So, when writing this, my grandfather is standing next to me. I'm on holiday now, but still managed to write you something!

(Disclaimer; I do not own The Walking Dead)

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 44: Plans

Ryan

I was about to mix to dangerous liquids together, when I heard a car nearing the prison. I sat up straight, and listened. The Hyundai. And Daryl's motorcycle. They've returned.

I quickly pulled the gloves of my hands, and stood up. I felt relief. The Governor didn't make a joke, saying that he just wanted to talk. I honestly expected it would be a trap, or even worse; a masquerade.

I ran through the cellblock, and met Glenn on my way. "Is it them?"

He nodded, worries crossing his face. He was holding a shotgun, and when he saw me looking he shrugged. "Just in case."

He walked towards the exit leading to the courtyard, followed by Maggie. I walked after them, but I somehow felt the urge to look over my shoulder. And when I did, I regretted it. Beth stood there, with Judy in her arms. We looked at each other for a second, then both looked away.

I greeted Rick with a nod, which he surprisingly returned. He then looked over his shoulder, and closed the door of the car. He seemed worried, as if there was something out there. Or someone.

"Let's get back inside."

Inside the cellblock, we formed a circle around Rick. I stood next to Glenn, who gave Merle a cold look. Merle just snorted amused, and I really wished I could cut his throat right there.

"So, met this Governor" Rick began, and his voice echoed through the cellblock. "We sat down, for quite a while."

Worries crossed everyone's face. Rick chose his next words carefully. Merle let the gun he was holding res on his shoulder. "Just the two of you?"

"Yes" Rick answered. Merle turned his back on him, and stepped away.

"Should've got him when you had the chance."

Daryl glanced at his brother, but did nothing. Glenn narrowed his eyes at Merle. I softly hissed at him, and he glanced at me. I shook my head. Not worth it, man.

"He wants the prison" Rick continued. "He wants us gone. Dead. For what we did to Woodbury."

Carol put her hand over her mouth, and Maggie got real pale. Glenn rubbed her shoulders, trying to comfort her. Hershel looked at the ground.

"But we won't. We're going to war." With that said, Rick walked out of the cellblock, leaving us stunned. Daryl made eye contact with his brother for a second, sending a message only they could understand.

Darren, who had been on the background, blinked with his eyes. He had a large shotgun hanging over his shoulder, and it seemed as if he didn't want to remove it. Ever.

Beth, whom I tried not to look at turned her back on me with Judy in her hands. She walked into one of the cells.

Michonne nodded at me, asking for my attention. We hadn't spoken since what happened to Liam, and the look on her face told me that it wasn't her attention to talk about my dead brother right now.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked randomly. I lifted my eyebrows, not understanding what she means.

"Are you going to stay here?" she explained.

"Of course I am" I said, folding my arms. Michonne narrowed her eyes.

"Why would you? There are not a lot of people happy with you being here. And if I heard it correctly, your girlfriend even left you."

I looked at the cell where I saw Beth disappear just seconds ago. "That's true. So what? There are more people I care about. And why are you here?"

Michonne shrugged. "I want to get rid of this Governor just as much as they do. Liam told me that he held you in a basement for some time. But you don't really look like a man who's looking for vengeance."

I shook my head. "I've got more important things to do than to get my revenge on some bully."

"Like what?"

"Like making a cure that will save humanity, or something like that" I said, trying to sound not impressed of myself. Michonne really didn't look impressed at all.

"And you think you can do that with the Governor knocking at your door every few days?"

I shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

Michonne rolled with her eyes, annoyed. It seemed as if she was trying to make me hate the Governor. Trust me, I did, but he was not my number one priority at the time.

"What do you want, Michonne?" I asked.

"I want to help you, and you need to help me" she said mysteriously. "Liam and I talked about some things during our time together, in here. I don't think he told you about my pregnancy at the time of our break-up…"

"What?!" I said loudly. Michonne snorted with a smile, surprised by my reaction.

"I know, it's sad right?"

"What happened?" I immediately asked. That's just me again, not asking about a name, or the gender, but directly to the serious stuff. Michonne bowed her head sadly.

"I gave it up for adoption. I was trying to look for him when it all went down in the cities, but no luck…"

I felt sorry for her. With Liam being her ex, or something like that, she was part of my family. Know that I knew I was an uncle to a baby, Michonne was to be my sister-in-law. I lay a hand on her muscled shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

Michonne smiled sadly. "Liam and I were planning to go look for him after we got rid of the Governor, but…things didn't work out the way we wanted."

"You're still going to, right?" I asked, and while I did, I started realizing what she wanted to ask me. She saw me thinking that, and waited for an answer. "Michonne...I…"

"I can't do this on my own. You and Liam lived your whole lives in the city. I have an address, I know where to look. I know we won't find him there, but maybe we can find some clues to where he is now, or where he went."

I shook my head. "It's a long shot. There's a possibility you'll never find him."

"It's worth a shot."

"So is saving these people too" I said, with an arm pointed in the direction of Beth's cell. "The possibility of me making a cure or antidote is likelier to happen than finding a toddler in a dead city. I'm sorry Michonne, but I can't help you."

I wanted to walk away, but she grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Listen to me, Ryan. What do these people do for you? All they do, is disgrace you. Why would you want to save the people who don't give a damn about you?"

"Because I give a damn about them" I said, spitting out the words. "Don't tell me you don't care about them."

She let go of my arm, and I saw a change in her face.

"Don't tell me you'll just turn your back and walk away if something was to happen to them" I continued, knowing I hurt a vulnerable spot. "You may not care as much about them as I do, but you don't want to see them dead either."

"Maybe" Michonne said softly. I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans, and waited for her to say something more, because I knew she wanted to. And yes, there it was. "I just stay here until the Governor is gone, forever. After that, I'll probably go find my son."

I nodded. "Good plan. But you could also wait for me to be finished with the cure, before doing that. Then I can accompany you."

She shrugged. "Maybe."

Rick

I sighed, as I walked up the stairs in the D-block. I could hear the ripping sound of mattresses being torn apart. Yeah, he was in here.

I found him in one of the cells, sitting on his knees, with all the foam lying around.

"The best math should be in here" Merle said, as if he knew it was me. "Psycho's always have the best in their mattresses. But this place sure ain't a party."

He sat down, with his back against the wall, catching his breathe. I came to the entrance of the cell, and opened my mouth.

"If we give the Governor Michonne, he'll stop."

Merle sat up, and stood on his feet by hearing the words. "Michonne, huh?"

He looked at me, and narrowed his eyes, as if he was analysing me. "You haven't told anybody else, uh?"

"Just Hershel, Daryl, and you."

He chuckled. "The inner circle. I'm honoured."

"We need your help" I said, and I didn't like it. Merle laughed at my face.

"My help? To do your dirty work?" Merle shook his head. "Y'know, when me and him went on a supply run, he always blasted a skull, or cut a head off. To save bullets, he said. But I know it's just an excuse…."

Merle's face got a cold expression. "I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things. About people. And man, I thought a lot about you, officer Friendly. Go ahead, give him the girl. He won't kill her. He'll do things to her. Probably take on of her eyes out."

He got even closer, and I just tried to keep a straight face. "You really wanna do that to her, just to get a shot? You'd really do that?"

I just looked him in the eyes, and said nothing. Merle shook his head.

"You are cold as ice, officer Friendly."

That's when I had enough of it. "We'll meet him at noon. Be there."

I then walked away from him, with a last chuckle echoing while I left the cellblock.

Darren

I walked in circles in the hall. The door to the lab was right there, but I couldn't find the courage to lay a hand on the doorknob. I sighed, again. This will take ages.

I tried to practise the speech I had formed in my head. So, Ryan. I kissed Beth the other day, and I wanted to let you know; I don't have feelings for her. She's pretty and all, but not my type. She's all yours.

Wait, those weren't the words. I had prepared something else, right? Something about it being an accident, and that I don't want to screw up everything that was there between them…

I close my eyes. This is never going to work. What am I supposed to do?

The only good option, might be to just go in there, and see what happens. If I was to just wait till he found out himself, things would get even more complicated than they already were.

I guess I didn't have a choice.

I took a deep breath, and stepped towards the door. My hand was hanging above the doorknob, but then I stepped back again. I couldn't do it. I was too weak.

"Pussy" I mumbled to myself, just a little too loud.

"It's open!" Ryan shouted from the other side of the door. Crap, he heard me. There was no going back now.

I turned the doorknob, and the door opened with a soft click. I had never been in the lab, but I heard stories about it being a mess. But when I stepped inside, it seemed very tidy. As if Ryan had been cleaning up some time.

"Oh, Darren" Ryan said surprised. "Didn't expect to see you here. What can I do for you?"

Ryan was sitting on a chair, seemingly taking a break. He had a bandana around his head, keeping the hair out of his face. There were gloves laying on the table, with some blue substance on them. The same substance sat on Ryan's jeans and shirt.

"Oh, nothing" I said nervously. "Just….uh….I need to tell you something."

Ryan lifted his eyebrows. "That doesn't sound good. What's wrong?"

"Well, you didn't do anything wrong…" I stuttered, and I heard my voice was getting softer and softer with every word. "I did."

Ryan crossed his arms and listened. "What did you do?"

"I…uh." I looked at the ground, and decided to just throw it out. "I kissed Beth."

Silence. No response. All there was, was a silence. And it scared the shit out of me.

I slowly looked up to see Ryan's face. But it was not what I expected.

Ryan looked at the table, at the gloves to be exactly. He scratched the blue substance off from one of the fingers.

I blinked with my eyes. Seeing him like this confused me. It looked as if he didn't care. At all.

"Did you hear what I just said?" I asked carefully, and Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, I heard you."

"Aren't you mad?"

Ryan sighed, and bowed his head. "I'm hurt, that's all. But this is also the first sign that tells me that Beth is moving on."

I know raised my head entirely, and looked him in the eyes. "What?!"

Ryan stood up from the chair, and stood behind it. "If she kissed you, or you kissed her, or whatever, it means she's over me. Don't get me wrong, I still love her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Then why aren't you screaming, shouting, throwing stuff around?" I asked a little angry. Ryan only smiled slightly.

"Why would I? If this is what makes Beth happy, so be it. It would also be a huge shame if some of this stuff would be broken…"

"Do you even listen to yourself?!" I said even louder. "I kissed your ex on the same day she broke up with you! You're supposed to beat the shit out of me right now!"

Ryan shrugged. "I don't want to. Beth is a person I care deeply about. And she seems to care about you, so why would I hurt you?"

I stepped towards him, and stood in front of him. "C'mon, hit me! In the face! C'mon, I know you want to!"

Ryan softly pushed me away with his hand on my chest. "Darren, I don't need to. I think you should leave now. I have to get back to work, otherwise I'll never finish it."

"Why are you still doing this stuff?!" I said, waving my arm across the room. "Your girlfriend broke up with you because of this. Why are you still doing it?"

"Because I have to" he answers calmly. "I made this whole apocalypse happen. I'm the only one who can stop it. We all have to make sacrifices in our lives. If Beth is one of mine, there's nothing I can do about it."

I blinked with my eyes. Ryan made the walker-virus? That was new to me. I didn't understand what he was doing in here, but know I knew. And it made the whole situation sound even more stupid.

"She left you, because you were trying to save us all?!" I shout. Ryan lay both his hands on my shoulders, in order to calm me down.

"No, not because of that. I was going crazy, I was hurting her. She can't be with me because of that. And as long as I'm working on this cure, we can't be together."

"But you're not going crazy anymore!" I said, not even certain of my words. The fact that he was so calm about his girlfriend moving on so fast, wasn't exactly what a normal person would do. "And you two not belonging together; that's bullshit!"

"You may think that" Ryan said, lifting his shoulders. "But I know I'm right. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a world to save…"

I shook my head, stepping towards the door backwards. "You're wrong, man. You and Beth…you can't be separated like this. You two belong together, and I'm going to prove it."

"Try all you want, Darren" Ryan said with a slight chuckle. "Send me a postcard."

Maggie

I gave Glenn a last kiss, before I left the watch tower. We were both on watch duty again, for the first time since the walkers broke into the cellblock.

I walked down the stairs, towards the courtyard, with a feeling of happiness. Everything was good between us. We had found each other again, and both realized that the way we had treated each other after what happened in Woodbury, was wrong. But now, everything would be alright. We would fight side by side against the Governor.

I walked into the cellblock, and put down the gun in the inventory. I was supposed to get some rest, but I felt too energetic for that at the moment.

Instead, I walked towards my dad, who sat on the stairs in the cellblock. I gave him a kiss, and sat down next to him. "I'm glad you're back."

Dad put an arm around my shoulder, and pulled me towards him. "Me too. But I do not like the way I came back."

I nodded. "We're at war."

"Yes" he sighed. "Yes, we are."

"But we'll win" I said. "We'll get rid of that Governor, and save everyone."

My dad chuckled, and I looked up. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just…we've come so far, already."

"What do you mean?" I asked, not understanding. He looked sadly at me.

"We've lost so much, already. But we always find the strength to keep going. That's…remarkable. I'm impressed over and over again, about how strong you girls are."

I smiled. "What are you saying?"

I saw his face get a little sad expression as he looked me in the eyes. "If something were to happen to me, I want you to be strong. I want you both to be strong. We all got jobs to do in this life. I want you to always do your job, whatever happens."

This really scared me. Everything in my life was going well, why did he have to say something like this?

"Don't be silly, daddy" I said, resting my head on his arm. "I won't let anything happen to you. We'll stay together, always and forever. Don't worry."

"I hope so" I heard him say, as he softly patted me on my head. Then, I heard footsteps. I looked up, and saw the new guy walking towards us.

"Darren" my dad said, as if he greeted an old friend. Darren seemed a little uncomfortable. He kept moving his feet around, with his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Uh…hi." He scratched himself behind his neck, and then, surprisingly, turned towards me. "I was actually….I was wondering….could we talk?"

I looked at my dad, and back to Darren. "Uh, sure. Go ahead."

"I mean…in private" he stuttered. I lifted my eyebrows. Was this some kind of date he was asking me on?

"I just…need some advice" he tried to explain. I frowned. We've never talked before. All I know about him, is his name. Why was he coming to me for some advice?

"Just go" my dad suddenly said, and I looked at him questionably. He glanced at Darren, and back to me. "It's something private. I'll wait here."

I stood up, a little confused. Darren mumbled something I couldn't hear, pointing towards the exit. I looked over my shoulder to my dad, who gave me a wink.

Darren and I walked onto the courtyard. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to the catwalk, where I could see Rick disappear from, to somewhere into the prison.

When Darren was sure we were alone, he started talking. "So, here's the thing; I did something I'm not very proud of."

I folded my arms. So it's about that. "I know. You kissed my sister on the same day she broke up with her boyfriend."

His jaw dropped, and he got pale. "She…told you?"

"Yeah, she did" I said with a little sneer. "Now, what advice would you need from me?"

Darren ran with his fingers through his hair. "I told Ryan about what happened."

I widened my eyes. "And? How did he react?"

Darren shook his head. "He went crazy."

"I knew it" I said, thinking he was meaning that Ryan had swung a chair across the room or something. Darren seemed to read my thoughts.

"It's not what you think" he said. "He didn't react the way he's supposed to."

"What did he do, then?"

"He just…he seemed to be OK with it."

I frowned, not believing what I was hearing. "He's…OK with it?"

"I know, it's weird" Darren continued, walking in circles. "I ask him way, and he said that he was OK with it, if Beth was happy. He didn't care about himself, only about if Beth's happy."

I stared at him, progressing the words. I didn't want to say anything, not yet. I did not know what to say.

"First of all; I think the reason why Beth broke up with him is bullshit" Darren said, which surprised me. "He's trying to save everyone, I don't know why she-"

"He was hurting her" I interrupted him. "He wasn't healthy anymore."

"But he won't hurt her now" Darren said, with his arms in the air. "He changed his life, all for her! And she just…left him."

"She broke up with him, because I asked her to do it" I said, and Darren immediately shut his mouth. I felt guilty again, realizing what I had done. "She had bruises all over her arms. I couldn't let that happen to my sister. She's been through a lot lately. She had waited for Ryan to come back for months, and this is how he treated her. I wasn't OK with that, so I told her what to do."

Darren crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not fair. You telling her what to do."

"I know" I said calmly. "But I couldn't let this just happen."

Darren nodded, as if he understood. "But it didn't make Beth very happy. I heard her tell the baby a story about a prince who gave his wife up for gold. She's confused, very confused. Heartbroken. Ryan's not himself. He's trying to be, but he's only focusing on his lab, trying not to think about her. But I think we can fix that."

"What do you mean?" I asked, remembering why we were here in the first place; he wanted advice.

"We're gonna bring them back together" he said, with a mysterious grin.

Beth

"…And they lived happily ever after" I ended another story, fighting back tears. Judy reached out for me with her thick arm, rubbing over my cheek, as if she wanted to comfort me. I smiled. "You're going to be a magnificent princess when you grow up."

Judy giggled as I tickled her in her belly.

"Time for bed" I said, as I lifted her up in the air. She let out a sweet baby-laughter, and I smiled with her.

I put her in the crib Carl brought back from the run for guns. It was a nice crib, even though it was supposed to be used for vacation. Judy didn't know better, and just enjoyed it a lot.

I gave her a soft kiss on her forehead, and waved at her. She mumbled some jabber and waved back at me.

I then walked out of the cell, and almost bumped into Merle. He grinned, as I he enjoyed the awkwardness. I stepped away from him, and wanted to walk away.

"Nah, I don' think so, lady" he said, and grabbed my arm. His grip was very strong, and pulled me back with a swing. "Yeh're not gettin' away that easily."

I tried to free my arm, but he was too strong. I quickly looked around, but there was no one else in the cellblock to help me. Dad had gone for a walk with Maggie, Glenn had watch duty with Carol, and I had no idea where the other's were. "What do you want?"

Merle shrugged. "Jus' an update. I mean, I didn' see Ryan today. Have you tol' m yet?"

"Why do you care?" I asked, because I didn't understand why he kept looking me up. Merle narrowed his eyes slightly, and let my arm go.

"Because as long as he's busy with you, he's not working properly. The past days, all he's done, is screwing things up. You're in his mind all day. He'll never finish this cure we all want, as long as you're walkin' around here."

"So whatcha gonna do?" I said, my heart beating in my ears. "Kill me?"

Merle chuckled. "Now, that would be silly, wouldn't it? I'm gonna tell 'm you and Darren hooked up. He'll go crazy for a while, but move on and get this cure done."

"You can't do that" I said coldly, and Merle snorted amused.

"Why not? Free country. Maybe not under the 'Ricktatorship', but still; these are the US, sweetheart."

"Merle!" a voice suddenly said, and I turned around. Darren was walking up to us. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" Merle said, playing with his ridiculous knife arm. Darren eyed him.

"There's nothing you can do, I already told him."

"You did whàt?!" I almost shouted, my voice being hysterically high. Darren didn't look at me, but focused on Merle.

"Well then" Merle said, stepping away from us. "My work here, seems to be done then."

He disappeared into the prison, leaving the two of us in the cellblock. I gave Darren a shove.

"Why did you do that?"

"What? Saving you?"

"No, telling Ryan we kissed!" I said angrily, and I already heard Judith cry again. "Shit, we woke her up."

I wanted to go to her, but Darren stopped me. "Just, listen. I can explain everything."

I put my hands on my hips, and waited for it. "Go ahead."

"Ryan's not mad at you or me about what happened" was the first thing he said, and it already made me feel cold. Good, old Ryan. "He's actually happy for you. He thinks you've moved on, but I know you're not. You're unhappy, and so is he. Don't you think you should do something about it?"

I shook my head, feeling tears in my eyes. Judith was still crying loudly, I really had to calm her down.

"There's nothing I can do" I said, wiping the tears of my cheeks. "I broke up with him, because it was the best thing to do. We don't belong together. We can't be."

"Now, that, is bullshit" Darren said, with more anger than I thought was in that nice guy. "I've been here for…what? 10 days? And I can already see what's between you two. I've seen this before, with my parents. They were separated for a couple of years, thinking it was the best thing to do. But it wasn't. They were unhappy, very unhappy, until the decided to give each other a call, meet up later, and that's how I was created."

I blinked with my eyes, before I actually understood the words. "You think…we should get back together?"

Darren folded his arms. "I don't think it; I know it. What's happening here, isn't the right thing."

I shook my head, glancing at Judy's crib. Without saying anything, I walked into the cell and took the baby in my arms. I walked back to Darren, giving Judy a kiss.

"It's up to you" Darren said, a little softer now. He then turned his back on me, leaving me in another dilemma.