I wait in a cell with Judith, trying to hush her through the crying. Gun shots started going off and everyone was either already outside or making their way to help, to fight against the threat. Eventually, they all begin to come back inside dirty and tired. The governor attacked us, killing Axel in the process and bringing walkers into the courtyard once already taken back. He crashed a moving truck through the fence, filled with walkers in the back. Carl comes and takes Judith away from me, and I make my way to the main area, wanting to be there when everyone else gets back in. Rick is one of the last ones to come in, a man behind him that I've never seen before. His hand covered with some sort of knife. The door behind him shuts and then man moves just as Daryl turns around. I run to him, stringing both arms around his neck, squeezing with everything in me "thank God!" I breath into his ear.
He hugs me back with one arm while the man I don't know comments "someone's gotta himself a ball and chain" I ignore him, not caring about anything but that he's here again and safe. I assume then this is Daryl's brother, Merle.
"Shut up" Daryl retorts back over his shoulder to the tall man once I let go. He begins walking in where everyone else is, keeping his hand on my elbow to tell me to come along and stay by his side.
The man makes kisses noises towards me as I pass him, Rick shuts the cell block with him away from all of us and Daryl goes up to his perch. I turn to Rick, giving him a hug as well "everything okay?" I ask, knowing only what Carl told me. Rick nods returning the hug gently and I step away, standing next to Carol, whose visibly shaking.
"We're not leaving." Rick informs us as we all come together to discuss things.
"We can't stay here. What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie comments up top of the cell.
Beth adds on "We can't even go outside."
"Not in the daylight." Carol adds on.
"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn disagrees with everyone else.
The man, Merle, Daryl's brother speaks from behind the wall he's locked behind "No, better to live like rats."
"You got a better idea?" I spit out to him, already not liking him. I don't care that it's Daryl's brother? He's a dick!
He spits back "Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?" He adds on, knowing something about the way this governor person works "I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."
Daryl snarls back to his brothers comment "we ain't scared of that prick."
"Y'all should be." Merle informs "that truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to."
"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie rolls her eyes, not wanting to be near his presence, understandably after hearing what his part in the kidnapping was.
"No. He's got a point." Daryl agrees with his older brother.
Maggie, now standing near her father says back to Merle with anger "this is all you. You started this."
"What difference whose fault it is?" I comment out. "What do we do?"
Hershel restates his opinion "I said we should leave." Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." Rick goes to walk away, Hershel stands up quickly, his face red "Get back here!" he yells to him. The rest of us silent. "You're slipping, Rick." He says it out loud, the thing we've all been thinking. "We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something."
Rick leaves us to take watch through the upper pathway. The rest of us find things to do, people to talk to. I wait a little while before deciding to go off and find Daryl. I walk into the cell he's been sitting in while he and Carol laugh over something. Carol looks to me and her smile stays. She stands up, kisses him on the forehead and leave us "you wanted to talk to me bout somethin'?" He says sitting up against the wall, placing an arrow on the floor.
I take a seat where Carol just was "ya.." I nod. I breathe slowly, willing the words to come out. As I try to get it out, he sits up further, feet hitting the floor. His eyes wait eagerly for me to say something "I need your help" I say, not sure how else to start.
"With wha?" he asks.
"Killing walkers" I look away, leaning down to pick up the arrow he was just fiddling with.
"You got it" he says back. I look back up to him, happy he's willing to help.
"thank you" I say holding in a grin before standing up to leave.
"Why now?" He asks me before I get out the door. I pause, not turning and try to think of how to answer it. Nothing comes to my mind so I just walk away, leaving it unanswered.
That afternoon Andrea makes it to the prison. As soon as she walks in and gets down the stairs I hug her, the weight of her death lifting off of me now that she's actually here. "After you saved me, we thought you were dead." I say to her. They told me she was in Mayberry but I had to see her to believe it.
She looks around, see's Hershel "Hershel, my God!" she comments seeing his leg "I can't believe this. Where's Shane?" She asks. Rick looks down, shakes his head to tell her he didn't make it "And Lori?" She asks next, her face straining a little. Rick lets her know with the same shake.
"She had a girl, Lori didn't survive" Hershel says it.
Maggie adds on "Neither did T-dog"
"I'm so sorry." she says lowly with sincerity. "Carl." she looks to the young boy. "Rick, I.." she trails off. "You all live here?"
Glenn responds "here and the cell block."
She looks to the other door "there? Well, can I go in?" she walks toward it.
Rick takes a side step "I won't allow that."
"I'm not an enemy, Rick." she says baffled at his response.
Rick argues back "we had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up."
"He said you fired first." She says.
"Well, he's lying." Rick retorts quickly.
Daryl adds "He killed an inmate who survived in here. We liked him. He was one of us."
Andrea's eyes widen with shock "I didn't know anything about that. As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out." she looks to Glenn and then Maggie, her face sincere with regret.
"That was days ago." He re-informs her.
She looks to them and then all of us "I told you, I came as soon as I could." She turns to see Michonne and asks her "what have you told them?"
Michone says back, leaning against a cage "nothing."
Andrea opens her arms wide "I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?"
Glenn explains "he almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us."
Andrea points to Merle "with his finger on the trigger. Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?" She asks more baffled. "Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."
"There's nothing to work out." Rick tells her "we're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will."
"We can settle this. There is room at Woodbury for all of you." She insists.
Merle pipes in from the corner "you know better than that."
It's silent until Hershel speaks up "what makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?"
"No." Andrea admits.
"Then why did you come here?" I ask her.
"Because he's gearing up for war." She looks at me with answer, then to everyone else. "The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack."
Daryl says "I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye."
Glenn adds "we've taken too much shit for too long. He wants a war? He's got one." he says gearing up.
"Rick. If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen." Andrea steps to our leader pleading. "He has a whole town. Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."
"You want to make this right, get us inside." Rick tells her with all seriousness.
"No." she shakes her head.
"Then we got nothing to talk about." Rick says back before storming back into our cells, slamming the door shut.
"There are innocent people." She shouts after him.