After explaining her motivations with the group, they gave their opinions which were mostly negative and scared. Dale did not budge on his decision to let the man go. The only surprising support was from Daryl who could back up Agathas story from when he had a little "chat" with him.
Ultimately it was Ricks decision but after seeing his neice lose her cool like she did, he didn't want to risk her being right and him and his boys coming back for revenge.
"I will execute the prisoner." He finally decided.
Everyone had solemn demeanors with Dale spitting out "You're right, the group is broken." As he walked passed Daryl.
Agatha followed her Uncle out to the shed to retrieve the prisoner. She believed that if they let him go she would lose her family all over again. It was a miracle she found them in the first place, but she knew she would do anything to protect them.
Once the prisoner was out of the shed and in the barn for the execution, she noticed a bit of hesitation on his part. "I can do it." She offered. Rick just shook his head and had her place him on his knees.
"Any final words, asshole?" Agatha rolled off her tongue. But before he could say anything she stuffed a dirty oil rag she spotted in the shed and shoved it in his mouth. He fought to get away knowing he was about to be killed. Daryl appeared out of nowhere and handed Rick a bag, which he placed over the prisoners head. That's when the muffled screaming started.
Agatha remembered the girls screaming for their Father as the men took them one by one and a sense of justice poured over her. She paused with her eyes closed waiting for the shot to ring out, nothing happened.
"Do it Dad. Do it!" She heard Carl exclaiming.
Popping her eyes back open she could see her Uncle Rick changing his mind. She loved him and Carl and yes even Lori more than anyone and anything in the entire world and she would die before seeing them suffer at all.
"Get Carl out of here. I'll take care of him." She suggested.
"Put him back in the shed." He tossed her the keys and without a second thought left with Carl. Daryl started to lift the man off his knees, but she had other plans.
She drew her weapon and without missing a beat pointed it to his temple and the shot rang out louder than any other that she could remember. Daryl to be fair took the worst of it with the man's brain matter and blood all over him, on his face, hair and shirt. Needless to say he looked shocked.
"I'll do anything to save my family from the fate of him and his boys." She replied simply out of courtesy. She didn't feel like she had to explain herself to anyone.
Daryl didn't say a word while they dragged the body out of the barn to be burned. However, with how loud the gun shot was they did have an audience.
"T-Dog help Daryl burn the body. I need to speak with my niece." She let T-Dog take the arm she was dragging but still hesitated to follow Rick. "NOW!" He screamed making everyone jump.
She followed him into the woods for awhile. He hadn't said a word to her during the walk. But when he stopped he ordered her to sit on the ground.
"What happened to you Agatha? You used to be this sweet girl who never got into trouble. Now you're murdering in cold blood." He seemed almost sad when looking at her. Like he didn't recognize the person in front of him.
"If you had seen what they did it would make your blood boil." She said simply.
"It's not just that. You've changed, hardened up." He sat down next to her. And pulled her into him. "What the hell happened to you "
Agatha knew what happened. She killed her sister, and she never got over it. Bringing in a deep breath she described her first day to him and how it felt, how angry she was with her sister for getting bit, how angry she was at her mother for giving up, and how angry she was at herself for killing her sister.
All Rick could do was listen and try to understand. But he didn't understand and Agatha knew it.
"I did what I thought was right." She stated more forcefully than she would have liked.
"I don't doubt that. It's just not something I'm prepared to witness. I still think of you as that little girl who begged for piggyback rides with your hair braided into pigtails eating an ice cream in those horrible dresses grandma June used to make." He smiled at the memory.
She started to cry burying her face in his chest to hide the fact she felt a sense of relief that he wasn't mad at her. "You know how I hated it when you girls cried." He shifted uncomfortably not knowing what to do.
Agatha laughed. "I know. And I should really get back and help with the body. I am the cause of him being dead." She joked but Rick didn't find it all that funny.
"Let's get back then." Holding onto her shoulder he guided her back onto the farm and in the direction of the house. She could smell food in the air almost like fresh baked bread and her insides started to grumble.
"Let's get you something to eat." Rick chuckled. They entered the house and went into the dining room where everyone was seated around one big table except for Daryl and Shane. She sat next to Rick with an empty seat on the other side of her. She secretly wished they would leave Shane out in the shed.
"Where's Daryl." Rick asked T-Dog.
"He needed to clean up a bit." T-Dog eyes flicked to Agatha like she would get mad at the mention of it.
"And Shane?" He added.
"Well see we heard Miss Beth calling for dinner and seeing as how he needs to cool down..." He hesitated to finish the sentence. "And.." Rick pressed. "He's still in the shed. But we gave him some company." T-Dog finished.
"You mean to tell me you threw a dead body in the shed with Shane?" Rick asked quite calmly. Agatha snorted in amusement which earned her a glare from Lori.
"It was Dixons idea." He added.
"Enough. I will not have such talk at my table. Ya hear." Herschel stopped the conversation in time for Daryl to join the group plopping down next to Agatha in the only seat left.
"We need to have ourselves a chat after we eat." Daryl stated without even a glance in Agathas direction. "No I don't think so." She stated could feel his body stiffen and knew he wanted to argue the point but wouldn't dare at the dinner table.
Dinner went by very quietly. Agatha deeply enjoyed her chicken and tomatoes and cucumber eating every bite. Feeling exceptionally satisfied with a full belly she trekked up to the attic to get some shut eye after a brief argument with Lori about her needing sleep and losing to the older woman. She requested that Rick return her bat to her so she could clean it up to be ready when she needed it. He promised to have it sitting outside on the porch for her in the morning.
Agatha had never slept better than she did the first night on the farm. She woke to the sun seeping in through the small circular window just above her camp cot. She perched on her knees and looked out at the trees and field lying in front of her. Popping open the window she smelled the sweet aroma of bacon and her stomach pleading with her to eat some.
She hurried down the attic and into the bathroom to freshen up, undoing her braid and pulling it up and out of her face into a tight bun on the back of her head. She splashed cool water on her face and neck and even found some toothpaste to swirl around in her mouth. She wore the same clothes as yesterday and made the move to downstairs.
She saw the women sans Andrea milling about in the kitchen and dining room. She spotted a pot of black coffee and felt herself become jittery with anticipation. Seeing her react to the sight of coffee Lori poured a mug of the hot drink for her niece placed a plate of hot food in front of her and pulled out a comb.
"You want me to do it the same as yesterday?" Lori asked Agatha.
"Pigtails please." She replied.
"Rick has a hard enough time seeing you as an adult, but okay." Lori twisted and pulled Agatha hair into 2 french braids and securing them tightly while Agatha finished her breakfast.
Agatha decided to go back to her truck that day and bring back the rest of the supplies she left hopefully no one else passed by and raided the damn thing.
She walked out her front door and spotted her bat clean and leaning against the door frame. She lifted it up inspecting the bat for any cracks in the wood noticing some of the nails were brand new, seeing no imperfections that she could tell she set it back down against the door frame to go and speak with her Uncle about the run she planned on making.
Being the ever fearless leader he was, she found him in the shed speaking with his old partner about who was really in charge.
"You are my brother but things have to change. You follow me. That's it. No more trying to undermine my authority. I don't care if you think it's the right move or not. Got it." She couldn't hear Shanes reply. "I'll let you out as soon as I've spoken with the rest of the group to assure them that you won't go crazy again. Now sit tight."
He emerged from the door a few seconds later and spotted Agatha listening in. He locked up the shed and guided her away. "Did you sleep well?" He asked her genuinely concerned.
"Yes I did. And I wanted to discuss that run you mentioned yesterday." She started. He cut her off with his hand.
"I think we may have to do that another day."
"I need to get back to my vehicle. There are some useful things that I left behind. Food for one." She sighed a little too loud and cleared her throat. "I wanna take Daryl with me. If he can get me back to where he found me I can take him to the truck and drive it back here. After I've found enough gas to get it back." She finished and glanced at her Uncle noticing the grim look an his face.
"Fine but I want you there and back. I can get you a gas can with some still it in, but Daryl has to agree I won't force him to go with you. If he says no, that's it." She kissed him on the cheek while he tugged her pigtails. "These did not help your case." He smiled at her and shooed her away to go find Daryl.