Authors notes

I'm really sorry for the unbelievably slow update. I've been super busy for the last few months. But here it is – what you've been waiting for! Over 10,000 hits – awesome guys! Also, will have chapter 14 uploaded later on today and hopefully chapter 15 tomorrow.

"Andrea... She... She's gone," Rick swallowed hard.

The group had congregated in the cell block after they'd returned from their hunt, the rest of them had expected them to come back with a few dead rabbits, maybe even a deer considering how long they'd been. They hadn't been expecting them to get out of their vehicles; shaking and covered in blood. One survivor missing. Two found.

"She's what?" Carol choked out, holding her hand up to her mouth as tears began to seep from her blue eyes.

"She sacrificed herself to save us..." Rick said shakily, "We went to help some people and... walkers... they came through the roof. If Andrea...If Andrea hadn't have done what she did then... we all would have been dead,"

One of the metal chairs crashed against the floor, nobody made to move as Michonne grabbed her katana and stormed out of the cell block.

"Mich..." Carl began, Beth grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look; she relaxed her grip and pulled him into a hug. She looked over at Daryl - he was staring at the wall; his body was tense as he gripped his crossbow that was still slung over his shoulder.

"Who are these two?" Hershel sniffed, nodding towards the two new survivors.

Bob stepped forward and held out to shake Hershel's hand, "My name is Bob, and this is Jess,"

Hershel eyed the man warily but grasped his hand firmly, "My name is Hershel Greene," He gestured to the others stood behind him, "This is Beth – my daughter, Carol, Carl, Glenn and the woman that rushed out is Michonne. You know the others?"

"Yes sir," Bob smiled slightly. Hershel sniffed and returned the gesture.

Rick glanced around the room, he felt sick to his core. Andrea was dead and Michonne was gone. He rubbed a hand over his weary face and turned to Daryl, "Let's go an' get some air,"

~.~

Thick nausea washed over her as she stumbled into the courtyard, a loud buzzing noise filled her head as an overwhelming wave of dizziness coursed through her. Stumbled footsteps led her to the fences; away from the prying eyes of those unwanted – the living at least. She glared up at the snarling creatures pounding at the fence line; sacks of decaying meat with shedding teeth and nails.

Michonne dragged herself to her feet; wiping her mouth sharply with the back of her hand, she spat acidic bile at the floor beside her. Reaching for her katana, she screamed out in fury and punctured the air with deadly stabs of the vicious blade. The walkers along the fence line crumpled to the ground as one by one they were impaled by the blood stained metal. Michonne stepped back from the chainlink and dropped her blade, spitting at the floor again, she stumbled backwards.

Andrea was gone. The sheer thought of her best friend being torn apart by the walking dead was too much for her to bear. Another wave of vomit and acid forced the air out of her lungs as it expelled from her throat, she sank to the ground with a defeated cry; guilt and sadness overwhelmed her as her body wracked with distraught sobs.

~.~

Rick dragged his hand across his weary face, he could feel his body shaking with adrenaline and despair. Beginning to pace; he mumbled nonsensical words into the palm of his hand as he desperately tried to figure out what to do.

"Y'alright man?" Daryl grunted from his seat on top of the rusted storage container, "Quit pacin' around, 'ya ain't gon' get anything done that way,"

Rick looked up at his friend with a small, sad smile. He joined him on top of the unit and together they stared out across the prison courtyard, there was a small pile of dead walkers slumped up against part of the fence – they didn't need to question who, or what the motive was.

"Where d'ya think she is?" Daryl murmured, pointing a bolt at the heap of decomposing death.

He shielded his eyes and glanced out, "She's gone, ain't nothin' keepin' her here no more," his thick Georgia drawl was laced with sad undertones as he stared blankly at the wilderness, "D'ya think we can trust Bob?"

Daryl sniffed and wiped his hand across his mouth, "Yeah, he's harmless; just make sure he know the code,"

Rick nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the prison fence line, "We gotta have a funeral for Andrea tomorrow,"

Silence hung in the air as the two men contemplated the events of the day that had unfolded before their eyes. Andrea was dead and Michonne had vanished, Rick hadn't expected much different from her; the two women had saved each other from the cruel world, and no matter how treacherous life has become in this bitter twist of fate; grief stays the same, Michonne had lost a friend in the most brutal way.