Ok, I may have skipped the Sick episode, but it's just like the episode, but I made Big Tiny survive because he seems like a good guy and that sucked that he died, so he's going to be alive in this story. And I'm sorry that I didn't update this story for a while, I was busy with some of my other stories that I'm writing and I'm getting really into them.
The thick black smoke stained the sky from afar, Michonne, Andrea and Echo were suspicious of it, so they decided to go and check it out; when they arrived, they saw that it was a helicopter. After staring at it for a while, the panting Andrea suddenly fell down and threw up, Echo kneeled beside her, rubbing her back.
"Don't push yourself" Michonne said.
"What's a helicopter doing here? I didn't think there were any" Echo questioned.
Michonne and Echo helped move Andrea behind a bush.
"You two better stay" Michonne said, then tied her two walkers to a tree.
Michonne then handed Andrea a gun, "I'll check it out"
Michonne left and started to search through the wreckage, she found a body torn in two and another in the drivers' seat; the sound of engines rumbling caused Michonne to retreat and hide.
"Someone's coming" Michonne said.
"Any survivors?" Andrea asked.
"Two dead, not sure about the other" Michonne answered.
The three watched as a few men got out of the cars.
"Fan out" a man's voice called out.
While they looked around, a stray walker came by and one of the men pointed their gun at it.
"Save those rounds until you need them" the same man said.
A different man came up and used a bow and arrow to kill the walker, then two more walkers came by and a man with a bat took them down.
"Got a breather, Tim!" the man called out.
Soon the man, Tim, came by and the man opened the door; with the women, Michonne looked behind and noticed a walker coming their way. Michonne was about to pull her sword out, but Andrea stopped her, motioning towards the man with the gun; the walker soon passed them and revealed itself to the men, and the man with the gun called out to the man with the bow and arrow and he killed it. They watched as the two men dragged the pilots' body out.
"He's saving him, we should show ourselves" Andrea urged.
"Not yet" Michonne denied.
"We don't know what they're going to do to him" Echo said.
They continued to watch as the one man who helped pull the pilot out, walk over to the severed man, who was groaning out, apparently turned into a walker, then pulled out a knife and killed the man. While the two men searched through the helicopter, Michonne's walkers were starting to get riled up and their chains were rattling, drawing the man with the gun to point his weapon and the others were getting suspicious. Michonne then pulled her sword out and decapitated her pet walkers, bringing them down and silencing them.
After some time, the men relaxed, "Let's roll out!"
The men were beginning to leave and Andrea and Echo relaxed, but Michonne moved her sword.
"Ah, ah, ah, easy does it girl" a gruff voice spoke out, "Mine a whole lot bigger than yours and that scrawny one's, now, put down your weapons"
Michonne put her sword down on the ground and Andrea and Echo didn't make a move.
"That's it; nice and easy, now let me see your hands"
Andrea and Echo put their hands up.
"Now spin around"
Andrea, Michonne and Echo soon turned around and saw that the gruff man's voice matched his face.
"Holy shit, Bonnie" the man said to Andrea, then they saw a walker come by, but they didn't say anything, "Dang, you looking good"
The man stabbed the walker with his weapon like hand, then he stood up.
"Now, how's about a big hug for your old pal Merle" the man, Merle, said.
Andrea suddenly passed out and Michonne and Echo checked over her.
"Scrawny one" Merle said, pointing his prosthetic hand at Echo, "Get that weapon off your back"
Echo looked at him, something about him seemed oddly familiar though she's never seen him, then she slowly removed her machete from the small of her back and placed it on the ground. Merle called out to his men and they soon took the women to their cars, blindfolding them on the way. Andrea fazed in and out every now and then, barely seeing anything out of blindfold, only that it was night and they were passing the woods, everything else was a little blurry, she heard a man talking and a static noise, thinking that he was talking on a radio.
"Michonne, Echo" Andrea called out quietly.
"Right here" Michonne said.
"Next to you" Echo said, squeezing Andrea's hand to reassure her.
They were soon inside an infirmary and a woman was taking care of Andrea, Michonne and Echo was sitting beside of her.
"Hold that" the woman advised as she placed a cloth on Andrea's needle wound, then took out the thermometer.
"Why're we being held here?" Andrea asked, the woman didn't say anything, "We wanna leave"
"You're not well enough, and it's dark, you should stay the night" the woman said.
"Where are we?" Andrea asked.
The woman looked behind her at the man standing at the door, then turned back, "That's not for me to say, he'll take to you"
"Who?" Michonne questioned.
The door suddenly opened and Merle came in.
"Go check on you patient doc" Merle said, "Betcha was wondering if I was real, or you hoping I wasn't" Merle grabbed a chair and sat in it, "Well, here I am; I guess this world gets a little smaller towards the end, ain't so many of us left to share the air"
"Andrea, how do you know him?" Echo asked.
"From the group" Andrea answered.
"You know" Merle said, interrupting their conversation, "When they found me, I was near bleed out, starving, thinking to myself a bullet make a good last meal, take myself a nice long nap after, wait for Daryl on the other side; you see my brother?"
"Ohh" Echo said quietly when she finally got it.
"Not for a long time" Andrea answered.
"Makes two of us" Merle said.
"He went back for you, him and Rick, you were already gone" Andrea said.
"Ah, well" Merle began to remove his weapon from his arm, revealing a stump, "Not all of me"
Andrea looked disgusted by it, Michonne looked unnerved by it and Echo covered her mouth in shock, and he laughed.
"Yeah, Rick, he's that prick that cuffed me to the rooftop" Merle said as he placed his prosthetic hand back on.
Andrea hesitated to answer at first, "Yeah… He tried… Daryl saw that"
"He's always been the sweet one, my baby brother"
"He wanted to keep looking, nothing's happened, people died, a lot of them, Jim, Dale, Jacqui… Amy" Andrea said, choking on the last name, Echo reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze for comfort.
"Your sister?"
Andrea nodded, "Yes"
"She was a good kid, I'm sorry to hear it"
"There were more, a lot more, we had to leave Atlanta, we wound up on a farm, and Daryl stepped up, became a valued member of the group"
"Now he's dead"
"I don't know that for sure, we got run off by a herd"
"How long ago?"
"Seven, eight months" Andrea turned to look at Michonne and Echo.
"Me and Echo were separated from the rest of them, got left behind… I know what it feels like"
"I doubt that"
"What do you want from us?"
Merle looked at them, not saying a word, and then he got up and stood in front of them.
"There she sits, four walls around her, a roof over her head, medicine in her veins, she want to know what I want from her… I plucked you, your mute and scrawny out from the dirt here blondie, saved your asses, how about a thank you"
"You had a gun on us" Michonne finally said.
"So she speaks; who ain't had a gun on them in the past year huh? So of hands y'all" Merle said and raised his prosthetic hand, "Anybody? Hell, I think I piss my pants if some strange came walking up with his mitts in his pockets, that's the son of a bitch you really wanna be scared-"
"Thank you" Andrea interrupted.
Michonne turned to give her a look; Merle walked away and stood by the door and a new man came in, he was the one who killed the severed man from the crash. He began to whisper to Merle about something.
"Sure thing" Merle said.
"So how're you feeling?" the man asked.
"We want our weapons!" Michonne demanded.
"Sure, on your way out the front gates"
"Show us the way" Andrea said and the man turned to look at her, "You've kept us locked up in this room"
"You see any bars on the windows, you're being cared for"
"Under guard"
"To protect our people, we don't know you"
"We know enough about you to want out of this place, we watched you drive a knife into the skulls of two dead men, what the hell was that all about?"
"They turn"
"They weren't bitten" Michonne said.
The man stayed quiet for a while, "It doesn't matter"
"Why?" Echo asked.
"However we die, we all turn"
Andrea looked shocked by the news, Echo just looked surprised, but worry was etched into her face.
"I put them out of their misery, it's not easy news to swallow at first, but there it is; now you're not prisoners here, you're guests, if you want to leave, as I said, you're free to do so, we don't open the gates past dusk, draws too much attention; and you especially, you need a solid night's sleep, you wouldn't last another day out there in your condition; have you brought over to my place in the morning, return your weapons, extra ammo, food for the road, some meds, keys to a vehicle if you want"
Andrea looked back at Michonne and Echo.
"Send you on your way, no hard feelings"
The man left as he said these words, then they began to follow him out of the hospital and towards the doors, he opened the door and motioned them outside.
"Welcome to Woodbury"
Andrea, Michonne and Echo walked out onto the front porch and took a look around; there were buildings and the street was lit with torches.
"Come with me" the man advised and walked down towards the street.
Andrea, Michonne and Echo began to follow the man, and when they came into the streets, they saw a large wall just right next to the hospital, and there were some people standing at the top with guns.
"Whoa" Echo gasped.
Andrea and Echo continued to walk towards the wall, but Michonne stayed behind.
"Are you military?" Andrea asked.
"Hardly" the man said.
"That's heavy artillery their packing"
"Some men arrive with guns, most of the weapons are scavenged over time"
"And the other side of town, the rest of the streets, they're all guarded like this?" The man didn't answer. "It can't be"
"It can, and it is"
"Got us a creeper Governor" Merle called out.
"Governor, they call you that?" Andrea asked.
"Some nicknames stick weather you want them to or not" Governor said.
"Gus is a nickname, Governor's a title, there's a difference" Andrea said as she and Echo got closer to the gate and looked through the cracks.
Merle soon shot the three walkers that were lurking outside, "Clear"
"We'll get them in the morning, can't leave them to rot, creates an odor, and makes people uneasy"
"People?" Echo asked.
"What people? There's nobody here, it's a ghost town" Andrea said, looking around.
"This way" The Governor said and walked down the street.
They began to follow the man, but Michonne looked back at the wall before continuing on; The Governor soon lead them to a house and unlocked the door to a room.
"You'll be more comfortable here, not the Four Seasons, but there's a hot shower, water's limited so keep it short" The Governor said, turning on the lights and revealed a nice bedroom with a large bed, a couch, a cabnit, and a table with food on the table.
"We got food, water, fresh clothes, hope this works"
As they walked in, Michonne noticed her bag and went to search it.
"I know you feel better with your sword, more secure, you're safe here"
Michonne turned to give him a look and then there was tension in the room.
"We appreciate it" Andrea said, breaking the tension, "What about the pilot, will he make it?"
"Well, Dr. Stevens is doing all she can; now I know you got a lot more questions, but I got work to do; my man will be outside the door if you need anything else, I'll see you tomorrow"
The Governor soon left, leaving the door open. They watched as he turned the corner, then Michonne closed the door. Andrea, Echo and Michonne ate the food on the table, then they took a shower, then they headed off to bed. Michonne offered to take the couch while Andrea and Echo slept in the bed, finally having a peaceful night's sleep.
In the morning, a woman named Rowan came by and offered to show them around the town; they got dressed and followed her outside, they were surprised to actually see so many people outside, or any people at all for that matter.
"It's real; you three were out there for a long time, and while you were, The Governor was doing this" Rowan said.
"How many people do you have here?" Andrea asked.
"73; Ilene's about to pop, so her kid will make it 74" Rowan answered, "Still a working progress, but Rome wasn't built in a day"
"That's a bold comparison" Andrea said.
"We've earned it, walls haven't been breached well in over a month, we haven't suffered causality on the inside since early winter"
"How's that possible?"
"Our Governor's set a strict curfew, nobody out after dark; the noise are kept to a bare minimum, armed guards on the fence and patrolling the perimeter to keep the biters away"
"I saw what you do on patrols on the way in last night, they had a dead one strung up like an ornament"
Rowan stopped and gave a small look to Andrea.
"I won't make excuses, those men put their lives at risk everyday to protect this town, we've lost more than a few friends out there, everyone copes in their own way, but I'll raise it with the Governor"
Rowan began to walk again and they followed as she continued to give them a tour around town. Noon came around and Andrea, Michonne and Echo were sitting in The Governors house with a man named Milton having some breakfast.
"Hard to believe you ladies lasted so long out there" The Governor said as he poured some eggs on Andrea's plate.
"Because we're women?" Andrea questioned.
"Because you're alone"
"We had each other"
"Three against the world, that's long odds"
"We managed"
"You'd be surprised at the skills we hold" Echo said, smirking a little.
"Oh, I'm impressed"
"Very" Milton said.
"Survival in the wild is tough sledding; wake up every morning on the ground, wondering if today, will it be quick and final, or slow and without end, someone have a good sense to kill my brain or will I come back as one of them"
"Do you think they remember anything? The person they once were?" Milton questioned.
"I don't think about it" Andrea said.
"But it must be hard on the others," Echo spoke out, sadness stinging her voice a bit "Seeing the person that they remembered who turned into those things, that they loved and who loved them back, attack them like an animal, forgetting all the memories you created together, it breaks the heart"
Andrea knew that she was talking about Riley, hearing the story herself from the farm, it was sad.
"Milton believes there might be a trace of the person they were, still trapped inside" The Governor said.
"Like an echo" Milton said, he noticed that Echo chuckled a little, "Surely it must have crossed your mind"
"One time, yeah, right before it tried to bite me" Andrea said with a chuckle.
"And then you killed it?" Milton asked, "I only say 'it' only because no one here refers to them as 'him' or 'her'"
Milton coughed from the small tension and looked at Michonne, "The two you had in chains, who were they?"
Michonne didn't answer and didn't look at Milton.
"The way you control them, used them to your benefit, you did know them didn't you?"
Michonne turned to look at Milton with a strange look, but she still didn't answer.
"Let them eat" The Governor said.
"My apologies" Milton said, then returned to his meal.
"It's ok" Echo said, patting Milton's shoulder.
"So what you have here, you expect it to hold?" Andrea asked, "What if a herd comes through?"
"It'll hold" The Governor said.
"What's your secret?"
"Really big walls"
"That soldier had walls too, we all know how that turned out, so-"
"I guess we do, the real secret is what goes on within these walls, it's about getting back to who we were, who we really are, not just waiting to be saved; people here have homes, medical care, kids go to school, adults have jobs to do, a sense of purpose, we're a community"
"With a lot of guns and ammunition" Milton added.
"Never hurts"
"And really big walls" Andrea said.
"And men willing to risk everything to defend them, compromise our safety, destroy our community, I'll die before I let that happen"
The table was quiet again and everyone kept eating.
"Looks like you're sitting pretty at the end of the world" Andrea said, breaking the silence.
"Do I strike you as the kind of man that sits pretty?" The Governor questioned, "You reap what you sow, we're the seed, now winter has passed it's time to harvest"
"Time to help"
"We're going out there and were taking back what's ours, civilization, we will rise again; only this time we won't be eating each other"
The table was quiet for a long while, then Andrea picked her cup up.
"To civilization then"
There was a knock at the door and The Governor excused himself and went to answer the door.
"How's the tea?" Milton asked.
"It's good" Echo answered.
They saw that a man came by and whisper something to him.
"Sorry to cut breakfast short, but this can't wait" The Governor said as he closed the door.
"We want our weapons!" Michonne demanded as she stood up.
"Well, we can make these meals to go and your weapons will be waiting outside, but you should take time to relax, get your strength back, have a look around, who knows, you might like what you see"
Everyone was quiet and The Governor left, then the three made their way outside.
"I don't trust him" Michonne said.
"Why not?" Andrea asked, "Have you ever trusted anybody?"
"Yeah"
"Then give this a dare, that's all I'm asking; it's time to get our shit together"
"My shit never stop being together"
"Didn't look that way when Milton asked about your walkers; surprise he didn't get a fork in his eye"
"It's none of his damn business"
"Guess it's none of mine either; seven months together, all we've been through, I still feel like I hardly know you, I'm sorry, it's the truth, oh come on, you know everything about me, even Echo"
"You know enough"
"…Those walkers were with us all winter long, protecting us, and you took them out without any hesitation, that had to-"
"It was easier than you think" Michonne interrupted.
Michonne soon left the two behind.
"I have to side with Michonne about The Governor" Echo finally spoke.
"Why?" Andrea asked.
"I don't know, I mean, I appreciate all the things he offered us when we were strangers to him, but I feel this twist in my stomach, and whenever I feel that twist, it's like something bad is coming, whether sooner or later; I felt it when we were at the farm, about Shane"
"What about Randall?"
"Nothing, I didn't feel that twist"
"But what if you're wrong?"
"Sometime I am, but I'm still cautious, I'll try to make friends with him, but I probably won't trust him as much as you do"
Andrea nodded and the two continued to look around town a bit, meeting the people, it was wonderful. After a few hours, the sound of engines roaring came by and everyone gathered as cars pulled in and The Governor came out of one of them. Andrea spotted Michonne sitting in a chair across the street, the same look on her face since they arrived. The Governor then climbed up on the back of the truck.
"We brought in four new people yesterday; one was a helicopter pilot in a National Guard outfit, even though he's clinging to life, he told us about his convoy on the highway" The Governor explained, "His men… I promised that I bring them back here alive, but they didn't have our walls, or our fences, biters got there before we did; now the men had trucks, the trucks had weapons, food, medicine, things that we need, now we didn't know them, but we honored their sacrifice, by not taking what we had here for granted; won't be long before dark, so go on home, be thankful for what you have, watch out for each other"
Everyone was soon slowly retreating back to their homes; The Governor hopped down from the truck and walked passed Andrea and Echo, then Andrea left to walk beside him and Echo stayed where she was before she walked off to somewhere else, her stomach twisting a little harder than it was before.