Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

The One Loss That Affected Many

At nightfall, a meeting was called to discuss what was going to happen to Randall. Parker had talked to Rick a lot all day, which had bothered him a little. Parker always had his back, but instead, she was fighting him on the matter, and that worried him. Maybe he was making the wrong decision, but he had to stick with how he felt, regardless of whether Parker thought it was wrong or not. 

Daryl tried to greet her when she entered, but instead of receiving a response, Parker simply smiled slightly and headed to the opposite side of the room, leaning against the wall. Carl stood at the door for a second, until he received matching glances from his parents- and everyone else in the room, and left the room in a bad mood. 

"So how do we do this?" Glenn asked, starting up the conversation. "Just take a vote?"

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

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested.

"Well, let's see where everybody stands." Rick tried to get control of the situation. "And then we can talk through the options."

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

"Killing him," Dale instantly assumed. "Right? I mean, why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the winds blowing."

"Well, if people think we should spare him, I want to know," Rick explained.

"Well, I can tell you that there's only a small group of us," Parker muttered. "Maybe just, Dale, Glenn, and me." Glenn looked at the two of them and his eyes fell on Dale shyly.

"Look... I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time. But this..."

"They've got you scared!" Dale spoke over him loudly.

"He's not one of us," Glenn defended, pointing in the direction of the barn.

"You're right, but he's still a goddamn kid! One of us or not. It's still a human life that- whether you guys believe it or not, whether his group is bad or not, he's still a life worth fighting for!" Parker argued.

"And we've...we've lost too many people already," Glenn added.

"So, we're going to just kill a defenseless boy?" Parker asked, catching Maggie's gaze from across the room. "And you? Are you okay with this?"

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" Maggie asked, looking to her dad for backup.

"Just another mouth to feed.." Daryl grumbled from the corner, quickly looking away when Parker looked at him.

"It may be a lean winter," Hershel added.

"We could ration better," Lori suggested.

"Well, he could be an asset!" Dale continued. "Give him a chance to prove himself."

"Put him to work," Parker added. "He could at actually help us. We cant know until we give him a chance!"

"We're not letting him walk around," Rick shook his head

"We could put an escort on him," Maggie said.

"And who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked.

"I'll do it," Parker said loudly, her hand in the air.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy," Rick replied. "Especially Parker."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You are clearly blinded on this issue," Rick told her, she scoffed, rolling her eyes.