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Chapter 2

-Martinez-

He waited through the night and into the next morning, growing more and more restless with each passing hour. He didn't want to do anything that would send the Governor flying off the handle, which at this point seemed to be anything that the fallen leader could see as even remotely contradictory, but Shup was a time bomb and at the moment the Gov seemed more concerned with stewing in his own defeat than acting.

He knew people viewed him as nothing more than the Governor's dumb lacky, but over the months he'd spent living under the protection of Woodberry, Martinez had learned, better than anyone he believed, how to manage the man. Sure there were people the Governor had put more store in- Milton, Andrea, even Merle had been more 'important' to the Governor than he had, despite nearly a year of faithful service at Woodberry. But where had that gotten them? Each of them allowed their 'special position' with the Governor get to their head, let them believe it wasn't always 100% his call, and over the last week Martinez had watched as he killed each and every one of them.

No he knew that if he couldn't get the Gov to let him go by casually suggesting it, he had to take the man out. No hesitating, no arguing, no bullshit. Just one swift shot to the head when he wasn't paying attention. He'd actually been considering it all night, ever since the fallen leader had showed himself to be such a liability.

Finally, unable to wait any longer, he started getting ready to head out. He had paid enough attention when they were in the prison two days ago to remember where the infirmary was, detached from the rest of their living quarters. He was hoping with all the new people the place would be something of a madhouse, and he might be able to slip in and get there without being noticed. If the apocalypse had trained him for anything it was how to mercilessly and quietly kill humans, and he was confident that if he did get seen by anyone in the winding corridors of the prison, he could drop them before they raised the alarm.

After he armed himself fully, he turned to Shup and his old leader.

"Going on a supply run. Can't make it much longer if we ain't got food and meds. I'll be back soon."

He hoped that the simple logic in his stated plan would be innocuous enough to satisfy the Governor. When the man made no move to stop him, and actually failed to acknowledge him almost entirely, he threw a few more things into his backpack and then walked over to Shup where he was reclining weakly.

"I'll be right back. Hold shit down here, I'll see you in a few hours."

His friend nodded solemnly, but the look in his eyes made it clear that he highly doubted that both of them would live to see dawn. Shup had run through his emergency insulin that morning, and now nothing but constant careful ingestion of sugar would keep diabetic shock at bay.

With that in mind Martinez marched over to the truck and ripped open the driver's side door. He'd get the insulin, no matter how many of those prison shits he had to take out in the process.

"Martinez!" the Governor yelled as he turned the key in the ignition. He held his breath, and switched the safety off on the pistol he had strapped to his waste, ready to take the man down if he started putting up a protest.

"Yeah boss?" He said, with as relaxed a voice as he could manage.

"Shumpert needs what you're getting fast. Hurry back, I'd hate to have to put him down while you were gone."

To someone who didn't know the Governor, that would've sounded like a statement of genuine, if apocalypse-tinted, concern, but to Martinez, who knew how the man operated, it was a threat, loud and clear. No fucking around.

"Yessir," he responded, nodding seriously. And with that he tore out of their camp and started making his way towards the prison.

Three hours later he made his way through the rubble of the broken side of the prison, taking out a walker every few minutes. Before they had attacked the prison a few days before, Allen, the only member of Tyreese's group that had proved himself worth a shit, had showed them the back way into the prison. The Governor had decided against attacking that way, reasoning that the swarm of walkers who had made their way into the unused part of the prison were more dangerous to their untrained civilian soldiers than the prison survivors.

At the time, Martinez had agreed with him, but now he wished they'd gone by Allen's plan. Eager to prove himself, the grieving father had suggested going in through the back and then making for the roof access instead of trying to fight their way through the tombs. Because guards had patrolled the roof when the prison was still in use, he reasoned, there would be a number of access points, which would allow them to get in undetected with minimal causalities. Back then, they'd been too arrogant to sneak, but Martinez wasn't about to make that mistake twice.

He got into the stairwell without too much difficulty and was able to fight his way up to the roof after about half an hour of heavy fighting. The geeks were still a threat in his mind, and definitely not something to underestimate, but after all this time he'd learned to be almost methodical with them. It was humans he feared now, humans and the inevitable problem of scarcity once they ran through everything that had been made Before.

He used to hate those pussy science teachers at his school who would go on for days about eco-footprints and sustainability standards and all that other shit, but now he had to admit that there was something to be said for providing your own power. Maybe after this shit was over he and Shup could make for Todd Miller's house, he remembered the AP Bio teacher bragging to some romance obsessed literature student teacher about the solar panels he'd had installed on his roof.

But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand, and with one last head blow, he felled the last of the walkers on the stairwell and pushed open the hatch to the roof. Around him the tar roof stretched out, mercifully walker and guard free. He was in.