Solitude -> The Walking Dead

47

I sat alone in the back of the prison, my mind running loose. It's been a few hours since Dakota came back with the meds.

I still hadn't gone to see Ryan. A part of me was afraid that he was going to be mad at me for not coming to see him. I didn't like the thought of him being upset with me.

"The whole sulking alone thing doesn't really suit you."

I rolled my eyes at the sound of Cleo's voice behind me. A huff left my lips as she sat down next to me. I really wasn't in the mood for her to lecture me.

She didn't seem to notice. "Saw your brother walking outside with your sister."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Is he even allowed to get out of bed? He was in pretty bad shape last time I saw him.

"With Dakota?"

"With Abby."

I hummed realizing that made more sense. Dakota must be resting from her run though I have no doubts she's been to see him.

"Why do you hate it when I call you coach?" I asked.

Cleo seemed surprised by my sudden question. I only asked so she'd be too shocked to talk to me about Ryan. It seemed to work as she tensed at the mention of it.

She bit her lip. "I used to have a team of about twenty people. They called me coach because I was the leader and we'd train together before missions."

She paused to take a sharp breath. I could see her knee bouncing up and down. Whatever she was talking about, she didn't like the topic.

"Our last mission went wrong. As their leader, I was supposed to get everyone out safely-"

"But you didn't."

She nodded, not caring that I interrupted her. It was probably difficult for her to even think about it, let alone talk.

"I'm hard on you, Josephine, because I want you to live. Before you, the mere thought of training someone again was... Unimaginable." She explained.

I pursed my lips leaning back in my seat. Out of everything that she could've told me, that's not what I was expecting.

I gave her a slight smirk. "So what I'm hearing is, you think I'm amazing?"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile on her face. Her mouth opened to reply when the ground shook beneath us.

Both of us got up at the same time and saw that something had hit one of the guard towers. I ran towards the gate where everyone else had gathered.

The sight in front of me made me freeze in my spot. A dozen cars stood in front of the prison with the Governor proudly standing on one of them.

I was vaguely aware of him and Rick speaking to each other. Everything around me seemed muted as my sole focus was on the Governor.

My mind was pulled back into reality when he dragged Hershel and Michonne out of a car. How the hell did he capture them?

"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick yelled.

The Governor argued that he was making decisions today. My blood ran cold at the thought of Rick going down into the courtyard. It was too open, he'd be totally exposed.

I watched him slowly descend into the courtyard. This wasn't right. It wasn't going to end well. It never did with the Governor.

"We can't take 'em all on. We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more." Daryl said.