Andrea and Carol broke the treeline in a dead run. Rick stepped out from behind the trees to grab Carol as she blew by him. Andrea stopped the moment she saw them.
Breaking out into a huge smile, Andrea rushed over to Glenn, Rick, and Maggie to hug them.
"Oh my God! I never thought I'd see you guys again." She blurted out, tears almost forming in her eyes. She hadn't realized how much they meant to her until they'd been separated. They'd all been through so much together and it gave her such hope to see them again.
"We thought you were dead." Glenn said, hugging her again.
"I hate to cut the reunion short but we need to be ready. Once Michonne and Daryl are done, we're gonna need to cover their escape." Rick interrupted.
"Done doing what?" Andrea asked, looking at the group's faces. She suddenly felt nervous as she realized that something was going on.
"They're going to kill the Governor and get Merle out of there." Maggie whispered.
"What!?" Andrea exclaimed, stunned that they were trying to kill him, and confused as to how she felt about that.
"There's things you don't know about, Andrea." Maggie said, sadness creeping into her eyes as she thought about what had happened.
"Obviously, but when did we become assassins?" She demanded, anger creeping into her voice.
"When he became a threat to our group's safety." Rick stated.
"How is he a threat, here?" Andrea asked, placing her hands on her hips in irritation.
Rick didn't want to say anything in front of Maggie and Glenn so he took Andrea's arm and led her to the side.
"He had Glenn tortured and almost raped Maggie when she wouldn't cooperate." Rick explained quietly, glancing over at the others in the ground behind them.
Andrea's eyes flew open when she heard Rick's words. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe, her thoughts racing to the man she'd been sleeping with. If what Rick said was true, she'd begun to fall in love with a rapist and a murderer.
Andrea looked straight at Maggie, their eyes locking, and she knew.
She knew it was true.
Andrea turned suddenly and vomited on the ground.
Gasping for air, she drew a deep breath, covering her mouth with her hand in shock and stumbled. Rick grabbed her before she fell and she slid to her knees.
Oh my God, she thought, What have I done?
Rick helped her, putting his hands on her upper arms, he helped her stand. Andrea shook her head, trying to deny what she knew in her heart.
"It's not your fault." Rick said, trapping her face with both hands so she had to look at him. "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is. I should have known. I should have listened to Michonne." Andrea sobbed, "I slept with that son of a bitch. I almost fell in love with him…."
Rick sighed, pulling her in for a hug. He didn't have much to give anyone right now, but they had all been through so much together that he couldn't deny her comfort.
"Oh god," she moaned, pulling inward until fury began to take hold of her.
"I hope they kill him." Andrea said coldly, gritting her teeth and pulling away from Rick.
Maggie watched, her face a picture of sorrow. She knew how Andrea was feeling. She once had a boyfriend who turned out to be a real dick. It was nothing compared to this, but she could at least commiserate a little.
Walking over to Andrea, Maggie put her arms around her and pulled her in for a hug.
"I'm sorry, Andrea." Maggie said quietly.
"I can never undo what I've done, but I can damn sure make it so it doesn't happen again." Andrea declared and before anyone could do anything, she grabbed Maggie's machete and took off running for the fence.
"Shit!" Rick swore, taking off after her.
But it was too late.
Andrea grabbed the branch and pulled herself up. Climbing one branch higher, she dropped down on the other side of the walker yard fence.
##############################################################################
Racing to the inner fence, they saw the guards turning their guns at them and all three escapees dove behind a pile of tires. Landing in a heap, Michonne was the first to spring to her feet, offering a hand to Daryl. Merle glared at her, ignoring the hand she offered.
"Suit yourself." She ground out in irritation.
Merle was such an asshole.
"Come on." Daryl took off running, ducked down behind the pile of tires and car parts, motioning for them to follow him.
The crowd had all scattered, panic setting in, causing a few fights that the guards had to break up. People still weren't sure what happened, and were running for supplies and any weapons they could find. After seeing the Governor take the hit from Michonne's katana, they all assumed that he was dead.
Now, it was a mad dash for any provisions they could get ahold of so they weren't forced to flee without anything. The families were terrified, not knowing what to do so they ran for their homes and locked themselves in, believing that everything would be okay if they just waited it out. Those that had been through this before, knew better.
Ducking behind a shed, Daryl stood flat against the wall, peeking his head around to look for anyone coming their way, but saw no one. Bolting for the building across the way, he turned the corner and ran straight into the menacing Andrea. Grabbing her out of instinct, with his hand over her mouth, he flipped her around to hold onto her waist so she couldn't scream or run, before realizing who she was.
"Jesus Christ, Andrea!" He hissed, his heart pounding in his ears.
Andrea struggled ferociously until she recognized the voice. The moment he loosened his grip, she turned around to face him, her eyes wide with fear.
"Oh my God, Daryl! You scared the shit out of me." Andrea whispered angrily.
"You're supposed to be with Rick!" He chastised.
"Yeah, well I got business inside." Andrea said rebelliously.
"Too late. Business is concluded." Daryl said, turning her back around to shove her forward so they could all escape unscathed.
Andrea stopped and turned back around to look him in the eye.
Daryl could tell she was upset. The mixture of fury and agony clearly written on her face. For a moment, the look reminded him of Katelyn.
"He's gone, Andrea. Michonne gutted him." Daryl said sympathetically.
He watched as tears sprang to her eyes for a fleeting moment before she pushed them away and let anger replace them.
Daryl took her arm gently and pushed her forward again.
This time, she didn't argue.
Heading to the walker yard, the group of four sprinted to the tree, launching themselves into it. Each pulling the other up, they made their way out of Woodbury…forever.