As promised, it was easy enough to find where they had to go; they just followed the clusters of people as they made their way through the town. Murphy's mood was on thin ice at best, but whatever was happening tonight, Connor was sure it'd take his mind off of things. Unless they ran into the guy Murphy had fought with, in which case he could make no promises. They were led to a large, outdoor area, the crowd gradually gathering around the edges of a primitively made arena of some kind, with posts at certain points around the perimeter. Hitting Connor lightly on the chest, Murphy motioned towards one of them in case they hadn't been noticed already.

"What d'you reckon they're for?"

"Don't know. People look pretty excited though, whatever it is, it's gonna be good."

Over the following fifteen minutes, more people filed in and found places to watch the match, and not long after, started cheering at something the brothers couldn't quite see. Moving further to the front, eventually the walker's that were being tethered to the posts came into view.

"The fuck…"

When one was brought close to them, both of the men took an instinctive step back. A quick glance around at the people around them, however, painted a completely different story; they could have been watching football with the way they were acting; anxious for the sport to start, excited for the evening's entertainment. The snapping, groaning animated corpses seemed to do anything but scare them.

"You made it."

Turning as a hand clapped him on the shoulder, Connor defaulted into a slightly surprised smirk. Murphy didn't even try to fake it, not that the Governor seemed to give a toss either way. Though he did notice Murphy's injuries, he didn't comment on them.

"Yeah, well…we found space on the calendar. Figured we could pencil this in."

"Good, good." Evidently, the lame attempt at small-talk humour was noted, because his hand remained on his shoulder as he began to steer him forward. A quick glance and hand gesture told Murphy to stay in the crowd, though he wasn't alone for long.

"So – what's with the, ah…the walkers? You pitch 'em against one another?"

"No, they're not interested in the dead. All they care about is what lives and breathes. No, what we do….well, you'll see for yourself soon enough what happens. But, see those men over there?"

Following his eye line, Connor soon spotted the small group of men – all not much older than him, all gearing up for a boxing match, or something like it.

"They fight each other."

"Right. The walkers just add a little something extra." As they walked, he gradually began to lead Connor away from the arena, stopping a short distance away.

"I know I told you to sleep on it, and no problem if you haven't – but-"

"Have I thought about your offer."

"Right."

"I talked to Murphy a little about it, but…you know, I think it's somethin' we should really discuss when we're both better rested."

"Of course, of course...what happened to his face? Look like he's been fighting."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, he ah…he had a run in with someone. One of your guys, maybe? I don't know what was said or who started it, but you know – on his behalf, I apologise. He can be pretty hot headed."

"I appreciate that. I can tell you're the one with his head on his shoulders here, no offence to him. But you know, if you're going to seriously consider staying here, which I hope you do, he – " With a side nod back to where he'd brought Connor from, "- needs to manage his anger better. I can't be having fights breaking out every other day."

"Aye…I'll talk to him."

"Much obliged. So, tell me-"

His sentence was suddenly cut off by the sounds of cheering, though when they both turned and expected to see the match starting, the sight of Murphy and two other men laying into one another was not one that helped his cause much.

"For fucks sake…"

"'Hot headed' may have been an understatement." The Governor commented, giving Connor a look as he started to jog back, though he was forced to stop and turn back when he heard the older man yell after him.

"What?"

"I said, control him. Because if you can't, he's not staying here."

The ultimatum meant little to Connor, given the plan he and his brother had concocted, but when he looked back and saw Murphy pretty much being dragged into the centre of the arena, he took off running once more. Only when he was close enough to be heard over the crowd did he stop, skidding into the middle and shoving one of the men away from his brother, stepping to the side to act like a shield.

"That's enough!"

The interruption was only met with mocking jeers from the nearby bystanders, and yells of impatience from the crowd. One of the men – not much to look at with just a stump for a right hand approached Connor, his walk something of cocksure swagger.

"And looky who we have here! Leprechaun number two."

"Real original."

"I thought so. Now, unless you feel like becoming walker bait, get out of my way." Shooting a look down at where Murphy was trying to pick himself up, the man smirked cruelly, only looking back at Connor when he moved to block his view.

"You've had your fun. Now let us leave."

"On the contrary! The fun hasn't even started yet."

Not bothering to answer him, Connor crouched down next to his brother, not taking his eyes off of the man before them for more than a second.

"You alright?"

"Just get us the fuck out of here." Came the hissed reply. He was in pain, he was humiliated, and above all he was furious, but he wasn't stupid. Now wasn't the time to start anything or make things worse. When three of the other men began to enter the area, Connor straightened up, taking measure of them all before facing the leader again.

"Four on one? Doesn't seem very sporting, lads."

"One? I count two of you. Unless your brother can't handle a bit of a beating."

"Doesn't matter what he can handle – you've got me to worry about now."

He shouldn't have been rising to the jokes, but it was hard not to; he knew he had to get them both out of the situation, but like hell would he go without a fight. Literal or otherwise.

"Looks like we got a new contender for the ring! Alright, tough guy…let's see what you've got, eh? You -" Whistling to one of the others, the man gestured crudely in Murphy's general direction. "- Get him out of here-"

Cutting him off early, Murphy pointed a warning finger at the same man. "You'll fuckin' stay put if y'know what's good for you. And you." Turning again to address the redneck, Connor could feel his own temper flaring as his next sentence rolled off his tongue with a venomous twist.

"If you need an audience to get a hard on, you're not worth my time, let alone my brother's. Jog on and go back to your trailer. I'm pretty sure your sister's startin' to miss you."

"You got quite a mouth on you, the both of you. You scared to fight? Scared to have your ass handed to you in front of all these good people?"

"These good people ain't got the stomach for what I'll do to you if you don't back the fuck off. You'll be eatin' through a tube the rest of your sorry life by the time I'm done."

"Ooh…big words, man. I'm shakin' in my boots. Tell me; is that a threat, or a promise?"

"It's a guarantee."

That got a low sort of laugh; the kind where the audience were no longer sure what was being said in jest and what was serious. Turning to the side to spit, his opponent let out a breathy laugh, holding up his hands – hand – in mock surrender.

"Alright, alright…I can take a hint. You and your shit stain of a brother can go if you're really that scared about getting a little roughed up. Wouldn't want y'all to break a nail. Then again, I don't know why I'm acting surprised; he damn near pissed his panties when I beat the shit out of him earlier-"

That earned him a hard right hook to the jaw, rousing a loud, roaring cheer from the people of Woodbury. Moving to defend himself as the others moved in, Connor felt Murphy pull himself to his feet, one hand gripped on his brother's shirt to keep himself up. Fortunately, the Governor saw fit to step in at that point. Wiping a thin trail of blood from his mouth, Merle – or something like it, it was hard to hear properly over the din of the crowd – gave Connor a nasty, mocking sneer as the Governor passed him. When the older man spoke, however, he certainly commanded the attention of the horde.

"Ladies and gentlemen – you've all come here to see some sport, and sport you shall have. These boys here, they're our guests. And I don't know about you, but I think our hospitality goes a little further than feeding them to the walkers."

They laughed, for the most part. By this point, both Connor and Murphy were keeping eyes on the men that surrounded them, and the walkers that reached for any members of the living that wandered too close. With an arm around his brother's waist to help take his weight as they walked, the twins took their leave upon the Governors word, step by step leaving the cheers and taunts in equal number behind. Only when they were completely out of sight of the arena did Murphy really let himself go, slowing almost to a complete stop and relying almost entirely on his brother to keep him upright.

"Come on, Murph' – I've got you, you're alright."

"Motherfucker this hurts…slow down will you, just a second…"

"Probably got some busted ribs. Hopefully that's the worst of it."

Letting him down carefully onto a nearby bench, Connor watched in concern as Murphy tried to breathe, though each inhale and exhale seemed to send sharp bullets of pain through him.

"What happened? I was only gone for a minute, what-"

"The fucker – the one with the fucked up hand, I don't know, he saw me, started makin' jokes. I got angry, pushed him…I don't fuckin' know."

"That's fine. After this I can't see the Governor wanting us here much longer, so there's a silver lining."

"…What'd he say to you?"

"Told me I had to keep you under control, otherwise you'd have to leave."

Reading Connor's face, soon both of them were smiling, albeit weakly, at the absurdity of the idea.

"Well…as far as controllin' me goes, you're doin' a stand-up job, Conn'. Really."