Chapter 23: Leader
KPOV
~5 days ago~
We were walking around a town, Michonne was holding onto her walker pets and her eyes dark as she glanced around. My face was hard as I felt my hand itch towards my machete, gripping the handle tightly and walking to a building that seemed abandoned and would possibly hold warmth to an ill Andrea. Pressing my cool palms which would have once been sweating and trembling in fear, against the window and my forehead rest gently against it. Glancing in, I found no one was inside.
Clearing my throat, I step back and looked to Michonne and Andrea before looking around to check for walkers. "Keep watch, I'm going to open the door and clear out the place. Check for any exits that we may need to get away quickly. Take care of Andrea and check to make sure there aren't any walkers. Keep quiet," I told them quietly, my voice sounded authoritive and dark at the same time. As though there would be a consequence if they didn't follow my orders.
Stepping forward, I pushed the door opened and knocked on it lightly, hearing the distant wadling of feet and growling of walkers, I looked to Andrea and Michonne, nodding once to tell them I was ready and went in. Killing four walkers quietly, I found myself looking for anything and soon found a back room that looked secure enough for Andrea to stay in. There was yet another back room that would lead out to a path that was marked by piles of cut down trees.
Moving back to the girls, I found that there were no walkers and that we were safer than we had been over the past few months. Leading them inside, along with Michonne's pets, I pulled a bed that someone seemed to have used and cleaned it before allowing Andrea to place herself there. Checking the exit I had found, I walked back to Andrea and Michonne. Only to find Andrea curled up in fresh blankets and looking up at me with a gleam in her eye.
"Look at you...not only looking like your father but, acting like him," she spoke in her clogged voice telling me the cold was only getting worse. Her words made both myself and Michonne look at her curiously, Michonne glanced at me the same time I went to look at Michonne in return. Michonne's eyes quickly looked back to Andrea, who was sat staring at me with a small smile on her face.
"What do you mean?" I asked her curiously and she just coughed before wiping her mouth and sniffing. Answering me she took her time, watching me carefully from under her lashes. She looked as though she were dying but as though she might have one last fight in her. Who she wanted to fight...I had no idea.
"You're being a leader...much like your father was," she spoke as though my father had already died without me even knowing. I won't agree with her. She won't make me do it. He is alive. So is Carl and Mom. I won't listen to her. Ignoring her, I walked towards the door to check to see if there was anyone else with us, staying silent and biting my tongue. I didn't know if I did it to prevent myself from either crying, laughing or to prevent myself from arguing at her...
Present day...KPOV
We were wandering down an empty road, when we heard a helicopter fly around above our heads. All before it crashed into the woods in the distance but in front of us. Michonne wasn't the first to stop, nor was it I. Andrea stopped to look at the scene amazed. Michonne walked ahead with her walker pets, following close behind her was me and behind myself was Andrea. The smoke from the crash rising high in a dark cloud.
We had decided to go visit the crash scene to see if there were any survivors we could help who could possibly take us to a safe place. Walking behind Michonne once again, I stayed silent, close and alert. When we reached the crash site, I was stunned to see such a machine destroyed to pieces and Andrea too was surprised to see this. Panting heavily, I saw her out of breath before she crouched and threw up what we had eaten earlier.
"Don't push yourself. You'd both better sit," Michonne said as I pulled out the water bottle, Michonne gently rubbing Andrea's back comfortingly. Leading Andrea to a cleaner and safer spot, I gave her the water and watched her drink it noisily. Michonne had tied the walkers by the chains against the tree. When Andrea gave me back the water bottle, I looked to Michonne who was looking out into the distance, staring directly at the crash site. "I'll check it out," Michonne assured us before she went to have a look at the site closer.
Michonne had been checking the place, alert as she always was and when I saw her hide her head into what remained of the helicopter, I was placing the water bottle back into my bag. "Someone's coming," Michonne alerted us as she ran towards us, her footsteps were almost silent, a lot like how Daryl was like in the woods when we would go hunting.
"Any survivors?" I asked her quietly as she shrunk down beside us, the walkers she held in chains were getting anxious but were silent as they didn't have any jaws to bite us with. Michonne was more clever than anyone else I possibly knew. A born survivor.
"Two dead, not sure about the other," Michonne spoke to us quietly as she gazed towards where the noise of car doors opening and closing were. Looking to the spot, I saw a group of men walk around and study the area curiously. Curiously, I looked to the men and saw how they took down walkers, a man giving commands and searching for any survivors as we had.
Andrea would time to time cough, making me more alert and Michonne more comforting. Glancing around, I had then seen the man who seemed to be the one in charge calling out to a man called Tim, telling him he found a 'breather' in the helicopter. Hearing stumbling and growling, Michonne became more alert and as she went to go kill the walker, I stopped her. "No," I spoke to her softly as I glanced to the remaining survivors who crowded the scene, watching out for walkers and possibly us.
"He's saving them...we should show ourselves," Andrea spoke to us softly as we witnessed the men pulling the body out of the helicopter. All of us looked at them as we then saw how they stopped and glanced at something that lay on the ground. A groaning like growl coming from the ground, suspecting it to be another survivor.
"Not yet," I growled at Andrea as I felt my voice harden, much like how my fathers did when he was set in doing something that he believed should be done in precaution. Waiting, we then saw how the man who seemed to be in charge pulled out his knife, ducked down and killed a man that laid on the floor, pleading for help in a gurgling like way, his arms waving around in pleading agony. Much how Dale had pleaded for us to do something back at the farm.
There was then a moment just as the group were about to leave, that the walkers began to move and shuffle a little more anxiously. The chains that held them clanking and clinking with every movement. The scraping sounds were audible even to the deafest of ears. Glancing around, I felt my heart stop when the men all looked towards our area. Standing to her feet, with a single sweep of her katana, Michonne's pets fell to their knees and their heads rolled on the ground.
Just as we thought that the men had decided there was nothing for them to do there, they began to walk towards the others. I then heard footsteps and felt my hand go to my machete handle instinctively. "Uh-uh-uh. Easy does it, girlies. Mine's a lot whole bigger than both a' yours. Now put down your weapons," a rough and familiar voice rasped at both me and Michonne. "That's it. Nice and easy...and let me see your hands. Now spin around. That's it. Nice little twirl around," the voice instructed us as all three of us did as he said.
"Oh, holy shit," said a voice non other than Merle Dixon. Myself, Andrea and Merle looking to each other surprised and utterly shocked to find one another in such a style. "Blondie! Damn, you're looking good...and blue eyes...look at you! Yer lookin' as fine as tha last time I saw ya!" Merle teased us as he made this sucking like noise. There was a walker coming up behind him but he quickly killed it and threw it to the ground.
His hand that was once there was now replaced by a mechanical looking knife. "Now, how's about a big hug for your old pal Merle?" he suggested as he raised to his feet, his knife like mechanism raised to point to the sky and a gun pointed to our heads. This was when I saw Andrea pant, gasp and become suddenly faint. Falling to the floor, I quickly rushed to sit her upright and examined her.
"Andrea?! Andrea! Jesus Christ Merle! Andrea is sick and you do this to her?! Fucking help me!" I growled at him before he looked to me, rolling his eyes and sighing he decided to help us. Carrying her, I took her to the vehicle they demanded us to go into. Tying Michonne with a cloth that worked as a blindfold, they allowed me to do the same to Andrea and then I allowed them to do it to me. Placing me into the car, weaponless and without the sense of sight...
"Have Stevens prep the infirmary," the man who seemed to lead the group of men spoke. He was speaking into a walkie talkie and I felt something churn in my stomach from the sound of his voice. Where were they taking us? Why do I suddenly feel like the boy my father brought back that only seemed to cause more problems than solutions to the group?
"How many?" another male voice spoke out from the walkie talkie. The crackling sound made my skin tingle at the thought of where they could possibly take us. As to who they were and if they were at all good people. They could rape us and murder us if they honestly want to.
"Four. One with multiple fractures and severe burns. Another in and out of consciousness, probably shock and dehydration," the man spoke back who sat with us in the car. He seemed like a voice of authority, much like a voice of authority that had no kindness in them...much like Hitler's voice, if I had heard it in an american accent and he wasn't shouting at the top of his voice.
"And the third and fourth?" the man asked back to the one who was seated with us. I moved my head around in order to see in the spots that weren't blind, looking to Michonne and our kidnappers. I could see the shadows of figures, being wedged between Michonne and a sleepy Andrea. Her head was laid against the window, my eyes glancing around to see the figure of who I believed to be Merle and three other men. The voice coming from all the way in the front.
"They're fine," the voice had spoke as I thought of him, he seemed thin but muscled to a point of being intimidating in an evil, spiteful bear type of way. Not like the type of men who would make you fear them for their size in arms or figure. His voice was nerving enough.
"Females?" the softer, more 'nerd' like voice spoke back which made me look to Michonne to see her not trying to do as I did. Somehow she sensed my worry as to where we were going, taking my hand in hers, she gave it a little squeeze and a small smile formed at the corner of her lips from what light I had in this concealing darkness.
"Three. Found them hiding in the woods. Bringing a homework assignment for you, so open the lab," the man responded to the geeky voice. My heart pounded in my chest. Please God...don't let this be the group that prick was in. The group that I killed both men who attempted to either hold me down or rape me.
"Do tell," the geeky voice tried to pry information from the other man. My ears twitched in curiousity to see what type of 'homework' they were speaking so fondly about. Don't tell me they're going to cut us open to use us as some crazy version of Biology experiments. Fuck...we need to leave. Now.
"At the gates in five minutes. Get off the radio," the man spoke. Wriggling, I felt a panic raise as I tried to get free of the car but knew better than to try to pull the blindfold off with all the men watching us. Michonne sensed my struggle and panic, pushing me down firmly by my thighs to the seat as to steady me. I heard a 'humph' like sound come from her as she forced me to the seat.
"Well, what is it?" the geek tried to convince or persuade the man to tell him of his homework. I felt my body shiver and tremble, the breathing of Andreas became more equal, as though she were coming back to us and this made me alert. I need to be strong. Not only for myself and my family...but for Andrea and Michonne too.
"Now, Milton," the man groaned to the other through the walkie talkie. I could sense the man was getting angered with the other on the other side of the walkie talkie. Sitting still and firm, I felt Andrea stir beside me. Waiting for her to speak, I heard a dry clearing of her throat before she turned her head to look at us.
"Kat? Michonne?" Andrea's soft and quiet voice called to us through the darkness. Looking for her, I took her hand in mine, along with Michonne's so that all three of us were feeling each of our skin touch gently through our fingertips. Reassuring us all that we were together and well.
"Right here," both myself and Michonne said at the same time to her. Looking through the little light we had, I felt a brighter light come through as we came closer to a stop. Looking out for Andrea who seemed to slip and slide out of consciousness, I waited to see what the group of men would do to us.
"Shh," Merle whispered down at Andrea as I felt him pull her away from me. I felt another tug and weight lift to my other side, feeling completely alone now. A small panic ran along my spine, making me feel as though they would disappear without me. That the group of men would take my friends and leave me in the car, forgotten and left to die. Yet, that thought quickly disappear when I felt rough hands grab me from my shoulder and arm pit, lifting me from the seat and pulling me out of the car, to stand on my feet...
"Hold that," the doctor spoke to Andrea as she had checked her. She had first checked us, taking blood samples and checking us for any scratches or bites. Seeing if we were sick in any way and gave medicine to Andrea who was the only one out of us that was sick.
"Why are we being held here? We want to leave," I asked her, my voice stern and cold in a way of authority. Much like how my father sounded and it gave me a sense of pride, along with pain and wanting. I wanted to be back with my family, to hold them in my arms again and see their sweet smiles.
"You know well enough...and it's dark. You should stay the night," the woman suggested to us as she looked to me and then glanced at the three of us. Michonne was solid, silent and glaring at the woman who was before us. Andrea just seemed annoyed and resembled much of a child that didn't want to go to the doctors to get checked from where she sat.
"Where are we?" I asked getting a little more anxious, wanting answers and curious as to what game these people were playing. They have us trapped here, like animals being tested and looked after. Something seems a little off...I can't quite put my finger on it.
"That's not for me to say," the doctor said as she glanced to the door. Our door had been shut, locking us in with the doctor as she would check us and look after us. There was no sign of anyone guarding us but I could sense there were men outside the door. "He'll talk to you," the woman said as she spoke to the three of us.
"Who?" I tried to push harder, to see if she would answer me and give me something I could actually know. The woman had been vague to all of our questions, mine mostly as I would ask for my family and for any given information that could possibly slip out of her. Nothing seemed to work.
The door slowly opened to reveal to us, non other than Merle Dixon. "Go check on your patient, Doc," Merle spoke to the doctor in his scratchy voice, the woman nodding and leaving us alone while two other men stood by the door watching our exchange. "Bet you were both wondering if I was real. Probably hoping I wasn't. Well, here I am," Merle spoke as he walked into the room, pulling up a chair and placing infront of himself. A small smirk was playing on his lips.
"I guess this old world gets a little smaller toward the end, huh? Ain't so many of us left to share the air, right?" he spoke as though nothing had happened between him and the rest of the group. Sitting down, he clutched at his new toy that replaced his hand. "You know, when they found me, I was near bled out. Starving, talkin' to myself, a bullet might make a good last meal. Take myself a nice long nap after. Wait for Daryl on the other side," he said which made me have a strong look look on my face while having a small intake of breath through my nose.
"You seen my brother?" Merle asked us as he looked to both me and Andrea. Daryl's image came into my mind just then, all of those times we had gone out hunting or when me and him would argue over small things. How he had changed when we were on the farm...that shine in his blue eyes. Him and Merle looked similar but so different at the same time. I wondered if Daryl was still alive or if he too had been taken by walkers.
"Not for a long time," I answered after a few moments silence. I could sense Andrea waiting on me to answer for both of us, as I was the one closest to Daryl out of the pair of us. Daryl was a good man...I know it. I know he must have survived. He's strong and he knows how to fight against what is in this shit hole of a new world.
"Makes three of us," Merle teased in a sad way. He was looking for his brother, only natural for him to want to know...like myself looking for Carl and my parents. Daryl must be protecting them...he has to be. My family are everything to me and are the reason I fight. They're the reason I fight, why I survive and why I don't give up hope.
"We went back for you. Him, myself and...Rick. You were already gone," I said my dad's name rather than called him my father. It hurt to try and think of their normal names that would roll off my tongue. Mom. Dad. Carl. I couldn't force myself to say their names, it was only whenever I was alone with Michonne and Andrea I would say their names...and that was rare.
"Well not all of me," Merle said as he pulled off his cover and showed what was left of his sawed off wrist. Andrea cursed and looked away. Michonne pulled a face of disgust but kept her eyes on him. I stayed silent and looked at him unphased by his condition. "Yeah, Rick. He's that prick that cuffed me to the rooftop," Merle spoke as he put on the cover again with force and struggle.
"Hey! Watch your mouth Dixon. That's my father you're claiming is a 'prick'," I growled at him, unhappy with how he spoke of my dad. This made his eyebrows raise to the ceiling with amusement and a twinkle in his eye. He knew I was angry, I sounded like a ferral dog protecting my owner yet...it was only the bruising of my family and their choices that made me this way. I wouldn't have him paint my father in a bad light.
"He tried. Daryl saw that," Andrea tried to defend myself and my father. I felt the support she had for me, for my father and the fact that we all went back there for Merle. He simply left without his hand and left Daryl fighting with himself or anyone that was seen as a target in his eyes.
"He's always been the sweet one, my baby brother," Merle agreed as he looked to the pair of us. This made me smile slightly internally. He was, which is completely unlike Merle in this way. The thoughts of when we had the prisoner in the farm crept into my mind. Daryl's bruised and bloody knuckles from when he was looking for information from the prick in the farm.
"He wanted to keep looking, and things happened, people died. A lot of them," I tried to explain as I remembered a conversation I had with him. It was after, when we were returning to the camp to save them from the walkers. When Daryl and I slowed down from time to time and he told me he didn't want to stop looking for Merle. That he needed to find his brother. I told him I understood completely.
"Jim, Dale, Jacqui, Sophia...Amy," Andrea continued for me when I felt sad and unable to speak. The names and faces coming to mind as she said them. My heart breaking slightly for her as she mentioned her sister at the end. Her throat shutting at the memory of her sweet sister dying in her arms...all the blood and tears that covered the both of them.
"Your sister?" Merle asked a little saddened himself at the thought of the sweet girl we had all once known. Dead and never forgotten. Certainly never by her sister Andrea. Andrea took that memory and pain with her everywhere. It made me frown and reach a hand to gently caress her back comfortingly.
"Yes," Andrea answered to Merle who was looking at us with kind eyes. Directly though, he was looking at Andrea and how she was looking to Merle with a sad expression on her face. Andrea was strong but her sister always made her weak. Just mentioning Amy made Andrea turn into a crying or angry mess.
"She was a good kid. I'm sorry to hear it," Merle gave Andrea his condolences and Andrea just nods and looked to him. Pursing her lips and I knew she didn't want to speak anymore. Looking to me, she waited for me to continue the story of what happened to Daryl and his transformation in the group we were still in search for.
"There were more. A lot more. We had to leave Atlanta. We wound up on a farm...and Daryl stepped up. Became a valued member of the group," I said with a little pride in my voice. Daryl had took over what was once Shane's place. Being kind, sensible and smart. He wasn't always in a good mood but he would protect us at all times and we respected him for it.
"Now he's dead," Merle said as though that was all that he understood of what I had just said. It gave me a sort of pang of something in my chest. My heart stopping for a split second at the thought. What thought, I was completely usure of. His doubt on Daryl's strength when it came to survival? Or was it because I felt some sort of sorrow at the thought of Daryl being dead? Like if I had imagined Carl dead. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought.
"We don't know that for sure. We got run off by a herd," I said sternly. Trying to clear the air and to prove to him that we were just as blind as he was. That we were all unsure as to what was going on with Daryl and the rest of the group. Although, I would never stop looking for them and judging by the girls too...they would help me the best they could.
"How long ago?" Merle asked us, throwing questions at us like they were gunshots. Every answer I gave he had a new question to ask me.
"Seven, eight months. We were separated from the rest of them," I told him bluntly, feeling Andrea move a little beside me as I stood straighter. Sensing Andrea was about to say something that would make me angry.
"Got left behind," Andrea said as though she were correcting me. It made me feel slightly angered at her, my fists clenching at my sides as I looked over at her from the side of my shoulder. Her body leaning forward as though she was making a point to Merle.
"Don't say that," I said in a slightly whining tone, angered and annoyed that she would say something like that. Knowing she would say something like that, it made me look at her in a disgusted like expression. Her eyes darting to me but then focused them back on Merle.
"I know what it feels like," she continued to Merle which made me tense up and shake my head. Dispicable. Michonne shuffled a little, all through this she had stayed silent and didn't look at me. Only now did Michonne move closer to me, as though to comfort or support me with her presence.
"I doubt that," Merle said as he looked down at his arm, touching the metal that now clung to his skin. To where he had once had a hand instead of a metal contraption covering the stump.
"What do you want from us?" Andrea asked for me, I was close to asking this question but Andrea had beaten me to it. This made Merle look at us for a good long moment. As though this was the suprise and awaiting question he had been dying to answer.
"Damn. There she sits, four walls around her, roof over her head, medicine in her veins, and she wants to know what I want from her," Merle spoke as he walked closer to us. My body tensed as I walked to stand further forward, a protective like stance. My hand reaching for where my once belt held my machete and it no longer was there. "I plucked you, blue eyes and your mute here out of the dirt, blondie. Saved your asses. How about a thank you?" Merle suggested as he kept his gaze on the unamused Michonne.
"You had a gun on us," Michonne said blankly, stating a fact to him that he simply looked to her surprised. Surprised that she had actually spoken to him for the first time. Michonne didn't need to speak but she did so because she wanted to. It was something both me and Andrea picked up about Michonne and her habits.
"Ooh, she speaks," Merle teased as he smiled and chuckled slightly towards me and Andrea. My jaw clenching as I looked to the man and my friend he had been teasing. "Who ain't had a gun on 'em in the past year, huh? Show of hands, y'all. Anybody? Hmm? Shumpert, Crowley. Y'all had a gun on y'all?" Merle said as he walked around and raised his metalic arm. "Hell I think I'd piss my pants if some stranger come walking up with his mitts in his pockets. That'd be the son of a bitch you'd really want to be scared-" Merle said but I was having enough of this macho talk.
"Thank you," I spoke dryly, authoritively. I could feel the same blood that run in my father's veins run in mine. I knew this was how he would speak. Sensible but threatening in some way. My face felt cold as I felt myself look directly into Merle's pale blue eyes.
Merle simply nodded before he walked to the door, the door opened and this was when the man who seemed to be the leader walked inside. Whispering in Merle's ear, I looked at the pair and studdied their lips as well as I could. Unable to pick anything up as the man's lips moved too fast for me to understand what he had been saying. "Sure thing," Merle said in agreement.
"How you feeling?" the man's rough but tempting in an evil tone spoke to us. Curious to know how we all were but I saw his eyes were glued to Andrea. Not to myself or to Michonne's. He was curious as to how Andrea was and not the rest of us.
"We want our weapons," Michonne growled, wanting her Katana by her side more than both me and Andrea combined. Michonne's Katana was a part of hers and sometimes she didn't feel right without it. I could somehow see it in the way she was so tense at the mention of weapons.
"Sure. On your way out the front gates," the man tried to explain to us as though this was a condition or a rule we had to follow. Knowing that this might be a safe place was understanding enough to use gates to enter or exit but gates had nothing to do with our weapons. He wanted us to leave and we were willing to go.
"Show us the way. You've kept us locked up in this room," I growled, not liking the fact I was trapped and needing to follow this mans orders. I wasn't a feminist but I didn't like the fact that I was surrounded by men and the only woman I saw was a doctor.
"You see any bars on the windows? You're being cared for," the man tried to reason with us. He may of had some sense but he should have left us with our weapons, seeing as his men were carying heavy weapons of their own possible choice.
"Under guard," I said slightly suggesting and factly that he was suspecting something about us or wanted us to be feeling like prisoners in this small room. Andrea was stood behind me, Michonne beside me but I was slightly more in front. Taking a lead in order to get answers from this man.
"To protect our people. We don't know you," the man tried to explain which had some sort of sense. This man was crazy though, images flashing before my eyes at survivors who were reaching for him to save them. Two other men he had killed.
"We know enough about you to want out of this place. We watched you drive a knife into the skulls of two dead men. What the hell was that all about?" I demanded, my voice slightly growling at him as I felt disgusted at even mentioning the vile things he had done to those men.
"They turned," the man said with a shake of his head. This was when I felt my anger boil under my skin along with my veins. My anger had me warm and wanting nothing more than to hit him in the jaw. My fists clenched tightly.
"They weren't bitten," I threw at him, venom in my voice as I was standing straighter, as though I was trying to size his tall figure. His eyes looking at me curiously and slightly confused. The man and Merle exchanged looks before looking at the three of us.
"It doesn't matter. However we die, we all turn. I put them out of their misery. It's not easy news to swallow at first, but there it is," the man tried to explain which left me stunned. "You're not prisoners here, you're guests. But if you wanna leave, as I said, you're free to do so. But we don't open the gates past dusk. Draws too much attention," the man spoke as he walked towards the opposite door. To the men who stood guarding the door.
"And you especially, you need a solid night's sleep. You wouldn't last another day out there in your condition," the man spoke directly at Andrea. "Have you brought over to my place in the morning. Return your weapons. Extra ammo, food for the road, some meds, keys to a vehicle if you want one," the man suggested as though he was kind about it. "Send you on your way. No hard feelings," the man said and walked out the door, the two other men following him.
Following after them, they opened up double doors to a town of small houses and long streets. "Welcome to Woodbury," the man spoke as he stopped to look at us and all we did was glance around in awe. The town was clean, neat and silent. The fire was amber, it was silent and there was no sounds of the dead stumbling around the corners. "Come with me," the man spoke as he lead us the way to the gates. Following closely, I saw Michonne watch the men that surrounded us with a questioning look in her eyes.
"Go relieve Pete at the back gate. I'll take the spotlight," Merle commanded as he took over what seemed to be a stand, one where there was a spotlight and different types of silent and non silent weapons.
"Are you military?" Andrea asked the man as he stood and witnessed one man climb down and head towards the other end of the street, disappearing into the distant darkness.
"Hardly. Couple of vets, but by and large we're self-trained," the man spoke to her as I went to walk a little closer, taking the spot next to him as I looked up at the men. Examining the guns and there was even a long bow above. Scanning and noting how many guns they had, how many rounds each of them could have and remembering the conversations, as well as training I would have from Shane and my father.
"That's heavy artillery they're packing," I spoke aloud, surprised that such occupations held guns or other types of weapons such as these ones. Showing the man that I knew about this world and about the old one we all knew. That I wasn't dumb when it came to weapons and their types.
"Some men arrive with guns, but most of the weapons are scavenged over time," he said which made my hairs stand on end. I somehow felt like he lied about this. Or at least he partly lied. It didn't seem to me that it was the whole truth, but I wouldn't ask further as it wasn't my place to pry.
"And the other side of town? The rest of the streets? They're all guarded like this?...It can't be," Andrea spoke as she looked around, shocked and surprised that something like this could be possible. It could. You just needed to be really smart. I sensed Michonne somewhere behind us, glancing around and checking for anything that seemed to interest her in a way.
"It can...and it is," the man spoke as he looked to the pair of us. His eyes drifting to Michonne's lone figure in the shadow of darkness. My eyes straining to see what the commotion was about above me as well as what Michonne was doing.
Merle suddenly whistled loudly which made us look up at him. "Got us a creeper, Governor," Merle said as he looked to the man who stood beside both me and Andrea. The man gave a simple nod in signal to something and Merle turned to a man who stood beside him. "May I? Thank you," Merle asked as he took a gun from one of the men. Preparing his aim as I looked to the man. Andrea's feet fumbling forward to get a look at what was going on the other side of the gates.
"Governor? They call you that?" I asked as I rested my hands on my hips. My eyes glancing at Merle and then back to the man who held such a name. Not a name...a title. He's this town's authority.
"Some nicknames stick whether you want them to or not," the 'Governor' said as he looked to the men who began to shine a light on something in the distance. Making my way towards the gate, I too peeked to see what they were doing on the other side of the gates. Pressing up lightly against Andrea as to look through the gap.
"Buzz is a nickname. Governor is a title. There's a difference," I told him in a slightly stern and threatening tone. Showing him I knew what the difference was and what a lie he had told me. My name was a nickname. Kat. Short for Katherine. Dad would always call me kitten...
There was a small sound of a silenced 'pop', indicating that they were using silencers at the end of their guns. "Got him," Merle told the Governor as he took down a walker. "He brought his buddies," Merle declared as they all watched the walkers come closer, bringing them down before they could reach the gates. "Clear," Merle said after the sounds of small whizzing bullets were no longer ringing in my ears.
"We'll get them in the morning. Can't leave them to rot. Creates an odor. Makes people uneasy," the Governor spoke as he looked to Andrea and myself. There was a hint of amusement in his eyes as he looked to the pair of us, both watching the walkers getting killed and knowing that we were safe with these men keeping guard of the town.
"What people? There's nobody here. It's a ghost town," Andrea spoke as the Governor gave her a small and what would seem a charming smile in other times, but this...made my hairs stand on its ends.
"This way," the Governor spoke as he looked to us and showed us a way into a home that was unoccupied. "You'll be more comfortable here. Not the Four Seasons, but there's a hot shower. Water's limited, so keep it short. We've got food, water, fresh clothes. Hope this works. I know you'd feel better with your sword, more secure, but...you're safe here," he told us as he looked at the three of us. Showing us into a house that held three bedrooms, a laundry room, a kitchen, a livingroom and two bathrooms.
"We appreciate it," Andrea spoke as she sat on one of the beds that they had led us to. Andrea's eyes focused on the Governor while Michonne's back was to him. My eyes glancing around the room, my fingers gripping things and picking them up to examin them.
"What about the pilot? Will he make it?" I asked curious for the man they had pulled out of the helicopter. My eyes glancing at the Governor from the corner of my eye, my face looking to a snowglobe that I held in my hand. Curious as to if the man would live or die. If he could be saved or if he was a lost cause. I hope he survives. He must know were other survivors are. Bring them here and keep us all safe. Maybe even find a cure...
"Well, Dr. Stevens is doing all she can. Now, I know you got a lot more questions, but I got work to do. My man will be outside the door if you need anything else. I'll see you tomorrow," the Governor spoke kindly more to me and to Andrea. His eyes shone when he would speak to Andrea but to me it seemed more out of respect. Pointing to one of his men, he walked out and left us alone. Michonne told hold of the handle and shut the door loudly, as to allow us a few moments in privacy in Andrea's new room...
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Michonne growled quietly as she wandered closer to Andrea and stopped beside her. Andrea was sat on the bed, her eyes still staring at the door but she slowly looked to Michonne as she moved her legs to sit on the bed in a cross-legged fashion.
"I was thinking that this man had taken us into his town to give us supplies, a bed and in the morning we can leave," Andrea suggested as though this was what Michonne was wanting to hear come out of her mouth. It seemed to make Michonne look at Andrea slightly angered.
"We all know that will only happen if you're better. Which you probably won't be. We can't stay here!" Michonne spoke softly near the beginning, her tone growing more angered as she was trying to make Andrea feel possibly guilty.
"Why can't we?!" Andrea questioned Michonne with surprise and mock humour. As though Michonne had been touched on the head and it made me look around with my back to the pair. I didn't want to listen to us arguing over this matter.
"Because I don't like the feel of this place," Michonne spoke lowly, possibly worried that the man behind the door was listening in and later going to report it to the Governor.
"As if! What the hell do you mean by 'the feel' of this place?!" Andrea asked Michonne in a tone that was questioning and disbelieving that Michonne would say such a thing.
"I don't trust them," Michonne said a little darkly, in that tone that meant she truly felt and believed what she said. That she honestly wouldn't trust these people, not with her life or ours.
"Neither do I but we need to keep our heads straight and our priorities. Not bickering between ourselves like a bunch of teenagers," I growled having enough of the pair of them arguing over what we should do now or do later in the morning. Right now we needed to decide what we should do and come to an agreement. Not a disagreement.
"What about you Miss daughter of a cop? Trying to lead us and take control of what we do or say. I can make my own choices thank you very much," Andrea spoke sarcastically to me, in that tone I knew so well that would come out of her from time to time. Especially whenever we spoke of myself or my family.
"You know what? I didn't ask to be brought here. You know why we're here? Because you fainted and I had no other option but to tag along with you. Just like Michonne did as well. We did this for you. So stop being so ungrateful," I told her truthfully, as to make her see that all we were doing were for her benefit rather than all of ours.
"Just like your father," Andrea mumbled in a distasteful type of way. Her tone was uncalled for and made my skin tingle.
"No. I'm not. My dad would have willingly gone but you know what...I would stay here. For you. So you can get better and you know what...I'm going to see what this place is like. Who knows? Maybe my family are here or are almost here. I won't give up on them," I told her as I thought of the possibilty of my family here in the town. Of the possibility that we were all in the same town and hopefully reunited.
"But-" Andrea went to say but then I realised something else ran into my mind. The day that we had found that hideout, where she was sick and all we did was look after her. Find her drink, medicine, food and shelter.
"Oh and not to mention. My dad would allow you your choice but...I didn't chose to come here or to let you come with me to find my family. You chose to do that. I chose to save you. I chose to stay here rather than look for my family. I protected you and I still am doing that now. My dad would protect me and my family before protecting a friend," I told her which made her look at me stunned and speechless.
"We should have left when we had the chance," I could hear Michonne mumble as I walked to the door and walked out, leaving the door opened for the pair. Michonne's footsteps or the guard's followed me. At this point, I didn't care. I went to my new room and started to settle in. Trying to find my inner peace before slowly drifting off into a deep sleep...
"It's real," Andrea spoke to a woman who had knocked on our door early in the morning. Leading us to the Governor's home as he had summoned us to join him for breakfast. Glancing around, there were children running on the streets, people living ordinary lives and even elderly women were gardening at the ends of the street. It seemed like a peaceful sight.
"You three were out there for a long time. While you were, the Governor was doing this," the woman had said as she waved to a woman who was clearly pregnant. Judging by her thin, young face and her baby filled belly.
"How many people do you have here?" I asked curious as to the number of people in what seemed like such a small town. Andrea and I glanced around, Michonne was trodging along behind us. Her hands on her hips and her face seemed unamused and her body alert.
"73. Eileen's about to pop, so her kid will make it 74. It's still a work in progress, but Rome wasn't built in a day," the woman spoke as my eyes drifted to look at the men who were on patrol. Watching out for any walkers.
"That's a bold comparison," I stated, as a young child I knew about history and about figures of speech. But to this woman it seemed that this town really did feel like Rome to her. A place of history, a story to be told to the world and one that everyone would remember.
"I think we've earned it. Walls haven't been breached in well over a month. We haven't suffered a casualty on the inside since early winter," the woman spoke, informing us of the safety of the place and what the safety may have to offer us.
"How's that possible?" Andrea asked as her gaze froze on the group of elder women planting flowers and other herbs. Her expression showed one of surprise and a hint of happiness, along with doubt.
"Our Governor set a strict curfew. Nobody out after dark. Noise and light are kept to the bare minimum. Armed guards on the fence and patrolling the perimeter to keep the biters away," the woman explained to her, telling us further information about what they did in order to keep the people safe.
"We saw what your patrols do on the way in last night. They had a dead one strung up like an ornament," Andrea mentioned, the strung up walker reminded me of the time me and Daryl had found one hung on the tree. Mumbling 'Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit.' to myself in a mild amusement. The corners of my lips curving at the memory of him trying to make me laugh and the time when Carl had got shot.
He seemed so kind...so sincere but...he was also an ass. A teasing ass. Making me throw up a little at the walker on the tree but saying I deserved it because I was laughing at his itchy ass. Asshole deserved it, then again...so did I. Andrea noticed my smile and possibly heard my small mumble, giving me a look that made me feel like I had suddenly grown another head.
"I won't make excuses, those men put their lives at risk every day to protect this town. They've lost more than a few friends out there. Everybody copes in their own way. But I'll raise it with the Governor," the woman suggested before leading us towards the house, after a few more corners of streets, we found ourselves outside a big house. One that was occupied by non other than the Governor himself...
We were introduced to a small, geeky man called Milton. We had entered his house, walked to the kitchen which was also a dinning room, much like the one we had a few blocks away. "Eight months? Hard to believe you ladies lasted so long out there," the Governor spoke as he pushed the omlette he had made for us onto each of our plates.
"Because we're women?" I asked them quizically, Milton looked to the Governor, waiting for his response and I silently sipped on my tea. Something my mother had taught me long ago, would tell me off when I would slurp. She would always tell me it was unlady like.
"Because you were alone," the Governor said as he went around to give us all some of the scrambled eggs he had made for us. Milton seemed shy but silent. He resembled to me much like a mouse. Silent, sneaky and quite clever in some aspects.
"We had each other," Andrea spoke fondly as she looked to me and Michonne. Michonne sat back, waiting for the Governor to give her some food, she didn't move to pick up her fork like Andrea did. Andrea had already began to eat.
"Three against the world. It's long odds," the Governor spoke as though he knew what we were capable of. He hasn't the clue. Don't think he will ever know what we've all been through.
"We managed," I spoke up to inform him that we didn't need anyone else's help, other than each others.
"Oh, we're impressed," the Governor spoke as he slowly shoved some of the eggs onto my plate, giving me a warm but slightly misleading smile. I'm not sure what I should think of that smile...
"Very," Milton agreed as he lifted his cup in his hands, grasping it lightly and possibly holding it as to warm his hands up rather than to take a delicate sip.
"Survival in the wild is tough sledding. Wake up every morning on the ground wondering if today is the day. Will it be quick and final or slow and, well, without end? If someone had the good sense to kill my brain or will I come back as one of them?" the Governor spoke as though it were nothing special, as though he knew all about what we had been through. Maybe he was speaking of experience but I didn't apreciate this type of conversation while we were eating and trying to get back to civilisation.
"Do you think they remember anything? The person they once were?" Milton asked us as he looked at the three of us, his eyes raising to look at me questioningly. Even more so at Andrea. Flashbacks of Amy and Andrea made me overthink my answer. Knowing Andrea probably didn't want to speak up.
"We don't tend to think about it," I say to him. Giving him a cold glance to warn him to never speak of it again. The girl lost her sister and a friend. I don't think she wants to think about them being the people they once were. Especially when she blew her own sisters brains out.
"Milton believes there might be a trace of the person they were still trapped inside," the Governor tried to explain Milton's views to both me and Andrea. His eyes were kind but I felt as though he were masking something.
"Like an echo. Surely it must have crossed your mind," Milton asked as he had fiddled with a tea maker, passing a cup to Andrea who took it gently and smiled at him slightly.
"At one time, yeah. Right before it tried to bite me," Andrea spoke which made me curious about her. Was she thinking about Amy? She seemed so...human when she had awoken as a walker. I wonder if that is the 'it' she is refering to. Best not to ask her though...that is her personal thoughts. No one elses.
"And then you killed it? I say "it" only because no one here likes to refer to them as...'him' or 'her'," Milton spoke which made Andrea hold her cup but swallow slowly. Michonne chewing at her food but looking at the man who had believed walkers still had some sort of human side to them still.
"The two you had in chains, who were they?" Milton asked looking to Michonne. This was a question neither I or Andrea even dared to ask her. "The way you controlled them, used them to your benefit," Milton spoke as Michonne looked at her fork, spinning it as though in deliberation whether to stick it into Milton's eye for asking. "You did know them, didn't you?" he continued as both myself and Andrea stiffened, waiting to see what would happen or what Michonne would stay. She did what she always did. Stayed silent.
"Let them eat," the Governor demanded of Milton as he gave the Governor a nod, knowing full well he had crossed the line by asking this question to Michonne. He kept his eyes on Michonne before he appolgised and continued to eat. His eyes on the food on his plate.
"So what you have here, you expect it to hold? What if a herd comes through?" I asked, knowing that we felt as though we were safe back at the farm but it all ended in disaster. That any herd could break down what is considered safe.
"It'll hold," the Governor spoke softly, almost kindly as he looked at the four of us. Mostly to myself and to Andrea. Michonne was eating her food silently, spectating what was going on between our conversation.
"What's your secret?" Andrea asked the Governor curiously, her eyes shone bright as she spoke to him. Like he was someone she was interested in and judging by the way the Governor looked at her...he too was interested in her.
"Really big walls," the Governor spoke as though this was a secret that no one knew. We had fences but they broke...seems to me everything can get broken by walkers and here they are thinking they're no different.
"That soldier had walls too and we all know how that turned out, so..." I spoke out to alert them. To remind them of the man who had claimed that his group had their walls crashing down on them. That we too had gone through something similar.
"I guess we do. The real secret is what goes on within these walls. It's about getting back to who we were. Who we really are. They're just waiting to be saved. And people here have homes, medical care, kids go to school, adults have jobs to do. There's a sense of purpose. We're a community," the Governor said as though this was some sort of paradise. It's only paradise until my family are with me safe and alive.
"With a lot of guns and ammunition," Milton spoke up as though this was either a good thing or a bad thing. Not too sure Milton wants guns around him that much but he has to agree to it.
"Never hurts," the Governor said with a small smile to his companion as he looked between the four of us on the table. All the while, Michonne is staying silent and keeping her mouth busy by eating her eggs.
"And really big walls," I mentioned trying to remind him that the walls aren't the thing that keep people safe. Its those that defend it and I'm not sure that patrols are the only way to go when it comes to safety.
"And men willing to risk everything to defend them. Compromise our safety, destroy our community, I'll die before I'll let that happen," the Governor said which made me furrow my brows at him. Michonne didn't look too convinced either, with that small smirk as he spoke to Andrea.
"Looks like you're sitting pretty at the end of the world," Andrea said which could have either come out as a compliment or a statement to tell him that things needed to change. The way the Governor paused and looked at Andrea made me think he took it as both.
"Do I strike you as the kind of man that sits pretty?" the Governor asked her in a flirtatious kind of manor. Andrea was eating her eggs as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You reap what you sow. We're the seed. Now winter has passed, it's time to harvest," the Governor spoke as he wanted to put a hidden point accross.
"Time to hope?" I asked. Hope is everything to me. To my family. Without hope and faith in finding my family...I probably wouldn't be alive right now. My friends give me hope that I can survive another day but my family give me faith. Faith that I will one day reunite with them, finding them safe and happy. Waiting for me to join them again. Alive.
"We're going out there and we're taking back what's ours. Civilization. We will rise again. Only this time we won't be eating each other," the Governor said as he leaned in and looked at Andrea with a sparkle in his eyes. As though he went fishing and caught the biggest fish possible. All I know is something definitly smells fishy.
"To civilization, then," Andrea spoke after a few moments in silence. Raising her cup of tea, she smiled at the Governor and took a sip of her tea. There was a sudden knock on the door which made the Governor slurp his drink.
"Excuse me," he said as he rose to his feet, walked to the door and spoke in whispers with one of his men. Michonne's eyes were on the pair the entire time they spoke to each other.
"How's the tea?" Milton asked us as I gave him a small nod, sipping on my drink innocently and trying not to make eye contact with anyone I might not want an awkward moment with. Tension rising in the air and almost making me feel as though I were suffocating.
"Sorry to cut breakfast short, but this can't wait," the Governor excused himself as some important business suddenly rose up. He didn't shut the door until he finally finished saying what he wanted.
"We want our weapons," Michonne demanded again. She rose to her feet, as though she were ready to attack him and get what was hers. I could see in the corner of my eye that her Katana was stored in a glass cabinate. One that would hold all the glass for your choice of alcoholic beverages.
"Well, we can make these meals to go and your weapons will be waiting outside but you should take time to relax. Get your strength back. Have a look around," the Governor said as he looked between the three of us. "Who knows? You might like what you see," he said in a more flirtatious tone to Andrea as his eyes twitched a little. As though he was fighting the urge to wink at her...
"I don't trust him," Michonne spoke as we were heading back to our house. The man the Governor was speaking to looked at us, his eyes seemed dark in a sense. Like he was hiding a secret that maybe one of us was close to discovering. Like he didn't trust us.
"Why not? Have you ever trusted anybody?" Andrea asked her incredulously. Michonne's hands were on her hips as we walked back to our house. Andrea seemed better than she was yesterday.
"Yeah," Michonne answered as she looked to both me and Andrea. Michonne trusts us. Yet Andrea is here trying to push her around. I don't like this. Not one bit.
"Then give this a day or two, that's all I'm asking. Some time to get our shit together," Andrea spoke as she looked to Michonne with a teasing nature. Her hips moving a little exageratedly, while Michonne gave the longest glare to the man who was watching us.
"My shit never stopped being together," Michonne argued as she continued to walk. She was slightly behind us, Andrea was behind myself and behind Andrea was Michonne. Walking in a unorderly line.
"Didn't look that way when Milton asked about your walkers. I'm surprised he didn't get a fork in his eye," Andrea spoke slightly teasing but sarcastically at the same time. She's testing Michonne and she may have a point but she shouldn't be speaking to Michonne like that. Not after all she had done for us.
"It was none of his damn business," Michonne grumbled out like some angered child who didn't want to stop being stubborn. Why the fuck am I surrounded by children right now?
"I guess it's none of mine, either," Andrea said as she stopped. Taking a deep breath, I stopped too and walked back to them. Looking at both of them with my side facing them.
"Neither of ours," I spoke authoritively as I looked to Andrea. Reminding her that she should get her nose out of where it doesn't need to be. "You don't have to explain yourself to us Michonne. I haven't asked it in the past and I won't start asking you now," I told her kindly, my voice soft and gentle as I didn't want her to feel as though we were forcing her to do anything.
I had begun to turn my back on them, as to start walking back and had to stop after two steps. Only to hear Andrea continue to talk to Michonne. "Seven months together, all we've been through, I still feel like I hardly know you. That either of us truly know you," Andrea said to Michonne as I threw my head back and resisted the urge to groan. Turning back to them, I waited and watched them.
"Andrea, you shouldn't say that," I growled as I didn't like how Andrea was now forcing her to tell us about her past. As to who those walkers were and if Michonne knew them.
"I'm sorry, it's the truth," Andrea said as she looked at me but then turned her head to focus her eyes on Michonne. "Come on. You know everything about me...about us. And I-" Andrea went to speak but Michonne cut her off.
"You know enough," she growled at Andrea. Andrea looked like a hurt puppy. Michonne looked as though she honestly didn't want anything more to do with this conversation. That she just wanted it to end and that was it.
Andrea shut her eyes for a moment. Sighing to herself before she opened her eyes to look at Michonne. "Those walkers were with us all winter long, protecting us, and you took them out without any hesitation. And that had-" Andrea said as she didn't let go of the topic. To leave Michonne alone.
"It was easier than you think," Michonne said as he voice trembled, this was the most vaulnerable moment I believe I had shared with the pair of them. Michonne cut Andrea off but she clearly was one of the most strongest women I had met. Yet at this moment...she seemed at her weakest. Michonne stayed silent for a moment as the two exchanged looks. Quietly, she walked away and left both me and Andrea alone.
"You just don't know when enough is enough...do you?" I asked her, disappointed that she would push Michonne to such extreemes after all she had done for us. It was unfair and completely uncalled for. Walking my own way, I decided it was best for all of us to do whatever we wanted to. As long as we were all away from each other. We needed the time apart right now...
Later, we then saw the Governor return with the rest of his men. Andrea was near the front, Michonne was sat on a bench and I was stood in the far back. "We brought in four new people yesterday. One was a helicopter pilot with a National Guard outfit. Even though he's clinging to life, he told us about his convoy on the highway, his men. I promised I'd bring them back here alive," the Governor began to speak.
"But they didn't have our walls or our fences. Biters got there before we did. Now, the men had trucks, the trucks had weapons, food, medicines, things we need. Now, we didn't know them, but we'll honor their sacrifice by not taking what we have here for granted," the Governor told us which made me look at him slightly confused. Something didn't seem right with how he spoke. It was as if he had been practicing what he was going to say.
"Won't be long before dark, so go on home. Be thankful for what you have. Watch out for each other," the Governor concluded as he jumped off one of the trucks they had brought with them from the men they had attempted to rescue. A shiver ran down my spine as I pulled my arms tightly around myself. People began to continue with their lives and moved away from the crowd...
"Look who's cosying up to the Governor," Michonne spoke as she walked closer to me, I looked to where Michonne was staring at. I glanced to where she was looking at and noticed how the Governor and Andrea were fliting with each other.
"Andrea?" I said surprised. Michonne didn't say anything. She just stood there and saw how the Governor was smiling at Andrea and Andrea acted all 'pretty teenage girl crushing on the jock' routine.
"I don't trust him. I think what he just told everyone was a lie. I mean...who brings the vehicals and the guns the men had back to their community?" Michonne asked me slightly confused and surprised that the Governor would do such a thing.
"I don't understand," I told her as my brows furrowed, looking to her I saw she was glaring into the distance. Directly glaring at the Governor and this made me tense slightly. Michonne's glares were ones no one would want to be cast upon them.
"The vehicals have holes in them...I don't recal ever seeing a 'biter' holding a gun and knowing how to use it," Michonne spoke logically which made me look to the Governor then to the vehical which was supposedly meant for the men in the camp they had found.
"Neither have I," I said slightly amused and curious as to what really happened. The story didn't add up to what was presented. Besides...what had happened to the pilot?
"You can't believe him...do you?" Michonne asked as she removed her gaze from the Governor and rested them on me. An expression that was curious and quizzical. As though I may say the wrong answer and suddenly hear a buzzer noise echo from the sky.
"For myself...no. For my family...I have to. For now...I don't trust him. Not at all..." I speak as I kept my eyes glued on the pair. Andrea smiled and the Governor just stood there for a few moments, watching Andrea make her way towards us. All before he turned away and walked to his home...
Hey! Sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated. Been really busy with trying to keep my grades up and with personal life too. Hope everyone has been waiting as patiently as they can for this chapter. I enjoyed what I wrote and well...it's only going to get more crazy. Believe me. I already have it all planned out in my head! 5 reviews please! Question for you guys to answer in the reviews: what do you think will happen next?
Now...replies to reviews!
Karen: Carl truly loves his sister. Just as Kat loves Carl. It doesn't surprise me he is thinking of her at moments during the day. There isn't much he can do now that he's in the prison.
redangel2463: Well...Kat is back! As for Woodbury...you were more or less right but there are going to be many surprises in store for poor Kat. Can you hazard a guess?
Caity6991: Hmm...I wonder if this was to your expectations or not. Either way, here's your chapter! I really am enjoying this story. Just wish I had more time to continue it.
Purple Dragon Ranger: The reuniting part will have to wait...she'll be with them soon enough. Trust me!
kayley . doherty: Hope this was to your expectation!
Tayla: Here you have it! Glad you're liking the story!
KoNeKoLuvsU: Here you have it!
When I can...I'll update...
Until the 5 reviews...
Much love!
HeroJustInTime90 x
