Chapter 11

She opened her eyes and sat up, forgetting for a moment where she was. She took a deep breath and looked around. She was in her hotel room, the morning's sunshine peaking in through the curtains. She moved under her blankets, the soft sheets felt great against her bare legs. She he got up and walked into her bathroom in her t-shirt and underwear. She had found a nightgown in her pile of clean clothes, but she never was a nightgown person.

She didn't remember falling asleep the night before. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep at all in this place, but she actually slept more sound than she had in a long time. She felt good, rested.

She brushed her teeth and looked in the mirror. She even looked well rested. Her eyes were no longer puffy and red from crying and the dark circles under her eyes had disappeared. She didn't remember having any nightmares, or dreams at all for that matter. She must have been really exhausted.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she heard a man's voice.

"Breakfast in twenty minutes."

She put on a pair of dark grey cargo pants from the pile. They fit her like a glove. They even matched the grey and white striped t-shirt she was wearing.

The attention to detail in this place is remarkable, eerie even. She thought to herself.

She laced up her boots, put her hair in a messy braid and headed downstairs to the dining area, wondering how long it would take her to get used to this place.

She met a few nice people at breakfast. A newlywed couple named Marc and Sarah that could barely keep their hands off each other, whom she couldn't help but find irritating. Their PDA and bragging about each other's greatest accomplishments almost made her lose her appetite.

Jerks, she thought to herself.

Of course they had no idea what she had been through. How could they know? She was kind to them, but made a mental note not to eat at their table again.

Also at her table that morning was Katie, a women in her mid-30's who had lost her husband, but managed to get her twin boys to Woodbury. Her boys ate with her briefly, but they were still young enough that all they wanted to do was play, so they joined a few friends outside while Katie finished her breakfast. Melissa was more sympathetic with her, but found it extremely odd that she could allow her sons play outside unsupervised.

When Melissa excused herself from the table to turn in her plate she spotted Merle looking at her from across the room. He was standing near the main entrance and when they made eye contact he nodded to her and gestured toward the door, asking her to join him outside.

"How'd you sleep?" Merle asked with a friendly face as she walked through the doors and joined him on the sidewalk.

"Surprisingly well."

"Glad to hear. Follow me." Merle started walking without checking to make sure she was behind him. She followed him closely.

"Where are we goin?" She asked.

"The Governor's office. We've laid out a few maps so you can start telling us where to find your group. Or at least help us set up a perimeter. The Governor wants 'em brought in right away. Lucky you found us when you did. It's getting' awfully dangerous out there. Worse than before. There are red zones everywhere."

"Red zones?" She couldn't help but feel he was walking a little too fast, but she understood why.

"An area saturated by biters, or walkers as you call 'em."

They reached The Governor's office. Sure enough there were roadmaps spread out on his desk, just as Merle had said, but The Governor wasn't there. Merle went to work, showing her where they had found her the day before and asking her to try to trace her steps back to their location.

She still felt conflicted about telling him about the prison, so she stalled.

"Where is The Governor?" She asked. "I expected him to be here, this being his office and all."

"The Governor's got bigger fish to fry right now. It's just me. Now, if you please. Try to give me a sense of direction here."

She looked at him and, once again, could see the urgency in his eyes. She made her way to the desk and looked at the map. She saw the prison on the map immediately, but allowed her eyes to drift past it. She noticed the distance between the prison and Woodbury and wondered how much of that distance she had ran and how much they had driven her.

She decided to start with the farm. She pointed to a farm near Hershel's, but not his actual property, claiming that's where they had spent a lot of time up until the beginning of the winter. She told him about Sophia going missing and how Daryl had looked for her every day until they discovered she was a walker.

Soon she was identifying areas where they had actually stayed, either at camp or in houses. She figured there was little harm since it was doubtful they would ever be going back to one of them. She knew she would need to find a place to tell him had been their last location that would also make sense considering where they found her, but she didn't want to lead them in the direction of the prison, so she pointed to a road that she thought would work and told him they had been scavenging houses in that area when they were ambushed the day Merle found her.

"Makes some sense, but to be honest, I don't see much of a pattern here." Merle stated.

"I don't know that patterns matter when you're practically starving." Melissa lied. "We were just trying to find food anywhere we could. And avoid walkers."

Merle nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Melissa. You did good."

Melissa half smiled, feeling a little guilty for lying. "When are you leaving?"

"Soon."

"Should I come too?" She offered.

He looked at her, surprised. "Nah, I think you'd better stay here where you're safe." He said as he started rolling up the maps.

"Will you let me know if you find them?"

"Of course." Merle said, not looking up.

Melissa turned and started to exit.

"Oh, Melissa." Merle called out. "I almost forgot to tell you. The Governor wants to have lunch with you today."

"Why?" She asked surprised. Didn't he have better things to do?

"If you want to know you can ask him. I'm just the messenger."

She nodded.

"At noon." Merle said. "Just come back here."

"Okay." She replied and she walked back to her room.

Her lunch with the governor came and went without any hiccups. It was actually kind of nice. Initially, she was suspicious that he even wanted to spend time alone with her, but once he assured her that he takes a personal interest in all of the people living in the town and gets to know them all, it made sense. She was the person here that he knew the least about.

The conversation wasn't as one sided as she expected. She thought she'd have to sing for her supper, but he answered all of her questions too. They even bonded over the people they loved that were lost. When lunch was over, he excused himself to do some work, but said that he enjoyed their time together and hoped they could do it again soon.

At dinner that night she sat with two married couples that were close to her age. Unfortunately the "singles" table was occupied. One of the wives at the table was pregnant. They were slightly less annoying than the couple from breakfast, but it still hurt a little to be around them. The loving exchanges between the couples reminded her of Maggie and Glenn, the pregnant woman of Lori and their wedding rings of the life she would never have.

After dinner she decided to go for another walk around the town. She found herself approaching the wall, curious about their defenses, when she spotted Merle. She jogged over to him.

"Merle!" She called as she approached him.

He stopped walking and waited for her.

"Find anything?" She asked, resting her hands on her hips.

"Not today, but we're goin' out again tomorrow."

She nodded, unsure of what else to say to him.

"Okay. Well, I just thought I'd check." She said and she headed back to her room. It was almost curfew and she wanted to take a hot bath and read a book before bed.

The next day after another good night's sleep, she dressed herself in a lacy white top and jeans. She brushed her teeth, but decided not to bother with her hair. After breakfast she found herself walking the perimeter of the fence. She couldn't help but be curious about it. She wanted to make sure the safety of the town wasn't actually an illusion and it didn't seem to be. From what little she knew about barriers, it seemed they had actually done a remarkable job.

When she came back to the square she noticed they were having some kind of party. She stood for a moment and watched people talking and smiling, but she didn't feel like socializing and decided to go back to her room and do some more reading. She turned and almost ran right into The Governor. She jumped.

"There you are." He exclaimed. He seemed happy to see her.

"Oh, hi." She said surprised, putting her hand on her chest to calm herself. Had he been looking for her?

He held two cold drinks in his hand and offered one to her. She took a sip and thanked him.

"How are you fitting in?" The Governor asked.

"Well, I think. Everyone seems… nice." She really couldn't think of anything else to say.

"It's an adjustment, I know. At least that's was the new people always tell me." He said sympathetically. "You'll get used to it."

She gave him a half smile. Maybe he was right, maybe she could get used to it. But, did she want to? If this place really was what it seemed to be it would have been exactly the type of place her group would have been looking for. More than they could have even hoped for. The people were nice, it seemed safe, and children were even being raised there. She wondered if she really could make a life for herself in this town.

Again she questioned if she was doing the wrong thing, lying to them about where to find her group. What if they really did want to bring them all here to live in the same comfort and warmth they had bestowed upon her?

She was about to give in and tell him about the prison when one of The Governor's men approached to tell him something had come up that required his attention. He smiled kindly at her and excused himself. She decided to walk around some more, trying to give herself a reason not to like it here. She watched the children playing and running in the street, their mother's talking amongst each other with smiles on their faces. It made her think of the block parties in her neighborhood when she was younger. The ones she would watch from her window because she was too afraid to ask her father if she could go outside to join in.

She saw a few familiar faces in the crowd and several people acknowledged her. The pregnant wife from dinner the previous night, whose name she had forgotten, saw her and insisted she feel the baby kick. She wondered if Lori had given birth yet. She felt the homesickness building up inside of her again. She covered it up with a smile, pretending to be happy for the mother to be and excused herself, deciding to retreat back to her room after all.

She was lying on her bed, flipping through one of the books on her bedside table when there was a knock on her door. She stood up and crossed the room. When she opened the door she froze.

"Hey there, Melissa." Andrea glared at her and stepped into her room.

Song recommendations:

Civil Twilight - Quiet In My Town

Mindy Gledhill - Bring Me Close