Z

A light rain was beginning to fall as I walked across the field back to the tent from the house, nature had been calling; the cool morning air was chilling me to the bone and I was just aching to get back to my cozy cot. A fog had rolled across the farm during the night, giving the landscape an eerie and unsettling look about it. I pulled my jacket tighter around me while I kept an eye out for anything lurking in the mist. No matter how safe the farm felt, I was always on guard, always anticipating something to go wrong.

As I approached the shed I watched Daryl emerge and carefully chain and lock the door behind himself. I stopped and watched him as he wiped the backs of his hands on his dirty jeans and surveyed his surroundings. His eyes fell on me and I could see the skinning knife he held in his hand. I saw him exhale heavily as I trudged across the wet grass towards him.

"You get a deer?" I asked, motioning towards the knife. The shed would have been the perfect place to clean a kill. I hadn't understood why Rick had insisted the boar be cleaned out in the open as opposed to the shed. It was then that I noticed his bloody knuckles. He followed my eyes down to his hands.

"Nah," He answered, "No deer." He looked back over his shoulder at the door then to me; His whole body was tense as he stood there, the look on his face told me he was hiding something.

"What's going on?" I asked taking a step towards the small shed, Daryl followed my movement, blocking me from getting any closer to the structure.

"Help," A desperate, barely audible male voice said from the other side of the wooden wall. My eyes grew wide as I looked to Daryl for an explanation.

"C'mere," He said, motioning away from the shed and over towards the tents. I followed him wordlessly for a few paces before he turned to speak to me in a hushed voice, "He shot at us while we were in town one night," He said, "He got hurt and his men left him behind. Rick and Hershel brought him back here."

"You have a prisoner," I said, looking at him blankly as I tried to process this rundown of the situation.

"They shoulda just left him to die," Daryl said simply, sheathing his knife, "Avoid this whole headache of deciding what the hell to do with him."

"Why don't you just take him out in the middle of nowhere and let him go?"

"His camp's thirty men," Daryl answered his face drawn in seriousness, "You imagine what they'd do rolling through here?" He shook his head, "We can't risk that."

Daryl was silent as he looked past me towards the tents, I spoke after a few moments "Why didn't you all tell us?"

"Just wasn't a pressing matter," He said sarcastically.

"We have a right to know," I said, "If he's a threat, don't you think you should have told us before rolling out the welcome mat?"

"It don't matter anyways, Rick and Hershel are gonna handle it," His tone was beginning to show agitation, "Just keep it quiet. Think you can do that?" He pushed past me and I stood there, watching him head towards his tent which set back, far away from the others. I shook my head at his shitty attitude and headed back to the tent I shared with Beth. As I zipped the door up behind me she stirred.

"Rose?" Her voice was thick with sleep.

"Yeah," I answered, pulling my boots and jacket off and leaving them by the door. I settled into my side of the tent.

"Where'd you go?" She asked from the other side of the fabric room divider.

"The bathroom," I slipped into my cot and pulled my blankets up around me, the information I just learned weighed heavy on my mind.

"Is everyone up?" She questioned.

"No," I said quietly, "It's dawn. Go back to sleep."

I could tell her later, as Daryl said, it wasn't a pressing matter. Rick and Shane had kept us safe so far, and I didn't down their ability to do so, but knowing a threat was lurking just a few yards away left me feeling uneasy.

Most of the day had passed before Beth and I had a moment alone. I was stooped over an old tin basin washing the groups laundry while Beth hung up the soaked clothes to dry. The sun had finally come out around noon and lightened everyone's mood. Daryl had disappeared into the woods again on his continuing quest for Sophia. It was easy to see that the entire group, including Carol, was losing hope of finding the missing girl alive; Daryl, however, carried on believing he could find her. He'd discovered her doll a few days prior and was certain he'd found the trail that would lead to her.

"Beth," I said, pulling her out of her thoughts, "I gotta tell you something."

"What is it?" Her face was calm as she looked over at me.

"That shed," I said looking back at the small wooden building, "They've got a person in there."

"What?" She asked, following my gaze, "Who?"

"I don't know," I said, "A man, though." I handed her the blue shirt I'd been scrubbing, "Daryl said he shot at them while they were in town. He told me not to say anything...His hand were bloody."
"Interrogating him?" She wondered, "You think the rest know?"

"I don't know," I answered with a shrug as I stopped washing, "He didn't say. They must, though. I mean, I can't see them keeping something like that from each other. Us? We're new."

"Yeah," She nodded, "D'you trust the leadership here?"

"I think so," I said, "Rick's pretty levelheaded and Hershel seems to be a good man. Do you?"

"I trust them. I think whatever they're doing, they've got a reason. Whatever needs to be done to keep everyone safe is what they should be doing."

I let what she said sink in as I went back to my work, enjoying the feeling of the sinking sun on my back. The birds were singing in the tree above us, providing us with music while we finished up our chores. It was nice to be with these people and have the group structure, but part of me felt like it was all too good to be true, like it could end at any moment.

"Walker!" I heard Andrea cry from atop the R.V. "Walker!"

I stood up to see the staggering figure in the field she was pointing at. Rick and Shane came running from the house with T-Dogg and Glenn not far behind.

"Don't shoot," Rick called up to Andrea as he and the group ran past the camper. Shane carried a shovel with him and T was wielding a crowbar.

"I can take the shot," Andrea said, "I can get it."

"No guns," Rick responded loudly, making his point. I could see the look of frustration on the blondes face as she paced around the roof of the R.V. Dale said something to her I couldn't hear. Beth and I walked out from under the tree to get a better view of the situation. We watched as our men reached the walker, they hesitated - not destroying it instantly. I squinted against the setting sun to see what was happening.

"I got it," I heard Andrea say, I pulled my eyes away from the field to see her laying on the roof, her rifle aimed.

"Rick said no guns," Dale said sternly, "Don't, Andrea."

She ignored the older man's warning and pulled the trigger. After the shot had finished echoing through the trees we could hear them.

"NO," That was Rick, followed by more shouts from the other men. The smile of triumph fell from Andreas face. She abandoned her rifle and climbed down from the roof and took off towards the men. I watched as Rick and Shane helped the one who'd been shot up.

"That's Daryl," I said, the realization hitting me. My heart raced in my chest as I watched them drag him back towards the farm.

"Shit," Beth said from beside me.

"Should we try and help?" I asked, watching Carol follow Andrea into the field.

"Go get Hershel?" She said with a nod, I turned and ran towards the house, meeting Hershel on the porch steps.

"Andrea shot Daryl," I said urgently, "He's hurt."

"Go in and Maggie will help you get the spare room ready," Hershel instructed, walking resolutely past me. I found my way into the house and explained the situation to Maggie; She collected Hershel's medical bag and supplies while I made the bed.



That night while everyone sat around the table eating, I volunteered to make a plate for Daryl; I'd also taken the time to grab him the books Dale had given me to pass the time when I hurt my ankle. From what I'd heard from the others he'd been out on one of Hershel's horses when it got spooked and threw him. He'd fallen down a steep ravine, had an arrow pierce his side and narrowly avoided being eaten by a walker only to find his way back to camp and be shot by Andrea.

I walked down the hall to the room I'd helped prepare, the door was already open. I poked my head in to see Daryl lying facing the door with his eyes closed, he opened only one when he heard the floorboards creak beneath me. He had a bandage around his head and I was certain he'd have a matching one where he'd taken the arrow.

"Hungry?" I asked quietly.

"What do you think?" He asked gruffly into his pillow. I rolled my eyes and entered the room, setting the plate of food on the nightstand. I turned to leave, but stopped when I remembered to books in my hand.

"Here," I set the novels beside the plate. He reached over and grabbed a book, flipping through it.

"No pictures?" He scoffed, tossing it to the foot of the bed.

"Can't read 'em with no pictures?" I asked with a smirk.

"Why you bringin' me dinner?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me, "And books. What's wrong with you?"

"You almost died," I said, feeling my temper flare up, "I was just trying to do something nice." I turned to leave again, regretting trying to do him a favor.

"Thanks," He said quietly, I paused with my hand on the door, "But I'm not much of a reader."

"You're welcome," I said, looking back over my shoulder at him. He gave me a subtle smile and I returned the gesture, "You're doing something really good," I said, "Looking for that girl."

He was quiet, "I know they all think she's dead," I pushed the door shut a little bit and leaned back against the wall next to the door, "She could survive. I made it nine days by myself in the woods and I was younger than her."

"Your parents didn't look for you?" I asked, looking down at him.

"My old man and brother didn't even know I was gone," He said, "Spent nine days eating berries and wiping my ass with poison oak. Itched like hell." A laugh escaped me despite the seriousness of our conversation. A smirk crossed his lips.

"You'll find her," I said with a smile, "If-" The door to his room opened making me move to avoid getting hit. Carol entered the room.

"Hey," She looked at me briefly before her eyes went to Daryl, "How are you?"

"Damn. Am I going to have to answer this question fifteen times?" He asked, sounding agitated, "I got shot and stabbed with an arrow, I feel like hell."

"I appreciate what you're doing," Carol said, moving past me to take the place where I stood beside the bed. I took that as the cue for me to leave, I slipped out the door and into the hallway. Carol shut the door behind me.


The following morning Rick gathered us all around the fire pit after breakfast. We all stood beneath the cloudless sky, listening as Rick presented the information about Randall to us all. Daryl sat in a chair, refusing to stay in the house during this meeting. He was still sporting a bandage around his head and his face was scraped up. Carol stood beside his chair, making me wonder if they were together or if she felt like she owed him something.

"This is our group and this is a decision we all have to make, together," He said, "I think Randall is a danger to us, but I don't want to kill a man if I can avoid it."

"There's no reason to kill him!" Dale said passionately, "He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Yet," Shane shook his head at Dale.

"He shot at us," Glenn chirped in, "The men he was with almost killed us."

"What would you have done?" Dale asked, Glenn was silent.

"There ain't no debatin' this," Daryl piped up.

"You want to kill him?" Dale asked.

"Damn straight," Daryl said.

Shane said, "I'd kill any number of whoever's left out there if it saved one of ours." He stared at Rick, waiting for back up. Rick just nodded solemnly, "He just gets away and finds his way back to his group, what's to say they don't come back here and we lose someone? What if it's Carl?" The mention of his sons name hardened Rick's face. I looked around at everyone to see Andrea and T nodding in agreement with Shane. Beth and I stood on the fringe of the group, observing this exchange.

Lori spoke softly, "I'm not losing any of these people for him."

"Where is your humanity?" Dale asked, holing his hands out to all of them.

"It died with everyone else," Daryl said, waving off Dale's plea. He struggled to stand up out of his chair, "I'm done listenin' to ya'll go round talkin' in circle about this again," He looked between Shane and Rick, "You know what has to be done." I watched Carol help him back towards the house, he shooed her away, choosing to stumble along by himself.

"Okay, then," Rick said, his voice was final.

"I'm having no part of this," Dale said, he had tears gleaming in his eyes, "You all," He pointed at those of us being silent or standing by, "Might as well be pulling the trigger right along with them."

Dale walked away, carrying his rifle with his head handing. He was a man defeated. Rick looked between Shane and the rest of the group. Everyone was at a loss for words.

"What if we just take him 20 miles away and drop him off?" Maggie asked, "He couldn't find his way back."

"He might," Shane sighed.

The conversation went on and on until finally, Rick stopped it. He stood, hands on his hips in the middle of all of them, looking at each of them.

"Everyone, take today to think about this and we'll discuss it again tonight," He spoke with conviction, "Whatever is decided tonight, is what we're going to do."