ethreal | the walking dead

XXII

     "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?", Glenn asked in the quiet dining room. The tension was high, almost suffocating. Voting like we're the jury in court to say if a man should be let free or put onto the death penalty immediately was harder than it should, especially in this moment.

     "Does it have to unanimous?", Andrea questioned next.

     "How about majority rules?", Lori suggested.

     Everyone in the group was stressed, none of them had ever done this before. [Y/n] already had his vote set, he knows what type of person Randall is just by observing him and hearing intel from Daryl. He wanted that guy gone.

     Rick rubs his face with one hand in frustration, "Well, let's-- let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options."

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

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

     "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know.", Rick says.

     "Well, I can tell you it's a small group-- Maybe just me and Glenn.", Dale points out. Glenn looks at Dale with a guilty look and Dale already knows what's coming when his face drops to a look of disbelief.

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

     "They've got you scared.", Dale exclaims, cutting Glenn off. 

     "He's not one of us.", Glenn stands his ground, "And we've-- we've lost too many people already."

     Dale looks at Maggie, "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

     Maggie sighs and looks at Rick, wanting to be reasonable for Dale's sake, "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?"

     "Just another mouth to feed.", Daryl says, glancing at [Y/n]'s crutch under [Y/n]'s arm as he shifts his standing position. 

     "It may be a lean winter.", Hershel mentions.

     "We could ration better.", Lori suggests.

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

     "He raped little girls, Dale.", [Y/n] snapped, his voice raising the more he speaks, "You want him to roam free, bring his buddies over here and have our women become victims to that?" 

     The room went silent until Rick spoke, attempting to relieve everyone's nerves, "We're not letting him walk around."

     "We could put an escort on him.", Maggie suggests. [Y/n] shakes his head with a silent, sarcastic chuckle. 

     "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?", Shane asks the group, looking around.

     "I will.", Dale retorts.

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

     "He's right.", Lori backs up her husband, "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

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

     "So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that 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 goes on a tangant.