CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Andie's in the field avoiding the rest of the group. She still has a headache, and they're all making it worse with the constant bickering and arguing.

Rick's AWOL, so Glenn's made himself their unofficial leader for the time being. He's on a bit of a warpath, wants to take Michonne and go back to Woodbury to kill the Governor when he won't see it coming. Maggie's not happy because he's not acting like himself, and Hershel thinks that they should just leave the prison altogether. The baby's crying hurts Andie's head even more, especially with the way it echoes off the prison walls. Carol's been hovering, which means Axel's usually not far away; he's been flirting with her a lot the past couple of days. Andie's happy that Carol seems to like the attention, but that doesn't mean she wants to see it — Carol has been like a mom to her the past few months, after all.

Instead of staying inside to listen to the chaos of the group scrambling, she's in the field at the graves that they dug for her, T-Dog, and Lori. Initially, the plan was to come out here for her lost friends and try to find some kind of closure, but now all she can do is stare at the Bluebells that are sitting by the cross that she knows was meant for her.

The teenager walks up the disturbed dirt of the grave and she kneels down to pick up the flowers that are resting there. The petals are still soft as her fingers lightly brush over the deep blue, and she lets out a long exhale as she allows her mind to wander to the man she knows left them there for her.

He's the only one that she's really allowed to know her in this new world, the first one that she trusted completely. She used to feel safe when she thought about him, but now all she feels is pain.

The air around her starts to feel heavy, and she gets this feeling like she's being watched. Letting instinct take over, the brunette drops back, landing flat on her grave just as a bullet whizzes past right where her head had been.

A second gunshot rings out not long after, but that one goes straight through Axel's head. Beth grabs Carl, and they both get down super low as Carol's forced to use Axel's body as a shield against the bullets flying her way. Someone starts firing an automatic in Rick and Hershel's direction, and Andie looks over to see Carl and Beth running for cover in the courtyard.

The brunette scrambles, rolling over and crawling as quickly as she can manage to the bag she left a few feet away. She dropped it when she saw the Bluebells, and it has her weapons that she always carries on her, including her gun.

Rick's trying to fire back at the guy shooting his way, but he can't get a clear shot while maintaining his own cover. Carl's hiding behind a pillar, and Andie sees him peek out before he has to duck behind it again because someone's shooting at him. She looks up and sees someone in one of the guard towers, giving him an advantage over them.

Andie lays flat on her back as she points her gun up, aiming it carefully because she knows she only has one chance at this. If she shoots and misses, he'll return fire, and she has nowhere to hide in the middle of the field. She exhales as she focuses on her shot, then she pulls the trigger and the man in the guard tower collapses.

Things quiet down for a moment, and Maggie runs over with a gun for herself and a gun for her younger sister. The Greene women both duck for cover as soon as the bullets start flying again, and Maggie gives Carol an opportunity to get off of the ground. As soon as she's with Beth and Carl, the blonde hands the gun over to her.

Michonne has a gun as well, and she's shooting from her place behind the overturned bus. She manages to take out one of the Governor's men.

They suddenly hear the roar of an engine, and everyone looks to see a van of some sort barreling toward the prison. It goes through both of the two fences that keep the walkers out before it just stops in the middle of the grass field. The back door drops, creating a ramp, and then a small herd of walkers exits the van and fills the yard.

A man in full protective gear gets out of the front of the van and starts shooting at Michonne. She manages to move out of his line of fire as Andie situates herself on her stomach in the overgrown grass. She starts picking off walkers, knowing that Hershel's on the other side of the field because he was trying to talk to Rick when all of this started.

Bullets rocket her way again, and the teenager rolls. The field isn't level and there's a small hill that she can use to protect herself against the Governor's gunfire.

Hershel's shooting at some of the walkers as well, putting down as many as he can, but that's pulling the attention of others his way. He doesn't have enough bullets to kill them all, and he can't make a quick getaway on his own.

The Governor and his men fire off a few more shots each before getting back inside their truck to leave the prison. They're pulling away from the gate as Glenn's driving back up, and Andie looks over to see Maggie, Carol, Beth, and Carl running over to the gate to get to them in the field.

Taking that as her cue that she's finally in the clear, Andie springs up on her feet and raises her gun. Seeing that Michonne's on her way to Hershel, she chooses to trust her to save him, and she starts shooting the walkers that are making their way toward her.

Glenn's truck zooms past Michonne to get to Hershel, and she keeps killing walkers as she runs to get to them. They get the older man into the truck, and then Glenn starts toward Andie just as she runs out of bullets.

Not having time to dig around in her bag for the knife Daryl gave her to replace the one she lost, she pulls the cross at the head of her grave out of the dirt. Swinging it, she's able to kill two more walkers before Glenn stops the truck next to her. She wastes no time climbing up into the bed and she holds onto the tailgate as he drives up toward the gate that leads into the courtyard.

Carl shuts the gate behind them, and Andie drops to her feet as soon as the truck stops. Carol quickly steadies her when she stumbles, and then they both rush over to the gate to make sure that their leader's okay. They find that Rick's outside the field with Daryl and Merle.

—

"We're not leaving." Rick declares, talking to his group. And Merle.

"We can't stay here." Hershel argues.

"What if there's another sniper?" Maggie asks. "A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds."

"We can't even go outside." Beth adds.

"Not in the daylight." Carol agrees.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn tells them.

"Yes, listen to the angry boy who wants to turn us into assassins." Andie says as she lays on the steps of the stairs.

"You're saying you don't want him dead?"

"Oh, I'd love to kill him. Better yet, I wanna shove Merle's head up his ass." She tells him. "But we are not them. Isn't that why you guys didn't kill me and Randell?"

"Saving you was the right call, but we should've killed Randell." He says, and she sighs. "And we should kill the Governor."

"Look, I'm all for holding our ground. I never ran from pricks like him before, and I'm not looking to start now." Andie says. "You need to learn to mind your temper, but we can stay."

"While you live like rats." Merle says from where he's locked in the common area.

"Fuck you."

"You got a better idea?" Rick asks him.

"Yeah, we should'a slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day." He says. "But we lost that window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

"Fuck you." Andie flips him off.

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl tells him from his place on the second floor.

"Y'all should be." Merle says. "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."

"Fuck you." The brunette repeats.

"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie says as she looks from Andie to Rick.

"No, he's got a point." Daryl says.

"This is all you. You started this."

"What's the difference whose fault it is?" Beth questions. "What do we do?"

"We could beat the shit out of Merle." Andie suggests, her eyes closed as her head rests on a step; she's sitting behind Hershel.

"I said we should leave." The older man repeats. "Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here."

"Where would we even go?" The brunette asks as she sits up. "Glenn may have been all torqued up with rage yesterday, but he had a point. This isn't like the Winter — going house to house, only worrying about a pregnant Lori. Now we have a baby that we can't keep quiet, and you're minus a leg. Kinda makes us a slow moving target."

Rick looks between Andie and Hershel before turning around and heading for the common area.

"Get back here!" Hershel snaps as he gets up, using his crutches to move forward a few paces, and their leader reluctantly comes to a stop. "You're slippin', 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."

"What do you think we should do?" Beth asks as she sits a step behind Andie.

"What difference does it make what I think?" The brunette asks. "I'm nowhere near leader."

"I like hearing your opinion." She tells her. "So, what do you think?"

Andie notices that the rest of them are looking at her well, and she clears her throat. "We're not assassins, but we're not cowards either." She says. "If he wants to come here, I say let him. We'll be ready and waiting, and whatever happens happens. But we're not going to Woodbury." Her eyes are on Glenn when she says the last part.

"You sure you're nowhere near leader?" Daryl asks, but she doesn't respond to him or even look his way. Instead, she stands up and moves past Beth so she can go up to her cell.

A little while later, Andie's walking out of Carol's cell after checking in to see how she's doing, and Daryl walks out of the cell next to hers at the top of the perch. He steps into her path, and her jaw tightens when he won't let her pass.

"You're not gonna talk to me?" He asks.

"Don't have anything to say."

"Since when?"

"Do you want something?" The brunette asks as she looks up at him; he sees the anger and betrayal in her eyes.

"He's my brother."

"Yeah, you covered that." She nods. "Anything new to say?"

"I'm sorry."

"For which part exactly?" Andie asks, eyebrows furrowed. "Leaving us when we needed you the most, or not bothering to even say goodbye before you went?"

Daryl looks down, ashamed of the way he handled the situation. "I didn't know what I was supposed to say to you."

"Oh, I think you said it loud and clear."

"That's not fair."

"Never is." She scoffs as she looks into her cell, seeing her bag on her bed. "Did I ever tell you about the last conversation that my dad and I ever had?"

"You said you were arguin'." He looks at her as she nods.

"He told me that I needed to grow up, that I let my anger blind me and I acted on impulse too often. He said I still saw the world through the eyes of a child, and as much as he wished things could stay that way, it was time I looked at the world for what it really was. I called him an asshole, said that if he really gave a shit about me, we wouldn't be having that conversation over the phone." She says, and he watches her as she walks into her cell and opens her bag. "Truth is, he was right. I wanted things to go my way, wanted people to behave the way that I thought was right. I wanted the world to be a certain way.

"Well, he finally got what he wanted. That little girl's gone. I think she disappeared while she was listening to your brother beat Glenn to a pulp. My eyes are open now, and I see the world for what it is. It's not favorite colors and pretty flowers. It's death and pain and doing anything we deem necessary to get what we want in this Godforsaken world." Andie slams the Bluebell into his chest as she walks past him, making her way down the stairs.

Daryl looks at the crumpled flower in his hand before turning to see her disappear into the common area.

"She hasn't slept since Rick and Maggie brought them home." Hershel says, and he looks over at him. "It's slowing the healing process. She's got a concussion, and she's not eating enough."

"When you were taken in Woodbury, she refused to leave you behind." Maggie tells him. "I tried to get her to go to the car with Glenn, but she wouldn't budge. She said you always saved her, and she wasn't gonna leave you behind."

"Ain't she a little young for you, little brother?" Merle asks, seemingly amused by the whole situation. "You robbin' the cradle or something?"

"Fuck you, Merle." Andie mumbles from where she's going through the duffle bag full of their weapon supplies. She needs more bullets.

"How old are you, sweetheart?"

"Call me that again, and I'll cut your tongue out of your head." She tells him, and he chuckles.

"Come on, tell me. How much younger than my brother are you?"

"Fuck you, that's how old I am."