Karen kept her word and got them through the gates at Woodbury; Tyreese was shocked that she was the lone person to arrive back without The Governor.
"Where's Allen, Karen?" He lowered his rifle as he and Sasha opened the gates wide enough for Rick and the others to slip through.
"He's dead, Ty. The Governor killed them all…" Karen broke the news that the other man from Tyreese's original group did not make it back from the prison. "Rick's looking for Andrea…have you seen her?"
"Andrea? No, she didn't make it back out to you guys?" Ty checked over and saw Rick shake his head, "Milton's gone, too. Strange how they both disappeared the same day. You think she might be holed up here somewhere?"
"Yeah, I think Blake's got her tucked away somewhere close; there's no way he would've just let her walk away; make's sense that he's got Milton tied up as well, Andrea said that he helped her get away the first time and then they ran into you in the woods." Rick kept his voice low as his eyes scanned around the darkened streets of Woodbury.
"I'll stay on the wall with Sasha while you go and take a look around with Rick and his group." Karen hopped up onto the wall and Ty passed his rifle across.
"Give us a signal if you see any sign of Blake returning; we're gonna check out the facility where he had Glenn and Maggie held up last week." Rick led the way through the quiet side streets until they entered the storage facility where they made the rescue. They drew to a halt when they saw a blood pool seeping under a metal door at the end of the corridor. Rick carefully drew back the lock and looked over at the stoic Michonne standing just to his left. "You ready?"
Michonne nodded and prepared her sword, "Open it." Rick slowly opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting within. Michonne saw Andrea's blood soaked body lying near the door and pushed past Rick to cradle her friend.
"Andrea!" Andrea's eyes fluttered open in her gaunt face and she struggled to sit up.
"I tried…" She gasped out, Michonne saw the blood dribbling from her mouth and reached up to gently wipe it away. She could tell that her friend wasn't going to make it out of that room alive; Andrea's breaths were coming more slowly and Michonne could hear the rattling in her chest as she struggled to speak.
"Judith, Carl the rest of them…" Andrea's eyes flicked over to Rick as he crouched down so that he could look into her once vibrant blue eyes.
"Us." He said as he leant forward to pick up her hand, "You mean the rest of us." Andrea smiled faintly as she recognised the forgiveness behind his words.
"Are they alive?" She whispered, every sentence becoming harder to get out.
"Yeah, they're alive." Rick nodded as he squeezed her hand slightly before rising to his feet. Andrea lolled her head to one side so that she could see Michonne, who had tears dripping from her lashes.
"It's good that you found them; no one can make it alone anymore."
"Never could." Stated Daryl from the shadows. Andrea nodded and then gasped as she remembered the other occupant of the small room.
"Milton!" She coughed harshly, blood bubbling out and making her gag with every breath. "Please, Rick. Get him out of here…he tried to save me and Philip just stabbed him hoping that he would turn and bite me." Andrea forced the words out of her throat and gestured over to where Milton's body was lying prone under the dentist chair. Rick whistled low and Tyreese peered around the door; eyes widening at the grisly sight of the rapidly forming pool of blood. Rick gestured over to Milton and Tyreese pressed a finger lightly against his wrist.
"He's alive." Tyreese looked at the Milton's body and saw that Andrea had ripped the bottom of Milton's shirt off and pressed it against the wound to try and stem the bleeding. "Pulse is faint, but it's still there."
"Get him outta here, see what you can do before we get him back to Hershel. Spread the word; I want everyone packed and ready to go before it gets light." Rick ordered quietly.
"Go? Go where?" Tyreese's head snapped around as he prepared to lift Milton up off the floor.
"Just tell them to pack only what they can carry and be ready at sunrise." Rick snapped back and turned his attention back to Andrea. "You think you can move?"
"No, Rick. I'm not gonna make it back this time." Michonne hushed her but Andrea shook her head. "I can feel it…I can do it myself."
"No…" Michonne protested, tears freely streaming down her face as she cradled one of Andrea's cold hands within her own.
"I have to…while I still can." Andrea coughed again and when she was finished she looked up at Rick and he could see the steely resolve in her eyes. "Please. I know how the safety works." She made an attempt at a weak joke; referring back to the day in Atlanta when she had pulled a gun on Rick and not realised that the safety was still on. He smiled slightly in response and pulled his Python out of his belt; weighing it up in his hand before silently thumbing off the safety and pressing it into Andrea's clammy hand.
"I'm not going anywhere." Michonne vowed and Rick knew that she would remain with her friend until the very end.
"I tried…" Andrea whispered weakly, tears seeping out of her closed eyes to run down her blood streaked cheeks.
"Yeah, you did." Rick whispered in return, leaning over to kiss her forehead in goodbye. "You did." He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment before stepping aside to allow Daryl to make his goodbyes.
"I can do that fer ya, if ya like – kinda as a payback…" Daryl joked gruffly, wanting to see her smile at him one more time. Andrea prised one eye open and managed a small smile.
"I said I was sorry for that, you're never gonna let me forget that one, are you?" He bent down to whisper in her ear, keeping his voice deliberately low.
"Just wanted ta thank ya fer keepin' my woman alive at the farm…" Andrea drew her head back and looked at him in amazement.
"WHAT! You and Carol? Really?" Andrea said loudly, smirking at the blush that rose across the redneck's cheeks. "Guess the cat's really out of the bag now, isn't it Daryl?" She laughed and then groaned as it turned into a raspy cough; waving away offers of assistance. "Go, just go. I don't want you to have to see this. Just leave me to get this done, please."
"I said, I'm not going anywhere and I meant it." Michonne gripped Andrea's hand tightly and nodded over at Rick and Daryl who silently slipped from the room; closing the door behind them with a little click. Andrea's hand shook as she tried to raise the pistol and Michonne leant over to steady her.
"Ready?" Michonne whispered, and Andrea smiled faintly as she nodded. "Close your eyes and think of your sister, and everyone else that's waiting for you on the other side."
"Jacqui, Jim, Dale, Sophia, Shane….Amy."
Michonne flinched as she pulled the trigger and then carefully thumbed the safety back on. She leant over Andrea's still body and carefully re-arranged her hair to cover the entrance wound in her temple.
She rose to her feet and walked over to the door, she handed Rick back his pistol without saying a word. He stopped her from walking away by placing a hand on her forearm.
"We'll take her back with us; bury her next to T-Dog and Lori."
"We tend to burn the Walkers around here." Tyreese remarked as he continued to bind Milton's wounds with strips torn from his shirt.
"No, we bury our loved ones and burn the rest. Andrea was part of us, and she deserves to be laid to rest with those that loved her." Rick state quietly but firmly and Michonne nodded in agreement.
When the sun finally rose over the town of Woodbury it was to shine over deserted streets; Rick loaded everyone on board an armour plated school bus and simply told them that it was time to move on. Everyone at the prison was milling around in the yard waiting for their return and when the school bus pulled into the gates; Carol held a shocked hand to her mouth. Out of the eighty inhabitants of the town only thirty remained; the elderly, the infirm and those too young to fight.
"What's all this, Dad?" A belligerent Carl asked Rick as he saw the people stepping out of the bus and being directed into the cell blocks by Carl and Tyreese.
"They're gonna live with us now." Rick stated simply, his eyes warning Carl not to make an issue out of it. The boy simply pushed his hat back further on his head and tightened his grip around his pistol. "Carl…stop. They're just people, look at them…" Rick gestured over to where an elderly couple were helped off the bus, they were followed by a woman holding tightly to a little girl no more than two or three, with a little boy clinging tightly to her skirts; Carol immediately stepped in to lend a hand, drawn to the children. "They are the ones that didn't matter to Blake because they were of no use to him. But they do matter and we just need to learn how to get along."
"What about him?" Carl jerked his head over to where Michonne and Daryl were carrying the unconscious form of Milton into the cell block; Hershel following them as fast as his crutches would take him.
"Milton tried to save Andrea…she wanted us to help him in return. I don't know whether he will make it but we're gonna try anyway. That's all we can do now, band together; dig deep and carry on living for as long as we can." Rick placed his hand on his son's shoulder and tipped his chin up so that he could look into Carl's eyes. "We're gonna be okay, son. So long as we stick together and protect what's ours, we're gonna be just fine. Now come on, we've got to find a place for our new friends to sleep – I've a feeling that things are gonna get a little cosy in here from now on."
AN – So that's it – Andrea had to die just so that Rick could make that emotional speech of forgiveness and I saved Milton, for now anyway! If you want to read more about how things get cosy in the prison – check out 'Cupid Wears a Stetson'; it doesn't follow directly on from this but does lead to Daryl and Carol being forced to share a cell…