Night cast it's cold glare upon Woodbury, and most residents were asleep in their beds. Milton was not one of those residents. He found himself beneath the starry sky, knowing that there was no going back. He was outside of the walls, and he had his insane plan to kick into action. Would it work? With extreme luck... maybe.

He made his way out into the street and fear crept over him.. he knew that this plan could easily be the death of him, but he hoped it would at least rain Hell down upon the Governor too.

He pressed a few buttons and sat the simple, battery operated alarm clock down in the middle of the street.. He had exactly 5 minutes to do what had to be done, and get out of sight. He looked over his shoulder.. the "guards" on the wall were still eating and slacking off like they always did when the Governor wasn't there to give them heat.

Regardless of how brutal they were... they were worried about surviving the world just as much as he was. They did what they had to do to remain in Woodbury, under the Governor's protection. He smiled to himself as he thought of torching the Governor's beloved walker pit the night before. A small spark of revenge he would use as fuel to burn the whole damn thing down.
He pulled his black bag from over his shoulder and dug inside with one gloved hand; it resurfaced with bloody organs. He tossed it close to the clock, and continued with this until he had reached the wall.. then he branched off of his path to lead to the side of Woodbury, where he had been hard at work.

It didn't take long to reach the open space where he had torn down the tiny wooden barricade to make way for the destruction. He continued to drop his little presents for the horde of undead that would appear in mere minutes, and when he had run out... he ran into a darkened alley and waited. It seemed to take forever.. but it wasn't long before he heard them.
He also heard something else. A faint, small "HELP!"..

He looked over to see that there was a small, blonde-haired girl standing right in the path of the walkers. He ran harder than ever before to reach her in time and pull her to safety. She didn't seem concerned with anything going on around her, but she had clearly been through hell to get to Woodbury of all places.

"Where's Andrea?!" she asked, still breathing hard from running.
"...She's with her people. Why... How do you know Andrea?"
"Yeah, WE are her people, and that's a lie. We haven't seen her in a while."
He couldn't wrap his head around it. In fact, he felt sick. If she didn't make it to the prison... where WAS she?
"...She left yesterday for the prison. You mean to tell me she didn't make it there?"
"N...No.. I came here to see if she could help us! The prison is under attack."
"You don't know where she is?" He wanted her to laugh and say that she was lying, and that Andrea was safe. He wanted Andrea to run out from behind one of the buildings and into his arms. Somehow, he didn't think that would be happening.

"I don't... is there anyone who might?" the poor girl looked desperate, and he realized that the prison needed help immediately. He didn't owe them anything, but they were Andrea's friends.. her family, in a sense.. and that meant they were his, too. Whether he liked it or not. This wasn't a good time for such a crisis. Especially now that the walkers were attacking.

He thought he might have a clue as to where she was.. and it was in the Governor's face earlier. How calm and confident he was when Milton asked about Andrea. He seemed like he was sure she was exactly where he wanted him...
Suddenly everything began to take on a silvery haze.. and it began to spin. He knew exactly where she was.. and it meant that there wasn't any time to lose.

"You're safe with me. Let's go." He led her away from the attacking walkers.. but he saw him. The Governor looked positively livid as he fired off shots in the undead that had just invaded Woodbury's perfect, safe facade. The Governor saw him too, and the girl. Milton grabbed her and threw her to the ground just in time to avoid the bullets that flew over their heads. Lucky for them, instead of pursuing them, the Governor had more pressing matters at hand.. he turned back to the swarm just to see one of his "soldiers" get torn to pieces.
Milton felt a twinge of remorse. These people were really no different than him. He had thought that the Governor would be distracted enough to kill with minimal effort.. but he hadn't anticipated so many walkers. It was too late now. It was done.. and he hated himself for it. Was taking one life worth so many others? Yet, wouldn't they die anyway to his lunacy?

He led her down to the Governor's dirty little chambers.. where he had been kept and tortured for God knows how long... unfortunately, it wasn't as empty as he had hoped.

A man stepped forward with his gun raised, and Milton walked closer, into the dim light of the overhead lamps.
"Oh..Milton, it's just you. Who's this chick?" the way he looked at her made Milton furious.
"Doesn't matter anymore really." Milton hissed.. he felt his adrenaline wash over him completely. It took no effort or thought to pull the gun from his side and fire a single bullet into the man's skull. He was amazed at how easy it really was.. but there was no time to dwell on it. He pulled the girl along with him through the halls, until he reached a red door.

"... Whatever is behind this door.. promise me you'll stay with me...what was your name, again?"
"I'm.. Beth.. and, I'm with you. Let's go."

Milton took a deep breath and turned the doorknob. His deepest, most horrifying nightmares were manifested. In the very chair he had been confined to, Andrea sat completely nude, with her head down, covered in blood. Marks indentical to his own were all over her body. The perfect body he craved so much. He felt overcome with raw, boiling fury. The Governor did this to her. His Andrea. He had touched her.. hurt her.. he couldn't even force himself to imagine why she had been stripped.

Beth shrieked and ran forward to her, pushing her head back and removing the tape from over her mouth, "Andrea!? Are you alive? ANSWER ME!"
He couldn't make his legs move. He couldn't force a word.. he couldn't go to her.
Andrea opened her eyes weakly and coughed.. blood sprayed when she did, and her eyes met Milton's. "...Milton.." she whispered, and no matter how rooted to that spot he had been.. he went to her.. and he fell on his knees before her. "I...I failed you, Andrea." he tugged at the tape on her arms until he gave up in frustration and took his knife out.
"I had to warn them.."

"No. God, no.. Andrea.. I let you go to get you out of here.. away from him. So I could kill him. But as it turns out, I only handed you over to him after all."

She fell forward; a clear indication of how much strength remained within her, but he caught her. "I can't walk.."
Milton took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, she was cold as ice, but he knew she could survive this. He needed to get her medical attention immediately. Somehow, he remembered Hershel and his leg, or lack thereof. If he could survive that at the prison.. they could help Andrea. He threw her over his shoulder and left the room; Beth ran behind and whispered "Are you okay?" to Andrea every few minutes. It was incredibly annoying, but Milton knew her heart was in the right place, and she was only concerned.. she was after all, still a child.

They emerged and found themselves in the middle of hell, what he saw in the room couldn't compare to what he was seeing now. The streets of Woodbury were not empty and silent anymore. Corpses scattered everywhere.. screams.. gunshots.. these were the sounds that Woodbury would have to hear tonight. Not the sound of crickets, or a roaring fire. He saw the Governor's men get drug down to the ground by walkers.. he saw their hands rip the flesh from their bones, and their teeth tearing through fabric and skin, and muscle.. the blood might have been washed from the street in the end, but it could never be taken from his mind. One man reached toward Milton and Beth, and Beth started to run to help him.. but Milton grabbed her with his free arm. "No, Beth. No... You can't save him now. No one can."

She almost argued with him, but as she found the words, she saw a walker rip the flesh from his throat. He was right... there was no safety for that man. Only the cold embrace of death awaited him now. Milton found himself running before he knew it.. jumping over bodies, and dodging bullets. This wasn't normal behavior for him.. the old Milton would have hid somewhere until it was safe to come out again, but he wasn't going back to that man. That man was dead.

Sure, he could have taken off into the night, and tried his luck out on the road on foot, but that would be suicide. He had one free arm, and a young girl who looked like she was about to crack under the reality of everything going on around her.
There was only one other option. He grabbed Beth's arm and dragged her with him over to one of the Governor's cars. "Get in!" he yelled.. there was no way to be tender now. Every action and decision meant the difference between life and death. He opened the back door and put Andrea in the seat, strapping her in. He then slid into the driver's seat and put his own seatbelt on while Beth fumbled with hers. He pulled the strap and tightened it around her, "You're going to need to trust me to get you back safely. That means that I'm going to have to do some things that, frankly, I wish didn't have to be done. I can't have you freaking out, Beth. We have to be together on this, or we're all dead."
She nodded and wiped her eyes.. time to put the big girl panties on.

The car roared to life.. one mistake the Governor had already made was leaving the keys in it. Even Milton didn't trust Woodbury that much. He smiled.. they might make it out after all. He wasn't just responsible for his life or Andrea's anymore... he was responsible for Beth's, and that meant something.

"I want you to put your head down until I tell you otherwise, okay?" she did as she was told, and he knew she was scared. He had to go easy on the kid... they were in danger, but he needed her to keep her head together. He wasn't the Governor. He could not and would not scream at her or make things any worse.

Beth felt the car move and looked up to see Milton wince.. and then she felt it. The bumps. "What is THAT?!" she screamed, he shook his head, looked down, and smiled, "It's nothing... everything is fine."
The truth was.. everything was far from fine. He hit the gas and they were speeding through Woodbury.. through the carnage, and he couldn't look.. if he looked at the death, and the blood... and the evil... he wouldn't be able to go forward. There would be no way to do what needed to be done. He ran down the walkers, and saw the way out up ahead:
The Governor and his soldiers had opened the walls, and were shooting the walkers. Why they hadn't just done it ON the wall, Milton didn't know.. but the destruction didn't exactly inspire clear thinking. He needed them to screw up, and this was a golden opportunity.

Now going at a dangerous speed, he knew it was possible to get through the wall.. he just needed Beth to keep her head down.. he needed to get Andrea to safety.. he could weigh the impact of the events that had taken place when they were all safe. Right now, there was no easy option. Every decision resulted in death.. what mattered, was who's death it would be.
There were no words for the next sounds Beth heard, but she remembered how it sounded when hail hit their roof back at the farm. She tried to imagine it magnified.. but it didn't fit. She knew Milton was sacrificing something to keep her and Andrea safe, she just didn't know what. Maybe, she thought... maybe it was his soul. His sanity. If hers was being threatened right now, his must be running out.
Soon the sounds stopped.. and Milton told her she could look now.. but she wished she hadn't, all the same.
The windshield was covered with blood and guts, and there were cracks everywhere. One more hit and the glass would shattered.. she didn't know how it hadn't already.

"What happened?" she asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know.
"We went through the wall." he whispered, and she knew he could hardly believe it himself.
"But there were people there!"
He swallowed whatever emotion seemed to be surfacing. How could he deny what had just happened?
"Some of them aren't anymore..."
"..You killed them." she didn't know who this man was, but she knew right then and there that there was no limit to what he'd do.
"They wouldn't move, Beth. What else could I do? Andrea will die if she doesn't get out of here. We all will. The prison needs help.. and I'll admit, I'm not much, but I'll do what I can... whatever I have to. I meant what I said earlier. You're safe with me.. please, don't doubt that now."
She couldn't really think of how to respond.
"You love her." it wasn't a question, or an assumption. It was evident in everything he did the whole night. Even in his desire to ensure Beth remained unharmed.
"More than you know."

The scene at the prison was not a pleasant one. It was Woodbury all over again. Fortunately they had fences to keep them safe.. but it wouldn't last long. Walkers had broken through somehow, and they were spending a lot of ammunition to keep them at bay.
It wouldn't last forever, and neither would they.

It took a few moments for the group to let them in the gates, and during this time, he had rolled his window down and began to fire shots.. there was no more pretending anymore.. Beth was terrified. She winced and whimpered everytime he shot a walker. Somehow it began to bother him less and less, and he could understand how the Governor could put them down so easily.. but it only made his murdering others even more unacceptable.

He glanced over his shoulder to see that Andrea had passed out, which wasn't entirely a bad thing. He wasn't sure he wanted her to see him kill something.. regardless of whether or not it was to protect them all.

The gate opened and he didn't hesitate to drive on through as quickly as possible.. Beth couldn't get her door open fast enough.. she threw her seatbelt off and took off running to Hershel. Unsure of the state of the inside of the prison, Milton assumed Andrea would be just as safe inside of the car for the time being.. right now, they needed him.

He was needed. That felt good. To know that someone else relied on him, instead of the other way around. Somehow it made things less awkward.
It felt natural to help them, and they welcomed it. In the distance he could hear Hershel scolding Beth for taking off without telling anyone, and he had to admit, it was stupid of her.. she could have gotten herself killed.

Within a few hours, the threat was over. Milton couldn't count how many bullets he had fired, or how many walkers he killed, but with each he took out, a little bit of his fury died as well. Something ignited within him.. and he knew what it was at once. Hope. For the first time in a while.. he felt genuine hope.

Hershel agreed to do what he could for Andrea, and so with Glenn's help, they got her into the prison and into a cell. Hershel wasn't much use for killing, but he more than helped out in other ways. Milton couldn't fully express how thankful he was for his medical knowledge.
"Thank you, Hershel. I can't thank you enough..."

Hershel flashed his old, friendly smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts.
"Hey, she's one of us. No matter what's happened in Woodbury.. she's home now."

He didn't say anything about Milton being home. No, he wasn't entirely sure he would fit in.. but, surely something had to go right after everything had gone so awfully wrong.

He wouldn't get used to the blood all over him, but it felt good to have survived by his own hands and his own actions.. not by depending on someone else to make a way for him.

Outside, Rick was pacing outside of the prison, inspecting the gates for any signs of weakness.. It seemed like a good time to discuss his place here.
"Rick.. I know you probably see me as the enemy, but I'm here now. I helped you, and your people. Now this prison is safe.. and I'd like a place within it. I didn't come here looking for your approval.. I came here to keep Beth safe.. to keep Andrea safe. I sure didn't come here for myself. There's no other reason I shouldn't have died in Woodbury tonight."

Rick nodded, and seemed to genuinely be listening and considering everything he had said. Then something changed.. confusion took over.
"Why is that, exactly? ..Why would you have died in Woodbury?"
Oh.. that's right. He didn't know. How could he have?
"...Woodbury isn't doing well these days." he whispered. How would Rick like him being there when he found out how he betrayed his own town?
"You're gonna have to make things a little more clear."
"...I led a horde of walkers to the town. I was prepared to kill the Governor."
Obviously Rick was shocked that Milton had a spine.. and that he could have killed his friend, regardless of what he had done. Rick knew how it had been for him to have to kill Shane.
"But you didn't."
"I couldn't. Beth showed up looking for Andrea."
"She shouldn't have been there."
"No.. she shouldn't have. But she was. What else could I do? Turn her away? Shoot her?"
"You could have killed the Governor and ended this, once and for all. You had the chance.."
"I had a child who was scared to death, and a woman bleeding out.. should I have just dropped them and killed him.. regardless of whether they both died, too? Who was supposed to explain Beth's death to Hershel? Me, for letting it happen, or you.. because you would've done the same thing?"

"...Look, I understand what the situation must have been like."
"No, Rick.. I don't think you do. I don't think you understand at all. I don't think you understand that I almost lost the person I love more than life itself, and I damn sure don't think you understand what I had to do to get them both safely here."

He had nothing more to say to Rick. Something changed within him in Woodbury.. and he wasn't the quiet, shy, and cowardly man he once was. Not anymore. He would not back down.. he would press on, no matter what it took. Somehow, Rick saw that in his eyes. This was a man who knew what it took.. who could go the distance, and did, not to save himself.. but to save those he cared about, and who Rick cared about.

As Milton was walking away, Rick called after him, "Milton."
"Yes?"
"Welcome home."

Rick smiled, and it was returned.. it seemed as if they understood each other at last.
Home. It wasn't where he would have chosen to lay his head down at night.. but it was his. It was theirs. This was real, and it was a family that faught and cared for each other. Milton had never had a family.. he had never known that love and that bond. Yet he saw it in the faces of everyone in Rick's group. He wanted it more than words could say... and now, Rick had offered it to him.
And he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Woodbury still stood, the fight claimed half of the Governor's men and women, but they were determined to rebuild. The Governor would simply use the tragedy to rile everyone up, and to push forward.

Martinez approached him, shaking his head.. "We cleared the street. Anything else we need to do?"
The Governor nodded, "Just one. Prepare what weapons and ammo we have left and load them into the trucks."
Martinez looked confused, "Why?"

"Because, tomorrow, we wipe out that damned Prison once and for all.. and anyone inside of it."

-
Okay, for those of you who MAY or may not be wondering about the alarm clock (I had a friend ask lol!).. yes, it would be loud enough to attract walkers. My own alarm clock can be heard outside of my house! :) Plus, those walkers would have led others too! Don't be too hard on me.. It IS fiction after all! ;)

Are you guys excited for the next, final chapter?!

Leave a review and tell me what ya think!