"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺."
-𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘛. 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘬𝘴

Rick had returned with that little shit Randall. So, Camila did what she had to. Her and Daryl were tag teaming the little bitch. Daryl punched Randall

"Where is she?!" Camila yelled before she punched Randall

"Where is who?!" Randall cried out. Camila shrugged her shoulders

"I don't know. I just wanted to say that" Camila admitted. Daryl punched Randall again, and then again

"I told you-" Randall was cut off

"You told me shit!" Daryl yelled as he forced Randall to sit up

"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road" Randall claimed

"How many in your group?" Daryl asked. Randall wouldn't respond. Daryl went to pull out his knife but Camila stopped him. She pulled out her own and crouched down infront of the bloody Randall. She grabbed him by the chin as she lighting dragged her knife across his leg

"Uh, no no no no no no no. Come on" Randall begged. Her grip on his face became stronger causing him to yelp

"How many?" She asked as the knife began to cut into Randall's skin

"Uh, 30. 30. 30 guys" Randall replied, causing Camila to pull away her knife

"Where?" Daryl asked

"Uh.." Randall trailed off. Camila rolled her eyes before she stabed the man in the leg. He screamed out in pain

"I don't know. I swear" Randall cried

"Wrong answer, pookie. Daryl" Camila said as she looked back at him. Daryl pulled out his knife and tossed it Camila. She caught it and then forced it into Randall's other leg

"We were never anyplace more than a night. I swear!" Randall yelled out

"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" Daryl asked

"I- I don't know. They- They left me behind" Randall said

"Getting tired of the I don't knows" Camila said as she removed one of the knife's from Randall's leg. He cried out in pain

"This'll be used to cut off your dick if you keep wasting my time" Camila said

"I'm- I'm trying to cooperate" Randall pleaded

"Try harder" Camila said as she inched the knife closer to his thing

"Okay. Okay. They have weapons- heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything" Randall cried out. Daryl squatted down beside Camila

"Your boys shot at my bots, tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell me you're innocent?" Daryl asked

"Yes!" Randall cried out as he breathed heavily. "These- These people took me in. Not just guys- a whole group of 'em. Men and women, kids too- just like you people. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But.. we go out, scavenge- just the men. One night we- we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters- teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute"

"Their daddy had to watch while these guys- they- and they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- they just made him watch. As his daughters- they just- just- just left him there" Randall said. Camila and Daryl glared at him, causing the man to backtrack. The way he talked about those girls disgusted Camila. "No, but- but- but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't to-"

Randall was cut off as Daryl kicked him. Randall yelped in pain

"Please. Please. You gotta believe me. I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please. Please, you gotta believe me" Randall begged before Daryl kicked him again. Randall screamed in pain. Camila would've just killed Randall, but Jesse had her Pokémon cards hostage. He told her that if she killed Randall, he'd burn them. So, that was the only reason Randall was still breathing

The group was gathered around a campfire discussing Randall

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

"Is there a plan?" Andrea asked

"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asked

"He's got 30 men in his group" Camila said

"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- they're gonna wish they were" Daryl explained

"What did you two do?" Carol asked noticing the blood on Camila's clothes and Daryl's bloody knuckles

"Had a little chat" Daryl said

"Cami, what did I say?" Jesse asked

"He's alive. I didn't kill him" Camila responded

"Look, no one goes near this guy" Rick commanded

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

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat" Rick said

"Finally, you're speaking some sense" Camila said

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

"That's what he just said" Camila responded

"It's settled. I'll do it today" Rick said before walking off. Dale followed after him

Jesse had walked in to check on Beth. He saw Hershel trying to make his youngest daughter smile. Hershel noticed Jesse's presence

"She doing okay?" Jesse asked

"She seems to be in good spirits today" Hershel replied as he stood up

"If there's anything I can do, let me know" Jesse told the man. The two men walked out of the room

"Where's your family from?" Hershel asked

"Louisiana. New Orleans to be specific. Gotta love Mardi Gras" Jesse replied with a smile. Hershel smiled back

"Our family came from Ireland" Hershel said

"Last name is Greene. I figured as much" Jesse said. Hershel pulled out a pocket watch

"My grandfather brought this over from the old country. He passed it on to my father, who passed it on to me. I pawned it to pay for a night of drinking I no longer remember" Hershel said

"Glad you got it back" Jesse said

"My late wife did- Josephine, Maggie's mother. She gave it back years later when I sobered up. She was a good woman, my Jo. Maggie's a lot like her. When I was in that bar and afterwards, I thought about a lot of things. You become a father someday, you'll understand. No man is good enough for your little girl until one is" Hershel told Jesse before he held out the pocket watch

"I can't accept th-" Jesse was cut off

"Go on now, before I change my mind about you" Hershel said. Jesse looked into Hershel's eyes before accepting the pocket watch

"Thank you, Hershel" Jesse told the man before looking back down at the watch. He smiled at it before putting it in his pocket. Hershel patted Jesse's shoulder before passing him

The sun was setting as the group gathered to discuss Randall's fate. Camila didn't even understand why they were discussing it. The bitch had to die. Plain and simple. Kill or be killed

"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 everbody stands, then we can talk through the options" Rick said

"Well, we all know how I feel" Camila said. Dale glared at her

"Killing him, right?" Dale asked

"Ding ding ding. 300 points for Dale!" Camila exclaimed

"I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing, and Camila will surely kill him regardless" 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 and Glenn" Dale said. Glenn made awkward eye contact with Dale

"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. What has Camila been telling you?" Dale asked

"Don't bring me into this. I ain't do shit!" Camila said

"This is my decision. He's not one of us. And we've- we've lost too many people already" Glenn said

"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 replied

"We could ration better" Lori said

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

"Absolutely not. You didn't hear how he talked about those girls. Made me sick" Camila said

"We're not letting him walk around" Rick said

"We could put an escort on him" Maggie said

"And put people in danger? Who would even volunteer for that?" Jesse asked

"I will" Dale said

"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

"His ass will run the first chance he gets. Me and Daryl already beat his ass" Camila said

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale asked

"That kind of mindset is gonna get you killed, Dale" Camila said

"If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization" Dale said

"Fuck me.." Camila muttered as she rolled her eyes

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

"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

"Shoot him in the head" Camila said

"And what about the body?" T-Dog asked

"We burn it" Jesse said

"Hold on, hold on. You're talking about this like it's already been decided" Dale said

"Read the room, hoe. It has been" Camila said

"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

"Because we don't rape people" Camila said deadpanning

"It has to be done, Dale" Jesse 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 said

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

"So let's work on it!" Dale cried out. Camila slammed her head against the wall in frustration

"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

"Somebody kill me" Camila groaned out tired of this shit

"All right, that's enough. Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance" Rick said. The room was met with silence

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

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

"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 cried out. No one sided with him. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"

"He's right" Andrea said

"Oh my fucking God" Camila said as she began banging her head against the wall once more

"We should try to find another way" Andrea said

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

"Are yall 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 walking out

"I'll do the honors of killing Randall" Camila said

Rick, Daryl and Camila had dragged Randall to the barn to execute him. It was pitch black outside. Randall was crying

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asked

"Oh no, please. Ple- ah. Ah. Ah" Randall cried out as Daryl forced him to his knees. Randall continued to sob. Camila unholstered her gun and aimed it at Randall's head

"Do you have any final words?" Rick asked

"No. Please. Please don't. Don't" Randall begged. Camila cocked her gun. She was waiting for Rick to give her the okay

"Do it, Cami" Carl said. Camila was startled by the young boy and accidentally pulled the trigger, killing Randall. Camila turned to Carl

"God damn it! Bitch, you caught me off guard!" Camila said

"Oh my God" Rick muttered seeing his son. Carl had watched the whole thing. He grinned at Randall's dead body. Camila felt her heart soften

"Look it's a little mini me" Camila said. Rick dragged Carl out of there

Randall was not the only death of the night. In fact, there was one more. That little victim was named Dale. Everyone stared at Dale as he bled out

"See, motherfucker. What did I tell you?!" Camila yelled

"Cami, stop" Jesse said. Rick pulled out a gun but couldn't shoot Dale. Daryl grabbed the gun and pointed it at Dale

"Sorry brother" Daryl said before he blew Dale's brains out

A/N: Next chapter is the final chapter of this season

(2319 words)
11/24/23