Holding out for hope was something that Nicole struggled with. Her entire life she held out for a piece of hope -- a sliver. The night at Hatlin's Bar made her feel like she lost a piece of herself. No, nothing outstanding happened to her, but it made her realize that she always had something that brought her hope. Her daughter.

Cheyanne wanted to believe in people, even if they did her wrong. Having hope was the one thing that kept her going, but having hope was dangerous. Nicole knew this; but when Rick and Shane returned, battered with a scared Randall in tow, Nicole couldn't help but hold out for hope for herself, for her daughter and for her family.

Rick and Shane threw the boy into the shed and dispersed from each other. Then morning came and everything was thick in the air. It was almost as if the entire world had its own opinion on what they should do to that boy. The birds sang joyfully but the wind howled through the branches. Nicole waited antsy for Daryl to come and tell the group what he found out. Everyone was on edge because of the return of this boy.

Nicole tuned out the conversations around her until she heard the crumbling of Daryl's footsteps against the dying grass. That sound made everyone tense up. Nicole hated that he was elected to go talk to their prisoner, and the fact that he came back with bloody knuckles made Nicole teeth hurt. She hated violence, which she thought was ironic because she always seemed to pick fights.

Nicole hated that Daryl became the group's enforcer. He was so much more than that. Nicole wanted him to stand up for himself more and maybe even take on more leadership. SHe knew he had it in him; he just had to have to courage to get it.

"Your boy there's got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends," Daryl informed. He made eye contact with Nicole as he continued. "THey roll through here, our boys are dead," He paused breaking away from Nicole's wide gaze. "And our women, they're gonna wish they were."

Nicole sighed and began running her hands through Cheyanne's hair. The little girl had plopped down shortly before Daryl started talking. "What did you do?" Carol's soft voice asked. Nicole wondered for a second how such a meek woman could have survived this long. Nicole was also surprised that someone hadn't socked her; she clearly liked to nitpick. But that wasn't a concern right now.

"Had a little chat," Daryl said before he started to walk away. Nicole slowly got up and began walking after him. Nicole heard Rick as she walked after the redneck. She didn't really care what he said. Nicole cared about Daryl's injuries.

Nicole grew tired of how fast she was walking. She hated having shorter legs than Daryl. He took such long strides and then there was her. "Daryl, slow down."

He just ignored the woman. Daryl kept going until he got to their camp; he set his crossbow against the old brick fireplace. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Nicole asked as he turned to face her. Nicole never realized the anger in his eyes until then.

"'M fine, Nik. Go back to the group." Daryl sat down and pulled out his knife and began carving arrows. He grimaced at the subtle pain in his knuckles. Daryl hated being hurt.

Nicole sighed and walked over to the side of their tent. She grabbed the fresh pail of water that Daryl got that morning. Nicole limped her way back over to the man and kneeled down in front of him. He froze. "Can I at least clean your wounds before I go?"

He nodded and grunted softly before setting his knife down. Nicole reached behind him and grabbed the red handkerchief that he always carried around. She dipped it into the water and took hold of his left hand. She brushed against the fresh scabs; Daryl hid his grimaces.

"You went off on him," Nicole chuckled as if it were a normal thing. Hell, maybe it was in this world. "What did he say that pissed you off so bad?"

"He, uh--" Daryl cleared his throat. "He started talkin' 'bout his group rapin' a couple of girls in front of their father." Nicole glanced up to him; he couldn't meet her eyes. "That wasn't what got me though," he muttered, looking down to Nicole's dull eyes. It wasn't until then that he noticed the blue-ish tint in her green eyes.

"Oh?" Nicole muttered as she dipped the rag back into the bucket. Nicole felt bad for showing little emotion toward that family. On the inside, however, she was like a whirlwind. She wanted to beat Randall senseless even though he may not have taken part.

Daryl huffed a tearful sigh. "Yeah, when he was talkin' 'bout it, I pictured it happenin' to you an' Chey. I lost it then." Nicole stayed silent as she finished cleaning his wounds. "I don' think I could take it if something happened to either one of ya." Nicole set the rag down on the corner of the pail and leaned back on her knees.

"Daryl," Nicole whispered, placing her hand gently on his jeans. Daryl looked up to her; she could see the sincerity of his claim. It made her heart flutter a little bit. Nicole leaned up and placed her lips onto his right cheek. She embraced him in a hug afterward. "You ain't gotta worry about us," she whispered as his arms snaked around her torso. "As long as we have each other's backs, we'll be okay."

Nicole heard a soft "I know," escape from Daryl's mouth. It was embedded in her shoulder. Shortly after that, Daryl let out a small chuckle and Nicole pulled away.

"What's so funny?" she questioned with a smile. Man, Daryl loved her smile. Daryl stood up and offered her a hand. Daryl held a smirk across his face as she stood up.

"I've never heard ya say ain't before," he chuckled before reaching down to his knife and his stick. Nicole let out a tearful laugh before she started walking away from him. "Hey, Nik?"

The blonde woman paused. She quickly wiped away the tears that she hadn't realized brimmed. "Yeah?" she asked as she turned around to meet his tall stature.

"Thank you," he said before turning away and continuing his carving. Nicole's face crossed with a small smile. You're welcome, She thought before starting to walk away from the man. She wished that she knew how to stop this feeling.

Nicole sat on the stairs of the white farmhouse with Nadia. The two sat there making small talk ranging from Beth to anything else. It was almost time for the group meeting; Dale reached the pair -- the last two he had to talk to. "I'm here to try to change your mind," he told the two as he adjusted his rifle.

Nicole thought back to when Cheyanne came over earlier, talking about how it wasn't right to kill Randall. Nicole thought about hope and how killing this boy would ruin her daughter's sense of it. She needed Cheyanne to stay a child, at least for a little bit longer. "I'm with you Dale."

Dale was shocked; he thought that Nicole would have been adamant about killing him. "Why?" He asked as he glanced over to Nadia, who remained silent.

"Hope is the one thing my daughter has left. She's lost everything else," Nicole told him. "She's a child, and I do want to protect her. I'd risk my own life to protect her, but killing that boy?" Nicole glanced down to her hand and picked at her nails for a second. "That would take the only thing she has left in this world. I can't take that away from her."

Dale nodded slightly. "And you?" He peered over to Nadia, who sat quietly.

"I don't think that killing him is right, but I don't think keeping him alive is right either. He's a risk to all of us, but he is just a kid." Nadia glanced over to Nicole, who held a supportive look on her face. Nicole wasn't going to bash Nadia for her opinion; she deserved to believe what she wanted.

"Killing him changes us. We'll lose our humanity; this world may be cruel, but that doesn't mean that we have to be too," Dale implored. Nicole sighed as Dale seemed to beg. He was desperate; Nicole could only assume that the group wanted Randall gone.

Time passed before Rick called everyone inside for the meeting. Nicole made sure to send Cheyanne with Carl and Jimmy. She shouldn't have to hear this. As everyone piled into the room, Nicole quickly found her spot on the kitchen arch. She leaned against it while Nadia stood beside her.

Glenn's voice broke the tense silence. "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Nicole sighed. She hated that this became something that they had to do. She wanted to know where along the line they lost themselves. Was it when Jacqui died? Or was it when Nicole got Sophia killed? Nicole wished she knew.

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked. Nicole wanted to laugh at the deep split in her lip from when she punched her but it wasn't the time.

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested, not meeting anyone's eyes. Nicole knew Lori was against this but she was going along with it for Rick. Nicole wanted her best friend to actually voice her opinion instead of hiding behind men.

"Well, let's--" Rick spoke up stepping forward. "Let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options." Nicole listens to the hesitant tone in Rick's voice. She knew that he wasn't sure what he thought was right anymore.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Nicole rolled her eyes at Shane's voice. She may have been okay with him for a while, but after the shit he's pulled now, Nicole couldn't stand the sight of him.

"Killing him, right?" Dale shot out. He was clearly very angry. "I mean why bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the winds blowing." Nicole knew he was right. This group didn't want to spare Randall.

"If people think we should spare him, I wanna know," Rick said empathetically. He wanted a reason not to do it. He didn't want to.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group -- maybe just me, Nicole and Glenn," Dale announced. Nicole tensed at her name. Everyone looked at her and Glenn.

Glenn slowly looked up and Nicole knew. He didn't think that sparing him was the right thing. After all, they did to ensure that boy's survival -- wasting supplies on him and protecting him -- he wanted him gone. "Look, I think you're right pretty much about everything, all the time, but this--"

"They've got you scared," Dale exclaimed to the younger boy. Nicole jumped at the sound of Dale's slightly raised voice. She never heard him get angry before.

"He's not one of us and we've --" Glenn stuttered under Nicole's disapproving gaze. "We've lost too many people already."

"None of that was his doing though, Glenn," Nicole muttered. "In the beginning, the Quarry, that was the result of a herd. Not humans. The CDC, that was the result of losing hope. And Sophia," Nicole choked on her tongue as everyone looked to her. "That was a result of a stupid woman making a mistake." Nicole met the gaze of Carol. "Notice how none of it revolved around him."

Nicole looked up to Rick, who had his eyes trained on Nicole. "You wanted us to have a chance. What is the point of it having it if we can't prove that we are worthy of it." Nicole glanced back to Daryl, who stood quietly as he observes the conversation. "Hope and Humanity are the only things any of us have left. If you kill that boy, after all of the stuff we've done to keep him alive, you wouldn't only be taking it from yourself, Rick. You'd be taking it from our children." Nicole cleared her throat. Everyone was kind of in awe by how much she was talking.

"Carl -- he told me he thinks you should kill that boy. That evil doesn't spare the innocent. You kill Randall -- who is barely older than Carl by the way -- that boy of yours will be the innocent evil doesn't spare." Nicole fell silent and left the floor open. Tears brimmed her eyes and she brushed them away. "So, you all make up your minds. Just know that that choice will have repercussions. Every choice does," Nicole said as she pushed herself from the arch and stormed past everyone.

Nicole ignored the slight pain in her ankle as she marched back to Daryl and her's camp. The sun was close to being completely set when she got there. Nicole went inside the tent and grabbed her backpack. She walked back outside and sat down on the log with a frustrated sigh. She tore everything from her bag until she found a lighter. She grabbed one of the books she stole from the CDC -- it was Twilight -- and lit it on fire. Nicole tossed it into the fireplace in front of her.

Nicole sighed and held up three pictures of her biological family. The first one was of her college graduation, her entire family was there with proud, smiling faces. They were happy that she finally turned her life around. The second was a double family photo -- the Allegro's and the Everett's. The two families sat smiling and embracing each other. Nicole remembered that day; Lee and Nolan kept messing with her pigtail braids and messing up the photos. The final one was of Cheyanne's Ninth birthday two months before the outbreak. Nicole missed this day. She missed all of them. She wanted them all back.

Nicole leaned forward and put those pictures in her jean pocket. She watched the fire dance in front of her as the book disintegrated. Nicole didn't realize that night fell; she could hear the crickets start to sing. Nicole glanced up to the moon; it was full and shined over the small campsite.

"You okay, Mama?" Nicole jumped out of her trance when she heard Cheyanne's sudden voice. Nicole turned around to see both Daryl and Chey standing there.

"I'm fine, baby," Nicole spoke with a smile before turning back to the fire. She couldn't meet her little girl's eyes; she couldn't do it while knowing that a boy was about to be killed not too far away from where they were sitting. "Y'all decide yet?"

"We did," Daryl spoke as he walked closer to the tearful blonde. "Rick, Shane and I took 'im to the barn. Rick, he was about to do it but then Carl," Daryl said as he knelt down to her. "He wanted to watch and Rick put him back in custody." Nicole's head shot up to the man and immediately pulled him into a tight hug. Nicole pulled Cheyanne into the hug as well. Nicole thought everything would be okay.

At least that's what she thought before the screaming started.