𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄
︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

"If you keep staring at him, your eyes will dry open. Blink woman." Kira joked, stepping beside Claire at the fence. Claire rolled her eyes turning her attention to the gates, where Carl, Eli Marcus, and Maggie were getting the attention of walkers. "I'm not staring at him specifically, I'm watching all of them."

Kira raised an eyebrow, looking out at the field, watching as Carol brought the truck to a stop in the grass, Roman jumped out of the bed and Daryl approached as the two men pulled out the barbed wire rig that Michonne had come up with to help with the walkers.

Daryl shouted for Michonne, who was killing walkers, Roman jumped back in the bed while the other two hopped into the trunk. The truck took off towards the courtyard, Claire clearing her throat in embarrassment of being caught staring at Roman.

Sucking in a breath, she walked away from Kira to enter the prison, brushing her hair away from her sweaty forehead and walking up to Carol. The older woman cradled Judith in her arms while she cleaned, and Claire smiled down at the babbling baby before sitting at a table. Her leg was hurting pretty intensely. She had neglected it lately and hadn't taken it easy at all and she was starting to feel the repercussions of it.

"We got any whiskey?" Claire raised an eyebrow, looking up at Meryl in disgust as Carol put Judith in her crib. "Hell, I'd even drink vodka."

"Go to hell, Meryl." Carol retorted, Claire, stifling her chuckle as she adjusted the position of her leg. Meryl laughed condescendingly, Carol sitting down beside Claire to load her gun. "Are you with us?" Carol interrogated, Meryl slowly descending the stairs before stopping a quarter way down, "Sure."

"I'm not talking about occupying the same space. Are you with us?"

"I'm here for my brother." Meryl perched his leg up and leaned against it, making Claire roll her eyes as she joined Carol in loading the weapons on the table. He was trying to make himself bigger. Which might've worked in the world before, but not this one. He was a small man and everyone could see it.

"Well, he's here for us. It's not time to do shots. It's time to pick a damn side."

Meryl breathily chuckled, "You ain't like you was back in the camp; a little mouse running around, scared of her own shadow." Claire sucked in a breath, doing her best to keep her mouth shut and not shoot him in the head.

"It wasn't my shadow, it was my husbands."

"Well, you don't seem scared of nothing anymore." Meryl quipped, Carol, shaking her head as she and Claire packed the bag back up, "I'm not."

And she wasn't. Carol had confided in Claire many months ago about her ex-husband. How abusive he was to her and their daughter. How much of a piece of absolute shit he was. Carol had grown, become stronger, more intense. She paved her way to the person she was now; a badass.

"You're a late bloomer."

Carol stood, helping Claire to her feet. Carol flung the backpack on her shoulder, Claire reaching into the crib and grabbing Judith, placing the babbling baby on her hip. Carol looked up at Meryl, "Maybe you are too."

★

Claire smiled to herself, rubbing her thumb over her bottom lip as she watched Eli put his gun back together. She could see his frustration with the weapon, not quite understanding its parts fully yet as he messed up. "It's okay. Start over." She mumbled.

Eli nodded, taking the gun apart again and laying the pieces out in front of him again. He began reassembling it, his smile widening with every piece he got right. Once it was all one piece again, he grinned up at his sister.

"Good job."

"Next time I'll be faster." Eli nodded, placing the gun on the table as Roman entered the makeshift kitchen. "Carl's looking for you, Eli." Eli nodded up at the man, before turning to look at his sister.

"Go on, I'll pick up." Eli smiled, jumping from the chair and rushing off toward the cells. Claire chuckled at his excitement, picking up the weapons and placing them in their bag. "Walk with me?"

Claire looked up at Roman, pausing her movements for a moment. Her fingers tightened their grip on the strap of the bag before nodding and leaving it on the table.

The two of them soon found themselves walking along the fences outside, watching through squinted eyes as walkers gargled and groaned on the other side. They walked for a few minutes in silence, Claire stuffing her hands in her back pockets anxiously and Roman clutching the gun in its holster at his hip.

"Rick doesn't want me to say anything, but uh..." He cleared his throat, looking down at her for a moment, "He made a deal with the Governor. He leaves us alone if we give him Michonne."

Claire paused her steps, looking up at him with her mouth agape, "He can't do that. We don't trade lives around here-"

Roman shook his head, reaching out to grasp Claire's bicep and looking around to make sure no one was around to hear them, "He doesn't plan on doing it. I think he feels...conflicted about it. He's not gonna give up the prison, so I think he plans on just fighting back."

Claire nodded, swallowing her anxiety and releasing a heavy breath. Her hands formed fists at her side, "This Governor guy is really starting to piss me the hell off-"

"Roman!"

The two looked over at the prison as Rick came to a stop about a hundred feet from them, "Merle took Michonne." Roman's face fell, "You and Daryl gotta go find them before he hands her over to the Governor."

Roman dropped his hand from Claire's bicep, turning his attention to her, "Keep your guard up. If the Governor already has Michonne there's no telling whether he'll attack or not." Claire nodded with wide eyes, watching as Roman and Rick ran off together, meeting up with Daryl before the two disappeared through the gates.

Claire huffed, pulling her gun from her hip before beginning era slow pace around the fence to keep her eyes on the tree line.

︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

"I think we'll be okay for another few days. Once we get closer to running out, Kira and I will go out and look for more formula." Claire spoke to Carol, removing her hand from Judith's head with a smile. She saw Carol straighten up and look behind her, the blonde girl turning on her heel as Rick stopped in front of the group, Glenn and Maggie close behind.

"When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal. He said-" Rick spoke, free hand fidgeting with his belt, "He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that, to keep us safe."

Claire swallowed the lump in her throat, eyes casting to the field in the distance. She hoped to see a glimpse of Roman, Daryl, and Michonne. Not Meryl so much, but if him being here meant the other three were safe, she'd be fine with that. For now.

"I changed my mind. But now Meryl took Michonne to fulfill the deal, and Daryl and Roman went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late. I was wrong-" Rick looked around the group guiltily, "-not to tell you. And I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm...it can't be like that. It can't." Claire bit her lip, vividly remembering the fear Rick installed in everyone that night. Her eyes moved to Eli standing with Carl, grateful her brother was not there for Rick's breakdown, grateful he could still see him as Uncle Rick and not...the man he became that night.

"What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason we're still here, not me. This is life and death. How you live, how you die--it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together." He straightened up his posture, "We vote. We can stay and we can fight, or we can go."

The group was silent for a moment, and Rick took that as his queue and quickly left the courtyard.

Claire licked her lips, both of them going instantly dry again from the heat. Making a fist at her side, she glanced over at Marcus, who was whispering lowly with Kira, then to Eli, who was staring down at his hands.

That was the Rick they needed, the Rick they had been waiting for.

★

Claire knew it was a good plan, a great plan even, but it was so goddamn risky. If the Governor and his people came in and didn't bite the trap, there was a higher chance that he'd find them before they got to him.

She packed her belongings with haste, tossing Eli a pair of pants she found under her bed, "Hurry." She mumbled, flinging her backpack over her shoulder and taking one last glance at the now barren cell.

The two siblings rushed out and down the stairs, eyeing the rest of their cell block, now empty, the only evidence of them once being there being the cleanliness and lack of dead walkers. The sun was bright and hot overhead once they got outside, the rest of the group going in and out of the prison and packing cars.

"Come on," Rick mumbled to Eli, tossing the boy's backpack into the trunk of the car before opening the backseat, where the boy slid in the backseat with Carl and Beth, the girl holding Judith and Hershel in the passenger seat.

"Rick, if this doesn't work-"

"It's gonna work." Rick cut Claire off with a soft nod, "It has to. Aim for the Governor and anybody who stands between the two of you, and it'll work." Rick placed a hand on Claire's shoulder, "We aren't letting them take our home from us." Claire nodded, giving Eli and Carl one last glance through the open car window before taking off towards the prison.

Once back inside, she rushed over to Glenn, who was fastening Maggie's riot suit. "Where's the others?"

"Over in the corner."

Claire nodded at Glenn, looking at the corner of the room where the other three riot suits were sitting on a table. The only thought clouding Claire's mind while slipping into the large suit was what the fuck they would do if this didn't work. Before she was finished, Kira rushed over and began putting on a riot suit as well. "Marcus is up in the North-East tower and Roman's in the North-West. Rick's taking the others out to the trees right now. You ready?"

Claire huffed, turning her back to her best friend to allow the girl to fasten the straps for her. "Not really, I have my doubts, but it's not like we have a choice." Kira chuckled, turning her back to Claire when she finished, allowing Claire to tighten the straps of her gear as well. "Well, we had a few other choices."

"Which included leaving or giving up Michonne, not happening." Kira shrugged and turned towards her friend, the two girls slipping the helmets over their heads, "Exactly."

"We gotta go, guys."

Claire nodded back at Glenn, tapping her helmet once before following them out of the cell block, all of them spreading out to hide in their respective places.

She clutched her rifle to her chest tightly, trying to steady her breath as much as she could while they waited. And waited. And waited. For what felt like forever. She wondered what Eli was doing. If he was watching through the trees or holding Judith in the car and waiting for it to be over.

She sighed as she leaned her head back against the bricks behind her, beginning to go uncomfortable in the crouched position behind the wooden pallets. Her, Glenn, Maggie, and Kira were all hidden outside, Marcus and Roman hiding in the watch towers, while Rick, Carol, Michonne, and Daryl were down in the tombs ready to attack.

The sound of engines roaring caught Claire's attention, pushing herself further into the wall behind her, hoping to blend in well enough not to be seen as the trucks entered through the open gates.

She could see nothing from where she was hiding, all she could hear were the bullets ricocheting off the prison and the engines of cars shutting off.

It was maybe 5 minutes before she could hear the alarms and bullets going off inside the prison, and before she could ready herself, she slotted her gun through a gap in the pallets and kept her eyes trained on the door through her scope. And she waited.

People began flooding out, and Claire sucked in a deep breath and began pressing the trigger. Shouts and screams of shock and fear filled Claire's ears, shaky hands causing her to miss almost every shot. But in her mind that was alright, her only goal was to hit the Governor. But she couldn't see the coward anywhere in the dispersing crowd.

And then she saw him, eyepatch and all as he began firing towards Glenn and Maggie.

She tried to get a good shot on him, but he was moving too fast and her bullets were firing against the concrete by his feet. "Fuck." Claire hissed, pulling back to reload her gun before peaking back through the scope and firing off more shots. She was missing horribly, and bullets were ricocheting off the metal around her, distracting her from the target.

"Shit!" Claire grunted as they all hopped back into their trucks and took off out of the prison.

The engine roar quickly disappeared into the trees, and Claire huffed as she peeled her helmet off her head. "Shit."

She could hear Maggie's happy shouts, but Claire was pissed. The Governor was alive, and he would be returning to finish the job.

Quickly hopping down from her hiding spot, she ran over to where the others were gathered.

"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?" Maggie argued with Daryl, but Claire shook her head as she came to a slow beside Marcus and Roman. "He's gonna come back."

"We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." Glenn agreed with the girl, Rick nodding as he sucked in a heavy breath. "They're right," Carol spoke up, Claire becoming too aware of the throbbing in her thigh as she stood. "we can't keep living like this."

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury. We barely made it back last time." Daryl shook his head at Maggie's argument, "I don't care."

Rick nodded, "Yeah. Let's check on the others."

★

Claire bit her lip anxiously, watching as Beth--holding Judith--, Carl, Eli, and Hershel walked into the prison. The blonde sighed in relief and brought her brother in for a hug, kissing the top of his head as Rick greeted his children.

"Dad, I'm going to Woodbury," Carl spoke, causing Claire to raise a surprised eyebrow. Rick sighed and bent down to stand level with his son, "Carl-"

"Dad. I did my job out there. Just like all of you. Took out one of the Governor's soldiers."

"One of his soldiers?" Hershel scoffed, stepping towards Rick, A kid running away? He stumbled across us." Carl shook his head, "No, he drew on us." The boy stuttered out, Claire biting her lip at what Hershel was implying. "I'm sorry you had to do that." Rick sighed."

"It's what I was there for. I'm going with you." With that, Carl left the room, and Claire looked down at her brother, who was staring up at her expectedly.

She scoffed and shook her head, placing her hand on the back of his head and nudging him towards the cell block, "Not a chance. Nice try."

After regrouping for about an hour, Claire watched as Michonne loaded the truck and prepped to go to Woodbury with Daryl, Rick, Roman, Maggie, and Glenn.

She didn't like the idea of them going back to Woodbury. Where Glenn, Maggie, and Kira were held hostage and tortured. But it was their best chance at surprising them before the Governor got to strike back.

She couldn't hear the conversation, but she raised an eyebrow as Maggie and Glenn stepped back and the others climbed into the truck, with Daryl starting up his bike. She crossed her arms as the truck drove off, following behind Daryl's bike.

"They'll be alright."

Claire sucked in a breath at Beth's voice and nodded, "We hope."

★

Claire was unable to sleep that night, as were many of the others. Carl, Eli, Judith, Beth, and Kira slept through the night, the rest of them remained alert and awake. Just in case.

She couldn't stop thinking about who she'd see breakthrough that tree line. Would it be Rick and the others, re-emerging after a night of negotiations and fighting? Or would it be the Governor, carrying the heads of her friends in a bag to taunt them before he murdered the rest of them?

She sat outside, huddled in a corner and ignoring the humid air nipping at her exposed arms, her right hand gripping the barrel of her rifle.

The sun had begun to rise before she even realized it, and she sighed in defeat as she realized they still had yet to return.

"Anything yet?"

Claire shook her head at Magiie's question, looking up at the woman, "I wish. Nothing yet." Claire placed the binoculars down on the cement beside her. "I fear we might be expecting the worst."

Maggie sighed, "It'll be alright. Even with the worst-case scenario, at least one of them would escape-"

"Truck!"

Claire peered up at the watchtower, where Glenn was pointing at the fence. She stood quickly, leaning her rifle against the metal gate beside her and rushing down towards the fence. She could hear Daryl's bike approaching and she couldn't contain her happiness as she and Maggie readied to open the gate. Glenn approached the gate as something caught Claire's eyes as she pried the gate open. A school bus.

A fucking school bus.

She frowned as Daryl drove in, followed by the school bus and then Rick's truck before she and Maggie slammed the gate shut while the others emerged from the prison.

Once the gate was closed and locked, the two women rushed over to where the school bus had parked. Rick, Roman, and Michonne emerged from the truck as they approached, Claire coming to a stop as the school bus doors opened and a man stepped out. She recognized him, the guy who came in through the back of the prison a few weeks ago with his sister and two others. She couldn't;t remember his name.

He began helping people off the bus, elderly men and women and children mainly. Claire sighed at what Rick did. He brought the people of Woodbury here, and while that was incredibly kind of Rick, could be a deadly mistake.

Finally, with all of the elderly and the young off the bus, a young man, maybe her age, hopped down the steps with the help of the man from before. He had a pretty serious limp, and Claire raised an eyebrow as a set of crutches were passed down to him through the bus doors. He walked towards the prison, where Hershel was greeting everyone and letting people inside.

Then, a girl decended the stairs, coughing extensivbely as she did so, dark curly hair falling down her back, and a sickly pale skin shade.

Claire released a relieved breath as Roman walked over to her, Claire wrapping her arms around his waist before thinking about it. " 'So glad you guys are okay."

Roman stuttered a bit, before hugging her back. "I know, it's a long story," He knew exactly what she was thinking, and she rolled her eyes as she pulled away, "These people had nothing to do with the Governor's attacks. They're all old, or kids, or sick. After they left, he shot everyone that was with them. Rick just wants to protect these people. They would've just been collateral damage to the Governor."

Claire nodded, setting aside her doubts about Rick's actions, "Guess we got to start making more food runs. A lot more mouths to feed now."

︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶