Hello fanfic readers! Here is chapter 23. This chapter maybe short, but I want to show you all the love that Andrea still has for Michael. Enjoy!
Chapter 23: Walk with Me
A military helicopter is flying when the engine starts to suffer mechanical problems after being caught in wind turbulence. The helicopter crashes in the forest with three soldiers on board. Andrea and Michonne spot the wreckage's smoke from a distance and go to investigate. Michonne wraps her pet zombie's chains around a tree, and hides Andrea in the foliage so she can go and investigate the wreckage. Two vehicles approach suddenly. Michonne retreats to the bushes with Andrea. From the bushes, Andrea and Michonne watch as a group of men rescue the pilot and stab the two soldiers who died in the crash.
Michonne's pet walkers rattle their chains, drawing the newcomers' attention. She decapitates the walkers to silence them, but, regardless, the two are still discovered by Merle Dixon. Andrea, still unwell and in shock of Merle's unexpected return, passes out.
"How's about a big hug for your old pal, Merle?" Merle chuckled.
Andrea wakes up blindfolded in the back of a car and overhears the group's leader giving instructions via a CB radio. Before passing out again, she witnesses the car approaching a massive wooden gate.
(Inside Woodbury in a medical tent)
A doctor puts a shot in Andrea's arm with Michonne.
"Why are we being held here? We want to leave." Andrea said to the doctor.
"Your not well enough and its dark, you should stay the night." The doctor said,
"Where are we?" Andrea asked.
"That's not for me to say, he'll talk to you." The doctor said.
"Who?" Michonne asked. Merle walks in.
"Go check on your patient doc. Bet your wondering if I was real. Well I guess this world gets a little smaller when it ends, there's not a lot of us left to share the air." Merle said getting a chair than sitting on it.
"You know when they found me I was near death myself almost bled out, thinking to myself a bullet would be a last good meal, meet Daryl on the other side, Have you seen my brother?" Marle asked Andrea.
"Not for a long time." Andrea said.
"Makes two of us." Merle said.
Merle then tells Andrea what happened after he left the farm, how he got bitten on his hand by a Walker and had to cut it off to keep him from turning. Now sporting a bayonet.
The group's leader — The Governor — arrives and quietly confers with Merle. Michonne demands their weapons back; The Governor assures her they're free to leave the next day, at which point their weapons will be returned. When Andrea asks why he knifed the dead soldiers, The Governor explains that anyone who dies turns into a walker, stating that he "put[s] them out of their misery."
The Governor escorts Andrea and Michonne outside to reveal a peaceful, torch-lit street, saying, "Welcome to Woodbury." He shows them the reason for his confidence in their safety: a sturdy, heavily guarded wall. Andrea marvels as the guards, led by Merle, take out three approaching walkers.
"How long has this place been here?" Andrea asked.
"Well, we didn't have the walls at the beginning - that progressed over time." The Governor answered.
The Governor shows them to their room, where fresh clothes are laid out. Michonne is visibly skeptical, especially when The Governor tells them one of his men will be stationed just outside.
The next day, Rowan, a Woodbury resident, takes Andrea and Michonne on a tour. Children happily roam the street as people go about their business. The guide reveals that 73 people live in the town and that there have been no casualties since the winter, thanks in part to The Governor's strict curfew.
"What can you tell me about him?" Andrea asked.
"What do you mean?" Rowan asks.
"I'd like to know the man." Andrea said.
"Honestly, I think it's too dangerous to be this generous, let people in with no questions asked... but they do it so people aren't surviving on their own out there. He's a good man." Rowan replied. Andrea nodded and walked away, catching up to Michonne.
"This place seems nice." Andrea noted.
"I don't." Michonne said, Andrea sighed at her distrust. There was no question that Michonne didn't trust people as much as Andrea did, although Andrea had her limits.
"Mich, staying alone is not the way to go. You saw me - you saved my ass that night. If you haven't saved me - I'd be dead. And I saved your ass a few times as well. There's alot of fucking bullshit in the world, you need someone to watch your back." Andrea told her. Michonne didn't respond and the two of them continued to tour the settlement.
(Back in a medical room)
The injured pilot explains To the Governor on how they were more of them and how there post was overrun and tells him that a group of soldiers is waiting for them. The Governor promises to him that he will get them here safe. after he was finished he walks out the building to another building where Merle and Milton were (You know how that scene goes if you seen the episode so I won't put in the Dialogue)
The next morning, Milton joins The Governor for breakfast with Andrea and Michonne. Milton explains his theory that walkers retain a trace of the person they once were, asking Michonne about her walker pets: "You did know them, didn't you?" Michonne stays quiet, speaking only to demand the return of their weapons. The Governor urges them to rest a while longer.
After breakfast, Michonne declares her mistrust for The Governor, but Andrea wants to stay in Woodbury longer. Picking up on Milton's query, Andrea asks Michonne about her pets. "Those walkers were with us all winter long, protecting us," she says, "and you took them out without any hesitation."
"It was easier than you think," Michonne replies. She leaves Andrea, visibly upset.
Meanwhile, The Governor tracks down Welles' squad and drives up alone, waving a white flag. He tells the squad leader that he found their pilot and offers to escort them to Woodbury. As the men relax in relief, The Governor draws a gun and opens fire. Woodbury men emerge from the perimeter and gun down the rest of the soldiers. The Governor orders them to collect all of their weapons.
The Governor and his men return to town with the military trucks, along with weaponry, medicine, and other desperately needed supplies. The townspeople gather as The Governor deceives them into thinking that the soldiers had already fallen to biters (their word for walkers) — leaving behind their trucks, medicine, food, and weapons. As the crowd disperses, Andrea asks The Governor for his real name. "I never tell," he says. Never say never," Andrea replies. The Governor grins, murmuring, "Never."
That evening, The Governor looks over Woodbury from his apartment window as he sips from a glass of whiskey. He walks past Rowan, who is lying naked in his bed, and gazes at a framed photo of his wife and daughter before entering an adjoining, private room. Inside, he settles into a chair and stares numbly ahead, where three rows of aquariums are filled with live walker heads. Among them are the heads of Michonne's pet zombies and the head of the newly-decapitated Welles.
Meanwhile in Michonne and Andrea's room
As Michonne is sleeping, Andrea is still awake, looking out the window. She then clutches her necklace that Michael gave her on their first date where they also had their first kiss.
As she clutch her necklace, She prays and hopes to see her loving boyfriend again and she knows that he's alive and safe.
"I love you, Michael Negron." She said.
That evening at the prison
Michael is standing at the bridge, looking out to the field. He is holding Andrea's gun in his hand. He then holds it flat on his heart. It's the only thing he has to remember his loving girlfriend. Hoping and praying that she is alive and safe and that he will see her again.
"I love you, Andrea Harrison." He said.
Well that's it for this chapter. Next chapter, be ready for action. Read and review. May the Force be with you!
