"I'M GONNA KILL YOUR FRIENDS AT THE PRISON. MAKE YOUR PARENTS HELP."

Marcie grunted as the Governor landed another punch to her face, "Then, I'm gonna kill your parents. And then... I'm gonna kill you."

The only thing she could do was take it. The Governor had chained her wrists to posts above her head, forcing her on her knees. She couldn't fight back.

"If you touch them, any of them..." Marcie spat blood onto the cement floor and glared up at the Governor, "I will find you, and I will rip you apart."

The Governor smirked at her before leaving the room.

Marcie still hadn't seen her parents. The Governor had kept her tied up for days now, only coming in to torture her before leaving for hours at a time.

Each time he came in, he looked even more unhinged.

Marcie had been stabbed, slashed, kicked, punched, slapped. But she didn't break. She didn't beg for mercy.

She asked about Andrea. About the prison. About her parents. He didn't give her an answer each time.

Marcie wasn't ready to die. But she was afraid it might happen.

She hoped Daryl would avenge her. The Governor would suffer before meeting an untimely fate.

She hoped he would become one of the walking dead. He didn't deserve to be put down. He deserved to wander the Earth, searching for food until someone decides to take him out with a blow to the head.

Hours later, the door opened again. Marcie lifted her head and her eyes widened at the sight of her beaten parents being dragged into the room, "No!"

She pulled at the chains, putting strain on her shoulders, "Mama, papa! Don't hurt them, please!" Marcie begged,

The Governor stood there, a smirk on his face as his men dropped her parents onto the ground and left, shutting the door behind them.

"We're okay, mi stellina." Her mother coughed, being interrupted by the Governor kicking her in the ribs, "Everything is going to be-"

"Stop!"

"I like seeing you beg." He approached her, 

"They didn't do anything." Marcie's voice broke, "It's me you have a problem with, please just let them go."

He kneeled down to be face to face with her, "Guilty by association." He whispered, gripping her jaw tightly, "You're associated with those mongrels in the prison. And they're associated with you. You're all guilty." He let go over her and stood, walking back over to her parents.

He grabbed her father's shirt, bringing him to his feet.

"I'm sorry." Her father grunted, "I should've protected you. Both of you."

Marcie shook her head, not wanting her father to blame himself. The Governor hid his true colours, believing he was a good man.

Her father may have been blinded, but Marcie should have tried harder to free him from Woodbury's spell.

Her father's gaze shifted between Marcie and her mother, "I love you."

Marcie screamed as the Governor slit her father's throat, blood squirting from the wound. Her mother's scream turned into a sob as the Governor let go of her father, his body collapsing to the cement.

He turned to Marcie, "Now you get to watch it all unfold, knowing it was all your fault." He told her before leaving the room and locking it.

Tears streamed down Marcie's face, but she didn't make a noise.

She knew his game now. It became clear the moment he left the room without touching Marcie or her mother.

He wanted her father to turn and rip them apart.

Her father's blood began to pool around his body, staining the cement. Her mother crawled over to him, lifting his upper body into her lap and cried, holding his face in her hands.

Marcie continued to watch her mother cry over her father's body.

"I'm sorry." Marcie whispered, "I'm really sorry, mama, for what I'm about to ask you to do."

Her mother looked over at her, "What do you mean, baby?"

"When people die... they turn." Marcie felt like she couldn't breathe, "It doesn't matter if you're bit or not... you turn. I so need you to find something sharp and stab papa in the head before he turns."

She shook her head, "I can't do that."

"Yes, you can. You're strong, mama, you made it this far. But we need to put him down, we can't let him become one of those things." Marcie tried her hardest to keep her voice calm and steady, 

Her mother glanced around the room, "I... I don't see anything."

"Just look, mama, it can be anything. A loose nail, chunk of metal... anything." Marcie urged her,

"Do you hear what you're saying?!" Her mother stroked her husband's paling face, "You want me to find something to stab my husband with!"

She wanted to mourn her father, and wanted to give her mother time to mourn, too. But they didn't have the time.

"So he won't come back and kill us!" Marcie exclaimed, "Mama, don't to that to him. Don't let him become one of those things." She stared at her mourning mother, "Please, mama."

Her mother sniffled and nodded, kissing her husband's forehead before setting his body on the ground and standing. 

Marcie guided her mother around the room, trying t find anything. She also kept looking over at her father's body, waiting for him to start moving again.

"There's nothing." Her mother sighed,

"Shit." Marcie hissed, pulling at the chains. She wished her mother could free her, but they needed a key, and her mom was too weak to be able to pull the chains from the posts, "Okay, mama, new plan... and this is going to be hard-"

"Harder than stabbing him in the head?"

Marcie bit her lip. Living out there, beyond walls, she had to become resourceful when it came to taking out walkers. If a weapon wasn't available, you had to be your own weapon.

"I... you need to crush his skull." She said quietly,

Her mother stared at her, "What?"

The tears streamed farther, "You need to stomp on his skull, crush it."

She shook her head, "No."

"It's the only way, mama." Marcie would do it if she could, but it was up to her mother to save them, "Please."

Her father's hand twitched behind her mother. Marcie's heart rate spike, "Mama..."

Her mother turned around in time to see Marcie's father stumble to his feet, his clouded over eyes staring at them,

"Mateo." Her mother gasped, stepping in front of Marcie, 

"Mama, get out of the way." Marcie begged,

Marcie's mother stared at her husband as he walked towards them, hand reaching out. She pushed on his chest, but he was too large for her to move.

"Mama, no!"

Screams filled the air as he latched on her shoulder. Marcie watched as he tore out a chunk of skin and ligaments, blood squirting into the air. Her mother collapsed and Marcie was quick to kick her father's knee, making him crumble to the ground. 

Gripping the chains, she got onto her feet. It pulled on her shoulders uncomfortably, but it was a matter of life and death.

Lifting her leg, Marcie brought her boot down on her father's head. 

It was different, crushing the skull of someone who recently died. It was a lot harder than doing it on a corpse that had been rotting for months.

It was also a lot harder to do on your own father.

"I'm sorry." Marcie sobbed over and over as she brought her foot down again and again, blood splattering onto her face and body,

Her mother sat against the wall, holding her bleeding shoulder as she watched her daughter's gruesome actions,

When his body stopped moving, Marcie collapsed back onto her knees. She felt her shoulder pop, but nothing could compare to the pain she was feeling in her heart,

"I couldn't protect you." Her mother sniffled, her face becoming pale as the blood loss became extreme, "You were always so independent, always saying you could do things for yourself. Even when you were just a child."

Marcie didn't lift her head, staring down at her father's corpse,

"I knew you were always out there." She gasped, "We both knew. And we were always waiting."

"I knew you were out there, too." Marcie mumbled, watching as her tears hit the concrete, "I was always looking. Even when people told me the likelihood of you being out there was slim, I told them I wasn't going to stop."

"And you didn't." She gave her a small smile, "You're so strong, mi stellina. You're going to get out of this."

"If it weren't for me, you and papa would be okay. It's all my fault, mama." Marcie began to sob,

"No, baby." Her mother's breaths began to slow, "We should have listened to you."

"You had reasons not to." She sniffled,

Her mother leaned her head back against the wall, "I love you, mi stellina. We both do... so much. We're so proud of you."

Her chest stilled and Marcie cried, "Mama... mama, please." She stared at her mother's still body, "Please wake up."

Marcie kneeled there in pain, her shoulder dislocated, her own blood mixing with her father's, his body at the ground in front of her,

She had lost everything. All because of the Governor.

So many things went through her head. She went through all of the decisions she made that led her to that point.

She should have left with Michonne, should have come back to her parents. Stayed at the prison, came up with a plan to get her parents out without alerting the Governor.

She had failed them. Both Daryl and her parents.

And now she had to wait for her mother to turn to make her next decision.

The others at the prison could be dead. 

So she needed to figure out her next move.

Give up, let her mother bite her and end her own suffering. Or putting her mother down, and living with the fact that she had to kill her parents.

She could be alone in the world once again.

Marcie's head shot up as she heard groans coming from her mother's corpse. She needed to make a decision now.

Her mother's eyes found hers and Marcie sobbed. She lifted her gaze to the ceiling, wondering if anyone was listening, some higher power.

"I'm sorry."