The next morning I had gained all of my strength back. Hershel cleared me with a smile saying that the medicine had done its job. I walked with him out to the courtyard when Daryl and Tyreese pulled up.
They began talking about how Glenn was doing. Last night was awful for him as he reached the peak of the illness, almost losing his life if Maggie and Hershel hadn't had gotten to him when they did.
"How about Carol? She in A block with Lizzie?" Daryl asked as Hershel went to walk away. Maggie and Bob where in A block so he could take a breather.
Hershel pushes the subject away telling Daryl that Carol wasn't in the cell block with Lizzie, but that she was okay. He kept telling him that he needed to talk to Rick about it before finally walking away.
Daryl and I shared a confused look before we started walking to find Rick. "So about last night?" I started, awkwardly. "I didn't mean to upset you or anything by calling you dad. I just couldn't stop myself after what happened."
He turned his head to look at me as we walked down the gravel path. "I didn't say it upset me."
"You didn't really say anything at all." I remarked giving him a smile.
He shrugged his shoulders and grunted in his usual way. "Didn't bother me. I'm just glad you're better."
I smiled at him as we continued to walk in a comfortable silence. Rick and Carl came into view in the fields. I didn't waste any time running over and jumping onto Carl's back making him nearly fall over.
"Miss me, Blue Eyes?" I asked in his ear. He quickly dropped me on my feet and turned around, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"You're okay!" He exclaimed into my neck where he had laid his face. "God, I missed you!"
I laughed at him before pulling away with a smile. I turned to Rick and gave him a hug too.
"I heard you had a rough night." He said as I pulled away.
I nodded as I understood what he meant. "Alex and I jumped in as quickly as we could. If I had known about Glenn, I would have put my attention on him first." I explained.
He nodded in understanding. "It's okay. You did good." He said before going over to Daryl. The two of them whispered to each other a bit before Rick led Daryl up to the cell block to talk.
I turned back to Carl with a small smile. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close with a smile on his face. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him close, missing the comfort I had always gotten from his hugs.
"Are you okay?" He mumbled into my hair, which I nodded to. He pulled back to look at my face. He stared at me for a moment before speaking again. "I'm sorry I left so quickly."
"It's fine. Your dad needed you." I stated, "Besides, after our talk I was able to clear my head a lot before everything that happened."
"Come on." He said, grabbing my hand. "Let's go inside and we can talk. Plus you need to eat and I have something for you."
I furrowed my eyes at him, but followed him none the less. I interlocked our fingers do it would feel more comfortable rather than feeling like I was been dragged along like a small child. He looked down at our hands when I did it and smiled before looking back in front of him.
"When did you start wearing your hat again?" I asked as I walked next to him. I had to try to keep up since he was so much taller than I was.
"The same day I got my gun back." He stated with a proud smile etched across his face. I gave him a shocked look at this. "It was the same day you got sick. Dad wanted me to be able to defend myself after everything that happened."
"That's good. Have you had to use it?" I asked.
"Not yet. But I did have to use one of the bigger guns last night." I gave him questioning look. "One of the fences came down. Dad and I took the walkers out with them."
"How different was it?"
"Pretty different. I prefer mine, though. I guess I'm just used to it."
He pushed the door to the cell block open and let me go in first. After the door closed, he came up beside me and interlocked our hands once again.
"I had to use a random one last night. It was almost the same as my own, so it was easy to handle. I didn't use it much though." I stated.
We stopped in front of Beth's cell to see her holding Judith and sitting next to Olivia, who looked better than I thought she'd be. I guess Beth was really good at helping her recover. Olivia saw me first and jumped up. She ran over and hugged me tightly causing me to drop Carl's hand.
I could feel a little wetness on my shoulder as she began to cry. "I'm so happy you're okay." She whispered in my ear. She pulled away and wiped the tears from her brown eyes. "I was so scared for you and Alex. Every time I went to visit Alex said you were asleep. They were worried you wouldn't wake up."
"I'm okay. I'm here." I reassured her. I looked over her shoulder to see Beth holding a wide smile on her face. Carl took Judith from her arms so she could hug me. As soon as she was in arms reach, I wrapped my arms around her neck. "I missed you, Bethy."
Beth giggled at me before putting on a serious tone. "Don't scare us like that again!" She scolded me before pulling me into another hug. "I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do without my little sister."
I smiled at her words. We really had grown so close as the time progressed since the farm. She was like the older sister I never had, so was Maggie, though she held a motherly way about her.
We released each other as we heard footsteps approaching us quickly. I turned to see Alex running over with a smile on his face. "What's with all the hugging?" He teased as he got closer.
Before he could say anything else though, Olivia walked over to him and grabbed his cheeks. She swiftly pulled him to her level and kissed him. My eyes widened in shock as I saw the scene unfold in front of me.
As they pulled apart, Alex looked down at Olivia in shock. She gave him a shy smile as they stared at each other as though they were the last two people on earth.
Their moment was ruined as Judith began to cry in Carl's arms. We all turned to see her trying to get down, so Carl places her on the ground for her to crawl around. We laughed as she became happy once again.
"Alright," Carl said, grabbing my hand. "You've got your hugs, now come on. I still have something to show you."
He pulled me along as I turned to wave bye to the others. Eventually, he stopped in front of my cell. He let me go in first before following me. I noticed that his bag was placed next to mine.
"What's your bag doing in here? I thought you had your own cell now." I asked, playfully.
"I did." Carl said, walking over to me slowly. "But I'm moving back in. Also, Daryl told me to give you this."
He reached onto the top bunk and grabbed my gun before handing it to me. I held it in my hands and looked at it. "Because you got yours back?"
He nodded. I placed it on top of my bag with the holster. I took the holster that was on my waist off and put it on the bag as well, before turning back to the blue eyed boy. "Thank you. Now, who told you that you could move back in? I was enjoying the peace and quiet." I teased.
"That doesn't seem true since you're the one who wanted me to stay quite a few times since that first kiss." He played back, placing his hands on my hips.
I opened my mouth, speechless. I had absolutely no comeback because I didn't think he'd say that. Carl closed the gap between us, kissing my lips. I kissed him back missing the feeling of his lips on mine.
Every kiss we had shared was always different, and this one was the same. This kiss was filled with a longing that neither of us had held before. I placed my hands on his chest as we kissed. I moved a little and his hat ended up bumping me in the hat so I pulled back giggling.
Carl chuckled, taking his hat off and placing it on the top bunk before leaning back in. This time I closed the gap, not wanting to waste a single second. He pulled me closer so our bodies flushed together and placed his hand on my lower back.
He guided me back to the wall as he kissed me. He bit my bottom lip asking for entrance, but I denied it. Being a gentleman, he didn't pushed it further. He pulled away a little to catch his breath. He kept his eyes on mine as he played with the hem of my shirt. I pulled him back into a small kiss when a loud bang went off shaking the cell block.
We broke apart and quickly grabbed our weapons. Carl went to leave when he turned back to me. "Go! I'll be there soon!" I instructed.
Worried crossed his features but he did as told, running to find out what happened. I clicked my holsters on and check to make sure my gun was loaded. I think grabbed my bag. I opened Carl's and threw some of his clothes in mine, along with his dad's badge and the picture of his family. I threw my bag on back.
The sound of that explosion didn't sound like something to take lightly. I wasn't going to take any chances. If we had to get out quick, we wouldn't be able to come back for our things.
After making sure I had what I needed, I ran the cell block to the door that led outside. Daryl, Rick, and Tyreese all came up behind me, so I ran out with them. Rick yelled to the others who were outside to get back.
I ran over to Carl and grabbed his hand. He pulled me close as we all looked over the fields to see a tank and other vehicles outside the fences. A voice called out for Rick, and I recognized it easily. It was the same voice I heard barking orders the night Woodbury attacked us. The Governor.
"Rick! Come down here!" The man called, "We need to talk!"
We stayed silent for a moment as we looked down at the man standing on top of the tank. I shared a worried look with Carl before he glanced over at his father.
"It's not up to me!" Rick yelled back to the one eyed man. "There's a council now! They run this place!"
"Is Hershel on the council?" A woman walked over to a vehicle on the Governor's command. She pulled an old man out of the vehicle. Hershel. I looked over to see Maggie covering her mouth in terror and shock. "What about Michonne? She on the council, too?"
A man pulled Michonne out of the vehicle and placed her on her knees next to Hershel. Their hands were tied behind their backs, so they couldn't do anything.
"I don't make the decisions anymore." Rick stayed loud enough for the man to hear.
"You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come down here. And let's have that talk."
We stayed quiet as Rick thought about it. I scanned over the group of people that were with the one eyed man. They looked ruthless, and I couldn't help but think of what lies the man had spewed to them to make them come here.
I squeezed Carl's hand in fear and anger. He looked down at me and silently told me that it would be okay. "Just stay behind me." He whispered.
Rick walked over to his son and placed his hand on his neck in a comforting way. "We can do this. All right?" He whispered, looking between the two of us.
Rick began slowly walking down the gravel path to the fence. Everyone gathered up as we analyzed the situation from afar.
"We can't take them all on. We'll go through the admin building through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more. When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?" Daryl instructed, standing near Sasha and Tyreese.
"Day before we hit the Big Spot. We were running low rations then. We're lower now." She answered.
"Yeah, we'll manage. Things go south, everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know." Daryl said.
"What if everyone doesn't know when things go bad? How long do we wait?" Tyreese asked.
"As long as we can."
"I'll go tell the kids to be ready, just in case. Alex and Olivia are in there with them." I stated, beginning to walk away when Carl pulled me back. I turned to see him trying to keep his cool. "I'll be right back. I promise." I whispered to him.
He let go of my hand allowing me to run inside the cell block. Once inside, I yelled for the others. "Olivia! Alex!" They came into the break area where I was. "Get the kids and everyone in here ready. It's the Governor. He's trying to take the prison. If things go bad, Daryl said everyone heads for the bus. Put Judith in her car seat. She is top priority!" I instructed.
They nodded so I turned back head outside again. I got outside in time to see Daryl discreetly handing out the bigger guns. He handed me one and I silently took it before going back over to Carl and standing next to him. He turned to look at me once he felt me next to him.
I gave him a name before aiming my gun through the chain link fence. I aimed for a girl that stood near the tank, not far behind Hershel and Michonne. Daryl and Carl did the same next to me.
Rick and the Governor kept talking, not agreeing on anything. "We got to do something." Carl said next to me.
"Your dad's got it." Daryl said, keeping his aim steady.
"They're talking. We could kill the Governor right now."
"From fifty yards?"
"I'm a good shot. I could end this right now." Carl said serious, but a little overconfident.
"Yeah, or you could start something else. You got to trust him." Daryl said.
I didn't take my focus off the girl. I noticed the look on her face. She seemed like she didn't want to be here at all. She kept looking over at the Governor unsure.
The Governor spoke quieter since Rick was standing in front of him behind the fences. Worry filled my veins as my heart beat got faster and faster. The more we waited the more my pulse pounded in my ears. I tried to steady my breathing.
Suddenly, the Governor jumped down off the tank and grabbed Michonne's katana from a man behind him. We watched as he placed the sword next to Hershel's neck. I could hear Maggie and Beth's cries, and my lip quivered in fear of what this lunatic could do.
Time seemed to slow as the Governor slowly pulled the katana away from Hershel before slamming it back down on his neck, slicing it open. My hand went to my mouth as tears began leaking from my eyes. Gunfire immediately erupted as Beth and Maggie screamed.
I fired my gun at anyone I could, taking down a few people before ducking for cover. I shot at the cars as they drove through the fences. The tank began shooting causing debris from the prison to fly everywhere. I lost sight of Carl, but I saw Alex run passed me so I followed him.
"Alex!" I called his name. He turned back to find me through the dust. I ran over to him and he placed a hand on my face, making sure I was okay. "Have you seen Carl?"
He shook his head no before whipping his gun around shooting someone behind me. "Come on! We can't stay out in the open!" He instructed, he pulled me behind a car.
Walkers had begun pouring into the area, drawn by the gunfire. I ran out of bullets and cussed under my breath. I couldn't see anyone from the group around. I had lost sight of Carl and Daryl, and I was frustrated by it.
Alex grabbed my wrist. "Come on! We have to get out of here!" He said, trying to pull me with him, but I pulled back with tears in my eyes.
"I can't leave him." I cried, looking back at the destroyed prison. I tried to go back, but Alex wrapped his arms around me. I put up a fight, but ended up falling back into him crying.
"We got to go, Pebbles." He whispered, "We got to go."