November 13th, 2010

Winter still couldn't believe what Andrea had done. She risked Beth's life and Winter's relationship with Andrea was severely damaged because of this one event. Rick and Shane had also come back with Randall. Apparently he went to school with Maggie and he knew where the farm was. Daryl was currently interrogating Randall

"So what you gonna do? We'd all feel better if we knew the plan" Lori said

"Is there a plan?" Andrea asked Rick. Everyone was looking to him for answers

"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asked

"We'll know soon enough" Rick. Daryl approached and everyone looked at him

"Boy there's got a gang, 30 men. 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 wish they were" Daryl explained. Winter bit her lip nervously

"What did you do?" Carol asked referring to Daryl's bloody knuckle

"Had a little chat" Daryl said

"No one goes near this guy" Rick said

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

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat" Rick said. Winter wondered why they even bothered saving him in the first place

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

"It's settled. I'll do it today" Rick said. Winter was shocked. Rick was just gonna go and kill him. Dale followed after him. Everyone had dispersed. Winter had walked around until she found a tree she could climb. So, she climbed it. She could feel the breeze on her face. It felt nice against her skin. Then, she thought back to how Rick was going to kill Randall. She understood that he was a threat, but killing somebody? That was different than just killing a walker. That was a living, breathing, thinking person, and to just take their life away? Winter wasn't sure if she could live with that. She heard footsteps approaching, and saw that it was Sam. He stopped in front of the tree and looked up at her before he climbed up himself

"What are you doing up here?" Sam asked as he sat beside her

"I'm thinking" Winter told him

"Is it about Randall?" Sam asked. Winter nodded

"I just.. I'm not sure if they should kill him. I mean, he's a living person. It's not right" Winter said. Sam nodded

"I understand, and I agree but, you heard Daryl. If his group come here.." Sam trailed off

"We don't know that they will. I mean, they left Randall for dead" Winter told him

"But if they do.. the things they will do to us, to you.. This is about surviving, and as much as I want to believe that everything will be fine if we let him go, I can't take that risk. It's us or them" Sam said. Winter nodded knowing he was right, but she just couldn't help but feel guilty about it. Why did they get to decide who lives and who dies? An hour or so passed and Winter was wandering around again. Dale had caught up to her

"Hey" He said. Winter smiled at him

"Hey, Dale" She said

"I want to know what you think about the decision to kill Randall" Dale told her. She sighed

"Honestly, I'm against it, but.. everyone else thinks it's a good idea. So, what can I do?" Winter asked

Sam had been helping fix one of the fences when he heard footsteps. He turned to see Dale approaching him

"Hey, Dale. What can I do for you?" Sam asked confused

"I just want know how you feel about the decision with Randall" Dale said. Sam sighed. He was conflicted but knew what had to be done

"I don't think it's morally right, but it'll keep the group safe, so it's all right in my book" Sam said

"You understand that if we do this, we can't go back" Dale said. Sam walked over to Dale

"I know that, but we have to think about us. I don't want this anymore than you do. I really wish there was another way, but there isn't" Sam said

"Look, if you're trying to be like Mich-" Sam cut him off

"Please don't do that. Don't cross that line. You do not know what you're talking about. I'm sorry, but I'm with Rick. This conversation is over" Sam said before he got back to fixing the fence. Dale sighed before walking off. Sam's chest hurt. The thought of Michael brought Sam great pain. He tried not to think about his older brother. It was something that Sam was sensitive about and he didn't want to bring it up at all. He'd rather pretend like Michael never existed. Time passed and the sun began to set. Everyone had gathered in the house to discuss Randall's fate

"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asked

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked

"How about majority rules?" Lori asked

"Well, let's- let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options" Rick said

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

"Killing him, right? I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing" Dale said

"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, Winter and Glenn" Dale said. Glenn looked up at Dale and Sam looked at Winter. Even though she understood what he had told her earlier, he knew that deep down she could never agree with it. She was just that kind of person, and he honestly hoped that she always stayed like that. It was all the innocence that she had left. Sam wish he had it, too

"Look, I-I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this-" Glenn was cut off

"They've got you scared" Dale told him

"He's not one of us" Glenn said

"That shouldn't matter. He's still a person" Winter said

"We've- we've lost too many people already" Glenn said. Winter had a frown on her face

"How about you? Do you agree with this?" Dale asked Maggie

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asked

"Just another mouth to feed" Daryl said

"It may be a lean winter" Hershel said

"We could ration better" Lori said

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

"Why would he want to help us? Daryl already beat the shit out of him" Sam said

"Sam's right, and we can't let him walk around" Rick said

"We could put an escort on him" Maggie said

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked

"I will" Dale said

"Me too" Winter said. Sam looked at her

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy" Rick said

"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 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

"Killing people is wrong, guys" Winter said

"Oh my God" Shane said

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked Rick. Lori looked at him

"You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y-You could get lost" Lori said

"Or get ambushed" Daryl said

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk" Glenn said

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

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck" Shane said. Sam looked at him like he was crazy

"Or we shoot him in the head. No pain that way" Sam said

"Sam's right. Shooting is more humane" Rick said

"And 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 said

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl asked him

"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 asked

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

"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-" Rick was cut off

"So what's the other solution?" Andrea asked

"Let Rick finish" Lori snapped

"We haven't come uo with a single viable option yet. I wish we could" Andrea said

"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled

"We are" Rick said

"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 said

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself- there's no difference" Dale said

"All right, that's enough. Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance" Rick said. Patricia and Maggie sat down. No one spoke up. Not even Winter. She held her head low

"You once said that we don't kill the living" Dale said

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

"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 believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right" Dale said as he began to tear up

"Is it really necessary?" Winter asked. She got no response

"You know what? We should try to find another way" Andrea said

"Anybody else?" Rick asked. No one spoke up. Rick looked at Dale

"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. Whoa. I won't be a party to it" Dale said before he walked out. Winter followed out behind him. Sam knew she was pretty distraught over the decision

Night had fallen and Winter really couldn't believe they were gonna kill Randall. She knew that it was for their safety, and she knew that they were doing what they thought was best, but even then, she still couldn't get herself to be okay with it it. That was until she heard Rick's voice

"We're keeping him in custody for now" Rick said. Winter stared at him shocked. She couldn't believe it. She was glad to hear that they hadn't killed him. It was something that they wouldn't be able to undo if they had

"That's great news" Winter said with a smile

"I'm gonna find Dale" Andrea said before walking off

"Carl, go inside. Now, please" Lori told her son. Lori and Rick began to talk quietly. Winter looked up at Sam who had the smallest smile on his face. Winter thought maybe he was glad that no one died. Then, Winter's small happy moment ended just like that. Everyone heard screaming

"T-Dog, get a shotgun now!" Rick demanded. Winter, Sam and Rick began running towards the screams. The others weren't far behind. Winter recognized the screams to belong to Dale

"Dale!" Andrea yelled as everyone ran as fast as they could to get to him. However, by the time they arrived, it was too late. Daryl was the first to arrive. He had taken care of the walker

"Help! Over here! Help! Run!" Daryl yelled. The others had made it, including Winter. Tears streamed down her face as she covered her mouth. It was Dale, but she knew that already. What she didn't know, was that his stomach had been ripped open. She began to cry. She felt so sick to her stomach

"Get Hershel!" Rick yelled. Sam walked closer and looked at the wound

"No, there's no point. Dale won't make it. That wound.. no" Sam said shakily. Everyone kept telling Dale it was going to be okay, but it wasn't going to be. Winter had forgotten something very important. Something that should never be forgotten. Rick pulled out his gun as everyone was crying. Yet, Rick didn't have the ability to shoot Dale

"He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea begged. Daryl took the gun from Rick and aimed it at Dale's head. Winter knew it had to be that way, he was infected. Daryl got on one knee and cocked the gun

"Sorry, brother" Daryl said before he shot Dale in the head. The thing that Winter had forgotten.. happy endings don't exist in this world.. not anymore..

(2253 words)
12/2/22