Chapter 20-Mercy over wraith

Rick's P.O.V

Rick put his things in his bag and walked through the prison as the rest of the group was packing. "The bus is moved," T-dog tells Rick as he puts a bag in the car. "You sure this is the best plan?"

"This is how we win and make sure that none of our people die," Rick says. "This is how we all live. Only one person needs to die today. You know that."

"He will die today," T-dog says. Rick nods as he looks at Carl, and Lori walks up to him.

"He's pissed."

"I know, but we know the plan. This is how we keep you, Judith, and him safe."

Lori nods as she puts her bag in the car.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl looked at Lori as she walked up to him. "Stay safe out there."

"I will. Beth, Axel, Hershel, and Carl will be with me. The rest of you are needed here. We can deal with walkers," Lori says. "Don't die. I need you."

"I won't," Daryl says before he kisses her. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Lori nods as she leaves, and Daryl looks at Merle, who is staring at him. Merle nods at his brother, who nods back.

The Governor's P.O.V

The Governor walks through the streets of Woodbury and looks at his people. "They tried to kill me!" The Governor shouts. "Merle did. Martinez, Haley, and Milton betrayed us! They killed eight of us yesterday. We go there, and we kill them all," The Governor shouts as he looks at them. "Then we live our lives."

They nod as the Governor climbs into the truck. They drive down the road toward the prison. They see it and see that the bus is gone. The Governor nods to Shumpert, who drives in.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick was on the catwalk listening to the Governor's men as they went inside the prison. He looks up and looks at the cars as Guillermo, Felipe, Tyreese, and Sasha run over to them and start to pop the tires. They open the hoods and cut some wires and tubes before they run back towards the woods. Rick looks at Daryl, who nods as they hear shouting. "You ready?" Rick asks Daryl, who nods as they start to run outside. They rise up and start to shoot at them, making them run towards the car.

"They won't start!" One of them shouts as they fire at the cars. Rick stops firing as they look around.

"Don't run!" Rick shouts as they look around them. "If you do, you will die!" Rick shouts as they look around them in fear.

"Shoot them!" The Governor shouts, but nobody fires.

"You're surrounded, you don't see them, but they are in the woods," Rick shouts. "Drop your guns. Let's talk!" Rick shouts.

"Okay!" Karen shouts as she throws her gun on the ground. Rick looks through the fence and sees the Governor is the only one holding his gun.

"Him too! You have five seconds!" Rick shouts. Shumpert grabs the Governor and throws him to the ground. He grabs his handgun and rifle and throws them on the ground. Rick nods to Daryl as they walk down the stairs. They look at Glenn and T-dog as they walk down as well. The group starts to come out of the woods, aiming their guns at the Governor's people.

"Kill him!" The Governor shouts. Shumpert grabs him and covers his mouth.

"This can all end today," Rick says as he looks at them. "Nobody else has to die. I get you are all scared, but this isn't the way to go forward. Only one person has to die today," Rick says. "Him," Rick says as he points at the Governor. "If you give him over, you all get to go home. Andrea, Milton, and Martinez will join you. They will lead Woodbury. We'll trade, and we'll build each other up. We'll build the world," Rick says. "Only one man has to die."

"Then take him," Karen says as the Governor looks at her and the others start to slowly nod.

"Kill them, Shumpert!" The Governor shouts but Shumpert sighs and kicks him in the leg knocking him to the ground. Rick nods to his group, who slowly enter the prison and start to collect their guns as Rick punches the Governor. He starts to laugh. "Do it, Rick. Avenge your friend. You'll never live in peace."

"We will," Rick says as he withdraws his revolver and aims it at the Governor.

"Rick, don't," Glenn says, making Rick look at him as he walks towards him.

"You wanna do it?" Rick asks.

"No," Glenn says as he looks around and then at the Governor. "No, death is too merciful for him. He has nothing to lose. He doesn't care if he lives or dies. So he's going to live in a cell for the rest of his life as we built this place and Woodbury. He doesn't deserve this mercy. He'll rot like the animal he is. He'll sit in that cell while we build the world and live our lives, and when he sees himself and regrets everything he has done and he begs us for death. That is when I'll know that Maggie has been avenged. That will be justice," Glenn says as he stares at him. Rick looks at Merle, who nods.

"Hershel."

"Hershel knows, and so does Beth. They are okay with it," Glenn says. Rick looks at the Governor and nods.

"I guess nobody is dying today," Rick says before he hits the Governor in the face with his gun knocking him out. "This war is over. Go home. We'll get you cars. Tomorrow, the work begins, the new world begins," Rick says as he grabs the Governor with Glenn, and they walk away.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan looked at Andrea as she put her stuff in a car. "You sure you wanna go back there?" Negan asks.

"Don't start caring now," Andrea says with a smirk. "They need me there. Maybe I won't stay forever, but I need to make sure that place is up and running, and they aren't going to try anything," Andrea says. "You'll see me soon."

Negan smirks. "Maybe then we can have some fun, and get rid of all this stress."

Andrea looks at him and smirks. "Maybe," Andrea says. Negan nods as he walks away.

Glenn's P.O.V

Glenn stood in front of Maggie's grave and looked at Merle as he walked down towards him. "You okay with him being alive?" Glenn asks the older Dixon brother.

"Don't matter much to me, as long as he isn't a threat," Merle says. "I do like the idea of him being locked up for the rest of his life."

"I don't know how to go forward," Glenn admits. "Since she's died, it has been about defeating him, and now we've done that."

"We fix the gates. We start to plant crops, build up the prison and bring more people in," Merle says as he pats his shoulder. "Come on. We're celebrating."

"I'll be in soon," Glenn tells Merle, who nods.

"Don't be too long. We'll all be asleep before you get in there, Chinaman," Merle says with a smirk as he starts to walk away.

"I'm Korean asshole," Glenn says.

"I know," Merle says before he walks towards the prison.

Glenn stood out there, staring at the grave. "The man you fell in love with will come back. I'll honor you, Maggie. I promise you that. I love you. Goodbye," Glenn says before he walks towards the prison.

Andrea's P.O.V

The cars pull into Woodbury, and Andrea, Martinez, and Milton climbs out of the car. "You're the leader now," Martinez tells Andrea, who nods as she climbs on the truck.

"Where's the Governor?" An older woman asks.

"He's alive, but his way of doing things is over," Andrea says loud enough for everybody to hear her. "The Governor was going to get you all killed. Today we start to turn Woodbury into the town it was meant to be. We'll trade with the Prison. We'll work with them. If you can't live with that, the gate is right there. Leave and don't come back. If you try to hurt anybody, I promise you'll pay the price. This is how we move forward, all of us, so get some sleep. We have a lot of work to do," Andrea tells everybody, who nods as they start to disperse. Andrea climbs off the truck and looks at Shumpert. "You with us?"

"Yeah, I am. I joined him to survive, same with you," Shumpert says before he walks away.

"Milton, I want you to make sure we have a way to communicate with the prison at all times," Andrea tells Milton, who nods as he walks away. "You're in charge of the weapons. Who's on watch, who carries."

"Got it, boss," Martinez says with a smirk as he walks away, and Andrea smiles as she walks towards the Governor's apartment.

Beth's P.O.V

Beth sat against the wall of the cellblock as everybody ate and talked. She looked at Laura as she walked up to her and sat down beside her. "You don't seem too happy. We won."

"Maggie should be here."

"She should, but I know she wouldn't want you doing this," Laura says.

"Where are Rick, Daryl, T-dog, Merle, and Glenn?" Beth asks as she looks around.

"Making sure our prisoners is secure," Laura tells him. "Come on, my Dad is telling stories," Laura says as she holds her hand out to Beth, who smiles as she takes it.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick and Daryl watched the Governor as he woke up and looked around the cell he was in. "We thought about putting you in solitary, but then you wouldn't be able to see and hear everybody, and you would lose your mind pretty quickly. No, you're gonna hear it all," Rick says.

"I'm going to kill you," The Governor says.

"No, you won't," Daryl says. "This is your home now. You'll stay here while we build the world."

"I killed your friend!" The Governor shouts at him.

"Yeah, you did," Rick says. "You'll think about that every day for the rest of your life."

"You'll get your first meal tomorrow," Daryl says as he shuts the cell door and locks it. "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. You're new beginning, Philip," Philip glare at them as they walk away. They hear him shout as they round the corner and look at T-dog, Merle, and Glenn, who nod as they walk toward Cell block C.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl sat with Judith on the stairs as everybody was getting ready for bed. He looks at Carl as he walks up to him and sits down. "You're good with her," Carl says.

"Never held a baby in my life before her," Daryl says with a smirk. "You wanna take her?" Carl nods, and Daryl hands him, Judith. "I'm glad she has you. She'll need someone to show her how to survive."

Daryl nods as he looks at Rick, who is standing by Hershel. His best friend looks at him and nods with a smile. "I'll make sure she does, kid."

"You'll be a better father than Shane would have been," Carl says. "I'm gonna take her to Mom."

Daryl nods as Carl stands up. "You still wanna learn how to shoot a crossbow?" Daryl asks Carl, who looks at him and smiles.

"Yeah."

"We'll start tomorrow morning," Carl smiles as he walks away, and Daryl walks down the stairs. "Hope I ain't overstepping," Daryl says to Rick as he stands by him.

"You aren't. You'll be the step Dad who takes him out hunting while I'm working," Rick says with a chuckle, and Daryl smiles as Hershel goes over to Beth. Rick and Daryl look at the group. "You're were right, this group, we are the greater good."

"Yeah, we are. Now we have to live up to that," Rick says.

"We will. We'll remake the world."

"You're starting to sound like me, man."

"You must be rubbing off on me," Daryl says with a chuckle.

"Let's enjoy tonight. Tomorrow, we got work to do."

Thanks for reading. That is the end of the Governor's war. The next villain arc won't happen until two years after this. But there are going to be plenty of chapters in between building up characters, and relationships and bringing in new ones, like our favorite Sargent. I know some of you may not agree with the Governor living, but I have been setting that up since Maggie died. I have plans with it. Next chapter will start with a month-long time skip. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.