Chapter 21: The Trial
POV: Rick
The farmhouse living room had been transformed into a makeshift courtroom, with Jake sitting in a chair facing a semicircle of survivors who would decide his fate. Rick stood near the fireplace, feeling the weight of Solomon's burden as he prepared to moderate what might be the most important vote their group had ever held.
The evidence was damning and undeniable. Everyone had seen Jake command the walkers, freezing them in place with nothing but his will. Dale's examination of the barn hinges had revealed deliberate sabotage. Jake had admitted to forcing the confrontation, to playing god with their safety.
But Rick had also seen Jake save Carl's life, had watched him risk everything at the CDC, had witnessed the young man's desperate attempts to protect the group even when he couldn't explain his methods.
"We need to decide what happens next," Rick announced, his voice carrying the authority he'd never wanted but couldn't abandon. "Jake's actions endangered everyone, but they also revealed a threat we didn't know existed. The question is whether we can trust him going forward."
Shane stood immediately, his face flushed with righteous anger. "Kill him. He's a monster. A freak. God knows what else he's hiding from us."
The words hit Rick like a physical blow. This was Shane—his partner, his oldest friend—advocating for the execution of someone who'd saved their lives multiple times. The deputy's paranoia had finally found its perfect target.
"That's not an option," Rick said firmly. "We're not killers."
"Speak for yourself," Shane shot back. "Some threats are too dangerous to leave alive."
Hershel rose slowly, his aged face etched with grief and fury. "Exile. He destroyed my family, violated the sanctity of my property. I want him gone."
The vote that followed split along predictable lines. Andrea nodded her agreement with Hershel—she'd never fully trusted Jake anyway. Patricia, still shaken by the night's events, voted for exile. Beth sat silent, tears streaming down her face, but when pressed she whispered, "He has to go."
Jimmy, barely more than a boy himself, raised his hand for exile with the enthusiasm of someone trying to prove his adult judgment.
Rick counted silently, watching Jake's face for any reaction. The young man sat perfectly still, his hands folded in his lap, accepting whatever judgment was about to fall. There was resignation there, but also something else—relief, maybe, that the burden of secrecy was finally lifted.
Then Carol stood up.
"He stays," she said, her voice ringing with maternal authority. "He's saved us over and over. Saved me and Sophia at the quarry. Saved Carl in surgery. Whatever his reasons for what he did, he's proven himself."
Daryl nodded curtly. "Yeah, he's ours. Weird as hell, but he's ours."
Glenn raised his hand reluctantly, clearly torn between loyalty and recent heartbreak. "He stays."
Dale adjusted his glasses and voted to keep Jake, followed by T-Dog's quiet agreement.
Rick looked around the room, counting votes and weighing souls. The tally was close—close enough that his decision would tip the balance either way.
"He's dangerous. That's undeniable. But he's our dangerous. And in this world, sometimes you need someone willing to make the hard choices."
"He stays," Rick announced. "Whatever Jake is, whatever he can do, he's proven his loyalty to this group. We deal with threats from outside, not from within."
Shane's face went white with rage, but he didn't argue. Not yet. Rick could see the calculation in his old friend's eyes, the recognition that this battle was lost but the war might continue.
POV: Jake
The relief of survival was immediately overshadowed by the need for explanation. Jake looked around the semicircle of faces—some friendly, some hostile, all demanding answers he couldn't fully provide.
"I knew something bad would happen with that barn," he began, groping for words that wouldn't trigger his speech block. "I couldn't say how or when, but I knew. So I forced it to happen early, when I could be ready to help."
Maggie leaned forward, her green eyes bright with unshed tears. "Why not just tell us? Why all the secrecy and sabotage?"
Jake tried to explain about Sophia, about the timeline he remembered, about the tragedy he'd prevented. "Sophia will end up—"
His voice cut out mid-sentence, the speech block clamping down with familiar brutality. He tried again, forcing the words through his constricted throat: "The barn contains—"
Same result. The words simply wouldn't come, no matter how hard he struggled.
The group watched his efforts with expressions ranging from pity to suspicion. Carol reached out and took his hand, her touch gentle and grounding.
"Something's wrong with him," Andrea said, but her voice carried concern rather than accusation. "Medically wrong. Like he's having some kind of neurological episode."
"I'm not sick," Jake managed once he stopped trying to voice forbidden knowledge. "I'm... constrained. There are things I know that I can't say, warnings I can't give. It's like being cursed."
The word hung in the air, archaic and strange but somehow fitting. These were people who'd seen the dead walk—a curse wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.
"What kind of things?" Rick asked gently.
Jake gestured helplessly. "Future things. Dangerous things. Things that would help people if I could just get the words out."
Hershel was studying him with professional interest, his veterinary training recognizing something beyond normal medical explanation. "You're telling the truth," the old man said slowly. "Whatever's preventing you from speaking, it's real. Physiological."
The validation meant more than Jake had expected. Here was a medical professional confirming that his limitations weren't psychological or voluntary—they were genuine constraints imposed by forces beyond his control.
"I wanted to save your family," Jake said directly to Hershel. "But they were already gone. What you were keeping in that barn... they weren't people anymore. They were just shadows wearing familiar faces."
POV: Hershel
Hershel Greene had spent the night praying, seeking guidance from a God who seemed to have abandoned the world to chaos and death. The young man confined in his barn loft was either touched by divine providence or cursed by darker forces—and Hershel wasn't sure there was a meaningful difference anymore.
"He destroyed my family. But Carol swears he's good. Daryl trusts him. Even Glenn, who has every reason to hate him now, voted for him to stay."
Watching Jake struggle to speak, seeing the genuine agony in his efforts to communicate forbidden knowledge, Hershel began to understand that the situation was more complex than simple sabotage.
The boy—and he was still a boy, despite everything—had tried to warn them. His medical skills during Carl's surgery had been remarkable, far beyond what any third-year student should possess. His desperate attempts to speak truth were obviously genuine.
"Perhaps he saw something we couldn't. Perhaps mercy for the dead includes stopping their suffering."
The thought was heretical by his previous beliefs, but faith was a luxury the new world didn't always allow. If Annette and Shawn had truly been beyond saving, if keeping them had endangered everyone...
Hershel looked up at the barn loft where Jake sat in enforced isolation, and felt the first stirrings of forgiveness. The young man had made an impossible choice in an impossible situation. Maybe it was time to accept that mercy sometimes looked like violence, and salvation sometimes required destruction.
"Bring him down," Hershel called to Rick. "If we're keeping him, he might as well hear what we decide about the farm."
The words were a peace offering, an acceptance that went beyond mere tolerance. Jake had earned his place through blood and sacrifice, even if his methods were questionable.
It was time to start healing the wounds his revelation had opened.
Author's Note / Promotion:
Your Reviews and Power Stones are the best way to show support. They help me know what you're enjoying and bring in new readers!
Can't wait for the next chapter of [ In The Walking Dead With 3 Wishes ]?
You don't have to. Get instant access to more content by supporting me on Patreon. I have three options so you can pick how far ahead you want to be:
🪙 Silver Tier ($6): Read 10 chapters ahead of the public site.
👑 Gold Tier ($9): Get 15-20 chapters ahead of the public site.
💎 Platinum Tier ($15): The ultimate experience. Get new chapters the second I finish them (20+ chapters ahead!). No waiting for weekly drops, just pure, instant access.
Your support helps me write more .
👉 Find it all at patreon.com/fanficwriter1