"Put him there." Rick tells Shane and Daryl.
They plop the teen in the middle of the barn. Rick aims his gun at the boy. "Y/N, you don't have to be here for this."
She shakes her head. "I'm staying."
She doesn't want to stay. She doesn't want to watch. She's there's for Rick. He doesn't want to kill Randall but they have to for the safety of the group.
He will just end up being a problem that they can't afford. She remembers the way that Randall eyed her body when her and Daryl spoke with him.
She remembers the story about the dad and his daughters. She doesn't want that to happen to her, or Maggie, or Lori. Any of them.
She crosses her arms and nods at Rick.
He looks at the boy. "Would you like to stand or kneel?"
The boys eyes widen. He speaks through his gag. "No, no, no please." His voice cracks and Y/N looks at the floor.
Rick sighs. "Do you have any final words?"
The kid keeps freaking out and Rick hesitates. Suddenly a small voice is heard from the open door of the barn. "Do it, dad."
Y/N's head snaps up. Carl is standing in the doorway.
Rick lowers his gun, glancing at Y/N whose eyes are wide.
Rick turns to Daryl and Shane. "Take him away." He says pointing at Randall. "We're keeping him in custody for now."
They do. Y/N walks up to Carl. "Go inside." She says, her voice shaking.
"Y/N-"
She cuts off the boy. "Go inside." This time, she's firm. He lowers his head and walks back toward the house.
Y/N puts a hand on her head. Carl just told his dad to kill someone. He's starting to lose his innocence. He isn't the same boy that she met a few weeks ago at the camp in Atlanta.
She turns to find Rick pacing. She walks up to him and sets a hand on his arm. He looks at her. "He followed us. He wanted to watch." He says.
He sets his hand on Y/Ns hand who is still holding his other arm. "I couldn't." He whispers.
She nods. "I know. It's okay. It's okay."
They stand like that for a moment. Her hand on his arm. His other hand holding hers. They keep eye contact.
She doesn't know what to do.
She knows she should pull away but her heart says something else.
Before anything can happen, a scream echoes from somewhere on the property. They immediately jump into action, abandoning their prior moment.
He grabs his gun, while she does the same. They rush out the barn. They look around. The others are now gathered around outside the house.
They're shouting. Lori calls to them. "What happened?"
Rick calls back. "We don't know! Get inside!"
Suddenly the voice from earlier screams again. "Help!"
Y/N's eyes widen.
Dale.
They take off running down the field. She doesn't turn back but she can hear the others behind her.
As she gets closer, she sees a grim sight. A walker is on top of Dale in the grass. His bucket hat lays next to him. He's screaming.
The walker is ripping apart his stomach. The man's organs spilling onto his chest. Rick shoots the walker immediately, knocking it off Dale.
The others arrive. Carl runs up to Y/N and digs his face into her shirt. His face is pale. His eyes wide.
She wraps her arms around him. Rick screams for Hershel to operate, but Hershel shakes his head sadly.
Its too late to save him.
People are crying. Rick aims his gun at Dales head but his hand shakes. Daryl gently takes it from the man.
He points it at their dying group member. "I'm sorry, brother."
A gunshot rings out.
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The funeral is short. They dig a grave. They bury him. Everyone takes turns putting dirt into the hole. Shane speaks. Hershel reads from his bible.
Now some members of the group are outside near the porch. They're packing up their campsite and starting to bring it inside.
Hershel agreed to let them stay in the house. Winter is coming.
They move the cars to face the road, but close to the house in case of emergency. They discuss building lookouts on the property.
Y/N is walking the perimeter of the house when Carl suddenly appears, his presence scaring her, reminding her of just the day before with Shane. Y/N rubs her forehead as she speaks. "Carl, what are you doing out here?"
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell my parents?"
She furrows her brows. She glances around to make sure that nobody is within listening distance. "Well, I can't promise that. What happened?"
He sighs and after a moment pulls a gun from his waistband. Y/N's mouth drops open.
He lowers his head. "I stole it from Daryl's motorcycle. If he found out I took it, he'd kill me."
She takes it from him with a huff. "What are you doing with this?"
"Dale... it's my fault that he died."
"Why would you say that?"
He finally looks at her. "I saw that walker. I was gonna shoot it. It was stuck in the mud. I was throwing rocks at him and stuff. I was gonna do it, but it got free, and came after me. I ran away. If I had killed it, Dale would still be here."
She shuts her eyes for a moment as she thinks. She bends down to him. "Okay, Carl. This isn't what you're gonna do. Okay? This isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. I'll give this back to Daryl. Just... be more careful please."
He nods. "I'm sorry."
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She finds Daryl sitting near his bike. He's cutting up a stick with his knife.
"Hey." She says.
He looks up and hums response. She holds his gun out to him. He stands quickly with a angry look on his face but she holds up her other hand as she speaks.
"Before you say anything, Carl had it. He wanted me to give it back to you and apologize."
Daryl grinds his teeth. "That little shit best not touch my things." He takes the gun from her.
"He won't. Listen, I know what he did was stupid, but don't take it out on him. I handled it."
Daryl huffs. She pats his shoulder and turns to walk away but pauses. "All i'm gonna say is... he might need that gun more than you."
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YOU ARE READING
Sheriff's Lover ||| Rick Grimes x Reader (TWD x Reader)
Fanfiction32 year-old Y/N was all alone on the streets of Atlanta when a man in a sheriffs uniform trots down the road on top of a horse. She decides to join him on his journey to find his family because she doesn't want to be left behind. The two run into a...
