May not be easy to read for some. Torture implied.

Martinez walked out of the basement shaking his head. That bitch was nuts. They'd been at her for 6 hours and she was still teasing Philip, being a smartass, and just generally making the oddest comments he'd ever heard someone make. Not one tear, she barely cried out. He'd never seen anything like that before.

He thought back to her comment earlier. At the time he'd taken it a bravado before the pain. He was starting to doubt that.

Things hadn't been going very well for him anyway. When he'd worked with Merle things were different. Sure Merle was a racist asshole, but even he had limits. These new guys the Governor had around didn't. Merle would never have allowed what had happened the past three months. Kids had always been off limits to Merle. Not killing them, you did what had to be done, but what had happened still stuck in Martinez's mind and was a prominent feature in his nightmares.

They'd needed supplies, he got that. The woman, well, he got that too. He never participated, but whatever. The little girl's screams would forever haunt him. He'd looked at the Governor when one of the men had dragged her to the bushes. He'd seen, he just didn't care. Martinez had gone to stop it and Philip had grabbed his arm and shook his head. No words had been spoken, but it was enough to know if he interfered he'd be dead.

That was all that was keeping him with Philip now. Any perks of being his right hand man were gone. Now was about survival. He thought back on his nightmare last night. Maybe survival wasn't everything.

He'd done what the Governor asked, he'd put the boy in the root cellar and locked the door. Only he had the key. That was another thing that these new guys were known for. Merle really wouldn't have allowed any of that faggot crap. Glenn was safe, or safe for now.

He shook his head and thought back to the woman in the basement. He looked out the window of the house they'd taken over. Night was only half over. Philip would break her, that was for sure, but it was taking a hell of a lot longer than it usually did. Every time Philip went close to leaving she would go right for his jugular and he'd fly into a rage, forgetting what he was going to do. Her people weren't coming. They had no idea where they were and no way to find them. What was she waiting for?

He chuckled a little. What was HE waiting for?


Ten hours into her torture Philip thought he finally had her. She was breathing heavy and had her head sunk into her chest. He squared his shoulders. She was quiet for the longest time in ten hours. He had to admire her, she was tough. In the end everyone cracked, and then they died. It was that simple. He exchanged looks with the two other men in the basement with him. Shumpert had always been with him, but the other guy was new. Philip didn't even remember his name. Wasn't that it mattered anyway.

He cleared his throat, "Are we done being brave now? Are we finished?"

She was silent for a moment. Then she started laughing. Out and out laughing.

"Oh my God, you really have no idea what you are doing do you?" She laughed harder.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded.

She raised her head and he could finally see her eyes. She was genuinely amused, "I have done this for a living for six years and have never seen such a sorry bunch of idiots in my life. You really think you know how to do this do you?"

Philip was confused and frustrated, "What do you mean for a living?"
Gwen sighed, "I mean I've been on both sides of this multiple times. I dragged this out trying to give you a chance to improve, but you just never did." She sighed again, "Alright boys, let me give you a few pointers. Firstly, torture is much more phycological than anything else. A body can only emit so much pain before it becomes numb to it. The fear of pain however, that is endless. Beating someone for hours straight is so ridiculous."
She squared her shoulders as much as she could, "Secondly, you have to know something about the person in the chair before you start. You know nothing about me. Who I am, where is come from, these are all important. If you would have known half that information we wouldn't have wasted the last ten hours. Lastly, and this is the most important." She focused on Philip. "Come closer."

He moved a step closer.

She smiled at him, "Gonna have to come a lot closer."

He finally leaned down so she was inches from him, "Before you die, you wanted to say something?"

The smile left her face, "Always search someone thoroughly before putting them in the chair. "

Before he could react he felt something puncture his back. Suddenly he flew back. He couldn't breath or barely move. When he'd gone back she'd grabbed his gun. Shumpert was dead, shot through the head. Then the new guy the same.

Amazingly, she got up from the chair and moved towards him. She limped on one knee, but was surprisingly steady.

He couldn't breathe, he was dying. She put the gun in the back of her waist and flipped him over. She removed whatever was in his back and he could breathe again. She flipped him back over.

"Don't die on me now peaches, we got a long drive ahead. I got one question. "She put the gun to his chest, "Where's Glenn?"


Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Tyreese returned form the town where Gwen and Glenn had been with dark expressions. Maggie stood tall and tried not to sob as she saw Glenn wasn't with them. Hershel went up to her and put his arm around her. Rick approached the with his head down. Carol watched as he took Maggie's hand and laid something in it. As she looked at it she screamed and collapsed. Beth ran up and helped Hershel get her inside.

Carol watched Daryl come up to her, "They're dead."

Daryl sighed, "Not yet. We found three of Glenn's fingers with his wedding ring on one of them. Rick was giving her back the ring. There was a message in blood. Said ''Two more down'."

Carol gasped, "The governor? He's back? But how?"

Daryl shrugged.

Carol looked around, "What do we do?"


Glenn lay in the root cellar trying to think. It wasn't easy. His hand was the only part of himself he could still feel. His arms were still tied behind him. It had been forever since Martinez threw him in here and he hadn't heard a word since then.

He was blinded by a bright light as the door was thrown open. They closed again, but Glenn was still blinded by the flashlight the person held as he ran down the stairs.

He heard Martinez's voice as he untied Glenn, "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. But I gotta get you out of here."
It didn't matter that Glenn was untied, he still couldn't move. Martinez started to rub his arms and legs trying to get feeling back in. Glenn almost screamed as blood once again started rushing down his arms and legs. Martinez put a hand over his mouth.

"Don't be doing that now. I'm on my own here."
Glenn's body took a long time to respond, but it finally did. Just as he stood up, being supported by Martinez, there were gunshots.

They both looked said, "I thought you were on your own?"

Martinez looked like he'd been struck, "It can't be."
The cellar doors flew open and at the top stood a lone figure with a handgun. The person descended slowly with the gun trained on Martinez.

Gwen looked at him with a blank expression. She then put the gun at her side, "Let's go then."

She turned and made her way up. They followed.


Riding in the passenger seat of Gwen's car, Martinez gave her directions back to where they had found Gwen and Glenn. When they got there she leaned over and opened the passenger door.

"Get out."

He was confused, "I helped you."

"The deal was for your legs not room and board get out."

Usually he could have argued, but after what he had witnessed back at the house, he got out slammed the door and sped off.


Carl was stunned as a familiar car came racing up to the prison. He made sure he knew the driver through the scope of his gun before opening the gate. The car flew by him and Rick opened the courtyard gate to let them through.

Gwen got out of the car and ripped the back door open and helped Glenn out. Rick ran up to him and helped him stand until Bob came and started to take him inside.

Gwen stopped them with a shout, "He's gonna want to see this."

She popped the trunk and dragged a person with a hood over his head out of it. She dragged the by the arm till he was right in front of Rick. Then she ripped the hood off.

None other than the Governor himself was at the prison.

His hands were tied. He didn't say a word. He just glared with pure hatred in his eyes. Rick looked around at the gathering people.

Rick straightened his shoulders, "Welcome back Philip." Rick looked at Daryl who was now behind him, "You think we need a trial?"

Daryl shook his head, "What for? I say get on with the execution."

Gwen stepped up beside Philip, "I didn't say you could kill him."

They all looked at her, shocked. Rick said, in as calm a voice as he could muster, "And why not?"

She took her beretta form her holster and shot the Governor in the side of the head. Her face was still blank, "Cause that's my job."

She holstered her gun and started to walk towards the prison. She made it three feet from the door before she passed out.