CHAPTER THREE
Marianna ran inside the common room of Cell Block D and shouted, "There's a car coming!"
All of the Woodburians stopped eating their breakfast or talking amongst themselves, and looked at the Latino woman standing on the vestibule steps, her eyes wide with fright, and her complexion pale.
Juan was talking to a small group when Marianna burst in. He ran through the crowd, leapt up the vestibule steps, and grabbed his wife by the shoulders. "Marianna, what are you talking about?" he asked.
Marianna was now panting for breath and she nearly collapsed, but Juan kept her on her feet. "A…a car. I saw…I saw a car…coming up the road."
John and Donna were sitting at a table eating breakfast. John dropped his spoon into his bowl of oatmeal, stood up, and brushed through the crowd which was now muttering nervously about Marianna's news.
"A car?" A man asked in disbelief as he picked up his little son.
"Is it a police car, Daddy?" a little boy asked excitedly.
"I don't hear any sirens," the father answered.
"Maybe the Governor's returned?" Michael Garrett guessed.
Michael's wife Alicia bit her knuckles to stop from screaming, and Michael wrapped his arms around Alicia to keep her calm.
A moment later, John walked up the steps, stood beside Juan, and looked coldly into Marianna's frightened eyes. "All right, Marianna, calm down," he ordered.
Marianna nodded.
"You said there's a car coming?"
"Sí."
"Is Jeanette still at the gate?"
"Sí."
"Does she have a gun?" John asked as the palm of his right hand flew to the grip of the Colt M1911A1 pistol holstered on his hip.
"She has a shotgun," Marianna answered.
John nodded and he looked at Juan. "Stay here," he ordered.
Juan pulled Marianna into his arms and nodded.
John looked over his shoulder and saw Donna, who was standing up, with a worried expression on her face. "Donna, stay here," he ordered.
Donna gasped fearfully and her hand covered her mouth.
John drew his pistol and ran outside. The Woodburians began muttering worriedly again.
"What're we going to do?" a woman asked.
"I'll tell ya'll what we're going to do: we're going to stay right here!" retired postal worker Floyd Townsend shouted.
"What, so we can end up shot full of holes like our friends on the side of the road?" Greg Manning asked incredulously.
Floyd, too embarrassed to respond to Greg's question, lowered his head.
"Maybe we can plead for mercy," Michael suggested. "We always did what the Governor told us, so why would he kill us too?"
"The Governor will kill us because we abandoned Woodbury and moved into the prison!" Alonso Rawlins shouted.
"We never should've let Rick Grimes bring us here," Marianna said as she wept in Juan's arms.
While the Woodburians argued, Donna saw Tyreese's younger sister Sasha walking hurriedly towards the vestibule doorway. "Sasha, where are you going?" she asked.
Sasha stopped in her tracks, and walked over to Donna. "I'm going to tell Rick what's going on outside," she whispered.
Donna nodded and Sasha resumed her walk through the crowd of Woodburians, then she walked past Juan and Marianna atop the vestibule steps, and soon as she was outside ran towards Cell Block C.
•••
Inside the common room of Cell Block C, Rick and Carl sat a table, eating their breakfast. Rick swallowed a portion of oatmeal, put his spoon down in his bowl, wrapped his fingers around the handle of his coffee cup, and raised it to his lips and took a sip; as Rick put the cup down on the table, he saw Carl was watching him. "Is something wrong, son?" he asked.
"Can I have some coffee?" Carl asked.
Rick chuckled. "I swear, Carl, first it was guns, then it was contributing to the group. Now it's drinking coffee. Are you going to ask Daryl for cigarettes next?"
Carl shook his head. "No, Dad."
"Good, be sure it stays that way: both on the coffee and the cigarettes."
"Dad—"
"I don't want you stunting your growth, Carl."
Carl shook his head in disbelief. "Dad, that's a myth."
"Really?" Rick asked. "I thought stories about the dead rising from the grave to eat the living were a myth, but here we are."
"Dad, Judith gets all of our milk, and I'm sick of drinking water every day," Carl whined.
"Water's good for you, Carl," Rick told his son.
Carl pushed his bowl of oatmeal aside, put his forearms down on the table, and rested his chin atop them as he moped.
"Sit up straight and finish your breakfast, Carl," Rick ordered.
Carl sighed wearily. "Yes, Dad," he mumbled as he sat up, put his bowl of oatmeal in front of him, picked up his spoon, and resumed eating. Rick smiled victoriously.
The side door to the common room flew open suddenly and Sasha ran inside the common room. "Rick!" she cried.
With the exception of Hershel, the group stood up and looked in shock at the frightened young woman; Rick ran over to her and put his left hand on her forearm, while his right rested on the handle of his Colt Python revolver holstered on the gun belt around his waist. "Sasha, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Mari…Marianna said there's a car coming up the road!" Sasha answered as she pointed towards the temporary gate.
Sasha's shouting frightened Judith, and she began to cry. Beth held the baby close and whispered for her to hush, but she wouldn't stop crying.
Rick looked at his group, and they sprang into action.
Daryl grabbed his Stryker Strykezone 380 crossbow, aimed its barrel onto the floor, and slipped his foot through the crossbow's stirrup; next he pulled the string back until it was cocked, then he slipped his foot out of the stirrup, held the crossbow in his hands, took an arrow from the attached quiver, loaded it onto the flight grove, and flicked the safety to the "off" position.
Carol ran towards the laundry cart beside the vestibule steps, while Glenn and Maggie ran to the laundry cart beside the doorway to the cellblock; both carts were loaded with the firearms the group collected from the prison's armory, and the firearms Rick, Michonne, and Carl collected from their trip to King County.
Carl reached for the Beretta 92FS pistol holstered on his side, but grasped air instead. Carl remembered that he left his pistol and gun belt lying on the top bunk in his cell and he ran towards the cellblock doorway.
"Carl!" Rick shouted.
Carl froze in his tracks and looked at his father.
"Stay here, and watch Judith. Don't argue!" Rick ordered.
Carl nodded. Rick drew his Colt Python revolver and ran onto the courtyard. With his father out of the common room, Carl took the Stetson hat off his head, and slapped it angrily against his leg.
Hershel stood on his one leg and put his left hand on the table for balance as he grabbed his crutches and carefully put them under his arms.
The commotion inside the common room made Judith cry louder and Beth was now bouncing her in her arms.
Carol took two M4A1 rifles out of the laundry cart and turned towards Daryl. "Daryl!" she shouted.
Daryl looked at Carol, and she held out the two M4A1 rifles. Daryl flicked his crossbow safety to the "on" position, slung it over his back, and held out a hand; Carol tossed him the rifle in her left hand, he caught it, and flicked its safety to the "off" position; Carol also flicked the safety "off" on her rifle and the two of them ran out the side door.
Glenn took a Remington 870 Police Magnum shotgun out of the other laundry cart, while Maggie took the M1903 Springfield Bolt Action rifle she often carried on sentry duty during the war against the Governor. Maggie flicked the rifle's safety to the "off" position, and she and Glenn ran towards the open side door when Sasha suddenly stepped into their path. "Wait!" Sasha shouted, with her hands up in the air.
Glenn and Maggie tried to stop running, but they crashed into Sasha, who remarkably stood her ground while Glenn and Maggie stumbled backwards and fell onto their backsides.
"Oww," Glenn whined as he leaned to his left and rubbed his bruised derriere.
"Hey, what're you doing?!" Maggie asked angrily as she glared up at Sasha.
"I'm sorry, but my people are scared that the Governor's back," Sasha explained. "I know this will sound crazy but…can I borrow a gun?"
Glenn and Maggie looked at each other in disbelief and looked up at Sasha. "Okay," Glenn said.
"Thank you," Sasha said as she ran to one of the laundry carts. She took a Mossberg 500 shotgun, and ran back to the open side door.
"Sasha," Hershel said.
Sasha stopped running and looked at the old farmer.
"You have to rack the pump to chamber a shell, and flick the safety to "off"."
Sasha looked at the shotgun in her hands, and followed Hershel's instructions. "Thank you," Sasha said to the old farmer before she ran outside.
Glenn stood up and offered a hand to Maggie, she took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Maggie nodded. "Let's go!"
Maggie ran towards the open side door, but Glenn suddenly grabbed her arm. "Wait!" he cried.
Maggie's forward momentum was stopped, and she was pulled backwards into Glenn, the impact was made the couple stumble backwards and into Hershel.
"My Lord, Glenn—" Hershel gasped as he tried to maintain his fragile balance.
"What are you doing?" Maggie asked Glenn bewilderedly.
"You can't go outside!" Glenn shouted, his eyes wide with fright.
"Are you serious? The Governor might be back!"
"Exactly! And if there's a fight, you can't be involved!"
Maggie's jaw dropped open and she pulled her arm free from Glenn's grasp. "You are not starting this again!"
"Maggie it'll be dangerous!"
"If you think so, maybe you should stay here!"
"Maggie, stay here and protect Hershel and the others. I'll go outside and help Rick!"
"Excuse me, Glenn," Hershel said as he raised a finger. "You're shotgun's not—"
"I'm sorry, Hershel," Glenn interrupted as he looked over his shoulder. "But this isn't a time for a debate!"
Hershel blinked in surprise at Glenn's tone.
Glenn let go of Maggie's arm and ran towards the open side door. "Stay here! Everything will be all right!" he shouted.
"Glenn!" Maggie shouted angrily.
Glenn ran out the open side door and onto the courtyard.
"The boy didn't chamber a shell or take the safety off," Hershel muttered.
•••
"John!" Rick shouted as he ran across the courtyard.
John was kneeling in a sniper's stance beside the courtyard gate and pointing his Colt M1911A1 pistol downhill when Rick called out his name. The Vietnam veteran lowered his pistol and seemed like he was about to curse at Rick, but he surprisingly held back.
"What the hell are you doing out here?" John whispered as Rick knelt beside him.
"I heard about our visitor," Rick answered.
"Well you just revealed our location to our 'visitor," John said angrily.
"What are you talking about?"
"I was trying to line him up in my sights, in case he threatened Jeanette," John explained as he showed Rick his pistol.
Rick looked down the hill and saw a Jeep Wrangler YJ parked in front of the prison squad car. He couldn't see the jeep's driver due to the sunlight reflecting off the windshield. Jeanette was standing behind the squad car, with one of the shotguns Rick had left there so the sentries could defend themselves from a herd or a hostile group. "Jeanette looks okay; she's armed," he said.
"What good is that if she's not pointing the shotgun at the driver?" John asked.
"Can you even see the driver?"
"No. The damn sun is blurring the cab's windshield."
Rick studied the jeep for a few moments and a chill ran through his body, "Do you recognize that jeep?"
John nodded. "Yeah, it's one of the vehicles the Governor took when he attacked you."
"The Governor's back?" Rick asked in disbelief.
"I swear that bastard is like VD: you can't get rid of him," John grumbled.
A cloud drifted across the sky and blocked out the sun, which cleared the jeep's windshield. When Rick saw the driver, a smile spread across his face, and he stood up and began running downhill.
"Rick," John said as he tried to stop the sheriff's deputy, but his fingers were just out of reach of Rick's gun belt. John stood up and aimed his pistol to cover Rick, but when he saw the jeep's driver, he lowered his pistol to his side. "Holy shit," he said.
•••
Daryl and Carol ran across the empty courtyard with their M4A1 rifles at the ready; Carol especially watched the tree line for a sniper, as that was the spot where the Governor had shot and killed the inmate Axel several days ago.
As Daryl got closer to the open courtyard gate, he gestured for Carol to take the right side; Carol moved in that direction while Daryl took the left.
Daryl and Carol stopped running when they reached the courtyard gate, and they brought their rifles up to their shoulders as they looked cautiously downhill; what they saw was Rick, John, and Jeanette talking to a woman in a Jeep Wrangler YJ, and when they realized who that woman was, they lowered their rifles and looked at each other in disbelief. "I knew she'd be back," Daryl grinned.
•••
The walker that had been pressing its forehead against the chain link fence was now staggering towards the Jeep Wrangler YJ. Rick—with the brush hook in his hand—walked around the jeep and approached the walker. A few moments later Rick raised his arm and brought the tool crashing down on the top of the walker's head.
WHUKK!
The brush hook cut through the walker's head and came to a stop at the center of its forehead. Rick held onto the dead walker's shoulder for leverage, pulled the brush hook free, pushed the dead walker, and watched it fall onto its back.
"Not bad," Michonne said as Rick returned to stand on the jeep's driver's side.
"Carl's been worried about you," Rick said as he tossed the bloody brush hook in the direction of the folding chair. "He'll probably give you a hug."
"A hug? Well, I think I can handle that," Michonne smiled.
Rick's smiled in return, but a moment later he lowered his head and ran a hand through his hair. To Michonne, it seemed like he realized he needed to ask her about her hunt for the Governor, but was struggling with how he should phrase it.
"I didn't find the Governor," Michonne said.
Rick raised his head, looked at Michonne, looked at John and Jeanette, and looked back at Michonne. "How about Woodbury?" he asked.
"It's gone," Michonne answered.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" John asked in a low voice
"I mean it's gone," Michonne answered. "The Governor went back there and he torched it."
John and Jeanette looked at each other in disbelief. Jeanette opened her arms and embraced John, and he embraced her too as they both remembered the town they, their families, and their friends had called a home for over a year.
Rick rested his hand atop the jeep's driver's side door. "Are you going to keep looking for him?" he asked.
Michonne shook her head. "Not for a while."
Rick nodded and turned towards Jeanette. "Jeanette, could you give me the keys, please?" he asked with his hand out.
Jeanette let go of John, dug into her jacket pocket, and pulled out the keys to the prison squad car. Rick opened the car door, put the key in the ignition and turned it softly so the noise form engine wouldn't attract walkers, and slowly drove the squad car forward.
"Michonne," John called out.
Michonne looked at John.
"I'm sorry," John said.
"For what?" Michonne asked.
"I didn't think you had a chance out there," John answered. "I was wrong. You're one tough broad."
"Thanks," Michonne smiled. She looked at Jeanette, who had taken a Kleenex out of a jacket pocket and was now drying her eyes. "Hey, Jeanette, you look tired. Why don't you get in the jeep? I'll drive you up to the cell block."
Jeanette looked over at John, who nodded in agreement. The older woman looked back at Michonne and said, "Thank you, honey."
Jeanette walked around the jeep, opened the passenger door, and climbed inside. Michonne drove the jeep up the hill and onto the prison's courtyard. Rick slowly backed the prison squad car into its position at the fence line; he climbed out and looked at John, who was standing nearby.
"Do you mind if I take over at the gate for Jeanette and Marianna?" John asked, with the palm of his hand resting on his holstered pistol.
"No, it's all right," Rick said as he tossed the car keys to John, who put them in his jacket pocket.
"Rick," John said.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
Rick smiled and rubbed the stubble on his jaw. "Why, John, you and I have had so many arguments, I've lost track of them."
"Okay, I've been an asshole. But the last man I gave my trust to stuck me on the sidelines because of my age; then he drafted my people into a war against you, and ended up gunning half of them down along the side of a road.
"I've got a wife to worry about and a few survivors that some CO's back in my time would call "liabilities". I disagree with you on a lot of things, but like your son said: you got the job because nobody else wanted it.
"So, what I'm getting at here is I know you've got a tough job, and I haven't been much help, but I want to help now."
John held his hand out; Rick considered the Vietnam veteran's words, and shook his hand. "Apology accepted."
John grinned , picked up the shotgun Jeanette had dropped earlier, and sat down on the folding chair.
"I'll get somebody down here to help you keep watch," Rick said as he walked up the hill.
"Fine," John said. "Just tell Donna that I'm okay. I appreciate it."
•••
Daryl and Carol waved at Michonne as she drove past them and head towards Cell Block D.
"Do you think she found the Governor?" Carol asked.
"His damn head isn't tied to the jeep's grill, so my answer is no," Daryl quipped.
"Stop," Carol ordered, despite her small smile.
"Where is he?! Where is he?!" a voice shouted from Cell Block C.
Daryl and Carol looked in the voice's direction and saw Glenn running towards them with a shotgun in his hands.
"Where is he?" Glenn panted as he reached Daryl and Carol. "Where's the Governor?"
"You must've scared him off," Daryl quipped.
Glenn heard an engine and looked to his left to see Michonne driving a jeep towards Cell Block C. "It was Michonne the whole time?" he asked.
"Ain't you observant?" Daryl quipped again as he offered his M4A1 rifle to Carol. The housewife slung her own rifle over her shoulder, took Daryl's rifle, and walked towards Cell Block C.
Rick appeared at the top of the hill and walked through the open courtyard gate. "Glenn, could you help John on sentry duty at the gate?"
"Uh, yeah. You bet, Rick," Glenn answered awkwardly as Rick walked past him and Daryl, and headed for the parked jeep, and Michonne, who was climbing out of it.
Daryl stared at the Mossberg 500 shotgun in Glenn's hand and snatched it from him.
"Hey!" Glenn whined like a school boy whose lunch money was stolen from him.
Daryl racked the shotgun's pump. "You didn't have a shell in the damn chamber!" he growled at Glenn.
Glenn gulped, realizing that he could've run into a gunfight defenseless.
Daryl showed Glenn the shotgun's safety button, and pressed it. "Red means it's ready to fire."
Glenn nodded and Daryl handed the shotgun back to him. "Keep your finger off the damn trigger."
"Uh, yeah. Got it," Glenn blushed with embarrassment.
"Stick to deliverin' pizzas, Short Round," Daryl quipped as he walked towards Cell Block C.
Glenn looked around the courtyard, realized he was alone, and walked slowly downhill to help John on sentry duty.