Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I start High School in two days, and I have been a wee bit nervous and busy getting ready for it. But, I hope you like it.

Please leave a review for me!

Rick POV

"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles, we wil stand tall, face it all together at sky fall."- Skyfall, Adele

"You have to be kidding me." Dale stood in front of me, his face disbelieving, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I'm afraid we're not." Shane grunted, sharpening a knife in his hands. "It's the only way to protect the group."

"Protect the group?" Dale threw his arms up. "How is killing an innocent kid protecting our group?" I almost winced at the harshness in his tone. Dale was a sweet guy, and he only tried to see the best in people, even when the entire world had gone to shit. He never, ever lashed out, but I could tell that all of this Randall business was getting to him.

"Well, what would you have us do?" Shane hissed. "We can't set him free. He would go back to his group and then lead them all back here to do…. God knows what to us. And we can't just leave him here, chained up in the barn for the rest of time. So tell me Dale. What would you have us do."

"Maybe we could help him? Cut a deal? Tell him that if he stays here and helps us, if he joins our group, then we keep him alive. Who knows! Maybe he could be a valuable asset to our group." Dale was really trying here, but I knew Shane. There was no way he was changing his mind.

"Please." Shane snorted. "Look at me and tell me, honestly, that you think that kid could ever be trustworthy."

Dale lifted his head up, so he and Shane were making eye contact. The two electric glares were causing electricity that you could almost feel. "I think we can trust him." Dale said in a low tone.

Shane rolled his eyes over-dramatically. "Oh god. Are you… are you serious Dale?" He yelled. Shane then turned his glare at me. "Are you hearing this? This dumbass thinks that we can trust the kid! Will you please explain to him why this idea is so incredibly stupid?"

"What I think he means," I interjected, trying to defuse this bomb before it went off in all of our faces. "Is that Randall would probably sooner kill himself than join us. He doesn't seem to want to live with us, but we can't send him back."

"But killing him is not the answer!" Dale yelled, stepping closer to me.

I put my hands out in front of me, in a surrendering motion. "Dale, what else should we do? We'll do it as humanely as possible."

Dale scoffed. "What about any of this is humane? You guys can't just go around playing God! You can't be judge, jury, and executioner. Have we let go of everything in our past, everything that made us human?" The hurt in his voice was evident, and my head hurt from it.

"Well, it's too late Dale. It's been decided." Shane barked, sheathing his knife and storming away, shoving his way through the crowd that had gathered around us. "You and Daryl. Meet me at the barn, 6 pm." He turned and gave me a knowing look, and I nodded darkly. Then, he looked to Daryl, who nodded back as well. With a satisfied huff, Shane stormed away, which was beginning to become a trend around here.

"What is this?" Dale wondered to himself.

"Dale-"

"No, Rick." The older man shushed me before I could continue. "Just no." Then, he turned and walked away. "I'm gonna take watch." Was all he muttered before he walked away.

I groaned and ran a hand through my messy curls, completely at a loss. I agreed with Shane. Randall had to be dealt with, but Dale's words stuck with me. He did have a point. But, we were past the point of humanity. Now, we were concerned about life and death, not right and wrong. I still tried to remain as humane as possible, but it was getting harder and harder as things got worse.

I turned and looked at the people who had gathered, who were now all watching me intently. It was Daryl, Nicole, Glenn, Maggie, and T-Dog. Maggie looked concerned, Glenn was sullen, T-Dog was absentmindedly watching Dale walk away, Daryl was making eye-contact with me, and Nicole was braiding her hair, looking between me and Daryl.

"Guys… I'm…" I started to say, but I had no idea where this sentence was headed, but apparently, I didn't need to, as Dary shushed me.

"It's okay Rick." Daryl drawled. "I'm with you and….. Shane on this one." His voice turned into a growl when my former partner's name crossed his lips. "I'll see y'all at the barn later. We need to get it over with."

"Damn right." I grunted, resting my hand on the top of my gun. "I'm gonna go check on Carol, then maybe on Beth. It's been a stressful few days for those two." I said slowly, trying to think of things I could do to distract myself.

"Yeah, it has been." Daryl huffed. "I'm gonna do a little target practice." He slung his bow over his shoulder. Then, he turned and looked at the petite woman next to him. "You wanna join me?"

Nicole raised an eyebrow, as did I. "Why? Feel Like being emasculated today?" She chuckled.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Not likely." His tone was snarky, but there was no anger in his voice, which surprised me. There was always anger in his voice.

"Fine." Nicole huffed. "Let me get my bow." She turned and jogged away, chuckling as she went. Daryl smiled a little a this, but let his expression fall back into his permanent state of scowling when he caught my stare.

'What the hell was that?" I questioned, looking at Nicole as she went off.

"What was what?" Daryl asked, nonchalantly.

"You just smiled." I said pointedly, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think so." He grunted, not breaking eye contact.

"I know what I saw."

"I don't think ya do Officer Friendly."

"Do you forget that I used to interrogate people for a living? Trust me. I can read people." I smirked when I saw his face break a little in defeat at this. Daryl had opened up a little bit more to our group, but he was still distant, quiet, and secretive. I still felt that he didn't trust any of us at all, but that was why I was so confused right now. "So what was that?"

Daryl stared at me silently for a moment, before speaking slowly. "A long story." Was all he muttered before he walked away, ignoring my gaze that was burning into his back.

I huffed a little. Maybe I had been overstepping my boundaries a little with that, but hey, could you blame me? All I wanted to do was integrate Daryl as a part of our group.

But why the hell had he joked with Nikki?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was 5:57, and Daryl, Shane, and I were standing outside the barn. The others were over by the fire pit. The others had started to come down and form a crowd, but Nicole had come down and sent them away, an act that I had quietly thanked her for. I want this to be as short as possible.

"How do we wanna do this?" Daryl asked, looking at Shane and I.

"I say one shot through the head, one and done." I said. Daryl nodded in agreement, while Shane merely grunted.

"Let's get this over with." He said. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat, and shook my head, trying to clear my head, but Dale's voice was still there, still saying things in the back of my mind. "Shut up Dale." I hissed, almost inaudibly.

I followed Shane into the dimly lit barn, all the way to the back where Randall was still tied to a beam. There was a large purple bruise on his face, presumably from where Nikki had pistol whipped him. His arms were also discolored, definitely the work of Daryl.

"Well, well, well." Randall drawled. "Bringing in the big guns, I see." He looked towards Daryl, who was on my left. I came to a stop by Shane's side. "Couldn't handle me all alone?"

"Shut up." Daryl hissed, his voice low.

"Where's Blondie? I think she could handle me all alone." Randall chuckled sadistically.

"Shut the hell up." Shane was the one who hissed this time. His eyes were ablaze, and even I was a little terrified right now.

"In all seriousness though," Randall"s tone was serious. "Why the hell are you here?"

"We can't just leave you here." I stated, making eye contact. This was the first time I realized just how young Randall was. He was only 23 or so. He still had a whole life to lead….but what kind of life would he have here, in this world? No. This needed to be done.

"So where am I goi….oh." Randall's face instantly darkened, and his eyes fell to the floor. He knew where we were going with this.

"We have to do this Randall." I stepped forwards, trying to explain. "It's the only way to keep us safe."

"I get it." Randall nodded. His tone was so sad. It was starting to get to me. This was a kid. He didn't deserve to die. He really didn't… "Can you at least get Goldilocks to do it?"

Nope. Nevermind.

"Alright. That's it." I pulled my gun out of it's holster, aiming it at Randall's face. My moves were so quick that both Daryl and Shane stepped back in surprise.

"Oh come on. It's my dying wish. Can you at least let the hot one kill me?"

"Okay, now I'm really gonna do it." I yelled, my hand shaking.

Suddenly, a voice came from the the entrance to the barn. "Do it Dad. Do it." I turned to see my son standing there, nothing but malice in his eyes.

And at that, I brought my gun down. "Carl, what the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you with your mother?"

"I came to watch this bastard die." He snarled, grinning in an evil way at Randall.

"Carl! You will not speak like that, and you will not act this way, not as long as I'm around." Then I turned and looked at Randall, resisting the urge to vomit. Dale's voice was clearer as day, and suddenly, I saw exactly what he was talking about. Is this what we were coming to? Were we really becoming this lawless, this evil, this inhumane? "Come on Shane, Daryl. We're not doing this. Not today." I started towards the door, but turned when neither of them followed me.

"What the hell Rick?" Shane cursed. "Why this sudden 'good guy' routine?"

"Because we are the good guys." I yelled back, throwing my hands up. "We're cops Shane. We're supposed to do the good thing."

"That doesn't matter anymore Rick." He hissed. "There are no good guys and bad guys anymore. There's only life and death. Survival. And we either do or we don't."

"We're not doing this." I said firmly, ending the discussion right then and there. Then I turned and walked out, only stopping this time to grab Carl's shoulder. "And you, you come with me. If you ever act like that again…" I trailed off, but the look on his face told me that he understood what I was saying.

Slowly, I pulled him out of the barn, completely unsure of what to do now. All I knew was that we were not killing this kid, not if I had anything to say about it. Right now, I needed to deal with Carl.

And I needed to apologize to Dale.

Next time I post I'll be a high schooler! Wish me luck!