Charlotte was standing in the kitchen, staring out the window to the barn. "How do you think it's going?" she asked.
"I'm sure Daryl is getting information from him." Andrea commented. "It's good, what he's doing."
Charlotte rolled her eyes, even though the blonde couldn't see her. "Well, my husband isn't an interrogator. And that poor kid is probably scared to death right now."
"What, you want him to stay with us?" Andrea asked, skeptically. "Become one of the group." Charlotte turned around, and could strike the look of Andreas face. She was looking at Charlotte like she was naïve and dumb.
"No, I just don't believe in taking people, tying them up, pulling them this way and that. We saved him and now he's our hostage, it's sick. It's inhumane." Charlotte snapped. "We aren't animals and he isn't a body with no feelings or personalities. But I guess I'm just better at empathizing than you." The two stared each other hard until shouting from upstairs caught them off guard. "They're going at it again."
Lori sighed, going to cut up some carrots. "That poor girl."
"You shouldn't have taken the knife from her." Andrea said quietly. Lori froze, then slowly looked up to her.
"If I hadn't we would have had a much bigger problem." Lori dismissed.
"So now she gets to be yelled at like she's a child. She needs to choose if she wants to live."
"Like you?" Charlotte snapped. "As I recall someone took the choice from you and you are doing just fine. Sitting on an RV all day working on your tan."
Andrea stared at her. "I'm protecting the group, so sorry."
Charlotte laughed. "Really? Like when you shot my husband? Because that was the last time you tried to protect him and you almost kill him."
Andrea rolled her eyes. "When will you let that go?"
"Suicide isn't an option." Lori interrupted. "Plain and simple."
"Sure it is." Andrea said. Lori gave her a disagreeing look. "Fine. Go up there and tell that little girl that everything will be okay. Because look at you, you have your husband, your child, baby… boyfriend." Lori's eyes snapped up at Andrea; if looks could kill. "She's just got to look on the bright side."
Charlotte snuck between the two. "You're out of line Andrea." Before Andrea could say anything, Charlotte saw the doors to the barn open. "He's done." She said, the girls walked out of the house and caught up with the rest of the group.
"Thirty or so men, having artillery." Daryl was saying. "They come through here and our boys are dead, and our women will wish they were." He added, looking at Charlotte.
"It's done then." Rick said. "He's a threat, and we need to take care of him."
Charlotte moved next to her husband, examining his bloody hand. She looked up at him with concerned eyes and he shook his head, resting his arm on her shoulders. "You mean murder?" Dale asked. Rick sighed, looking to the older man.
"It's decided." He said, nodding to Shane and then walking away. Dale followed after him.
Charlotte sighed and looked to the sky. It was grey outside, the air tasted like rain. Thunder could be heard off in the distance. "Let's go tend to this." She said to her husband, pulling him to their tent which was still out in the god damn field, away from everyone. She couldn't really say their tent, because she hadn't been in it once since he relocated it. He had rabbits and squirrels strung up.
She went to the well and pumped water onto the rag, tenderly going to clean his hands off. She couldn't imagine what Daryl had done to the man in the barn. "What do you think?" she asked him.
"I don't want him here." Daryl answered. "One way or another, I want him gone."
"Killing him ain't a bit much?" she asked.
"One way or another." He repeated, shrugging. Whatever Randall had said to Daryl had set the mans mind about the fate of the boy. And if Daryl had his mind set, Charlotte would trust his judgment. "Is that okay with ya'?"
"I get it." She started slowly. "It just feels wrong. We saved him and now we are killing him."
"I don't care what happens to him. I just don't want him near ya'." Daryl glanced over to the horizon and sighed. "Here comes Dale. Gonna try to convince us to save the damn kid."
Charlotte followed his eyes and sure enough, Dale was coming over. Daryl stood up and began to set up wood to get a fire started. He stared at Dale once he got close enough. "Point o' me coming out here was to get some space from you people."
"People are worried about you Daryl." Dale admitted. "And your new role in this group."
"Groups broken." He muttered. "Better out here were ya'll can't get me and my wife killed." She shot him a look.
"Sounds like you don't care."
"I don't."
"Live or die, you don't care if Randall lives?" the older man pushed on. Daryl gave him a look. "Then stand with me, to try to save the kids life."
"I don't want him here, alive somewhere else or dead here I don't care, but I don't want him walkin' around here."
Dale looked to Charlotte. "And you?"
"I'm stickin' with Daryl." She answered.
"Never pegged ya' as a desperate son' bitch." Daryl commented.
"You're pulling away from everyone. This group needs you." Charlotte had to admit, Dale did sound a bit desperate. "Your opinion matters. To me, to Rick-"
"Rick ain't lookin' to me, he lookin' to Shane." Daryl cut off. "And let him."
"And torturing Randall? That isn't you. You, are a decent man!" Charlotte stood up when she read Daryls body language; he was getting irritated. "And so is Rick. But Shane, he's different."
"Why? Cause he killed Otis?" Charlotte searched briefly in her mind to remember who Otis was. Daryl told her he accidently shot Carl, then he went on a run with Shane he never lived through.
The two men were silent, Dale took a step toward Daryl. "Who told you that?"
Daryl rolled his eyes. "Ain't no one told me that. He had some bullshit story about how Otis covered him, and then showed up with a dead guys gun. Rick ain't stupid; if he didin't figure it out, it's because he don't want to know." Daryl paced around the fire. "Now if ya' don't mind, I'm trying to get a fire goin'." Daryl gave Dale a pointed look. Dale sent one last look to Charlotte.
"I know you have doubt." He said. With that, he walked away. Charlotte stared after him, then turned away and all but tackled Daryl, wrapping her arms around him. Maybe she was just trying to forget her own guilt.
"I want to go fishing." She said.
He pulled her into his lap. "Right now?"
"Yes, now." Daryl smiled at her, the first genuine smile in a long time and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. She was laughing while he grabbed a rod from their tent. She jumped down, glancing toward the barn and frowning. "Do you really think Shane killed Otis?"
Daryl nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"And you're worrie about Randall walking around?" she teased, only to hide that Shane made her uncomfortable.
"He's the kind of guy who will kill anything that gets in his way. He took Rick's place back in our camp at Atlanta. Treated Carl as his own, banged Lori-"
"He what?"
"I walked in on them in the woods one day." He shrugged. "As far as they know, I didn't."
"But I thought him and Rick were best friends?"
"Rick don't know. And to be honest, I think Shane has this weird obsession with Lori now." Charlotte looked to Shane, noticing now how empty his eyes were. And here she had thought she should be scared of the dead.
It was late in the evening when they got back. Lori informed them they were having a meeting about Randall in the house soon.
Charlotte walked in the living room and sat on the floor, propped up against the wall. She hugged her knees to her chest and Daryl stood next to her, almost protectively. Unnecessarily protective. "So what?" Andrea asked. "We just take a vote?"
"I just want to see where everyone is at." Rick said. "If anyone disagrees, I want to know now." Charlotte had her eyes on Dale, who looked around expectantly. No one spoke up. Rick looked at Dale.
"This is an innocent, young man!" Dale exclaimed, looking around desperately.
"There's only one option." Shane added in.
"Murdering him?" Dale spat. Charlotte and Shane made eye contact and Charlotte averted her eyes.
"We can't trust him Dale." Glen interrupted. "He's not one of us."
"Don't any of you have any humanity left?" Dale's tone was accusing. Humanity didn't equal civilization.
"Is there no other way?" Maggie asked. "We could put him to work."
"Another mouth to feed." Daryl commented.
"How would you do it?" Particia, a women Charlotte wasn't sure if she had ever heard speak before, asked.
"Snap his neck?" Shane suggested.
"Are you kidding?" Charlotte asked, albeit in a condescending way. Shane's eyes snapped to her on her spot on the floor and she held his glare. She knew he was trying to intimidate her, she wouldn't show she was scared.
"I thought a gun, to the head." Rick assured. "Seems a bit more humane."
"Wait a minute!" Dale interrupted. "You guys are talking about this like it's decided!"
"We' been runnin' 'round in circles all day talkin' about this." Daryl said.
"This is a young mans life!" Dale snapped. "He deserves more then a five minute conversation." He looked to Charlotte while she chewed on her thumb. "Charlotte, I know you have doubt about all of this."
"What do you think?" Rick asked sincerely. She didn't think of her opinioin as important and looked around nervously, all eyes on her.
"I think you guys are asking a bit much of us. I can't decide what happens to Randall. I can't make up my mind." She said honestly.
"Not trying to save him, that's exactly the same as holding the gun to his head." Charlotte stared at Dale with wide eyes as her stomach dropped.
"Back off." Daryl barked, standing up straight and pacing slightly.
"Any one else?" Rick asked, looking around the room. "If anyone has anything to say now, say it now."
No one said anything, and the pain in the face of Dale became evident. "There's no humanity if we do this. The world as we know it is over." He sent another glance across the room. "Are you going to watch?" he asked sarcastically. "No, of course not. You'll just go hide in your tents and pretend like you aren't slaughteying a human." Dale stormed out, leaving the room silent.
Rick exhaled. "Shane, Daryl, and T-Dog can come out with me after the sun sets." She watched Daryl nod and decided she had enough and stood up, walking through the kitchen out the front door. Tears started to run down her face and she stared to hyperventilate, stopping by a tree and leaning against it. She felt someone gently touch her elbow and withdrew, turning to face Daryl. "Babe, don't let what that old man say get to you."
"It's wrong." She said, trying to suppress her sobs. "Dale's right, for all we know this kid is innocent and we are about to punish him for something he may never have done." Daryl went to reach for her but she stepped away. "But you're gonna' do it, right? You're gonna kill him."
"Charlotte." He said in a low voice. She shook her head and he took another step toward her. "We don't know him, and if there is a chance him and his asshole friend could blow through here and violate my wife and kill my group then I'm going to make damn sure that doesn't happen."
"But you don't know that will happen!" she yelled.
"Ya' don't have to agree with me, just understand." He turned his back to her and walked away. She let more tears fall and sunk to her knees. It felt wrong, and Daryl didn't seem to understand at all.
In an act of desperation, Charlotte wandered off. Past her tent with Daryl and into the woods. Her mind was screaming at her to stop, but she was too numb to notice. It was dangerous and reckless, she was being dumb. But she kept going. She came to a swamp area and sat on a rock, resting her head on her knees. She came to her senses, and fear was paralyzing her. "Hello Red."
Her head shot up and she pulled her gun out. Her heart dropped right into her through. It was the bandit who took her and Tanner hostage, the disgusting one with a leer on his face.
He chuckled at her; he didn't pull his weapon at her or anything. He walked by the water, examining it. "I remember you; giving me all that hell back there. Where is you sheriff friend?" she didn't respond, just stared him down. "If you haven't shot me now, you're not going too. Now what I want to know, is why?"
After a moment, she answered. "Where's Crawford?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Crawford? That's what you want to know?" she just stared at him. "And why would you want to know that?"
"Because I'm going to go there and kill every last one of you assholes." She said, because she had nothing else threatening to say.
He laughed again. "Wow, you drive a hard bargain. You don't plan things out well, do you?" he took a few steps toward her. "You five feet tall, and a hundred pounds. Do you really think you can take me?"
"It's amazing what a bullet can do to a mans skull." She snapped. He looked amused, which only angered her further. "I'm finding Crawford one way or another."
"What do I get if I tell you?" he smirked.
"Not a fucking thing."
"You are really bad at this, Red."
"Then I don't need you." She went to aim at his head when she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped around a fired a shot into a man who looked to be ambushing her. Before she could turn to finish the bandit she was tackled to the ground, gun knocked from her hand. His hands were on her throat. She struggled against him.
"You are the dumbest bitch I ever came across." He kept one hand on her throat and the other to reach to his belt, pulling out a knife. "I guess you didn't learn your lesson from last time. Coming out to the woods by yourself." He unzipped her hoodie, exposing her bra. His knife dug into her collar bone and down her sternum, curving around her breast. He pressed it into her a lot harder this time and she tried not to scream, but couldn't help it.
She rammed her head into the bridge of his nose. She heard something crack and he swore, relenting off her slightly. She brought her knee into his groin and shoved him off. Her head spun, she couldn't see. She felt to her side as she grabbed her gun, turning and shooting. The air went silent and she laid he head down for a moment. She opened her eyes and looked toward the bandit. Blood spilled from his head and she sighed in relief. But the sounds and hisses of the undead had her up and sprinting.
"Sorry brother." Daryl whispered, sending a mercy shot into Dales skull. The pain for the old man was over. Daryl pocketed his gun and stood up to survey the tearful faces. Rick was in a shock.
No one moved, and after a moment passed another gun shot rang through the air. Daryl was on instant alert and looked to Rick. "What was that?" Lori asked, looking around.
"A gunshot." Daryl answered. Rick looked overwhelmed, everyone looked to be in a panic. Daryl grabbed Rick by his shoulder, getting his attention. "Come on, man."
Rick nodded and looked around. "Everyone inside."
"Who's firing?" Lori asked, clutching Carl and looking to her husband for answers he didn't have.
Daryl was looking around when a feeling sunk in. "Where's Charlotte?" no one said anything. "CHARLOTTE." He called out, looking to everyone for an answer.
"I saw her head to your tent." Maggie said.
Daryl broke out into a sprint, praying that she wasn't so god damn dumb and that she would be in the tent safe and sound. He ripped the flaps open only to find she wasn't there. "Charlotte!" he looked around while Rick and Shane caught up to him. He surveyed the ground, seeing the signs of someone recently running into the directions of the woods. "She went that way."
"Same direction as the gunshot." Shane said, right before another shot rang out.
Charlotte was sprinting, panicking. She was an idiot for going out into the woods in the first place. For shooting her gun, attracting undead attention.
She hit a wall when someone grabbed her. She screamed, struggling to grab her gun. "No, por favour. You need to help me." Charlotte focused in on the face of a young Latino women, who was clutching Charlotte by her elbows. "These men took me, I tried to escape. You must help me." Charlotte grabbed the women and looked around. The undead were closing in. "Oh god, they are coming. The dead ones!"
There was nowhere to run. Charlotte looked around, and then ushered the women toward a tree. "Climb!"
AN: please review :) And don't think Daryl will be so understanding of Charlotte running off this time.