"So I met this Governor," Rick had gathered all of us in the cellblock to talk about what happened. I stared at the rifle in his hand, knowing full well that that talk did not go as planned. "Sat with him for quite a while." Rick looked at the ground. Daryl wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling him to me tightly. Apparently he had the same sinking feeling I did.

"Just the two of you?" Merle asked. Rick nodded his head slowly, still not looking at any of us.

"He wants the prison." Rick's words cut like a knife and I sighed, knowing that that was what he was going to say. "He wants us gone." Rick sighed, shaking his head. "Dead." He corrected himself. "He wants us dead, for what we did to Woodbury." The room was silent, no one was surprised. We all saw how ruthless he was when he attacked us the other day. "We're going to war." Rick said finally, walking away from us.

Nobody spoke, we barely even breathed. I pushed off the wall I was leaning on, swallowing the sour taste his words left in my mouth. I looked around at everyone and frowned. We weren't prepared for this, all the guns in the world couldn't prepare us for this. Slowly I made my way to the ammo cell, grabbing up an assault rifle, before heading off upstairs.

The next morning Rick called Daryl and I out into the yard with him and Hershel. They had been talking the night before about The Governors terms and my interest had been peaked all night. I couldn't even sleep, I needed to know. He pulled us out of sight, around to the back of the prison, making sure we were far away from everyone before he spoke.

"The Governor said that he'd leave us be if we gave him Michonne." Rick wasted no subtleties and my eyes widened at him. I waited for him to speak again but he didn't.

"Your realize how ridiculous that is right?" I told the sheriff. Daryl nodded his head next to me in agreement.

"He wanted you too, mentioning some bullshit about an eye for an eye," Rick paused, looking at me. He didn't know what happened that night in The Governors apartment. "I managed to talk him just down to Michonne. You wanna tell us what happened in Woodbury that night?" I flushed red when Daryl looked at me, eyes narrowed.

"Michonne had a vendetta against him. She led us to his apartment and while we were waiting for him..." I paused, licking my lips. They all watched me expectantly. "The guy had a room full fish tanks full of peoples heads and a secret crawlspace where he kept his walker daughter. Michonne killed her in front of him and he went ballistic." I sighed, shifting in place. "He had his hands on my throat and I slashed his eye." I pointed to my right eye. Rick grimaced, shifting as well. Daryl was fuming next to me.

"I'll kill the bastard." He spat, looking at me. Rick nodded his head quietly before speaking again.

"Well he wants her in exchange for us. It's the only way." I scoffed, shaking my head. I like Michonne, I felt like she'd proven herself to the group by now. I was appalled at how quickly he was to turn her over.

"But they'll kill her!" I pleaded. Rick didn't waiver and I narrowed my eyes at him. "What did the others say?" I asked crossing my arms.

"No one else knows." He said quietly, shaking his head.

"You gonna tell em?" Daryl asked, stepping closer to me.

"Not till after. We have to do it today, it has to be quiet." I shook my head and Daryl looked at me quietly. His eyes said that he was sorry, he knew I'd grown to like the woman. I pleaded with him silently, and after a long deliberation he looked at Rick.

"You got a plan?" My heart broke as Daryl spoke and I looked at the men in horror. I looked up at Hershel, but he couldn't hold my gaze. He didn't want to do this either.

"We tell her we need to talk, away from the others." Rick told Daryl. I watched Daryl, hoping he would see what I saw, hoping he would take my side, I knew deep down this isn't what he wanted. I stepped away from him, looking at the ground. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me.

"This aint us, man." Daryl said finally. I glanced up at him, blinking back tears. He gave me a tight smile, stepping closer to me, effectively showing Rick which side of the argument he was on.

"No, no its not." Hershel interjected, quietly crutching away from us.

"We do this, we avoid a fight." Rick looked at both of us. "No one else dies."

"You don't know that!" I yelled at him. Rick looked at me quietly. He wasn't angry with me, I knew that much, he just wanted me to see things his way. "You said he originally wanted both of us, do you really think he's going to leave it at Michonne?" I paused, waiting for either of them to say something. Rick shifted uneasily under my stare. I sighed, licking my lip. "If you take her, you can take me too!" I spat, turning on my heel and walking briskly after Hershel.

I had spent most of the day helping set up guns in small strongholds around the prison. It was going to be guerilla type warfare, meaning we'd be moving a lot. They couldn't hit what they couldn't see.

"Hey." A soft voice said from behind. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned to find Michonne behind me. She chuckled, leaning against the wall behind me. I couldn't look at her, not know what I knew. "Some of us are setting up traps in the yard. I thought it might be a good idea to lay out so tire strips, so that way they cant take down the rest of our fences. You in?"

"Will I get to kill anything?" I smirked at her. She returned the smirk.

"Yes."

"I'm in."

Maggie and Carl had been stationed in the guard walk to draw away most of the walkers from us and the truck had been loaded with home made tire strips that Glenn had fashioned from barbed wire and wooden slats.

Slowly they drove the truck out into the yard, Michonne, Daryl and I following behind them. I opted for my knife this run and I ran at one of the nearby walkers, plunging it into his forward. Michonne and I worked in near tandem, back to back, while Glenn and Daryl placed the strips.

"Duck!" Michonne said. I hit the dirt and she slashed at a walker behind me, taking of its head. I stood slowly, dusting myself off.

"Thanks." I breathed. She smiled at me, clapping my shoulder gently. I glanced back at the prison where I saw Rick watching us, a bemused smile on his face. I grimaced, walking over to the truck that everyone piled into. Glenn drove us back, and we met Maggie and Carl up top.

"They try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them." Glenn told Rick, who was looking at us inquisitively.

"That's a good idea." He said finally, looking at each of us.

"It was Michonne's." I said harshly. Rick looked at me, at a loss for words, and I glared at him, moving away from him, towards Daryl.

"We don't have to win." Michonne said as she climbed from eth truck bed. I looked at her and she shrugged. "We just have to make them getting at us more trouble than it's worth." Rick nodded his head rigidly, turning back to Daryl and I. I crossed my arms at him, my face stony. If he was going to kill her, he was going to feel bad about it.

I had retreated to my cell, nervously taking apart and re-assembling my rifle. I wasn't ready for any of this, it was all too stressful. I couldn't breath, I couldn't eat, I hadn't gotten good sleep in days. I frowned, looking at the pieces on my bed, forgetting how Daryl showed me to put them back together.

"Goldilocks." My head snapped up to find Merle standing at the door to my cell. He smiled at me, his eyes darting to my rifle. "If ya wanted to impress me all ya had to do was sing some Skynard." I smirked at him, retuning to my gun. I tried to make it look like I knew what I was doing, but Merle saw right through me. "Can't put it back together huh?"

"No." I said finally. With a sigh I fell back onto the bed, running my hands over my face. Merle walked into my cell, standing over me, looking at the pieces on my bed.

"Took it apart nicely enough, did baby brother teach ya how to do it?" I nodded my head, looking sadly at the pieces.

"Yeah, and I forgot." I sighed.

"It's easy ta do. Can't tell ya how many times my drill instructor called me a worthless pile of dog shit because my boomstick wasn't put together right." He knelt on the floor next to me, tapping one of the pieces with his make shift knife. "Take that one, and put it here." Slowly, he began to show me how to assemble my gun until I had it all back together properly.

"Thanks." I smiled at him, leaning the gun on the wall next to me. Merle shrugged me off, walking back to the door.

"Wasn't nothin, now when you forget again I'm gonna give you shit for it. But I promise I wont call you a worthless pile of dog shit." I raised my eyebrow at him, shaking my head. "Constructive criticism."

"I've heard it's an excellent motivator." I agreed with him. We shared a laugh and the cell grew quiet again.

"Don't look so worried, Officer Friendly's got everything under control." Merle said lightly. I frowned at him.

"He thinks that, but I know better."

"He's giving The Governor what he wants aint he?" I looked at Merle, almost stunned he knew about the deal with Michonne.

"He came to you too?" I asked, surprised. I didn't think Rick held much faith in Merle. Merle nodded slowly and I sighed, thinking back to what happened that night in Woodbury. "Even if Rick gives up Michonne, The Governor is still going to come here…"

"Why do you say that?" I raised my eyebrow at him. I guess Rick hadn't told him everything. I shrugged, clearing my throat.

"Because I took that bastard's eye. The Governor wanted both of us as the original treaty, but apparently after deliberation he settled for Michonne." I sighed, smiling tightly up at Merle. He seemed to be lost in thought, probably the realization that The Governor wanted me dead too. "I can still feel the target on my back." I said after a long pause. Merle placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, smiling at me tightly.

"I hate to talk and run, I've gotta head downstairs, we gotta breach in the tombs, gonna see if I can't patch it up." He said suddenly, walking away back to the stairs.

"Want some help?" I offered. Merle shrugged, nodding his head.

"Yeah, yeah sure." He winked at me, chuckling as he descended the stairs. I smiled after him, grabbing up my crossbow, deciding I did indeed like Merle, even with his rough exterior.

"So where is it?" Michonne asked as Merle led us downstairs.

"Around the corner." Merle said. I nodded, turning the next corner, running point on our expedition. "We gotta clear some walkers, then get the others down here to barricade it."

"Sounds simple enough." I replied cockily, lowering my bow seeing the hallway clear. A walker flung itself onto the closed cell next to us and I jumped as it snarled at us, reaching through the bars for me.

"A breach like this could be an open invitation for The Governor." Merle was right, if The Governor found this it would be a straight shot to our cellblock.

"Easiest take over in history." I muttered.

"He's not much for subtlety." Michonne chuckled at me. She was trying to make me feel better about the tombs, but I didn't. A few walkers turned the corner ahead of us and I narrowed my eyes at him, watching him curiously. I stepped forward, stabbing one between the eyes with my buck knife, Michonne following my lead, while Merle killed the third.

Michonne hit the floor behind me and I turned, kneeling next to her. I felt her forehead, she wasn't hot, she didn't have any apparent injuries. I lifted her head into my lap, but my hand came back wet and I widened my eyes in surprise. There was blood. My hand began to shake and I glanced up at Merle fearfully. He looked down at me sadly, frowning deeply.

"Merle…" I said cautiously, putting my hands up in front of me. "What are you doing?" I asked. I knew full well what he was capable of and I cursed myself for trusting him so easily. But he was Daryl's brother, I wanted him to be good so badly, for Daryl's sake.

"I'm sorry, but the needs of the many." Merle pulled his arm back and I screamed. There was an explosion of pain in my face and I crumpled to the floor. The room around me faded in and out and it was hard to breath. I couldn't see straight and I couldn't speak. Every time I opened my mouth my face burned. Merle weaved in and out of my vision, I could feel him tying me up but I was helpless to do anything about it, dazed from his blow.

"Merle…" I muttered painfully. The wire around my wrist tightened and the last thing I remembered seeing was his face before the prison around me faded.

BUT I LOVE MERLE. He will forever be one of my favorite characters.

Reviews are always appreciated!

Stay Beautiful!