Chapter 8: Blue Eyes
Two weeks later Brooke had settled in. She woke up one morning and quickly got ready. She took a hot shower, brushed her teeth, and threw on some clothes. She wore a long sleeved, light blue t-shirt, skinny jeans, and her combat boots. She put her hair in a high pony tail and went down to her office. Another knock on the door was in store for her. She opened it and Merle was there.
"Come on." she whispered and pulled him inside.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"I need weapons. Where do you keep them?" she asked.
"What kind do you need?" he asked.
"Mine, Andrea's, and Michonne's." she replied.
"Listen lil' bit, that's gonna be tough to get those outta there." He sighed.
"I know but we are going to do it. We just need to know when, where, and how to get them." She said.
"Off about a mile from here is a huge store with gas pumps in front of it. That has all of our guns and ammo in it. Including the things we've taken from other survivors." He explained. "If you can get there without being caught, there are even more guards inside. You can get past those and if you can grab the things you need in five minutes, you're in the clear. Just make sure you get back here in about an hour. The best time to go is late at night and very early in the morning before the sun's up."
"Alright, what can you tell me about the Governor?" she asked.
"He knows what he's doin'. He knows how to dictate that's for sure. Has Becky told you about some of this stuff?" he asked.
"Yeah about the surveillance and his ridiculous laws." She said.
"He's pretty impressed with you." He said.
"I know he told me." She said.
"You keep on doin' this he'll hang on to your every word." He said.
"That's encouraging." She said. "Is he sticking to my plan?"
"He really likes it so I'm pretty sure he'll stick with it." He said. "So you guys came back?"
"Yeah, we did." She said. "I can't believe you were able to make it as far as you did. We thought you stole the truck to come back to the camp."
"I stole it but I didn't even bother goin' back." He said.
"How did you kill all of those walkers?" she asked.
"I grabbed a pipe from up on the roof and just started bashin' their heads in." he explained.
"Dixon! What're you doing in here?" The Governor asked. Merle turned with a sly grin.
"I was just welcoming her into our town." He laughed and walked out of the room. Brooke rolled her eyes.
"If he ever starts to bother you too much, you come and tell me alright?" he asked.
"He's nothing I haven't dealt with before." She replied and laughed in her head.
"So are you ready for work?" he asked.
"I'm ready. Do people just walk in?" she asked.
"For now. You're the only kind of your doctor here." He said. "You can do surgery's right?"
"Yes and I know the basics for checkups and stuff like that." She explained. "I just can't deliver any babies." She said.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that." The Governor said and Brooke nodded. "So how do you like Woodbury, Dr. Walsh?"
"It's very impressive." She said. "I can't believe how many people are here. I didn't think I would see even ten people left in the world."
"A lot of them were here when we arrived." He explained. "Others had things that we needed. Like you." He said.
"So what did you do before all of this?" she asked.
"I was a politician." He said.
"Makes sense." She shrugged and he smiled. "So, what have you decided about the prison?"
"We are going with your plan." He replied.
"Is there anymore land your trying to obtain?" she asked.
"No but I will let you know. You have a pretty sharp mind." He complemented.
"Thank you." She replied.
"Goodbye Dr. Walsh." He said.
"Goodbye Governor." She said.
"Call me Blake." He said.
"Goodbye Blake." She smiled warmly and he walked out. Once the door closed, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Was the Governor interested in her? If he was, she could work with that. Her front door opened and it was Becky, Merle, and Meghan. "Hey!" she greeted.
"He let you call him Blake?" Merle asked.
"Yeah." She replied.
"Merle, what does that mean?" Becky asked.
"Maybe he just likes her." He said and Brooke pursed her lips. "Maybe like an ally."
"Or something else." Becky said concerned.
"It's probably not like that." He said. Meghan walked over to Merle and lifted her arms up. He picked her up and she rested her head on his shoulder. Brooke looked at the two as the wheels in her head turned.
"I need to talk to Andrea and Michonne at some point." She said.
"Speaking of that I brought you this." He handed her a piece of paper. "Instructions for what you're plannin' on doin'." He said.
"Just to let you know, if you did defeat the government everyone would be relieved." Becky assured. "Nobody wants this dictatorship."
"I know, I was thinking that if this does work we can start over and have a democracy instead of a dictatorship." Brooke explained still eyeing them. "Becky can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." She said and they walked upstairs.
"Don't get mad at me, okay?" Brooke began.
"What is it?" Becky asked.
"Is Merle Meghan's father?" she asked. "They have the same blue eyes and I remember you went through a rough patch with Mitch." Becky sighed and hung her head to the ground.
"I loved Mitch, Brooke." She said.
"I'm so-" Brooke began her apology.
"But I fell out of love with him before I got pregnant with Meghan. We fought all the time, he was a totally different person. We had this huge fight and I met up with Merle." Becky explained.
"Let me guess. One thing led to another?" Brooke said calmly.
"Yes." She said. "When I saw Merle the first time after Meghan's birth he didn't know but I could tell he knew something wasn't right. I called him for coffee and we talked it through. He didn't want the responsibility and I accepted that. I was working things through with Mitch. When I saw him here and when he first picked up Meghan, he told me he wanted to be a part of her life. We decided to start over."
"So are you two together?" she asked.
"It's complicated." Brooke said. "We haven't done anything besides a peck on the lips. We don't know what we want to be."
"Merle's a dad." Brooke breathed. "Never ever thought that would happen." Becky laughed and they hugged. "I'm always here for you Becky, no matter what you do."
"Same here, honey. Same here." Becky said. They walked back down stairs and Brooke saw Merle playing with Meghan. Maybe that's the reason he changed so much? He only put on the Merle she once knew when others were around. He hadn't completely changed but he had become more like a decent human being. Meghan laughed and continued to play with Merle.
"What's up?" Merle asked the women.
"She knows." Becky said.
"The eyes." Brooke explained. Merle nodded and put Meghan on his side so he could carry her. They left and Brooke was left to herself. She saw Michonne and Andrea walking through her window later on in the day. Andrea noticed her and Brooke motioned for them to come over. They walked into the office and sat down.
"You got a plan." Michonne said as she read Merle's letter.
"At two o'clock tonight, we have to go and get some weapons. That's our main focus." Brooke said and brought out Merle's note. "With this we can do it." The girls nodded and went through their plan. Later that day Brooke closed up and went to sleep so she would be wide awake for their plan tonight. She woke up at 1:30 and went through her plan again. Michonne and Andrea snuck back into her room and they got ready. They all had wooden stakes that they had made. They snuck out of Brooke's quarters and went to the gate. They wore black clothes so they could blend in with the darkness.
"You ready?" Andrea asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be." Michonne said and Brooke nodded. They saw a car coming in and they hid in the darkness. They passed through just as the gates were closing. They dodged the lights that were grazing the area. They snuck past and had to go prone a couple of times in the long, uncut grass. After about twenty minutes they made it to the store.
"How do we get past the guards?" Andrea asked. Brooke snuck into the store and saw the two things she would need first.
"You two hide over there until I give the signal." She instructed and they hid behind a stack of wood. Brooke lit the fuse and threw it into the woods behind the store. She hid just so she could see the guards in the store. There were sudden pops in the forest and they ran out of the building. Brooke held her hand up and signaled for them to come. The opened the one bag they had.
"I see my sword." Michonne said and grabbed it.
"Got my gun." Andrea said and grabbed some ammo. Brooke grabbed her bow and arrow. She found the Spas-12. She grabbed some lighter fluid and a lighter. They grabbed whatever else they needed and threw it into the bag. "The back door!" Andrea whispered and they fled the scene. They snuck back to Woodbury by finding the large hole in the fence that Michonne had cut out. They snaked under and ran towards Brooke's quarters. They climbed up into the window and finally breathed again.
"That was a rush." Michonne sighed. "Do we have to do that again?" she asked.
"I'll need you to." Brooke confessed. "We have to destroy their armory don't we?" she said with a sly grin and Andrea had a look of realization flash across her face.
"So that's what the lighter fluid is for." She said.
"Then after that , I'll help you two escape." Brooke said. Michonne and Andrea slept in Brooke's room until the coast was clear and they could sneak back. Brooke sighed and prayed that they got back without being caught.