Guys, I'm so sorry for this wait. I hope I didn't lose you. things have been kind of rough lately so my writing went down the drain. Even so, I hope you like this. Made it a little longer.

The Death Penalty

"You once said that we don't kill the living," Dale pointed to Rick, furious. They'd only been talking for a few minutes and it'd already been decided they'd kill Randall. Glenn who agreed to side with Dale on the matter, backed down last minute, agreeing Randall was a threat. Dale tried his hardest to fight it, to make them see they couldn't just kill the boy for a crime he may never commit.

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick spat back.
"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were, the world that we knew is dead.
And this new world is ugly. It's harsh. It's-it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't-and I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right! Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"

The living room of the Greene home fell silent. Hershel and his family were there, but they didn't say much. Hershel wanted no part in it, he wanted Randall dealt with and Rick's people gone.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too?" Dale shook his head, blinking back the tears the best he could. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a party to it."

Dale turned away to leave, taking a few steps before stopping beside Daryl, laying a hand on his shoulder, "this group is broken."

Daryl looked away as Dale left the house.

"They're yelling again," Carl said. The two children were sitting on their own on the porch, they weren't allowed to listen in, Carl had tried only to get caught. Jimmy was the only other one that wasn't inside, he was holding a handgun, pacing in front of the porch. He was instructed to watch outside and watch the kids, though he barely even glanced at them.

"Don't get why, Rick a'ready said they're gonna kill him."

"Do you think it's the right thing? To kill him? Don't say it doesn't matter." Carl added the last part quickly.

Toby shrugged, "I dunno. I just want it to be done. I'm sick of everyone fightin' 'bout it, it's the barn all over again. Fightin' over and over in circles never makin' a decision 'til someone steps up and makes it."

Carl thought over what happened with the barn, "like Shane did?"

"Not sayin' he's right," not saying he's wrong either, Toby added to herself, "just sayin' nothin' gets done until someone just does it."

Carl nodded, he understood. He leaned back into his chair, feeling the cold metal of Daryl's gun digging into his back. It only reminded him of the Walker he saw in the woods, making him anxious. He'd wait until no one was paying attention and slip the gun back into Daryl's bike. He thought about going at that moment, but the last time he got up to go somewhere his mother popped outside and told him to sit down. He wondered if she was near the door.

He contemplated telling Toby about what he did, he wanted to. But he could tell something was bothering her. Her face was scrunched up as if trying very hard to concentrate, usually her expression would be blank and she would be looking around, observing and listening. She was distracted, Carl guessed it was because of Randall.

"Did Shane yell at you?"

"Huh?" Toby pulled herself out of her head.

"When you went with him earlier, did he yell because we saw Randall?"

Toby shook her head, "actually he didn't bring it up. I think he forgot . . ."

"Seriously? Then what did he want you for?"

Toby lifted her head to meet Carl's eyes. He knew she wanted to tell him something, just like he wanted to tell her something. But before either of them could say a word, the front door flew open and Dale stormed out of the house.

The kids watched him as he began to descend down the porch steps, but suddenly he froze. He glanced at Carl and Toby, hesitating before walking to them, looking at Toby with tears in his eyes.

"I don't know what he tells you. But do not let him fool you into thinking this is right. Don't let him get inside your head. This is wrong, they all know it they just refuse to see it, they're too scared. We shouldn't have to kill to feel safe. This should've been our moment, to remake the world. Instead we're at each other's throats, we're no better than cavemen, waving sticks at each other. We blew it." Dale's voice cracked as he turned away from the children and walked off the porch, Jimmy watching him closely.

Toby and Carl exchanged looks, neither of them saying anything.

"Who's he talking about? My dad?"

Toby didn't respond. She looked down at her feet and kicked off the big red boots. Her feet were hot while her body was cold. Winter was on its way but the boots weren't comfortable, she wished she had shoes that fit.

Soon after the rest of the group went outside. Most of them went to camp and started a fire. Shane, Rick, T-Dog, and Daryl went toward the shed where Randall was held.

"They're gonna kill him," Carl whispered.

They watched from a distance, not able to see much because the sun had set. But they saw the mens flashlights moving as they took Randall out of the shed and began to lead him to the barn.

Carl stood from his seat, leaving the porch. After a few steps he glanced back at Toby, silently wondering if she would follow. Toby, understanding, only shook her head.

Carl turned away and walked toward the barn.

"Hey," a female voice called softly.

Toby turned to see Maggie holding the front door open.

"You want to come inside? Eat something?"

Toby thought it over before nodding and following Maggie inside. She left the boots on the porch. Maggie made a sandwich for Toby and herself, together they sat at the kitchen table to eat.

"Rough day, huh?"

Toby shrugged, taking a large bite of her sandwich.

"Your people . . ." Maggie trailed off, feeling awkward and trying to find a way to bring up what she wanted to talk about. She felt nervous and wasn't sure why. "After tonight . . . may be leaving tomorrow or the day after."

Toby lifted her head, her eyes widening slightly. Tomorrow? She knew they'd be leaving after Randall was dealt with, but it hadn't really registered until Maggie pointed it out. Toby wondering if that interfered at all with Shane's plans, he hadn't mentioned when he would want to go exactly.

Maggie kept looking around, trying to think of what to say. After a few moments of silence, Toby had finished her sandwich, while Maggie only took a few bites. The door opened loudly and Maggie watched the hallway to see he would come in.

Glenn turned into the kitchen, forcing a smile. Relief filled Maggie when she saw him, she had no reason to force her smile.

"Is . . ." Unease filled the woman, about to ask if the deed with Randall had been done. But she stopped herself, glancing Toby's way. Toby didn't seem to notice, she was staring at the table, it was easy to tell she was distracted.

Glenn only shook his head slightly, indicating he knew what Maggie would ask. He took the seat closest to his girlfriend, then shifted the seat closest to her.

"You ask her without me already?"

Maggie smiled again, she could tell that Glenn was trying very hard to stay in a good mood and not think of Randall. Since Maggie had brought up her idea about Toby staying to Glenn, he seemed happy about it. He liked the girl even though he wasn't entirely sure how to act around her, he even seemed a little excited. Maggie wasn't sure why, but she was nervous, she came to care for Toby quick and really wanted to make things work. She didn't want Toby to go back out there after everything Glenn had told her..

Toby looked up, a little startled as if just noticing that Glenn was in the room.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Maggie said, her eyes on the girl. "Me and Glenn were talking things over, and when it's time for you to leave . . . maybe you'd want to-"

The loud slam of the door being thrown open and loud footsteps interrupted Maggie.

Glenn and Maggie both stood, started by the urgency in Carl's voice.

"Maggie! Hershel!"

Glenn and Maggie rushed out of the room, seeing Carl in the hallway.

"What? What's going on?" Glenn asked as Hershel hurried down the stairs.

"I don't know, someone was screaming. Mom told me to come inside and lock the door."

Glenn and Maggie exchanged looks before Glenn headed to the door and stepped outside, Maggie following close behind him.

Glenn watched as he saw the others in the distance running toward something, and then there was another scream. Deep and blood curdling, chilling Glenn to the bone, he turned to Maggie, panicked, "What? Wha-What was that?!"

"I don't know! GO!" Maggie yelled back pointed in the direction of the others. Glenn grabbed a rifle on the porch that was usually kept there for emergency and ran after. Hershel ran out and followed after them.

"Keep the children here!" Hershel ordered.

Maggie turned to see both kids standing at the door.

"Inside, inside now." She said firmly, pushing them in and closing the door. Maggie stood by the door, locking it.

Carl looked at Toby, their eyes met and he said so quietly, she barely heard it. "I think it was Dale."

They watched Maggie pacing in front of the door for several minutes, biting her nails and every so often looking out the window. Until finally she unlocked the door and opened it, "stay here, lock the door behind me."

The kids watched her go, not moving until the door was shut behind her. Instead of locking the door though, they both opened it and went out.

"Wait," Toby said, trying not to be too loud as Carl started to run.

"We have to see what's going on!" He protested.

"Somethin's goin' on, we need a weapon or somethin'."

"I have a gun," he confessed.

"What?" Her eyes went wide.

"Come on!" Carl ignored her and started off again. Toby followed but not going nearly as fast, she could've, she was actually much faster than Carl. But seeing the others gathered in the distance gave her hesitation, she wasn't sure she wanted to see what was happening. Carl arrived there and stood beside his mother. Even with the distance Toby could see Carl's body stiffen.

There was a loud gunshot that made her stop going completely, about ten feet away from the others.

Then there was silence, stillness. It unnerved Toby greatly as she watched the group from a distance. The fog that surrounded everyone gave an ominous feeling, it seemed as if it wasn't moving adding to the stillness of everyone.

I think it was Dale Carl's statement rang through Toby's head, and just like that, she was running again. But just before she could push passed the others to see what happened a pair of hands gripped her shoulders, keeping her from joining into their circle. But through the others' legs, she saw something on the ground, there was blood, a body.

"No," someone said firmly into her ear. "Don't."

Tears pricked Toby's eyes as she looked up into Shane's brown eyes.

"Theodore, get a sheet from the house for the body . . . you know where they are." Hershel requested.

Shane tried to move Toby, but she muttered a simple protest and stayed put. She was confused, shocked and scared. She wanted to get closer, to see, but another part of her kept her in place, for fear of what she might see. She tried to pull herself from Shane, at first he wouldn't let her go, just silently tried pulling her further from the scene.

"No," she muttered, yanking herself from him. It seemed to work, he didn't reach out again, and she didn't turn back to see if he was following. She slowly made her way toward the others, she glanced at Carl, who had stepped away from the group to eye a body on the ground. Toby was close enough to see it was a Walker he was looking at. Her stomach turned over, as if urging to stop her from going any further. But she ignored her body's protests, her mind was in overdrive, and it wanted to see exactly what they were dealing with.

Soon she approached the circle of the group, maneuvering herself to peek through the bodies shielding the horrific event. She saw much more than she wanted to. Dale was lying flat on his back, his eyes wide open and his jaw slack. There was blood leaking out from a hole in his forehead where the gun shot him. Then her eyes trailed down his boody, seeing the mess of blood and organs that was now his stomach. Toby could barely gasp at the sight, blindly stumbling backward in shock. She'd seen many animals skinned, gutted, and bloody. But this was different, it was a person, someone she knew. Toby couldn't even attempt to gain her composure as she turned away, fell on her knees, and vomited the contents of her stomach.

Her long hair draped down, covering her face like a curtain but also in the way of her stomach vile, she could do nothing to stop it as some got in her hair. Toby felt someone kneel beside her, but as she retched again she couldn't even lift her head to look up. The person beside her made an attempt to gather her hair and hold it up behind her head. Toby grabbed on to the person beside her as she dry heaved and sobbed at the same time.

After several minutes, she was finally done.

"Come on," said the voice beside her, helping her up. At first she thought it was Shane.

"Where," she barely choked out. She was sure she wasn't heard.

"Tent," the voice grunted the word out. Toby closed her eyes trying to push what she saw away from her mind, but it was impossible, she gagged a few more times, but there was nothing else to come out.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, suddenly she found herself sitting down, she looked around startled, only to see the walls of her and Daryl's tent. She finally made herself look at her companion, Daryl was beside her, sitting himself down.

Toby had her teeth clenched together tight, blinking quickly every so often in attempt to keep from crying. Her attempt was futile, the tears fell anyway. Her shoulders shook with every sob that escaped her.

Daryl had himself very close beside her, so close their shoulders were practically touching. One of his knees was up to rest his elbow on, his head down. Daryl wasn't sad Dale was dead, he was pissed off. He had no idea how it could've happened, it was all he could do to question the event. How did no one see the Walker? Dale had his rifle with him, why didn't he use it?

Daryl didn't say any of his questions out loud. The only reason he was able to keep himself somewhat calm was for Toby.

"Walker?" Toby's broken voice sliced through the silence, surprising Daryl. He hadn't expected her to talk at all.

"Yeah," Daryl told her stiffly. "Walker."

Toby put her head in her hands, neither of them said anything else.

Daryl didn't sleep at all. But at some point he was able to coax Toby into lying down, he doubted she would sleep, but after a long while of silent sobs she quieted herself down. Daryl didn't even try, when he was sure she was passed out he sat himself up straight. He only laid down thinking it would help her somehow, thinking that he would sleep too. She hadn't asked him too, but Daryl kept the flashlight on that night.

Daryl had no concept of time that night, he had no idea how long the girl was sleeping until she started jerking. Before he could do anything, Toby shot up into a sitting position, panting and whimpering.

This was the point where the screaming would usually start, he'd seen it enough to know. He scooted himself closer, hurrying himself so he could do it before the yelling started.

"It's fine." He started, his voice quiet. He slowly put a hand to her back. On some nights, this is what worked, but after Dale he wasn't sure it would.

"Here," she whimpered out.

"I'm here, right here." He wasn't sure what she was trying to say, he never was. He just went with it in hopes it would work. "Shh . . ."

Her whimpering quieted and she turned her head, looking right at him, her eyes were wide startling him almost. He was sure she wasn't really awake. "It's fine, everythin's fine. Just sleep."

Her expression didn't change, she only sat there breathing heavily. Daryl lifted his free hand to her forehead, the other hand still on her back. Her forehead was damp with sweat.

Using the hand on her forehead, he started to gently push her downward to lay down, using the hand on her back to support her weight. He was very slow and careful about it.

"Shh . . . it's fine. Lay down . . ." he whispered gently. "Lay down."

Once she was down on her sleeping bag, he placed the hand on her forehead over her eyes as he slipped his other out from under her back. He kept his hand over her eyes for a moment, feeling her shake slightly under him.

"Just sleep. Everythin's fine," he was lying. He knew it, and if she were awake, she would too. Daryl lifted his hand only to put it down again, the close proximity of his hands over her eyes tricked her into closing them. "Just sleep."

Daryl staying still and quiet for several moments before looking her over. She'd definitely calmed down and was back in full sleep. It was a few times he'd had to do that, though this time he was sure it wouldn't. That the panic after Dale would overtake her, but it didn't. The bad nights like this were becoming infrequent with her. He thought she was getting better. But how long would that last?

When her breathing was steady he pulled himself away and sighed in relief. After the first few times he'd been a bit embarrassed about it, not sure why he even bothered with her. He summed it up to not wanted to hear her screaming, he wouldn't admit it was about anything else. But when she woke up that night, it seemed that she had no memory or any idea, that they had any interaction during the night. He kept it that way.

Daryl sighed as he watched her sleeping form. He thought about going to relieve whoever was on watch duty, he wouldn't be sleeping. But he also didn't want to leave Toby. He groaned out loud as that entered his mind, when did he start to care so much? And why? Again he was tempted to leave the tent.

But he didn't.

The morning didn't come quick enough. No one really slept so as soon as the sun began to rise, they started preparing for the funeral. T-Dog, Glenn and Rick helped each other dig the grave and bury the body.

Daryl wondered around the camp, for a short while he whittled a small dead branch, making a sharp point on each side. He decided at some point to get his handgun from Merle's bike. Thinking he should have it on him or maybe give it to Toby. She needed to have a better weapon then those tiny knives if something happened again. But when he got to the bag attached to the bike, the gun was gone. He searched for a while, the tent and his bag, but didn't find it.

He sat by the tent for what felt like hours, and more than likely were. He waited for either one of the others to come to him, or for Toby to wake up.

Glenn came to him, after that he went into the tent to find Toby sitting up, wide awake with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks.

"Was just gonna come get you, it's starting." He told her, not able to look her in the eyes. She didn't move or say anything, she looked confused.

"The funeral," he clarified.

Once again she didn't respond. He waiting a few beats before prompting her, "come on."

"'Kay,"she murmured and followed him out. Together they joined the other to where Dale had been with the others they'd lost.

The group stood around the fresh mound of loosened dirt. Dale had been buried next to Carol.

Rick was the first to speak. "Dale could-could get under your skin . . . He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt . . . That kind of honesty is rare and brave. 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."

Toby was standing next to Daryl behind the others. Before Rick had even started speaking Toby decided she wanted nothing to do with this, it made it harder for her,more sad, more impactful. Rick had much more to say, she was sure, but she left before he did. Not entirely sure where to go, she went onto the porch and sat on the chair. When sitting there she noticed her red boots were still there, right where she left them the night before. She slipped them on. The clouds were dark and the breeze was cold. She wished she'd put on Merle's jacket earlier, but she didn't go and get it. For a long while she couldn't will herself to move.

A long time after the funeral, Daryl came up the porch to her. He was hesitant at first, but forced himself to ask. "My uh . . . guns gone."

Toby looked up, confused.

"You know where it went?"

She shook her head.

"You didn't take it," he confirmed.

"No," she said out loud. "Can't shoot for shit anyway. Gun won't help me any."

He nodded. He didn't think she would but he felt he had to ask, "I gotta talk to the others, plan some shit. Find me if you need me, or find Maggie."

Shane was not pleased. Rick's speech at Dale's funeral he'd made the decision to keep Randall alive to honor Dale. To prove Dale wrong, that the group wasn't broken. No, Shane was not pleased, he was seething with anger. This was all supposed to be over by now, Randall taken care of, everyone leaving the farm. Him and Toby gone.

That was what his thoughts kept circling to, him and Toby, gone, leaving. He saw it as a goal, a place he needed to get to, and everything and everyone was an obstacle preventing him from getting to that particular place.

He hadn't seen Toby since the funeral, he saw her sneak off. He understood, he hadn't wanted to attend either. At that moment he was sitting in one of the cars, not planning on going anywhere, just to be alone, unseen. The map was in his lap and Daryl's handgun was placed on the passenger seat.

Carl gave the gun to him and confessed not long before the funeral that morning. Shane wasn't entirely sure what to do with the confession, Carl asked him not to tell Rick, but Shane knew he should.

He sighed, turning the map slightly to examine, almost hoping the map would reveal any obstacles he and Toby might run into. A regular drive, with the highways and roads open would maybe take them about two hours. But that wasn't the case, he'd have to find many different routes, the least amount of time it could take them was a whole day, but that was being much to optimistic. The most, he guessed about a week. That was assuming they would be able to keep the car the entire trip.

His gaze flickered to the gun every so often. It was haunting him. Reminded him of Carl, what he would be leaving behind. Shane folded the map and shoved it under the seat of the car. He grabbed Daryl's gun and got out of the car, tucking it into his waistband opposite of his gun holster.

He'd have to check under the hood of the car, make sure it was ready for the journey. He had to go talk to Rick about Carl, grab the tool box for the car, and get Toby. He had to go over everything with her again and it would save time if he did it while he worked on the car. He would have to take a some gas from the others, but they had plenty syphoned from the highway, so he didn't feel too bad about it.

The night before Dale's death Shane had put a small bag of canned food together, not taking much from the others in hope they'd find their own food. But being realistic he had to take something, he made sure there was lots of what he was taking so he wasn't leaving the group in jeopardy.

Shane saw some of the others gathered by the RV and made his way over.

"So what will we do?" T-Dog was asking when Shane approached.

Rick looked around at the others in front of him, not yet noticing Shane was there. "Maggie's putting some provisions together, enough to last him a few days. Then me and Daryl will take Randall offsite and cut him loose."

Shane furrowed his eyebrows, appalled, "we're back to that now?"
T-Dog turned, pretending to motion something for him and Glenn to check out. BUt really they wanted no where near another argument with Shane and Rick.

"It was the right plan first time around. Poor execution."
"That's a slight understatement," Shane muttered, placing his hands on his hips.
"You don't agree, but that's what's happening." Rick looked around the yard, not wanted to look at Shane. Attempting to keep his confidence, he turned away to leave. "Swallow it, move on."

Shane stopped him, "you know that Dale's death and the prisoner, that's two separate things, right?" When Rick said nothing, Shane bit his lip in frustration. "You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."
"Thank you," Rick said, no real gratitude in his voice. He turned and walked away.
"You got it," Shane muttered, about to walk away himself. He hesitated, watching Rick walk up the steps of the porch. When his eyes went to the porch, he saw Toby sitting in one of the chairs. Seeing Toby quickly reminded him of Carl and he bounded after Rick again.

He took a deep breath, knowing he had to keep his cool.

"You seen Carl lately?" Shane stood in front of the porch. Rick was standing on the porch, standing behind the railing a few feet above Shane.

"He's inside with his mother."
"Look, he came to me. I wasn't supposed to say anything, but he was out in the swamps yesterday and he came across a walker stuck in the mud. He got scared, ran off."

Rick finally looked at Shane, looking over his face as if attempting to decipher something.
"The same walker that killed Dale?" Rick came to the conclusion.

"That's the one."
"I'll have Lori talk to him."

Shane clenched his eyes shut for a moment, not happy with that response."Look, man, I think . . . I think he wants to talk to his father."
"Well, I need this Randall thing done already."
"Man, that needs to wait, okay?" Shane couldn't understand it, if they were just going to let Randall go, there was no hurry, the outcome would be the same. Rick could take the time to talk to Carl.

"It's my call."
Shane sighed. "How about I ride out with Daryl? Good for us to spend a little time together." He wasn't sure why he said that last bit, he regretted it immediately, it made it sound like he was scheming. And in that moment he wasn't, Rick was always the one to leave, to take care of something. He was so sure he could keep his family safer then Shane could. If he wanted to do that, in Shane's opinion, he had to stay with them.
"Nah, I need you here," Rick denied quickly.
"Don't think I'll handle it right, huh?"

"Didn't say that."
"What you say?"

Rick didn't respond, only stared him down. They both stared at each other until Rick turned away, "we'll talk later. I have stuff to take care of."

Shane pressed his lips together, trying to ease his anger as Rick opened the front door and went into the house. After taking a minute to calm down, Shane ascended up the porch steps and went to sit beside Toby. Shane reached up for his Navy blue cap, taking it off his head.

"How're you doing?"

Toby didn't say anything.

"Hey," Shane nudged her and she looked up. "I know things aren't great, hell everything's a mess. But don't shut me out, not now. I need you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, of course. I told you before haven't I? The door swings both ways."

Toby hesitated, "I keep thinkin' I'll see him on the RV."

Shane followed her eyes to Dale's RV, "yeah. Me too, kiddo. Come on, let's go to the car and talk."

Shane put his hat on his head and led her off the porch. Before they could get much further, Shane saw Daryl from a distance, talking to T-Dog.

"Go over to the car," Shane told her. "I'll meet you in a minute."

Toby gave him a curious look before abiding, walking away from him.

As he began to approach Daryl, T-Dog walked away as the conversation ended. Daryl hadn't seen Shane, and was about to walk away,

"Daryl," Shane called. "Can we talk?"

Daryl turned to him, raising an eyebrow, "'bout what?"

Shane looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. He sighed and pulled Daryl's gun from his waistband.

Daryl's eyes narrowed. "The hell is this?"

"Your gun."

"I see that," Daryl yanked it from Shane's hands. "what the hell are you doing with it?"

Shane sighed, "Carl took it."

"He what? Why?"

"He went out on his own. He was upset about not being able to go shooting so he decided to do it himself."

Daryl scoffed, inspecting his gun for damage. "That was stupid, lucky he wasn't killed. You talk to Rick?"

"Yeah he was. I did."

Daryl nodded. Not sure how to fill the awkward silence he began walking away, "thanks."

Shane let out a breath, relieved that was finally over with. Next he saw Glenn who was at the front of the RV.

"Hey,"

"Hey," Glenn responded quietly, closing the hood of the RV, a screwdriver in his hands.

"How is it?"

"Dale showed me how to fix it, I think I did. For now anyway."

"It alright if I take the toolbox?"

"Sure," Glenn put the screwdriver into the toolbox and passed it to Shane.

Shane turned away and made his way to the cars. At first he didn't see Toby, he had to walk around the car before finding her sitting on the ground.

When she saw him, he gave her a sad smile before turning to the hood of the car and opening it. Shane looked around under the hood, inspecting the engine. I few moments later Toby walked over to stand beside him.

"It shouldn't have happened," Shane started as he looked her over. "If everyone wasn't so engrossed in trying to find alternatives, to keep that kid alive, more of us would've been paying attention. We would've had someone on watch. If we had dealt with Randall the way we should've done in the first place, that never would have happened."

Toby took in his words, not finding anyway to disagree with them. It all came back to Randall.

"And now we're back to the beginning. It's just going to get worse."

Toby scrunched her eyebrows, "what you mean?"

Shane quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching, "they backed out, they're getting ready to let him go."

"B-But they can't. You said they can't. Rick said-"

"-Rick says a lot of things. Dale dying turned the whole thing around on them. We have a big problem on our hands. Well, technically they do. I've known since the beginning exactly how to deal with this. This is on them now, this is on Rick."

"Do you . . . still want to leave?"

Shane looked at her, taking in her puffy watery eyes. "And I want you to come with me. If it were just us we wouldn't have to worry about anyone else. Just each other." When Toby didn't say anything, he continued. "Listen, I don't-I don't want anybody to get hurt, okay? Rick's my friend, Hershel, he's all right by me. Look, I just, I wanna know what it's like to sleep without keeping one eye open. I want that for you, don't you want that?"

Toby thought about it before nodding her head. Shane bent down to open the tool box.

"But we're not going to get that here," He continued. "Rick doesn't know what he's doing. There's nothing for us here. Do you understand?"

Toby took a long time before responding. "I like Maggie," she finally settled with. She wanted to bring up Daryl somehow, but she didn't think that would go well with how Shane felt about him.

"Toby, listen, I know it sucks but the fact is whether or not we stay with the group or leave, we're leaving the farm. They aren't letting us stay. You won't be seeing Maggie again."

She kept her eyes on the ground, feeling sad. Maggie was the only female she enjoyed being around. She acted interested in her without coddling or over fussing, or being pushy like Lori. She thought about the rest of the group, what was left of it. Glenn was nice, but they weren't close and didn't talk so what was it to him if she was gone. Rick she could do without, Lori too. But Carl . . . the first kid she actually liked, and talked to. She would lose that. Would he care if she left? Maybe, he always seemed kind of needy and whiny, whenever she wouldn't talk to him he would always try.

But she'd gotten through her whole life without other kids, why did this one matter? She wasn't too sure. But it didn't seem like a strong enough reason to disagree with Shane, so she didn't bring Carl up.

T-Dog, she liked. He was funny and nice. But again, what would he care? Guillermo was a neutral party, she was sure he didn't even know her name. And with his memory, he'd probably already forgotten they'd ever talked.

Daryl . . . was different. She couldn't talk it over because Shane might get angry. She liked Daryl, even though he was slightly intimidating at times. But that was one of the things she liked about him, he was assertive, he didn't care what the others thought or said. That reminded her of her dad. She liked going to check the snares, how he asked every night if she needed the light, she liked that they didn't always need to talk and he wasn't looking at her with pity. He didn't treat her like the other treated a kid. She wanted to stay for him, with him. She wondered if that mattered, what if she liked him, she wasn't sure how he felt about her. He didn't seem to mind her sometimes, but that seemed to be the extent of it.

Would he even care if I left? The question circled around her head. She came to the conclusion he might be relieved, he wouldn't have to babysit her when they went to check the snares, and he would get his tent all to himself again.

Seeing something in the corner of her eye, Toby turned, seeing someone walking toward them. "Lori's comin'."

Shane followed her eyes to see Lori, he was surprised and confused. He looked away, back under the hood, holding a tool in his hand and peering in. "Why don't you uh . . . go get some water?"

Toby knew it was a way to get rid of her for a few moments but nonetheless she left, almost grateful for the distraction from the conversation.

With Lori approaching, Shane found it hard to concentrate, he tried to make it look like he was focused on his task. He could feel Lori's eyes burning holes into him when she stopped beside the car.

"Wouldn't that be easier if you waited for some help?"
"No," he said quickly. "I'll just . . . Just do it myself."
"Yeah, you always do, just like that time you showed up Rick fixing our sink."
"Yeah." He glanced at her briefly, picking up the tool box to balance it onto the car to easily search for the next tool he needed. "Just so you know, that's not the reason your basement flooded. You can thank Rick for that, using rubber washers with a metal pipe."

Lori didn't respond to that. For a long time she was silent. Shane forced his eyes to meet hers after so long, prompting her to speak.

"I made a mess of things." Lori's eyes began to water and she looked away. "I put you and Rick at odds. I don't even know whose baby this is. I can't imagine how hard that is on you. You led us out of Atlanta with no thought for yourself."

Shane stopped what he was doing, standing up straight while surveying Lori's expression.
"Do you remember that night? The flames, the . . . and I'm sitting in your car thinking 'We're gonna be all right. He's gonna make it all right. We'll get out of here.' Then we did, you did. And I never thanked you for that. Even though things got confused between us, you were there for me. You were there for me. You were there for Carl, for the group. Toby. Thank you." She pressed her lips together as a sob escaped. Lori blinked rapidly, trying to dismiss the tears.
Shane furrowed his eyebrows, not believing what he was hearing.

"You don't need to thank me for that," he said gently.

"Of course I do. Of course I do. . . Whatever happened between us, whatever the hell we thought it was, and not just you, but . . . I'm sorry, Shane. Please believe me. I am so sorry."

"Lori-"

Before Shane could continue, Lori's head turned in the other direction. He followed her eyes to see Toby a few feet away, holding a water bottle. Lori turned to hide her face from Toby, wiping her tears.

Shane sighed, lowering his voice, "I,uh, I sent her to get water."

Lori nodded and turned to walk away.

Shane stepped away from the car, watching her go. He opened his mouth to stop her, but he didn't. He turned around again, this time putting his hands on the car to lean against it. He sniffled quietly, blinking to keep the tears in.

"Did I make her leave?" Toby was able to see how quickly Lori left when she came back. She could also see Shane was upset.

Shane shook his head, "no, kiddo. It's fine, she was leaving anyway."

Shane felt Toby's hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. He turned to her, forcing a small smile.

"What's that for?"

"You told me that adults did that to help kids feel better."

Shane chuckled. He remembered that day, Toby had asked him why he always touched her, she thought it was strange. "You remember that?"

She nodded.

"You don't think it's that weird any more, do you?"

She pulled her hand away, thinking it over. "It's nice . . . sometimes."

Slowly he put his arm around her, pulling her closer. She didn't pull away or tense up, she let him do it, then leaned her forehead against his rib cage.

He sighed, "we should've left a while ago. Before this got so . . . They're gonna give this kid a care package. They're gonna send him on his way."

"They'll probably change their minds again," she suggested.

He shook his head, "Dale's dead. They think this will somehow make up for it. And that's gonna bring on a war or something worse, and we're just gonna sit here and wait for it? But you and me, we're the only ones who see it coming."

"So we're just gonna leave?"

"It may be better to leave now but I can't leave them in the middle of this. As soon as this Randall problem is handled, we'll get out first chance we get. No hesitation."

"You know how to handle it?" Toby knew what he wanted to do, but when asking she was hoping for a different answer, a different solution.
"Yeah. I have a pretty good idea."

Daryl was putting some clean clothes into his bag that Maggie had volunteered to wash. She also gave him some clothes to give Toby that were to small for Beth. They wouldn't fit Toby perfectly but it was better than nothing.

Daryl wasn't alone long, he didn't expect to be. But he also didn't expect it to be Carl approaching his space.

Daryl eyed him carefully as Carl stopped close by.

"Did it hurt to punch the guy?" Carl asked, looking at Daryl's scabbed over fists.

Daryl thought over what to say, not sure how he felt about being questioned by the kid. "I've been hurt worse."

Carl motioned to the crossbow sitting on the ground beside Daryl, "can you teach me how to shoot that?"

"Your arm ain't long enough."

"Yeah it is."

"Stick to guns, takes less skill. Where's your old man? Pester him."

"You let Toby pester you."

Daryl narrowed his eyes, not responding. He grabbed the clothes meant for Toby, planning on ignoring the kid and placing them in the tent for her. Daryl went over to the tent.

"I'm sorry I took your gun."

Daryl stopped, looking at Carl again. Neither of them said anything for a while.

"You didn't come yell at me."

"Ya wanted me too?"

"No."

Daryl looked around, looking to see if he could spot Carl's parents to save him from the awkwardness. "You ain't my kid to yell at."

"I'm sorry."

"You said that."

"Daryl!"

Daryl looked away from Carl to see T-Dog walking away from the house. "Come on, man! Time to do this!"

"Go find your folks," Daryl told Carl. throwing Toby's clothes in the tent before following T-Dog to fetch Randall.

"I'm gonna come with you as back up." T-Dog said as they started walking together.

"Don't need to. Gonna do this on my own."

"I didn't say you couldn't, just to make me feel better. Nobody's gonna be happy if you don't come back."

Daryl scoffed.

"Man, I mean it. I know we ain't friends or nothin', but we respect you. You've fed us, helped us. We owe you. To be honest, after Merle I figured you'd take off, most of us did."

"That what you wanted me to do?"

"No, man, listen. I'm saying we're glad you didn't. We need you. And I think you need us . . . in a way."

Daryl only stared back at T-Dog, not able to form a response. When they got to the shed T-Dog unlocked the door and together they went in to retrieve Randall, T-Dog had the other key to uncuff him from the wall. But he left the cuffs on him to walk around. They may have been letting him go, but they still didn't trust him.

Randall was crying, begging for them to let him go and not kill him.

"Will you knock off your blubberin'?!" Daryl pulled the kid up from the ground by his arm.

"We're not killing you," T-Dog said, grabbing him by the other arm.

"Y-You're not?"

T-Dog shook his head.

"You-You guys won't' regret this! I-I'll help, I'll pull my weight. I can-"

"-Shut up! You're not stayin' with us neither." Daryl growled out as they led him out of the shed.

Randall took on a panicked expression, "what? But-"

"-Sorry, dude. But you're people tried to kill our people. Not how this works."

Randall gave T-Dog a look of longing, T-Dog ignored him, trying to keep his eyes ahead. Surprisingly enough, Randall didn't say anything else, he only put his head down and let the men lead him toward the house.

Hershel and his family were standing on the porch, watching the men approach with Randall.

What was left of the group all stood scattered in front of the house, watching. Everyone had different opinions about the choice they made, but they all shared the same sadness of having to leave the farm once Randall was gone. The only ones that stood together were Carl and his parent. Shane stood the furthest from the group, his arms crossed. Toby went to stand beside him, surveying the whole group, everyone was tense.

Rick walked away from his wife over to the prisoner. Daryl took a step back from Randall, letting his arm go. He was sure T-Dog was fine to hold him on his own. While Rick talked Daryl pulled out his gun, double checking the safety was off and it was fully loaded. He wasn't taking any chances.

"We'll 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."

"This little pain in the ass will be a distant memory, good riddance." Daryl remarked.

"You don't have to go, Rick." T-Dog said. "I told Daryl I'd go with him. You should stay here, I know Carl isn't too happy with you going."

"No, I'm going. I want you here, in charge."

"I just think-"

"-I'm going," Rick said in a strong voice. "Is the bag Maggie put together in the car?"

T-Dog rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I'll go get it." He let Randall go and stepped away. Daryl stayed close to Randall but didn't expect him to do anything while cuffed.

Rick looked away from Randall, his eyes searching for Shane. He saw him standing, his arms crossed and glaring at him.

Rick walked over to him, deciding to be a little more calm than before. He didn't like how standoffish he was earlier

"I know you don't agree with this."

"Damn right." Shane responded.

"But it's what has to be done. I know deep down, you understand that. Hell, on some level no one really agrees with this either. We're just leaving the poor boy stranded. His leg is still injured, we practically are executing him."

"Then I don't see why you don't just get it over with yourself. If you think he really doesn't stand a chance," Shane said simply, not looking at Rick but glaring across the way at Randall.

"That's not what I-"

"-That's exactly what you meant. You know this is wrong, but you're still trying to justify it, why?"

"It is not wrong to spare the life of another human being. Just because the world has changed doesn't mean we have to, we're still human."

"Man, that's exactly why we need to change. You're spouting so much bullshit you can't even keep up with it. We're supposed to change, Rick, we're meant to adapt. Humans have been doing it for millions of years we just had to do it a little bit faster this time. That's what it is to be human not letting a killer walk free-"

"-You don't know that." Rick interrupted.

"I know that he shot at you. I know that he ran with men that tried to kill you. Good enough for me."

"Stop acting like you know the way ahead, like you know the rules. There are no rules, man. We're lost."
"No, no, no, man. I know exactly where I am."

Rick glared back at Shane before looking away, beginning to walk back to Randall to leave.

"I know this is what you want to do," Shane said. "but you have to know it's not proving what you think it is."

"It's proving we can still be civilized, that we haven't lost who we are."

"No, it's proving that you can't keep these people safe, Rick. You never could."

"And you think you can?"

Shane's glare became harsher, if that was even possible. He stepped forward as his face contorted with anger, "I can. And I will, right now."

Shane shoved passed Rick, stomping his way to Randall and Daryl he pulled his gun out of his holster.

Rick launched himself forward grabbing onto Shane to try and stop him. Shane stumbled a bit, but was able to push Rick off of him, at the same time, his cap fell off his head and onto the ground.

"Daryl, move!" Shane shouted with his gun raised.

Daryl turned when he heard the voice, just as the trigger was pulled. He only had a split second of warning and was only inches away as the bullet made its way into Randall's skull.

There were gasps, yelps, and screams and from some of the others; silence. Shane paid no attention to any of it. He only turned around to face Rick.

"I know exactly where I am, Rick! Right here! Where the hell are you?!"

I'm so sorry for the super long delay, the whole dale thing was hard and awkward for me to write I never felt like it was right. It was hard to do Toby's reaction, I hoped you enjoyed it all.

Some of you may know I did a Talking Dead story for this, it's on my profile. since the next chapter will mark the end of the second season I'm thinking of doing another. Let me know what you think of that :)

Thank you for being so patient. I hope I didn't lose any of you. Schools been a little rough and I've been emotionally done. There's this asshole in my class I can't seem to shake. Everythings kind of a mess right now.

Let me know what you guys think of another talking dead chapter and let me know what you thought of this chapter! Lots of drama to come. Dont be shy to message or review!

-Penn