"It's time" Daryl says to me after awhile. " The others have already started gathering inside." I nod, getting to my feet. We head to the house, joining the rest of the group in the living room. Everyone stands around the room uncomfortably, it's obvious no one wants to be here. None of us want the weight of this decision on our shoulders.
"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asks once we're all gathered and Carl is out of the room.
"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea adds.
"How about majority rules?" Lori offers.
"Well let's...let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options." Rick says.
"Well where I sit there's only one way to move forward." Shane says.
"Killing him right? I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind is blowing." Dale scoffs.
"Well if people believe we should spare him, i wanna know." Rick tells him.
"Well, I can tell you it's a small group...maybe just...just me and Glenn." Glenn looks to the floor as Dale looks to him.
"Look I...I think you're pretty much right about everything all the time but this..." Glenn starts before going quiet.
"They've got you scared." Dale comments surprised and upset that Glenn would disagree with him.
"He's not one of us. He's dangerous. And we've...we've lost too many people already." Glenn explains. Dale turns to Maggie next.
"How about you? Do you agree with this."
"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" She asks, but even she doesn't sound convinced of the idea.
"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl retorts.
"It could be a lean winter." Hershel says in agreement.
"We could ration better." Lori offers.
"You really wanna take food out your mouth...out of your child's mouth to feed that sick piece of shit?" Shane asks.
"Maybe he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself."
"Put him to work?" Glenn asks Dale trying to understand what he's suggesting.
"We're not letting him walk around." Rick says before Dale even has the chance to reply.
"We could put an escort on him." Maggie says.
"Yeah and who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asks obviously over this debate.
"I will." Dale insists.
"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."
"He's right I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up...you guys don't understand what he's capable of." I say quietly.
"We can't exactly put chains on his ankles and sentence him to hard labor." Andrea retorts.
"Look, say we let him join us right? Maybe he's helpful...maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he comes after one of us...or worse maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men." Shane lays it down like we're all idiots.
"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this , we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization." Dale says emotionally.
"Oh my god." Shane laughs. "He's already done it once, you know what him and his men did to Hailey you really think he wouldn't do something like that again?" Dale stays quiet. I feel my cheeks flush at the mention of my name. I hate being tied to all of this. I wish more than anything that I could just sink into the wall right now.
"Could you drive him further out like you'd planned?" Hershel asks Rick. He seems to think about it for a minute, but Lori speaks up.
"You barely made it back this time. There are walkers, you could break down...y-you could get lost." Lori pleads.
"Or get ambushed." Daryl adds, keeping Randall's gang in mind.
"Their right. We shouldn't put our own people at risk." Glenn agrees.
"If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?" Patricia questions.
"We could hang him up right? Just snap his neck." Shane suggests.
"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane."
"And what about the body?" T-dog asks.
"Hold on..hold on. You're talking about this like it's already decided." Dale protests.
"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. We can't just keep going around and around like this."
"This is a young man's life and it is worth more than five minutes of conversation! Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's going to be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?" Dale yells.
"We all know what needs to be done." Shane says calmly.
"No, Dale is right. we can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility---" Rick starts. Andrea cuts him off.
"So what's the other solution?" She snaps.
"Let Rick finish." Lori says, rightfully defending her husband.
"We haven't come up with a single viable option.."
"So let's work on it!" Dale begs.
"We are." Rick says, starting to get frustrated. Dale turns to me.
"Hailey...you have the biggest pull here. Say something...please! I know you don't want to kill him." My heart sinks into my stomach. This burden..this weight to carry was enough to bare without putting my assailants life in my hands.
"Don't you dare put this on her!" Daryl growl, stepping closer to me protectively.
"She can save him!" Dale argues.
"Dale that's enough, he's right leave her alone." Lori demands.
"Dale's right though, she's the one effected by this the most. She should have a say in what happens next." Andrea insists.
"Back off Andrea. We already know how you feel about the value of life." Maggie's icy words leave Andrea silent.
"Stop it...just stop it. I'm sick of everyone arguing and fighting all the time. I didn't ask for this! You can't ask me to decide something like this. Please just decide. Either of you...both of you... I don't care but leave me out of this." I snap as tears burn if my eyes. This is all just too much.
"Not speaking out or killing him yourself...there's no difference." Dale says.
"All right that's enough!" Rick yells at Dale. "Anybody that wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance now."
"You once said that we don't kill the living."
"That was before the living tried to kill us."
"But don't you see? If we do this..the people that we were..the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly..it's..harsh. It's..it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else that's gonna stand with me?" He looks around at each of us, desperate. His eyes are full of betrayal as not even Glenn stands with him.
"He's right. We should try to find another way." Andrea says, changing her mind at the last second.
"Anybody else?" Rick asks. No one else says a word. We all avoid each others glances, guilty and ashamed that this is what the world has come to.
"Are y'all gonna watch too? No..you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a party to this!" He yells, heartbroken and disappointed in us all. He stops by Daryl on his way out the door, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're right. This group is broken." My heart wretches as I watch him drop his hand and walk out the door.
"Let's get this over with."
YOU ARE READING
Haven (A Walking Dead fanfiction)
FanfictionThis is the story of Hailey Ann Walsh, a teenage girl orphaned by the outbreak of an unknown virus that reanimates the dead. Her older brother Shane was no where to be found so she was forced to survive on her own. After the loss of her companion sh...
