At nightfall, a meeting was called to discuss what was going to happen to Randall. Parker had talked to Rick a lot all day, which had bothered him a little. Parker always had his back, but instead, she was fighting him on the matter, and that worried him. Maybe he was making the wrong decision, but he had to stick with how he felt, regardless of whether Parker thought it was wrong or not. 

Daryl tried to greet her when she entered, but instead of receiving a response, Parker simply smiled slightly and headed to the opposite side of the room, leaning against the wall. Carl stood at the door for a second, until he received matching glances from his parents- and everyone else in the room, and left the room in a bad mood. 

"So how do we do this?" Glenn asked, starting up the conversation. "Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested.

"Well, let's see where everybody stands." Rick tried to get control of the situation. "And then we can talk through the options."

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

"Killing him," Dale instantly assumed. "Right? I mean, why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the winds blowing."

"Well, if people think we should spare him, I want to know," Rick explained.

"Well, I can tell you that there's only a small group of us," Parker muttered. "Maybe just, Dale, Glenn, and me." Glenn looked at the two of them and his eyes fell on Dale shyly.

"Look... I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time. But this..."

"They've got you scared!" Dale spoke over him loudly.

"He's not one of us," Glenn defended, pointing in the direction of the barn.

"You're right, but he's still a goddamn kid! One of us or not. It's still a human life that- whether you guys believe it or not, whether his group is bad or not, he's still a life worth fighting for!" Parker argued.

"And we've...we've lost too many people already," Glenn added.

"So, we're going to just kill a defenseless boy?" Parker asked, catching Maggie's gaze from across the room. "And you? Are you okay with this?"

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asked, looking to her dad for backup.

"Just another mouth to feed.." Daryl grumbled from the corner, quickly looking away when Parker looked at him.

"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added.

"We could ration better," Lori suggested.

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

"Put him to work," Parker added. "He could at actually help us. We cant know until we give him a chance!"

"We're not letting him walk around," Rick shook his head

"We could put an escort on him," Maggie said.

"And who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked.

"I'll do it," Parker said loudly, her hand in the air.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy," Rick replied. "Especially Parker."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You are clearly blinded on this issue," Rick told her, she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Blinded?!" Parker shouted, "Why don't I want you to kill someone? A kid at that. Rick, I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, and if that keeps you from killing him, I'll take care of him."

"No one walks alone with him," Rick repeated.

"Screw you, Rick. I'm a grown adult. You can't make decisions for me."

"He's right," Lori stuttered. "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 responded.

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

"And the answer is to kill him? To prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?!" Dale asked.

"If we do this," Parker said, her voice dangerously quiet as she spoke. "We are saying there is no hope. The rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

"Oh my god," Shane rolled his head looking out a window.

"What?" Parker snapped. "What, Shane? Just because you're okay with cold-blooded murder doesn't mean we all are."

"Just sayin-"

"That we should kill a young agult for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Parker asked, cutting Shane off. "Because he was probably scared and wanted to join a group to increase his chances of survival? Isn't that what we did? What we all did? We may not be like his group but we are only together so we can survive this world."

"Could you drive him further out?" Hershel asked. "Leave him like you planned?"

"You barely came back this time," Lori said, looking at Rick. "There are walkers, you could break down. Y- yo- you could get lost."

"Or ambushed," Daryl pointed out.

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

"If you.. go through with it, how would you do it?" Patricia asked, "Will he suffer?"

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

"Hang him?" Parker asked in disbelief. "I'm sorry, I thought we were living in the twenty-first century, not the fucking twenties?"

"I thought about that," Rick ignored her. "Shooting may be more humane."

"And what about the body?" T-Dog asked. "Do we bury him?"

"Woah, woah wo- hold on! Hold on!" Dale interrupted. "You're talking about this like it already decided."

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

"This is young man's life!" Dale shouted. "And it's worth more than a five-minute conversation!"

"Dales right," Parker spoke quietly, pushing herself off the wall. "Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with them?" She looked at her brother. "You saved him! And now look at us. He has been tortured, he is going to be executed. How can we believe that we are better than those people we are so afraid of?"

"If we do this, we aren't any better than those people." Dale agreed with her.

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

"No," Rick disagreed, his eyes looking between Parker and Dale. "Dale and Parker are right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility."

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

"So let's work on it!" Dale shouted, interrupting her.

"We are," Daryl replied.

"Stop it, just stop it," Carol spoke up and walked to the door. "I'm sick of everyone 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."

"Not speaking out, or killing him yourself.. there's no difference," Dale explained to her.

"Alright, that's enough," Rick said over everyone. "Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." Maggie and Patricia sat down and no one else spoke, Parker turned to her brother.

"You once said that we didn't kill the living."

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

"But don't you see?" Dale asked. "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-its.. It's survival of the fittest!"

"And that's a world that I don't want to live in. I won't live in it." Parker glared at her brother, letting her words sink in.

"And I don't believe that any of you do!" Dale continued. "I can't! Please, let's just do what's right." Dale's voice broke as he held back tears in his eyes. "Isn't there anybody else that's going to stand with us?" Andrea spoke up when no one else did.

"They're right. We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asked, and silence fell again.

"Are y'all gonna watch too?" Dale asked tears in his eyes. "No you'll all 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." He walked toward Daryl, putting a hand on his shoulder. "This group is broken." When he left, Rick looked a Parker.

"Anything else you have to say?"

"He's a boy," Parker breathed, unable to contain her anger, her vision blurry from the tears that had welled up in her eyes. "He is probably terrified! You said it yourself, they left him for dead. Why would he want to go back to them?" She headed to the door, tears clouding her vision. "If you do this, you are no better than the people you were responsible for putting behind bars before the world went to shit. You do this Rick and I promise you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"Par-" Daryl tried to catch her as she walked past but she shoved him out of her way, following closely behind Dale, who was waiting on the porch for her. Then she left, letting the door shut behind her. Later that day, Rick, Daryl, and Shane headed to the barn where they planned to execute Randall. Parker was absolutely furious and got into another shouting match with Rick and Shane that resulted in Daryl having to drag her away before she made physical contact with either of them.. again. She had walked away from him, calling them all idiots, before heading to her tent, unable to be near any of them. Cowards. Killing an unarmed boy? Absolutely disgusting, and she wanted no part in it. She ignored everyone who tried to talk to her, until Dale arrived at her tent.

"They're about to do it," Dale whispered sadly. "Do you want to go for a walk?" Parker nodded, grabbing her jacket. She picked up the gun Rick had given her, because if everyone else was going to have one, he didn't want her to be without it. She and Dale left the rest of the group in the tents and headed out to the fields, ignoring the fact that it was dark as they tried to not think about the boy being sentenced to death.

"I can't believe they're going to kill him," Parker whispered. "It's not right."

"No," Dale agreed sadly. "But what can we do? When they make a decision, that's all."

"It's Shane," Parker mumbled. "He's different now. If it's true, and he killed Otis, then he's not the man he was."

"None of us are," Dale replied. "Especially Shane. We've all become different people." Parker nodded in agreement.

"I mean, look at us. We're living in a stranger's backyard in tents. I should be teaching kids to say the alphabet, not training them to shoot guns."

"This new world is horrible," Dale said, putting his hand on Parker's arm. "But I don't have a doubt in my mind that you're going to beat it. Just hold on to that hope and promise me you'll never stop fighting for what's right."

"I promise, Dale," Parker promised quietly. "You won't see me defending murder if it's not necessary." Dale nodded.

"Good. You're a good person, Parker. You're so full of hope. Don't ever change, okay?" Parker heard a cow bray right in front of her and Dale, and put a finger to her lips before drawing her gun, following the sound as Dale responded by removing his own gun from his shoulder. What Parker found surprised her and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to block the smell. A cow lay in the grass, its entrails spilling onto the ground next to it. Then Parker heard Dale let out a scream, and she turned to see him fall to the ground, a walker falling on top of him. 

She saw the second walker out of the corner of her eye, and without thinking she turned and raised her weapon, but the walker got there first. The gun fired but missed and Parker fell to the ground. She screamed as the walker fell on top of her, alerting the rest of her friends to the danger. Her weapon slipped from her hand when she fell, and she had nothing to defend herself as she struggled to keep the walker's hungry mouth off her. 

Daryl, who was watching Randall in the barn, heard Parker scream and did not hesitate to run. His blood ran cold when he heard that sound, and the fact that he knew it was Parker made his feet move before he realized what he was doing. She was in danger, she needed help, and he had to be the one to get there before her own carelessness could hurt her. He left the barn, running across the field toward the sounds of screaming. 

Parker, who was struggling under the weight of the walker on top of her, had only one thought in her head. Daryl. She didn't want to die knowing that she never fixed things with him, and not knowing that there was the possibility of something more between them. As the walker growled and raised its head, its jaws snapping shut to try and bite her on the arm, Parker grabbed the handle of her knife, pulled it out of its sheath, and stabbed the walker in the head. A couple dozen feet away from her, Dale let out another scream as the walker ripped open his stomach and exposed his insides before Parker could do anything. Parker hurriedly pushed the dead walker away, grabbed her gun, stood up, and ran towards Dale.

"Dale!" Parker shouted, grabbing her knife.

"Parker!" Someone was shouting her name. Across the field, her friends were calling to her, shouting her and Dale's names, but Parker was deaf to anything but the blood pounding in her ears. She ran towards Dale, the walker still on top of him, wishing her legs would move faster as she ran. Without really thinking, Parker knocked the walker off Dale, throwing herself at it. As they hit the ground next to Dale and rolled, Parker pinned the disgusting creature beneath her with her knee to its chest, raising her knife before stabbing it in the head once, twice, three times for good measure, and backed away knowing the walker was dead.

"Parker!" That was Daryl's voice, the first voice she heard when her friend's screams finally reached her ears. She paid no attention to them as she crawled towards Dale on her hands and knees, kneeling beside him as she assessed the damage. The walker had reached him before Parker could kill it, tearing into Dale's chest and leaving a huge gaping hole where his stomach should have been.

"Goddamn it," Parker said with a sob, recovering from her panic and standing up, waving her hands as she shouted to her friends. "Over here! Help!" Daryl arrived first, taking Parker into his arms as she turned to watch him  run over. She grabbed his shirt with her hands as she gestured to Dale with tears in her eyes, and that's when Daryl noticed the blood. Parker was covered in it, blood covered her face from the first walker, soaking her shirt in blood from attacking the second, covering her hands from moving Dale's shirt aside to see the damage. Parker let go of Daryl and knelt next to Dale again, reaching for his hand. Daryl saw what the walker had done to Dale and crouched down next to him. 

"Hang in there, buddy."

"Dale," Parker sobbed. "Oh my god, Dale, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Parker!" Rick's voice shouted, and she stood up when she saw him. Rick didn't have time to slow down before crashing into his sister, causing them both to stumble a few steps back as he held her against his chest. He grabbed her face in his hands, looking at her, her body completely covered in blood. "Are you okay? Are you okay?"

"Dale," Parker responded no louder than a whisper, her voice trembling, pointing at the man as if she was stunned. "It's Dale." Rick crouched down next to him. 

"Alright, just listen to my voice. Just listen to me, alright?" Parker felt like she couldn't breathe. If she had been a little faster, a little more alert, then this never would have happened. She should have never walked away from Dale. She should have pulled out her gun faster. She blamed herself for what had happened to him.

"Dale, I'm so sorry," Parker whispered, as she knelt next to him again, not knowing what she could do. "I'm so sorry.

"Get Hershel" Rick shouted. "He needs blood. We gotta operate now!" Dale moaned slightly, his mouth filled with blood. Daryl slowly walked over to Parker, and when she felt his hand on her shoulder, she covered her hand with her mouth, only smearing blood across her face. Dale was suffering, struggling to breathe, and Parker wished it was her instead of him. Dale didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die in agony. It should have been her. "Hershel! We need Hershel!"

"Look at me." Andrea sobbed as Dale looked at them all with wide eyes, the painfilled noises he made only made Parker feel worse.

"Dale, we're gonna help. Just hold on." Rick tried to reassure him.

"Why were you out here!?" Andrea yelled at her.

"We- it was j- just... walking. We wanted to- we wanted to get away from everything." Parker panicked, her breathing rapid. "I shouldn't have- I killed him.." Parker ran her hands over her face as she stared at Dale.

"What happened?" Hershel shouted, crouching down next to Dale.

"What can we do? Can we move him?" Rick asked.

"Dale it's gonna be okay," Glenn repeated.

"He won't make the trip" Hershel responded.

"You have to do the operation here." Rick insisted, but even Parker knew it was too late. "Glenn, get back to the house!"

"Rick!" Hershel yelled over him.

"He's suffering," Parker said as Dale began to choke on his own blood. "Someone do something!"

"No!" Rick shouted angrily as everyone's cries filled the air. Rick pulled out his gun, intending to be the one to end Dale's suffering, but he didn't dare pull the trigger. When Parker knelt next to Dale and took his hand in hers, she felt him squeeze with whatever strength he had left. Daryl took Rick's gun, standing up as he pointed the barrel at Dale's head

"Sorry, brother," Daryl said softly. When he pulled the trigger, Parker's grip tightened and she felt Dale's hand fall limp in hers. As she let out a sob, she felt hands on her arms, pulling her to her feet, enveloping her in a tight hug as she struggled to find the strength in her legs to stand on her own. Rick held his sister against him, the only thing keeping her upright were his arms around her and her hands clenching handfuls of his shirt.

"I'm so sorry," Parker cried. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him. There were two of them and one of them almost bit me and I was too late. I couldn't save him, Rick. I'm sorry."

"Parker, it's not your fault," Rick whispered softly. "It's not your fault."

"I was too slow," Parker sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, you got that?" Rick said, holding her face in his hands. "It's not your fault. Are you okay? You weren't bitten or scratched?"

"No," Parker responded, shaking her head. "I'm okay." She looked back at Dale's body and Rick pulled her back into his arms.

"It's okay, Parker. It's okay." She knew it wasn't alright, because Dale was dead. She walked away from Rick, giving Dale one last look before walking away from the group and heading back to her tent. She opened the flap and climbed inside, sitting on her bed before letting out another sob. Rick watched her leave, looking to Lori to help. "Should I go after her?"

"No, I'll take care of it," Daryl answered before Lori could. No one said anything about Daryl's actions, because no one really knew what was happening at that moment, too distraught to process anything. As he jogged toward Parker's tent, he remembered the paralyzing fear he felt when he heard her scream. If anyone had been there to witness Daryl's reaction, they would have seen the blood drain from his face and his feet begin to move before his brain could process what was happening. They would have seen him run out of that barn like his life depended on it. 

When he got to Parker's tent, he cautiously moved the flap and looked inside. She was sitting on her bed, her head in her hands as she sobbed softly to herself. He felt rude for butting in, but she didn't deserve to go through this alone. Nobody did. "Parker?" She looked up when she heard him, her whole body shaking.

"What do you want?"

"To know that you're okay." 

"I'm fine! I mean, like, we have to be because that's how this damn world works. Just go away." Parker snapped, while Daryl sat next to her. Then her angry attitude subsided and she looked at Daryl with such an overwhelming amount of sadness in her eyes that he wanted nothing more than to take the pain away. "That's the opposite of going away."

"No one blames you," Daryl assured her.

"I was too late to save him."

"I saw how you knocked that walker off of him."

"I was too late," Parker whispered again, a haunted look in her eyes. "Dale was already hurt."

"But that wasn't your fault," Daryl replied.

"It should have been me," Parker murmured. "Not him. He didn't deserve that. He was so good, gave good advice, and always wanted to do the right thing."

"Hey, don't say that," Daryl said. "Dale wouldn't want you to think like that."

"I wish it had been me," Parker spoke sadly, staring at her hands that were covered in not only walker blood but Dale's too. "Dale was better than me. No one would miss me."

"That's not true," Daryl said instantly. "Your brother would. And Lori, Carl. Everyone would miss you, Parker. I would miss you."

"I almost died tonight," Parker whispered, after processing Daryl's words. "I almost died. That walker was on top of me and all I thought about was you. About not fixing things between us. I didn't want to die thinking you hated me."

"I don't hate you," Daryl said, his voice calm. Parker moved slightly, pausing for a moment before she seemed to steel her nerves and continue with was she was doing. She rested her head on Daryl's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Please don't leave me. I know you're scared, and so am I, but please don't push me away. I'm not going anywhere." Daryl hesitated before returning the hug.

"I'm not leaving either."

"Dale told me not to give up on you. He told me to let you know that I'm not going anywhere because I'm not."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away," Daryl apologized. "I didn't want to accept that I care about you. I've never cared about anyone before." Parker hugged him tightly.

"It's okay. I just didn't understand why you were doing it, but then Dale talked to me and now I understand."

"Dale was right," Daryl replied. "I thought if I ignored my feelings, they would go away."

"I'm afraid that's not how life works," Parker tried to joke quietly. "Just... promise you won't try to forget me? I don't want to forget."

"Me neither," Daryl responded. Parker looked at him and her eyes didn't shine like they normally did. The light had faded so fast and Parker looked so sad, as if she had lost all hope and was in a dark place from which she could not find a way out. Dale had told her to keep the hope she had, but now, in light of his death, that very hope had faded and Parker didn't know if it would return.

"Can you stay?" Parker asked, sounding shy as she looked at Daryl. "I don't want to be alone and you're here and I don't want you to leave." Daryl nodded.

"I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me, alright?" Parker nodded, her eyes trailing back down to her hands.

"Thank you."

"Now come on. Your covered in blood. Get some clothes. I walk you to the house."

"Is that your way of telling me I stink?" Parker raised an eyebrow in question.

"Just sayin' a shower wouldn't hurt." He shrugged, laughing when she threw one of her shirts at him.