"Is she dead?" Milton was practically choking on his own saliva and blood seeping from the cuts around his mouth. His face was almost unrecognizable, abscured by bruises and scrapes. The Governor was persistant with his punches, only stopping his fists for enough time to let Milton answer his questions. The look in his eye was hard to read in the dull lighting that came from the chandelier swinging above their heads. He cocked his head to the side, and his mouth opened ever slightly to let a whistle escape them.
"Andrea," Milton mumbled, attempting to open his swollen eyes, "did you kill-" his words were cut short by The Governors hand on his face. He slammed him up against the wall. His temper was again about to boil over, but he stopped himself and instead, dragged Milton behind him and threw him into his torture chamber. Milton collapsed on the floor, coughing up more blood, weak from the bruises. The Governor stood in the doorway behind him.
"See for yourself," he said to Milton, nodding his head. Andrea sat in the torture chair, duct tape over her mouth, hands and feet strapped in, blood dripping from her face and chest indicating she had too been beaten recently. The blondes blue eyes, filled with terror, met Milton's for a second when he tried to raise his head. Just as much terror could be seen in his. He could barely even see; The Governor had broken his glasses. Milton managed to face The Governor.
"What..." he coughed up more blood, "what would your daughter think of this?" He paused again to watch The Governors face. "Does it make you happy that maybe she's watching you...watching her father kill people?" The Governor grabbed Milton's face again, getting down to his level, clearly angered by Milton's words. Andrea watched, unable to move or speak.
"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do," The Governor stared Milton down. "If I had been this way before, Penny would still be alive. I could have kept her safe." The Governor glanced up at Andrea and then turned his attention back to Milton, "but that doesn't matter now, Milton, the only thing that matters is this." The Governor looked around the room.
"Lying to and killing innocent people?" Milton asked, spitting. The Governor shook his head.
"No, I'm talking about winning. Being the best. You either kill, or be killed. There's no time for a welcoming heart, not when your days are numbered."
"Would you have said that three years ago?" Milton questioned, staring The Governor in the face. The Governor paused, seemingly contemplating it.
"It doesn't matter what I said three years ago, what matters is that you betrayed me. You and Andrea." He gestured towards her again.
"It wasn't betrayal!" Milton yelled, "she wanted to go back! Back to her friends and family, why can't you just let her go?"
"So she can get a chance to defuse me? Like you? Burning those walkers..." The Governor gave a throaty chuckle, but it was by no means friendly. "Boy, you sure had guts to do something like that to me. Makes me wonder where your loyalties lay." The Governor waited for an answer.
"Are you going to answer me?"
"With you."
"What's that?" The Governor asked, leaning closer.
"With you," Milton practically spat, trying to lean away, "I said I would take a bullet for you, didn't I?"
"Indeed ya' did" The Governor smiled, giving Milton's bruised cheek a small slap, but his frown soon dissapeared. "So prove it to me," he says to Milton, "prove that you're willing to do whatever I ask." He pulled a knife from his belt and handed it to Milton, who had a look of horror on his face. "Kill her," He demanded, "Kill her for me right now, and you'll prove to me that I can count on you." A look of shock crossed Milton's face when he took the knife from his hands. Andrea watched him, horrified, shanking her head.
"Milton," The Governor says, "there is no way you're leaving this room without doing it." A lump filled up in Milton's throat, for some reason torn between freedom and the man who'd controlled him since the apocolypse.
"No," Milton whispered, struggling to keep his balance, staring Andrea in the face.
"What was that?" The Governor questioned.
"No," Milton repeated, turning around, "I may still believe there's some of the old you left, but you'll have to kill me before I take the life of another human being." The Governor didn't even hesitate. Surged by a wave of anger from Milton's words, he raised his gun and fired two shots through Milton's abdoman, causing the already bruised and beaten man to collapse in a pool of blood on the concrete floor. Andrea let out a whimper, unable to aid Milton as he withered in pain. The Governor kneeled down next to Milton and whispered in his ear.
"I told you not to cross me, now you'll die here, and then you'll turn, and then you'll kill her."
He got up and ripped the tape from Andrea's mouth. She let out a gagging sound. "Might as well enjoy listening to you scream." The Governor exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"Milton?" Andrea asked, "Milton, answer me."
"I'm...here," he breathed, choking. He coughed up more blood.
"Milton," Andrea whisperd, "I'm so sorry." She shook her head back and forth.
"Sorry?" He choked, "for what?"
"For not helping you sooner," she breathed, sighing, "I saw who he was, I had so many chances to kill him..." she paused and then began again, "I should have shot him when I had the chance." Her blond curls were pulled back in a pony tail, but her forehead was soaked with blood. Milton didn't answer. "Milton?"
"I took that gun out of your hands, it was my fault."
Andrea shook her head, "no, there was another time, when he was sleeping, I could have stabbed him, ended it right then and there. And we could have left." She smiled, tears filling up her eyes, "we could have gotten everyone out of here, safe and sound, and we could have left. Went back to the prison. Back to Rick and Michonne..." Andrea stopped, her mind wandering to the friend she'd probably never see again. "I should have listened to her."
"Michonne?" Milton asked.
"Yes," Andrea said, and then she remebered Michonne's last words to her before she left the prison; You chose a warm bed over a friend. And she had. And she was wrong.
"She will forgive you," Milton coughed, slipping in and out of conciouness.
"How? How can she forgive me if I'll never get to see her again?!" Andrea was crying then, "I didn't want anyone to die, that's what I was trying to stop, and it ended up turning against me, against us."
"You can...you can still make it," Milton mumbled, "I know what you did for us here at Woodbury." He slid the knife The Governor had given him in Andrea's direction. "Use it to cut yourself loose. You need to hurry." Milton's words became more and more slurred. Andrea could tell he was slowly slipping away. Her time to escape was also slipping away. Andrea attemped to pick up the knife with her toes, only to continuously keep dropping it.
"Milton?" Andrea asked when he hadn't spoken for a couple minutes.
"It's okay, " he mumbled, "I'm still...alive...hurry...go back...to where you belong..." Milton stopped talking then, and his breath slowly faded away until Andrea knew he was gone.
"Thank you," she whispered, when she got the knife in her hands. But just as the life left Milton, his body began to twitch. He was turning. His breathing started again as a low, deep, growl like sound. His limbs once again came to life. His eyes, which were a dull yellow and blood shot opened and stared her down, hungry for flesh. He was suddenly on both feet again, inching towards her as she struggled to free herself. He lunged towards her. The Governor listened to her scream.
"The Governor told us she never made it back." Tyreese and Sasha stood at the front of Woodbury, guns in their hands, talking to Rick, Daryl, and Michonne.
"Yeah, The Governor says a lot of things," Rick said.
"We could take you to his house, maybe she's there?" Tyreese suggested. Rick and the group agreed to go along. They found Milton, dead with stab to the head, laying on the torture chambers floor, and Andrea.
Michonne kneeled down next to her, pushing the loose strands of hair from her forehead.
"Michonne," Andrea breathed.
"You're burning up," Michonne acknowledged, feeling her face. Daryl and Rick stood behind them. That's when Andrea moved her shirt away to reveal the bite Milton had left on her neck. Michonne knew. She knew Andrea only had minutes left, and her eyes filled with tears. Andrea looked up towards Rick and Daryl.
"I tried."
"Yes you did," Rick said, his voice cracking. Deep down he knew Andrea was always a part of his group, even though she failed to be there. He felt like he had let down someone else.
"I just couldn't do it alone."
"No one ever could," Daryl told her. Andrea let out a long sigh, and Michonne grasped her arm, letting the tears fall from her eyes now.
"Are they alive? Are the people here still alive?" Andrea asked. Michonne nodded.
"Good," she mumbled, "take care of them." She smiled up at Michonne, and then turned to Rick, "Can I have your gun? I know how the safety works..." Rick is reminded of him and Andrea's first meeting. He hands her the gun, holding back his own tears.
"Daryl and I will be outside," He said overcome with grief. The two leave, slowly closing the door behind them.
"I'm not going anywhere," Michonne said. All Andrea could do was smile at her.
"I'm so sorry, Michonne..."
"No," Michonne told her, "I'm the one that's sorry."
"For what?"
"For not being here sooner...I'm...I'm so sorry," she cried, placing her forehead against Andrea's shoulder. Andrea pulled Michonne up to face her.
"I'm glad it's me and not you," Andrea choked out, "it's alright. I'm happy."
"Happy?" Michonne asked. Andrea began to wipe the tears from her face.
"Yes, because I get to see Amy again, and I know those people will get taken care of...and I got to see that you're alright, that's what matters." Michonne was speechless, mostly unable to speak because of her sobbing. Andrea's hand shifted with the gun, and she could now feel her own tears on her face. It had to be done. Michonne grasped Andrea's hand, and she sighed. She smiled, one last time, looking up at her friend.
"You have to kill him...I love you..."
The last thing Andrea saw was Michonne's face, stained with tears. The last thing she heard was the sound of the shot ringing in her ears. Then all was peaceful. Fast and easy, as death should be.
Michonne found Rick and Daryl outside, loading up the trucks with the people left over in Woodbury. She stopped when Rick crossed her path, holding something out to her. She took it.
"It's Andrea's knife," he said, emotionless. Michonne just looked at it, turning it around and over in her hands. "Found it outside The Governors house."
Michonne turned it over, seeing an engravement that read "To Andrea Love Always, Dad".
"I figured she would want you to have it," Rick told her. Michonne nodded, fighting back tears again. She hooked the knife onto her belt.
This would be the weapon she would take down The Governor with.
End