I sobbed and sobbed to the point I could barely breathe. I was terrified to let go of them. As if they'd blow away in the wind if I did. I couldn't believe I found them and here, of all places.
"I thought you were dead." I choked out.
"We thought you were too." Julian said. "We tried looking for you, and Taylor, and Cora. But we couldn't make it to your apartment, the city was overrun. We had to get out."
"We went by mom and dad's house but no one was there." I told them.
I pulled away and wiped my tear stained face. This had to be a dream. I thought to myself.
"We must've just missed you." Greyson said. "When we got to mom and dad's it had already been raided. But the weapons were out of the safe. We figured it was you or Taylor."
"Cora? Taylor?" Julian asked hesitantly.
I shook my head. "Cora didn't make it. Taylor is back at camp.
Tears welled up in my brothers eyes.
Oh!" I turned around, looking at Daryl standing by a tree. He looked beyond confused and uncomfortable.
"Greyson, Julian, this is Daryl. Daryl, these are my older twin brothers." I said.
"Nice to meet ya, man," Julian said, nodding.
"Thanks for taking care of our sister." Greyson said.
Daryl nodded in reply. "Same to ya, 'nd you're welcome. Let's get y'all back to the farm." Daryl said.
We made our way back through the woods; Julian on one side of me, Greyson on the other. I pointed to the run down house as we passed.
"They had an awesome record collection in there." I said to my brothers.
"We saw. We stayed there last night." Greyson said.
"No wonder the bed and dust was disturbed. We were in the house when we heard a gunshot. And that Jimi Hendrix was on the record player." I laughed.
"You know me all too well. We used our last bullet." Julian laughed. "Lemme guess, you played Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Beatles and David Bowie."
"Only had time for Dexy's," I replied. "But you're in luck… I got some ammo."
"Uh, I think I left my knife in there." Daryl said suddenly. "I'll be right back."
"Okay." I said.
I narrowed my eyes as I watched him walk away towards the house. His knife was hanging from his belt. Why did he just lie?
As he disappeared into the rundown house, Julian cleared his throat.
"So, what's your boyfriend like?" He asked. "He seems really quiet. And definitely not your type."
I almost choked. "He's not my boyfriend. But I do think he's hot in that rugged look."
"If you say so," Greyson shrugged. "And I could do without hearin' about you think he's hot."
"Taylor is going to shit a brick." I beamed, trying to change the subject.
"I can't wait to see him." Julian said.
When Daryl came back out of the house, we started back towards the farm once more. I knew I had to look ridiculous with the huge smile I had on my face, but I didn't care. My brothers were alive and safe. And right in front of me. Today was, by far, the best day of my life.
We chatted lightly as we walked. Daryl and I still tried to hunt on the way back since our trip was being cut short. We managed to add three squirrels to our collection. Daryl stayed silent unless one of the guys spoke to him directly. I knew he felt uncomfortable around the new people, but that was the least of my concerns at this point.
"We're here." I said brightly as the woods began to thin.
I could make out the large white farm house in the distance. I was already trying to scan the grounds for Taylor.
As we broke through the tree line, I spotted him. He was by the barn, just fifty yards away, talking to Glenn.
"Is that Rhee?" Julian asked.
"Yeah," I said. "We found him with this group about a month ago."
I saw Glenn look up. I could practically see his eyes widen and his jaw drop slightly. I watched with a smile as he reached over, tapping Taylor and pointing towards us. When Taylor looked our way, the color almost drained out of his face. He broke out in a run towards us, Glenn hot on his tail.
"Oh my God!" He yelled as he wrapped his arms around Greyson.
Julian wrapped his arms around both of them as Taylor started to cry.
"Get in here, Rhee!" Greyson yelled, holding out an arm to invite Glenn into the group hug.
He smiled and walked over, tears in his eyes, to join them.
I was overwhelmed with emotion; tears streaming down my face again, as I watched my brothers and friend reunite. I reached out my hand and found Daryl's. I laced my fingers around his and squeezed.
Looking over at him, I smiled. Today was amazing.
After our reunion, we made our way over towards the house. Rick stood outside on the porch with Herschel. He looked at us curiously as we approached, making his way down the steps to meet us.
"What's goin' on guys?" He asked, eyeing my oldest brothers.
"River's brothers. Found them surrounded by six walkers far out in the woods." Daryl said.
Rick nodded in understanding. "I should've guessed with the red hair. I'm Rick Grimes."
He extended his hand out in greeting. Julian took his hand and smiled.
"I'm Julian." He said.
"Greyson."
"Nice to meet you guys." Rick said. "This is Herschel Greene, Herschel this is River and Taylor's brothers, Greyson and Julian. Herschel is the owner of this farm and has been kind enough to let us stay here for a while."
"I've heard a lot about you boys." Herschel said with a smile. "Come on in. Let's get you cleaned up and fed."
"We'd greatly appreciate it." Julian said.
Later that afternoon, the whole group stood around the Greene's living room. The topic of discussion was Randall's fate. Everyone eyed each other warily. No one wanted to be here or be forced to decide the young boy's fate. But it was inevitable.
"First of all, for those who haven't got to meet them, this is Greyson and Julian." Rick said. "They are River and Taylor's older brothers."
There was a chorus of greetings towards the two. I noticed Greyson's eyes linger on Andrea.
"Getting to business," Rick said. "I'm sorry you two had to come around when this was going on. But we'd like your input as well, if you'd like to offer it." He said directly to Greyson and Julian.
"To give you a little more information, we came across some men in the town nearby. The boy we have, Randall, got his leg impaled on a gate. We brought him back here and patched him up. When we tried to drop him off, he revealed he had gone to school with Herschel's daughter, Maggie, and knew where the farm was. Since then, he's also told us the group he was with contains about thirty men, who are heavily armed, and have been known to rape women." Rick explained. "I believe it's unsafe to let him go. Since he knows where the farm is, if he found his group, he could return for revenge."
"How do we do this? Do we put it to a vote?" Glenn asked.
"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.
"Majority rules," Lori said.
"Wait; let's just see where everyone stands." Rick said. "Go over our options."
"Way I see it, only one way to move forward." Shane said.
"What? Kill him?" Dale said. "Why even take a vote? It's clear who'd win that."
"If someone thinks we should spare him, I wanna know." Rick said.
"Well, I can tell you it's a small group; maybe just me and Glenn." Dale said.
Glenn looked up at the older man warily.
Dale's eyes widened.
"Look, I think you're right about a lot of things, but…" Glenn started.
"They've got you scared!" Dale said, pointing to the group.
"He's not one of us!" Glenn said back hastily. "And we've lost too many people already."
"How about you?" Dale said, pointing to Maggie. "Do you agree with this?"
"Couldn't we just continue keeping him prisoner?" She asked.
"Just another mouth to feed," Daryl said.
"We could ration better." Lori suggested.
"He could be an asset! Give him a chance to prove himself!" Dale exclaimed.
"Put him to work." Glenn said.
"We're not letting him walk around." Rick said.
"Put an escort on him?" Maggie suggested.
"And who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane said snidely.
"I would!" Dale said.
"I don't think anyone should be walking around with this guy." Rick said, holding up his hand.
"He's right." I said. "I wouldn't feel safe if he wasn't tied up."
"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles and sentence him to hard labor." Andrea said.
"Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. And we let our guard down, maybe he brings back his thirty men." Shane said.
"So the answer is to kill him for a crime he may never even attempt?!" Dale said.
I looked around the room. No one moved.
"You can't all agree with this." Dale said in horror. "This is a boy's life we are talking about! Greyson, Julian… you just arrived. As outsiders, what do you think?"
"With everything I've heard, I agree. I wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go if he was with a group of men like that and knowing where the base is. I have a sister, man; the whole raping women thing kind of hits home with me. I'm sorry, I hate to agree with it, but there's no other choice in my mind. The boy can't be let go." Greyson said.
"I second that." Julian said.
"River?" Dale said, looking over at me as if pleading for my help.
"I'm sorry, Dale. Letting him go would put everyone's lives at risk." I said, shaking my head. "As I see it, it's him or us. I am pretty partial to us."
Dale hung his head low before sighing. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead, there is no civilization."
"Oh my God." Shane muttered.
"Could you drive him further out?" Herschel asked, looking to Rick. "Leave him like you planned?"
Lori shook her head. "You barely came back this time. There are walkers, you could break down, and you could get lost…"
"Or get ambushed." Daryl said.
"We shouldn't put our own people at risk." Glenn said.
"If you go through with it, how would you do it?" Patricia asked. "Will he suffer?"
"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane said.
"I thought about that. Shooting might be more humane." Rick said.
"What about the body?" T-Dog asked.
"Hold on! You're talking about this as if it's already decided!" Dale shouted.
"We've been talking all day, goin' 'round in circles. Ya wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl said.
"This is a young man's life we're talking about! It deserves more than a five minute discussion!" Dale said. "Is this what it comes to? We kill a man because we can't decide what else to do with him. You saved him! Now look at him! He's been tortured, he's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?"
"We all know what needs to be done." Shane said.
"No, Dale is right." Rick said. "We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility…"
"So what's the other solution? We haven't come up with a single viable solution." Andrea said.
"So let's work on it!" Dale shouted.
"Stop it!" Carol said, finally speaking up. "I'm sick of everyone fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide; either of you, both of you. But leave me out." After this she left the house.
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself, there's no difference." Dale said, pointing to Carol.
"Shut up; don't talk to her like that!" I said to Dale.
"Alright, that's enough." Rick said. "Anyone who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."
I glanced around the room. Many people had their heads hung low. Carol was right; none of us asked for this. But yet here we were, talking about killing a boy.
"You once said we don't kill the living." Dale said, motioning to Rick.
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick said back.
"I can understand that. We came across a group of men in the suburbs. They had plenty of supplies, only five men. They tried to ambush us and take what little we had." Julian said. "We barely got away. We ended up having to kill them."
"But don't you see, if we do this, the people we were, the world that we knew is dead! And this new world is ugly, it's harsh, it's survival of the fittest." Dale said. "And that's a world I don't want to live in. And I don't believe any of you do. I can't. Please, let's just do what's right. Isn't there anyone else that's gonna stand with me?"
"But it's reality." I said. "This is how the world is now. You have to change to survive in this new world. If you don't do something about a threat… then it's you that will die. You're the voice of reason for a lot of things. But on this you're wrong. Say we do let him go, he finds his group and they come back and kill us all. That blood, our deaths, would be on your hands. I love you, Dale. But you weren't made for how the world is now."
"He's right." Andrea said, cutting a 'If looks could kill' my way. "We should try to find another way."
"Anybody else?" Rick asked, looking around.
There was silence among us.
"Are you gonna watch too?" Dale asked. "No, you'll hide your heads in your tents and try to forget we're slaughtering a human being. Well, I won't be a party to it."
He crossed the living room, stopping by Daryl who stood beside me in the doorway. He placed his hand on Daryl's shoulder.
"This group is broken." He said sadly before storming out of the house.
A while later, after we'd finished our discussion about Randall; I sat by my tent with my brothers, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and Carl. Rick had stopped Randall's execution since Carl had followed him to the barn. I was helping Carl with his homework, trying to get the boy focused on something else. Ever since he'd met my older brothers, he'd been tantalized by Julian's exaggerated stories he told the boy of some of his travels.
"We went to New Zealand one year to visit all the locations that the Lord of the Rings was filmed." Julian said.
"Wow." Carl said.
"That one is actually true." I said laughing.
"You're lucky to have so many siblings." Carl said to me.
"Yes, I am." I smiled. "You can be my adopted little brother. I always wanted a younger sibling."
"Really?" He asked, eyes widening.
"Of course," I said, pulling the boy into a hug.
All of a sudden an agonizing scream erupted through the air. We all went on high alert, looking around wildly for the source. As quick as a wink, we all shot up to our feet, weapons out and hurried towards the field and towards the scream.
"Stay behind us!" I called to Carl as we darted across the field.
"River, stay behind me!" Daryl said.
As we neared, my heart sank. Dale laid on the ground, stomach ripped open and his insides out. Daryl ran full speed towards them, tackling the walker off of Dale to the ground, and stabbing it in the head.
I gasped and grabbed Carl, pulling him close to me. "Don't look." I told the boy.
He stood up after he'd killed the walker.
"Over here!" Daryl yelled, waving his arms for the rest of the group to see.
He dropped to his knees beside Dale. "Hang on, brother."
As Daryl stood and came by my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to comfort me as tears streamed down my cheeks and dripped off my chin, the rest of the group arrived.
Rick kneeled beside the dying man. "Listen to me, we'll get help."
"Oh my God!" Andrea screamed, dropping to her knees beside the older man. "Do something! He's suffering! River!"
"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do for him. It's too severe." I said, tears streaming down my face.
Rick grabbed my arm, pushing Carl back towards Lori. "Help him!"
I dropped to my knees beside the man and got a close look at the damage. I turned around and looked up at Rick and shook my head.
"Herschel!" He yelled.
Herschel appeared next to me and shook his head as well. "He wouldn't make the trip." He told Rick.
"You can do the surgery here!" Rick shouted.
Herschel reached out and placed a hand on Rick's shoulder and shook his head once more.
Andrea sobbed beside the man as he groaned in pain. "He's suffering, do something!"
Rick stepped forward and pointed his gun at Dale's forehead. But he hesitated.
"Oh God." Andrea sobbed as she turned her head.
Daryl let go of me and walked over to Rick, placing his hand on his gun. He nodded to the deputy and took the gun from him.
He glanced over at me. "Don't look."
He pointed the gun at Dale. "I'm sorry, brother."
The gunshot made me jump. I felt my heart drop like an anchor was tied to it and had been thrown out to sea, dragging it down into the depths with it. We'd all just disagreed with the man. I said things that weren't exactly nice. Now he was gone.
The next day, we all stood around the makeshift grave we'd dug for Dale. Rick stood in front of us, head bowed. The silence around us was deafening.
Finally, Rick cleared his throat and spoke.
"Dale could sure get under your skin. He 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 lookin' back at me with that look he had; we've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us; saw people for who they were, knew things about us, the truth about who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group is broken. 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, and our future. We're not broken; we're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." He said.
I drifted off into my own thoughts, blocking out what the deputy was saying. Daryl stood beside me on my left, Greyson to my right. Taylor stood beside Beth, Herschel on her other side, along with Glenn and Maggie.
I felt a hand brush against mine. I looked down to see Daryl lacing his fingers around mine.
"Everythin' 'll be alright." He whispered.
After the funeral for Dale, I walked across the yard alone towards my tent.
"River!" Carl shouted.
I turned around to see the boy sprinting towards me.
"Can I talk to you?" He asked as he came to my side.
"Of course, you know you can always talk to me." I said, wrapping my arm around him.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" He said.
I furrowed my eyebrows curiously. "If that's what you wish."
"The walker - the one that killed Dale - I saw it in the woods earlier yesterday. It was stuck in the mud. I couldn't kill it. It got free and I ran." He said, head hanging low. "It's my fault Dale is dead."
My eyes widened in shock as I absorbed the young boy's words.
"It's not your fault, Carl. Don't ever think that for even a second. Everything happens for a reason. What were you doing in the woods alone, Carl?" I asked.
Dale's words for our discussion about Randall played though my mind. But don't you see, if we do this, the people we were, the world that we knew is dead! And this new world is ugly, it's harsh, it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't want to live in.
"I just wanted to explore. I'm not a baby…" He said.
"No, you're not a baby, Carl. But you are a kid still." I said, bending down in front of the boy. I took his hand and looked him in the eyes. "I get you feel you have to prove something. Prove you're not a baby. I was the youngest of five kids, even though Taylor is my twin, he constantly reminded me that he was four minutes older. I always felt I had something to prove daily to make sure no one thought of me as the baby. When Taylor did something, I had to do it too, and try to do it better. When my sister started wearing makeup, I had to too. I get what you're going through. But this world is different, and this isn't karate lessons or makeup, this is life or death. Do you realize that could have been you instead of Dale? And you would've been out in the woods and no one would have known where to look for you. I'm not trying to sound like your mom, Carl. I'm telling you this because I love ya and you're like my little brother. Just be more careful from now on, okay?"
"Okay." Carl said.
"Pinky promise?" I asked, holding out my pinky to the boy.
"Pinky promise," He laughed, wrapping his pinky around mine. "Are you gonna tell my mom and dad?"
"Not this time. I promised you I wouldn't. But now that you've promised me you'll be more careful, I don't expect there to be anything I'd have to consider telling them in the future, right?" I said.
"Right." He said.
"C'mon." I said, standing up and wrapping my arm back around the young boy. "I know where Taylor's stash of stale M&M's are. Let's go raid 'em."
"Eighteen people in one house will be cramped." Rick said to Herschel as we all stood around the old blue truck later that day.
"Don't you worry about that," Herschel said. "Should've moved you in a while ago."
"Listen, can I talk to ya?" Daryl said, touching my shoulder.
"Yeah," I said, nodding.
He led me a ways away from the group.
"I'm gonna go with Rick ta drop Randall off." Daryl said.
"Okay." I nodded, unsure why he was telling me this.
"I wanted ta let ya know… cause… well. And I wanted ta ask ya ta please be careful. With ya bein' here with Shane… jus' makes me nervous." He said rubbing the back of his neck.
I smirked and tilted my head curiously.
"I'll be careful. I'll stick with my brothers, I'm sure they'll keep me safe if I ask nicely." I said jokingly.
"'M serious, Riv. Be serious for a minute. I already talked to yer bruthers." He said.
"You did?" I said, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah," He replied, looking down at his shoes.
"Wow, Daryl." I sighed.
I stepped forward, closing the gap between us and got on my tippy toes. I planted a kiss on his cheek.
"You're sweet." I said, smiling at him.
"Uh, I…" He stammered. "I'll…"
Before he even finished an actual sentence, he walked away from me. For what felt like the millionth time, I stood there dumbfounded as I processed what he'd said. Maybe he did really care. A silly smile crept across my face.
For the next little bit, I helped the group move into the house. Glenn, Taylor, Greyson, Julian, Daryl and I were to take the parlor.
"Make sure ya set lover boy's bed up next to yours." Julian said jokingly. "If I hear any funny noises, I won't hesitate to beat someone up. Then probably puke everywhere."
"He is not my boyfriend!" I hissed.
"Hey..." Greyson said suddenly.
I glanced over to see him staring out the window.
"Yeah?" I said.
"I think I know her from somewhere." He said, pointing out of the window.
I rose to my feet from setting up our sleeping bags and crossed the room. As I neared, I saw who he was pointing to. Andrea.
"You just might." I said. "That's Andrea. She was a civil rights lawyer."
"Andrea Davis?" He asked.
"I think so." I shrugged. "Never bothered asking her last name."
"Who needs a last name when the only interaction you're gonna have is punching her lights out." Taylor chuckled.
"You punched her?" Julian asked, slightly amused.
"Numerous times. Broke her nose too," Taylor said laughing
"She almost killed Daryl!" I said. I immediately regretted saying that.
"Ha ha!" Julian shouted. "I knew it! You owe me a bag of Reese's Pieces!" Julian said pointing to Greyson.
"Y'all were betting?!" I yelped.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Greyson shrugged.
"Asses. All of you are asses." I said pointing to each of them.
I turned to leave, only to find Beth standing in the doorway. I smiled at her as I approached.
"Tay, your girlfriend wants you!" I said loudly.
As I passed her, I whispered. "Sorry kid, they were giving me hell over Daryl. I had to seize the opportunity to dish it back."
She smiled and nodded in understanding.
I walked out onto the porch. I saw Daryl and T-Dog in the distance, by the old battered blue pickup truck. I watched Daryl as he moved, organizing their supplies for the trip.
I skipped down the stairs and towards the truck. T-Dog walked away as I drew near.
"Hey." I said sheepishly.
How this man made me feel like a million butterflies were in my stomach sometimes was beyond me.
"Hey." He said without looking up.
"I just wanted to let ya know I moved your stuff into the house. Me, you, my brothers and Glenn are taking the parlor…. If that's okay with you." I said.
"Bunkin' with ya bruthers. That's intimidatin'." He said as he picked up the gas can and put it into the bed of the truck.
"I can move your stuff somewhere else if you don't want to be in there." I suggested, feeling my heart drop a little.
"Nah, I neva said that." He said.
As I opened my mouth to reply, T-Dog rushed over.
"He's gone!" He shouted.
Rick and Daryl took off before I could even comprehend what was going on. I dashed off after them towards the shed. I reached it just as Daryl came out, pushing the door angrily.
"How is he missing?" I asked.
"Cuffs are still hooked. Must've slipped 'em." Rick said as he came out of the shed.
Greyson and Julian appeared by my side.
"Is that possible?" Carol asked.
"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea said.
"The door was secured from the outside." Herschel said examining the door and lock.
"Rick!" We heard a man shouting. "Rick!"
We all turned to see a bloodied Shane making his way over from the tree line. His face splattered with blood and the look of vengeance etched across his face.
"He's armed! He's got my gun!" He shouted.
"Are you okay?" Lori asked.
I rolled my eyes. Of course she was worried about her boyfriend.
"I'm fine but the little bastard snuck up on me and clocked me in the face." Shane explained.
I had a gut feeling. Somehow I didn't buy the web of lies he was weaving.
"Alright, Herschel, T-Dog, get everyone back in the house." Rick said. "Glenn, Daryl, come with us."
"Go in." Daryl said, placing a hand on my back. "Don't come out till I'm back."
He looked over at my brothers and nodded to them before taking off.
Darkness had fallen as I stood in the window of the Greene's house, staring out into the night absentmindedly. For a world that had gone all to hell, I couldn't help but admire the view; it was beautiful. When suddenly, a small figure walking towards the woods caught my eye; I stared in horror as I recognized the sheriff's hat on top of its head.
I checked the back of my shorts for my gun and dashed out of the house without a word to anyone.
I sprinted across the yard as fast as I could. But the figure, Carl, disappeared in the dense trees. As I was engulfed by the woods as well, I looked around wildly for the boy. I grabbed the flashlight from my pocket and flashed it on the ground. His small tracks were visible and I took off.
"Carl!" I hissed quietly.
I didn't want to risk yelling and scare him or alert something in the dark. So I trudged on after him, clicking on my flashlight to make sure I could see his tracks still. The woods were eerie in the night. A light mist floated through the trees and the moonlight pierced through the thick leaves above in patches.
After about ten or so minutes, I spotted him walking into a clearing. A figure was in the distance, knelt down in front of what appeared to be a person lying on the ground.
"Dad?" I heard Carl choke as I drew near.
"Carl…" I said.
He glanced back at me before turning back to his dad. Rick got to his feet, eyes wide in horror. I gasped slightly when I realized it was Shane lying on the ground, dead.
"Carl, I…" Rick began as he started to move towards his son.
Carl quickly raised his gun. I put my hand over my mouth as I watched the situation at hand.
I had my eyes locked on Rick, so I never saw what Carl was seeing just beyond his father.
Suddenly, his gun went off. I shrieked, thinking the worse. But as Rick stood frozen, I saw Shane's reanimated corpse hit the ground just behind Rick.
I rushed over to Carl and took the gun out of his hand. As I looked down at it, I realized it was Daryl's missing gun. I stared at the boy in shock, then up to Rick. He approached us, dropping to his knees.
He embraced his son, sobbing. He reached his hand up and tugged on my sweater. I dropped to my knees beside them as Rick wrapped his free arm around me.
He buried his head in the crook of my neck.
"He led me out here to kill me; to take my family. I had to." He whispered, barely audible. "He won't ever touch you again."
