"What the hell is going on here?!" Donna's voice arrived before she did, loaded with fury.
She came running down the path, followed by Ellis, Fatima, and a few other Colony House residents. Her stride was heavy and purposeful, her eyes sweeping the scene, searching for blood or broken bones.
Daniel and Julie followed behind the group, keeping a safe distance.
The image froze for a second.
Rick still had his arms raised, his body leaning forward in a motion that hadn't ended the way he'd planned. The plank he was holding slipped from his hands after missing its target, flying wildly and slamming hard against a fallen beam on the ground. The impact produced the sharp crack that had echoed seconds earlier.
Dale was only a few steps away, his body twisted on the ground after throwing himself aside in a defensive reflex, barely managing to dodge. His eyes were wide, his breath coming out in short, ragged bursts.
One second more and he would've been hit. He was holding a plank as well, but he hadn't expected the attack. Shock was still etched into every line of his face.
A middle-aged woman covered her mouth with both hands, the scream she'd let out still vibrating in the air.
Even the townspeople who were with Rick exchanged stunned looks. No one had expected that. An argument, sure. Shouting, yes. But a direct attack... no.
Dale was the first to move. He stood up slowly, his muscles still tense, eyes locked on Rick with a mix of shock and indignation.
"Have you lost your mind?" he snarled. "You tried to hit me with a plank!"
"Hey!" Donna stepped forward two more paces, her voice cutting through the air. "What the fuck is this?!"
"Rick tried to hit him!", shouted a man behind Dale.
"With a plank!" another added.
Rick was breathing hard, his face flushed red, his eyes still burning with adrenaline. He opened his mouth to speak, but Dale was faster.
"They showed up without asking," Dale snapped, pointing at the group from town. "They started taking the planks like they owned them."
"Because they were just lying there!" Tom cut in, stepping forward. "This place is falling apart, Dale. We just need to cover the windows before nightfall."
"And asking for permission didn't cross your mind?" Donna shot back immediately, her sharp gaze fixed on Tom. "You don't have the right to just show up and take what isn't yours."
"We're all trying to survive!" Rick exploded.
"You tried to hit him," Donna interrupted, her voice even harsher. "Don't change the subject."
Rick shut his mouth, his jaw tightening.
Before another conflict could erupt, hurried footsteps echoed along the dirt path.
Boyd emerged from between the trees, followed by Kenny and the young woman who had gone to get them. The sheriff's face was hard, his shoulders rigid.
When his eyes landed on Rick, the thought came automatically.
This guy again.
"What happened here?" The question came out more like an order than curiosity.
Tom took a deep breath and began to explain, choosing his words carefully. He talked about the idea of the shed, the abandoned wood, the verbal confrontation, the argument that had spiraled out of control.
Boyd listened without interrupting, his gaze moving from face to face. When Tom mentioned the attempted attack, Boyd slowly turned his head toward Rick.
The sheriff's expression hardened.
Rick felt the weight of it like a physical blow. He looked away, his nerve evaporating.
"So let me get this straight," Boyd said at last. "You entered Colony House property without permission, started taking their resources, and when confronted, tried to solve it with violence."
Rick opened his mouth. Closed it. Simply nodded, tense.
"You were wrong," Boyd continued mercilessly. "If you wanted the wood, you should've talked to Donna. This isn't no man's land."
There were murmurs of agreement, even from the townspeople.
"Sorry," Tom finally said, the word coming out with difficulty. "We should've asked."
One by one, the others muttered apologies. Some sincere, others too ashamed to meet Dale's or Donna's eyes.
Boyd nodded. "There's no need for this level of panic. Most houses in town have basements. Today, I'll distribute one extra talisman per house. Anyone who didn't manage to board everything up and doesn't feel safe can sleep in the basement tonight."
The tension eased a little.
Then Boyd turned to Donna. "Let's talk."
They stepped a few paces aside. The conversation was low but intense. Donna gestured sharply, clearly irritated, her face still flushed. Boyd spoke with forced calm, using logic, mentioning safety, cooperation, the deadly risk of internal conflict in a place where survival was already unlikely.
"Fine," Donna finally said. "We can set aside some planks. Some. But this doesn't become a rule."
"Fair," the sheriff replied, accepting the partial victory.
That was when new footsteps approached.
Jim appeared with Tabitha and Ethan, guided by a Colony House resident. Jim's face was tight, his eyes scanning for something specific. Tabitha looked around with growing maternal concern.
When Julie had left, Jim was in the bathroom with Ethan and Tabitha had gone to check on the apple tree behind the property. When they returned and couldn't find Julie, panic had set in immediately, and they were told about the fight.
Julie stood beside Daniel, not too close to the conflict, just close enough to hear.
"Shit," she muttered when she spotted her parents.
"Good luck," Daniel replied, offering his questionable sincerity.
Jim approached with determined strides, Tabitha right behind him, holding Ethan's hand. "Julie, what are you doing here?"
"I just... came to see what was going on."
Before the conversation could continue, Dale spoke up again, his attention snapping back to Boyd, indignation bubbling over.
"So that attack on me is just going to be ignored?" His voice was thick with resentment. "He tried to hit me with a plank and we're just going to pretend it didn't happen?"
The sheriff opened his mouth to respond, but Dale had already turned toward Rick, his eyes narrowing with calculated malice.
"No surprise there. That aggression is why your wife left you, isn't it?"
"Dale," Donna warned, her voice low and dangerous.
But the damage was done.
It was a story no one could touch around Rick. Everyone knew it. An open wound that never healed.
He snapped.
His eyes widened, pupils dilating. His face went white, then red. He ripped the hammer from the middle-aged woman's hand with brutal force and, in a blind surge of pure fury, hurled it with everything he had toward Dale.
Dale, already expecting a reaction, had grabbed a plank and raised it as an improvised shield.
The hammer hit the wood with a heavy, dull thud.
It ricocheted violently, spinning out of control through the air. Its trajectory changed instantly, metal catching the light as it flew in a direction no one could track. Everything happened too fast to process.
All anyone could do was stare, eyes wide with helpless horror, trying to predict where it would land.
The hammer spun through the air toward the Matthews family and Daniel.
"Julie, get back!" Jim shouted, barely managing to yank Tabitha and Ethan away in a desperate motion.
Julie didn't have time to react. The hammer came straight at her, spinning, metal and wood blurring together. She only had time to curl in on herself and squeeze her eyes shut.
The onlookers were stunned. Some of the more sensitive ones shut their eyes too, unwilling to witness the tragedy unfolding.
Daniel, who had been tracking the object's trajectory from the moment it ricocheted, reached out and yanked Julie out of the way with calculated force.
The hammer slammed into the ground exactly where Julie had been standing a moment earlier, the handle vibrating from the impact.
She opened her eyes slowly, trembling, her body still processing the near miss. "Thank you." The word slipped out automatically, a low whisper full of shock.
He didn't answer.
"Are you okay?" Tabitha and Jim rushed over, hands already checking their daughter for injuries. Fatima, who had been near Ellis and Donna, hurried over as well.
"I'm fine... Daniel pulled me out in time."
Jim turned to thank Daniel, but stopped mid-motion when he saw the look on the young man's face.
The easy smile Daniel usually wore was gone. His blue eyes were cold, empty of any humor. His jaw was clenched, muscles standing out under his skin. He was truly angry now. Controlled anger, and far more dangerous because of it.
He crouched slowly and grabbed the hammer embedded in the ground, yanking it free with a firm pull.
"I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," Rick said, his voice ashamed, his hands visibly shaking now that the adrenaline was fading.
No one answered.
Everyone was watching Daniel as he took a step forward, hammer in hand. From the cold intensity of his stare fixed on Rick, people felt a bad premonition. Those closest to Rick instinctively backed away, making space.
"I know what he did was wrong," the sheriff said, his voice firm, trying to regain control before everything collapsed. "But violence doesn't solve anything."
Daniel answered with action.
In a swift motion, he hurled the hammer at Rick.
When Daniel made the throwing motion, Rick ducked in pure panic, his hands flying over his head in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Daniel had aimed for his chest.
The sound came first.
A loud crack.
Bone breaking.
The hammer struck the arm Rick was using to shield his head, smashing into his forearm.
Rick screamed, the sound sharp and filled with real pain. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching his arm to his chest, his face twisted in agony.
[You've officially graduated from "problematic" to "dangerous." Boyd is going to love adding this to your file.]
"My God..." someone murmured.
No one had expected that. Not like that. Not with that level of coldness.
Boyd spun toward Daniel, eyes wide, authority momentarily forgotten in the face of the sudden violence. "What the fuck did you just do?!"
Daniel didn't answer right away. He simply watched Rick writhing on the ground. When he finally spoke, his voice was cold.
"He attacked someone first, then almost killed her." He pointed at Julie without taking his eyes off Rick. "Accident or not, actions have consequences."
"That doesn't give you the right to—" Boyd started, his voice rising.
"No?" Daniel cut him off, finally turning his gaze to the sheriff. His blue eyes were icy. "Then what's the consequence? You give him a lecture? Make him apologize again? Does that solve anything?"
The sheriff opened his mouth but had no immediate answer.
Donna exchanged a look with Boyd. For a moment, it seemed like she might say something. Then she looked at Rick on the ground, and back at Daniel standing there, impassive.
"Let's leave it at that, Boyd," she said finally. "He started the mess."
Boyd stepped closer, lowering his voice so only Daniel could hear. "This isn't over. We're going to talk. In private." It wasn't a request.
He didn't wait for an answer and was already leaving with Kenny, who helped Rick to his feet. The townspeople followed, casting one last fearful look at Daniel as they went.
Julie leaned against Tabitha, her hands still trembling slightly. Her gaze shifted from Rick to the hammer on the ground, then back to Daniel. Her heart was pounding too fast, and now that the immediate danger had passed, delayed shock was setting in.
She had almost died.
The thought hit hard.
Jim noticed. He placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, squeezing gently. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. His face was serious, torn over what to think of Daniel not because of the act itself, but because of the cold way he'd done it.
Tabitha hugged Julie tighter, her daughter's body still rigid.
"Breathe," she murmured. "It's okay now."
But Julie didn't respond. Her eyes were locked on Daniel.
Fatima watched in silence, her face serious. Ellis did too. There was something unsettling about how unaffected Daniel seemed.
Dale approached, but kept a safe distance. "Nice throw," he said, though there was caution in his tone now, as if reassessing what kind of person Daniel really was.
He was met with an indifferent look from Daniel, which made him take an unconscious step back.
"Part of this is on you. If you'd kept your mouth shut," Ellis said.
"I know, I know. Won't happen again."
"Come on, we need to finish boarding up," Daniel said, turning away.
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