The White Wolf

Chapter Twenty-Four

We walk back into the prison. Andrea is looking around, seemingly surprised at how we've kept it safe and void of walkers.

Carol walks by, and immediately recognizes Andrea. Carol opens her arms and they both hug. I manage to smile, it's nice to see Andrea after so long. When Hershel comes into the room, Andrea's eyes are wide with awe. Beth is holding Judith, following Hershel in.

"Hershel," Andrea almost whispers, "Your leg?" She ends it like a question.

Hershel nods, but doesn't go into detail when he says, "I was bit, but Rick fixed it."

She stands there, jaw open. She must be surprised that Rick sawed off his leg.

I wanted to tell her how I thought the same thing when I got here.

"Where's Shane?" Andrea looks around us. "Lori?"

Carl takes in a breath, and looks away. I look down, some tears coming to my eyes when I think about Lori's death. It was because of me that she died. Carl takes my hand and squeezes it. I turn my gaze at him and manage a smile. I blink several times, trying to get rid of the tears.

No one really wants to tell her about Shane or Lori. What would they say? Oh, Rick killed Shane, because he was going crazy and nearly killed Rick, and then Shane died and turned. After that, Carl shot Shane, to finally put him down.

Sounds like it'll go over well.

And then there's what happened to Lori. I killed her. Maybe if I had been more careful, it wouldn't have happened, and she would still be alive. I need to stop pitying myself, it won't change the past.

"Is that-" Andrea looks at Judith.

"Yes," Hershel says, "Her name's Judith."

Andrea walks over to the baby and looks at her. Judith coos.

"That must've been crazy," Andrea tries to smile, "Were you with her when she-"

I didn't know what Andrea was going to say: when she had the baby, or when she died. Either way, it was a no.

"The prison was infiltrated by walkers," Hershel says sadly, "We were all separated, and only Carl and Destiny were with Lori when she was due."

Andrea looks at Carl and I with a sad look in her eyes. I remove my hand from his as Andrea comes over to hug us. To my dismay, she smells like lavender; where the hell did she get fancy soap like that?

"I'm so sorry you both had to go through that," She says, squeezing us tighter. I didn't know what to do, but everyone around us seemed to have solemn looks on their faces, because these memories were too much to handle on the inside.

Damnit, wasn't this supposed to be a happy reunion? I mean really, we just got to meet Andrea after all this time. I grit my teeth as more frickin' tears decide to make an appearance. We should be a little happier, right?

"T-dog is gone too," Carol says, adding to the depressed atmosphere. While Andrea deserved to know, none of this was helping our moods.

"So," Andrea says, slightly awkwardly, "You all live in here?"

"In the cell blocks, yeah," Glenn says.

"Can I see them?" Andrea asks to Rick specifically. She walks up, nearly passing him before Rick places a hand on her shoulder to inhibit her from moving any farther.

"Rick?" She says, "You know I'm not the enemy, right?"

"We had a field and courtyard before your boyfriend showed up and tore down the fences with a truck and shot at our people," Rick points outside, "He killed a man who was living here."

Andrea looks confused, "He said you fired first?"

I notice how she didn't deny The Governor being her boyfriend. Totally not appropriate to mention, but, I am acknowledging it.

Rick licks his lips, "Well, he's lying."

Andrea shakes her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't know anything about that... I came as soon as I heard it was you guys, because everything did seem a little off to me about what we were told happened.

She looks at me, then Maggie and Glenn, "I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out with Merle and Daryl."

"That was days ago," Glenn says.

Andrea shrugs and sighs, "I told you I came as soon as I could."

She turns around and looks at Michonne, who was leaning against the wall, seemingly relaxed, "What have you told them?"

"Nothing," Michonne shrugs.

Andrea scoffs, "I don't get it, I left Atlanta with you people, and now I'm the odd man out?"

"The governor almost killed Michonne, and he would've killed us," Glenn says, but is interrupted by Andrea.

"With his finger on the trigger!" she points at Merle, who was slightly smiling at the whole ordeal. I wanted to punch that smug face.

"Isn't he the one who kidnapped you?" Andrea exclaims, "Who beat you?"

No one answers her.

"Look," She says, holding her hands up, "I cannot excuse or even explain what Philip has done."

Oh, that's his name? I would've never cared to know. I only needed to know him as, that jackass.

Andrea says something about wanting to bring us together that I miss due to me figuring out The big nasty Governor's name is Philip. Nothing against that name, of course.

"We have to work this out," she says.

"There's nothing to work out," Rick says, "I don't know how or when, but we're gonna kill him."

He says that with malice. Andrea should know no one here sympathizes or even cares for him, except for maybe Merle.

Andrea shakes her head, wondering why Rick was acting like he was, "What happened to you all? Why are you just deciding to kill him? We can settle this!"

I purse my lips for a second before saying, "Actually, if you've been paying attention, a lot has happened to us. People change, Andrea, for better or worse. We aren't the weak willed Atlanta group anymore. We're stronger, but more importantly, we're together. We're family now, and, you don't hurt family unless you're ready to shed blood. This new world won't have people who aren't ready to adapt to new lifestyle's, and I'm sorry to say, this world has seriously turned into a kill or be killed one. Your boyfriend is trying to kill us, but he doesn't know how strong we can be for one another."