randall out." Rick nodded and smiled at my idea.

"I see why you're not taking Shane with you," Hershel commented out of the blue. "Just know, I've got no more patience where he's concerned."

"He's turning over a new leaf." I snorted at Rick's reply, and both men looked over at me.

"I'm sorry, but I doubt that."

"Elena. He is. He will."

"OK, officer, whatever you say."

He shook his head and called over to the woman in front of us.

"Andrea." She stopped and turned around. "When I'm out with Elena and Daryl, help Hershel keep an eye on things here." Oh, you gotta be fucking with me, Grimes. Seriously, you're asking her to do it?

"Me?" She asked and started walking again, alongside with us.

"Shane's got a way of letting things get out of hand, especially when he's all torqued up," Rick told her, and I saw her scowl at that description.

"I think we're all a bit torqued up at this point." She replied diplomatically, still trying to defend the crazy guy, without dismissing what Rick says.

"If you're staying here permanently, he's gotta understand that it's what Rick and I say, not whatever he wants," Hershel said sternly, gesturing between two men.

"You've become close," Rick added, and I noticed Andrea flinch at that, probably wondering how much he knows.

"We talk."

"Then you know he's not a bad guy. He's just his own worst enemy."

"You want me to babysit Shane?"

"No," I offered. "But you have a way of reaching to his reasonable side when he's full of emotions."

"I need to make sure every time I leave the farm, all hell doesn't break loose."

"Then maybe you should stop leaving," Andrea answered Rick, and with her head high, she started to walk away. I groaned under my nose. Keeping a promise to Dale would be harder than I thought.

"Will you keep an eye on things?" Rick called after her.

"Of course."

"Cocky, much?" I commented quietly, making Hershel smile.

I asked everyone to hand me over a spare set of their clothes, grabbing a few extra from Greene's wardrobes, including some warmer t-shirts. I packed it neatly into bags and placed them on the porch. I wanted to put it into the Hyundai, but I'd have to wait for Shane to finish building a watchtower.

I selected some canned food that would last us a couple days in case of emergency, stashed it into plastic boxes, and loaded onto Hershel's car. A few spare blankets went on top of it in the trunk, and so did a box of basics pots.

I was standing now with Rick and Daryl on a porch, and we were talking about the best place to take Randall.

"Take him out to Senoia, an hour there, an hour back, give or take. We may lose the light, but we'll be halfway home by then." Rick was saying, and I nodded my head. It was the opposite direction of the town we met Randall's group and not on the way to Nebraska.

"And this whole pain in the as will be a distance memory. Good riddance." I smiled at Daryl's comment and watched him for a moment while he was pacing. I need to stop doing it. I need to stop thinking about how he looks like, or what his mannerism is. At least until this stupid crush will disappear. Honestly, it started to be annoying, and more and more people began to overthink it. And most importantly, Daryl's friendship meant too much to me, to jeopardize it by romantic feelings.

"Carol's putting together some provisions for him, enough to last a few days."

"We'll give him a knife and adios," I added.

In far, I could see a car, fast approaching, and I tensed a little bit. A natural reaction by now, when Shane was present.

"That thing you did last night." Rick started, looking over at the hunter, who sat down on the porches railing.

"Ain't no reason ya should do all heavy liftin'." Daryl's voice was soft. It's incredible how his relationship with the sheriff change recently. There was that mutual respect, and that thought made me smile widely at both men.

"So, you both are good with this?"

"Yeah," I replied, nodding my head, watching Shane park the car in front of the house.

"I ain't see us trading haymakers on the side of the road," Daryl said, standing up. "Nobody'd win that fight."

I snorted, catching their attention and put my hands on my hips. "I would totally win." Rick looked at me seriously while Daryl smirked and patted me on the shoulder before pushing me out of the way.

"Tell yurself that, princess. I'm gonna take a piss."

"Suttle, as always." My comment would be funnier if not for the quick pace of the bold man. "I'm going to grab my weapons and eat something before we go."

Rick asked us to wait for a little, he had to talk to Carl about something. I was sitting at the tail of a T-Dog's pick-up, my legs swinging freely. We were smoking cigarettes, and somehow I managed to make Daryl play twenty questions with me.

"OK, next one. Favorite ice-cream flavor?"

"Why am I playin' this, again?" Daryl cocked his head, looking to his side. He was leaning over the car, on my left, giving me a perfect view of his prominent arm muscles, even under the sleeves. No! Bad Elena, naughty thoughts!

"Come on, Daryl. Entertain me. Mine is vanilla."

"Strawberry." He looked over at me and started chewing on his thumb. "Any siblings?"

"No, I'm afraid. It's actually something I was always envious of. The majority of my friends had at least one, and even if they were annoying, there was that special bond, you know?" He nodded at my response, looking to be rooted in thoughts.

"Favourite color?"

"Dunno."

"Ugh, why do you have to be so stubborn, Dixon? Mine is blue or purple."

He sent me a look that would make most people back of, but I just smiled at him. "You can't intimidate me, Daryl."

"Fine. Grey or brown."

"See, that wasn't that hard."

He mumbled something under his nose. Just as the hunter was about to open his mouth to ask me another question, we noticed T slowly walking in our direction. He was holding a handgun and handed it over to Daryl once he was close.

"Only got so many arrows."

"Is that Dale's gun?" The hunter asked, checking the ammunition inside the cylinder.

"Yeah."

"Wish I knew where the hell mine is." Daryl scowled and put the gun in his waistband.

"You should keep a better eye on your stuff then."

"Shut up, woman."

"Ready?" Asked Rick, when he reached us. T-Dog shut the tailgate, and I made myself more comfortable inside it.

"Always."

"Yeah."

"I'll get the package." T offered and took a key from the sheriff.

"Thanks."

I looked through the pack that was prepared for Randall, checking if there isn't anything dangerous or if it's not too much. Couple cans, some meat portions in zip lock bags, two water bottles. He'll have to scavenge, as soon as we drop him off, but that's his problem.

I stretched out and stood up in the back of the pick-up, pulling my aviators over my eyes. I looked over in the direction of a shed and saw T-Dog running to us and shouting something.

"... gone!"

"What?" I screamed back and jumped out of the car, swinging my bow over the shoulder. He just stopped and started waving at us to follow him. For fuck sake, did the kid escape? If so, how was it even possible?

Well, apparently, it was possible. On the blanket where Randall was sleeping, we found a pair of bloody handcuffs. Daryl rechecked the roof, confirming that the planks he nailed in today were still untouched. I grabbed the cuffs and studied them.

"There aren't any scratches on those," I told the men, looking up from the ground. "He didn't just pry them open, they were unlocked."

I glanced between them, and my eyes landed on Rick. The only person who actually had the key. Except for the other cop, who also had the standard-issue set, which would work. The sheriff nodded and walked out to take a look at the padlock.

"It was locked when I came in." T-Dog was explaining.

"Shane," I muttered under my breath, catching the attention of the hunter. He looked angry and was pacing the small space before offering me his hand. I gladly grabbed it, and he yanked me up.

"I really think it was Shane." He grunted in answer, and we left the shed, spotting the rest of the group who ran in our direction.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked when she reached Glenn, who came over just moments ago.

"Randall's missing."

"Missing? How?"

"How long's he been gone?"

"It's hard to say." Rick finally answered, standing in front of them. "The cuffs are still hooked. He must have slipped them." When sheriff said that, he looked at me with a stern look. OK, so we're not informing them that potentially one of us let the kid go. Awesome, nothing like a trust in the group. Didn't he give a big speech about that, just this morning?

"Is it possible?" Carol asked.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose," Andrea replied, and I agreed with her even if I didn't think it was the case.

"You just have to break your finger." I shrugged and walked over to the lock, checking for any signs of force or marks, but there were none.

"The door was secured from the outside," Hershel commented from next to me, closing the door.

"Yeah, it was."

"Alrighty, guys. We need to find him. Daryl and I can try to track him." I told them, and Rick instantly nodded. "The best bet-"

"Rick!" I wasn't able to finish the plan, because Shane just ran out of the woods. He was panting and sweating. His face was covert in blood, the big nose bruised, clearly broken. I pressed my lips into a thin line. I was sure he was the one who got the kid out, but why does he look like he was in a fight.

"What happened!" Lori shouted when she spotted the man.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!" I glanced quickly at Daryl, and he bit his bottom lip, shaking his head slightly. He's right. It's not the time. If there is any chance that Shane was telling the truth, we had to find Randall, before he brings his group into the farm.

"You OK?" Carl was worried about the man. He always looked up to him, especially at the beginning, back at the quarry.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me, clocked me in the face."

"Alright. Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house." Rick started giving orders, and people began to move. "Elena, Glenn, Daryl, come with us."

"T, I'm gonna need that gun," Shane said, asking for a weapon. The black man hesitated for a second before handing it over. I felt my stomach twist, something I usually felt during the cases, just before the takedown. Adrenaline started running through my body, and I moved to follow Rick.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it?" Carol asked, she was scared, and I couldn't blame her, but what she was proposing was not an option.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick explained and started for a tree line.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen."

"We going to be fine, Carol," I told her and joined the others, trying to stay close to the hunter. I wasn't scared of Shane, but I wasn't going any near him. He had that crazy blink again, deep in his eyes, and I started to have a bad feeling about all of this.

"Get everybody back in the house, lock all the doors, and stay put," Rick ordered one last time, and we walked away, not looking back.

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out." Shane pointed the direction. I secured my bow on my back and took out the handgun. Reaching into my back pocket, I felt the cold metal of the suppressor and quickly attached it to the barrel. "I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far," Rick said, and I added to his answer.

"His leg is still busted, he will be slower than us."

"Yeah, and he's exhausted."

"And armed," Glenn said dryly.

"Can you track him?" Rick asked, stopping and turning toward Daryl and me. I looked down on the ground, but only visible footsteps were ours.

"Nah, I don't see nothing," Daryl replied.

"Hey, look, there ain't no point use in tracking him, OK?" Shane said from behind us. "He went that way. We just need to spread out. We just chase him down. That's it."

"Kid was a buck-25 soaking wet, ya trying to tell us he got a jump on ya?" Hunter's voice was husky as he stared down at Shane, who got closer to him.

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?"

"All right, all right. Knock it off." Rick stopped them from arguing any further. "You three start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane will take the left."

"Are you sure?" I asked him, searching for his eyes. He just gave me a nod before continuing.

"Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."

It got dark, way quicker than we anticipated. We were searching the woods for at least an hour already. Walking in circles, and trying to look for any traces on the forest floor. So far, we didn't spot anything, but it wasn't surprising considering that it was dark as hell.

"Daryl, it's pointless," I spoke up, looking at the hunter, being in the woods at this hour was more dangerous, having Glenn who wasn't used to it didn't help. I gave him specific instructions to stick by my side no matter what. No wandering off if he needs to stop to say so.

"Ya got a light?" Daryl turned to us, and I shook my head, but Glenn reached to his pocket and handed it over.

"You had a light all this fucking time and didn't say anything?" I asked the Asian man, and he shifted his weight before nodding.

"I forgot about it."

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath and walked over to Daryl.

"There ain't a trail." The hunter whispered to me, and I crouched down to check for myself.

"We should go back and start fresh."

"Oh, come one." Once again, Glenn and I followed Daryl, walking in a quick pace back towards the farm, where we could start tracing the kid and find him. We wasted enough time already.

When we reached the place where we separated from Rick and Shane, the hunter started looking for footsteps. I was next to him, observing the leaves and twigs, searching for any kind of bootprints, which wasn't ours.

"We're just back to square one." I rolled my eyes at Glenn's comments and kept looking on the ground, walking slightly to the right, further than where we went to.

"If yur gonna do a thing, ya might as well do it right," Daryl replied, following behind me. "Ya got something, El?

"I think so." I crouched down and pointed to the spot that I was looking at. "What you think?"

The man shone a light onto the path and started slowly in the direction I showed him.

"Yeah, looks like him."

"OK, come on, Glenn. Watch the back." I waved the other man over, and we started after Daryl, he was looking at the ground, and I walked next to him. My gun was in one hand, and knife in the other, ready to react if something would jump on us.

"There're two sets of tracks right here," Daryl said after a while, and I swore under my nose. "Shane must have followed him a lot longer than he said."

"You and me both know that's not what happened," I told him dryly, and he just nodded.

"What you mean?" Glenn asked from behind me.

"Think about it. There were no signs that Randall broke through the cuffs. I doubt that he's smart enough to break his thumbs to get free. Doors weren't busted. Someone opened them and then locked them back."

"There's fresh blood on this tree." Daryl pointed the flashlight higher, and we saw the spot he was talking about. I walked over and touched the liquid. It was cold but not dried yet, I sniffed my fingers and shook my head.

"Not walkers. What you say, right high for Shane's face?"

"Yeah."

"There's more tracks here, Daryl."

"Looks like they're walking in tandem." The hunter stated, confirming my suspicions. Glenn looked scared and like he couldn't believe what I said before. "Yeah, there's a little dust-up right here."

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked him, while I crouched down, looking for blood.

"It means something went down."

"It's getting weird."

"Guys," I said once I spotted black piece on the floor, Randall's blindfold. I bend down to pick it up when we heard twigs snapping behind us. Daryl pulled me with him, pressing us to one of the trees, while Glenn was hiding on our right. I grabbed my handgun tighter, but it wasn't easy considering the position I was in. I was looking to the side, towards the Asian man, but the only thing I could think of was Daryl was pressing against me.

Oh, and his fucking crossbow that was digging uncomfortably into my stomach and breasts. I could feel his breath on my face, and a shiver went down my spine. He whistled quietly and threw a flashlight at Glenn, making sure he has both hands free to use his weapon.

The shuffling of the feet and groans got closer, telling us that it's a walker, and he was moving towards us. I stilled and took a deep silent breath, trying to calm my nerves down, anticipation was killing me. But taking down the walker in the dark was more dangerous than usual, and we had to do it carefully. I put my gun in the holster and stretched for my hunting knife that was strapped to my things; with how Daryl was pressing me into the tree, I couldn't reach my reins.

I watched Glenn move when he stepped out from behind his hiding spot, hatchet above his head, ready to strike approaching walker and flashlight shining over it. But then he hesitated, and the geek was right on him, pushing him to the ground. Daryl spun around and released one of the bolts, but in the dark and with walker launching himself at the hunter, it missed. It grabbed the crossbow and pushed Daryl down, onto the knees.

Not wasting any more time, I pushed myself forward, grabbing the walker's hair, yanking his head and snapping jaws up, away from Daryl. My knife sunk into the skull, making it go limp on top of the man. Kicking it down, I freed Daryl and help him stand up, looking him up and down for any scratches, but luckily I didn't see any.

"Thanks." He grunted and asked Glenn to shine over the body. When the light reached the walker's face, a gasp escaped my lips.

"Well, I guess we found Randall." Daryl and I crouched next to the walker on the ground and started inspecting and looking for bites or any other wounds.

"Got his neck broke." Daryl noticed, and indeed, that was the cause of death. He moved body onto its stomach so we could check the back, but again there was nothing. How is that possible?

"Guys, there are no bites," I told the men, hunter's face showing that he was deep in thought, and Glenn was just confused.

"Yeah, none that you can see." The young man said, but I shook my head at him.

"Nah, El's right. There ain't any bites. And he died from this."

"How is that possible?" We looked at each other, but none of us had any answers.

I mean, I had a few but didn't think it was wise to say them out loud. There may be a scratch somewhere we can't see, of course. And if that's the case and Shane indeed broke Randall's head, the boy would turn.

The other option seemed ridiculous, but on the other hand, it would explain a lot. It would reveal how it all fucking started and where the patient zero came from. Considering that the 'zombie' part of the virus kicks in after the death, according to Jenner, then it would mean...

No, that's just ridiculous. Or maybe not, but wouldn't we notice it before? No, we wouldn't, all the people from our group that died, where bitten or scratched. And we didn't really interact with other groups, not long enough to get that kind of knowledge.

I noticed that Glenn was pacing nervously, ready to head back, and when Daryl started to stand up, I grabbed his hand. He looked down at me and help me up to my feet. I used it to get closer to him. I know that my face was more expressive than before, but at this moment I didn't care. That one thought scared the shit out of me, and I had to share it.

"Daryl, what if- what if we are all infected?" I whispered to him, making his eyes go wide. I saw him chew on his lip, deep in thoughts.

"Don't say anything yet. Let's go back." He answered in a low voice and turned around to where we came from.

Fuck, what if we are all infected, if it's already inside us, just dormant. Bite, or a scratch itself, is just something that kills you slower, but if you die, the virus inside still kicks in, gets activated or whatnot and...

Fuck.