Newly Revised
Andrea was enthralled by the Governor and his good looks and honeyed words, all of which had completely swayed Andrea over to his side. Michonne couldn't tell if it was because the man was her type or simply that she suffering some kind of hypnosis from being safe. What had supposed to be a two day stay had turned into two weeks and she still didn't have her katana back or any weapons at all. She was pissed that they were being treated like hostages, and yet Andrea couldn't see it and was eating out of the Governor's hand. She walked through the streets of Woodbury after the man had come back with military vehicles and made her way over to them. Based on the blood and bullet holes, the man's story was just that; a story to get the people of the town to follow him blindly and never question his words. There was no way she was going to stay in this town a second longer than she had to, even if she had to drag Andrea kicking and screaming out of the walls. Michonne had just dropped down from the vehicle after checking it out when the Governor himself walked up and tried talking to her.
"Pretty amazing. We find more ammo, we could cut down a whole pack of biters," he told her. "I hear you and Andrea are leaving today. That's a shame. We could use a soldier like you."
"Seems like you're holding your own," she replied back. "Even the National Guard was overrun."
"No amount of training can prepare you for the world today," he reasoned.
"You'd think one soldier would drive away, especially against something so slow," she told him while walking up to him slowly, hands clasped behind her back, not buying a single word of what he was saying.
"Those men were heroes. Not the kind to leave anyone behind," he told her while circling her. "If only we'd gotten there sooner, and you were with us."
"Lots of bullet holes. You think biters figured out how to use weapons?" Michonne asked, trying hard not to let on that she knew the man was spitting lies even as she scrutinized him.
He scoffed, "They must have encountered bandits weeks ago. It's ugly out there, but then, you know that better than anyone."
"It's too bad what happened to Wells," she said, sizing up his reaction while keeping her face trained to be blank.
"It is. Dr. Stevens couldn't revive him. Merle put a bullet in his brain."
"No funeral?"
"Cremated him, quietly. These people have been through so much," he said, almost sounding convincing if it weren't for the natural and permanent smirk on his face, "I figured, thank God, at least no one knew him."
"Thank God," she replied in dry sarcasm before walking off.
The man could really talk a great game which made it easy to see why Andrea was so caught up on him without considering any other possibility. He offered what they hadn't had all winter and adding his charm to that safety, it was no wonder why the other woman was becoming so attached to the place. Michonne could only hope the woman would wake up out of her cloudy state of mind before it was too late to turn back. She walked back over to the room they had been given to share and tried to talk to Andrea about leaving. She wanted out and whether or not Andrea was going with her was yet to be seen, but Michonne refused to stay in this town a day longer.
"If we leave soon, we'll get a few hours on the road before dusk," she told the blonde woman.
"Where are we heading?" Andrea asked her.
"I'm thinking the coast," Michonne told her while looking at a map. "We have the water completely on one side, maybe we find a boat. Best thing we can do is find an island."
"And if the coast isn't safe?"
"Keep moving," Michonne replied as if it were the obvious answer.
"Let's say the coast is safe. Then what do we do?" Andrea asked. "Just grow old, live off the sea by ourselves?"
"I'd rather take my chances out there than stay here," Michonne replied, looking up at the woman with her eyes, gauging her reaction.
"Because your gut tells you there's something off about this place, about the Governor," Andrea stated, knowing that she was being a bit of a bitch, but she wanted to stay. She'd almost died running for her life all winter long and now she was safe. Who in their right mind would want to give that up?
Michonne did look up at her then, thinking about all the times throughout the winter her gut had saved their lives, "It's kept us alive this long."
"That's true," Andrea said thoughtfully, turning to look at a map herself.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Michonne; Andrea just wanted a place to rest and relax and recuperate from the life they'd lived on the road. She'd almost died of illness out there and it had been here that she'd been treated for it. She had been eating better than she had since the fish fry at the quarry and the dinners at the farm with all the fresh vegetables, bread, and meat. Andrea simply didn't understand why Michonne couldn't put up with what she considered a few irritating nuances in return for food, shelter, and safety. She'd talked to Chrystal a few times, too, and had determined that they simply shared some features but were not related. There was no point in bringing up Tea to the woman when she had no inclination that there was a connection between the two. Tea had never mentioned her family's names nor how they had looked and Andrea didn't want to assume the worst of Chrystal when she was actually quite nice. It hadn't escaped her attention, though, that Merle seemed to have a beef with the woman, Chrystal simply saying that they didn't mesh well when asked. Andrea could believe that considering Merle was a hothead who didn't care about anyone but himself and Daryl. That reminded Andrea that she wanted to talk to Merle about where they had been the last time she'd seen Daryl. Grabbing one of the maps off the bed, she looked through it to find where they'd been and circled it before throwing it in her bag.
"I'm going for a walk," Andrea told Michonne before getting up to leave.
She pulled her bag over her shoulder and was out the door before the woman could reply so that she didn't have to hear Michonne once again trying to talk her into leaving. She walked around the town for a while, spotting Milton and talking to him and doing the same with Chrystal. It took a little bit to find the greying man walking around the town square with the two other men that had been on watch with them in the doctor's office. Andrea didn't want to interrupt his conversation, though, so hung back until he walked away from the others and started heading off on his own. She called out to him and motioned over to the side where there was a secluded spot that was still close enough to the main street that she could leave as she wanted. When Merle got there, she pulled the map out of her bag and handed to him so that he could at least have some hope that he could find his brother.
"I circled where you can find that farm I was staying at with Daryl," she told him.
He took a couple steps away from her to a better look at the map, shaking his head and commenting, "Ah. You were right off Route 9 right before it becomes the Dahlonega Highway. And you're sayin' that the farmhouse is only about a day's walk from there?"
"Give or take," she said behind his shoulder, pointing at the map. "This is where we looked for Sophia and Tea. Even made it up around here."
He looked back at her, and then down her shirt which was open and loose enough to give him a good sight of her cleavage. He'd always found the blonde attractive and while he had a rather uncouth mouth and was standoffish by nature, that didn't mean he was inattentive to a woman when he was with her. Call him a horn-dog, but the only women who weren't spoken for within the town were too old, too ugly, or the town's walking cum-dumpster. Andrea still looked good for all the time she'd spent on the road and now that she was healthy and clean she looked even better. Even as she stared at the map, searching it for who knew what, she was still the hot piece of ass she'd been back at the camp in Atlanta. He feigned looking at the map with her before looking back at her and checking her out once again, humming appreciatively before turning to her.
"How come we never hooked up?" he asked her trying to be seductive and failing miserably in Andrea's eyes.
She gave a soft chuckle before replying, "You called me a whore. And a rug-muncher. And you were always high. Can't say those are attractive qualities."
He chuckled as she nodded her head chuckling with him, "Got a way with words, don't I?"
"Yeah."
"Mmm," he said as he watched her seriously. "Why you doin' this?" he asked, motioning with the map.
"I'd want the same thing if it was my family out there," she told him seriously. "If I knew where the others were, I'd want to be back there. Tea was a good leader and didn't deserve all the judgment she was given."
"You grew sweet on the crazy bitch?" he said, sounding surprised.
"When you learn her story, it's kinda hard not to," she said sounding wistful.
"The hell could have happened to that psycho that makes her so endearin', eh?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"As Daryl told me before I ever talked to her, the girl's got nothing but horror stories. Family treated her like shit, peers too. Never felt she had a place she belonged until the farm," Andrea told him.
He checked her out again, "Sure you don't wanna come with me? Might find your psycho if you do."
"Mmm," she chuckled nervously.
"You ain't curious about the old gang?" he asked, studying her as she adjusted her bag and looked down. "Ooo, oh yeah, you really was cut loose, weren't ya?"
"I'm sure they came back," Andrea said in retort, though she knew Tea would never have allowed it, not when there was no lead on where she had gone and the walkers were everywhere; it would have been too great a risk. "I didn't stick around to find out, anyway."
"Ain' that a big ol' pig sack?" he said slowly. "We got somethin' in common, Blondie. We got left behind by the same people and saved by another."
"Have you ever thought about leaving this place?" she asked him suddenly.
"Only had one reason to, but no where to look," he told her, thinking about his brother as well as the tortured girl.
"So the Governor is a good man?" Andrea asked curiously.
"Let me just put it this way," he said looking at her straight in the eye, unable to lie outright. "I wasn't in the best of shape when he found me. He should have just kept on going. Yeah, he can be a good man," he summed up as he went to walk away.
"I've got a question about Chrystal?"
"If it's about who she's fuckin', take your pick," he said as a look of disgust crossed his face.
Andrea just gave a look that asked him if he was being an ass on purpose before asking, "Does she have any family? Like, a cousin, sister, anything?"
"Fuck ya wanna know for?" he asked her as he spun around to face her with his back stiff and hackles raised at the mention of the woman and family after listening to her sick reveries.
"No reason, just kinda reminded me of someone," Andrea said, trying to drop the subject as she watched him tense up.
"Who?" he growled.
"Just someone," Andrea said, looking away and waving him off.
"Andrea," Merle practically growled at her, sounding dangerous, "you're gonna tell me who she reminds you of, ya hear?"
She sighed and bluffed, "She kinda looks a friend I went to law school with, that's all."
"Hey, Blondie," he called back to Andrea after he'd taken a few steps before thinking about who the woman could mean.
"What do you want, Merle?"
"Your friend from law school? Didn't happen to be a Titania, did it?" he asked her, watching carefully as she tensed and her face hardened, showing him that she knew exactly who he was asking about.
"Nope," she said before walking past him with a straight back.
Everything Andrea thought she knew about Chrystal shattered as she realized that there was only one way that Merle could know that name. The new revelation made her uneasy as Tea had only ever spoken of her family according to their roles to her, never once speaking their names to anyone, not even Daryl, as far as she knew. It was almost as if she feared speaking the names would bring the people to her and cost her everything that she had finally managed to build for herself. Andrea had thought that Chrystal might have been Tea's cousin or something, but thinking back to their conversations, she had never once mentioned extended family outside of her grandparents either. Something in how Merle knew Tea's real name had her on edge since there was no way of knowing whether or not she could trust the man with what she knew. Merle seemed to have been set on edge by the information she had provided and that added to the uneasy feelings she was having. While she wanted to stay in Woodbury, she was no longer sure if she could trust everyone within the walls, especially Chrystal now that she knew the woman was most likely Tea's sister. She continued walking to her apartment to talk to Michonne while she tried to rationalize her uneasiness away. One thing she knew for certain was that she refused to give Merle anything more on the woman who had become her friend.
~x~
Merle joined the Governor as he stood on top of a trailer and hit golf balls out into the world beyond their walls. He whistled and commented about how good the man's hit and aim was as one ball sailed through the air to hit a car about ten yards away. In all honesty, Merle did give two shits about golf or what the Governor did in his free time, but complimenting the man before asking for favors was always better than just asking. He'd learned that during the last year of being in the Governor's debt and having to toe the line to keep the man happy. It wasn't an easy task, and Merle had been put into their 'cells' more than once in the beginning for not listening to orders and thinking he had some authority. For that reason alone Merle did what he could to 'behave,' even if it felt like he'd been back in the damn house he'd grown up in. Back then he was able to escape by behaving poorly, stealing cars, taking drugs, drinking and just generally being an asshole that was constantly in and out of the judicial system. He had been stuck in Woodbury since the place had been concocted unless he was out on patrols or scavenging and it had left him very little time to look for Daryl. He finally had a lead and now felt like a fucking kid since he had to ask for 'permission' to even try to find his brother.
"We should visit Augusta," the Governor told him. "Take only the women and let them play. It'll be historic."
"And break decades of tradition?" Merle quipped.
"Absolutely," the Governor replied in all seriousness.
"I don't know," Merle stated, thinking about his brother. "Some things are worth holding on to. You know, I was thinking of taking Tim and Martinez out on a scouting mission later on this week."
"For what?"
"Blondie," Merle said as he stared out at the car the Governor was aiming his swings at. "She said my brother was still alive."
"Eight months ago," came his reply after only a moment's pause. "You can track with the best of 'em, but it's like a needle in a haystack."
"She told me, uh, where I could find that farmhouse they were holed up in," he told him, knowing exactly what the Governor was doing. The man was going to do everything he could to keep him from going.
"He could be anywhere," came the dismissive reply, the Governor not even looking up from his golf balls.
"I know my brother," Merle insisted. "If he's out there, I'll be able to find him."
"What if someone gets hurt during this search, huh?" said the Governor as he finally stopped playing his game and looked at Merle head on instead. "What almost happened to Crowley last time."
Merle did his best to hide the rage away as the Governor once again bent down to place a ball. "Then I'll go on my own," he said once he had his face trained.
"I get what you're feeling, I really do, but I can't risk it," the Governor said. "I need you here. This whole place would fall apart without you," he said, but the sarcasm in his voice was as plain as day.
The Governor had had his say and it was all Merle could do to keep from pounding his face in, "This is my brother."
The Governor looked at him and considered his seriousness, "Tell you what, huh? You get more concrete information, I'll go with you myself. Alright?"
Merle just sneered at the man, wondering just what the hell he was thinking still listening to the man who had nothing but his own selfish desires in mind. He spent the next couple of minutes internally berating himself for cutting off his balls and handing them to the man like the little bitch he'd turned into. It was getting to be as old being an errand boy for a glorified sock puppet as it was getting defensive over a girl he'd never met. Now he knew Andrea knew who she was, he knew he would have to pull on that string for more information, too. Between not being allowed to go look for his brother and having a lead on Titania that wasn't sharing, he was pissed and needed an outlet. He wouldn't get one until later tonight, though, and so stormed back to his apartment where he opened his bottle of whiskey, not even bothering with a glass as he chugged it.
~x~
"Sorry to see you leave," the Governor told her as he poured himself a drink. "This place isn't for everybody."
"Thank you, for everything," she told him.
Andrea was still thinking about her conversation with Merle as well as whether or not she really wanted to leave the safety that was Woodbury. What if they didn't find any other survivors after they left and they were right back to wandering from place to place again? They'd gone all winter with it just being the two of them and now they finally had more people around them. They wouldn't have to worry about the winter or food or having clothes or blankets or a place to sleep that wouldn't either leave them itching from bugs, cold from sleeping on the ground, or stuffed up in some dingy building or another. On top of that, if they got sick, they wouldn't have to suffer through it and almost die like she had before the Governor and Merle had found her and Michonne. She just didn't want to leave the chance of safety to head back out on the road just to fight for survival all over again when they wouldn't need to here. It didn't help that the Governor was charming as all hell and began to light a fire every time he spoke to her with that confident smirk on his face. Should start thinking like Tea instead of being a hormonal teenager, she thought to herself even as she chuckled at the thought of getting laid for the first time in over a year.
"Where are you planning to go?" he asked her, sitting at his table with a bottle of brandy and one empty, one half full glass.
"The coast," she sighed as she sat down. "Michonne thinks it'll be safer."
"And what do you think?" he asked her with a slight smile. Andrea didn't have an answer for him, so he pressed on, "Well, her vigilance has kept you alive all winter."
He went to pour her a drink and she momentarily panicked, "Oh, I haven't had hard liquor in a while. My tolerance is probably close to nil."
"Lucky you," he quipped jovially. "Merle told me you provided information about his brother's whereabouts."
"What I could," she admitted. "It wasn't much."
"Well, it's given him hope," he said, Andrea detecting a bit of disdain in the statement. "If you ask me, I don't think he'll find him."
"But he's," Andrea started for both her and the Governor to finish, "gotta look."
They shared a chuckle before the Governor spoke up again, "What about you? Think you'll find what you're looking for?"
"I'm sorry?" she said confused.
"You still got family out there?"
"I lost my family," she told him. "My parents, my sister. Just had a friend I'd just made that I wouldn't mind seeing again."
"I'm sorry," he told her after taking a sip from his glass. "Lost my wife, car accident. Eighteen months before all this. Just my daughter and me."
Andrea wasn't sure what to say to that, and so held up the glass saying, "To better days."
They toasted before drinking, Andrea savoring the liquid before deciding to be honest with the man, "The truth is, I don't know what I'm looking for. For the longest time it was all about survival. Nothing else mattered. So much so, I don't what matters now."
"Pay off the car, work 50 hours a week, get married, buy a house," the Governor listed off things. "That was survival for many not long ago."
"A lot's changed," Andrea said spitefully.
"The scenery has," the Governor agreed. "The landscape. But the way we think?"
"I better go. But I appreciate the drink," she told him as he leaned close enough for her to smell his cologne; it was quite tempting not to just stay and forget about leaving with Michonne.
"Sure," the Governor replied, slurring his words slightly as he told her, "Merle will see you out and he'll have your weapons waiting for you. Remember, if it gets tough out there, you're always welcome here."
"You're very kind," she told him as he made eyes at her. "Thank you, Governor."
"Philip."
"I thought you never told anybody your name?" she said, feeling like a little giddy.
"Someone recently told me never to say never, so," he flirted with a shrug and a chuckle.
Looking down to hide her embarrassed smile, she told him to take care as she looked up at him through her lashes. He stepped up to her and opened the door, telling her goodbye as she walked out and she was tried to get herself together. Now was not the time to be having a school girl crush on the first handsome man that came around, even if he did save her and give her food and shelter and safety. While Michonne provided her with companionship and kept her safe throughout the winter, it wasn't the same as what they had here and it was still bugging her that the other woman wanted to leave. It didn't help that as soon as she got back to where they were sharing a room, Michonne started arguing with her about leaving. Andrea had used the argument that they were safe and had food and water a few times already and Michonne was sick of hearing about how great the town was much to her dismay. Andrea left the apartment after her friend had stormed off and decided that it would probably be best to leave her alone for the time being, opting instead to join the crowd of townspeople in the street.
Andrea walked over to where people were bustling about and watched as Chrystal handed drinks out to the townsfolk. The girl seemed nice and friendly and while she couldn't see how she would have been such a bad sister that Tea didn't even say her name. It was the only thing she could think of for Merle knowing Tea's real name and the seemingly hatred he had for the woman. While the Dixons hadn't said they had been abused as kids in so many words nor even act like they had had anything but a rough childhood due to living on the wrong side of the tracks, Tea had. Andrea could only guess that if Merle knew about Tea, he knew something about her family, and if he did, it wasn't all that surprising that he wanted to keep Chrystal in the dark.
He handed her a drink that was actually cold. "Thank you. Cold drinks?" she said as she held up her hair and held the glass to her neck.
"Been running the freezers all day," Milton told her. "Not the most practical use of the generators to my mind."
"It's kind of amazing," Andrea said, impressed.
"The Governor feels it's worth it," he mumbled.
"Well, to a great party," Andrea said, toasting the man. "Now, if you would just drop me a hunt about tonight."
"Hmm," he said, contemplating how to describe the evening's event. "Mere words cannot adequately describe the festivities overhead."
Michonne watched from the distance, disdain written all over her face as she watched Andrea fraternize with the townsfolk. She walked away after Andrea looked over at her and tried to find an empty street to collect her thoughts. The one she found ended up being the same one the Governor's apartment was located on, counting the floors and windows until she got to the one she knew belonged to his living space. She could see the man through the blinds of a room she hadn't noticed when they'd had breakfast which got her wondering if he was in the room she had been trying to get into. She needed to get back into that apartment to get her sword and find out whatever the man was hiding in that locked room. It didn't take too long for her to find a spot out of sight to wait for the man to leave his apartment so she could sneak back in. The man left after a little bit of time and headed to where the festivities Andrea had joined in on as she quietly crept up to the building. He must not have thought she was a big enough threat since he hadn't even tried to take any precautions against intruders as he left his door unlocked, making her entry easier.
Michonne immediately went to the cabinet that had her sword in it and put it on, feeling comfortable with herself again. Then she looked through some of the Governor's things on his desk, finding a journal that was half full of nothing but marks after the name 'Penny.' She knew the man had a screw loose, but this was way beyond what she expected and only served to confirm her suspicions. A thump brought her attention to a door just off to the side with something or someone behind it giving off the sound. The door was locked when she went up to it, making her go back to the desk and grab a letter open to try and jam the door open. She didn't get very far before her eyes caught sight of the bag of guns Andrea had left behind on the farm, the one they had left behind as they had no ammo and no use for guns without ammo. But it's presence within the Governor's appartment meant that the Governor and his men had already been around that area and she and Andrea had been skirting Woodbury this entire time. She went back to trying to open the door when the sound of approaching footsteps and the voices of the Governor and his henchmen close to the apartment door. She was forced to abandon both the door and the letter opener in exchange for finding a hiding spot as fast as she could. She'd barely managed to get to get around a small wall that lead to another room when the door swung open and three men entered.
"We can't wait, everything is ready!" the Governor said to Milton.
"I love a party as much as the next fella," the timid man said as the Governor just laughed. "Trust me, I love a party, but we're using a lot of resources."
"Yeah," the Governor replied.
"For instance, the generators," Milton started only to be cut off by the rough handing of beer to him.
"I thought you love a party," the Governor said.
"Come on, Milty, lighten up, for Christ's sake," Merle told the man. "Let your hair down, man. Have some fun for once."
"I like fun," Milton defended.
"Then there's no problem," the Governor stated.
"If I might," he tried again. "You know, I've been working on an experiment all week. It's been a challenge getting the level of power I need and with everything going on tonight-"
"What are you asking?" the Governor said.
"Postpone tonight," he said flatly.
"No way," Merle denied adamantly.
"Hang on. Let's hear him out," the Governor said, wearing an amused grin. "How long do you need?"
"I don't need long," he said.
"How long?"
"Ten days."
"No," the Governor replied with a laugh.
"Six?"
"No!"
"Well how about-"
"How about you enjoy yourself tonight," the Governor cut him off. "Begin the experiment over in the morning, huh?"
"Uh, yeah, that could work," Milton gave in.
Michonne listened to them talking and then used the distraction of them leaving to climb out a window. She continued to search the town, finding an entrance to a completely cordoned off area holding several rooms and a pathway behind the rest of the town on pure accident. It was seemingly behind the town, but still protected and as she searched it, she was disturbed to find an area covered in thick, old layers of splotchy, sprayed blood. That sickness went away as she spotted a cage full of walkers being held close to those splotches and couldn't help the smile and feeling of contentment that welled up inside. While she didn't know why they were there, this was the one thing she was good at and missed about being outside. She had become a fighter after losing everything that meant anything to her and killing walkers made her feel like what she'd lost had been avenged.
Finding a piece of metal, she broke the lock off the cage and slowly walked away while pulling out her katana out, all the while smiling. After getting roughly ten feet away, she turned and waited for the slow dead to catch up, sword up in front of her and ready to strike. With a happy smile on her face, she quickly dispensed of the first walker, cutting off an arm before slicing it's skull clean off. She butted another in the head with her hilt before stabbing a third up through it's chin. She kicked it off her blade only to swing around and embed her sword into the skull of a fourth. Almost as soon as she dislodged her weapon, she swung around and cut another walker in half. She then used her blade to fell a walker to the ground, immediately stomping on its decomposing head hard enough to smash through, making its liquefied brains seep into the ground. The final walker, she cleanly cut its head from its neck before she took a step back and sighed as she smiled satisfied at having done something she was good at. The smile stayed on her face until one of the Governor's goons caught her and took her to what was essentially an interrogation room. Merle was standing behind her, ever the stoic body guard, as they waited for the Governor to show up to talk to her. Merle left as soon as the man came into the room, though Michonne couldn't care less about what he had to say. Her weapon had once again been confiscated and it only furthered her belief that the place was nothing but a show put on to keep people inside the walls and doing the Governor's bidding.
"You get off on that?" the Governor asked her, her weapon held securely in his hand. "Pokin' around other people's things? Hmm? We got nothing to hide here."
Michonne remained quiet and staring straight ahead as she listened to the man speak, internally rolling her eyes at what he was saying. She'd done nothing wrong, simply killed walkers that had no business being in the town and would have killed someone if they had gotten out. On top of that, they'd been locked in a part of town that obviously was restricted from the vast majority of the citizens and only those closest to the Governor knew about. The way his own office and room was set up and all the slash marks after the name Penny had already confirmed to her that the Governor wasn't what all he said he was. He claimed they had nothing to hide while consistently proving the opposite was the truth, especially with how he kept talking to Andrea and trying to drive a wedge between the two. If the Governor and those on the wall had nothing to hide, then why were they doing just that with the walkers? Why was there an entire portion of the town with restricted access and kept secret from the public?
"People with nothing to hide don't usually feel the need to say so," Michonne responded quietly.
"That's fair," the man told her. "We all have our secrets, huh?"
"Like Penny?" Michonne asked, moving her eyes up to rest on the man's face before looking forward again.
"You know about Penny?" he asked quietly. "Then you know I loved her."
"Bet you say that about all the girls," she responded, knowing he was trying to get with Andrea.
The Governor just smiled and moved from where he was leaning on a dresser to sitting across from Michonne, "You got the wrong idea about me. I'm just a guy trying to do right by the people I care about. Now, you wanna leave, Andrea wants to stay. So you want me to take choice out of the equation. You want me to kick you out," he told her as if he'd just figured her out.
Michonne just looked at him, thinking that the man was out of his damn mind to think he knew what she was on her own mind. What she had done had nothing at all to do with choice or being kicked out or Andrea and her desire to stay in the town. She'd simply found walkers and did exactly what any sane person in this world would do when they did and had taken all of their heads off. The man was thinking way too far into things for her liking and only showed what a pompous ass he was when he was talking one-on-one with someone. A scheming asshole that likes to call the shots, she thought to herself blandly, not even bothering to look at the man while he talked. He couldn't kick out someone who didn't want to stay to begin with, and he had no right telling her what was going through her head when he knew nothing about her.
"Actually, I was about to give your sword back," the Governor said, turning around and grabbing the blade. "'Cause you fit in. We've enjoyed having you." He stood up and held onto the sheathed blade, "This is a real problem for me. People follow the rules. And whether or not it's true, they believe it's what keeps 'em alive. You've turned that upside down. You've broken the rules. And if I don't do anything, I invite anarchy. How about this? I keep a lid on your little outburst if you join the research team. You obviously have skills and you're not afraid of biters. Merle will take care of you and then-"
Whatever he was about to say died as Michonne quickly spun from her seat, grabbed her sword and twisted it from his hands, unsheathing it and holding the tip to his neck in one smooth move. He was literally out of his mind if he thought she was going to stay in this dystopian town any longer than she had to after what she had seen. She wasn't as gullible as Andrea and there was no way she would ever fall for his honeyed words. She'd already been there and done that once before and it had cost her everything from her life before and had taught her a valuable lesson about life in the world. Michonne wouldn't be losing anything she wasn't willing to this time since she would be leaving out the gates as soon as she could. She used just enough force to get her message across before she started backing away with her sword held out in front of her, watching the man's face growing darker with every step she took. He was pissed that she wanted nothing to do with this place and wouldn't fall for or listen to anything he had to say.
Merle walked in after she'd stormed out, watching the woman as she walked out of the building, "How'd it go?"
The Governor chuckled to him, trying to calm down before saying, "She's all personality, that one."
"Do we have a problem?"
"No, no. Send Andrea over to me. You can take the research team to get more grist for the mill. I can handle this."
"Alright," Merle said before he walked out; the crazy glint in the man's eye even more apparent after whatever happened with the chocolate death machine.
~x~
The Governor was standing in front of what could only be considered the town's city hall but was really the place where he lived and the doctor's station was held. It seemed to be where everyone congregated the most when anything was going on from what Andrea could tell. This was the place she and Michonne had first been held, but it looked so much more welcoming in the daylight surrounded by people. It was amazing how the place had such a serene appeal and remained seemingly untouched by the insanity that was the world outside the walls. Andrea couldn't see Michonne anywhere and sighed before paying attention Philip as he gave his speech to the town, the small smile on her face reflecting the happiness on everyone else's.
"Alright," he said as he smiled out to the crowd. "First time we gathered, there was nine of us holed up in an apartment with Spam and saltine crackers. Well look at us now," he chuckled. "We've built a place we can call home. May be held together with duct tape and string, but it works. It's ours. I'll take it," he chuckled again. "So today we celebrate how far we've come. We remember those we lost. We raise a glass to us!"
Cheers broke out all around her, which brought a smile to her own face as she watched how happy the people were in their little town. Philip disappeared for a while, leaving Andrea to wander around and get even more of a feel for the place and its people. She ended up going over to Chrystal and talking with her a bit more about the town, trying to find out what was happening tonight and what her story was. In the end, she found out nothing about the festivities but did find out that Chrystal's parents were also alive and well. They had all been in Georgia trying to visit her sister when the outbreak started and they had to give up the search for a time because of it. The three of them had been in northern Georgia on the way down to Atlanta before they were forced to separate due to a large horde of walkers. The Governor had found her just before winter with a broken down car, no food, and only a few sips of water left and had decided to save her and bring her back here. Chrystal owed her life to the Governor and was perfectly happy to repay that debt by keeping track of the inventory and people.
"Did you ever find your sister?" Andrea asked, curious as to who the sister was.
"Oh, no, I kind of stayed here in Woodbury. I don't have a lead to finding her anyway," Chrystal told her.
"If you had a lead, would you keep looking?" she asked.
"Definitely. I can barely live without knowing where my little sister is," Chrystal told her, looking sad.
Andrea was about to ask her about Tea when Merle came up and quickly cut into the conversation, "Governor needs ya, Blondie."
He didn't give her a chance to say anything, just grabbed her elbow and all but pulled her away from the psycho bitch. She'd seen him coming up, gave him a look only he could see that showed just how depraved the woman was. It had become something she teased him with relentlessly after she'd found out mid-winter just how he felt about the whole situation with her sister. In all honesty, he'd just said the shit was fucked up and she was fucked in the head for enjoying it, but now she enjoyed giving him little looks any time anyone else outside their inner circle asked about her sister. Chrystal was truly messed up in the head with how much she loved entertaining the men with her stories and then with her body. It almost made sense why she would try to sell her own sister off to a pedophile with how she would fuck anyone with a dick. Merle practically dragged Andrea half way to the Governor's apartment building just to keep the woman away from the bitch and from saying something she shouldn't.
"Don't go askin' Chrystal 'bout your friend, sweet cheeks," Merle mumbled to her, giving her a hard glare. "She's better off far away."
Andrea was beginning to question why Merle would say that when Chrystal seemed genuinely concerned. However, the look on his face was different from any she'd seen yet. Not only was he warning her, but his eyes were almost bulging from how pleading they looked. She opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again. Something told her that if Merle was this serious about Chrystal not finding Tea, something had to be way off about the woman. Taking a deep breath, she simply nodded her head.
"Best get goin', then. Keep away from that Chrysie bitch, ya hear?" he called after her before she entered the house.
Knocking on Philip's door, she waited for him to answer before asking him quickly, "What's wrong? Merle said it was urgent."
"I need your help," he said, walking away. "It's Michonne."
"What about her?"
"She broke in, stole her weapon."
"She can't steal something that's hers," she told him with a roll of her eyes.
"Then she went into a private place and slaughtered half a dozen captive biters."
She was taken aback by that as she asked him, "Why would you have captive biters?"
"There's a good reason I don't want to go into right now," he told her walking away.
"Okay."
"Point is, I tried to talk to her and she pulled her sword on me," Philip said. "Held it to my throat. Can't imagine that surprises you."
"She wouldn't do that unless she felt threatened," Andrea told him earnestly, knowing full well her friend was a bit standoffish, but not to the point that she lashed out on anyone and everyone.
"She makes people uncomfortable," Philip told her. "Some people want her to leave and I don't want that. It's ugly out there and it's getting worse every day. But she put my back against the wall here."
"What are you saying?" Andrea asked curiously.
"I'm saying what works out there doesn't work in here," he said giving her an angry glare. "You know, we're not barbarians."
Andrea assured him that she would talk to Michonne and make her see some reason as well as try to find out why she was acting like she was. Merle was waiting for her and practically escorted her back to her own building, noticing how Chrystal had been coming towards her before he walked over. The scowl on his face told her that he really didn't like the tall woman and had been serious about Andrea staying away from her. This wasn't the first time he had made sure they were kept apart over the weeks she'd been here and she was still wondering what that was about. He had tried to hound her for more information about Titania, but she had kept tight lipped since she didn't know why he was asking so many questions about her. All she knew was that she wasn't about to tell him that 'Titania' was actually 'Tea,' the woman he was constantly calling a psycho, a bitch, someone who stole his brother away from him. If she told him she knew exactly who he was talking about and how she had become a leader of their group before they'd been run off and was probably still taking charge.
"What'd she do that's so bad?" Andrea asked as they got to her building.
"Let's just say, sometimes crazy, psycho, and evil come covered in honey and looking like rainbows," he responded as he walked away.
Entering the building, she walked up the two flights of stairs and down the hallway that led to the room she shared with Michonne. The woman was already in there, flitting around the bed with everything laid out as she tried to get their belongings gathered. Andrea just watched her as she moved around the room in an almost panicked state that she simply couldn't understand. There was no reason to leave the safety of the town and she just didn't see what Michonne did. The Governor still wanted them to stay even though the woman had threatened him and refused to accept any responsibility for what she had done. He'd asked Andrea to talk to her and try to help the woman see some reason and yet she was already trying to pack everything up instead of even waiting for Andrea to get back.
"We got to talk," Andrea said.
"We got to go," Michonne told her as she started packing quickly.
"The Governor told me what happened," Andrea told her. "Michonne, you can't do things like this. You're freaking people out. You're freaking me out."
"The northeast wall is guarded by some girl," Michonne said, not stopping in her tracks for a second. "We can escape there after dark," she continued while shoving a bag into Andrea's unsuspecting arms.
"We are not prisoners here," Andrea insisted, dropping the bag on the bed.
"No one who comes here leaves," Michonne told her.
"What are you talking about?" Andrea asked, completely confused by her friend's erratic behavior. "It's safe! There's food, there's shelter. There's people, for God's sake."
"That's what they show you, but you can't leave unless they make you!"
"You are not making any sense," Andrea told her. "Mich, maybe you need to sit for a minute."
"You need to trust me!" Michonne insisted.
Sick of her crap at insisting she be trusted but never trusting her enough to share the whole truth, Andrea decided, "And you need to give me more to go on. We got a good thing going here."
"I thought this was temporary," Michonne pulled back.
"And I think we need this," Andrea shot back. "I want to give this place a real shot."
"I tried!"
"Breaking into houses? That is not trying. That is sabotaging."
Michonne turned in a full circle before coming up closer to Andrea, trying to make her understand that they were only showing her what they wanted to, "This place is not what they say it is."
She forced Andrea to pack everything and make their way to the gate even though the woman complained the entire time and tried to make 'see reason.' Andrea wasn't happy with her, but she knew this place was a trap after what she'd found in the closed off area and Philip's study. She was done with this place that hid everything under soft smiles, cool houses, hot showers, and food that wasn't scavenged. Whether or not Andrea was going with her, there was no way she would be staying in Woodbury anymore. She was trying to talk reason into Andrea when they were interrupted by Merle on the way to the gate, Michonne having none of it. The man learned they were getting ready to leave and willingly went to the gate to talk to the guy on it without actually opening the gate. She turned to Andrea, giving her a look that plainly stated 'I told you so.'
"See," she told her light friend. "There's always a reason why we can't leave yet."
Andrea was actually thinking it over until Merle called out from behind them and opened the gate after another moment talking to Martinez. Michonne was being paranoid for no reason as Andrea tried to understand why she was so determined to be distrusting. There was no real reason for them to leave the town and it was the first place they actually been able to get decent sleep. She had, at least; Michonne had probably spent the nights sitting in a chair on watch for anything that she viewed as a threat, which was everything. She hadn't changed at all since they had come into Woodbury and had kept that defensive and wary personality that she'd had all winter. Not even Andrea had been able to figure the woman out as she looked down at the ground, the conflict in her mind growing one-sided as the gate stood open behind her.
"They knew we were coming," Michonne said with a glare and a look of conviction. "This was all for show."
"Do you hear yourself?" Andrea asked, finding her friend being ridiculous. "How can you know that? And why would they bother?" As Merle called out to them, Andrea turned and told him, "Close the gates."
"No," Michonne quickly countered.
"I practically begged the Governor to let you stay," Andrea told her, trying to guilt trip the woman into staying with her.
"I didn't ask for that."
"You didn't have to," Andrea told her. "That's what friends do for each other."
"It goes both ways."
"So you wanna run around out there with walkers on chains eating twigs?" Andrea asked in an unbelieving tone. "Is that right?"
"We held our own," Michonne insisted.
"Eight months," Andrea countered. "Eight months on the road moving place to place, scavenging, living in a meat locker. That was no life. I'm tired. I'm tired. I don't have another eight months in me, not like that. And you, I..."
"What about me?" Michonne said, a look of shock and hurt spreading across her face before she schooled it again.
"I'm afraid you're gonna disappear," Andrea admitted. "We always talked about this place, didn't we? A refuge. That idea is what kept us going," she sighed as she watched Michonne consider her words.
"Are you coming or not?" was all Michonne had to say, realizing that Andrea was a lost cause and not holding onto hope that she would change her mind last minute.
"Don't do this. Don't give me an ultimatum. Not after everything," Andrea said.
"Are you coming, or not?" she restated. When Andrea didn't respond, Michonne simply walked around her whispering, "You'd just slow me down anyway."
Andrea turned around and called for her as she walked out the gates, trying to convince her one last time to stay. She tried to go out the gate to talk to her, but as soon as she walked up Merle shut it before locking it back up. She stayed and watched her walking for a while before finding a bench to sit on. All Andrea could think was that she should have probably gone with Michonne, but then, everything she did tended to be a bit too late. She had been there for her sister's birthday only to have to shoot her in the head after hoping that she would get her sister back. She'd judged Tea long before she ever talked to the girl only to find out that she'd had an absolutely horrible life and then became friends of sorts. Now she had stayed in Woodbury while the only friend she had left in the world left to go back out into the shit show on her own. She was so deep in thought about whether or not she had done the right thing by staying behind that she didn't even notice Philip walk up.
"I'm sorry things didn't work out with your friend," he said from beside her, causing her to jump a little. "Weird to lose someone by their own choice. I thought those days were gone. Not sure this'll make you feel better, but I'm sure you could use a drink. Some company. Something to take your mind off it for a bit."
He stood up and held his arm out to her like a true Southern gentleman that simply wanted to make her feel better after her loss. While Andrea was upset with herself, Philip was charming and offering company that she greatly needed since the woman she'd spent the winter with had abandoned her here. She still didn't know why Michonne couldn't come to terms with being in Woodbury; they had spent the winter going from place to place dreaming about something like this. Philip had made such a safe, lively, and thriving community and Andrea wanted to stay where it was safe and she didn't have to eat twigs and leaves just to stay alive. She didn't know why Michonne didn't trust the people of Woodbury after only being here a couple weeks nor why she refused to try to assimilate. Philip's charming smile, cocky smirk, and confident attitude was hard to miss, too, as she stood up and took the arm he offered her.
~x~
Merle drove with a couple of the others out to the place where they collected biters for various reasons, most of which happened at the arena. It was actually a rather ingenious creation that used wind and solar power to turn metal tubes with holes cut in them that gave off a loud, screeching sound that drew in walkers. There was a decent sized hole they dug to capture the things so that they could gather them for Milton's research and other frivolities. Most of the walkers would just be killed so that the pits didn't overflow and cause Woodbury problems. While it didn't hold a huge amount of walkers, whatever stragglers didn't come to the pits were taken care of by the armed sentries they kept on the wall at all times. Merle might have some problems with the Governor's personality and Milton in general, the two of them had come up with so pretty good ideas.
"Hey, alright!" he called. "We got us a bite! Yeah, we got us some! Let's hook 'em up!"
He helped them lower the net into the screamer pits, all the while eyeing Milton with his stupid fucking notebook and stupid fucking jacket. The thing was an eyesore, the arms all wrapped in duct tape to the point he could barely move his arms half the time. He wore the damn thing every time he left Woodbury and Merle'd ridden his ass about it constantly until the Governor told him to knock it off. He still rubbed him about it every time he saw the damn thing, but Merle didn't constantly have a go at him anymore, at least not in eyesight or earshot of the Governor. Hell, that little bitch from back at the quarry had more of a backbone than Milton did, and that was saying something as she barely came up to his shoulders. Milton being so cowardly only made Merle want to ride his ass more and more every single time he wore that damn jacket and they came to the pits. If it weren't for the man in charge, the little pussy would already be dead since he had no purpose in Woodbury than to study the walkers.
"Oh yeah," he said, looking at a biter that was trying to get to his hand through the net. "Ho, whoa! Look what we got here! Oh, yeah! Come get it, come get it! Woah! Geez!" He looked over at Milton and swung the net to show him. "Look at this one. It's too little. We're gonna have to kill it," he said with no remorse, almost as if he was talking about the runt of a litter of pigs.
"Hold on," Milton said. "There's something interesting in its eyes."
"So don't kill it?" one of the others asked.
"It's a maybe for me," Milton said.
Fuckin' maybe, Merle thought to himself as he was handed a snare pole and subsequently tossed it to Milton, "Here you go. Get your hands dirty for once! Alright, come on, then! Come on down. Let 'em down now. Come on Milty."
He damn near started laughing at the failed attempt Milton gave, his arms barely able to hold onto the pole for a minute before the walker was on him. He wasn't a damn fighter and the only time he ever came out of the town was to do his research at the pits. It was part of the reason he and Merle didn't get along at all, the other part being that Milton kept calling him a dog or animal. All the man did was sit in his lab making tea for the Governor and remaining soft spoken and practically impartial to anything but their leader and his research. The man was the biggest pussy Merle had ever known when it came to just about everything in the world that didn't involve trying to preserve humanity. As he was laughing his ass off at Milton, Martinez grabbed the biter off of him using the pole as Merle continued to hoot and holler, thoroughly entertained by Milton's lack of spine.
"Oh! Oh man! I'll tell you what," he said to Milton waving his hands excitedly, "I take back everything I ever said about that jacket! Come here. Let me see her." He told Martinez before he took his blade and shoved it right between the thing's eyes, internally smirking at the look of horror on Milton's face.
"Merle, check this one out," Martinez said as he grabbed the other walker from the net. "He's almost as ugly as you!"
"Holy shit!" Merle yelled. "Yeah, he's a mean one, huh? Look at him! Yeah, now get him down now. Come on, get him down."
He talked shit the entire time they were at the pits, pulling walker teeth one by one for the games tonight, even though some of them would still have a few. Merle was fired up for the night's events and was trying to keep that on his mind rather than Blondie. She was getting a little too close to the Governor and Chrystal for his liking and he had to admit he was worried about what she would tell them. If she knew Titania like he thought she did, the two of them would do anything and everything to get the information out of her and no good could come of that. They would stop at nothing to try to get at the little girl whose family tortured her only to pull the same shit they had all over again. He once again thought about how bad he'd had it growing up and how it wasn't nearly half as bad as what the girl had went through. No child should be subject to beatings, lashings, being cut up, having to treat their own wounds, starving, and being ridiculed just because they were a little different from normal. Hell, Daryl was such a damn soft-hearted fool and he hadn't even gotten treated as bad as that kid from Chrystal's family.
They continued their task until they were ready to head back to Woodbury with several walkers in tow, the rest having been killed. Admittedly, they didn't stop to have as much fun as they normally would have, but there was barbecue to get back to and all the men in the truck were hungry. Milton looked like he was about to hurl as they talked all about the food in Woodbury and what consisted as food to the dead. Merle had even gone so far as to go into gory detail about what he bet human flesh tasted like to the dead just to see if the man could get any whiter. He'd found the lines he wasn't willing to cross but that didn't make him any less of an asshole or change the fact that he hated just about everyone. He was sitting and talking with the others of the 'research' team while eating his prized barbecue when he saw Michonne and Andrea walking towards them and the gate. They both had different expressions on their faces that had Merle thinking Michonne was satisfied and Andrea was unhappy. They had their gear over their shoulders, too, the silent woman having her sword across her back as she walked with determination towards the gate.
"Hey, hey, hey!" he called out to them. "Where y'all off to in such a hurry? Huh?" He asked as he got up, Andrea looking like she wanted to say something only to be pushed on before he ran up to them. "Come on now, hey! Y'all are breakin' my heart runnin' away like that."
"We're leaving," Michonne said with an air of finality.
"It's almost curfew," he mused. "I'd have to arrange an escort. I mean, the party's still goin' on." He told them, the women sharing a look before reluctantly agreeing, "Alright. Wait here a second."
He walked up to the gate, "Brownie, come here." Martinez knelt down closer to the man from his position on top of the wall. "Hey, listen. I need you to tell me the second them girls get outta sight. I've got me a little huntin' to do, orders of the Governor. You keep an eye-"
"The Governor told us we were free to come and go whenever we liked," he was interrupted by Andrea.
He didn't like the thought that the woman had heard him let alone walk up to him in an audacious manner, giving her a cold stare as he told her, "Sweetheart, nothing personal here, but you're gonna have to step back." He waited for her to walk back over to Michonne before looking up at Martinez, "We good?"
"Clear," the man shouted loud enough for the women to hear.
They looked back at Merle as he was by the gate, "Now if I was y'all, I'd find some shelter before nightfall."
He opened the gate and stepped out of the way, watching the looks that crossed both women's faces, Andrea's face saying everything he needed to know that she had broken. She was all for staying and he was all for keeping the blondie in Woodbury until she gave up the goods on the friend that she had been talking about. He called out to them as they were having a whispered argument, only for Andrea to tell him to close the gate and the dread-locked woman to deny the request to leave the town. The Governor had already given his orders to hunt the women down if they did leave in order to keep Woodbury from being found out by anyone they didn't want to. He didn't mind that at all and in all honesty, he wasn't even planning on fully hunting the bitch. While he could kill men all day and not give a damn, but women were where he drew a line drawn in the sand for him now, surprisingly enough. Merle was impressed by the woman as she walked through the gate, but the look of 'her loss' that was permanently etched on his face as he shut the gate behind her didn't give anything away. He simply locked the gate as Andrea walked up and went back to his food, Shumpert, and Crowley. Tomorrow, he'd have to start hunting the black woman down but tonight he was going to be having some fun.