— THERE WASN'T MUCH TO BE happy about in times like this, fighting for your life and praying that you wouldn't be ripped apart by walkers that would lead to your death; but when you had family and friends around you, making the most of everything that came, Zoe found it hard to be unhappy. Even after what the Governor did to her in Woodbury, the girl wasn't letting it ruin her life, she wasn't letting it get to her like he had wished it would, and the girl was moving on, well, trying to. She had Nate by her side to help her through it, the man never pushing her to get her to open up or forcing her to tell him exactly what happened — Nate didn't want her to relive what had happened to his girlfriend in Woodbury, if anything, he did everything he could to ensure that it wouldn't happen, but he knew that he could never be enough, he heard her in the night when she would have a nightmare, and it broke his heart that his girl was going through something like this; if he could take away her pain and endure it himself, he would. Zoe was trying, and that's all anyone could ask of her.

But, when Glenn came up to her with a huge smile on her face, the girl couldn't help but truly smile back, the boy never failing to do so. "What's got you all giddy?" Zoe asked her best friend, watching as Glenn practically skipped over to her, holding something in his hand that she couldn't see as of yet. She had never actually seen him this determined and happy before; the girl knew that it must have something to do with Maggie.

Glenn held out his hand, showing the girl a beautiful engagement ring, "I'm going to ask Maggie to marry me." He told Zoe, anxiously awaiting her opinion on the ring. He had only found it off of one of the walkers outside of the prison, but he wanted Maggie to have something, once he washed the ring off, it was practically looking as good as knew, and he was happy with the look of it — but Zoe's opinion meant a lot to him, and he was wishing that she liked the ring as much as he did, and hoped that Maggie would love it just as much, too.

"Oh my god." Zoe gasped, looking at the ring sitting nicely in Glenn's hand, the diamond shining in the sunlight as they stood in the courtyard, "Glenn, that's amazing!" She told her best friend, instantly bringing him in for a hug as smiled smiled widely, the most she had smiled since the incident at Woodbury.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Glenn asked, not knowing why he was worrying so much, since Maggie was his world and he was pretty sure she felt the same way.

Zoe couldn't help but roll her eyes at Glenn, "Obviously she's going to say yes, Glenn." She said, having a look at the ring once again, shocked at how it practically looked brand new, she wondered how he had gotten it, "Where did you get this?" Zoe asked, as Glenn sheepishly shrugged.

"A walker from the gates." Glenn revealed, now looking embarrassed at the fact he had gotten the engagement ring off of a walker just outside of the prison.

"It looks brand new." Zoe told him, Glenn's face relaxing when he realised she wasn't about to roast him for picking the ring off of a dead woman. When Zoe realised in his face, the girl smiled at him, "She's gonna love it. Don't worry about it." She said, bringing the boy in for another hug, which he gladly returned. "I'm so happy for you." She added, knowing that since Glenn and Maggie had met each other on the farm, they were meant to be — a lot like how she and Nate were.

"Thanks, Zo." Glenn said, glad to see a smile on his best friends face, even after everything she had been through during this past week. He knew that Zoe was strong, but the fact that she was still holding on with her head held high, just proved to him how strong she really was — he couldn't imagine what she was currently going through, and the fact that she was managing to push it aside for the greater good, proved that she was a great person. "I already asked for Hershel's blessing, he said yes." He added.

"Obviously he would. He loves you." Zoe said, as the two began walking back to the prison, "When are you going to propose?" She asked.

"Today." Glenn revealed, knowing that he wanted to do it as soon as possible in case anything was to happen to any of them; the more time went on, the more they all realised that maybe they wouldn't have every single day together, and he wanted to make sure that Maggie knew how much he loved her.

When Maggie suddenly walked out of the courtyard, Zoe gave Glenn a knowing look, "Good luck." She whispered to him, the boy giving her a small side hug before rushing off to his girlfriend, leaving Zoe standing alone in the courtyard. The girl had no jobs for the rest of the day, she was simply waiting to be told to do something, but deep down in her stomach, she felt like something wrong was going to happen today. Even with Glenn's revelation on proposing to Maggie, the feeling wouldn't go away.

"Zo!" The girl heard Nate call from behind her, the girl turning around instantly at the sound of his voice, "Merle's gone, took Michonne with him." Nate told his girlfriend, stopping in front of her with his gun in his hands, looking towards the field to see if they were there, but they were nowhere in sight.

"Michonne? Why would he take Michonne?" Zoe asked, not knowing why Merle would take Michonne with him. She understood why Merle would want to leave, but not why he would take that woman with him.. Nate looked at her with a slightly guilty face, not wanting to tell her the plan that her father had cooked up, he would have thought Rick would have come to tell her by now whilst he was gearing up with Daryl, but it seemed that he hadn't done that yet. "What aren't you telling me?" The girl asked her boyfriend, giving him a knowing look. She knew he was keeping something from her from the moment she asked why Merle would take Michonne with him.

Nate sighed, "The Governor gave Rick an out to all of this. Deliver Michonne and he's leave us all alone." He eventually told the girl, knowing that she wasn't going to take this well. Nate could already tell that this made her annoyed by the look on her face, the way it fell at the sound of the man's name, the man who tormented her — the man who would torment Michonne if Rick handed her over, she just couldn't understand how he could do that.

Zoe didn't say anything, she looked down at the ground, a million thoughts swarming through her mind as she tried to think of a reason as to why her dad would think that would be a good idea, especially since he knew a little about what the man had done to her. "So he asked Merle to do it?" She finally spoke up, looking up at Nate as she tried to hold the tears in, the girl unable to imagine what Michonne would have to go through with that man.

"He changed his mind, Zo. That's why we're trying to find him, so we can stop this." Nate told Zoe, attempting to calm her down as he sensed she would cry at any moment now — if he knew that this would upset the girl so much, he wouldn't have told her anything in the first place, but knowing Rick, he would have told her eventually. At least he realised that he was in the wrong, and tried to stop it, it was just a shame that he was too late.

"That man's evil. I can't imagine what he'd do to Michonne. She's helped us so much, she doesn't deserve that." Zoe told him, shaking her head in complete disbelief that her dad would even think to do something like that.

"Me and Daryl are going after them, making sure they don't make it there in time." Nate told her, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop her from going anywhere, "Do you want to come?" He asked, knowing that he didn't exactly want to leave the prison knowing that Zoe was still here, and the fact that maybe she would want to help find Merle.

Zoe instantly nodded, knowing that she needed to stop Merle from delivering Michonne, not only did the woman not deserve that, but she also couldn't let this go and live on, knowing that she sat back and allowed something like this to happen. "Yeah, let me get my things." She told the boy, leaning up to give him a kiss before she rushed off to the cell block to grab a few of her things.

She didn't waste any time heading to her cell and grabbing her gun, machete and jacket, throwing it on as she quickly tied her hair up, making sure it was out of the way, when she heard someone head up the steps and towards the cell. Zoe turned around, finding her dad standing there with a guilty look on his face, one that had stuck on there since Nate had come up to him and told him that Zoe knew about the plan, the man didn't blame Nate for telling his daughter, she was going to find out when he told the group later, but he just wished that he was the one to do so. "Zo." Rick spoke up, his daughter turning around with her arms crossed as she slightly glared at him.

"How could you?" Zoe asked, not even bothering to start a normal conversation with him or hear him out for his reasoning with practically selling Michonne to the Governor, "Give up Michonne like that, to a man like him?" She carried on, watching as Rick looked towards the floor, the guilt eating him alive.

"I've been second guessing what I've done for hours." Rick finally spoke up, looking back up at his daughter, "It's why I went to Daryl, to stop Merle from going ahead with it.." He said, Zoe quickly interrupting him.

"But the fact that you even thought about giving him Michonne? Knowing who he is and what he's done." Zoe snapped, not wanting to accept her fathers reasoning, "And to ask Merle to go through with it so you don't have to? It's like I don't even know who you are. She's helped us. She's helped Judith, she doesn't deserve that." She ranted, Rick knowing that he deserved it, he just thought that he would be saving everyone by doing so; he was wrong. Michonne was one of them now.

"I just.." Rick began to explain himself, only for Zoe to interrupt him yet again.

"Let's talk when I get back. I'm going to get Merle with Nate and Daryl." Zoe said, walking past him and out of the cell, feeling bad that she had snapped at him, but she just couldn't justify his actions with selling Michonne out like that. She knew that she had been to harsh, and that maybe he felt like he had to go ahead with the Governor's offer because he felt the need to protect everyone, but the girl was sure that if the whole group were given that offer, none of them would go for it, they would all take their chances rather then sending an innocent woman for slaughter.

The girl walked back out to the courtyard, where Nate and Daryl were waiting on her, Nate immediately smiling at the sight of her, and Zoe doing the same; even from her row with her dad, just the sight of Nate made her smile. Even Daryl had a small smile on his face at the sight of the two of them, knowing just how much they meant to each other — it was nice to see, that his brother had found someone like Zoe, someone who made him whole. With all of the shit they had gone through as kids and growing up, god knows that Nate deserved having someone like her in his life.
"You ready?" Daryl asked the girl, slinging the crossbow over his back as the girl nodded. He watched as Nate draped his arm over the girl, pulling her into him before pressing a kiss to the side of her head, before they all headed off, ready to bring Merle and Michonne back home.

Zoe found it refreshing to be out of the prison again, and she also found it refreshing to learn how to track with Daryl and Nate, something that would be very useful in this world as of now. She got the hang of it pretty quickly, Daryl being more of a teacher than Nate was, the man acting like he could be a teacher, with Nate as his assistant; all in all, it was pretty fun, and the three of them had forgotten about what they were actually doing out here due to the lessons the Dixon's were giving her. But as soon as they found Michonne walking along the street, looking completely defeated, the Dixon's and Zoe stopped in their tracks.
Michonne stabbed her sword through the loose head of a walker, looking up at the two Dixon's and the Grimes girl, "Hey, where's our brother?" Daryl asked, walking ahead of his brother and Zoe, not liking the look on Michonne's face when he mentioned Merle.

The woman didn't say anything, looking between the two brothers with a look they knew all too well, even Zoe felt uneasy at her face, "You kill him?" Nate couldn't help but ask, the face of the woman just speaking volumes to him that Merle was dead, or he would be — he didn't like the thought of that, he still hadn't forgiven Merle for everything he did, for what he did when they were younger, when he left him and Daryl to rot with their father; he just wanted to tell him that he forgave him, he believed Zoe when she said he was trying to change.

Michonne shook her head at Nate, "He let me go." She informed the two brothers, Zoe couldn't help the small smile that etched onto her face, knowing that Merle had really tried to change, but that smile quickly faded at the look on the woman's face — something was wrong.

Daryl sighed, turning to face Nate and Zoe, "Don't let anyone come after me, go home. I've got this." He told the two kids, not wanting to see either of them hurt, and definitely not wanting to let Zoe near the Governor again; if he saw the man, he was going to kill him instantly, it was what he deserved.

Nate instantly shook his head at his brother, "Hell no, man. I'm coming with you." He told Daryl, quickly turning to face Zoe, "You go back with Michonne. I don't want you getting hurt." He said, giving the girl a pleading look so she would listen to him and head back home with the woman, where she wouldn't get hurt. When he had originally brought her out here, he thought that they would find Merle and Michonne walking along the road, but they had clearly picked up a car, something he didn't anticipate.

Zoe instantly shook her head, much like Nate had done to his brother, "I'm not leaving you two. I'm coming with you." She argued, pushing his hands away when he went to hold hers — and when he shook her head, not wanting her to come with them, "I'm not arguing with you on this, Nate. Wherever you go, I go." Zoe said, crossing her arms over her chest as she refused to move.

Daryl knew that they couldn't wait any longer, the more time went by, the more likely that Merle had bumped into the Governor and he could he in trouble, "There's no time for this, guys. Let's go." Daryl eventually told the couple, motioning with his head for the two of them to follow, the man then jogging off, barely glancing behind him to see if the two were following him, as he knew they would.

Zoe looked up at Nate as he looked back and fourth at his girlfriend and brother, before grunting in annoyance, running his hand down his face in stress. "You stick by my side no matter what, deal?" He asked her, just hoping that she would do so as he didn't want to see anything happen to her.

Zoe rolled her eyes, "Okay, boss." She sarcastically spoke up, Nate shaking his head in slight amusement before they both set off after Daryl, both giving Michonne a short nod as they ran past. But little did they know, they were about to walk into the gates of hell..
 
 
 
 
——
 
 
 
 
Zoe ran besides Nate and didn't slow down until they reached their destination, all three of them slowly walking into the area with their weapons raised, seeing that the whole place was riddled with walkers. Daryl knew where to go because he had been here with Rick and Hershel during the meeting with the Governor, so he knew his way around, but Zoe and Nate had never been here, so they were simply following behind the older man. Zoe was tense; she could sense that something was wrong the second they entered the area — seeing an abandoned car parked up ahead with no one inside, the faint music playing from the radio, it was eerie.
She glanced around at the multiple walkers feeding on all of the dead Woodbury soldiers that Merle had taken down, none of them paying attention to them as they were too involved with eating, allowing them to walk onwards. It made Zoe sick to the stomach, seeing the walkers eat like complete wild animals, the idea that maybe some day this would be her, or someone she loved; the thought terrified her to the core.

The girl held her gun up as Daryl walked onwards, Nate following behind but making sure that Zoe was still okay every few seconds by glancing behind him — he was instantly regretting giving into her coming along, this place was riddled with walkers and the thought alone terrified him. They all noticed walkers with bullet holes in their heads, indicating that a huge fight had gone down, just making them feel even more anxious at what had gone down. Daryl shot his arrow into a walkers head up ahead, the thing eating a dead bodies organs, the three humans cringing in disgust, and Daryl brought his knife out to kill the next one, before he stopped dead in his tracks, looking down at a walker eating a body in front of him. One that was all too familiar.

Zoe was the next to look over, instantly recognising the white vest and black shirt over, the exact outfit Merle had been wearing when the two of them had spoken earlier on in the day — Merle was a walker. The girl didn't know what to do as she froze in her steps, instantly looking up at Nate as he was the next to look over at what the other two had found; his face instantly dropping at the sight in front of them. "Guys.." Zoe spoke up quietly, her voice breaking as she couldn't hold in the tears at seeing Merle as a walker; the love of her life had just lost his brother, and she couldn't even imagine the pain he was going through.

When he looked up, Zoe's heart truly dropped, Daryl even letting out a small sob at the sight, along with Nate who stumbled back at the sight of his eldest brothers the man he used to look up to as a kid. Zoe backed up as Merle stumbled towards them, looking at Daryl hungrily as the man simply cried at the sight, cringing that his brother was a walker. Nate couldn't even move, he was frozen in his spot, feeling Zoe grab onto him from behind as the girl tries to hold in her tears for him, knowing that he was about to break much like Daryl had already done. "No." Nate whimpered, feeling weak as Daryl backed up even more as Merle walked towards them; she could hear Daryl cry, and even that made her want to cry, too, the man having always been so calm and collected. The sight of his brother had really broken him.

Zoe was about to step in and help with the situation, when Daryl shoved Merle back with a pained scream, the girl pausing as a few tears fell at the sight and the sound of the man completely breaking apart in front of her eyes. She looked back at Nate who still had his eyes glued onto Merle, constantly shaking his head as he muttered 'no', over and over again in hopes that this was all a dream, that he would wake up and Merle would be alive in front of them, holding out his arms as he looked at them with a huge smug smile on his face, informing them that he had defeated the Governor — but that wasn't the case. Instead, the shell of their brother stood before them, not a single part of him there anymore. "Daryl, wait.." Zoe spoke up again, attempting to comfort Daryl also, but the man shoved Merle back yet again, crying as he did so, and doing it again till he shoved his knife into his throat, before repeatedly shoving it into Merle's head, the girl looking away as Merle was no longer a human form, but his brain had become straight mush.

She felt sick to her stomach at the sight of Merle and the sight of a broken Daryl on top of him, Nate watching with a broken expression as he didn't even know what to do — he couldn't comfort his older brother, he knew that it just couldn't help. His girlfriend eventually slowly moved towards Daryl, the man having stopped shoving his knife into his brothers face, the girl gently placing her hand over his hand, and taking the knife away, Daryl letting out a sob yet again. What Daryl did next, surprised both Zoe and Nate; the man collapsed onto the floor, leaning on Zoe for support as he sobbed, unable to keep it in, Nate quickly rushing over and pulling his brother into his hold, clenching his jaw as he tried to keep his own tears back for the sake of his girl.
But when he looked over and saw tears streaming down Zoe's face, he couldn't hold his own back anymore.

They were broken.