WAR. WAR NEVER changes. Even when the world as it was known had been tilted upside down, birthing the undead to roam the streets — war never changes. If war had simply been distinguished as a state of armed conflict, then the Governor had already declared it. He had tarnished the barricades of the prison as easily as the snap of his fingers; his fingers that didn't know how to control themselves. Power was the only thing that could satisfy the insatiable hole flourishing inside him, with his target already chosen. The prison — a fortified palace for the frightened group that inhabited it, with only one issue. Uncertainty. If living in squalor with the only driving force to survive is to come out on top — victorious was what defined war, then the world had truly declared it. If it had taught Ellie anything, it is that war never changes.
If the threat of war simply wasn't enough to stimulate fear, then the overwhelming silence from leaders in the group had been for many of the more vulnerable members. The fear of losing the strong clutch they had fought so hard to secure on the prison was merely allowing them to plummet in their own turmoil. Rick remained distant in his leadership, leaving Ellie to handle all the matters at hand at the prison. It was a burdensome task that she just could not handle alone.
Every moment she was left alone to handle the chaos surrounding them left her warier of the Governor's next move. She had to think of something.
At the dinner table, Ellie glanced up from her untouched plate of dried food, and shot Maggie a nod, inquiring, "Where's Rick?"
"He left for a run earlier today with Michonne and Carl," Maggie replied as a gentle smile toyed at the edges of her lips, "He should be back later on today."
Ellie's face fell as she absorbed Maggie's words. Ellie clenched her jaw at the internal gush of disappointment looming in her stomach, irritably standing to her feet to be excused from dinner. She muttered brief pleasantries as she scampered off down the hallway, and aimed directly for Merle's cell. Her legs carried her before her mind could fathom her actions, until instinctively she halted when Daryl materialised from inside his cell. Brett stood at the door with his gun ready at hand, serving almost like a bodyguard to ensure Merle didn't escape, upon Rick's orders. Ellie briefly nodded at Brett, to which he simply reciprocated the action, remaining rigid in his position.
Daryl cleared his throat as he gently tugged Ellie aside from Brett's earshot, and sighed heavily before he declared, "There's somethin' you need to know."
"Daryl?" Ellie questioned softly as she observed the tears looking in Daryl's eyes, mirroring the ocean's gentle waves. She instinctively shot her hand up to cup his face, forgetting the tension. "What's happened?"
Daryl clenched his jaw to stifle the sob that built against the barriers of his throat, pounding to escape. Shakily, he spoke, "I couldn't let Merle stay here without you knowin' everythin'. I know you won't want to talk to me after this, so..."
With that, he simply bowed his head down, promoting a tear of his to drip onto the warmth of Ellie's skin. She sighed at the feeling, allowing his sadness to radiate into her. He roughly planted his desperate lips to her forehead, allowing them to linger as though he had been afraid to let go, before he, finally, pulled himself away, and instantly pushed Ellie in Merle's direction. Daryl's behaviour had struck an intrigue in Ellie, prompting her to huff at his dismissiveness. How cryptic Daryl's words had been left Ellie's teeth chattering with anxiety; her nails digging deep into the flesh of her palms as she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with anguish.
With a spring of reluctance, Ellie pushed open the cell door as she met Merle's gaze, observing his tearful eyes as they burned back at her. He cleared his throat as he gestured to a nearby chair, leaving Ellie to simply lean her head in confusion at his sudden display of emotion. It hadn't been anything like Merle to depict such accurate emotion of sadness, almost as though it had been genuine.
"Merle, what's going on?" Ellie questioned, her tone sounding harsher than intended. She sighed, her eyes fluttering shut briefly as she continued, "This is scaring me."
"I'm gonna tell you a story," Merle announced, his voice cracking loudly as he dropped his gaze to the ground to regain himself, "It's easier that way."
"Okay..." Ellie muttered, her blue eyes flashing with confusion as she stared intently at her old friend.
Merle cleared his throat once again to rid it off the lump that had formed, and gruffly began his story with, "Once upon a time, back in the groovy old days of the seventies, there was this... army fella. Tall, handsome old guy. He was a soldier. Hard as nails. They all knew him around town as The B—"
"Beast," Ellie whispered, finalising his sentence as she understood the story to be of her father. She released a shaky breath as her mind wandered back to her father, and said, "Why him?"
Merle simply blinked in response, continuing quietly, "There weren't nobody who wasn't scared of him. But, he became the good guy. Married a nice lady at the church. He became the good guy once again."
"He sure did."
"He was the guy you saw in adverts. The happy guy with the great family, great car, great kids..." Merle choked out, his eyes welling as he fought back a loud sob, "Even happy people hurt on the inside..."
"Merle," Ellie warned, her voice cracking as a tear trailed down her cheek, "what is the purpose of this?"
"The fastest way to escape is always drugs, you know all about that, our Marilyn," Merle scoffed sadly, huffing at his past stupidity. He swallowed hard before continuing, "Dope always was the worse for that. That first hit... ain't nothin' like it. You always go back wanting more. Chasin' the dragon..."
Ellie held her hand up to silence the man as she felt her chest tighten at the image he had been illustrating before them. A painful image Ellie had desperately attempted to bury for the long, excruciating years of her life, only to be resurfaced when least expected. She was happy in the knowledge that she had found her father deceased; needle in arm, only, she hadn't needed a reason. It was the way it was. Until now.
"I can tell you that because every time I went back... You feel like the world ain't so heavy no more," Merle muttered, his voice dropping low as he battled his own inner demons. He sighed loudly, "An addict will always put themselves first. It's the way it is. Even when they don't want to, they can't help it. I am the champion of that, huh?"
Ellie huffed loudly, her eyes involuntarily rolling, "Understatement of the century."
"Ellie, you gotta believe me when I say I didn't know how hooked he was to the stuff," Merle suddenly croaked, his head shaking repeatedly as he tucked his chin down to his chest, "If I had known..."
Time slowed down in an instant, halting for Ellie's mind to attempt to catch up to the words she had been hearing. Piecing the puzzle together was simple when the answer was so clear; so evident. How could she not have seen before? How Merle had been entirely responsible for the death of Ellie's father, for having sold him that lethal dose of heroin. A split second of a decision made for money would haunt Merle for the remainder of his life.
"I only needed some more cash, I... I could've got it anywhere else," Merle muttered, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his mind tormented him for his part in his death. He groaned before he stated, "Ellie, you have no idea how sorry I am. You gotta believe me."
Ellie's mouth hung open ever so slightly as the words she had been desperate to speak had been stuck in her throat. The air in her lungs no longer felt fresh, but hot and heavy like a sauna room, slowly suffocating her by the second. She shook her head at his words, defiantly battling against the majority as always.
"That's where Daryl went when he left me," Ellie gritted, her eyes raising from the ground to meet the most evident sincerity Merle had ever displayed. She released a shaky breath, clutching onto her surroundings for comfort, "You didn't say anything?"
"How could I?" Merle replied rhetorically, his chest tightening as he thought back to before the incident. He sighed, "There's more to this story that my baby bro ain't told you."
Ellie buried her face in her palms as she groaned as she felt almost as though her brain had thumping against her skull. She raised her gaze back to Merle as she stated, "No more."
"That brother of yours made damn sure we stayed away from you when you found out you were pregnant," Merle sighed, his head shaking at the thought, "Came bargin' into my bar at my hometown with that little gun of his. It was cute. I didn't believe the whole pregnant thing, didn't feel the need to tell Daryl. On we went with life."
"Daryl stopped talking to me to get your sorry ass out of jail," Ellie spat, her eyes burning deep into Merle's with bitterness, "I told you on the phone I was pregnant, guess you were too doped up to remember that, huh?"
"Because when I was doped up I went to your damn brother and told him the whole thing. He took me right down to that cell and held me there, said he'd only let me go if we both got the hell outta Atlanta."
Ellie clenched her eyes shut as the memory of her brother became more distorted than ever before. Missing puzzle pieces prevented Ellie from seeing his true self, leaving him incomplete. He was only ever incomplete when his family wasn't safe, and it was Ellie's turn to return the favour.
"Daryl would have stayed if he had known..." Ellie muttered, her voice catching in her throat as a sob dared to escape, "He could've known... we could've been happy!"
Merle huffed as he flashed Ellie a toothy grin of resentment, "You think I don't know that? Ain't two ways about it."
"You asshole!" Ellie growled as she gripped the man by the chunk of his neck, and slammed him against the wall, her eyes burning with rage. "I ought to kill you!"
"Ellie!" Daryl called out as he burst into the cell, internally grateful that his own instincts had brought him back to the cell to prevent uproar. "Ellie, calm down!"
"Calm down?" she boomed, promoting her to release the brother, and grip onto Daryl instead, balling his shirt up in her fists, "You knew all this time..."
Daryl shoved Ellie's hands from his chest as gently as he could, flashing a scowl at Ellie as she glared right back. He huffed, "It wouldn't have been right for me to tell ya."
"Bullshit," Ellie spat as she escaped the cell, wandering towards the courtyard as she desperately needed just a small wash of fresh air over her skin.
Ellie burst through the door, instantly falling to her knees as she felt the gentle breeze encapsulate the heat inhabiting her body. How could anyone react to news as paralysing as the death of her own father at the hand of her old friend? It was apparent more than ever to Ellie that the universe would never be short in supply of trauma, yet, somehow, it never made it easier to cope. Ellie trembled as she felt her bones rattle inside her, like each bone were to shatter with the slightest movement. The fragility was too much.
She panted heavily as she attempted to steady her breathing, remaining entirely unfazed by Rick as he called her name from afar as she drowned out his voice with her own breathing. Rick immediately jogged over to the woman, disturbed by her inability to stabilise her breathing, and gently raised her face with his thumb and index finger.
"Ellie, what's going on?" he inquired as he stared intensely into the abyss of Ellie's eyes.
Ellie frowned as she felt the tears trail gently down her cheek, prompting Rick to brush them away instinctively. She shakily mumbled, "We can talk about it another time. What's going on inside? I saw the guns on the table."
"We're going to negotiate with the Governor," Rick sighed as he slumped to the ground, sitting alongside Ellie with his elbows resting on his knees, "I need you there with me."
"I'll be there," Ellie smiled, shooting a nod of reassurance at Rick. He smiled back as she spoke softly, "We'll get him."
Rick flashed a grateful grin in Ellie's direction, pleaded with her decision to apply her evident skills when it came to decision making. She sighed as she instantly knew River would be first in line at the opportunity to confront the Governor, propelling Ellie back in the direction of the prison. Ellie halted as she spotted her sister in the dining area, a smirk plastered on her face as she scoped out the perfect weapon from the table.
"Ro, I can't have you coming with us," Ellie muttered sheepishly as her gaze remained glued to the table beside her sister, rather than her eyes.
River huffed sarcastically as she turned to face the rest of the group, "That is buffo! So funny, indeed. You hear that? She actually thinks I won't go," she stood to her feet from the step she had been leaning against, and folded her arms across her chest as she gritted, "I'm going. I'm gonna know exactly how it feels to have my gun right against—"
"Keep dreamin', kid," Daryl scoffed, interrupting River from the intense imagery she had been illustrating.
River merely connected her eyes with Daryl's from across the room as she cryptically dragged her words out as she replied, "Grazie, but it won't be a dream much longer, Dixon."
"River, we have to be smart about this," Ellie scolded the younger sibling, whose eyes froze over with disappointment at Ellie's lack of support, "Trust me, not a second goes by where I don't want to cut his throat, but I promise, we'll get there."
>>>
The drive to the negotiation point had been silent as Ellie sat alongside River in the backseat, with Hershel the other side of River. Rick occasionally glanced back at Ellie through the mirror to confirm her safety, sporadically leaping with his eyes at the chance to catch a glimpse of their safety. If anything happened to either Ellie or River, there would be no way Rick could ever forgive himself for such intense casualties. The car came to a sudden jolt, prompting Ellie to leave River in the car with Hershel, despite her resistance. Ellie followed sheepishly after Daryl and Rick as they led her to their destination, until they halted in hesitance. The trio quietly pursued their path as they zoomed past buildings and oil tankers, almost ominously placed for effect.
The trio shortly arrived at a small building; a worn down house that appeared quiet from the outside. Daryl entered the house first, inspecting the building with his crossbow aimed at his disposal as his eyes observed the room materialising around him. The room had been empty, with a small table on the stage ahead of the room. Rick entered second, holding his hand out to hold Ellie's trembling hand as she entered after him, and gently led her to where Daryl had halted.
Ellie's gun raised instinctively as the Governor surprisingly materialised from what appeared to be thin air, promoting Rick and Daryl to raise their weapons at his angered glare. The Governor's hands folded into a mock surrender as he connected his eye with Rick's, until finally he spoke.
"We have a lot to talk about," the Governor declared, his voice low and gruff as he persisted with his eye contact.
"You attacked us. Makes things pretty clear," Rick stated, ensuring his eyes remained fastened on the Governor to prevent any sneak attacks.
The Governor's eyebrows merely raised, his voice dominating and patronising as he declared, "I was trying to make things clear. I could have killed you all, I didn't."
"And here we are," Ellie hissed, shifting her arms to fold across her chest assertively.
A silence befell then. Rick's eyes immediately latched onto the Governor's finger as it shifted sneakily down to his gun. Rick didn't hesitate to draw his weapon in unison with Ellie, the sight directly aimed at the Governor's head. The Governor remained entirely unfazed, simply holding his hands up in surrender as a maniacal smirk curled onto the edges of his lips. Ellie's gun dangled in preparedness ahead of his face, prompting him to slowly trail his eyes from the barrel of Rick's gun to hers. She was the one to look out for.
"I'm going to remove my weapon, show that I mean to negotiate in good faith," the Governor announced, a sickly smile remaining painted on his lips, "I'd like you both to do the same. May I?"
The Governor cleverly leaned down to his holster, displaying his fabricated act of kindness as he removed his holster belt slowly. He dangled it ahead of Rick's eyesight, ensuring he viewed his movements clearly. It was all a show to him. He leaned behind him slowly, attaching the holster belt to a random hook he had encountered. It had taken Ellie an impressive and significant amount of strength to withhold the murderous tendencies she had been burying deep within her. Every moment he had been breathing felt like hell. All wars are planned out ahead of time, Ellie knew she'd get her chance.
"See?" he challenged rhetorically, raising his eyes to meet Ellie's glare of disturbance. The Governor curled his hands in surrender once again, finalising quietly, "No trouble. Now you."
Rick and Ellie exchanged brief eye contact, understanding the other's body language entirely. Rick instantly stepped back, holstering his weapon as Ellie mirrored his actions, boldly asserting that they would remain armed for their own safety. They were never about to play into his hands, regardless of how superior he may have deemed himself to be. He was never going to win.
"Well... suit yourselves," the Governor contended, shrugging as he slowly lowered his body to sit at the table. He shortly gestured for the two to join him.
Refusing to take orders from a bully, the two stood alongside one another as they stared ahead at the Governor, refusing to falter entirely as they remained dignified. He would never be superior to them, no matter how delusional he had truly been. The Governor shot the two a hot glare of confusion, dissatisfied by their defiance, although he had already been heavily accustomed to Ellie's defiance by then. Interrupting the standoff, the trio had been alerted to the door opening suddenly, revealing Andrea as she scampered into the room. Ellie rolled her eyes instinctively, but remained fastened to the ground ahead of the Governor.
"What's going on?" Andrea inquired, her eyebrows furrowed as she paused alongside Ellie, who simply staggered away.
"Nothing," the Governor replied coolly, his dark eyes twinkling menacingly as he turned his gaze to Ellie, "Your friends aren't much for small talk."
Ellie scoffed as she leaned down to the table, inching closer to the Governor's face as she gritted her teeth, "Oh, you want to talk? Start talking, you motherfucker."
"Ellie... I wanted you to talk. Too many people have died for no reason. Let's end this, save the bullets for the real enemy," Andrea stated, her weak attempts at unifying the settlements had been laughable to every individual in the room, including the Governor.
"Even if the world were to run out of bullets, I would never stop trying to take him down," Ellie hissed, her tearful eyes connecting with Andrea's as she attempted to reach out to Ellie, to console her, until she tore her arm away.
Andrea inched closer to the table, averting her gaze from Ellie to Rick, attempting to sway his opinion as she continued, "We can solve this. That's why I asked you to come here."
"I know what you've done," Rick spat, intensely burning holes into the Governor's face with his eyes, "I know about the raids, the heads, Maggie... River."
"Merle did that," the Governor retorted, entirely unfazed by the accusations at hand. He had been far too nonchalant for Ellie.
At his response, Ellie immediately kicked at the table hard, knocking it into his chest abruptly slightly. He remained still, despite the impact, enjoying the show Ellie had been displaying. Her actions were a sign of weakness to the man; simply proving to him what her weak spots were. Her sister.
"No, you know what I'm talking about," Rick growled, his eyes flickering between both the Governor and Ellie as she paced back and forth.
The Governor remained silent. He was clever enough to refuse the allegations, virtually deeming himself guilty on the spot, but while wholeheartedly knowing his nonchalance would be sceptical, too. He settled on an uneven smirk as he replied, "You know all about me and I know all about you. I don't care about any of that. We're here to move forward."
Andrea draped her body loosely across the table, leaning the sweatiness of her palms up against the wood. She was certainly way out of her depth in the discussion, seemingly irrelevant when there had been such powerful influencers surrounding her. Andrea broadcasted a sigh of irritation as she shook her head slowly.
"I've known you all at different times, but only after the world went to shit, and you all stepped up for the good of others at great personal risk. There's no reason—"
The Governor interrupted Andrea coolly, clicking his fingers like she had been a controlled animal as his words rolled from his tongue, "Get to it."
"You don't talk to her like that," Ellie growled, slowly ushering her finger to remove the safety from her weapon from her side, which instantly alerted Andrea.
Andrea's eyes lit up with warning, boring intensely into Ellie's until she, finally, faltered and relaxed her tense arm. Despite the lack of response, Rick didn't hesitate to display a folded map onto the table, allowing it to slide towards the Governor slowly. He took it in his hands hesitantly, his eyebrows raised as he peeked back up to Rick, whose eyes held a determination unlike no other.
"Woodbury takes west of the river, prison takes east," Rick asserted, shooting the Governor a nod as he unfolded the map slowly in his hands, "No one crosses, no one trades."
"He's right. We should hammer out boundaries and leave each other alone," Andrea added, her eyes lingering over Ellie as she hoped they could team up, only to be met by the coldness of Ellie's eyes.
The Governor's lips twisted into a dissatisfied frown as he challenged, "What is this?"
"The only solution that doesn't involve me slicing your throat," Ellie barked, but ceased slightly upon obediently noting Rick's glare.
"Absolutely not," he declined through sarcastic cackles as he thumped the map onto the table dismissively.
Through gritted teeth and flared nostrils, Rick instantly hissed, "What the hell are we doing here?" he turned to glare at Andrea dramatically, "You told me..."
"You told him what?" the Governor inquired, appalled by Andrea's frequent involvement with matters that simply did not require her.
With his temper flaring, Rick strutted to Ellie's side, hovering angrily around the table as he spat, "You told me he was willing to talk!"
Calmly, with his demeanour slow and steady, the Governor sighed as he replied, "I am. But, the truth is, Rick, she's in no position to make such an offer. And Ellie's in no position to dish out empty threats. I'm here for one thing only — your surrender."
"You don't get to bully us into following your orders, we aren't your scared little dolls at Woodbury," Ellie boomed, which instantly alerted Daryl from the outside.
"You want a surrender? Come get it. If you think we hit Woodbury heavy last time—" Rick attempted to threaten, until Andrea eased into the conversation once again.
"Just take it easy, alright? We're here to settle this," Andrea calmly declared, which had been Ellie's moment to snap. Finally, she allowed the pent up rage to snap within her, prompting her to hastily approach Andrea.
Ellie halted before her, her dark eyes swirling with a blistering fury Andrea had never witnessed before. She exclaimed boldly, "I've played the nice guy. You got what you both want, to induce a little fear, warn us off..." her voice trailed off as she draped her body over the table, darkly shooting a threatening glare at the Governor, "Believe me, we're just getting started. You may think you're winning, but I promise you, the second you're not looking, I will fucking kill you."
"That's enough!" Andrea barked, prompting the Governor to hold his hand out to her dismissively, despite the growing smirk on his lips.
He enjoyed Ellie's outbursts; it read him a story of a woman whose loyalty simply knew no bounds. His version of the story would have her dead by the crescendo; her version simply allowed no room for such a cancer to exist to begin with. The Governor would easily mistake her rage to be weakness, whereas Ellie knew her rage had been the best weapon she could ever have been handed. Far too many people had hurt her in her lifetime for her to remain idle against a bully.
"You're right. Would you step outside?" the Governor ordered Andrea, despite her widened eyes of confusion.
"What?"
"Rick and I, we've got a lot to talk about," the Governor stated, a maniacal grin toying at the edges of his lips eerily.
Ellie gulped as she instinctively curled her fingers around Rick's arm, pulling him out of earshot of the Governor as she whispered, "I promise I won't do that again."
"You did good," the leader smiled adoringly, allowing their eyes to connect briefly. A moment of solace. He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before he continued, "It might be best if you give us some space."
Ellie nodded slowly, allowing her eyes to stare intensely into Rick's, "Please, find out as much as you can about River. You've got this, Rick."
The notion that Rick would have Ellie's support no matter how he had planned to proceed with the Governor was the only strength he needed. Knowing his family would be behind him regardless of the outcome was a rarity in such a chaotic world. The once habitable wasteland had been infiltrated by ghouls; soulless cancers that left no room for happiness. The Governor was a governor no longer, but had flourished in the name of Hades who stood tall over his underworld of Woodbury.
Ellie hesitantly stepped towards the door, feeling the Governor's eyes burning intense holes into the back of her head with each step. She halted suddenly, refusing to acknowledge the Governor as she bitterly declared, "Courage is looking fear right in the eye and being able to remain standing. Remember that."
With as the Governor absorbed the venom of her words, she exited the room with her eyes squinting against the sunlight, finally, proud of her response to the Governor. She rushed over to meet the rest of the group as they eagerly approached her, despite her evidently gloomy look. Her head swung low, shaking continually as she felt the rage finally escape her lips in the form of —
"Motherfucker!" she muttered, kicking at the closest thing she could find, which happened to be the wall closest to her.
"What happened?" Hershel's inquired in concern, ignoring as one of the Governor's men approached Ellie slowly.
Ellie's eyes shortly connected with the man's, prompting her to squint them at the slight familiarity of his voice and body. She trailed her eyes across his body, until, finally, she muttered, "You're the guy..."
"Martinez," he politely announced, peeking between Daryl's glare and River's polite smile. At least some of them had been kind.
Ellie sighed as she thought back to the events with the Governor, bowing her head once again as she declared, "He wants us to surrender. He thinks we're weak. I can't wait to wipe that smug smile off that bastard's face."
"We really are going to war, aren't we?" River sighed, her eyes twinkling with a distinct pleasure at the idea of personally ending the Governor's life, "He made the wrong move messing with us. I'll kill that figa."
"He basically tried to say it was all Merle's fault," Ellie explained to Daryl, her eyes briefly connecting with his. A spark.
Daryl cackled sarcastically at the Governor's comment, prompting him to gently nudge Ellie's arm. Another spark. "I bet you gave him hell."
"Of course she did," Andrea laughed gently, for she had already been witness to Ellie's passion previously.
Ellie's lips twisted into a devious grin as she replied, "Don't doubt that for a second." Gentle laughs erupted amongst them, until it died down once Ellie staggered closer to Martinez, "Do you enjoy being his pathetic little minion?"
Martinez bowed his head low, attempting to formulate a decent debate to her comment, to no avail. He, finally, sighed before replying coldly, "He don't control me. I just work for him."
"You just work for him," Ellie scoffed as she repeated his words, allowing her head to shake slowly, "I bet you knew." Martinez didn't need to question her to know instantly what she had been talking about. It was his biggest regret.
Martinez gulped and stared at the ground, "It was hard, she was yelling out for you." His eyes shifted over to River as she concealed her face, her head swinging low as she focused solely on the ground.
Ellie's bottom lip trembled as she lowered her gaze to her scruffy boots, avoiding his intense eye contact, "You couldn't have stopped it?"
"Ain't no excuse other than I was afraid," he merely replied, shrugging his shoulders as it became evident the pain of the Governor's actions had been too difficult to handle, "It ain't no excuse."
"There is no excuse for cowardice," River monotonously stated, without bringing her eyes up from the ground once.
"This is a joke, right? This... little negotiation? We ain't gonna work anything out," Martinez noted, his head nodding towards the shack that Rick and the Governor were still in.
"That's a promise," Ellie growled as she cocked her gun, spotting how Rick had suddenly left the building alone. She darted over to the sullen man, tugging gently at his arm as she inquired, "Talk back at the prison?"
Rick nodded in determination as he zoomed back towards the vehicle, gesturing for River and Hershel to enter with him. Ellie hesitated as she observed Daryl mounting his motorcycle, his eyes lingering over Andrea as she followed after the Woodbury citizens. Ellie sighed as she slowly strolled up to the motorcycle, her eyes trailing over Daryl's as he stared intensely with confusion. Without uttering a single word, Ellie climbed slowly onto the back of the motorcycle, allowing her arms to fold tightly around his torso. At her touch, Daryl felt his body trembling with anticipation, fearful that any sudden movements would result in her leaving. She gave the man a gentle squeeze, which was all he ever needed.
>>>
River trembled involuntarily in the back seat of the car, her limbs aching with the force of staying alive. Hershel persisted with staring at the teenage girl, ensuring she had been doing fine, despite her verbal confirmation. She was evidently suffering more than she had vocally discussed, with her fingers jabbing anxiously at the skin on her fingers; how her soundly fingers trembled as though there had been an earthquake. The only earthquake had been the one plaguing her mind.
Arriving at the prison, Hershel gently tugged Ellie aside out of River's earshot, kindly whispering, "You need to keep a good eye on that sister of yours. I don't think she's as strong as she's making herself out to be."
Ellie flashed a genuine smile of gratitude at the elder, placing her hand reassuringly on his arm as she replied, "Thank you for the concern, Mr Greene. It's great to know you've got her back. Let me know if anything else concerns you."
The squeaky door to the cellblock alerted the others of their arrival, prompting them all to gather in a circle with their eyes fastened on Rick. He nervously rubbed at his chin as he trailed his eyes over each group member, whose eyes had been more fearful than the last as they awaited Rick's comments. He knew there was no way he could give the Governor what he wanted without sacrificing something of theirs. But, how much of an asset would Michonne prove to be? It was essentially slavery that Rick would be contemplating; relinquishing Michonne of her rights as a human being. It just wasn't him.
"So, I met with this Governor. Sat with him for a while," Rick announced as he rested his hands on his hips.
"Just the two of you?" Merle inquired, his eyebrows raised with interest. He knew deep in the pit of his stomach that he would receive the blame, the Governor had always enjoyed shifting the blame to others.
Rick shook his head as he nodded in Ellie's direction, "Ellie was with me for a while, Andrea was, too. He asked them to leave."
"If I had stayed I would've killed with my bare hands," Ellie growled quietly, earning a slight chuckle of admiration from Merle.
"He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead... For what we did to Woodbury," Rick revealed, prompting a chorus of gasps to surround him from the group.
Ellie squinted her eyes curiously, biting softly at her bottom lip as she pondered his words. She had been present for the Governor's cryptic behaviour, where he, himself, had openly admitted to not wanting to kill them. Something hadn't been right about Rick's revelation. Rick's eyes instantly latched onto Ellie's, widening slightly as he pleaded with her with just one simple stare. He had been lying.
"Bullshit! What about what he did to us? He almost killed at least four people here!" River boomed, tears trailing down her cheeks as she dramatically paced back and forth.
"He doesn't care about that," Rick replied, his voice laced with a distinct rage that each member of the group identified clearly, "We're going to war."
A/N:
DEFFO ONE OF MY FAVE CHAPTERS I'VE EVER WRITTEN!