Summary: When Rick and Daryl along with the group arrive at the Greene farm, they aren't expecting to bump into two familiar young who have pasts with them. Daryl and Bailey Greene find that their feelings have changed for each other but with Bailey carrying a painful secret, can Daryl mend her heart. Rick reunites with his old friend Anna who changes his and Carl's world for the better. Rick/OC, Daryl/OC, Merle/Beth, Glenn/Maggie, Carl/Sophia
Somebody To Die For
Chapter 4
Anna sighed as they finished the funeral for Hershel's, hers, Bailey's and Andrea's family. Hershel and Bailey had been nowhere to be seen, and everyone else had gone back to doing their tasks, almost like nothing had ever happened. Shane and Lori were packing up their stuff, ready to move out, as she seen Rick come over to where she was standing. "Are you alright?" he asked softly. "Rough day, huh?"
"A very rough day." She said giving him a sad smile as they looked at the graves in silence before going back to the house.
"I was at the hospital when this happened. I was on the midday shift and my dad called me telling me that mom and Alistair were sick, I headed there but by the time I got there they were gone." She said feeling a single tear slide down her cheek.
"I'm sorry," Rick said quietly, as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I didn't get to say goodbye to my mom and dad either," he told her, as they sat down on the sofa. "I was working, and I got shot in the chest just before all this happened. I was in a coma, and when I woke up, everyone was gone. I had no idea what was happening. I never saw anyone that I loved before they died."
"I'm so sorry Rick." She said hugging him as they heard a loud crash and saw Beth collapsing on the floor as Merle picked her up.
"HELP!"
They rushed over to where Merle had Beth in his arms looking clueless, as they took her through to the spare bedroom. "What's wrong with her?" Merle asked alarmed, as Beth lay lifeless on the bed. "Yer a doctor!" he said, looking at Anna for answers.
"She's in catatonic shock," Anna explained, as she checked Beth over. "Everything's been too much for her."
"Where's Hershel?" Rick asked them all.
"We can't find him." Glenn explained as they headed into Hershel's room where they found boxes filled with clothes.
"You're stepmother's things?" Rick asked Maggie as he and Daryl looked around.
Maggie nodded. "He wanted to keep them all for when they came back. He thought things would go back to normal," she said quietly, before she picked up an empty alcohol flask and sighed. "I think I know where he's gone. He's gone to the bar in town. He used to be an alcoholic, today must have been too much for him and he's gone drinking again," she said sadly, shaking her head in disappointment with her dad.
"Bailey must have gone with him to make sure he's alright." Daryl said understandingly.
"I'll go get him, Daryl and Glenn you two come with me." He told them and they nodded in understanding.
"Rick you can't keep going off like this, fixing everyone else's problems." Lori snapped at him as she came in.
"You don't tell me what to do anymore," he glared at her, as he reached for the keys of his car. "I won't take orders from a tramp like you," he spat, as he stormed out the door.
Daryl and Glenn wordlessly followed after him as everyone else watched them go with Lori looking humiliated.
"I don't deserve this." She said angry, Carl simply walked downstairs to be with Sophia as the others glared in disgust.
"Fuckin whore." Merle muttered disgusted.
Hershel and Bailey had both reached the bottom of the glasses again, and Hershel lifted the bottle to fill them up. Alcohol probably wouldn't do them any good right now, but they were too tired and upset to even care. They had been sitting in the bar for a good couple of hours now and the sun was starting to set outside. There wasn't much conversation, but more than anything they were just there to keep each other company, to stop one another from doing anything stupid.
Bailey rubbed her bare arms as she drank another glass of whisky when she heard a car pull up and the doors opened to reveal Rick, Glenn and Daryl walking in.
"Bailey, thank Christ ya alright." Daryl said pulling her into him and she rested her head in the crook of his neck.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Dare." She said ashamed.
"I'm just glad yer OK," Daryl said softly, as he pulled the bottle out of her hands. "How much have ya had?"
"Not enough," Hershel muttered, as he refilled his glass and downed it in around three seconds. Rick sighed tiredly as he looked at him.
"Hershel, come on, let's finish this at home," he said, trying to convince him to move off the bar stool. "Beth's in some kind of shock, she needs you back at the house," he said and Hershel sighed sadly. He was just about to get up, when they heard the doors again, but didn't turn around.
Bailey heard a voice that made her breath catch in her throat. "Son of a bitch, they're alive..."
She watched as two men came in, one of them was short and the other man was tall and well built as they looked at them.
She would know that face from anywhere; it was the face that haunted her nightmares, caused her so much grief, pain and fear.
"Hello Bailey."
"Dave." She said flatly.
"Dave?" Rick asked, as he looked between the two of them. "This is Dave? As in, your husband, Dave?" he asked, shocked.
"Ex-husband," she mumbled as she reached for the bottle again and took another swig of the alcohol, hoping she was just so drunk that she was seeing things.
Dave looked at her, pretending to be hurt as he sat himself down on one of the chairs. "Well. Technically, we never got divorced properly, did we?"
"Only because you never signed the divorce papers." Bailey said calmly as she stopped drinking the whisky and glared at him.
"Now c'mon Bailey, it was an accident what happened that day." Dave said faking being nice to her as Daryl, Hershel, Glenn and Rick watched.
"Like what? You pushed me down the stairs when I was eight months pregnant." She asked him enraged.
"You son of a bitch." Daryl growled at the man who had made Bailey's life a living hell for four years.
"Stay out of this, redneck," Dave said as he looked at him, and Rick noticed Daryl's face darken. If this was a cartoon, he would probably have had steam coming out of his ears in rage by now. "This is between me and my wife," he snapped, before looking back at Bailey. "Look, sweetheart, me and my friends need a place to stay. I'm real sorry for what happened between us, I really am. You think you could let us come stay with y'all for a bit?"
"Over my dead fucking body I will." Bailey snapped at him and Dave's face darkened in rage as he turned to look at Daryl.
"Let me tell you about how I treated this worthless bitch." He said smirking at Bailey who was tense.
"Yeah, why don't you Dave?" she asked, feeling sick as she paced around the bar. "Go on; tell them how you beat me, to make yourself feel tough. Tell them how you'd burn me when I didn't please you or do something you liked? Tell them how you'd fucking rape me when I didn't want you anywhere near me! Tell them how much of a man you are," she spat, before falling quiet, as she walked to the corner of the room and sat down.
"Tell them how you fucking laughed when you threw me down the stairs when I was pregnant and left me to bleed on the fucking godamn floor, go on." She spat and Dave smirked.
"Didn't know you hated me that much." He said amused.
"You disgust me." She said coldly.
"You loved me," Dave remarked flatly as he poured himself a drink and one for his friend. "You fucking married me after all, didn't you?"
"Worst mistake of my life," she added.
"Yeah I noticed that when you tried to run away but your mother told me what you were going to do, so I had to teach you a lesson." He said smiling evilly at her.
Dave looked around at the three men and Bailey watched as his face twisted into a snarl. "You know Dixon you should thank me."
Daryl squinted all he wanted to do was knock this man on his ass. "For what?" Daryl snarled.
Dave licked his lips and an evil grin spread across his face. "I taught Bailey everything she knows. All that stuff she does to you I taught her it."
Rick grabbed Daryl's arm. "He's trying to goad you don't fall for it." Rick murmured.
Daryl knew this was true but he was finding it hard. Dave pushed his hands into his pocket and laughed. "You know the girl will never say no." Dave looked at the three men as Bailey stood frozen in place watching the scene unfold. "She did try to say no a few times but I took what was mine."
Daryl pulled out his knife as he suddenly saw red. "No, Daryl, please don't," Bailey begged, as she reached for his arm and put it down. "Don't. Please, can we just get out of here and go home?" she asked, looking at the other three men. "He's not worth the time."
"Aww, look at that," Dave said, with a twisted smile. "She still loves me, don't you, baby?"
"You fucking wish I did." She spat at him disgusted as Daryl pulled her into his arms and she felt comforted by his presence.
"So can we stay with you guys?" Tony asked calmly.
"The answer is no." Rick said coldly.
Rick looked in the mirror that was behind the bar. The first thing he noticed was Tony reaching into his back pocket for a gun, but before he could do anything, Rick turned on him and fired, three bullets, sending him to the floor. Dave's eyes widened, and suddenly he took off out the door, before any of them could stop him.
"Come on, let's go after him!" Daryl said urgently, pulling out his handgun.
Bailey shook her head and placed her hand on his chest. "Please, no more. Can we just go home now?"
He looked at her for a moment before nodding at her and they were about to go when they heard cars pulling up.
"Oh shit, get down." Daryl hissed and they all got down as they heard voices calling out for Tony and Dave.
"Dave, Tony?"
As it had turned out, Dave and Tony were most definitely not alone. In fact, they had brought what seemed like a whole army with them, and they were outside looking for their friends. Rick got up and tried to reason with them, but it was no use, and very soon, they had started a gun war with the other men. The five of them were forced out the back of the bar into an alleyway, where they tried to make their way back to the car. And they had almost made it, before they heard the damn screams.
"Help me, please help me!"
"Who the hell was that?" Rick hissed, worried the noise was going to draw even more walkers than the noise of the gunfire already had done.
They hurried down the street to find a young boy impaled on the fence, his left leg was slammed into the railing.
"Oh fuck me." Bailey said horrified as they tried get him free while trying to avoid getting shot and bit.
"Rick there's too many walkers." Daryl said shooting one walker.
Bailey went closer to look at the fence spike, it had gone right through his leg, and he was screaming out in pain.
"You gotta shut up," Rick snarled, moving closer to inspect the damage that had been done. There were walkers closing in on them from every direction, and the boys screams were telling them loud and clear where they were.
"Please, just get me out of here."
The group quickly discussed the situation for a while, trying to figure out how best to proceed. There was no way that they had time to remove a part of the fence and get back to the farm to perform proper medical procedures. There was only one thing that they were going to be able to do. The leg was going to have to be pulled up and off the spike.
Rick wordlessly ripped the boy's leg off as he screamed in agony before passing out from the pain and they dragged him into the car as they shot at the walkers.
"'C'mon let's get the hell outta of here." Daryl pulling her into the car.
Bailey quickly got in and they drove off as they heard the screams of the man being eaten alive by the walkers.
"Everyone OK?" Rick asked as they drove back to the farm. No one answered, everyone just nodded quietly, not entirely sure what had just happened. Rick looked at Daryl in the mirror. "Daryl, would you question the boy in the morning?" he asked. "We need to find out where he came from, where his group are from and if they're going to be a danger to us."
Daryl nodded. "Yeah, sure thing."
"Bailey are ya alright?" He asked her, she was silent but there was a fire in her light blue eyes that had been there when she was younger, before Dave had hurt her.
"I'm alright Daryl; I'm not a weak woman anymore." She said and grinned at him.
Daryl smiled at her. "I know ya ain't," he said proudly, as he gave her hand a tight squeeze, as Rick pulled up at the farmhouse.
"You guys go inside, Glenn and I will take the boy and lock him up in the barn for the night," he told them. "Hershel, you should go check on Beth, she needs you."
Hershel nodded in thanks to Rick as they all got out of the truck as the others hurried out of the house towards them relived that their friends and family were safe.
Hershel climbed out of the car, "Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." He said before running to the house to check on Beth.
Anna and Carl hurried to where they were and she gently placed a hand on Rick's cheek while Carl hugged his father.
Lori looked into the back of the car, "Who's that?"
"That's our hostage." Daryl said nonchalantly.
"Why the hell do we have a hostage?" she asked in annoyance.
"We need to fix up his leg, and then he's going into the barn, don't fucking worry yerself," he snapped back, as he wrapped Bailey's arm around his neck. "Come on, sweetheart, let's get ya cleaned up," he said as they disappeared into the house.
Hershel, Rick and Glenn carried Randall inside to where Hershel was going to fix up his leg before they put him into the barn, as the others followed, looking unamused.
Daryl had cleaned up Bailey's face and she looked at him with a soft smile on her face as they sat down on the bed.
"I'm proud of ya, Bailey." He said cupping her face.
She gave him a small smile. "That bastard deserves everything that's coming to him," she muttered, as she leaned into his palm. "I know I shouldn't have let him get away, but if I kill him. I'm no better than him. I want to be better than him."
"I know ya do if it helps I'll kill him gladly for ya." He said kissing her forehead tenderly as they headed downstairs where they were having a meeting about Randall.
Everyone was sitting around the table in the dining room, everyone except Hershel and Patricia who were attempting to save Randall's leg in the shed, Beth who'd been sedated, and Jimmy who was keeping Carl and Sophia out of trouble. The toll the day had brought was showing on everyone's faces. They hadn't felt this devastation since the early days of the virus. Shane on the other hand was fuming, "What the hell were you thinking bringing him back here? We don't know him for shit."
"You're right we don't." Rick said. "We couldn't just leave him there like that."
"'Sides we need him alive." Daryl said his arm draping over the back of Bailey's chair.
"Why?" Dale asked.
"He's part of a group." Rick said running his hand over his face. "They're camped out somewhere around here and we have reason to believe their hostile."
"Why do you have reason to believe that?" Carol asked quietly, fearing for the group, Sophia in particular.
"Because they shot at us," Rick replied. "They tried to kill us, and they left their friend behind when he got too much for them to handle... Not to mention that Dave is with them."
"Dave?" Maggie asked, alarmed at the name. "As in Dave, Bailey's husband?!"
"Yeah he was there with a friend of his, he was telling Daryl, Rick, Glenn and Hershel about how he'd beat me, humiliate me and rape me." Bailey said twirling her hunting knife around on the table as everyone stared at her.
"Did he hurt ya?" Merle asked worried for the woman he thought of as a little sister.
"No he just taunted me." She assured everyone.
Hershel came back in at that moment. "He's got a lot of nerve damage, so he won't be on his feet for some time," Hershel replied.
"I think we'll give him some supplies, and once his leg is healed enough, Daryl and I take him away from here, and we can drop him out on the road somewhere, let him get away. We don't have any more resources for another member of the group." Rick wasn't happy about the idea of keeping him anyway. He had been a part of Dave and Tony's group, after all. Daryl could question him in the morning and get the information.
"Isn't that a death sentence for him?" Dale protested, raising his eyebrows at Rick's lack of compassion. Rick was usually up for helping anyone, even going back for Merle when everyone else thought it was a stupid idea. "Leaving him out there with all the walkers?"
"I think he has a fighting chance," Rick shrugged, not feeling up to facing anymore problems at the minute.
"What age is he?" Bailey asked quietly from the doorway.
"I'm not even sure," Rick sighed. "About eighteen or so I think."
"He's just a kid then Rick. Maybe we should give him some time, see how he turns out?" Bailey suggested, although everyone else apart from Dale and Andrea, who nodded, seemed to think that she was crazy. Even Daryl narrowed his eyes at her suggestion.
"Bailey he hung with Dave." Anna said gently and Bailey nodded at that but sighed softly as she looked at them all.
"I know but maybe he didn't have a choice." She said and they all nodded in understanding.
"And what do we do until then give him flowers and chocolates?" Shane asked sarcastically.
"We keep him locked up until he's able to be interrogated." Rick said. "Then we'll go from there."
Shane shook his head, "You're making a mistake."
"I don't seem to recall asking you." Rick said.
Shane gave Rick a hard look before walking out of the house. Over the next hour they went over how they were going to handle their hostage. After all this was new territory for all of them, they agreed to make sure that there was someone guarding him at all times. Right now he wouldn't be much of a problem but once he became mobile it would be a different story. On top of all of that nobody trusted Shane; the guard on the boy was as much for his safety as well as their own.
Rick looked at them all before they all went their separate ways. "No one goes near that barn until we know how dangerous he is, alright?"
Everyone nodded, and watched as Rick went up to bed, followed closely by Carl.
Daryl headed up to bed along with Bailey who checked on Beth and hugged her warmly before they got undressed.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" She asked him quietly.
"Why would I be mad at ya?" he asked as they climbed into bed together, and turned off the lamp. Anna was still downstairs for the time being, having a coffee with Carol.
"Because of Dave." She said looking at him.
"Bailey what happened to ya wasn't yer fault, it was Dave's." He told her and she smiled at him softly before kissing him gently on the lips.
Daryl froze slightly as he looked at her. He hesitated for a minute before pressing his lips back to hers, and gently placing his hand on her cheek. "Thank you, Dare," she said softly.
"Ya don't have to thank me." He said watching as she fell asleep in his arms.
"So what's going on with you and Rick?" Carol asked kindly.
"There's nothing going on," Anna said quietly, as she traced the top of her coffee cup with her fingers. "We were good friends in High School, but I knew he was married. I don't have affairs with people, I'm not like Shane and Lori."
"I know you're not," Carol said gently.
"He's a good, kind, gentle, compassionate man and your all lucky to have him as a leader." Anna said looking at Carol with tired eyes.
"How are you?" She asked the older woman.
"I'm good," Carol said softly, as she gave Anna a small smile. "I'm so happy to have Sophia back," she added, still on a high from getting her daughter back. "I just want the rest of the group to be happy too."
"So do I, I'm glad Bailey's her old self now that Daryl's here and she confronted Dave." Anna said drinking the rest of her coffee.
"She's a lovely woman, she makes him very happy and so does he." Carol said smiling fondly as she looked at Anna.
"I'm sorry about your parents." She said kindly.
"Don't be," Anna said softly, as she gave Carol a small smile. "I wasn't the only person who lost someone today. I just hope Beth will be alright."
"I'm sure she will be, don't worry," Carol assured her. Beth was just going to need time to get over what had happened to her family, they all had when it happened to them for the first time.
"Besides she has Merle to help her through this." She added smirking and the two women laughed as they headed upstairs to bed.
"Night Carol." She said hugging her tightly.
"Goodnight Anna." Carol said warmly.
Daryl had spent the next morning interrogating Randall, trying to get information out of the kid. He had resorted to some... less friendly... Measures. When he finally thought Randall had gotten enough, Daryl made his way out of the barn and towards the house. Everyone looked up at him; Rick's eyes seemed to be searching for answers.
"Got a gang of about thirty men, Dave and some guy called Nate, are their leaders. Heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends," Daryl explained, noticing the worry on everyone's faces. "They roll through here, our boys are dead." He wasn't going to sugarcoat it for them that were for sure. "And our women, are gonna wish they were."
Bailey lifted his hands and looked at them, his knuckles were bloody, probably a mix of Randall's blood and Daryl's. "What did you do?"
"Had a little chat." He said dryly and she gave him a sad smile as they all headed back into the house to discuss what to do with Randall when she heard crying from the woods.
"Hello?" She called out as she followed the cries and soon she found a pink mosses basket with a crying baby girl in the basket.
"You have got to be kidding me," she said quietly, as she looked down at the baby. "Who the hell left this here?" She looked around for any signs of life anywhere else. "Hello?" she called out again, receiving still no answer. "Fuck," she mumbled quietly, as she picked up the basket. "Looks like you're gonna have to come back with me," she said as she slowly made her way back to the house.
She hurried into the house as it started to rain and headed inside when the others looked up at hearing the baby's soft snuffles.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT DOING IN HERE?!" Shane yelled as he stormed over.
"I found her nearby the wood, someone left her there." She explained calmly.
"She can't stay here, we can't have a baby around, not right now, not until we figure shit out," he spat, as he glared at the baby. "Put her back where you found her."
"You're going to have your own damn baby soon!" Bailey spat back. "You're going to have to learn to live with a fucking child, whether you like it or not."
Shane was furious as he looked at her. "And who the hell is gonna care for her, eh? Sure as fuck shouldn't be you since your last daughter is lying out in the field, dead!"
Bailey felt like he had punched her in the stomach as she set the basket down and left the room slowly. The baby reminded her too much of Celia. The thing that hurt the most about what Shane had said was he was right; she didn't need that extra responsibility. She couldn't look after a child before when she had a husband and the world was safe, so she certainly couldn't raise a child alone at the end of the world.
"Take that fuckin back you son of a bitch!" Daryl snarled as he stormed into the living room where Bailey was holding the baby girl.
"Why its the fucking truth, she stayed with a man who hit her, humiliated her and raped her? You can't be serious letting her raise that baby!" Shane spat.
"Because I'll help her look after the baby, ya selfish bastard." Daryl snapped back and Bailey felt something stir inside her as she looked at Daryl.
She looked at the baby who was cooing at her and smiled at her gently as she gently rocked her in her arms.
This was her salvation.
She looked up at Daryl with panic in her eyes. "Daryl.. what are we supposed to do with her?" She was clueless, she hadn't made it to this stage when she was pregnant, and now she had a real baby in her arms, she was scared. Scared she would hurt her, or fuck it up somehow. "I don't know how to feed her, or change her diaper, and I'm pretty sure you don't either. Hell, we don't even have any supplies," she said worriedly, as the baby began to cry. She tried to soothe her, but she didn't know what she was doing.
"That's a hungry cry," Carol said softly as she stood in the doorway and looked at her.
Bailey rocked the baby a few more times, before looking at Carol. "Please, take her... make her stop crying or something!"
"Just relax honey the baby can tell you're upset." Carol told her gently and she did what Carol told her and indeed the baby stopped crying as Daryl pulled out a bottle with formula, he passed it to her and she fed it to the baby who happily sucked on it as she cooed at them all happily.
"There you have the touch." Carol said proudly and Bailey grinned at them both happily, feeling proud of herself.
"Hey there little lady." She said gently.
"Was there anyone else with her?" Rick asked softly, wondering where the hell the baby had come from.
Bailey shook her head. "No, she was in her basket, all alone," she said quietly. "She was just in the middle of nowhere."
"We'll check it out." Merle said giving her and Daryl a grin as he headed outside along with Daryl who kissed her gently on the cheek before going.
"Could you help me get her clean?" She asked Carol shyly.
"Of course I can," Carol nodded, as they went through to the spare bedroom. Maggie came through with some baby clothes that had belonged to her and Beth when they were little, and some of the diapers they had gotten for Lori's baby. He or she wouldn't be born for a while yet, so they could always get more when they needed to.
"Alright, we'll take this slow," Carol said, as she walked through how to get the baby cleaned up for Bailey.
Soon Carol had taught her how to successfully change, wash, feed and pay attention to the little baby who was fast asleep in a little crib next to Bailey's bed.
"Thank you, Carol." Bailey said touched as she kissed the baby's soft forehead before turning on the baby monitor and heading downstairs with Carol.
Merle and Daryl came back in and left their weapons down. "Ain't no one out there," Merle said as he sat down on a chair. "Whoever left the little one made a quick getaway, that's for sure?"
"They've probably been watching the house." Daryl said as he sat down next to Bailey who rubbed his hand soothingly.
"How's the baby?" He asked gently.
"She's asleep upstairs," Bailey replied, wondering if Daryl had been serious about looking after the baby. Daryl wasn't really fond of children before. She looked up at him. "You don't need to help out with her you know. I was just scared. The girls will help take care of her; I know you don't like kids."
"No, I wanna help ya take care of her." He said seriously and she smiled at him before curling into him softly as they saw Rick get up.
"Shane and I are going to go and drop Randall off today," he said, as he looked at them all before leaving the room. "We need to have a little chat anyway."
They all nodded at that and watched the two men leave as Anna headed into the kitchen where she started to wash up.
Rick parked the car in the middle of the road and got out, followed by Shane. "Thought we were going further out?" Shane asked, taking in their surroundings. They had only driven around ten miles from the farm, and were in a pretty exposed area. Rick had wanted to at least find somewhere that Randall would have had a chance of surviving. "Why are we stoppin'?"
"I wanted to talk to you," Rick answered simply, as he leaned against the side of the car.
"Talk about what, that Lori loves me and left you for me?" Shane asked annoyed at Rick who simply looked at him.
"About that as well but first I wanted to talk about Otis and Anna, the barn." Rick said calmly as he saw Shane's face darken at the mention of Anna.
"She fucking ruined everything." He spat bitterly.
"She didn't ruin anything," Rick said flatly. "She helped me see what Lori was doing; she helped me see the truth! If anything, she's the only one who did any damn good," he added, as Shane glared at him. "You don't need to be such an ass to her because you cheated on her and now she hates you!" he said, and Shane let out a long tired sigh. "What you did with Otis... tell me the truth... was that to survive?"
"Yeah," Shane answered finally, tired of hiding it all. Most people had him figured out, and he was aware they knew. "One of us wasn't gonna make it out. Had to be him. Quick shot to the leg and Carl lives."
"You didn't think to tell me the truth? I would have understood Shane, I would have done anything to save my son's life. You don't think I can keep Carl, Anna and the group safe?" Rick asked Shane.
"I didn't say that I just don't think you can be the good guy anymore, not after what happened at the bar." He said glaring at Rick.
"I'm not the good guy anymore." he admitted. "Look what we're doing to this kid, and I shot a fucking living human the other day." He wasn't exactly an angel either. "I would have done anything to save Carl's life." Rick turned to face Shane and studied him carefully. Everyone knew he was trouble. "Anna says you're dangerous. Bailey thinks so too, so does Daryl, Merle and Carol. And Dale told me he doesn't want you around the house. Hershel doesn't either."
He took a couple of steps towards Shane and looked him directly in the eye. If he was going to stay, things were going to have to change. "I'm not going to let you be dangerous anymore. Not to them, not to me, not anymore."
"Fine but the only reason I cheated on Anna with Lori was because I felt trapped, I didn't love her but she loved me. I just couldn't do it anymore Rick." Shane said flatly.
"So instead you slept with Lori, waited until Anna got home and found you in bed?" Rick asked disgusted at his ex best friend's actions.
Shane shrugged as he looked out into the fields. "She was going to find out one way or another right?" he asked, making Rick feel sick. "She might as well have seen it for herself than me having to explain it to her."
"You disgust me, you know that? You and Lori suit each other perfectly." Rick turned away again, not wanting to go any further with this conversation. He had said everything that he needed to for now. Now they had to find somewhere to leave Randall and get back to the farm. "I'm gonna check the roads."
Anna had been washing up the plates from breakfast when Lori came in and paused when she saw Anna calmly drying the plates.
"Listen can I talk to you?" She asked flatly.
Anna took a long look at Lori. She wasn't really interested in what she had to say, but nodded her head anyway. "Yeah, go for it."
"I know you're friends with Rick but I just wanted to let you know that it won't end well for you, he loves me, Carl and this baby." Lori said confidently and was satisfied to see Anna stiffen.
"I'm just friends with him Lori." She said calmly as she headed out off the kitchen and outside to get some air.
Andrea came and sat down beside her on the porch swing, as they looked out into the garden. "Don't let her get to you," she said softly, referring to the bitch back in the kitchen. "She thinks she can push everything around, but she's nothing around here. Rick doesn't love her," she added before giving Anna a small smile. "It's clear in the way he looks at you that you're the one he loves."
"I'm nothing special Andrea; I'm just a doctor who can look at wounds and that sort of thing." Anna said defeated.
"Clearly Rick and Carl think different." Andrea said with a warm smile as they saw Daryl and Bailey walking in the field with the baby in a pram.
"You think so?" she asked quietly, but her voice carried a small amount of hope in it.
Andrea rubbed her arm softly. "I know so. I've been around Rick and Carl long enough to be able to tell."
Anna smiled at her warmly. "Thank you, Andrea." She said warmly as they all headed inside into the warm house waiting for Rick and Shane to come back.
"When do you think dad will be back?" Carl asked her.
"Hopefully soon," Anna told him softly. "They were only going to drop off Randall and come straight back," she told them, as they seen Merle and Beth coming into the sitting room. Beth had a little more colour, and Merle had his arm wrapped around her waist, something she imagined Hershel wouldn't be too pleased about, but what the hell, if she was happy that was all that mattered.
She smiled at them as she saw Daryl and Bailey come in and put the baby girl in her high chair as she cooed happily at them all.
"What did ya call her?" Merle asked them.
"We called her Aoife Marie Greene Dixon." Bailey said warmly as Daryl took her hand.
Merle smirked at them as they sat down on the sofa. "Never thought I'd see the day," he said with a small chuckle.
"Shut up Merle." Daryl said but he was smiling.
Shane and Rick had found an old public works where they could drop off Randall who was in the back of the car.
"Come on, please no, guys!" Randall panicked as Rick took the blindfold off, and he looked around in confusion. "Why'd you save my life... just to kill me by leaving me here?"
Rick watched as he struggled around on the ground. "One guy can't make it alone!" Randall cried, he was becoming more and more stressed out by the minute, and if they weren't careful, walkers in the distance might hear him. "That's why I was with those dudes! I was alone! I'm not like them!" Rick tried to ignore him, as he tossed him a knife, and turned away, beginning to follow Shane back to the car.
Randall continued trying to convince them not to leave him. "I used to watch football and screw around on the internet... I lived with my mom... I lost her like you lost people! I went to school with Maggie for Gods sake!" The two men walking away both paused and turned around, so something must have worked. He continued trying to think of things. "I went to church, rode the bench on varsity baseball..."
Rick and Shane froze as they absorbed the fact that Randall had gone to school with Maggie meaning that he might know where the farm was.
"You went to school with Maggie?" He asked Randall calmly.
"She didn't know me but I knew who she was, who her dad was!" Randall said quickly.
"Jesus, he knows where the farm is Rick," Shane finally spoke up from beside Rick, confirming what he was already thinking. "He knows! Say he finds his way back to his people..." Rick watched him carefully, hoping he wasn't about to do something stupid. But it was Shane, of course he was. Rick caught Shane pull out his gun, and just in time he managed to reach over and knock his aim off, so the bullet he fired missed Randall.
"Shane, no!" Rick took a step back as Shane turned to him with a questioning look. "Not now!" He needed time to think about this.
"When then, Rick, huh?" Shane sat down beside one of the old vehicles and dropped his gun to the ground. He knew exactly what would happen. They would end up taking Randall back to the farm, and someone would talk Rick out of killing him. And they would be in more shit. "When?"
Rick paced around on the ground as he tried to think about what he should do with Randall with Shane watching his every move.
"I need to think it through; it's a man life at risk." He said firmly and Shane laughed at him then bitterly.
"So you're bringing him back to the farm where Carl sleeps? Where Lori sleeps? Where Anna sleeps?" Shane snarled at him.
"It's my call Shane." He said firmly.