CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Hey, señorita!" Merle calls as Andie finishes packing her things in her cell. "Let's get this show on the road."

"I'm coming!"

The brunette hauls her stuff out, and Beth helps her load it into the trunk of the silver car. The others already have their own stuff packed up and ready to go.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Beth asks as she looks around.

"It's all we got." Andie tells her. "This is our home, and we're not giving it up."

She starts past Merle, wanting to give the prison one more once over, but Merle grabs her arm and pulls her to a stop. Her jaw tightens as she looks up at him, questioning what he wants.

"What's gotten into you? You're worse than you were yesterday." He says, and she takes a deep breath. "This means more to you than keeping the prison."

"I never ran before." She whispers. "My pack — we fought for what was ours. We stood our ground, we never gave up. Come whatever, it never mattered. We didn't let others run us out of our home."

"You didn't run from hunters?"

"I didn't run from anybody."

"We ain't running now. Why are you so angry?"

"I'm not angry."

"What do you got to prove? And to who?"

"To myself." She takes a deep breath as she looks up at him. "That I wasn't just a good person because of my alpha. That I didn't only make the right calls and fight the good fight...because he called the shots."

"You wanna know you have it in you." He says as he lifts his head.

"Sound familiar?" She asks. "Like why you took Michonne to meet the Governor, but then changed your mind, why you were ready to sacrifice yourself for the sake of everyone else."

"For the sake of my brother." He corrects, and she shrugs.

"We all gotta start somewhere."

"Then I guess we better start." Merle says, and she then gets Hershel and the youngest three to where they're gonna be holed up during this whole fight. The older Dixon has to fend off questions from his brother about what they were whispering about.

From inside the prison corridors, they can hear the damage being done to their home. The guard towers being blown to pieces, the bullet holes being put in their walls.

Andie listens closer, and she knows when they're inside cell block C. She's closer to the cell block than all of the others; she's the fastest and she can get this done the way it needs to be done.

To draw them in, she tosses an empty can down the corridor, making noise to lead them down the hall from the cell block. She knows that they have Martinez, so she has to be careful as she moves farther into the prison. Every move, every creaky door, every sound is deliberate to draw them in.

When they get close enough, she throws a canister that flashes before releasing gas. And then the alarms that Andrew set off all those weeks ago start blaring, bouncing off the walls.

The governor's yelling for his people to hold their ground as gunfire pops off and walkers start to close in. None of them are listening; they're screaming as they run back the way they came.

It's chaos as the Governor's people run back into cell block C and then out into the courtyard where they're met by Glenn and Maggie. He yells for them to get out of the prison as they unload bullets at their feet, both of them wearing the bulletproof prison gear.

They manage to drive them back out into the field, and then the Governor's people load up into their cars — a truck and military Humvees — and they leave the prison.

The rest of their group runs out into the courtyard, and Andie takes a deep breath when she sees that they're gone. It feels like a victory, but she's been screwed like this before.

"We did it." Rick says. "We drove them out."

"We should go after them." Michonne says.

"We should finish it." Daryl agrees.

"It is finished." Maggie argues. "Didn't you see 'em hightail it out of here?"

"They could regroup." Michonne tells her.

"Yeah, we can't take the chance." Glenn says. "He's not gonna stop."

"They're right." Merle says, and they all look at him. "He ain't gonna stop until we're all dead."

"We can't keep living like this." Carol interjects.

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury — we barely made it back last time." Maggie reminds them.

"Last time doesn't matter." Andie says. "This isn't over until the Governor's dead."

"Yeah. Let's check on the others." Rick says, and they head to where they left Hershel, Beth, Carl, and Judith before all of this started.

—

Daryl stops his motorcycle behind the Humvee that's parked in the middle of the road, and the teenager pulls the rifle from her back as she climbs off the bike. Rick, Michonne, and Merle get out of the truck, and they make their way over to the walkers that are eating a few dead people on the ground.

They put them down quietly, and then Andie turns to the Humvee as she raises the rifle. "Out of the vehicle!" She calls, and her group turns to look at her. "I wasn't asking!"

The door opens and a teenage boy drops to his feet before turning to face them. Recognition crosses his face, and the brunette's jaw tightens. "Andie?"

"Theo."

"You know this kid?" Rick looks between the two of them.

"That's debatable."

"A lot's changed since the last time you and I saw each other." Theo says, and she scoffs.

"I'd say that's an understatement." She spats, and her group's made uneasy when she doesn't lower her gun.

"Kid's annoying, but he's harmless." Merle says.

"We've been looking for you." Theo says. "Can't say I thought this was how we'd find you."

"We?" Andie questions.

"Me, Melissa, and Stilinski." He tells her, and her whole demeanor changes as the rifle goes down. "We got separated from the others months ago, but we kept looking. Well, until Stilinski got hurt. He's okay, just has a hard time walking."

"Merle?"

"Uh, Martinez and I found 'em. Old guy was hurt — broken leg, I think. I didn't spend the time around them to find out." He says as she looks at him. "The woman — pretty brunette, doctor or somethin' — she's been looking after him. This little punk was with them."

"They're alive?" Andie asks as she turns back to Theo, and he nods. "I wanna see them. Now."

"They're in Woodbury." The teenage boy says. "Melissa refused to go anywhere without him."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go."

It's after dark by the time they make it back to Woodbury, and they're walking by houses as they near one of the walls. Gunshots ring out, and they all drop to avoid getting hit.

"Tyreese!" Theo yells. "Don't shoot!"

"Theo?!" He calls out, clearly confused. "Are you okay? Where's the Governor?"

"He killed everyone! Shot them."

"Why are you with them?!"

"I know Andie." He tells them. "I think we all need to talk."

Andie slings her rifle over her shoulder before holding her hands up as she gets to her feet. "I have family inside those walls." The brunette says, looking at Tyreese and Sasha. "I wanna see them — Melissa McCall and Noah Stilinski."

Rick and the others follow after the teenagers, and then Tyreese opens the doors about a minute later. They're all standing near the gate as the siblings look at them.

"What are you—"

"I'm finding my family. You wanna stop me? Shoot me. But I suggest you make it a kill shot." The brunette shoves past them.

"You don't get between this family, trust me." Theo says before following after her.

Tyreese tells them to come inside, and he shuts the door behind them to keep out any walkers they attracted with the gunfire. They all follow after the teenagers, and then they run up outside a building.

"Melissa!" Theo calls out. "Melissa, you're gonna want to see this!"

The door opens slowly before a woman with dark, curly hair steps out. Her jaw drops as she walks forward, wide eyes on the teenagers. Tears fill Andie's dark eyes as Sheriff Stilinski limps out to get to her.

"An-Andie?" Stilinski moves down the steps as quickly as he can manage before walking straight over to the teenage girl. He leans down and his arms snake around before he lifts her off of her feet, and a sob wracks her body as she wraps her arms around his neck. "Stiles said that you were alive, but I'd... I had to wonder if you could really survive all on your own out here."

"I'm not alone." She says as he sets her back on her feet.

"Where's your mom?"

"We got separated... It's been a y— a year, I think." She tells them, looking at Melissa as she finally nears them.

The older woman reaches out and carefully grabs her hand. She squeezes it as she fights back tears, then her hand slowly moves to the teenager's shoulder.

"I'm here. I'm really here. I'm alive." Andie says as she pulls her into a hug, and she squeezes the teenager tight. "I'm alive."

"I wasn't sure we'd find you." Melissa chokes out. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Are these people friends of yours?" Stilinski asks, looking at Michonne and the men with her.

"Rick's our leader, and Daryl brought me into their group — he saved me." Andie says as she turns to look at them. "Merle is Daryl's infuriating as all hell older brother. Michonne's new in the group, but she's good people too."

"Thank you." He says as he walks over, shaking their hands. "For saving our girl."

"Where's Scott?" She asks as she looks back at Melissa. "Where are the others?"

"There was a big group of the cranks, we got split." She tells her. "Theo saved us, and we ran. We haven't been able to find them."

"Cranks?" Andie echoes. "Let me guess — Stiles?"

"Crankenstein." Stilinski chuckles at his son's mispronunciation.

"That's what happens when you let children watch monster movies too young!" Melissa reaches out and smacks his arm.

"I didn't let those two do anything." He argues, and Andie smiles innocently at the older woman.

"Andie?" Rick gets her attention, and she looks over at him. "We still have to find Andrea."

"Right." Her smile falls, realizing where they have to go. "Come on then."

He and Daryl lead the way, and they end up in the brick building where the Governor built those rooms. "This is where he had Andie and Glenn." Rick tells the others as they carefully make their way through.

"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese questions.

"Did more than that to us." Andie says, and the two who have known her since she was a kid both look at her.

They slow down when they see blood pouring out from under a metal door. Andie looks over her shoulder at Theo and motions him forward. He walks ahead of the rest of the group as she readies her gun and hatchet, then he looks back. The brunette nods and he reaches out to pull the slab keeping it locked.

He lets the door swing open, but all they see is a dead walker on the ground by a chair in the center of the room. Andie steps forward, looking for the source of the heartbeat, and Theo's close behind her. The teenagers turn, and Andie lowers her weapons when she sees the blonde bleeding out not far from the door.

Michonne rushes in and kneels beside her. "I tried to stop them." Andrea says as she props the blonde woman up, and Rick kneels with them.

"You're burning up." Michonne says, and she pulls her jacket to the side to show them the bite above her collar bone.

Rick's head drops before he turns to look at his people. Daryl's standing beside Andie, and she looks away, her gaze landing on the others who stayed just outside the door.

"Judith, Carl, the rest of them..." Andrea pushes herself up as she turns to face Rick.

"Us." Their leader corrects. "The rest of us."

"Are they alive?"

They look over at the others as Andie's hand finds Daryl's, knowing that this hurts him. He's fighting back tears as he squeezes her fingers.

"Yeah, they're alive." Rick nods, and Andrea smiles as she looks between the three of them.

The blonde then looks up at Michonne as she fights back tears. "It's good you found them." The blonde says, and she nods. "No one can make it alone now." She looks over at Daryl, and he shakes his head.

"I never could." He says, and Andie leans into his side as they look down at Andrea.

"I just didn't want anyone to die." She says as she shifts. "I can do it myself."

"No." Michonne says.

"Oh, I have to. While I still can." She looks up at her friend, who's fighting back tears. Then she looks to Rick. "Please? I know how the safety works."

Their leader pulls his gun from its holster and places it in her hand.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Michonne tells her.

Andrea looks up at Andie and Daryl, and her eyes linger on the teenager. "You're tougher than you look, aren't you?" She asks, but the brunette doesn't know how to respond.

"She's the toughest they come." Theo says, and Andie looks over at him.

"I'm sorry...for what he did to you." Andrea says, and she squeezes Daryl's hand as she returns her gaze to the blonde, knowing she's talking about the Governor.

"I'll get past it." The teenager tells her.

"And you'll look after them?"

"Every day that I have left." She promises, and Andrea nods as she looks back at Rick.

"I tried."

"Yeah. You did." He nods. "You did."

Daryl stands up straight, pulling Andie with him out of the room. The others all follow them out, and Rick shuts the door behind them, leaving only Michonne in the room with Andrea. They stay close, not wanting to leave them behind.

Rick shuts the door, and Daryl leans his shoulder against the wall a few feet away. Andie's standing directly in front of him, their fingers still intertwined as he squeezes his eyes shut and hangs his head next to hers. Her shoulder's against his chest, and he rests his forehead against her temple.

A single gunshot rings out.

The next morning, Daryl leads the way on his bike, and the truck and school bus follow behind him and Andie. As soon as he stops, Andie hops off and jogs over to help Melissa as she helps the elderly and the children off of the bus. Carol joins soon after, and then Noah calls Andie over.

"This is where you've been living?" He asks, and she nods as she looks up at her best friend's father.

"It's been safe...before the Governor anyway." She tells him. "Bet you never thought you'd live in a prison, did you?"

"You're a funny girl." He says as she starts toward the door.

"Had to be to keep up with Stiles." She smiles as she turns to look at him. "Come on in, Sheriff. I wanna give you a tour of our new home."