𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙴 - 𝚁𝙴𝙶𝚁𝙴𝚃
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚢
It was the next day and the group were packing up all their stuff to leave the prison. They were going to make the Governor and his group believe that they had left, when in reality, they were simply going to hide and wait for them to leave. "Are you going to be okay?" Madelyn asked Daryl who was grabbing his things by his bike.
"I will be. I got you." Daryl said, making Madelyn smile. She leaned forward and left a kiss on his cheek. Daryl had already lost his brother. He couldn't lose Madelyn too.
Once the group was packed, they all went to hide in spots they knew the Governor and his group wouldn't find them in. When they arrived, they searched the whole place but it appeared to be empty, as if the group really did just pack up and leave. Once the Governor and his group had left, everyone came out of hiding.
"We did it." Rick said. "We drove them out."
"We should go after them." Michonne said.
"We should finish it." Daryl said.
"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail out of here?" Maggie asked.
"They could regroup." Michonne said.
"It's too risky just leaving them." Madelyn said.
"We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." Glenn said.
"They're right. We can't keep living like this." Carol said.
"So, we take the fight back to Woodbury?" Maggie asked. "We barely made it back last time."
"He don't care." Daryl said.
"Let's check on the others." Rick said. Everyone went back into the cell block to see Beth, Judith, Carl and Hershel.
"I can't wait to take these bastards out." Madelyn said.
"Are you sure you're up for that?" Daryl asked. "You got shot last time."
"I don't care. They won't let us live in peace. We have to." Madelyn said.
"Please, be careful. I can't lose you too." Daryl said.
"I will. You're not going to lose me. I promise." Madelyn said, making Daryl smile slightly and nod before she went to talk to Rick.
"Daryl." He heard, making him turn around to see Michonne. "Did she tell you yet?"
"Tell me what?" Daryl asked.
"A couple of days ago, I saw Merle...he was forcing himself onto Madelyn." Michonne said, making his heart stop.
"What? What do you mean?" Daryl asked, hoping to not hear what he thought Michonne was going to say.
"He was trying to....you know. I stopped him before he could do anything." Michonne said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Daryl asked, very concerned and very pissed. Madelyn had to live in the same cell block as his brother, the same brother who tried to assault her. Why did they hide that from him? Why did Madelyn hide that from him?
"She didn't wanna add anything else to your plate." Michonne said, making Daryl sigh.
"Yeah, that sounds like her." Daryl said. "Thanks for telling me."
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Once everyone had regrouped and prepared themselves, Madelyn, Daryl, Rick and Michonne set off for Woodbury to end this war once and for all. Daryl knew he had to speak to Madelyn about what Michonne told him but at that moment, dealing with the Governor was the bigger issue. When everyone got out of their vehicles and began walking the road, they saw a bunch of walkers. Michonne took a lot of them out with her sword as well as Rick with his knife.
"Wow, I have got to get me one of those." Madelyn said as she looked at Michonne's sword.
"Well, if we come across a store, I'll let you know." Michonne joked. They heard a thud and saw a woman in one of the abandoned trucks and Rick immediately pulled his gun out. She was alone. She told them everything that had happened. She was a resident of Woodbury. After the Governor and his group failed to find anyone at the prison, he went crazy and shot all of his people. Luckily, the woman named Karen, survived. She helped lead Rick and the group to Woodbury. As they sneaked to the front gate of Woodbury, a shot was fired towards them, making Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Madelyn shoot back.
"Tyreese! It's me! Don-" Karen said before Rick stopped her.
"Tyreese?" Madelyn asked. Was this the same Tyreese from the prison?
"Karen?" Tyreese called out. "Karen, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Karen said as she came out of hiding.
"Where's the Governor?" Tyreese asked.
"He fired on everyone. He killed them all." Karen said.
"Why are you with them?" Tyreese asked.
"They saved me." Karen said.
"We're coming out." Rick said before the group showed themselves. They walked towards the gate as Tyreese opened it.
"What are you doing here?" Tyreese asked.
"We were coming to finish this, until we saw what the Governor did." Rick said.
"He...he killed them?" Tyreese asked.
"Yeah." Rick said. "Karen said Andrea hopped the wall, going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here."
Tyreese nodded and allowed the group inside. They decided to go to where the Governor held Glenn and Maggie, thinking maybe that was where Andrea was being held. "They held Glenn and Maggie here." Madelyn said.
"They held people here?" Tyreese asked in shock. He clearly didn't know what was really going on in Woodbury.
"Did more than hold 'em." Daryl said. As they approached the door, they saw a pool of blood on the ground. Madelyn and Michonne looked at each other in concern.
"Will you open it?" Michonne asked Rick. Rick quickly opened the door and inside, they saw a dead walker on the ground. They walked inside and saw Andrea on the ground, leaning against the wall. "Andrea." Michonne said before running to her side.
"I tried to stop him." Andrea said.
"You're burning up." Michonne said when she felt her forehead.
Andrea sighed and revealed a walker bite on her shoulder. "No." Madelyn gasped as she covered her face with her hands.
"Judith, Carl, the rest of them." Andrea said to Rick.
"Us, the rest of us." Rick said.
"Are they alive?" Andrea asked.
"Yeah, they're alive." Rick said.
"It's good you found them." Andrea said to Michonne who nodded as tears fell from her cheeks. Madelyn couldn't keep her tears in either. "No-one could make it alone now."
"I never could." Daryl said before taking a hold of Madelyn's hand and squeezing it tight. He needed Madelyn. She was his strength. Now that he thought about it, no matter how long he would have decided to stay with Merle, eventually, he would have come back because of Madelyn.
"I just didn't want anyone to die." Andrea said. "I can do it myself."
"No." Michonne said.
"No, I have to." Andrea said. "While I still can."
Rick sighed and handed Andrea a gun. "I'm not going anywhere." Michonne said.
"I tried." Andrea said.
"Yeah, you did." Rick said. "You did."
Rick, Daryl and Madelyn walked out of the room, leaving Andrea and Michonne. Not too long later, there was a gunshot sound followed by the sound of Michonne crying. Madelyn let a few tears fall as she hugged Daryl. Andrea was yet another one of them that had died because of the Governor.
"It's okay." Daryl whispered before leaving a light kiss on the top of her head. "It's okay."
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It was the next day and everyone had made it back to the prison. Rick and the group decided that they would take in the remaining residents of Woodbury. They couldn't leave them to live in fear of the Governor. Whilst everyone was settling in, Daryl approached Madelyn.
"You doing okay?" Daryl asked her.
"I will be." Madelyn said with a nod. "We have more people to look out for now. That should be our main priority."
"Yeah, you're right." Daryl said before finally mustering up the courage. "I...I wanted to talk to you about something. About us."
"Yeah..." Madelyn said.
"Last night, after seeing Andrea like that. It made me realise that anyone could be next. Andrea was strong. She was tough, she was a fighter and she still died. Life is short. I don't want to spend the remainder of my days without you, Maddie. I don't because I love you. I love you so much and I would regret not telling you that if something were to happen to us." Daryl said, shocking Madelyn.
"Daryl.....I......."