Chapter 23:
Chapter 23: Hershel Greene
As he watches the Governor raise his sword to his neck, he watches the man he took in and took care of speak with pride.
Rick has truly become a hero. He is proud of him. Rick has changed his ways and learned to become a better man.
Here he is, talking to his enemy who has shown up with violent weapons and a tank. He could be hurt or even killed, and yet like the savior himself, Rick has decided to opt for another way. There is always another way.
He thinks back on how it began.
At first, it was a little infection that affected his wife and then his son. He couldn't believe how they were acting. He wouldn't believe Otis and Patricia, they were just sick people who acted a little differently, that's all there was to it.
Then his neighbors turned and became sick, too. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. So he retreated into a world of fantasy. A world where the sick were not walkers out to kill.
Rather there were doctors who could treat them. He fed his own animals to them in the belief that it would help bring them back to normal. It didn't work, but of course, Hershel didn't know.
Or rather, he chose not to know. He chose not to know and watched the world around him die.
It was obvious when he saw that blond girl gunned down that these were not the people he remembered. He was forced to ruthlessly grieve and move on from the past, no matter what happened.
He buried the souls and said goodbye to his loved ones. It was time to protect the ones he had now who were still living. His daughters, his caretakers.
He remembers treating the patients and trying not to see them die. After seeing them all die before his eyes, he knows for a fact that this is hell. But like hell he'll give up. He has belief in the Lord.
God always has a plan. He always has a plan.
No matter what happens.
He smiles at Rick, the man who has become like a second son to him. The man who has taught him so much. The man who has won his formerly bitter heart over and brought out his kindness.
The Governor swings his sword down on his neck.
Hershel falls to the ground, and struggles to move with every ounce of his fading strength.
'Maggie…Beth…I must return to my daughters..'
The Governor approaches him, the footfalls of death.
He accepts the end as the sword comes flying down again. And again.