Fear the Dead, Fight the Living
"Sure you wanna go?" Daryl asked me as I got my gun and knife ready
"I'm sure, can't let you have all the fun" I smirked and he put his hands on my hips pulling me to him
"If anything goes wrong, stay by me"
"Always" I tell him and he kissed me then we finished getting ready and headed out
I rode on the back of Daryl's bike as we pulled up to an old feed mill and I got off then Daryl, I pulled out my gun as Rick got out of the car and they started to look around the place while I stayed with Hershel by the car.
"Think this will work?" I asked Hershel
"Worth a shot"
"He's already in there. Sat down with Rick." Daryl told us walking back over
"I don't see any cars." Hershel pointed out
"It don't feel right. Keep it running." Daryl told him and we hear a truck approach, "Heads up." He tells Hershel as the both of us raise our weapons and I see Andrea get out along with two other people, "What the hell? Why's your boy already in there?" Daryl asked her
"He's here?"
"Yup." I answered and she headed inside
We lowered our weapons and Hershel got out of the car as Daryl paced and I saw the one guy looking at me, "You gonna stop staring cause I'm not gonna do any tricks" I tell him and he chuckled then Daryl walked over and stood behind me, the guy scoffed then looked away
"Maybe I should go inside" Hershel suggested
"The Governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately." The guy with the glasses says
"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked him
"Milton Mamet."
"Great. He brought his butler." Daryl said and I snorted
"I'm his advisor."
"What kind of advice?" Daryl asked
"Planning. Biters. Uh, you know, I'm sorry. I don't feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen."
"You better watch your mouth, sunshine."
"Daryl" I told him and he looked at me, I shook my head
"Look, if you, me and her are gonna be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor, shut your mouth." The other guy told Daryl who walked over to him
"We don't need this. If all goes south in there, we'll be at each other's throats soon enough." Hershel pointed out and Daryl walked back over to me, few minutes later Andrea came outside, looked at us then went and sat down.
Daryl kept pacing as I leaned against the car and he exhaled, "Hey," I grabbed his hand, "You okay?" I asked him and he nodded then continued to pace
"There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves." Milton told all of us
"Boss said to sit tight and shut up." Martinez said to him
"Don't you mean the Governor?" I asked him
"It's a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened. They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle." Milton says
"I wouldn't exactly call it a battle." Daryl told him
"I would call it a battle and I did. I recorded it."
"For what?" Daryl asked him
"Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through. It'll be a part of our history."
"That makes sense." Hershel pointed out
"I've got dozens of interviews-" Milton started to say but got cut of when we hear growling, me and Daryl moved forward then Martinez and Andrea followed and we see two walkers standing there
"After you." Daryl gestured to Martinez
"No way. You first." He says, me and Andrea looked at each other and she sighed then we both moved forward stabbing each walker, "Pussy" Martinez says to Daryl and walked over hitting another one with his bat then Daryl moved forward and got one with his crossbow then Martinez hit another one.
I sighed and looked at Andrea then walked away and she followed, "Phoebe" She called and I stopped, "Look I know you're probably still upset with me after what happened at the farm.."
"I'm not still mad about that."
She looked at me confused, "Then what.."
"It's because you can't seem to realize who this guy is. I know you think Michonne is telling lies but she's not, everything she's told us about him reminded me of someone, my father, now he may not be hitting you but he is manipulating you with whatever charm he has on you. I care about you and...I don't you get hurt when he uses you as a pawn in his game because it will happen and when it does." I stopped and sighed, "Just...try to see what we see and not the lies" I tell her and she grabbed my hand and was about to say something when she noticed my ring
"Congratulations" She tells me with a smile which I returned and Daryl walked back over followed by Martinez
About 20 minutes later the door opened and the Governor walked out followed by Rick and walked over to the truck, Rick walked over to the car and I looked at Andrea giving her a small nod then got on the back of Daryl's bike and he handed me his crossbow to hold then we drove off heading back to the prison
"So, I met this Governor. Sat with him for quite a while." Rick told the others
"Just the two of you?" Merle asked him
"Yeah."
"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." I hear Merle mumble to Glenn as he walked past them
"He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury. We're going to war." Rick tells us and I looked around at the others as Rick walked away then I headed up the stairs to mine and Daryl's cell, he followed shortly after and pulled me into a hug.
"It'll be ok" he tells me and I looked at him then he kissed me, "I ain't letting anything happen to you"
"Ditto" I told him and he hugged me again. I'll die for this man, and for anyone else here, including Merle. I just hope it doesn't come to that.
"It's the only way. No one else knows." Rick tells me, Hershel and Daryl about his plan
"You gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked him
"Not till after. We have to do it today. It has to be quiet."
"You got a plan?" I ask him
"We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others."
"Just ain't us, man." Daryl says
"No. No, it isn't." Hershel agreed and walked away
"We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies."
Daryl looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders while shaking my head, "Okay." Daryl agreed
"We need someone else." Rick says to Daryl, I automatically knew who he meant
"I'll talk to him."
"I'll do it." Rick says
"I'll go with you."
"No. Just me." Rick tells him and walked away
"It's not right. I mean if he does this, who knows what will happen, the Governor could still come here anyways and kill us." I tell Daryl and he pulled me into a hug.
"I know, but we have to at least try"
"I just don't get why we are such a threat to him, I mean the only reason we attacked was when you guys came for me, Glenn and Maggie. Then he attacked us, if we just let our groups live our lives away from each other then there's nothing to worry about." I point out
"I wish it was that simple" Daryl told me and we headed inside
We drive back up to the yard as Rick opened the gate for us and we got out, "They try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them." Glenn told Rick
"That's a good idea."
"It was Michonne's." I said to him giving him a look as Maggie and Carl walked back up to us
"We don't have to win. We just have to make their getting at us more trouble than it's worth." Michonne adds and I give her a small smile, she really has proved herself to be a part of our group, now we were gonna hand her off to a psychopath who wants to kill us
"Let's go" Rick says and we head back into the prison
I sat on my bed after getting changed and put my boots on when there was a knock on the wall outside my cell, I looked up and saw Merle standing there, "Can I help you?" I asked him looking back at my boot and zipped it.
"Is that anyway to treat your brother-in-law?" He asked walking in and I stood up putting on my coat keeping silent, "Look I don't ever do this so this is a one time thing." He says and I look at him, "I'm glad you're in Daryl's life, after all he's been through it's nice he has someone who cares about him, other then me of course. You're good for him and you make him happy. I meant what I said at Woodbury, I don't hurt family and that's what you are now. I wasn't the best brother to him when we were younger but I'm here for him now, and I'm here for you too"
I was a little taken back by what he just said and I gave him a small smile, "Thank you Merle"
"You tell anyone I said that.."
"Said what?" I asked with a pretend confused look then smiled at him
"Smart-ass" He grumbled and walked away, I wish I could have recorded that
Daryl POV...
"Merle. You down here?" I called to him walking through the basement corridors and I hear clattering coming from a room so I raised my crossbow, "Merle."
"Hey, little brother." He says and I lower it looking around
"What the hell?"
"I was just about to holler back at ya." He tells me leaning on work table
"What you doing down here?"
"Just looking for a little crystal meth." He tells me and I look at him shaking my head, "Yeah, yeah, I know. shit will mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?"
"You talk to Rick yet?" I asked him
"Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?"
"Yeah. If he does, he does." I pointed out
"You want him to?" He asked me
"Whatever he says goes."
"Man. Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother? Are they even attached? I mean, if they are, they belong to you? Or do they belong to the wife? Come on man, you used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?" He asked me
"What happened with you and Glenn, Phoebe and Maggie?" I asked him
"I've done worse, but I didn't hurt your girl, after she told me you two were together I refrained but uh the Governor man he wanted answers so he sent in another guy." He told me and I sighed, "You need to grow up. Things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil...grabbing up those lovebirds and your girlfriend like that, huh? Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did- snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. Yeah. People do what they got to do or they die."
"Can't do things without people anymore, man." I point out and he scoffed
"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?"
I looked at him and put my hand on his shoulder, "I just want my brother back."
"Get out of here, man." He says and I walked away
Phoebe POV...
"It's off. We'll take our chances." Rick says to Daryl walking over to us
"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl tells him and we see him look around
"What's wrong?" I asked him
"I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone."
"Come on." Daryl tells him and we head down to the basement level, "He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things, actually."
"Like what?" Rick asked him and Daryl was looking around the room
"Said that you were gonna change your mind. Here we go." He mentioned and picked up a cloth, "Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."
"Damn it! I'm going after him." Rick said heading to the back door and we followed
"You can't track for shit."
"Then the both of us." Rick says
"No, just me. I said I'd go and I'll go."
"I'm coming with" I told Daryl and he shook his head
"No"
"Daryl..." I started to say but he grabbed my hand
"I need you here, safe. Please?" He asked and I reluctantly nodded my head and he kissed me, "I love you" He tells me and looked at Rick,"They're gonna come back here. You need to be ready. Your family, too." Daryl said to him and walked out the door
"He'll be ok" Rick told me
"It's just him I'm worried about" I responded and walked away
We sat at a table out in the court yard when I see Maggie and Glenn walk over and I look at Maggie's hand, I smiled at her which she returned then we looked at Rick, "When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal. He said- he said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late." He says and my mom put her hand on mine giving it a squeeze and I gave sad smile, "I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm... it can't be like that. It can't. What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason we're still here, not me. This is life and death. How you live... how you die- it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We vote. We can stay and we can fight or we can go." He finished then walked away
I sat on our bed looking at my ring when I hear feet shuffling towards the cell and I looked up seeing Daryl standing there, "Daryl?" I asked looking at his face and I knew something was wrong, "Baby what is it?" I asked standing up and he dropped his crossbow and walked over to me, I pulled him into a hug and he cried into my shoulder, I have never seen him cry so I knew it meant one thing, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry baby" I comfort him and he tightened his hands on my shirt still crying.
The next few days we gathered up our stuff to leave, I was in my cell putting everything together, I finished packing up mine and Daryl's stuff then walked outside over to Daryl who was sitting on the ground next to his bike when my mom walked over
"You know, Merle never did nothing like that his whole life." Daryl tells her
"He gave us a chance." She says to him and helped him up, he gathered up his arrows and put them on his bike then walked over to me, "You sure you wanna do this?"
"I need to, for us, and for Merle"
He wrapped his arm around me and kissed me, "Be careful"
"Always am. I love you"
"I love you too" He says and we load stuff up
We sat at the prison and waited, I was down in the tombs when I hear footsteps, after a moment I threw out a flash bang and people lead by the Governor started screaming and moved to leave.
"Hold your ground! Hold your ground!" The Governor shouted but they all ran out, I made my way out of the tombs and headed to the catwalk with Maggie who was in riot gear and we started shooting at everyone as they were coming out, then I see the Governor and I fired at him but kept missing and he fired back at me so I ducked.
Just then they all head to their vehicles and drive off, "We did it?" Maggie hollered to Glenn as he takes his helmet off
"We did it. Come on down."
"We did it. We drove them out." Rick says as we look out of the gate entrance
"We should go after them." Michonne tells him
"We should finish it." Daryl adds
"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?" Maggie asked
"They could regroup. We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop."
"They're right. We can't keep living like this." I mentioned
"So we take the fight back to Woodbury. We barely made it back last time."
"He don't care." Daryl says
"Yeah. Let's check on the others." Rick tells us and we head inside the prison
"Rick we're staying, We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we'll hold him off." Glenn tells him as we get ready to go
"Just the four of us? All right." Daryl says and hands me his crossbow then I put it over my shoulder and get on the back of his bike
"I appreciate you staying." Rick tells them and we drive up to the gate and headed out
We came up to a rode and saw a truck stopped with dead bodies all around with walkers eating them, I take his crossbow off my shoulder handing it to Daryl and he kills one then Michonne kills two with her sword and I killed another one with my knife
Rick walked forward killing one and suddenly there was a bang on the truck window causing Daryl and I to jump and move away, Rick pointed his gun up and Daryl moved back to open the door letting the woman out and we made our way to Woodbury moving towards the wall of the town when a gunshot goes off next to Rick and we take cover shooting back.
"Tyreese! It's me don.."
"Get down!" Rick tells the woman pulling her back down
"Karen! Karen are you okay?!"
She stands up again and pulled away from Rick, "I'm fine!"
"Where's the Governor?" He asked her
"He fired on everyone. He killed them all."
"Why are you with them?" He asks
"They saved me."
"We're coming out!" Rick tells him and Daryl shook his head, "We're coming out." Rick says and we stand up raising our hands walking forward as the gate opened
"What are you doing here?" Tyreese asked Rick
"We were coming to finish this until we saw what the Governor did."
"He ... he killed them?" He asks
"Yeah. Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here."
"This is where he had Glenn, Phoebe and Maggie." Rick tells Tyreese as we made our way through the warehouse
"The Governor held people here?"
"He did more than hold them." Daryl says and we come up on a door and see blood
"Will you open it?" Michonne asked Rick after drawing her sword and both him and I raised our guns
"One, two..." Rick counted and opened the door, we see Andrea on the ground and Michonne rushed over
"Andrea!"
"I tried to stop them." Andrea tells us and I see a dead walker on the ground
"You're burning up." Michonne says to her and Andrea moved the part of her shirt that was over her shoulder revealing a bit mark
"Judith, Carl, the rest of them..." She started to say but Rick cut her off
"Us. The rest of us."
"Are they alive?" She asked
"Yeah, they're alive."
"It's good you found them." She tells Michonne who's crying, "No one can make it alone now." She says looking at me and Daryl and I feel tears in my eyes
"They never could." Daryl tells her
"I just didn't want anyone to die. I can do it myself."
"No." Michonne tells her
"I have to. While I still can. Please? I know how the safety works." She tells Rick and he slowly hands her a gun
"Well I'm not going anywhere" Michonne tells her
"Thank you, for everything" I tell her and she smiled at me
"I tried" Andrea says
"Yeah. You did" Rick told her and stands up then we walk out of the room and he shuts the door. We stand there for a few more moments then we hear a gunshot, I put my hand over my mouth and cried as Daryl pulled me to him into a hug.
We headed back to the prison with a bus following us, with people from Woodbury and we entered the gate. I see the others look at us confused as everyone gets off the bus and looked around then Tyreese and Sasha lead them inside.
"You okay?" Daryl asked me and I gave a small smile
"I will be" I tell him and he put his hand on my shoulder
"We will be, we're family"
I nod my head and he hugged me. Today was the day we started to rebuild what we lost, and remember the people we lost.