Cupid's Arrow | Daryl Dixon

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 - 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗

"And me." Madelyn said, making everyone look at her. She didn't want the group to kill Randall. Maybe he should been given a chance. Nobody could go around and kill every living being there is just because they think they may be a threat. In Madelyn's eyes, it just didn't feel right. Dale smiled at her.

"God bless you, Madelyn." Dale said.

"Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything but this is-"

"They've got you scared." Dale said as he interrupted Glenn.

"He's not one of us and we've lost too many people already." Glenn said.

"He's a kid, everyone." Madelyn said. "He's just trying to survive, like me, like you. What was the point of bringing him back and patching him up if you're only going to kill him?"

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

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asked. Maybe she could be swayed into keeping him alive.

"It's 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.

"Put him to work?" Glenn suggested.

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

"We could put an escort on him." Maggie suggested.

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

"I will." Dale said.

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

"He's right." Lori said. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labour." Andrea said.

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

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale asked. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Role of law is dead. There is no civilisation."

"Oh my god." Shane said.

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

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

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

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

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

"I thought about that." Rick said. "Shooting may be more humane."

"What about the body?" T-Dog asked.

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

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

"This is a young man's life." Dale said. "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 we're so afraid of?"

"This is wrong. We can't resort to murder because we don't know what to do." Madelyn said.

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

"No. Dale and Madelyn are right." Rick said. "We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-"

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

"Let Rick finish." Lori said.

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

"So let's work it out." Dale said.

"Stop it. Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting." Carol said. "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 them yourself, there's no difference." Dale said.

"All right, that's enough." Rick said. "Anyone who wants the floor before we make a final decision step forward now."

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

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

"The living used to kill each other before the world went to shit, Rick. Before there were walkers." Madelyn said.

"If we do this, the world that we knew is dead." Dale said. "This new world is ugly. It's harsh. It's the survival of the fittest and that's a world I don't wanna live in. I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please, let's just do what's right. Is no-one going to stand with Madelyn and I?"

"He's right." Andrea said. "We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asked but everyone stayed silent.

"Are you all gonna watch too?" Dale asked. "Nah, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a party to it." Dale then went to Daryl. "This group is broken."