LIII

—/<3/—

Rory helped unload the cars in silence with a cigarette hanging from her lips, preparing herself mentally for the next inevitable gunfight with Woodbury.

She dropped bags of their belongings at Carl's feet, eyeing him cautiously as he stared ahead with a blank look. Hershel had told her what went down in the woods when a runaway Woodbury soldier stumbled across them, Carl had shot him despite the kid handing over his gun. Apparently Rick didn't want to hear Hershel's side of the story, but Rory didn't blame him. She wouldn't want to hear that her child had intentionally killed an innocent either.

"What does smoking feel like?" He asked her as he picked up the bags.

Rory was taken aback but she considered his question. "Um...Well it tastes like shit and it makes you dizzy but it takes the edge off. I was against smoking for years but then I joined a band and it's kind of like a prerequisite. A lot of musicians smoke for some reason."

"So you smoke to fit in?"

"Well I used to smoke to fit in when I was eighteen, now I smoke because I'm addicted," Rory said simply. "You shouldn't start smoking if that's what you're hinting at, I promise you won't like it."

"That's not what I'm hinting at, I was just curious...You guys are always sneaking off to smoke," Carl spoke defensively.

"Whatever, take those bags inside, we gotta go soon." Rory ushered him away and turned back to the car, purposely brushing her hand against Daryl's as he walked by.

He turned back, robbed the cigarette from Rory's mouth, took a long drag and then slotted it back between her lips wordlessly before walking back to his bike. Jonah and Michonne eyed her as they passed with bags of ammo, throwing them into the back seat.

"Let's go." Rick stomped over looking concerned. Rory glanced back and saw Carl watching them and put the pieces together herself.

"We're gonna stay here, defend the place just in case the Governor comes back," Glenn professed. Maggie stood at his side now dressed in normal clothes rather than the armour they'd looted from the dead prison guards.

"That's fine, thank you." Rick nodded.

"Who's coming and who's stayin'?" Daryl questioned as he slung his crossbow over his shoulders.

"Me, you, Michonne, Rory and Jonah," Rick answered. Daryl inclined his head and climbed onto his bike.

The rest of the group going to Woodbury clambered into the car and waited for the others to clear the gate before they set off, following Daryl's bike along the roads.

"So...that was a very sexually charged moment back there, Rory," Jonah began playfully.

"Huh?" Rory's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Back where?"

"With the biker..." Jonah elaborated.

"What about him?" Rory sighed, waiting for her bandmates to elaborate.

"You shared a cigarette. Back me up here Michonne." Jonah leant forward, looking between Rick and Michonne pleadingly.

"Don't drag me into this...But yeah, it was charged or whatever the hell you mean."

"I share cigarettes with literally everyone." Rory brushed him off shortly, not in the mood to be teased.

"Not like that," Jonah pushed.

"Like what, Jonah?" Rory asked daringly, giving him a look.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Rick huffed from the driver's seat.

Jonah ignored him and carried on with his badgering. "You don't let people take it from your lips, only Niamh does that to you."

"I had four bags in my hands Jonah, it was easier for him to take it than for me to drop the bags to hand it to him. Why are you making this a thing."

"I'm not making it a thing!"

"You're making it a thing." Rick and Michonne spoke simultaneously.

"Sit there and be quiet else I'm leaving you at Woodbury," Rory chastised.

—/<3/—

The car came to a halt when they spotted one of Woodbury's trucks abandoned on the road amidst at least 20 bodies and walkers littered across the road and the field opposite.

The four of them climbed out of the car with frowns decorating their faces, meeting Daryl ahead.

"What the fuck?" Jonah breathed. "These are all citizens..." They took down the walkers and then began looking around, flinching when a woman banged against the glass of one of the trucks.

Daryl ushered her out and she put her hands up, shaking as she looked between them.

"Karen?" Jonah asked. "What happened here?"

"The Governor killed them all," she said, her voice shaky and her eyes wide with fear. "He just gunned them all down for no reason...Why are you with them? He told us you were dead."

"That's because I faked my death. My family's at the prison, I was just waiting for the right time to run off so I could be with them."

"Your band? The girl's who's name's on your guitar?" Karen questioned. "God I feel so stupid! He told us you were a bunch of violent lunatics that needed to be dealt with but clearly he's the crazy one." She scoffed.

"How'd you survive?" Rick queried.

"I played dead in the field and then hid in the truck when he left."

"C'mon, let's go."

"Where?" Karen sputtered.

"To Woodbury. We need to end this," Rick spat.

—/<3/—

"Tyreese! It's me! Don't shoot!" Karen hollered as the man set of a warning shot by their feet.

"Get down!" Rick hissed, pulling the woman behind a car by the arm.

"Karen? Karen are you okay?" Tyreese yelled back.

"I'm fine!" The woman stood back up and held her hands up to show she wasn't armed.

"Where's the Governor?"

"He fired on everyone! He killed them all," She informed, her voice cracking.

"Why are you with them?" Tyreese questioned.

"What is this, twenty questions?" Rory muttered. Jonah nudged her and then stood up.

"Hey, Tyreese..." Jonah waved.

"You're supposed to be dead! What the hell is going on?"

"They saved me!" Karen screamed.

"Don't shoot at us, Tyreese, we don't want to hurt any innocents, we just need the Governor gone before he hurts anyone else!" Jonah pleaded.

Rick waited a beat and then shouted, "We're coming out!" He motioned for Daryl, Michonne and Rory to follow him stood up with his gun holstered.

Tyreese and Sasha rushed to open the gate as the group approached. "What are you doing here?"

"We were coming to finish this, until we saw what the Governor did."

"He killed them all..." Tyreese whispered in shock.

"Andrea never made it to the prison, Jonah says he has her locked up here with someone named Milton... Can we check?" Rick asked.

Tyreese stayed silent and looked to his sister for guidance. Sasha nodded. "C'mon, just...just be quiet."

Rick thanked them and rushed inside with the group, including the siblings, hot on their heels. They sped towards the building where they'd found Glenn and Maggie the last time they were there and weaved cautiously through the hallways, their guards up just in case someone was stationed around the corner. That was until they came across a door with a puddle of blood leaking from underneath.

They all positioned themselves around the door, poised for danger as Rick kicked the door in. Their eyes went straight to the dead body in the centre as f the room—Milton— and then to the pair of feet in the corner.

"Andrea," Michonne gasped. The woman lowered her sword and dropped to her knees, cradling her friends face as she examined her injuries.

Daryl, Rick and Rory crowded around her, attempting to help her to her feet but Andrea shook her head and pulled her jacket to the side, revealing the huge bite on her collarbone.

"I tried to come and warn you but he caught me...How are Carl and Judith? Did everyone survive?"

"Everyone's alive," Rick whispered sadly.

"That's great." Andrea smiled weakly. Her eyes drifted to Jonah and then to Rory. "I knew it wasn't a coincidence that we both knew an Aurora in a band...You're a liar, Jonah."

"Well, I couldn't have you finding out I was a double agent all this time, could I?" Jonah joked, though his tone was flat.

Andrea laughed and turned to Michonne, "I'm glad you found them, they're good people... I just didn't want anyone else to die." She struggled as she forced herself to sit up straight. "I can do it myself," she said, eyeing Rick's pistol.

"No—" Michonne refused, a tear slipping down her face.

"I have to whilst I still can." Andrea cut her off. "Please. I know how the safety works now," she said as she turned to Rick.

The man sighed and hung his head before slowly reaching to his hip and pulling his gun free. He handed it over and then stood up with Daryl, Jonah and Rory.

The four of them left the room but Michonne stayed, refusing to let her friend die alone. Rick closed the door behind them and they all waited with bated breath for the inevitable gunshot, flinching when it finally came.

—/<3/—