DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Once again, me complaining about my writing… I feel like these last two chapters have been a bit choppy. So I apologize if it seems that way to you too. Hoping the chapters to come will spark some erm… excitement!

The Truth.

"Shane—stop! Let go of me!"

Daryl could see the scene play out before him. Olivia was trying to walk away from Shane but he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. He was saying something to her but Daryl couldn't hear from where he stood. But if Shane didn't let up in two seconds, Daryl was going to interfere.

"You're an asshole! Just stop! I don't want to be with you!" Olivia hit Shane in the chest with her free hand, still trying to pull away from his grasp.

Before Daryl could even walk over there, Lori and Rick were on Shane's case. Lori started off yelling while Rick pulled Shane's hand off of Olivia's arm. Then they switched roles as Rick gave Shane a piece of his mind while Lori walked with Olivia, away from the whole scene and shooting glares back at the lunatic.

"…What's going on?" Skyler joined Daryl's side just as Rick was finishing up his lecture to Shane.

"Shane being Shane," Daryl shrugged. "Something between him and Olivia now."

Skyler sighed, "I told her it wasn't a good idea to get close to him." She shook her head as she walked off towards Lori and Olivia to make sure she was okay. Which seemed to work out just fine since Rick was waving Daryl over.

"What's up?" Daryl glanced back and forth between Rick and Shane a moment before Rick led Daryl over to the hood of the old Suburban. Rick had the map laid out and it was obvious he had some plans.

"Thinking about taking Randall out and dropping him off, leaving him to fend on his own. It's what Dale wanted… and I want to honor his last wish," Rick explained.

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

"I was also thinking, if you don't mind… that you and I could take care of this. Everyone else will be fine until we get back. We can talk over the plans more in depth a little later." Rick cast a subtle sideways glance in Shane's direction. It didn't go unnoticed by Daryl though, and it made perfectly clear sense.

Daryl nodded in understanding and assumed that was Rick's way of telling him that he was dismissed for the time being. And before he was out of earshot, he could hear Shane complain to Rick:

"You wanna take Daryl as your wingman? Be my guest."

Leah kept herself fairly busy and her mind occupied as she sneaked around with Sophia. She was glad Sophia was feeling better now because what they were doing was strictly off limits to Carl. It was Leah's idea to spy on the adults and specifically, follow Shane around. She couldn't do this with Carl because he liked Shane.

They made it into a sort of 'investigation'. Since Leah told Sophia that Shane was lying about finding her, it only made Sophia that much more curious. She was eager to play along. Besides, what the adults didn't know—or see—wouldn't hurt them.

They couldn't follow Shane when he left with the vehicle to work on something. They would have been caught. But they could see that Lori had walked all the way out there to talk to him.

And it was a little later that day when Shane had come back. Leah and Sophia were hiding around the corner of the house watching while Rick and Daryl were talking through their plans on the porch. They weren't even aware of the kids sneaking around yet.

Leah listened in on the conversation between Daryl and Rick. By the sounds of it, they were going to head out about an hour away to drop Randall off. Apparently Carol had put together some food and water for him to make it at least a couple days wherever they were going to take him. But it was when Shane exited the vehicle and headed for the porch that things turned interesting. Daryl excused himself and headed inside before Shane reached the edge of the porch. Leah had been partially waiting for this moment, curious how Shane would react to Rick.

"You talk to Carl?" Shane began.

"About what? Yesterday?" Rick stared down at him, leaning against the railing.

"Yeah. He seems real upset. The fact that he came to me made me wonder if you have even talked to him yet."

Sophia inched forward a little more to get a better view from around Leah. "I see what you mean by Carl wouldn't be a good choice for this. Glad he isn't with us right now," She whispered.

Leah nodded and tuned back into what they were saying, Shane picking it back up first. "…I think he needs his father. That's all I'm saying."

"This Randall situation needs to be taken care of." Rick stood back up straight and rested his hands on his hips.

"Man, I think it can wait. This is Carl we're talking about," Shane paused. "I could ride out with Daryl. It'd be good for us to spend a little time together."

Leah started shaking her head to herself. There was no way she was going to let Daryl leave with Shane. Rick was one thing, but not Shane.

"Nah, I need you here." Rick seemed to narrow his eyes. Maybe he felt the same way Leah did. Regardless, she felt relieved.

"Whatever, man. Suit yourself. I would just think that, you being a father and all, you'd want to make sure your son was doing okay. But if Randall is more important to you…" Shane nodded, letting his words trail off.

"I didn't say that. I just want this taken care of and I want to do this myself," Rick lowered his voice.

"Don't think I'll do it right?" Shane asked with a sneer.

"I think you'd come back alone. Just like you did with Otis." Rick stared hard at Shane in that moment before he finally broke the glare and turned his back on him. He headed inside the house leaving Shane by himself still at the foot of the stairs leading up to the porch. Shane laughed to himself, shaking his head as he walked back towards the camp.

So Rick did know about Shane killing Otis. And he apparently thought Randall and Daryl's lives would be at stake if Shane took Rick's place.

Rick's words made Leah shuddered. She glanced over at Sophia but could tell that she was confused. She wasn't here when any of it happened, though neither was Leah. But Leah had heard bits and pieces of information from Daryl and Dale's conversation. And just the thought of Dale made her heart hurt again.

"Wait… Shane's a killer or something?" Sophia questioned.

Leah nodded, "I think so."

Daryl was just getting ready to go find Rick and see about when he wanted to leave. But it seemed like right at that moment he could hear T-Dog in a panic walking across the yard.

"Yo—Randall's gone!" T-Dog spoke loud and clear, no mistaking the words that came out of his mouth.

"What?—What do you mean gone?" Lori stared hard at T-Dog.

"I don't know, man. I just went down there to go and check him out. He's gone." T-Dog shook his head, "He must have slipped out when we weren't paying attention."

Leah immediately found Daryl's side and stayed close to him as everyone walked down to the barn to get a better look at the scene. Daryl and Rick took a step inside to have a look. The handcuffs were still there and secured. They exchanged looks and seemed to read each other's mind. It didn't seem possible for Randall to slip out of them.

"Rick!—Rick!" Shane suddenly emerged from the woods nearby, his nose busted up with blood on his face to accompany the bruises.

"What happened?—" Lori panicked.

"Are you okay?" Carl's voice was full of concern.

"I'm fine. But he clocked me in the head and knocked me out, took my gun. That son of a bitch is out there armed."

"Hershel, T-Dog—get everyone back inside! We're going after him. Daryl, Glenn—I want you two to come with us," Rick commanded.

"No way," Maggie shook her head.

"I'll be fine, Maggie," Glenn reassured her.

"Hey, T. I'm gonna need that gun," Shane approached the man, his arm outstretched. T-Dog handed the gun over and Shane immediately loaded it.

Daryl was trying to watch Shane's movements among all the chaos. He had no problem going out into the woods to try and help track Randall. He just had a funny feeling about all of it.

"Just let him go. Wasn't that the plan? To just let him go?" Carol looked back and forth between Rick and Shane.

"Far away from here. Not on our front steps and not with a gun," Rick retorted, anger showing in his voice. "Everyone get inside now!"

"But you don't know what's out there—" Amy tried.

"C'mon, let's get back inside," Andrea grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her along. Everyone began to run back for the house. They were thinking Randall could be anywhere out there armed with Shane's pistol. Daryl thought otherwise.

"Daryl…" Leah still stood by his side. Skyler wasn't far.

"Don't worry 'bout Randall. Kid doesn't seem too bright." Daryl gave Leah's shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm not worried about Randall," Leah confessed.

"I'll be fine. Ain't nothing to worry about."

"Just… be careful. Stay safe." Skyler glanced over towards Shane, Rick, and Glenn. Daryl figured that was what they were both hinting at, a particular someone was up to something.

Daryl gave them a nod to dismiss them as they headed back for the house. Daryl had his crossbow on his shoulder as he followed Rick, Shane, and Glenn into the woods.

"You said he knocked you out?" Rick questioned as they kept walking.

"Yeah. Used a damn rock and hit me in the face. He took off with my gun before I could get a grip on anything and I passed out," Shane explained. He seemed busy keeping his eyes focused on the ground.

Rick looked over to Daryl, "Can you track it?"

Daryl was already searching the ground for any sign of movement. All he could come up with though was a ground full of dead leaves and twigs. "Nah, nothing."

"Man, don't waste your time trying to track him. He's out here somewhere. And when I find that son of a bitch, he's gonna wish he was dead…" Shane muttered.

"You're an ex cop and you're trying to tell us he got the jump on you? The kid could barely walk last I checked." Daryl glanced over in Shane's direction and caught a slight glare from the corner of Shane's eyes.

"Let's just drop it. Our main priority is to find Randall. Let's split up so we can cover more ground. I'll stick with Shane, you two head east. But remember, Randall isn't the only threat out there."

After seemingly walking in circles for what felt like hours, Daryl was getting fed up. He couldn't see any sign of footprints or a traveled path. He couldn't see much of anything since the sun set.

"Gimme the flashlight," Daryl stuck his hand out to take it from Glenn. He clicked it on and searched the ground as thoroughly as he could.

"So what do you really think happened to Randall?" Glenn questioned.

"I don't know… I don't believe he got the jump on Shane. Kid's too weak to pull that kind of shit," Daryl admitted.

They walked in silence for a short while with nothing but the sounds of their breathing and a few wild animals off in the distance. A few owls hooting, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hey, I got something here," Daryl waved Glenn over. He pointed down at the ground, "Shane must have followed Randall longer than he thought. But it looks like they were walking in tandem." They took a few more steps, Glenn following Daryl as he pointed out another spot. "Something went down here."

"What do you mean? Like… Randall must have attacked him here?"

Daryl looked over at the nearest tree and squinted, shining the light on it. "There's blood on the tree. Now is it just me or is this starting to add up to you?" He glanced back at Glenn.

"Shane's lying then. But where's Randall?..." Glenn searched the surrounding area.

There was a sudden snap of a branch nearby, footsteps belonging to a human. Daryl quickly ducked behind a tree and Glenn went the opposite direction of him behind a different tree. Daryl whistled softly and tossed the flashlight back to Glenn as he prepared his crossbow. He gave Glenn a nod before they both leapt out from behind the trees, the footsteps almost on top of them now. But when Glenn shone the light onto the figure, they were both taken by surprise. It was Randall. And he was a walker.

Randall made a move for Glenn, his jaw snapping, as Glenn tripped backwards and fell to the ground. Daryl shot a bolt at Randall's head but ended up missing as Randall had moved just at the last second. The bolt had caught his attention as Randall was now lunging at Daryl before he could reload his crossbow. Daryl didn't have the time or space to prepare for Randall's attack as he kept the crossbow as steady as could be in front of him, providing a barrier between him and Randall's still snapping jaw. There was a faint pain from where the bolt had penetrated through his left side and he felt his left arm slightly give out, struggling to keep Randall's walker body at bay. He was pinned against the tree he took cover behind just moments ago.

Glenn pulled Randall off of him though and managed to throw him to the ground. Before Randall could even react, Glenn had brought the machete down over his head. Randall's groans and growls came to a halt as the black blood oozed around the edges of the machete still intact.

"Nice." Daryl gave Glenn a pat on the back. It was his way of saying thanks without having to actually say it.

Glenn pulled the machete back out of Randall's head with a squelch and grimaced. Daryl grabbed the flashlight back from him and started looking over Randall's body. Right off hand, he couldn't see anything that resembled a bite from a walker or even blood from any sort of wound.

"He got his neck broke…" Daryl examined the odd way Randall's neck looked before he started to lift his shirt and check him over thoroughly for any bites. He even rolled him over and came up empty. "He's got no bites."

"None that you can see," Glenn muttered.

"No, I'm telling you. He died from this," Daryl pointed at his neck.

"How is that even possible?" Glenn sounded confused as the two exchanged glances.

Daryl shook his head and got back to his feet. But that was when they were thrown off yet again by the crack of a gunshot from deeper in the woods. Daryl and Glenn exchanged glances again, adding that much more to the confusion.

"Do you think…?" Glenn's voice trailed off.

"We gotta find Rick."