A/N: This one is getting uploaded a little fast because I am on vacation and the fam and I drove up to see more family and that took 2 days in the car, so I had time. A little boring and kinda filler like. I am trying to follow the show (if you couldn't tell already lol). I am getting to the end of season 2 and over 200 days pass between seasons 2 and 3. So we're gonna see what kind of trouble Rick's group goes through... or I might just jump into season 3, I haven't decided yet. Sp enjoy if you can, it'll get better soon starting next chapter! We'll have some walker killing action comin up soon!
A/N #2: Um... I may or may not have uploaded the wrong document. Don't hate me. It's fixed now and the only thing that has changed is the last 3 paragraphs.
The very same day that Beth had to have her wrist stitched up, Rick and Shane came back. Unfortunately, it was with Randall. And this had everyone who lived on the land worried. Rick, Shane, and T-Dog all brought Randall back to the barn and tied the boy up, locking him inside and Rick called for a meeting that evening before dinner. We were all standing around in the dining room, waiting for everyone to come up except for Beth who was resting and Patricia who was making dinner for the night. I was leaning against a table that was up against the wall next to the back door. It was small, unstable, and the only thing that rested upon it was a vase filled with fake flowers. Above the flowers hung a small oval shaped mirror with a dark wood frame surrounding it and hanging up on the pale plaster wall. I turned towards the mirror, viewing myself in it and cringed. My light brown hair was in a high ponytail that was knotted and strands sticking out all over the place. My bangs that once ran horizontal across my forehead at my eyebrows had grown out and hung over my eyes half the time, making me brush my bangs out of my eyes and behind my ears. I wasn't the cleanest I have been. I had dirt on my neck, felt wet and sweaty half the time, and was pretty sure I didn't smell my best either. Not that everyone around me smelled like Gucci perfumes and Armani cologne.
The backdoor that I was next to opened making me jump slightly as my eyes darted in the direction. Daryl stood at the door, eyeing me, face turning red as he saw me. I blushed, stepping to the side to allow him to lean against the table with me considering all the chairs were taken at the table. He moved next to me, doing what I thought he would and leaned on the table, causing it to groan and protest even more under both our weights. The table wobbled slightly, causing us to bounce off of it really quick, fearing it would break. We watched as the vase wobbled slightly, before settling back on the table. Looking up into his blue eyes I giggled quietly which caused him to quirk the side of his mouth upwards. His harsh expression was replaced by amusement, if only for a split second. His eyes darted towards everyone who was sitting at the table, before looking in my direction again. I quirked a brow again as he leaned, slowly, against the table and patting the spot I was leaning against moments ago. I smiled, doing as he instructed and looking towards Rick who was watching us like a hawk. My smile instantly faded at being caught with giving Daryl flirty eyes.
The group looked up at Rick and Shane expectantly, waiting for a reason on why they brought the boy back. Shane spoke first, "We brought him back because he said he knows how to get to the farm. He knows Maggie. Rick and I thought it was a bad idea to let him loose and he go back to his own group to let them know where we are at." He looked around at our faces then to Rick who only nodded. "We don't know how many people he has in his group or where they are at, but we are going to see if we can get any information out of him tomorrow." Shane finished, crossing his arms over his chest. Both him and Rick look beat up quite a bit and would probably need to be looked at. Checked over at least.
My attention turned to T-Dog who asked what happens if Randall wouldn't talk about his group. I felt the table shift behind me and looked to Daryl who cleared his throat. "I'll do it." I heard him grouse out. I quirked a brow at him, everyone else looking in his direction. "I'll get information out of 'im." Daryl clarified. Rick gave Daryl a long hard look before nodding his head. My brows knit together as I looked towards the redneck next to me. I watched as he sucked in his cheek, staring down at the ground. He was planning something to do with poor Randall. I shook my head, hearing we were dismissed, and watched as Daryl slipped out the door without a word.
We all woke up a little stressed the next morning. Maggie and I made our way out to the back porch and we noticed Rick's group were standing around talking and motioning to the barn frequently. Maggie proceeded to pull me along to the porch swing around the corner to sit down on it with her. I smiled at her, kicking off my boots to put my legs over hers causing her to make an ugly face at my feet. "What?" I asked, laughing and flexing my toes, stretching out the socks a little. "At least they don't smell." I offered making her laugh and hitting me in the arm gently. I grinned, leaning my left shoulder into the back of our seat as I attempted to fix my hair.
"What do you think is goin' on in there?" I heard Maggie ask, motioning her head towards the barn. I looked over to the direction she was talking about, making me shrug my shoulders. I really didn't know. Daryl was a tough badass, but I didn't think he was capable of torturing answers out of people. I looked down at my hands in my lap, twiddling my fingers, playing with my nails. I wish I could paint them. I had never been able to have really nice painted nails. Working at a hospital requires you to wash your hands frequently, causing nail polish to chip and look unprofessional, so I've never really had the chance to make my nails look pretty. Not that it really mattered now anyways. "So what's with you and Daryl?"
The question caught me off guard and my eyes flashed to the brunette in front of me who giving me a sly smirk. My mouth fell open and closed a couple times, not really knowing what to say. Maggie's smirk grew into a huge grin, causing me to get a little uncomfortable and embarrassed. "Th-there's nothing." I said, brushing my hair behind my ear.
"Why is your life so boring, even with the dead walking around?" Maggie asked, causing me to glare at her. "I mean… I'm getting some." Maggie laughed watching as my face contorted even more in annoyance. Yes. My so called best friend of the end of the world was getting some action while I am failing at even flirting.
"Why can't he friggin see that I'm flirting with him?" I asked her, rubbing my head suddenly. Maggie just let out another laugh, covering her mouth to stop it from being so loud. Why was her laugh so fucking loud all of a sudden? She stifled down into giggles, hiding behind her hands before biting her finger. Some friend she is.
"Daryl doesn't really seem like the type to flirt or to respond to flirting. Maybe you have to try a more direct route?" She asked, quirking a brown in amusement. "Maybe you should just kiss him. Or I don't know, go out to his camp and get naked. No man can resist a naked woman in front of them."
"Shut up!" I hit her arm causing her to flinch, but laugh along with me. "So stop talking about my non-existent love life and tell me about yours that seems to be thriving." We kept swinging on the porch swing, doing mindless chatter. Hearing steps coming around the corner of the porch had Maggie and I turn our attention towards the sound and my brows knitting together seeing Carol standing there.
"Devin." The woman hesitated, looking between myself and Maggie before continuing. "U-um, can you come with me please? Daryl hurt his hand and I just want you to check on it." She spoke softly watching me for a moment. Looking to Maggie, I watch as her brow quirked up and she gave me a sly smile. I growl, pulling my legs off of hers, slipping on my boots. I nodded my head to Carol, slipping inside the house momentarily to grab a few supplies and headed back out, following after the older woman. She led me out towards Daryl's camp out on the border of Hershel's land. Her and I stayed relatively quiet. We never really interacted before. Maybe just once when she was helping make dinner and that was when Rick's group was out looking for Sophia. I watched as the mousy older woman played with the hem of her shirt, letting out a sigh. "I felt I'd ask you to help him since I've only ever see him speak more than five words to you than anyone else." She mumbled, making me look up at her. I smiled at her comment and she flashed me one too, making us chuckle slightly.
"Did Daryl find anything out from talking to Randall?" I asked, now becoming a little more serious. I was genuinely curious as to what Daryl found out.
Carol pursed her lips, giving me an off look. "You know he didn't just talk to that boy in there." She said, her voice much more firm in her response. I knew that Daryl did more than talk. Or else Carol wouldn't be asking me to go and help fix up his hand. I knew. "Daryl found out that Randall's from a group of about 30 people. Whether it's just men or a mix of men, women, and children, I wasn't really sure. Daryl also said that if Randall brought his group here, their group would kill the men and well… the women wouldn't like what would happen to them." She finished, giving me a tight and unhappy smile. I knew what she meant and I felt uneasy about having Randall on the land still. I also knew what this meant for the boy. Either he was going to stay a prisoner the rest of the time here or the boy would be dead before the end of the week.
We made our way up the small hill that Daryl's camp sat on and I watched as the redneck inspected his hands, sitting on a log he had moved in front of a place where a small fire would have been lit at night. Hearing us approach his blue eyes landed on us in his usual glare and I heard him scoff. "Ya gettin' her dragged into this too?" He asked, turning his glare to Carol who didn't respond. His hands were dangling between his thighs as he clenched and unclenched his hands. He seemed to have noticed me watching his hands where he shook his head. "I don' need yer help, girl." He groused out, waving one of his hands out in a dismissive manner.
Stubborn old man. I walked towards him, planting myself on right side and setting some of my supplies on the tops of my thighs. I hear a growl of disapproval from him, which only caused me to smile so sweetly at him. All fake of course. He could growl, kick, or scream at me and I am not gonna move. I didn't walk out here for no reason. He eyed my face for a moment, watching as I held my left hand up, clenching and unclenching my fist so he would give me one of his hurt hand. He eventually gave in, holding up his right hand in front of my face. I took his wrist gingerly, turning his hand so I could inspect his knuckles and fingers. The skin at his knuckles were split like I had thought and he had a little swelling around his wrist. I reached for his other hand and saw about the same thing. "Looks like ya went a little hard on the boy." I noted, opening up a gauze pack on my lap and pouring hydrogen peroxide into it. Another scoff. I began wiping the gauze over his knuckles and hands, cleaning off the dried blood and scabbing cuts. "You don't seem like the kind of person to do this thing either." I murmur under my breath, tossing the blood soaked gauze next to me on the log before grabbing a new one.
Yet another growl. "You don' know nothin' 'bout me, girl." I wanted to roll my eyes. I really did.
Looking up at him, I watched as his glare became more intense. Letting out a sigh I rubbed at his knuckle a little harder than I should, hearing him curse under his breath. "You're right, I don't know anything about you. I've known all of you for what, almost two weeks if even that? Only known the Greene's two or three weeks longer than y'all. So that means I don't know them much either, but we get along just fine especially Maggie and me. You just adapt to how you make friends or enemies faster. You haven't tried to kill me, well besides the first day we met where you had your bow to my face, you've saved me from a walker, you taught me how to hunt, and somehow you got me to tell you how I felt about a traumatic experience that happened in my life. I got to find out a little about you that day too. That makes you my friend. You're also not as big of a hardass as you let off by how you actively searched for that girl so diligently. So I know enough to know that torture is not something you do or used to do on the daily before the world went to shit." I finished as I tossed the dirty gauze in the container they came in. I grabbed my water bottle, holding his arms out in front of him, and poured some of the water over his hands to rinse it off some. He wasn't actively bleeding anywhere now, so there was no point to wrap him up. "So, don't be anything you're not Daryl. You don't have to do whatever Rick and Shane tell you to do to get on their good side."
Daryl didn't respond to what I said. He just stayed quiet as I patted his wrists and arms dry. I pressed my fingers gingerly into his right wrist which cause him to flinch and glare at me. "Ya doin' that shit on purpose!" I had to bite my bottom lip to keep me from laughing.
"I was just checking it out. Calm down." I scolded, pulling his wrist up to his head to elevate it. "Try not to use it too much and elevate it some to make the swelling go down." Standing up I patted his forearm gently, careful not to hit his wrist, as I gathered my trash. He stood up along with me, standing awkwardly to my side and telling me thank you once more. It was small, short, and curt, but I just stood up straight and smiled back at him. We were close again, abnormally so, and if it wasn't for the crunching under Carols feet as she shifted from foot to foot I was sure I would have found myself closer to the man.
Cursing under my breath I walked over to Carol who smiled at Daryl, giving him a wave and following after me. Once we got a few yards away I heard a giggle from the woman next to me causing me to look up at her. "I'm sure he'll get more comfortable around you as time moves on. It's cute how you look at him." The woman spoke, a twinkle in her eyes and a smirk on her face. My face could only turn red as I picked up the pace, not wanting to be around the woman if she was only going to tease me like Maggie did. "Thank you for cleaning up his hand and talking to him. I'm hoping he'll take what you said to heart." She spoke again as the rest of our short walk was done in silence.
Getting back to the house I avoided everyone like the plague. All I heard Hershel and Maggie talk about was what was going to happen with Randall. They tried including me in on the conversation, but I honestly didn't want anything to do with it. Everyone in Rick's group seemed to have already decided the course of action so if we said anything against it, it wouldn't matter anyways. Poor boy was going to die, not that I blamed their reasoning. Apparently Dale was against the killing of the boy and wanted to call a meeting. To me this was just wasting time. It was going to happen, one way or another. The boy would die tonight.
As we all sat in the living room, waiting for the meeting to begin, I grew impatient. I didn't care what they decided to do with the boy. Kill him or not. Didn't make a difference. I would have looked for about anything to have gotten me out of the meeting. Just when Rick was about to start he paused, looking around behind him to see his son standing there. From my location on the piano bench next to Glenn, I saw the boy who was standing in the entry way to the living room, close to Daryl, and looked back to his mother and father. They both didn't seem to move and were pleading with the boy to leave. Basically saying it was time for the grown-ups to talk. Noticing that Carl wasn't moving I got up off the bench, walking over to the boy and crouching in front of him. "How about you and I go play a game of chess huh?" I asked him, hoping it was my chance to get away, and also it was a chance for me to take the boy out of the room.
I heard footsteps coming in our direction and scowled, noticing Shane walking over and shaking his head. "Oh no, no, no. You are needed here at the meeting. Run along Carl." The man spoke, standing next to me with his arms crossed over his chest.
Turning my attention back to Carl I scowled. "You lucky ass…" I murmured to the boy, causing him to smile momentarily, before running off. Standing up straight I noticed how close Shane and I were and I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest.
Giving me a lewd look, he licked his lips before speaking. "That's a girl. You're every bit as important in this decision." I scoffed, turning my head towards Rick and glaring at the man, hoping he'd understand it's time to get the meeting started. Looking to my right, I saw Daryl was leaned up against some kind of side table just out of arms reach, but he was giving Shane some dirty looks. Turning my attention to Rick as he began to speak, people began hashing out on how they wanted to deal with Randall. By how they were all talking about how they wanted to kill Randall made me believe that they had already made their decision.
Dale protested the whole time. Proclaiming that we have lost our humanity if we kill the boy. "Do you have anything to say on the matter?" Dale worriedly asked Hershel and Maggie who both stayed quiet. Probably a good call. "What about you?" When the question was turned to me I felt myself pale for a moment. I didn't like the spotlight on me and it just made me nervous.
Looking down, I bit my bottom lip, and shrugged my shoulders. "Well the kid can't be turned loose. I don't care what y'all plan to do with him. Feed him food or bullets, it doesn't make a difference to me." I murmured, avoiding eye contact with Dale who just gaped at me.
Shane nodded his approval next to me, clasping his hand on my shoulder and giving me a slight squeeze as soon as the questions went on to someone else. "Good call, girl." I felt even more uncomfortable as he kept his arm around me as I tried shrugging out of his touch.
"Lay off man." Daryl growled at Shane, causing Shane and I to look at the redneck.
Shane immediately removed his hand from my shoulder before pointing a finger at the blue eyed man. "Better watch your mouth. You're lucky it's not the time to get into this now." Shane growled before touching my shoulder one last time to squeeze and dropping his hand behind me, fingers brushing over my ass, making me jump. Shane walked back over to his spot behind Andrea, no one really noticing what all went on besides Daryl.
Feeling a hand wrap around my upper arm I looked to see Daryl reaching out and pulling me a little closer. "You alrigh'?" He asked, turning his attention to Shane and give the man another dirty look. I could only clear my throat and nod my head, tucking my hair behind my ears nervously.
The meeting ended with Dale walking out. Rick still seemed set on killing the boy, so Dale seemed a little defeated when walking out. The man stepped between Daryl and I, clasping the blue eyed man on the shoulder. "You are right. This group is broken." He said, before walking out of the house. I looked to Daryl who only held his hands on his hips as he looked downward before looking up at Rick to give a nod then walking out of the house.
Later in the evening, just when it was getting dark, I found myself by the porch swing once again, trying to relax. I had the pack sitting in my pocket now. They had been at the bottom of my backpack since I left Atlanta, but tonight just seemed like a special enough occasion to bring one of the packs out. Pulling out the pack, I opened it, counting 18 sticks inside. The last time I had a cigarette was when I was packing up and moving to Georgia and that was probably about six months ago. I didn't feel the need to smoke them. I wasn't addicted. Just once in a while though, they were nice. Why I had almost 5 full packs was beyond me though. Pulling out the lighter I had stashed in the box along with one of the cigarettes, I lit it up quickly, savoring the smoke, before replacing the pack back in the pocket of my jeans. As a nurse, we teach others that smoking is the root cause for… well practically every disease imaginable. We are not supposed to smoke ourselves and we are supposed to tell our patients to stop and teach them the benefits of not smoking. That smoking just one cigarette puts you at risk for stroke, cardiovascular problems, cancer, among other problems. I figure that since it's the end of the world and there are the dead walking around trying to eat me, one cigarette won't kill me any faster than walkers would.
Swinging lightly on the porch swing I head whimpers coming from around the house along with people walking. Poor Randall was being pushed to walk while Rick, Shane, and Daryl led him into the direction of his final resting place. I was sitting in the dark, thankful that there were no lights on inside on this side of the house so I thought I'd be okay if it wasn't for the little ember that lit up the end of my smoke. Randall seemed to notice and freaked out. "Please help me! You have to help me! You can't just let them kill me!" He shouted at me, causing me to almost drop my cigarette that I was bringing to my lips. So much for some quiet. I turned my head in his direction, noticing that his chaperones were looking at me as well.
I leaned my arm over the railing of the house, flicking off the ash from my burning cigarette before placing it back in my mouth. "I did help you. Helped fix your leg. You're the one that fucked up and spoke too much." I said, inhaling and settling more comfortably on the porch swing, my boots off, and left leg up on the seat next to me. "So rest in fucking pieces." I murmured, more to myself than to the poor boy who was about to meet his maker.
"Got any more of those, girl?" Shane asked, making me lazily look in his direction. I only shrugged my shoulders and looked between the men, my eyes locking with Daryl's for a split second before he looked away. I really hope they weren't making him the executioner.
Sighing I shook my finger at Shane and pulling the stick out of my mouth. "Don't get distracted deputy. You still have a job to do." I sighed, letting the rest of the smoke exit my lungs. Rick got Shane to focus and moved the small group along to where Randall's final moments would be.
Now I don't know if I passed out after putting out my cigarette or I just stopped paying attention to the world around me, but I just remember people yelling. When I finally snapped out of it I was up and moving, watching the rays from flashlights as I made my way into the field. I could hear Rick yelling to get Hershel and watched as Jimmy turned back to the house. I ran through the field, watching as the group started stopping to surround something… or someone. "Where is Hershel?!" I heard Rick yell again. When the man noticed me his eyes widened, motioning for me to come over. "Devin, tell me you can help Dale!" I moved through some in the group, watching as Andrea fell to the ground in tears.
Upon seeing Dale on the ground, bleeding out, and with his abdomen ripped open I could only sigh and put my hands up on top of my head. Dale was dying. His organs inside looked to be bleeding as well and I was no surgeon, but I knew that there was nothing we could do for Dale. The man's stomach was torn into and his intestines were out of place. "There's nothing we can do Rick." I said, looking to the man kneeling next to Dale. Rick seemed to refuse to believe it and asked me what we need to do and I just shook my head. "He's in pain and going to die! We don't have the blood to replace what he's lost and his bowels are ripped open spilling into his abdominal cavity which will cause an infection! Rick, there is nothing Hershel or Patricia or I or anyone can do to save him." I said, trying to give him facts that Dale was a dead man. When Hershel came up next to me, the old man sighed shaking his head. He knew what I knew too. There was absolutely nothing we can do.
Rick stood up then, placing his hand on his gun when he finally accepted that we couldn't do anything. Sobs of Lori and Andrea could be heard behind us. Rick pulled out his gun, aiming at Dale. A pause before he pulled his gun back down. Unable to pull the trigger. I couldn't blame him. He had to shoot Sophia for their group. The man probably needed a break. This was also a human he held his gun up to. Not a walker.
Daryl stepped forward in front of Rick, holding his hand out for the gun. "I'll do it." I heard from him in a strained whisper. Rick passed his revolved to the redneck as I watched the exchange from next to Hershel. Looking down, I heard the click from Daryl taking the gun off safety. I didn't know I could watch him do this. This was probably the most humane way of dealing with it, since Hershel or myself couldn't help Dale. Dale was in pain and suffering, in shock and organ failure. It would take a while for him to die. I heard Daryl breath out, "Sorry brother" to Dale before the sound of the gun going off. I flinched, shutting my eyes tightly.
Everyone had fallen silent at that moment. We all stayed until Shane was the first to leave, followed by Carol, then Patricia. I was the next to go as T-Dog brought up the truck to move Dale. They held a funeral the next day. I didn't attend.