𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙴𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽 - 𝙸'𝙼 𝚂𝙾𝚁𝚁𝚈
𝙰 𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛
It was a little while later when Rick decided it was best that Randall was killed. Madelyn and Dale didn't like that idea but unfortunately, they were outnumbered. The group were all by the camp when they saw Rick approaching with Carl.
"We're keeping Randall in custody for now." Rick said to the group, making Madelyn smile. She knew Rick wasn't the type of person to just murder someone in cold blood. He was smarter than that.
"I'm gonna find Dale." Andrea smiled as she got up before leaving.
"Carl, go inside." Lori said. "Now please."
"What changed your mind?" Madelyn asked.
"Carl followed us. He wanted to watch. I couldn't-"
"It's okay." Lori said. "That's okay."
"You made the right choice, Rick. Really." Madelyn assured him.
"I really hope you're right, Madelyn." Rick sighed.
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Whilst everyone was around the camp, everyone heard Andrea screaming Dale's name. Everyone rushed over to see a walker attacking him. "Dale!" Madelyn exclaimed as she, Andrea and Daryl ran over. Daryl pulled the walker off Dale as it was ripping Dale's stomach open before quickly piercing a knife into its brain.
"Help!" Daryl yelled. "Just hang in there, buddy."
"You're gonna be fine, Dale." Madelyn said as she crouched next to his body.
"Just listen to my voice, alright?" Rick said as he crouched down to Dale. "Get Hershel."
"Just hang on, Dale." Andrea said, making him nod.
"Hershel! We need Hershel!" Rick yelled in a panic.
"What happened?" Hershel asked as he approached and had a look.
"Can we move him?" Rick asked.
"He won't make the trip." Hershel said.
"We have to do the operation here. Glenn, get back to the house." Rick said.
"Rick!" Hershel said before shaking his head, indicating that Dale wouldn't live. He wasn't going to make it.
"No!" Rick exclaimed. Madelyn covered her mouth with her hand, holding in her tears as much as she could. Dale was such a good man. He didn't deserve this at all.
"HELP!"
Madelyn sobbed as memories of Landon's death came trickling back.
"I love you, Mads."
"NO!"
"Madelyn...run."
Dale was still suffering in pain. "He's suffering. Do something." Andrea cried. Rick pointed a gun to Dale's head but he just couldn't pull the trigger. Madelyn looked at Daryl who looked at her. She nodded, making him nod before going over to Rick and taking the gun.
"Sorry, brother." Daryl said before pulling the trigger, killing Dale instantly. Madelyn sobbed before going over to Daryl and just hugging him. Right now, she didn't care if she was still fighting with him or not.
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𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐
It was the next morning and barely anyone had slept. Dale's death had really shocked everyone. Despite their differences they may have had with him, the group cared about Dale and were devastated that he was gone. Dale's body had been buried and Rick decided to say a few words as everyone looked at his freshly dug grave.
"Dale could...could get under your skin. He sure got under mine. Because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth, who we really are." Rick said. Madelyn was stood next to Daryl and took a hold of his hand, surprising Daryl. He thought Madelyn was still mad at him. He had been meaning to apologise but she never gave him the chance. He didn't know what to say to her but now he did.
"I'm sorry." Daryl whispered, his lips lightly grazing across her ear, giving her butterflies. Madelyn bit her bottom lip ass he squeezed his hand tighter.
"It's okay." Madelyn whispered back, looking at him and giving him a sad smile before resting her head on his shoulder and listening to Rick.
"In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together. Stop feeling sorry for ourselves, take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honour Dale." Rick said.
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After the burial, the Greenes decided it would be best if the group moved into the farmhouse with them, knowing it was now too dangerous to be camping outside with walkers getting closer to the farm.
"It'll be tight, fourteen people in one house." Rick said.
"Don't worry about that." Hershel said. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up.."
"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell." Maggie said.
"She's right. We should've moved you in a long time ago." Hershel said.
"Well, we really appreciate it, Hershel. Thank you." Madelyn smiled, making Hershel smile.
"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out toward the road." Rick said.
As Carol picked up a box that had a few people's clothes in, she noticed something fall out of the pant pocket of Daryl's. Confused, she picked it up and realised it was a diamond ring. "Um, Daryl. Why do you have this?" Carol asked, making him rush over and take the ring from her.
"I liked it." Daryl shrugged. Of course he wasn't going to tell anyone the real reason he had picked it up. He wasn't someone to boast about or even talk about his love life. He was rather private when it came to that matter.
"I see you two have made up." Madelyn said as she walked over, making Daryl quickly put the ring in his pocket. What would he say if she saw it?
"If that's what you wanna call it." Daryl said before quickly leaving. Madelyn looked at Carol who just shrugged before they began moving their stuff.
"We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft." Rick said. "That should give us sightlines both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house, keep track of everyone coming and going."
"What about standing guard?" T-Dog asked.
"I need you and Daryl on double duty." Rick said.
"Gotcha." T-Dog said.
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It was a little while later and Daryl was with Rick on the porch of the house, discussing what they were going to do with Randall.
"Take him out to Senoia, an hour there, an hour back, give or take." Rick said as he pointed at a map. "We may lose the light, but we'll be halfway home by then."
"And this whole pain in the pass will be a distant memory." Daryl said. "Good riddance."
"Carol's putting together some provisions for him, enough to last a few days." Rick said. "That thing you did last night...with Dale."
"Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy lifting." Daryl said.
"Well, I appreciate it. Truly. I wanted to talk to you about something else too." Rick said. "About you and Madelyn."
"What about us?" Daryl asked as he felt his heart beating a little faster. Did he know what was going on between them? Whatever it was.
"Just...go easy on her. I don't know what's going on between you two but when we found each other in Atlanta, she was a mess. All alone with the recent death of her husband." Rick said.
"You know about that?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah, me and Glenn." Rick said. "But just-"
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about her." Daryl said, making him nod. "Now, I'm gonna go and take a piss."