46 When the Devil Comes Knocking

Fear is the body's way of protecting itself from doing something that may be dangerous. Fear is a feeling that exists in all of us. Although, courage is a desire that must be attained, a characteristic that does not always come naturally. The courageous act takes self-sacrifice for the good of others or oneself, it saves lives, it gives hope. Nevertheless, you can't have one without the other. It takes one to fear something to be courageous and you can't have courage if there is nothing to fear.

My body shook from anxiousness, the uncertainty of what was about to unfold. I had my back pressed against one of the steel panels we had rested against the prison walkway's fence for cover. I could hear the Woodbury's army pulling their trucks up through the gravel at our front gates. As soon as the Governor realized that the deal for Michonne was off we knew he'd be on his way here, and we were right. Although Merle had done something for us that we could never repay him for, today on that dairy farm he took out a handful of the Governor's most valuable men. He gave us a fighting chance. But the Governor would be coming for blood, now more furious than ever.

Our plan was to fake them out. We packed up all of our belongings into our vehicles, making it look as if we were on the run from the fight. Although the only people that actually left the prison were Beth, Herschel, Carl, and Judith. They remained just on the outskirts of the woods with our cars, away from the fight. The rest of us remained hidden away at our dedicated stations. We were going to let the Governor walk right in, only aiming for him if we had the shot. We didn't want a fight with Woodbury, we only wanted him dead, but if they left us no choice then we'd have to fire back. Based on Andrea's explanation he was gearing the entire town up for war, feeding his people lies to get them to fight for Woodbury. That meant that he would have a handful of innocent lives as a body shield. They had no idea what they were walking into.

I looked to my left, Lincoln had been crouched down only a few feet away from me. I could hear them getting out of their trucks now, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Stay low," Lincoln whispered. I nodded my head, listening.

My body winced and my heart jumped to my throat at the sound of a grenade launcher hitting one of the guard towers behind us. That's when the chorus of gunfire began to go off as pieces of cement fell down to the ground around me. I covered my head from the explosion, my guard uniform gear not covering me enough if one of those pieces fell directly on me. Then the second grenade went off, they were taking down each of our towers in case any of us were hidden up there, but we knew better than that. The sound of fifty-plus machine guns going off echoed over the valley, their bullets spitting out like rapid fire at anything in front of them. The multitude of guns and ammo they had only proved that we made the right decision for our plan. We'd never win in a gunfight.

The gunfire went on for about five minutes before it finally ceased. I could hear the back of one of the truck's tailgates slam open before more feet began to stomp the ground. They were coming in. We were still to remain hidden, not showing ourselves until they were on their way out.

"Let's go!" the Governor shouted to his people. A truck started up, driving closer to our gates before it ploughed through the main fence to the courtyard. "Go! Go!" he ushered them.

I held my breath, hearing their feet hit the pavement below me as they all scurried up to our cell block. Lincoln turned his head, peeking his eyes around the panel to watch them. His curiosity only led to my own, I followed his actions, peeking half my face around the corner. I watched as they hooked up a thick chain from the front of their truck to one of the metal doors. With on stomp on the gas in reverse, the door went flying off the hinges. They were in. That's when my eyes landed on the first man to enter our cell block. We knew him, he was the quiet father with the group that Carl saved and brought into our block before Rick kicked them out. I couldn't manage to find the two siblings though, only him. For a reason I can't explain, seeing him made me furious. We wouldn't take him in and now he was here to get his revenge.

Upon watching the last of the group enter our cell block I turned back to Lincoln. "What happens if this goes south?" I couldn't stop myself from asking him the question that was lingering on my mind.

"Then you and I make a run for it," he answered. I couldn't lie if I said I hadn't thought of that, but he wasn't yet a part of the group like I was. I don't think I could make it without them.

"What about everyone else?" I asked, "You'd leave without Mark?"

His eyebrows scrunched up for a moment, "I'd hope that they'd do the same and we'd find them again. But I have you here with me and you're all that I'm focused on getting out of here alive," he stated.

I gave him a small half-smile and nodded in agreement to make him happy. Although I knew that even if we'd end up in that situation I don't think I could get myself to go with him without making sure everyone else was out as well.

The alarms of the prison going off silenced us. The red lights dimly flashing in the Georgian sun as the sirens screeched out a horrifying noise. Daryl and Rick had set off the smoke grenades in the tunnels, or last-ditch effort to push the enemy out of the prison. In between the blaring sounds of the sirens I could hear the people's screams, a chaotic panic arising from them. Their shrieks became more prominent as they began to filter back out through the front of our cell block. This was our cue.

Both Lincoln and I stood up from behind the panels making ourselves known to the people as we began firing off rounds at their feet, corralling them back out the way they came. Maggie and Glenn stood on the walkway across from us doing the same. I ducked down when one of his men began to fire back, hidden behind a knocked-over bench. He let off three rounds to move some of his people across the courtyard. I shot back up firing at him again. They were like a herd of sheep running away from a wolf, as soon as we started firing the Governor's townspeople were in a frenzy. They weren't cut out for war.

We didn't cease-fire until all of them were back out our front gates, being loaded into the back of their trucks. They were scared, facing the reality of what the Governor had talked them into. I could see the lieutenant covering the Governor outside of his truck. It looked as if the Governor was in a state of shock, furious that his people were retreating so quickly. I looked to see if I had the shot, but his man pulled him into the car so quickly that he was gone before I could bring myself to pull the trigger. We watched as their trucks sped off. Our plan had actually worked, we were safe for now.

"We did it?!" Maggie shouted at us from the other side like she was in disbelief herself.

I sighed a breath of relief, "We did it," I called back, "come on down."

Just as I was walking down the steps of the walkway with Lincoln, the rest of the group had made their way out to the courtyard. Carol held her stomach and she panted heavily, relieved. We looked over the field of our prison, feeling proud of what we just accomplished. The grounds were in a disarray, even more than they were before, but we held our own.

"We did it, we drove 'em out," Rick said, looking back at us.

"We should go after them," Michonne immediately suggested.

"We should finish it," Daryl agreed.

"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it outta here?" Maggie said.

"They could regroup," I answered her. She was right that the people were afraid, probably not wanting to come back, but the Governor was a whole different story.

"We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop," Glenn urged. He flung his arm around in the air, he was adamant on that.

"They're right. We can't keep living like this," Carol huffed. Everyone was voicing their opinion to Rick, ready to continue fighting our way out of this. Although it seemed as if Maggie was the only one against the idea.

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time," she fought.

"I don't care," Daryl said.

"Yeah." That was all Rick said while he sighed, but I could tell by his face that he was agreeing with us over Maggie. It was time to end this once and for all.

"So that settles it, we kill the Governor today," I finalized it.

------

My leg bounced anxiously in the backseat of our truck, my grip tight on my weapon. Rick, Michonne, Daryl, and I were on the road to Woodbury. Glenn and Maggie requested to stay back at the prison for the odd chance that the Governor returned. That left us concerned about the possibility so Rick got Lincoln and Mark to stay back as well. Lincoln wasn't too pleased that they had me running off to the fight again, but in the back of his mind, he knew I could hold my own with them by my side.

Daryl's motorcycle pulled to a stop in front of us, causing Rick to hit the brakes. I peered out the front windshield, seeing one of the Governors army trucks abandoned in the middle of the road. I got out of the car, following their lead. We walked slowly, our weapons raised in case this was a trap. My eyes then landed on all the bodies that scattered the road and in the field to our left. This was a massacre. A few walkers lingered, people that had been shot in the torso, feeding on the bodies that laid torn apart on the pavement. Michonne pulled out her sword, slicing off the heads of the distracted walkers.

We examined our surroundings, confused as to what happened here. All of the innocent people of Woodbury had been brutally murdered. We stood in silence, staring at the scene before us. Daryl then jumped in fright, his back was turned to the truck window when a woman threw her hands against the glass in surrender.

"Come out!" Rick raised his pistol at the woman. Daryl swung open the door and the woman came stumbling out, her hands raised.

"What happened here?" I asked although we all had an idea.

"The Governor… he went crazy-- he killed everyone," she answered, choking on her tears as she looked down at all her friends, possibly her family.

My mouth fell open slightly, he killed his own people, out of anger, out of fear. Rick sighed, rubbing his temples, "This changes things," he said. He looked at the woman for a long moment, thinking. "You're taking us to Woodbury."