AN: As several pointed out…Yes, I am still alive…lol. Any dialogue in italics is taken directly from The Walking Dead and does not belong to me. Sadly, neither do the characters. Everything belongs to all the various companies. I make no money for this.

Chapter 10

"…teenagers ya know…really young…real cute…the daddy had to watch while these guys, they…and they didn't even kill them afterwards…they just made him watch…his daughters…"

After the total shit-storm that happened when Rick and Shane were supposed to drop the prisoner far away from where they stay…events were weighing heavily on Xander. They, Rick really, brought the guy back because he knew Maggie…then Rick asked him and Daryl to get more information. Randall had proved to be one sick puppy. If it were up to Xander, the kid would have been taken out already. He had seen the argument of "human" bite everyone in the ass too many times to take chances anymore. These people didn't understand apocalypse. A person's true colors showed when shit hit the fan…and Randall…Xander wouldn't be surprised to find sketches of sleeping girls or strung-up dead goldfish…the kid was psychotic.

The group had looked at Daryl and Xander in horror when they gave the group the information they had pulled from Randall. If he had not been there to see the twisted desire in the guy's face, and voice, he may have been horrified too…but he had seen it. Xander had seen more than enough in his years fighting with the Slayers and travelling Africa, to know a real threat when it walked in front of him.

Now Dale was trying to save the boy. He came to camp while Xander, Vi, and Daryl were getting ready for the day. Xander and Vi decided to sit back and let Daryl have his say.

"The whole point of moving over here was to get away from you people,´ Daryl snarked. "I don't need my head shrunk. The group's broken."

There was quite a bit of back and forth. No matter how much Xander wanted to rave about the mistake Dale was trying to make…he knew he and Vi needed to stay out of it. This was not their fight. They were too new to the group and just needed to stay back, and be ready to clean up the mess…and he had no doubt this was going to turn into a huge cluster-fuck of a situation. Plus, no matter how much Vi knew Randall was threat, he was still technically human, and there was no way she could actively take him out. Being a Slayer really sucked sometimes.

As much as Xander liked Dale, he realized the man would never survive long term in this new world. A part of Xander mourned the inevitable death of his Hawaiian-shirt-ally. Xander tuned back into the conversation just before Daryl stormed off.

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

"You're opinion makes a difference."

"Ain't nobody lookin' to me fer nothin'….Rick just looks ta Shane…let him."

"You cared what Sofia meant to the group. You're a decent man! So is Rick," Dale pleaded. "Shane is different."

"Why's that?" Daryl asked. "Cause he killed Otis?"

"He tell you that?"

"He tells some story how Otis covered him…saved his ass…showed up with a dead guy's gun…Rick ain't stupid, if he didn't figure it out, it's cause he didn't wanna…it's like I said, the group's broken." With that, Daryl walked away.

Dale stared forlornly at the retreating redneck before turning to he and Vi. "And what about you two?"

"I was right outside the shed while Xander and Daryl 'talked' to Randall," Vi said. "The only reason he isn't already dead is because I don't kill humans…which he barely qualifies as." Vi stomped away, following her brother.

"Surely you…" Dale began, turning to Xander. Xander held his hand up to stop the older man from continuing.

"You're a person caught in the way the world used to be, and I understand," Xander smiles gently. "However, it's the apocalypse. People…good people…are going to die. And the better the person you are…the quicker you will die. I respect the hell out of you, Dale…and think you are totally awesome for your shirts alone…but I was in that barn with Randall. Randall is one sick puppy! He would betray us all given a chance…and if not given the chance to run back…he's a pedophile! The apocalypse isn't going to change that. It'll just make him feel more powerful, 'cause there is no 'official' way to punish him. "The meek shale inherit the earth" is a load of shit. If you want something, you have to stand up for it. And right now…right now, everyone is scared. All of you have to stop being afraid and do what you need to do to ensure this group survives. And you need to realize, that doesn't include everyone you meet. What's more important? Those you now consider family, or the long-shot, rapist wannabe, that might help? Do you really want someone that would touch Andrea, Carol, SOPHIA?! This new world sucks. No doubt about it. At the end of the day…it's up to us to decide who lives and dies. Do you want a creep that would steal everything innocent about Sophia walking around?"

Dale stared after Xander as he walked across the yard.

'*'*'*'*'*

Vi, Xander, and Daryl were sitting around the fire they had set up with their tents. Being separated from the rest of the group allowed them to talk freely, without fear of someone hearing something they weren't ready to tell. Xander and Vi were telling Daryl about the insanity that happened in Buffy's house, leading up to the final battle with the first. Xander had nodded sadly when Daryl shot him a horrified look upon hearing how many women were in the house. Only another man could understand the horror Xander faced every day.

Vi was just finishing the story of Andrew's attempt at making a movie when she suddenly went stiff. "Sophia…," she breathed.

"Go, we'll be right behind you," Xander said without asking for more information. He knew she must have heard something. He and Daryl were quickly gathering their weapons while she took off. Xander noticed she wasn't going full speed, but still fast enough to cause some questions. They'd deal with it later.

Sophia had just called for her again as she broke the tree line into their view. Sophia had the bat Xander had given her and was hitting away at a Walker on the ground…a Walker that was grasping at Carl's foot. Without pausing, Vi ran up to the Walker and stomped it's head. Sophia collapsed onto the ground where she stood. Knowing the girl was okay, she focused her attention on Carl. The boy was shaking as he clung to her. A quick inspection though showed he didn't have any bites or scratches. She let out a relived sigh and let the boy cling to her.

The sound of someone moving towards them had Sophia standing and bringing her bad up without thinking. When she saw Xander and Daryl she let out a sob and threw herself at Daryl, clinging to him as tightly as she could.

Vi was so proud of Sophia for reacting the way she had. She was taking everything she and Xander had been teaching her seriously. And, Vi couldn't help but smile at the lost look on her brother's face. Daryl had no idea what to do with the terrified girl.

"Just hold her," Xander said softly with a gentle pat to the man's arm.

Daryl stood awkwardly, clearly trying to figure out what to do. Slowly he handed his crossbow to Xander and then picked Sophia up. The little girl immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him and sobbed into his shoulder. Daryl shifted nervously, but tried to soothe the girl.

Xander smiled softly at the scene before gently touching Sophia on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Can you tell us what happened, kiddo?"

Sophia stared at him for a moment before visibly pulling herself together, although she never let go of Daryl. Xander was a bit shocked when she sent a glare at the still crying Carl.

"We walked into the woods. I told Carl we shouldn't go so far, but he called me a baby and said if I was afraid I could go back," she huffed. "Of course I was afraid, there are dead people trying to eat everyone. Any normal person would be afraid!"

Daryl and Xander couldn't stop an amused snort at that statement. The glare Sophia sent them both had them sobering quickly though. Xander cringed slightly…she wasn't even called yet but she had the Slayer Death Glare already.

"That Walker was stuck in the mud. I said we needed to go tell someone so it could be taken care of. Carl started throwing stuff at it! So, of course, that gets it all worked up and it lunged and got itself free. That's when I yelled for Vi, 'cause I knew she'd be able to hear me," she stated proudly.

"I did, and I came as fast as I could. Just like I told you I would."

"I hit it in the knees like you said Xander, and it fell like you said it would. I kept hitting it, but I couldn't hit hard enough to break its skull. Then Carl pulled out a gun and got to close and it grabbed him. Then Vi was there stomping its head with her boot."

Daryl's head snapped to Carl. The boy had stopped crying, but was still hanging onto Vi. "Where'd you get a gun?"

Carl slowly pulled out the gun he had stuffed under his shirt when the Walker grabbed him. Daryl recognized the gun that was supposed to be in the saddle bag on his bike and cursed. The sounds of several people crashing through the woods reached his ears then. He looked and Xander and Vi and realized they'd both already heard it. Hell, Vi probably heard them before they ever left the yard.

"They want to know why we took off like that," Vi said. Daryl grunted and gave a sharp nod.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Shane demanded as he, Rick, and Glenn came into view.

"Carl…Sophia...," Rick gasped. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine dad," Carl said, making no move to let go of Vi.

"Why the hell did you run off like that?" Shane huffed, getting into Xander's face. He was the only one not holding a kid.

"We heard Sophia yell for help," Vi shrugged.

"I never heard anything," Glenn gaped.

"That's right. None of us heard anything. I'm calling bullshit!" Shane yelled, still trying to stare Xander down.

"Sophia yelled for Vi when the Walker got out of the mud," Carl said softly. The three men looked at the Walker laying near Vi and Carl.

"How did you hear her all the way out here?" Rick asked, genuinely curious.

"I have really good hearing," Vi shrugged again.

"She said Sophia yelled and we followed without question," Daryl rumbled, before Shane could ask the next asinine question of why he and Xander followed.

"Thank you," Rick said in a choked voice as he walked over to Carl. Carl watched his dad for a moment before moving out of Vi's arms.

"Will you train me now?" Carl asked in a soft voice.

"What do you mean, Carl?" Vi asked just as softly.

"Everyone ignores me. You train Sophia. Why won't you train me?" Vi gasped and covered her mouth at the broken reply.

Xander walked over to the boy and knelt down to be at his level. "We want to train you, buddy. Vi has been at your mom since we got here to let us train you with Sophia."

Carl gasped and Rick's eyes widened in surprise.

"She keeps saying you're too young and need to be a little boy," Xander said, not holding back. He was pissed as hell at Lori for the danger she was putting her son in by trying to keep him wrapped in cotton.

"She's never said anything to me. I just assumed…," Rick said.

"Yeah, you know what they say happens when you assume something," Daryl snapped. "They may be kids…but how the hell do y'all expect them to survive if you don't teach them what they need to know now?"

"Y'all ain't got no right…" Shane tried to bluster.

"Sophia was able to keep that Walker down until we got here…because of what we taught her!" Xander yelled, rounding on the prick. "If it had been Carl out here alone, what would have happened? And if he did get away…where do you think it would have went? Who would it have caught?! Do you really think a little boy would have told you he stole a gun and ran away from a Walker?"

"Please," Rick said, interrupting the fight about to happen, "train Carl with Sophia. I'll talk to Lori. I'll make her understand he needs it."

Shane turned and stormed off. Xander, Vi, and Daryl all gave Rick a significant look before heading back to the farm…Sophia still refusing to let go of Daryl. Glenn watched it all in slight confusion. He knew something had just happened with that look, he just didn't know what it all meant.

'*'*'*'*'*

AN: I was over half way through Better Angels when I realized I had left a major part of Judge, Jury, Executioner out that I needed to include. So, with that said, the next chapter has a good part finished. I'll be combining Better Angels and Beside the Dying Fire into one chapter. Then, with the leaving of the farm things will drift further into my world than cannon.