Just warning all the people who got the email alert when I uploaded this chapter:

Part of it is the old chapter, the first couple of paragraphs are new. I am now almost done with the rewrite, the next chapter will be another improved and rewritten old chapter, and after that I will be uploading new chapters! I'm officially back with the improved Damni and I hope you like it and that you keep reading it =)

setting: episode 11 "I Ain't A Judas"

Damnation

Chapter 44 - News

Connor spent the rest of his morning inside their cell simply because he needed some time for himself, and Daryl respected that. He spent some time outside with Merle, no matter how exhausting it really was to be with him. The older Dixon tried to ask his brother multiple times about what had happened this morning, to a point where he actually came up with all sorts of shit. It was obvious that he did not like Connor's and Daryl's friendship, which was why he kept mocking his sibling. The old Daryl back at the quarry would have exploded because of all these accusations and insults, the new Daryl, the member of Rick's group and Connor's best friend did not care about it any longer. He did not listen to it at all in fact.

But he was rather surprised by what he had witnessed outside, that his friend had really gone so far and actually burned the picture. He felt a bit guilty and bad about it, considering that it had been his idea to get rid of Murphy's stuff. Connor had been quiet and a sorrowful all morning, and no matter how hard the hunter tried, he couldn't stay away from his friend for too long. He wanted to talk about what he had seen, and he wanted Connor to know that he really respected him for what he had done. Which was the reason why he got up while Merle was still talking to him, and he ignored all of his brother's taunting and went back inside the cell block.

He greeted Carol and little ass-kicker on his way up the stairs, but other than that there were hardly any people inside. Rick and the others were outside, trying to get rid of some of the walkers, and Daryl wanted to join them with Connor, which was another reason why he was heading for their cell now.
His friend was sitting on the cold cement floor and hovered over a large piece of old moldy paper, a pen in his right hand as he was drawing some sort of outline. Daryl leaned against the door to their cell and just watched his friend for a moment, and Connor looked up after a while. He nodded and Daryl nodded back, then the Irishman went back to his sketch again. Both men just enjoyed each other's company, then the older of the two spoke up.

"Ye know, I tried ta clean the tombs out when you were out there" he began and Daryl listened up.

He didn't like that Connor had gone off on his own again, especially to the parts of the prison that were not safe, but today he decided not to say anything or get into a fight because of it. His friend wouldn't look at him and kept talking anyway.

"I saw te hole in the wall. 's fucking massive. Even if we do manage ta fix it, it'll be pretty fucking easy t'destroy it and get in here if this Governor freak wants to break in to our prison. But then I crossed paths with all those filthy fucks..." he muttered and stopped writing and drawing for a moment. "And thought...we should use 'em. Let the tombs be crowded with walkers. So if someone decides ta make their way in here using the tombs they'd have to kill them, use some of their ammo, they'd be loud and we'd hear them. Same thing with the walkers outside. We could use them as shields. People would have ta get past those fucks first, fight them, use more ammo, and snipers couldn't shoot us because they couldn't even fucking see us."

Daryl folded his arms and nodded.

"Good thinking" he muttered and then nodded at the paper.

"And what's that about?"

The Irishman looked at it and scratched the back of his head. His blonde hair was especially messy today, and he looked a bit like a crazy professor. Minus the glasses.

"It's a map of the prison that is."

The hunter frowned.

"What for?"

Connor looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then shook his head.

"See, that's the reason. "

Daryl got even more confused and maybe even a bit angry.

"Mind talking English, yah freak?"

The blonde got up from the ground and cleaned his healthy hand on his jeans. He then grabbed a whiskey bottle from the small table, and just for a moment Daryl wondered where the fuck he had found that again. Connor took a large sip on the bottle and then wiped his mouth.

"Before all this shit you've been a hunter, aye?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Never killed anyone before? Always hunted and fought animals? Now walkers?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes.

"Do I look like a fuckin psycho killer or some sorta crap? Of course I didn't kill anyone before this shit."

"Well see, and that's exactly te problem with ye people. Rick's a cop, so you should think that he's good at this. Well it looks like he ain't. The thing is, this is a fucking war here, Daryl. Just like ye said. We're not up against a herd of walkers, those are people. They got brains. They are smart. The Governor is smart. Some of them could be military. You saw Woodbury. 24 hour patrols. Cars. Heavy armory. A whole town and its infrastructure. And now look at us."

Daryl wouldn't stop frowning and looked at the map.

"Then why are yah mapping out the prison. Shouldn't yah try and come up with a map of Woodbury?"

Connor shook his head and took another sip on his whiskey bottle. He then knelt down to get the map so he could show it to his friend.

"Nah, see, this is exactly te point. If we wanna fight a war against people, then it's not primary about yer guns and how much bullets ye got or how scary ye look. It's about yer strategy. Ye need ta know yer way out, your sanctuaries. You need ta know yer home base like te back of yer own hand. Walkers do not care about structures. They got no brain. They get lost in this maze just like us and they will never get from A ta B because there's no mind operating them. With people it's different. They will look fer weak spots in our defences. Like te wall. They will look fer secret doors and unlocked windows. And if we wanna stay alive fer another couple of months, then we have ta think ahead and need ta locate and know about every breach in our system before them. Fuck those walkers outside, man. The shit Rick and the others are trying ta do is amateur shit."

The younger Dixon stared at his friend's scribblings and was actually really impressed by his work.

"Remember the Spartans? Numbers and warfare did not matter. Their strategy and good use of terrain made them win this fuckin thing. Hell, I could take out the whole of Woodbury on me own with the right material and plan."

He sat back down on the ground and started drawing again, and Daryl watched him and snorted after a moment.

"You sound like an old war veteran."

"'s cos I planned the murders of 22 people and broke out of a maximum security prison before this shit, remember? Besides, my Da and uncle taught me that."

Daryl wouldn't say anything to that and just watched his friend as he start scribbling on the paper. He noticed the tangling rosary, and when he saw that it was just the one he remembered again why he had come here in the first place. He shifted with a sigh and entered their cell.

"About this morning..."

Connor suddenly froze.

"Don't."

"But..."

"I said don't" Connor repeated and raised his head to look at his friend. Now he no longer looked sad, he looked angry and bitter.

It seemed to be the last state of his mourning, and Daryl could understand his friend. He wanted to talk about it because this wasn't just an important part of Connor's life but also of their relationship, but he supposed if his friend didn't want to talk about it then he would have to leave it be. He didn't get the chance to say anything else because then they could hear excited talking inside the dinning hall. Both men looked at each other with a confused frown. It was Connor who spoke first

"Is that Andrea?" he asked and Daryl walked outside their cell to have a look. He couldn't really see anyone, so he turned around again to look at Connor instead.

"Dunno. Let's find out."

As soon as they reached the hall they could see that they hadn't been wrong at all. Andrea had really returned and was now surrounded by the whole group, and it didn't take the two men long to understand that the woman was no longer welcome. Connor didn't really understand why, but he couldn't really care about it because he was well aware of the fact that Merle was inside the room as well, now caring one of their automatic rifles. Why the fuck had they given this bastard a gun? And most of all, why didn't Rick or Glenn care about that all of a sudden? The Irishman tried to stay as far away from the older Dixon as possible, because he feared another violent outburst. He looked at Daryl, who didn't seem to care about him at the moment and who was busy sitting down on one of the tables opposite Andrea. The blonde woman eyed both friends head to toe and greeted them with a nod, but then decided to look at Rick and the others again.

"You all live here?" she asked and some nodded, but still looked rather angry.

Connor let his gaze wander and tried to understand why everyone was acting weird, because he was seriously glad to see that Andrea was still alive.
They had left her behind after the attack on the farm, hadn't they? So why was no one happy to see that she was alive?
Glenn nodded and answered her question.

"Here in this cell block."

Andrea looked at him and pointed at the door which led back to their cells.

"There?" she wanted to know and the Korean just gave her another nod as an answer.

"Well, can I go in?"

Rick placed himself in her way, making it impossible for her to get through.

"I won't allow that."

Connor frowned and finally decided to say something as well.

"Why not?"

Daryl shifted next to him and sighed.

"I saw her back in Woodbury. She's part of them now."

Merle chuckled behind them, which made both Connor and Daryl turn their heads.

"Oh she's more than that."

The Irishman narrowed his eyes at the man and felt his hatred grow inside of him, but decided not to do or say anything just yet.
He knew that Merle was just trying to get a rise out of everyone, and they had more important issues than an old and stupid redneck with a big mouth.

"I'm not an enemy, Rick" Andrea said, but their leader didn't seem to care about her answer.

"We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up."

"Boyfriend?!" Connor asked in surprise and looked at both Daryl and Andrea in confusion.

"Wait a fucking minute. What did I miss?"

"Blondie's the Governor's sweet little mistress now. Abandoned her girlfriend for an unpredictable psychopath" Merle spoke up and the Irishman looked at him for a second. He didn't want to listen to Daryl's brother because he wanted to pretend that he didn't exist, but when he turned his head to look at Andrea he could see that the older Dixon was actually right. Connor gave her an angry frown and snorted.

"Yer screwing around with this sick bastard and let 'im shoot at us although ye saw Daryl and the others? What te fuck woman?"

Andrea looked at him and pointed a finger at him to shut him up.

"Hey, watch your tone. I had no idea. I thought.."

She turned her head to look at Rick again.

"He said you fired first."

The whole group fell quiet and gave her disbelieving looks.

"Well, he's lying" Rick said and Herschel moved to speak up as well.

"He killed an inmate who survived here."

"We liked him. He was one of us" Daryl joined in and Connor folded his arms with a snort.

"And did Rick mention that his fucking truck was filled with walkers when he crashed te fence? Not ta speak about the snipers that went up our guard towers and keep watching us ever since this fucker and his crew drove off again. He's pulling the whole fucking war psychopath thing."

Andrea looked genuinely confused.

"I didn't know anything about that. As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out."

"You saw me that night" Daryl muttered.

"And that was days ago" Glenn added and Andrea looked at him.

"I told you, I came as soon as I could!"

"And ye had no idea about Glenn and Maggie before this? And me 'n Daryl? Yer telling me yer right at the source and didn't know shit about all his sick little plans?
His kid? The heads? His little torture cellar?"

The blonde woman was speechless for a moment, then turned around to look at Michonne.

"What have you told them?"

Her friend just shrugged.

"Nothing."

Andrea shook her head and looked a bit panicked and upset.

"I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?"

"He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us" Glenn stated and glared at her, but Andrea had enough.

She was obviously upset now and pointed at Merle.

"With his finger on the trigger. Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?"

No one had an answer to that, although Connor kind of agreed with her on that one. He turned his head to look at Daryl's brother again, who was still holding the rifle and had a smug smile on his face. The Irishman tried to stay calm, but knew that sooner or later he just had to talk Rick out of this. He didn't like the fact that Merle was allowed to carry a gun now. Didn't like it at all. He looked at Andrea again when he heard her sigh. The woman rubbed her eyes and shook her head tiredly.

"Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

Rick just shook his head.

"There's nothing to work out. We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will."

Connor nodded since it was exactly the kind of thing he wanted to do.

"Aye. We will."

The blonde woman shook her head.

"We can settle this. There's room at Woodbury for all of you."

Merle chuckled.

"You know better than that."

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?" Herschel asked and Andrea shook her head.

"No."

Connor snorted.

"I think the snipers and fence thing made that pretty clear."

"Why did you come here?" Rick asked and Andrea stopped giving Merle and Connor angry looks.

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack."

"They see us as killers? What about yer death fights in the arena and how they were just waiting ta see Daryl get killed right in front of yer eyes? Who are the real terrifying people here?"

The hunter nodded and looked at Andrea.

"I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye for that."

"We've taken too much shit for too long. He wants a war? He's got one" Glenn joined in and Andrea shook her head.

She wouldn't say anything to the three men, she just looked at Rick.

"Rick. If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town."

"Don't worry about that. We don't need ta take out the whole town. We're gonna focus on yer boyfriend. A couple of bullet's all we need ta end this" Connor retorted and looked at Rick, who nodded after a moment.

"Why don't you just try make things right?" Andrea protested and looked at everyone.

"I mean look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."

"You wanna make this right? Get us inside" Rick said and looked at Connor again.

"No" Andrea answered and shook her head. Rick shrugged.

"Then we got nothing to talk about" he said and left.

He found her outside the cell block, all by herself. He had passed Michonne on his way, so he supposed that the two women had been talking just a second ago. Andrea was just standing there in the middle of the yard, staring at the walkers who were still shaking the fences. She seemed completely lost in thoughts and Connor didn't exactly want to scare her, but he really needed to talk to her. He placed himself right next to the woman and stared at the walkers as well, trying to ignore the fact that he could still see and hear them talk. Andrea still startled when she noticed him.

"My god.." she muttered and rubbed her neck.

The Irishman chuckled.

"Call me Connor" he answered and looked at her.

"'s it all true?"

She massaged her shoulder and shrugged tiredly.

"Why, you come out here to lynch me as well?"

The Irishman didn't say anything to that and Andrea looked at him.

"I had no idea about this whole mess. Honestly. I thought Phillip...he was so different before all this."

"Do ye love 'im?"

The blonde woman sighed and looked away.

"I don't know."

Silence.

"I don't know anything anymore."

Connor just watched the walkers for a bit and got lost in thoughts, his mind hung up on everything he heard them say, everything he heard them beg for.
Part of him wished for Murphy to be standing there with them, but of course. His twin was gone. He looked in the direction where he had burned the picture, and once again he felt the incredible pain in his chest.

"Why did you come out here?" Andrea asked and snapped him out of it.

The Irishman cleared his throat and looked at her again.

"Because I need ta talk to you. I need your help and some information."

"Like what?"

"Get me back inside Woodbury."

Andrea snorted.

"Right now it looks like they're just gonna shoot you as soon as they see you."

"Not if ye get me inside without anyone seeing us."

"And why would I do that?"

"I come up with a decent plan, you get me inside, I kill him with a clean headshot and this whole bloody thing is over. Ye know I got experience with that. I managed ta run away from te police fer almost ten years without anyone catching me and I took down a whole bunch of twisted bastards like 'im. Rick ain't got the guts fer that, neither has he got the experience and intelligence fer that. Same with Glenn. He may be agile, but he's too emotional. I'm the only one who can end this shit without messing this whole thing up fer both sides. But I need yer help fer that."

Andrea widened her eyes and stared at him in pure horror and disgust.

"No way! There are children in there, old people, friends. And I won't assist any kind of murder! It's not to late to talk about it and figure it out the diplomatic way."

"Yer already assisting crimes that are way worse than fucking murder, woman!" Connor growled and grabbed her by her shoulder.

"Open yer eyes. This whole mess is a whole lotta worse than one single justified murder like the one I plan ta do. If those two go on like this, and I mean both yer boyfriend and Rick, then we're all screwed. If ye don't help me here yer precious innocent people WILL get killed, do ye understand? All those kids and old people and women yer talking about, do ye think I want ta see them get killed in a fucking unneccessary war?! We're pretty much the only two people who can end this. I can't do this alone because I don't know my way around town."

Andrea shook her head.

"No. There's got to be another way. Otherwise we're no better than them. Remember what Dale said? If we do this, the world that we knew is dead. If we do this, we're saying there's no hope, that rule of law is dead. That civilization ceased to exist. You and I were the only two people that agreed with him there. We three were on the same page. And now I found Woodbury, and I am determined to keep that thought up, to rebuilt a small society, to honor Dale and our humanity. I don't want anyone to die. I know that Phillip has made some mistakes. He lost his daughter and control over town because of this mess, but you don't know him the way I know him, you don't see him the.."

"That's because yer fucking blinded!" Connor interrupted her and let go of her with a growl.

"The problem is that you don't get people like him. I do. You've been watching too much television, and the whole fucking part doesn't exactly make you any less biased. The bad guys, they're hardly ever ugly, ye can hardly ever see that they're evil. They're always the charmer, they know how ta schmooze people, how ta get the women and important people. They know how ta maintain their image on the outside. This is how they rule the world. It's all charm and biscuits until they got enough followers on their hands and then they show their true face. And guess what, that's exactly what happened."

"I was a lawyer, don't think I don't know how criminals work" Andrea countered and Connor snorted angrily.

"Exactly! Here ye go! Lawyers and judges and their fucking inability ta see the real evil because of their corruption was the reason why me and my brother had ta go out there and sort shit out in the first place! People like you fail ta protect innocent lives because yer corrupted by all sortsa shit, like yer corrupted by yer own lust. But yer right, there's still time ta set it right. Get me inside. Get me to him. 's all I'm asking fer."

"And I told you. The answer is no."

Connor moved his healthy hand through his hair and sighed.

"Jesus fuckin Christ..." he muttered and shook his head.

"Just...just give it a thought. Think it through when yer on yer own. Do it fer us, fer everyone you love in Woodbury, do it fer all the innocent, aye? I'm trying ta do it the reasonable and easy way. Don't think that the fact that ye disagree will change a fucking thing. It will make everything worse in fact. Because I'm sure Rick and the others will make it a bigger mess than me."

Andrea just looked at him and kept shaking her head, and the Irishman needed a moment to calm down. He searched his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter and then lit a smoke with a sigh. The woman next to him was about to leave because she was obviously upset and annoyed because of all the discussions and fights, but Connor asked her to wait.

"Just one more thing. I gotta ask ye something."

Andrea let out a tired sigh and stopped walking.

"What?"

"Back in Woodbury, they captured me and Daryl. There was a man. Glasses, looked kinda nerdy. Name's Miller or something?"

The blonde woman frowned and walked back to him.

"Milton? Milton Mamet?"

Connor nodded and blew out some smoke.

"Aye. That's the one."

"What about him?"

"Is he a doctor there or something like that?"

Andrea put a hand on her hip and cocked her head.

"Not really. He's more like the Governor's right hand in planning. And he does some research on the walkers. Why?"

"Research, huh" Connor muttered and chuckled without finding it funny.

There was silence for a while and Andrea waited for an explanation.
Connor tried to talk about it, but it still send a shiver down his spine.
He still felt disgusted and angry because of it.

"How did yer get away from the farm?"

Andrea sighed.

"Running. Lots of running. I made my way through the woods...and I was as good as dead but then Michonne found me and saved my life."

She looked back at the prison, as if trying to see her friend.
She was obviously upset because of the way Michonne had treated her inside and outside the prison.

"It's been a hard winter for me."

"Me, too" Connor muttered and took another drag on his cigarette.

Then he finally had the guts to talk about it.

"I got bit back at te farm."

Andrea widened her eyes in surprise.

"What? How? How is that..."

"I was looking fer Carl, Beth and Patricia when a walker got me and bit my arm" Connor muttered and showed her the scars on his left lower arm.

Andrea looked down on the Irishman with wide eyes, then she looked in his eyes again.

"May I?" she asked and pointed at the arm.

Connor nodded.

"Knock yerself out" he answered and Andrea moved her fingers over the faint and healed bite wound.

It still made the blonde MacManus feel uncomfortable, but he let her do it because he'd always feel a connection with Andrea. Because they were similar. They had both lost their siblings to a walker, they had both considered suicide, and they had both tried to fight for justice back in the old days. The fact that she was now dating and sleeping with the psychopath that was now threatening their group made her a bit less sympathetic, but he still let her touch it.

"How is that possible?" Andrea asked and Connor moved his arm away and tried to relax.

"No one really knows, but it looks like I'm immune to this whole shit" he muttered and pointed at the walkers.

The woman turned her head to look at them as well and the Irishman sighed.

"I nearly died the first time, but I recovered from it after a couple of painful weeks. Daryl pretty much saved me life there. He was about ta pull the trigger, but somehow he saw that I was still alive. The group took off and he took care of me, and when I was okay again we went after them."

Andrea frowned.

"The first time?"

Connor gave her a crooked smile.

"Aye. 's what I need ta know. When I went back fer Daryl in Woodbury they captured me. They were about ta kill me but Daryl told them about te whole immunity thing. And yer boyfriend had the lovely idea ta tie me to a chair and let a walker bite me" he told her and grabbed the collar of his shirt to move it down and let her see the bandage and stitches on his shoulder. Andrea covered her mouth in shock and gasped.

"Oh my god. I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, won't change a thing now. Add another reason to t'list why dear Phillip needs ta fucking die" the Irishman growled and sorted his clothes.

"But that's not the main issue right now. This Milton guy did some tests on me in his lab. He took blood samples. I managed ta destroy a couple of phials, but I'm not sure if I got them all. Has he been working on anything suspicious lately?"

Andrea nodded after a moment of chewing on her lips and being lost in thoughts.

"Now that you mention it..."

Connor moved his hand through his hair again and started walking around.

"Fuck" he muttered and looked at Andrea.

"He can't have that stuff. It needs ta be destroyed."

"Well..maybe he can find a cure? This is a good thing, Connor" the woman tried to reason with the Irishman but he just shook his head.

"No, ye don't understand. As much as I want a fucking cure, not him. Not Woodbury."

"Milton is not a bad person. He helped me get here. He is kind, intelligent, a bit of a coward maybe, but he's never killed a.."

"He fucking strapped me to a bed, put needles in me and took my blood without permission. He treated me like a fucking lab monkey in there."

"And I'm pretty sure he treated your bite wound and you're the reason his nose is broken."

Connor snorted.

"Well that fucker deserved it."

Andrea sighed.

"Look. I get what you want and where you come from, but the answer is no. To everything. I won't let you kill Phillip, and I won't destroy what could be our only hope for an actual solution and cure for this disease."

"Just..."

"Connor!"

Both the Irishman and Andrea turned their heads to see who had spoken.
Daryl was standing by the door which led back inside the cell block, seemingly irritated by the fact that the two of them were all alone out there.

"Aye?" the remaining MacManus twin answered and Daryl nodded at the door.

"Get your ass in here. Rick wants to talk."

The Irishman looked at Andrea and sighed.

"Looks like my girlfriend needs me. I'm coming" he told Daryl and threw his cigarette away.

"We're not through this yet" he then told Andrea and gave her a warning glare, only to make his way back inside the cell block.