A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S3Pt21 - Another Goodbye...

We approached Woodbury's walls when gunshots were fired at us. We shot back and ran behind a car for cover. The gunfire instantly stopped, like they were warning shots.
"Tyreese. Sasha. It's me, don't-" The woman said and stood up.
Rick instantly pulled her back down to the ground. "Get down." He hissed.
"Karen? Karen are you okay?" Tyreese called out.
"I'm fine." She called back.
"Why are you with them?" He asked.
"They... saved me." Karen said and shook out of Rick's grasp and moved away from cover.
She held her hands up and looked at her people.
"Where's the Governor?" The other woman, Sasha, asked.
"He fired on us. Killed them all." Karen said.
There was a long pause and Rick sighed.
"We're coming out." Rick yelled and put his hands up.
He slowly moved away from the car and by Karen. Michonne stared at him and Daryl hesitated.
"Rick, no." I whispered.
He looked at me and nodded. "We're coming out." He ordered.
We all hesitated but followed Rick, who walked up to the front gates. The two people, Tyreese and Sasha opened the gates and let us in.
"Why are you here?" Tyreese asked.
"We came to finish this. Until we saw what the Governor did." Rick said.
"He-He actually killed them?" Sasha asked dumbfounded.
"Yeah.." Rick sighed.
"Karen told us that Andrea hopped the wall a few days ago.. She never made it. I'm thinking the Governor kept her here." I said.
"Go ahead." Tyreese said.
They let us pass and we jogged over to where Glenn and Maggie were held last time, with them following behind.
"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asked surprised.
"He did more than just hold them." Daryl said.
We walked inside the building and approached a closed door that had a puddle of blood under it. We approached it slowly and Michonne's hands were shaking.
"Will you open it?" She asked.
I remember one day when I talked to Michonne about how she survived so long, and she told me how she found Andrea. They were on the road for a long time together and became best friends, until Andrea switched sides and stayed with the Governor.
I nodded and slowly put my hand on the doorknob. I held my breath as I opened the door, and the first thing we saw was a corpse.
It was Milton. The Governor's advisor.
Then we heard a groan and walked inside the room. We saw Andrea leaning against the wall about two feet away from the door. She was covered in blood, and visibly limp and weak.
"Andrea." Michonne cried and ran to her side.
We all stared at her and she looked at us.
"I tried to stop them." She said weakly.
Michonne felt her forehead and Andrea sighed.
"You're burning up." She said.
Andrea slowly moved her jacket off her shoulder and exposed a walker bit. She weakly dropped her hand back in her lap and sighed. Michonne wiped away her own tears. Rick looked away and wiped his face. I backed up and gasped in shock.
"Judith.. Carl.. the rest of them." She said.
"Us." Rick said and knelt down in front of her. "The rest of us."
"Are they alive?" Andrea asked.
"Yeah. They're alive." He said.
Andrea smiled and looked at Michonne. "It's good you found them."
Michonne nodded and was trying not to cry.
"No one can make it alone now." Andrea said.
"I never could." Daryl said and shook his head.
"Now you have Kelley." She said and smiled at me.
I bowed my head and a few tears ran down my cheeks. I walked over to her and hugged her, trying not to cry.
"I guess I should've listen to you huh?" She weakly joked.
I nodded my head and grabbed her hand. "I am so sorry for being a bitch. I was wrong." I said. She tightly held my hand. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you're okay. You have Daryl, and you're going to be okay." She said.
I cried and hugged her gently. "Thank you for trying Andrea... thank you." I said.
I stood up, backed away, and stood by Daryl. Andrea then groaned in pain, and Rick sighed. She slowly sat up, and looked at Rick's gun.
"I can do it myself." She said.
"No." Michonne cried.
"I have to. While I still can." Andrea persuaded. "Please. I know how the safety works."
Rick hesitantly nodded and unholstered his gun. He laid it in her hands and gently wrapped her fingers around it.
"Well.. I'm not going anywhere." Michonne said and held Andrea's other hand.
Andrea looked at the gun, then looked at us and sighed.
"I tried." She said quietly.
"Yeah. You did... you did." Rick said.
He turned around and left the room along with Karen, Tyreese, and Sasha. I slowly left the room with Daryl, and hugged him in the hallway. I buried my face in his chest and waited for the single gunshot. He held me close, and finally we heard that shot. I flinched and Daryl covered my ears. There was a thud and the clink of metal on the floor, and that was it.
Andrea was now dead. Another friend gone.
Michonne walked out of the room, cleaned off the blood from the gun, and gave it back to Rick. We silently left the building and followed Tyreese and Sasha. They led us to another building, and inside were the rest of Woodbury. It was only the people who couldn't fight, the elderly, and kids. All we heard was quiet chitchat, coughs, and kids playing with each other.
"Do you have a bus or something to transport people in?" Rick asked.
"Yeah. Why?" Tyreese asked.
"We can take them to the prison. Along with you two if you want." Rick said.
The two nodded at each other and Rick shook their hands. While Rick and Ty left to find a bus, we helped the people quickly gather their belongings from their houses. Tyreese came back with the bus, and we loaded up suitcases and backpacks, and the people got on the bus. Rick and Michonne followed the bus out of Woodbury, along with me and Daryl behind them on his motorcycle.
I rested my head against Daryl's back and thought about Andrea on the ride back home. Once we got back to the prison, the group stared at us and these new people we brought back with us. Maggie, Glenn, Carol, and Hershel helped get the people out and get settled, but they were quiet. Carl walked up to Rick when he got out of the car.
"What is this?" Carl asked.
"They're gonna join us." Rick said.
Carl sighed and looked at the line up of people. He saw the kids start walking out and looked at Rick. Carl shook his head and ran away into the cellblock.
Rick sighed and eventually gathered us all around for the last time tonight.
"To be able to survive with this many people, we have to work harder, work better." Rick said and began listing off stuff. "Go on more runs. Fix up the fences. Clear more cellblocks. The showers and bathrooms, the library. More medicine. Grow crops, have horses, pigs, any animal we could use. More water from the rivers nearby, trench them over here. And more patrols against walkers, and even the Governor, everyone really." Rick said.
Everyone sighed but nodded in agreement. We all knew this is what we needed to do.
"I'll make a run tomorrow morning." I offered. "Find supplies to fix the fences and gates. Maybe take Daryl."
"Maybe?" Daryl asked. "Oh, I'm going." He said and kissed my head.
"Okay. Maggie and Glenn go on another run tomorrow and get food and water. We need to gather as much as possible so we can survive." Rick said.
They nodded in agreement and Rick nodded.
"The rest of you guys, watch the new people and keep watch. Tomorrow morning, we'll clear out another cellblock or two for the newcomers." Rick said.
Everyone agreed to the plans and headed into the cellblock for the night. After tonight, everything was going to change, and we had to be ready for it.
"It's time to start new."