27. blinded

QUINN

     'WE'RE NOT LEAVING,' RICK SAID, loading up a machine gun.

'We can't stay here,' Hershel interjected.

'We can't even go outside,' Beth added.

'If Rick says we're not running, then we're not running,' Glenn spoke clearly.

Quinn shared a glare with Michonne. They were back in C block, discussing what to do next and no one seemed to agree with each other. Quinn was leaning against the wall as she listened to the conversation going. She knew whatever she would say would be rejected anyways so she kept her mouth shut as she kept her gaze focused on Rick. He was the leader, he was going to have to make a decision.

'No, better to live like rats,' Merle's voice sounded through the cell block. They had locked him behind the gate to the enterence of the block but that hadn't stopped him from joining the conversation.

'You got a better idea?' Rick snapped at him.

'Yeah, we should've slipped out of here last night, live to fight another day. We lost that one though, didn't we. I'm sure he's got scouts on every road to this place by now.'

'We ain't scared of that prick,' Daryl told his brother.

'Ya'll should be,' Merle replied. '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.'

'Do you ever stop talking?' Quinn said, looking at the man with an angry frown.

'Come now, don't be like that,' Merle told her, smiling. 'We had our fun together, didn't we?'

Quinn narrowed at him. 'You're disgusting.'

'But he's right,' Daryl said, looking at her.

She scoffed, knowing it was the truth but far too proud to admit it.

'This is all you,' Maggie suddenly yelled, pointing at Merle, 'you started this.'

'What's the difference whose fault it is?' Beth cut her off. 'What do we do?'

'I say we leave,' Hershel said from his position on the stairs, making Quinn turn to look at him. 'Now Axel's dead we can't just sit here.'

Rick looked at the man before turning around and walking away.

'Get back here!' Hershel suddenly screamed.

Her heart jumped in her chest by the rise in volume of the normally so calm man. It made Rick stop in his tracks as well, he probably wasn't used to the man screaming either because there was genuine surprise on his face.

'You're slipping, Rick,' Hershel said, taking his crutches and making his way over to the man. '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.'

Rick turned to look at the elderly man, shock written all over his features.

'So get your head straight, and do something,' Hershel finished.

Their leader slowly nodded, the words seeming to settle in. He took a deep breath before pointing at Maggie. 'Keep watch, eyes open, head down.' Then he turned to look at the rest of the group. 'The field's filled with walkers, I didn't see any snipers out there but we're keeping Maggie on watch.'

'I could go up in the guardtower,' Daryl said. 'Take out half them walkers while you take a chance and fix that fence.'

'Or we use some cars to put the bus back in place,' Michonne offered.

'We can't access the field without burning through our bullets,' Hershel said.

'So we're trapped in here,' Glenn stated. 'And there's barely any food or ammo.'

'We've been here before,' Daryl told him. 'We'll be alright.'

'That was when it was just us,' Glenn shot back, seeming frustrated. 'Before there was a snake in the nest.'

'Man, we gotta go through this again?' Daryl said, walking up to Glenn. 'Merle's staying here, he's with us now. Get used to it, all ya'll.' Then he turned around and walked away.

A small sigh escaped Quinn her lips as she looked back at Glenn, who wasn't about to let the subject drop. 'Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle living here is gonna fly.'

'I can't kick him out,' Rick said.

'I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you,' Glenn snapped but he immediately seemed to regret saying those words. Rick took a step backwards, clearly not knowing how to react to that.

'Merle has military experience,' Hershel said to Glenn. 'He may be erratic but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother.' Then he tightened the grip on his crutches and stumbled his way out of the cell block

'What if we solve both problems at once,' Glenn suggested, his head clearly focused on getting rid of the man as soon as possible. 'Deliver Merle to the Governor as a bargaining chip. Give him his traitor and maybe declare a truce.'

Quinn shook her head. 'I don't want no part of this.' Then she walked away. She had no idea what the right call was anymore but she was sure this wasn't it. She was fine with killing the Governor but she wasn't willing to sacrifice anyone to do so. 

As she left the the cell block behind her, her eyes fell on Merle, sitting against the wall with Hershel next to him, talking to each other. A small part of her was curious to what the two would be discussing. She hoped Hershel could awake some sort of dignity inside the man, but she hightly doubted it. Taking a deep breath she turned away from the pair and walked up to one of the tables instead, taking out her daggers. They desperately needed to be sharpened, luckily for her she had been smart enough to take a whetstone out of the weapon's shop with her all those months ago. She went to work, thoughts focused on the task at hand.

'You asked me if I trust him yesterday,' a voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see Michonne standing next to her.

'I did,' she said, placing down her dagger and looking up at her friend expectantly.

Michonne studied her face, taking her time to form an answer and Quinn knew it wasn't easy to answer such a question. They barely knew these people and were forced to go to war together. A certain amount of trust was needed for something like that. Quinn trusted Michonne's opinion, she just needed to know what the katana-wielding-woman's opinion actually was.

'I do,' Michonne finally said.

Quinn gave a curt nod as she watched her friend turn away before sitting down on the ground to start her daily stretching exercises. Quinn took her dagger back in her hand, continuing to sharpen it. Footsteps however made her look up and she desperately tried to hold back a deep sigh as Merle walked towards them, sitting down next to Quinn. She didn't even do as much as look at the man.

'Smart,' he said, looking at Michonne working out. 'Staying fit. Don't forget the cardio.'

Michonne didn't reply and focused on her movements instead. Her eyes were stone cold and Quinn almost found herself smiling at her ability to ignore someone.

'Now that we're living under the same roof, we should clear the air,' Merle continued anyway. 'This whole, hunting to two of you down thing that was just business, carrying out orders.'

'Mmm,' Michonne groaned. 'Like the gestapo.'

That was an awful comparison to make and when Merle agreed Quinn felt herself shivering, slightly shaking her head as she forced herself to keep her gaze on the whetstone in her hand.

'I've done a lot of things I ain't proud of,' Merle said. 'Before and after.'

Quinn turned to look at him, seeing his gaze was turned to the ground as he stared into nothingness, seemingly lost in thought. She couldn't quite figure out if it was all pretend or real.

'Anyway,' he suddenly spoke, looking back at the two women. 'I hope we can get passed it. Let bygones be bygones.' And with those words he stood up and walked away. Quinn found herself looking at him as he did, wondering if she would ever get close to understanding the man.

Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by Carl running into the cell block. 'Andrea's here!' He yelled.

That made Quinn drop her whetstone and gather her daggers. Michonne jumped up immediately, reaching for her sword. Rick came running out of his cell at his son's words. 'Everyone grab a weapon, we don't know who else she's brought!' Rick said, gesturing for everyone to start doing as he said.

Quinn followed him outside, her heart pounding in her chest as she tightly held her daggers in her hand.

Carefully they made their way through the courtyard, swinging their weapons in every direction. They ran towards the gate, her heart beating wildly in her chest by the thought of seeing her friend again.

'Are you alone?' Rick yelled at the woman as soon as he reached the gate.

'Open the gate!' She replied as walkers closed in on her.

'Are you alone?' Rick repeated, more roughly this time.

'Rick!' Andrea yelled at him angrily.

It was only then Quinn noticed she had a walker with her. Its arms cut off, its jaw too just like the walkers Michonne had with her in chains. Quinn could feel Michonne tense up at the sight but had no time to think about it as Rick opened the gate, letting Andrea inside before closing it again.

Once she was inside though he pushed her against the fence, searching her for any weapons she might have.

'On the floor,' Rick ordered, pushing her on her knees.

Quinn felt her heart crumbling in her chest at the sight, unable to look away but unable to watch it happen at the same time. They were on two different sides of a war now, it was gonna be hard to trust anything she said.

'I asked if you were alone?' Rick snapped at her.

'I am,' Andrea answered clearly overwhelmed by how roughly she was treated.

Rick pulled the bag she was carrying from around her shoulder before ushering her inside.

Quinn watched from a distance as Andrea pulled Carol into a hug before her eyes fell on Hershel. 'My god,' she breathed by the sight of his leg. Then she turned in a small circle, looking around the cell block. 'I can't believe this,' she whispered. Then she turned to look at Rick. 'Where's Shane?'

Rick gave a small shake of his head before looking away.

Andrea let out a shaky breath. 'And Lori?' She asked, her voice small, almost as if she was afraid of the answer.

Rick his haunted eyes said enough.

'She had a girl,' Hershel explained, 'Lori didn't survive.'

'Neither did T-dog,' Maggie added.

'I'm sorry,' Andrea whispered. 'Rick I-' she cut herself off, clearly not knowing what to say. Taking a deep breath she tried to pull herself together. 'You all live here?'

'Here and in the cell block,' Glenn said.

'There,' Andrea said, pointing towards the door where the cells were behind. 'Can I go in?' She already started walking forwards but Rick stood before her, blocking the way.

'I won't allow that,' he told her.

'I'm not an enemy, Rick,' she said quietly.

'We had that field and that courtyard,' Rick said roughly to her, pointing to the outside of the prison. 'Until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up.'

'He said you fired first,' Andrea said, frowning at the man before her, making Quinn let out a heavy sigh. Michonne was right when she said Andrea had been enchanted by the man. So much so that she even believed him over people she knew better and had been with longer. Quinn couldn't wrap her head around why she was acting like this.

'Well, he's lying,' Rick told her, disbelief written on his features.

'He killed an inmate who survived in here,' Hershel spoke.

'We liked him,' Daryl added, 'he was one of us.'

Quinn felt her eyes drifting to Milo who stood next to Glenn on the other side of the room. His arms were crossed before his chest and his shoulder's were tense. She knew that no matter what he told himself, he missed the inmates.

'I didn't know anything about that,' Andrea said, shaking her head. 'As soon as I found out I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot out.'

'That was days ago,' Glenn told her.

'I told you I came as soon as I could.' Andrea spun on her heels to face Quinn and Michonne, standing next to each other as they frowned at their friend. 'What have you told them?'

'Nothing,' Michonne replied.

'We didn't have to once they met the Governor themselves,' Quinn added.

'I-I don't get it,' Andrea said turning to face the others. 'I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?'

'He almost killed Michonne,' Glenn said angrily to her. 'And he would've killed us.'

'With his finger on the trigger,' Andrea shot back, pointing at Merle. 'Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?'

'Are you honestly that blind?' Quinn said, feeling anger build up in her chest as she took a step forward. 'You were there when your boyfriend made Daryl and Merle fight each other while holding a gun to my head. And if that isn't enough you can't tell me that you aren't even a little bit freaked out by the fact that he kept heads in fishtanks in his apartment!'

Andrea let out a heavy sigh, wiping her eyes as she did. 'Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done but I'm here, trying, to bring us together. We have to work this out.'

'There's nothing to work out,' Rick told her. 'We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when but we will.'

Shaking her head Andrea walked closer towards Rick. 'We can settle this. There is room at Woodbury for all of you!'

Merle chuckled from his position by the door. 'You know better than that.'

'What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?' Hershel asked calmly. 'Did he say that?'

Andrea stared at the man for a while, trying to figure out what the right answer was before shaking her head. 'No.'

'Then why did you come here?' Rick asked her.

'Because he's gearing up for war,' Andrea said. 'The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack.'

No response came as she looked around with desperation in her eyes.

'I'll tell you what,' Daryl finally broke the silence, 'next time you see Philip,' he spat the name out with a clear hatred, 'tell him Imma take his other eye.'

'We've taken too much shit for too long. If he wants a war, he's got one,' Glenn added.

Andrea shook her head again, turning to Rick as she softly called out his name, begging him to listen. '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.'

Rick didn't respond, staring her down instead, he didn't even blink. It made her sigh in frustration and turn around to face the others. 'Look at you,' she sighed. 'You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore.'

'You're gonna make this right?' Rick said, walking to stand in front of her. 'Get us inside.'

'No,' Andrea responded.

'Then we've got nothing to talk about,' Rick said, walking away.

'There are innocent people!' Andrea yelled after him but their leader didn't listen as he disappeared into the cell block.

The silence was heavy as Quinn, Michonne and Andrea walked onto the courtyard. Quinn couldn't keep her eyes off of Andrea as her head kept on spinning with an endless stream of questions. Now matter how she looked at it, she couldn't understand why Andrea trusted the Governor so much.

'You've poisoned them,' Andrea suddenly spoke, standing still before turning to her friends.

'We only told them the truth,' Michonne replied.

Andrea took a shaky breath. 'I didn't choose him over you two.' Sighing deeply she gave shake of her head. 'I wanted a life!'

'A life with him instead of us,' Quinn said, crossing her arms over chest.

'Once we entered Woodbury you two became hostile!' Andrea said, anger rising in her voice.

'That's 'cause we could see it,' Michonne replied.

A small frown appeared on Andrea's features. 'See what?'

'That you were under his spell the second you layed eyes on him.'

'That's not true,' Andrea sighed.

'And even after everything you still are,' Quinn added.

'No, I am there because those people need me!' Andrea said, taking a step forwards, her eyes hardening.

'What about these people?' Michonne asked.

'I'm trying to safe them too,' she spoke and Quinn could hear that she was being honest. It just wasn't enough.

Michonne let out a soft chuckle that clearly was meant to be mocking as she shifted her weight to her other leg. 'I did not realise the Messiah-complex was contagious.'

'Go to hell, Michonne,' Andrea snapped, shaking her head and turning around, starting to walk away.

'He send Merle after us to kill us,' Quinn said, looking at her friend's back, trying to get it into her stubborn head that the Governor was nothing but trouble. 'He would've send him to kill you too if you'd come with us.'

Silence filled the courtyard as her words landed in Andrea's mind, she stood still as a statue, her back still turned to them. She didn't want to listen to them, Quinn knew that it didn't matter what they said, she was going back to him anyway.

'But you didn't, did you?' Michonne added. 'You choose a warm bed over a friend. That's why I went back to Woodbury to expose him for what he is. I knew that it would hurt you.'

Slowly Andrea turned back around, her expression horrified as her eyes seemed to glinster with hidden tears.

Quinn her heart was aching as she watched her friend, but she knew there was nothing she could say to make this alright. They were on different sides of a war. Nothing was going to be alright for a long time.

Finally she turned away from them, heading towards the front of the prison where Rick had readied a car for her. Taking a deep breath Quinn headed after her, watching as she opened the door before turning to look at Rick.

'Can you spare it?' She asked him.

'Yeah,' Rick told her.

Silence filled the courtyard as Andrea turned in a small circle, meeting all of their gazes but words seemed to fall short and so she went with a simple. 'Take care.' Then she stepped inside, placing the bag with supplies that Carl had handed her on the seat next to her before closing the door.

'Andrea,' Rick said, taking a step forwards as he looked at her through the opened window before reaching down behind his belt and taking one of the guns he always carried. He handed it to her carefully and she nodded at him as she took it. 'Be careful,' their leader spoke.

'You too,' she sighed and then started the engine.

Quinn watched as she drove through the courtyard, through the opened gate and slowly disappeared out of sight. Merle closed the gate behind her, pushing away the walkers that had gathered against it. A shaky breath left her lips. This meeting had not gone the way she thought it would've. Hearing Carl shout that Andrea had come felt as if truly getting her friend back but it turned out all she wanted was to protect the Governor. She had changed and Quinn didn't like the new Andrea. 

She'd give anything, anything, to have her old friend back and that meant winning this war.