A/N: Thank you for the follows and the favorites.

I made an abridged version of the final discussion about Randall because that was a lot of talking. I cut a lot out but the gist of the conversation remains.

Chapter 13

"Marianne's not back yet." Carol announced as they were all getting ready to eat dinner. She had been keeping an eye on her and Daryl. She brought them food on plates that would appear overnight on the picnic table already clean. They kept mostly to themselves and Lori had told him that's how it used to be at the quarry, where Marianne hadn't even joined the other women to wash clothes.

"What did Daryl say?" Rick asked.

"He wouldn't say anything."

Rick sighed. This had been going on for about a week now. Ever since they had found Sophia, Marianne would disappear into the woods at the crack of dawn and show up right before sunset. A few days ago he had seen her come back and even from a distance he could see the blood on her shirt.

"If she's not back by morning we'll plan a search." They were supposed to get rid of Randall tomorrow but he supposed they could postpone that another day.

"Rick, man, we can't go looking for every person that doesn't come back before dark," Shane said.

"But we have to." Carl looked really worried.

"We'll search for her just like we would for anyone else," Rick said.

"But she's not anyone else. When we were at the quarry, Daryl was gone for days. What makes this any different? And who knows where to start with the way she wanders around these woods."

"Shane's right. She can take care of herself," Andrea said. Lori looked displeased at the comment.

"She could be hurt," his wife said.

"She could be anywhere. A needle in a haystack, man," Shane said.

"We'll discuss this in the morning." There was a finality in Rick's voice that made everyone silent but a few minutes into dinner the conversations picked up again.

He went to bed that night hoping Marianne was safe and that she'd turn up in the morning. He hated to admit it, but Shane made some good points. There was no clue on where to start looking for her, but they could search nearby buildings to see if she holed up in one of them. There was also the fact that she was capable of handling herself out in the woods but then there was the possibility that she had run into another herd or worse, other people.

He woke up the next morning ready for another argument with Shane about searching for Marianne. They waited until almost noon before Rick spread out the county map on the hood of a car. Shane was brooding close by and Hershel was pointing out the nearby farms on the map when T-Dog spotted a truck coming up the dirt road that led to the house. Rick's hand reflexively went to his Colt.

"That's Paul Willis' old truck. His farm is about 15 miles from here," Hershel said, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand.

Hoping it was Marianne but preparing for the worse, Rick and the other men grabbed their guns. As the truck got closer they relaxed their stance. Marianne was behind the wheel and she was alone.

She parked near them and got out of the truck, slinging her bow across her back. Her clothes were bloody but it looked like she'd taken a shower recently. She was smiling broadly and this made Rick angry. Here they were, worrying about her and she was smiling.

He strode up to her. "Where were you?"

"I found a farm. There weren't any breaches in the fence around the house, just the fields. I cleared those and the house. The cellar and pantry are full of food. They have a generator too and there's lots of fuel left we can take. Put some supplies in the back of the truck."

"You didn't come back last night. We were all worried." Marianne looked confused at his response.

"Relax, I told Daryl not to wait up for me." Her shrug annoyed him more than it should have.

"He didn't tell us that."

"And that's my problem how?" She started walking to her tent and Rick followed.

"You need to tell us when you're going to be gone overnight."

"Sorry, didn't have any cell reception."

"You need to take this seriously. You could've run into Randall's people." His voice was getting louder and he didn't understand why he was getting so mad at her.

"But I didn't."

"You're not running off by yourself anymore."

She laughed. There was a dangerous edge to it. "You can't order me to do anything."

"I will if I have to," Rick said. This made her pause and she glared at him.

"You're really startin' to piss me off, Rick Grimes."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Good, I'm glad we can agree on somethin'." She turned her back on him and started walking again.

"You could get hurt out there. Or die."

"Leave me alone Rick." She was almost yelling at him but he wasn't about to give up. She needed to understand.

"What about Daryl? What's it gonna do to him if that happens?"

She whirled around. "Get off my back!" He had touched a nerve.

"Get off my back!" Her hand twitched. It took all the strength she had not to hit Rick. She had been busting her ass securing the perimeter of the farm, killing walkers that strayed too close and now she'd found more supplies for the coming winter and this was how he was treating her.

Rick took advantage of her silence. "Is this about Sophia? You're not the only one who lost her."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't insult me. I never said I was. Never implied it." She cocked her head to the side. "Don't you have other things to worry about? What about your wife?" That shut him up and with a satisfied smirk she walked off, leaving him behind.

She arrived at her and Daryl's camp but he wasn't around. She dropped her stuff off and headed to their makeshift cemetery.

Marianne took the wilting flowers out of the glass bottle on Sophia's grave and put in fresh ones. There had been a tiny greenhouse with rose bushes at the other farm and she thought roses would look nice on the girl's grave. She heard footsteps coming from behind her and twisted around to see Carol walking towards her. She stood a few feet away from Marianne.

"You should get out of those clothes."

"I don't have anything clean left."

"I can wash them for you."

"You don't have to do that. It's a pain in the ass to get the blood out. I think I stained everything."

"I like to keep busy. I think you do too," Carol said. Marianne picked a long piece of grass and started pulling it apart. "Rick meant well. I think you should stop going out there. It's not safe."

"It's not safe in here." Marianne began taking the petals off of the wilted flowers and scattering them on the ground. "I guess we can do the laundry together. It'll go faster." She looked at Carol, who had a small smile on her face.

Carol was helping Marianne hang up her clothes to dry when Rick and Shane returned with Randall. They roughly led the boy to the shed and chained him up. Both men looked like they had beat the crap out of each other but no one commented on their bloody faces. She was still mad at Rick and she didn't like Shane, so she derived some satisfaction from seeing their cuts and bruises.

The group gathered to find out why they still had a prisoner.

"What happened out there?" Lori asked.

"We got overrun by walkers. We couldn't leave him," Rick said.

"He went to school with Maggie. He knows where we are," Shane added.

"Oh my God." Lori put a hand on her chest.

"So what do we do now?" Glenn asked.

"We need to find out more about his people. Assess the threat." Rick looked at Marianne. "We'll do that tomorrow morning."

The group slowly dispersed. Marianne meandered back to her tent. She wanted to get to bed early tonight. For days she hadn't been sleeping well and she was exhausted. If this went on much longer mistakes could be made. Mistakes that could cost Marianne her life.

She had an early dinner of roasted squirrel and was lying on her cot, close to sleep, when she heard Daryl come back. Not long after that, she heard another set of footsteps getting closer and then she heard Rick's voice.

"Daryl, I wanna ask you something."

"Is this about Randall?"

"Yes it is. I need you to talk to him. Find out what you can." Marianne got up from her cot, unzipped the tent flap, and poked her head outside.

"What kind of talkin' do you have in mind?"

"Do what you have to do." Rick had his hands on his hips and Daryl nodded. Marianne sighed, went back into her tent and pulled her boots on. Rick was already walking away when she sat across the campfire from Daryl.

"I'm talkin' to Randall with you."

"You don't have'ta. And I'm better off on my own."

"We can do the bad cop, good cop routine. I'll be the bad cop," she said lightly.

Daryl snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I don't think you realize how vicious women can be."

"Oh, I have an idea." He looked at her pointedly.

"Then it's settled."

"It won't be pretty."

"When has that ever stopped me?"

Within a few minutes of entering the shed Randall had blood on his face.

"Come on, Randall. It doesn't have to be this way. We don't want to hurt you."

"Speak for yourself," Daryl said, crossing his arms.

"I don't want to hurt you. Who are you trying to protect? Nate left you behind. I have feelin' he wouldn't be the only one."

"I told you. I don't know anything."

"That's a lie Randall." She gave a long, drawn out sigh. "You're lyin' to us." Marianne moved closer to him until she was able to place a foot on his leg. She pressed the heel of her boot onto his wound. Randall cried out but she kept increasing the pressure. "It doesn't have to be like this Randall. Just tell us the truth."

Marianne backed away from him, removing her foot from his leg, to give him a little time to catch his breath so he could speak.

"I'm not lyin'. I don't know. I don't know anything."

"Wrong answer." She looked at her brother, who was leaning against the wall opposite of Randall. It was his turn again. "Daryl." He stepped forward and Marianne retreated to sit on the table in the corner.

Daryl punched Randall so hard, the boy slid off of his chair sideways and landed on the floor.

"I told you."

"You told us shit!"

"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road." Finally, they were getting something even though it was a load of nothing.

"How many in your group?" Daryl asked. Randall looked pained at the question and didn't answer it so Daryl pulled out his hunting knife.

"No, no, no, come on, man."

Daryl slammed the tip of knife into the floor between Randall's legs. "How many?"

"Thirty, thirty guys." This made her stand up and take a few steps towards Randall and Daryl.

"Where?" Marianne asked.

"Uh…" Daryl ripped Randall's bandage off and Randall screamed. "I don't know. I swear. We were never anyplace more than a night."

Daryl dug his knife in Randall's wound. "Scouting? Planning on staying local?"

"I don't know. They left me behind. Mary, please, you saw." Randall looked at Marianne desperately.

"Maybe that 'please' would've worked better with my real name," she said.

"Don't look at her. You lost your chance with her. You ever pick off a scab?"

"Come on, man! I'm trying to cooperate."

"Start real slow at first. Sooner or later, you just gotta rip it off."

"Okay! They have weapons, heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything."

"Your boys shot at my boys, tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell me you're innocent?"

"Yes! These people took me in. Not just guys—a whole group of 'em. Men and women, kids too, just like you people." Daryl stood up and began pacing. "I thought I'd have a better chance with them but…" Randall quickly looked over at Marianne. "We go out, scavenge. Just the men. One night we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters. Teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute."

Marianne knew where this was going and her hands clenched into fists. While Randall told them what happened she walked closer to him. Daryl looked over at her and moved aside a little to make room for her.

"No, but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't—" Marianne punched Randall as hard as she could and he cried out, falling onto his side.

"You gotta believe me. I ain't like that." But she ignored him and eventually Daryl had to pull her away.

"Let's go. We've got enough," Daryl said.

They left the shed, making sure it was locked before they headed to the camp where the group was waiting for them. Marianne shook out her right hand. It was a little banged up and bloody but Daryl's looked slightly worse.

"You alright?" Daryl asked.

"Peachy."

The two of them continued the walk in silence until they reached the group.

"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna wish they were," Daryl said.

"What did you two do?" Carol asked.

Daryl glanced down at his bloody knuckles. "Had a little chat."

"No one goes near this guy," Rick announced.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked.

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale looked appalled.

"It's settled. I'll do it today," Rick said.

Marianne was cleaning her arrows under a tree far from the house when Dale walked up to her.

"I'm not sittin' out here because I want company," she said, not looking up from her task.

"I figured as much. I almost didn't find you."

"Pity."

"I talked to Daryl about Randall."

"Yeah? How'd that work out for ya?" She set aside an arrow and picked up another one.

"Not good. I'm hoping for a better result with you."

"Hope all you want Dale. It don't cost much."

"What I'm hoping is that you'll side with me. To save Randall's life."

She looked up at him. "Why would I do that?"

"Because if you had wanted him dead, you wouldn't have shot his leg."

Marianne scoffed. "I've been regrettin' that decision for a week. If I'd have known all the trouble he'd cause, I would've left him for the walkers."

"You don't really believe that."

"Then you don't know me too well."

"I know you're a good person, despite what you did to Randall this morning." Marianne snorted. "You cared about Sophia. You—"

"You try that line with Daryl? What makes you think it'd work with me?" Her patience with Dale was wearing thin.

"Because you have a heart. I've seen it. Others have too."

"My heart says Randall needs to die. If we let him go and he brings back his men, there's a lesson to be learned that costs way too much and we may not survive it."

"So that's it then? You're going to condemn a person to die without so much as blinking."

Marianne put her arrows back in her quiver and stood up. "Oh, I blinked. But yeah, pretty much. See you around."

She walked away from a distressed Dale and headed for the woods. It was the only place she could guarantee she would be alone. Well, except for walkers but she'd be more than happy to kill them.

Wanting to circle half of the property with what was left of the day, Marianne stayed somewhat close to the farm's perimeter. She had covered quite a bit of ground when Marianne thought she heard a scream that sounded like Carl. She ran towards it as fast as she could, hoping it was some freakish bird call instead of Rick's son.

She didn't have to go far before Carl and the walker trying to grab him came into sight. An arrow flew through the air and right into the walker's head. It slumped in mid-reach, its arms outstretched in death.

"What the hell are you doin' out here?" She couldn't keep the anger out of her voice and didn't want to. It was like this kid was trying to get himself killed. He needed to stop wandering off and his parents needed to keep a closer eye on him. She had feeling he didn't get disciplined very much. Carl, still stunned, didn't answer.

She walked down to the edge of the creek and stared down Carl, who stood on the other side. "Well?"

He looked down at the ground and kicked some leaves. "I was just playing."

"With a walker? Are you stupid or are you crazy?" She walked through the creek and next to the walker, retrieving her arrow. "They aren't playthings. This ain't a game." She spotted something in the leaves next to him and pointed. "What's that?"

Carl looked guilty as hell. "Don't tell my parents."

"Don't tell them what?" She walked over to it and picked up a gun. "This is Daryl's. So you're a thief too."

"Please don't tell my parents."

"Tough luck, buddy. Get a move on. I need to have a talk with your dad."

Marianne was planning to tell Rick what Carl had been up to right away but when they arrived at the house it was time for the group to discuss Randall's fate so she figured it could wait.

The group gathered in the living room. Marianne leaned her back against the wall behind Glenn, who was sitting on the piano stool, and a little to the left behind Rick.

"Let's see where everybody stands," Rick said. "Then we can talk through the options."

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward," Shane said.

"Killing him. Right? I mean why even bother to take a vote, it's clear which way the wind's blowing," Dale said.

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know," Rick said.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group. Maybe just me and Glenn."

Glenn looked up at Dale. "Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything all the time, but he's not one of us. And we've lost too many people already."

"Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself," Dale asserted.

"We're not letting him walk around," Rick said.

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up," Lori said.

"Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men," Shane said.

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization," Dale said.

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles," Daryl said. "You just wanna go around in circles again?"

"This is a young man's life. Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"

"We don't rape people. They didn't do that because they didn't have a choice. You think they'll stop there? We're not killin' for fun but I can guarantee you they have men who will," Marianne said.

"We all know what needs to be done," Shane said.

"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility—"

Andrea interrupted Rick. "So what's the other solution? We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."

"So let's work on it!" Dale said.

"Stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide, either of you, both of you. But leave me out," Carol suddenly spoke out.

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself—there's no difference," Dale told Carol.

"All right, that's enough," Rick said. "Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."

"You once said that we don't kill the living," Dale said.

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us."

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were, the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. A world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe that any of you do. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else that's going to stand with me?" Dale asked.

"He's right," Andrea said. "We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asked. No one spoke.

"Are y'all gonna watch too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being." Dale shook his head. "I won't be a party to it."

Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Marianne waited until dark to take Randall to the barn. Randall was either in denial or hadn't realized yet what they were about to do. He kept turning his head trying to look at her but every time he did Daryl would push him forward, making Randall stumble. He had latched onto her like a lost puppy and for reasons she couldn't fathom, still did even after her part in his interrogation.

Daryl led Randall to stand in the middle of the barn.

"It's all gonna be over soon," Shane said as he came up behind the boy and tied black pantyhose over Randall's eyes.

"What's gonna be over soon?" Randall asked and then it seemed to hit him. "Hey, hey. No, no, no, no." Shane shushed him but Randall began to cry. Shane stepped away from him and now they were all standing around him, with Rick directly in front of Randall.

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked.

"Oh no, please," Randall said instead of answering. Daryl kicked his legs and Randall fell to his knees. He began to sob.

"Do you have any final words?" Rick asked.

"No, please. Please don't."

Marianne's heartbeat picked up a little and her stomach twisted. This is what she had wanted, right? It was kill or be killed.

Rick raised his gun. The end of the barrel was barely an inch away from Randall's head. She wouldn't look away. Rick was steeling himself.

"Do it, Dad." Marianne turned around to see Carl standing in the barn's entrance. "Do it."

Marianne could pinpoint the second Rick changed his mind, even before he lowered his gun. Shane pulled Carl out of the barn and she watched the struggle in Rick's face. He wasn't going to do it but she didn't feel relieved or disappointed.

"Take him away," Rick said and Daryl grabbed onto Randall and starting pushing him forward. Marianne stood aside as the two passed her. She kept looking at Rick and then at the spot Randall had been. There should be a dead body there and blood splattered on the loose hay on the ground. They'd sweep it up and throw it away but now that wouldn't happen.

Rick led his son back to camp and she trailed behind, the last to leave the barn. She shut the doors behind her.

"We're keeping him in custody for now," Rick said to the group waiting around the campfire. Andrea was the only one that looked happy about it.

Marianne waited until Rick was done talking to Lori to approach him and pull him aside.

"Rick, I need to talk to you about Carl. I wish I would've earlier but we were a little preoccupied. He did somethin' dangerous today," she said in a low voice.

"What did he do?"

"I caught him in the woods messin' around with a walker stuck in the mud. It got loose. Could've bit him real easy." Rick looked at the tent his son was currently in. His jaw clenched. "And that's not all. He stole Daryl's gun."

Rick nodded, looking deep in thought. "Thank you for telling me."

"I won't tell you how to raise your son, but he can't be a kid anymore. Not like before. He'll keep doin' things like this. He needs more responsibility. I didn't have much of a childhood. I had to grow up fast and I turned out…not terrible." Marianne could've sworn she saw the corner of his mouth turn up a little. "But I'm a survivor and he needs to be too."

A/N: The next update might be a little late so I apologize in advance.