War on the Body [1]

[21] On my knees for you to see

As Paige kneeled in front of the governor Rick walked down to the fence. Not looking to the three, but at the governor making a quick demand. "Let 'em go right now. I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages."

"I do. This is just to show you I'm serious. Not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people, you have till sundown to get out of here or they die." The Governor stated, making intense eye contact with Rick.

"Doesn't have to go down this way."

" I got more people, more firepower. We need this prison. There it is."

" It's not about the past. It's about right now. There are children here. Some of them are sick. They won't survive."

"I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about? "

Paige was scared, she had survived this long she wasn't ready to die at the hands of a psychopath. She still hasn't found her brother or told the people on the opposite side of the fence how much she loved them. She was determined to one day see Judith as an adult, see Carl fall in love, watch Beth become an amazing woman and to one day help Maggie and Glenn welcome a child of their own. She didn't care if she ever got to fall in love, get married, or have children just to witness the people she cared for be happy.

"I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you." The Governor said breaking her from her thoughts.

"Doesn't have to be like that"

"Like I said, it's your choice" The governor said

"You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing. The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here." The governor said in response to Rick's silence

"We can all-- we can all live together. There's enough room for all of us" Rick said after making brief eye contact with Hershel

"More than enough." The governor said, "But I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof"

"We'd live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready" Paige watched her leader struggle to compromise with the egotistical, psychopath.

"It could work. You know it could." Paige said looking over her shoulder at the governor

"It could've. But it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea" He replied

" Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice" Rick countered

"We don't. You do."

"We're not leaving. You try and force us, we'll fight back. Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can." Rick said trying to get the governor to look at it his way.

After Rick finished speaking, Paige was aware the governor was getting agitated. The governor had dropped to the ground from the tank above, grabbing Michonne's katana. As he walked over to the three hostages, he pondered on which one to set an example of.

"We'll fix the damn fences" He said as he put the Katana to Hershel's neck. Paige was instantly terrified that she would lose the father she just met.

"Don't touch him!" Paige screamed, as tears once again threatened to fall from his eyes. A guy stood behind Paige with a hunting knife to her side, visible enough for her group to see. The guy started to push the knife into the left side of her abdomen, just below her pancreas.

"You. You in the ponytails. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?

"What we want is what you got. Period. Time for you to leave, asshole." The man in the tank said.

"Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates... you're one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know... we all can change." Rick said attempting to draw attention away from the father and daughter.

"Liar" The governor said before slashing the toward through half of Hershel's throat. Paige let out a hysterical sob, but was quickly silenced at the man plunged the knife into her. Paige fell backwards, letting out a sob because of her father and slightly for her own physical pain.

As this all occurred, Rick pulled out his gun to shoot the governor. Paige looked into the eyes of her father and they both quickly started to move out of the area, not wanting to get shot. As They came to the side of a truck, Hershel quit moving from the immense loss of blood.

"No! Daddy! Don't you dare die on me!" Paige said as her body racked with sobs. As she went to move towards his side, the governor walked over and began to chop his head off. He made eye contact with Paige and let a small smile grace his bloody face. He went to advance on her but was distracted by something behind her. As he walked behind her she quickly made a run for it, finding Michonne who untied her hands. As Paige was freed from the ropes she put pressure on her wounded side, with her clammy and shaking hands. Michonne led them both to the tall grass to hide from the governor's men, Paige quieting her sobs as best as she could.

"I'm so sorry" Michonne said with tears in her eyes. Paige nodded her head before she spotted Michonne's katana a few feet away from them. She pointed towards it, Michonne nodding her head in return before sprinting towards it. Leaving the bleeding woman in the tall grass.

As Michonne looked to Paige, receiving a curt nod she decided to help out the best she could. Paige rolled onto her back staring at the sky, remembering all the memories she had with Hershel.

The time he had comforted her, saved her, and loved her. All of the memories flashed through her mind, no longer was she mourning her past family but now her new family also. She couldn't see who had survived and who hadn't, all she could do was lie on the ground and listen to gunshots and explosions, mixing with the screams of the live and snarls of the dead. She made a quick decision to stand, not quick enough to see the bus rush out of the prison but to see a multitude of walkers approach her and the prison. She couldn't see any members of her group, not even Michonne. She ran to her father's body only to see his decapitated head had become a member of the walker population. She dropped to her knees and begun to cry, she has now seen two parents in walker form and she wasn't sure if she could handle any more loss.