VIVIAN IGNORED THE PAIN IN HER TORSO AS SHE CLUTCHED LIAM TO HER CHEST.

"Mama hurt." Liam stated as he buried his face into her shoulder,

"Mama's okay." Vivian whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

She was so focused on seeing Liam, she almost missed the four unfamiliar faces who were sitting in the cellblock, waiting for Rick.

But he simply walked past, barely giving them a glance, before walking towards the cells and Carl locked the door behind him.

Carl released the stone cold look on his face before approaching Vivian. She gave him a sad smile before he wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his wet face to her chest, "I thought I was going to lose you, too."

Vivian took off his hat and kissed the top of his head, "You're never going to lose me, sweet boy." She mumbled into the top of his head,

The brunette glanced up to catch Rick's eye, as he held the baby in his arms. She gave him a nod before letting go of Carl and setting Liam on the floor.

Hershel hobbled over to her, "Come. Let me take a look at those cuts."

Carl took Liam while Hershel and Vivian went into her cell. She slowly unbuttoned Rick's shirt, her back to the older man, letting him see the cuts first. He cleaned them before allowing her to put on a tank top before examining her ribs.

She winced as he pressed down on them. He gaged her reactions before leaning back, "Well, I don't think they're broken. Worst case scenario, cracked. Most definitely bruised."

"Thanks, Merle." Vivian mumbled, gently sitting down on her bunk,

"I suggest no heavy lifting, and that includes Liam." Hershel stated,

"He's like thirty pounds." Vivian argued,

"You need to take it easy, especially right now. We need you to heal as soon as possible." Hershel explained, "If you strain too much, those fractures will turn into real breaks."

She nodded, "Got it, doc."

He stood, balancing on his crutches, "Anything else you want me to look at?"

Vivian was quick to shake her head, "No... no I'm good." She mumbled before watching him walk out of her cell.

Marcie stood in the crowd that had gathered outside the Governor's residence. Her father stood next to her, no emotion on his face.

He was a stubborn man. He doesn't want to leave Woodbury. But Marcie didn't want to stay. She didn't trust this place.

But that means she couldn't leave her parents behind.

Her attention strayed as Andrea and Milton walked out of the building and they approached the crowd, "Everyone, if I could..." His voice was drowned out by the residents', "if I could have your attention. Everyone."

Andrea walked over to Marcie, "We need to talk." She whispered,

"I agree."

"All right, everybody shut up!" Martinez yelled out, causing everyone to go silent,

"Thank you." Milton cleared his throat, "The biters on the perimeter have been dispatched. The fences have been repaired."

"For now." Karen commented,

"Where's the Governor?" A man questioned,

"His- his condition is... uh... unsteady." He answered, "The wound he suffered-"

"Our friends were killed, man."

"He shot Richard." Karen stated, "I mean, we've all suffered. We want answers."

Everyone began commenting in agreement and Andrea stepped forward, "You're right, Karen. You're right. Every one of us has suffered. We don't even have funerals anymore because the death never stops.We're never gonna be the same. Ever. So what do we do? We dig deep and we find the strength to carry on. We work together and we rebuild. Not just the fences, the gates, the community, but ourselves. Our hearts, our minds. And years from now, when they write about this plague in the history books, they will write about Woodbury."

The community nodded and agreed with the blonde, giving her a hug or handshake before walking off.

Marcie stayed, even when her parents walked off, she waited for Andrea to be alone. Once everyone had left, she approached her, "I'm surprised you're still here." The blonde commented,

"Did you know he had Daryl?"

She shook her head, "Not until the same time as you, I imagine. Apparently Merle found Maggie, Glenn, and Vivian while on a run. They killed Gargulio, Wesley, and a few others. They brought them back here, and that's why Rick and the others attacked."

"Glenn, Vivian, and Maggie wouldn't kill people unless threatened, Andrea, you know that." Marcie defended her friends,

"It's been eight months since we've seen them, Marcie. People can change. We've changed." Andrea argued,

"No." Marcie shook her head, "No, I don't believe that. They aren't like that. Not those three. Vivian fought hard to keep Randall alive. Glenn and Maggie? They're good. They would kill if pushed, but they don't shoot first ask questions later. Not like Merle. Not like the Governor." She spat before walking away,

Vivian stood by her cell door, watching Liam as he coloured on the desk inside their cell. Outside, the others were gathered around the main door that led into the common room, where the people Carl had saved were waiting.

Maggie walked over to her, and stood beside her, "You doing okay?" She stared at her friend, "We haven't gotten the chance to talk..."

Vivian shrugged and hesitated before asking, "Did he..."

"No." Maggie shook her head, "He was just trying to scare me."

"Then you were the lucky one." Vivian whispered.

"So what now?" Beth asked as she approached Rick, the baby in her arms, "You think the Governor will retaliate?"

"Yes." Maggie answered,

"Let him try." Glenn mumbled,

"Sounds like he's got a whole town. We're outnumbered and gunned." Carol commented,

"But we have people on the inside." Vivian stated, her voice steady and cold, "If we can get into contact with them, we could take the Governor down easily."

"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel told Rick.

He was talking about the group in the common room. Everyone shared a look before following the old man out of the cells,

The four of them stood, and the large black man held out his hand towards Rick, "I'm Tyreese."

Rick stood still, not moving to shake his hand. Hershel then pointed towards the others, "Sasha, Allen, Ben." He introduced,

"How'd you get in?" Rick asked, staring at Tyreese,

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison. Wall's down." He answered,

"That side's completely overrun with walkers." Rick commented, "How'd you get this far?"

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

"They were lost in the gyms." Carl stated,

His father turned to him, "You brought them here?" He snapped,

"He had no choice." Hershel defended him,

Rick nodded before turning back to the new people, "I'm sorry about your friend. We know what that's like."

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands." Tyreese offered, "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."

Vivian thought Tyreese seemed genuine. And if this group were anything like him, they could become real members of the group. Just like Axel and Oscar did.

"No."

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

Rick made it seem like he was thinking about it, but Vivian knew he wasn't going to change his mind, "No."

"Let's talk about this." Hershel spoke up, "We can't just keep-"

"We've been through this." Rick interrupted, "With Tomas, Andrew. Look what happened."

He was referring to what happened to Lori and T-Dog. And Vivian understood he was trying to learn from his mistakes, but not everyone was so horrible.

That was something she was trying to learn, too.

"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol defended,

"And where's Oscar now?" Rick asked her, before turning back to Tyreese, "I can't be responsible."

"You turn us out, you are responsible." The larger man told him.

"Rick." Hershel beckoned him over, "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."

Rick stared at the old man before looking at the rest of the group. If he didn't let anyone in, they were all going to dwindle down to nothing.

The sheriff sighed and rubbed his eyes before giving Hershel a small smile and patting his arm.

It seemed like he was going to let them in.

Before he looked up and the smile on his face dropped.

"No, no." He began to whisper, shaking his head, No, no, no, no." He walked past Hershel, "Why are you here? What do you want from me?" He stopped below the catwalk that sat above the common room, and stared up, 

"Dad?" Carl asked and Vivian reached for the boy, pulling him beside her, 

"Why are you-- no. I can't help you. Get out!" Rick yelled and he backed away, "Get-- get out!"

"Hey, come on. Whoa, it's all good." Tyreese tried to calm him down,

"What are you doing?" Sasha asked,

Vivian didn't understand. He was so calm, so under control, so why this outburst? Why now?

"Hey, easy, Rick." Maggie approached him, "There's no need to--"

Rick whipped out his gun, "You don't belong here! Get out! Please!"

"Mama?" Liam appeared in the doorway and Vivian held her hand out, 

"Stay in there, baby." She ordered him,

"Relax, brother. Relax. We'll leave. We're going. Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here." Tyreese stated while his group headed towards the door, "We're going."

"What are you doing here?!" Rick screamed, but Vivian had a feeling he wasn't talking to Tyreese,

Glenn led them out and Vivian approached the sheriff, "Rick... what's going on? Just... talk to us, please." She held her hands out, trying to show him she meant no harm, "There's no one else here but us, okay? You're okay."

Rick gripped her wrists tightly and pushed her up against the metal grate next to them, "Rick, stop!" She cried out in pain.

She began to shake uncontrollably. For a split second, she was back in that room. With duct tape  keeping her hands behind her back. Cuts bleeding down her back. Her jeans pooled around her ankles.

"Please, don't." Vivian begged, tears running down her cheeks, 

Rick stared down at her, his eyes wide. He slowly let go of her wrists and backed away. He glanced back at the catwalk before walking into the tombs, leaving everyone in a state of shock.

Maggie rushed over to her, "Are you okay?"

Vivian was quick to brush her off, "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." She mumbled before going back towards her cell.