"See anything?," Austin asks me, focusing on the hole he's digging with Daryl.
"Nope. Nothing.," I reply, concentrating through the scope of my rifle as I keep watch. The funeral for Johnny was depressing; his family wouldn't stop weeping. Daryl and Austin are currently digging the grave for Johnny.
"So...Daryl...," Austin says, his voice sounding like a little boy kissing up to his parents. "What about that bike of yours?," He says. I can imagine the grin he has on his face right now. Although Johnny is 25, he acts like he is 17.
"There ain't no way you're taking my bike. Do you even know how to ride?," Daryl says, his tone harsh. I chuckle at the two. They've been at it ever since we came out here.
"Well, I can learn fast. Nicole can help me too.," Austin says, looking over at me. I look over, raising an eyebrow.
"Now why would I help you?," I ask, laughing as I speak.
"Because you can ride, right?," he asks, his eyes in a horrible attempt at looking like a puppy's. I roll my eyes, my eyebrow still raised.
"Well, yeah, but I haven't in a while.," I say, returning back to my scope to keep watch. So far nothing but a few stray walkers.
"You ride?" I hear Daryl's voice as I hear one shovel stop.
"Yeah. My brother and I...we used to ride.," I say, my voice lowering as I mention my brother. They seem to understand what happened to my brother. He was killed early on when the whole thing happened. I had to take him out myself.
"Oh. Sorry about your brother.," Daryl says, returning to his shoveling. I nod, not removing my concentration from the rifle.
"Well, then how about Nicole and I ride into town on the bike?," Austin says, looking up at Daryl with a childish look. He really wants to ride that bike.
"Ain't no one riding it other than me. Rick's gonna have to let me be the one taking it into town like it or not.," He says, putting his shovel down. I look over to see the hole large enough for Johnny. He and Austin walk over to the wrapped up corpse of Johnny's little body. Blood stains the blanket where his head is. They had to put him down.
"I guess the Governor wont care if it's Daryl or not. He's too crazy to care anymore.," I say, looking at the two of them for a moment. They nod in agreement.
"I guess you're right. So can I at least ride with you Daryl?," Austin says, his kid spirit still full of hope. They place Johnny's body in the hole and grab their shovels.
"Have you ever been on a bike?," Daryl asks, leaning an arm on his shovel as he licks his lips. Austin lets out a sigh.
"No. That's why I wanna ride one so bad.," Austin replies, looking down as he begins to bury Johnny. I watch as Daryl rolls his eyes.
"This ain't no game man. We'll see what Rick thinks anyways. Lets just hurry up and finish.," Daryl says, crushing Austin's little spirit. He sighs as he continues to work on the grave. I look back over to the forest, watching for anything. The second I see the Governor, I'm going to shoot him.
"Alright, done.," Daryl says, stomping on the ground to harden the dirt. He flicks his head to the inside of the prison, telling us to go. Austin and I nod as we follow Daryl in. Daryl and Austin have their shovels slung across their shoulders while I hold my gun with both hands.
"'Ey Rick.," Daryl says, walking up to Rick. I look over to see everyone in their cells. I hear faint cries all around the room. The only ones out are Carl and Kailee as they comfort Kenzy. My heart breaks as I see little Kenzy sob. Carl's protective arms are wrapped around her. Kailee is holding onto her back.
"You guys decided yet?," Rick asks, walking up to us.
"Sort of.," Austin says, looking like a kid who received coal on a Christmas morning. I feel slightly bad for him. Maybe when this is all over, I'll take him to find some bike and teach him how to ride. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
"Alright, lets go talk.," Rick says, leading us back into the room we talked in earlier. We all sit down in the same seats as last time. Rick's across from me, Daryl's to my left, and Austin's to my right.
"I can take Austin into town with me on my bike. The Governor wont care if it's me or not. Think about it, Merle's my brother. He'll want to kill me as much as him, so that'll make him show up for sure.," Daryl says, looking at Rick. I can see the hurt in his eyes as he mention's Merle. That's something we both have in common. We both lost brothers.
"True, but I need Austin to help take the Governor down. You're a good shot.," Rick says, focusing his look on Austin. Austin nods, and I can tell his spirit getting crushed once again. "Nicole, you ride in with Daryl. Bring baskets as if you are on a supply run.," he finishes, looking at me.
"Okay. And who else is going to go with Austin, and how are we gonna get them there undetected?," I ask, tilting my head to the side a bit.
"I'll ask Glenn, Maggie, Sawyer, and Michonne if they want to go.," Rick replies to me.
"I'll sneak them into town through the woods. They can hide in a supply store until Nicole and I get there.," Daryl says, looking at Rick and Austin. The two nod, pleased with the plan.
"I'll go tell the others. In the mean time, can you take my spot on watch with Michonne and tell her what's going on, Austin?," Rick asks Austin, looking right in his solid brown eyes. He nods, standing up.
"Lets go.," I say as I too stand up. We all head out of the room, and into our stations. Rick starts calling everyone for an announcement, while I head upstairs to my mattress. Austin goes on watch with Michonne, and Daryl stands next to Rick as they call everyone up. I just sit on my mattress, blurring out all the words Rick has to say. The sun begins setting as I watch the light in the prison dim.
After Rick gives his encouraging speech, I hear Daryl start to gather everyone he is going to take into town. I hear the mumbles of instructions he gives out. He is going to take them out tomorrow night, and the following day is when we ride into town. For now, all we can do is prepare.
I decide to just sharpen my knife; I don't have much to do in this. All I need to do is basically show my face. I pull out my whet stone in one of my bags, put on a few drops of oil, and begin to sharpen away. I begin to loose focus as I continue to sharpen my knife. My brother Travis enters my mind. We'd both be dead right now if it weren't for Woodbury.
"Ouch!," I mutter as I look down at my hand. I accidentally cut myself while in deep thought. I groan as I place my hand on the small cut. It isn't that bad. It'll heal in a few days, hopefully. I sigh as I put my freshly sharpened knife in my boot. I pack up my whet stone and lay down on my side on the mattress, waiting to be needed. There's nothing I can do to help right now; all I can do is wait to be needed.
Everyone is grabbing dinner by now, so I decide to get up and go get some. I'm really hungry today because I never ate lunch. As I walk down the stairs, I hear 'good luck' from everyone I pass by. It makes me feel slightly uneasy. This shouldn't be so hard, right? I mean, it's not like I'm being sentenced to death.
I sigh as I grab my lunch and go to sit next to Austin, Sawyer, and Beth. Rick went back on his watch duty with Michonne, relieving Austin from taking over. I smile as I sit next to Beth. Sawyer flicks his head hello, while Austin gives me a small smile, which fades as quickly as it comes.
"Something wrong, Austin?," I ask, concern shinning in my eyes. Austin and I can always tell when we are upset or not. It's something we picked up back at Woodbury.
"No.," he says as he takes a bite of his food. I sigh, rolling my eyes. He knows I can tell when he's lying.
"Is it because of the motorcycle thing?," I ask, still looking at him as I take a bite of my food. He nods, looking down. Beth and Sawyer are talking, so they are too distracted to listen to us talk.
"Yeah. I guess so.," He says, not moving his hurt glance from his dinner.
"Hey, how about I take you out after we kill the Governor and find some bikes. I'll teach you how to ride.," I say with a smile. He looks up at me, his little kid spirit returning to him.
"Really!?," he asks, his eyebrows raising as his eyes light up. I nod, smiling. He's so adorable when he acts like a kid. He reminds me of Travis in a way. Once you break through that hard shell of his, he's like a lost puppy. Well, was.
After dinner, I go straight to my mattress and lie down. Today is exhausting. I want to get as much rest as I can. I yawn, closing my eyes. I drift off into a deep sleep.
I wake up, the sun shinning. I feel extremely refreshed and happy. Crap! What about watch? It's barely sunrise, so Daryl must be outside still. I quickly stand up, not bothering to grab my jacket as I head to the door. As I walk through, I see Daryl sitting down with one leg up as he rests his arm on it.
"Daryl, why didn't you wake me?," I ask, walking up to him. I feel bad for falling asleep all night, but I'm confused on why he didn't wake me.
"'Cause you needed your sleep.," he says, looking up at me. I sit down across from him, blocking the morning sunrise from blinding him.
"I was fine!," I say, guilt clear in my voice. I fold my arms, looking at his blue eyes. Dang, I wish I had his eyes. Same with Sawyer. They both have pretty blue eyes.
"Tomorrow's going to be a big day. Besides, I need ya to be rested so you can take watch for me tonight. I gotta take the group into town.," he says, finally convincing me to stop arguing.
"Alright. Well thanks...," I say quietly. As I look down at my leg, I remember Hershel told me I can take off my stitches today. I feel happiness at the thought. Daryl and I look over and see the door opening. Ryan and George walk through the doors. We nod them a hello as we hand them our guns. They hold the door open for us as we walk out.
"Don't mention it.," Daryl says with a side smile, replying to my thank you. Finally he actually accepts my thanks.
Today breezes by without any trouble. I'm waiting for my watch shift. Tonight I'll be alone. The group that's going to ambush the Governor suits up. They grab guns, knives, and food. I watch as Daryl reminds them of what to do. Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Sawyer, and Austin all watch Daryl, listening to whatever he has to say. I then turn my head over to Rick, who's calling us down for a short meeting as he walks in with Michonne from his watch shift.
"Everyone, I want to say thank you for helping us pull this plan through. The Governor has been threatening us for too long now, and it's time to get rid of him.," Rick says, pumping up the people. I hear them cheer in agreement as he continues to urge them on. As soon as he finishes speaking, Daryl and the group begin to head out. The group has to go by foot to eliminate any chance of getting caught by the Governor.
They head up the stairs, and take the walkway out. They must be going the same route Daryl and I took the night I got shot in the leg. That way leads directly to the forest. I grab the rifle we use for watch and head out to the walkway, starting my shift. Hours pass, and I see nothing. Finally, I see a man walking back. It's hard to see who it is, but I'm positive it's Daryl. I look through my scope as he walks into the light. I smile as I see the crossbow, reassuring me it's Daryl.
He's back unharmed. Good. I watch as he enters the gate and out of my sight. I soon hear footsteps heading towards me. I stand up as I see Daryl. The sun begins to rise. Right on time. We nod at each other as we head inside. Ryan and George head out after us as I hand them the guns. We walk up to Rick, who's wide awake.
"Nothing went wrong.," Daryl says, nodding at Rick.
"Good.," he replies as we follow him to the gate. "You two ready to go?," he asks, looking at us. We both nod, looking at Rick. He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Good luck.," he says, looking at us. I grab the basket we are pretending to get supplies with, and walk through the gate Rick opens. Daryl follows after me, walking along my side.
"You ready?," I ask Daryl, looking ahead as Rick readies the gate on the outside.
"Ready. We need to get rid of this Governor.," he replies, readjusting his crossbow on his shoulder. I nod as we walk over to his bike. He starts it up and hops on. He flicks his head at me, telling me to get on. I nod as I step on, holding onto his stomach. Rick opens the gate, and we ride through.
It's been a while since I've been on a bike. The morning air running through my face feels refreshing. The basket is hooked on my right arm as I hold onto Daryl as we ride into town. As soon as we near the supply store where our group is hiding in, we get off the bike. Daryl and I clear out a few walkers before anything happens. We hear a noise in the bushes, causing us to look over. The Governor walks out, his hands up.
"I come in peace, no need to be alarmed. I just want to talk," says the Governor, his one eye full of hatred as he smirks. Before our group can shoot the bastard, a giant group of men and women holding guns walks out of the bushes all around him.
"Now, we knew you had to restock some time, so we decided to wait for you here. Now it'd be suicide to try anything funny right now, so I suggest you put that fancy crossbow of yours down.," continues the Governor, his arms lowering. I watch in fear as Daryl lowers his crossbow, standing in front of me. I look down and see his right hand stick out to the group in the store. He's telling them to hold up.
"Yeah, and what do you want.," Daryl says, flicking his head at the Governor as he gags the word 'you.' He protectively places his left arm as he holds me back.
"For you to come talk with us.," smirks the Governor.