MARCIE SAT ON THE STAIRS OF THE PORCH, STARING AT THE ROAD THAT LED TO THE FARM.

It had been a week since the incident in town. Randall, the guy from the other group, had been chained in the shed during that time, healing.

And now Hershel gave him the all clear.

Rick and Shane had left earlier that day, driving 18 miles out to drop the guy off.

Daryl had been nicer, but it wasn't the same as before. Not yet at least. He hadn't kissed her again. He usually went out hunting during the day, only returning after Marcie had gone to bed.

The door opened behind her and Maggie stepped out. Beth had kept a knife that she was given at lunch and luckily, Lori found it before Beth had gotten a chance to use it. The two sisters had spent the afternoon screaming at each other,

The older Greene sister sighed before sitting down next to Marcie,

Vivian sat on the bottom step, Liam playing in the dirt in front of them.

"Glenn said he froze out there." Maggie stated,

Marcie shrugged, "I wouldn't say froze. Took a breather behind a dumpster, maybe. I mean, he was being shot at."

"He blames me."

Both Vivian and Marcie turned to look at Maggie, "What?"

"He said I got into his head." Maggie replied,

Marcie shook her head, "Men..." She scoffed, "always blaming women for shit that had nothing to do with them. Look, what happened out there, happened. What matters is that he came back alive."

"Maybe I-"

Vivian turned slightly to look at the farm girl, "Look, do you have anything to apologise for?" Maggie shook her head, "Well, then tell him to man up and pull himself together... except don't use the phrase 'man up'. It never goes well. I figured out that one from my brothers."

The three girls smiled.

"Daryl kissed me."

"What?!" Maggie and Vivian turned to her, "When?"

"Last week. After we got back from town. I was upset and he just... kissed me." Marcie explained, "Hasn't looked at me since."

"Daryl Dixon making the first move." Vivian smirked, turning back to Liam, "Who woulda thought."

"Maybe all the men are having their male version of PMS." Maggie joked, "They're all synced together like women do."

Marcie smiled, "Well, can Shane get over it soon? I feel like he's had PMS since we got to this farm."

The three of them giggled before they spotted the green Hyundai driving towards them. The trio stood as the car came to a stop, and Vivian's eyes widened when Rick and Shane stepped out, their faces covered in blood,

"What happened?" She asked, walking over to him and grabbing his chin to look at the cuts,

"Went to drop the kids off... place was overrun. Didn't figure it out until it was too late." Rick grabbed her hand and lowered it, "I gotta go take him to the shed."

"What?" Vivian stood there as Rick backed away and went towards the car, opening the car and dragging Randall back out, "He's still here?"

"He knows Maggie." Rick looked over her shoulder and over to the farm girl, "Went to school with you. He knows where we are. Can't let him go running back to his group."

Vivian approached him again, "Let Shane take him, let's get you cleaned up."

"Can't trust Shane. Not with him." Rick replied quietly before walking away, dragging the young man with him.

T-Dog stayed on watch the entire night. The next morning, Rick sent Daryl to question Randall while the others waited by the fire,

"So what you gonna do?" Lori asked her husband, "We'd all feel better if we knew the plan."

"Is there a plan?" Andrea questioned,

"We gonna keep him here?"

Shane and Rick shared a look before Rick replied, "We'll know soon enough." He stared past the group, watching as Daryl approached,

Marcie spotted the blood on his hand, trailing down to his wrist. How much of it was his?

"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men." Daryl stated when he got close enough, "They have heavy artillery and they ain't lookin' to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna..." He paused and made eye contact with Marcie, "They're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asked,

"Had a little chat." Daryl answered.

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

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked her husband,

"We have no choice. He's a threat." Rick announced to the group, "We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale spoke up.

"It's settled. I'll do it today." Rick said before walking away, and Dale followed him.

Marcie stared down at her feet. They were just gonna kill him, just like that? Maybe they were just as dangerous as the rest of them.

She walked over to Daryl, "C'mon. Let's clean that up."

Vivian stayed by the fire, feeding Liam his breakfast. She would let him eat his oatmeal himself, but he liked to throw it on the ground and laugh.

"I know you may not think it... but Rick looks towards you." Dale stated, sitting down across the fire from her,  "He listens to you... respects your opinion."

"Dale..." Vivian sighed, "this is about the safety of the group. I don't want this on my conscious."

"Then why not try and save his life?"

"Because I'd rather be responsible for the death of a guy I didn't know, who is possibly dangerous, than the death of my entire group. I'm responsible of Liam now, I need to keep him safe."

Dale glanced at Liam, "That little boy is looking up to you. Don't you think you need to set a good example? For him and Carl?"

Vivian stared at the two year old for a moment. Dale was right, she needed to set an example for Liam. She knew that if Jillian and Trevor were here, they'd vote to keep Randall alive.

"Okay." Vivian nodded, "At the meeting... I'll stand with you."

Dale gave her a kind smile, "Thank you. And... could you talk to Rick?"

"Yeah." She sighed, "I'll try."

Marcie led him back to their camp and sat him down on one of the logs before going to her bag inside the tent to grab her first aid kit. She walked out of the tent and kneeled in front of Daryl, grabbing his bloody hand. Carefully, Marcie wiped away the blood, revealing the split skin underneath.

"I know Rick wasn't going to say it, but thanks for doing that. It must've not been easy." Marcie stated.

Daryl shrugged, "Just pullin' my weight."

She gave him a small smile, "Trust me, you've done plenty for this group."

He glanced over his shoulder and scoffed, "The whole point in me comin' up here is to get away from you people."

She turned to see Dale walking up to them, "Gonna take more than that."

"Carol send you?" Daryl asked,

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group." Dale commented,

Daryl shook his head and stood, "Oh, man, I don' need ma head shrunk." He grabbed his jacket and vest, "This group's broken. 'M better off fendin' for myself."

Marcie bit her lip, trying not to speak up. She couldn't change Daryl's opinion, especially not on the subject of the group's survival.

"You act like you don't care."

"Yeah, it's cause I don't." Daryl responded,

"So, live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?" Dale asked.

"Nope."

"Why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?" 

Daryl grabbed his crossbow, "Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch."

"Your opinion makes a difference." Dale replied,

"Man, ain't nobody lookin' at me for nothin'. Daryl scoffed,

"Carol is. I'm sure Marcie is. And I am, right now." He replied,

Marcie raised her hands and stood, "Look, this isn't about me alright?" She glanced over at Daryl, "I'll see you later." 

She began to walk back towards camp. She paused in the field to tie her boot and when she stood back up, she heard Dale's voice,

"You've done a lot for Rick, for this group. He'll listen to you." 

Marcie paused and turned to him, "You weren't out there, Dale. This world... it's different."

"I know you're not a killer, Marcie." Dale insisted.

She gave him a sad smile, "That's where you're wrong."