Andy was silent while Joey was. Was what he said boiling down in Joey's head now? Was he changing, morphing into something beyond the innocent little weakling Joey thought he might have understood Andy to be? He wished he could go back, stop himself from saying something he'd regret, and he was regretting it all the way back to their quiet little camp, regretting it as he took his things off Tide's back and set them where he was going to call home for the night. Then when Joey spoke, Andy was sure he were swallowing glass with how painful his throat was.

"I... I don't..." He sighed, going rigid and standing up as straight as he dared. "Because... I wanted you to know that I can kill too. Just... not with guns... That if I get mad enough I... I... I'm... not... safe to be around." He lost all his sudden resolve and sagged. "Because maybe I don't like you thinking you're a Godless monster because it doesn't matter if you kill one or a hundred, your hands are stained and you can't take it back no matter how much you want to or how much you justify the deaths in your own mind. Because I killed someone too. Even if he deserved it... it doesn't mean I'm innocent." He went silent, breathing in a shuddering breath and letting it out in defeat, falling to his knees despite the sharp pain in his back and starting to unroll the bedroll he had so there would be no more unnecessary sharing.