Chapter 5-Judge, Jury, Executioner
I stood next to Maggie and Dale outside as we and the rest of the group waited for Merle to get done interrogating Randall. Apparently when Rick and Shane started to walk away from him he revealed that he knew Maggie and I from school. That meant that he couldn't just be left somewhere without knowing just how much of a threat his group was. I mean, if we let him go there was a good chance he and his group would show up at our front door. That's not mentioning that it didn't really matter whether or not the group was "good" or not as they're going to be hostile to a group that ended up killing three of their men and "kidnapping" another. Regardless of the fact that we were defending ourselves. Well, at least Merle and I were.
"So, what you gonna do? We'd all feel better if we knew the plan." Lori starts as she pours and gives Carl a cup of water so Andrea, with a nice shiner, asks "Is there a plan?" which in turn causes Glenn to ask "We gonna keep him here?" Rick and Shane share a look before Rick looks towards us all saying, "We'll know soon enough." Before motioning with his head behind us. We all turn around to see the Dixon's walking towards us, both with bloody knuckles. Which was surprising as Daryl was just supposed to make sure Merle didn't kill him. Apparently whatever he told them pissed them both off.
"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men. They got heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends." Daryl tells us before Merle, with his signature smirk, adds "They roll through here, our boys are dead." Before it's gone, replaced with one of slight worry and seriousness as he glances in my direction for a second, before looking back, with just seriousness, at Rick as he continues "And our women, they're gonna wish they were." "What did you do?" Carol asks then causing both Dixon's to look at her while Merle smirks saying, "We had a little chat." and Daryl lowering his hand from view before silently walking away. "No one goes near this guy." Rick says then so Lori asks "Rick, what are you going to do?" "We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat." Rick says looking around at all of us causing Dale to exclaim "You're just gonna kill him?!" "It's settled. I'll do it today." Rick tells all of us walking off with Dale hot on his heels.
Everyone starts to walk away minus Merle, Maggie, and I. Though Maggie just stayed long enough to motion in Merle's direction while giving me an angry look that said, 'you will tell me about that.' Before she left. Obviously, she had caught the look Merle gave me and knew something was up. And knowing Maggie there was no way I was getting out of telling her what happened causing me to sigh as I turn towards Merle.
"Thanks for that." I say only to get a grunted "What do ya mean?" as he turns and starts to walk away. "Ya know what I mean Dixon." I snap causing him to stop and growl "His group raped two girls and made their father watch. Left em' alive too. Claims he just watched but he's just as guilty in my book." "Shit." I sigh dragging a hand over my face before getting the hand grabbed as he tells me "I told ya before. I ain't gonna let anyone touch anyone or especially ya like that." "I know." I tell him smirking causing him to return it before letting go of my hand, turning, and headed in the direction of his brother's camp again. Sighing I turn to go back to the house to talk to Maggie knowing she's not going to be happy that I didn't tell her about it yet.
But what I didn't expect was for Maggie to instantly corner me as soon as I walked through the door. "What is this?" I question narrowing my eyes at her who just says "I saw that look and have a good feeling what it was about. Tell me." With a sigh I start "When leaving the city, I ran into a group of regulars from my job." "And?" She pries immediately so I start to explain "And they didn't except no-." "Oh god." She gasps interrupting me forcing me to quickly say "Merle got to me before anything happened." This causes her to sigh in relief as she questions "Why didn't you tell me?" so I continue "Nothing real serious happened so I didn't want to worry ya. And I won't go into details, but Merle told me Randel's group is like those guys."
"Seriously?" She questions then so I nod saying "Yeah. It's probably why both Dixons hit him." "I agree. Even with how I've seen them behave they don't seem the type." She says so I say, "At least they have that goin' for 'em." This just causes her to give me a look, so I raise my hands in surrender questioning "What?" "How you can still be like that at the end of the world, I'll never know." She sighs out then, so I respond, "What does "end of the world" have to do with anything?" "I'm starting to think that you don't have a romantic or even sexual fiber in your body." She tells me so I say "It's not the end of the world. Oh wait, it is. But I have nothing to do with it." "I know that Nai. It's just…" She starts trailing off, so I offer "You have Glenn now and want the same for me?" "Exactly. Especially now. With the end of the world and all." She says so I raise an eyebrow repeating "Again, what does "end of the world" have to do with anything?" This just causes her to shake her head, turn, and walk away all while sighing out "I give up, Nai. You're hopeless." So, I just sigh and shake my head in return as I decide to check on and visit Beth.
****Time Skip****
I sat on the edge of one of the couches between Patricia and Maggie as we all waited for the meeting to begin. Though it was silent as Carl was still present, standing a little behind both Dixons. And probably because no one really wanted to be the first to speak since there was still silence after Carl stormed off after a look from Rick.
"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn questions finally causing Andrea to ask, "Does it have to be unanimous?" "How about majority rules?" Lori offers then causing Rick to say "Well, let's…let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options." As he steps up to the red chair across the fireplace as if it was a podium. "Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane informs casually as he leans against the fireplace causing an irritated "Killing him." And basically, a glare from Dale.
I didn't really care what we did to Randell. I've already had to kill a still living person for my own safety so killing him didn't matter and as long as we became prepared for either the group's arrival or a move letting him go didn't matter. As long as I and the people I care about are fine I could care less about all this.
"Right? I mean why even bother to take a vote. It's clear which way the wind's blowing." Dale continues after a slight pause to get a little bit of composure back causing Rick to say "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know." "Well, I can tell you it's a small group." Dale says, taking a pause and looking around the room, before finishing "Maybe just me and Glenn." But it seems as if Glenn wasn't in that group as he slowly looks at Dale and tells him "Look I…I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this- "causing Dale to cut him off with a "They've got you scared!"
"He's not one of us. And we've…we've lost too many people already." Glenn says causing Dale to motion towards Patricia, Maggie, Hershel, and I and question "How about you? Do you agree with this?" Maggie thinks for a minute before asking "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" "Just another mouth to feed." Merle scoffs so I send him a warning look as Hershel says, "It may be a lean winter." Merle just sends me a 'What?' look while Lori says, "We could ration better." I roll my eyes at him while Dale says "Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself." Causing Glenn to ask, "Put him to work?"
"We're not letting him walk around." Rick says so Maggie offers "We could put an escort on him." "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane questions, in the arrogant tone I now believe was his normal speaking tone, causing Dale to immediately say "I will."
"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy." Rick says then causing Lori to say "He's right. I-I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." "We can't exactly put chains around his ankles and sentence him to hard labor." Andrea pipes up then causing Shane to open his stupid mouth again and tell us "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."
"So, the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale asks practically pleading and takes a slight pause, again, before continuing "If we do this we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization." "Oh my god." Shane scoffs then causing Hershel to question "Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" "You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y-you could get lost." Lori says then causing Daryl to pipe up with "You could get ambushed." This causes Merle to pipe up with "Or just get killed." In a tone that had a slight warning hid in it which of course earns another look from me. Now was not the time to bring that shit up and he knew it, I knew it, and even the deadheads knew it.
"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk." Glenn says then as Merle just gives me a playful smirk. I send him a glare to knock it off as Patricia questions "If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?" "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane offers casually causing Rick to sigh and tell us "I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane." "And what about the body?" T-Dog asks causing Dale to quickly jump in waving his hands around saying, "Hold on, hold on you're talking about this like it's already been decided." "We've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl tells him as he, himself, starts pacing a little and makes a round-and-round motion with one of his fingers causing Merle to add "This ain't a fucking marry-go-round." "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." Dale yells causing Rick to look a little ashamed.
"How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?" Dale questions after a pause causing almost everyone else to get the same ashamed look before Shane pipes up with "We all know what needs to be done." "No Dale is right. We can't leave any stone un-turned here. We have a responsibility." Rick says only for Andrea to question "So what's the other solution?" practically cutting him off. "Let Rick finish." Lori snaps only for Andrea to say "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could." "So, let's work on it!" Dale yells causing Rick to say, "We are." "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." Carol says then looking between them causing Dale to say "Not speaking out or killing him yourself. There's no difference." As he shakes his head.
"All right, that's enough." Rick says then holding out a hand towards Dale before stepping back as he continues "Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." This causes Patricia and Maggie to sit down, Hershel to look down, and the others to look around waiting for someone to speak up causing Dale to try "You once said that we don't kill the living." only to get Rick to say "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. It's… harsh. It's…it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't want to live in. 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?"
It's silent as he looks around causing Andrea to eventually say "He's right. We should try to find another way." "Anybody else?" Rick asks earning only silence, so he turns to Dale and gives him a 'that's it' look. Dale can't believe it as he tells them "Are ya'll gonna watch to? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. Whoa. I won't be a party to it." Shaking his head and starting to cry as he heads towards the Dixons.
He pauses and places a hand on Daryl's shoulder and tells him "This group is broken." Before heading out the door. Sighing I stand before leaning over to whisper to Maggie "I'm going to go talk to him. Tell him the real reason no one is agreeing." She gives me a small nod, so I go to follow him only to pause when Merle lets out a "Nai." In a warning tone. "Merle." I say in the same tone before simply heading out the door.
I look around or him before spotting him heading into the R.V. I quickly jog over and get there just as he was coming out with a rifle over his shoulder causing him to jump a little and tell me "You scared me." "Sorry." I apologize stepping to the side, allowing him to come out, and question "Where are you going?" "I was going to walk around the edge. Check for walkers. You're welcome to come with me." He tells me with a sad smile, so I give him a small one as I say "Thank you. I wanted to talk to you anyway." "About Randel?" He questions starting to walk so I shrug and say "Kind of. Kind of not." As I follow him.
"Look, Dale, I'm sorry but civilization was dead the moment death came with teeth. This ain't a normal world anymore. It's a fuckin' nightmare." I tell him then as we walk past the first fence. "The world we knew is gone. But keeping our humanity, that's still a choice right?" He questions causing me to sigh and say, "I have seen and experienced what the living is capable of doin' to each other and that is not somethin' ya want on our door." "But we don't know that Randel will bring his group back." He argues so I say "Wouldn't you? This place is mostly secure, has a food and water source, and shelter. And I know the Dixons didn't go into detail when they were talking to the group, but this place also has women. Now, Merle told me that Randel watched as his group raped two girls in front of their father and just left them after. I'm not going to let myself or my family be killed or end up like them so I will kill Randel myself if I have to. If that's now or when he comes back with his group to try and slaughter us I don't care. And that's why ya didn't get any more support from Maggie or the Dixons."
He's quiet for a moment before saying "He is still a kid." "He is no longer innocent. No one is. My father's faith in humanity is what caused that. I don't want your faith in humanity to cause something similar or get you yourself killed. I kind of like you ya know." I tell him as I gesture at the pile of burnt corpses we were approaching. He nods his head sadly so I add "If it makes ya feel better ya can say that when the world took a shit ya didn't let it take ya with it." This causes him to let out a short laugh, look at me, shrug, and sadly say "Yeah."
That's when the sound of an animal moaning in pain cuts through the air. We give each other a concerned look before he takes the rifle off his shoulder and I remove my knife from its sheath, now walking cautiously in the direction it came from. Soon we come up on a cow moaning in pain with its insides spilling out of its belly. "Fuckin' deadheads. Keep a look out." I tell Dale as I kneel down near the cow's head. I then position my knife and tell it "It's time to go home." Before killing it.
That's when there's the growl of a deadhead behind me causing me to rip the knife from the cow's head and go to spin around. Before I could I get pushed on top of the cow head, face first in the dirt and fists, knife, and all, pressed between my chest and the top of the cow's head, as Dale screams and is pushed on top of me by the deadhead. "No!" Dale shouts as I feel him struggling with it so I quickly try to push us up to therefore have the leverage to push the deadhead off, but I can't lift the weight of myself, the deadhead and Dale. "The knife!" Dale shouts then so I quickly try and maneuver my knife out from under me without cutting myself with it and trying to ignore the fact that my stomach was being crushed into the cow's head and that I couldn't breathe. Didn't want to risk getting infected by getting cut by a knife with cow, which had been attacked by a deadhead, blood on it even if I was slowly suffocating because of a dead cow and deadhead.
I can hear the deadhead growling, Dale struggling, and the sound of the other's yells as those blasted black dots started swimming in my vision. I finally get my knife free, quickly whip my arm behind me and feel and hear it imbed itself within the soft flesh of the deadhead's side causing me to struggle out a "Damn it." "I can get it." Dale struggles out then but then starts screaming in pain and I feel wetness start to soak my back. "Dale!" I gasp out then as I desperately try to get some type of leverage to try and push us up again, but the free hand just slides in the guts and bloody grass, the black dots starting to grow bigger and merge together, my ability to stay conscious fading.
That's when some of the pressure is relieved and there is the sound of bodies hitting the ground beside us as I regain the ability to breathe a little, coughing myself because of it. "Oh shit." Merle's voice sounds then so I quickly struggle out "Don't move him! Wait for Hershel!" as there's the sound of grunting and a knife penetrating dead flesh from where the bodies hit, probably Daryl killing the deadhead.
"Over here!" Merle shouts then as Andrea's voice can be heard calling "Where?! Where are they?" "Hang in there, buddy." Daryl says then so Merle questions "Ya alright there Nai?" "Peachy." I say as Andrea questions "Who is it?" while Rick breathes out an "Oh, my god." And Lori's voice can be heard calling "Rick!"
"Just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me, all right? Okay, hold on now. Get Hershel!" Rick starts talking then as Dale starts gasping. "Hang on, Dale. Hang on." Andrea says then as Rick starts talking again "Listen to me. Come on, just listen to my voice. All right? Please. Nai are you alright?" "I'm fine. Just get Hershel!" I quickly answer causing him to shout "Hershel! We need Hershel!"
"Look at me." Andrea begs as Rick continues "Dale, we're gonna help. We're here. Just hold on. Please, hold on." "What happened?" Hershel questions then earning an immediate "What can we do?" from Rick and an "Dale, it's gonna be okay." From Glenn. "Can we move him?" Rick asks then causing Hershel to say, "He won't make the trip and I'm sorry, but we have to get Nai out from under him." "Damn it." I mutter feeling the tears start to run down my face knowing that Dale can't be saved now, and I've been feeling his dying moments as Rick says "Okay. Then you do the operation here right? Glenn, get back to the house." Still hoping he would be okay. "Rick." Hershel quickly says then causing Rick to cry out a desperate "No!" and Andrea to start sobbing out "Oh, God. Oh, Dale."
The sounds of other people starting to sob then starts as Hershel says, "I'm sorry Dale but we have to lift you up to pull Nai out." Before instructing "We need to get his shoulders, legs, and sides. Someone also needs to help Nai get out." Soon Rick bites out a "One, two, three." Dale is slowly lifted off me causing him to cry out in pain as I feel an arm wrap around my middle. They quickly help me roll out from under Dale and away from him and the cow.
"He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea shouts then as Dale cries out in pain again, probably from getting set down, while I quickly throw my arms around their neck not caring who it was as I bury my face into their neck, my whole body shaking as I start to sob. They didn't say anything and just slowly wrapped their arms around me and held me tightly. Dale continues to groan and gasp in pain before there's the sound of a gun cocking and Merle saying "Sorry, brother." Followed by a gunshot.