Hostage

The sound of children sobbing and crying filled Paul's ears, sending a cold dread throughout his body. 

Looking to his right, he saw a row of children kneeling over the body of a dead dog, each with a bloody knife in their hand.

At the end of the row stood a Mexican man in a nice blue suit, wearing a cowboy hat and boots, and smiling sinisterly

"Now you understand, love, attachment, it's a weakness that only brings you pain and suffering." 

Paul felt something warm dripping from his hands and looked down. 

His hands were bloody, on the ground was the body of Carl with his throat slit, eyes staring up at him in horror. 

Paul's eyes widened before he gasped and woke from the nightmare, the sweat still lingering on his forehead. 

Paul felt the cold metal of the pistol still in his hand and glanced around his tent, just a nightmare.

The usual for him, nothing out of the ordinary. 

Getting up, he slipped on his usual outfit before opening his tent and stepping out into the morning air. 

He had slept in a little, so the sun was already rising, and a few of the women were cooking eggs for breakfast.

"Morning Paul, how did you sleep?" Lori smiled at him, though he could see some worry in her eyes.

He realized Rick and Glenn still hadn't come back overnight, which was quite unusual for them. 

"I slept good, thanks. Is Shane up?" Paul took a plate of eggs while glancing around and not seeing Shane anywhere. 

"He went to go get the car and gear ready in case Rick and the others don't come back soon," Lori said while handing him a fork.

"He will be back, Mom, don't worry." Carl came out of his tent while rubbing his eyes and putting on his hat. 

"Speak of the devil." Andrea pointed, and they all looked over to see Rick hauling ass down the farm toward them. 

They all ran toward the farmhouse, and Rick pulled up to a stop in front of them.

Rick, Hershel, and Glenn got out of the truck. 

Lori, Rick and Carl hugged while Maggie and Glenn shared a moment but the first thing Paul noticed was that they each looked like shit and the blood on their hands and clothes.

Looking back at the truck he spotted another person in the back seat with a blind fold covering his eyes and Paul could already tell that Rick had made a huge fuck up. 

He put a hand through his slicked-back hair and sighed before taking his pistol out of its holster. 

'Should I end this right now?' Paul debated putting a bullet in the kid's head as he stepped closer to the truck, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Rick looking at him.

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog also noticed the other person in the truck and pointed him out.

"That's Randall," Glenn said 

"Patricia prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel said before Rick help drag Randall off toward the shed for Hershel to do surgery on him. 

————————

Back in the house, it was time to discuss what they would do with Randall after his group had shot at them and left him for dead. 

Rick was talking about giving him a canteen and sending him on his way. 

Shane had already stormed out after hearing the absurdity of it. 

Paul himself was at his limits of how absolutely dumb of a fucking mistake Rick had made. 

He should of let Randall die on that fence and they would of only had to worry about the rest of that group finding their way to the farm, but now they need to worry about Rick wanting to release Randall with intel on their group. 

He knew Rick and the group were still holding on tightly to their humanity, but it was going to get them killed if they made dumb mistakes like this. 

Looking around the table, he saw a few others who didn't look comfortable with letting Randall go but didn't want to admit it. 

Paul watched everyone leave except Rick, who stayed. 

"What do you think?" Rick asked while rubbing a hand over his tired face. 

Paul shook his head and sighed. 

"You made a mistake, Rick. Look, ignore Dale's words about doing the right thing and Shane's words about Randall finding his way back to his group. 

This group put their trust in you Rick. Not just to be the guy who does the right thing but the guy who can keep them safe, at any cost. Your wife, your son. 

If you really want to do the right thing, don't make anyone else carry this burden for a mistake you made, Rick. Put a bullet in the kid's brain and call it a day." Paul stood up and patted Rick's shoulder before walking past the hall where he heard Glenn and Maggie whispering, but he ignored them as he made his way toward Sophia's room. 

Entering her room, she looked up from her coloring book and smiled with such innocence that it made him smile. 

"Paul, you're here!" 

"Of course you think I forgot about you?" Paul smiled and took Sophia's hand. 

Ever since she lost her teddy bear, she loved holding on to his or Carl's hand to help calm her down 

Paul knew from Carl that Sophia's dad had been abusive, and Sophia most likely used the teddy bear as some kind of trauma relief item before it got lost. 

"How are you feeling?" Paul asked while noticing that Sophia seemed to have more energy. 

"A lot better. I think I can get up tomorrow. Carl said he's going to teach me how to shoot and use a knife." Sophia smiled and couldn't wait to do something her dad would never have let her do before. 

"It will be good to know how to protect yourself, but make sure Carl doesn't push you too hard, too fast. If you need a break, tell him." Paul patted Sophia's hand. 

"I will, I promise." Sophia smiled sweetly before Paul left her to her coloring and went to the shed, where he found Rick with a heavy face, along with Shane, Daryl, Dale, Glenn, Andrea, and T-Dog. 

He saw Rick nod at Shane, who dragged out a gagged and blindfolded Randall, who was whimpering and crying, before throwing him in front of Rick on his knees. 

Everyone stood to the side as Rick drew his revolver with a heavy breath and aimed at Randall's head with a cold face. 

He didn't want to do this, but the thought of the consequences of releasing Randall, a man whose group he knew was definitely no good, made him understand the situation that he had put himself in.

"Rick, if we do this, who do we become?" Dale said, trying to convince Rick that killing Randall wasn't the right decision. 

"Survivors." Rick whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. 

Rick pulled the trigger. 

Bang!