AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I deliberately left the ending to the prequel "When the Walls Come Crashing Down" open in case I felt like doing a sequel, which I knew I would want to do at some point. I've used the Governor as a villain so often and used the Terminus cannibals once as well because despite the show's underuse of them, I felt like they were a bigger threat than they were shown to be. But Negan is a whole different story and I was motivated by the mutual hatred fans have of him and his Saviors, so as unlikely as it seems, I wanted to try and bring him into the fold for this first (and my first) sequel involving Merle, Milton, and Andrea since all my previous stories with the three of them ended with SPOILERS-at least one of them dead.

We'll just have to see where this one goes. Please have patience, for if there's one thing I've proved, it's that I always finish TWD stories, even if others relating to different fandoms take years to complete. This story is mainly for one loyal reader and good friend I've found through the help of this website, for she and I share a mutual love of Dallas Roberts, an appreciation for Laurie Holden, and an enthusiastic admiration for Michael Rooker who I've met four times now by volunteering and would like to someday introduce my loyal reader and friend to. She's met Laurie and we both hope to meet Dallas in the near future. This one's dedicated to you, thebigfatflyingbeastinthetree. 3

As for those of you who are picking up this story without reading the prequel, feel free to read the prequel first, as it explains much of why the characters are in the situations they are currently in or, if you want the quick version, PM me and I'd be more than happy to explain everything to you in a few short paragraphs.

Happy reading, PaintedViolin (formerly Jerrath92)

/ * /

ANDREA

Of the many appliances and devices that were denied to her now in the apocalypse, cell phones were probably the ones she missed most besides controlled temperature machines and refrigerators. She and Rick had been fortunate enough to come across a supply of walkie-talkies during their supply runs, but the connection only extended so far, which meant that for those times when she had to fulfill her duties as partial ambassador between the prison and Woodbury, she couldn't communicate with the people on the other end to let them know she was leaving one location and headed to the other. And even then, it wasn't so much for her benefit that she wanted cell phones; it was for Milton's.

At the end of spring the previous year, Elliot and Erica had decided to return to Woodbury to fill the role together that had for so long, been solely Phillip's. They took Tate with them, leaving Milton as the sole resident who originated from Woodbury, though they didn't leave the prison group short-handed, for Rick and T-Dog had begun searching the lonely roads for survivors and encouraging them to come to the prison. In addition to the six remaining survivors from outside the prison, the two former inmates Axel and Oscar, and of course Andrea and Milton, four more individuals had joined their team.

There were the siblings Tyreese and Sasha, the loner Bob, and a young man in his mid-twenties named Asher. While the former three spent most of their time contributing at the prison, Andrea thought it best for Asher to interact with the Woodbury community, so she often took him with her to Woodbury for the weekend and would leave him there to mingle and learn what he could until she or Milton would return the next week for the scheduled meet-up. While there, Asher had become something of a prized pupil of Elliot's who took the young man under his wing and began to teach him the importance of leadership. This task was not given to Rick because Rick was trying to impress these qualities upon Carl at the same time.

Woodbury managed quite well under Elliot and Erica's guidance and began to thrive, which was more than Andrea could have hoped for, given the devastating losses the town had suffered shortly after she had first arrived nearly two years ago. In a sad and unfortunate turn of events, the-then seven-year-old twins Nathan and Nina were orphaned after their mother Janine succumbed to the coma that she had been put in by her abusive boyfriend. The town physician, Dr. Stephens, had cared for the children until Elliot and Erica returned with Tate and then Tate, with much insistent scribbling and frustrated sign language on account of his inability to speak, opted to adopt the twins. Following this happy turn, Elliot and Erica had announced Erica's pregnancy a few months after, and Erica gave birth to a baby girl not six months ago.

Meanwhile, Milton had suggested that he make the weekly drive to Woodbury to check on the state of the town and relay any messages the prison had and vice versa. As a former resident of Woodbury herself, Andrea insisted on sharing the duties with Milton, resulting in their titles of co-ambassadors. At first, Andrea refused to allow Milton to make the trip alone for obvious reasons and even after several training fiascos, he had only just started to be a passable shooter and hands-on fighter with the walkers. But as she watched him during their supply runs and saw his confidence build, she began to grow more trusting of his abilities until she finally agreed to stay behind at the prison while he returned to Woodbury to pick up Asher.

Still, she wished for a cellular device to make a five second call and check that he was coming back. It was getting to the town that concerned her most, because on his way there, he had no human backup, but on the return journey, he would have Asher in case they ran into trouble.

So as she stood pacing the inner courtyard on watch duty, she couldn't help but put the binoculars to her eyes every few seconds to watch the road for signs of an approaching vehicle, which wasn't always the same one Milton had left in. Her worries were remedied at some point close to four in the afternoon as a maroon minivan came rolling up the road at a leisurely pace.

"Car incoming," Andrea informed Bob via walkie talkie and Bob, who was at the partially reconstructed watchtower overseeing the gate, alerted Carol below. "Can you identify the driver?" she asked and then waited for a reply.

"Copy that. It's Milton and Asher comin' home," Bob confirmed, and Andrea breathed a sigh of relief as the minivan pulled up to the gate and waited for Carol to open it and grant access. Then, the van trekked up across the gravel path to the main courtyard and came to a neat halt beside the line of other vehicles they'd scavenged over the past year and a half.

Milton climbed out of the driver's seat and then went around to the passenger door behind and opened it. A Labrador mixed breed hopped out of the back and remained loyally by Milton's side until Milton had unloaded his rifle and pack.

"Did he enjoy the ride?" Andrea asked, watching the dog with a reluctant grin on her face at the innocent blissfulness that the dog projected.

"I would say so. He didn't throw up in the back seat, so I assume he had a good time," said Milton, moving his rifle further up his shoulder so that he could hug Andrea properly.

A year ago, she would have let go in a few short seconds, but now, when everyone knew, she was glad that she could hold onto him longer and be thankful that he had come back. He only ever showed affection in the form of an embrace while in what he called the "public eye". A true gentleman, he refused to revert to any sort of public display of affection besides a hug, even now that everyone knew what went on behind closed doors.

And it was closed doors, because Rick, T-Dog, and Tyreese, the latter of whom had been in construction before the outbreak, devised a way of turning the cell doors into doors that granted more privacy. They were reinforced with wood and layered with sound-proof padding so that at least the residents could have late-night conversations without waking the others and Judith's cries could be muffled from the rest of the inhabitants. But Andrea was grateful for Tyreese's ingenuity because it meant Milton's screams wouldn't rouse anyone else and she could try to coax him out of his nightmares without waking the others.

Milton's nightmares had begun to subside somewhat when he first received his dog, Sawyer, as a gift from one of Woodbury's citizens. The pup was only a few weeks old and the odds were stacked against him, for his mother had been unable to provide enough milk to feed all of her litter and two puppies out of the eight-dog litter had already died. The remaining six puppies made it to four weeks before Sawyer's mother's owner discovered that Sawyer was not receiving the proper nutrition, and so, on one of his visits to Woodbury on his own, Milton had observed the dogs and asked about Sawyer. On the spot, the owner had offered Sawyer to Milton, who took him back to the prison and cared for him in a way that brought out a deeper, determined side to him that Andrea had never seen before. She would fall asleep on their bed, only to wake up and find Milton sleeping by sitting upright with the dog nestled in his arms still sucking on the bottle of milk Milton had provided. Milton's efforts yielded surprising results in how quickly Sawyer grew into the sizeable dog he now was. He was trained to remain silent, to run when Milton ran, and not to bite anything unless Milton commanded it, for Milton feared that Sawyer would sink his teeth into a walker and then contract the infection. But as Milton's dedication to Sawyer grew, so did his affection for Andrea.

At first, he had been hesitant to reciprocate Andrea's endearing fondness for him in the wake of their traumatic experience, but Andrea encouraged him to do what felt natural and comfortable to him, so they had foregone the use of a bunk bed and pushed two mattresses together on top of a platform Tyreese had built for them. This left less space within the cell, but more room to lay down, and so gradually, Milton had wrapped his hand and then his entire arm around Andrea's waist at night more as a mental crutch so that in his subconscious, he would feel his hand on her and know she was there. His nightmares had significantly dropped off since doing this, so Andrea wasn't one to discourage it.

It had been nearly eight months after Andrea made the decision to stay at the prison that she had kissed him for the first time. She didn't let it linger, for fear of frightening him, but to her surprise, Milton caught on very quickly after that. He would kiss her in return, but only in the privacy of their cell. Until one night, the kiss lasted much longer than Andrea thought he was comfortable with.

The wind had been howling outside and winter's chill had made Andrea desperate for warmth that night. Fueled by his steadily mounting courage in becoming an ambassador, going on his first trip to Woodbury without Andrea, and starting to become a more accurate fighter, Milton had acted upon his instincts which were telling him to take advantage of these masculine feelings he had never been praised for.

He was still timid and Andrea had to remind him that he was doing nothing wrong before they reached the last stage from which they could turn back. After they proceeded, they would have to take the plunge together. He was cautious to a fault, stalling for time so that he could summon the rest of his courage to perform.

"Let me know if I hurt you," he had said as he propped himself up on his elbows above her. The absence of clothes made the terrible scarred letters etched into his skin stand out even more prominently and despite the heat of the moment, gooseflesh had appeared along his body.

They were the same words he had said to her the first time he had a genuine conversation with her, when she offered out her hands for him to grasp as he confronted his phobia of needles. Even though he had been battling his own fears within, he was still highly aware of how he could potentially harm someone else, and it was this fear he had addressed as Andrea lay waiting for him to give in to the moment.

"You won't," she had assured him.

And he didn't. Neither that time nor the many times after. She found herself comparing Milton in bed to the other men she had lain with and though she had had to be patient with him, even coach him on what to do at times, he was gentle with her. He knew what she liked and catered to her needs, but wasn't as demanding or fierce in bed as her past lovers.

Now, she was used to waking with Milton's arms draped over her and Sawyer snuggled at her feet. There was hardly enough room for two adults and a medium-sized dog, but they made it work so that their cell almost felt like a separate apartment from the rest of the group. As long as Milton could keep relatively calm in his sleep, there was more than enough room for the three of them.

And so, after recounting his most recent journey to Woodbury, making his rounds to say hello to everyone in the prison, and commending Asher on a job well done in his Woodbury training, Milton headed off to bed, for he always returned exhausted after spending a few nights alone and in the company of harsher dreams than if he had Andrea beside him. She knew she was giving him a handicap in insisting that she always be there to rouse him, should he have nightmares, but if it worked, who was she to stop it?

She let him sleep, creeping into bed a good three hours after Milton had fallen asleep and positioning herself beside him so that he could find her waist in his subconscious and wrap his hand around her to give him that mental crutch. In no time, she felt his hand slide over her hip as Sawyer twitched in his sleep, and she allowed herself a small smile before drifting off.

/ /

Milton hadn't had a serious nightmare in at least three months, ever since their first time of having intercourse, but as Andrea suddenly felt him tense beside her and felt his hand ball into a fist over her waist, she knew the nightmares had returned. Practiced in the art of holding him so that he couldn't hurt himself in his sleep, Andrea rolled Milton onto his side so that he faced away from her and put her arms around him, tucking his wrists in tight to his chest. At their feet, Sawyer was watching with deliberate attention spent observing how Andrea calmed his master. He gave a nervous whine as if trying to jolt Milton from his horrible dream, but when Milton didn't wake up, Sawyer crawled into Milton's lap and began to paw at his chest with insistency.

Their combined efforts were enough to calm Milton before he could really get going into one of his more animated nightmares, but when he awoke, it was with a gasp of shock and he reached for something in the darkness that wasn't there. Sawyer sat up and licked at Milton's face, but Milton didn't seem to even know Sawyer was there.

"It's alright," said Andrea soothingly as she combed back Milton's hair from his sweaty forehead.

"It wasn't," said Milton meekly.

"What was it about this time?" asked Andrea, knowing it helped Milton to recount his dreams in an attempt to make sense of them.

Milton rubbed his hand up and down his arm, still staring at something that had existed in his nightmares. Andrea saw him use his finger to trace some of the scars etched into the skin along his arm as he called up the memories of how he had gotten the scars. Whatever he had seen, it was causing him to recall the worst moments of his life, and even if the physical pain was long gone, the mental anguish would never fully leave him.

Andrea pried his fingers off of his scars and asked again, "What did you see in your dream?"

Swallowing and then touching the faint outline of a bullet wound over his shoulder, Milton whispered, "Merle."