.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐈 𝐄

"𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇?" 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇'𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌. Andrea had offered to watch her while the other Greene siblings got something to eat. Now, neither Beth nor Andrea were in the room.

"Beth?!" Ellie shouted.
The sound of sobs came from the bathroom.
"Beth? Beth?!"

Then the sound of glass breaking. Ellie and Maggie rushed to the door trying to get it open. Ellie banged desperately on the locked door as her heart raced.

"Maggie?" Stella said as she and her mother came through the door.

"She's in there. I heard glass." Maggie explained, panicked.

The two Grimes girls hurried over to the door and pounded on it. "Beth, you alright?"

"Bethy, please don't do this. Beth! Open up!" Ellie cried, pounding her side against the door.

Maggie rushed over to the to the dresser and swiftly searched through the drawer.

"Beth, please don't do this! Please Beth I can't do this without you." Ellie pounded, banged, and scratched the door in desperation. "Beth, we're not mad. I swear, we're not mad! Just open!"

"Hang on," Lori said, appearing behind them with a fireplace poker. The girls backed away from the door and Lori jammed the poker between the door and the doorframe. After a few seconds, the door was open, revealing Beth on the inside, who stood with her back facing the doorway.

The girl spun around, clutching onto her bleeding wrist. The mirror behind her was broken and blood and glass filled the sink.

"I'm sorry." Beth cried.

Maggie and Ellie immediately rushed to the girl, bringing her into a huge comforting embrace.

"It's okay." Maggie sobbed. "We've got you."

𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐄, 𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐖 𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌. Ellie's blood boiled just by looking at her.

"Where were you?" Maggie asked.

"I heard. Is she alright?" Andrea panted.

"She would be if you had stayed with her. Where were you?" Maggie's face was a mask of fury.

"How bad is she," Andrea asked.

"It wasn't deep," Lori said

Andrea sighed in relief. "She wants to live. She made her decision."

Ellie actually had to bite her own tongue to not say something because she knew that if she opened her mouth with this amount of anger inside, she wouldn't know when or if she would ever stop

"She tried to kill herself!" Maggie shouted.

"No, she didn't." Andrea's voice remained calm.

"Our father is stitching her wrist right now!"

"She'll live." Andrea's remained annoyingly calm. Ellie couldn't hold it anymore.

"You stay away from her. From Beth, Maggie, me." Ellie said as she bolted toward the blonde woman. "Don't you dare step foot in this house again! Do you understand?"

Andrea looked at Lori for support but got none.

"Do you understand?!" Ellie repeated.

Andrea just scoffed before walking off.

𝐒 𝐓 𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐀

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐀 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐆𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐒. They were trying to decide what to do with Randall, the young man Hershel, Glenn, and Rick had brought to the farm. Stella's father and Shane had gone out to drop him off in the middle of nowhere, but brought him back after finding out that Randall had attended the same school as Maggie.

Carl and Ellie had been forced outside after the adults told them that they were going to have "grown-up conversations". Ellie was not happy about it. Stella didn't understand why she was allowed to come since she was only a year older.

The descending sun lit up the white room. The air in the room was thick.

"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn asked.

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

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested, leaning on the door frame.

"Well, let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options." Stella's father said.

"The only way I see it, there's only one way to move forward," Shane said calmly. His face was spotted with bruises, fresh ones. A black eye on his left eye, his nose wore a purple color and a bruise trailed down on the side of his face. Three new wounds that hadn't been there before he and Rick left to leave Randall. Stella knew something was up, but it wasn't the right time to ask.

"Killing him, right?" Dale snapped his head at Shane. "I mean, why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."

"Well,  if people believe we should spare him, I want to know," Rick said.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group, maybe just me and Glenn."
Stella's gaze shifted from the older man to Glenn, who sat by the piano with his arms resting on his knees. The young man looked up at Dale with a sigh.

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

"They've got you scared!" Dale exclaimed.

"He's not one of us. And we've lost too many people already." Glenn said. Dale stared at him, his face clouded with disbelief before he turned to Maggie, who stood by the couch with her arms crossed. "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

The room fell silent before Maggie sighed. "Couldn't we just continue keeping him prisoner?"

"Just another mouth to feed," Daryl spoke.

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

"We could ration better," Lori suggested.

"Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself." Dale's voice had progressively gotten louder as he spoke.
Stella just sat, slightly leaning forward with her hands fighting with her hair.

"Put him to work?" Glenn suggested.

"We're not letting him walk around." Stella's father quickly shut Glenn's suggestion down.

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

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane scoffed.

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

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." Stella's mother said.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor," Andrea spoke, her tone heavy with sarcasm.

"Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men." Shane said.

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime he may never even attempt!?" Dale shouted, gesturing with his arms. "If we're doing this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead! There is no civilization!"

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Stella spoke up.

"They barely came back this time." Her mother said. Stella glanced at Shane and then at her father, who wore the matching bruises on his face. "There are walkers. You could break down. You could get lost."

"Or ambushed."

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk." Said Glenn.

"If you.." Patricia hesitated. "If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would her suffer?"

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane suggested.
Stella's stomach turned. They spoke like they were choosing what movie to watch, like it was nothing. Now, she was actually jealous of Ellie and Carl who wasn't home.

"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane." Rick said.

"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" T-dog asked.

"Woah! Hold on, hold on!" Dale waved his arm in the air. "You're talking about this like it's already decided!"

"You've been taking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl said as he walked forward.

"This is a young man's life! And it is worth more than a five-minute 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 look at us! He's been tortured! He's gonna be executed! How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?"

"We all know what needs to be done," Shane spoke calmly.

"No, Dale is right," Stella spoke up.

"So, tell me Stella, what's the other solution?" Andrea asked. "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."

"So let's work on it!" Dale shouted.

"Stop it. Just stop it!" Carol snapped. Everyone's heads spun to her surprised to hear her voice in the argument. "I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this." Carol let her eyes trail from Shane to Rick and then back to Shane again. "Please, decide either of you, both of you. But leave me out."

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself- there's no difference." Dale pointed a finger at Carol.

"Alright, that's enough." Stella's father spoke. "Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." He took a step back to allow anyone to step forward. But instead, Maggie and Patricia sat down and the rest of the group remained silent.

Dale's resigned gaze trailed from one group member to the other. "You once said that we don't kill the living." Dale looked at Rick.

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us."

"But you don't see? If we do this, the people that we were, the world that we knew is dead." Dale stopped for a moment and stared at Rick. "And this new world is ugly. It's...harsh. It's survival of the fittest. And that's a world that I don't wanna live in and I don't believe that any you do. I can't." His eyes began to gloss as he spoke. "Please. Let's just do what's right."

A thick silence was laid upon the group. Stella wanted to say something. But she couldn't. She watched as Dale stared at the people before him, tears sitting on his waterline. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"

There it was again. The silence. The older man stared in disbelief.

"He's right. We need to find another way. There must be another way." Stella spoke up.

"There isn't." Levi's words shocked the Grimes girl. How could he say that? Levi, the nicest person ever stood here and said that he agreed with murdering an innocent man?

"Anybody else who agrees with Dale?" Rick asked.

Another silence.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too?" Dale asked, blinking repeatedly to get the tears out of his eyes. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being." He shook his head before continuing. "Woah. I won't be a party to it."
He began to walk out the living room but stopped next to Daryl. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder.

"This group is broken."

"𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓?"

"Do what?" Levi asked without stopping.

"How can you agree to this?" Stella asked, walking close behind him.

"There's no other way," Levi muttered.

"Of course there is!" Stella caught up to him and grabbed hold of his arm to face him.

"Stella, that man's group found some random girls and raped them in front of their dad! I don't want that scum walking around here with you or Beth or Ellie!" Levi said before walking off

𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃. Carl showed up right before Rick pulled the trigger. Now, the young man was in "custody" as Stella's father had called it.

Darkness was laid upon the farm and the stars started to spread across the sky.

"Check mate!" Levi exclaimed and gave Jimmy a superior grin.

Jimmy sighed and gave Beth a shy and slightly embarrassed look. The two sat on the couch together with the chessboard in front of them on the wooden coffee table. The white chess pieces were scattered across the board and only two black players remained on the board. It was Jimmy's fourth failed attempt to win over Levi.

"Stella!" Levi said. The blonde girl who had just entered the room spun her head to the boy. "What do you say, we finish that chess match now?"

Stella gave him a sly grin as she switched seats with Jimmy on the couch.

"I'll kick your ass," Stella said placing her black chess pieces in order.

"In your dreams." Levi scoffed.

Five moves in and Stella already felt like she was loosing when a loud scream shut the match down. The two hurried outside , meeting with the rest of the group. Panicked faces passed them, running to the field.

"What's going on?" Stella asked her mother.

"It's Dale." She said before the two of them rushed over the field. Fear crawled through her body as the screams got louder and louder. They rushed through the gate and into the dark night.

Daryl was the first to arrive and then Stella soon after. She watched as Daryl tore a walker from Dale's body, jabbing a knife into its skull. Stella stopped instantly seeing Dale's body on the ground. His eyes glossed and were illuminated by the moonlight. His stomach had been torn open, guts and blood flowing out. Stella immediately shut her eyes. But she knew that it was too late. The image of Dale's body would remain in her mind forever.

Dale groaned and whimpered and it looked like he tried to form words. The group began to crowd around the older man, using their flashlights to light up the scene that imprinted her mind.

"Oh my God!" Shane gasped as he and Rick saw Dale.

"Just listen to my voice," Rick said, kneeling down next to the old man. "Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me."

"Get Hershel!" Someone shouted.

Stella met Dale's frightened eyes. Blood soaked his white shirt and he groaned loudly in agony.
Their group crowed around the scene and shouted Hershel's name.

Ellie appeared behind Stella. The Grimes girl wanted to shield her from the terror by standing in the way of her sight but Ellie pushed through and kneeled next to Dale in hopes she could help.

"Can we move him?" Rick asked.

"He won't make the trip," Hershel informed.

"You have to make the operation here." Rick almost cried out. 

"Rick!" Hershel grabbed the Grimes man's shoulder and met his eyes and shook his head.

Stella's gaze fell to the walker on the ground. It's hands were covered in Dale's blood. She than laid her eyes on the older man.

"Do something!" Andrea cried.

Stella's father picked up his revolver and aimed it at Dale's head. She watched as his hand trembled, pulling the hammer back. His lip was shaking. Watching as he struggles, Daryl stepped up and grabbed the gun. The two men exchanged a nod before Daryl leaned down and placed the gun to Dale's forehead.

"Oh God!" She cried turning around. Levi pulled her close and she sobbed into his chest. As she did she felt that he was trembling.

"Sorry brother." Daryl's words were followed by a gunshot making Stella twitch. Levi's arms encircled the girl into a comforting embrace.

The walker. Dale's scream. The blood and the guts. The gunshot.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟐𝟔𝟑𝟓 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
𝟏𝟏:𝟐𝟕 𝐏𝐌
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍

I low key hate this but I haven't updated in a while so it is what it is

I go on break soon so I'll be more active then

this chapter is dedicated specifically to my partner in crime bc my girl just hit 1k on her story!!! I think everyone should go read it or I'll find you