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

S4Pt9 - The Governor Returns

"Rick! Come down here! We need to talk!" The Governor yelled.
He was standing on top of the tank and I've never seen anyone look more threatening. Maggie and Beth instantly starting handing out guns and we starting loading them.
"It's not up to me!" Rick yelled back so he could hear. "There's a council now, they run the place."
"Is Hershel on the council?" The Governor asked.
Just then, a woman walked over to a truck and opened the door. She grabbed someone and threw him to the ground on his knees. And in plain sight we could see it was Hershel.
Maggie and Beth starting panicking and we're scared for their dad.
"What about Michonne?" He asked
Another person grabbed someone out of the same truck, and it was Michonne. She was knelt down next to Hershel. Their hands were tied behind their backs and disarmed.
"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick said.
"You're making the decisions today Rick. Come down here, let's have a talk." The Governor said.
I grabbed Daryl's hand and squeezed it. I was scared, just like everyone else. Rick looked back at us, and I saw the worry in his eyes, but we knew he had to. Rick looked at Carl and hugged him, and he was about to leave when I stopped him. I hugged him tightly and he carefully hugged me back.
"It's okay." Rick said, and let go of me. "We're going to be okay." He said to the rest of the group.
I opened the gate and closed it behind him as he walked into the field. I walked back over to Daryl and he embraced me. I hugged him tight and he kissed my head.
"It's okay Kell. Come here." He said.
Daryl grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the gun cart. Inside of it he grabbed a machine gun and a bag.
"What's in it?" I asked.
Daryl put the backpack on me and handed me the gun.
"If shit hits the fan, I want you to be safe. There's food, water, medicine, fully loaded clips for each of your guns... everything you need." Daryl said.
He held my face and I stared at him.
"I love you." I whispered.
"God, I love you Kell." He said.
We quickly kissed and felt each other's rings. I grabbed extra guns and ammo and ran back over to the group at the fence. I handed pistols to Tyreese, Sasha, Glenn, and Carl and stuck ammo into their pockets.
I walked over to Carl and Daryl followed me.
"If anything happens, you go run and get Judith and her bag. Find your dad, me, or Daryl, and you run." I told him and grabbed his shoulder.
He nodded his head and loaded his gun. "We're going to get through this, right Kelley?" He asked.
I glanced over at Daryl and looked back at him. I nodded my head and hugged him. "I'll do anything to keep you guys safe."
Carl nodded and we all looked at Rick who was now standing near the fence and in plain sight of the Governor. I held my breath as we waited for this to be over. They started talking and we were lucky enough that we could still hear them.
"Let them go. I'll stay here, but you got to let them go. Talk as long as you want, but you let them go." Rick pleaded. "You have a tank. You don't need hostages."
"I do." The Governor said. "This is just to show you how serious I am, not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people have until sundown to get out of here or they die." He ordered.
Rick sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't have to go down this way."
"We need the prison!" The Governor said. "I have more people, more firepower."
"There's children here." Rick cried out. "Some of them are sick. They won't survive."
"I have a tank!" The Governor yelled. "And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?!"
I stood next to Daryl and felt his hand on my back, but I couldn't move or react. I was actually terrified.
"I could shoot you all. You would all shoot back, I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you!" The Governor said. "It doesn't have to be like that. Like I said, it's your choice."
Carl slowly aimed his gun and so did I. Daryl followed our lead and I saw Carl was ready to fire.
"We got to do something." Carl said quietly.
"Your dad's got it." I said.
"They're talking." Carl muttered and cocked his rifle. "I could kill the Governor right now."
"We all could Carl, but we can't risk putting your dad, Hershel, or Michonne is the crossfire." I said. "Let them talk before we do anything stupid."
Carl sighed and disengaged his rifle.
"You got maybe an hour of sunlight left." The Governor started speaking again. "I suggest you start packing. The longer you wait, the harder it's going to be when you get out of here."
Rick took a long pause and backed up a few steps.
"We can all-" Rick spoke and paused. "We can all live together. We can make it work. There's enough room for us. We can-"
I saw Rick was starting to panic and I shook my head.
"Rick... you know better than that." I thought.
"More than enough room." The Governor said. "But I don't think my family will sleep well under the same roof."
"We'd live in different cellblocks. We'd never have to see each other until we're ready." Rick said.
"It could work." Hershel turned his head and said to the Governor. "You know it could."
"It could've, but it can't." The Governor said and shook his head. "Not after Woodbury... not after Andrea."
I tensed at his words and remembered the last time we saw Andrea, and what he did to her.
"I'm not saying it's going to easy. The fact is it's a hell of a lot harder than standing here and shooting at each other." Rick said. "But, I don't think we have a choice."
"Just give him the prison.." I muttered.
Daryl looked at me confused and I shrugged. "We might get to live another day if we just give it to him. Hell, maybe they will get sick." I said.
Daryl just shook his head and looked through the scope of his gun.
"We don't have a choice! You do!" The Governor yelled.
"We're not leaving." Rick shook his head.
The Governor clenched his fists and I saw he was getting tired of talking. I tightened my grip on my gun and aimed at him.
"If you try to force us out, we'll fight right back. The sound will attract walkers, they'll take down the fences. This place is worthless without the fence! Now, we can all live in the prison, or none of us can." Rick stated.
I saw the Governor shake his head and jump off the tank.
"We'll fix the damn fences!" He yelled.
Then he grabbed Michonne's sword from a truck and walked over to Hershel. He unsheathed it and held it up to Hershel's neck.
Maggie and Beth gasped and started to cry, and were panicking even more. I gasped in shock and stared at the Governor.
"Daddy..." Beth quietly cried.
We instantly all cocked our guns and prepared to fire at them all.
"Get ready to fight." I told them.
Rick backed up appalled and stared to noticeably panic. He then pointed at a woman standing with the Governor's army.
"You. You in the pigtails. Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?!" Rick cried.
"What we want is what you got. Period." A man on top of the tank by the gun said. "Time for you to leave asshole."
"Look, I fought him before." Rick said and pointed at the Governor. "And after, we took in his old friends. They have become leaders here... Now you put down those weapons, walk through those gates, and 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 kind of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone..."
The Governor began to slowly lower the sword away from Hershel's throat. I managed to let out a sigh and didn't realize I was holding my breath.
"We get to come back..." Rick said. "I know, we can all change." He said and caught his breath.
The Governor slowly looked down at the sword, then looked back up at Rick.
"Liar." He said.
The Governor raised the sword and swung it. The movement was instant and no one could stop it.
Hershel's neck then sprayed blood and his body became limp. The Governor pushed his body to the floor and stared at us.
No one knew what to do.
Maggie and Beth started sobbing. I was in shock and couldn't move, I couldn't believe what I just saw. I began fiercely shaking with rage and everyone raised their guns.
"NO!" Rick yelled.
He raised his gun and shot at the Governor. The bullet hit his shoulder, and that bullet meant war.