Nobody cried when they found out about mum's death. I wasn't surprised, if her own daughter didn't cry for her then who would? Dad had told Rick about why I was out there with mum, but everyone else just thought we'd been for a walk. Rick needed to know, nobody else did. I even told dad about the real reason I had two black eyes which were starting to fade and a scar on my face. My cut real had scarred, I figured it might go away, but it didn't. Now, I'd have a constant reminder of my mother for the rest of my days, however long that might be.

Rick and Shane had come back, with Randall and injuries on their faces. They didn't say anything, but me and Sophia kinda figured out that they'd had some form of fight with each other from the tension between them as well. We'd locked Randall in a shed, handcuffed and all. Dad was in with him and asking him some questions. He was in there for nearly an hour before he walked back over to me and the rest of the group. I instantly noticed the blood on his knuckles. Me and Sophia were sitting down on one of the logs next to the small fire where we were cooking pasta for lunch for everyone.

"Boy there's got a gang. Thirty men. Got heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here; our boys are dead... Our girls are gonna... Gonna wish they were." Dad seemed like he struggled to say the bit about the girls as he looked over to me and Sophia who were peacefully cooking pasta.

"What did you do?" Carol asked, also noticing the blood on dad's knuckles.

"Had a little chat." Dad responded, coming to sit over by me so I handed him a plate of plain pasta. We didn't have any sauce sadly. "Thanks, baby." Dad smiled before grabbing a fork.

"Nobody goes near this guy." Rick announced.

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

Rick sighed and shook his head. "We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked.

"This is delicious, girls. Good job." Dad said to me and Sophia, trying to distract us from the fact that Rick was announcing we were going to kill a man.

"Thank you." Sophia smiled shyly but my eyes were focusing on Dale and Rick's interaction.

"It's settled, I'll do it today." Rick nodded, before starting to walk away.

Later that day, me, Sophia and Carl were playing piggy in the middle. I was in the middle while Sophia and Carl were successfully throwing the ball over my head. We were laughing as I kept trying to jump in the air to grab the ball, but pretty much failing miserably. "Hey, kids." Dale greeted as he walked over to us.

"Hi, Dale. Any luck convincing anyone?" Sophia asked, Dale had been talking to each member of the group to see if he could save the prisoner's life.

"None so far." Dale shook his head.

"I don't think me, Carl or Sophia are really going to have a vote in this situation like at all. But, I think you're right. I'm not sure what we can do, but killing a man..." I trailed off, shaking my head.

"I appreciate that." Dale nodded. "I actually came over here because your parents want y'all in the house. The trial so to speak is starting." Dale said with a sigh.

I helped Sophia grab her crutches and we all walked over to the house together. "Come on now, you kids go upstairs with Beth." Lori said to us. Ever since I made Carl's nose bleed, she's been glaring at me... I didn't really care, I found it funny when I smiled back at her causing her to role her eyes.

Me, Sophia and Carl were in Beth's room. Me and Sophia had been playing with cards on the floor while Carl and Beth were having a conversation. Carl hanging onto every word that left Beth's mouth was really funny, he looked very much in love. "Guys, I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I said, standing up.

"You're supposed to stay in here." Beth reminded me.

"I'll be right back, don't worry. Oh, and Carl. You got a little drool." I pointed to his chin, he wiped at his mouth and when he realised there was nothing there he rolled his eyes. He realised I was making a joke about his affection and love for Beth which made me and Sophia laugh, Beth looked confused, and Carl was annoyed.

I headed out of the room, walking straight past the bathroom as I silently walked down the stairs, sitting on the bottom one to listen in even though I'd missed half of it. "Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" I heard Hershel suggest.

"You barely came back this time. There are walkers, you could break down. You could get lost." Lori said, I'm assuming to Rick.

"You could crash even though you're the only car on the road." I muttered under my breath.

"Could get ambushed." Dad pointed out.

"They're right, we should not put our own people at risk." Glenn added.

"If you... Go through with it. How'd you do it? Would he suffer?" Patricia spoke up.

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck?" Shane suggested.

"I thought about that. Shooting maybe more humane." Rick replied.

"What about the body? Do we bury him?" T-dog asked.

"Hold on, hold on- you're talking about this like it's already decided!" Dale raised his voice slightly.

"We've been talking about this all day and going around in circles. You just wanna go round in circles again?" Dad questioned, taking a couple steps back since he doesn't like to stand still. I thought he was going to notice me, but his eyes kept on the group.

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

Dad sighed, turning his head and then he noticed me sitting on the steps. "Hey, what are you doing down here?" Dad asked me.

"Ellie, you said you were going to the bathroom?" Beth called from the top of the stairs. I turned from my dad and ran upstairs and back into Beth's room. She shut the door behind me. "You lied to me."

"They're gonna kill him. Dale isn't winning down there." I informed everyone, ignoring Beth's comment.

We were by the tents. Me, Sophia, Carol, Andrea, Glenn, T-dog, Maggie and Lori were by the campfire. Rick came over with Carl. "We're keeping him in custody for now." Rick nodded.

"I'll go tell Dale." I smiled, before standing up.

"Take this with you." Rick handed me his torch.

"Okay, but Dale has one and I know where he went." I replied before walking off. I could see Dale walking in the field behind the barn. I ran to catch up with him, I slowed when I was about seventy feet away and could see him getting his gun ready to shoot. I saw the walker approaching him before he did. "Dale!" I screamed, running closer to him. Dale was screaming loudly as he was taken down by the walker. I ran closer, I grabbed Dale's shotgun and raised it at the thing. I shot the walker in the head before kicking it off Dale. "Oh my god." I cried; his stomach was all ripped open as he had a very large gaping hole in his middle. I kneeled by his side. "I was coming to tell you that they decided to spare him. They're not gonna kill him." I told Dale while crying. Dale was staring at me, he grabbed my hand, his mouth was agape, but he couldn't speak. He wasn't screaming anymore, but he couldn't speak. When he squeezed my hand though, it was like him telling me "thank you" for being on his side, for telling him, I'm not sure but it made me feel better. That didn't stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. "Help! Help!" I screamed towards camp. I could already see people running over to us. 

"Dale!" I could hear Andrea yelled as she ran closer, she was ahead of the group.

Andrea got there, then dad, and then everyone else. Andrea kneeled on his other side while Dad kneeled behind me, putting his arms around me tightly as I cried. Dale looked over to Andrea before over to Rick who was standing by his side. "Get Hershel! He needs blood, we have to operate now."

"Hang on, Dale. Hang on." Andrea assured him.

Everyone else's voice was a blur. I saw Hershel appearing, Rick yelling when he realised Hershel couldn't save Dale. Andrea was sobbing loudly; tears were on Glenn and Lori's faces. I just held onto Dale's hand and stared at him while I silently cried. Dale was in a lot of pain; I could tell by the way the breath was leaving his mouth and how tightly he was gripping my hand. Rick pointed the gun at Dale's head, but he couldn't pull the trigger. Dad stood up, taking the gun from Rick and pointing it at Dale's head. I felt Carol take dad's place as she hugged me. I looked around but I couldn't see Sophia, she must've been at the camp site still. Carol covered my eyes with her left hand while her right was around my middle, holding me tightly.

"Sorry, brother." I heard my dad say before the gun went off.