Sorry for the time it took, but this was a long chapter. Sad thing is, while writing this one, I was also writing the next one. So. Many. Perspectives. And I like cohesiveness, so I'm writing Woodbury as a chapter and the prison as one...Both are a bit longer than normal and I hope you enjoy both.

FanFicReader47: Thank you for your continuous and honest reviews. I hope I can keep giving you chapters that are worthy of reading and can keep getting reviews. I'm looking forward to trying to throw you for loops some more.

Andrea was enthralled. Michonne couldn't tell if it was because the man was her type or simply that she suffering some kind of Stockholm syndrome. What had supposed to be a two day stay had turned into two weeks and she still didn't have her katana. She was pissed, and Andrea was eating out of the Governor's hand. Walking through the streets of Woodbury, she walked over to the military vehicles and began inspecting them. She found bullet holes and fresh blood, all telling her that her gut had been right all along. Michonne needed to get Andrea and get out of here, quick.

She was startled when the Governor called out to her as she jumped off the back of one of the vehicles, "Pretty amazing. We find more ammo, we could cut down a whole pack of biters," he told her. "I hear you and Andrea are leaving today. That's a shame. We could use a soldier like you."

"Seems like you're holding your own," she told him. "Even the National Guard was overrun."

"No amount of training can prepare you for the world today," he reasoned.

"You'd think one soldier would drive away, especially against something so slow," she told him while walking up to him slowly, hands clasped behind her back.

"Those men were heroes. Not the kind to leave anyone behind," he told her while circling her. "If only we'd gotten there sooner, and you were with us."

She ignored his attempt to convince her to stay having expected it. Biting her lip to keep from saying anything too outward, she turned to look at him and said, "Lots of bullet holes. You think biters figured out how to use weapons?"

He scoffed, "They must have encountered bandits weeks ago. It's ugly out there, but then, you know that better than anyone."

"It's too bad what happened to Wells," she said, sizing up his reaction while keeping her face trained to be blank.

"It is. Dr. Stevens couldn't revive him. Merle put a bullet in his brain."

"No funeral?"

"Cremated him, quietly. These people have been through so much," he said, almost sounding convincing if it weren't for the natural and permanent smirk on his face, "I figured, thank God, at least no one knew him."

"Thank God," she said quietly before walking off.

The man could really talk a great game. It was easy to see why Andrea was so caught up on the man. He offered what they hadn't had all winter and adding his charm to that safety, Andrea was bound to be smitten. Michonne could only hope the woman would wake up out of her cloudy state of mind before it was too late. She walked back over to the room they had been given to share and talked to Andrea about leaving. One way or the other, Michonne would be gone by the end of the day.

"If we leave soon, we'll get a few hours on the road before dusk," she told the blonde woman.

"Where are we heading?" Andrea asked her.

"I'm thinking the coast," Michonne told her while looking at a map. "We have the water completely on one side, maybe we find a boat. Best thing we can do is find an island."

"And if the coast isn't safe?"

"Keep moving," Michonne replied as if it were the obvious answer.

"Let's say the coast is safe. Then what do we do?" Andrea asked. "Just grow old, live off the sea by ourselves?"

"I'd rather take my chances out there than stay here," Michonne replied, looking up at the woman with her eyes, gauging her reaction.

"Because your gut tells you there's something off about this place, about the Governor," Andrea stated, knowing that she was being a bit of a bitch, but she wanted to stay. She'd almost died running for her life all winter long and now she was safe. Who in their right mind would want to give that up?

Michonne did look up at her then, thinking about all the times throughout the winter her gut had saved their lives, "It's kept us alive this long."

"That's true," Andrea said thoughtfully, turning to look at a map herself.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Michonne. Andrea just wanted a place to rest and relax. She'd almost died of illness on the road and here she'd been treated and had been eating better than she had since the fish fry at the quarry. Andrea simply didn't understand why Michonne couldn't put up with a few irritating nuances in return for food, shelter, and safety. She'd talked to Chrystal a few times, too, and she was more certain than ever that the girl was somehow related to Tea, but not knowing how, she was too scared to ask. That was another reason she wanted to stay; if the woman were of relation to Tea, she wanted to know. And Merle, well, he'd been around but never alone. Deciding that this might be her last chance to talk to the man, she took one of the maps.

"I'm going for a walk," Andrea told Michonne before getting up to leave.

She already had her bag packed and over her shoulder and was out the door before the woman could reply. Walking around Woodbury, she finally caught sight of the gray-haired man and pulled him off to the side. Andrea held out the map to him, noticing his confused look as he took it.

"I circled where you can find that farm I was staying at with Daryl," she told him.

He took a couple steps away from her, not enjoying the proximity, as he looked at the map. "Ah," he said. "You were right off Route 9 right before it becomes the Dahlonega Highway. And you're sayin' that the farmhouse is only about a day's walk from there?"

"Give or take," she said behind his shoulder, pointing at the map. "This is where we looked for Sophia and Tea. Even made it up around here."

He looked back at her, and then down. Call him a horn dog, but when the only woman unspoken for was the campus mule, he couldn't help but look at Blondie's cleavage. He looked back at the map for a second before checking Andrea out again.

"How come we never hooked up?" he asked her trying to be seductive and failing miserably in Andrea's eyes.

She gave a soft chuckle before replying, "You called me a whore. And a rug-muncher. And you were always high. Can't say those are attractive qualities."

He chuckled as she nodded her head chuckling with him, "Got a way with words, don't I?"

"Yeah."

"Mmm," he said as he watched her seriously. "Why you doin' this?" he asked, motioning with the map.

"I'd want the same thing if it was my family out there," she told him seriously. "Honestly, if anyone knew where Tea was, I'd give them my left leg."

"You grew sweet on the crazy bitch?" he said, sounding surprised.

"When you learn her story, it's kinda hard not to," she said sounding wistful.

"The hell could have happened to that psycho that makes her so endearin', eh?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"As Daryl told me before I ever talked to her, the girl's got nothing but horror stories. Family treated her like shit, peers too. Never felt she had a place she belonged until the farm," Andrea told him.

He checked her out again, "Sure you don't wanna come with me? Might find your psycho Tea if you do."

"Mmm," she chuckled nervously.

"You ain't curious about the old gang?" he asked, studying her as she adjusted her bag. "Ooo, oh yeah, you really was cut loose, weren't ya?"

"I'm sure they came back," Andrea said in retort, though she knew Tea would never have allowed it, not when there was no lead on where Andrea had gone and the walkers were everywhere. "I didn't stick around to find out, anyway."

"Ain' that a big ol' pig sack?" he said slowly. "We got somethin' in common, Blondie. We got left behind by the same people and saved by another."

"Have you ever thought about leaving this place?" she asked him suddenly.

"Only had one reason to, but no where to look," he told her, thinking about his brother as well as the tortured girl.

"So the Governor is a good man?" Andrea asked curiously.

"Let me just put it this way," he said looking at her straight in the eye, unable to lie outright. "I wasn't in the best of shape when he found me. He should have just kept on going. Yeah, he can be a good man," he summed up as he went to walk away.

"I've got a question about Chrystal?"

"If it's about who she's fuckin', take your pick," he said as a look of disgust crossed his face.

Andrea just gave a look that asked him if he was being an ass on purpose before askin, "Does she have any family? Like, a cousin, sister, anything?"

Merle stiffened, his mind going to the dark tales spun by the brunette. "Fuck ya wanna know for?" he asked her as he spun back around.

"No reason, just kinda reminded me of someone," Andrea said, trying to drop the subject as she watched him tense up.

"Who?" he growled.

"Just someone," Andrea said, looking away and waving him off.

"Andrea," Merle said, sounding dangerous, "you're gonna tell me who she reminds you of, ya hear?"

She sighed and bluffed, "She kinda looks a friend I went to law school with, that's all."

Merle just huffed and took a few steps away before a thought came to mind. "Hey, Blondie," he called back to Andrea.

"What do you want, Merle?"

"Your friend from law school? Didn't happen to be a Titania, did it?" he asked her, watching carefully as she tensed and her face hardened. She definitely knew who he was talking about.

"Nope," she said before walking past him with a straight back; if Merle knew that name then Tea was definitely related to Chrystal.

The new revelation made her uneasy. Tea had only ever spoken of her family according to their roles to her, never speaking their names. It was almost as if she feared speaking the names would bring the people to her. As far as Andrea knew, she'd never uttered the names to anyone, not even Daryl. And she'd never talked about extended family, either. From Chrystal's looks being so drastically different than Tea's, Andrea thought they might be cousins and it might not be a bad thing to talk to her about her. But something in the way Merle knew Tea's real name had her on edge. If he knew it and seemed that upset about her himself, that had to be a bad thing. She left to go look for Michonne, still unsure if she wanted to leave or not.

~x~

Merle joined the Governor as he was hitting golf balls towards the outside of the wall. He whistled and commented about how good the man's hit and aim was. In all honesty, Merle did give two shits about it, but complimenting the man before asking for favors was always better than just asking.

"We should visit Augusta," the Governor told him. "Take only the women and let them play. It'll be historic."

"And break decades of tradition?" Merle quipped.

"Absolutely," the Governor replied in all seriousness.

"I don't know," Merle stated, thinking about his brother. "Some things are worth holding on to. You know, I was thinking of taking Tim and Martinez out on a scouting mission later on this week."

"For what?"

"Blondie," Merle said as he stared out at the car the Governor was aiming his swings at. "She said my brother was still alive."

"Eight months ago," came his reply after only a moment's pause. "You can track with the best of 'em, but it's like a needle in a haystack."

"She told me, uh, where I could find that farmhouse they were holed up in," he told him, knowing exactly what the Governor was doing. The man was going to do everything he could to keep him from going.

"He could be anywhere," came the dismissive reply, the Governor not even looking up from his golf balls.

"I know my brother," Merle insisted. "If he's out there, I'll be able to find him."

"What if someone gets hurt during this search, huh?" said the Governor as he finally stopped playing his game and looked at Merle head on instead. "What almost happened to Crowley last time."

Merle did his best to hide the rage away as the Governor once again bent down to place a ball. "Then I'll go on my own," he said once he had his face trained.

"I get what you're feeling, I really do, but I can't risk it," the Governor said. "I need you here. This whole place would fall apart without you," he said, but the sarcasm in his voice was as plain as day.

The Governor had had his say and it was all Merle could do to keep from pounding his face in, "This is my brother."

The Governor looked at him and considered his seriousness, "Tell you what, huh? You get more concrete information, I'll go with you myself. Alright?"

Merle just sneered at the man, wondering just what the hell he was thinking listening to him. He spent the next couple of minutes internally berating himself for cutting off his balls and handing them to the man like the little bitch he'd turned into. If it weren't being an errand boy for a glorified sock puppet, it was getting defensive over a girl he'd never met. And now he knew Andrea knew who she was. He'd have to pull on that string for more information, too. Between not being allowed to go look for his brother and having a lead on Titania that wasn't sharing, he was pissed and needed an outlet. He didn't get one, though. Instead, he went back to his apartment and poured himself a triple shot of whiskey.

~x~

"Sorry to see you leave," the Governor told her as he poured himself a drink. "This place isn't for everybody."

"Thank you, for everything," she told him.

Andrea was still thinking about her conversation with Merle as well as whether or not she really wanted to leave the safety that was Woodbury. What if they didn't find any other survivors? They'd gone all winter with it just being the two of them. Here, they wouldn't have to worry about the winter, they'd be safe. If they got sick, they wouldn't have to suffer through it and almost die like she had. She just didn't want to leave the chance of safety for the road. It didn't help that the man was charming as all hell and it'd been a long time since she'd been laid. Should start thinking like Tea instead of being a hormonal teenager, she thought to herself, considering the fact that Michonne really didn't trust the man. Maybe if she took a more critical view she'd see what her only friend left saw.

"Where are you planning to go?" he asked her, sitting at his table with a bottle of brandy and one empty, one half full glass.

"The coast," she sighed as she sat down. "Michonne thinks it'll be safer."

"And what do you think?" he asked her with a slight smile. Andrea couldn't answer, just looked at and played with her hands. "Well," he continued after a moment, "her vigilance has kept you both alive."

He went to pour her a drink and she momentarily panicked, "Oh, I haven't had hard liquor in a while. My tolerance is probably close to nil."

"Lucky you," he quipped jovially. "Merle told me you provided information about his brother's whereabouts."

"What I could," she admitted. "It wasn't much."

"Well, it's given him hope," he said, Andrea detecting a bit of disdain in the statement. "If you ask me, I don't think he'll find him."

"But he's," Andrea started for both her and the Governor to finish, "gotta look."

They shared a chuckle before the Governor spoke up again, "What about you? Think you'll find what you're looking for?"

"I'm sorry?" she said confused.

"You still got family out there?"

"I lost my family," she told him. "My parents, my sister. Just had a friend I'd just made that I wouldn't mind seeing again."

"I'm sorry," he told her after taking a sip from his glass. "Lost my wife, car accident. Eighteen months before all this. Just my daughter and me."

Andrea wasn't sure what to say to that, and so held up the glass saying, "To better days."

They toasted before drinking, Andrea savoring the liquid before deciding to be honest with the man. "The truth is, I don't know what I'm looking for. For the longest time it was all about survival. Nothing else mattered. So much so, I don't what matters now."

"Pay off the car, work 50 hours a week, get married, buy a house," the Governor listed off things. "That was survival for many not long ago."

"A lot's changed," Andrea said spitefully.

"The scenery has," the Governor agreed. "The landscape. But the way we think?"

He was leaning in close enough to her that she could smell his cologne. Taking a deep breath and one last dip from her glass, she put it down on the table. "I better go. But I appreciate the drink."

"Sure," the Governor replied, slurring his words slightly as he told her, "Merle will see you out and he'll have your weapons waiting for you. Remember, if it gets tough out there, you're always welcome here."

"You're very kind," she told him as he made eyes at her. "Thank you, Governor."

"Philip."

"I thought you never told anybody your name?" she said, feeling like a little giddy.

"Someone recently told me never to say never, so," he flirted with a shrug and a chuckle.

Looking down to hide her embarrassed smile, she looked back up and told him to take care. He stepped up to her and opened the door, telling her goodbye as she walked out. Andrea was trying to get herself together. Now was not the time to be having a school girl crush on the first handsome man that came around, even if he did save her and give her food and shelter and safety. While Michonne provided her with companionship and kept her safe throughout the winter, it wasn't the same as what they had here. It was still bugging her that the other woman wanted to leave.

It wasn't long before she found the dark skinned woman. Another argument broke out between them about whether or not they should stay a few more days. Andrea had used the argument a few times already and Michonne was sick of hearing it. Whether Andrea left or not, she was leaving Woodbury today. Michonne left the apartment, followed by Andrea, though the two went their separate ways once outside.

Andrea walked over to where people were bustling about and watched as Chrystal handed drinks out to people. The girl seemed nice and friendly, but something in her gut told her that Tea wouldn't want the woman knowing where she was. Maybe keeping it to the college friend route would get her some pointers. As she was thinking, she overhead Merle walked by with another man while Milton walked up to her.

He handed her a drink that was actually cold. "Thank you. Cold drinks?" she said as she held up her hair and held the glass to her neck.

"Been running the freezers all day," Milton told her. "Not the most practical use of the generators to my mind."

"It's kind of amazing," Andrea said, impressed.

"The Governor feels it's worth it," he mumbled.

"Well, to a great party," Andrea said, toasting the man. "Now, if you would just drop me a hint about tonight."

"Hmm," he said, contemplating how to describe the evening's event. "Mere words cannot adequately describe the festivities overhead."

Michonne watched from the distance, disdain written all over her face. Walking away, she found herself on a deserted street. Looking up, she noticed it was the same street with the Governor's apartment; she could see the man through the blinds of a room she hadn't noticed when they'd had breakfast. Now that she knew where his apartment was, she could get her katana back. She waited until the Governor had left his house before she took the chance to sneak in.

Michonne immediately went to the cabinet that had her sword in it and put it on, feeling comfortable with herself again. Then she looked through some of the Governor's things, finding a journal that was half full of nothing but marks. She knew the man had a screw loose, but this was beyond what she expected. A thump brought her attention elsewhere; a door off to the side had something banging behind it. Going to the door, she tried the knob only for it to be locked. She went back over to the desk and grabbed a letter opener before heading back to the door in an attempt to get the thing open. She didn't get very far before her eyes caught sight of the bag of guns Andrea had left behind on the farm. If it was there, it meant that they'd already been around that area and the two of them had been skirting Woodbury this entire time.

Turning her focus back to the door, she barely had a chance to start up again before voices rang out in the hall. Moving fast, Michonne abandoned both the door and the letter opener in exchange for finding a hiding spot. She'd barely managed to get to safety when the door swung open.

"We can't wait, everything is ready!" the Governor said to Milton.

"I love a party as much as the next fella," the timid man said as the Governor just laughed. "Trust me, I love a party, but we're using a lot of resources."

"Yeah," the Governor replied.

"For instance, the generators," Milton started only to be cut off by the rough handing of beer to him.

"I thought you love a party," the Governor said.

"Come on, Milty, lighten up, for Christ's sake," Merle told the man. "Let your hair down, man. Have some fun for once."

"I like fun," Milton defended.

"Then there's no problem," the Governor stated.

"If I might," he tried again. "You know, I've been working on an experiment all week. It's been a challenge getting the level of power I need and with everything going on tonight-"

"What are you asking?" the Governor said.

"Postpone tonight," he said flatly.

"No way," Merle denied adamantly.

"Hang on. Let's hear him out," the Governor said, wearing an amused grin. "How long do you need?"

"I don't need long," he said.

"How long?"

"Ten days."

"No," the Governor replied with a laugh.

"Six?"

"No!"

"Well how about-"

"How about you enjoy yourself tonight," the Governor cut him off. "Begin the experiment over in the morning, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, that could work," Milton gave in.

Michonne listened to them talking and then used the distraction of them leaving to climb out a window. She continued to search the town, finding an entrance to a completely cordoned off area by accident amongst some vines. It was seemingly behind the town, but still protected. Searching it, she was disturbed to find an area covered in thick, old layers of splotchy, sprayed blood. When she found the caged walkers, however, she was happy. While she didn't know why they were there, this was the one thing she was good at and missed about being outside.

Finding a piece of metal, she broke the lock off the cage and slowly walked away while pulling out her katana. After getting roughly ten feet away, she turned and waited for the slow dead to catch up, sword up in front of her and ready to strike. With a happy smile on her face, she quickly dispensed of the first walker, cutting off an arm before slicing it's skull clean off. She butted another in the head with her hilt before stabbing a third up through it's chin, kicking it off, swinging around, and embedding her sword into the skull of a fourth. Almost as soon as she dislodged her weapon, she swung around and cut another walker in half. She then used her blade to fell a walker to the ground before she stomped on its decomposing head hard enough to smash through, making its liquefied brains seep into the ground. The final walker, she around a cut its head clean from its neck. She took a step back and sighed as she smiled satisfied at having done something she was good at. The smile stayed on her face until one of the Governor's goons caught her and took her to what was essentially an interrogation room.

Merle was standing behind her, ever the body guard as they waited for the Governor to show up. As soon as he did, Merle left. Michonne couldn't care less, though. She wanted out of the room and out of the town as soon as possible. Her weapon had been stolen once again and she was about ready to go ape shit on the entire town just to get it back.

"You get off on that?" the Governor asked her, her weapon held securely in his hand. "Pokin' around other people's things? Hmm? We got nothing to hide here."

Michonne remained quiet and staring straight ahead. She'd done nothing wrong, simply killed walkers that had no business being in the town. On top of that, they'd been locked in a part of town that obviously was restricted. If they had nothing to hide, then why were they doing just that with the walkers?

"People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so," Michonne responded quietly.

"That's fair," the man told her. "We all have our secrets, huh?"

"Like Penny?" Michonne asked, moving her eyes up to rest on the man's face.

"You know about Penny?" he asked quietly. "Then you know I loved her."

"Bet you say that about all the girls," she responded, knowing he was trying to get with Andrea.

The Governor just smiled and moved from where he was leaning on a dresser to sitting across from Michonne, "You got the wrong idea about me. I'm just a guy trying to do right by the people I care about. Now, you wanna leave, Andrea wants to stay. So you want me to take choice out of the equation. You want me to kick you out," he told her as if he'd just figured her out.

Michonne just looked at him, thinking that the man was out of his damn mind. It had nothing to do with choice or being kicked out or Andrea at all. She'd found walkers, killed them like she was supposed to, and that was that. The man was thinking way too far into things for her liking. A scheming asshole that likes to call the shots, she thought to herself blandly.

"Actually, I was about to give your sword back," the Governor said, turning around and grabbing the blade. "'Cause you fit in. We've enjoyed having you." He stood up and held onto the sheathed blade, "This is a real problem for me. People follow the rules. And whether or not it's true, they believe it's what keeps 'em alive. You've turned that upside down. You've broken the rules. And if I don't do anything, I invite anarchy. How about this? I keep a lid on your little outburst if you join the research team. You obviously have skills and you're not afraid of biters. Merle will take care of you and then-"

Whatever he was about to say died as Michonne quickly spun from her seat, grabbed her sword and twisted it from his hands, unsheathed it and held the tip to his neck. He was literally out of his mind if he thought she was going to stay in this dystopian town any longer. There was no way she would fall for his honeyed words. She'd already been there and done that once before and it had cost her everything. This time, it was going to cost her nothing, because she would walk out those gates, one way or another. She used just enough force to get her message across before she started backing away with her sword held out in front of her. The man was absolutely livid.

Merle walked in after she'd stormed out, watching the woman's lithe body get lost in the crowd, "How'd it go?"

The Governor chuckled to him, trying to calm down before saying, "She's all personality, that one."

"Do we have a problem?"

"No, no. Send Andrea over to me. You can take the research team to get more grist for the mill. I can handle this."

"Alright," Merle said before he walked out; the crazy glint in the man's eye even more apparent after whatever happened with the chocolate death machine.

~x~

The Governor was standing in front of what could only be considered the town's city hall. It seemed to be where everyone congregated the most from what Andrea could tell. This was the place she and Michonne had first been held, but it looked so much more welcoming in the daylight surrounded by people. She listened as Philip gave his speech, a small smile on her face.

"Alright," he said as he smiled out to the crowd. "First time we gathered, there was nine of us holed up in an apartment with Spam and saltine crackers. Well look at us now," he chuckled. "We've built a place we can call home. May be held together with duct tape and string, but it works. It's ours. I'll take it," he chuckled again. "So today we celebrate how far we've come. We remember those we lost. We raise a glass to us!"

Cheers broke out all around her, which brought a smile to her own face. Philip disappeared for a while, leaving Andrea to wander. She ended up going over to Chrystal and talking with her a bit more about the town, trying to find out what was happening tonight. In the end, she found out nothing about the festivities but did find out that Chrystal's parents were also alive and well. They had all been in Georgia trying to visit her sister when the outbreak started. The problem was, they'd been in northern Georgia when it all went down, and eventually were forced into splitting up. Philip had found her just before winter with a broken down car, no food, and only a few sips of water left.

"Did you ever find your sister?" Andrea asked, curious as to who the sister was.

"Oh, no, I kind of stayed here in Woodbury. I don't have a lead to finding her anyway," Chrystal told her.

"If you had a lead, would you keep looking?" she asked.

"Definitely. I can barely live without knowing where my little sister is," Chrystal told her, looking sad.

Andrea was about to ask her about Tea when Merle came up and quickly cut into the conversation, "Governor needs ya, Blondie."

He didn't give her a chance to say anything, just grabbed her elbow and all but pulled her away from the psycho bitch. She'd seen him coming up, gave him a look only he could see that showed just how depraved the woman was. It had become something she teased him with relentlessly after she'd found out mid-winter just how he felt about the whole situation with her sister. In all honesty, he'd just said the shit was fucked up and she was fucked in the head for enjoying it, but now she enjoyed giving him little looks any time anyone else outside their inner circle asked about her sister. Merle practically dragged Andrea half way to the Governor's apartment building.

"Don't go askin' Chrystal 'bout your friend, sweet cheeks," Merle mumbled to her, giving her a hard glare. "She's better off far away."

Andrea was beginning to question why Merle would say that when Chrystal seemed genuinely concerned. However, the look on his face was different from any she'd seen yet. Not only was he warning her, but his eyes were almost bulging from how pleading they looked. She opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again. Something told her that if Merle was this serious about Chrystal not finding Tea, something had to be way off about the woman. Taking a deep breath, she simply nodded her head.

"Best get goin', then. Keep away from that Chrysie bitch, ya hear?" he called after her before she entered the house.

Knocking on Philip's door, she waited for him to answer before asking him quickly, "What's wrong? Merle said it was urgent."

"I need your help," he said, walking away. "It's Michonne."

"What about her?"

"She broke in, stole her weapon."

"She can't steal something that's hers," she told him with a roll of her eyes.

"Then she went into a private place and slaughtered half a dozen captive biters."

She was taken aback by that as she asked him, "Why would you have captive biters?"

"There's a good reason I don't want to go into right now," he told her walking away.

"Okay."

"Point is, I tried to talk to her and she pulled her sword on me," Philip said. "Held it to my throat. Can't imagine that surprises you."

"She wouldn't do that unless she felt threatened," Andrea told him earnestly, knowing full well her friend was a bit standoffish, but not to the point that she lashed out on anyone and everyone.

"She makes people uncomfortable," Philip told her. "Some people want her to leave and I don't want that. It's ugly out there and it's getting worse every day. But she put my back against the wall here."

"What are you saying?" Andrea asked curiously.

"I'm saying what works out there doesn't work in here," he said giving her an angry glare. "You know, we're not barbarians."

Andrea simply told him she would talk to Michonne and left the building. Merle was waiting for her and practically escorted her back to her own building, noticing how Chrystal had been coming towards her before he walked over. It seemed he was serious about keeping the woman away.

"What'd she do that's so bad?" Andrea asked.

"Let's just say, sometimes crazy, psycho, and evil come covered in honey and looking like rainbows," he responded as he walked away.

Entering the building, she walked up the two flights of stairs and down the hallway that led to the room she shared with Michonne. The woman was already in there, flitting around the bed with everything laid out.

"We got to talk," Andrea said.

"We got to go," Michonne told her as she started packing quickly.

"The Governor told me what happened," Andrea told her. "Michonne, you can't do things like this. You're freaking people out. You're freaking me out."

"The northeast wall is guarded by some girl," Michonne said, not stopping in her tracks for a second. "We can escape there after dark," she continued while shoving a bag into Andrea's unsuspecting arms.

"We are not prisoners here," Andrea insisted, dropping the bag on the bed.

"No one who comes here leaves," Michonne told her.

"What are you talking about?" Andrea asked, completely confused by her friend's erratic behavior. "It's safe! There's food, there's shelter. There's people, for God's sake."

"That's what they show you, but you can't leave unless they make you!"

"You are not making any sense," Andrea told her. "Mich, maybe you need to sit for a minute."

"You need to trust me!" Michonne insisted.

Sick of her crap at insisting she be trusted but never trusting her enough to share the whole truth, Andrea decided, "And you need to give me more to go on. We got a good thing going here."

"I thought this was temporary," Michonne pulled back.

"And I think we need this," Andrea shot back. "I want to give this place a real shot."

"I tried!"

"Breaking into houses? That is not trying. That is sabotaging."

Michonne turned in a full circle before coming up closer to Andrea, trying to make her understand that they were only showing her what they wanted to, "This place is not what they say it is."

She forced Andrea to pack everything and make their way to the gate. Andrea wasn't happy with her, but she knew this place was a trap. Everything about this place was a cover for something else, and she was done with it. They were interrupted by Merle on the way, but Michonne was having none of it. As Merle was talking to a man on the gate, Michonne just gave Andrea a look. After she tried and failed to talk to Merle, Andrea came back over to Michonne.

"See," she told her light friend. "There's always a reason why we can't leave yet."

Andrea was actually thinking it over until Merle called out from behind them and opened the gate. They were, in fact, free to go and Michonne was being paranoid for no good reason. Andrea looked down at the ground, the conflict in her mind growing one-sided as the gate stood open behind her.

"They knew we were coming," Michonne said with a glare and a look of conviction. "This was all for show."

"Do you hear yourself?" Andrea asked, finding her friend being ridiculous. "How can you know that? And why would they bother?" As Merle called out to them, Andrea turned and told him, "Close the gates."

"No," Michonne quickly countered.

"I practically begged the Governor to let you stay," Andrea told her, trying to guilt trip the woman into staying with her.

"I didn't ask for that."

"You didn't have to," Andrea told her. "That's what friends do for each other."

"It goes both ways."

"So you wanna run around out there with walkers on chains eating twigs?" Andrea asked in an unbelieving tone. "Is that right?"

"We held our own," Michonne insisted.

"Eight months," Andrea countered. "Eight months on the road moving place to place, scavenging, living in a meat locker. That was no life. I'm tired. I'm tired. I don't have another eight months in me, not like that. And you, I..."

"What about me?" Michonne said, a look of shock and hurt spreading across her face before she schooled it again.

"I'm afraid you're gonna disappear," Andrea admitted. "We always talked about this place, didn't we? A refuge. That idea is what kept us going." She sighed as she watched Michonne consider her words.

"Are you coming or not?" was all Michonne had to say, realizing that Andrea was a lost cause and not holding onto it. That's how she survived.

"Don't do this. Don't give me an ultimatum. Not after everything," Andrea said.

"Are you coming, or not?" she restated. When Andrea didn't respond, Michonne simply walked around her whispering, "You'd just slow me down anyway."

Andrea turned around and called for her as she walked out the gates. When she got ready to follow her, Merle closed the gate on her, locked it up and walked away. She stayed and watched her walking for a while before finding a bench to sit on. All Andrea could think was that she should have probably gone with Michonne, but then, everything she did tended to be a bit too late. Been there for her sister's birthday only to have to shoot her from getting bit and turning. Judging Tea long before she ever talked to the girl only to find out that she'd had an absolutely horrible life. And now, she stayed in Woodbury while the only friend she had left in the world left to go back out into the shit show on her own. She didn't even notice Philip walk up.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out with your friend," he said from beside her, causing her to jump a little. "Weird to lose someone by their own choice. I thought those days were gone. Not sure this'll make you feel better, but I'm sure you could use a drink. Some company. Something to take your mind off it for a bit."

He stood up and held his arm out to her like a true Southern gentleman. While Andrea was upset with herself, Philip was charming and offering company. She just couldn't say no when he looked at her with those blue eyes and that cocky smile. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she accepted his arm and allowed him to walk with her, hand over hers, as they went to his apartment.

~x~

Merle drove with a couple of the others out to the sound pits. It was actually a rather ingenious creation that used wind and solar power to turn metal tubes with holes cut in them. The noise they made was grating as all hell, but they were useful in gathering biters. As evidenced by the number of walkers in the pit itself.

"Hey, alright!" he called. "We got us a bite! Yeah, we got us some! Let's hook 'em up!"

He helped them lower the net into the pits, all the while eyeing Milton with his stupid fucking notebook and stupid fucking jacket. The thing was an eyesore, the arms all wrapped in duct tape. He wore the damn thing every time he left Woodbury and Merle'd ridden his ass about it constantly until the Governor told him to knock it off. He still rubbed him about it every time he saw the damn thing, but Merle didn't constantly have a go at him anymore.

"Oh yeah," he said, looking at a biter that was trying to get to his hand through the net. "Ho, whoa! Look what we got here! Oh, yeah! Come get it, come get it! Woah! Geez!" He looked over at Milton and swung the net to show him. "Look at this one. It's too little. We're gonna have to kill it," he said with no remorse, almost as if he was talking about the runt of a litter of pigs.

"Hold on," Milton said. "There's something interesting in its eyes."

"So don't kill it?" one of the others asked.

"It's a maybe for me," Milton said.

Fuckin' maybe, Merle thought to himself as he was handed a grabbing stick. Taking it, he tossed it to Milton, "Here you go. Get your hands dirty for once! Alright, come on, then! Come on down. Let 'em down now. Come on Milty." Don't pussy out on me, he added in his head.

He damn near started laughing at the failed attempt Milton gave. The man had barely even gotten the hook around the walker's neck before it was on him. It was the fact that the biter hadn't been able to bite through his jacket that had stopped him. Martinez grabbed the biter off of him using the pole as Merle continued to hoot and holler.

"Oh! Oh man! I'll tell you what," he said to Milton waving his hands excitedly, "I take back everything I ever said about that jacket!" He turned to Martinez then, "Come here. Let me see her." He took his blade and shoved it right between the thing's eyes, internally smirking at the look of horror on Milton's face.

"Merle, check this one out," Martinez said as he grabbed the other walker from the net. "He's almost as ugly as you!"

"Holy shit!" Merle yelled. "Yeah, he's a mean one, huh? Look at him! Yeah, now get him down now. Come on, get him down."

He talked shit the entire time they were at the pits, pulling walker teeth one by one for the games tonight. While Merle was fired up for the night's events, he was also worried about Blondie. She was getting too close to the Governor and Chrystal for his liking. If she knew Titania like he thought she did, the two of them would do anything and everything to get the information out of her. No good could come of that. Thankfully, the task at hand was a little too much to have time to worry about that whole situation too much. Last thing he needed to be thinking about was not one but two women.

They continued their task until they were ready to head back to Woodbury. Admittedly, they didn't stop to have as much fun as they normally would have, but there was barbecue to get back to and all the men in the truck were hungry. Milton looked like he was about to hurl as they talked all about the food in Woodbury and what consisted as food to the dead. Merle had even gone so far as to go into gory detail about what he bet human flesh tasted like to the dead. He'd found the lines he wasn't willing to cross; that didn't make him any less of an asshole.

He was sitting and talking with the others of the 'research' team while eating his prized barbecue when he saw them. Michonne was walking side by side with Andrea, though they walked wearing different expressions. Michonne was satisfied and Andrea was unhappy. But they had their gear in hand and were heading towards the gate.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he called out to them. "Where y'all off to in such a hurry? Huh?" He got up as Andrea stopped to talk to him, only to be pushed on by Michonne. Running to catch up to them, he stepped in front of them, not really wanting Andrea to leave and also having orders if they did. "Come on now, hey! Y'all are breakin' my heart runnin' away like that."

"We're leaving," Michonne said with an air of finality.

"It's almost curfew," he mused. "I'd have to arrange an escort. I mean, the party's still goin' on." Andrea glanced to Michonne who simply held him with a glare. He considered them for a minute before reluctantly agreeing, "Alright. Wait here a second."

He walked up to the gate, "Brownie, come here." Martinez knelt down closer to the man from his position on top of the wall. "Listen to me, bro. I need you to tell me the second them girls get outta sight. I've got me a little huntin' to do, orders of the Governor. You keep an eye-"

"The Governor told us we were free to come and go whenever we liked," he was interrupted by Andrea.

Not knowing how much she'd heard him saying and not liking the encroachment of his personal space from behind, he turned around and fixed Andrea with a cold stare, "Sweetheart, nothing personal here, but you're gonna have to step back." He waited for her to walk back over to Michonne before looking up at Martinez, "We good?"

"Clear," the man shouted loud enough for the women to hear.

They looked back at Merle as he was by the gate, "Now if I was y'all, I'd find some shelter before nightfall."

He opened the gate and stepped out of the way, watching the looks that crossed both women's faces. Andrea had cracked, he could see that. She was all for staying and he was all for keeping the blondie in Woodbury until she gave up the goods on her friend. He called out to them as they were having a whispered argument, only for Andrea to tell him to close the gate and the dreadlocked woman to deny the request. Looked like he was going to be having a hunt for just one woman, not both. But that was fine. In all honesty, he wasn't planning on fully hunting the bitch. Just getting her far, far away from Woodbury and call it good. He wasn't so keen on killing a woman. Men? Sure, but women were a line drawn in the sand for him now, surprisingly enough.

When Michonne walked out of the gate, he had to commend the woman, but the look of 'her loss' that was permanently etched on his face as he shut the gate behind her didn't give anything away. He simply locked the gate as Andrea walked up and went back to his food. Tomorrow, he'd have to start the hunt, but tonight, he'd be having fun.

Updated 9/8/21