The next day, I wake up to find that I feel fine. I get up and don't feel dizzy, my throat doesn't hurt, and I'm not coughing whenever I try to speak.

I walk from the cell block, eager to feel the sun outside again. I go past C, where I see Beth and Carl sitting with Judith.

"Hope! You're better!" Carl exclaims, smiling.

"Yeah, I am." I smile back.

"It's nice to see you," Beth says. Judith giggles.

"It's wonderful to see all of you," I reply, feeling so light I could touch the clouds.

I walk outside, the sun blinding me momentarily. A few people walk around outside, and I catch sight of Rick. I move towards him, and he smiles when he sees me.

"Nice to see you pulled through," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you again, for saving my life," I say. "I'm glad I didn't make you sick."

"I'm glad too." He pauses. "It's just, I thought about what Daryl would go through if you died, and I couldn't let that happen."

I nod, remembering how close Rick was to going "Full Shane", as I like to call it, when Lori died. I would never want Daryl to go through that.

"Where's Daryl? And Hershel and Michonne?" I ask.

"Daryl's over by the inner fence. Hershel and Michonne went to dispose of the rest of the bodies," he answers.

I thank him, heading towards Daryl. I smile when I see my redneck.

"Hey babe," I call.

"Hey! You're feelin' better?" He grins.

"Yep! The sun feels so good." I close my eyes and tilt my face to the sky, a dreamy look on my face.

Daryl leans over and kisses me, and I rest my hand on his leg.

"I missed you," he mumbles against my lips.

"I was never gone," I whisper, laughing softly.

"No, but I missed being near you." He wraps his arm around my waist and I rest my head on his shoulder.

Everyone's outside, including Glenn, Sasha, and Bob. Glenn walks over to me with Maggie at his side. He still looks weak, and his colour hasn't returned fully, but he's alive and out in the sunshine.

"Thanks for the help the other day," he says, giving my hand a shake.

Maggie grins, grasping Glenn's free hand in hers. "I owe you one, Hope."

"No problem." I smile too, the good mood around the camp feeling infectious. "It's what we do for each other."

The two of them walk off, hand in hand.

"Daryl! Rick!" Tyreese yells. "I need you to see this."

"Be right back," Daryl says to me, kissing my cheek and running to the two men.

They disappear inside the prison and I lean against the fence. I pull out my knife, turning it over in my hands and running the blade along the chain link, making a clattering noise.

I walk over to the others, who are sitting around at the tables. The other survivors are inside, still sleeping off the flu. I'm lucky I didn't get nearly as sick as any of them.

"Don't you think Dad and Michonne should've been back by now?" Maggie asks Beth and Glenn as I sit down.

"They're probably taking their time. I don't think we need to worry," Glenn assures her, squeezing her hand.

"I'm so glad the flu is gone, for the most part," Beth says. "We can get back to normal."

I'm about to say something when a loud rumbling shakes the ground. I turn to the courtyard and stare in horror.

A tank, plus a small army of people, stand outside the prison, armed to the teeth. Standing on top of the tank is none other than the Governor, the man who had disappeared off the face of the earth for months on end, fooling us into thinking he was dead.

"No...freaking...way," I say, my mouth falling open.

Daryl and Rick sprint from the building with Tyreese following closely behind. Daryl races to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and keeping me close. He looks angry and worried at the same time.

"Rick! Come on out! We need to talk!" the Governor yells.

"It's not up to me!" Rick yells back. "We've got a council now!"

"Is Hershel on that council?" he asks. One of the car doors opens and a woman pulls someone from the back; Hershel. The woman leads him to the front of the tank and he kneels. Maggie and Beth gasp. "How about Michonne? Is she on the council too?" She is led from the car and kneels beside Hershel.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a-" I growl.

"Hope..." Daryl whispers.

I nod and take a deep breath.

"I don't make the decisions anymore!" Rick yells.

"You are today, Rick. Come on down, let's have that talk." The Governor's face shows no emotion.

Rick looks at all of us, and Daryl gives him a small nod. Rick leaves the gate, and I close it behind him. He walks down the path, gravel crunching beneath his boots. Daryl motions to Sasha and Tyreese, and they walk over.

"We don't have the numbers now. If thin's get bad, get everyone else on the bus and we'll get out of here."

"How long should we wait?" Sasha asks.

"As long as we can." He turns and goes into the prison.

From the fence, Rick and the Governor stare at each other.

"Let them go. I'll stay here, talk as long as you want, but you let them go. You have a tank, there's no need for hostages," Rick says.

"Oh, but I do. This is just to show that I'm serious." The Governor smirks, and I fight the urge to punch his face in. "Don't want to blast a hole in our new home. You and your group have until sundown to leave, or I'll kill them."

"It doesn't have to go down this way."

"I've got more people, more firepower. We need this prison. This isn't about the past. This is about now."

"There are children here," Rick explains. "Some of them are sick, they won't survive."

A few people in the Governor's group look back at him, uncertain. Daryl starts handing out guns, and I take one, readying it.

"I have a tank, and I'm letting you walk away from here. What more is there to talk about?" the Governor asks. "I could shoot at you, you could shoot back. Only difference is I'd win and you'd be dead. It doesn't have to be like this. Like I said, it's your choice." A few walkers come out of the woods, and he pulls out his gun and shoots them without a second thought. "Noise will only attract more. The longer you wait, the less chance you'll have of escaping."

"We've got to do something," I mutter. I'm standing in between Carl and Daryl, or guns pointed through the fence.

"Rick's got it," Daryl says.

"They're just talking. If I kill the Governor right now..." Carl murmurs. "I've got him."

"Yeah, and about 50 yards," Daryl whispers.

"I'm a good shot. I could end this," Carl insists.

"Or start something else. You gotta trust him," I say.

I shift my gun, and Carl doesn't shoot.

"I'd say you got about an hour of daylight left. You'd better start packing," the Governor says.

I hear scuffling and four kids; Lizzie, Mika, Luke, and Molly come out of the prison, carrying Judith in her baby seat. They start heading for the bus. I turn my attention back to Rick and the looming threat outside the fence.

"We can all live together," Rick says. "There's enough room for all of us."

"More than enough. But I don't think my family would feel safe knowing you're under the same roof."

"We'd live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other."

"You know it could work. It could," Hershel calls.

"It could, but it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea." The Governor's jaw clenches. My trigger finger twitches, but I contain it. How dare he bring Andrea into this after what he did to her. "I'm not saying it'll be easy. In fact, it'll be a hell of a lot harder than standing here and shooting at each other. Fact is, I don't think we have a choice. You do. We don't."

"We aren't leaving," Rick repeats. The Governor's teeth grind together as he starts to look even more angry. "You try to force us, we'll fight back. It's like you said. Gunshots will just bring more of them. They'll tear down the fences, and when that happens this place will be worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison, or no one can."

The Governor jumps off the tank and grabs Michonne's katana, holding it to Hershel's neck. Maggie and Beth make a strangled noise and move closer to the fences.

"You!" Rick yells, pointing to a scared looking young woman. "You in the ponytail. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"

"We want what you've got. Period. Time to leave asshole," a man says from the tank.

"Listen, I've fought him before. And afterwards, we took in his friends. They've become part of what we have here. Now, if you put down your guns, and walk through those gates, you're one of us. We put down everything. We set aside our differences, and nobody dies. We've made it this far. We're all alive. We've done the worst kinds of things just to keep surviving. We get to come back. We're not too far gone. We can come back. And we all can change."

As Rick speaks, the Governor slowly moves the katana away from Hershel's throat, and I feel a glimmer of hope that this can work out.

The Governor stares at Rick and the prison for a while, his face still angry.

"Liar."

He swings the sword, sinking it into Hershel's neck, partially decapitating him.

"NO!" I scream.

"NO! DADDY!" Beth screams, crying.

"NO!" Rick shoots, hitting the Governor in the arm.

Both sides erupt into gunfire, and the Governor's tank starts moving forwards, bringing down the fence. My heart rate speeds up, and I fight, the rifle in my hands vibrating with each shot.

As the battle rages, I see a woman walking towards the Governor's group, carrying the limp body of a young girl. The Governor grabs the girl's body, shooting her in the head and dropping her to the ground.

I keep shooting, tears blinding me as I take down walkers and humans alike.

"Daryl..." I whimper as I keep shooting.

Carl has already run to a different spot. Daryl turns to me and cups my face in his hands.

"No matter what happens, I love you."

He pulls me in for a long kiss, and I return it desperately, tangling my fingers in his hair. He breaks away, staring into my eyes for one more moment before turning and dashing to a new spot.

I stand and continue firing, looking for a hiding spot. I run from the gate as the tank runs through it, blowing up windows inside the prison. Maggie puts Glenn in the bus and rushes away to help Bob and Sasha.

I run along the fence, shooting and ducking. I try to get to the bus, but it pulls away, with every survivor we could get inside. I stare at it hopelessly and look out into the field.

I see someone tackle the Governor and they begin wrestling on the ground. I realize with horror that it's Rick.

I find a hole in the chain link and duck through it, sprinting across the field towards the two men.

The Governor has Rick in a choke hold. Both of their faces are bloody and beaten in, Rick's especially. I'm close enough to see a sword run through the Governor, and he grimaces in pain and falls to the ground. I want to scream with joy, but now is not the time.

Michonne stands behind the Governor's fallen body. She helps Rick up, but they don't notice me.

"Rick! Michonne!" I scream, but another explosion from the tank knocks me off my feet.

I fall hard into the grass, letting out a yelp as my head spins. I struggle to my knees, gritting my teeth.

When I get back up, Rick and Michonne are gone and the prison and tank are in flames. I look around frantically, looking for shelter. I see Flame's stable and run to it. I climb inside, where I see a very scared horse, whinnying and rearing onto his hind legs.

"Ssh! Shh! Flame, it's me!" I whisper, and he calms down, snorting a little.

I hear more gunshots and I move outside.

Walkers are everywhere and no one I know is around. I feel my heart sink, pivoting around and trying to catch sight of someone nearby. Then, I see the Governor's body, so I move to him. He's still alive, choking and gasping for air. I pull out my gun and aim it at his head, but my finger hesitates on the trigger.

"Wait!"

I look up and see a woman wearing blood stained clothes and holding a gun, the same woman who was carrying the little girl from before; the one the Governor shot.

"I'll do it. He was my boyfriend," she whispers.

We stare at each other, the hand holding my gun trembling.

"Come with me. We can get out together," I say, holding my free hand out to her.

She shakes her head. "No. My daughter's dead, and so is my family. There's nothing left here for me." She looks down at him again. "I'm sorry for all the pain he's caused you."

I put my gun away, shocked yet relieved, and nod to her before turning and running back to Flame's stable. I hear a gunshot and I know that our enemy is finally dead.

I lead Flame outside and jump on his back, kicking his side and spurring him into a gallop. I grip his mane tightly, never having ridden a horse bareback.

Childhood summers spent at riding camp, don't fail me now, I pray silently.

We fly past the walkers, and I catch sight of Hershel's mangled body, completely decapitated. I look away, tears stinging at my eyes again as we keep going.

I glance back at the prison, which is still smoking and in flames. One more gunshot sounds, and I know that the woman I just met is gone too.

I let my tears come as I gallop down the road, alone.