I've been staring at the same thing for what feels like hours, though I know it's only been twenty minutes. Hershel in the back of the station wagon, holding a small flashlight in his mouth as he tries to stop Randall's knee from bleeding. I see Glenn's head peak around from the passengers seat every now and then.
We're doing what Rick said, following him back to the farm. They seem like decent people to survive with in this world so why not.
I pulled my leg up on the seat and examined it. I totally forgot about it in the bar. I guess the pain kinda went numb on me.
We finally reached a giant white farm house with the windows lit up with light. The station wagon came to a stop and Merle pulled the truck up next to it. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and people came rushing out of the house.
"Glenn!" Yelled a girl with short brown hair, as she jumps into the arms of Glenn. Hershel seemed irritated by this.
"Patricia," Hershel walked up to a girl with blonde curly hair. "Prepare the shed for surgery." The girl nodded and walked back inside the house.
Merle, Daryl, and I stood awkwardly until Rick came up to us holding two giant bags.
"I have two spare tents for you guys." He said.
"Ok, Ellie you can have your own tent, Merle and I will share one." Daryl suggested.
"Uh, no brother. I am not sharing a tent with you. That's weird." Merle snatched one of the tents from Rick. He was about to walk away but Rick stopped him.
"You can set your tent up over by ours." He pointed to a bunch of tents sitting in the front lawn.
"Whatever..." Merle muttered as he walked away.
Rick turned back to us. He handed Daryl the tent.
"You guys get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Daryl and I nodded our thanks to him and he walked away.
Before heading over to the tent area, I pulled my bag from the bed of the truck. I'm kinda glad I brought this. It has all of my stuff in it. I didn't dare leave it back at the cabin. You never know what will happen in a world like this. We could've went back to the cabin and found it full of walkers. I'd never be able to retrieve it then.
Daryl also got his crossbow from the front seat and we made our way over to the tents. We set up the tent with no problem and then laid down a bunch of extra blankets Rick had given to us, making the tent actually comfortable to sleep in.
I threw my bag in the corner of my side of the tent, slipped my holster off, and wiggled my way inside the sleeping bag.
I rolled over to face Daryl. He's got pretty eyes. They're like a blueish green.
"Whatcha starin at?" He asked.
"Oh nothing." I felt my face turn red.
A cold breeze swept over our tent. I felt the hair on my arms stick up and my body began to shiver.
"You're shaking. Come here." Daryl motioned me to scoot over by him but I hesitated. "Ellie, I don't bite." he laughed.
I finally gave in and scooted over to him. He wrapped his arms around me and I laid my head on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body. His chin sat gently on my head, making me feel utterly safe.
"What'd you do before all of this?" He casually asked. Shit. Iv'e been dodging this question forever because the answer is going to make me sound like a spoiled bitch.
I laughed, "I didn't work at all. My parents were rich, I didn't need to work."
"What a brat." He sarcastically said.
"Wow. Thanks, asshole." I giggled.
"Yer welcome." Daryl paused for a second. "The nights are getting colder."
His words bounced around in my mind. Winter is approaching and we need to prepare for it. We need more blankets, warmer clothes. The cold could be a good thing though. You'd think the walkers would be affected by it, maybe slow them down or even freeze them.
"We should probably go on another run soon." I suggest. "Our last run didn't go so well."
"Ya got that right. We got nothing out of that!"
"Except for Randall."
"Yeah, what use is he? These people are probably gonna kill him. I didn't even see the point of helping him!" Daryl's voice escalated. "We should've just left him."
I turned my head so I could look Daryl in the eye. "You didn't leave me." His facial expression immediately turned from angry to a happy kind of sad.
He stared into my eyes intently. Unexpectedly, Daryl leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. Our lips moved in motion and Daryl's tongue traced my bottom lip, clearly wanting access. I denied him and pulled away. I curled up in his chest again, feeling kind of awkward. I closed my eyes, still thinking about what just happened.
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I opened my eyes to see the sun shining bright on our green tent. I sat up, noticing I was alone. I guess Daryl had already gotten up.
I stood up, stretched, and then pulled my grey shirt from my bag. I ripped off the shirt I'm already wearing and put the grey one on. I threw my jean jacket over my shoulders, slipping my arms through the sleeves. Taking only my hunting knife and pistol with me, I zipped the tent door open and walked outside to find Daryl already standing there.
"Hey. You didn't wake me?" I asked.
"Thought I'd let ya sleep in. Can I talk to you for a sec?" I nodded and he pulled me behind a nearby tree where none of the group could see us. "Listen, I'm sorry that I kissed you last night. I hope I didn't, like, offend you or somethin."
"Don't be sorry." I laughed, and kissed him on the lips. Once I pulled away, his lips drew into a thin line of a tiny smile.
"Hey." Rick showed up out of nowhere, startling the both of us. "Here's the deal, everyone's kind of wary about having Randall in the group, so we locked him in Hershels old tool shed for now. Maggie, Glenn's girlfriend, is guarding it so if you wanna talk to him, maybe get to know him a little bit and make sure he's not a threat, then just ask her."
"They're not worried about us?" Daryl retorted.
"I told them you guys helped us get out of there, but you should probably stay on everyone's good side." Rick explained.
"What are you gonna do with him if he is a threat?" I asked, bringing the conversation back to Randall.
Rick pinched the bridge of his nose. "We'll kill him."
My heart almost died when he said that. How could you just kill someone who hasn't even done anything?
"How would you do it? Kill him, I mean." I asked out of curiosity.
"The most humane way I can think of. Shoot him." Rick's voice cracked. He doesn't want to do this, I know he doesn't. It's the group who doesn't feel safe with Randall here.
"We're gonna have a meeting about it before the sun goes down. Maybe you can change everybody's minds." Rick walked away leaving Daryl and I alone.
"We should go talk to him." I suggested. Turning before Daryl could object, I headed for the shed. I heard his footsteps hurry behind me.
"Why should we talk to him?" He yelled.
"Why not? If he's a nice guy, then I don't want him to be killed." I shot back.
The girl that hugged Glenn last night stood infront of the shed door when we approched her. She was focused on something on the ground before she switched her attention to Daryl and I.
"Hi, um, Ellie and Daryl right? I'm Maggie." She said.
"Hi, yeah, Can we talk to Randall?" I requested.
"Sure. Go on in there." Her southern accent slipped through her teeth when she spoke.
Daryl and I walked inside the dark gloomy shed. Randall sat on his knees, handcuffed to the wall. As Daryl walked up to him, Randall looked to me with fear.
"Hey, you guys saved me! Along with that Rick guy." He said with aspiration.
"Shut up!" Daryl smacked him across the face leaving a red mark.
"Daryl! You didn't need to smack him." I grunted out of disgust. We came here to talk not beat him.
He gave me a rough look before turning back to Randall. "Wheres your group set up at?"
"We're not really set up anywhere. My group constantly moves around and we never stay in a place more than a night." He spieled out.
"How are your people?" I questioned.
"What do ya mean?" He asked with confusion.
"What are they like?"
"They, They're bad people. We're a group of all men y'know, and anytime we find a group with women, well, those men-"
"Enough." Daryl muttered. We both knew what he was going to say next.
Daryl and I began to head out of the shed before Randall stopped us.
"But I didn't do anything! I was just there cause I had no one else!!" He screamed, desperation swirling in his voice. Daryl stared at him with his eyes in slits. He then threw his fist in the side of Randall's face, causing Randall to spit blood from his mouth onto the wooden floor.
"Daryl!" I pulled him back before he could take another whack at him. We walked out of the shed and Maggie was already staring at us with wonder.
"What'd you guys do to him? What'd he say?" She questioned.
"It's nothing. Everything's fine Daryl's just.." I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't know what was up with Daryl. He was smiling five minutes ago and now he's pissed off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Daryl walking away. I turned back to Maggie. "Everything's fine." I repeated.
I ran away to catch up with Daryl. Once I caught up, I jumped in front of him, forcing him to stop.
"What the hell was that? We went in there to talk to him not beat the shit out of him." I yelled.
"Did you not hear what he said?! He told us about the time him and his buddies raped some woman!" He yelled back.
"He said he didn't do it though."
"And you believe him?" I stared at Daryl with surprise.
I don't even know if I believe Randall but he doesn't seem like the person who would do something like that. He's just a kid and I do believe he was only with that group because he was alone. Honestly, I only agreed to stay with Daryl and Merle because I was tired of being alone.
Daryl took my silence as an answer and walked away. His mood changes too fast for me to keep up with. I know Randall could be lying but we don't know that. For all we know, he could be the nicest guy ever. Now its up to me to convince these people hes not dangerous.
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Leaning against the wall, I stood in Hershel's living room with everyone else in the group. Rick had introduced me to everyone after I talked to Randall. I found out Rick has a wife named Lori and a son named Carl. Hershel has two daughters, Maggie and Beth. Patricia is just a family friend of Hershel. And of course, Glenn is also apart of the group. It's a very small group. Only eight people, not counting Daryl, Merle and I.
"Listen up." Rick finally joined us. "As you all know, we're here to discuss the Randall situation. If you think we should keep him alive, speak up now."
Looking around at everyone, they all have their eyes on the ground.
"We shouldn't kill him." I spoke up.
Daryl gave me a look of anger. "Ellie, don't."
"No, I don't think we should kill him. I mean why? Why would you save him when you're just gonna kill him?!" I argued, brushing off Daryl.
"Didn't you and Daryl talk to him?" Merle asked rhetorically. "Daryl told me that him and his buddies are dangerous....and rapists."
"He said he had nothing to do with that! That he was only with them because he had no one else." I defended.
"You believe him?" Rick repeated the same question Daryl had asked me earlier.
"Yes, I do. I can tell when someone is lying and he was not. The desperation in his voice proved it."
The room got silent. All eyes were either at me or still at the ground. I could literally reach out and grab at the frustration and tension in the air.
"I agree with her." Maggie finally spoke.
"Maggie-" Hershel said with annoyance before she cut him off.
"Daddy, I went to school with him. He never talked but when we did, he was always nice."
"This is all just stupid! The little bastard is dangerous, Ellie!" Merle screamed at me while pulling out his gun. He then ran out of the house, causing me to panic and run after him.
I ran closely behind Merle as he worked his way down to the shed. I saw him open the door and it slam shut after him. When I finally reached the shed, I ripped the door open only to find Merle already standing there with the gun pointed to Randall's head. Randall already has tears of fear running down his face.
"Merle!" I yelled.
"Please don't let him kill me!! Please!" Randall cried out.
"Any last words?" Merle asked him.
"Merle! Back away from him!" Rick yelled from behind me. I look over my shoulder to see the entire group standing outside of the shed. Daryl's facial expression showed surprise on his face, as if his brother has never acted like this before.
"Merle," I lowered my tone. "Put down the gun. He doesn't deserve this."
Merle looked at me with disgust. He looked back at Randall, straining a long hard silence. Before I knew it, he pulled the trigger, creating a loud bang inside the shed. I stared down at Randall's dead body laying on the ground, blood spilling out from the bullet hole in his head. I then looked to Merle with hatred.
I ran at him, causing the gun to slip from his hand. I gave him one good punch to the face and he pushed me back. I held my balance and ran at him again. This time, he held me away from his face as I threw many more punches at him. I felt him pushing me out of the shed so, I braced myself, ready to land on my ass. Shouts yelled out around me but I couldn't tell what they were saying. Merle finally stopped and pushed me to the ground.
I looked up at him with fire in my eyes.
"You son of a bitch!"