— EVEN THOUGH THE GROUP HAD JUST been attacked by the Governor and a few of his own people, Nate couldn't help but feel glad that his two brothers had returned to the prison in good health, as good as they can be. Merle wasn't exactly glad about being here, but he wasn't going to leave Daryl and Nate, even though his youngest brother chose a girl over him - he couldn't understand why he had done that, and he wanted to find out more about Zoe and why Nate loved her so much. Granted, Daryl had told him how much the two were good for each other, and Nate was a better person because of her, Merle just still couldn't understand how he could let a girl boss him around.
Zoe watched as Nate embraced his two brothers, the three Dixon's sharing a moment together; she couldn't help but smile at the sight, knowing that Nate was going to be so much happier now that his brothers were back, and even if she didn't like Merle since he had allowed the Governor to torture her and Glenn, he was still Nate's brother, and that meant he was Zoe's family, too. Daryl had even given Zoe a small side-hug when he saw her, making Nate even happier that his brother got along with his girlfriend. Zoe was just happy that Daryl didn't hate her.. The girl quickly got out of dodge when Merle joined the moment; she didn't want him touching her, not after what he did, but she was going to tolerate him, just because he was Nate's brother, and nothing else.
Luckily, Rick had ordered Merle to stay away from the group, meaning that he wasn't exactly allowed into the cell block unless Rick had an eye on him; after the whole Governor situation, he didn't trust him, and definitely did not want him near his daughter after she nearly died because of him. "We're not leaving." Rick told the group as they all circled around him after the Governor had attacked the prison and shot the place up, killing Axel in the process. Hershel seemed to think leaving was the best option, but Zoe knew that her dad was right, they should stay and fight for their home - they took this place, and they weren't going to run from it.
"We can't stay here." Hershel told Rick, trying to talk some sense into Rick at the fact that if they stayed here, they would end up dead. They weren't equipped to go up against Woodbury.
"What if there's another sniper?" Maggie asked, agreeing with her father that they should pack up and leave, "A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." She said to Rick.
"We can't even go outside." Beth added, scared to even leave their cell block in case of another attack from the Governor.
"If Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn interrupted everyone, knowing that Rick was the leader and they should listen to what he says. Not only that, but he wanted to kill the Governor for what he did to his best friend, if they ran, they wouldn't be able to do that.
Merle decided to speak up at this time, wanting to get his opinion in. "No, better to live like rats." Merle said from his place behind the cell door as he wasn't actually allowed in. Zoe stood with her arms crossed as she glared over at the older man, not liking that everyone was dictating her fathers decision to stay at the prison instead of run away from the Governor.
"You got a better idea?" Rick retorted, wearing the same facial expression as his daughter as he looked over at Merle.
"Yeah. We should've slid out of here last night, live to fight another day." Merle told Rick, his two brothers sighing at his words as they knew he was just digging himself a hole. "But we lost that window, didn't we?" He asked, annoyed that no one would listen to him. "I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now." He added, knowing the Governor and how he ran things in Woodbury.
"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl told Merle as he walked forwards on the upper floor.
Zoe nodded to Daryl's statement, "Isn't that what he wants? For us to run? Isn't he going to see that coming?" She asked, trying to figure out how the Governor thinks and what his next plan would be - but, considering the man was a psychopath, it was pretty hard to determine what the man was going to plan next.
Merle shook his head at the young girl, before looking up at his brother, "Y'all should he scared. That truck through the fence thing? That's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot. He could just starve us out if he wanted to." The man finished, everyone silent at his words, knowing that he was probably right, after all, he was the Governors right hand man.
As much as Zoe didn't like Merle, she knew that he was right; she had seen what the Governor could do close up, who's to stop him from storming into this place and murdering them all? She wouldn't put it past him, this man had problems, and he should not be leading a whole town of people, and even children. No one over there knew who he really was.. Nate saw the worry on his girls face, and lowered his hand on her back, stroking it soothingly so he could bring her some comfort.
"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie said, not liking the fact that Merle was here after everything he had done to Glenn and Zoe when he took them to Woodbury and straight to the Governor himself.
"No." Daryl spoke up, "He's got a point." He said, backing up Merle when no one else would, not even Nate, who had partly disowned the man as his brother after what happened with Zoe. Daryl didn't blame him, Merle was wrong for what he did to the girl and Glenn, but he was still their brother, and they shouldn't shut him out because he made a mistake.
"This is all you. You started this." Maggie yelled at Merle.
"What's the difference who's fault this is? We need to figure out what we do next." Zoe told Maggie, trying to diffuse the argument - if she could move past what Merle had done, then so could everyone else, and since they were all in this together, they all had to work together.
"I said we should leave." Hershel spoke up again, knowing that they didn't have a chance against the Governor and his men and the man didn't want to loose anyone else from the group. They had lost too much already. "Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." He pointed out, knowing that they had to do something. When Rick began to walk away again, Hershel stood up in anger, "Get back here!" He yelled, Rick standing still as he waited for Hershel to approach him, "You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why, but now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that, I put my family's life in your hands, so get your head clear and do something." He finished, Zoe feeling awful at the look on her fathers face, but knowing that Hershel was right, her dad needed to get his head back in the game and figure something out before another one of their people died.
As Rick walked away, Zoe sighed, knowing that her mother's death was lingering over his shoulders still; she understood that she was his wife, but the man needed to realise that she and Carl had lost their mother, and they weren't turning bat shit crazy like he was. He slipped up, and because of it, the Governor was getting the upper hand on them, and if he didn't come back to Earth soon, they were all going to suffer because of it..
No one wanted Merle living with them, but regardless of their opinions, he was staying, as Rick couldn't kick him out or Daryl would go with him, and they needed both of them. The leader knew of what Merle had done, and that he may have started everything with the Governor by kidnapping Zoe and Glenn, but he knew that Merle had experience with the Woodbury leader, and they could use that against them. Zoe was headed to the canteen to take a breather away from the others in the group, when she walked into the room with Merle in, the man taping a knife to his arm, the one that had been cut off. The girl sighed, knowing she would have to find a different place to be alone, but before she could even reach the door, Merle spoke up, stopping her in her tracks. "My brother really loves you. I can see it in the way he looks at ya." Merle said, Zoe not understanding why exactly Merle was talking to her. "'I never seen my brother so happy with a girl before." He added, now looking up at her.
The last time he really spoke to her alone, was when she was tied to a chair and he was questioning where the prison was; but times had changed, and he was now on her side. If he knew that Nate was so obsessed with this girl, he wouldn't have allowed the Governor near her, but he knew that he could never take what he did, back.
"Why are you telling me this?" Zoe asked, turning back around to face him with her arms crossed against her chest, "Last time we spoke, you set the Governor on me. You didn't even think twice before letting him know that I wasn't giving my home up." She told him, wanting to make him feel some sort of guilt for what he had done to her, the fact he had caused her so much trauma just by allowing the Governor near her.
Merle sighed, "You see, I wouldn't 'a let the old man near 'ya if I knew how my baby brother felt about you." The older man told the girl, wanting her to know that it would've been a completely different story if he knew what he knew now.
Zoe studied his face, and could see actual guilt, surprising her to no end due to how he had always acted towards her and her father. "I take it you know the kind of man he is? What he does? What he did?" She asked, wanting to know if he knew exactly what the Governor did to her, she didn't deserve it.
Merle nodded slowly, the guilt of hurting his brothers girl even more prominent, now. "I'm sorry, kid." He said, surprised at himself for apologising, as it was something he didn't like to do.
Zoe looked at him in confusion, before she heard someone walk up behind her, "Zo?" Nate asked, having been looking for her everywhere and hadn't been able to find her, when he saw her in the room with his brother, he couldn't be more confused. "Merle?" He asked, looking at his oldest brother, "You two talkin'?" He asked the two of them.
Zoe nodded, "We were." She told her boyfriend, noticing the confused look on the boys face, before looking back at Merle and noticing that the man looked quite sad at the fact that Nate didn't exactly want anything to do with him. "He apologised." Zoe added, Nate's face turning even more confused.
"He what?" Nate asked Zoe, having never thought that Merle would ever apologise in his whole life, that wasn't how Merle rolled.
Zoe shrugged, "I forgive him." She told Nate, turning to face Merle with a look, she knew that Nate wouldn't forgive his brother unless she did, and right now, there wasn't any time for falling out with family members as you never know when their last day will be, she knows that now, with her mother.. Life was too short to hold grudges, Merle wasn't the Governor, he was simply following orders to stay alive, and she honestly couldn't blame him, either. Merle knew what Zoe was doing, and had to hide the shock on his face when his little brother looked over at him - maybe this girl wasn't as bad as he once thought.
Zoe kissed Nate on the cheek before leaving the room, claiming she was looking for her dad, leaving Merle and Nate alone. "Little brother. If I'd have know she meant so much to you, I would have done everything I could to make sure the Governor didn't touch.." Merle began to tell Nate, only for the boy to interrupt him.
"So you would've just let that monster get his way with another girl?" Nate asked, looking at his brother in disgust, like he didn't even know who he was anymore. "What happened to you? Daryl might not see how much you've changed. But I can. And.." He began to say, only for Merle to interrupt him.
"You and your group left me for dead on that roof top back in Atlanta! I've done what I needed to survive, brother!" Merle shouted, not liking the fact this boy was judging him for what he's had to do to survive.
"Maybe if you weren't such a racist to T-Dog, Rick wouldn't have had to lock you up there in the first place.." Nate retorted.
"T-Dog was nothin' but a dirty.." Merle began to mutter.
"T-Dog sacrificed his life so Carol could get away during an attack. He was a good man." Nate interrupted his brother before he could finish his sentence, Merle frowning at the sight.
"What's happened to you, brother?" Merle retorted, using Nate's words against him, "What happened to blood before strangers?" He asked, as the boy was defending a bunch of strangers against his own brother, his flesh and blood.
"These people aren't strangers. They're family. And if you can't see that, then maybe you shouldn't be here." Nate told Merle, hating that the two were arguing so much, but Merle's views just didn't sit right with him at all.
"Maybe I shouldn't." Merle told Nate, as the boy sighed and shook his head, before he started to walk away. "I'm trying, here." Merle called out, as Nate began to walk away.
"Well, maybe you should try harder." Nate said, not looking back at his brother as he eventually left the room, leaving Merle to his own thoughts..
——
Zoe rushed out of the prison besides Nate, with their guns drawn, as they heard that Andrea was making her way up the field and straight for them, she watched as Rick searched the woman after letting her in, before he eventually dragged her back inside of the prison, where they could talk thoroughly now that they knew that the blonde woman was alone and without backup. Zoe didn't know how to feel about her, since she had been with the Governor willingly, after everything the man had done to this group.. She just couldn't understand why Andrea would do such a thing.
She put her gun down on the table, sending Nate a small smile as he draped his arm around her shoulder like he usually did, the two standing as one, while Andrea looked around the room in shock. "Where's Shane?" Andrea asked, having not seen the man with them; it had been so long since he died, that Zoe stiffened at the sound of the man's name, the man who tried to kill her father, the man who acted like her uncle growing up.. Rick shook his head at her question, indicating that he didn't make it, "And Lori?" The woman then asked, sending a shiver down Zoe's spine.
It's not like she didn't like to be remembered of her mother, because she did, but being reminded that she was dead, was just upsetting for the girl, and she hated the fact that the woman was never coming back. Rick looked down at the ground at the sound of his wife's name, as did Zoe, when Andrea looked over at the girl. "She had a girl." Hershel had been the one to speak up, knowing that Lori was a sore subject for everyone, still. "Lori didn't survive." He said, sadness laced in his tone.
"Neither did T-Dog." Maggie spoke up.
"I'm so sorry." Andrea all but whispered, feeling awful that so many people didn't make it. "Carl. Zoe." The woman sighed, Carl stepping closer to his sister who pulled him close to her side, not wanting to talk about their mother, especially with the woman who was sleeping with the enemy. Nate also put his hand on the boys shoulder to give him some comfort, knowing that the two siblings still hated to talk about their mother..
"Rick.. I- You all live here?" She then asked as she walked towards the leader, only for Rick to step back away from her, also not able to look her in the eye knowing that she was with the man who had brought his daughter so much pain.
"Here in the cell block." Glenn informed her, as no one else did - he shared the same tone of voice with her which Rick had, indicating that no one trusted her, not anymore.
"There?" Andrea asked, pointing towards their sleeping quarters, "Can I go in?" She asked him, until Rick stopped her in her tracks.
"I won't allow that." Rick told her, standing in the way of her view of the cell block they slept in - he couldn't trust that she wouldn't run back to the Governor with information on their sleeping area, something that could help the man kill them all.
"I'm not an enemy, Rick." Andrea scoffed, almost laughing at the thought of him treating her as such. She couldn't understand why they would think such a thing, when she had been with them at the beginning, she had left Atlanta with them all..
"We had that field, courtyard, until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up." Rick explained to Andrea.
Andrea furrowed her brows in confusion, "He said you fired first." She claimed, confused as she had heard two different sides to the story and didn't know which one to believe.
Zoe couldn't help but allow a small scoff to leave her mouth, the fact that the Governor was lying to Andrea didn't surprise her one bit. "He's lying." Rick told Andrea, still giving her a look as if she was the enemy.
"He killed an inmate who survived in here. If he wasn't in the way, the bullet would have went through Zoe, instead." Hershel explained in a more lighter tone, not exactly treating her like an enemy, more like someone he didn't exactly trust. Nate still couldn't believe that if Axel hadn't been next to Zoe, he would've lost the love of his life..
"We liked him. He was one of us." Daryl spoke up for the first time, wanting to get his piece in.
"I didn't know anything about that." Andrea said, shock written all over her face at the new information she was being told. "As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot out." She explained, looking around at them all.
"That was days ago." Glenn told her, the kidnapping still being a touchy subject for him, as he was still incredibly angry at the whole situation.
"I told you, I came as soon as I could." Andrea told him, upset that no one was believing her, but even after her words, they still looked at her like she was the enemy. She instantly turned to Michonne, believing that the woman must have had something to do with them all hating her. "What have you told them?" She asked her old friend, who shrugged.
"Nothing." Michonne said, not knowing why Andrea would instantly think that she had something to do with this.
"I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people, and now I'm the odd man out?" Andrea asked, scoffing as she looked around at them all.
"He almost killed Michonne, and he would have killed us." Glenn said, a little more softly than when he last spoke up to her.
Andrea scoffed yet again, "With his finger on the trigger!" She accused, pointing at Merle who stood to the side, watching the whole thing go down, glad that it wasn't him down there. "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?" She directed towards Glenn, who didn't falter at her words, "I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done.." She began to explain, stopping when Zoe scoffed out loud.
"Phillip." Zoe repeated his name in a scoff, her voice sounding like venom at the sound of his name - the man she wished death upon. Nate tightened his hold on her at the sound of her voice, just wanting Andrea to leave so he could comfort his girlfriend yet again, as he knew for a fact this would open up old wounds for her.
Andrea didn't understand where Zoe's hatred for the man came from, so carried on. "But I am here trying to bring us together." She finished explaining, hoping that they could all figure something out and stop this war once and for all, "We have to work this out." She said.
"There's nothing to work out." Rick told the woman, walking towards Andrea with a determined look on his face, "We're gonna kill him. I don't know how of when, but we will." He said.
Andrea shook her head, "We can settle this." She tried to reason with Rick, not understanding any of their hatred towards Phillip, "There is room at Woodbury for.. For all of you." Andrea said.
Merle was now the one to scoff at the woman's words, "Heh, you know better than that." He spoke up, knowing that this woman was talking shit and the Governor was just as cooperative as Rick was.
"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?" Hershel asked, trying to keep the peace as he usually did. "Did he say that?" He asked Andrea, having a hard time believing her words.
"No." Andrea said.
"Then why did you come here?" Rick asked her.
"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers, they're training to attack." Andrea explained, not understanding why none of these people were getting it through their minds that they weren't going to win this war.
"Bring them on." Nate scoffed, knowing that none of them were going to back down.
Daryl nodded at his brothers words, "Tell you what. Next time you see Phillip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye." He said, hating the man just as much as Nate did for what he did to Zoe. That girl, he now considered one of his own, and no one hurt one of his own and got away with it, that's for sure.
"We've taken too much shit for too long." Glenn also spoke up, agreeing with Nate and Daryl, "He wants a war? He's got one." He said, knowing they weren't going to back down after what happened to Zoe, and they all knew that.
"Rick?" Andrea asked, turning to the leader in hopes that he could talk some sense into everyone, "If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town, look at you." She said, turning to face everyone in the room who looked completely beaten, "You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore." She told them.
"You wanna make this right, you get us inside." Rick said, knowing that the only way Andrea could help was to help them get inside so they can kill the Governor once and for all. When she said no instantly, Rick scoffed in disbelief, "Then we got nothing to talk about." He told her, walking away from her.
Zoe decided she had had enough too, grabbing Carl by the shoulders, she directed him in the direction that their father stormed off in, and the boy didn't hesitate to follow her.
They were all prepared for this war, no matter what..