FINAL CHAPTER – Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad many of you liked my first Walking Dead fanfiction. My thanks once again to precious-passenger for the cover art. And my thanks to my betareader, ilovesmesomeglee.

.

Everybody instantly had their weapons trained on each other. Odors from fresh kill and recently-fired weapons hung in the air like a dead fog. The shift from extreme and horrifying action to extreme and horrifying silence shocked all three of them. And the Governor merely smiled.

His enormous rifle still casually slung over his shoulder, the Governor strolled towards them. All three tensed even further, if that were possible. His men took a few steps towards them too, as Michonne tightened her grip on Her Girl.

The Governor took another couple of steps and came to a stop near John.

"John," the Governor cockily began, "nice to see you again." John's eyes narrowed but said nothing. "Oh!" the Governor added, placing a harsh hand on John's shoulder, "and…thanks," he glanced at Andrea and right back to him, "for taking care of…business."

The girls' alarm bells exploded. But they remained silent. The Governor's men took further steps towards them. One lone bird could be heard chirping in the sunny distance in the East.

The Governor removed his hand and turned towards Michonne. Her fierce eyes met his arrogant ones as he walked towards her. He stopped about five yards away, looking her up and down. The Governor came to some sort of conclusion, even going so far as to nod his head a little.

"She'll do." He said.

But then, he dramatically turned, eying Andrea shamelessly up and down. A cruel smile formed on his face as he took steps towards her. Rivers of shivers coursed through her body and she couldn't hide it, much to the Governor's delight.

"Oh my, my…my…" He said, stopping about ten feet away from her. "God…damn, girl." She glared at him with clear disgust as more birds could be heard chirping from the East. The Governor stared at her breasts, licking his lips.

"You got you some…great fuckin' tits, blondie…"

Michonne and John simultaneously took a threatening stance in front of her. But the Governor barely noticed them. Even more birds could be heard chirping and some were flying overhead.

"God…damn," the Governor disgustingly said, "I can't wait to get you back to Woodbury and fuck the – "

"Governor!" one of the men shrieked.

Everybody whirled around towards the voice just as an enormous flock of birds flew overhead. Some of the birds even flew low to the ground. And then, every single human being was terrified. What they had feared ever since the world went to hell had finally arrived.

A herd. A head was approaching.

Fast!

Tens of thousands of walkers were marching on State Route 29 right towards them! Every single moaning cannibal could see every single human being, and they were almost climbing over each other to reach their meal.

Everybody scattered. Everybody shot their guns.
They had to fight.
Gunfire splattered in the air. Some walkers immediately fell to the ground only to be replaced by many others. Truck and Jeep engines were revved, ensuring their mad escape. Men were yelling, ordering, even crying. More gunfire, more herd advancement, more screams.
Chaos, chaos, chaos.
"Get her!" the Governor yelled. But the men were too busy to hear him. "Goddammit! Ger her!"
Furious and frenzied, he ran towards Andrea but was tripped by Michonne. Snarling, he got back up, only to be held down at sword point.
"No!" John and Andrea screamed. "The herd!"
Michonne turned around to see the herd getting even closer! But the Governor used the distraction to kick Michonne's sword away.

"My girl!" Michonne yelled, chasing after it.

The Governor got up, and ran towards Andrea!

"My girl!" Michonne screamed, scrambling to find her sword, completely ignoring every thing else. Several walkers heard her cry and ambled towards her!

"My girl! My girl!" Michonne screamed over and over as she searched the brush.

"What the fuck," Andrea screamed, shooting and killing a walker, "are you doing, Michonne?!"

The herd was only ten yards away by then. More gunfire exploded. Rotted flesh and a few walkers fell to the fertile earth as John fired into the herd.

One of the trucks took off at high speed as another one was turning around. Two walkers, who were shot at least five times, were killing one of the Governor's men. His screams joined the memories all of the other times they all heard this. Awful, guttural moans were now louder than the gunfire, as the second truck finally raced away.

Only one truck remained.

The fight was useless. There were simply too many of them.

The herd had arrived.

"I gotcha blondie!", the Governor screamed and aimed his gun towards Andrea! Her eyes widened!

The Governor fired.

Michonne found her sword.

Blood, blood, blood.

.

Dusk. The campfire was the only source of comfort for them. That was often the case, especially night. She found herself reminiscing about campfires a lot lately. When she was in the Girl Scouts, she learned how to tie slipknots, how to flirt with boys, and properly cook smores (or, well, burn them) over a campfire. She fondly smiled at the memory but didn't dwell on it. It was dangerous to remember life before the dead began to walk. Sometimes, she wondered which was more dangerous – this new, harsh world where trust was a hard commodity, or memories. She had many hours in the day to think about it, so why not?

Especially now since she was all alone.

She preferred these kinds of memories to the ones she just made. Looking down, she saw the evidence of how hard life was nowadays. But since when was life ever easy?

With a heavy sigh, she realized that the physical and emotional toll of the day was overwhelming her. She almost considered asking her friend and companion to stomp out the fire. But she didn't. Instead, she chuckled to herself and killed the campfire. Months of experience taught her how to get comfortable on the ground to sleep well. And soon, she was lying down staring at the stars in the nighttime sky.

At least the stars didn't die, she thought.

.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, she was surprised to see sunshine. Yes, eastern Georgia was famous for it's sunny summers, but she expected clouds. Her depression and loneliness almost begged for it. But it didn't happen. Instead, she realized she was alive. Alive. Alive and well, as the phrase goes. She almost felt invigorated.

Almost.

.

It was time to say goodbye.

There was one can of food left and half a bottle of water. She would very soon need supplies, which was one of the reasons she felt the need to move on. But, of course, there were others. And before she even formed strategies, she had a job to do.

Turning to her left, she took a few steps until she reached the mound. She didn't have any tools but she did her best.

Kneeling, she dropped to her knees, caressing the sword that Michonne called 'Her Girl'. Andrea finally got the answers she was looking for. But she didn't like the price she had to pay.

"Oh, Michonne," Andrea quietly began, "why didn't you tell me?"

Andrea caressed the katana's handle.

"I mean," she began, her voice getting shaky, "The Boys…Your Girl…me…" she let her head drop. She took a deep breath and returned to the sword. "I would've understood. I really would have!"

Andrea wiped some dirt away from the katana's handle. She could've sworn some weeds had already grown on the mound but she wasn't sure. It made her angry. She was angry.

"Oh God!" Andrea exclaimed, "Why did you have to do it?" Her voice got louder and louder. "Why did you have to do it? Why did you step in front of me? It should've been me that was shot! Not you!"

And then the tears came. Again, she let her head drop. Her once-beautiful blonde hair slid down her cheeks and she could feel the morning sunshine on her neck. There may have been a walker moan in the distance but she didn't care. Like she thought before, she had a job to do.

She had to say goodbye.

"I loved you too." Andrea oh so softly said. "I loved you too." She wiped her eyes. "I love you!"

A soft breeze tousled the sword and Andrea secured it more firmly at the top of Michonne's grave.

"Now that I know the whole story," she shakily began, "now that I know The Boys were your boyfriend and his best friend, now that I know they got high instead of protecting your two-year old daughter, I know that I…"

That was it. Andrea collapsed in a heap of total despair. Wails of pain bellowed out of her as she cried and cried and cried. That walker moan was now clear but still very far away. And Andrea could've cared less.

"I'm gonna miss you, girl. I really am."

And with that, she pressed her finger tips to her lips and then on the sword's handle. And without another word, she turned away from the grave and back towards her belongings.

She took a moment for herself. Just a moment. After all, her job wasn't done.

Andrea turned to her right, staring towards a lone tree.

"And you…" Andrea muttered. "And you!"

The tree didn't respond. So, she got up and almost angrily marched towards it.

"You! You…you son of a bitch!"

When she got to the tree, she stopped, practically glaring at it. The tree, like much of the world, was dead. Actually, it wasn't much of a tree anymore. Most of the branches were gone and there were no more leaves on it. Not anymore.

"That…goddamn…Governor…"

Andrea looked up and winced. She didn't realize that the top half of the tree was so…dead. That word was being used way too often those days.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Andrea all but screamed. "I knew there was…something between us, but I didn't know it was…" Andrea lowered her voice. "Love."

She took a deep, shaky breath. And then, she strained, making the words come out of her mouth. "I wish you could've told me you were forced to do it." A fresh tear threatened to fall out. "But I know why you couldn't. You didn't know me very well. You didn't…trust me very much." She chuckled. "And why would you? I…well, I can be a bitch…sometimes." Again, she chuckled, but this time much more darkly.

The walker's moan got louder. It was coming closer. Andrea rolled her eyes at the annoyance but didn't let it detract her from her task.

"So," she said to the tree as if it was a normal conversation, "you were ordered to kill Merle or he would've killed you. And you were ordered to bring me back to him but you fell in love with me instead. And you just had to find cover from the herd under this tree when one of the Governor's assholes fired that RPG. I get that. But what I don't get…"

The tears fell. And she let them. She sighed and looked up, along the tree, and all the way up to the skyline.

"What I don't get," Andrea said, "is why this all had to happen?" She took a few steps back so she could get a better look at the tree. "Why did the world go to shit? Why can't we trust and love one another? Why do we have to…?" She took a deep breath, held it, and let it all go. "Go on?"

Except for that stupid, stupid walker's moan, Mother Nature was completely silent. The stillness in the air felt like the whole world was collectively holding its breath, an insult to an unanswered question. And that's when Andrea decided to end that once and for all.

Grabbing John's gun and her belongings, and then, after grabbing Michonne's sword, she took off in the direction of that lone walker moan.

After all, she had a job to do.

.