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Chapter Thirty Six: Choose

It's really cloudy today; I wouldn't be surprised if it rained today. But even if it did I would just go in the tower because I did not want to be inside the cell block. It was too tense and I was too tired to deal with it. Ever since Rick scared Tyreese and his people away a few days ago he seemed to slip further and further into madness, venturing outside the fence all day, prowling the block at night. I tried to talk to him, but it was like talking to a wall. Whatever was wrong I couldn't fix it. Glenn was being pissy and was borer-line yelling at everyone. Maggie was silent more times than not, Beth was preoccupied with Judith, and Carol was useless, not doing anything but the laundry and making the beds. I made sure she didn't go anywhere near my stuff.

The night Rick got back without Daryl I moved all my stuff into the top cell on the far side of the block. But I left what was left of his stuff right where he left it. I had tried to sleep there the past several nights, but all I did was toss and turn. I couldn't sleep again, but it wasn't nightmares, it was just a simple inability. My sleeping pills had been given to Hershel and we were slipping them into Rick's drinks every night so he would get some sleep. It has thankfully worked, but we were running low. And with the way everyone was a run was not being made anytime soon. Not that I could blame anybody for not wanting to go.

I was leaning against the railing and was forcing my eyes open. I was so tired. Ever since Rick got back things went from bad to worse. It was like our whole lives had been ripped apart like a piece of paper in the hands of a one-year-old. We were broken and it wasn't looking too promising with us being put back together. I hadn't held Judith in a few days, or had I spoken to Carl. But I just couldn't find it in myself to care right now. If Rick came up to me and said that just he and I were leaving I wouldn't even bat an eye lash as I walked after him. And for the first time in a while I wished I was back home.

I remember a conversation I had with T-Dogg a long time ago, about how thinking about the past was a bad idea, that all it did was make the present situation worse. And even though I knew that was true, wishing was what I was doing right now. I wished that I was back home again, back in my house in my worn recliner with some Chinese take-out, Ricky, and The Breakfast Club on the TV. I wanted to go back to a time where my life was simple. Where the only trouble I had was whether make my students work in groups or alone. Before I lost Lori, before Rick got shot, before I knew what it really felt like to be with someone. I sounded like a big baby, but it was how I was feeling. No matter how many times I told myself he wasn't worth all of this, I still kept getting upset. I still cried.

"What are you doing?" I turn and see Michonne walking up the steps. I quickly wipe my face and give her a smile.

"Hey, what did Hershel say?" I ask as she leans against the tower wall.

"Said I needed a few more days. But I think your brother wants me gone sooner than that."

"Don't worry about Rick. He's not all there right now."

"Regardless, I don't think I'm gonna stick around."

"I wish you would consider it. It was nice seeing you again."

"How long has it been anyway? This mess has me a little off on time."

"It was three since my last session, so maybe four or five."

"We've come a long way since then." She says, face getting the closest thing it can to a smile.

"If only our ex's could see us now. They would think twice about slapping us around." I say with a smile. But what little smile she had disappeared. "I'm sorry." I say after seeing her face.

"Don't be. It made us stronger."

"And colder." I add.

"I asked what you were doing up here. Still have your talent of skirting around a question. You've been up here the past two days."

"Just keeping watch. You caught us at a bad time."

"It may have been a while since I've really talked to you, but I know when you're lying. You're not very good at it."

"What's on my mind is nothing worth repeating. Just me being whiney. I'll get over it." Michonne pushed off the wall and dropped down beside me.

"In this world, the tiniest distraction can get you killed. Make sure you 'get over it' or you talk about it before you risk anybodies lives." Then she's gone.

Her words were harsh, but like everything else about her, they were truthful and had a purpose. She had always known what buttons to push to get me to talk. When Rick first sent me to this Women's Anonymous group I had only gone to get him and Shane off my back. I would go and not talk, just go through the motions. Until Michonne got in my face one day before a meeting started. And just like now, what she said then got me thinking, and soon got me into action. I had cried at her last session.

I was looking out into the yard and Rick was back outside the fence-line again, Carol and Axel were up on the walkway and my blood just boiled. This bitch was unbelievable. The moment Sophia was gone she had turned her sights on Daryl. And now that he was gone she was moving on to Axel? The man she had been fawning over for months had been gone for three days and she was already hoping on another train? Maybe I could shoot her. I mean, Andrea had shot Daryl and nothing happened, Rick shot Shane, Carl shot Lori, people were shooting everyone anyway. It would make me feel better.

And just like that I shook my head and blinked my eyes. Where in the world had that come from? I stood up and decided to go for a walk. I needed to clear my head. If I was thinking about shooting someone I needed to get away from the problem. I went inside the block and went to my cell. I grabbed my knife, a gun, and a basket. I was going to go find some food in the woods. I hadn't really had a decent gathering trip since that first day at the quarry camp. I told Hershel where I was going and all he had asked of me was to stay close to the prison. I think he knew I needed my time alone. But I could see on his face he didn't approve of what I was doing. And he had a right; it really was a stupid idea. But I needed to get away.

I remember when I was little and my dad would wake Rick and I up early on Saturdays to go fishing or hunting with him. He worked the night-shift during the week so he would always spend Saturday morning with us for a few hours before he would go to bed for the rest of the day. I had never wanted to get up, but I always ended up not wanting them to end. Dad had been doing it as a way to spend time with us, but in the long run he was teaching us discipline and self-reliance. Skills that had paid off before this whole walker mess.

The woods are pretty thick, but the eatable vegetation is sparse at best. I had seen several poisons berries growing, but not much of anything else. I smiled and pulled out my knife and slipped up gloves on as I came to a patch of prickly pears. I had always loved prickly pears, but they were the biggest pain in the ass to peel and I had passed on them at the quarry camp. But here we actually had knives and a place that I could safely take the time to peel and cook them. The first time I had picked one was with my dad and my mom had showed me how to peel them. Rick had tried too, but he just could not do it right. I find very few berries and nuts. I guess even the animals were terrified of the walkers.

The Governor's PoV

The prison was perfect. Secluded enough to not attract a large number of biters, and the ones that did get close enough could easily be picked off. The prison fell very early; the scum of society wasn't high on the list of people to be rescued. The front-side of the prison was burnt down, easy access in theory, but it would be a deathtrap inside there. In the few days we had been scouting walkers had gone in and never came out. I had only seen a few people outside, and I had a gut feeling that there were not a lot of them. But after what they did I knew not to underestimate their leader. This Rick Grimes.

I can't help but feel very satisfied with the information I got from Andrea after our relationship went beyond the professional. Rick Grimes, a man I knew. It had to be him. What were the odds that a man who had a wife names Lori, worked as a cop, and had a sister named Kelly not be the man from past? Very slim. It was him. And that little bitch who had been in the tower most of the past several days was the lying woman who sent my little brother to jail.

There has always been the saying that blood was blood, that no matter what we were to stick up for and defend our families. So when my baby brother had fallen through my front door one evening bleeding from his mouth and nose, black eyes and several broken ribs I had defended him the best way I could; legally. I wasn't the toughest back in those days, preferred my quiet life, and being a lawyer seemed like a good career at the time, but I quickly left that dream when the legal system had failed me by not only freeing the men who attacked my brother, but by sending him to prison. Phillip was never the same after he got out.

I saw her disappear into the prison and I ordered Martinez to move to another location. I had come here with one goal in mind, but now it looked like I could kill two birds with one stone. I knew I wouldn't beat this group right now. No, they were too strong for one attack to run them off, but I could hurt them. And I knew the best way to hurt somebody was to kill. And I would kill her. I would hurt Rick, I would hurt the leader of this group and I would avenge my brother. Two in one.

Kelly's PoV

My basket was nowhere close to being full. It wasn't even half full. But while I had failed to bring back food, my head was defiantly on better. I only had to kill two walkers the whole time I was out here. I slipped back through the fence and tied it shut behind me. Hershel and Rick were talking by the fence, maybe he could get through to my brother. Our dad had always told us to respect our elders and to always listen to what they had to say. No matter how messed up my brother was, he would never be rude or mean to Hershel, no matter what Hershel did or said to him.

Axel and Carol were in the yard, and I got a great idea. Carol had always inserted herself in mine and Daryl's life; the least I could do was return the favor, even though I had no desire at all to be with Axel. He was nice, but he was kinda odd. "-Life was more simple." I hear Axel say as I get closer to them.

"Didn't you miss your brother?" Carol asks. Her voice sounding way too sweet for this to just be a simple get-to-know-you conversation.

"You have a brother?" I ask, walking up to them, the biggest smile I could get on my face. It grew bigger at Carol's face.

"Yea, he was as ass. I don't miss him at all." Axel says, immediately turning from Carol to look at me.

"Look at my brother. I know they can be a pain in the ass."

"Yours is a little nuts, but mine had a real money problem."

"What kind of problem?" I ask, feeling a little bad that I was using Axel to get back at Carol, but the look on her face was totally worth it.

"He didn't lend me any." He says, and it made me laugh, a real laugh. "One time that son of a bitch—." A loud bang, a wet splatter, and a pain in my arm was all the warning we got before the sound of gunfire filled the air.

Axel dropped to the ground and a few shots ripped through the air close to Carol and I. I drop to the ground and cover my head, Carol drops too, but she grabs Axel and rolls his body over on his side and uses him as a shield, leaving me exposed. I quickly push myself up from the ground, fighting back my screams as bullets litter the ground at my feet. Beth and Carl duck behind some benches that were outside, and I duck behind the wall and pull out my gun.

Shots are coming from the woods, but my mind concern is the shots from the guard tower. Carol is still pinned down as bullets are still going into Axel's back. I point the gun at the tower and cry out at the pain that shoots up my arm and I have to drop my arms back down. Carl and Beth get over to me and get behind me. "Aunt Kelly, you're hurt!" Carl says, looking at my arm.

"I'm fine." I say, forcing my arm back up and I point my gun at the tower. I shoot off a couple rounds at the shape in the tower, but like always I keep missing.

The gunfire falls silent for half a minute before it starts back up again. But this time we have a bit more fire power since Maggie came out with some of our big guns in her arms. She pulls me away from the wall. "You're gonna make that worse."

"Go behind those cabinets, you can get a better aim." I say, pointing at the pile of metal filing cabinets we hauled out days ago. "I'll cover you." I say and then she off. As soon as she gets there she fires off her rounds,

"Carol, go!" She yells. And soon the gunshots are echoing in the air again.

But just like before they stop. I take this moment to try and find everybody. Beth, Carl, Carol, and Maggie are by me, but where were Rick, Hershel, and Glenn? Rick was probably still in the woods. But I had no idea about the other two. Was Glenn even still here? The last time I saw him he was kind of on the war path.

It was so quiet, the eerie kind. I knew something was going to happen, something not to good. There was just this feel. I lowered my arm and bit my lip. It freaking hurt and all the strength it took to hold that arm up and the tiny recoil of my gun made it worse. I press my other hand over the injury and cringe at the sticky wetness that oozes between my fingers. Then I hear something. It's very faint. At first. But it quickly grows louder and louder. I risk peaking my head around the corner in time to see a huge truck smash right through our gates that lead from the yard to outside the prison. It parks and then nothing happens. The tension rises as do our breaths. Faster and faster we breathe as the time slows to a crawl. What was this?

A huge boom has me ducking back behind the wall, but when that's the only loud sound I peak back around the wall in time to see dozens, if not more, walkers stumble from the back of the truck. Their snarls are loud, louder than most. My chest tightens in fear. What the hell had we gotten ourselves into with this guy?

All too soon the gunfire starts again, but when I see Hershel in the yard, no gun on him I take off around the wall. Maggie and Carl yelling after me. I dodge more bullets that hit the ground around me. Again I was very grateful that I ran track. It took me a second to get the gate open and closed again, and when I turned around a person in full body armor was getting out of the truck that drove the walkers in here. I shoot at him, but I miss and it draws his attention to me, I drop to the ground as he fires at me, but he's running, obviously not wanting to stick around. He fires a few shots at Michonne but soon he's out of the yard.

I don't get too far in the yard before I'm joined by everyone who was up by the block. I guess Maggie got the guy in the tower. I toss my gun to Maggie before I pull out my knife, I can move faster this way, stab and run instead of stopping and aiming, which is what I would have to do with a gun. I don't get to Hershel because Glenn has magically shown up and got him in the truck with Michonne's help. I stab several walkers on my way through the demolished gate. The quick glance I got at Rick he was pinned down.

I run through the gate and stab at two more and I run around the gate, but it's not just Rick I see. There is another man that I have never seen helping him. I don't pay any attention to that now, I stab at another walker and I make my way over to Rick. A walker comes from the side, but before I can get him an arrow gouges through his forehead. I freeze for half a second as my brain registers what that means.

But I don't have time, as another walker pops up. I kill it and then another one. I come to a stop beside my brother who is stabbing at the fallen walkers to make sure they were dead. He looks up and my heart hurts at how he looks. I want to hug him, but I know now is not the time. The big man behind him is laughing with a huge smile on his face, and that arrow meant that Daryl was back, which meant this man was his brother.

Daryl walks up, his eyes huge and his mouth open. He walks up to me, but I just shake my head and turn away from him. I stand next to my brother as he looks out into the yard. It was full of walkers again. The yard we had worked so hard for was crawling with them again. We had just lost the sight of our water source. And unless we got the gates back up, there would be no use in killing them.

I stayed as close to Rick and as far from Daryl as I could as we made our way back up to the prison. My arm was throbbing and my eyesight was a little fuzzy. When we got back to the main part Carl opened the gate and we quickly got inside. We all went in the cell block and Rick ordered Merle into the room we had kept Tyreese's group. I didn't stay close enough to hear the fight the probably followed, I went to my cell after I told Hershel I needed his help.

I sat down on my bed and clamped my mouth closed as I pulled my shirt off. Another of my shirts bit the dust. There was a long scratch on my arm from the bullet, but it still hurt. Hershel came up right behind me. "That's going to need stitches." He says, after taking a look at it.

"Kinda figured." I say, cringing when he pocked the skin around it.

"Do you want me to get Rick up here?" I shake my head no. "Ok, I have to go get the stuff."

"Can you check on Judith for me?" I ask, realizing she was in here alone during all that.

"Beth has her, let's fix you up first." He says walking away from me. I close my eyes and lay my head against the wall.

I hear footsteps outside the cell door so I open my eyes and I see Daryl. I look for only a second before I turn away from him. He just stands there looking at me. I can feel the heat of his gaze from here. I want to say something, but I don't know what. I feel so conflicted. I'm so happy he's here, so happy he came back. But on the other hand, I'm still infuriated with him. He had left. He jumped ship the moment his worthless brother came back into his life. And now that worthless brother was here in the prison.

"I'm going to need someone to hold her arm still." Hershel says, coming back around the corner with a tray full of the medical supplies. "And I don't think she has the strength to do it herself." I swallow as Daryl slowly walks into the cell. He sits beside me as Hershel sits across from me. Hershel tells me to hold my arm out so he can clean it first. I hold it out and jump and pull it back at the sting of alcohol. But a tight, rough hand wraps around my wrist and pulls it back out to Hershel. My eyes immediately jump to my wrist. He has always been darker toned than me. His hand engulfs my whole wrist; his pinky finger is touching the palm of my hand. My arm shakes as Hershel cleans the scratch. "Ok, I'm gonna start the stitches." He says, telling me to turn and look at the wall, this puts my back against Daryl's chest. He wraps one arm around my waist and his other grips my elbow. I close my eyes against the sting of tears as the needle breaks past the already tender skin of my shoulder.

When he was done he gave me some of the painkillers that we had found in the infirmary and he left the cell, leaving Daryl and I alone. We just sit in silence. The air tense, but electric. I'm so conflicted. Every thought I have an argument follows it. Talk to him, but he left, but he came back, over and over again my brain went in circles. I'm still shaking, but it's not from my shoulder anymore. I jump when a leather vest falls over my shoulders. I look down and see its Daryl's angel-wing vest. I swallow and glance at him.

I have seen Daryl's eyes look several ways, from happy, to sad, to angry, to lustful, but I have never seen them look this way. They are almost hypnotizing in a way. When I look in his eyes I find it impossible to look away. I swallow again as he slowly raises a hand and touches my face. My eyes close for half a second before something beckons them open again. His hand his just sitting on the side of my face. "I thought you were dead." Is all he says.

But how he said it makes it mean so much more.

"Why did you come back?" I ask, my words catching as I shiver. An odd look crosses his face before he answers me.

"Because this is where I belong." He says, and I know that I have never heard a more true statement. And I also know the ball is in my court.

I know Daryl. I know words are not his thing. I know that if I turn him away now he would leave again. He didn't come back for me, but seeing me then having me turn him away would be it. And I know I can't turn him away. He didn't turn me away. Ever since I met Daryl he had always been helping me, always comforting me, always being there for me. It was my turn now. He laid everything out before me. Maybe not in word, but in his actions and the air around him.

My eyes look at his face, his dirt covered face, messy hair, his eyes, just everything that was Daryl and all the anger I felt at him melted away. He was back. He had chosen this group over his brother. Sure, it took him a few days, but it took me years to get over Phillip. Daryl had come back and I knew that he wouldn't leave again.

I turn and face him, my good arm coming up and holding the back of the hand that is against my face. Tears fall from my eyes again, but this time I let them fall. I give him a very small smile; it's all I really can do. "I love you." I say at last. My chest immediately loosens and most of my fatigue disappears as his faces breaks into a smile.

"I love you too." He says back before he kisses me.

While inside a cell in the middle of our cell block wasn't the best place for that to have happened, it was much needed. Now we lay squished together on the small bed, the blanket covered cell door closed. The rest of the group forgotten for now. My head was on his arm and I had my arms tucked against his chest, his arms wrapped tight around me. I told him about my time in the tombs and he told me what happened his few nights back with his brother. We caught up. But the best part had to have been when he reached over me and dug in his jeans. A few seconds later he pulled out the necklace he had given me. "I found this next to T-Dogg's body. I cleaned it and fixed the string." And now it was back around my neck, and Daryl was back in my arms. I knew that things were not going to look any brighter in the morning. We still had a crazy person after us, our yard was still covered in walkers, and all the other problems were still here.

But so was Daryl. And Daryl always made things right.

Note: There is the answer! and I really need your opinions!

I want to know what you think about the Governor's part. I had a hard time writing him because I was just never happy with how he turned out. So please let me know what you think.

The same goes to Kelly and Daryl's reunion. Romantic scenes are not my forte and I really didn't want them to be too Romeo and Juliet. Daryl is no Romeo.

Also the Michonne part, I always thought that she may have come from some kind of abusive background based on how she reacts to things and just based on how tough she it. So that was my idea.

Let me know what you think!

Please review!