Daryl led the way on his bike while Rick, Michonne and myself followed behind. Glenn and Maggie decided to stay behind in order to protect the prison if the Governor and his people turned around before we had the chance to stop them. It was the right call.

Rick drove with Michonne by his side in the passenger seat. I was alone in the backseat. It was what I needed. It was the only place I had to push my thoughts and feelings away. I closed my eyes, trying to not let a stray tear fall from my eye. I needed to keep my head. Fight now, grieve later. It was harder than I could have ever imagined.

My eyes finally opened and I caught Michonne staring at me in the rearview mirror. There was concern in her eyes. I was sure that this concern that plagued her was for both Andrea and me. I shared in the worry for Andrea. I didn't care about myself.

The truck slowed to a halt at an obstacle in the road. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Trucks lined the road and walkers roamed the area. As we exited the truck, we could better see the reason for the walkers. There were many of the freshly dead.

Daryl shot a walker that was chowing down on someone in the middle of the road. Michonne took down three on the left with her sword. Rick and I pulled out our knives and went for the two ahead. They were easy kills, but it made me wonder what the hell happened here?

A loud bang came from the truck behind Daryl. A woman could be seen inside. She appeared to be a bit shaken up from what down here.

Rick raised his gun and I raised mine. Daryl pulled her out of the car and checked to see if there was anyone else inside. When they were satisfied, Rick lowered his weapon. I did not.

The woman was the first to speak. "You're from the prison."

"We are," Rick answered. "Where is he?"

She shook her head. "He killed them all." A silence filled with disbelief and anger filled the air. "We were upset about how it went at the prison. He snapped, grabbed a gun, and just opened fire. Then he and his lackies got into their car like it was nothing and just drove away. These were my friends."

"What about you?" Michonne asked. "How did you escape?"

"I hid under Charlie's body and tried not to move. I waited awhile after they drove away before I got up. That's when some of the dead started to come back. I couldn't bare to kill my friends so I just hid in the truck. Not too long later, you all showed up."

Rick looked at me. "Ariel." He wanted me to lower my weapon, but I couldn't. He might have believed her story and it might as well been all true, but I couldn't bring myself to believe her. My arm stayed raised.

Daryl walked over to me and placed his hand gently on my arm. "Air, she's telling the truth." He pushed down and I gave in. My weapon lowered.

I whispered through my teeth. "Where the fuck is he?"

"We'll find him."

Michonne spoke up. "So now what? If he's not at Woodbury, what do we do?"

Rick holstered his gun. "Plan stays the same. We go to Woodbury and see if he's there. If not, then maybe we can talk to Andrea to work something out." He looked at the woman. "What's your name?"

The woman's eyes furrowed. "What are you talking about? Andrea hopped the wall a couple days ago. She's not at Woodbury. I heard she was going to you guys."

My heart sank and I finally spoke. "She never made it to us."

Rick interjected. "What's your name?"

"Karen."

"Well, Karen, you're going to need to come back to Woodbury with us. If he's not there, they're going to need to know that we are not hostile. We only came for the Governor. And we need to find Andrea."

She nodded her head. "I can do that."

Everyone piled into their respective vehicles, but I couldn't bring myself to climb back inside the truck. I knew deep down that Karen was innocent in this, but she was part of the attack that killed my partner. I wasn't going to let myself share the space with her. Daryl didn't question when I joined him on the motorcycle.

This ride was quick. The wind slapping me in the face distracted me enough to not think about the Governor or Merle or Shane. The smell of fresh fallen leaves and the dead cleared my head and helped me stay level. Fall was always my favorite season.

We parked about a half mile away and walked the rest of the way. When Woodbury was finally in sight, we drew our guns and hung low.

A warning shot was fired in our direction. Rick fired back first. The rest of us followed as we sprinted for a broken down car for cover. The gunfire continued with neither side landing a shot.

Karen didn't want to see anyone else hurt over this situation. She shouted for the guards. "Tyreese! It's me! Don't-"

Rick tried to pull her down, but the guard called out to her. "Karen, are you okay?"

She pulled away and stood up with her hands up. "I'm fine!"

"Where's the Governor?" Tyreese questioned.

"He fired on everyone. He killed them all."

I assumed that was hard news to hear because it took a very long time for Tyreese to ask his next question. "Why are you with them?"

"They saved me."

Rick sighed hard. "We're coming out." He breathed and repeated himself.

Michonne followed easily. Daryl and I weren't pleased with the idea, but did as we were told. We all walked out with our arms raised.

The gates opened to us and two people approached, one man and one woman. The man, I assumed was Tyreese, spoke first. "What are you doing here?"

For the first time today, Rick was calm and collected. "We were coming to finish this until we saw what the Governor did."

"He killed them?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah. Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here."

It didn't take much more convincing for Tyreese to let us in. "Where do you think he might have her?" he asked as we walked through the gates together.

I took a look around, remembering my short time here. I wondered how different things might have been if I left with Michonne or if we were never captured by Merle. One thing was for sure: Shane would still be alive. If I had made different choices, my world would still be together.

Rick didn't hesitate. He knew exactly where he was going and led our group into tunnels below Woodbury. Most residents didn't even know these existed, myself included. "This is where he had Glenn and Maggie."

"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asked.

"He did more than hold 'em," Daryl responded.

My heart stopped. The Governor was a sick son of a bitch. I hoped Andrea was alive and unharmed, but judging by these dirty and dark halls, it was unlikely. I needed to hold it together.

We traveled through the tunnels with our weapons raised and guards up. There was no telling what the Governor was hiding in there. When we saw the door at the end of the tunnel, my arms dropped. Blood soaked the floor from the other side. Daryl looked back at me with concern. I must have turned a pale shade of white.

Michonne was feeling the same way I was. "Will you open it?" she asked Rick.

Daryl and Rick raised their weapons once again as Rick unlocked the deadbolt. The door swung open revealing a dead Milton laying on the floor in front of a chair. Michonne quickly scanned the room, catching a glimpse of Andrea's feet as she laid against the wall in front of the room. The two of us rushed to her, Michonne taking her left side and I taking the right.

Andrea breathed heavily. "I tried to stop them."

Michonne's face quickly turned to worry. "You're burning up."

I felt her head, ignoring the fresh blood that was smeared across her face. Her skin was so hot, she was sweating in a cold room.

Andrea took a deep breath, grabbed the left side of the jacket and pulled it aside, revealing the gruesome bite mark deep in her shoulder. Blood oozed from it.

I fell to my knees, feeling weak and sick. I tried to hold my tears in, but a few made it by.

Andrea covered it back up and looked to Rick. "Judith, Carl, the rest of them?"

"Us," Rick corrected. "The rest of us."

"Are they alive?"

Rick glanced over at me for a split second before answering. "Yeah, they're alive." The truth was not something she needed to hear right now and Rick knew it.

She smiled up at Michonne. "It's good you found them." She turned her attention to me. "Both of you. No one can make it alone now."

Daryl chimed in. "They never could."

"I just didn't want anyone to die." She adjusted her back against the wall. "I can do it myself."

"No," Michonne and I said at the same time.

"I have to. While I still can. Please." She smiled again at Rick. "I know how the safety works."

He handed over his gun.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Michonne said.

I wiped my face. "Neither am I."

She looked around at all of us. "I tried."

"Yeah. You did." Rick stood. "You did." He walked out to give us privacy and Daryl followed. They closed the door behind them.

There wasn't much for us to say to each other that hadn't already been said. Andrea just looked at us and whispered a "Thank you. I love you."

Michonne reached for my hand as Andrea raised the gun to her head.