Violent Delights¹︎ | D.Dixon

2.10 ➸

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CHAPTER TEN
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THE REST OF THE DAY passed faster than Leona had thought it would. With a man's life on the line, she figured the day would be sluggish, dragging along, but sunset approached more quickly that day than it had since they'd arrived at the farm.

She wasn't ready for the day to end.

Leona and Daryl had spent the majority of their day in the woods, and of those hours, most of it was spent in silence. She took that time to really think everything over. She didn't want to leave a stone unturned, not if she could help it.

She didn't want him to die, and she didn't want her brother to have to kill him, but the longer the thoughts churned in her head, the more inescapable the situation felt. They could let Randall live, but it would put the camp in too much danger. He knew where the farm was, the number of people they had, that they had Carl—the one person they'd all agree to do anything for—and she couldn't risk losing any of it, not the lives of her people, or even her own.

As they walked along, she found herself asking Daryl his thoughts on everything. She valued what he said, and knew he wouldn't bullshit her just to spare her feelings like Shane or Rick would. He tried to act as if he didn't care whether Randall lived or not, but Leona knew better. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have gone with her to the farmhouse for their meeting.

But he did. They stood together in the entryway, Daryl standing just behind her, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as they both watched the living room slowly fill with more of the group until everyone was present except for Carl and Jimmy, who stayed on the porch. But simply from the looks on everyone's faces, Leona was certain that there was not a single person in the room—excluding Dale, who saw this moment as his last chance to change their minds—who wanted to be there.

It was Glenn who spoke first, sitting on the piano bench a few feet to her left. "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.

Lori shrugged. "How about majorly rules?"

"Well, let's—let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options." Rick offered, and they all nodded in agreement.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane spoke up from beside Andrea.

"Killing him, right?" Dale questioned, the anger in his tone clear. A bit of guilt bloomed into her chest before she could stop it. She understood that anger, had felt it only a day ago, but had come around to the idea that Rick needed to decide. The group needed to agree on this. They couldn't let it tear them apart. "I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the winds blowing."

Rick leaned forward, his hands grabbing the back of a chair and leaned slightly against it. "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."

Leona didn't miss the way his eyes caught on her standing a few feet behind Glenn, and the exchange they'd had that morning found itself at the forefront of her mind.