If there was one thing about the night's miraculous survival that left Lucien with even the slightest bit of regret, it was this:
Ed Peletier, wife-beating piece of human garbage, was still breathing.
That said, the bastard's malicious and monumentally stupid accusations had accidentally done him a favor. Ed had successfully diverted everyone's attention away from him and redirected it onto himself.
"What did you just say?!" Andrea's voice rose.
"Ed! How could you say something like that?" Glenn looked shocked.
Half a dozen hostile stares locked onto Ed. The atmosphere changed so fast it was like someone had flipped a switch.
Shane's hand tightened on his gun. The look in his eyes was dangerous. Lucien had seen it before.
Rick's jaw was set.
Andrea took a step forward, ready to tear into Ed verbally if not physically.
But before any of them could move, someone else got there first.
Merle.
He'd been standing off to the side, still holding his rifle, looking like he was barely holding it together after the fight. When Ed's words registered, something in his face changed. The manic energy that had been simmering under the surface all night suddenly found a target.
He broke into a grin that had nothing friendly about it.
"Hey, fatass." He rolled his good wrist, flexing his fingers as he started walking toward Ed. "What the fuck did you just say? Come on, say it again. I didn't quite catch that."
Ed sobered up fast. The booze-fueled courage that had let him run his mouth evaporated in the face of Merle advancing on him with murder in his eyes.
He stumbled over his own feet.
Merle's fist caught him in the face. Ed's head snapped back, blood spraying from his nose, and his whole body went down like a felled tree. He hit the ground.
"Aaagh!"
Merle didn't stop. He was on Ed in a second, straddling his chest, fists coming down. Left, right, left, right. Each punch landed with a meaty sound that made several people in the crowd flinch.
"So the kid draggin' my ass back from Atlanta pisses you off, huh?! I'm out there fightin' walkers, and you're hidin' in the fuckin' RV like a damn cockroach!"
Another punch split Ed's lip open. Blood spattered across the dirt.
"Now you got the balls to show your face?!" Another punch. Ed's eye was swelling shut. "Who the hell told you you were allowed to breathe, huh? You piece of shit?!"
The women gasped.
Carol went white, her hands flying to her mouth. She took a half-step forward, then froze, caught between wanting to help her husband and being too terrified to get near Merle.
"That's enough! Merle, stop!" Andrea moved forward, but her attempt to pull him back was half-hearted at best. She grabbed his shoulder but didn't pull hard enough to stop him.
Glenn tried too, getting his hands on Merle's other arm. "He's gonna die!"
"Good!" Merle shook them both off and landed a kick to Ed's ribs. Ed curled into a ball, wheezing, trying to protect his head.
Shane watched from the sidelines, every muscle in his body tight. His hand stayed on his gun. If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen the war playing out on his face. Duty told him to stop this. Every other instinct told him to let it happen. Maybe even to join in.
Dale and Rick tried to intervene, grabbing Merle's arms and trying to haul him back. But Merle was wiry and strong and fueled by pure adrenaline-soaked rage. He twisted free and got in one more kick before Daryl finally had enough.
"That's enough." Daryl grabbed Merle by the arm and pulled. "Don't kill him."
For a second, it looked like Merle might turn on Daryl too. Then something in his expression shifted. He spat a glob of blood-tinged saliva onto the ground next to Ed's head and stood up.
"Waste of fucking oxygen," he muttered, adjusting his tank top.
Ed lay on the ground. His face was a mess. His nose was clearly broken, one eye swollen completely shut, and his lip split in three places. Blood ran from his mouth and nose. He made small, whimpering sounds that might have been words but came out as incoherent moaning.
Shane stepped forward. He looked down at Ed, then at Merle, then back at Ed.
"Merle, you lost control there. Even if Ed was out of line, you shouldn't have gone that far."
Merle snorted but didn't argue.
Shane's eyes dropped back to Ed. "That said... You started this, Ed. So consider this a lesson. Watch your fucking mouth from now on."
Glenn couldn't help adding, "Yeah. Hiding in the back doing nothing is one thing. But then coming out and talking shit about a kid? That's low, man. Real low."
Ed clutched his face, looking up at the circle of people surrounding him. Every face showed some variation of disgust. Even the people who'd been friendly with him before were looking at him like he was something they'd scraped off their shoe.
He tried to say something, but his broken face wouldn't cooperate. All that came out was a pained sound.
Rick sighed. He stepped forward, bent down, and reached out to help Ed up.
Shane's eyes narrowed immediately. What the hell was Rick doing?
Rick got Ed halfway to his feet, supporting him with one hand under his arm. Ed swayed, barely able to stand, his breath coming in short, pained gasps.
"You know why I stopped Merle?" he asked quietly.
Ed blinked through his one working eye. Blood dripped from his chin.
Why? To keep the peace? To prevent things from getting worse?
Rick's fist answered the question.
He drove it into Ed's jaw. The punch had his full weight behind it, and Ed's head snapped to the side like it was on a hinge. Before Ed could fall, Rick's knee came up, catching him in the stomach with enough force to lift him off his feet.
Ed hit the ground.
The camp went silent. Everyone stared.
Even Lucien had to work to keep his expression neutral. That had been unexpected.
Ed made a sound like a dying animal, curled up on the dirt, hands clutching his stomach.
Rick stood over him.
"Lucien is eleven years old."
He crouched down, grabbed a fistful of Ed's hair, and forced him to look up. Ed's one good eye was wide.
"How could you stand there and say something like that in front of an eleven-year-old kid? Especially when a sheriff was standing right next to him?"
The camp was so quiet that Lucien could hear Ed's breathing.
"I'm... sorry..." Ed's words were slurred. "I... drunk... I... was scared... didn't mean..."
"I didn't stop Merle to keep the peace," Rick said calmly. His eyes were flat. "I stopped him because I wanted to handle you myself. You should count yourself lucky. The only reason you still have all your teeth is because there are children watching. If it were just us..."
"Rick..." Lori had moved closer. She had never seen him like this. The man she married was good and compassionate, the kind of cop who talked suspects down instead of beating them. The man standing here now felt like a stranger.
She started to step forward, but Carl grabbed her arm. She hesitated, looked at Ed's bloodied face, remembered what he'd said about Lucien, and decided to stay where she was.
Rick released Ed's hair. His head bounced off the dirt.
"If I ever find out you did something to harm Lucien... I guarantee you'll wish you'd died tonight when you had the chance."
He looked back down at Ed.
"Do you understand?"
"Y-yes..." The word came out as a wet wheeze. "I understand..."
Shane stepped up beside Rick and clapped him on the shoulder. There was approval in his eyes, and something that might have been relief. "About damn time."
The camp stayed frozen for a few more seconds. Then Carol finally moved, scurrying forward to help her husband. She was crying silently, her whole body shaking as she tried to get Ed to his feet.
Ed could barely walk. He leaned heavily on Carol, one hand pressed to his ribs while the other clutched his face. They made their way toward their tent as Carol whispered frantic, frightened words that no one else could hear.
The atmosphere had shifted. People were looking at Rick differently now. The trust was still there, if anything stronger than before, but it was mixed with something else. Maybe fear. Or a kind of respect that was born from fear.
The message had been received: Rick Grimes would kill for his family. And in this world, maybe that was exactly what they needed in a leader.
Merle was watching the whole thing with an expression of lazy amusement. He leaned over to Daryl and muttered, "Officer Friendly. Right."
Dale stood off to the side, his expression troubled. He did not approve of violence, nor did he believe threats were how civilized people should resolve conflict. But he had heard what Ed said. He had seen the look on Lucien's face when the accusations started flying. The boy had just saved their lives, and Ed had repaid him with nothing but venom and hate, the same cruelty he showed his own wife and daughter.
Lucien was just a child.
Dale let out a heavy sigh and said nothing.
Ed was not seriously hurt... right? He would survive. That was more than he deserved.