happy new year, sorry for being a day late! Magnificent Dragoness: Heres your longer chapter!

Judge, Jury, Executioner

The closer they got to the farm, the more anxious Shane became. Every so often they heard a thumping coming from the trunk. The two men didn't even look at each other the entire drive.

When they pulled in the driveway some of the group looked their way, he saw Toby immediately. She was standing alone, close to the driveway, as if she'd been waiting.

Toby was wearing that large leather jacket that belonged to Merle. Shane held back a smile at how ridiculous she looked in it, she didn't seem like she noticed or cared. Shane didn't like when she wore it, it was a reminder on how much she preferred Daryl and Merle over him.

But lately, since Shane began teaching her how to shoot she'd been calmer around him. He knew she was warming up to him, so he strongly believed he could get her to warm up to his new plan.

Shane opened the door before the car came to a complete stop. He got out and went over to Toby, leaving Rick to deal with the others, he'd have to explain why they brought the prisoner back.

Shane held his arms tightly at his sides as he approached her, tears were welling in his eyes. He thought about how close he came to not coming back. He saw her features turn to shock as her eyes scanned over his face.

He fell to his knees in front of her, trying to keep his composure, he wanted to hug her, hold her close. But he knew she was different than the rest, he'd have to take it slow.

"You're face . . ." she voiced her concern, eyeing the large bruise on the side of his face.

Shane said nothing and only reached out to touch her shoulder, he watched carefully as she didn't react and only stared. He slowly raised his hand up and brushed the hair out of her face. He left his hand there, stroking her hair as his fingers got caught in a small tangle.

"Come here," he whispered gently, meaning it as a request. She finally looked in his eyes, away from the bruises and blood on his face. He wondered what was going through her head.

Upon his request she stepped closer. He brought himself to her, wrapping his other arm around her slowly, he gave her a chance to protest, waiting for her to pull away but she didn't.

Finally he held her tightly against him, one arm around her and his other hand at the back of her head. She was hesitant, but slowly put her arms over his shoulders awkwardly, as if not really knowing how to return the gesture.

"Ya got beat."

Shane took a deep breath. He thought about how lucky it was that he got back, how lucky it was that he was able to hold her. Rick could hold his own out there, just like he could. Lori and Carl didn't need him, they had Rick.

Toby had Shane.

Shane had Toby.

That small realisation did him wonders, he felt slightly at peace with his new purpose.

"Things got rough. We had to bring him back, I tried to end it, Rick wouldn't let me."

"That why you're bruised?"

"Yeah," he sighed. He could feel his own gun that was tucked in her waistband digging into his ribs, he ignored the discomfort of it.

"Why'd you bring him back?"

Shane slowly pulled himself away then, "you need to brush your hair." He smiled, pulling his fingers from her knotted hair. Then he noted the seriousness in her expression. "He knows the farm, he knows Maggie."

"Maggie?" she repeated.

Shane nodded, "we're gonna stick him back in the shed for now."

Shane turned around, following Toby's gaze to some of the others standing by the car, talking to Rick.

"Did you eat yet?"

Toby shook her head, "Maggie and her sister are makin' dinner for everybody. I think it's cause we were gonna leave."

"A proper send off, huh?"

Toby shrugged.

"You know what they're making?"

"They went fishin', there's a pond on the property, it's far though."

Shane stood up, "I'm gonna go help get Randall in the shed. I'll see you at dinner."

Shane motioned to her waist. Toby looked down, remembering the gun, she took a quick glance around to see if anyone was looking. Her eyes fell onto Dale who was very far off, but it was easy to tell his eyes were on the two of them. HIs eyes were focused, heated, his expression firm. It unnerved Toby slightly, she'd never seen the man like that.

Shane frowned at the old man, "it's okay, kiddo, just give it to me. Don't worry about him."

Toby looked back at Shane, slowly pulling the Glock out of her waistband before giving it to him.

Shane stepped into the Greene family home. Most of the group were outside with paper plates, taking their share of the cooked fish Maggie brought out with them. After leaving the fish outside, she went back into the home to get the rest of the food, some steamed vegetables.

Shane cleared his throat as he entered the kitchen, Lori was there with Maggie. Beth was sitting at the table, already eating her food with her father.

"Can I help you?" Hershel asked with disdain, it was no secret he wasn't fond of Shane.

"I'm hoping so, I want to thank you for this, the meal. And I also wanted to ask what else you cooked up."

"Just some vegetables, we'll have them taken out in a minute." Maggie answered, glancing at Shane and eyeing the plate in his hand. "Not a fan of fish? All we got cooked are the vegetables."

"Oh, no, I am." Shane chuckled a little, he wasn't in a good mood but was trying to act as if he was. "This isn't for me, it's for Toby, she can't eat fish see."

Lori looked up at him from the counter, looking surprised, "I forgot about that, oh my gosh I can't believe I forgot!"

"I nearly did too," Shane confessed. "But when everyone was getting their place and she went for it it hit me."

Lori walked over to Shane, "here, give me her plate, I'll give her some of this. If she's still hungry after tell her I'll make her some soup or something."

"Why can't she eat fish?" Maggie asked.

"Allergic," Shane answered.

"Oh. I wish she'd said something."

"It's a recent discovery," Lori piped in. "She didn't know either until a while back, at our camp right outside Atlanta we were frying some fish up. It was horrible, we were panicked and had no idea what to do or what was wrong at first. Luckily, someone was able to catch it and had an epipen on them, he's not with us anymore but he saved her life."

"That's awful. She must've been scared to death."

"Almost," Shane said under his breath as Lori handed Toby's plate back to him.

Shane turned to leave when Maggie stopped him, "do you have any more? Epipens?"

Shane shook his head.

"I was thinking of taking another pharmacy run soon, I can go tomorrow. I'm sure they'll have that there. It's better to be safe than sorry, it wouldn't even just be for her. You never know what can happen."

"Not a bad idea, I'd appreciate that. I'm sure she would too." Shane's gaze lingered on Lori a little too long before leaving. He was still trying to put together his plan in his head, and when to bring it up to Toby. He considered waiting until the next day but still hadn't decided.

Shane stepped outside and saw that Toby was sitting on the ground next the the RV, leaning her back on the tire.

On his way over to Toby he could feel Dale's glare, he pretended not to notice, the man had been eyeing him from the moment he and Rick got back.

Just as Shane got close to Toby, Daryl walked up to her. Shane paused for a moment, feeling slightly angry at their close proximity. He mentally shook his head and kept walking, but kept his guard up. Daryl was a threat to him, a threat to his plan, he himself may be the whole reason Toby would disagree with the plan.

"Got you some vegetables," Shane said as he sat down on the ground beside her, ignoring Dale's presence. "You'll be the first one to get them. Lori told me to let you know she'll make you something else if you're still hungry."

He passed the plate to her and Toby took it, looking disappointed.

"That's all you're givin' her?" Daryl scrunched his nose.

"Well, she can't eat the fish," Shane sent a glare his way, feeling irritated at the other man's ignorance.

"Why not?"

Shane's features relaxed slightly as he realized something, his irritation melted away, "oh, right. You weren't there, you were off chasing your brother."

"The hell are you talkin' 'bout?"

"Can't I just try it again?" Toby asked, feeling anxious with the men's bickering.

"Not how it works," Shane looked back at Daryl. "She's allergic, we found out the night of the fish fry, Morales had an epipen on him luckily."

Daryl turned to Toby, his eyes narrowed, "How come you never told me that shit?"

Toby stared back at him, a surprised look on her face. She felt cornered and wasn't sure what to say.

"Guess it never came up," Shane remarked, looking down to pick up his own plate where he left it, attempting to hide his smirk. Shane let his smirk show as Daryl walked away.

"I think he might be mad at me," Toby mumbled, sticking a small piece of carrot in her mouth.

Shane shook his head, "Forget about him, kiddo. You want me to ask Lori to make you more food?"

"I'm not really hungry . . ." Toby was hungry before, but the tension between the two men made her appetite diminish.

"Just eat what's on your plate at least, and head to bed. What'd Daryl say to you?"

"I was askin' him if we were gonna check the snares tomorrow."

"The snares?" Shane scrunched his eyebrows together.

She nodded in response, chewing her food, "he lets me go with him now."

The anger rose in Shane again, wondering how many times she'd been off with Daryl. He'd have to find a way to separate them somewhat if he ever wanted his plan to work.

"Me and you have something to talk about, kiddo."

"Light?"

Toby glanced at Daryl as she settled herself into Merle's sleeping bag. Daryl was holding the flashlight in its place between them, the light shining up to the top of the tent.

She thought over his question before nodding. Some nights she'd told him no, but her stomach was stirring with anxiety, she wanted it on that night.

Daryl took his hand away from the light, leaving it on between the two of them before settling in his own sleeping bag.

"How come you never told me about the fish?" He asked after a while of them lying in silence.

Toby took a long time to answer. "Lots a shit happened . . . The Walkers came, Jim got bit. After, I didn't really think about it, didn't get to, we had to go to that place with the doctor. By then I didn't think it was important, didn't think you'd wanna hear about it anyway."

Daryl stared at the young girl, with his gaze on her she felt pressured and looked away.

"No offense, girl, but you ain't good at tellin' what's important. Next time you even think 'bout tellin' me somethin', anythin', no matter what the hell it is just get it over with and say it. I ain't gonna get mad at you for talkin'."

Toby looked back at him before looking away and reaching for the light to flick it off. She didn't want him to see any expression she might give away. Because there was something she was thinking of telling him, something she wanted to. But she kept quiet.

Toby had a hard time falling asleep. She'd kept replaying Shane's words in her head, not entirely sure how she felt about it all.

"I told you I wasn't going to leave you, and I'm not. But I think it's time to start thinking about the bigger picture."

She'd tried to get him to elaborate more, explain what he was talking about. But he refused and said the rest was for another time, for now, she would just have to think about it. She'd have to think about leaving the group, she'd have to think about leaving with Shane.

There were so many times she wanted to do just that, leave and never see any of those people, find her father and go home. But that wasn't reality, she'd been forcing herself not to think about her father, she was beginning to give up on him. And giving up on her father meant accepting the group, accepting who she was stuck with. And she was beginning to do just that, she was used to the people around her.

Then once she'd finally begun accepting, Shane had dropped his idea. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave with her. He told her to just think it over and not mention it to anyone. She'd glanced over at Daryl's sleeping form several times, she wanted to say something, to talk about it. But she knew she wouldn't get what she wanted from Daryl, sure she'd want someone else's opinion but she could guess what his was.

Why does he care if I leave anyway? He's just gonna say no because it involves Shane and he hates Shane, he thought to herself. Nobody wants me here, I'm just stuck.

But she was growing to like spending time with Carl, and talking to Maggie. Though she knew they would leave the farm soon. Toby was never able to talk to anyone close to her age before Carl, she didn't hate it as much as she thought she would.

She thought about how her and Daryl were going to check and reset the snares in the morning, she always looked forward to those walks. Toby decided if she still thought she should tell him, that was when she would do it, when they were alone, away from the others.

Throughout the entire night, Toby kept jumping awake, not sure how long she'd been sleeping each time. And the last time she did, it was light out, the sun was up and light had filled the tent. She felt as if she'd only been asleep for ten minutes, but she knew it must've been hours.

Toby laid her head back down, prepared to just go back to sleep, but then she remembered she was supposed to check the snares with Daryl. Remembering that, she recalled Shane's conversation about leaving.

When Toby looked over she saw Daryl wasn't in the tent.

She went out to look for him, putting on Merle's jacket because it was a bit windy and cold, she wondered if winter was coming. As Toby looked around for Daryl she thought over her options, leaving with Shane, staying with the group, telling Daryl what Shane said.

She couldn't explain why she wanted to tell Daryl, but the secret was right on her tongue and hard to keep in.

When Toby didn't see Daryl, she approached T-Dog, who was eating something out of a can while sitting on the porch steps.

"Hey," he greeted, looking surprised as she stopped in front of him.

"Daryl?" She asked, hoping just using his name would word her question fine.

She watched as T-Dog's head turned, looking out into the field at the old shed.

"Uh . . ." he hesitated before looking back at her. "I think he's a bit busy right now, just dealing with something."

Toby opened her mouth to ask another question but was interrupted.

Hershel came out of the house through the front door, glancing at T-Dog, "Theodore, will you come give me a hand?"

"Sure thing," T-Dog took a final bite from whatever was in his can before leaving it and standing up. "We'll talk later, kid." T-Dog put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair a bit before following Hershel inside.

Usually Toby would give more thought to a physical gesture like the one T-Dog had just given, but she was so anxiety ridden and focused on Daryl she didn't care. Toby had noticed the was T-Dog looked at the shed when she mentioned Daryl, so that was where she went. She was hoping to find Daryl before running into Shane.

When she got close she began to hear noises from the shed, at first she wasn't sure what they were but as she got closer she was able to guess.

The shed door was left ajar, she was able to peek in to see Daryl, standing over their prisoner who was lying on his side.

"I told you! I told you!"

"You didn't tell me shit!" Daryl growled out, kicking him.

Daryl was wearing a long sleeve dark shirt, over it he had a black vest on I'd never seen before. Since his back was to me I was able to see a pair of angel wings embroidered on its back.

She watched as Daryl reached down and yanked the younger man up to sit up against the wall. After delivering a few more blows, the boy fell over again. Randall kept on pleading for him to stop.

Toby stepped closer, angling her head to look into the shed better, but just as she did Randall spotted her.

His one eye went wide, as his other one was almost swollen shut, "hey! Hey, please! Make him stop, I don't know anything I swear-"

"-SHUT UP!" Daryl gave him one hard kick and turned around. His expression was hard angry, "what the fuck, girl!"

Toby backed up as Daryl stomped out of the shed and slammed the door behind him, "the fuck you doin' over here! Ya can't be here."

"S-Sorry . . ."

"This ain't for you to see, now go."

"But-"

"-No, this ain't got nothin' to do with you, you don't understand this shit."

"Yeah I do, he was bad so you're beatin' him."

"No. Jesus, not this again. You don't beat people just for being bad."

Then what the hell do you beat them for, she questioned silently. "But he's bad. Shane said so."

Daryl scoffed, "Shane said . . . I don't give a shit what Shane says and neither should you! Bad or not that's not why I'm knocking his teeth in."

"Then why?"

"It ain't your business why, now get the fuck back to the house. Go do something and be useful for once."

Toby eyebrows furrowed at Daryl's outburst, she swallowed nervously as she glanced behind her at the house.

"Now!"

She jumped slightly at his raised voice, but decided to do as she was told. Her eyes watered but she blinked the tears away. Maybe it's best I don't tell him, I'll just figure it out on my own. That's what Shane told me to do anyways, she thought as she walked away from Daryl.

So much for checking the snares.

"I miss shooting," Carl told Toby as the stood together in front of the porch, he was picking off paint from the railing. "They were supposed to be teaching us and they just stopped. Does Shane still take you out?"

"Not for a few days."

"I wish they would take us out."

"Too much goin' on I guess."

"That's exactly why they should be teaching us!"

Toby eyed Carl for a brief moment, "that's what Shane said. But everyone got pissed last time he took me out."

"How was it? The last time. Did you get any better?"

"Not really, we were s'posed to go the day after but it didn't happen."

"Maybe we should . . ." Carl stopped himself, remembering who he was talking to. Toby never wanted to get in trouble. He decided it was best to keep his idea to himself.

"Should what?"

"Nothing, nevermind." he mumbled

Toby didn't question further. Not too long after they saw Daryl coming back to the house and talking to Rick, his crossbow slung over his shoulder and his knuckles bloodied. Rick called some of the others over.

"Must be about Randall," Carl commented, "let's go."

Toby followed Carl, together they got closer to the others to listen to what was happening.

"Look at his hands," Carl whispered to Toby as he eyed Daryl.

"He beat him up," Toby told him.

Carl's eyes widened slightly but he said nothing.

"Boy, there's got a gang, 30 men." Daryl explained, "they have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna . . . They're gonna wish they were."
"What did you do?" Dale questioned.

"Had a little chat."
"No one goes near this guy," Rick told everyone.
"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked.

Rick glanced at Shane, taking a moment, "we have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

Carl and Toby glanced at each other as the group continued talking over the young man's demise. They concluded it would be done that night. When they were done talking, they split up, Dale following Rick with more questions.

"I'll take the next watch with him," T-Dog volunteered as they all walked away. Shane followed T-Dog walking with him as they talked.

Carl jogged over to catch up with Shane.

"So he's a kid?"

Shane looked down at Carl, "he ain't a kid. Just . . . That's a figure of speech."
"Can I see him?"

Shane sighed shaking his head, "No. Look, man, this is-this is grown-up stuff, all right? You just . . . you just let us handle this."

"You sound like Toby," Carl mumbled, disappointed.

"Well Toby's right, go find your ma, all right?"

Carl stopped walking as Shane kept going. Toby went over and stood beside the boy, eyeing his glare on Shane.

For a long time, Carl didn't say anything, he just glared at Shane as he walked away. Shane used to be nice to him, he thought they were friends, now he barely looked at him. Carl turned to look at the shed and bit his lip before making his way over angrily.

"What you doin'?" Toby questioned, following.

"I'm gonna go see him."

Toby looked a little surprised, before looking around, see if anyone was watching. "Wait."

"I don't care if you're scared to get in trouble, but don't try and stop me."

"I'm not stoppin' you, I wanna come to," Toby decided. She decided it would be another opportunity for a test if they got caught, she wanted to see where the limits were in their disobedience. This had to be one of the worst of hers and Carl's list so far.

Carl looked her over, a little surprised before smiling a little as they made their way over. Approaching the shed, there were two old metal trash cans they would have to use to climb up into the rafters. They wouldn't be able to go around because of Shane and T-Dog in that area, also the door would be locked.

"I'll go first," Carl appointed himself and began to climb up. Once he'd slid himself into the opening Toby followed, climbing up onto the trashcans, attempting to be silent.

Carl turned himself around, leaning out of the opening and offering his hand to her.

Toby hesitated, glancing at his offered hand before taking it in her own. Carl helped pull her up into the rafters.

Toby's eyes found the prisoner as she settled herself inside the shed, her and Carl were both over him, standing on thin planks of wood. Carl glanced at Toby, as if to double check she was all the way in before continuing on. As he climbed onto the next rafter, there was a loud creak that made both children freeze.

The prisoner, who'd been trying to see out of the crack in the door was standing up. When he heard the noise, his head looked upward.

For a moment, the prisoner was startled and only able to look at the two children standing above him. When the moment passed, he brought himself back, forcing himself to smile even though his bruises protested against it.

"Hey," he spoke quietly, not wanting to alert anyone else of his company. "That's a sweet hat. I'm Randall, what's your names?"

Carl didn't speak, and neither did Toby.

"The sheriff guy, that your dad? I like him. Yeah, he's a good guy. I can tell. Your mom out here too? You're-you're lucky you still got your family. I lost mine."

Carl glanced at Toby again while Randall rambled. Carl made a very small motion with his head, gesturing downward. Toby gave a nod, understanding that they would both climb down.

Like before, Carl went first, beginning to make his way down off of the rafters.

"Hey, I-I don't know what people been saying about me, but I didn't do nothing. I swear. Your dad was gonna let me go till his friend started fighting with him. It got pretty bad. I-I was kinda worried."

Carl made the final jump with a soft thud to the ground. The he glanced up, watching as Toby made her way down, he didn't look away until she was safely on the ground beside him.

"Is that-this your sister?" Randall questioned, looking at Toby. "Hi, I like your boots. Red's my favourite colour."

Can't mind the blood too much then, Toby thought to herself looking at his beat up face. Carl looked over at Toby again, his eyes questioning.

She only just shrugged, not finding it important to correct the prisoner. When Carl looked back at Randall, he stepped closer. Toby, however stayed at a distance, only wanting to observe.

"My camp, we got lots of supplies." Randall started again, looking back in between them both. "You help me, I'll take you and your folks back to my people. We'll take good care of you. Keep you safe. Just gotta, Just gotta help me get out of here, okay? Just help me pick these locks or find the key, okay? Come on, please? Please?"

As he continued, Toby was beginning to feel uncomfortable with how close Carl was getting. So she took a few big steps forward as well to get beside Carl once again.

"We have lots of food. We can help you, your mom and you dad. You want that right? We could all work together. Y'know, against the real bad guys. You could keep your mom and your sister safe. We have lots of people to do that."

Toby narrowed her eyes as Randall continued his monologue, noticing something. From the moment she and Carl were noticed by the prisoner, he'd been somewhat addressing both of them, as well as he could since they hadn't responded. But he'd always given Toby a glance, as if making sure he had both of their attention. But as he talked, his eyes were only focused on Carl as the boy got closer. Toby felt excluded, and she knew something about that wasn't right.

That wasn't what bothered her, people forgot her all the time, she didn't care. But if he wanted out of there so bad, how could he just completely ignore her? Toby took a moment to glance at Carl. Carl, as if feeling her eyes on him returned a brief glance before looking back at the prisoner.

And that was the moment she understood.

Carl's hardened curious glare at Randall had softened. Randall was focused on Carl because Carl's resolve was weakening. Toby could see it, a look she'd gotten to know so well over the last few months with the group, pity, sympathy. Randall was talking to Carl and not her because he saw he was getting through to him first.

Toby had to stop it, she knew she had to snap Carl out of it. She observed how Randall's hands were chained behind his back and he was leaning forward toward Carl, bending slightly so they were near the same height. Toby did the first thing she could think of, pulling the sleeve of the leather jacket up before swinging her fist into Randall's face.

Toby wasn't very strong, but she had surprise on her side. Randall stumbled and fell back from the shock of the impact. Randall made some noise on the way down, and form the jingling of the lock, Toby knew someone was on their way inside.

Randall wasn't able to catch himself on his fall, forcing the side of his head to hit the wood panelled wall hard. He stood on his knees, struggling to stand up straight again, he began mumbling "you dumb bitch."

Then it was Carl turn. Suddenly feeling angry he quickly stepped forward and kicked Randall in the stomach just before the door flew open.

Toby and Carl both looked over at the door as they backed away from Randall. Shane stormed in, looking furious.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Shane addressed the kids before looking at Randal who was still struggling to get up. "What did you say to her? What did you say to them, huh?"

"I didn't say nothing!" Randall protested.

Shane stomped over to him, grabbed him by the throat and braced him against the wall. Shane pulled his gun from his holster and pressed it against Randall's forehead. "I will shoot you where you sit! Don't you dare talk to them, I see you even lookin at my girl you're fucking dead! You hearing me!"

"Kids, c'mon, out." T-Dog called from the doorway, holding his gun out just in case. Carl obeyed, hurrying out of the shed. Toby however, took her time, watching as Shane coninued to threaten Randall and try to shove his gun in his mouth.

"You like talking, huh? You like talking?!"

"Shane, enough! Not now!"

Shane looked over at T-Dog, and then Toby. Shane took his gun away from Randall's mouth and placed it back in his holster before releasing the boys throat.

Incredibly angered, Shane grabbed Toby's shoulder. Not hard enough to hurt, but to lead her out.

"Get your ass out this door. Let's go."

"What the hell were you two thinking?" T-Dog shook his head, looking at both children with a shocked and confused expression.

"What the hell were you doing!" Shane looked back and forth between the two with his hands on his hips.

"Please don't tell my parents!" Carl begged, sounding panicked.

Toby said nothing, feeling a little threatened that she was in trouble but attempted to keep herself calm.

"Carl, that ain't cool, man, you could've gotten hurt in there!"

"I can handle myself!" Carl argued, his voice shaky.

"So, while your handling yourself what about Toby? You thought it was okay to put her in that position too?"

Toby furrowed her eyebrows, "I can-"

"-I'm sure you both think you can handle ourselves just fine. But next time think it over, that guys got ten, twenty pounds on you easy. What if we didn't got him chained up, what if he got out? You do not go near him again, you hear me?" Shane pointed his finger at the both of them before sighing and running a hand over his shaved head.

"You won't tell my parents, will you?" Carl asked again.

"Carl, man. This isn't about getting in trouble, okay? That boy in there, he's got nothing to lose but his life. A guy like that he'll say anything to you, make you feel sorry for him. He'll try to make you let your guard down. You let your guard down out here people die. You understand me?"

Carl was silent for a moment, thinking it over. He looked over at Toby, "is that why you punched him?"

Shane was taken aback, following Carl's eyes to the young girl. "You did what?"

Toby looked down at her boots, away from their eyes.

Shane shook his head and sighed, trying to calm himself down so he wasn't yelling at them. But he didn't even want to get into that part. "Do me a favor, alright? Just go. Carl, go find your dad, or your ma. Just go. Toby . . . just . . . just go, I'll catch up with you, we gotta talk."

Toby nodded and then followed Carl away from the shed.

"Can't believe we got away with that . . ." Carl heard Toby say in astonishment.

"How was that getting away with it? He's going to tell my dad, I know it. We shouldn't've done it. That was stupid."

"Yeah it was."

"Hey, you did it to!"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I was agreein', not blamin'."

Carl pressed his lips together, looking away. He slightly wished Toby had tried to talk him out of it.

"Who cares if Shane tells Rick? What's he gonna do?"

"He's going to yell at me, then he'll tell mom and she will too!"

He caught Toby smiling at his claim. The smile wasn't exactly happy, but it wasn't negative either.

"Why are you smiling, it's not funny!"

She glanced away from him, wiping her expression clean of emotion, "sorry."

"You're lucky your dad's not here to yell at you," Carl said before thinking.

Toby stopped at his words, staring at him. Carl stopped a moment after, realising what he said, "I'm sorry, I don't know why . . . I'm sorry."

Toby stared at him as he sputtered out his apology for his idiotic words.

"Nah . . . you're right."

Carl was confused and a little shocked, "I am?"

All she did was nod, her expression still blank.

"Toby," they heard Shane call out. The kids watched the man come closer.

"Did you tell my dad?" Carl questioned. Shane looked like he'd calm down.

Shane sighed, "not gonna talk about it right now. Come on, kiddo."

"Can I come too?" Carl asked as Toby began walking with Shane.

"No," he replied firmly, walking away with Toby.

"Where we goin'?" Toby asked.

"To the car, got something to show you."

Carl frowned, angry again. He started walking around, finding a stone to kick every so often. He was bored, left out. He wished he still had Toby to talk to at least.

After a while of going in circles he looked around to see Shane and Toby by one of the cars that was the furthest by the house. He wondered what they were talking about, he was sure that Shane was going to take her for target practise again.

His eyes caught Daryl's motorcycle, which was with the cars but a little off to the side, divided from the rest.

Carl walked over to it, smiling. He wished he could ride the bike, he'd never ridden one before. He placed both his hands on the handles, pretended to rev the engine. He considered asking Daryl to take him, but his dad probably wouldn't let him.

As Carl looked over the bike his eyes stopped at the bag strapped to it. Curious, he opened it and peered in. His eyes widened slightly and he quickly made sure no one was watching before pulling the hand gun out of the bag.

He held the weapon in his hands, thinking that maybe he should put it back. But his anger came back, he was angry at Shane, jealous of Toby for keeping his attention. He didn't think it was fair that Toby could go shoot with Shane and he wasn't allowed.

Then the idea came to him, he would just go teach himself.

Dale sighed to himself in frustration, running a hand over his white beard. He'd convinced Rick to give him the day to talk to everyone, he had until nightfall to convince the others that the prisoner did not have to die.

He'd just finished talking to Lori, but she claimed she would side with Rick no matter what he chose. T-Dog he couldn't get onboard, after seeing what other people had done to Guillermo's nursing home he didn't want to take the chance with others. He was able to get Glenn to agree, but none of Hershel's family wanted to be involved. Daryl was his next conquest, he found him sitting on a log by the firepit.

"Daryl?"

Daryl looked up at the older man, he was inspecting a wet rag that had some blood on it, using it wipe the dried blood off his knuckles.

"Can I have a word?"

"If it's 'bout Randall I don't wanna hear it," Daryl grunted out and looked away, uninterested. "Heard ya been goin' 'round, talkin'."

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?"

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

Daryl scoffed, "didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch."
"Your opinion makes a difference."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes, it does. You've been with us since we left Atlanta, you have a new role in this group, people trust you."

"Oh, man, I don't need my head shrunk. This group's broken. I'm better off fending for myself."

Dale was surprised at Daryl's words, but tried to brush them off, "you act like you don't care."

"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't. Ain't nobody looking at me for nothing."

"Toby is, I am."

Dale saw the younger man's body stiffen when he mentioned the girl. Daryl stood, shoving the rag in his back pocket and swinging his crossbow over his shoulder.

"And you obviously have Rick's ear."

"Rick just looks to Shane," Daryl said, pushing passed Dale, "Let him."
"But torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane . . ." Dale trailed off for a moment, noticing how Daryl stopped at Shane's name. "He's different."
"Why's that?" Daryl asked, his tone light as he turned back to Dale. "'Cause he killed Otis?"

Dale froze for a moment, it hadn't been the response he was expecting. "He tell you that?"

"He told some story, how Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said; group's broken."

Dale stopped, having nothing else to say as Daryl walked away again.

"If ya see Toby, tell her I'm goin' to check the traps. If I don't see her in five I'm leavin', ain't spendin' all day lookin' for her ass." Daryl grumbled out.

Dale shook his head to himself, knowing Daryl was right. Dale was running out of options, no one cared to keep this boy alive. Just then, Guillermo walked by Dale, going into the RV with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand.

Dale followed in right after him, "Guillermo."

Guillermo turned to him, looking a little startled.

Dale noted how much better the man had been doing the last few days. He'd been talking and eating much more, but was still very much withdrawn. He looked much better than before, he wasn't pale, he was clean, and was wearing his very first change of clothes since the nursing home.

Guillermo gestured to himself, "Loaned from Hershel's boy. They let me have a shower, one of his girls gave me food."

"Yeah, you seem better."

"Espero que asi sea. Gracias a Dios . . ." Guillermo's expression seemed to drop for a moment, looking depressed forlorn. He looked back at Dale, trying to shift the attention away from him, "something troubling you, viejito?"

"That boy, Randall. They're going to execute him tonight."

Guillermo looked away again. Glancing at his sandwich before putting it down on the table, his appetite gone.

"Rick gave me the day to talk to everyone, to change their minds."

Guillermo stepped away from the table to sit down on the couch, "you disagree?"

"Of course I disagree, we shouldn't be killing him, punishing him for something that may never happen."

"You disagree with Rick while they all disagree with you."

"Not all of them," Dale couldn't help but be in denial.

"Must be enough, you're here talking to me."

Dale sighed.

"I'll apologize in advance, you couldn't ask for a worst last resort. My answer is no, I will not side with you."

Dale looked appalled, he was sure Guillermo would agree with him. After all the death he'd seen, why would he agree to more of it.

"Before you start to believe I'm the scum of the earth, know that I'm not siding with anyone."

"You won't vote? Nothing? Have you thought this through?"

Guillermo took a deep breath, leaning his elbows on his knees as he sat. He was wishing the older man would sit instead of stand, it was making him anxious. Cautiously, Guillermo asked, "how do you want this to go?"

"We give him a trial, we give him a chance! That's what a civilised society does."

"Who says we're civilised anymore?" Guillermo wasn't being condescending, he sounded as if he was asking it as a real question.

"No, the world we knew is gone. But keeping our humanity, that's a choice."

"Sit," Guillermo, commanded gently. Dale scrunched his eyebrows together but sat down in the booth across from Guillermo. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. Since they brought that kid back."

"How could you-"

"-stop, viejito. Everything I am about to tell you will not be repeated. I do not wish to speak anymore, but you need to understand." Dale was surprised at the seriousness in Guillermo's tone and expression. "I don't know how long I've been here, my mind has been a but jumbled. But I know it wasn't too long ago I first met Rick. I've experienced people come and go, looking to take what we had, the food, the medicine, what was left of it. I first saw Rick as a threat, we needed those guns he took, in the end, we split them. I thought we would be fine. We could protect ourselves much better, we'd be ready for whatever came knocking."

Dale could see Guillermo's eyes beginning to water, but the man didn't blink. His expression was dark and focused.

"I was wrong. The vatos went out to scavenge, a usual day. But this time, they brought back three men. One man, their leader gave us some story how their were more of them looking for shelter, looking for help. That we could work together. He had a bag on his shoulder, he stepped forward, dropped the bag and one of my boys opened it for everyone to see. Tons of cans, food that could feed us for weeks. He said he had more and he'd share if we gave his people shelter. I'm sure you can guess what happened then. We made a mistake, I made a mistake by lowering our guns. The gunshots came, at first, we had no idea where they were coming from. This man, their leader, was a diversion as they broke in. I looked him in the eye as he pulled his gun and killed Philipe. They didn't stop either."

Guillermo fell silent for several moments. "I agree with you, I really do. I don't think he should die, but just because we act civilized, doesn't mean his people will too. Listen, viejito, my opinion: irrelevant. Leave me out of it."

"Staying out of it you're practically just killing him yourself."

"You don't need to tell me that, I know perfectly well. What did I just tell you? I have the blood of all my own people on my hands. Folks I knew, I worked with for years. And you think the death of some kid I've never even talked to is going to make any difference to me? It doesn't."

"You're a good man, you can't want this."

"I don't want anything. I just explained this to you."

"You're apart of this group."

"I'm not one of you, I'm only here cause you folks didn't feel the right to leave me for dead, and while I'm grateful I can't see myself lasting long. I'm not one of you, I'm not a part of this. I'm just . . . here. And I'm prepared if you all are going to cut me loose."

"We would never-"

Guillermo held up his hand to silence the older man. When Dale was silenced Guillermo turned his hand and pointed to himself, jamming his finger into his own chest, "irrelevant."

"Fort Benning?" Toby repeated.

"That's the plan," Shane said, adjusting his dark blue cap, "for now anyway, I'm working on backup if it doesn't work out."

Toby stared down at the map laid out on the hood of the car. Shane had drawn red markings in a few places, she didn't know what any of them meant. The only one she did know was what Shane was pointing to, it was a little red dot with a line trailing to another one. One dot was were they were, the other dot was where they had to go.

"What's there?"

"Don't know yet, hopefully the refugee centre we were promised, if not there's something else, there has to be. If that boy came from another group, and then there's Hershel's place. There's more out there, we'll find some place, some place safer. Some place worth it."

"What about them?" Toby looked away from Shane and over to where the RV was.

"They have Rick, or they think they do. He has no idea what he's doing, he doesn't know how to keep them safe."

"But he said they're killing that guy, and that's what you said he should do."

"He's got the whole day to back out, and even if he doesnt, it took him too long to understand how this works."

Toby pressed her lips together, fighting to keep her expression unreadable as she stared down at the map.

"Listen, I'm going to tell you something," Shane said, prompting the girl to look his way. "Back in Atlanta, I thought Rick was dead. And . . . And when he came back, right then, right there, you see . . . I wished he was. Not-not because Lori would be mine, but because I knew that sooner or later, he would be dead. You see, Rick . . . He ain't built for this world. Not for what it is now."

"Then . . ." Toby thought it all over before speaking, "don't that mean that you should stay?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he can't protect them, why don't you?"

Shane's eyes widened slightly, he felt himself frown as a sadness fell over him. He hadn't expected the girl to come to that conclusion, he wished she hadn't so he didn't have to think about it.

"My time is over, they don't listen to me, they don't trust me. They don't want to."

"Why not?"

"Because they don't want to see things for how they are. Remember what I told you, about nostalgia? That's the problem here. It keeps people from seeing things the way they are. And Rick . . . he's just feeding them."

Toby tore her eyes from his, her gaze being caught by the silver 22 dangling from his neck. She had no idea what to think about his offer to leave, for so long she'd wanted away from those people, and now she had a chance. But this chance unnerved her greatly, and she had no idea why.

"We got company," Shane informed. Toby followed his eyes to Dale, who was far but headed for them. "Come on, don't want him seeing the map."

Shane pulled himself away from the hood of the car and walked around it to lean against the trunk as Shane approached, Toby followed, not standing beside him but stopping to stand near one of the rear doors to watch the encounter.

Shane took his cap off and crossed his arms as he leaned against the trunk

"What's up, Dale?"

Dale continued to walk toward Shane, keeping his head down without a word/ Once he finally stopped in front of him, he stopped and lifted his head. "I wanna change your mind."

Shane let out a scoff that turned into a laugh. "What, you serious?"

Dale glanced at Toby, briefly wondering if he should really continue this conversation with her present. After considering, he let her be, thinking that maybe he would have a better chance of getting through to Shane with her there.

"I know you and I will never see eye to eye on much . . ."

"That's the understatement of the year, huh?"

"But, uh . . . you're not going anywhere."

Shane turned his head, giving Toby a quick glance before replying, "Nope."
"And I'm not going anywhere."
"Okay."
"So let's talk about this like men."
"Okay." Shane pushed himself off the car and stepped forward. "You deny we're in danger, Dale?"

"No, but there's a dozen of us, one of him."
"There's 30 of them," Shane pointed out.

"Killing him doesn't change that," Dale quipped.

"No."
Dale lifted his hand, his index finger out as if physically showing his point, "but it changes us."
Shane laughed again, "you got balls, Dale, I'm gonna give you that. Now I'll tell you what, in a little bit, when y'all gather, you're gonna talk about this. If you've convinced them to keep this guy alive, then I ain't gonna say a damn word about it, okay? But I'm telling you now, man to man, you're wrong. And when this guy kills somebody, I ain't gonna need to say anything, because that blood, that's gonna be on you. You're wrong about this, Dale. You're dead wrong."

Dale glared at the man silently, not saying anything else about the matter. He knew that was the best he would get from Shane.

"I'll see you later," Shane dismissed him turning away.

Dale turned to Toby, "Daryl's looking for you, said something about checking those traps."

Toby looked at Shane, who only shook his head at her, "Daryl can wait. You'll see him later."

Dale watched as Toby nodded and said nothing.

"What if she wants to go?" Dale questioned, a bad feeling growing in his gut.

"What do you want, Dale? You've said your piece, now go."

"What are you two doing over here? You taking her out shooting?"

"Shooting? She wants to but there's too much to deal with right now. With tonight and whatnot. But I told her, soon as this mess is done with we can. And I'll be taking her out."

There was a small smile on his lips that made Toby nervous, she was very sure he wasn't talking about shooting practice.

Dale could feel the tension rising, he looked back at the girl, "hey-"

Shane sidestepped in front of Dale, blocking his view of Toby. "Tell you what Dale. Next time I need a radiator hose I'll give you a call."

Dale narrowed his eyes. With great hesitation he began to back away before leaving. Shane shook his head to himself as he watched the older man go. He turned around to face Toby before leading her back to the hood of the car.

Dale hurried himself back to where he'd seen Daryl before setting off to find Shane. Luckily, Daryl hadn't gone anywhere just yet. He looked like he was about to, walking toward the treeline while rubbing a thumb over his bloodied knuckles.

Daryl sighed at the sight of Dale, "what?"

"Toby she's . . ." Dale struggled to find words.

"She comin'?" Daryl glanced behind Dale as if checking to see if she was there.

"She's with Shane," Dale made no effort to hide the disgust in his voice.

Daryl scoffed and rolled his eyes, his irritation reaching an all time high, "'course."

"You-you need to do something."

"Me?"

"Yes. She looks up to you, she-"

"-Oh, please."

"It's true!"

"She stays around me 'cause I don't fuckin' coddle her like the rest of you. She likes to be left alone."

"I have a bad feeling. You and I both know what he did, she shouldn't be around him."

"So go tell her that."

"He has her on a tight leash, he wouldn't even let her talk to me."

Daryl hesitated, fighting to keep his conflicted emotions in balance. He turned away from Dale. "What do you want me to do, huh? I don't need this."

"Maybe you don't, but she just might."

"How you reckon that?"

"That man . . . there's something very wrong. You can't want that for her. You're the best she has, she'd listen to you."

Daryl spun himself to glare at Dale, clenching his jaw, "I don't give a shit what that kid does,"

"I don't believe that."

"Believe what you want."

"I know you care about her." Dale was determined to convince Daryl. "If you didn't you wouldn't let her stay with you, if you didn't care you wouldn't keep that light on for her at night. If you didn't care you wouldn't help her go back to sleep after one of those-" Dale struggled for the word, "terrors!"

Daryl's expressionless mask was momentarily wiped clean, staring at Dale in utter shock. The flashlight was easy to explain, Dale could've saw the light coming from it at any time of night. But the rest? The rest Daryl was slightly sure Toby didn't remember herself. She would cry or begin to yell in her sleep, sometimes even sit herself up in a panic. A lot of the times Daryl was either still awake, or awoken by her noise. Usually, she wasn't even awake at first, he'd gently push her back into the sleeping bag to lie down. He did the best he could to make sure her screaming never grew any louder. Daryl always felt awkward about it the next morning when it happened, but Toby never made any indication that he had any idea what he did for her at night.

Seeing that he'd caught Daryl off guard, Dale sighed, relaxing a little. "Everyone has trouble sleeping nowadays. I've heard her-and you. I hear you talking to her."

Daryl's eyes found his knuckles again, wanting anything to distract him from the conversation, feeling embarrassed and stupid.

"Not what you say," Dale said quickly, offering Daryl some form of privacy. "I'd never listen in. I've just heard, you."

After the shock wore off, Daryl grew angry again. Furious that such an intimate detail had become known.

Daryl struggled for a response, after a while he finally spoke.

"Fuck off, old man," Daryl wanted to sound intimidating and angry but didn't seem to have the energy for it. "She ain't mine, not my problem."

Dale looked the younger man over for a long time. The conversation was over, both of them knew it. There was nothing else to say. "You're right. She's not." And with that, Dale turned and walked away.

Watching Dale go, Daryl's eyes catch others. Guillermo is standing just outside the door of the RV, watching Daryl. He wonders how much of the conversation he hears

"The hell you lookin at?"

"Not much," Guillermo responded simply, before stepping into the RV and closing the door.

Daryl let out a huff of air, trying to alleviate some frustration. He had to get out of there, to be on his own and think things over. Just as he was about to leave, to go into the forest, a voice began calling out.

Daryl looked over to see Rick on the porch, calling out. He knew what that meant, and then he noticed the sun was setting.

It was time to decide Randall's fate once and for all.

Sorry for the delay there was technical difficulties.

to the guest that comments i'm very sorry it was late but life gets in the way and we move on. I realise I made a promise and didn't keep and for that I sincerely apologize.

to the rest of you, thank you for your patience.

Thank you to NerdyWitch who suggested the scene with Randall and Toby

Thank you so much to LaurenB16, KEZZ1, SaraTheAngelic, hazzaxkat, horselover949, moglefrog, Miss Luny and kenzela for your constant support and reviews it's all greatly appreciated.

Check out my tumblr: Tobyjustgone and artist has started doing art for this story, theyre on tumblr as inkworld77