Basically, this is my dream version of season 4. Since we're not going to see it on the show, I decided to write it myself.

Chapter 1.

The sun was rising on another day in Woodbury.

Walking down the main street, where people were just beginning to emerge from their houses, Rick felt as though he had been transported back a year, to a time when a walker was an ambulation device for babies and elderly people and not a moving corpse. Only the presence of his newborn daughter served as reminder that the world he had lived in as recently as twelve months ago was gone.

How strange it felt to be pushing a pram again after all this time, he thought.

A lot of things about life in Woodbury were strange. Since he woke from his coma and discovered the ruin his home town had become, he had never expected to do anything as quaintly domestic as go to the store for a bottle of milk, or mow his lawn, or take the trash out ever again, and yet here he was living the so-called American Dream – albeit behind a ten foot wall.

He was still musing on the absurdity of the situation he currently found himself in when he heard a voice call, "Morning, Rick."

He looked up to see Andrea striding towards them from the direction of the gates.

"Morning," he greeted her.

She stopped when she reached them. "Hi, Judith," she cooed, peeking into the pram. The baby gurgled and wrapped her tiny fist around her thumb and Andrea smiled.

"Out late or up early?" Rick asked her.

"Out late. I just got off watch duty. What about you?"

"Up early. I was just taking Judith to Carol's and then I was going to head out to the north wall to see how the construction crew is getting on."

"Mind if I tag along?" she asked, straightening.

"Shouldn't you be hitting the hay?"

She looked like she was ready to drop. There were dark circles forming under her eyes that seemed to get darker by the day. From what he'd heard, she'd been up on the wall almost every night this week, and yet the next morning Rick would see her out on the street doing what she could to keep things running smoothly. That didn't leave her much time for sleeping, if she was even sleeping at all.

Andrea shrugged. "I'm still pretty wired."

Rick sensed that there was more to it than that – while he wasn't a psychologist, he was reasonably certain from his police training that she was exhibiting all the signs of PTSD – but he knew better than to pry into her business. If she wanted to talk about it, she would.

"Then by all means," he said, motioning for her to come along, and she fell into step gratefully beside him.

On the way, they passed the gardens, where Hershel sat on his lawn chair in the shade cast by greenhouse, crutches by his side, supervising a small team of gardeners. He waved to them and they waved back.

"I have to admit, I was sceptical at first, but everyone seems to be fitting in well," Rick said as they rounded the corner into Carol's street.

They each had a role to play in the rebuilding of civilisation, with the exception of Carl and Beth, who were back in school for the first time in more than a year, although Beth had already nominated to work in the day care centre with Carol when she graduated in the fall.

"Does this mean I get to say 'I told you so'?" Andrea teased him.

He laughed good-naturedly. "I think you just did."

"We did a good thing, Rick," she assured him seriously. "These people deserved better than to live in fear of a man like the Governor. Look at this place." She gestured around them, at all the men, women and children going about their days, seemingly without a care in the world. "It's thriving again and it's all because of us."

One month earlier…

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Rick asked Andrea, grabbing her arm to stop her just as she was about the climb into the backseat. "It's not too late for you to change your mind."

Today was the last day of the treaty, the day they were due to hand over Michonne… or go to war.

"I appreciate the concern, Rick, but I'm coming," she insisted, fixing him with a stubborn glare. "This is my fight just as much as it is yours."

Rick had learned through experience that once Andrea got it into her head to do something, there was no arguing with her. He sighed, releasing his grip on her. "Okay, but you stay out of sight," he warned her. He couldn't risk someone seeing her and realising that they were planning an ambush of their own. "Let the Governor think you got eaten by walkers on the way here." The only reason he'd agreed to let her come along was to act as back up in case things got out of hand and they needed an extra gun.

They spent the drive going over the plan so that everyone knew their part. As they neared their destination, Andrea hopped out, a rifle over one shoulder, her handgun at the ready. Merle followed suit and the two of them disappeared around the side of a building await the signal.

"You ready?" Rick asked Michonne once they were in place.

"As I'll ever be," she agreed, sticking her arms out dutifully in front of her.

He took out a piece of rope and bound her wrists together, pulling a bag over her head for good measure, and the three of them continued on in silence.

The Governor was already at the meeting place, flanked by two henchmen – the black guy and the Latino –, although given what Andrea had told him, Rick guessed that there were at least a half dozen more of his flunkies hiding nearby, ready to attack them at the slightest provocation.

Chances were that even if they had brought Glenn and Maggie along, instead of leaving them to defend the prison, they would still be grossly outnumbered. But the Governor didn't know, or couldn't be certain, that they had Andrea, and that gave them back the advantage.

Steeling himself for the confrontation, Rick threw the scabbard containing Michonne's sword over his back and helped her out of the car. Daryl took her other arm, and together they marched her into the designated space between their car and the Governor's truck.

"I'm proud of you, Rick. You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for," the Governor gloated, his eyes never leaving Michonne.

She made a show of struggling, striking Rick painfully in the ribs with her elbow, but Rick knew it was just that. He had no real intention of handing her over – at least not without a fight.

Which, fortunately, was exactly what they came for.

The Governor's men kept their guns trained on them as they approached.

"I held up my end of the bargain," Rick said, ignoring them, his attention focused on the Governor. "Now how about you hold up yours? Tell your goons to drop their weapons."

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of the deal," the Governor told him, whipping out his own gun.

Before Rick could respond in kind, a shot rang out, and for one heart-stopping moment, he was afraid that he'd been hit, but then the Governor fell down dead, a bullet hole piercing his one good eye.

Chaos erupted as everyone dove for cover, glancing around wildly for the shooter. As Rick drew his pistol, he caught sight of a lone figure standing on the roof of a neighbouring building.

It was Andrea, lowering her smoking rifle, her expression so cold and blank that it sent a shiver down his spine…

Back in the present, she was still talking, patting them on the back for a job well done, but Rick couldn't help worrying about her state of mind beneath her cheerful exterior. He still remembered what it took from him to do what he did to Shane. He couldn't imagine that it was much easier for her to kill the man whose bed she once shared, even if he was unrecognisable by the end.

There was no sense dwelling on any of that, he told himself as they climbed the steps to Carol's apartment, Andrea cradling Judith while he carried the pram, and knocked on the door.

"What are you two doing out so early?" Carol asked them when she appeared to let them in, still dressed in her fluffy yellow bathrobe.

They followed her through the kitchen, relaying their plans for the day.

"Since you're going out there anyway, would you mind taking this to Daryl?" she asked them, picking a brown paper bag up off the counter. "It'll save me a trip."

"Sure," Andrea agreed, swapping Judith for what Rick assumed must be Daryl's lunch.

"You can pick her up at the day care centre this afternoon," Carol told Rick, making faces at the baby as she bounced her lightly in her arms.

"Carol and Daryl?" Rick asked Andrea incredulously once they were back out in the hall. "How long has that been going on?"

Andrea looked surprised, although apparently not for the same reason as he was. "You didn't know?"

"I didn't know," he agreed sheepishly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"And I thought I was out of touch," she teased him, following him back down the stairwell. "I get that you've been busy trying to keep everyone safe, Rick, but you really need to spend more time talking to people."

She fell silent as they crossed the landing, as though unsure how he would respond to what she was about to say, before deciding to press ahead. "I've actually been thinking – we should hold some kind of meet and greet. You could shake some hands, say a few words, let the good citizens of Woodbury see what a nice guy Rick Grimes is. I bet it would make them more comfortable about the change in leadership."

"Is that how the Governor did things?" Rick asked her, unable to hide the contempt for the man. Death hadn't softened his feelings towards him in the slightest: in fact, he only wished that he'd been the one to kill him himself.

"In the beginning," she agreed. "He had the right idea when he founded this place – it was his execution that left a lot to be desired."

That was definitely the understatement of the year, Rick thought wryly.

"I'm a cop, not a politician," he protested, dismayed at the idea of being trotted out in front of all those people and forced to make a speech. That just wasn't him: he was a man of action, more comfortable tending to the groups' physical rather than emotional needs.

"What if I made all the arrangements?" Andrea insisted as they stepped back out onto the street. "Then all you would have to do is show up."

Rick sighed. "I don't know…"

"Panem et circenses."

He glanced over at her in confusion. "Was that even English?"

"Latin," she explained. "It means 'bread and circuses'. These people aren't like us. They haven't seen the things we've seen. If you want them to follow you, you have to give them more than just big walls. That's what the Governor did best."

"I thought you were a lawyer, not a campaign manager," Rick said, only half joking.

"Winning a case is a lot like running a campaign – it's all about appearances," she told him. "And I'm sorry to say, you give off the appearance of being a reclusive loner, which isn't exactly the kind of behaviour that sways juries. I know you're used to doing things a certain way, and I respect that, but that approach isn't going to fly here. These people need assurances if you expect them to trust you."

He regarded her with a sidelong glance. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," she agreed stiffly.

"Why didn't you just take over Woodbury yourself?" It was the question that had been on his mind ever since she brought them there. "The people here really like you. Seems to me you would have been a shoo in for the new Governor – or Governess."

She stared straight ahead, refusing to meet his eyes. "What this place needs is someone who can make tough decisions, and in case you haven't noticed, that isn't me."

"You killed the Governor," he reminded her gently. If nothing else, she deserved credit for that.

"After I chickened out the first time," she insisted, her expression darkening with anger, though whether this was at the Governor or herself or both Rick couldn't tell.

"You needed to try everything else first." He wished he knew how to convince her that she was braver than she realised. She never gave up, never backed down from her convictions, no matter the cost. Those were the kinds of qualities that made her the natural candidate.

"Still… I feel safer knowing I have you in my corner if it ever comes to that again," she told him. "Face it, Rick – we balance each other out. I'm better at dealing with people than you are, but you've always been the one with the vision. I mean, whose idea was it to build these extensions?"

"Speaking of extensions…"

They had reached the northern boundary, where the construction crew was hard at work erecting sheets of galvanised iron, building a new wall behind the old one to encompass more of the town that formed the basis of theirs.

"They're making great time," Andrea remarked. At the rate they were going, it wouldn't be long before their little enclave became a thriving metropolis.

Rick turned to her with a grin. "I told Glenn and Maggie that as soon as they're done, they can finally have their own house. I think they're tired of living with Hershel."

"Kind of like an early wedding present."

"Sure beats the hell out a toaster."

"Hey, are you two just gonna stand there, or are you gonna pick up a hammer and help?" Daryl called down to them good-naturedly from on top of the wall.

"Carol says 'hi'," Andrea teased him back, brandishing the bag containing his lunch.

He scowled, flushing a deep shade of crimson, and she and Rick both laughed.

All of a sudden, Rick realised what it was that made this place so strange: for the first time since his wife died, he actually felt something akin to peace. It wasn't hard to see why Andrea believed that Woodbury was worth preserving.

"It's like a dream come true, isn't it?" he heard her say from where she stood beside him, snapping him out of his reverie. "These past few weeks… It's almost like the apocalypse never happened."

But it had. Their hearts and bodies still bore the scars to prove it."That's definitely something worth celebrating," he agreed. They had beaten the odds. They had survived. Maybe it was time they started enjoying that. "So let's do it – let's have a party."

I'm sure a lot of you will have heard this by now, but for those who haven't, someone started an online petition to bring Andrea/Laurie Holden back. While I'm doubtful that they'll reshoot the finale a second time, it would be great if we could all let the people involved know they made a huge mistake in killing Andrea off, so please sign it if you haven't already. The address is www dot the petition site dot com / 916/ 302/ 464/ bring-back-andrea-laurie-holden-to-the-walking-dea d / Who knows, though, at the very least we might get to see some of those Andrea/Michonne flashbacks they've been teasing us with. Cold comfort knowing what's going to happen, but the more Andrea the better, right?