What Lies Ahead • the walking dead ¹

33 • Casual conversation

After Shane and Lori got back to the farm, the rest of the night passed by quickly. And as the morning rolled around the group was back to being on edge again.

Alexa sat on top of Shane's car, waiting for him and Daryl to finish getting geared up so they could head out and find Rick.
"You boys almost done or am I gonna have to go by myself?" Alexa sighed as she began to grow impatient, watching from the corner of her eye as Daryl drank half a canteen of water.

"Well, we're not always packed up and ready to go like you are," Shane responded, aggressively throwing a bag of guns into the trunk of his car. Alexa rolled her eyes just as Andrea approached the car, tossing another canteen inside before she started speaking.

"I'm coming with you guys." She stated blankly. Alexa, Shane, and Daryl glanced at each other, knowing there was no changing her mind on the subject. Shane nodded, slamming closed the trunk of his car just as Alexa noticed the cloud of dust moving up the road.

"Well, their back." The girl pointed out, just as the rest of the squad heard the rumbling of a car engine approaching. They all watched as the red car drove up to the house, T-dog and Dale instantly running up to greet them.

Alexa hopped off the roof of the car. Landing on her ankle which was by now fully healed before she began to walk up to Rick and the group. Daryl caught up to the girl, their hands brushing together only for a second as they walked.

"See you got new arrows." Alexa pointed out, glancing at the man's homemade arrows.
"Took your advice," Daryl muttered as the two slowed to a stop by the rest of the group. Alexa nodded, watching as Rick reunited with his family and Maggie with Glenn. But the girl's emerald eyes caught on someone sitting in the back seat of Rick's car.

"Who t'hell is that?" She quizzed, pointing in the direction of the mystery man. The group followed the direction of the girl's finger, their eyes landing on the man she was seeing.
"That's Randall," Glenn informed calmly, shielding his eyes from the bright Georgia sun.

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"We couldn't just leave him behind," Rick explained while he hovered over the dining room table. "He would've bled out... if he lived that long."
Alexa sighed, pressing the back of her head on the wall behind her as she stood next to Daryl, listening to Rick explain the predicament.

"It's gotten bad in town," Glenn added as he and Maggie locked eyes.
"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Well, we prepared his calf muscle as best we could," Hershel said, referring to him and Alexa as he stepped inside the dining room.

Alexa glanced down at her hands, which were now covered in blood. She hadn't bothered to wash them after she helped fix up Randall. Instead, she opted to come straight to the group meeting Rick called.

"But he'll probably have nerve damage." Hershel continued. "He won't be on his feet for at least a week."
"When he is, we give him a canteen," Rick cut in. "Take him out to the main road and send him on his way."
Alexa could feel the tension in the air rise.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea quizzed.
"He'll have a fighting chance," Rick explained.
"Just gonna let him go?" Shane asked coarsely. "He knows where we are."
"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Rick cut in. "He's not a threat."

"Not a threat." Shane echoed, his temper rising. "How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just aren't gonna come lookin'?"
"They left him for dead," Rick argued. "No one is looking."

"We should still post a guard," T-dog suggested in an attempt to calm everyone.
"He's out cold. Will be for hours." Hershel explained, much like T, he was trying to remain calm.
"You know what?" Shane asked. "I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." He snorted.