Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 146

Author's Note: So this will be the last chapter until at least the 15th. Training in cold West Virginia (I live in Florida) and no access to computers. I think I'm leaving it at a good place. I wanted to put some doubt in Tara's mind about the Governor before everything goes haywire. I also wanted to give Joey a chance to escape, or able to. He isn't going to leave Michonne and Hershel, but since meanie Governor hasn't caught them just yet.

Joey's POV:

Joey glanced up as a young woman came into the camper. He glanced at her as she went to get something off the table. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Tara. Brian said not to talk to you, he said that you had bumped your head, needed rest," the young woman answered.

"He tell you that's the reason why he got my hands tied up too?" Joey asked. "Wouldn't want to get you in trouble with Brian," Joey said.

"Do you have something to say?" Tara asked.

Joey shook his head. "Nothing that you would believe," he said.

"Why are you tied up? You do something to Brian when you knew him before?" Tara asked curiously.

Joey laughed. "If I was you Tara, I'd get in a car, get anyone else you care about and hightale it out of here," he told her. "It may just save your life."

"What are you talking about?" Tara asked.

"Where is Brian now?" Joey asked as he looked at the woman.

"He went out to do patrols," Tara asked. "Look, Brian's been nothing but good to my sister, my niece and I since we found him. If you were trying to attack us, then he has every right to have you tied up."

Joey gave a nod. "Your niece is she about nine or ten?" he asked. "You don't have to answer that; I can see the look on your face. Tara, did Brian set up this camp?"

Tara shook her head. "No, we were taken in by some people. The leader fell off a camper when he was drunk playing golf."

Joey lifted his head. "Golf huh?"

"Yeah so what?" Tara asked as she went closer to him.

"Nothing, just remembering something," Joey said. "Let me ask you a question, this place, does it have pits dug? For walkers?"

Tara looked at him. "Yeah, how do you know?" she asked.

Joey shook his head. "Tara you seem like you got a good head on your shoulders. I need you to listen to me; I'm counting on you not to say anything to Brian because it may get us both killed. I know him, when he never told anyone his name, when he just introduced himself as the Governor. Ran a town called Woodbury, dug those pits to catch Walkers, lamebrains, chompers, whatever you want to call them. He used to send out raiding parties, to get them, then chain them and use them as entertainment while his soldiers fought. If you disagreed with the Governor, you'd wind up disappearing. What we didn't know was that he kept heads in fish tanks," he said as he watched her face. "You don't believe me, didn't expect you too. But this is the part you got to listen real carefully too. There's a prison up the road a bit, that's where I'm living. The Governor, or Phillip, or Brian or the one eyed monster, is going to try to convince your group that you can take it, nice and easy. That he's going to use me and whoever else he brings back here as a trade. He's goin' to tell you that there's not going to be any bloodshed, if the people at the prison give up and walk out. He's tried to take the prison before, I was part of that. I ran off, because it wasn't right, trying to kill the people in there. Good thing I did, because the Governor, he doesn't like to lose. He killed all his soldiers on the side of the road because they ran. I'm betting that man that just happened to fall off the roof while playing golf, his name was Martinez right?" Joey questioned as he watched her face. "That's what I thought. Governor couldn't have anyone around that knew what he was capable of. There are children at that prison, there's a pregnant woman at that prison, old people. When he banged me over the head, I was burnin' bodies of people that we had brought in from Woodbury; they just died from a flu. No one's going to win this, Tara. There's going to be bloodshed either way, even if they agree to walk out of the prison, and hand it over, he's going to order you all to shoot them. And if you don't, he'll shoot you," Joey told her.

Tara shook her head. "Brian's not like that. He hasn't mentioned taking over a prison or anything else," she said.

"How did you meet Brian?" Joey asked. "When did you meet him?" he asked as he shook his head. "Somewhere between eight months and now right?" he asked again.

"About five months ago," Tara answered quietly.

"Five months ago, he'd been on the road a while huh? Gave you some kind of sad story that he had a group but some bad people attacked him? Took it over, destroyed it?" he asked as he saw just the slightest of nods. "Well, it was the opposite. The people at the prison, they were defending their home and they won. Like I said, I ran, cause well the Governor was wrong. He can put on a show, he can pretend he has all his marbles, he can smile and say all the right things. He can make you believe you want to drink the kool aid, and he can make you believe that he's doin' all this for you, to keep you all safe. The people at the prison, they are good people. My girlfriend is at the prison; her mother is the one pregnant. I'm not asking you to go confront him that would be the wrong thing to do, for you if you want to continue living. But I'm askin' you to listen to him when he, and believe me he will, gives this speech about giving you all a safe place to live, you think about what I'm saying. If you believe me then, help me loosen these ties, if not, then I guess I'm screwed. But so are you," Joey said. "You better be goin' before anyone tells the Governor that you were spending time in here. Bet you and Lilly are the only two that know I'm here. I'd keep the fact that you know I'm here secret," Joey told her.

"If he's as bad as you say he is, why are you trying to warn me? Why not let me find out on my own?" Tara asked.

Joey met her eyes. "If you're prepared, when this goes down, and trust me it will, then maybe you can save your life, save the lives of others. I can do a lot more with my hands loose then if they are tied up tight."

"Why wouldn't you just ask me to let you go?" Tara asked.

"Cause there isn't gonna be time, plus I'm not leaving whoever he brings here," Joey informed her. He watched her go out and took a breath. "God I hope you're one of us," he thought to himself.

Author's Note: Cliffhanger til I get back! No I'm not killing Joey (was never in my imagination! Poor Hershel…maybe that's why I'm waiting. I can't be hysterical for training!)