Carol and Andrea strolled through the town, arm in arm, like lifelong friends. Waiting until they were sure that no one was really looking, they entered the back yard area that led to Milton's laboratory. They could hear the sounds of gnashing and clawing and knew that the men had recently captured walkers. Avoiding the area, they skirted around the edge, crossing the yard and darting into Milton's lab.
Andrea entered first, motioning for Carol to remain hidden while she looked for Milton. Sliding behind a door, Carol waited while Andrea walked inside like she needed to talk to Milton.
Milton had been working on the latest test subject. The skull of the walker was cut open. It was moving and strapped to a table within the lab. Electrodes were shoved into the soft tissue of the brain and Milton was looking at the screen of his computer.
He looked like Dr. Frankenstein.
Looking up, Milton, paused to smile at Andrea, his hands suddenly damp with nervousness. She was the prettiest woman he'd seen in a long time and secretly, he wanted her, but was too afraid of the Governor to ever act on it. He watched her walk across the room and looked down for fear that she might notice his appraisal.
"Hey Milton." Andrea said casually.
"Good morning." Milton responded, wiping his hands on his pants.
"What are you working on?" Andrea asked, curious to see what new gruesome experiment he was running.
"I'm trying to detect the amount of electrical energy output of a walker brain compared to a living human's." He started to explain, but stopped when he realized she was probably bored with his explanation.
"Why?" She asked.
"The better I understand them, the easier they are to defeat. Besides, if I ever hope to find a cure or inoculation for this, I have to know how it works." Milton rationalized.
"Hmm. You know, when I was at the CDC, we watched the process of transformation using their software, off of a live test subject who had been bit." Andrea said, hoping for a reaction.
"You're kidding me!" He was so excited that he moved around the table to stand in front of her, his eyes bulging out of his head like an excited kid.
"Nope. The doctor that was there had a patient that donated themselves to him upon their being bit in hopes of helping him find a cure. He said that they were close to one before all hell broke loose." Andrea offered.
Milton licked his lips nervously, his eyes darting toward his computer.
"Can I show you something?" He said in hushed tones. It was obvious that he was eager to share his knowledge and Andrea thought, Bingo.
"Sure." She said, acting as if she didn't know what he was about to show her.
Milton opened his desk drawer and pulled out the flash drive marked with the CDC insignia. Andrea's eyes narrowed, her mind racing with possibilities. Inserting it into the drive, Milton pulled up the research that Andrea was after.
It was hard for Andrea to not just knock him out, grab Carol and bolt, but she knew how far the prison was from here and knew they'd likely never make it without help, so she took a deep breath. She knew where it was now.
"Fascinating." Andrea breathed, trying to act impressed.
"The Governor found this and brought it to me. I've been trying to decipher all of the information in here but I don't have the equipment to do much more with it. I need a fully functioning lab." He explained.
"Really?" She said, coming up with a plan in her mind.
"Yes. Unfortunately, I'm working with medieval tools here." He joked.
"What if I told you that I knew where something like that could be found?" Andrea teased, hoping he'd take the bait.
"You're kidding me?" Milton asked breathlessly.
"Nope, but Phillip isn't gonna let you leave here. It's too dangerous." Andrea said conspiratorily.
Milton's breath came in pants as his enthusiasm built. Thoughts were racing through his head. He couldn't leave. The Governor would kill him…the walkers would kill him, but God, he wanted to find the cure. He would be a hero for once in his life.
"What would we have to do?" He asked, leaning in to talk quietly.
"Let me think about it. I'll come up with a plan and let you know tomorrow. This is huge, Milton. You might be able to save everyone." Andrea manipulated the weasley little man's ego so easily that she almost felt bad. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, he was just a coward.
"All right. Keep it quiet for now. I'll get back to you tomorrow." Andrea said, turning to leave.
###############################################################################
Michonne and Daryl stood in the main room while Glenn explained the plan. He had built a miniature layout of Woodbury and marked any intel they knew about based on Michonne's knowledge. This was all based on Andrea having the information by tomorrow.
It was a crap shoot without it.
"I can sneak in and get to Andrea without anyone knowing." Michonne stated.
"But you can't take out the Governor until we know she's got it." Rick said, "Can you do that?"
"Yes." Michonne answered, irritated that he thought she was without self-control.
"The riskiest part of this is yours Daryl. I hope you can trust your brother as much as you think you can." Maggie said, trying not to be bitter about what he'd done to Glenn.
"I can trust Merle to be Merle." Daryl replied.
"I will go in and contact Andrea. If she's got it, you'll all be waiting in the woods for us to escape the compound with Carol. If she doesn't have it, then I'll help her get it and we'll get out of there." Michonne said, restating her plan to make sure they all knew. "Once they're out, I'll go back for the Governor."
"I'll wait until Michonne comes back to go in after Merle. While Michonne is killing the Governor, I'll go for him and bring him out." Daryl said, adding his part in here.
Katelyn closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears from spilling. Her stomach was in knots. This plan was so risky and the thought of Daryl in this kind of danger was making her hands shake.
She felt a hand placed gently on the small of her back and opened her eyes.
Daryl could tell by how quiet she was that she was a twisted up over this. He didn't know if it was because he would be in danger or if it was about her father.
Katelyn scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Rick knew this was the riskiest mission they'd ever been on and hated that he couldn't go in with them to help but he'd need to hold the escape route and Michonne and Daryl were the best suited for this. They had the best chance of getting in and out without detection.
"Remember, this information could change everything. The data is the main priority here." Madeline reminded them, smiling sadly, knowing that they were risking their lives for this.
Daryl nodded.
"I wish I had some encouraging words here, but all I can think of is; May the force be with you." She winked at them, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.
Daryl snorted in amusement.
Even he had gotten that reference.