CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"It won't work." Rick tells Daryl.

"It's gotta."

"It'll stir things up."

"Look, the Governor's probably on his way to the prison right now." Daryl reasons. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie tells him.

"He had a gun to our heads." Glenn says. "Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Andie and Carol?"

"He ain't a rapist." Daryl argues.

"Well, his buddy is." He persists, and Maggie turns to look over at Andie; she sees her squeeze her eyes shut as her head hangs. The younger girl's leaning against the car, standing behind Michonne, not wanting any part in this argument.

"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night."

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick says, and they all look at him.

"So, you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl questions.

"She's not coming back."

"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie tells him.

"She did bring you guys to us." Glenn reasons as he glances at the woman leaning on the side mirror of the car.

"And then ditched us." Rick reminds him.

"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie says.

"She's too unpredictable."

"That's right. We don't know who she is." Daryl says. "But Merle — Merle's blood."

"No, Merle is your blood." Glenn argues. "My family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison."

"And you're part of that family." Rick tells him. "But he's not. He's not."

"Man, y'all don't know." Daryl shakes his head, but they won't give in. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn interjects. "Okay, I—"

"No him, no me."

"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie says, not wanting him to leave.

"It was always Merle and I before this." He tells them.

"Don't."

"Are you serious?" Glenn questions. "You're just gonna leave like that?"

"You'd do the same thing." Daryl argues.

"What do you want us to tell Carol?"

"She'll understand."

"And what are you gonna tell Andie?" Glenn asks, and he looks past them at the brunette.

The teenager quickly wipes a tear from her cheek before crossing her arms over her chest. She swallows the lump in her throat as she looks away from them, not wanting them to see her puffy cheeks or red eyes.

"Say goodbye to your pop for me." Daryl walks between Maggie and Glenn, toward the car.

"Daryl, are you serious? Daryl!"

"Hey, hey." Rick stops him. "There's gotta be another way." He says, and Daryl shakes his head.

"Don't ask me to leave him." Daryl says as he starts walking again. "I already did that once."

"We started something last night." Their leader says as the two men walk past Michonne and Andie to get to the trunk of the silver car. "You realize that, huh?"

"No him, no me. That's all I can say." He tells him as he opens the trunk to get his stuff. "Take care of yourself. Take care of lil Ass-Kicker. Carl. He's one tough kid. And, uh... Take care of her for me, huh?"

Rick turns his head to look at Andie as Daryl walks away from them. Glenn calls after him, but it's no use. Andie turns around and looks over the car, seeing him with Merle as the two walk farther into the woods.

—

They get out of the car at the prison, and Beth rushes over to hug Andie after checking on her sister. The brunette barely even notices her, and Maggie calls her over, telling her to give Andie some space.

She walks over to stand near the table she and Daryl were sitting on the night he apologized for asking Rick to sit her out of the group going to clear the prison. She stares out at the trees ahead of them, not really seeing anything in front of her.

Carol walks over, and she jumps when the older woman rests her hand on her arm. Andie's fighting back tears, and the battle's lost when Carol pulls her into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the teenager. She starts sobbing as she buries her face in Carol's shoulder.

It takes awhile before Andie's ready to go back inside, and Carol doesn't leave her until she's in her cell. The brunette lays on her bed, staring up at the ceiling through the bars of the top bunk.

"You've got a knack for that." Carol says from where she's standing on the perch, looking at Beth as she walks up the steps.

"Just trying to do my part." The blonde tells her.

"Sophia used to wake the neighbors. Three a.m., like clockwork." She says as she wipes out the basket she found. "Ed stayed at a friend's most nights 'til she calmed down."

"I always wanted a child." Beth smiles as she looks down at the baby in her arms. "She wouldn't've made it if Daryl hadn't been here. He couldn't stand to lose anyone else."

"Sounds like him."

"I don't see why he had to leave." She says, looking past Carol into Andie's cell. "Merle sounds like a jerk."

"Men like Merle get into your head." The older woman tells her. "Make you feel like you deserve the abuse."

"Even for Daryl?"

She pauses for a moment as she thinks. "I'm hardly the woman I was a year ago, but if Ed walked through that door right now breathing and told me to go with him, I'd like to think I'd tell him to go to hell."

Andie gets up from her bed then and walks over to them, and Carol turns to look at her. "You would. None of us are the same as we were when we met. We're all stronger." She leans over and kisses her cheek before walking past them and heading down the steps. The teenager walks over and leans in the doorway to Glenn and Maggie's cell.

"You have anything that needs looking at?" Hershel asks as he's finishing up with Glenn's injuries.

"Her head." Glenn tells him. "Merle hit her with his gun. She was unconscious the whole way to Woodbury."

"Any symptoms?"

Andie shrugs. "A headache, nothing too serious."

"Sensitivity to light or sound? Nausea?" The older man asks as he looks up at her.

"Light and sound — a little bit. Nausea — no."

"Could be a mild concussion." He says. "Come here."

"Could also be the effects of all the loud noises while running through a warzone." She counters, and he nods as he does his assessment.

"Very true."

Hershel finishes by telling her to drink more water and get some rest, then he excuses himself from the cell. Maggie follows soon after, and Andie takes a deep breath as she rests her palms on the mattress and leans forward.

"I had a big family, but I never had any brothers." The brunette says. "Getting brought into this group... I gained both brothers and sisters. You were the first one to agree with Daryl that I should get to stay with you guys, and I don't think I ever told you what that meant to me. It's a weird feeling — knowing what it's like to have a big brother after nineteen years of being an only child. I just wanted to thank you for looking out for me when you...when the only person you should've been looking out for was yourself."

"I had sisters growing up." He tells her. "You remind me a lot of them — fiercely independent, too stubborn for your own good." He says, and she chuckles.

"Sounds about right."

"You spend a lot of time taking care of everyone else. You were overdue to have someone take care of you." Glenn says, and she smiles as she lightly bumps her shoulder against his.

They hear Axel speak up outside. "Whenever Tomas went off, Oscar always stood up for me, you know?" He's talking to Carol as they get up and walk out of the cell. "He was my friend."

"He went out fighting." Rick tells him.

"So, what now?" Beth asks as she walks over with the baby in her arms. "You think the Governor will retaliate?"

"Yes." Andie answers.

"Let him try." Glenn says from beside her.

"Sounds like he's got a whole town. We're outnumbered and outgunned." Carol says.

"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel interjects as he looks at their leader.

"What, those people in the common area?" Andie asks as she turns and looks over at Maggie. "I don't— I mean, we don't even know them. We're just gonna let them stay after Daryl left because we wouldn't let Merle stay?"

"This is different." Glenn reasons. "Merle almost got us killed. Hershel says these people seem like they're alright."

With that said, they unlock the door to the commons, and Hershel leads their group in. Rick walks over, and a man extends his hand as he introduces himself.

"I'm Tyreese." He tells him, but Rick doesn't shake his hand.

"Sasha, Allen, Ben." Hershel introduces the others.

"How'd you get in?" Rick asks them.

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison." Tyreese explains. "Wall's down."

"That side's completely overrun with walkers." He looks at their four people. "How'd you get this far?"

"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna."

"They were lost in the tombs." Carl tells his father.

"And you brought 'em here?" Rick questions as he turns to look at him.

"He had no choice." Hershel defends the kid's actions.

He nods as he looks back at the others. "Well, I'm sorry about your friend. We know what that's like."

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands." Tyreese says. "We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that too. Anything to contribute."

Rick pauses for a moment. "No."

"Please." Sasha begs. "It's like 10 Little Indians out there. It's just us now."

"No."

"Let's talk about this." Hershel interjects. "We can't just keep—"

"We've been through this." Rick turns and looks at him. "With Tomas, Andrew. Look what happened."

"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol reasons.

"And where's Oscar now?" He questions as he faces his group; he shakes his head as he turns back to Tyreese and his group. "I can't be responsible."

"You turn us out, you are responsible." Tyreese tells him.

"Rick." Hershel gets his attention, and he walks over to the older man. "You've done so much for us. I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked without question. And I'm telling you you're wrong on this. You've got to start giving people a chance."

For a moment, Rick looks like he's about to let the others stay with them at the prison, but then something sets him off and he starts yelling. He's pacing the common area, yelling that he can't help someone. Glenn ushers the other group out after Rick pulls his gun out, still yelling, though he doesn't seem to be talking to any of them.