Character Statuses:
Jacob Bishop: Alive
Zachary Bishop: Alive
Henry Wu: Alive
Dr. Alan Grant: Alive
Billy Brennan: Alive
Nima Cruz: Alive
Gerry Harding: Alive
Kayla Watts: Alive
Rick Grimes: Alive
Carl Grimes: Alive
Lori Grimes: Alive
Shane Walsh: Alive
Andrea: Alive
Amy: Deceased; Cause of death: Arm torn off by velociraptor, and fatally bitten on the neck by a walker
Dale Horvath: Alive
Glenn Rhee: Alive
Daryl Dixon: Alive
Merle Dixon: Status Unknown
Jim: Deceased, presumably undead; Cause of death: Bitten on the torso by a walker during the camp massacre and left to turn
Morales Family: Status Unknown
T-Dog: Alive
Jacqui: Deceased; Cause of death: Died when the CDC exploded
Carol Peletier: Alive
Ed Peletier: Deceased; Cause of death: devoured by walkers in his tent
Sophia Peletier: Deceased; Cause of death: Bitten on fatally on the neck by a walker and left to turn. Was possibly attacked by a dinosaur before hand.
Morgan Jones: Status Unknown
Duane Jones: Status Unknown
Edwin Jenner: Deceased; Cause of death: Died when the CDC exploded
Hershel Greene: Alive
Maggie Greene: Alive
Beth Greene: Alive
Otis: Deceased: Cause of death: Shot by Shane in the leg to use as bait, and devoured by both walkers and velociraptors
Patricia: Alive
Jimmy: Alive
—
Dinosaurs encountered so far:
Carnivores
Velociraptor
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Allosaurus
Carnotaurus
Dilophosaurus
Herrarasaurus
Compsognathus
Ceratosaurus
Herbivores
Apatosaurus
Triceratops
Sinoceratops
Gallimimus
Brachiosaurus (seen briefly in the prologue)
Stegosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus
Parasaurolophus
Ankylosaurus (Corpse only)
Non-Dinosaurs
Dimorphodon
Pteranodon
Quetzalcoatlus
In the woodshed Daryl was giving quite a beatdown to Randall in an attempt to get something, anything out of him about his group. Daryl sucker punched him in the side of his face.
"I told you- " Randal started. He couldn't get his words out before Daryl landed another punch.
"You told me shit!" Daryl yelled, picking him up and pinning him against the wall.
"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road," Randall said, spitting out blood.
"How many in your group?" Daryl asked. Randall didn't say anything, until Daryl pulled out his rather large knife.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, man," Randal panicked. Daryl slammed the knife down next to Randal, causing him to yelp fearfully.
"How many?!" Daryl yelled into his face.
"Uh, 30- 30," Randal said
"Where?" Daryl asked.
"Uh," Randall didn't answer fast enough for Daryl's liking. He ripped Randall's bandage off his leg and put the tip of his knife up to the wound.
"I don't know! I swear," Randal said. We were never anyplace more than a night,"
"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" Daryl asked. He twisted the knife ever so slightly on top of Randall's leg wound.
"I- I don't know. They- they left me behind," Randall stammered. Daryl still wasn't convinced. He started to put more pressure on the leg wound.
"Did you ever pick off a scab?"
"Come on, man! I'm-I'm trying to cooperate," Randall said, stammering in fear. Daryl pressed the knife at the edge of Randal's leg wound.
"Start real slow at first," he said.
"No!" Randall called out in pain.
"Sooner or later, you've just gotta rip it off," Daryl threatened.
"Okay. Okay!" Randall finally caved. "They have weapons- Heavy stuff, automatics. "But I didn't do anything!" Daryl got in real close to Randall's face.
"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?" He said.
"Yes! These- these people took me in. Not just guys- A whole group of 'em.
Men and women, kids too- Just like you people," Daryl backed off a bit and stood up. Randall continued. "Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But We go out, scavenge, just the men. One night, we find a campsite, a man and his two daughters- Teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute," Daryl shot him a look of daggers, but didn't say anything as Randall continued.
"Their daddy had to watch while these guys- they- And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- They just made him watch as his daughters- They just-just- just left him there. No, but-but- but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't do—" Before Randall could finish his sentence, Daryl kicked him in the leg.
"Please. Please. You gotta believe me, man, I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please. Please, you gotta believe me," Randall cried as Daryl kicked him again on his wound.
(Intro)
—
Farm
During Daryl's "interrogation" of Randall, the group was deliberating around the fire.
"So, what you gonna do?" Lori asked Rick and Shane.
"We'd all feel better if we knew the plan," Jacob said, throwing a log onto the fire.
"Is there a plan?" Andrea asked.
"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asked, slightly concerned for his own safety.
"We'll know soon enough," Rick said, gesturing to Daryl, who came walking back from the woodshed.
"Boy there's got a gang, 30 men," he said. "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- They're gonna wish they were,"
"What did you do?" Carol asked, looking at his bloodied hands. Daryl paused for a minute.
"Had a little chat," he said. Carol walked away either in disgust, anguish, or both.
"No one goes near this guy," Rick said.
"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked worriedly.
"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat," Rick said.
"Jesus," Jacob said softly, shaking his head.
"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked, with his usual shocked expression on his face.
"It's settled," Rick said. "I'll do it today," he walked away from the campsite and Dale followed him.
"You can't do this. You don't wanna do this. I know you don't," Dale said, trying to keep up with Rick.
"I thought about it all night. Knowing what we know now, I don't see a way out of it," Rick said. Dale stopped him
"But you can't just decide on your own to take someone's life," he said.
"The group seemed supportive," Rick retorted.
"What, because they didn't speak back? You didn't let 'em!" Dale called, lightly tapping Rick's chest.
"There's gotta be a- a process," Dale continued.
"And what would that be? We can't call witnesses, - go before a judge," Rick said.
"So he's automatically guilty by association and sentenced to death? He's just a kid. Gimme some time to talk to everyone," Dale said.
"No, we can't drag this out! People are scared," Rick replied.
"Which is why they need time to discuss this," Dale said.
"No, no, no, they need to be safe. I owe 'em that," Rick began to walk away until Dale yelled back at him.
"You think about your son! The message that you're giving him. Shoot first, think later. I'm asking for one day to talk to everybody. You can give me that. Think-think about Carl," he said, flustered.
"I am. We reconvene at sunset, then what happens, happens," with that, Rick walked back towards the farmhouse as a distant thunder storm began to set in.
—
Firepit
Jacob looked up to the sky at the sound of approaching thunder. Isla Nublar seemed to have a thunderstorm or hurricane blow in every other week. He wished he could go back to when all he had to worry about was keeping the baby dinosaurs in the petting zoo calm every time one of them rolled through. Dale walking back through the campsite brought him back to reality.
"Dale?" Jacob asked, noticing how flustered he was. "Everything alright?" Dale stopped walking and turned to him, but didn't say anything.
"Listen. Randall isn't my favorite person. I know he tried to shoot at us, but, I don't think executing him is the right thing to do. It doesn't feel right. He's not much younger than me," Jacob said, trying to comfort Dale a bit.
"What did you really see, at that bar?" Dale asked. Jacob paused for a minute.
"It happened so fast. Raptors on one side, walkers on the other, but, he tried to land a shot or two on Glenn. When his buddies tried to bail, he fell off a roof, and impaled his leg on a fence and then they just- - left him. Personally, I think he's telling the truth. I don't think he wants to hurt us, especially if they left him behind," Jacob explained. "I just- - I'm tired of seeing so many people die, Dale. Hell, I've never taken a life before. Even if he shot at us, I don't want Zach to think that's who we are," he added, his voice lowering a bit. Dale patted him on the shoulder and gave Jacob a sad smile as he continued walking by towards the RV.
"You and me both," Jacob just nodded as Dale walked inside. He started covering the fire wood in preparation for the coming storm. Wu had also been listening in from atop the RV.
"Your brother thinks the world of you, you know," Wu said. Jacob looked at him with a smile.
"Hopefully it stays that way. I don't want to expose him to this shit. He's only eleven and he's seen more death than any kid his age ever should. Carl too," Wu nodded but looked back to Jacob.
"He's a bright, kind, young man. Whatever the group decides, he'll understand," he said. Jacob sighed and nodded.
"I hope so,"
Inside the RV, Andrea was rummaging through the closet as Dale stepped inside.
"I need a favor," He said. Andrea ignored him.
"Did you move the gun bag?" She asked.
"Yeah," Dale said dismissively. "I need you to guard Randall, protect him,"
"Why?" Andrea asked, looking at him.
"Rick's giving me time to talk to the others, try and talk some sense into them.
But if Shane finds out—" Andrea cut in before Dale could finish.
"You think he'd just shoot the guy himself?" She said, almost rolling her eyes.
"You know killing the boy had to be his idea," Dale said darkly. Are you with him on this?" He asked her.
"He's a threat," Andrea shrugged. "Tell me this isn't all the ammo," she said, trying to change the subject.
"You're a civil rights lawyer," Dale said.
"Was," Andrea replied.
"You fight with words, the power of ideas. Using a-a gun, that's his way," Dale said. Andrea sighed and looked at him.
"You really want to debate about saving a guy who will lead his buddies right to our door?" She asked.
"That's what a civilized society does," Dale said.
"Who says we're civilized anymore?" Andrea asked.
"No, the world we knew is gone, but keeping our humanity? That's a choice," Dale said, looking her in the eyes. Andrea didn't say anything as Dale slid the pistol on the table closer to her. She finally caved, and grabbed her gun.
"I'll watch your prisoner. But not because I think you're right,"
—
Woodshed
As Andrea stepped up to the shed, Randall heard her and came up to a hole in the wall.
"Hello?" He called out. "Hey. Can I get some water? Please? I'm very thirsty," Andrea didn't say anything.
"They're gonna kill me, right?" Randall said in a low voice. Andrea looked at him through the hole in the shed, and then turned away in shame and perhaps a bit of remorse. A few moments later, Shane was headed towards the shed with Carl trailing behind him.
"So he's a kid?" Carl asked.
"He ain't a kid," Shane replied. "Just- That's a figure of speech,"
"Can I see him?" Carl asked.
"No. Look, man, this is- this is grown-up stuff, all right? You just- you just let us handle this," Shane said, patting Carl on the shoulder. Carl nodded and Shane walked to the woodshed without him. He scoffed when he saw Andrea guarding the door.
"Dale, huh? What, he put you on death watch?" Shane asked. Andrea didn't say a word. Shane chuckled in disbelief.
"Let me ask you something- Say I wanted to go in there right now and I just wanted to take care of this, you gonna stop me? Hmm?" He asked.
"I had a good teacher," Andrea said with a smile.
"Yeah," Shane conceded before he continued. "So what? You buy into Dale's sob story?" Shane asked.
"I told him I was with you on this," Andrea said. Shane knelt on the ground next to her.
"Mmm you're just still here for him, huh? That's cute. You see what's happening, don't you? These guys ain't gonna go through with this. I'm telling you, they gonna- They gonna pussy out. And if they do, we gonna have a big problem on our hands," Shane paused for a moment when she didn't say anything.
"Let me ask you something- Every time we have a problem around here, - who do you think's behind it?" He asked, already knowing the answer to his own question.
"Some might say you," Andrea admitted.
"Nah," Shane chuckled. No one listens to me. I say it's the guys that make up the rules, the boys that always have all the answers, even though their answers always prove wrong," he explained. Meanwhile, Randall was looking through the hole in the shed, listening in.
"So what are you gonna do? Rick's the leader of this group, it's Hershel's farm," Andrea shrugged.
"Maybe we oughta change that," Shane proposed.
"What, are you gonna lock 'em in a room and take their guns?" Andrea asked, half joking. Shane gave her a serious look, to which she backed up a bit.
"I don't know," she said. "That could get out of hand," Shane stood back up.
"No, no, it won't. Okay? I won't let it. Listen, I don't- I don't want anybody to get hurt, okay? Rick's my friend, Hershel- He's all right by me," he said.
"And Dale?" Andrea asked.
"Dale got a big mouth, but he's harmless," Shane laughed slightly.
"What about Jacob? I've heard you two don't get along," Andrea asked.
"Jake's just a kid. And he's all talk. Look, I just- I wanna know what it's like to sleep without keeping one eye open. Ain't that- ain't that what we all want?" Shane said, almost sounding sincere. Andrea nodded.
"Hey, ball's in their court. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm getting all worked up over nothing," Shane said, shaking his head. While Shane and Andrea continued their conversation, Carl had somehow snuck his way into the shed, and sat up in the rafters, glaring down at Randall.
"Hey," Randall whispered. That's a sweet hat. I'm Randall. What's your name?" He asked. Carl didn't say anything and just kept glaring down at Randall.
"The sheriff guy- That your dad? I like him. Yeah, he's a good guy. I can tell.
Your mom out here too? You're- you're lucky you still got your family. I lost mine.
Hey, I- I don't know what people been saying about me, but I didn't do nothing.
I swear," Randall said. Carl started climbing down from the rafters.
"Your dad was gonna let me go till his friend started fighting with him. It got pretty bad. I- I was kinda worried. My camp, we got lots of supplies. You help me, I'll take you and your folks back to my people. We'll take good care of you. Keep you safe. They- - they know places where them dinosaurs can't get to. Just gotta- Just gotta help me get out of here, okay?" Randall explained. Carl started inching closer to him. "Just help me pick these locks or find the key, okay? Come on, please? Please?" Before Randall or Carl could say anything else, the door to the shed flew open and Carl had been caught red handed. Shane noticed Carl and immediately pulled him away.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" He asked Carl. Shane then took his gun out and pinned Randall against the wall, pointing it at him.
"What did you say to him? What did you say to him, huh?" He said.
"I didn't say nothing!" Randall said. Shane started to get more aggressive.
"Let me tell you something- - I will shoot you where you sit," he threatened. Andrea tried to diffuse the situation.
"Okay Shane, not now!" She called over Shane's threats. He put the gun up to Randall's lips.
"Open your mouth. Open your mouth!" He yelled.
"Shane," Andrea called again.
"You like talking, man? You like talking?!" He called. Finally, Andrea was able to get him to back off.
"Back off! Shane!" She yelled. Finally, Shane lowered his gun and Randall slumped back against the wall onto the bench. He grabbed Carl and practically pushed him out the woodshed door.
"Get your ass out this door. Let's go," he said. They were back outside and Carl looked panicked.
"The hell you doing?" Shane asked.
"Please don't tell my parents," Carl pleaded.
"Carl, that ain't cool, man. You could've gotten hurt in there," Shane said, out of breath.
"I can handle myself," Carl snapped back. Shane got in his face.
"Let me tell you something- you do not go near him again. Do you hear me?Damn it," he said, backing up.
"You won't tell my parents, will you?" Carl pleaded again.
Carl, man, this- This isn't about getting in trouble, okay? A guy like that, he will say anything to you. He'll try to make you feel sorry for him. He'll try to make you get your guard down. You let your guard down out here, people die.
Now, just- Do me a favor, man- Go find your ma. Go on," Shane lectured. Carl didn't say anything but began to run off before Shane called back to him again.
"Carl, quit trying to get yourself killed, man,"
—
Daryl's campsite
Daryl was throwing sticks into a pile when he saw Dale lumbering up to his campsite amid some stone ruins.
"The whole point of me coming up here is - to get away from you people," Daryl scoffed.
"Gonna take more than that," Dale said, throwing his walking stick in Daryl's pile.
"Carol send you?" Daryl asked.
"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group," Dale replied.
"Oh, man, I don't need my head shrunk. This group's broken. I'm better off fending for myself," Daryl said.
"You act like you don't care," Dale accused.
"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't," Daryl said, throwing his jacket on and his crossbow over his shoulder.
"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?" Dale asked.
"Nope," Daryl shrugged.
"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?" Dale pleaded. Daryl just looked at him.
"Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch," he said.
"Your opinion makes a difference," Dale said. Daryl started walking away from his campsite.
"Man, ain't nobody looking at me for nothing," he said.
"Carol is. It sounds like Jacob does. And I am. Right now. And you obviously- You have Rick's ear," Dale said, starting to follow Daryl. Daryl stopped walking and turned towards Dale.
"Rick just looks to Shane," Daryl said. "Let him," Daryl started walking away again. Until Dale spoke back up.
"You cared about what happened to Sophia," Daryl turned around and walked back towards Dale again as he continued. "Cared what it meant to the group. Torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane- He's different," he said.
"Why's that? 'Cause he killed Otis?" Daryl asked so nonchalantly.
"He tell you that?" Dale asked, sounding somewhat surprised. Daryl started again.
"He told some story- How Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said- Group's broken," with that, Daryl walked away leaving Dale to ponder his words.
—
Barn
Carl was sulking outside the barn, kicking a shell casing around that, more than likely had been used to gun down the walkers a few weeks prior. Lori came up to Carl.
"Baby, where's your daddy?" She asked.
"He's up there," Carl said, not looking at his mother. In the Barn, Rick was inspecting the rafters, and trying to string up a rudimentary noose that he intended to hang Randall with. Lori walked up to the second level.
"So, uh The nights are getting colder and we're pretty exposed," she said. Rick nodded in agreement.
"I was thinking- - Maybe we could clear this place out, station lookouts up here," he said. Lori just looked at him.
"Or we could- - talk to Hershel about staying in the house," Rick said.
Lori nodded in satisfaction.
"All right," Rick said. Lori took a look at the crude noose set up.
"Is that really the best way to do this? To string him up?" She asked. Rick shrugged. "I have no idea." He said. "It's my first time," Lori looked slightly concerned.
"Look, I know how you feel about the death penalty, but—" Rick continued.
"And I know the world has changed," Lori said, finishing his sentence. "After everything that's happened, you and Shane agree on this," she said.
"So you support this decision?" Rick asked, looking up at her.
"If you think it's best. You never did tell me what happened on the road with you and Shane," Lori said. Rick finished tying the final knot in the noose.
"He won't be a problem anymore,"
—
Gravesite
Carl was kneeling next to Sophia's grave when Carol came walking up to him.
"You know, we'll see Sophia again in heaven some day," she said sadly. Carl just fidgeted with the shell casing in his hand and didn't say anything.
"She's in a better place," Carol said. Carl just looked up at her and glared.
"No, she's not. Heaven is just another lie, and if you believe it, you're an idiot," Carl stormed off leaving a hurt and dumbfounded Carol behind at the gravesite. Shortly after Carl left, Lori and Rick came out of the Barn and Carol came walking up to them.
"You need to control that boy," she called out to them.
"Carl? What happened?" Rick asked.
"He's disrespectful," Carol replied.
"Did he say something?" Rick asked.
"Something cruel about Sofia," Carol said, looking off in the direction Carl went. Without another word, Rick headed off in his direction.
"We'll figure it out. It's okay," Lori said.
"I- - It's not okay," Carol said back.
"We'll- we'll- we'll deal with it," Lori stammered. "If you can calm down, so that I can- "
"Don't tell me to calm down!" Carol said, cutting her off.
"No, I- I don't—" Lori struggled to get the words out.
"I don't need you to patronize me. Everyone either avoids me or they treat me like I'm crazy. I lost my daughter. I didn't lose my mind!" Carol angrily stormed off.
—
Field
In the field a short way away from the campsite, Rick had caught up with Carl.
"Carl, come over here. Did you talk back to Carol?" He asked.
"No," Carl said. He had a smug look on his face.
"She says you did. You can't talk back to people like that," Rick said. Carl paused for a moment before admitting what he said.
"I said it's stupid to believe in heaven. 'Cause it is," he said. Rick just sighed.
"Well, just think about that for a minute. She just lost her daughter. She wants to believe she's still alive in some way," he said.
"But she- " Carl started to say before Rick stopped him.
"Don't- Don't talk. Think. It's a good rule of thumb for life," he said.
"Mom always wants you to talk more," Carl said. Rick shook his head.
"Don't change the subject. You owe Carol an apology. You made a mistake.
Fix it," Rick said, starting to walk away.
"Is that why you're gonna kill that guy? Fixing your mistake?" Carl asked smugly.
"That's different," Rick said, turning back to him.
"How are you gonna do it? Are you gonna hang him in the barn?" Carl asked. Rick didn't answer his question.
"You just think about how you're gonna make things right with Carol," he commanded. "Don't talk. Think. You got it?" Rick asked.
"Yeah,"
—
Field
In the cattle field, several cattle were wandering around, as well as a few triceratops. Billy, Jimmy, Patricia and Hershel were working on getting them back behind the fences. Hershel was taking a water break when Dale came up to him. Billy stood next to Hershel, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"What happened?" Dale asked.
"Triceratops got spooked by something and busted through the fence. A dozen of the cattle followed it," Billy said.
"We've been wrangling the runaways all morning," Hershel added. "But you're not here to talk cattle," Patricia motioned for Billy to give her a hand. He walked back to her and gave Hershel a nod.
"The boy," Dale said.
"The prisoner," Hershel corrected.
"Randall," Dale said.
"I don't want to know," Hershel said, shaking his head. "I'm told they're deciding his fate. I'll leave it with Rick," he said, sounding almost defeated.
"But this is your home," Dale said. Hershel shook his head again.
"I want him away from my girls. I don't care how," he said.
"It's an execution," Dale said.
"I don't want to know," Hershel reiterated. Dale got closer to him.
"But you can't stand by the sidelines. You're a man with —" He trailed off.
"To tell you the truth, I was. Or at least I thought I was. But I've made too many mistakes," Hershel said.
"Would you at least talk with Randall before making up your mind?" Dale pleaded. Hershel shook his head once more.
"No," He said. "I'll leave it with Rick,"
—
Farm Outskirts
Later, Zach and Carl were walking the outskirts of the farm, near Daryl's camp.
"We're getting kinda far from the farm," Zach said, nervously looking around.
"Relax. I can still see the house," Carl said, brushing off Zach. Zach just sighed and continued following Carl.
"Where are we going anyway?" He asked.
"On patrol," Carl said with a smirk. Zach just shrugged and sighed. The two of them reached Daryl's campsite. His motorcycle was parked next to a tree. There were also a few squirrel, rabbit, and compy carcasses strung up on the same tree. Carl and Zach both grimaced at the smell.
"Hey Zach, check it out," Carl said as he grabbed the handlebars to Daryl's bike. Zach chuckled half heartedly. He still felt nervous. Suddenly, Carl reached into Daryl's saddlebag and pulled out a pistol.
"Woah," Carl said with a smile. "Wanna see who's the better shot?" He asked. Zach frowned.
"I don't think Daryl would be cool with you touching his stuff. Especially his gun," he said, shaking his head. Carl just shrugged.
"I'm just borrowing it," He said. "I'll put it back before he even knows it's gone,"
"I don't like this," Zach said, crossing his arms. Carl rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, well- -" Before Carl could finish, a soft hooting sound came distantly from the woods, and he instantly started heading towards it. Zach quickly followed behind him.
"Carl, wait!"
A few minutes later, after trudging through the woods, the two of them came to the swamp that Hershel, Jimmy and Rick had pulled walkers out of a few weeks ago. Upon entering the clearing, the two boys saw the source of the hooting. It was a dilophosaurus stuck in the mud.
"Carl, we need to get out of here! That's a dilophosaurus!" Zach whisper yelled. Carl turned back towards him.
"Look, if you can't handle what it takes to survive out here, you should just go back to the farm," he said coldly. Zach scowled at him.
"There's a difference between surviving and getting yourself killed," he said.
"Now you sound like my parents," Carl said rolling his eyes.
"Yeah well, maybe they're right," Zach said. The two boys stared each other down.
"Just leave. You'd get in my way anyway," Carl said.
"Whatever. Have fun getting yourself killed," Zach said, angrily storming off back to the farm. Carl just scoffed and rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, the dilophosaurus was trying to get itself free and Carl crept closer to it. As he inched closer, it looked at him inquisitively and hooted again, tilting its head in the process. As Carl stepped closer, the small carnivore gave a low growl, causing Carl to frantically step back up the hill. He watched the dilo for a few seconds before getting closer again, this time, throwing a rock at it, but just narrowly missing its arm. The dilophosaur watched the rock tumble away, and then look back at Carl again, as Carl just stared it right in the eyes.
—
Farm
Back on the farm, Dale worked up his courage to talk to Shane.
"What's up, Dale?" Shane asked with a smirk.
"I wanna change your mind," Dale said bluntly. Shane gave a mean spirited chuckle.
"What, you serious?" He asked. Dale ignored him.
"I know you and I will never see eye to eye on much- -" Dale said.
"Say that's the understatement of the year, huh?" Shane added.
"But, uh, - you're not going anywhere," Dale said. Shane shook his head.
"Nope,"
"- -and I'm not going anywhere," Dale continued. "So let's talk about this like men,"
"Okay. You deny we're in danger, Dale?" Shane asked, genuinely.
"No," Dale said. "But there's a dozen of us, one of him,"
"There's 30 of them," Shane reminded him.
"Killing him doesn't change that," Dale said.
"No," Shane conceded.
"But it changes us," Dale said, raising a finger. Shane chuckled again.
"You- You got balls, Dale. I'm gonna give you that. Now I'll tell you what- In a little bit, when y'all gather, you're gonna talk about this. If you've convinced them to keep this guy alive, then I ain't gonna say a damn word about it, okay?" Shane said, in the least confrontational way possible. Dale nodded, but sensed more was coming.
"But I'm telling you now, man to man, you're wrong. And when this guy kills somebody, I ain't gonna need to say anything, because that blood- That's gonna be on you. You're wrong about this, Dale. You're dead wrong,"
—
Farmhouse
Hershel was kneeling beside Beth's bed while Billy watched on smiling. He set down a glass of water on the end table next to the bed. Hershel sang her a nursery rhyme from her childhood.
"Doodlebug, doodlebug, go away home. Doodlebug,"
"Doodlebug, doodlebug, go away home," Beth repeatedly softly. Hershel gently held her hand as Glenn walked in.
"How is she?" He asked.
"She seems to be in good spirits today. Aren't you, doodlebug?" Hershel said, kissing Beth on the forehead.
"Well, let me know if I can do anything," Glenn said. Hershel nodded then turned to Billy.
"Mind sitting with her a moment? I'd like to speak to Glenn," he asked.
"Of course," Billy said nodding. Hershel gave him a thankful nod back and him and Glenn walked into the living room.
"Where's your family from?" Hershel asked Glenn.
"Michigan. But, uh, before that, Korea," Glenn said.
"Immigrants built this country. Never forget that. Our family came from Ireland," Hershel said. Glenn gave a small smile.
"Maggie Greene- I kinda figured," he said. Hershel smiled back and pulled a pocket watch out. He walked over to Glenn who showed genuine interest.
"My grandfather brought this over from the old country. He passed it on to my father, who passed it on to me. I pawned it to pay for a night of drinking I no longer remember," Hershel said. The two of them chuckled a bit.
"You bought it back," Glenn surmised.
"My late wife did- Josephine, Maggie's mother. She gave it back years later when I sobered up. She was a good woman, my Jo," Hershel said, looking at the watch and then at Glenn. He paused for a second, either out of sadness or remembrance. He continued.
"Maggie's a lot like her. When we were in that bar and afterwards, I thought about a lot of things. You become a father someday, you'll understand.
No man is good enough for your little girl. Until one is," Hershel held the watch out to Glenn, who had a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Go on now, before I change my mind about you," Hershel said. Glenn was so stunned he could only think of one word.
"Thanks,"
—
Beth's bedroom
Meanwhile, while Hershel and Glenn talked, Billy knelt beside Beth's bed. No one had said anything for a while until Beth spoke up.
"Tell me a story?" She asked. Billy chuckled slightly.
"What kind of story?" He asked with a smile.
"Anything," she said, smiling back and turning to face him. Billy had to think for a moment.
"Well, there was this one time Alan- - Dr. Grant, and I were at this dinky little dig site in South Dakota. We had been digging all day, searching for any remnants of an edmontosaurus nesting ground that Alan was convinced was there. We were all dehydrated, exhausted, and then, it started pouring. And I mean pouring. I didn't know South Dakota could get so much rain. Anyway, the deluge got so bad, our tents started to get washed away. And low and behold, underneath where we had set up our tents for the last three days, were five, perfectly preserved nests. I guess the rain had washed away enough of the sediment for us to see them. Alan and I just looked at each other, and he picked up a ball of mud, threw it at me and said 'Next time, I'll make camp.'" Billy and Beth both laughed, but Billy's laughter steadily turned to sadness.
"I just hope Alan is alive. Wherever he is. I should be out there looking for him," he looked down slightly, but Beth put her hand on his face and caressed his cheek. Without saying another word, the two of them shared an intimate kiss. After realizing what was happening Billy quickly backed off.
"I- - um," he struggled to find the words. "But- - Jimmy? What about - -" he stammered.
"I've been planning to break things off with him for a while now. We just had a fling. You actually saved my life. He's never done anything like that for me," Beth said, touching his face again. Billy was unsure, and confused.
"I- -" Beth gently shushed him and pulled him in for another kiss.
—
Porch, at sunset.
Rick looked off into the field watching the Cattle and triceratops graze. They were finally back in their pen. Lori opened the door and gazed at her husband looking off into the distance.
"It's almost time," she said, over the calls of the triceratops and cattle. "I know this isn't easy for you,"
"It isn't easy for anyone," Rick said. "But I thought it through. I made the call. I'm ready to do this," Rick said.
"You don't have to be the one to do it- - Shane, Daryl- -" Lori started. Rick gently cut her off.
"Yeah, it has to be me. I brought him back here. Maybe I shouldn't have. I gotta keep these people safe. That is what I'm gonna do," Rick said.
"What about Dale?" Lori asked.
"He's got an uphill battle. You said you support me," Rick said. Lori nodded steadily.
"I do,"
"But you didn't say you think I'm making the right call," Rick said, looking her in the eyes. Lori didn't say anything. Rick looked at her again.
"This is the right call," Lori just nodded as the two of them watched the sunset together.
—
Swamp Clearing
Carl was still antagonizing the dilophosaurus as it attempted to free itself from the mud. Carl ran around the other side of the walker and pulled out his gun, aiming it at the dinosaur. He wasn't paying attention when the dilophosaur got one of its legs free, and started advancing on Carl, swiping his boot with its claw, knocking him to the ground, and dropping the gun in the process. Carl whimpered as he fell, and watched the dilophosaur open its neck frill and let out its unmistakable hiss. He jumped back just in time for the venom to miss his one of his arms as he fished around for the gun. Luckily for Carl, the dilophosaur still had one leg stuck in the mud, allowing for him to escape. The carnivore roared and made one last ill fated attempt at spitting more venom as Carl ran back to the farm.
—
Farmhouse
The sun had nearly finished setting as Carl came back from the woods; his parents none the wiser.
"Let's gather up," Rick said, entering the house. Lori took Carl by the shoulder.
"Come on, Carl. I want you to stay with Jimmy," she said.
"But I wanna listen," Carl protested. Lori shook her head.
"Hm-mmm, not this time. Come on," she said. Everyone was gathered in the farmhouse sitting in the living area. Lori gestured for Carl and Zach to go with Jimmy. Zach glared at Carl, who looked away as they walked to the dining area.
The air in the living room was melancholy, and Glenn was the first to speak up.
"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asked.
"Does it have to be unanimous?" Wu asked.
"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested.
"Well, let's- let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options," Rick interjected.
"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward," Shane said.
"Killing him, right? I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing," Dale said sharply.
"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, Glenn, and Jacob," Dale said. Jacob looked away, genuinely unsure of how to move forward. Glenn gave a concerned look to Dale.
"I- - I don't know," Jacob said, clasping his hands together.
"I thought you said you didn't want your brother to think this is who we are?" Dale asked. Wu gave Dale a look.
"I don't, Dale. But- - he did try to kill us. I just, I- - don't know what to do," Jacob said, defeated. Glenn looked to Dale.
"Look, I- I think you're pretty much right about everything, - all the time, but this- " Glenn said, before Dale cut him off.
"They've got you scared," Dale called.
"He's not one of us. And we've- we've lost too many people already," Glenn said. Dale turned to Hershel and Maggie.
"How about you? Do you agree with this?" He asked.
"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asked. Daryl shook his head.
"Just another mouth to feed,"
"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added.
"We could ration better," Lori said.
"Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself," Dale pleaded.
"Put him to work?" Glenn asked.
"We're not letting him walk around," Rick said. The air was getting tense.
"We could put an escort on him," Maggie suggested.
"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane said with a smirk.
"I will," Dale said. Rick put his hand up.
"I don't think any of us should be walking around - with this guy,"
"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up," Lori said.
"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor," Andrea 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 30 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, dramatically. Shane sighed and rubbed his head.
"Oh, my God,"
"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked.
"You barely came back this time," Lori said. "There are walkers, raptors. You could break down. Y-you could get lost,"
"Or get ambushed," Daryl added.
"Not to mention the tyrannosaurus is still out there," Billy said after just listening for a while. Jacob and Wu nodded darkly in agreement.
"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk," Glenn said, rubbing his hands together.
"If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?" Patricia asked. Shane pondered that for a second.
"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck," Shane said. Rick shook his head.
"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane," he said.
"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" T Dog asked. Dale quickly interrupted.
"Hold on, hold on! You're talking about this like it's already decided," He said, throwing his hands up.
"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl asked, making a circle motion with his index finger.
"This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! 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?" Dale yelled. Some people in the room looked ashamed, while others looked confused. Shane however, looked determined.
"We all know what needs to be done," he said.
"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility- " Rick started to say before Andrea cut him off.
"So what's the other solution?" She asked.
"Let Rick finish," Lori said.
"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet," Andrea continued.
"I wish we could," Rick said.
"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled.
"We are," Rick said. Before anyone could say anything else, Carol spoke up.
"Stop it. Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide- Either of you, both of you- But leave me out," she pleaded, her voice shaking. Wu, who hadn't said anything for a while also spoke up.
"I second that. I will not be a part of this. Either way is asking too much of any of us!" He said, passionately.
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself- There's no difference," Dale said, looking directly at Carol and Wu.
"All right, that's enough," Rick said. Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance," Maggie, Patricia and Billy sat back down on the couch and no one said anything for a long while, until Dale spoke up again in desperation.
"You once said that we don't kill the living,"
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick said darkly.
"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. It's Harsh. It's- it's survival of the fittest.
And that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't- And I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?" He pleaded with tears in his eyes and several people looked at him with sadness. No one said anything until Andrea spoke up.
"He's right," she said. "We should try to find another way,"
"Anybody else?" Rick asked.
"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. I won't be a party to it," Dale said in defeat. Before he walked out the door, he put his hand on Daryl's shoulder.
"This group is broken,"
—
A few hours later, after the sun had gone down, Rick, Daryl and Shane were leading Randall to the barn for his execution. Randall continued to plead for his life, to no effect.
"Put him there," Rick said, pointing to the middle of the barn.
"It's all gonna be over soon," Shane said to Randall, almost like he was enjoying it.
"What? What's gonna be over soon?" Randall asked, terrified.
"Relax," Shane said.
"No," Randall cried. "Oh, no no," Rick loaded his revolver.
"Would you like to stand or kneel?" He asked. When Randall didn't answer, Daryl grabbed him and forced him to his knees.
"Oh, no, please," Randall cried again. He continued to Sob as Rick readied the gun.
"Do you have any final words?" He asked.
"No, please. Please don't," Randall pleaded once more. All the while, no one saw Carl sneak up to the Barn. As Rick was about to pull the trigger, Carl spoke up.
"Do it, dad. Do it," he said. Rick looked at Shane and they both shook there heads. Rick reluctantly lowered the gun as Shane grabbed Carl by the arm and took him out of the barn.
"Are you kidding me? What'd I say to you? What did I say to you?" Shane said.
"Take him away," Rick said. Take him away," Shane and Daryl looked at Rick with confused faces. Daryl grabbed Randall and forced him up
"Get up," As Daryl walked out of the barn with Randall, Shane angrily hit the barn door and walked back towards the farmhouse. Rick just looked at Carl with genuine concern and disappointment. The two of them walked back to camp and were met with confused faces.
"We're keeping him in custody, for now," Rick said.
"I'm gonna find Dale," Andrea said happily, getting up from the group. Lori took one look at Carl and she knew what had happened.
"Carl, go inside. Now, please," She commanded. Carl didn't say anything, but walked back to his tent.
"He followed us. He wanted to watch," Rick said. "I couldn't,"
"That's okay," Lori said, comforting him. "That's okay," the two of them embraced as the fire crackled beside them.
—
Field
In the field, a defeated Dale took a walk, heading towards the woods. All of a sudden he came to a dying calf, bleeding out in at the edge of the woods. After careful inspection, he turned around, only to come face to face with a dilophosaurus. It opened its neck frills and spit on his face. A terrified Dale wiped the venom from his face, and screamed before being tackled to the ground. Hearing the screams, everyone looked off towards the field in a panic
"Get Carl," Rick said to Lori. Lori nodded and ran to Carl's tent.
"What happened?" Carl asked.
"Come here. Come here," Lori said.
"T-Dog, get a shotgun now!" Rick yelled.
"I want you to go in the house, I want you to lock the door - and I want you to stay inside," Lori commanded.
"Okay, okay," Carl said, nodding.
"Zach, go with him," Jacob said, loading his own pistol. Zach nodded and the two of them ran to the farmhouse. Hearing the screaming, Daryl and Shane came running from the woodshed. Maggie and Glenn were on the porch as well.
"What was that? What happened?" Glenn asked.
"I don't know- Go!" Maggie said. Glenn nodded and ran off in the direction of the screaming. Meanwhile, in the field, Dale was fighting to keep the dilophosaurus off of him. He held it by its neck so that it couldn't spit on him. But he was losing his grip, and fast. Rick and the rest of the group started running for the edge of the woods, and Andrea called out to him.
"Dale!" He didn't answer. And he was losing the fight with the dilophosaurus. Dale continued to try to push the dinosaur off of him, but his luck ran out. Dale screamed in agony as the dilophosaurus plunged its claw into his stomach, spilling his entrails on the ground next to him, and using its other claw to rip open his stomach even further. Daryl came running, and stabbed the dilophosaurus uppercut style in its head, killing it just before it could spit its venom at him.
"Help! Over here! Help! Run!" Daryl called. "Hang in there, buddy," he said to Dale. The rest of the group came running.
"Who is it?" Carol called.
"Oh, my God. Oh, God," Rick said.
"Rick!" Lori called. Rick knelt down next to Dale and held his head up.
"All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now," Rick comforted over the sound of Dale's moaning.
"Get Hershel!" Rick yelled. Glenn, Jacob and Lori came running to the scene.
"He needs blood. We gotta operate now," Rick said. Andrea knelt beside him and held his hand.
"Hang on, Dale. Hang on," she said softly. Glenn also bent down next to him, tears in his eyes. Jacob put his hands on his head, and started to tear up.
"Listen to me. Come on- Okay, just listen to my voice," Rick comforted again. "All right, please. Hershel! We need Hershel!" He called again.
"Look at me. Dale, we're gonna help," Andrea said.
"Just hold on- hold on," Rick reassured him. Hershel and Billy came running from the house.
"What happened?" Hershel asked, kneeling next to him to assess.
"What can we do?" Rick asked in desperation.
"Dale, it's gonna be okay," Glenn said. Dale began to choke on his own blood. The situation was dire.
"Can we move him?" Rick asked. Hershel sadly shook his head.
"He won't make the trip," he said.
"You have to do the operation here; Glenn, get back to the house," Rick stood up, but Hershel stopped him, and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Rick,"
"No!" Rick sobbed. Andrea cried next to him, as did Glenn. Even Shane looked as if he felt sorry for Dale. Suddenly, Carl, and Zach, came up to the scene. Both looking at the dead dilophosaurus. The same one Carl had tangled with earlier. Carl and Zach both sobbed, as Carl went to his mother and Zach went to Jacob.
"He's suffering," Andrea cried. "Do something!" Rick unholstered his pistol and sadly aimed it at Dale's head.
"Oh, God," Andrea said, looking away. Rick hesitated, and shook with despair, unable to go through with it. Daryl gently took Rick's gun. He looked Dale in the eyes, and cocked the gun.
"I'm sorry brother,"
—
END
Hey everyone! Sorry for such a delay! My old computer kind of crapped out so I was unable to write for a while. Aside from maybe Amy, this is one of the first chapters where a dinosaur had a direct influence on a main character's death. Expect more of that going forward! I was initially going to have it be a raptor that killed Dale, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wouldn't be realistic to have a lone raptor kill him. And having it be a pack would've been difficult to explain how everyone else survived as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned!
~JPFan