CHAPTER THREE!
prologue: part three

PACKING HER LIFE AWAY wasn't something that Natalia Price ever thought she would have to ever do, to leave her home behind, her husband, and her whole life, because of a strange outbreak that turned people into crazy biters that thought nothing besides biting chunks out of people and eating them. It was surreal, to be avoiding the biters in the streets, she first experienced it with her husband, whom had been bitten by someone in the city and had changed into a biter shortly after that, and there had been a few that Natalia had come into contact with on her journey to her current home, Woodbury. She never thought that she would find somewhere safe to live, ever again, she had believed that the world was gone, that nothing was going to be the same again, until she met The Governor in Atlanta, along with a man named Merle, who took her in to a small town they called Woodbury, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. When Phillip had told her that it was where a large group of them were keeping safe behind walls, she expected to see a prison amongst arrival, but when she saw a small town still in tact, she had never been more happy.

The people in the town were lovely, they were kind and they were all how people were in her old town, before everything went down, and she couldn't love her new home more. Natalia felt like she owed Philip for taking her in without wanting anything in return, but no matter how much she had offered to give more, he turned her down, claiming that she was better off as a teacher than a fighter. There were many people willing to keep the town safe, and whilst Natalia wished that she could do more to help her people out, she couldn't help but agree with Philip that her skills weren't made for protecting, they were made for keeping the town together, and even sometimes, working with Philip to keep it up and running and to keep people calm and collected, instead of panicking about the outside walls. Although, people did panic time to time about what was outside of their small concealed down, even sometimes Natalia herself, since she hadn't had much experience with biters except for the exceptional one in the city and her husband..

Either way, Woodbury was Natalia's home, and she loved it.

Even though there were some things that Natalia didn't agree with, like watching chained up biters fight every week and cheering on the bets people had placed, but other than that, she was happy with every single thing that Philip did to run things here. Even Merle, whom at some times could be a complete tool, was a good guy, who also cared about keeping the town safe (mostly because of the fact he wanted to stay alive), but either way, he had never given Natalia a reason to dislike him. The woman was the towns teacher, she taught the kids mundane things that would've been taught in school before the dead started rising, and the kids loved it, they loved having some sense of normality. Even some of the adults joined in, too; it reminded them of a time where they didn't have to hide behind tall, strong built walls to keep the biters out, and although they had never had to experience what it's like to be out there, trying to survive, the idea was still there, and it was enough for them all.

Not Natalia, though.

No. She believed it was just as bad - it wasn't as if any of them could leave the small town, they were all stuck here, unable to leave because of what awaited them outside the walls. The woman hadn't experienced much with biters, having met Philip early into the outbreak, but having to kill her own husband after he turned, she knew how hard it must be surviving out there without a wall protecting you from the walking dead. She counted herself as lucky, though, never having to worry about anything like that because of Philip and the rest of the soldiers keeping the town safe from them all.

As the woman finished her English lesson with the kids of Woodbury, she looked at the back of the classroom to see Phillip sitting down on one of the small chairs for the children, making the woman chuckle slightly as the kids all strolled past them and back to their homes ready for curfew. He often sat in her classes to see how she worked, and he often joined in with the kids in answering questions and doing some of the quizzes Natalia set up for them - she was grateful to him that she had the resources to carry on school for the children, he ran this whole place, and without him, none of this would be possible. The children here were safe, the people were safe, and their home was safe, Natalia was glad that she wasn't stuck on the outside, fighting to stay alive and safe, and Phillip was the reason behind the fact that she wasn't. She owed him.

The man was known as The Governor to everyone living here, but only Natalia called him by his name, as he liked it that way — when she first heard everyone calling him The Governor, Natalia started to do so, too, but Philip forbid it, which is why she now called him Philip.

"That was a great lesson." Philip stated, clapping his hands together slowly as he watched the woman clean her front desk, practically watching her every move — he often liked to watch her work, she was elegant, she held herself with a high standard, and he admired her for it. Even with their lack of resources, she still managed to stay beautiful, and he appreciated it, since he liked to look at her everyday. "Got any plans for the weekend?" Phillip asked her, a smirk on his face as he did so.

As much as Natalia liked Phillip, he was a great leader, he was great with the kids, and an amazing guy, but she wasn't interested in him in that way, no matter how often he flirted with her. Sure, he may see it as a small joke from time to time, but since marrying her late husband and putting up with everything he did to her, wasn't something she initially wanted to go through, again. She didn't exactly want to be with any man, anymore.
Even if Phillip is a great guy, Natalia just didn't want to be tied to anyone anymore. Natalia gave him a small smile, brushing aside the flirty smile that Phillip was giving her. "Planning next weeks lessons for the kids." She informed him, as that is what she did most days when she wasn't in the classroom. Even with the end of the world, Natalia believed that the kids still needed an education, she believed it was important.. If Woodbury fell down one day, and the kids were left to fend for themselves, they might need to know how to keep a place like this running, like the electricity and such, and even the water supplies. Her lessons were adapted to living in the world they did now, and she believed that she was helping the kids for what might happen in the future.

Everyone else in the sanctuary believed that it helped, too.

Philip hummed at her answer, leaning back in the small children's chair and folding his arms across his chest, "Why don't you come to the gathering tonight? We haven't seen you around there, yet. People are asking about you." He explained, as Natalia faked a smile on her face, knowing exactly what happened during their little gatherings, and it wasn't something she was interested in.
Biters weren't something that she found amusing, they were people once, and it wasn't fair to use them like they were toys merely for their benefit and amusement.

Natalia loved Woodbury, the small town was her home, and she couldn't imagine a better place to live, with any better people, but what they like to celebrate every single week, the woman didn't like to get involved in., Most people in Woodbury showed up to the gatherings, and only a small amount of people didn't show up, and Natalia was one of them.

"Oh, I don't know, Philip.. You know, I got.." Natalia began to say, trying to come up with an excuse as to why she cannot go, but the man was very quick to interrupt her.

"I insist." Philip said, finally getting up off of the small chair and giving the woman that look he gave people when he wasn't exactly giving them a chance; the look made Natalia's heart drop slightly, as the man hadn't used that look on her before. She had seen him use the look on his so called soldiers, like Merle, whom Natalia tried to avoid most of the time because of the looks he would give her, and honestly, the hook that replaced his hand, scared her.

"O-Okay." Natalia stuttered, as the man walked towards her, the woman in question freezing as she felt a flashback invade her mind on how it used to be with her husband.

When Philip first found Natalia, she was in bits, still falling apart after having to kill her husband - it wasn't long after everything had first started to go to shit, that they found one another, so everything was all new to them at the time. The woman told him everything about her late husband, about what he did to her, what kind of man he was, and what she had to do to him in order to stay alive. Philip knew it all, and what she didn't know, was that he used her gears against her, and it was working well for him.
He reached his hand out, causing the woman to flinch, just slight, so little that she didn't think he saw, but he did, and he loved the effect he had on her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Natalia." Philip said, stroking his thumb across her cheek, "I'll come to your place later. Be ready." He said, letting his hand drop to his side as he then left the classroom without another word.

Natalia watched him go with a longing look on her face, wondering how the hell she had gotten herself in this situation..

—

Natalia thought that she would be able to avoid attending the ceremony for as long as she lived in Woodbury, she thought that Philip would be okay with the fact that she didn't want to watch someone fight a biter and maybe die, or two biters fight each other, it wasn't something that entertained her, she would rather just leave the biters be, and pretend they're not there. It's how she had liked it for all of this time, pretend the biters are not there, and life is normal - that's how the woman was getting by, but with all of this nonsense that Philip is forcing amongst the town, it doesn't feel like home, and Natalia was scared about what this place may look like to newcomers - they were good people, but if anyone saw what was going down every week, they would think different.

The woman was wearing the same outfit as earlier, not bothering to look nice for Philip as she didn't want to go, and he knew that she didn't want to; why he was forcing her to go, she didn't know.
Normally, the man would chat to her after her lessons with the kids, but he went out of his way to force the woman to attend their strange gathering.

Even when Natalia had known Philip since practically the beginning of the outbreak, she felt as if she still didn't truly know who the man really was - she appreciated how the man ran the town, he knew how to keep people in line, and he did care about keeping the town safe, and the people in it..

Natalia pulled her jacket on and pulled her hair back as she heard the door to her small apartment she lived in above the small shop that had been turned into her classroom. Philip picked her out the small place, and she did love it; she appreciated it, it was safe, and she could sleep at night with both eyes shut. Remembering the first nights of the outbreak when she was alone, it was some of the worst days she had experienced, which was saying a lot, considering whom she had married straight out of high school. The town went to complete shit when the dead first started walking, the cops were nowhere to be seen, the hospital was over run, and the army began to shoot anything that moved - Natalia was quick to flee.

She sighed, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed before she headed to her front door, opening her door to reveal Merle, surprising  Natalia, as the man usually avoided her since she opened up about how uncomfortable his flirting made her. "Merle? What're you doing here?" The woman asked, furrowing her brows in confusion as she expected Philip at her door, and not him.

Merle gave Natalia his famous smirk, the one that no woman in Woodbury wanted to see directed at them. "The Governor sent me to apologise. He won't be available to escort you tonight." He explained, as Natalia instantly calmed down, glad that she now didn't have to watch the horror show she had been avoiding up until this point.

"Oh.." Natalia said, trailing off as Merle got the exactly wrong idea, thinking that she did indeed, want to go.

"Sweetheart, no need to be upset, I can accompany you tonight. It would be my honour." Merle said, standing straighter as he leant against the woman's doorframe, his hooked hand failing to the side as Natalia flickered her eyes over at it before looking back up at his face. She remembered the story on how it had happened, some sheriff who he referred to as 'Officer Friendly', handcuffed him to a roof to die, which he said it was because he was evil - Natalia didn't know what to believe, though, as Merle was that kind of person.

"Thankyou, but no. I have a lot of work to prepare for the life tomorrow, they have a pop quiz." Natalia said, watching as Merle deflated in disappointment, having wanted to hang out with her tonight. He did enjoy the woman's company, she was one of the normal ones in this town, and he was honestly surprised that she resided here, especially with The Governor, considering the kind of man that he was.

Not many people knew what kind of man he was, but Merle did, and he had a feeling that Natalia had some idea, too, as the woman kept to her own, helping the kids out and doing her bit in the community.

Most people in this town, in his opinion, were useless; they hardly helped out, living off of the supplies they found and fought for, and slept soundless and worry free around the walls that they had built around them - Natalia helped out where she could. Although she didn't have many skills in fighting, or shooting, she tried where she could, sometimes joining in on lessons before The Governor would end the lessons because he didn't believe the woman should be handling the guns or fighting.. He had his own men dealing with that, and everyone else had their own jobs in the town, he didn't like anyone overstepping with that.

"You sure?" Merle asked, knowing that he had a good time at these events, and if she came along, he was sure that she would also enjoy herself. "You're always copped up in this small apartment. Live a little." He said, winking at the woman as she kept the straight expression on her face, not caring what he was saying in the slightest, nothing would convince her to go.

Natalia actually felt bad for him in the moment, she knew that he must be lonely, she knew that he had a brother before Philip found him and saved his life, a brother that was probably dead by now. The woman didn't have any siblings, so she didn't know what it was like to loose one, but she could only sympathise with him, she couldn't imagine the pain that he was going through. She gave the man a small smile, "I like it up here. It's my space." She told the man, "Seriously Merle, it's fine, I'll be busy tonight, anyway. You have a good time, though." She said, as Merle slowly nodded his head.

He motioned his head to say 'goodbye' before giving her a small smile and heading back the way he came down the stairs and through the classroom, Natalia shutting the door after him.

And although she chose not to attend the event in the town centre, she did feel the loneliness hit her, hearing all of her friends cheering on the biters and the fighters. It made her wonder if she even fitted in here at all, and what she was even doing here in the first place. And going to sleep that night, alone, again, with nothing but the echos of the towns people in the distance, she couldn't help but wonder..

Where did she belong?