Li'l Sparky // [Daryl Dixon]

Decision of a Lifetime

Oh for God's sake. They had one job. Take Randall out and leave him there. What happened? They brought him back. 

We all circled around a fire, except Daryl, and talked things over.

"So what you gonna do?" Lori asked. "We'd all feel better if we knew the plan."

"Is there a plan?" Andrea questioned. 

"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asked. 

"We'll know soon enough," Rick answered. Daryl approached us from the shed. His knuckles were bloody and his face was contorted in fury. 

"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men," he said. "They have heavy artillery and they ain't lookin' to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna--" He looked at me with concern, "they're gonna wish they were." 

My chest tightened and I balled my hands into fists. 

"What did you do?" Carol asked. 

Daryl looked down at his bloody knuckles, "We had a little chat."

"No one goes near this guy," Rick ordered. 

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked. 

"We have no choice. He's a threat," Rick announced. "We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked in shock. 

"It's settled," Rick said. "I'll do it today." He walked off and Dale followed him. Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.

"You stay away from this kid," he pointed a finger at me. 

"Thanks for caring, but I can protect myself," I said.

"I know," he nodded. "I'm just sayin'.

---

Daryl and I were hanging around his little campsite when Dale approached us. 

"The whole point of me comin' up here is to get away from you people," Daryl scoffed.

"Gonna take more than that," Dale said. 

"Carol send you?" Daryl asked. 

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group," Dale said. 

"Oh man, I don't need my head shrunk," Daryl groaned. "This group's broken. I'm better off fendin' for myself."

"You act like you don't care," Dale pointed out. Oh, he cares. He just doesn't show it. 

"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't," Daryl scoffed. Liar... He grabbed his button up and vest and threw it around his back. He tossed me an arrow and I shoved it in my quiver. 

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?" Dale asked. 

"Nope." 

"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?" 

Daryl looked at me. He knew I wanted Randall dead. He turned back to Dale and shook his head. 

"Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch," Daryl muttered. 

"Your opinion makes a difference," Dale pushed. 

"Man, ain't nobody lookin' at me for nothin'," Daryl spat. 

"Carol is, and I am. Right now," Dale held up a finger. "And I'm pretty sure Ryan is." He looked at me. I gave him a small smile. "And you obviously-- you have Rick's ear!"