ANDREA:

"The way I see it, this is a double edged sword," said Rick, appealing to all of them as they gathered at the foot of the staircase. "Without the rec yard, we don't have to worry about defending as much territory, but at the same time, we don't have the watchtower or access to those crops we were working on. I'm only gonna go through with this if everyone is in agreement, though, because it's gonna take all of us to rebuild the fence the Governor knocked down and keep the walkers out while taking care of the ones that are already inside. So, by show of hands, who's up for making repairs and cleaning house?"

Without any hesitation Hershel, Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Beth, and Carl raised their hands. Daryl followed shortly after and Andrea felt a pang of loss. So much had changed between her and her friends in the year of separation that she no longer felt as if she belonged. She had to put these thoughts aside though, and prove to herself that she had not changed, that she still cared for these people. Both she and Michonne voted yes and from the gurney where Merle was conscious, but still in obvious pain, he lifted his appendage. Only Milton made no move.

Damn it, Milton. That's not helping your case. She nudged him in the ribs.

Rick confronted him. "If you don't think this is a good idea, seeing as how you know the Governor's mind better than any of us, I'd like to know why."

Staring at a spot just past Rick's ear, Milton murmured, "I don't feel that I am in a position to be making any decisions for this group yet. Bluntly put, I don't think my vote is valid. I haven't done anything to earn my stay, so I don't feel comfortable making choices that might get other people killed."

If Rick was taken aback by the brutal honesty, he didn't show it. Instead he moved into Milton's line of vision. He had a knack for holding eye contact whether the other person was willing to or not. "Everyone else voted yes. If you want to prove to us that you want to be with us, you've gotta join in when I say everybody. That includes you, doesn't it, or d'you fall into a category outside of 'everybody'? I'm asking you, Milton."

"If you think my opinion matters then I agree with the group," said Milton quietly.

"The question is: do you think your opinion matters?" asked Carol not unkindly.

Milton considered her with indecision as if he had never been asked such a blatant question. He shrugged one shoulder and Andrea could sense him going into defensive mode as all eyes in the prison turned on him, staring and wondering at this newcomer in their midst.

Don't shut down, Milton, Andrea prayed. Please don't back away from this. Just answer. Look her in the eye and answer.

"Up until things started going downhill in Woodbury, I thought my opinion mattered to someone," said Milton, addressing the floor, "But when I found out Phillip had been taking me for a fool ever since his daughter's, uh, second death, I came to the conclusion that I was only useful to him if I found a cure for her. When he lost her, I became expendable. Phillip is the only person I ever expressed my thoughts to besides my parents, both of whom died when I was young, so I've never had to consider the value of my opinion."

That's why you're so damaged. You've never had anyone.

"We do things a little different from what you're used to, son," said Hershel. "It may be a hard living and it may be a whole new experience for you, but with so few of us, we don't have any choice but to care for one another. Perhaps I speak because besides Andrea and Merle, I'm the only person who's really gotten a chance to talk to you, but I hope you can come to trust us as we trust you. If we were uncertain about you, we wouldn't have given you a weapon, we wouldn't have let you into this cell block, and we wouldn't be voting to risk our lives out in that yard with you watching our backs. You can't live your life doubting everything, especially in this world for what it is today. You doubt, you die."

Andrea could have kissed Hershel right then and there. His support was what Milton needed to hear.

"Well, then that's settled," said Rick in a final sort of way. "There's no use waiting either, so let's get going. I'll lead the team to take care of walkers in close combat while another gets to the gate with some extra chains to reinforce it until we can do something better. Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, you're with me. Hershel, Carol, Beth, and Carl are going to cover us from the courtyard enclosure. Andrea, take Milton to the outer gate and get it sealed up."

"And what'm I s'posed t'do while y'all are out there raisin' hell?" asked Merle, pushing himself up so that the gurney swayed dangerously and started to roll backwards. Daryl caught it and held it in place.

"You're not fit to do any fighting," said Hershel. "That wound's not even two and a half days old."

"Bullshit. Watch me." Merle hopped off the gurney, fooling no one as he winced in pain, but the look in his eyes dared them to say something against his participating.

Foreseeing a danger if Merle was denied access to exercising his brutality, Andrea piped up, "Merle can drive the truck up to the outer gate, drop Milton and me off and then standby if any of us need a quick getaway. If you can still shoot, Merle, just fire from the driver's seat."

Merle look pleased enough, but Rick was not so ready to accept the proposal.

"He's a better shot than I am and you could use the extra manpower out there," said Milton.

"We're burnin' daylight, let's just go," said Daryl decisively.

Each of them equipped themselves for their designated tasks with the fallback team going for rifles and Rick's group picking out protective gear and hand-on-hand combat weapons. Andrea gathered up an axe, her pistol from Woodbury and some extra rounds as Rick laid out the chains for her. Though she knew they wouldn't hold the fence up against a vehicle, the idea was that once the walkers on the inside were taken care of, the chains would support the fence against the outside stray walker for the few days (if it took that long) to mend the fence. Merle picked out a few choice weapons for himself but Milton stood uncertainly by the weapons pile, weighing a crowbar and a bat in hand.

"Whatever you can do the most damage with, boy, let's get a move on," said Merle behind him.

Milton chose the crowbar in addition to the Ladysmith Daryl had given him and the knife he had taken from Woodbury. He rested half of the chains across his shoulders and followed Merle out with Andrea bringing up the rear with her portion of the chains and a device that allowed her to strap the axe to her back for easy access.

She sat between Merle and Milton in the car, thinking of the irony of the situation being that the three people Rick did not trust were all on the same team. Merle was waiting for Carol and Carl to open the inner gate for him, anxiously tapping his foot on the gas pedal, though Andrea knew the anticipation was for the eagerness to fight and not out of fear. The elder Dixon nodded his head to a nonexistent rhythm and gave her a grin despite his heavily bandaged chest that still had blood seeping through. Milton could not have looked more different, hands gripping his crowbar and twisting nervously around it. He had an expression that told her he wanted nothing more than to bail out of the car and run back inside.

"Hey, don't worry," she told him with a pat to his arm. "We've got the easy job."

"Yeah, okay," said Milton unconvincingly.

"Relax, Miltie. If y'get your pretty lil' head into trouble, I'll watch your back," Merle laughed, revving the pedal to show his impatience. Milton did not look enthusiastic about that statement whatsoever.

Andrea looked from Merle to Milton and back. This is not going to end well. "Go team," she said halfheartedly.

Carl pushed open the gate and Merle took off so quickly that Andrea nearly smashed her head against the dashboard but luckily Milton threw out his arm to catch her across the chest. Through his pale complexion, he turned pink at the cheeks and withdrew his arm, reaching for the "oh shit" handle as Merle drove them down towards the gate whooping and hollering. He slammed on the breaks so that the pickup spun a hundred and eighty degrees in the dirt and Milton opened his door with Andrea right on his tail. Merle never stopped, taking the pickup to the farnorth side of the yard so that the walkers started to follow him. Back at the inner gate Rick's team pursued them.

"Okay, they're occupied. Let's get that gate closed."

The two of them lifted what remained of the gate and tried their best to fit it back into place. Milton held it upright while Andrea fitted one chain at a time. Merle and the others were doing an excellent job of keeping the walkers occupied, but one or two strays were getting closer and closer from the inside and a few loners on the outside had nearly reached them. Milton did a small dance on the spot almost as if he was a five year old that seriously needed to use the restroom.

"What do you want me to do? The chains or the biters?"

"Make that decision for yourself, I'm occupied," said Andrea, biting her lip in concentration. "We have to tie these off as tight as we can in as many places as we can or this will have been for nothing."

"An-drea…"

The level of unease in Milton's voice grew, but if Andrea stopped now, they would lose valuable time that she had already spent doing up this one chain. She didn't need to turn around to know how close the walker was; she could hear it just fine. She heard Milton swear (the second of two instances) and he let go of the fence to put down the walkers. Andrea couldn't help it; she turned to watch.

Milton liked to keep the walkers at arm's length. He hesitated a few steps but then used the sharp end of the crowbar and brought it up and over into the first walker's scalp. The second one was already closing in fast and he lost the opportunity to use his crowbar so he had to resort to his knife. The steel hit the sunlight, making a brilliant shine temporarily blind Andrea though it subsided in time for her to see Milton shove the blade up into the walker's chin. He backed away from his handiwork and rushed back to Andrea to support the fence as she finished securing one side.

"Not bad at all, Mr. Mamet," she complimented.

Milton said something in reply but Merle blared the truck horn to draw more walkers to him and Milton's comment was drowned out.

"Almost done," said Andrea a few minutes later, sweat dripping from her nose. She glanced at Milton and he was sweating just as badly though still incredibly pale. He had the duty of jamming his crowbar through the spaces in the fence whenever a walker tried to grab at Andrea. She gave the chain a final yank and snapped the lock shut, throwing her hands up as if she had just completed a race and she high-fived Milton who actually smiled at her—before he dropped and the report of a gunshot rang out.