I don't own Total Drama and The Walking Dead.
Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.
Brendan: Likewise and Terry is about 5'9. :)
Dr Changer: You'll find out in what will happen in the next chapter :)
Today was the day when Rick was supposed to met up with the Governor again and hand Michonne over to him and the sheriff deputy still hasn't decided what he should in this situation. Right now, he, Hershel, Daryl, Chef and Chris gathered in the yard to discuss what they should do with Michonne.
"It's the only way." Rick told them, "No one else knows."
"You gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked him.
"Not till after." Rick answered, "We have to do it today. It has to be quiet."
"You got a plan?" Daryl asked him another question.
"We tell her we need to talk." Rick explained, "Away from the others."
Daryl shook his head, not liking this plan, "Just ain't us, man."
"He's right." Chris nodded, "This is messed up."
"We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies." Rick stated.
"He might end up attacking us anyway." Chef pointed out.
"Are you willing to take that chance?" Rick turned to look at Chef who remained silent, "We need someone else."
"You mean Merle?" Chris asked him.
Rick nodded, "Yes."
"I'll talk with him." Daryl offered, already turning around to get his brother.
Rick stopped him, "I'll do it."
"I'll go with you." Daryl told him.
"No." Rick shook his head, "Just me."
Rick made his way into the cellblock in order to find Merle. It didn't took him that long to find him. The older Dixon was in one of the cells, ripping one of the matresses into pieces.
Merle noticed that Rick was watching him and spoke up to him, "Just looking for a little vacation. Best dope I ever had was in a mattress. Nothing. This place must have been no fun at all."
"We need your help." Rick explained why he came here to talk with him, causing Merle to laugh, "Do you even know why you do the things you do? The choices you make? If we give the Governor Michonne, Woodbury stands down. I don't like it, but it's what needs to be done. We need to make it quiet. We need your help with that."
"You ain't told any of the others, huh?" Merle asked him.
"Just Hershel, Chef, Chris, Daryl and you." Rick explained as Merle stood up from the floor.
"Huh. The inner circle. I'm honored." Merle said, coming closer to Rick, "You know, when we'd go out on runs, he'd bash somebody's skull, slash somebody's throat, and he'd say, "Never waste a bullet." I always thought it was just an excuse. You go on. Give him that girl. He ain't gonna kill her, you know. He's just gonna do things to her. Probably take out one of her eyes. Both of 'em, most likely. You'd let that happen for a shot? Whew. You're cold as ice, Officer Friendly. You're gonna need wire, not rope. Wire. Nothing she could chew through. Oh. You know something? You're right. I don't know why I do the things I do. Never did. I'm a damn mystery to me. But I know you, Rick. Yeah, I thought a lot about you. You ain't got the spine for it."
"...We need to get her to the Governor by noon." Rick told him after a moment of silence between them before turning away from the older Dixon and walking off.
The saying that Courtney was having a bad time right now was the understamenent of the century. It's been a while since she regained her consciousness and found herself to be laying on a bed in the infirmary with Dr. Stevens and the two guards who she found out to be named Jason and Cory. The last thing she remembered was getting hit in the head with something, and she found out that it was the reason why she found she in the infirmary. Terry brought her there right after he and Jose returned to Woodbury with her and Andrea.
It was when someone opened the doors and entered the infirmary. Everyone turned their gaze towards this person and saw Terry, "Hey, Doc."
Courtney clenched her teeth and glared at Terry who did his best to avoid her gaze as Dr. Stevens greeted him in return, "Hello, Terry. What brings you here?"
"I came here to talk with these two." Terry said, as he pointed at Cory and Jason who had their gaze on him, "The Governor told me to come here and change you for a moment. You've been here since I brought her here, you should get something to eat."
"Say no more." Jason immediately nodded his head after hearing Terry's words and started heading towards the exit from the infirmary.
"Yeah, man. I'm starving." Cory nodded in agreement as he followed Jason to the exit. He stopped in front of the exit and gave Terry a quick look, "We'll be back in a few minutes with our food."
Terry nodded his head in understanding as Cory and Jason exited the infirmary. Terry watched them leave before turning his gaze towards Courtney and Dr. Stevens and awkward silence formed in the room. Courtney kept glaring at the dark skinned man as Stevens remained silent and just continued to do her job.
"How is she doing?" Terry asked Dr. Stevens, breaking the awkward silence, "Did she suffered anything after..."
"After what?" Courtney cut him off, "After Jose hit me in the head and you just stood there and watched it?"
"I just want to know if something..." Terry tried to say something but was interrupted by Courtney who once again interrupted him, much louder this time.
"Don't try to talk with me as if nothing happened! You helped him to bring us back to this psycho!" Courtney snapped, "We were so close to getting back to our friends, but you just had to bring us back here!"
Seeing that Courtney was about to lunge at Terry, Stevens quickly hurried over to the CIT and pinned her down against the bed. She send Terry a quick pleading look, "Terry, you need to leave now."
Terry let out a sigh and nodded, knowing that it was probably or the best. He exited the infirmary, but instead of heading out of the building, he decided to wait for Jason and Cory to return. He pressed his head against the doors to the infirmary, beginning to listen what was happening inside.
"What were you thinking?" He heard how Stevens asked the CIT right after he walked out of the infirmary, "Snapping at someone like that! You're lucky that it was Terry! If it was someone else like Jose, or even these two that were placed here to watch over you, you'd be dead right now!"
"If it was someone else?" Courtney asked her in return. "Didn't you heard what I just said. He helped Jose to bring me and Andrea back here!"
"He's doing just what he has to do to survive, even though he doesn't want to do it." Stevens told her, "Do you think I want to be here? If I could, I'd leave this place a long time ago, but it would be a massive risk for me because they'd most like execute me if they found me after fleeing. This is exactly what happened to Rodney..."
"Rodney?" Courtney titled her head, interrupting Dr. Stevens as she recalled hearing this name before, "Haley told me that he died during a supply run."
"This is what they wanted everyone to think." Stevens explained, "He was done with their ways of doing things and tried to flee after he tried failing to convice them to change their ways, but was caught by Merle and Jose. He was brought to the Governor who executed him for defecting."
"How do you know that?" Courtney wanted to know.
Dr. Stevens sighed, "I'm a doctor and I've been aware of what kind of things the Governor is doing for a long time. They're letting me know because they think it's some sort of message of what will happen to me if I'll think about fleeing. The other reason why I am staying here is because I don't have any other really place to go."
"What?" Terry whispered to himself. The Governor was the one who killed Rodney? He wasn't killed by the undead during the supply run.
The dark skinned man rubbed his forehead at the thoughts that started going through his mind after hearing it. He became the guard of Woodbury because he wanted to protect people from his community, but was starting to have seconds thoughts about his new job in Woodbury after the Governor attacked the prison without even trying to speak with the people living there.
He shook his head when a particular question appeared in his mind. How many people has the Governor actually killed for not agreeing with him, or simply because he wanted something from them and they refused to do it?
What was going to happen to him when the Governor will spot him having second thoughts about going to war with the group from the prison? Or to the people who were having seconds thoughts about going to war with Rick's group?
He titled his head towards the exit from the building when he heard how Cory and Jason entered it. He started heading towards the exit from the building, passing by the two men who were chatting with themselves and eating their meals, completely ignoring him.
He let out an inhale and exhale when walked out of the building and walked into the streets. He knew what he was going to now. He was going to do something he should have done back when he and Jose catched up to Andrea and Courtney, but at first, he had to get everything ready.
Rick came out of the cellblock and heard a few people crying out on the other side of the fence. He rushed over to the fence and saw that Carl, Maggie, Beth, Noah, Trent, Leshawna, Cody, Heather, DJ, Chris, Geoff, and Ezekiel were distracting the walkers while Chef, Daryl, Harold, Michonne, Oscar, Gwen, Duncan, Alejandro, Glenn, Izzy and Eva were taking care of something in the field.
After a moment, all of them got themselves into a car and drove in the direction of the closed gate and Rick quickly made his way to it and opened it for them, allowing them to drive into the yard. They all got themselves out of the vehicle as Rick walked over to them.
Glenn looked at him, "They try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them."
Rick nodded, "Good idea."
"It was Michonne's." Alejandro revelead, causing Rick to turn his gaze towards the dark skinned woman.
"We don't have to win." She told him, "We just have to make their getting at us more trouble than it's worth."
"It might buy us some time if they end up attacking us." Harold stated.
"And give us a chance to ambush them when they'll be distracted." Duncan added to which Harold nodded in agreement as Maggie, Beth, Carl, Noah, Chris, Geoff, DJ, Cody, Leshawna, Trent, Heather, and Ezekiel made their way to them. Rick exchanged look with Daryl, Chris and Chef before before started heading somewhere.
Merle watched it through the window of the upper level of cellblock and shook his head, "Ain't no way."
"What?" Carol who remained in the cellblock with Bridgette to take care of Judith asked him.
He turned around to look at her and the surfer, "Nothing."
"What happened here?" Bridgette asked him, placing Judith in the baby crib.
"We got any whiskey?" Merle asked them in return, placing his hand on the railing, "Hell, I'd even drink vodka."
Carol's response was, "Go to hell Merle."
"Does this place look like a place that would be whiskey to you?" Bridgette added right after.
Merle snorted at their responses and started making his way to the lower level of the cellblock as Carol started placing bullets in the magazine, "Are you with us?"
The older Dixon nodded, "Sure."
"She's not talking about occupying the same space." Bridgette pointed out, "Are you with us or should we worry about you staying here?"
"I'm here for my brother." Merle explained.
Carol looked up at him, "Well, he's here for us. It's not time to do shots. It's time to pick a damn side."
Merle let out another snort, "You both aren't like you was back in the camp, a little mouse running around, scared of her own shadow, or a naive pacifist that missed her boyfriend."
"It wasn't my shadow, it was my husband's." Carol pointed out.
"It was before the other people tried to kill us." Bridgette added, "I wish that I could keep with my pacifistic view of life, but everything has changed and I wish there was no war with the Governor, but if our group, my friends who I care about, will decide to stay here and fight, then this is exactly what we're going to do."
Glenn, Noah and Gwen split up from the group after they were told by Rick to fix the destroyed gate doors. The were in the middle of their work when a familiar voice called out to them.
"Hey! You seen Merle around?" They instantly recognized this voice. It was Daryl. All three of them remained silent and went back to their job, making Daryl walk over to them, "He say he was sorry yet? 'Cause he is. He's gonna make it right. I'm gonna make him. There's got to be a way. Just needs to be a little forgiveness is all."
"You're excepting us to forgive him?" Noah asked him, "I thought you were smarter than this."
"Daryl." Gwen shook her head, "He kidnapped us, tied ys to a chair, beat me, and threw two walkers in the room."
"Maybe I could call it even. But he..." Glenn paused for a moment, "He took Maggie to a man who terrorized her, humiliated her. I care more about her than I care about me."
Daryl gave them a nod of understanding before walking away from them, intending to find brother.
It took Daryl a while to find his brother because the prison was a large place and none of the members from the group that he asked knew where Merle was, but eventually he found his brother in the generator room.
His older brother offered him a grin, "Hey, little brother!"
"What the hell?" Daryl looked around, confused, "What you doing down here?"
"Just looking for a little crystal meth." Merle explained as Daryl sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I know. shit mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?"
"You talk to Rick yet?" Daryl asked him another question.
"Yeah." Merle nodded, "I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?"
"Yeah." Daryl nodded in return, "If he does, he does."
"You want him to?" Merle wanted to know.
"Whatever he says goes." Daryl replied.
Merle laughed, "Man. Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother? Are they even attached? I mean, if they are, they belong to you? You used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?"
"What happened with you and Glenn, Noah, Gwen and Maggie?" Daryl asked him in return.
"I've done worse." Merle shrugged, "You need to grow up. Things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil... grabbing up those lovebirds, goth and bookworm like that, huh? Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did- snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. People do what they got to do or they die."
"Can't do things without people anymore, man." Daryl stated.
"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh?" Merle asked him, "Do their dirty work. The bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?"
Daryl placed his hand on Merle's shoulder, "I just want my brother back."
Merle's expression twisted a bit, almost turning itself into a saddened look as he looked away from his brother, not wanting to meet his gaze after hearing those words, "...Get out of here, man."
Rick was outside, preparing the cable which he was going to tie around Michonne after knocking her out with Chef, Chris, Daryl and Merle as something on the catwalk caught his attention. It was his wife, Lori, and he was staring down at him. He burried his face in his hands, refusing to look at her.
"...You're not there." He muttered to himself after a moment before looking up to see if his wife was still there, "She's not there."
He set his gaze on the catwalk and saw that his wife was still there, and was still looking down at him. He exchanged a look with her before shaking his head. He threw the cable aside and stood up from his crouching position, beginning to walk towards the entrance to the cellblock.
He entered the cellblock about a minute later and saw Hershel praying along with his daughters. The farmer turned to look at him, "Rick?" He stood up from the chair and made his way to him, "What you're about to do..."
"I can't." Rick assured him, placing his hand on his shoulder, "I won't."
He walked away from Hershel and made his way to Chef and Chris who were in the middle of a conversation in one of the cells.
Chris turned his attention towards Rick, asking him, "What is it, Rick?"
"The deal's off." He informed them.
Chef gave him a small smile and placed his hand on his shoulder, "You made the right choice, Rick."
Michonne walked next to Merle as he was leading her through the hallways. There was apparently a problem with the undead in there and the older Dixon wanted her to help him take care of it.
"So, where is it?" She asked him.
"Around the corner." He replied while a single walker slammed itself against the gate of one of the cells, "We got to clear some walkers, then get the others down here to barricade it. A breach like this could be an open invitation to the Governor."
"He's not much for subtlety." Michonne stated as some snarling and grunting came from the path ahead of them and a few walkers appeared in their view and started walking towards them.
"You want to take your chances?" Merle asked her.
Michonne didn't reply to his question as she approached the nearest walker and sliced it right through it's head with her sword as Merle didn't waste time and stabbed another walker in the head with his knived hand. More walkers started came out from the corner and started walking towards them as Michonne rised her katana in the air and readied herself to take them out.
She was not excepting what was going to happen next. Merle slammed her right in the head, knocking her down. The older Dixon made sure to take care of every remaining walker before grabbing the unconsciouss Michonne by her feet and starting to drag her through the hallway.
Terry did his best to look as calm so possible when he entered the infirmary again. He made sure to prepare everything since his last visit there. He adjusted his L1A1 SLR on his shoulder as everyone once again set their gaze on him.
He turned his gaze away from Courtney and Stevens and looked at Cory and Jason, "Hey, you two."
"Hey, Terry." Cory greeted him in return, with a small nod of his head, "What brings you here, again?"
"Jose told me to come and get you two." Terry lied, "He wants to talk with you."
Jason titled his head, "Couldn't he just come here himself?"
"He's busy." Terry lied once again, hoping that they will believe him, "It's not easy running the community when the leader is not here at the moment, you know?"
Cory shrugged his shoulders, "I suppose."
"Let's go, then." Terry told him and Jason, "Jose doesn't have all day."
Jason and Cory exchanged a look with each other before nodding. They started heading towards the exit with Terry walking closely behind them. They didn't notice him taking his weapon off his shoulder. He slammed the back of his L1A1 SLR right on the back of Cory's head, who lost his consciousness and collapsed on the floor with a loud thud.
Jason instantly spotted how his fellow guard collapsed on the floor and turned around to face Terry with confused and angered look on his face but never had the chance to do anything as Terry punched him straight in the face, knocking him down. Jason's unconsciouss body landed next to Cory's.
"What are you doing?" Courtney asked, her and Dr. Stevens staring at the black skinned young man in confusion.
She didn't had to wait long for response. Terry looked away from Jason's and Cory's unmoving bodies and turned his attention towards them, "I'm doing what I should have done earlier."
"What?" Courtney wanted to know if it was what she thinking it was.
"I'm breaking you and Andrea out." Terry explained, this time being straight to the point,
Dr. Stevens shifted her attention between Terry and Courtney. She knew how risky it was, but it may have been the chance she was waiting for a long time. The Governor and most of his men weren't in Woodbury at this moment. She gave Terry a nod of her head in response, "Just let me get the medication."
"Sure." Terry smiled at her, "Just be quick."
Dr. Stevens nodded her head and quickly headed off to get the medication and a few other things as Courtney looked at Terry, "How should I know that it isn't just a trick?"
Terry's response was immediate because he excepted to hear this kind of question for her. He reached down to his holster and pulled out a pistol, "Your pistol."
Courtney shifted her gaze between her pistol and Terry before taking it from the dark skinned young man. She unloaded her pistol to see that the magazine was full before loading it again. She knew that trusting Terry might have been quite risky, considering that he was one of the people that brought her back here, but she had no other choice right now.
"Is Andrea with you?" She wanted to know if Terry already brought her friend out of whatever they were keeping her.
"No." Terry shook his head, "My plan was to get you first."
"Do you know where she is?" Courtney asked him another question.
"I'm not exactly sure." Terry answered, "Jose is the one who took care of her after we brought you here, but I have a few places in mind."
Courtney nodded her head as Dr. Stevens returned to them, carrying a bag of medicine, "I'm ready to go."
"Good." Terry nodded his head at her doctor, "I prepared a car for us outside of Woodbury. Courtney should recognize it because it is the one she used to get back here with Andrea after they paid their friends at the prison a visit."
"We're heading out now?" Dr. Stevens wanted to know.
"You two, yes, but not me." Terry replied, "I need to find Andrea."
"I'm going with you." Courtney instantly responded after hearing Terry's words.
"You're not." Terry shook his head, "It's too risky for you."
"Andrea is my friend and I'm not going to leave my friend behind, just like I did with Michonne when she was leaving this place." Courtney crossed her arms, "I'm going with you and you're not going to convice me to do otherwise."
"Fine." Terry sighed, not wanting to argue because it would just cost them time and he wanted to get them out of here as fast as possible. He turned to look at Dr. Stevens, "Doc, If we don't return in an hour, go without us. We'll make our way on foot if we don't return in time."
Merle and Michonne walked together through the neighbourhood of small houses. It's been a while since Merle left the prison with Michonne who regained her consciouss not that long ago.
"Governor made Rick an offer." He began, "Turn you over and we all give peace a chance. I agree with you. He would have blinked."
"But not you." Michonne stated.
Merle scoffed, "I'm being straight with you."
"You were straight when you led me into the tombs." Michonne pointed out.
Merle nodded, "Okay, maybe I wasn't straight."
"You put a bag over my head." Michonne pointed out another thing.
"I got it done." Merle told her, "He wouldn't. He was a guy that came back for me on that rooftop. Nah. It's all on me. You know? I figure that's why I was back there in the first place. Do the dirty work."
Rick, Harold and Duncan ran together through the main yard of the prison, earning confused look from Daryl who happened to be walking nearby. Harold and Duncan came to the sheriff deputy several minutes earler along with Alejandro, Eva and Izzy and informed him that they couldn't find Michonne anywhere. They split up in the two groups and started searching for them right after.
The sheriff deputy approached the younger Dixon and whispered to him, "It's off. We'll take our chances."
"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl whispered back before asking, this time louder so Harold and Duncan could hear him, "What are you doing?"
"We can't find Merle and Michonne." Duncan explained, "They're gone."
Daryl instantly reacted to his response. He started running in the direction of the generator room where he and his brother had a conversation earlier that day and Rick, Duncan and Harold followed him. They quickly made their way to the generator room but unfortunely Merle and Michonne weren't there.
"He was in here." Daryl began, "Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things, actually."
"Like what?" Rick wanted to know.
"Said that you were gonna change your mind." Daryl explained.
"About what?" Harold asked, confused.
"Guys." Duncan called out to them as he came out from the other side of the room, holding a white bag, "I think I found something."
Daryl nodded, "Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."
"Damn it!" Rick cursed, "I'm going after him."
"You can't track for shit." Daryl told him, "I'll go. You need to be ready. Your family, too.""
"It'll be better of someone went with you." Duncan stated, "I'll go."
"I'll go too." Harold volunteered right after, "But before we head out, I want an explanation about the thing that Rick changed his mind about."
"I second that." Duncan agreed, having a chance to hear Rick and Daryl mention it when he found the bag.
"I'll explain everything on the road." Daryl explained, "Let's go."
Merle and Michonne walked together through the forested road as they continued to make their way to the place where Rick was supposed to met up with the Governor today.
"I want to be with my brother." Merle began, "My brother, he wants to be in the prison. This little trip... maybe it'll keep that place standing. If I pull it off, maybe all is forgiven."
"That's a whole lot of maybes." Michonne stated.
"You got to play the hand you're dealt." Merle stated, "I only got one."
It was when an abandoned car appeared in his view. He ran over to it and opened the front doors. He frowned before locking the doors again, realzing that this vehicle won't be any use to him.
"You talk about the weight of what you have to do, how you can handle it." Michonne told Merle as he made his way back to her, "A bad man, someone truly evil, they're light as a feather. They don't feel a thing."
Merle responded to her words with, "I've killed 16 men since all this went down."
Hershel sat on the bunk in his cell when he heard someone enter it. He looked up and saw Glenn standing in the entrance to his cells and shared a look with him. He gave the asian man a nod of his head as Glenn who entered the cell and sat down on the chair in front of the farmer.
Glenn shook his head, "Look at what that bastard done. Look at us."
"He's one man." Hershel stated, "There'll be others like him. There always have been."
"I know. It's like the walkers. There's nothing we can do." Glenn nodded his head, understanding what Hershel was trying to tell him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the watch that Hershel gave him back on the farm, "When you gave me this... I didn't fully understand what it meant. Such a simple thing. I know what it means now. I know what it takes. I want to marry Maggie. And we don't have to have a wedding. I don't even know if we'll last the week. But I want her to know before... who knows?"
Hershel's response was quicker Glenn thought it would be. The farmer nodded his head, "You have my blessing."
Glenn gave him a grateful nod, "Thank you."
Merle and Michonne made their way out of the forest and entered an abandoned town. They walked through it for a few minutes, when an abandoned motel, or rather the vehicles standing in front of it appeared in his view. They started making their way towards them.
"Okay." He nodded his head to himself, his gaze set on the vehicle, 'I think we're good."
"Yeah, we're great." Michonne said, sarcasm evident in her voice as Merle tied her around a pillar to make sure she wasn't going to try to escape.
She watched how the older Dixon walked over to one of the vehicles and after a few moments of trying managed to break into it. Merle hopped into the car and started trying to start it up by hotwiring it which shouldn't take him long. He smiled to himself but his smile faded away when the alarm of the car was turned on, which would obviously lead the undead to his and Michonne's location.
Michonne turned her gaze away from him and looked around herself to see how the undead started coming out of the every corner around them, "Merle, come on!"
She quickly silenced herself when she noticed how one walker that was very close to her focused it's attention on her while Merle remained in the car, still trying to start it up. She kicked the undead approaching her, knocking it down to the ground. She slammed her boot on it, causing it's head to explode into pieces before spotting another walker approaching her.
She ran around it, wrapping the cable holding her around it's neck. She pressed it against the pillar and put some pressure on the cable, cutting the undead's head off. Merle quickly took his attention away from what he doing when he saw that one of the undead made their way to him. She grabbed it by it's collar and got himself out of the car.
He unsheathed Michonne's katana which he was keeping to himself after leaving the prison with her and cut it's head off as Michonne's eyes snapped open when a walker came out of the motel room next to her. She moved away from it as far as she could as the undead lunged for her, but never made it to her because Merle pulled out his pistol and took care of it.
He fired his pistol a few more times, getting rid of a few more walkers because running over to Michonne. He grabbed her and led her to the car. He opened the passenger seat and Michonne quickly got herself in it. Merle slammed the doors before making his way to the driver's seat and getting himself into the car as well.
He quickly drove off away from this place and the undead which started to chase him and Michonne, but he didn't worry about them that much because they obviously weren't going to catch up to them.
"So is this your thing, then?" Michonne asked him right after the drove out of the town, "You take out the trash?"
"Don't be so hard on yourself, darlin'." Merle told her.
"The Governor, Rick, anyone who needs their piss bucket emptied and you come a-running." Michonne stated, "Things are different for your brother."
Merle let out a chuckle, "Yes, they are. Rick says jump and he wants to know how high."
"Rick needs him. Respects him. He didn't ask him to do this little job, now, did he?" She wanted to know.
"No." Merle shook his head, "Cause he wants it done."
"You keep telling yourself that." Michonne let out a short laugh "The truth is this could have been your shot. With your skills, a whole new beginning. But you choose to stay on the outside. No one's gonna mourn you, not even Daryl. He's got a new family."
"You keep trying to get under my skin, I'm gonna cut that tongue out." Merle told her, "Your buddy's turning you over 'cause he's trying to save his own ass. You're as much on the outside as I am, girl."
"Maybe." Michonne nodded, "But once the Governor's done with me, at least I won't have to live with myself. You said you killed 16 men since this thing started? You ever kill anyone before?"
Merle shook his head, "No."
"And how about before Woodbury? Before you met him?" Michonne wanted to know. Merle's lack of an answer was enough for her, "So he saves your life, cleans you up, fed you a line of bullshit, just like he must have done with Alejandro's brother. Why would you kill somebody else for him? You know we can go back."
Merle let out a dry laugh, "Ain't happening."
"Both of us." Michonne continued, "We can just go back."
The older Dixon was silent for several secods before replying, "...I can't go back. Don't you understand that? I can't."
"Why?" Michonne wanted to know as Merle stopped the car in the middle of the road.
He looked at Michonne and reached his knived hand down, cutting the cable holding her hands together down. Michonne looked up at him as Merle gave her a nod, "You go back with them. Get ready for what's next. I got something I got to do on my own."
Glenn made sure to eye his surroundings when he came out of the cellblock into the yard because there was one person he wanted to talk to, eventually spotting them. Noah and Cody sat together around the same bleacher, as they were in the middle of another game of chess.
He walked over to them, offering Noah a quick, "Hey, man."
"Hey." Noah greeted him back, keeping his gaze on the chess.
Glenn turned to look at Cody, "Hey, Cody."
"Hey, Glenn." Cody greeted him in return, "Do you want us to do anything? We just started our break and wanted to have a quick game of chess."
"Quick game?" Glenn asked him, letting out a short laugh, "When you two play?"
"What can I say?" Cody laughed as well, "It's good to have someone to play with when that person knows how to play. It makes me forget about the Governor, even for a second."
Glenn nodded his head in understanding, before asking, "Can I borrow Noah for a bit? I want to talk with him in private."
"In private?" Noah asked to which Glenn nodded in confirmation, "It must be important, then. I don't recall the last time when you wanted to talk in private with me."
"Yeah." Glenn said, "You have no idea."
Noah stood up from his seat, "Don't try anything, geek."
"Who do you take me for?" Cody asked him, "I'm not a cheater. Not my fault that I'm better than you at this."
Noah walked over to Glenn, sharing a quick look with him before walking away from Cody to talk about the thing that Glenn wanted to talk with him about, "What did you want to talk about?" He asked him. In response to his question, Glenn pulled out an engagement ring, making the the bookworm's eyes widen in suprise, "You want to?"
"Yes." Glenn nodded in confirmation.
"Alright." Noah said, "Colour me suprised."
"I'm here to ask..." Glenn paused for a moment, "Will you be my best man if she'll say yes? Once this is all over? If we'll manage to survive?"
He starting to think that Noah was going to say no, but those thoughts went away when a smile grew on his friends lips, "Sure."
Jose entered the infirmary to see if Courtney suffered anything after he hit her in the head with the shovel and much to his suprise, she wasn't there and Doctor Stevens was nowhere to be seen either. His eyes quickly caught the sight Cory and Jason who were laying on the floor, still unconsciouss after Terry knocked them down.
He knelt down in front of Jason and slapped him in the head, awakening him from his slumber. He grabbed him by his collar and asked, "Jason, what the hell happened here?"
Jason was silent for a few second before replying, "Terry... told us that you wanted to see us... he knocked us down..."
Jose shook his head as he let go off Jason's collar. Terry might have shown sights of having second thoughts after they catched up to Andrea and Courtney before bringing them here but he wasn't excepting that he was going to try to break them out.
"Mierda." He muttered to himself before rushing out of the infirmary.
He had to find them and Andrea if they already found her before it was too late.
Loud music could be heard across the parking lot where Merle had stopped to have a drink of whiskey which he found in the car. The undead from every corner started heading towads him and a few of them started pressing their bodies against the undead, but the older Dixon didn't care about that. He just wanted to have a drink of a whiskey.
His eyes caught the sight of one walker that had it's mouth open as it pressed it's head against the window. He grabbed the bottle and pressed the end of it against the exact spot on the window where the walker's mouth was before taking another sip of his drink, laughing to himself at his own joke. He turned the music even louder as more walkers walked over to his car, forming a circle around it.
He started up the car and started driving slowly along the road towards the place of the meeting, making sure that the undead will follow him because their presence would make his mission easier.
When he made it to his destination, he opened the doors and jumped out of the car, making sure to grab his machine rifle before doing so. He started sneaking his way through the area, doing his best to not get spotted before eventually taking shelter in an abadoned building.
"Where is this music coming from?" He heard how Shumpert's voice asked someone as the Governor's men were obviously confused by it.
It was followed by Martinez voice saying, "We'll have to spread out!"
Merle placed his machine rifle on the table in front of the window, readying himself to use it as Martinez pointed at the two men and signalled them to come and check it. The two men nodded and ran in the direction of the sound to see a single car with a large group of the undead surrounding it, and the fact that even more walkers started coming out of the forest didn't help neither.
The Governor's soldiers started firing at the undead as Merle quickly used it to his advantage and took out the two men in front that went out to check what was going on. The first was shot right in the head which immediately ended his life, but the other man was shot in the leg, which made him collaps on the ground. He clutched his bleeding wound as the walkers gathered around him. He let out a loud and long scream of pain as the undead started feasting on him.
Merle moved across the building to another position which this time gave him a pretty good look of each member of the Governor's militia. He started taking out every person that appeared in his view, one by one, which started to allert someone of the people that weren't killed by him, yet.
It was when he spotted the man himself, the person that he came here for. The Governor stood in the back of the group, firing his pistol at the walkers, unaware that there was a person hiding in the of the buildings that was taking out his men.
Merle aimed his machine rifle at the Governor and pulled the trigger, but the bullet unfortunely never hit it's target because Ben came into the picture in the exact moment when the older Dixon fired the bullet and it hit him instead of the Governor.
Ben's now lifeless body collapsed on the ground and it allerted the Governor who started looking around himself, trying to spot the place from which the shot came from as Merle was about to fire at him, but was stopped when a single walker that somehow must have found a way into the building approached him from behind.
Merle's machine rifle collapsed on the floor as the undead lunged for him. Merle used his prosthetic hand to protect himself from getting bitten by the walker before grabbing it by it's shirt with his other hand. He lunged at the walker and stabbed it right in the head with it, getting rid of the problem but unfortunely another problem arose when the walker's lifeless body fell backwards, and took Merle with it.
The older Dixon was brought outside of his hiding spot and the Governor's men immediately started hitting him with their weapons all across his body. They all moved away from him when the Governor approached them and wrapped his hand around Merle's neck, bringing him back to his feet, "You leave him to me!"
He threw Merle back into the building and the older Dixon collapsed on the floor. The Governor kicked him, which was followed by another kick, and another. Merle quickly reacted to this beating and swung his fist at his opponent, hitting him right in the face. The Governor stumbled backwards and Merle quickly used this opportunity to get himself back on his feet.
Unfortunely, the Governor charged at him and pressed Merle against the table right after the older Dixon got himself back on his feet. Merle tried to free himself from his grasp, but he couldn't. He let out a scream of pain when the Governor bit into two fingers on his hand and bit them off. The Governor spit Merle's fingers out which was followed by a loud crack echoding across the entire building as he broke Merle's arm.
Merle slided down a bit as the Governor pressed his hands around his neck, beginning to choke him, but deciding to back away after a few seconds. He backed away from Merle, watching how his opponent slided down to the floor.
Merle grunted as he weakly stood up from the floor and leaned against the table. He glared at the Governor, yelling out, "...I ain't gonna beg! I ain't begging you!"
"No." The Governor coldly responded to his words as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it at where Merle was before pulling the trigger and firing it at the older Dixon.
Glenn inhaled and exhaled as he approached Maggie who was staring on the watch, preparing himself mentally to do this. This was it. He was going to ask the love of his life to be his wife in a few moments.
"Hey." He greeted her as he stopped next to her.
"Hey." Maggie greeted him back as she turned her gaze towards him, "Carl was looking for you."
"He found me." Glenn answered, "I think we should head over. Rick has something to say..."
He paused for a second to let out an exhale as he grabbed Maggie's hand into his. He put his other hand into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring before placing it in Maggie's hand. Maggie glanced down at her hand and saw the ring before looking up at Glenn who was looking at her, with nervousness mixed with hope in his eyes.
He didn't had to wait long for the answer, "...Yes."
They leaned towards each other and their lips met in a long passionate kiss right after. They had no idea if they were going to survive their next encounter with the Governor, but this wasn't on their minds at this moment. This moment was theirs and they wanted to enjoy it.
Rick made sure to eyes his surroundings when Glenn and Maggie entered the area where he wanted his group to gather because there was something he had to tell them. He nodded his head to himself. Everyone from this group, except for the people who went out to do something were present.
"When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal." He began speaking to his group, making sure that they were going to hear him, "He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl, Duncan and Harold went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late. I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm... it can't be like that. It can't. What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason we're still here, not me. This is life and death. How you live... how you die- it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We vote. We can stay and we can fight or we can go."
He looked around himself, around each member of his group before walking away from them. He walked over to the watch tower and made his way to the top of it. It was when he spotted someone in the distance. He looked through the scope of his rifle and saw Michonne coming out from the woods but Daryl, Duncan, Harold and Merle were nowhere to be seen.
Daryl, Duncan and Harold finally arrived at the place of the meeting and were instantly greeted with an absolute mess. The entire area was surrounded with dead bodies of both undead and humans. Daryl released an arrow from crossbow at the nearest walker, hitting right it right in the head with it as Harold pulled out his knife before walking over to another walker and placed it right in it's brain, killing it.
He walked back to Daryl and Duncan, offering them a nod. The group of three proceeded to make their way through the area and stopped when a walker that was feasting on Ben's lifeless corpse appeared in the view. The walker looked up from it's meal, and revealed itself to be Merle.
"Is that?" Duncan's eyes widened in realization.
Harold shook his head, "...Gosh."
Merle stood up and slowly started making his way towads the group of three as Duncan reached for his knife, intending to take care of Merle, but was stopped by Daryl who simply held his hand in the air, telling him that he'll take care of this without saying any words. The younger Dixon took one step forward and Merle was just a meter ahead of him by this point.
"No!" Daryl cried out as he pushed his brother away from him. Merle grunted and moved towards him again. Daryl pushed him again, crying out, "No!"
Daryl pulled out his knife as Merle approached him again and roared when Daryl stabbed him in the chest and pressed arm around his neck, shoving him to the ground. Daryl started repeatedly bringing his knife down on his brother's head until there was nothing but a bloody mess left of it.
Daryl pulled his knife out of Merle's head and collapsed on the ground, sobbing as Duncan slowly walked over to his friend and placed his hand on his shoulder to comfort him, while Harold decided to remain in the back, staring at the scene in front of him in sadness.
Terry and Courtney did their best to make their way to the building where they assumed the Governor left Andrea without being spotted by anyone in the process. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but both of them knew how lucky they were that the Governor took the better portion of his soldiers with him because sneaking their way to their destination would be much harder.
Courtney let out a sigh when the building where Milton showed her and Andrea what the Governor had prepared for Michonne appeared in her view. It made sense to her why the Governor put Andrea somewhere in this building, but at the same moment she hoped that Andrea was place someplace else. It simply made her worry that the Governor tested the equipment he prepared for Michonne on Andrea.
"You go and check the room in the front." Terry told her after they entered the building and made their ways towards the interrogations room, "I'll check the other room."
"The other room?" She asked him.
"Where do you think the Governor was keeping Maggie when Merle and Jose were interogatting Noah, Glenn and Gwen?" Terry asked her in return, turning in the direction of the other room.
Courtney nodded her head in response before parting ways with Terry. She made her way to the doors in front of her and presser head against them, hearing that someone was struggling to free themselves from something, most likely from the handcuffs that the Governor had placed on the handles of the dental chair.
"Andrea?" the CIT spoke up to the person on the other side of the doors, "Is that you?"
She didn't had to wait long for response from the other person, "Courtney? How did you get here?"
"I'm here with Terry." Courtney explained.
"Terry? Didn't he help Jose?" Andrea pointed out.
"He did." Courtney confirmed it, "But now he apparently had a change of mind. He got me and Dr. Stevens out of the infirmary. She should be waiting for us outside of Woodbury in a car."
"Where is he now?" Andrea wanted to know, "Is he with you?"
"No. He went to check the other room." Courtney replied, "I'll go and get him. Then we'll come here and get you."
She turned away from the doors and made her way to the other room. After she entered it, saw Terry who was staring at something in front of him.
"What's wrong..." Her words died in her throat when she approached Terry saw at what he was staring at.
It was Milton, or rather his lifeless corpse. His body was covered in blood and bruises. His glasses were laying next to him, shattered into pieces.
"Oh my gosh." She placed her hand over her lips at the view of a body in the room. Milton didn't deserve this, "...Milton."
Terry let out a saddened sigh, staring at Milton's corpse in sadness, "At first I was planning to take him with us, but he wasn't seen by anyone after I and Jose brought you and Andrea back here."
"What happened?" Courtney asked. Why did the Governor kill Milton? Did he found out that he was the one who told her and Andrea to flee?
"There was an incident with the walkers in the pits. Someone burned them to the crisp." Terry explained, "He must have found out who did this and took care of that person."
"Poor Milton." Courtney shook her head, "He was a good man. He didn't deserve this."
"You're right. He didn't deserve this. Neither did Rodney. None of the people killed by this bastard did." Terry shook his head, causing Courtney to turn her gaze away from Milton's body and look at him. She instantly spotted genuine regret on his facial features, "I can't believe how stupid I was for thinking that the Governor was a good man."
"Don't blame yourself for that. I thought the same. You have no idea how I regret staying here instead of going with Michonne." Courtney placed her hand on Terry's shoulder to comfort him, "What matters now is that you're doing the right" thing."
"We have to make sure that he'll pay for what he did to those people." Terry told her, "We have to free people from Woodbury from him. They have to see what kind of a man he is."
"We will. We will take care of those things right after we'll make it to the prison." Courtney assured him, "We'll make sure of that."
Terry nodded his head to her words, before giving Milton's corpse one last look, "...Is she in the other room? Andrea?"
"Yes." Courtney nodded her head in confirmation as they headed towards the exit from the room.
"That's great." Terry said, exiting the other room with Courtney, "We just need to..."
He never got to finish this sentence as Courtney's eyes snapped open when a gunshot came from the other side of the hallway and the bullet hit Terry right in the head. His lifeless body fell on the floor like a ton of bricks as the CIT reached out for her pistol and turned her gaze in the direction from which the shot came from and saw Jose who was wielding his M4A1. He pushed himself into charge towards her right after that.
She aimed her pistol at him, and was about to pull the trigger but Jose was faster than her and send a powerful punch right at her face, knocking her down to the floor. She landed next to lifeless Terry's corpse, and bit her lips at the view of his unmoving body.
She turned her gaze away from Terry and looked up at Jose who had his weapon aimed right at her head. She glared up at him, and he returned her glare.
He returned her glare, keeping his M4A1 aimed at her, "You shouldn't have done this, senorita."
I'm going to miss having Merle in this story. He's one of the characters that were killed off way too soon...
Hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.