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 5
Of course Shane had to bring up Anna and Lori again. It seemed to be his favorite fucking subject. "He'll be locked up in the barn, unless you bust it open again!"
Shane shook his head in frustration. "Don't start this shit again. You know... I don't think you can do it Rick. I don't think you can keep them safe."
That was the final remark that Rick needed to do what he had wanted to do for quite some time now. Before he could stop himself, his fist had connected with Shane's jaw, sending Shane back a couple of steps as he had been surprised at the blow. Shane regained his composure quickly, and slammed his forehead against Rick's.
Rick stumbled back but regained his footing and smashed Shane against one of the cars as they started to fight with their fists.
"You really think you can keep everyone safe, Rick?" Shane snarled at him as he punched Rick in the chest.
The two men seemed to have stopped fighting for a minute as they both regained their breath. Maybe now that they had gotten that over things could be straightened out more effectively. But Shane already had his gun out and aiming at Randall again in a matter of seconds. Rick pushed his hand away so he couldn't hit the boy. "You're not doing this. You don't get to make these calls anymore. I won't let you."
Shane suddenly saw red. He reached out beside him and grabbed the first thing he could find, picking up a large metal crowbar. Using all the strength he had left, he threw it straight in the direction of Rick, narrowly missing him and hitting a window nearby instead.
And that's when Rick realized. Shane had just tried to kill him.
Anna had told Bailey and Carl that she was heading out to the town for a while to stock up on supplies they had both nodded and told her to be careful as she got in her truck and drove back to the pharmacy with her sword and her shotgun.
She wanted to kill something and it seemed walkers were her safest bet.
She found a small herd and began to smash their skulls in with her axe, only planning to use the shotgun as a last resort. She felt some sort of rage leave her, as she felt satisfied while they fell to the ground in front of her... dead for good.
She smashed it onto a bloated walker's head, hearing the sound of its skull breaking under the impact as she continued to channel her rage.
"Damn you god!" She screamed at the sky.
She sighed as all the walkers ended up dead, and leaned against her car. She just wanted to have a family, she wanted someone who loved her... she just wanted to be happy.
She sighed heavily as she went into the stores and grabbed all the stuff she could find and headed back to the car and got in.
When she arrived back at the farm, she went inside, still seeing no sign of Shane or Rick anywhere. She set down the supplies as Carol and Patricia started to unpack them.
"Shane and Rick still haven't come back?" She asked as she helped them out as Bailey came in and helped with Aoife sitting on the sofa fast asleep.
"No not yet." Carol answered looking concerned.
"You think they're alright?" she asked quietly, worried for Rick. He was her best friend after all, and it was starting to get dark outside.
"Why don't you go and find out if you're so worried," Lori said flatly as she glared at the woman. "Take Maggie's car, I'm sure she won't mind."
"I will thank you but I'll take one of the other cars." Anna said calmly as she headed outside after pulling on her black leather jacket over her sleeveless red and black checked shirt as she got in the truck and drove off.
She drove down the highway, looking around for any signs of Rick's car. She sighed as she went into the storage compartment of the car and pulled out a map, trying to work out where she was in case she got lost. She fiddled around with it a little trying to get it the right way up, as she kept one hand on the wheel. When she looked back at the road, her eyes widened as she seen a walker in front of her, and she swerved to miss it. The final thing she seen before her world went black, was the car spinning into the field.
Rick was breathless as he tried to catch his breath when he heard something moving in the window behind him and looked to see a herd of walkers coming out.
He fought his way out of some of the walkers, along with Shane, who he lost track of completely. Randall had finally managed to get to the knife Rick had thrown him, and was working on breaking free, when he seen a walker stumble towards him. He panicked then, trying to get the rope cut quicker. Eventually, he managed to free his feet, enough so that he could stand, and back away a few steps. He struggled for a moment to get his legs over the rope, but once he was free, he waited until the dead woman staggered towards him, before plunging the knife into her head several times.
Once he made sure there were no more surrounding him, he looked for a way out, some sort of escape from here. And he could see the gates in the distance. But before he managed to even make it halfway, someone had grabbed onto him.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Rick asked, making sure Randall couldn't escape just as easy as he had hoped to.
"Ya were gonna kill me so I was just gonna go, please man just me go." Randall pleaded with Rick to let him go.
Rick looked around for Shane and saw him trapped him in a school bus surrounded by walkers as he tried to take them out.
He gave him one quick look, before turning away with Randall. "Let's go."
But with every step he took, he started to regret it. He knew there was no way he'd be able to live with just leaving him there. He was a good man, unlike Shane. Like with what Shane had done to Otis. And therefore, after he and Randall had gotten back to the car, he had found himself telling Randall not to drive away, but instead back towards the school bus. He yelled at Shane to get to the back of the school bus, as Randall tried to park as close to the escape doors as he could. Within seconds, Shane was down the other side of the bus, and had kicked the door open, jumping straight in the back window of the car.
Randall wasted no time in speeding away, and soon they were out of the public works, and back on the road to the farm. "Whoo!" he yelled, taking his hands off the steering wheel, angering Rick even more. "You see what we did there? You see that?"
"Get in the fucking boot!" Shane yelled as they stopped and shoved Randall back into the boot before driving back to the farm.
"So you and Anna, you like her?" Shane asked looking at Rick carefully.
"She's my best friend," Rick answered calmly, as he kept his hands on the steering wheel. "And she was yours too, before you fucked that up."
"Wasn't going to settle down with her anyway, we wanted different things." Shane said flatly as he glanced at Rick.
"Besides I got Lori and the baby, she hasn't got anyone as far as I know." He added as they drove up to the house.
They got out and everyone came out to meet them, noticing they had brought Randall back with them. "Don't even ask," Shane mumbled as he dragged Randall away, back towards the barn.
Bailey looked in the car. "Where's Anna?" she asked Rick. "Didn't she find you?"
"She went looking?" Rick asked worriedly.
"Yeah after it started getting dark Lori asked her to looking for you two even though she already was going to." She said as he grabbed the car keys.
"I'll find her don't worry." He said firmly.
They all watched as Rick drove away down the road. He put the car headlights on to try and see where he was going, where he seen a glint of something shiny in the field. He pulled up and got out, taking a torch with him, realizing with horror as he got closer that it was a car in the field. "Anna? Shit!"
He looked around in the car to see that Anna was gone when he heard something nearby and hurried over to it was Anna fighting her way through a herd of walkers with an axe.
"Anna!" He yelled.
He pulled out his knife and ran over to her, taking out some of the walkers that she was slashing at, trying to clear a path to get through to her. His heart was beating rapidly, as he finally reached her and pulled her against his chest. "Fuck, Anna, are you OK? You're bleeding!" His mind raced with fear she had been bitten or scratched.
"I'm alright Rick, I just hit my head against the windshield." She assured him as he shone the torch on her face to see how badly hurt she was and saw aside from some scratches and bruises, she looked fine.
"So did you drop off Randall?" She asked as they got into the car.
"We almost did," Rick admitted quietly. "But Shane and I got into a fight," he said, leaving out what the fight was about. "Long story short, we ran into trouble with some walkers. We had to bring him back with us; he's back inside the barn."
"Are you alright?" She asked as they pulled up at the farm.
"I'm alright, the bruises only sting." He said smiling faintly.
"Looks like we could both do with some rest," she said with a small chuckle.
Rick nodded before looking at her again. "Why don't you stay with Carl and I tonight?" he asked softly. "It would be nice to have some other adult company."
"I don't want to impose." Anna said worried but Rick shook his head at her.
"You're not, don't worry." He assured her as they got out of the car and found the others waiting for them.
"Hey, Anna, are you OK?" Andrea asked softly, noticing the cuts and bruises she had on her face.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said softly, as Rick helped her inside. "Just had a little accident with the car. Where's the wicked witch?"
"Oh, don't worry her and Shane are in bed," Carol assured her.
"Alright for some huh?" Daryl asked smirking from where he and Bailey sat with Aoife in their arms as she slept calmly.
"We're gonna go to bed too." He said as everyone soon headed up to bed with Bailey hugging Anna tightly before heading into bed.
"I'm so glad she's OK," Bailey said softly, as she set Aoife down into her crib that used to belong to Beth. "And I'm glad she's getting to spend some time with Rick, the two of them will see they were made for each other," she added with a small smile.
Daryl smiled at her as they both got changed for bed and got under the sheets with him pulling her into his chest as she cuddled into him.
"Do you really think Randall will lead his group here?" She asked as they heard it rain outside, hitting the roof and the glass windows.
Daryl shook his head. "I don't know, but I don' even think Rick and Shane are going to let him get away."
"You think he's dangerous?" she asked.
"He told me about his group." Daryl said quietly. "What they did to one family. A dad an' his two lil' girls." His fists involuntarily clenched again as he thought about it. "The men... what they did to the girls. An' how they made the dad watch." He didn't give her the whole story; he let her work out the rest.
"Oh god that's sick." She said disgusted.
"I aint letting him hurt ya, Bailey." Daryl said firmly.
"I know you won't. Daryl," she said as she buried her face into his neck. "I know you won't."
"I won't let him hurt ya or Aoife." He said holding her tightly as they both drifted off to sleep with Aoife's light snuffles.
The next morning, everyone gathered downstairs for breakfast. Shane was sporting a black eye, and Rick had a cut lip. Lori sighed as she looked between the two of them. "What happened out there?"
"Had a little disagreement." Rick said calmly and saw Lori glare at him.
"Did you start it because of me and Shane?" She asked furious at him.
"It doesn't matter what we started it over," he said quietly, shaking her head at how she always thought everything was about her. "We got it sorted out, right Shane?"
"Yeah, we're good c'mon Lori." Shane said to her and they walked off leaving Rick alone as Dale came over.
"What are you going to do with Randall?"
Rick shook his head. "I don't know Dale. He might be a danger to this group, and to our women and children. I think he has to go."
"You mean like... Kill him?" Dale asked quietly.
"That might be the only way to deal with this." Rick said tiredly as they gathered everyone in the living to discuss what to do with Randall.
"So what are we doing with that bastard?" Shane asked coldly.
"The way I see it, we have no choice, he's a threat to us and we have to eliminate the threat," Rick replied, looking at Daryl who seemed to nod to back him up. After he had heard the story about what Randall's group had done to those little girls and their father, he wasn't planning on keeping Randall around.
"You're just going to kill him?" Dale asked appalled.
"It's settled." Rick said, looking like he was in no mood to argue. "We'll do it today." he added, before leaving the room.
Everyone started to head their separate ways with Bailey playing with Aoife as she happily giggled at her and Daryl as Beth and Anna watched the two bond.
"Would you like to hold her?" She asked Daryl gently.
"If ya wouldn't mind." He said carefully holding Aoife.
"Shit, I don't wanna drop her," he said quietly as he wrapped his arms carefully around her, and rocked her gently.
Bailey gave him a small smile as she watched them. "See? You got this."
"So do ya, ya good with her." Daryl said giving her a warm smile as they saw Dale come over looking upset but determined.
"Can I talk to you two?"
Bailey looked up at him and sighed. "Is this about Randall, Dale?" she asked quietly. It might have been cold, but she wanted him dead. After what his group had done to those girls. She didn't want him around, especially not with Sophia and Aoife. "Because if it is. I've already made my mind up."
"So you want him dead? Bailey he's a just a boy." Dale pleaded with her to understand.
"Too fuckin bad, he aint going back to that group of his." Daryl snapped at him as he rocked Aoife.
"He's just like Dave, Dale." She said tiredly.
"Bailey, please... don't let that cloud your judgement. Just because he was in the same group as your husband, doesn't mean that he did the same sort of things," he said, his voice pained.
Bailey shook her head. "I'm sorry Dale... we can't risk it."
"What about you Daryl?" He asked the man who was sitting next to Bailey with Aoife in his arms as she slept quietly.
"He's gotta die, I aint letting Bailey, go through what she did with Dave and we've got a daughter to think about." Daryl said pulling Bailey into him tightly.
Bailey looked at him and frowned. Did he just say they had a daughter? "Besides, this group ain't gonna listen to what we say," Daryl added with a slight shrug. "Rick makes the decisions himself, or he looks to Shane. Well, he did anyway. No one else decides for him."
Dale looked at him closely, "Rick listens to you." He argued and then paused.
"Shane's different."
"Of course he is," Daryl mumbled. "Rick found out about his affair with his wife. He tried to kill Otis... well, he actually did kill Otis. And take a look at their faces, clearly something went on last night when they took Randall out. The group is broken," he finished, before looking at Bailey. "Come on; let's go put her down for a nap."
She nodded and followed Daryl upstairs to their room where they sat down.
"Are we bad people? Because we're not even giving Randall a chance?" she asked with a sigh as she set Aoife down into her crib and stroked her hair gently.
Daryl shook his head. "Nah, we're just thinking about the group."
She nodded in understanding and looked at Daryl quickly before placing her lips gently on his as they kissed intimately, his strong arms wrapped around her as the kiss deepened.
Bailey's eyes fluttered closed as she ran her hand through his hair, and Daryl brushed his tongue along her lips, before sliding it into her mouth. This was certainly no longer a friendly kiss; it had gone well past that stage.
When she pulled away, needing a breath of air, she looked up at him. "That was... uh..."
"Fuckin amazing." He offered and she laughed at him before kissing him again.
He pulled her into him.
"Been wantin' to do that for quite some time," Daryl said with a small laugh, as he ran his fingers through her hair. "About ten years to be exact."
Bailey chuckled before her face turned serious. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked quietly. "I wouldn't have married Dave if I had known. It was never Dave I wanted... it was you."
"I didn't think ya would want a trailer trash redneck to be ya husband Bailey, I just wanted to make ya happy." He said kissing her gently on the lips as they held hands and headed downstairs.
"About damn time, ya two kissed!" Merle called out.
"Shut it, Merle," he scowled, but he was happy, and it was soon replaced with a grin, as they sat down on the sofa. "Where's Dale at with the whole 'Save Randall' thing now?" he asked.
"He's talking to daddy and Rick." Beth said as they all drank some coffee.
"The sooner he's dealt with, the better," Merle mumbled, clearly not a fan of Randall either. "Still think y'all should have taken out the rest of the group."
"You mean Dave?" Bailey asked quietly, wondering if they had let him off too easily.
"Yeah, he got off too fuckin easy after what he did to ya." Daryl said as a bullet hit Jimmy.
"JIMMY!"
"What the hell was that?" Daryl asked alarmed as he pulled Bailey into his chest. "Who fired that shot?!"
Everyone ducked for cover, as Patricia crawled over to Jimmy and put pressure on his wound, but he was bleeding out rapidly. They heard more gunfire, and she ducked for cover underneath a table.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU BASTARDS KILLED JAKE AND TONY?!" A male voice screamed.
"Shit." Merle cursed as he held Beth.
"Everyone into the basement!" Maggie whispered, as they all started to make their way across the floor. "Dammit, what about daddy, Dale and Rick?"
"I'll get them," Daryl volunteered quietly. "Fuck, Aoife's upstairs!"
"I'll get her, you just get the men to safety," Bailey said quickly.
He nodded and pulled her into him as he kissed her passionately before hurrying outside as she ran upstairs and got Aoife as she hurried down to the basement.
Rick, Hershel and Dale had obviously heard the shots, as Daryl had found them hiding behind a barrel when he went over, gripping his crossbow tightly. "Guys, come on! We gotta go inside, into the basement!" Daryl hissed, covering them so they could get back to the house.
They all hurried into the basement as they saw Anna trying to save Jimmy's life, Rick knew he had to tell the secret he had been keeping.
Rick crouched down beside her and frowned. "Anna... if he doesn't come back to life, then one of us is going to have to shoot him in the head," he said sadly, and everyone looked at him confused.
"You can't do that," Hershel protested. "Jimmy might not have been here long, but he's family as much as everyone else. We'll give him a proper burial."
Rick shook his head. "No! You don't understand... he'll... he'll turn!"
They all stared at him in shock and horror as they took in what Rick had said.
"I already knew so don't blame Rick." Merle said and everyone nodded in agreement aside from Shane.
"What do you mean you knew?" Shane spat. "You mean if w die, and we ain't been bitten or scratched, we still come back as one of those things?!"
"Unless the brain is damaged, yes," Rick said quietly, as he watched Jimmy fight for his life.
"That's what Jenner told you? Isn't it." Glenn asked understanding why Rick had kept it a secret.
"I just didn't want to frighten anyone." Rick said ashamed.
Anna nodded as she gave his back a gentle rub. "It's OK Rick, we get it," she said, before looking down sadly at Jimmy. "But I don't think Jimmy's coming back."
Jimmy was gasping for breath as he looked at them all with tired eyes.
"Take care of Beth, Merle." He choked and then sagged.
Merle pulled Beth against his chest so she didn't have to watch what was happening to Jimmy, as Rick put a blanket over Jimmy's head.
"Let me do it," Daryl said softly, as he took Rick's gun. "Ya do enough."
He nodded and let Daryl pull out his gun as he looked at Jimmy's dead body.
"Sorry brother." He said pulling the trigger.
The room was silent, as Daryl gave the gun back to Rick and went to sit down with Bailey, who kissed his cheek gently.
Rick looked at them all. "You think it's safe to go out now?"
"They aint shooting anymore." Daryl said as they all headed outside where they saw the place was empty.
"It's almost as if nothin' ever happened," Daryl said quietly as he looked around. "No doubt it was Randall's group who did this."
"You see why it's not safe to keep him around anymore?" Rick asked Dale.
"That doesn't mean we can just kill him like some wild animal." Dale protested when Anna got tired of Dale's 'Save Randall, charade.'
"I ran into a group like his and you know what they did to me Dale? They tied me up like some slave, beat me and raped me." She snarled at him.
Everyone looked shocked, apart from Bailey who already knew the story. Rick looked at her with sad eyes, as Dale promptly shut up.
"I think it's decided," Rick snapped. "Randall dies tonight."
"I want no part in it." Dale snapped and he stormed off upstairs as everyone watched in silence as they looked at Rick.
"Just so you know Rick, we support you." Glenn assured him and everyone nodded in agreement aside from Shane, T-Dog and Lori.
"Well, most of us do, by the looks of things," Glenn muttered, as he looked at the three of them.
Rick nodded, knowing he had mostly support from the group. "Thanks guys."
"Ya don't have to thank us." Daryl said looking at him as he went to sit with Bailey and Aoife while Anna played with Carl.
"I knew that woman was dangerous." Lori said enraged.
"Lori please shut the fuck up!" Bailey snapped.
Lori stood up and narrowed her eyes at the younger woman. "Don't you dare tell me what to do," she said her voice low.
"Or what Lori, you'll hit me. Yell at me? Please go find something else to do instead of criticising everyone." Bailey said calmly.
Lori huffed and walked away as Bailey looked at Anna and Rick and shook her head. "She's not worth the time, forget about her."
"I think we all do." Rick said dryly as they heard screaming outside making them all get up onto their feet.
"HELP, PLEASE SOMEONE HELP US!"
Everyone's eyes widened, as they heard the cries. "Wait a minute," Merle said before anyone made a move. "This could be a trap, it could be one of Dave's group," he added, not trusting anyone who wasn't a part of his own group. The next thing they heard was what sounded like a little girl crying out in pain. Merle frowned as he picked up his gun. "Alright, that didn't sound good, let's move!"
Everyone ran outside, apart from Carol and the kids, as they tried to find the source of the noise. They'd seen two men staggering out of the woods, holding a little girl upright, as one of them held a bloody rag to a wound on her side. "Over here!" Rick called, as they all ran towards the strangers.
"Thank god, you have to help my daughter please." The man pleaded as he held his daughter tightly to him.
"Alright bring her inside and we'll take a look at her." Anna said as they hurried into the living room where they began to tend to the injured little girl.
"What's her name?" She asked the man.
"Penny, her name is Penny Blake and I'm her father, my name is Phillip Blake." He said terrified.
"This is my friend, Milton," he said, as he nodded at the other man, who was looking at them all with an observant expression, taking in everything about them.
"Where are you from?" Bailey asked, as she helped Anna clean up the gunshot wound. Her heart ached for the little girl, especially knowing it was probably Dave and his friends who had done this.
"We were in a town called Woodbury, I was their leader," Phillip explained. "But my brother came in, and started doing things his way... the wrong way, may I add, and he kicked us out of there. We've been on the road for about a month now."
"You can all stay here with us." Hershel said firmly as he helped Anna and Bailey with Penny as Patricia and Carol showed them to their rooms.
"She'll be alright; she just needs rest and some food." Anna said relived.
"Who the hell are these people?" Shane snapped at Rick as he came in.
"They needed help, Shane," Rick snapped back, as he glared at the man who used to be his best friend. The world had certainly changed him that was for sure. "They're not going to cause us any trouble, their little girl was shot for god's sake!"
"It's not our problem." Shane snarled and Anna had enough of this man.
She slapped him hard across the face.
"You are such a heartless bastard!"
Rick watched in shock, but he couldn't help feel a little proud of Anna. Shane deserved that, and more. Shane glared at her as he held a hand to his cheek. "The sooner Lori and I leave this group, the better."
"No one's fuckin' stoppin' ya," Merle spat angrily, ready to take down Shane if he laid a finger on Anna.
"You would put the life of your unborn baby at risk all because of the fact that you're not the leader of this group?" Beth asked him disgusted.
"That's not what I meant." He said annoyed.
"Sure as hell sounded like it," Glenn said quietly, before shutting up after he received a death stare from Shane. "I'm just sayin'."
"You lot are a bunch of idiots, you know that?" Shane grumbled, before leaving the room.
"I think he's the idiot if he really thinks that he can survive being out there with his pregnant woman." Phillip said stunned.
"It's a long story," Andrea said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sure you'll get to learn all about Shane and Lori in time."
Rick nodded. "Yeah, no doubt," he muttered quietly. He gave Phillip a small smile. "We haven't introduced you yet. I'm Rick Grimes, this is Anna, Andrea, Glenn, Maggie, Merle, Beth, Carol, Carol's daughter Sophia, my son Carl, Hershel, Patricia, Daryl, Bailey and Aoife," he said, pointing to each of the group, who gave Phillip and Milton a quick nod. "T-Dog, Dale and Lori are elsewhere, and you just met Shane."
"Nice to meet ya'll, my name is Phillip Blake and this is my daughter Penny and our close friend Milton Smith. Phillip said warmly shaking all of their hands.
"Nice to meet all of you." They said warmly.
"Did you all know each other before the world ended?" Phillip asked as he watched them all, they all seemed pretty close.
"Some of us did, and some of us didn't," Rick said with a small smile. "But the world pushed us together, and we've had to become a family now."
"I can understand that, its not only walkers you have to be afraid of." Phillip said as he wrapped a blanket over Penny and picked her up.
"You have to fear the living."
"Yeah, you're telling us," Maggie said quietly, as she sat next to Glenn. They weren't 'dating' per say in front of the others, especially not her father, but it was clear that they were both attracted to each other, and no doubt they were having sex too. "We've kind of worked that out for ourselves in the last couple of days."
He nodded at them before taking Penny upstairs into bed and said thank you to all of them as he went up.
"So what do we do about Randall?" Lori asked flatly.
"I think we should go and deal with him before it gets too dark outside," Rick said, as he looked at Daryl and Merle. "You two are with me, we'll take him into the barn and execute him." He said, lowering his head.
Anna gave his arm a gentle rub. "It's the only way. Don't worry, Rick, we're all with you."
"You have to make hard choices that nobody understands." Carl added hugging his father before watching them leave the room.
Dale had been in the RV thinking about Randall when he decided to free him.
He sneaked into the barn and opened the door, before taking his tools to try and find something to free him with.
Randall looked up when he heard the door. "No, please... please don't hurt me any more," he begged, fearing it was Daryl who had come back to give him another beating.
"Don't worry son, I'm not here to hurt you," Dale assured him, as he started to cut through the ropes he had been tied up with. "I'm not like those monsters; I'm here to let you go."
"Oh thank you, Christ." Randall said relived as he watched Dale cut his bindings and then help him out of the shed.
"Take a car, there's a week's worth of supplies in the car and a lot of fuel." He explained to Randall who thanked him and got into the car.
"I won't forget what ya did." He said driving away.
Dale watched him go, before he heard voices, and seen Rick, Merle and Daryl making their way towards the barn. He picked up his toolbox and hid out of sight, before sneaking back to the RV, and going inside, like nothing had ever happened.
Rick opened the door as he, Merle and Daryl came into the shed and found that Randall wasn't in the shed as they all realised with horror.
"Fuck, someone's helped him get away." Merle yelled.
"It can't have been Shane," Rick said, knowing that he was in the house. As much as he would like to blame Shane for it, he couldn't this time. "Damn, who the hell would do this?" he asked, looking around for any clues.
Daryl sighed. "Come on, Rick, ain't it obvious?" he asked, pausing, as the other two looked at him confused. "Dale?"
"Damnit." Rick said angry as they all ran to the RV where they knew Dale would be.
"Dale open the doors!"
They waited a minute before Dale appeared, and they glared at him angrily. "Can I help you?" he asked innocently.
"What the hell did you do with Randall?" Daryl growled.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Dale said calmly.
"Cut the bullshit old man, where the fuck is Randall?!" Merle snarled at him.
"I let him go," Dale said simply, as he pretended not to be interested. "You animals were going to murder him, he deserved a chance."
They all stared at him shock as they all tried to get over the fact that Dale had more or less helped Randall escape.
"You did what?" Rick asked in a deadly calm voice.
"I let him go." H said calmly.
"FUCK!" Rick yelled, hitting his fist off the side of the RV. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done, Dale?" he asked tiredly.
Dale nodded. "I let the poor kid go," he answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to turn in for the night."
"Oh hell no ya aint, yer coming with us." Daryl snarled grabbing him by the arm along with Merle as they marched him back to the house so they could tell the others what had happened.
"What's going on?" Bailey asked as she rocked Aoife who cooed at them all.
"Dale here, thought it would be a good idea to let Randall go," Rick explained tiredly, as he sat down next to Anna and Carl. "Now Randall is out there with one of our cars and some of our supplies, and we have no idea where he has gone. Probably back to his group."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Shane yelled at Dale as he came in with Lori at his side as everyone tried to come to terms with the fact that Dale had betrayed them.
"I let Randall go." Dale said calmly not looking afraid.
"Why the hell would you do that?" Glenn asked, looking at him in disbelief. "He's dangerous, well, his group are at least!"
"Because he deserved to go," Dale answered without hesitation.
"So you let him go back to his group which is men who are rapists, murderers and probably rapists? No offence Dale but you seemed to have forgotten the fact that we're living in a world where its survive or die." Anna snapped at him.
"And how would you know all this Anna, you're just a home wrecker who broke up Rick and Lori's marriage?" Dale asked cruelly at her.
"No, Dale, Lori broke up her marriage," she snapped back. "She only has herself to blame for what happened," she added, before storming out of the room.
They all watched her go with Carl hurrying after her along with Rick who gave Dale a murderous look as he left.
"You are one horrible man, you know that." Bailey said to Dale as she glared at him.
Dale looked at them all and shook his head, before he left the room and went back to stay in his RV for the night. He had a feeling that he wasn't welcome here.
Anna sat down on the bed, as she heard a small knock on the door, and looked up to see Carl and Rick looking at her. "May we come in?" Rick asked softly.
"Sure, you can it's a bit of a mess." She said clearing the bed off as Rick and Carl saw photos of Anna and her family.
"You're Scottish?" Carl asked curious.
Anna nodded and smiled as she looked at the photos. Her dad and brothers were in a kilt, and they were standing outside Edinburgh Castle. "Yes, my father is anyway. We used to go over to Scotland and visit my grandmother from my dad's side."
"That's so cool," Carl said as he looked through the photographs smiling.
"It was Carl. I loved playing in the lagoon near their house all the time with my two older brothers, Connor and Alistair." She said smiling fondly.
"Remember that time I dared you to climb on that old oak tree?" Rick asked smiling at the memory as they both laughed.
"Yeah, and you almost got me stuck up there too," Anna said with a smirk, playfully nudging him on the arm. "Don't try that again."
"Don't worry I won't." He said smirking at her as they sat and looked at the photos in a comfortable silence.
"What are we going to do about Randall?" She asked quietly.
"There's not much we can do, to be honest," Rick said softly, as he gave her arm a gentle rub. "We just have to hope he's not going to cause any problems."
She nodded as they headed downstairs where the others were and saw that Shane was yelling at Dale, his face almost red with rage.
"YOU'VE PUT LORI AND THE BABY IN DANGER BY DOING THAT!"
"I was only trying to help the poor boy, you lot were going to kill him!" Dale remarked. "You should have been more careful in the first place."
Rick looked between the two of them, as he took Anna's hand and they walked to the sofa. "Let's not get involved, they're both as bad as each other."
She nodded and gently took Carl's hand which he gladly held onto as they sat down next to Daryl and Bailey who were fussing over Aoife.
"Would you three like to hold her?" Bailey asked kindly, her cobalt blue eyes shining.
"Sure thing," Anna said with a smile, as she took the baby out of Bailey's arms and rocked her gently. "Hey, Aoife," she said softly, grinning as the baby cooed up at her. Rick and Carl smiled down at her too, as she played with Carl's finger.
"She's so tiny, are all babies like that?" Carl asked them looking interested.
"Not always no but sometimes they get born early and have to be put in a special ward. Doctors and nurses call it the premature ward." Rick explained to him.
Carl nodded his head, as he looked back down at Aoife. "I'm glad she's safe now," he said softly, before briefly wondering what his baby brother or sister would be like. Or at least, half brother or half sister.
"No matter who that baby's father is Carl, the baby is your brother or sister and we'll take good care of he or she I promise." Rick assured him and Carl smiled sadly.
"Mom won't let me feel her bump." He said sad.