Andrea seems to know the woman with the sword, so I take that chance and get free from the Governor's grasp.
"Run!!!!" I yell at both of them but Andrea points her gun at me while the other women takes the chance and escapes.
Andrea stares me down and shoots me in the head and everything goes black.
———
I wake up on the freezing cold floor of the warehouse handcuffed to the radiator. My head feels like someone replaced my brain with a live grenade and pulled the pin.
"All this time...Rick and Daryl were so worried about your safety, putting their lives on the line for you! And turns out that you can't die!" Andrea yells at me in her bitchy and annoying voice as she paces back and forth.
"And you attacked Philip! You know you completely destroyed his left eye! Not that you would care because you are a selfish asshole!" She screams and storms off.
"Philip?! What kind of name is Philip?!" I just chuckle and she turns back around.
"Of course you would think this is funny! I bet this whole thing was your idea!" She yells and I give her a confused look.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I ask pissed off that she would accuse me of something that I would probably actually do...
"Don't act like you don't know! Most of the group was here shooting down this town because of you!" She huffs crossing her arms and turns her back to me.
"Wait...they know I'm here?" I ask puzzled.
"Yeah, they knew Maggie and Glenn were being interrogated along with you!" She explains to me like I'm the dumbest person on planet earth.
"Maggie and Glenn?! Since when?!" I ask.
"This morning! Maggie was being asked questions in this room!" She yells at me.
I look around and recognize this as the table the Governor bent me over. My blood boils and I get angry and lose my temper. I yank my arm and something snaps, not caring if I completely destroyed my arm.
Wide-eyed, Andrea points her gun at my head again. I can tells she's scared of me and then I look down and see that I broke the handcuffs instead of a damaged arm. My wrists are completely unscathed.
What the hell? I think to myself.
I start to get a boost of confidence knowing that I'm capable of something so incredible. I start moving towards Andrea with a devilish grin.
"D-do-don't move!" She stutters.
I give her a smirk and take her gun before she can pull the trigger.
"Well, this is an interesting predicament you're in isn't it?" I sneer.
I aim the gun at her but before I can pull the trigger a gunshot goes off and I'm laying on the ground.
I look and see the Governor holding Andrea tight hugging her and comforting her. Fucking Damnit!!!! He shot me in the fucking neck! I think to myself before I black out.
———
I wake up to gunshots going off but can't move a muscle since the Governor paralyzed me from the neck down. My vocal chords aren't even completely repaired yet so I can't make any noise either.
Daryl's POV:
Rick has been away for a few days now and Beth has been taking care of Little Ass Kicker. I search the woods hoping to find any clues that Keres might have left behind but don't find any.
She's only gonna be found if she wants to be found. I remind myself that truth every day.
I ended up finding Carol in a closet the other day, which was a huge relief. I don't think I could take losing someone else.
Everyone else seems to be carrying on just fine without Keres here, but I'm miserable. No one else seems to care that she's gone. Carol told us that she saw Keres kill T-Dog in his final moments, and she also shot Andrew in the head so Rick could turn off the alarm. And the biggest one of all that everyone here seems to forget is that Little ass Kicker wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for Keres stepping up and doing what she had to do.
After Carl and I clear out some walkers we see Rick come outside. Carl goes running up to him and hugs him and introduced him to Little Ass Kicker. They end up naming her Judith.
Judith...of all names you could choose from... that's the one they picked? I think to myself.
Rick's POV:
I hang up the phone and go outside hoping to see that Keres came back. The air is fresh and the birds are chirping. Carl runs up to me and introduces his little sister. It breaks my heart that I did that to them. That I left them in a time of need. But I didn't know what else to do.
Carl names her Judith after his 3rd grade teacher, even though Keres apparently nicknamed her Little Ass Kicker. I pick her up and cradle her in my arms.
"So is Keres back yet?" I ask Daryl as he comes walking over.
He just shakes his head with disappointment.
"Maggie and Glenn went to go get supplies for Little Ass Kick-." Daryl starts but stops when Carl runs off towards the fence.
I give Judith to Beth and go after Carl. Then I see her. There's a woman with some type of sword and a bag of baby supplies in her hand. Carl and I quickly open up the gates to let her in and we lock her up to make sure she's not a threat.
It turns out her name is Michonne and she came from a town called Woodbury.
"I saw the people who got these supplies taken by a man that was hunting me down. I know where you can find them but you need me to come with in order to get them back. I know how to get in and out of the place." She explains.
Daryl's Pov:
Merle and I escape Woodbury with the rest of the group after the crazy ass Governor tried to get us to kill each other. For a moment I was actually scared that Merle would really do it. He had a sword for a hand, that was the last thing I expected.
"Daryl, you coming?" Rick asks me. I look between Rick and Merle.
"I'm guessing Merle isn't going to be welcome, so no. I'm going with him." I say knowing that there's nothing over at the prison for me.
Keres isn't coming back.
I head off with Merle into the woods and we set up camp. "Yeah, just you and me little brother! Just like old times!" Merle cheers in his gravely smoker's voice and I grunt in response.
———
The next morning we start heading towards a river. I start hearing a baby crying but tell myself that it's in my head. But then I hear it again and start following where the sound is coming from.
"Whoa little bro? Where you goin'?" Merle asks.
"Do ya hear that! That's a baby cryin'." I say and keep walking.
I look up and see walkers attacking someone on the bridge and I rush to go help them ignoring Merle's complaints.
Once we've killed all the walkers Merle points his gun at the mom in the car. "What the hell you doin'?!" I yell.
"Wha? Jus' like ole times!" Merle says but I make him put his gun down and shoo the people to drive off.
"Damn! Who made my little bro so soft?" Merle mocks.
"Shu'dup." I say.
"Hey I'm talking' to you." Merle says as he grabs me and we start fighting and he accidentally rips my shirt revealing the scars on my back.
"Sorry, I didn't know..." Merle apologizes.
"Ya maybe cus you weren't there!" I shout at him.
"You think this is bad, you should see-." I start but then stop when I think about Keres.
"Never mind I'm going' back where I belong." I say and start walking away.
"I may be the one that's walkin' away. But you're the one that's leavin'." I tell Merle.
Keres' Pov:
The gunfire ceases and I start getting feeling back in my body. I'm chained to the ceiling dangling again and blindfolded. But I have clothes on still.
Andrea isn't here anymore, Philip probably told her to stay away from me to keep her safe. But I know it's because he wants to have his way with me.
I start to get exhausted again after a few hours of trying to pull myself up to be able to breathe. Before I know it I start dying over and over again. My energy dwindling on an unending loop. Just dying and coming back is exhausting as it is, plus trying to breathe...I don't have a fucking chance.
A few days go by and finally I hear someone enter. "Come on in Philip!" I say in a cheerful tone.
I don't need to see his face to know his expression.
I continue, "I mean what kind of parents name their kid Philip? I mean the last name Blake is pretty badass but the Philip in front of it just ruins it. Why not something like Austin or Jaxon, and if you want to go more traditional even Johnathan or David. But your name, your name sounds like your parents were drunk and spun a globe and landed on the Philippines and said 'yup that's gonna be our child's name' and then passed out." I drone on.
A growl erupts deep from his throat and I hear his footsteps coming closer. He yanks my blindfold off and grabs my jaw so I'm staring into his eyes.
"You think you're so funny don't you?" He growls and I look at him with a smirk.
"I think I'm fucking adorable" I gloat.
His lip twitches in anger. He lets go of my jaw and starts to pace back and forth. Then he gets a big grin on his face.
"You know, just when I thought I figured you out and tamed the beast within, you turn around and make the same old stale jokes. I mean if you really were a threat to me or anyone for a matter of fact, you would have gotten yourself down from there." He chuckles with that stupid grin.
"Well? I'm waiting...no? That's what I thought." He scoffs and I just roll my eyes.
"See, like I said...I own you and there's nothin you can do bout it. Plus you have to depend on me for everything; food, water, you even need my help to wipe yourself after you take a piss. You're like a little helpless infant, and that, that's your true torture." He sneers in my face so I just spit in it.
"Oh, wooks wike somebody's getting a wittle cwanky." He coos as if he were talking to an infant.
Rick's Pov:
I kept seeing Lori everywhere for a while but when we were in Woodbury I saw Shane. I know it wasn't really him but it felt so real. He was holding a gun and shooting at me.
Part of me thinks it's because I'm just worried about Keres. Daryl put on a good front for the group but I knew he was hurting. If he wasn't he wouldn't have left with Merle.
Now Glenn and Maggie are having drama because of what went down in Woodbury, and Hershel is trying to talk with them both. Beth has been a god-send by taking care of Judith for me when I...well...was loosing my mind.
I'm outside of the fence thinking about all of this when suddenly Axel is shot in the head and I see the Governor and his men pulling up in trucks. We go running for cover as the bullets start wizzing past us.
Damnit where's Keres when you need her?! I ask myself.
Suddenly a van barges through the fence and walkers start piling out of it. Walkers from the woods start coming towards the gunshots. I see Carol under Axel's body using it as cover. The Govenor and his men drive off and walkers start swarming me. Just when I thought I was a goner I see an arrow go through a walker's head.
Daryl and Merle help me fight off the walkers so we can get inside safely. The prison yard is full of walkers now.