— NO ONE SPOKE ABOUT WHAT happened with Merle, the whole journey back to the prison. Zoe didn't push the Dixon's to talk, and the Dixon's didn't want to talk; Merle was dead, he had sacrificed himself for the group, for his brothers, for Zoe. He had finally gained his redemption, yet he wasn't alive to see the outcome of his decision. When they made it back to the prison, no one asked what had happened out there, it was clear on all of their faces, and the fact that Merle wasn't with them — Michonne made it back to the prison first, not taking it to heart what Rick had done, she understood where his mind was when he ordered Merle to deliver her to the Governor, he wanted to save his family, and she probably would have done the same thing if she had hers. Instead of talking about what had just gone down, the group began packing, getting their plan in action, making it look like they had moved out of the prison and ran, taking the easy way out — but little did the Governor and his small army know, they hadn't given up the prison, and a whole group of them would be waiting inside to take control.
Sending Carl and Hershel away with the baby and Beth, Zoe stuck by Nate's side in their assigned area, guns raised and hidden from plain sight as they watched The Governor and his men enter their home, a scowl on both of their faces at the sight, angry that they thought they could take it over and kill them all — they were smarter than that man was, and they all knew for a fact that this plan was going to work. The couple watched as the group entered the prison, but then within the next few minutes, all came running out like their life depended on it; Zoe sprung up along with Nate with their guns held high, "Get out of here!" Nate yelled out, as the two shot their bullets at the feet of the Governor's group, scaring them off. They carried on shooting, ducking every few seconds when one of their men would shoot back, before half of the group drove off, leaving the others.
And just like that, they were gone.
Zoe pulled the helmet off of her head as she watched them drive away, a smile spreading across her face when she saw that their plan had actually worked, "They're gone!" She cheered, pulling Nate in for a hug as he swung her round in happiness, knowing that they had won the first phase of taking back the prison. The two knew not to celebrate too early, as something else may come alone and ruin everything, but right now, it's all they had.
"For now." Nate told the girl, kissing the top of her head as he then motioned his own head for her to follow him, "C'mon, let's meet up with the others." He said, as the girl nodded eagerly, ready to see the others and be happy about this one outcome. The girl accepted Nate's hand as they both walked down the stairs and into the courtyard, where everyone else was gathering now that the coast was clear.
The prison looked like it had been through some trauma, with their trucks being left in the field and smoke in the sky, along with some walkers wandering in, but it was nothing they couldn't fix. "We did it." Rick announced, as everyone looked at the field, "We drove 'em out." He continued, as Zoe kept her grip on Nate's hand, the one of the only thing keeping her sane at the moment.
"We should go after them." Michonne suggested, knowing the Governor, and knowing that he wouldn't suspect them to hit him at this time, especially since he had just been scared off by them all. She didn't want to give up the prison, she considered this more of a home than Woodbury had ever been, and she definitely didn't want to see the Governor take it over, not after everything he had done.
Daryl nodded, "We should finish it." He also suggested, agreeing with Michonne that The Governor needed to die for what he did to Merle and Zoe.
Instinctively, Zoe gripped harder onto Nate's hand without knowing it, just the thought of seeing The Governor again shaking her to the core; she had seen the back of his head just now as he climbed into his car and drove off away from the prison, but she hadn't seen his face. She was sure that she would be back where she used to be if she were to set eyes on him again.. "It is finished." Maggie spoke up, shaking her head, "Didn't you see them hightail out of here?" She asked, not wanting to go after them in case something was to happen with one of them.
"They could regroup." Michonne pointed out.
Glenn agreed with Michonne and Daryl, "Yeah, we can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." He spoke up, and Zoe couldn't help but agree with all of their points, no matter how scared she may be to do so — they needed to ensure they were safe here, and the only way to do that, was to kill the Governor; that, and he deserved any death that came his way.
"So, what? We take the fight back to Woodbury?" Zoe finally spoke up, Nate staying silent as he knew he would do whatever Rick ultimately decided, and what he thought would be best for Zoe, which was killing the man who tormented her.
"But we barely made it back last time." Maggie tried to reason, not knowing why everyone was so on for heading straight into that place, when Glenn and Zoe had a hard time over there, and one of them didn't make it out..
Rick sighed, "Let's check on the others." He said, as the group followed behind him back to the cell block — Zoe was excited to see her siblings again, to make sure they were both okay, it was the only thing that really mattered to her right now. She only had to wait a few minutes before Carl walked in behind Beth, the girl quickly pulling the boy in for a bone crushing hug as he cringed, feeling like he was too old now to be hugged, but Zoe didn't care.
Beth gave her close friend a warm smile, handing Judith over as Zoe accepted her sister gratefully, "Hi, Judith." The girl cooed, the baby smiling up at her sister as Nate smiled at the interaction, knowing that Zoe was going to be a great mom someday..
"Lil' ass kicker." Nate smiled, stroking the baby's forehead as the baby made a squeal of happiness, "It looks like she's growing more every single day." He said. Nate had never had much experience with babies until Judith came along, at first, he had been distant from the baby, but he was warming up to her. Zoe looked up at Nate with a smile matching his — she, too, noticed how he was confused with the baby at first and how to even be near it, but now, he was happy with Judith.
"She really is, isn't she?" Zoe asked, looking back down at her smiling sister, heading in the background Rick and Hershel's conversation slightly.
"The kid was scared." Hershel told Rick, watching Carl go as Zoe turned around to face them, "He was handing his gun over." He informed the man, knowing that Carl had no reason to shoot that poor kid that was running away. Now, Zoe was all for killing Woodbury for what they did, but Carl? No. She didn't want him to go down that road, he was too young.
"He said he drew." Rick said, not wanting to believe that Carl had shot someone who was surrendering. Hershel shook his head, and Zoe looked back towards Carl who was walking back into the cell block with his bags, she looked back up at Nate, who was also watching in worry, "Carl said it was in defence." He said.
Zoe felt Nate pull the baby out of her grip, giving her a small nod as he had read the look on her face, one that said she wanted to go and talk to Carl about what had just happened; she wanted to get an idea as what was going through his mind when he shot an innocent kid. The girl nodded gratefully at her boyfriend, the man bending down to kiss her forehead before she headed off into the cell block, finding Carl in his own cell, placing his things back in, having a troubled look on his face. "Hey." Zoe spoke up, announcing her presence.
Carl looked up to see his sister standing at the entrance of his cell, her arms crossed as she studied his face, the one thing he hated when she did. "Hey." He replied, turning back around and pulling some more things out of his bag.
Zoe sighed, knowing that she just had to get it out, "I heard what you had to do. I'm sorry." She spoke up again, wanting to see if Carl was going to lie to her like he had their dad. Zoe didn't want to think that Carl would just shoot an innocent like that with no remorse, she knew that he must have a motive behind it, and that he felt like he had to do it.. Unlike her father, Zoe felt like she knew the ins and outs of Carl, and how he worked; she just wished he had a reason behind this murder.
"I did what I had to." Carl told her, his words having more meaning than what she knew, but Zoe could see that he had more emotions hidden inside of his words. "I did what all of you were doing, protecting our home." He carried on, not noticing the scepticism on his sisters face.
"Carl.." Zoe sighed, knowing that he truly believed what he did was right; maybe deep down it was, but the kid was surrendering, and that is in humane, she didn't want to see her brother go down the same road in which Shane had, "Hershel said the kid was surrendering, putting his gun down." She said.
"He had a gun. I was doing what I had to." Carl interrupted, snapping as he finally turned around to face his sister.
"Dad's going to talk to you about this later, you know that? He's going to question why you did what you did." Zoe said, not taking it to heart that Carl snapped at her, he was growing up in a world where anything was possible — she didn't blame him one bit.
Carl sighed, "He had just attacked us, him and his group." He explained to his sister, not wanting her to think he was some kind of murderer, he did what he had to.
"I know that, Carl. But we didn't kill any of them, that was the last thing we wanted to do." Zoe explained carefully, not wanting him to snap, "I need you to understand what you did, Carl.." She began to explain again, only for Carl to interrupt her again.
"I did what I had to. I couldn't take the chance, Zoe!" Carl finally explained, "I didn't kill the walker that killed Dale, look what happened, dad didn't kill Andrew and he came back and killed mom. He was in a room with the Governor, and he let him go. And then he killed Merle. I did what I had to do." He finished, as Zoe looked down at him in shock.
The girl couldn't deny that he had a point, all of that did happen, and Carl was just seeing things for how they are, but what he didn't understand was, that they were the good guys, they didn't kill just because they felt like they should, if they did, that would be the day they were just like The Governor. Zoe shuddered at the thought. She also knew that this boy needed their dad to talk to him, so she shook her head, "Dad's going to talk to you in a bit. Just.. Don't snap at him, he doesn't need that right now." She informed him, before leaving the cell without giving him another look. She just didn't have the energy for it right now, and she knew that she was going to have to talk him through everything after they had fully taken back the prison and made sure it wasn't going to be taken from them. She just hoped that Carl wasn't heading down the wrong road..
——
Rick hadn't been able to get through to Carl any more than she had tried earlier on, the boy was simply not hearing anyone out at the moment, and she honestly didn't know how to help him. Zoe had watched him talk with Carl, as the boy dropped his sheriffs badge on the floor and stormed off, she just didn't know how they were going to get through to him. "Rick, we're not going with you. We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we'll hold him off." Glenn explained to their leader, going with what Maggie believed, and he also believed that maybe the man would come back and finish what he started.
Nate stood by the car with Zoe by his side, knowing that he would have stayed here with her if she had asked, but the girl wanted to go with her dad, she wanted to help get to Woodbury and hopefully help kill The Governor. Nate didn't hesitate to join her side, it's what he will always do. "I appreciate you staying." Rick told Maggie and Glenn, wishing that his daughter would have decided the same, but he knew that she wouldn't have stayed — he just didn't want to see her hurt again.
Zoe knew they needed her and Nate by their side, they couldn't attack Woodbury with just the three of them, so they didn't hesitate to join their sides. They drove inwards, Nate and Zoe in the back of the truck as Rick drove and Michonne sat in the passenger side, the girl leant on her boyfriend as they drove, thinking about what might happen when they finally get to the town, but she had to rid the thoughts from her mind, when she saw the Governor's truck, sitting in the middle of the road, abandoned.
They pulled over, Zoe jumping out of the truck alongside Nate as they saw a walker eating one of the Governors men, well, many, as they had all died. The sight was something that Zoe had never seen before, had this man slaughtered his own people? She wouldn't put it past him. "Did he kill everyone?" The girl couldn't help but ask, breaking the silence.
This was when Daryl jumped forwards, a woman making herself known in the abandoned truck besides them — Nate didn't waste time jumping in front of Zoe, Rick pulling out his gun and aiming it at the unknown woman, Daryl opening the door for her to get out, Zoe didn't raise her gun at the woman like everyone else; she looked terrified, like she had witnessed this whole thing, and she just couldn't see her attacking them at any time. But they all knew that they needed her to get into Woodbury.
And that's exactly what she did.
Getting past the siblings known as Tyreese and Sasha, the five of them were in the town, which seemed to be a ghost town with everyone gone, Zoe didn't know how to feel about being back here, the last time she was stuck here, the Governor had taken advantage of her, had ordered for Glenn to be beaten half to death, yet here they were, in the town in which the man had just abandoned. Zoe knew that he was a terrible person, but she had never expected him to slaughter half of his people and abandon the other half; she wouldn't have put it past him, no, but she wouldn't have expected him to do so, otherwise.
Going down to the place where she and Glenn had been kept, Zoe couldn't help but stay glued to Nate's side, the memories flooding back at the sight of this place. "The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asked in shock, having never expected the man they knew to be so evil.
"Did more than hold 'em." Daryl replied, still angry at what had happened to Zoe and Glenn.
Zoe followed behind them as she held her gun raised in front of her, just in case the Governor would pop out at any moment now, they couldn't let their guard down, not yet. The room Zoe recognised to be the one where Glenn was held, had a puddle of blood pooling just outside of the door, indicating that something had happened, and Zoe's heart had stopped at the sight, hoping that Andrea was okay. Since the woman had jumped the wall here in attempt to get to the prison, they all knew that The Governor had done something to her, as she had never even made it to the prison; Zoe was praying that she was okay, they couldn't loose another family member.
Rick opened the door, seeing a dead body on the floor, before seeing Andrea, sweaty and ill by the door. Zoe looked away and pushed her face into Nate's chest as she saw Andrea's bite wound, unable to see yet another family member die. They may have sent Andrea away when she had last come to the prison, but she was still family, they had been with her since Atlanta, and that meant a lot. She felt Nate's arm drape around her back and pull her close as he, too, felt teary eyed at the sight of Andrea. "Judith. Carl. The rest of them." Andrea began to ask Rick, when he shook his head.
"Us." He corrected her, "The rest of us." Rick said.
"Are they alive?" Andrea asked, as Zoe finally turned back around, tears streaming down her face at the sight of the woman she considered a close friend.
Nate felt his heart clench at her question, knowing that Merle hadn't made it, but Zoe gave him a small squeeze, noticing him stiffening at her words. "They're alive." Rick told Andrea, not before looking back at the Dixon brothers, who both had looks of grief on their faces at their fallen brother — the brother whom had sacrificed his life for them..
Zoe had never seen Michonne show so much emotion, the woman sobbing at her best friend. It was cruel, the world; what had happened to Andrea, when all she wanted to do was keep everyone alive — it sucked. So, as Rick handed Andrea his gun, Zoe took a deep breath in, as did Nate, and everyone else, who looked down at her in sadness, wishing that it would have gone a different way, any other way. "I tried." Andrea told Rick, having looked at everyone in the room, seeing all of their faces looking down at her.
Zoe followed her dad out of the room as he shut the door, leaving Michonne in with Andrea, as they all waited for the horrid gunshot to ring out, and when it finally did, the girl flinched, the sound reminding her of the time Carl had to shoot their mother after she had passed, not wanting her to turn into a walker.
But at that moment, they all knew that nothing was going to be the same again.
"We got a whole village now." Nate told Zoe, the two watching as the bus full of people got off and looked at the prison in awe, Tyreese and Sasha taking them into their new home.
Zoe smiled up at him, "Yeah, we do." She said, the two smiling at each other when they realised that maybe things could get better, that maybe they would have a chance at living like they used to, before the world had ended. Nate chuckled, pulling the girl into him as they watched the new people walk into the prison, "Thankyou. For everything." She spoke up, Nate looking down at her in confusion, "For being there for me, through everything, never pushing me to open up, waiting for me." The girl elaborated.
Nate shook his head, "You don't have to thank me. You're the love of my life. I'll do anything for you, Zo." He said, the girl looking up at him with so much love and happiness that it made his heart melt at the sight.
"You have no idea how much I love you." Zoe told him, wrapping her arms around his waist as the two looked into each other's eyes.
"I think I do." Nate smirked, as he pulled the girls face to his.
He never wanted to let go.