FanFicReader47: I'm excited at where I have this going with Merle, and eventually Andrea. Just gotta get through the Michonne/Merle drama for that whole snare to resolve. Both your other questions will be revealed in this chapter. I'm looking forward to your reaction to how I have the next couple chapters set up. I'm excited about the chapters, so I hope you like them too. Happy reading! And thanks for the reviews! I'm loving interacting with you.
Merle walked into the room. Glenn had already been smacked a couple times by the others and duct taped to a chair. He glared at Merle, who gave him a glare of his own as he walked up to the man.
"Now, now," he said with his hand raised. "It's just us and your girl in the next room. Now, I'm gonna have ta rough ya up a bit, put on a good show," he walked over to a wall and banged on it. "Ya hear that, girly? We gonna put on a show. And then we're gettin' the fuck outta here and you're takin' me to my brother," he said, walking back over to Glenn and pulling out a knife from his ankle. "We got us an understandin'?" Glenn looked reluctant, but nodded after a moment of consideration. Merle walked up and placed the knife at the man's back, carefully sliding it through his belt loop. "Now, here's where the show starts. Put your tongue between yer teeth," he said, watching the man do as he said before delivering a blow.
Merle tried to hold back. He pounded the man good and bloody, never once apologizing. It was a necessary part of the game they were playing. Glenn didn't back down though, and headbutted the man, causing Merle to get even more heated as his nose bled, yelling about where their camp was the entire time, losing himself in the show he was putting on. For a moment, he completely forgot that he was supposed to be holding back and started going to town on Glenn's chest and stomach too. He took a step back and looked at his handiwork.
"Shit," Merle said. "Dammit boy! You got more in ya than I took ya for."
"Why are you helping us?" Glenn asked, his breathing slightly labored as Merle had got him good.
"Shit, now, ain't that the million dollar question," Merle said honestly. "I wanna be back with my baby brother, that's why. Ain't got no business bein' in this place. Few too many souls bound below, if you catch my drift."
"You've changed," Glenn stated.
"Maybe, maybe I just found out I ain't had it the worst like I thought," Merle mused.
He left the room as Glenn was about to ask another question. No doubt in how he'd figured out his life hadn't been so bad. No way in hell was he going to be telling these people about Chrystal, let alone Titania. He left the building to seek out the Governor, instead finding Andrea talking to one of the citizens about how things were run. Walking up to her, Merle interrupted the conversation saying he needed to borrow Blondie for a moment.
"Now, I wanna know about this friend of yours," Merle told her.
"Does it have anything to do with your grudge against Chrystal?" she asked in response.
"Maybe it does, maybe it don't."
"You weren't that great of a big brother once upon a time yourself," Andrea told him, feeling bold and seeing if she could get any information out of him.
"Think I don't know that? Hell, been thrashin' the boy his whole life. Got a lot a makin' up to do," he said, revealing what Andrea wanted to know.
"So, she is Chrystal's sister," Andrea muttered, but Merle heard it.
"You keep that shit to yourself, ya hear?" Merle said grabbing her shoulders roughly and looking around and making sure no one from their inner circle heard. "You know where she is?"
"No more than you do your brother," Andrea said, not knowing he actually had a lead on the both of them.
"Yeah, 'bout that. Shit's goin' down, and soon. Might have to make a run for it. You game?" Merle said, looking at her.
"I can't, not yet."
"If it's about Chrystal, you keep your trap shut on knowin' her sister. That bitch-"
"Is a psycho, yeah, I know. Her dad knocked her out and left her in the forest over a question. Chrystal started a damn bully campaign over her name just because they were in the same grade," Andrea said, looking off and sounding disgusted.
"So you do know her. Care to share?"
"Let's just say, she's closer than you think," Andrea said, enjoying the look of confusion on Merle's face as she smiled at him, slightly checking him out again before walking away; the fights had really shown him in a different light, and now this. All he'd have to do is find Daryl and he'd find the girl he was so desperate to protect it seemed.
They both walked over to the Governor's, Merle watching her ass the whole way. "So why the hard pass?"
"If something's brewing, staying here a day or two might just be needed to give you a heads up."
"Smart, Blondie. Where'd you come up with that?"
"It's what Tea would do," she said.
"Yeah, that crazy bitch. She ever admit to hookin' up with my brother?"
Andrea coughed and chuckled, "They, uh, were pretty much joined at the hip from the time they found out you'd been left in Atlanta 'til the farm got over run. Though, at the farm, Tea took up a leadership role."
"Y'all trusted that nutcase to lead?!" Merle said shocked.
"She was actually pretty good at it. Put Lori in her place a time or two for not letting up on the domestic stuff," Andrea told him. "Though, she did kill Shane."
Merle looked at her completely baffled, "Did she now? Why would she go and do a thing like that?"
"He tried to rape her. She fought back and won. I don't see a problem with it," Andrea told him.
"Damn, never thought she had it in her. Sure could pack a punch, though."
"That she could," Andrea said, noticing the Governor coming out of his apartment with Martinez.
"Just the people I wanted to speak to," he said, walking up to them. "Andrea, would you wait in my office. I'll be right along."
They watched her walk into the building before the Governor turned back to Merle, "So, what'd you find out?"
"Not much. Tough son of a bitch to crack," Merle said. "Wailed on him good for a good while and he still wouldn't talk."
"So they know Andrea."
"But they don't know she's here."
"But they do know your brother."
"He does. But I don't know about her. I've never seen her before."
"Their people may come for 'em."
"Maybe, the kid and Andrea both say they went back for me."
"So what? He won't break, say where his people are?"
"He's a tough son of a bitch. I threw a walker in there with him after you left," Martinez said. "He took it apart in minutes."
"Maybe a winter in the sticks put some hair on his balls," Merle said.
"We'll need him for leverage if his people come," Martinez said.
"What's the girl say?"
"I was just about to go talk to her next," Merle told him.
"I'll take care of it," the Governor said, much to Merle's dismay. Thank God, he'd warned the pretty girl beforehand.
~x~
When Philip entered his office a short time later, Milton was at his side. He explained all about Milton's experiment and how he needed her with him. The man was a little naive when it came to walkers, and his experiment, while necessary, might go wrong very easily. Andrea, knowing how to handle herself, was the perfect candidate to watch over the entire process and end the experiment if necessary.
Milton led her to an apartment and introduced her to Mr. Coleman. After a few minutes of just standing there doing nothing, she asked Milton, "So, what exactly are you-?"
He quickly cut her off, "Could you cue up the first song on the record?"
"Sure," she said.
"On my mark," he said.
After using a singing bowl, he nodded to Andrea and then began asking a serious of questions to the man. The man responded to the questions positively, proving he was still cognitive. The man whispered into Milton's ear, and Milton nodded his ascension.
"He's asked that we keep it playing while we wait," he told Andrea, who walked around the room, looking at the various items. "After Mr. Coleman passes," Milton said after a while, "we'll restrain him. He'll reanimate. I'll ask the questions again, record his responses. I need you to end the subject's reanimated state."
"Alright," was all Andrea could say, thinking this idea was absolutely stupid.
"I've been trying to determine whether trace memory and human consciousness exist after the subject has transformed, but I had no baseline to work off of 'til now," Milton told her. "Prostate cancer. We didn't have the resources to treat it, so he volunteered to be the test subject. He's been very cooperative. He's a remarkable man."
"You're close?" she asked as she watched him take a drink of his tea.
"We spent a lot of time together. The son, the singing bowl, the questions. We've done that a few dozen times. These are cues that will hopefully linger in his unconscious mind after he's died."
"There is no unconscious mind, Milton," Andrea told him, remembering the CDC. "When they turn, they become monsters. That's all. Whatever they once were, it's gone."
"We'll see," he told her.
She studied him as he walked away, "You haven't seen this before, have you? The transformation?"
"No," he said, grabbing a file off his desk.
"No one in your family was-?"
"I'm an only child. My parents died when I was young."
"Weren't you with anyone when everything went down?"
"I telecommuted to work. I never really," whatever he was going to say was left to hang as he suddenly bent to check Mr. Coleman's pulse.
Clearing his throat, he motioned for Andrea to help him restrain the now still body of the man. It was several hours later that he began to reanimate. Milton had passed the time with his notes while Andrea just watched him uncomfortably as he continued to deny the truth.
"It's happening," she told him when she noticed Mr. Coleman's eyes opening.
Milton did the singing bowl and then cued Andrea to start the song, "My name is Milton Mamet. Please raise your right hand off the bed if you recognize any of the following statements to be true. Your name is Michael Coleman." No movement. "You were married to Betty Coleman," he said as he held up a picture. Another picture being held up, "You're children were Michael Jr. and Emily." The restrained wrist barely started to move when Milton got excited, "Did you see that? He responded."
"The fingers move. That could be anything," Andrea tried to reason.
"No, he can't raise his hand. It's the angle. I want to try again, without the restraints."
"No," Andrea said firmly.
Milton stood up, "We may have tethered his consciousness. We have to try. I know what happens if the subject comes for us. That's what you're here for."
"As soon as we pull the restraints, he'll lunge," she told him.
Of course, he wouldn't listen. He put down his journal and sat on the bed, undoing the restraint while repeating his earlier words. As she predicted, as soon as the restraint was off, the corpse grabbed hold of Milton's shirt and tried to pull him down to take a bite. Andrea's well placed and well timed blade was the only thing that saved him from being bitten. Milton just sat there shocked for a few seconds before standing, unable to even look at Andrea.
"I think I'd like to record my findings while they're fresh."
Andrea just looked at him and left the room.
~x~
Merle was pissed. He knew the Governor would pull something. That's why he warned the girl in the truck, but that didn't mean he liked seeing the girl paraded around the torture rooms topless, her arms the only coverage given. He'd tried to help them as much as he could. He'd been the one to 'question' Glenn, but Merle hadn't been able to get to the girl to help her. As he walked into the room Glenn was in, he was happy to see the man wasn't stupid enough to bring out the knife just yet.
Instead, the broken arm of the chair was held up as his weapon when Merle held up his hands, slightly gesturing with his eyes and head towards Martinez. A moment later, the Governor came in with Maggie in tow. Merle gave Glenn a pitiful look, eyes downcast in shame as the Governor held onto the girl, still without her shirt. Man took a leaf right out of Chrystal's fuckin' handbook, he thought scornfully.
"Now, we're through playing games," the man said while pulling out a gun. "Now one of you is going to give up your camp."
He acted like he was going to press it to Maggie's head, but then went and pressed it to Glenn, who shook his head at her. She was already frazzled enough, though, Merle could tell, and she immediately stepped forward and said, "The prison."
"The one near Nunez?" Merle asked
"That place is over-run," Martinez said.
"We took it."
"How many are you?"
"Twelve. We have twelve now."
"Twelve people cleared that whole prison of biters?" the Governor said, sounding slightly impressed. He walked over to Maggie and grabbed her watching as Merle looked anywhere but at him and Glenn looked broken. "Shh, shh, shh. It's alright. It's alright," he hugged her and gave her a kiss on her head. "It's alright." He shoved her at Glenn then, walking out.
Martinez followed him, leaving Merle to walk out backwards with a look that told Glenn all he needed to know. Merle hadn't been a part of anything that happened to Maggie. Whatever had changed him had also changed his view on women to a certain extent. Whatever it was had him livid at Maggie's treatment and he tapped his thigh with his blade, nodding his head at Glenn who nodded back. A silent agreement to keep the knife hidden and ready.
He followed the men back to the Governor's office as Milton joined them. Hearing the new information, he couldn't help but say, "Twelve people? That's deep in the red zone. There's no way only twelve people-"
"So she's lying?" the Governor cut him off. "'Cause if she's lying, that means a pretty sizable force has moved into our backyard. But if she's not, this group with your brother at its core has done something you told me couldn't be done. They did it."
"Yeah, well, we ain't got the brain power they do. That girl Tea coulda come up with a plan that we didn't think of. She was smart like that. Damn near planned all the runs back in Atlanta and had one hell of a fightin' spirit," Merle told him.
"Really now? How smart was she?" the Governor asked, the same glint in his eye from earlier.
"How the hell should I know?" he lied; even if she was crazy, there was no way he was handing her over to the Governor after what he just witnessed. "Just know the woman could take down more walkers by herself than any of the guys here, includin' me."
"So she alone could have managed to handle the onslaught, is that what you're saying?" the Governor asked, thinking about the female leader of this unknown group.
"With the others helpin' her, yeah, I'm sure she coulda figured out a way to do it," Merle said, thinking back to that first run.
"Interesting," the Governor mused. "You know, your brother might be out there right now with her, searching for those two. Blood is blood, right? Makes me wonder where your loyalties lie," he said, giving the man a hard stare; he was already starting to wonder simply because of the look on Merle's face when he was holding the pretty girl.
Merle could barely look the man in the eye as he answered the unasked question, "Here."
"Good man," the Governor said as he smacked his shoulder. "You two get a small group and scout this prison," he told Merle and Martinez. "I wanna know exactly what we're dealing with."
"You got it," Martinez said.
They all filed out of the room, Merle sending a glare over to the back of the Governor's head. Blood ain't blood, not anymore. Family's still family, but fuck blood, he thought to himself, thinking of what Chrystal wanted to do to her blood if she ever found her. Leaving the room, he wandered back to his own apartment and poured a double shot of whiskey.
~x~
"You know her?" Rick asked.
"In a sense. She prolly won' even know who I am. We studied at the same dojo, her in the sword, me in mixed martial arts. Different senseis and everythin'. Heard 'er name in passin'. Badass with that sword, though. Like, even the sensei said she was betta than 'im by the end."
"So you don't know her?"
"Jus' of her. Recognize 'er."
"How can you be sure?"
"I have an eidetic memory, Rick. I know who I know," Tea told him.
"She trustworthy?"
"Don' know. Neva talked ta her. Jus' thought she was fuckin' gorgeous wieldin' 'er blade, so I tended ta watch."
"So you can tell us nothing about her?" Rick asked, annoyed by Tea's excitement at simply recognizing another person.
"Not true, I can tell ya she'd be pretty damn handy ta have 'round!" she countered. "Can' tell ya much, but somethin' is betta than nothin'."
Rick huffed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down. Once he managed to put away the irritation, they took the woman into the prison's commons room. Tea ordered Beth to get some water and a towel while Rick had Carl put a blanket down. As everyone got to work, he looked at Tea. She was starting to call the shots more easily now and it looked like the group had shifted from his main lead to hers. He couldn't help but admire how she had stepped up when only a few weeks ago she'd barely been talking.
"She's not coming in the cell block," Rick said.
"Not yet, anyways," Tea agreed. "If she wants ta stay, she'd be a great addition. Hell, shot and exhausted and still swingin' 'er sword 'round."
When Beth came up with the water, Tea took it from her and started cleaning Ms. Hawthorne's body of the walker guts that covered her chest. The feeling of water stirred the woman, and Tea did her best to comfort her. As her eyes fluttered open, Tea could see the look of confusion on her face.
"Ms. Hawthorne?" she asked. "Do ya rememba me? From the Red Dragon Dojo?" Rather than answer, the woman decided to reach for her sword, which Tea kicked behind her, hard, sending it clattering away. "Ya ain' in any danga here, 'less ya gonna be stupid like that!"
"Ania, Phia," Daryl's voice called out. Looking up, she saw him coming out of the cell blocks, "Who the hell is this?"
"Ms. Hawthorne, though, ya mind givin' us a first name ta go with ya last name?" Tea said to him and then turned to ask her. "Please?"
She still didn't answer, just looked at Tea like she was trying to figure her out. Daryl called out to them again, saying he had something he wanted to show them. Tea studied him and could tell he seemed excited, at the very least he was happy. Rick told Carl to grab the woman's things and they both turned to look at him, the woman with a glare and Tea in question.
"We'll keep this safe and sound," he said, motioning to the sword. "The doors are all locked. You'll be safe here. And we can treat that."
"I didn't ask for your help," she said venomously.
"Don' matta much, now, does it? 'Twas the civilized thing ta do," Tea told her, before leaving with Rick.
Daryl closed and locked the door behind Ania as she walked into the cell block. He could already hear the joyous reunion of mother and daughter and watched as Ania looked back at him. Daryl could barely contain the smile that played on his lips as he just pushed his chin in the direction of the cells, ushering her forward. Carol was hugging Sophia when Ania walked up, a smile and a choked sob escaping from her. Barreling into the cell, she squeezed Carol as hard as she could, Sophia trapped between the two.
"I knew it!" Tea cried. "I knew ya had the fight in ya!"
As she let go, Carol began a round of hugs and explanations for everyone. She'd fought her way into solitary confinement and gotten trapped in a closet. Everyone was happy until Carol caught sight of the baby. Tea saw Carl starting to cry and went to his side, hugging him in tight. She saw the woman watching in on them and nodded her head at her. Tea could appreciate Ms. Hawthorne's critical eye, but it made her feel like something was off.
After a few minutes and Tea taking her turn holding Little Lady, they went back out into the commons, Daryl taking his crossbow. Rick seemed to be on a warpath, once again desperate to send the woman away. It was beginning to grate on Tea's nerves that she would have to have the argument for bringing people in yet again. She, Daryl, Rick, and Hershel left the cell block to find Ms. Hawthorne sitting at one of the tables.
"We can tend to that wound for you," Rick told the woman. "Give you a little food and some water and then send you on your way."
"If that's what ya want ta do," Tea chimed in with a pointed glare at Rick.
"But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula," Rick continued in a voice just above a whisper.
The woman didn't answer, so Tea walked over and knelt down in front of her, "Met some bad people, eh? I'd be cautious too, but ya see, we had people goin' for supplies. They ain' back yet."
The woman looked her over, considering her features. Michonne wasn't too thrilled about knowing the young girl knew who she was, nor did she really remember her. A grainy image of punk clothes popped into her mind, but nothing else. Taking a breath and looking over everyone, she started talking.
"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy with a pretty girl."
"What happened?" Rick asked.
"Were they attacked?" asked Hershel as he stood from his seat.
"They were taken."
"Taken? By who?" Tea asked.
"By the same son of a bitch who shot me."
"Hey, these are our people," Rick said as he knelt down. "You tell us what happened now!"
As he said now, he placed a hand harshly on the woman's wound, earning a round of movement from all ends. Not only did the woman hit his hand off her, Tea also stood directly in front of her with her face to Rick's while Daryl held up his crossbow, having intended on taking aim at the woman, but now aiming at Ania's heart. Shaking himself of his shock, he moved to the side so that he would have the dark woman in his sights instead.
"Don't you ever touch me again!"
"The fuck was that, Rick?! Don' ya eva put ya hands on a woman in me presence like that again! Ya hear me?!" Tea yelled at him as she pushed him back until she was comfortable with the distance she had put between him and Ms. Hawthorne and went back to said woman. "Sorry 'bout 'im. He jus' lost someone and ain' takin' it well. He had no right ta do that. But we need ta know where our people are so's we can go get 'em."
"You came here for a reason," Rick said as he calmed himself down.
Tea could see the minute her resolve cracked and smiled internally. "There's a town," Ms. Hawthorne stated. "Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there."
"A whole town?" Rick asked, surprised.
"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor. Pretty boy. Charmin'. Jim Jones type."
"He got muscle?" Daryl asked.
"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on the wall."
"You know a way in?" asked Rick.
"The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through."
After sharing a look, Rick asked her, "How'd you know how to get here?"
"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in. Said it was a straight shot."
"This is Hershel, the pretty girl's daddy. He'll patch ya up," Tea answered.
They walked away while Hershel got to work, Carl watching for any signs the woman would attack. Huddled in the far corner of the cell block, the survivor's huddled together. Sophia was sitting between Carol and Tea's legs while Daryl stood beside the stairs next to Tea. Beth was pacing as Axel stood folded in on himself still. They were trying to come up with a plan to go to Woodbury to rescue Maggie and Glenn.
"How do you know we can trust her?" Oscar asked.
"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debating?" Beth asked him in return.
"We ain't. Ania and I'll go," Daryl told her, knowing Ania wouldn't let him go alone.
"Well, this place sounds pretty secure. You can't go alone."
Beth, Axel, and Oscar all stepped up to go on the trip with them. Rick looked to Tea and then back to the group that stepped up. In the end, it was decided that Beth and Carol would stay inside the prison with Hershel while Axel kept the fence line under control and the kids stood guard. Oscar, Tea, Daryl, Rick, and Michonne, who'd finally given them her name, would go on the rescue mission, taking two vehicles and taking the weapons they found in the prison. Daryl and Tea packed all the stuff into two large duffle bags and loaded up one of the vehicles.
"I got the flash bangs and all the tear gas," Daryl said. "You never know what you're gonna need.
"I got the ammo and smoke bombs," Tea replied as Daryl grabbed their vests, helping her into hers and running a hand down the colored wings before putting on his own.
Carl came up with a bag and Daryl helped him put it in the car, "Hey, don't you worry 'bout your old man. We'll keep our eyes on 'im."
Daryl walked away when Michonne came out and talked to Beth about how they'd cleared the prison. When Beth left the woman standing alone, Tea walked up to her. She knew Michonne was guarded against her because she knew her from before, but there was nothing she could do about that. It wasn't her fault she could remember everything whether or not she wanted to. Thinking about it, she remembered the last time she'd watched the woman with her sword play and what had happened that day. An idea popped into her head and she all but stepped in front of the woman.
"Sorry, jus' didn' want the othas ta hear. Ya rememba the Red Dragon Dojo?"
Michonne nodded her head.
"Ya rememba the girl that sent the MMA instructa ta the hospital?"
"Yeah, he had to have surgery. The dojo was going to press charges, but they were dropped," Michonne said after a few seconds of silence.
"That was me."
"What?"
"That was me. They dropped the charges 'cause afta they handed the surveillance footage ta the cops, the investigatas saw him stickin' 'is hand down me pants," Tea said cool as a cucumber.
"That's what happened," Michonne said nodding her head. "I remember you now. Little girl, no more than fifteen. You weren't much shorter then. Your hair was, though, only reaching to your shoulders. Grunge pants with chains and band shirts, chokers, bracelets, the works. Total goth girl."
"Yep, that was me. The gothic gypsy with too much jewelry and not a single pair a slacks," Tea laughed. "Thought ya might stop givin' me the glare if I told ya how I knew ya. And I was seventeen."
"It does help," Michonne admitted, thinking back to the MMA student who took on three full grown men and won during that incident. "What happened to the man?"
"Got fired and arrested. Found out 'e was put up ta it by people," Tea said with a shrug.
"People?"
"People," she repeated, not wanting to let the woman know that her parents had done it to get back at her for not giving them the money she got for her PhD research.
They walked back over to the car, Michonne getting in while Tea went to talk to the kids and Carol one last time. She caught the tail end of Rick's conversation with Carl, and therefore was the first to be privileged with Little Lady's real name, and gave the boy a hug; it seemed she was doing a lot of that since the prison was discovered. Then she walked over to Sophia with him in tow and told them, once again, to keep an eye out for danger and keep the baby safe no matter what. She heard Daryl tell Carol to stay safe and her quip back about having nine lives before walking up to the woman herself.
"We're serious, Cars. Stay safe," Tea told her, earning a soft smile from Carol. She literally jumped back when Carol leaned over and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
Carol laughed, "Has no one given you a kiss for luck?"
Tea blushed furiously as she fought back tears, looking down in shame. "Daryl's the only one who's eva kissed me," she admitted; it was true, her family gave her hugs, but never once had kissed her and she hadn't been comfortable enough with Jesse or her papa to allow that.
"Oh, sweet pea," Carol said, remembering what she'd said about her family, and what Sophia had shared later on. "Well, you're going to have to get used to it," she said firmly, deciding she was going to keep doing it every time the little woman left the prison.
They climbed into the car, Rick at the wheel of a second behind. They drove for about an hour before pulling over. Ania had been relatively silent, putting Daryl in a position of stress. When they pulled over, he pulled at her hand to get her attention. Just one look at him and she leaned over and kissed him.
"Jus' a bad feelin', D," she said. "Somethin' bad's gonna happen on this trip."
"Think someone's gonna die?" he asked, having started trusting her gut over the winter when it got the group out of a couple sticky situations when she'd used it as an early warning system.
"I dunno. All I know is ya betta stick close. Where ya go, I go, and vice versa. Do not leave me side in there, D," she told him seriously.
"I won't," he replied, opening his door and stepping out as the others dislodged theirs as well.
"They have patrols," Michonne said as they approached. "We're better off on foot."
"How far? Night's coming," Rick said.
"A mile, maybe two," she answered as everyone geared up.
She and Daryl each carried a backpack with ammo, smoke bombs, flash bangs, and tear gas as well as their crossbows and quivers. Walking along the forest path, they were all pretty silent. Tea found herself in the middle of the four towering over her. She scoffed to herself; she had to be at least half a foot shorter than everyone else in the damn group, more than an entire foot for Oscar! It wasn't fair! Even the people in her family had been tall. She was the only short one that she'd met in their entire bloodline! Though, she hadn't met any of her mother's side, which was where she'd inherited her hair and eyes. Maybe it was because of her side that she was so short. Her musings didn't stop her from hearing Daryl and Rick's conversation, nor from noticing the man in front of her side-eyeing Michonne who was side-eyeing Rick and Daryl. Tea snorted a chuckle to herself and shook her head, trying desperately to focus her mind.
That desperation was warranted when a large number of walkers came out of the woods. Tea told them to stay in formation and use their blades or else they'd just attract more. They needed to be as silent as possible. Tea and Daryl fired their crossbows, but they were going to get blocked in if they weren't careful. As Rick grabbed Daryl's backpack and pulled him back, followed by Tea, Daryl spoke up.
"There's too many of 'em."
They grabbed the bag Rick had dropped and he pointed in a direction that seemed clear, "Through there, come on!" They ran for about five minutes before they found a cabin in the middle of the woods. "In there!" he shouted.
Tea was the first one to barge in, bow at the ready, but seeing nothing, she simply took five steps in and stopped as the rest piled in. Rick was being unnecessarily bossy, which was causing him to make the one thing he was telling everyone to keep down, noise. Then the stench hit her and she retched, the meager contents of her stomach hitting the floor beside her, where she saw what was causing the stench which made her retch all over again.
"The smell, it's loud," Daryl commented, only now noticing Ania being sick.
"What the hell is that?" Oscar said as they shone a light near where the smell was coming from.
"It's gotta be a fox, or what's left of one," Daryl said.
"Todo didn' make it back ta Kansas," Tea said softly from behind Daryl.
Walkers pounded on the door then, causing everyone to jump, including a man who had been sleeping on a bed right next to where Rick was standing. Both Tea and Daryl had their crossbows raised at the man, but he had a rifle raised to Rick. Rick, trying to diffuse the situation and get the man to quiet down. Tea noticed that the man was probably a paranoid schizophrenic with how he was behaving and how he seemed to have no idea about the walkers, nor was he disturbed by their presence outside. Rick put his weapons down and tried to reason with the man, taking a chance as soon as the man looked away from his hands to push the barrel out of the way. Tea damn near shot Rick for that little stunt as it forced Daryl to turn out of the way or he would have been shot; the man wasn't thinking about the risks at all.
The situation escalated after that because of Rick's rash decision. Even though Rick had a solid hold on him, the man managed to escape and went running for the front door where the walkers. Tea watched as Michonne did the only thing they could do to save their lives, which was to plunge her sword through his chest. Rick and Oscar looked at her like she was crazy.
"Don' look at 'er like that," she told them, holding up Bucky. "If she hadn' a stepped in the way, that'd'a been numba eight since this all started. 'Twas the only thing ta be done ta save our sorry asses. Now, is there a back way out?" Oscar went to check and told them it was clear. "Alright," she said spinning to Rick and Daryl, "ya rememba the Alamo?"
"Help me with the door," Rick told Michonne.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Oscar said.
"The dead guy, or us, Oscah, which one ya prefa?"
Rick counted to three and Michonne opened the door as they pushed the corpse out. She locked the door behind her as they piled out of the cabin and made their way quietly past the distracted walkers. It was dusk when they reached the walls of Woodbury. Tea couldn't believe that it actually existed. She shared a look with Daryl, both wearing similar masks of focus, and then turned her attention back towards the wall. There were two guards on watch, one of which was manning an industrial sized spotlight.
Updated 9/9/21