A/N All characters belong to the writers and creators of The Walking Dead. Except those that arose from my own twisted imagination.

Chapter Fourteen-Humanity

It had been two days since Daryl got out of Woodbury. Hershel, after deciding that Daryl's concussion was no more serious than that, had finally relented and allowed Daryl to go up to the guard tower to patrol. Daryl was upset about the loss of his brother, his motorcycle and the fact that his knee was still too sore to even think about going out into the woods to hunt. In fact, it almost hurt too much to climb the stairs to the tower but he wasn't about to say anything. The only one who knew how much pain he was in was Dani.

Dani had remained true to her word. She hadn't pushed him and seemed more relaxed than she had since she arrived at the prison. It was easier to touch her now though it had surprised both of them that morning when he reached up to brush her hair off her face while they were eating breakfast. He'd glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed and saw both Maggie and Glenn trying to hide their grins. Embarrassed, he'd gotten up and headed for the guard tower to relieve Tyreese.

The morning after they had arrived, Tyreese, Rick and Daryl had talked. After seeing that they were another group of survivors who had lost people, just like the group at the prison, Rick invited Tyreese to join them. Sasha had been a bit standoffish at first but seemed to warm to Carol, though she was still keeping to herself. Ben immediately took a shine to Beth. Daryl wasn't too sure about Allen. There was something off about the guy. Rick felt it too and both agreed to keep an eye on him. Tyreese, however, quickly showed his willingness to do what needed to be done to help the group.

"So you're sayin', there's a town nearby that's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor? We've been all over these woods the last few months and we haven't run across anyone from there." Tyreese looked down, lost in thought. "I guess we're lucky we didn't, you know? We might have decided to stay, like your Danielle." He nodded towards Daryl. "I'd never want to get Sasha messed up in any of that." Rick crossed his arms.

"How do you feel about defending the prison, if it comes to that? Would you stand with us?" Tyreese looked hard at both Rick and Daryl before extending his hand in agreement.

"You took us in. You've got good people here and my sister is safe. Whatever I have to do to keep her that way, I'll do it."

When Daryl finally made it up to the top of the guard tower his leg was killing him but he gritted his teeth and opened the door. Tyreese turned as Daryl walked in.

"Hey." Daryl nodded in response.

"Quiet night last night?" Tyreese propped his rifle up on his shoulder.

"So far so good. I thought I saw a flashlight or something around midnight. It could have just been a reflection off the water though." He stretched out his neck. "Never thought I'd be sleepin' in a prison cell. Actually, might not be too bad right now." He looked sideways at Daryl who was watching the road as Glenn, Maggie & Oscar gassed up the truck to make a quick run.

"You and Danielle," he saw Daryl's quick glance back at him. "how come you don't go somewhere more private instead of sleepin' out in the open like you do?" Daryl shrugged.

"Neither one of us much felt like sleepin' in a cage. Dani, she's got a thing about being in small spaces." Tyreese nodded.

"She's claustrophobic?" Daryl looked at him and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just worked out." Tyreese chuckled.

"I guess I'm thinkin' I wouldn't be too keen on cuddlin' with my girl at night where everybody can see." Daryl glared at him.

"We ain't doin' nothing. Jesus Christ, everybody in this damn prison is more concerned about my love life than I am!" Tyreese, sensing he'd touched a nerve, backed off.

"Sorry man. Didn't mean to pry. You do what you gotta do." Daryl turned his back on him and Tyreese walked down the stairs.

When Tyreese walked in to the cellblock he was greeted by Carol who handed him a bowl of oatmeal.

"I figured you'd be hungry so I kept some warm for you." Tyreese took the bowl gratefully.

"Thank you. It's a long night up there." He sat down at the table. Danielle passed by, said good morning and walked outside, probably heading for the guard tower. Once the door closed Tyreese looked at Carol.

"What's the deal with her and Daryl?" Carol suppressed a grin.

"Why do you ask?" Tyreese shrugged.

"Curiosity. He doesn't strike me as the warm and affectionate type." Carol smiled.

"Daryl is…well…he's Daryl. I've seen him withdraw completely from this group one minute and the next he's feeding Judith and grinning from ear to ear. With Dani, there's just something there." She tilted her head to look at Tyreese. "Seriously, why did you ask?"

"Heading out for watch duty last night I passed by them on the landing over there, all cozy. I figured him for a hard ass. Just surprised me is all" Carol nodded.

"Well, the whole thing surprised all of us, that's for sure." She patted Tyreese on the arm. "You want any more?" Tyreese shook his head.

"No thank you. This is perfect. I'm gonna head in and catch some shut eye. You let Rick know to get me if he needs anything." Carol smiled.

"Of course."

Andrea got up early to head down to the infirmary. When she moved the chair out from in front of the door and opened it, she found Tripp and Baylor waiting outside her door.

"What are you boys doing here?" Tripp snorted at the use of "boys".

"Cash told us to keep an eye on you." She brushed past them.

"Well, you tell Cash I don't need protection, alright?" She kept walking down the stairs, trying to ignore the eyes she could feel drilling into her back.

Once she arrived at the infirmary, she discovered that the Governor was already gone. The doctor on duty looked irritated when she gave Andrea the news.

"But he was shot in the head." The doctor shrugged.

"The Governor said he wanted to go home. I wasn't about to argue with him. It was a shallow wound and I got that eye covered. He'll never be able to see out of it again." Andrea thanked her and hurried over to the Governor's house. Outside was a large group of people, all talking at once, worrying about the Governor. One of the women had been crying. Brenda, one of the women Andrea knew had been on Danielle's supply team hurried over to her.

"Andrea did you hear? They're sayin' it was Danielle that did this. That she's been kidnapped and brainwashed into hating the Governor. God knows what else those people have done to her!" Brenda shook her head. "That poor woman. Losing her little girl like that and then to be kidnapped?" Andrea didn't respond and instead smiled, patting Brenda on the shoulder as she walked past. When she got to the door, an insolent looking Cash stood to block her way.

"What do you want?" he asked her, glaring.

"That's none of your business." She started to walk around him and he stepped in front of her. Andrea glared at him.

"What is your problem Cash?" Cash raised his rifle up to his shoulder, a pathetic attempt at trying to look like Merle.

"The Governor was attacked the other night. It's my job to make sure there are no other attempts." Andrea crossed her arms in front of her.

"Drop the badass routine alright? You're not Merle Dixon. You haven't seen nearly as many things as I have. I've probably killed twice the biters you have and men like you don't scare me. So step aside and let me through." Cash's jaw twitched and she could see he was trying hard to come up with something smart to say but instead stepped aside and let her walk in the door.

In the darkened living room, Andrea could just make out the figure sitting in the chair, sipping from a cup of tea. She walked over and sat on the couch to face him. His right eye was bandaged, the gauze wrapped around his head to hold it in place. He looked off at the far wall, not noticing Andrea sitting there. She reached over and took his hand.

"Phillip?" He didn't respond. "Phillip, we should get you back to the infirmary. Make sure you're ok." He still didn't acknowledge her and placed his tea cup on the table next to him.

"I only wanted to build a community where people felt safe. Where they could be as they were before. I've only tried to step into the role that the people have placed me in." He squeezed Andrea's hand.

"Phillip, people are outside. They want to know if you're alright. A lot of them are scared, especially with Merle dead. I don't think Cash is the right one to put in charge…" The Governor turned his head and glared at her, his expression cold.

"Cash is the perfect one for this job. My mistake was leaving security up to Merle Dixon. He allowed the outside to breech our walls twice. He failed to neutralize a situation when he had the chance. He allowed terrorist prisoners to escape not once but twice." Andrea frowned.

"That was his brother. Granted, Daryl's many things but he's no terrorist. Why was Daryl even here? And Michonne? Are you trying to tell me that she was a prisoner too? After she left, peacefully?" Phillip laughed.

"Peacefully? She's the reason Danielle Robertson was kidnapped. She led those terrorists into our town, kidnapped one of our own. And Daryl Dixon was one of those terrorists. From what I've heard, I believe Merle was working on their side, trying to learn our weaknesses. They've got a small army at that prison, planning on doing everything in their power to destroy our way of life. We have to stop them." Andrea stood in front of him.

"I spent a lot of time with Rick and Daryl in Atlanta and on the farm. If we hadn't been separated that night when the farm was overrun, I would probably still be with them. They were with good, honest, everyday people, not military." The Governor glared at her.

"You will need to decide where your loyalties lie. Do you plan on protecting this town? If not, then you can go right ahead and join your 'friends'." Andrea froze. She did not want to leave Woodbury. She only wanted answers. However, the fear of what lie beyond the protective walls of the town greatly outweighed her desire to satisfy her curiosity.

"Phillip, I am with Woodbury. I will help defend this town if need be. Maybe something happened over the winter, I don't know. This might not be the same group I was with back in Atlanta and on the farm." She stopped when a she heard a knock on the door. Andrea stood to answer and found a nervous Milton on the porch.

"Is the Governor available?" Andrea stood aside to let him in. The Governor had risen when he heard Milton's voice.

"Andrea, would you excuse us please?" Stunned Andrea nodded and left the house.

After Milton left, the Governor went to Penny's room. Opening the cage, he called to his daughter. She ran at him, her face hooded. He slowly pulled the hood off of her head and had to move quickly to keep away from her snapping jaws. He tried to hold her, to connect with his little girl, but there was nothing there. He sobbed. He wanted his little girl back.

Milton had told him that the experiments he had done on Abigail Robertson had been inconclusive. He had not found any sign of her immune system attacking the biter virus after she had reanimated.

"It appears my theory was incorrect. I thought perhaps if someone were to turn while battling a viral infection, their immune system might continue to fight the biter virus during reanimation. If that had been true, we may have been able to work on a possible vaccine, but none of the tissue and blood samples I took after Abigail Robertson's reanimation support that theory." The Governor had put his face in his hands.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his voice pained. Abigail had been the one hope he had to possibly heal Penny. "It's only been a couple of weeks. You said yourself that this would take time." Milton shuffled nervously by the door.

"Governor, I'm telling you there were no signs of any leukocyte activity against the biter virus in Abigail's blood work. Her immune system died when she did and did not restart when her brain stem became active." The Governor stood and began pacing.

"So what you're saying is, there's no way we can prevent or reverse this?" Milton shook his head.

"With the equipment, knowledge and resources I currently have, not at this time." The Governor stood, turned his back on Milton, and walked out of the room.

"Thank you. You can see yourself out." He shut the door.

Now, sitting in his chair with his snarling, snapping little girl, he cried. No hope. There was no hope. He could only try to reach Penny, tap into the happy girl she had been before she died. Maybe touching her humanity was the key. Milton had tried it with adults but children were different. They kept that innocence until the real world seeped into mind and made them cynical, jaded.

"Penny? Penny baby it's Daddy." Penny continued to struggle. "Baby please look at me. Show me that you can hear me." She snarled and lunged but the straight jacket and chain kept her held back. "Penny?" He drew in a deep breath and screamed at her.

"Penny look at me!" She quieted for a second and then resumed her struggling. Now weeping openly, the Governor put the hood back over her head and pushed her back into her cage.

Dani set the binoculars down. Maggie, Glenn and Oscar would be back soon and there were a number of walkers heading towards the gate. She stepped out on to the catwalk and hollered down at Axel.

"We got a herd comin' in! Need to get them cleared before the crew gets back!" Axel looked towards the gate then back up to Dani.

"I'm on it!" He motioned to Allen and Ben to follow him and they began to clear out the walkers. Daryl shook his head.

"There's somethin' off about that guy." Dani frowned.

"Who?" Daryl nodded towards the men at the fence.

"That new guy, Allen. I don't trust him. Rick's picked it up too." Dani knew from talking to Maggie and Carol that Daryl could read people pretty well.

"But don't you think Tyreese would have picked up on somethin'? He doesn't strike me as the stupid type." Daryl shrugged.

"Rick ain't stupid and he don't always see everything that's right in front of him. Sometimes, people don't see what they don't want to." They both watched as Allen took his crowbar and drove it through the fence to kill another walker. Daryl looked over at Dani.

"You be careful around him, you hear me?" Dani saw his face was serious. She put her hand on his arm.

"Don't worry about me, Daryl. I can handle myself." She stood as she saw the truck pull up the driveway. They drove through the gate and Axel quickly shut it behind them.

"They're back." She turned to head down from the tower when Daryl stood and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him.

"I'm serious Dani. You be careful." Dani bit her lip as she studied his face. He was actually worried something might happen. Before she could stretch up to kiss him, his arms were around her and he was kissing her so hard that it took her breath away. When they broke apart, they were both out of breath. She wanted so much more and she was willing to move at his pace but when he did things like that, it took every bit of restraint she had not to push it. She laughed.

"Wow, I'm going to have to get you alone more often." He smirked at her and he opened the door.

"Whatever."

Michonne made it back to Woodbury quickly. She almost got cut off by a pack of walkers but was able to quickly kill one by itself and cover herself with it's blood. The group walked past her like she didn't exist. Once she got to the wall, she saw it was heavily guarded. She had figured once Merle was dead the little bastards in charge now would make sure the town was protected. Still, she knew she could find a weak link. There was always a weak link.

She knew that once she made it in to Woodbury, she was going straight for the Governor. Michonne had known from the first day she saw him kill those soldiers in the helicopter that no matter what he said or did, he was no savior. She was convinced that the only way to break up this cult was to remove the head.

Part of her thought it was stupid to try but Michonne knew it was right. The Governor was a threat to anyone outside of Woodbury. The prison group, they were the biggest target at the moment but Michonne knew from personal experience that anyone who didn't fall under his spell was immediately declared a threat.

Michonne was able to slip over the wall and made her way to the Governor's house. After listening carefully for any noise, she climbed in through an open window. She scanned the room and immediately saw her katana. Just as she thought. He had it on display like a trophy.

Michonne pulled a chair to the center of the room, lay her katana across her lap and waited.