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Once the darkness hit over the farm, Isabell met with Shane, Rick and Daryl by the shed they were keeping Randall in. She and the former men waited outside the shed as Daryl went inside to retrieve Randall.

Daryl took charge of leading Randall to the barn that once held the walkers that Hershel had kept locked inside.

Randall seemed to comply with the movements most of the way, but once he realized what was probably happening to him, he fought against Daryl's hold. "Hold on!" he said, repeating himself, trying to get Daryl to stop.

Rick pulled open the barn door, using a lantern to light the inside.

"Wait!" Randall said, locking eyes with Isabell, who was walking behind him.

Isabell quickly looked away from him, remembering what scumbags the other men of his group were.

Rick pointed to the center of the barn with the lantern. "Put him there." He ordered Daryl, who obeyed, leaving him in the spot.

Once the kid was in the correct spot, Shane grabbed Randall from behind to stop him from moving. "It's all gonna be over soon." Shane insisted, tying a blindfold over the kids face.

"What?" Randall questioned. "What's gonna be over soon?"

"Relax." Shane told him.

Randall continued to fight Shane's grasp. "Hey, no! No!" He cried.

Shane tried to quiet Rand with a shush.

Rick loaded his gun, making sure the bullet was in the right chamber.

Isabell stood watch a little further outside the circle between Rick and Daryl. She stood by watching as Randall cried for his life.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked Randall, no emotion in his voice.

Randall bounced on his feet, nervously. "Oh, no, please." He begged. "Ple - "

Daryl approached Randall, kicking him in the back of his leg, making the kid fall hard to his knees.

Rick looked to Shane, hesitating slightly, but Shane nodded, encouraging him. "Do you have any final words?" Rick asked Randall.

Randall continued to cry. "No, please. Please, don't."

Rick raised his gun in his hand and pointed it at Randall's forehead. He cocked the gun and turned his head to the group.

Randall's shoulders jumped and the boy froze with fear. He certainly wouldn't be able to calm himself down now.

Rick kept staring at the kid. He took a small step towards Randall and gripped the gun until his knuckles turned white.

Isabell watching Rick, wondering if he could do it. Wondering if Rick had the nerve to kill Randall.

"Do it, Dad."

Isabell's hand snapped to the open barn door to see Carl standing at the entrance. She glanced back to Rick, noticing he seemed even less willing to kill Randall.

"Do it." Carl said again.

Rick looked to Shane, telling him silently to take care of Carl.

Shane walked through the center of the circle that they made. "Are you kidding me?" Shane questioned as he approached Carl. "What did I say to you?" Shane grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him out. "What did I say to you?" He repeated sternly.

Isabell studied Rick. She knew that he had lost his nerve. "Rick?" She called.

Rick glanced at Isabell and then to the door where Shane had just left with Carl. He let go of his held breath and pulled the gun away from Randall's face. Rick turned the safety back on and gestured to Randall with the gun. He looked to Daryl. "Take him away." Rick said, nodding, knowing he was doing the right thing. "Take him away."

Randall let out a large sigh of relief.

Daryl stepped forward and grabbed the boy's arms. "Get up." Daryl ordered.

Isabell followed him back to the shed with Randall.

As they passed Shane, it was no surprise that he wasn't happy with Randall not being dead. He punched the second door to the barn so that it opened and then he angrily walked away.

Isabell just ignored Shane's grumpiness and stuck to Daryl like glue. She knew that Daryl wasn't happy with Rick's sudden change of heart either. Daryl, thought, seemed to be siding with Rick at the moment.

Isabell waited outside while Daryl locked the kid up inside the shed.

When Daryl came out, he nudged her to get her attention. "Someone's gotta start keepin' a watch on that boy. He's gonna get himself in all sorts o' trouble someday."

Isabell nodded her head. "I'm not sure how any mother could take her eyes off her kid for even a second anymore." She looked down at her hands. "I mean, I know there are other people in this group, but still."

"You're right." Daryl said.

"Isabell furrowed her brow, looking to Daryl. "About?"

"It's good she's not here anymore." Daryl said, quietly. He paused. "If Harley had seen me like that, if she'd urged me to kill that kid…" Daryl trailed off, shaking his head.

"I'm not sure even you would have been able to kill that kid." Isabell told Daryl. "I think you woulda done exactly what Rick just did."

"Rick stopped because he saw Carl watchin'."

Isabell shook her head. "Rick stopped 'cause he didn't want to kill a nineteen year old kid."

Daryl just looked at her, unsure how to respond to her statement.

Isabell opened her mouth to add to her comment, but before she could, a loud scream filled the entire farmland.

Daryl took off running towards the scream without a word and Isabell followed after him. When they came upon someone, they say that whoever it was was on the ground and the walker was on top of him. Daryl kept running, tackling the walker off of the person.

Isabell stopped in her spot, finally seeing who it was. "Holy shit, Dale." Isabell whispered. She shook her head and quickl y joined his side to see the damage while Daryl took care of the walker. "Dale, can you hear me?"

Dale could only cough, not being able to form the words.

Isabell looked down at his stomach, seeing that the walker had torn it wide open. She looked up when Daryl knelt down across from her on the other side of Dale. Isabell was worried, shaking her head. She wondered if fixing the damage was even possible.

Daryl jumped up, waved his arms, and shouted for the others. "Help!" He called, seeing them approach. "Over here! Help! Run!" He stood a little ways away from the man, watching the scene.

"Dale, hang in there." She said quietly.

"Who is it?" Andrea called ahead.

Rick and Shane approached first and almost instantly backed off seeing the side of Dale lying with his stomach torn open.

"Oh, my God." Rick knelt down next to Isabell and grabbed Dale's head in his hands.

"Rick!" Lori shouted.

"Alright, just listen to the sound of my voice." Rick begged of Dale.

It was completely evident that Dale was scared. His eyes bugged out and he was spouting out panicked nonsense.

Isabell got up slowly and walked around Dale to get to Daryl. She continued to watch the scene as the rest of the group arrived little by little. Isabell could feel the large lump growing in her throat, but she couldn't cry. Especially not after having argued with the man earlier in the day.

"Listen to me, alright?" Rick said. "Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now." Rick turned his head over his shoulder. "Get Hershel! He needs blood!"

Andrea took Isabell's spot on the ground next to Rick. "Hang on Dale."

"We gotta operate now." Rick insisted. He turned back to Dale. "Listen to me. Okay, just listen to my voice. Alright? Please." Rick turned again. "Hershel! We need Hershel!"

"Look at me." Andrea said to Dale.

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

Finally, Hershel came upon the group. "What happened?"

"What can we do?" Rick asked.

"Dale, it's gonna be okay." Glenn told the man.

Dale panted, the blood catching in his throat.

"Can we move him?" Rick asked Hershel.

"He won't make the trip." Hershel admitted.

"You have to do the operation here." Rick pointed to Glenn. "Glenn get back to the house - "

Hershel grabbed Rick's arm, pulling the man to his feet. "Rick." Hershel said, forcing Rick to look at him. The doctor shook his head.

Rick pulled away from Dale. "No!" He screamed as it finally hit him that Dale wasn't going to live.

Andrea sobbed. "Oh, God."

Isabell looked around to the group. Everyone was crying. She saw Lori on the ground and Glenn looking down at his best friend. Isabell's eyes shot to Carl as he came upon the group.

The boy looked at the walker that Daryl killed. To Isabell, it almost looked like Carl recognized the dead. Carl ran into his mother's arms, crying.

Andrea looked down at Dale. "He's suffering." She noticed. "Do something."

Dale choked on the blood that came up his throat.

Rick pulled out his gun. "Come on." He said to himself, trying to gather what he needed to pull the trigger. He held the weapon, but it shook in his hand.

Isabell shook Daryl's arm, looking at Rick and then to Dale. "He can't do it." She told him.

Daryl had noticed the same thing. He got free of Isabell's grasp and walked to Rick's side, taking the gun from him. Daryl knelt and aimed the barrel at Dale's forehead, cocking the gun.

Dale looked up at Daryl with tear-filled eyes.

"Sorry, brother." Then he pulled the trigger, making everyone jump.

Isabell's knees couldn't hold her up and she had to sit on the ground.

Daryl handed the gun back to Rick and joined Isabell's side. "You okay?"

Isabell nodded. "Yeah, I'm just - " She looked to him. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Daryl looked down to her hands, feeling a stickiness on them when he tried to lift her. "Aw, Izzy." He reached around to his back pocket to pull out a rag.

"What?" Isabell looked down to see her hands covered in blood. Dale's blood. "Shit."

"'S alright. I got it." Daryl cleaned her hands of the blood and stuffed the rag back in his pocket. "You sure yer okay?"

Isabell laughed silently. "No, I'm probably not."

! #$# !

Isabell couldn't sleep. Even after trying to curl herself up next to Daryl, she still couldn't bring herself to fall asleep. Isabell pulled away from Daryl trying not to wake him. She shrugged on a jacket and exited the tent. The only place she could think to go without disrupting anyone was the graveyard. Isabell sat down in the grass in front of the hole that held Sophia. Someone had put down a few fresh flowers over the mound of dirt and she smiled at them, hoping it had been Carol.

Isabell sighed and began to pick at the grass. "You know, Soph, I don't really believe in this sorta thing. Sitting in front of a grave and talkin' like you can hear me." She thought. "But, if by some chance there is a heaven and yer listenin', you gotta know how sorry I am that I didn't grab you, too." Isabell looked up at the tree behind it. "I'm sure my brother will take care of you. Garret's a good guy. I only knew him for a few years, but he's family. He's got girls. Little older than you, but I'm sure you'll get along just fine." Isabell looked around, adjusting herself to lean back on her elbows and stretch out her legs. "And Harley." She paused. "You didn't know about her, but I'm sure you two will get along great." The crickets around her were chirping loudly. "Things are crazy. And Dale…" Isabell let out a breath. "I hope he's lookin' out for you. If anyone deserves to be in the hypothetical heaven, it's Dale. Ain't done nothin' but good, that man." Isabell laughed. "There's not much of that in this world. Dale deserved better." She thought. "He deserves better." She corrected, glancing over at the truck that held Dale, wrapped in a sheet. Isabell bit her lip. She groaned and pushed herself off of the ground. She went over to a shed nearby and grabbed a shovel from it. Isabell shed her jacket, knowing she'll get hot eventually. She started her digging for Dale's grave.

After a long while, Daryl came up with his crossbow over his shoulder. "Whacha doin'?"

Isabell pushed the shovel into the dirt. "Diggin' a hole."

"I see that." Daryl responded. "Thing is, why?"

"Dale needs one." She pulls dirt out, paused, and looked at him, wiping her forehead with her forearm.

"He don't need one now."

"But he will. In the morning." Isabell said, beginning her work again. "When we have the service."

Daryl watched her for a bit. "Iz, this can wait until morning. C'mon back to sleep."

"I can't sleep."

Daryl scoffed.

"Listen, I know that you can block out whatever the fuck just happened, but I can't." Isabell pressed.

"That what you think?" Daryl asked quietly.

"Well, yeah. Do you even realize that Dale died?"

"No, shit."

"Do you also realize that if we had gotten there, maybe, thirty seconds sooner, he'd still be alive?" Isabell asked.

Daryl shook his head. "You can't do that."

"Thirty seconds, Daryl. That's the difference between that man's life and his death. and we were too late."

"Iz, if you do this with every person that dies on our watch you'll never forgive yerself."

"So, I'm not allowed to mourn?" Isabell asked.

"You can mourn, but this ain't your fault." Daryl insisted. "There is nothing we coulda done. We heard the scream and we ran."

"We shoulda run faster."

"Izzy, stop it." Daryl said, gaining her full attention. "None of this is your fault."

Isabell nodded even though she still didn't believe that. She went back to working.

Daryl sighed and walked away.

Isabell noticed that when he came back, he had his own shovel and started to help her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

Daryl paused for a moment. "Diggin' Dale's grave." He went back to digging. "C'mon now. I can't do all the work."

"Daryl - "

"You can be so stubborn sometimes, y'know. And most o' the time, its one of them 'if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em; kinda things."

With the two of them working on the grave, they had finished digging the hole in no time. Isabell lifted herself out and sat with her feet dangling inside.

Daryl sat on the opposite side, watching her stare at her hands. "Talk ta me."

Isabell shook her head, thinking of what to say. "We need ta go back ta normal. We need to go back to before Sophia." She looked over at the mound of dirt next to her and then to Daryl. "We need that group again."

Daryl nodded.

"And this group needs us. You especially with Shane goin' of the deep end. I am still all for steering clear of him, but we need ta change and be a part of the group again. We need ta put everything else behind us. Mostly because I guess yer right." Isabell paused. "Nothing could have been about Dale. Nothing could have been done about Sophia." She finally admitted. "We have done everything that we could up to this point and we're still alive, so at least it's working."

"You sure?" Daryl asked.

"I have never been so sure of anything in my life." Isabell told him. "This is what we need ta do. 'Cause I keep thinkin' of what I woulda done with Harley. What she woulda been happy with."

Daryl looked away from her for a moment.

"I don't think she woulda been wanted up separated from the group. I don't think she woulda been happy being isolated from the other people in the world that were keeping her safe. Because it wouldn't be just us keeping her safe, it'd be the whole group."

"'It takes a village…'"

Isabell nodded. "And now it does. We need the group. We need the manpower. And we need the protection."

"Yer the boss" Daryl said.

Isabell scoffed. "I never wanted ta be the boss, D."

Daryl smirked, "But ya always were. It's just yer attitude."

"I guess so."

! #$# !

Isabell and Daryl had been standing outside the curve that gathered around their cemetery. They were still a part of the service, just not wanting to make a big show of it. Isabell had zoned out through much of Rick's speech, but she caught the end of it as the words struck a cord with her.

"He said this group was broken." Rick said, in reference to what Dale told them during the meeting about what to do with Randall. "The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken." Rick insisted. "We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. This is how we honor Dale."

Isabell was in a slight state of shock. That was what she had told Daryl the night before when she decided things were changing.

The group stood in silence for a long while, but people slowly began to trickle away from the gravesite.

Daryl bumped Isabell with his elbow. "A few of us are gonna go check the grounds. MAke sure our fences are still up. You wanna come?"

Isabell shook her head. "Nah. I'll stay here. Bring out stuff in from the other side. Then maybe see if work needs done on the farm."

Daryl nods and leaned over to kiss her temple. "Be safe."

"You, too."

Daryl left ISabell, going off with T-Dog, Shane, and Andrea.

Isabell glanced around, noticing that Carol was still in front of her, looking more towards Sophia's grave than Dale's. She approached the other woman and softly reached for the woman's elbow.

Carol jumped.

Isabell immediately apologized.

Carol shakes her head. "It's okay."

"I was wondering if you'd help me move Daryl's and my stuff back. Or pack it up at least."

Carol nodded with a small smile. "Of course."

The two made their way towards Isabell's outside camp quietly. Isabell looked around the camp when they got there and decided on a job for each of them. "I won't make you do much of the dirty work, so if you would clean out the tent?" Isabell asked. "I'll take care of Daryl's animal stash." She said, jerking a thumb to the line that still had a few carcuses and a string of walker ears hanging on it.

Carol nodded. "Sure."

"I'm pretty sure everything's dirty, so just stuff everything into a bag and I'll work on the laundry later." Isabell turned towards the line.

"I could help you with that, too."

Isabell turned her head towards the woman and paused.

"If you don't mind." Carol finished.

Isabell nodded. "I'd like that."

Silence came between the two as they worked to clean up their respective areas. When Carol had finished, she came out of the tent with two backpacks thrown over her shoulders.

Isabell was in the process of putting smaller things from the camp into the luggage bags on Daryl's motorcycle.

"I'm sorry." Carol said quietly. "For everything I said the other day."

Isabell met her eyes for a moment and then looked away, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it."

"But - "

"Carol, honestly." Isabell interrupted. "Daryl and I are passed that. We've forgotten it all and just wanna move on. Like Rick said."

Carol nodded. "Alright."

! #$# !

Alright guys, I have to apologize for taking so long to post this. I've been cross-stitching up a storm and that's had most of my attention recently. I also meant to post this yesterday since yesterday was FanFiction Writers' Appreciation Day and I was in the mood to be appreciated. But time got away from me and this is it tonight! Anyway, thanks for reading!

To mrskaz453: Thanks for reviewing. And thanks for the birthday wish. I'm not sure yet if Harley is still alive.I'm not sure that they will do them any good. It's not the direction I'm leaning towards. I guess I should also apologize for the "happy carol" scene. I can also say that I love the flashbacks. It's nice to see a little bit of the old Isabell and Daryl.

Lastly, thanks to enchantmentanjel!

Let me know what y'all think of that chapter! Thanks for reading!

P.S. Are you guys going to watch this Fear the Walking Dead thing?