The truck was coming closer, I could hear it quite loud in my ears, and I knew that they were almost here. It was like time was standing still, their vehicle's engines were roaring like thunder, and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. This was it, and I could only hope that it would work. It had to, we were depending on this plan to succeed. If nothing else went our way, like it never did, we needed this to. I leaned against the plank and took a deep breath as I heard the vehicles hit the gravel.
Thwip! BOOM! An explosion made me jump, but I remained still, as I heard debris falling all around me. Then the gunfire began, and I glanced over at Maggie, who was hunched down as well. Wincing, I tried to fight the urge to just start shooting. I heard a pop, and figured one of their vehicles had hit the blowout traps we had laid out. Phillip yelled, and I could hear what sounded like one of the gates being hit. Just as we had planned on them doing, they were looking for us.
I lifted my head, but made sure I was still hidden from anyone. I prepared myself for anything to happen. Any of his people came our way, I was taking them out without a second thought. It was Maggie and I on the line. Well, it wasn't going to be us to die, it would be them. I wasn't going to let anything happen to her while we were sitting here. All we had was each other, and we had lost too many already.
It was dragging out. Time. Maybe it had only been ten minutes, maybe more, but it felt like an hour. Just wait for it... It's comin'. They'll be walkin' out soon enough.. If they went down into the tombs, they had a nasty surprise waiting for them. I almost laughed at the thought of Phillip's face when confronted with that situation, but I didn't. He was ruthless, and walkers in a tomb weren't going to get him. He'd let his people die before that happened. No.. It would have to be one of us to kill him.
Suddenly I heard a faint sound, followed by the prison alarms going off, and faint gunfire. Screaming and yelling as the prisoners fled from the inside. I knew it was time. Maggie and I stood, moving in a position to see around our planks. Aiming my gun, I glanced over at Maggie, and we waited for the others to signal us to begin firing.
"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Glenn screamed, and I began firing. I saw Phillip for a moment and turned my gun on him, but he shot back, causing me to duck.
"FUCK!" I growled, jumping back up to shoot some more. They were jumping into their vehicles and hauling ass, as we kept shooting at their trucks. I was trying to hit the gas tank on one, but they took off, kicking rocks. The sound of their engines grew fainter and fainter as they left the prison. Hopefully for good.
"We did it!" Maggie sounded excited, and I poked my head around the plank with a light smile.
"We did it." Glenn agreed. "Come on down!"
"Damn it!" I growled, walking toward the others.
"What?" Michonne asked, her face concerned.
"Had the prick in my sights. Crazy son of a bitch fired back, had to duck away." I mumbled, and Daryl walked up, his eyes looking me over. "I'm okay." I assured. He nodded, his face pinched with worry.
"We did it. We drove them out." Rick said surely, victory in his voice.
"We should go after them." Michonne suggested, her voice firm.
"We should finish it." Daryl agreed.
"It is finished, didn't you see them high tail it outta here?" Maggie asked, exasperated.
"They could re-group." Michonne replied.
"No, we can't take the chance, he's not gonna stop." Glenn said.
"They're right. We can't keep livin' like this." Carol looked at Rick.
"So we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time." Maggie said, all in one breath.
"I don't care." Daryl mumbled.
"Yeah.. Let's check on the others." Rick said, and we ran to meet with them.
To my relief, they were fine. It was like a breath of fresh air to see Hershel, Carl, Beth, and Judith all safe and sound. We went back inside the prison to re-group, and I knew we had to go back. We had to. There was no other option, no other way around it. Phillip wouldn't stop, he'd make sure we were all dead, no matter what it took. And we didn't have time to be wasting, trying to figure out what to do about it. We couldn't sit back and wait any longer. We had to go.
"Let's get everything together." Rick ordered, and we began. I grabbed the big machine gun that Rick had given me, and walked out to the yard. The sheriff pulled the truck up, and Daryl pulled his motorcycle up to the fence. I secured my belt, made sure my knife and hand gun were secure. Daryl walked over to me, his face determined.
"Ready for this?" He asked, looking into my eyes.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I nodded, grabbing his hand. He flinched lightly, but didn't pull away. "We're finishin' this. For real this time."
"Damn right." He gave my hand a squeeze, and I let him go when Maggie and Glenn approached us. Rick walked toward us, and I handed my gun to Michonne to put in the vehicle.
"Rick.." Glenn looked at him. "We're staying. We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we'll hold him off."
"Just the four of us? All right." Daryl slung his gun over his shoulder.
"Well, I appreciate you staying." Rick said, before walking over to the truck.
"Sure." Maggie mumbled quietly.
"Spence!" Daryl called, and I turned away from them, jogging over to the bike. Climbing on behind him, I held onto him tight, as we rode down to the gates. Carol and Beth were killing walkers through the fence, as Maggie and Glenn opened the gate to let us through. We rode down the gravel road, walkers around us, not sure if they wanted to follow us or stagger back up to the prison.
I noted that Beth had become a bit of a bad ass, killing walkers like that. I remembered when she was frail and seemingly untouched by the world. She had been ready to kill herself, but in the end she really didn't want to die like she thought. She had to learn to accept that things weren't the way they were before, and she had done so. It hadn't been easy for anyone, really, but she had grown a lot since I had first met her at the farm.
We weren't too far gone from the prison, when Daryl began slowing down, and I looked up to see why. There was a truck ahead and two other vehicles in front of it. Bodies along the ground, and walkers eating off of them. Daryl came to a stop, and I climbed off of the bike. He put the stand down, and we walked toward the walkers. Rick and Michonne were beside us, as Daryl shot one with his bow and Michonne began slicing away with her sword. Rick put one down, and Daryl stopped beside the military truck. I stopped, too, glancing around.
THUD! Daryl jumped and I jumped, ducking and looking up. There was a woman, with her hands up. Rick had his gun aimed at her, as Daryl opened the door with his knife in hand. Daryl shut the door behind her, and we all just stared at her as she slowly put her hands down.
"What happened?" I asked, looking around.
"He's crazy, that's what!" She yelped.
"You think?" I muttered the question.
"He turned on us and killed everyone." She said blankly, staring at the body beside the truck.
"So why're you still here?" Daryl growled out the question.
"I was underneath someone, pretending to be dead. He... He was shooting some in the head, but when he got to me, he..ran out of..bullets. Pure luck, I guess." She said, looking back at us. "I'm Karen... If I would have known he was like this, I would have hopped the wall with Andrea."
"What?" I asked. "She left Woodbury?"
"Yeah, she isn't with you?" Karen asked, glancing from me to Rick.
"She never made it... He probably has her somewhere in Woodbury. We're goin' after him, so either you're helpin' us or against us. Choose now." Rick demanded.
"Let's go." She agreed, and Rick lead her to the truck. We got back on the bike and rode until we were close to Woodbury. Stopping before we got too close, we jumped back off of the bike and walked over to the truck. I grabbed my bigger gun, and glanced at Michonne with a small grin. She gave me a smirk.
"Gun's bigger than you." She teased and I laughed quietly.
"Same thing Dixon says." I mumbled playfully, and Daryl snorted.
But just as quickly as the joking came, it went. Everything darkened, including the mood. The sky was growing darker as we walked toward Woodbury. Michonne and Rick led the way around the town, to the far side where we went last time. Daryl made his way up beside Rick when we got closer to the wall.
Suddenly, a shot rang out, followed by more. Ducking down, I used a car as a shield, and lifted my gun. I began firing, shooting up at the wall. A bullet whizzed by my head, forcing me to duck down for a moment, as the gunfire continued. After a few seconds, I was preparing to start firing again, when it got quiet for a moment. The firing had stopped from both ends, and I was ready to try to get a good aim and take one of them out.
"TYREESE! IT'S ME DON'T-" Karen started, but Rick grabbed her.
"GET DOWN!" He pulled her back down to keep her from getting killed.
"KAREN? KAREN, ARE YOU OKAY?" Tyreese called from up on the wall.
"I'M FINE!" She yelled, standing with her hands up.
"Where's the Governor?" He asked her.
"He fired on everyone! He killed them all!" She still had her hands up.
"Why are you with them?" Tyreese asked, after a moment.
"They..saved me!" Karen replied.
"WE'RE COMIN' OUT!" Rick yelled. "We're comin' out!" Hands in the air, Rick stepped out toward the wall. Daryl let out a breath, as he followed. I was right behind him, and Michonne was behind Karen. The gates opened, and there were two of the people Rick had ran off from the prison.
"What are you doing here?" Tyreese asked.
"We were comin' to finish this.. Until we saw what the Governor did." Rick said truthfully.
"He.. He killed them." Tyreese said in disbelief.
"Yeah.." Rick nodded, hanging his head for a moment. "Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall, goin' for the prison. She never made it... She might be here."
"We're here to find her." I said surely.
"We haven't seen her since she left." Tyreese said.
"Yeah, well, the Governor's good at hiding people." Rick muttered, and Tyreese stepped aside to let us in. We made our way through the town carefully, back to where we had come last time. "This is where he had Glenn and Maggie."
"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asked, sounding shocked.
"Did more than hold 'em." Daryl mumbled, as we followed Rick into the small hall. The door at the end was shut, and blood was puddled at the bottom. Michonne drew her sword and I held onto my gun tight.
"Will you open it?" Michonne asked Rick. He lifted his gun, and we followed.
"One, two.." Rick whispered, slinging the door open. There was a dead man in the middle of the floor in front of a chair. I looked down, to see a foot to the left, someone was sitting against the wall.
"Andrea!" Michonne ran into the room, and I followed right behind her. Michonne dropped her sword, and I set down my gun, both of us kneeling beside her. She looked out of it, as Rick knelt down in front of her.
"I tried to stop him." Andrea's voice was weak.
"You're burnin' up." Michonne said worriedly. I grabbed her hand, as she pulled her jacket back to reveal a bite between where her neck and shoulder met. Rick hung his head for a moment, looking away. I couldn't believe it, even though I was seeing it.. She's bitten..
"Judith..Carl, the rest of them?" She asked, red eyed.
"Us." Rick looked at her, trying not to cry. "They rest of us."
"Are they alive?" Andrea asked, concerned. I squeezed her hand and nodded, unable to say anything.
"Yeah, they're alive." Rick assured her, and she smiled with relief.
"It's good you found them." Andrea said to Michonne, who was crying hard. "No one can make it alone, now."
"I never could." Daryl spoke up, and I held onto Andrea's hand tight.
"I just didn't want anyone to die." She said, looking at Rick. "I can do it myself."
"No." Michonne argued.
"Oh, I have to.. While I still can... Please. " She looked at Rick. "I know how the safety works." I felt tears slipping from my eyes as I let go of her hand so she could take the gun from Rick. He put it in her hand, holding onto hers for a moment.
"Well, I'm not goin' anywhere." Michonne said surely.
"Neither am I." I managed to say through my tears. She looked up at Daryl, then to Rick.
"I tried." She whispered, and I scooted closer to her, not ready to let her go.
"Yeah.. You did.. You did." Rick gave her hand a squeeze, before standing and leaving the room, Daryl following behind him. They shut the door, leaving us three inside. Andrea leaned up against the wall, and looked at me, trying to smile. I tried to smile back, but just choked out a small sob. Grabbing her, I kissed the side of her head quickly, and sat back. She looked at Michonne, and I looked away, as I heard her move. The gun clicked, and she whispered a weak "Thank you." to us, before pulling the trigger.
BOOM! The gunshot rang out loudly in the room, the boom and the sound of the back of her head splattering causing an echo. I just sat there for a moment, listening to Michonne sob, as I tried to get my own crying under control. I couldn't look at Andrea. I couldn't look at Michonne. I just stared across the room at the dead walker on the floor. Time seemed to stand still, and it was like we had been sitting there for an eternity, when Rick came back through the door.
"We're not leavin' her body." Rick said quietly.
"Good." I managed to speak. "She was tryin' to..come home."
"Let's get her wrapped up in somethin'. Then we go talk to the others." Rick turned away from us, and I finally looked over at Andrea. I saw Cheyenne all over again, lying in that bed, blood on the wall and pillow behind her head. Looking away quickly, I felt sick. I jumped up and ran out of the room, pushing past Daryl. Outside, I took a deep breath, which turned into several. All at once, I couldn't breathe. Sliding down the wall, I grabbed my knees to my chest, trying to stop. A panic attack wasn't something that needed to be happening right now.
"Spence.." Daryl was beside me before I knew it, his hand grabbing mine. Instead of trying to help me calm down, he just pulled me over to him, holding me tight. He said nothing, and he didn't have to. I cried into his shoulder, trying to be quiet. Trying not to be emotional. But how could I not be? We lost Andrea, just when I'd been hoping we'd get her back. And knowing that she had tried to get back to us, burned.
I'm not sure how long we sat like that. I was halfway in his lap, both of us leaned against the wall. And though my tears had stopped, and I was calm, I couldn't bring myself to move from him. It was like everything was at bay, and being in his arms kept the bad from seeping into my veins. He was my protector from everything. Not just the walkers and bad people, but the emotional trauma as well. Daryl Dixon kept me grounded, when all I wanted to do was fly away.
But we had work to do, a job to do. These people had to have been good people. If not, Andrea wouldn't have been trying to save them. It had fallen upon us to make the decision to leave them here for the Governor to come back to and do God knows what, or to take them back to the prison with us. And Rick had made that decision. He wanted them with us and I understood why. I moved away from Daryl, and he stood, extending his hand to me. I took it, and he lifted me up from the ground. Before I could turn away, he grabbed my arm, pulling me close to plant a kiss on my forehead.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly, and I grabbed him in a hug, squeezing him as tight as I could.
"I love you, Dixon." I whispered, trying not to cry again.
"Love you, too." Daryl growled out the words softly. Letting go of him, I walked beside him toward the others. Rick had gathered everyone in the middle of the town, and with the help of Karen and Tyreese, everyone decided it was best to go along with us back to the prison. They seemed to be quite shocked by Phillip's actions, but he seemed to have had all of them under his spell, making them think he was a good man.
He wasn't and they saw that now. It wasn't too late for them. They had a chance to make a new life in a new place with new people. If that wasn't giving them a chance, giving them hope for a better life, I didn't know what was. It was what Andrea would have wanted, and we were going to honor her by allowing them the chance that she had been trying to provide for them.
"So, it's settled, then." Rick nodded to them.
"Got enough vehicles for all of you?" Daryl asked, looking at Tyreese.
"We have a bus." Karen noted.
"That we do." Tyreese agreed. "It's big enough to get us all there."
"Load up, we're gettin' outta here." Rick looked at Tyreese. "Any supplies you think will come in handy, load them on the bus with you."
"Will do... Thank you, Rick." He said quietly. The sheriff just nodded, before turning away. We waited for the bus to be loaded, then climbed on. Daryl stood at the front, and I stood with him. They drove us to where we left the truck and bike, then stopped.
"Just follow us." Rick said, before exiting the bus. Daryl and I walked over to his motorcycle, climbing on. I held on tight as the engine came to life. We rode away from Woodbury and I felt defeated. We didn't kill Phillip, and we lost Andrea. We lost Andrea.
That's all that stuck in my head, as we rode along the deserted roads. Walkers here and there staggered around. Everything was so dead and... Pointless. I wasn't sure of what was going to happen now that Phillip was still alive. And part of me didn't want to know. I doubted he would just leave us alone. It wasn't like him to do something like that.
Daryl sped up a bit when we reached the gravel road, and I could see the prison coming into view. The morning sun was coming up over the trees, as we drove up the road. I could see Maggie and Glenn at the gates, opening them for us to come in. Daryl rolled up to the parking area and cut the engine. Carl was staring at the bus, and Rick walked over to talk to him. I started toward Carol and Beth, Daryl beside me.
We watched as Tyreese unloaded the people off of the bus, and Hershel greeted them at the door.
Yes, this was going to be a new beginning for all of us. I managed a light smile when I felt Daryl grab my hand.
Thank you, Andrea..
Oh man, I'm so sorry for the long update wait for this story ! I hated writing this chapter because I hated saying goodbye to Andrea. I shipped her and Rick so hardcore and I truly expected them to get together. Not for her to die like that. FUCK ASS. That sucked. I hated it sooooo bad.
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How about that mid season finale ? That's a chapter I dread... Because while I do my OC for my stories, I did ship Daryl and Beth.. :(
As always, I would like to thank the amazing support system I have behind my stories. You guys are absolutely amazing and I am so grateful for every single REVIEW/READ/FOLLOW/FAVORITE ! I cannot thank you enough.
~Kaila