Chapter 32: Trouble


KPOV

~4 years ago~

I was waiting in my boyfriend's car. His brown eyes staring at the school that we were waiting outside of. My eyes glued to the door as I waited for little Carl to come out. It was almost time for him to finish class and for us to go home. Tom's hand ran down my leg and I pushed his hand away. "Hey...Kat...baby," his too-cool-for-school voice asked me. He was good looking, the football player type of handsome. He was always so demanding of sex sometimes which made me become stubborn. Especially in times like this.

"Why don't we just go? Go back to mine and have some fun?" Tom asked me suggestively. This made my head whip to look to him. The sun was shinning and we were cool in the car but warm enough not to freeze. He's kidding...right?

"Leave my brother behind?" I questioned him surprised that he would suggest such a thing. My eyebrows furrowed as I kept my eyes glued to him in curious anger. "No," I growled. I'm not leaving Carl behind. Ever. Especially not on a day like today.

"Oh come on!" Tom said as he leaned over to bite my lobe into his mouth. His warm breath fanning the side of my face as his hand was slowly trying to slide up my leg. "It'll be fun," he tried to convince me but I just pulled my ear away from his teeth and gripped his fingers tightly. How badly I want to break his fingers? So badly.

"Fuck you," I snarled at him as I gave him a look of disgust. Pig. All men are pigs. All but my dad and Shane. "I'm not leaving my brother. I would never leave my brother. Especially not on his birthday," I growled at him as I reminded the asshole of what was going on today. Fucking idiot.

"Kat!" Tom called after me as I went to open my door, my seatbelt already unfastened as I pushed open my door. "Hey!" he called after me as I felt his fingers try and reach out for me. "Baby?" he pleaded pathetically as I got out and fixed up my clothes. "Where you going?" he called after me as I had finished pulling the ridden up shirt and turned to glare at him.

"We're over," I spat at him as I slammed the door in his face. He was leaning over my seat as though to plead to me. The window was rolled down so he could still speak and hear me. "Get out of here and don't ever contact me in any way ever again," I ordered of him as I kept my glare focused on him.

"But-" he went to protest.

"Just. Go," I spat each word individually. With a sigh, Tom slipped on his belt and drove off. Leaving me alone, waiting for Carl, cell phone in hand and my eyes pinned to the door. My fingers numbly reached into my pockets, pulling out what felt like the heaviest necklace I had gotten Carl for his birthday between my fingers. Dialing a number, I looked to the door and kept myself focused on it. "Hello? Yes...I'd like to call for a cab..." I spoke into the phone as my fingers ran over the necklace...


Present day...KPOV

Waking up by cold water splashing against my face, I felt my body heavy against the chair. My wrists were bound, as were my feet and all I could feel was a weight push down on me. Slowly, the drowning feeling in my head stilled and I felt my eyes blink away the drops of water. My vision becoming clearer as I saw the Governor stood before me, a small fake smile on his face as he looked to me.

We had been at this since he had knocked me out and brought me to this room of torture. I had more scars and bruises than I could count. I hadn't screamed or cried in all the time he had tried to gain answers from me. Asking me how many of us there were and if there were any weak spots that they could access in the prison.

I hadn't been fed anything other than water and a few slices of bread. I felt weak and completely submissive towards this torture. Busted lip, scars on my arms, chest and any place he felt it necessary to cut me. My face bruised and bloody. I could taste blood in my mouth from the last hit that had slit a side of my inside cheek, knocking me out cold. Whenever I fell unconcious, the Governor would wake me up with cold water pouring over me.

I could never rest nor could I focus. I was simply fading in and out of concious, the entire time I was asleep felt like a blur. When I woke it felt like I was sinking. Drowining. My head heavy, ears ringing and my body weighing like a tonne of bricks. Whenever the Governor would cause me pain, which was almost continous, I wouldn't allow him to see me suffering or weak in front of him.

"Tell me...are you always so stubborn?" he asked me as he paced around. I could hear as he walked behind me and touched something metal by the familiar sounds of metal against metal. "You're much like your father," he stated as though he was amused by this fact. "Sometimes-...sometimes I wonder what your mother was like," he said which made me clench my jaw but then regret it when I tasted the coppery taste of blood.

"You're like him...seeing as you're stubborn," the Governor pointed out. "I'm curious as to if your father is as stupid as you," he said as he got closer to me. "Thing is...I can tell you are stronger than him. Braver," he said as he gave a small, sarcastic and fake smile. He's testing me.

"I'm a Grimes," I stated to him bitterly. My mouth numb and in pain as I spoke. I was silent for all the torture but I was going to tell him what I was like. "I will survive," I state. "I will, so that way I can get back to my family," I told him. "Not you...not anyone or thing will be able to stop me from returning to the ones I love," I said darkly which made him watch me before chuckling darkly.

Leaning over me, he got close enough to my face and pressed the tip of his knife into at the top of one of my eyebrows. Over my left eye and I kept my eyes glued to his. Panting from my nose heavily at the proximity and the fact he had his knife on me. My head tilting back as he gripped my hair and gritted his teeth, baring them to me. My mouth shut as I gulped but kept my eyes focused solely on him. Showing him I wasn't afraid.

"You're not afraid of me...are you?" he asked me as he chuckled darkly. His breath fanning my face at this proximity. To intimidate me...but it wasn't working. I didn't say a word, just kept my eyes on him. I wanted to wince as he dug his knife deeper into my skin. My eye stung as I knew that there was a bruise on it, one that was sensitive to this painful feeling that was pressure on my skin above it.

"Martinez! Bring me some more cold water and the thing I have asked for," the Governor shouted to his henchman as he sliced along my brow, curving along the outline of the bruise on my eye that he had made and straightened up on the chair. Feeling blood seep out from the fresh cut as I kept my eyes opened.

The hot red, liquid slowly pouring out and down my eye. Next thing I knew, Martinez enters with a few more buckets of cold water and then entered with a walker. It was gripped around the neck with a clamp like contraption. This made me sit up, hoping that I could move my stiffened body and suddenly realized how alert I had become. He wants that walker to rip me to pieces. My heart was in my throat as it pounded crazily. My palms sweaty as they gripped onto the arm rests tightly.

My eyes wide as I looked at the walker who was clawing at me, teeth crashing as it was hungry for my flesh and eyes staring at me as it realized I was it's target. The Governor's eye on me as he smirked and pushed the walker closer to me. Moving as far away from it as the restraints would allow. The restraints on my wrists burning as I felt it dig into my skin and make new marks or poured out fresh blood. I couldn't tell as I felt numb at this moment, the only sensation I felt was the pounding of my heart.

"Now...I see you're afraid," he said dully as he looked at me. "I could let this biter run to you. Get a good meal out of you," the Governor suggested dully. "Unable to move, unable to save yourself...only to feel and see this biter rip you to nothing," the Governor said plainly as he struggled against the walker. The walker trying to claw at me desperately, hungry for my skin and blood.

"But..." he said before he rushed to pull out his knife again and drove it into the walker's skull. The walker no longer moving or remotely 'alive', it was dead as it could be and the Governor made it drop to the floor. Dead. Unmoving. Unclasping the restraint, moving it to one side and wiping the blood clean from his knife with a cloth he had in his pocket. "I chose to save you," he said to me.

"To prove that I am a kind and good man..." he said as he looked directly at me. Bending over to look directly into my eyes. "To show the kindness I have in my heart," he explained which made me want to laugh loudly. You don't have a heart. "You could save your family...by telling me what I want to know," he tried to convince me. Never.

I stayed silent. My eyes glued to his as I stood my ground. Not changing my mind and not telling him a single thing he wanted to know. Why does he want to know if he wants to keep the ones I love safe? It's clearly a lie. The Governor became impatient and angered to my silence. Taking his knife, he stabbed it into my left leg, a few inches above my knee, making me scream and shut my eyes tightly.

What it felt like was unlike anything I could ever describe. It was as though I had been torn and a fire burned as the blood seeped out. The slicing feeling as though I had been kicked there but by something sharp and far deeper than necessary. It was worse than any pain I had ever felt. My scream echoing off the metal walls. Agony in my expression as I tried to regain my breath and not lose conciousness. I will stay awake. Stay alive. For my family. For the others.

"I wonder if you're willing to talk in order to save your family," the Govenor said as he looked at me. Pulling out his knife in one quick thrust and making me wince but never back down to his entertainment. I'm not going to beg. Or plead. Or cry. I won't let him see me as weak. "Guess I'll keep this biter around as a reminder for you. Keep it here to give you company," he said as I moved my head to one side and puked out all the contents in my stomach. Coughing at the acidic taste in my mouth, tempted to puke again but held it in. I will be strong.

My head spinning at the loss of food and possible shock or pain. There are too many possibilites. "Leave him in here to remind you of my generosity. To create a smell so that you remember what I have offered but you have denied," the Governor said as he pointed to the dead walker on the ground. Keeping my eyes on the Governor, I watched him leave and turn to me before shutting the door on me. "Now...if you excuse me Miss Grimes but...I am a busy man," he said before walking out and leaving me alone...


APOV

Milton, Martinez and a group of men were all gathered around and focusing on packing weapons and ammo into cars, trucks and any other machines that would be used for this situation. "Has anyone seen Kat?" I asked them as I got closer to them. "She didn't come home last night," I mused as I remembered my lone night at the house. Is Kat still angry with me?

"The Governor told me she went out with a group of others," Milton said as he looked directly at me. "Out on a run," he said a little stiffly and dully. "She'll be back before you know it," he tried to reassure me but something wasn't right in the way he looked and spoke to me.

"I thought there was a deal on the table," I said as I looked around, hands in my back pockets as I thought of all the weapons. Why would they need weapons at a dealing area?

"I'm sure it's just a precaution, a show of force," Milton tried to reassure me, I then saw an expression on his face as he walked off and allowed me a few minutes to follow behind him. We had met alone and I could sense that something was terribly wrong.

"There is no deal. Philip's asked for Michonne," Milton told me which made me walk a little faster beside Milton. He wants Michonne for killing Penny.

"Rick would never agree to that," I said matter-of-factly. Rick's a good person. Just like Kat. I'd be surprised if Kat didn't plead her father not to let the Governor get his hands on Michonne.

"Whether he hands her over or not, he's gonna kill them all and he's got Kat as hostage," Milton informed me which made me freeze. Looking to Milton wide eyed and shocked by this new found news. This isn't true...is it?

"I have to stop this," I said as I noticed Milton stop beside me and look down sadly. It's true. I need to save them all. Before it's too late.

"I don't think you can," Milton said which made me ponder on who could save them. Following Milton into a secret entrance, I watched out for if anyone was watching and crept up behind Milton. "Leave. Tell the people at the prison to get out of there. In time, he'll move on," Milton said as we looked down at the room Kat was held in. She was being tested by the Governor.

"No. I have to kill him," I said sternly as I saw him gain a walker and lay it to the floor. My body numb as I watched how he treated my friend so terribly. How he had been torturing her, marking her and making her do things that was possibly pushing her to her limits. This is vile.

"You'll never get close to him. They'll gun you down first," Milton tried to convince me otherwise. If I don't kill him...Rick will. Especially if he sees Kat like this. The Governor suddenly stabbed Kat and I felt my heart stop as I gasped slightly. He's more than crazy. Kat was right. So was Michonne.

"Only if they see me coming. Milton, this is sick," I tell him as I watched Kat spill any contents from her stomach out. The Governor treating her like shit as she was drained from the torturing he had been giving him. "I can't just stand back and watch everyone-" I said to him as I glared at Milton. I then saw a chance to kill him. He was still and I slipped out my gun. Aiming it directly at his head. Just as I was about to shoot, Milton pushed my gun away and shook his head. How is this unwise? The man is insane...


DPOV

"It's the only way. No one else knows," Rick told us about Michonne. Told us the deal he had made with the Governor. The fact he had made the promise to Kat was making him torn as to what he wanted to do. Who he wanted to save, what he should and shouldn't do. I could tell it was muddling with his mind.

"You gonna tell 'em?" I ask him curious as to if he would tell them all the plan he had. The thing that the Governor was planning for us. The thing he desired most. Who knew it would be little Michonne? The best friend that Kat is so desperately trying to protect.

"Not till after," Rick said as he stared off into the distance. "We have to do it today. It has to be quiet," he informs me as he took a few steps closer. What does he have planned? He must have one...right?

"You got a plan?" I asked him. My fingers on the leather of the crossbow tightening. I don't like the feeling of this. Not one bit. Rick shouldn't send Michonne of like she was some sort of delivery. As for Kat...she'll be pissed if she found out her friend was killed by the Governor.

"We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others," Rick said which made my stomach twist and turn. Looking behind him, I could see the look on Hershel's face. He was disgusted by this plan. We shouldn't do this.

"Just ain't us, man," I tell Rick as I thought of our group. Of Michonne. Of Kat. Kat wouldn't want Rick to do this. Neither would Lori. We've never done this but even if we wanted to...we can't. It's wrong.

"No. No, it isn't," Hershel agreed as he decided to walk away from us. Even the old man doesn't want this to happen.

"We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies," Rick said as I thought of Oscar...of Axel and of the others. Not wanting any of our group to die. Not even Michonne. "Hopefully...after we can get Kat and Andrea back," Rick said hopeful. The prospect of getting Kat back, just the mention of her name made me feel slightly...weird. I can't describe this feeling I have right now.

"Okay," I agreed as I thought of us all safe and together. Alive. Maybe...no. Kat won't get over it. The death of her friend probably won't be worth safety. Especially if we get attacked.

"We need someone else," Rick suggested as he looked at me with this glint in his eyes. He wants Merle to do this too.

"I'll talk to him," I told him with a nod. I can convince Merle to do it.

"I'll do it," Rick said quickly. Ignoring my volunteering to handle my brother.

"I'll go with you," I suggest. He could end up arguing with Merle. I can control Merle.

"No," Rick said firmly. "Just me," he said softly. The man we knew is slowly going away again but there are times like this where it's him again. I think he's been like this since the return of his daughter.


RPOV

"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," Merle had said as he was ripping beds appart and searching for drugs. Addicts...always trying to get away from the real world.

"We need your help," I tell him which made him chuckle. "Do you even know why you do the things you do? The choices you make?" I asked him as I thought of what had been going on. I had once seen Daryl's scars. They were both beaten. Merle simply ran away from home and the real world whenever he felt like he was getting targeted or beaten up.

"If we give the Governor Michonne, Woodbury stands down," I revealed to him as I thought of what had happened and what could be done. "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," I tell him as I remembered what the Governor had said about Merle. That he did the dirty work and got it done.

"You ain't told any of the others, huh?" he asked me as he looked at me dead in the eye. He was now on his feet and looking at me through the shadows of the cell he was in.

"Just Hershel, Daryl and you," I informed him, deciding to tell him the truth and only that.

"Huh. The inner circle. I'm honored," he said with a small chuckle. "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," he told me as he remembered his time with the Governor.

"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," he informed me of the Governor's evil ways. Making my skin want to crawl off my muscles. "You'd let that happen for a shot?" he asked me as he took in my expression. I must have looked like I'd seen a ghost or held in a long lingering thought on Kat and her safety. On our safety.

"Whew. You're cold as ice, Officer Friendly," he said slightly mockingly. "You're gonna need wire, not rope. Wire. Nothing she could chew through," he suggested. "Oh," he said with a small shake of his head. "You know something? You're right," Merle told me which made me laugh through my nose.

"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," he told me which made me think he was being sincere but also he was being sarcastic. Sincere because he was a mystery to himself and sarcastic for the fact he knew what I was like. I'm a father and a leader. I will do whatever it takes to look after the ones I love.

"We need to get her to the Governor by noon," I told Merle as I walked off and decided to no longer stay there and listen to his small words. To his patronizing stare and his raspy voice. He was nothing like Daryl and nothing like the Governor but yet...he still knew how to send uncomfortable shivers down my spine.


DPOV

"Hey. You seen Merle around?" I called to Glenn as I made my way to him. He was fixing a door that Andrew had ruined when we had gotten attacked and seperated. "He say he was sorry yet?" I asked Glenn as I decided to help him with the other door. "'Cause he is. He's gonna make it right. I'm gonna make him," I told Glenn as he stayed silent through all of the time I had been talking to him.

"There's got to be a way. Just needs to be a little forgiveness is all," I tried to convince him, to try and reassure him that it was all going to be all right. Instead he kept giving me the silent treatment but...I think the last part hit one of his nerves. He began to walk towards me and was biting his bottom lip between his teeth.

"He tied me to a chair, beat me, and threw a walker in the room. Maybe I could call it even," Glenn said as he reminded us of the time Merle was stuck on the roof. "But he-...he took Maggie to a man who terrorized her, humiliated her," Glenn pointed out to me. "I care more about her than I care about me," he said with all the care he had in his heart. It made me look away from him.

When he turned his back on me, I watched him and knew exactly what he meant. How though...I didn't know if it was about Kat or Carol. I care about Kat a lot. Put myself at risk for her...saved myself at the thought of her. Protected her family when we believed her dead. She's someone I care about. I won't deny it but...do I care about her more than myself?...absolutely.


APOV

"How can you still protect him? He doesn't give a shit about you," I asked Milton as I prepared my gun and some other things that I would possibly be able to use for later. Needing as much of anything helpful for the plan I had in order to save Kat and the others at the prison.

"I knew Philip before he became the Governor. That man still exists," Milton believed. That man has been long gone. I doubt he even knows who he is anymore. Other than 'the Governor'.

"I don't believe that," I told Milton truthfully. Highly doubt it.

"Okay, so you kill the Governor. Then you get shot and Martinez takes over. What then?" Milton asked me rhetorically. "Killing the Governor doesn't save your friends. Especially not Kat," Milton said as he looked to me. Who said I was to save the ones at the prison. Right now...Kat is priority.

"Then I have to go back. Warn them. And you're coming with me," I said to him to make him believe I was going to attempt to save the ones in the prison before Kat. No way. Kat will save them. Not me.

"I can't leave Woodbury," Milton told me as though he wouldn't leave as it was a part of him.

"You really want to be a part of this?" I asked him a little stunned at the thought of him taking part in such a slaughter.

"I don't know anyone at the prison," Milton said as though it was an excuse. He would know me...know Kat...and Merle.

"So what? You know Merle. He fit in. You'll be fine," I told him as though it would convince him enough. I need to make him think I'm going to attempt to save them. Drive Philip as far from the prison as conviniently as possible.

"Like it or not, I belong here," Milton said as I looked to him sadly. Slipping my gun into my holster and standing in front of him.

"Then if you stay, you can't keep looking the other way," I inform him. The one who knows and turns their cheek, might as well part take in the horrible events as they did nothing to save the innocent. "Take care of yourself," I told him as I leaned up and kissed his cheek kindly.


DPOV

"Merle. You down here?" I called towards a clanking sound of metal in a room at the end of the halls. "Merle," I called while holding up my crossbow. Worried that it might not be Merle and that it was only a walker trying to escape. Please let it be Merle.

"Hey, little brother," Merle said as I entered the room, checking for walkers and only finding him. He was leaning over the desk all happy and as though he wasn't doing anything he shouldn't be.

"What the hell?" I asked him as I looked around. There were things everywere. Metal, random objects from the shelves he stood beside. What the hell is going on? Has Rick talked to him yet?

"I was just about to holler back at ya," he said as he wiped at his face. This was something he commonly did when he was doing something he shouldn't or something he didn't want to tell me. He's hiding something from me.

"What you doing down here?" I asked him as I wandered around the room. Wouldn't surprise me if he was looking for drugs or looking for things to use against Michonne.

"Just looking for a little crystal meth," he said which made me look at him slightly disgusted. Remembering the day I gave T-Dog the drugs before going to the farm. When Kat was still with us. The blue thing...wasn't that...what Heisenberg used to make? The thing that drove my brother crazy and would cause him to get locked up.

"Yeah, yeah, I know...shit mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?" Merle asked me as I turned my back on him. If only he would stop with this bullshit. One of these days those drugs are going to kill him. He needs to stay alert in times like this. Not frantic from drugs. It's going to get him killed.

"You talk to Rick yet?" I asked him curious as to what he was really doing here. Drugs is part of it. Seeing as there were so many broken beds on the way here. He's been searching but now...he's searching for something else.

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it," Merle told me as I got closer to him. "He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?" he asked me. Yeah...Rick would but...I don't know. He's changed so much but I know he will do anything to save us all. Especially if it prevents Kat's death.

"Yeah. If he does, he does," I agreed with a nod and a shrug of my shoulders. Rick's a good man. We know he'll do what's right for us. For the group and for the ones we love back at Woodbury. To save us, Andrea and Kat.

"You want him to?" Merle asked me which made me deliberate. Thinking of what had recently happened and the fact that Kat had pleaded to Rick to not give the Governor Michonne. Kat would be pissed but she may be thankful for her dad to save us. I think we should do what keeps them happy. To keep all of us happy and alive.

"Whatever he says goes," I said unsure of what I wanted to happen but knowing that Rick would do what he felt was right. Rick's decision. Not mine. This statement only made Merle scoff at me.

"Man," Merle said under his breath as he looked at me from under his lashes. "Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother?" he questioned me. "Are they even attached?" he asked me but I just shook my head at him incredulous of what he was saying. He's teasing me. It's not working. I have balls but it's not my call to tell Rick what to do. He's the leader. I'm just one of his right hand men. As is Hershel and so is Kat. Only Kat and Carl could tell Rick what to do. That...is something I know for a fact.

"I mean, if they are, they belong to you?" Merle asked me which made a brown haired, blue eyed girl flash into my mind. I would do anything to protect her but...allow her to own my balls? No. She only knows how to twist them by making me angry with her. Leaving for Woodbury. She's lost her god damned mind.

"You used to call people like that sheep," Merle spat at me. Reminding me of the person I used to be. I don't think like that anymore. I follow orders and I do as I please. I make my own choices and Rick can't stop that. I fucking left with Merle the moment we were safe. I chose to save Ass-Kicker. I ain't nobody's bitch. But I ain't a fool. Rick's a good man. The Governor ain't.

"What happened to you?" Merle asked me as though I was a completely different person. I might have changed in how I think and act but I still am myself at times. I don't trust people easily. I trust Rick, our group and his family. "Especially when that Grimes girl went back with the Governor," Merle reminded me which made me clench my teeth. "I've never seen you act so weak," he told me as I remembered how angry I had turned when I got back. Thinking of how much I would have pulled her by her hair and dragged her to the car.

She made he choice. I miss her...as do all of us. She was bringing her father back to us. She was repairing our group. Taking charge for some situations and most of all...she gave us all hope again. Hope that we could survive this. She chose Andrea over us. She knew what she was doing and...at times I blame her but...I know that I can't.

"What happened with you and Glenn and Maggie?" I asked Merle slowly. Knowing that this would anger Merle as he was trying to get to me. I won't let Merle get to me. Kat wouldn't want that and neither would any of our group. Especially not Carol. She doesn't want Merle to pull me down with him.

"I've done worse," Merle said bluntly. I believe him. "You need to grow up," Merle grumbled as though he knew more than I did. "Things are different now," he pointed out. "Your people look at me like I'm the devil...grabbing up those lovebirds like that, huh?" he said as though he was sad about that fact.

"Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did-...snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me," he told me which made me look away a little upset. He's telling the truth but...we're doing this to keep the ones we care about safe. To make peace with a psycho. "Yeah. People do what they got to do or they die," he said as I nod. Pacing around. He's testing me. He's telling the truth but I don't want to hear it. Fuck...I feel like a kid again.

"Can't do things without people anymore, man," I told him as I thought about all of us. Finally able to keep my eyes on him. We need each other to survive. We work stronger as a team and as a family. This group...is my family. We've been through a lot and we've stuck together all this time.

"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh?" Merle asked me as he leaned back onto the shelves. "Do their dirty work," he said bitterly. "The bad guy," Merle growled out like it was the truth. He's not all bad. There's good in him too. I know it. I can see it. There has to be good in him.

"Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?" he asked me but I didn't know what to tell him. He'll think I'm a pussy if I say something like what I'm thinking. Telling him he's not as bad as everyone points him out to be.

"You know...the Governor will just kill that pretty blue eyed Grimes. Espcially if it gets him what he wants," he stated as though it was normal for the Governor to do something like that. "Torture her...maybe even rape her...kill her in front of her father after killing everyone here," he said which made me picture it all. Merle knows the Governor better than all of us. Maybe he's right. We need to stop this. Kat doesn't deserve any of that. None of us deserve that. Least of all Carl, Kat and Rick to see that happen.

"The Governor won't stop," Merle informed me. Hopefully the deal of Michonne will stop it and will give us back Kat and Andrea. "He doesn't like those that are members of authority, people who can take over him," Merle stated slowly. "He loves control," Merle informed me. I have no doubt about that.

"We'll find a way to get Kat back," I told Merle confidently. We have to get her back. Rick will find a way. We won't stop until we get her back. "I just want my brother back," I told him after a few moments of silence. Placing my hand on his shoulder as I looked at him directly in his eyes. There was something there...hidden behind those blues I was so used to seeing, ones that were always dark and angry or wide and high.

But at this very moment...I saw something behind them. I saw the heart of his clench and his eyes hold back tears. This was when I knew I had gotten through to him. Made him open up the feeling he had been holding back for years. He cares about me like I care about him. "Get out of here, man," Merle said as he looked away, his voice sounding strained as he rolled his shoulder and made my hand fall from it. With a sad nod, I walked away and left him to be alone. Do what's right brother. Don't doubt that there is good in you...


RPOV

"It's off," I said as I rushed to Daryl. "We'll take our chances," I told him as I was talking about Michonne and the deal to the Governor. Kat doesn't want this. I don't want this and none of us want this. I won't take someone's life over any of ours. Michonne is one of us. We were stood outside and he was ready to take Michonne away with myself and Merle.

"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one," Daryl said with a small smile. I'm glad he approves of my choice. Of our choice. Daryl's a good man. "What's wrong?" he asked me as he noticed the worried look in my eyes.

"I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone," I informed him as I had been searching for them but there was no sign of them in the cells or cell block. Where the hell did they go?

"Come on," Daryl told me as he began to run up the steps and towards the cell block. "He was in here," Daryl said as I followed after him and entered a room that had certainly been used moments ago. "Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things, actually," Daryl informed me which made me curious.

"Like what?" I asked him as I stopped for a moment. Merle wasn't plotting against me and the others...was he? Daryl stopped and looked at me slightly shyly. The way he did by looking away from me and glancing up at me from time to time.

"Said that you were gonna change your mind," Daryl told me. "That Kat was going to be tortured then killed. Maybe even be used as a bargaining chip for something else," Daryl explained which made my heart stop for a second. Kat...she has to be fine. She's strong. I know that now. "Here we go. Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up," Daryl said as he noticed a cloth on the ground and examined it. Staying alert as he looked at what Merle had been doing.

"Damn it! I'm going after him," I growled and told Daryl as I rushed to leave through a door that was ahead of us. I need to stop this before the Governor can have Michonne. I need to do this for us, Michonne...and for Kat.

"You can't track for shit," Daryl informed me. He's got a point. Daryl's the best tracker we've got. After that...Kat. After Kat...Michonne. We need Michonne. We need Kat. We need safety.

"Then the both of us," I suggested as I wanted to get them found as quickly as possible. To stop the deal before it could be made.

"No, just me. I said I'd go and I'll go," Daryl said as he stopped in front of me. "Plus they're gonna come back here. You need to be ready. Your family, too," Daryl informed me as he began to open the door. "We'll get them back...especially Kat. Whatever it takes," he told me as not to worry me. His back on the door as he pushed it opened. Sunlight seeping through the crack of the door. I knew he meant it. I knew he meant it about Kat. I know he cares about her...I can tell.


DPOV

"Hey! Where's my brother? You kill him?" I called after Michonne as I saw her alone, in the fields, unchained or restrained and with her sword in hand. She was free but Merle was no where to be found. Where is my brother?

"He let me go," she told me bluntly.

"Don't let anyone come after me," I told her as I ran towards where my brother had gone. Judging by the footprints she had left and the fact that I knew we were to meet with the Governor at the same place. Fucking Merle. Trying to get himself killed. Always saving his sorry ass.


RPOV

"When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal. He said-...he said he would leave us alone...if I gave him Michonne," I revealed to the group when we were all gathered outside where it was safe. "And I was gonna do that...to keep us safe," I tried to explain.

"I changed my mind," I told them. "But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late," I explained to them the situation sadly. "I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry," I tried to appologize for my actions and decisions.

"What I said last year, that first night after the farm...it can't be like that. It can't," I said sternly as I thought of how bad things have now turned with me being their leader. Making decisions for them. "What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be," I told them forcefully.

"I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good," I pointed out to them. We care what happens to others. We know it. That's why we protect and understand them. "We're the reason we're still here, not me," I told them proudly.

"This is life and death. How you live...how you die-..." I trailed off as I thought of Lori. I didn't want her to die like that. "It isn't up to me," I remind them. I'm not some...God. "I'm not your Governor," I growled not liking the thought of being like the vile man. "We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We vote," I told them as I chose are to be a democracy. "We can stay and we can fight or we can go," I suggest to them. For them to make up their minds.

"But first...we'd have to get Kat if we were leaving," Carl spoke up softly. He must miss his sister as I much as I miss her.

"Of course Carl. We will do whatever it takes to get Kat back, either way...I wouldn't leave without her. Not ever again," I inform him with a small smile. Kat will be back with us. Even if I had to kill the Governor myself to get her back to us safely.


DPOV

The meeting point was empty, if not for the walkers that surrounded it and were eating people Merle had possibly took down. Merle must be inside the room Rick and the Governor were discussing in. I was impressed but I was slightly worried, staying silent, I moved past some walkers and killed a few.

Killing one, I went to place another arrow into the crossbow when I saw a walker on its knees and munching on guts from a man Merle had shot down. Freezing, I noticed that the walker looked too familiar for comfort. No. It can't be. Not Merle. Slowly, as though in a move his head moved up to look at me. Guts hanging from his mouth, blue, lifeless eyes gazing into mine and my heart stopped.

I couldn't hold it anymore. My heart was smashed into multiple pieces, my body shook as tears were building up in my eyes. Crying as I saw Merle's walker form get onto his feet and walk to me. Revealing that he had been shot in the chest and had died from it. He stumbled over the body and made his way closer to me. Pushing him, I cried and felt myself tremble.

"No!" I growled at him as I pushed him. I kept backing away from him. I didn't know if I could kill him or leave him there. To forever walk the earth as a walker. All the pain I had felt. Everything me and Merle had been through flooded my mind. Regret, sorrow and anger running through my veins. I kept pushing him away until I decided to, pull out my knife and stab him up his jaw.

Pushing him to the ground, I climbed ontop of him and began to pierce him with the knife in his head. Over and over again. Crying, grunting and not holding back any of my emotions I had been holding from him. You left me! You tried to be a hero and got yourself killed! You left me when I went to save you from that roof! You hurt my friends! You left me when dad was beating me! You were never there! You never helped me! You were in a cell for more than half your life! You were always so reckless when you would take drugs! You didn't show me love! Only lessons now that I have to live with!

I have to now learn how to live without you! I'm broken now without you! You let your stubbon ass kill you! You thought you could take down the Governor! You've...destroyed me. I'm alone now. Falling back, I climbed off of him and laid myself on the grass opposite him. His head now had been beaten to a pulp. No recognition of it ever being my brother. The tears overtook everything as I felt my heart break and split and destroy itself to nothing. He's...gone.


KPOV

The Governor had slowly opened the door, it's creaking noise alerting me that the Governor had arrived. Is he going to finish me off? "You know...today...I was meant to finish the deal I had made with your father," he began as he walked to me and had the door shut behind himself.

"Instead...I got something better in return might of lost a few good men but...it was worth it," the Governor said as he leaned over to look at me. His hands pinning my arms down onto the rest. "I got Merle Dixon. Killed him," he said bluntly. There was blood all over his face, he had been pretty beat up and I could tell he wasn't lying. No! Fuck...poor Daryl.

"Next...I'll kill your dear friend Michonne...then...the people you care about at the prison," the Governor said as he growled at me. "Glenn...Maggie...Hershel...Daryl..." he said each name slowly, telling me those he would kill and my heart was pounding but stopped for a second at the sound of Daryl's name. No. He can't do this. I won't let him. "The others," he said with a dark gleam in his eye.

"Then your brother...then your infant sister," he said as he looked directly at me. The flashing image of my siblings dead crossed my mind. My heart sinking and my throat tightening. I won't cry. I won't let this monster win or slaughter the ones I care about. "Then it would be you," he pointed out which made me look at him with a cold expression.

"That way your father can watch you die before I take away his life," the Governor said as though it was all going to come true. Dad won't let us all die. He's too clever for the Governor. He needs to go. To get away from the prison. I have to kill the Governor. "Hell...he might just take his own life after seeing everyone he loved die," he said as though he predicted it. He's testing me again. I will save them from this monster. Even if it is the last thing I do...


APOV

"Kat..." I whispered sadly. I had convinced one of the men at the door that the Governor wanted him. Knocked him out and opened the door to find Kat unconcious. The state she was in was one that made me want to cry. Her body covered in bruises, cuts, blood, sweat and vomit. "Oh my god," I whispered as I saw her eyes slowly open to look at me. She looked like she was fighting to keep either concious or asleep. I couldn't tell.

"I'm so sorry this happened," I said sadly as I began getting her out of her restraints. I'm going to save you. You're the one who's going to save the others. You're going to warn them. Not me. I don't care what happens to me. First chance I get...I'll kill Philip for what he's done to you. "We should have left the first chance we had," I said as I felt the tears sting my eyes, fighting to keep them back. I need to be strong for her.

"This man...he's tortured you," I state as I slowly tried to get her to her feet. "I'm sorry Kat," I said sadly as I looked to her face and saw her fall into my arms. Grabbing her, I slung one of her arms over my shoulder and allowed her to support herself against me. "I hope one day you'll forgive me," I pleaded as I stumbled around to get us out of this place. My eyes glancing to the puke on the floor, the walker and the buckets of water. What has this man done to you?

"Andrea...shut up," she growled at me in her slightly hazy state. She felt heavy against me as I shuffled us out of there. Her feet dragging along the floor as she would limp from the knife wound she had gained earlier from the Governor.

"We need to get you somewhere safe," I told her as I lead her out the door and held it open wide enough to force us out. Keeping to the alleyways and away from eyes of others. Some people had gone on raids, training and doing other things to prepare for the war the Governor was beginning. "Back to your family," I told her as I thought of Philip's plan to kill off everyone at the prison.

"You're family too," Kat mumbled as her head rolled forward and hung on her shoulders. He was killing her. She's too weak to keep awake or to stand on her two feet. It's only been two days and he has been beating her senseless. He is a monster.

"If you stay here Kat...the Governor will kill you," I revealed to her, remembering how he had planned to kill them all when Milton had told me what was going on. "I'm going to take you back to the prison," I informed Kat. Determined to het her somewhere safe. "You need to warn the others," I tell her. "The Governor has planned another attack," I revealed to her which made her look at me from under her lashes slightly worried. She's scared for the others at the prison too.


KPOV

"Woah, woah, woah!" Tyreese said as he pointed a gun at us. We had rounded a corner to one of the far gates that we thought wouldn't be guarded by many. It was only Sasha and Tyreese from the group that entered the prison. They slowly lowered their guns, stunned to see me and their eyes looked to me with concern.

"What the hell happened to you?" Sasha asked me curious and worried as she looked to me. A monster tried to kill me. Wanted to kill everyone I love. To destroy what they had worked so hard for. Where they had lost my mother, Axel and T-Dog.

"The Governor...he isn't what he seems to be," Andrea told them as she dragged me to the bottom of the steps, to the gates and kept her eyes on the pair above us. Guns in hand and looks of worry appearing on their faces.

"He did this to me," I wheesed out to them, out of breath from the fact I was so weak and drained of any energy I had. "Tortured me," I winced as I had put pressure on my wounded leg. "I need to get back to my family," I pleaded as I looked up at them the best I could, the drowning feeling was gone but I had this slightly dizying feeling that would cloud my mind.

"Please," Andrea pleaded to the pair as they looked down at us sadly. "Help her get back to the prison," Andrea said with the most kind, sincere and worried expression I had ever seen her wear before. I always knew she cared about me. Just like I do for her.

"Sure," Tyreese said after a few minutes of the pair looking at each other, discussing this situation behind their eyes to one another. "What do we say when we return?" Tyreese asked as he looked down at the pair of us.

"That you went on a run," Andrea suggested as they walked down and opened the gate for us. Andrea struggling to carry me alone, Sasha's small arms wrapping around me and helping to carry me to a functioning car. "We'll make it seem like she sneaked into the boot of the car," Andrea said to them as she walked to place me into it. Slowly, they lowered me into the back seat. Pulling out her knife, she sliced at her hand and walked towards the boot of the car. The sound of it opening as I rest my body limply against the seat.

"Andrea wha-" I went to call for her as she came over to me. Pressing her lips to my forehead as her blue eyes looked at me sadly. It felt as though she was saying goodbye to me. Worry of what could happen to either of us began to set in. Any strength that I had, I used it to hold her arm tightly, so that she wouldn't move.

"I'm going to draw the Governor away from you and the others as hard as I possibly can," Andrea told me as she stopped and looked at me. I wanted to protest, to tell her she was going to get herself caught or in deeper trouble than she imagined. But I didn't have enough energy to spare to tell her this. "Stay safe Kat and...save the others," Andrea said pleadingly as she cupped my face, stared into my eyes with a sad expression but a small, adoring smile. Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to my forhead and said something to the other two before disappearing in another direction.


The whole ride there, I was sat beside Sasha as she tried to keep me from tipping or falling. Maybe she was there to check on me in case I turned or died from the bloodloss. Falling in and out of conciousness, the voices of the pair was as though I had my head under water. My vision blurred and slow. My head spinning. I had slept for a few moments as I felt myself get closer to the prison. Back to safety.

When we pulled up, I felt the car stop and slowly I could hear the swallowed sounds of car doors opening and closing. My head swaying as I felt arms gently pick me up and place my feet to the ground. Both Sasha and Tyreese supporting me as my arms slung heavily around them. My body limp as my feet would scrape along the floor and limp from the pain of my leg.

"Kat?" I could hear the familiar voice of my dad as he walked closely towards me. He must have seen my state as I then heard running come closer to me. "Shit!" dad growled as he ran to me and stopped in front of me. "What happened?" he asked both angered and concerned as his hands held my face as he examined me tentively. Daddy...you'll keep me safe. I know you will.

"The Governor," I said numbly as I could feel my head rolling. "He's...coming. We-...Andrea saved me. We-...we need to go. Leave...he's going to attack," I tried to tell him but I was using too much energy that I could barely even breathe.

"We better go back to Woodbury, before we're caught and treated like Kat," Tyreese's voice said as he slowly handed me to a pair of strong arms. His hands holding onto mine as I slightly stumbled into them.

"Thank you," Dad said as he looked to the pair, they nod and walked off to get back in the car. I fumbled on my feet as I was about to fall. "Woah," dad said as he steadied me. "Here Kat, support yourself against me," dad said kindly as he struggled much like Andrea did to get me inside. "Don't worry baby girl," dad said softly. Almost cooing at me.

"Daddy's got you," he tells me before we walked into the building. Slowly he guides me inside the cell block and I felt his arms hold me tightly to me. His body slightly guiding me as he would lead me down the stairs. "Shit...he really beat you senseless," he said as he looked to me and examined me. His eyes noticed all the scars, the bruises and blood that covered me. I think he even noticed the pierce he had done to my leg. "I'll kill him for this," dad growled as he slowly led me into the cell block. The sounds of others floating around in my head.

"Kat!" I could hear Carl's little voice call to me as it stood out in my drowning mind. My mind spinning and a sudden feeling rushed through me. One that was making me struggle to keep my eyes opened and feet firm. "Are you okay?!" Carl's voice called to me as I saw his blurred figure rush to stand in front of me.

"Carl, I'm fi-" I went to say but the pressure of darkness won over my weakened, pushed and pained body. My mind equally as fragile as I wanted to tell Carl I was okay. Next thing I knew...I was forced to be submissive to the darkness. Letting it cover me as I felt the weight in my body pull me to the ground. Black surrounding every one of my senses...


Wow! This chapter was pretty intense and sad to write. Merle...I actually quite liked his character. He was an ass but...there was good in him. At times...I felt like Merle envied Daryl and Daryl sometimes envied Merle. Merle was stronger, more honest and straight to the point. Daryl is a good man and he has plenty of people who care for him. Two completely different characters but shared love for each other.

As for Kat...goodness! She was getting beaten, tortured and tested. All while having to rely on others to save her. Wanting to just get out of there and save the others. To save Andrea. Yet...clearly, the Governor had other plans. Andrea has made a plan. One that she hopes can bide the others some time to save themselves. It's kind of the reason I added her POV. Now...as for reviews and my amazing fans of this story...I love you guys. Please give me 5 reviews for this one seeing as next chapter is the season finale!

Now...questions and then answers to reviews! Here are the questions: What do you think will happen to Kat? What do you think will happen to Andrea? What do you think is happening to those at the prison? What did you think of Andrea's POV?


EastDenise: I understand! Eventually. Be patient.


Karen Wood: This chapter answer your question? I was slightly mad that she went to Woodbury but...it had to happen.


KoNeKoLuvsU: Who knows what the Governor would have done if Andrea didn't save her.


Guest: Hell yeah she does! The Governor is a complete asshole. You just wait for what's coming. It'll be big!


redangel2463: Here are your answers dear! Hope you liked this chapter!


Guest: Yes. Poor everyone but...this chapter was so sad when it came to Kat, Andrea and Daryl.


casper6six6: Here is your chapter update! Sorry it was slow but...I needed a little break as to get some things fixed.


Starlight: Thank you. Here's the next chapter!


Jorylynn12: Thank you honey! I know. I like teasing like that. It shows the tension between the characters and the fact that they keep denying their feelings for each other. Hope you liked this chapter!


Guest: Here you have it. She was tortured. Terribly. To the point that quite a lot of people are going to be pissed of with the Governor now.


kayley . docherty: Hope you didn't have to wait too long! Another cliff hanger? Or no?


Now...until the 5 reviews and next chapter...

Much love!

HeroJustInTime90 xx