Newly Revised

Axel was standing by the makeshift stove in the commons making noodles for everyone else as Hershel was checking on some of the injuries on the newcomers. Carl and Sophia came in after a while, leaving the door to their cell block unlocked since Beth was just changing Judith and was planning on coming out to feed her soon. Neither of the kids wanted to leave any of the members of their group unarmed and without back up when there were other people in the commons. Carl, especially, didn't want to leave Judith unprotected with strangers that he couldn't trust, no matter how much he and Sophia talked about whether or not they were good people. Sophia had learned a little more from Tea about how to read what were called 'red flags,' or behaviors that constituted danger or manipulation. They both had been taught the subtleties of lip reading and had used it all winter to talk to each other across the way so that they kept in practice. Even now, they were conversing across the room as Sophia went to give Hershel some bandages for Allen, the father who's wife died on the way into the prison, trying to decide if these were good people.

"You can take those stitches out yourself in a week or so," Hershel told the man after wrapping his wound.

"Thank you," was all Allen said in reply.

"Pretty nice having medical training," Tyreese said.

"It only gets you so far," Hershel told them. "If it weren't for another member of the group, I wouldn't have the poultice I put on it."

"How'd that person learn?" Sasha asked.

"That isn't my story to tell," he said in all honesty. "When she comes back, you can ask her yourself."

"You were bit?" Tyreese asked as the door to the cell block opened and closed again, Beth walking in with Judith causing all the new people to be surprised.

"How old is the baby?" Sasha asked in awe.

"Barely a week," Hershel replied.

"To be honest, we never thought we'd see another baby," Sasha said, walking up to Beth. " Beautiful."

"Thanks," Beth told her with a small smile.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at the girl in concern.

Beth looked from the woman to her father and back before realization hit, "She's not mine!"

"Where's her mother?" Sasha asked Hershel. When no one answered and the survivors just looked away, she looked down and quietly said, "I'm sorry."

"Man, you people have been through the mill," Tyreese said.

"Haven't we all?" Hershel asked as Beth and Carl went back into the cell blocks.

"It's only getting worse out there," Tyreese said. "The dead are everywhere. And it's only making the livin' less like the livin'."

"You're the only decent folks we've come across," Sasha told him.

"You've been out there all this time?" Hershel asked.

"Our neighbor Jerry, he was one of those survivalist nuts," Tyreese explained. "Everybody on the block thought he was crazy. Always preparing for the end of the world."

"Who knew?" Hershel quipped with a smile.

"Jerry knew," Tyreese shot back. "He had a bunker under his shed in the back yard. Sasha and I stayed there until we ran out of supplies. Allen and Ben were the first two people we ran into when we finally crawled up out of that hole around Jacksonville. Used to be a bunch of us. Twenty five at one point."

"Our camp was over run," Sasha took over. "Six, seven weeks ago."

"And Donna," Tyreese said remorsefully. "She, uh..."

When he couldn't complete his sentence, Hershel told him, "We'll see that she has a proper burial."

"I appreciate you taking care of us," Tyreese replied. "For a while, we didn't know who we were dealing with."

"Neither did we," Hershel told him seriously. "We've had our problems with people."

"I must be the first brother in history to break into prison," Tyreese joked with a chuckle.

"Makes me the first white boy that didn't want to break out," Axel said, coming up to them with bowls of food.

"Tyreese," Hershel called to the man after sharing a look with Carl. "Like I said, we have a much larger group. A close-knit group. Now, I wouldn't get too comfortable here, but one of our leaders, Tea, she's a good judge of character. I think she would be willing to offer you a place. Our other leader, Rick, he, he might not be so willing. If both come back, we'll make a case. If only one does, it depends on who it is. You shouldn't get too comfortable here just in case."

"But if they come back, you'd let us join you?" Sasha said.

"I think Tea might be willing to," Hershel replied before walking away. "Rick, he just lost his wife. He may not be so willing."

"Please, you can see what kind of people we are!" Tyreese begged,

"All we can do is wait. I'll plead your case."

~x~

"Where'd they say we could bury her?" Tyreese ask faintly when they came out of the commons with their friend's body.

"Back of the field, near the other graves," Sasha responded dejectedly.

Sophia watched from her spot in the guard tower as the men laid the body on the ground and took a rest, none of them noticing the girl's presence as she slid to lay down on her belly to watch what they were doing. Laying like this gave her a better view of the four people as they moved out into the courtyard and while she could barely hear what the people were saying, she was in a position that would let her read some of their lips. While she didn't think they would be able to hurt their people, after Rick had gone crazy when Lori died, she wasn't sure what the newcomer would do after losing his wife. She decided that it would be best to watch their interactions just like Tea had taught her to in an attempt to learn more about them. It seemed to her that the brother and sister were stand-up people since they had been the only ones to talk so far; the father and son had simply stared at everyone or kept their heads down. She hadn't been able to get any kind of read on the pair, but the brother and sister had been bold, honest, and willing to be of help to their group. The same could not be said of Allen who had walked a little ways away from the others. It was obvious that the man didn't realize she was there as he didn't even attempt to keep his voice down, especially since Carl and Carol were at the other guard tower and they thought she was over there with them.

"Golden opportunity," he said.

"For what?" Sasha asked as Ben walked over to his dad.

"A couple little kids and a woman," Allen suggested.

"Ask them for a hand, get a hold of those weapons," Ben suggested.

"What?" Tyreese asked in shock.

"We do it quick, they'll never know what hit them," Allen told him.

"No, whoa. Whoa!" Tyreese replied.

"We're out here to bury Donna," Sasha told him.

"And we will, after," Allen said, Sophia reading his lips more than actually hearing him.

"Look at this place," Ben told them. "It's secure."

"These are good people!" Tyreese argued loudly.

"This will be easy," Allen countered. "A couple little kids, a woman, a girl, and a one-legged old man. Don't forget about the convict," he sneered in disgust.

"You gonna smash the baby's head in with a rock?" Tyreese shot at him.

"What is your problem?"

"How about a little common decency?" Tyreese argued. "This isn't what we do."

Sophia watched the siblings share a look as Allen continued, "You're living in the past, Ty. So are you. This is survival of the fittest, plain and simple. In here we live, out there we die. And I am not waiting around for the rest of their group to return and throw us out on our asses."

"How do you know that's gonna happen?" Tyreese asked him as Beth and Axel came out with a shovel and a pick-ax.

"Got some tools for you," Axel told them.

"Yeah, we'll take it from here," Sasha said awkwardly.

"You don't need any help with the body?" Axel asked.

"No, we'll manage," Tyreese told him.

"Well, if you need anything else, just let us know," Beth said to him.

"Thank you," he said before turning around and looking at Allen, Sasha glaring at Ben before the two walked back to the body.

Sophia's hand had gone for her gun as she had watched Allen and Ben go to grab them, but Tyreese and Sasha were quick to step in front of the pair to grab the tools themselves. Tyreese thanked Axel as he did so, but it was easy enough to see that those two were good people worthy of a chance of safety within the prison. Sophia had seen and heard enough to be certain Sasha and Tyreese were good people but the father and son would have to go. Where Tyreese and Sasha had spoken up about their experiences after the fall, Allen and Ben had kept quiet throughout there entire time there. The siblings had been very adamant about being willing to help while the father and son had kept mum and just sat and stared at the wall, floor, or whoever was talking.

It was pretty obvious to Sophia that the father and son weren't any real threat, though, since she was pretty sure both her and Carl would be able to subdue them if they had to even if the other two were taller than them. Honestly, even her mother and Beth would be able to at least disarm them if they needed to after how Tea had forced everyone to learn basic self-defense over the winter. As she had said, it was a good way to keep warm and keep the muscles loose during the colder days, and it had made everyone all the more stronger. That father and son would barely get two steps towards harming their group before they would be stopped, and Tyreese and Sasha would be some of the ones standing in the way. She watched as they walked out into the field before she stood up and moved to the corner opposite of where she'd been to watch them and make sure they weren't going to pull anything.

~x~

Andrea walked out of the medical building to find a glum looking Milton waiting for her to ask, "How many injured?"

"Nine," she sighed, "Steven's has it covered. So where is he?"

"In his apartment," Milton answered as they began walking.

"And?" Andrea asked him.

"He wouldn't open the door. Said he was in the middle of something," Milton told her in a hurry. "It's all going to hell."

Andrea looked at the scene in front of her as many of the citizens of Woodbury were in their cars, packed up and lined up at the gates, honking their horns and yelling at the guards at the gate. The scavengers were armed and standing yelling right back at the every day citizens in a threatening manner, basically telling them that no one was leaving the town. She and Milton made their way over to the commotion as the scavengers who were threatening the crowd with their guns, the noise from the commotion getting louder and louder as time went on. Andrea quickened her pace when one of the citizens tried to climb the ladder up onto the wall only to be kicked off it by Martinez and had a gun pointed in the man's face. That caused everyone already at the gate to cause even more noise as they fought to leave before Shumpert called out about biters. As gun fire sounded, many citizens insisted once more to be let go, one even grabbing hold of Andrea to plead with her to let them leave.

"Karen, you don't want to go out there," Andrea told her seriously. "It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, well, we'll take our chances," another man said as Andrea walked up to Martinez amid more pleas from the crowd.

A blaring horn caused almost all the scavengers to bring their guns to aim at the offending vehicle, to which Andrea stepped into the line of fire and tried to take control of the situation. Martinez wasn't happy about the horn and even with Andrea trying to protest, he opened the car's door and ripped the man out of the car. Andrea tried her best to get between the scared man with a gun in his face and Martinez, who seemed to be acting almost as crazy as the Governor had the night before with Tea and the others. She could understand that everyone had lost something through the attack on Woodbury, but it would never have happened if he had just brought Glenn and Maggie into Woodbury instead of holding them hostage. And what had that been with what had happened with Tea? She'd been beat, that much was for sure, but Andrea had never once seen the girl pale as much as she had in the arena as she stared into the bleachers. Chrystal had gone missing, too, which had a lot of people thinking she had been taken by the 'terrorist' as a hostage and that had scared the masses even more. Everyone but the scavengers seemed to want to leave and Andrea couldn't blame them when the people who were supposed to protect them were instead aiming their weapons on them. It was pure and utter chaos as Andrea tried to get Martinez away from the man he looked like he was about to start beating on, finally getting a hold on the man's arm to pull him away.

"Don't hurt him," Andrea said before she repeated it louder.

"Hey, I don't take orders from you," Martinez told her, shoving her hands off his arm.

"These people are scared," she insisted. "Shoving a gun in their face won't help."

"Where's the Governor?" he asked Milton, who couldn't answer. "Come on! There's a riot out here!"

"You're making things worse," Andrea said calmly.

"I am?" Martinez asked, sounding disbelieving.

Andrea didn't get a chance to answer as screams sounded from further in town, causing her and Martinez to run towards the sound with their guns at the ready. They found the cause of the screams as they got a few blocks away, five walkers having busted through a breach in the wall with three of them attacking a man. A woman was running from the other two as Andrea took aim only for her gun to jam; she and Martinez still managed to take out the walkers with relative ease using their knives. They walked over to the man laying on the ground in agony as the entire town watched on, the shock on some of their faces saying they hadn't seen this happen, or hadn't in a long time. Karen called for the two to help the man because he was suffering so badly, but it was Philip who stormed out of his building and shot him before storming right back into it without saying a word. The entire town's population were standing there watching his retreating back with faces mixed with horror and disgust at what the man had just done and even Andrea couldn't fathom what had gotten into the man as she stormed after him.

"What the hell was that? You put a round in a man's head in front of all those people and just take off? You have to talk to them!" she told him as she barged into his room.

"Why?"

"They're panicking! They're ready to charge through those gates!"

"So let 'em!"

"Those people won't last a day!"

"Those people have had it easy!" Philip countered angrily. "Barbecues and picnics. That ends now."

"Don't blame them for the mess that you created," Andrea told him. "They're scared!"

"Well, I'm through holding their hands," he stated plainly as he got a bag ready. "We're at war. I should've seen that."

"So why was Daryl here? And Tea?" Andrea asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Were they part of the assault? Why? Why would they do that?"

"They came for their friends. The other people you know. Glenn and Maggie. Merle scooped them up on the run. Was holding them to find out where his brother was," he lied.

"My—my friends are still alive an we're shooting at each other? You're trying to execute them?!"

"Your friends killed nine good people," Philip tried to reason. "That man out there, he makes ten. So that, that's what your friends did."

"Why didn't you tell me they were here? I could have talked to them. You kept that from me while I was...While we...," she couldn't even find the words to say because she had honestly fallen for the man and while they had only kissed, she still couldn't separate who he was right now from who he had been with her. "All those deaths could have been prevented."

"You're just a visitor here. Just passin' through. So why should I tell you?" he asked her venomously.

"Don't do that. Don't drive me out. Not now. Not when you truly need my help."

A knock on the door interrupted them as Milton entered the office and told them, "The whole town is out on the street. It could get ugly again."

Philip simply ignored her, causing her to scoff and leave with Milton to talk to the crowd outside, every single occupant of the town gathered outside the building waiting for their Governor to tell them what to do. Everyone started talking over each other wanting to know what the next move was and what they were supposed to do about the attack, not knowing if there would be another one. Andrea stared out at all the terrified faces of the citizens and the angry faces of the scavengers and wondered once again what was going on with Philip that he would leave them stranded. She couldn't understand why he was acting the way he was when it had been his own choices that had made this entire situation happened. If he hadn't allowed Glenn and Maggie to be held against their will, the others wouldn't have come and all those people who had died wouldn't have. They might have been able to converge the groups or become partners in trade or materials; there could have been so much that they could have done for each other.

"Everyone," Milton called out after a moment. "If I could have your attention! Everyone!"

"Alright, everybody shut up!" Martinez yelled after no one would quiet down.

"Thank you," Milton said quietly. "The biters on the perimeter have been dispatched. The fences have been repaired."

"For now," Karen said.

"Where's the Governor?" another citizen piped up, ensuing another round of murmuring.

"His, uh, his condition is, uh," Milton faltered. "Unsteady. The injury he suffered-"

"Our friends were killed, man."

"He shot Richard," Karen insisted. "I mean, we've all suffered. We want answers!"

"You're right, Karen," Andrea told them after a round of agreement from the citizens. "You're right. Every one of us has suffered. We don't even have funerals anymore because the death never stops. We're never gonna be the same. Ever. So what do we do? We dig deep and we find the strength to carry on. We work together and we rebuild. Not just the fences, the gates or the community. But ourselves, our hearts, our minds. And years from now, when they write about this place in the history books, they will write about Woodbury. We persevered."

Martinez had to give her props as the citizens of Woodbury murmured their agreement and began to comfort each other, several of them giving Andrea hugs or handshakes. Even the scavengers were feeling better after her speech and handed out several handshakes themselves to the others which closed the rift between the two parties. Andrea didn't know that Philip had been watching and listening from the window of his apartment while she watched the townsfolks' faces turn from helpless to hopeful. It had only taken a few comments to change everything that had been going on, the people were calmer, they weren't running for the hills, the scavengers had stopped threatening the citizens, and Andrea had effectively taken control of the situation. She was the only one with enough authority in the town to make sure the morale was restored allowing the citizens to return to their homes feeling safe once again in the safe haven that was Woodbury.

~x~

"It's quiet," Carl told Carol as they waited in the dog run for the others to get back.

"It's easy to forget how loud the world used to be," she responded with a giggle. "I used to complain about it all the time. Traffic, construction, car alarms. Noise pollution. Oh, what I wouldn't give for the sweet, sweet sound of a jumbo jet," she reminisced.

"It'd be even sweeter if we were all on it," Carl said.

"Your mom was proud of you," Carol told him, hoping that would help a bit.

"For what? Being mean to her?"

"You can't think about that," Carol told him quietly, trying to bring the memory of what Tea had tried telling her over the winter about Ed.

"It's all I think about," he replied snidely before the sound of a car had them both turning around. "Please be them," Carl mused aloud.

The pair rushed to the gates and worked together to open the first one before Carl moved to open the second one when their cars came into view, the two of them closing the gates behind the car as it came in. Carl was looking around for the other car when the one car that came through the gate stopped and Rick stepped out from the passenger side door and told the others to

"Where's Daryl?" she asked. "Tea?"

"They'll be back," he told her.

"'They'll be back?' What does that mean?"

"We had a little hiccup in Woodbury, found Merle," Rick said.

"Merle?" Carol gasped, hoping the worst hadn't happened.

"Yeah, he apparently knows Tea's secret past. You know she's been killing a lot longer than the turn?" he asked, Carol gasping at the revelation. "Yeah, that's how I felt too. Her sister's with us right now and told us a lot. We've got a lot of questions to ask her when she gets back."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Carol asked, remembering what Tea had said on the bus their first night at the prison.

"I don't think it is, dad. She fought for Oscar and Axel, went back for Merle. She's always been protecting us since everything happened. What if she's lying? I mean, do you actually know she's Tea's sister?" Carl asked.

"She knows her name, knows how she grew up, knows what she hasn't told us," Rick said seriously. "I have no reason to believe she's lying."

"I don't think we should trust her," Carol said in defense of Tea. "She's told me how her family treated her, including her sister. We should be careful."

"I agree, dad. Tea isn't the kind of person to hurt people first. I don't...I don't think we trust them," Carl told him, motioning over to the people exiting the car. "Tea's been with us all year. We know her."

"Carl's right. We should be careful. We don't know if she's telling the truth, but we do know Tea. I don't think Tea would protect us so much if she was that bad of a person. I mean, look at the other convicts, Tomas and Andrew? They were killers. Even if Tea did kill, I'm sure there was a reason for it. She wouldn't just attack for no reason."

"I thought you didn't like Tea?" Rick asked, looking at the two in front of him critically.

"I don't have to like her to respect her. She's done more for us than anyone else. She shouldn't be judged when we don't have the full story."

"Well, for now, Chrystal is staying here. She can't be left on her own out there. We'll talk about it more when they get back."

Rick walked away after that completely perplexed at how things seemed to have dramatically shifted now that he was back at the prison and in his right mind. It seemed as if the woman who left them had more influence than him as those left refused to accept his choices when she wasn't there. Chrystal had told them more about Tea than the woman was willing to give herself, was proud of how much her sister had done in her life, and just wanted to make amends with her little sister. He didn't understand why, all of a sudden, everyone was questioning his choices and had their backs turned on Chrystal before they had even heard what she had to say. Glenn and Maggie hadn't wanted to bring her back and now even Carol was uncertain that they should trust Tea's sister when Chrystal was the only one they'd ever met that actually knew her. Their group had never really learned anything about their other leader aside from her education, intelligence, fighting and foraging skills even though she was constantly trying to get into everyone else's business. It was only now that he was realizing that everything she'd done might have just been a rouse to cover up what she had done before the turn and why she was overly nice to everyone. He also started wondering if it actually had been Shane that initiated the fight or if Tea had simply gotten sick of the man being interested in her. Shane had been handsy with her, sure, but had he really tried to rape her or had she simply said that to justify her actions? Not being able to tell what was true or not made Rick even more certain that they needed Tea's sister to be around to help them keep an eye on her.

Walking back up to the prison, he found Hershel giving the newcomer a suspicious look over as the others exited the vehicle and started gathering the gear from the back of it. They all had a rather pensive look on their faces as they gave Chrystal a wide berth since none of them wanted her there and they all were making it a point to show that to Rick. He knew Tea had given them all a vague answer about her family, but she had never said which family member had done it and Chrystal had been so distraught about hearing how her sister was talking about her. A part of him wanted them to reconnect and reconcile after not being able to do that himself with Lori; she died before he even had the chance to talk to her. He didn't want that to happen to Tea and he simply didn't understand why everyone else was being so guarded against Chrystal when no one really knew much about Tea. She might be a new person hanging around in the group, but that didn't mean that Tea wouldn't be happy about her sister being around. Rick just couldn't believe that Chrystal had anything to do with Tea's dark past or that she had any ill intents for her sister when she'd shown such raw emotion in the woods. It seemed as if he was the only one who thought it was a good idea to bring Chrystal back as Hershel walked up to him still eyeing the woman.

"You came through, like always," Hershel said. "Sounds like we have a new problem on our hands. You get a good look at him?"

Rick shook his head, "He had Daryl and Merle pitted against each other with Tea as some sort of prize. A crowd cheering for them to fight for the death. What kind of a sick mind does that?"

"The kind this world creates," Hershel said sadly, the look on his face telling Rick something was up.

"What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

"No, the baby, she's healthy. Eats like a horse, sleeps like a rock."

"So, what is it?"

"There's a group of survivors. They seem like good people."

"They can't stay."

"And this new girl?"

"Tea's sister, Chrystal."

"I don't think it's a good idea having her here. Tea once told me her blood wasn't all that nice, that she was happy for her new family. I doubt she wants much to do with her old."

"I know, but I still think it'd be good for the two of them to at least talk," Rick said somewhat irritated. "Tea ran off with Daryl and Merle after finding out Merle knew her past.

"Are you sure what happened with Lori isn't blinding your judgment? If Tea ran off because she didn't want to hear it, how bad did it have to be? Are you sure Tea will want to see that woman, or are you hoping for a happy reunion you never got?"

Rick adamantly denied his accusation and instead went over to Chrystal and led her inside the prison to the commons. Chrystal was so ecstatic to see everything and tried to grab the baby almost immediately only for Sophia to step in front of her mother as Carol picked the child up. Even if she was Tea's sister, Carol decided to hold onto her the entire time, only relinquishing the babe to Beth or Hershel, who were more than happy to err on the side of caution. Maggie and Carl refused to let her enter the cell block in an attempt to keep their people safe just like they'd tried to keep Tyreese out. Rick eventually let her in anyway as Glenn was being checked out by Hershel to make sure his injuries weren't overly severe. When he was done, Glenn went out and told them what had happened in Woodbury, everyone trying to comfort Axel after he found out that Oscar had died. He then explained that, according to Merle, the Parker family were monsters and he had no reason to believe otherwise, especially since they'd all seen the scars on her body. He also told them that, according to Chrystal, Tea was more disturbed than she let on and a lot more sinister too, something everyone else completely disagreed with. They all shared a worried look before looking towards the woman at the table in the commons while Rick walked up to the cell Hershel was checking Michonne in.

"She's out like a light. Must have been days since she slept," Hershel told him when he saw him walk up.

"How long until she can travel?"

"Have to keep an eye on her. Pretty sure she has a concussion. Couple of days if she's up. Are you sure Tea will allow for that when she gets back?"

"Allow for?" Rick laughed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Since when was it her say over mine?"

"The same could be said of your say over hers," Hershel said calmly while watching the man. "You want to kick a valuable warrior out while accepting someone who may or may not be what she seems. Tea always said her chosen family was more important than the one she was born into. Rick, I can't help but think she has her reasons."

"Well, we don't know, now do we?"

"We don't have to know," Hershel countered. "She's been looking after us all winter. Made sure we were fed. We wouldn't have been able to predict the herds if it weren't for her maps. We owe a lot to Tea. I think her past is her past, and we don't need to know it. We know who she is now, and that's all that matters."

"I'm not so sure," Rick said before he walked out and over to where Glenn was explaining what had happened in Woodbury.

"Sounds like he's got a whole town," Carol said. "Sounds like we're outnumbered and outgunned."

"We could use some reinforcements," Hershel said as he walked up, thinking about the visitors and Michonne. "Now, Rick, we need to talk about the others."

Rick simply looked at him before going out into the commons where he'd seen even more new people besides Chrystal, Hershel introducing them to the man before he could speak. Most of their group weren't as wary of the four survivors as they were of Chrystal, which Rick picked up on as the others piled out of the cell block to watch the interaction. Sophia had decided to stay in the cells with her mother, Beth, and Judith because she didn't trust Tea's sister with the baby or those who took care of her. Carl was staring more at the woman than he was keeping an eye on group that had somehow managed to make their way into the prison. Glenn and Maggie were standing closer to Chrystal looking like they were ready to jump in at a moment's notice if she tried to do anything, though Rick didn't even know what the weak woman could try. The four in the group were much more of a danger than Tea's sister and yet everyone but him was more worried about the woman who didn't even have a weapon. He found it absolutely ridiculous that the rest of his group found Chrystal to be a threat when she was nothing more than a woman trying to find her sister.

"How'd you get in?" he asked the group after a moment's silence.

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison," Tyreese answered honestly. "Wall's down."

"That side's completely overrun with walkers. How'd you get this far?"

"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna."

"They were lost in the gyms," Carl said behind him, earning a glare from his father that he simply returned with a steely look of his own.

"You brought them here?"

"We had no choice," Sophia popped up from behind the locked door of the block.

Shaking his head with a deep sigh of agitation, he told them, "I'm sorry about your friend. We know what it's like."

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands," Tyreese suggested. "We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out, get our own food. Stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that too. Anything to contribute."

"No."

"Please. It's like '10 Little Indians' out there. It's just us now."

"Rick, Tea won't like you kicking them out but letting someone we highly doubt she trusts stay," Glenn tried to reason, earning a 'shocked' gasp from Chrystal, Rick watching as her eyes glossed over and her head went down.

"Let's talk about this," Hershel added. "We can't just keep-"

"We've been through this. With Tomas and Andrew. Look what happened."

"And Oscar gave his life for us and Axel's been helping here!" Maggie argued.

"I can't be responsible," Rick told them.

"You turn us out, you are responsible," Tyreese countered.

"Rick," Hershel called him over. "You've done so much for us. I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked us to, you and Tea, without question. And I'm telling you, you're wrong on this. Tea would never agree to this. You know she wouldn't. You said she's coming back. What do you think she'll do when she finds out you are risking the prison because you kicked people out? You've got to start giving people a chance."

The more pressured the group put on Rick, the more his mind cracked, something that Chrystal could see smiled darkly from her corner as she watched on in amusement. He looked at all the faces around him and saw that they agreed with Hershel only for his mind to completely when he looked above the group of survivors and saw Lori standing there in a white dress. The stress he already was under compounded at the visual of her standing there and he couldn't stop himself from asking why she was there on repeat. Chrystal watched in glee as he drew his gun and got louder and told the others to get out of the prison while getting more and more distressed as every second passed. Glenn and Hershel had to get in between the four survivors and Rick, Carl quickly leading them out as Sophia unlocked the cell block and followed them down into the dog run.

"I'm sorry about my dad," Carl told them.

"Ain't your fault, kid. You tried," Tyreese told him with a soft smile before he turned around at the feel of his shirt being pulled on.

Sophia raised her finger to her lips and motioned for him and Sasha to follow her, just him and Sasha, quietly back up to the prison. Allen and Ben continued to follow Carl out of the gate, looking back to find the siblings missing and Carl with his gun raised to make sure they left. Sophia had told him about what she had heard in the guard tower and both of them agreed that they would keep the siblings in the prison no matter what until Tea got back. It wasn't like they didn't have an entire other cell block that had been cleared and if they didn't want to stay there, there was always the laundry room. Rick never went there because it was too far out of the way and had been cleared and kept clear of walkers so it made the perfect place to have them stay for a few days. It might be a risky move for the kids to make, but while Carl was making sure Allen and Ben ran for the hills, Sophia led the siblings down into the tombs.

"What's this all about?" Sasha asked as she followed the little girl.

"You already defended us. We can't kick you out."

"What?"

"When you were taking his wife to be buried. I heard you talking. He wanted to take the prison. You said no. Sis would like you," Sophia answered with a shrug.

"Sis?" Tyreese asked with a smile on his face, Sasha mirroring it even though they both had an eyebrow raised.

"Tea. She's...she's like my sister, so I call her sis. She's a good person and taught me a lot of what I know. She taught me how to tell if someone is good or bad, and I know you're good."

"So, what're we doin' back in here?" he asked her as they walked into the laundry room.

"Mr. Grimes doesn't come down here, and when sis gets back, you'll already be here. Everyone else likes you guys well enough. Sis will definitely like you. You can stay in here or the other cell block through those doors, though I don't really know how nice they are. Axel said there were ghosts, but not in here!" she told them quickly, both siblings chuckling a bit at her innocence before handing the bag she had on her shoulder over. "Sis should be back within a couple days. There's enough food and water to last at least four days. I'll come check if you need anything else, or Carl will. I know it's not the best, but it's better than being out in the open."

"It sure is," Sasha responded, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Thank you."

~x~

"She can't be here," Sophia whispered after she and Carl got back to the cell block while they watched Chrystal try to talk to Hershel about the babe in his arms. "Miss Tea told me about her. She was really mean to her when they were growing up."

"Are you sure?" Beth asked. "I mean, I can think of times I thought Maggie was being mean."

"Remember what she said about life, Beth? How she was too strong or too weak?" Maggie asked.

"She said that?" Glenn chimed in.

"Yeah, back at the farm," Maggie told him.

"Why would she say that?"

"It was after what happened with Beth, when she was thinkin' the worst," Maggie explained. "She said her sister had convinced her to attempt suicide. More than once. How can we be so sure Chrystal's telling the truth?"

"She's lying," Michonne's voice rang out softly from behind them.

"What?" Carol said.

"Chrystal. She's lying. Has been since she walked out of those woods. I knew Parker from the dojo I went to. The incident Chrystal said with the three instructors? The dojo itself filed and dropped the charges against her. Evidence showed the instructor was attempting to sexually assault her, and it was only that instructor who was hospitalized. The other two only suffered superficial bruises and scrapes. Even back then, she wouldn't hurt people if she didn't have to. I wouldn't trust a single word that comes out of that woman's mouth," she said, going back to lie on the bed inside the cell she was locked in.

"Did you see the way she looked at Rick when he was having that breakdown?" Axel asked, most of them not even realizing he'd been in the room. "I know the kind of people who smile like that. I've seen that look before on Tomas's face whenever he'd get into one of his moods. She's the one that's not right in the head, not Miss Tea. I don't see that girl having a single ounce of mean in her body unless she's threatened."

"She doesn't," Sophia and Carl said at the same time.

"That settles it," Glenn said with a sense of finality. "We stand by Tea, period."