Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words ever could.
It's in those quiet moments, the spaces between conversations, that we find the most profound connections. It's not about being alone; it's about the solace of shared solitude. Silence is not loneliness; it's a sanctuary for our thoughts, a canvas for our emotions, and a bridge between souls.
So, don't fear the silence, for it's where we often find the most profound moments of understanding.
The two women sit in silence in the kitchen, neither of them daring to break it. Shane and Rick had left that morning to drive Randall away from the farm, ensuring he wouldn't be able to find them.
Maggie sighs, catching Madeleine's attention as the women sitting on the counter was eating an apple, simply watching Maggie make the food. "Rick say anything to you about Glenn when they got back from town?"
Madeleine shakes her head, "No, but Glenn did." She states, causing for Maggie to look down. "He said he froze."
"Yeah, says he froze. Blames me. Says I got inside his head." Maggie speaks with an unknown expression, longing for Glenn's heart more each day.
Madeleine rolls her eyes, hoping off the counter as she throws the apple in the trash can. "He cares about you, Maggie. But men... they're either gonna blame the little woman as the reason they do things or the reason they don't."
"Things were good. Maybe I-."
"Glenn's a big boy. He makes his own choices, and then you..." she points a finger at her, raising an eyebrow at her with a hand on her hip. "do you have anything to apologise for?" Maggie shakes her head at the rhetorical question. "Tell him to not be such a pussy and put his big boy pants back on."
"You're right." Maggie nods, a small smile cracking in the corner of her lips when she finishes plating the food for her sister. "Maybe, I just won't say it like that. It never goes well."
"Listen, you two care about each other. Fight for it or let it go. Y'all have to make a choice." Madeleine runs a hand through her hair, tilting her head to the side. "Nowadays, caring for someone is both a gift and a curse. You understand that, right?"
Maggie nods before heading to Beth's room with the plate of food, knocking gently on the door before entering. Beth looks up, her eyes red from crying. Maggie offers her a small smile and places the plate of food on the bedside table. She knows her sister needs time to heal, and she's there to support her through it.
The tension in the kitchen is noticeable when Lori walks in, both their eyes lock. It's a silent standoff, with unspoken words and emotions between them. Each of them is carrying their own burdens, and the weight of their shared secrets and past grievances hangs heavy in the air.
"Hershel said you didn't have any long term injuries from the accident. How's you feeling?" She asks, the women grabbing a plate of food for herself. "The baby?" Madeleine clarifies.
"I'm good." She takes a bite of her food. "They're good."
"Listen, Lori,-."
"No, let me talk." Lori interrupts her, taking a deep breath to try and gain the courage to speak her mind, knowing she needs to say the right words not to trigger the women standing a few feet away her. "I know Rick and I messed up a lot with you. I know we didn't do the right thing even though we was just trying to protect you, but we did our best. You can't hate us forever. You can't pretend like you don't care about us forever, Mads, we know you. We raised you."
Madeleine scoffs, "Barely. You just picked up from where she left off."
"And she left you a mess." Lori argues back, slightly raising her voice which sends Madeleine toward the edge.
"Don't you dare talk about her like that!"
"I know how hard it is. I know you loved your mother,-."
She shakes her head, muttering under her breath. "Stop it."
"You have to understand why we did what we did." Lori continues, not backing down from giving up on Madeleine and she wants to try her best to restore the bond they once shared. "We wanted the best for you... we really tried our best. If you want to go your whole life hating us, it's fine. But I want you to know that we did it 'cause we love you. We regret it, but it was to protect you."
"No!" She slams her hands down on the counter, pointing an accusing finger at Lori. "The best for me was knowing the truth. What you did was not in a whim of love or protection, you did it for yourselves. He did it to get back at her!"
"The old Mads would've understood." Lori says, a drip of regretting slipping through her mouth at the mention of the past. "Whatever happened after New York changed you. You were coming back home for a reason... you can talk to me."
"What's the point?! All of this talk about the past, it won't change what you and Rick did. So, why do you keep bringing it up? Why keep apologising when you know it won't change how much I hate you?!" Madeleines' outburst leaves Lori taken aback, the tension between them escalating. The younger woman's anger is tangible, and she refuses to accept the justifications Lori offers for the past lies. The strained relationship between them only seems to be getting worse, and the secrets that have been kept threaten to drive a deeper wedge between them."Just stop trying, you did it once, it won't be difficult to do it again."
Lori nods her head and walks away without a single more syllable being exchanged. Madeleine leans against the kitchen counter before she walks out of the house.
Madeleine joins Carol in the mundane task of laundry, despite her dislike for it. It's a way to keep busy and avoid the tension inside the house. The women work in silence, each lost in her own thoughts, and the routine of laundry provides a temporary escape from the conflicts and secrets within the group.
"Have you spoke to Daryl today?"
Madeleine scrunches her eyebrows together in confusion, hanging the last piece of clothing on the drying line. "No, why would I?"
Carol shrugs, unsure if she should tell her, but she does it anyway. "He apologised to me."
"How nice of him."
Carol's attempt to share Daryl's apology with Madeleine doesn't seem to have much effect. Madeleine's response is laced with sarcasm, showing her skepticism and indifference to Daryl's actions.
"I know he's a good person, I know he'd do it even if you didn't tell him to."
Madeleine shrugs in pure indifference, "I didn't do anything."
"I know. He won't do anything unless he wants to. But he listened to you."
The younger women rolls her eyes, turning her head to face her in annoyance. "Is there a point, Carol?"
It's clear that Carol is trying to convey that Daryl's apology was influenced by Madeleine's words, but Madeleine seems uninterested in discussing the matter further.
"He has a soft spot for you."
"So, I've heard."
After a couple of minutes, Lori runs out of the house with an alarmed look. The women watch her talk to Andrea and in a matter of seconds Andrea takes off and Lori runs back inside the house. Lori's urgency and Andrea's swift response create an air of tension and mystery, leaving Madeleine in suspicion about the unfolding events.
"I'll be back."
Madeleine rushes inside the house, keeping quiet as possible, eavesdropping on Andrea and Lori's conversation. Madeleine feels a growing sense of concern as the situation within the group becomes increasingly complex, a family dispute between the Greene sisters adds to the tension.
"You shouldn't have taken the knife away."
Lori frowns, "Excuse me?"
"You were wrong, like Dale taking my gun. That wasn't your decision." Andrea adds, causing for the women eavesdropping to roll her eyes at the older women who keeps bringing it up. "She has to choose to live on her own. She has to find her own reasons."
"Want me to tie a noose for her?" Lori asks with a scoff.
"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way."
"Doesn't mean I can't stop her or let her know that I care." Lori expresses, noticing Madeleine leaning against the doorframe and she wonders when she came in.
"That has nothing to do with it, Lori. She only has so many choices in front of her, and she believes the best one is suicide." Andrea retorts with a sympathetic tone which makes it Madeleine's turn to scoff.
"That's not an option."
"Of course it is. She doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child." Andrea lectures, the older Grimes rolling her eyes at her words.
"I'm going to check on her. You'll understand if I don't send you in there." Lori snarks, walking off to check on the Greene sisters yelling contest.
There is a few moments of silence between Andrea and Madeleine, the latter observing Andrea before Madeleine speaks up. "She needs a loaded gun, right?"
"What?"
Madeleine leans off the doorframe and takes a few steps toward the women, who grows uncomfortable and fearful in her spot. "You think letting her make a choice like that is right because Dale saved you. But he didn't sentenced you to live, if you want to die, go ahead, but don't encourage the 16-year-old who has just lost half of her family." Andrea shifts in her spot as Madeleine stands dangerously close to her. "We both know if Amy was her... it'd be a different story. You better than anyone know what it's like to lose a sibling."
"You don't get it, do you?" Andrea begins to gain confidence and courage to snap at the women. "Your father came back from the dead, you found your family. And now you've got a new sibling on the way. The rest of us have piled up our losses. Me, Carol, Beth, but you just keep on keeping on. We have all suffered. Go ahead. Go in there and tell that little girl that everything's gonna be okay, just like it is for you. She'll get a husband, a son, baby, boyfriend. She just has to look on the bright side." Madeleine looks at Andrea with a mix of surprise and anger, the edge she's toward, getting dangerously close. "You're a self-centred bitch taking it all for granted for some petty reason."
"You don't know shit."
"I know Lori isn't your mother, and I'd take a while guess to say you're real mother is the reason for the way you are." Andrea pauses, both women mere inches from each other. "Lori wants to be your mother, but you take it for granted. I guess since not even your real mommy stuck around for your bitch ass, so can't blame anyone else for not sticking around."
"Are you trying to do something?" Madeleines' eyes flare with anger, her fists clenching as she takes another step toward Andrea. "You think 'cause you have some conspiracy theories about my life, I'm going to go cry in the corner, or maybe put a bullet through my skull to make it all go away?" She pokes her chest, the women slapping her hand away before they glare at each other. "Unlike you, I'm not weak and I certainly wouldn't make it my personality that I wanted to do it."
Andrea scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're a bunch of hypocrites."
Andrea walks away as Lori walks back in, having heard the argument. The two of them stand there, an unspoken tension hanging in the air. Lori knows there's no easy way to fix the fractures within the Grimes family.
"No matter what anyone says, I'll always stick around and proudly call you my daughter."
"And I'll always remind you that you are not my mother." Madeleine attempts to brush past her, but Lori steps in front of her. "Are we really going to continue to have this conversation on replay? Should I record it and just play it every time you decide to bring it up?"
"You're right. I am not your mother. Not biologically, I'm not. But I helped your father raise you. I held you to sleep when you were crying and you had nightmares. I took care of you and Carl. I let you pick his name. I let you hold him like I held you many times. Unlike her, I protected you. I trusted you and you trusted me." Lori's voice wavers with emotion as she tries to convey her feelings.
It's a complex situation, and Lori's struggling to find the right words.
"And then you broke my trust. Crushed it into pieces. It wasn't a silly little lie y'all kept from me and you're acting like I can forgive, forget and move on. It was my mother you lied about... for what reason? To protect me?! How did it protect me?! HOW?!" Lori listens to Madeleine's outburst, her eyes filled with sorrow and understanding, but she remains silent as the younger woman continues to vent her frustrations. "She protected me. She did everything for me. She lived for me. All you two did was break me and judge me and alienated me! You think I didn't hear the whispers back then?" Lori looks down, unable to meet Mads' gaze. She knows they can't change the past, but she's willing to make amends.
"What if he had told you? About your mother? She was dangerous."
The weight of the situation hangs in the air as the two women confront the pain and resentment that has been building for overtime.
"No, she wasn't!" She yells at the women who flinches at her tone. "She was the best mother to me and I just wanted the truth because that's all I ever gave you."
Lori remains silent for a moment, contemplating her next words. "We didn't break you. We built you up. What happened in New York, it changed you back to when we found you."
"It doesn't matter about New York." Madeleine shakes her head, turning away from her as she runs a hand through her hair. "You want to put the blame on someone about the way I am, point that finger right back at you, Lori."
Lori absorbs Madeleine's words, knowing there is much to process and many wounds to heal.
"Beth? Beth?"
Madeleine and Lori don't hesitate rush to where Maggie is calling, fearing that something might be wrong. They find Maggie slamming her hands on Beth's bathroom.
"She's in there. I heard glass." Maggie informs them, Madeleine looking around for something to break up the door. "Beth, you all right? Don't do this, Beth. Don't do this. Open up, please." They heat sobs from inside the bathroom, Lori and Maggie attempting to open the door. "God, I told Andrea to keep an eye on her. I walked away for 5 minutes."
"Andrea has lost her damn mind!"
Lori slams her hands on the door, rattling with the doorknob. "Beth honey, please open the door."
"I'm not mad. I'm not mad, Beth."
Madeleine is quick to find a wrench and easily force the door open. The sight of Beth's injured wrist is distressing for Madeleine, and she looks away, unable to bear it. Maggie, and Lori rush to help Beth, providing first aid and assessing her injury.
Beth sobs. "Maggie. I'm sorry."
As Madeleine exits the room, she begins to search for her brother, who she hasn't seen all day. She finds it suspicious that he's been out of her sight for so long. Worried about his well-being, she sets off to locate him and ensure he's safe.
Madeleine halts her search for Carl as Andrea approaches her. "I heard. Is she all right?"
Madeleine slaps Andrea across the face, the women's face wiping to the side. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She reaches for her back and grabs the gun she found, handing the loaded gun to Andrea. "You want someone to die, point that gun at your head and pull the trigger, but stay away from Beth!"
The women walks past Andrea and bumps shoulders with hers as she walks towards her tent, Carl not being anywhere in sight makes her wonder if Dale took him for a walk, like he usually does.
Seeing a figure in the tent examining the books Carl got from Dale startles Madeleine. She cautiously approaches, ready for any potential threat, while keeping a close eye on the intruder.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, crossing her arms.
Daryl turns around at the sound of her voice, placing the book back down. "I heard you arguing with Lori."
"So?"
Daryl shrugs, adverting his eyes from her burning glare. "Just making sure you're alright, that's all."
"It's not your business, I'm not your friend." She spits out, stepping to the side as an indication for him to leave.
Daryl stands up and walks past her, stopping right by her side to look into her eyes. She stares right back at him, neither of them saying anything for a few seconds.
"Nah, your eyes show it all."
Daryl and Madeleine share a moment of tension, their faces close together. It's an intense moment, filled with unspoken emotions. Finally, Daryl takes a step back and walks out of the tent, leaving Madeleine with a swirl of thoughts.
Her hand hoovers over the stitches and her old scars. Madeleine clenches her hand into a fist, trying to push aside the painful memories that always seem to creep back when she's at her most vulnerable. With a deep breath, she focuses on the present, determined to find some temporary escape.
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The tension is thick as Rick, Shane, and the others wait for Daryl's conversation with Randall to conclude. The two arrived back at the farm the previous night, having brought Randall back after they found out he knew Maggie. When they got back, Madeleine noticed the shift between the two friends, causing for her to become more guarded about the man.
There's an air of uncertainty, knowing that this stranger could pose a significant threat to the group. They hope that Daryl can extract any necessary information for them to make the best judgment about what to do next.
Andrea rubs the back of her neck, "Is there a plan?"
"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asks, the group standing in silence as they pounder on what they should do with the stranger.
The man strolls toward the group, his crossbow laid on his shoulder as he grasps for it, the noticeable bloody knuckles indicate how the conversation went between Daryl and the stranger.
"He's not talking." Daryl states, causing for Madeleine to stand up and grab her knife from her waist.
"He's about to."
"Wait, no." Rick protests, running after her but the women doesn't pay him any attention or attempts to slow down her pace.
"Mads." Daryl calls out.
"I don't give a shit about what you're about to say. I'm going to make him sing like a canary." Madeleine coldly states, causing for the man to watch her back head inside the barn.
Daryl and Rick exchange a silent nod of understanding, the Dixon running up toward the barn as Rick attempts to keep the group at ease.
As Madeleine brutally beats up Randall, Daryl enters the barn and the anger in her is undeniable. She seems relentless, not holding back, and in the process, she rips some of the stitches in Randall's wounds. Daryl watches in silence, a mixture of concern and confusion in his eyes. He's aware of the heated argument she had with Lori earlier, but now, seeing her unleash her rage, he can't help but wonder what might be triggering this intense reaction.
"He's not going to say anything, if he was, he'd give it up when I beat him to a plump." Daryl addresses, the women ignoring his words as she continues with her violent lash out.
She holds the knife up to Randall's neck and grazes it, the man crying out in pain as he pleads for her to stop hurting him. Madeleine takes extreme measures to get Randall to narc on his people, using a chokehold to restrict his breathing. She's determined to ensure he gives them any information, even if it means using force or near-death threat.
The world she always lived in has forced her to become ruthless in order to survive.
"There-there's 30 guys." He chocks out, the women releasing the chokehold and crouching down in front of him with her head tilted to the side.
"Where?"
"Uhm."
Madeleine stabs him in the thigh, the man screams out and they are sure the group could hear his pain from the other side of the farm. "For each question you don't answer, you win a new hole in your body."
"Okay. Okay. I don't know where they are. But they have weapons..." Randall stammers, the women glancing back at Daryl with a victorious smirk when he begins spilling the beans of his group. "heavy stuff, automatics. These people took me in."
"Don't careee." Madeleine groans out, prolonging her words to emphasise the disinterest on how Randall found his group, removing the knife from his thigh before punching him.
"Ouch! I told you what you asked!"
"You told me jack! You better start telling me something I actually will want to hear, or I don't see any other option than to kill you."
"We go out, scavenge... just the men." He begins, Daryl narrowing his eyes at the man in front of them. "One night we... we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters... teenagers, you know?" They exchange a look at his words, Madeleine tightly gripping the knife on her hand. "Real young. Real cute." He pauses, both Daryl and Madeleine piecing together what he doesn't have the courage to say. "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 left him there." Randall's eyes widen when he notices the devil dancing inside Madeleine's eyes and he's quick to shake his head. "I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't to-."
Madeleine knocks him unconscious, her knuckles skin breaking at the impact, but she doesn't even realise it until Daryl holds out a cloth for her to take and clean up her wound. They don't exchange another word as they walk back toward the group, both of them knowing the best fate for Randall is death.
"He's got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't sound too friendly." Madeleine informs them, crossing her arms.
"They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna..." his eyes stray over to Madeleine who shoots up an eyebrow in a questioning matter. "They're gonna wish they were."
"Hershel, he's going to need new stitches. Some antibiotics, too." Madeleine states, the older man nodding his head as him and Patricia head away to aid the man.
Carol frowns, "What did you do?"
"They had a friendly chat." Daryl says, the women not hiding the cold smirk on her lips as the group stares back at her.
Rick sighs, placing his hands on his hips."No one goes near this guy."
"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori quietly asks.
"He's clearly a threat." Madeleine chimes in, Rick and Lori turning their heads and they wince at her dark stare. "To all of us. We have to kill him before he kills us."
Rick nods, "She's right. We have to eliminate the threat."
Dale scrunches his eyebrows in confusion and worry for the group. "You're just gonna kill him?"
"It's settled. I'll do it today."
The group part ways at Rick's words and Madeleine walks towards Carl who's engrossed in his math studies. She observes the books around, and her thoughts wander to Lori's efforts in collecting them. Madeleine barely made it back in time to join the group before they left for Atlanta, not having packed up anything from her old life in that house.
"I hate maths."
Madeleine smiles at his words, ruffling his hair as she takes a seat beside him. "I wasn't a big fan either."
"When will I even need this? Especially now." He pushes the books away from him, shaking his head and his sister can sense the frustration slipping with his tone. "It's not like I'll get a job... or go off to college, like you did."
"We're just trying to make things as normal as possible for you." Madeleine lectures her younger brother, pulling the books toward him. "Don't be a brat."
"Nothing about this is normal! I should be learning to shoot and hunt, kill the walkers... not do this. It's pointless!" He pushes his chair back and storms away from her.
Madeleine sighs, witnessing her brother's growing detachment from the world and the hardening of his emotions. She had tried to shield him from the harsh realities, but it's clear that the world they live in is making its mark on him as well.
"Your brother seems unhappy."
Madeleine glances over her shoulder to watch Dale take a seat next to her on Carl's old position. "He's growing in a new world where he can't ever be normal again. Do normal things, make friends or go to school."
"That's why we need to try make this new world better." Dale insisted, the women shaking her with a sigh.
"If this about the prisoner-."
"It's inhumane. We wouldn't do this before-."
"Everything has changed. It's survival of the fittest, Dale!" She exclaims, slamming her hands down on the table as she stands up and begins to walk away, but the man persists by following after her.
"It's a ugly world we're creating. Do you agree we should kill anyone just because they're not part of our group?" He snaps back, the women spinning around and look up at the sky, before holding the bridge of her nose.
"If they're a threat to my siblings, hell yeah. I'll pull the trigger with a smile on my face." He's taken back by her harsh tone. "Listen, I agree there was no point in bringing Randall here and help him to now kill him but it's needed. It's us or him."
Dale slowly nods, "I see where you stand."
"What's your point, Dale? They already have their mind made up. If Rick won't do it, Shane will find a way to kill him." Madeleine points out, the man's eyes widen at her words and he wonders if she pieced together what Shane has done.
"Do you know what Shane did?"
"Whoever hasn't figured it out yet, it's 'cause they don't want to." Madeleine shrugs, the man stepping closer to her as he looks around the farm.
"Have you told your father?" He asks, lowering his voice.
"I've told Rick, if he hasn't done anything it's because Shane managed to manipulate him. Probably made it seem like there was a good reason to kill Otis, so he could save me." She theorises, wondering if the tension between Shane and Rick was created from it.
"What can we do?"
"Keep your friends close, your enemies closer. If Shane bothers you, tell me. I'll take care of him. Don't let him scare you." Madeleine instructs, the man nodding at her and watching her walk away.
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The group gathers in the living room, Lori and Madeleine have made a conscious effort to shield Carl from the upcoming conversation, by having Jimmy and Beth babysit him. They know that he shouldn't have to bear the weight of their discussions about the challenging circumstances they face.
Glenn seats uncomfortably on the chair, breaking the silence. "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?"
Andrea crosses her arms, "Does it have to be unanimous?"
"How about majority rules?" Lori suggests, leaning against the wall.
"Well, let's... let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options." Rick proposes, taking on the leading role for the meeting.
Shane clears his throat to catch everyone's eyes. "Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward."
"Killing him, right?" Dale accuses, shaking his head with a mix of disgust and disapproval. "I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."
Rick shakes his head, "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know."
"Well, I can tell you it's a small group. Maybe just me and Glenn." Dale states, looking over at Glenn who holds his head low at his words and the older man realises he's the only one fighting for Randall's life.
"Look, I-I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this-."
Dale cuts him off, "They've got you scared."
"He's not one of us. And we've-we've lost too many people already." Glenn tries to reason with the older man.
Dale adverts his eyes toward the Greene family, hopeful someone else will stand on his side to save Randall. "How about you? Do you agree with this?"
"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie suggests, crossing her arms as she looks around the group.
"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl points out.
"It may be a lean winter." Hershel says.
Lori chimes in, "We could ration better."
Dale removes the hat from his head, not easily giving up on saving a life as he wants to take the first steps to ensure a better future in the new world. "Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself."
Glenn furrows his eyebrows, "Put him to work?"
Madeleine shakes her head at the idea, "We're not letting him walk around."
"We could put an escort on him." Maggie suggests.
Shane scoffs, "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?"
"I will."
Rick waves his hands around to emphasise his point, "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."
Lori nods, "He's right. 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 with an obvious tone, growing frustrated about the situation they roped themselves in, and she wants nothing more but to get rid of the stranger.
Shane steps up, aiming his words at Rick as he always knows how to get through to him. "Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men."
"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale fired back, slightly raising his voice. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilisation."
"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel proposes, ignoring Shane's groan of frustration toward Dale.
"You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. Y-you could get lost." Lori objects, rubbing a comforting hand over her arm.
"Or get ambushed." Daryl adds.
"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk." Glenn nods, not wanting to have to dig anymore graves for anyone he knows.
Patricia takes a step forward, swallowing the lump in her throat. "If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?"
Shane shrugs, "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck."
"I thought about that. shooting may be more humane." Rick says, the conversation flowing as if a man's life isn't on the line and they have these conversations on a daily basis.
"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" T-Dog asks.
Dale intervenes, feeling the disgust brush over him, a nausea at the normalcy of their tone. "Hold on, hold on! You're talking about this like it's already decided."
"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl fires back at him, using his fingers to indicate the repeated conversation they've been having all day.
"This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation!" Dale exclaims, his tone growing louder. "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?"
"We all know what needs to be done." Madeleine states and Dale looks down in disappointment at her before she continues, "But it was pointless to save him only to sentence him to death now. Should've left him, we wouldn't be where we are now."
"No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-."
Andrea cuts Rick off, "So what's the other solution? We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."
"So let's work on it!" Dale exclaims.
"We are." Rick breathes out.
"Stop it. Just stop it." Carol demands, speaking up after having stood back to listen to the back and forth. "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."
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself..." Dale shakes his head. "There's no difference."
"All right, that's enough." Rick commands, waving around the living room space. "Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."
Dale turns toward Rick when not a single person makes a move to object the idea of killing Randall. "You once said that we don't kill the living."
"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick points out.
"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." Dale argues back, tears glistening in the corner of his eyes. "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-And I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right." He pleads, dropping his shoulders when everyone shares a moment of silence. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"
Andrea cuts the tense silence following Dale's question. "He's right. We should try to find another way."
Rick looks around the room, "Anybody else?"
"Are y'all gonna watch, too?" Dale accuses when everyone falls back into a prolonged silence. "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 walks past Daryl, patting his shoulder with a sniffle. "This group is broken."
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Madeleine enters the barn and witnesses the tense scene. Rick, Shane, and Daryl are standing around Randall, who pleads for his life with his eyes covered by a blindfold. The atmosphere is heavy with tension, and she's unsure of how this situation will unfold when she knows her father always lets his heart win over logic.
"What are you doing here, Mads?" Rick asks, drawing back the gun back from the man kneeling down in front of him.
Madeleine crosses her arms, tilting her head to the side."What? Only the men get to be here?"
"You shouldn't be here." Rick states with a stern tone.
"Why? You scared of how I'll see you after I watch you kill a kid? Don't worry, I'll still see you as you." The other two man simply watch as Madeleine takes a few steps toward her father with a glare on her face. "A liar."
Randall cries out, "Oh, no, please. Ple-Ah-ah-ah."
"Do you have any final words?"
"No, please. Please, don't. Don't." Randall sobs when he hears Rick cock his gun, the man pointing it back at his head.
"Do it, dad. Do it."
They whip their heads to the side when they hear the familiar young voice coming from the barn's entrance, Madeleine's eyes widen in shock before rage overtakes her emotions.
"Are you kidding me?" Shane storms off toward the boy, harshly grabbing his arm and he tries to drag him out of the barn. "What'd I say to you? What did I say to you?"
"Hey! Don't you touch him like that!" Madeleine hisses, pulling Shane away from her brother, the two of them glaring at each other before she turns to her brother. "Let's go, Carl."
As Mads walks with Carl beside her, the tension between them is palpable. Carl realizes she's upset with him and decides to give her space, understanding that it's best to let her cool off before addressing what he nearly witnessed.
"We're keeping him in custody, for now." Madeleine announces to the group, not paying attention to what Andrea says as she turns to her brother.
"I'm sorry."
Madeleine stone cold stare sends shivers down Carl's spine,
"Go inside. Now, please. Listen to me 'cause I'm only saying it once, Carl. You better start listening to me and your mother! You understand?"
The boy nods his head, walking away from her with his head hung low. Lori steps in front of her, sending a concerning look toward Carl.
"Where was he?"
"He followed us. He wanted to watch. How the hell are you going to look after Carl and that baby when it's born, when you can't even keep your eyes on him on a small farm?!" Madeleine harshly snaps back at her, not noticing Rick approaching them.
"Hey, Mads, don't take it out on her. It's not her fault."
"You're right." She turns to her father, pointing at each one of them. "It's all of our faults. He's growing colder, harsher- the least we can do is keep the last bit of innocence he has left. But you can't even do that right!"
"Listen, Mads-."
All of the sudden a scream can be heard from the distance and they all take off running. Madeleine reacts quickly, grabbing her bow and arrow as the screams pierce the air. She sprints in the direction of the screams, prepared to defend the group against any walkers that might be threatening them.
When she reaches the source of the scream, she notices the group gathering around Dale, and the dead walker laying beside him. She looks down at his stomach to see it was ripped open when he fought the walker back.
"Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now." Rick pleads, kneeling down beside the soon-to-be dead Dale. "Get Hershel! He needs blood. We gotta operate now."
"Hang on, Dale." Andrea cries out.
The group gathers around the dying man, their faces filled with shock and sadness. Daryl can see the blankness in Madeleines' eyes, but he knows she's keeping her emotions in check. It's a somber moment as they realize that they're about to lose another member of their group to the relentless threat of walkers.
"Hang on. Listen to me. Come on- Okay, just listen to my voice. All right, please. Hershel! We need Hershel!" Rick calls out to the group, waiting for the man to somehow be able to save Dale.
"Look at me." Andrea pleas.
"Dale, we're gonna help. We're here."
Hershel runs up to the group, kneeling down beside the wounded man as he examines him. "What happened?"
"What can we do? Dale, it's gonna be okay. Can we move him?" Rick questions, his mind driving his thoughts at hundred miles an hour 'cause he'll do anything not to lose anybody else in their group.
Hershel shakes his head, "He won't make the trip."
"You have to do the operation here. Glenn, get back to the house." Rick insists, the rest of the group standing around, having come in terms that there's no way to save Dale.
"Rick."
"No!"
"Oh, God." Andrea gasps, placing a hand over her mouth as she cries out, "He's suffering. Do something!"
Madeleine walks away from the scene, leaving the group behind as she hear the gun cocking for them to put an end to Dale's suffering. The world they live in is harsh, and they've learned to cope with loss and tragedy in their own ways. Madeleine leads herself away from the group, flinching at the sound of the gunshot.
"I'm sorry, brother."
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This was such an intense chapter through and through; a long one as well.
What do you think of Lori's and Mads argument?
Gif made by me.
Thank you for reading ❤️